Back when I started Alaska Vacation Store, I had to embark on the chore of finding vendors who were interested in working with a new tour company. One of the first that I found was Mike and Sharon Renfro, owners and operators of Renfro’s Lakeside Retreat, located on the shores of Kenai Lake about 20 miles north of Seward.

Summer view of Kenai Lake near Renfro's Lakeside Retreat

View of Kenai Lake from Renfro's Lakeside Retreat

One of the things that made Renfro’s Lakeside Retreat such a good fit for Alaska Vacation Store is that Mike and Sharon share a lot of the same beliefs about what is important when it comes to taking care of your guests. I believe that Alaska is not just another vacation destination – certainly it wasn’t for me when I first came to Alaska in 1985. Alaska was about a lifetime of dreaming and planning, and when you spend that much time thinking about a one or two week visit, your expectations are very high.

What made the difference for me when I first came to Alaska was the wonderful people that I met… and while Mike and Sharon were not among those first Alaskans I met almost twenty-five years ago, they were certainly cut from the same cloth. To be sure, Alaska is an incredibly beautiful place, but more importantly, Alaska gets into your blood, and the place changes the people.

A few years back, Mike and Sharon decided that it was time to take some time and entered into retirement, and sold their place. The new owners took over, and we continued to send guests there… But it didn’t seem the same.

This past winter, my phone rang, and it was Sharon Renfro. She was calling to tell me that retirement wasn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and that they’ve taken ownership of their cabins once again. It was definitely the best news of the winter for me – Mike and Sharon were destined to take care of their guests on the shore of the lake, and now they were getting back into it!

Renfro’s Lakeside Retreat really combines all that Alaska is about: Mike and Sharon are the quintessential Alaskan hosts, committed to making sure that you have an amazing stay with them. But combine that with the beautiful cabins on the shore of the turquoise-blue Kenai Lake, and there are few places that I’d rather send my guests.

I really missed Mike and Sharon, and I am sure that their guests did, too. So as we end March, 2009, Mike and Sharon are getting everything just-so for the next season of summer guests.

I couldn’t be more excited!

Our friendly neighborhood volcano, Mt. Redoubt, has continued to put on a spectacular show just across Cook Inlet from Kenai. For the first time since the recent eruptive episode started, there was noticeable ashfall in Anchorage.

We had a few hours of notice, so I put a sheet of notebook paper out and let the ash collect on the paper. In four hours, I collected about a teaspoon of ash on the paper. If you go to the Alaska Volcano Observatory website, they describe the proper procedure for collecting an ash sample, and I did a passable job following their directions.

Here is what I collected:

When I went to scoop the ash into the plastic bag, the air smelled strongly of sulfur. It occurred to me that just a few hours earlier, this ash had been molten rock deep inside a volcano. This ash was essentially the youngest rocks on Earth.

I think most people just take rocks for granted. If we bother to consider the age of a rock, we’re not really able to fully grasp what the age of a rock might be. Even if one has no idea of the age of a rock, the first number that pops into our mind is likely to be in the millions of years.

This volcanic ash was less than three hours old when I scooped it into the bag. And before that, it had been molten rock deep inside a volcano. This ash was ash from Hell… literally!

UPDATE: Here it is, one day later… and as you walk through the stores or around town, you can still smell the sulfur, and people are wearing masks. The snow, which just yesterday was a brilliant white, is now grey, and becoming more grey by the hour as it melts. Footprints in the snow are white inside, surrounded by the dirty grey of the ash.

The volcano is making for entertaining conversation both in the office and in online chats here in Anchorage, but while we marvel at nature, people in other areas are having to deal with some of the problems associated with the volcano.

We had an eruption this morning, and most of the low-level ash traveled south and east from the volcano, and is now falling out in the Homer area.

There is a steady stream of images and information being published online, but one of the best sources is the Alaska Volcano Observatory. On their website, they have two webcams of the volcano – here and here - and some of the other volcanoes they watch, like this one, historical information, and collections of recent photos.

Hard-core volcano watchers also know to watch the National Weather Service Radar, where you can see the radar representation of the ash plume.

I think it is just a matter of time before Anchorage gets its dose of ash. This is not a good thing, by the way. Volcanic ash is microscopic glass particles, and they’re very irritating to the eyes and lungs, they damage machines, particularly cars and airplanes, and all in all make a mess.

It is strange here today in Anchorage – the plume is overhead, and all of the airports are closed. It is rare to see a sky without airplanes in Alaska.

After weeks of unrest, Mt. Redoubt, located about 80 miles southwest of Anchorage, has erupted. For the latest information, visit the Alaska Volcano Observatory Website.

You can also see the plume in weather satellite images and on the National Weather Service Radar in Kenai .

For the latest information visit the Alaska Volcano ObservatoryWebsite or listen for official news and information from the media.