Hurricane Sandra

If you're a storm and they give you a name then you've arrived. Sandra will be the second time I've been through a named storm. A couple years back we drove across North Dakota through winter storm Atlas and well, it  was a yawner....I've had snow storms around Girdwood way worse so I'm hoping to have the same luck this weekend when Sandra hits town.

This storm is the latest Eastern Pacific cyclone EVER...or at least since the college kids started keeping track. Last night it hit Hurricane level 4 and they expect the whole enchilada, category 5. I personally think this girl followed us down from Alaska because that snowstorm we flew through last Friday should have had a name. They expect Sandra to turn towards us on Friday and hit Saturday in a diminished state due to the jet jet stream and cooler water that should weaken it....we hope. Mazatlan has been suffering from severe beach erosion and we don't need anymore of that but we have full moon now and you know what that means....higher tides....so....stand by.

Don't think I've been just hanging out putting plywood on the windows and filling up the bath tub, nope, I've been fishing. This morning I caught a huge man eating Toro with nobody around to take my pic. He fought so good I thought he was a rooster but he turned out to be what I call a ' budget guyo', But as luck would have it just when I was telling MPeasy that if I didn't catch an edible soon we were going to the fish market I caught this guy. It was a good thing because she was pretty adamant about not buying fish pointing out that I have a virtual fortune invested in sport fishing gear and what good is it doing you....?

That sized Snapper is perfect for one of our favorite treats, pescado entero, deep fried whole. I do a 'princess ' type job on the cleaning and then scale him perfectly. The we take him to our favorite spot , Loco Loco's where they fried him entero. It comes to you just wonderfully crunchy and just the right amount for the two of us. It's something that you would never do at home, it's why we come, things are just different around here. Here's a before and after sequence.

A couple years back I started leaving my Takamine guitar at Slah's when we'd go back to Alaska. When I got home I was missing that black guitar that I've really bonded with so I went out and found a replacement...then I kind of had an awakening and realized I really should be playing that gorgeous Martin guitar I have, after all they're meant to be played and loved and well I had this in my mind that it was to nice for everyday use and well.....now I've bonded with the Martin and the replacement was just sitting around.....this story has an end, I promise. SO, last year when me and my friend Kiki were playing music together he was admiring the Takamine so I told him I'd bring him one just like it.  He was sooooo happy and sooooo was I. Glad ya like it Kik.

An old friend showed up on the beach this morning and it was fun to see him. Indio was there the day in 07 when I caught my first Roosterfish and got invited into the Mazatlan surf fishing fraternity. We have some great long distance casters here and Indio could very well be the champ. For all of you who need to know one of his tricks is this.....Suffix Line. It is the smallest diameter of all the super braids, Here he is in mid cast, a thing of beauty for sure.

I'll take many pics of the 'tormenta' that's on it's way. Hope you come back to Mile 5014.

Oh baby, that's hot

Yup, I already caught 2 ladyfish and one Sierra but I'm pictureless. I just didn't have anybody around to shoot the pic for me and that will tell you how quiet it is in the beach right now. Like every year there seems to be a lot thing to get fixed...and it's all part of the lifestyle we love. Our Internet is still down so this will be short. Our sliding glass patio door was rusted shut, termites ate our kitchen cabinets and it took me a hell of long time to realize that the broken air conditioner ( which was job #1) was only a case of the remote control needing Alkaline battery's and not the cheapee's I tried.

We left Soldotna in a class 5 blizzard and were delayed in Kenai for several hours and then magically got on a Dash for that white knuckler to Anchorage that every Alaskan has experienced. Then more delays in Anchorage but we had a big lay over in L.A. so no biggy except for the fact that LAX is the crappiest airport in the world...at least my world. The have airplanes with seats for 250 and waiting area's with seats for 12...But we arrived safe and sound to the warmest day ever for us in Mazatlan.

It was so hot I saw a dog chasing a cat ....and they were both walking. I love it.

Here's a couple pics of your truly, traveling light, smiling all I can and how about them saving the purtiest jet of all just for us.....thanks for a great job Alaska Airlines.

Checklist

It was an even 0 degrees out  when MP shot this pic of me at Fall in hole today. As you can see the river is starting to take a set. The ice that forms from the shore on out is really strange....gorgeous crystals, the place is eerily  quiet....I'm gonna miss it in a strange way....but not to much.

Every good pilot does a pre flight check and goes through a checklist so when they get airborne they know they haven't forgotten anything and go.....oooops.  Well, this ain't life altering stuff but this is how we fly here at Mile 14. In Mexico there's certain things you can't get, certain things that are cost prohibitive and certain things that you just like real good while you're wintering at  Mile 2514. So here's how we role , my check list. The pic below is the last one you'll see for a while of me and my running buddy being hardcore Alaskan's. I saw an old friend the other day and he asked when we were leaving and of course I told him but  I'm certainly aware that people who don't ' snowbird' sometimes resent those that do....life in Alaska is tough, especially winter.  I told James that I think I've earned my snowbird status honorably after all I've been here more than 40 years...At one point when I was working and saving $$ to someday be able to buy something like this wonderful place at Mile 14 I went 14 years without leaving the State. Guide all summer, pound nails all winter, repeat....

