DAY 100 First day of kindergarten · 8 days ago
Wow, I didn’t realize it was day 100 until I went to post!!
Well, I am not sure that he was quite ready for the first day, but off he went. It was truly a mixure of excitement and nervousness. He was very brave and headed off without tears. Picking him up however was a different story. There was a little confusion by the teacher about taking the bus or Mom picking him up. It was soon resolved and we headed to the beach for a little swimming in this lovely 90 degree weather.
The next morning was a little more apprehensive but off he went again with just a few tears. He returned however with big smiles and wants to go back to school tomorrow so all is well!!!
Everyone is fine here, adjusting to the move and settling in. We have gone to the pictograph cave, to Lake Elmo, to Mystic Lake, oh that was beautiful. It was a bit of a drive but gorgeous! The lake was really cold but surrounded by mountains and meadow, quite nice!!!
We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Patricia and Mike and head off to Yellowston on Tuesday. It has felt a bit strange being in one place for so long now. This weekend we are taking the boys camping by the river, wish us luck!!!!
Gabby, Cameron and Lucas it was nice to talk to you yesterday. Good luck with school next week.
Liz, nice talking to you today….things will be fine, good luck your next semester in college!!
Miss you all!!!
I will post some pics of Rachel’s new place after she gives me permission, hahaha!!!! Until then there are a couple of shots of the boys.
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DAY 89 OFF TO BILLINGS · 20 days ago
What a great ride we had from Whitehorse, Yukon to Jasper, Alberta. I think this was the most wildlife we saw in such a short time….the count
50 (about!) bison 20 elk 2 hoary marmots 8 deer 1 buck 1 bambi 2 owls 1 golden hawk 3 eagles 2 moose with 2 babies 2 caribou 2 black bear (they seriously ran across the road right in front of us!)We stayed in provincial parks the first three nights out. The first one was at Muncho Lake. It was gorgeous and certainly paying $16.00 here was better than the park up the road that wanted anywhere from $40.00 to $50.00, unbelievable!!! The gas there was just about $8.00 per gallon, what we really mean by highway robbery!!
Our second night out was right before Ft. St. John. It was again a very pretty park, but a bit on a hill, we did not unhook as we wanted to get an early start. The camper was a bit tilted, felt a little tipsy all night!! We met a nice couple from Switzerland, they have been on the road for eight months. They first toured Asia then put their car/camper on a boat and arrived in Nova Scotia. Their car was pretty neat, the tent was on top of the vehicle!! They us they bake their own bread in some special baker they have with them, not bad!! I was a bit jealous when the young lady said she had taken a trek into Brookes Range, Alaska. Her and her group were dropped off by plane and left for 12 days. They just hiked and camped. She said one day one of them caught fish and they were having it for dinner by the river and on the other side was a bear just fishing for his supper. Said she couldn’t believe she was witness to such nature!!! Her friend (husband??) said he was too scared of bears to do anything so remote. I personally would love to give it a try….anyone willing to join me???
The next morning we headed to Hudson Hope along the Peace River Valley. It was gorgeous. We had met a young man when we were on our way to Wrangell-Saint Elias who told us of a nice dam that he visited there so we decided to check it out. The drive in alone was worth it. The valley is beautiful, rolling hills, lots of farms. The town of Hudson Hope was quite nice as well. Luckily their farmers market was that afternoon, we bought some nice marinated pork ribs from one gentleman, some pickled beets and jam from a woman, some fresh cherries from an Amish girl and some fresh zuchinni from another couple. The ribs were fantastic, enough for two meals and just as inexpensive as Market Basket!!! These though were chemical free, packaged that same morning!!!
Anyhow, we then went off to see the dam. We arrived just in time for an underground tour. It was pretty amazing. This one dam alone supplies almost 30% of BC’s power. They are trying to build another one, to supplement the US, but there is much protest. I would protest too, the valley they would flood is beautiful and the farms in the area are the peoples jobs! There is one farm that was just celebrating their 90th family year in business. Leave them alone!!!!
We headed out in hopes of making it to Prince George, but alas we hit construction. The road ran right through the mountains which was lovely but slow and the construction just made it worse. We finally decided to call it quits when we came across another provincial park, $10.00 a night, not bad!!! There was only us and two other campers. The campground was situated right on a lake, beautiful!!! We had a nice quiet night!
