Growing up, I had an animal-like fear of my Uncle Moose, totally undeserved, but completely instinctive, the self-preservation intrinsic to human nature. Uncle Moose was a big, gruff, perpetually old man who moved slowly and spoke little, had a cigarette induced voice and a lumbering gait, giving him the appearance of the legendary neighborhood mean old man.
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I was grown before I realized how contrary his appearance was to his nature. Uncle Moose had some serious soft spots and was always willing to lend a hand, a job, a truck, whatever we needed. But what brought Uncle Moose to my mind while we were traveling The Last Frontier, was when, on our first slow, quiet night in a cabin in the wood beside a lake in Kenai, Doug, B and I went out "rotatin'." Uncle Moose loved to go out "rotating," driving with no other purpose than spinning your wheels, round & round & round.
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The others wanted to unpack, cook, nest; we wanted to explore.
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It was soon after we met this fellow at Kenai's beach where we watched the dipnetters that we began to rotate. This guy most likely launched me into an Uncle Moose state of mind.
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We headed up the Kenai Spur, Doug at the wheel, and rotated right on past our turn, somewhere around milemarker 20 something.
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With the windows cracked, Doug called out "I'm gonna find Capt. Cook State Recreation Area -- it's just up ahead." I told him it was 36 miles up ahead, according to my trusty mod-podged moleskine, in which I'd written all the secrets of Alaska (like: Did you know Alaska averages 13 earthquakes a day?! or that the Prince William Sound gets 150" or more rainfall each year?! Amazing things like that, as well as places to visit like the recreation area) (because Kenai, seriously, doesn't have much more to offer).
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We saw a sign that briefly mentioned Capt. Cook State Recreation Area, so Doug slammed the brakes and took an immediate left, taking the sign way, way too literal. "They're funny about their signs around here," he explains.
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"Sure," I nodded. "Shifty signs." And we went down the dirt road until it just. Ended.
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And on the return trip out, B ducked. B's been rotatin' with her father before.
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As she pushed my head down, she told me about their last trip down a dirt road in Moose Gap where a Frontierswoman chased them down with a shotgun & Doug, hand extended out the window, was saying "Doug Busbee. South Carolina. Nice to meetcha." Which doesn't always work.
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I ducked.
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We hung a left back on the Spur and kept rotatin'. B and I sat up, I stretched the kinks out of my back. "It's 36 miles, Doug." I said. B moaned. Doug took the next paved left. "I think it meant to turn here" he mumbles.
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-
I was grown before I realized how contrary his appearance was to his nature. Uncle Moose had some serious soft spots and was always willing to lend a hand, a job, a truck, whatever we needed. But what brought Uncle Moose to my mind while we were traveling The Last Frontier, was when, on our first slow, quiet night in a cabin in the wood beside a lake in Kenai, Doug, B and I went out "rotatin'." Uncle Moose loved to go out "rotating," driving with no other purpose than spinning your wheels, round & round & round.
-
The others wanted to unpack, cook, nest; we wanted to explore.
-
It was soon after we met this fellow at Kenai's beach where we watched the dipnetters that we began to rotate. This guy most likely launched me into an Uncle Moose state of mind.
-
We headed up the Kenai Spur, Doug at the wheel, and rotated right on past our turn, somewhere around milemarker 20 something.
-
With the windows cracked, Doug called out "I'm gonna find Capt. Cook State Recreation Area -- it's just up ahead." I told him it was 36 miles up ahead, according to my trusty mod-podged moleskine, in which I'd written all the secrets of Alaska (like: Did you know Alaska averages 13 earthquakes a day?! or that the Prince William Sound gets 150" or more rainfall each year?! Amazing things like that, as well as places to visit like the recreation area) (because Kenai, seriously, doesn't have much more to offer).
-
We saw a sign that briefly mentioned Capt. Cook State Recreation Area, so Doug slammed the brakes and took an immediate left, taking the sign way, way too literal. "They're funny about their signs around here," he explains.
-
-"Sure," I nodded. "Shifty signs." And we went down the dirt road until it just. Ended.
-
And on the return trip out, B ducked. B's been rotatin' with her father before.
