Traveling is refreshing. Especially when you are among family. It gives us the opportunity to disconnect from our regular life and get some much needed rest and relaxation. The special benefit of traveling with friends or family is that it creates memories for a lifetime. I am very fond of traveling and have enjoyed family trips the most. Alaska is on my bucket list. For now, Yellowstone will suffice: a family trip I am taking the end of August.
Three generations of Becker men boarded a plane recently for a trip they describe as “once in a lifetime”. Bill Smith and his son Brian, along with his two boys (Michael and Jake) spent several days on an Alaskan fishing excurision recently.
Brian Smith’s oldest son Michael, has been working as a deck-hand at Angling, Unlimited (a charter fishing guide business in Southeast Alaska) for the past couple summers. Michael thoroughly enjoys his position, despite the long hours - often six or seven days a week starting at 3am to have boats ready by 5am. Michael’s day usually ends around 6pm after cleaning fish in the evening. Mike was able to get a rare day off to enjoy fishing and crabbing with his brother Jake, dad (Brian) and Grandpa Bill.
He shared these thoughts with me about his time with his family: “There’s something more to fishing than just catching fish. The memories and moments made are far superior to than any fish will every be. I was entirely blessed to spend a day on the water with my family creating stories that will last forever. It was pretty nice to put the hammer down on some big Alaskan Kings! It was so wonderful to have my family come up to Sitka and show me what fishing is all about”, he said.
Michael attends UMD (Duluth) and will be a senior this fall studying to be a chiropractor. I’m envious of Michael’s summer job. It sounds much more exciting than how I bankrolled my college years - milking cows and working at the Santiago gas station to help pay tuition! Dont get me wrong - I’m grateful for my college jobs.
Since this may be Michael’s last summer working at the fishing camp in Alaska, his family decided the time was right for them to make the trip to Sitka. Sitka sounds enchanting. It’s nestled against the rugged peaks on the west side of Baranof Island in Southeast Alaska. It’s a town rich in history, blessed with abundant marine life and home to some of the best sport fishing in the North Pacific.
Bill Smith visited with me about how much he enjoyed the trip with his son and grandsons. As much as he enjoyed the scenery in Sitka - the blue-green water, deep fjords, pristine islands and wildlife, -his favorite part of the trip was the cameraderie. “Spending time with my son and grandsons was wonderful. We had so much fun together”, he said.
In addition to fishing for salmon and halibut, the group also did some crabbing. Michael had set his crab traps before his family arrived and they were able to clean and eat fresh crab. Brian said: “We climbed Harbor Mountain and did a lot of hiking.” He described the trip to Alaska as a blessing.
The men were able to bring back 150 pounds of fish to Becker. I feel like I went to Alaska with the Smiths. It’s the closest some of us will come for a few years. Thanks for the memories!