Next morning it was off to Jasper. Elizabeth, no sooner did we hang up when a black bear went running across the road right in front of us!! Again, a very nice scenic ride. We finally made it into Jasper towards evening a luckily were able to get a sight at Whistler’s campground. This is a pretty big tourist area so the campgrounds fill up fast!
We woke to the lovely sound of rain on the camper. It was ok because we did lot of driving over the past few days so it was nice to get a bit of rest. A bit after noon we decided to take the drive to Maligne Lake. What a good decision, it was a spectacular ride. We stopped at Maligne Canyon to check it out. It was amazing! We think Maligne Canyon is probably the best we have seen yet. It really was impressive, lots of the pots that get created by the water and rocks swirling around. We did a short, but steep hike and then headed out.
Our next stop was Medicine Lake. Really pretty and a nice stop for a quick picnic lunch( in the car it started to rain again.) Then it was off to Maligne Lake. This portion of the drive was beautiful. The mountains here were shear cliffs, quite impressive. We reached the lake and took a brief walk down to the water. Hans had spotted another canyon on the way in so we wanted to check it out on the way back. It was really awesome. We parked on the side of the road and walked on down. We were actually able walk right into the gorge, be sure to take a look at the pictures! It was so peaceful down there. The sound of the water was all we could hear.
We decided to make another stop at what was called bridge 6. There is a really nice trail we could have taken for the day but unfortunately didn’t realize it until it was too late. After seeing the view from bridge 6 we decided to back track to bridge 5. It was a suspension bridge, note brave Karen is on the bridge. I do believe some of my fears have been conquered on this trip (although this bridge was not very high) Hans met a German fellow, he lived not far from the Black Forest. They chatted a while and then we headed off for a small walk near the river.
The weather took a very quick turn. The sun began to disappear, the wind picked up and the rain came down. We were just back in the truck and ready to leave when the German fellow was knocking on our window. He was requesting a ride back up to the start of the canyon to get his motor home. He had 4 other people with him but we could only had room for one. So, we took him back for his vehicle and to reward us he gave us a bottle of his homemade kirsch-wasser. Eat your heart out Danny!!!!!!! See, no good deed goes unpunished, unless of course you drink too much at one time!!!
All in all a great day. Tomorrow we are off to Banff, plan to hit the hot springs again!!! We still don’t have internet access but I am jotting this all down in word so I can place a really, really long one on the website!
Bye- Bye for now.
Unfortunately the ride to Banff was quite rainy. It was interesting to see the difference from earlier in the summer to now. At the Columbia ice fields especially there was quite a change. It looked like a different place, the bright snow was gone which gave a completely different look to the glacier! There was a gorgeous rainbow when we arrived but I was not able to catch it with the camera!! As the rain continued we decided to bypass Banff and just continue toward Montana. Perhaps secretly we are both action to get to Billings and see Rachel and Family!!!!
Eventually we came to Calgary. Now I have to admit I started to feel a bit cranky. The city was huge, too many cars and too many people. I guess Alaska was looking real good again!!!! We did get to see Olympic Park as we drove by but neither of us had a desire to stop in the city! It was strange during the drive to see such flat land, we were really starting to miss the mountains.
We looked up some possible campgrounds to stay for the night and ended up in a small town in Alberta called Stavely. There was a very small park in the center of their town. We set up and then decided to go see if there was really a town at all. It was situated off the highway and surrounded by huge ranches and rolling fields. After a small walk we came to “main street”. Looked like a small wild west town but with a lot of closed up businesses. There was a small café so we stopped in for dinner. It was very good!!! On our walk back we met a woman walking (she was on a heart monitor so we had to go slow, she told us if we went to fast she would start beeping!!) Hans asked what people do in this town, she said she retired there. She was from Calgary and Stavely was much less expensive to live in. She said there was a small senior center that had activities every day so she seemed quite content to be there!! Stavely’s claim to fame was the annual indoor rodeo. She says that the place is pretty busy at that time.
The next morning it was off again. We thought maybe we could make it as far as Great Falls but actually did better and made it to Helena The ride between these two cities was beautiful. The drive led us through an amazing canyon with the lazy Missouri river flowing through. We felt good to be back in rolling hills with some distant mountains peering at us in the background!
