Michael Elliott

The Great Outdoors- Please allow me to regale you with a recent trip my wife, Debra, and I took to Alaska with her parents, Bob and Nancy.  It was a 43-day excursion from Cali to Seward, AK and back.  Now, any outdoors are great, but those we were able to experience were unique and awesome!
We convoyed through NorCal, Oregon and Washington pulling travel trailers to our first major stop which was Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.  Beautiful area.  I was fortunate to be able to golf at the exquisite Coeur d’Alene Golf Course, which has the only island golf green not connected to land in the USA.  The only access to the green after your tee shot is by boat.  I had been licking my chops to get a shot at that sucker and when that time arrived, I chunked my tee shot but 20 yards into the lake.  Nice.
Next stop was Banff which is in the Canadien province of Alberta.  This is where we started witnessing the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains.  What a stunning sight it is driving along the base of those behemoths.  This is where we also began seeing all sorts of animals and birds.  Moose, eagles, bighorn sheep, bears, buffalo, swans, etc.  The bighorn sheep edged out the bald eagles as my faves.
Our stop in Fort St. John, British Columbia produced great walleye and northern pike fishing.  Trolling with Rapalas provided us with evenings of fresh fish cuisine.  Nothing like grilling walleye the evening of the catch.  And British Columbia is just breathtaking!
Now, doesn’t hearing the word Yukon conjure up visions of rough terrain, biting wind and territorial isolation?  It’s true.  The roads were abysmal, winds were forever, and being there made me feel as if I had been sent off to Siberia, ala Nikita Khrushchev.
The Last Frontier- Loved Canada, but it was quite refreshing to be back in the states.  No more road kilometers, gas by the litres or money exchanges.  Those were, however, all cool learning experiences.  Alaska is huge!  So much wildlife.  So many lakes and rivers and streams.  Our next great adventure took place in Valdez.  Debra and I took a seafaring trip into the Prince William Sound and were able to see porpoises, whales breaching the water, sea lions sun bathing and bald eagles perched regally.  We also went to see a million-year-old glacier that was calving at the time.  Extraordinary sight!
From Valdez we traveled up to Wasilla for some salmon fishing.  Not long after we had set up camp we were forced to evacuate due to a forest fire which was spreading our way.  We had to leave the trailers there and holed up in a motel room that night.  The next day we stealthily slithered back to retrieve our units and headed on to Seward.
Fifty-five miles off the coast of Seward we hauled in 110 lbs. of halibut steaks.  Yum-yum that night!  Three days later Bob and I were standing in waders in the Russian river at Cooper Landing casting for salmon as a run was on.  What a trip it is hooking one of those beasts!  Um, fresh salmon that night.
Homeward Bound- With halibut and salmon in tow we headed for California…in our new truck!  The engine in Debra’s Tundra blew up in Valdez and we were forced to purchase a new vehicle in Anchorage.  The day we purchased was like attending a funeral and wedding on the same day.  Nevertheless, being poorer in the pocket made us just that much richer for our entire Alaskan experience.

Regale Michael with your thoughts at .