-
As she pushed my head down, she told me about their last trip down a dirt road in Moose Gap where a Frontierswoman chased them down with a shotgun & Doug, hand extended out the window, was saying "Doug Busbee. South Carolina. Nice to meetcha." Which doesn't always work.
-
I ducked.
-
We hung a left back on the Spur and kept rotatin'. B and I sat up, I stretched the kinks out of my back. "It's 36 miles, Doug." I said. B moaned. Doug took the next paved left. "I think it meant to turn here" he mumbles.
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And we came to this dead end:
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We counted 9 oil rigs out there, saw Mt. Redoubt in the haze, and found this very interesting dock made from an old World War II ship. We stretched our legs. I looked around. As much fun as I'm now making of Doug's incredible sense for dead ends, I really was enjoying driving aimlessly around and exploring; I was having fun.
-We counted 9 oil rigs out there, saw Mt. Redoubt in the haze, and found this very interesting dock made from an old World War II ship. We stretched our legs. I looked around. As much fun as I'm now making of Doug's incredible sense for dead ends, I really was enjoying driving aimlessly around and exploring; I was having fun.
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Doug took out his map and began looking for Capt. Cook State Recreation Area (which was 32 miles straight up the road).
-Doug took out his map and began looking for Capt. Cook State Recreation Area (which was 32 miles straight up the road).
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We turned around and motored back out to the highway, hung a left and went a few more miles til Doug hit the brakes and took another left, probably, according to my notes, 23 miles short of Capt. Cook State Recreation Area. It was no surprise to me that we soon came upon this:
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We did see a little trail off to the right, so Doug took it. We descended to the edge of Cook's Inlet where we met a family from Idaho who told Doug Capt. Cook State Recreation Area was about 23 miles up the highway. We skipped stones for awhile and got back in the car.
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We motored back out to the highway and hung a right to go on back home for dinner. The next day while Tom and I were at the SawFest and bird-watching in the Kenai Marsh, Doug and his family finally made it up to Capt. Cook St. Recreation Area:
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The park has great views of the volcanic peaks of Mt. Spurr and Mt. Redoubt. The park also offers canoeing (but with a harsh tide), bird watching, berry picking (with some poisonous berries), and trout fishing. The Busbees enjoyed it. And, as I've said before, Kenai doesn't have much to offer, so this is one thing you can do if you visit Kenai.
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My next Alaska post will take us to Day 4 in Alaska in which we visit the very famous town of Homer and I find myself dropped off on a nearly deserted Alaskan Island.
-We turned around and motored back out to the highway, hung a left and went a few more miles til Doug hit the brakes and took another left, probably, according to my notes, 23 miles short of Capt. Cook State Recreation Area. It was no surprise to me that we soon came upon this:
-
-We did see a little trail off to the right, so Doug took it. We descended to the edge of Cook's Inlet where we met a family from Idaho who told Doug Capt. Cook State Recreation Area was about 23 miles up the highway. We skipped stones for awhile and got back in the car.
-
-We motored back out to the highway and hung a right to go on back home for dinner. The next day while Tom and I were at the SawFest and bird-watching in the Kenai Marsh, Doug and his family finally made it up to Capt. Cook St. Recreation Area:
-
-The park has great views of the volcanic peaks of Mt. Spurr and Mt. Redoubt. The park also offers canoeing (but with a harsh tide), bird watching, berry picking (with some poisonous berries), and trout fishing. The Busbees enjoyed it. And, as I've said before, Kenai doesn't have much to offer, so this is one thing you can do if you visit Kenai.
-
My next Alaska post will take us to Day 4 in Alaska in which we visit the very famous town of Homer and I find myself dropped off on a nearly deserted Alaskan Island.
My other Alaska Posts:
Kenai Fjords, Seward
The Seward Highway
Kenai: Dipnetting
Seward: Exit Glacier
The Sterling Highway
Travel Info:
The Fish House. Fishing charters and a general mdse. store.
Wild Nature Photography. Professional photos of the area. If your family's taking a trip out here, why not arrange for a photo shoot and get a new family photo for your mantle. (we did that one year in Moab, Utah)
Major Marine Tours. Great tours of the bay. Take the long one.
The Drive to Seward
Kenai Fjords
Miller's Landing
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