24 ounce bag black licorice.....thanks Nate
16 oz. Demitris Bloody May seasoning
2 tubes Reese anchovy paste
Beaver brand horseradish
2 bags Louisiana Style fry batter
1 shore lunch
10 pouches smoked Alaska Sea Salt...if you haven't tried this stuff you need to
1 bottle Silver Oaks for Christmas...thanks Chris
Assorted Penzy spices including Green Goddess dressing
5 surf rods
3 reels
25  2 oz. P-line Lazer Minnow lures
100 H+H Lure co. Cocehoe rubber swim fish minnows
2  50' roles Trilene 30 lb. leader
600 yds Suffix Line
1200 yds Fireline
2 new EpiPen's
Guitar tuner, picks, capo , string winder
3 sets D'Addario phosphor bronze strings
1 Yamaha Accoustic/electric
Songbook
120 B vitamins
2 cameras
2 computers
3 phones

If I have room I'll throw in some clothes mostly shorts and poly / breathable shirts, shorts, speedo, flip flops, sandals and I'm packing a big ol SMILE....stay tuned for fish pics.

Mind Meld

I guess this writers block I have is illustrative of why I need to be in Mexico come winter time...there's just not much going on here. I mean it's heck of a deal when I feel like I had a busy day today just because I spent some time putting new shear pins in the snowblower because Hollis must have mowed the beach with it last year....No worried Hollis, she's all fixed up and I got spares in case it snows a lot this year, I'll be watching the paper.

Now I could do what our local outdoor writer for the newspaper does when he has writers block, he tells his readers how to make fish taco's. Yikes... it's hard to believe they pay him for that. But I ain't gonna do that, nope, ain't gonna do that. But I will publish this pic of me hard in the gym. This morning I weighed 189 so there's a chance I can still make my goal of 185 by next Thursday and if I do....well, I'll embarrass myself with picture here on the blog. Ol Jethro's starting to get a lot forehead eh?

So as Geno used to say next week we ' jump the jet ' so please come back to Mile 14. I'll post some fish pics and it WILL be fun....you know I take my fun seriously, in fact I picked this up at the library in the spirit of research....me and Sammy kinda see things the same way it seems. Never know where you can find some new tricks.

ants in my pants

That's what I got. All this prep work for Mexico is making me restless, we've got exactly 19 days until launch. I've been hitting the gym twice a day to get my weight down and my legs in shape for walking and I'm keeping my calorie intact to less than 2000. Right now I'm at 190 pounds so there's still hope I can make the 185 in which case I'll celebrate with an order of french fries and post a pic of the new leaned out Jeff King....we'll see.

When I met MP many moons ago there were a couple of unbelievable things about her. One was that she actually liked me and the other was her artwork. That painting above was commissioned by Juan who just built the new Acapulco Restaurant . He bought three desert scenes from her this spring when she did the Art Show at the coffee shop and then wanted a this scene that reminds him of home. Pretty darn cool huh ?

We finally have snow and we like it here at Mile 14. MP and I like to walk the river and as she says ' see's who's around ' by marking their tracks. So for all you Stewart's Landing lovers here's a couple pics of what she looks like with a trace of termination dust.

But on this day we were a little short on wild animals. Here's a couple pics of the only two we came across, one of which will be headed to the dump soon and the other on a southern migration via the western fly-way.

So this morning ( we take Sunday off from the gym ) we decided to do our one hour walk at Centennial Park, it's our favorite. Well I thought I was a pretty hard guy when it came to fishing but when we came around the corner at the boat launch we see this guy, the last of the Mohican's try to catch the last silver salmon in the lower Kenai River, it was 22 degrees out. This year the late Silver run was phenomenal , instead of losing steam towards the end of September and into October it seemed to actually bump some. Combined with the warm weather I've been regretting winterizing the boat so early. This guy told me that last week he caught five....

 Here's a pic of one of the many boardwalks the park has on it 100's of acres. It's why we just love to hike there, in the off season it's quiet and woodsy and well...this Park is maybe the coolest feature of our pretty cool town.

Being a bit bored and sticking to my mantra of  ' whats worth doing, is worth over doing ' I've been collecting surf rods. Last year I brought home from Mexico my huge Bazooka rod case as I had a rod for warranty and so I figure if it has to go back it might as well go back full. I got a smoking deal on a 10' caster that I put spinning eyes on, then I traded my friend Keith a fishing trip for one, then I just had to buy one at Bass Pro....ya just can't go in that place without dropping some lettuce ya know. Then I have the one fixed that broke and  the other day I spotted a Lamiglass that I just had to have, I think they're the best rods in the world and own about twenty of them.....So this blog will get fun again real soon so I hope you keep looking. I'll put up fishing pics as soon as I land and if you get to Mazatlan drop by, we'll go fishing....I got a few 'loaners' .