We Have visitors

                                                                            We have visitors!

The weather is warming up and C&J are outside more these days.  They are walking the park more often and visiting with the folks in camp.  Vinnie and Donna from Florida stayed for a couple days and we enjoyed their company very much.  Chuck and Vinnie sat for hours talking about their travels and fishing. We hope to go down for a visit to their part of the US some day.

The traveling Vietnam memorial wall came to Ninilchik for a few days and we went down and Jane was able to find her Cousin Herbert Warner’s name on the wall. It was a bright sunny day and many folks came to the American Legion grounds to visit the wall and to talk to friends.  A large group of Motor cycle riders visited the wall and it was evident they found names of fallen comrades on the Wall.

On Monday June 18th the Rangers invited all of the Camp Hosts to the Morgan’s landing field office for a Bar-B-Q to honor the work the Hosts have done.  Every host brought a dish and the Rangers provided Ribs and Chicken. It was a great party and crazy awards were given by Ranger Jaquie.  Chuck became the “Postmaster” because he kept trying to put steel posts in our park. Ranger Jaquie does not like steel posts .  Everyone enjoyed the crazy award and Chuck proudly displays it at our camp site.  Ranger Jaquie being a very animated story teller, told lots of funny stories about her Hosts and praised all the work they did for the park system. It was a very enjoyable afternoon and it was fun to get together with all of the other hosts and Rangers.
Earlier in the day we had gotten a call from our friends Don and May Ward and we set up to meet them at Fred Meyers at 3: PM.  So we headed there after the meeting.  They had just arrived and were having a taco at Taco Bell.  It was good to see them and to hear about their road trip and visit to Denali Park.
We drove back to Ninilchik and they set up their tent. That night we chatted real late and since it cooled off quickly and they were tired from the trip, we all went to bed early.  The next day we went to Deep Creek to visit with the Hosts Jo & Terri and BJ and Dixie.  May and Jane collected rocks from the beach and Chuck and Don talked to Jo about a fishing trip. Wednesday we all piled into the Truck and Chuck drove us to Homer.  It was a fun trip as we had lunch at a nice restaurant  checked out the shops and then went to the Salty Dawg Saloon for a taste of the local beer.  We all enjoyed getting little things to bring home. Don purchased the best thing, a Caribou hide. It is very pretty and very soft.  Jane got to drive back as the guys were really sleepy. We enjoyed a nice evening but turned in early because the Guys were going fishing on Thursday.
Fishing day turned out beautiful! The weather turned out great. The Guys met Jo, BJ, Dixie at Deep Creek and headed for Homer about 8:am and were on the water about 9:30. Everyone limited out by 1:pm and were back to camp cleaning fish by 3:pm. Jane and May had gone to Soldotna for a girls day out and had to scurry back to Ninilchik to take pictures of the fish.  That night we all sat around the campfire until 11:30pm and ate Smore’s which Don had never had and he seemed to enjoy them.  It was the longest day of the year and since it was never going to get dark we all went to bed while it was still light.
Thursday, Don wanted to get some Diamond willow sticks to carve, so we headed to Morgan’s landing again to seek out the wood carver that sold the sticks.  He felt very lucky, as we checked out yard sales, where he bought a Caribou horn for $5.  At the Horn carvers store everything was much more expensive. He will make a Cribbage board out of it. After a wonderful lunch at Froso’s on the Kenai Spur Hwy, Don drove us home.  We enjoyed a couple games of Farkle and since they were going to leave in the morning early we turned in about 10:30 even though the sun was at about 6:pm ( Oregon evening light).   Saturday morning 6:am they were up and packed and after breakfast they were on the road, headed home.
It is always a let down when good friends leave, so C&J were enjoying a cup of coffee talking about how much fun they had just enjoyed and as they looked out the window there were a couple more visitors.

A young bull Moose and a cow came meandering through our front yard.  They weren’t in any hurry and enjoyed the flower garden as they munched their way past the trailer and where Don and May had pitched their tent.  It was a wonderful ending to a fun visitation.