July-August Vacation Pics, 2008

One of my favorite pics of the whole vacation - Mark and family at the Northern Motor Inn!

Flying the Skies of Beautiful British Columbia!

Jarod at The White Spot Restaurant in Vancouver.

Denny Crane - Eat your heart out, ha!ha!

Che and I have been watching Seasons 1-3 of Legal Boston (that her sister's employer owns, who happens to be the nephew of the Sultan) in the past few weeks, now and then, here in Oman since I returned from a 2-month vacation in Canada.

One of my favorite episodes is in Season 2 (Disk 1) called "Finding Nimmo" where Danny Crane (William Shatner) and Alan Shore (James Spader) go to Canada to do some fishing. After watching the episode and then going through these fishing photos back home made me laugh. Must be putting on the weight cause the photos of me fishing are sadly too close to the images of Denny Crane!



Denny Crane: "Life is in British Columbia-in the Great Bear Rain Forest. God is out there, Alan.

Alan Shore: "God likes to fish?

Denny: "We need to go to the woods and touch ourselves-get in touch with ourselves. Man can only truly bond in the woods. Come on, Alan. Let's go fishing."

Little Baby Boo!

This cute little puppy is David and Kristi's newest addition to the family! What a sweetie!

Dog Tired!!!

Stephanie and Her Ferret

Stephanie saw this little critter in a local petshop and decided she had to have him. She has a part-time job and made payments on her own over several months. You are growing into quite the responsible young lady, Stephanie!

My Mamma!

My mom through her screen window. How nice to be able to spend a bit more time with her on this vacation. I love you, Mom!

Thornhill Community Church

The Browns at church



These banners come from Matthew 28:19-20.

This was the main church I attended during the summer months. Check out their website at: http://thornhillcommunitychurch.com/
"Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it." (1 Peter 3:8-9)

David and Kristi's Enchanting Yard

Smoked Fish

Mark and Dave bought this smoker from WalMart. Smoked fish has a very unique taste and depending on what brine mixture you use, can taste as "sweet as candy".

With all the fish we were catching, poor Jennifer had her refrigerator taken over by such bowls of fish for weeks at a time!

Church with the Boys!

Aaron and Jarod Brown on a Sunday morning

This was supposed to represent Jesus' tomb. Found inside the "E-free church".

This was on the wall of The Terrace Zion Baptist Church.

MORE Fishing Pics!

Mark's New Job!

It was great to be home when Mark got an awesome new job at Coca-Cola! Very proud of you, Mark!!!

Mark and his brother-in-law, Scott Gallant

Rock On!

Moore Creek Falls, Kitimat, BC

Moore Creek Waterfall, Kitimat, BC

Kitimat, BC

I drove 58 kms to visit Kitimat with my nephews Aaron and Jarred. Here they are at the Haisla Bridge which had quite a few fishermen along its banks.





Jarred and Aaron with the friendly bear located at the tourist info center just outside of Kitimat.

More about these bears (many found around Terrace) can be found at http://www.spiritbearsinthecity.com/

Bigger Fish to Fry!

More Pics from Prince Rupert - The Waterfront

A Trip to Prince Rupert

It is a 147 km trip to Prince Rupert from Terrace (294 km/round trip). I went there last week with my brother, David, and his son, Dakota.

Driving just about anywhere in BC is like being in a virtual postcard!

"Carved in 1974 by Dempsey Bob and Glen Wood, the pole is the fourth incarnation of this Nishga Pole. The pole shows some of the figures associated with migrations of eagle people from the north. Figures on the pole are: eagle person, two brothers and their uncle, white marten, split person, small humans, gitksan human crest and two eagles."

The Beauty of Terrace

No Guts, No Glory!

Fish eggs! When "cured" (method of preservation), eggs (also known as "roe") make awesome bait! Therefore, fishermen tend to get more excited when they catch a female fish.

David Brown, who used to be a professional meatcutter at Safeway, filleting one of our larger catches.


That is quite a contrast. A kids picnic table covered in fish blood! Makes for a perfect gutting station...

Bald Eagles

While fishing, bald eagles watch closely in the trees above. It is not uncommon for an eagle to sweep down and steal a fish which someone has caught and has left unattended.

The Bald Eagle is an enormous bird. The wings, wide and long for soaring, span more than 2 m. When perched, the bird measures about 76 cm tall.

The majestic Bald Eagle is Canada’s largest bird of prey. One of 59 species of eagles in the world, the Bald Eagle is one of two eagles in North America (the other is the Golden Eagle) and the only exclusively North American eagle. Bald Eagles can see three or four times farther than people, an obvious advantage to a bird that hunts and scavenges. Most of Canada’s breeding population of Bald Eagles is found in British Columbia, especially along the Pacific coast. (from http://www.ffdp.ca/hww2.asp?id=27&cid=7)
The eagle reminds me of my father's favorite Bible verses: Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the LORD shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

The Old and New Bridges of Terrace As Seen From Ferry Island

Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel

I have very few photos of Adam fishing because we haven't seen that much of him at the river until recently. So far he has 2 fish on his license and we are hoping to see many more...Keep up the effort, bro! (By the way, Char has 1, Mark has 3, I have 4 and Dave has 5...) I may take a few days off from fishing in order to give him a fighting chance as bar fishing is a difficult skill to master. Stay tuned for the next epidode of "Fish Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Twin :-)

You are only allowed to catch 1 adult spring salmon per day. The good thing about getting your fish early is that you are able to enjoy your coffee more while others fumble around with tackle, tangles, lines and lures.

David Getting The Job Done

David ("Set The Hook"!) Brown

Dave is winning the Brown brothers fishing competition in all fields seeing how he has the biggest fish so far (26 lbs. this season and a 56 pounder several years ago) and the most fish caught this season as well (5). You are allowed to catch up to 10 adult chinook.

Charlene Reeling in the Fish

This fish was caught on July 11th. It was less than 65 cms and is not a full adult salmon. They call this a "jack". Char caught her first "real" fish this morning (July 17th) before I arrived at the river. It was 22 pounds! Bigger than any fish her husband caught this season! Congratulations on your 1st fish on your license, Char!

Mark's 3rd Fish of the Season

13 lbs. One "fish photography tip" Mark taught me is to push the fish forward in front of the camera making your fish look all the bigger! (Like making this 13 lb fish look like 40 lbs!! ha!ha!)

Mark's 2nd Fish

10 lbs. caught on July 11th

Mark's 1st Fish of the Season

Drove down to White-Bottom Bridge with Mark on July 7th. People had been fishing there all day with no luck. After having his line in the water for less than 5 minutes, Mark landed this lovely 15 lb spring salmon!!!

Annabelle's 5th Birthday!!!

It was so nice to be able to celebrate Annabelle's birthday with her, family members and her friends down at Ferry Island campground on July 8th. Annabelle will be entering kindergarten this year!