It's a quiet day here at Diamond M. We are down to "us 4" and CoRielle's family. There was no need to catch an early tide. Michael stored most of our gear last night. We set out to explore Kenai.
I LOVE how Arielle and the boys explore public libraries in every town we visit. I thought the Seward library was great - but the Kenai Public Library? Fantastic. I was surprised to discover Kenai's population is only 1,000 more than ours. We always see it full of tourists and Alaskans - fishing.
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Cory and Charles, Benny & Danny |
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Papa likes a good library! |
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Silent Book Club - it's a thing and I'm going to start one! |
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Never too young to visit a library! |
We miss having a public library with fun nooks and reading areas...and books...lots of books to browse through. Our current library lost its roof. Our librarians are wonderful. We have a couple of rooms of books on display...but one's best bet is to order your books ahead of time from the online catalogue, librarians go across our town to the storage area and collect the books, which can then be picked up. I appreciate the system. It works. I miss a REAL library. We DID check out books.
Our next stop was to Old Town Kenai. The hit of our wandering was the time spent with an Orthodox priest in this church...built in 1894 it is one of the oldest standing orthodox churches in Alaska. A congregation of about 45 still meet weekly here at the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church.
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All candles! |
I was sad this coffee shop was closed - maybe next time.
CoRielle went back to their cabin for lunch and quiet time. The four of us checked out a few campgrounds. While we found a sweet spot we'd like to visit in the future - it's not great for our crowd or for cleaning fish. We found another that has great potential. We'll have to keep our eye on it and see if they end up adding a bathhouse. We do like our current spot, but we also feel we are nickel and dimed here and we do NOT like having to book FIVE NIGHTS....BUT for young moms who may have to stay at the campground with little ones this place is hands down the best we've found. Maybe worth the nickel and diming for families with young ones. Even for those without young - neither of the other options have nice bathhouses and showers after fishing all day are dirty. I'd rather have folks running to the bathhouse than the RV shower. LOL Eventually, the 4 of us also headed back to the RV for lunch.
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Who wouldn't want a campsite with this view? |
We ended our trip by taking the S family (minus the girls) to dinner. We've brought our expectations down considerably. The first year we scouted out a seafood restaurant which disappointed us. This year we simply went to Arby's -which is a dip netting tradition. Arby's must be visited at some point, and we hadn't done so yet.
Michael and Cory loaded the nets into the truck. It was too windy and rough for Benny to go back out to try again at catching a salmon. We'll save that for another trip. We'll all head back to the valley tomorrow.
We have spent some time remembering past trips in previous years. I remember our chase for salmon in 2017...Josiah stayed with us in a parking lot in Soldotna one night and we met dip netters. He commented we needed to try fishing that way at least once as it seemed to be a culture. We did try it in 2018. Walking the road from the bathhouse to our site always reminds me of walking behind Josiah and a young Benny (maybe 18 months) in matching blue checked sweatshirts. This place...Diamond M and Kenai North Beach are connection points with Josiah...and have provided such good family memories. I'm happy Josiah had a vision of this being more than a work trip - but a mini family reunion. I'm glad he sold us on the vision. ::snort:: Five nights in one spot is a long time when we'd like to be "going" and "doing"... however, five nights allows for us to set up camp and for the older kids and their families to drop in and out as they can over the weekend. This will most likely be Krista and Luke's last trip with us for some years. That makes me sad - and yes brings tears because tears are my superpower this year. This was Krista's 5th year with us. It was here Luke drove down for a couple of hours in 2020 to spend some time with Krista and we began to think just maybe he saw her as more than a pastoral contact. It was also here when Carrie and Liv joined us, and it was apparent a new family was forming. We brought dad one or two years before getting in and out of the RV was simply too difficult and the logistics of caring for his needs in the RV was daunting. Most years we've had others with us...chaplains, airmen and their family, my brother, "family" from past assignments... Fish Camp has a special place in our hearts. Dip Netting fills our freezer and pantry shelves with salmon - but more than that it's filled our hearts with amazing memories and provided opportunity for family connection. It's a good thing. We are blessed.
GRACE NOTES
A place to come and remember and celebrate family.
Fantastic memories of past years and new memories made.
A safe place for grief's emotions to rest.
A GOOD Shepherd who is always with us and always comforts and restores.