We were able to get a nice sight at a campground in Helena. We are on the outskirt of the city. It is situated in a valley surrounded by rolling hills. Very nice for a state capital. I don’t think they even have any skyscrapers!
Today we are off to Billings. We are up nice and early so yes, I guess we are looking forward to seeing the kids!!! Rachel is not going to tell them we arrive today so it should be fun to see their faces!!!
Wildlife between Jasper and Helena:
5 elk
2 deer
1 antelope
1 fox
2 owls
If you don’t here from us very much in the next couple of weeks, don’t worry, we are probable too busy playing with the grandkids!!! Otherwise, we will look forward to the end of the month and our visit to Yellowstone with Patricia and Mike.!!!
Happy 35th Birthday to Danny (Aug 14)
Happy birthday to Graham (Aug 12)
Jesse, glad you caught up!!! You mean to tell me you haven’t found that rich Dr. yet, lets get going!!!!!
Miss you all!!!
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DAY 82 LEAVING ALASKA · 27 days ago
Did you think we got lost???? In Haines the internet is very expensive to use so of course we opted not to use it at all….we are fine and now I will attempt to catch up!!!!!!!!!
We headed out of Valdez with no real plans…after a tossing around our ideas we decided that we would really like to see a bit of Wrangell-St Elias National Park. This is not typical of most of the parks. There is only one road going in and visitors are left up to their own devices, no group tours here. Sounded good to us!
We drove through the small town of Chitina and proceeded into the park area. The very beginning was a bit scary for me. The road was just carved through the rocks, very narrow. I quickly grabbed my milepost book to see about campgrounds as this was not looking promising. We decided to go back and stay at the campground right off the road, seemed a bit safer than attempting the unknown. We settled in and off we went.
Now, I had read through the milepost book earlier in the day about the availability of diesel around here. The book very clearly informed us that we must get the fuel at a certain place about 30 miles back from where we were staying. Of course we drove right by forgetting that little fact. So, with about three quarters of a tank we attempted to plan just how far we could go into the park. We thought we could make the trip in and out of Wrangell (60 miles one way) but we would not have enough to get back to the station for more diesel….hmmm!!! We stopped by a certain place ( cannot mention where as we do not want to get these girls fired!!!) and spoke with a couple of very nice young girls. We told them our diesel woes and then I decided to ask if they would consider getting diesel in our spare cans on their way out and bring it to us in the morning on their way in?? I offered to pay them for their troubles but they are not allowed to accept “bribes”, but did offer to do the kind deed anyhow. We left them with our two diesel cans and cash and off we went.We drove back into the park area. There were a lot of people along the river fishing for salmon. In this area they use fish wheels which scoop the fish up and dump them into a holding tank. The people then go out in a boat and empty the tanks, bring the fish on shore and very quickly get them all cleaned and filleted. There is a picture of one young man eating fish eggs straight from the belly of the fish!! Very gross but he seemed to take great pleasure in grossing us out.!!!
In the morning I baked some cookies for the two girls and we prepared for our day in the park. The girls had our diesel ready , we left our most sincere thanks, and the cookies, and off we went. This park is beautiful. There are some really large mountains, lots of thick spruce trees and we were blessed with another clear, sunny day. The contrast of the blue sky, dark spruce and white capped mountains is amazing. We wanted to take a small hike so we chose one that was about a mile one way that would take us to a lake. This was not the best forged trail but we managed to make it down to this beautifully quiet lake and were treated to a single loon who had the lake to herself. It was very, very quiet, no sounds but the loon and the bugs and birds making their own music. Now, because the trail was , well, really not a trail, we did take a compass reading on the way in. Good thing because coming back was even more confusing. But, thanks to our trail guide Hans, we made it back to the truck with no problem!!!
We continued along the ride and came across a pair of trumpeter swans lazing in a small pond, they really are quite lovely. The road we were driving on, Mcarthy Road, was at one time the railway that led into Kennicott Mine, a copper mine. They simply made a road over all the old rails. There were spots where the rail showed through or we would simply bump along over the wooden parts of the track. Eventually we came to the part of this trip that had us both a bit concerned. They used the old trestle over a very steep gorge passable for vehicles. Now the picture looked as though you just drove across this thing with no barriers on the sides. We both decided that if that was the case we were going to turn around right there!! To our delight there were nice guardrails on both sides so over we went. It was not bad as only one auto at a time could go so no fear of having to maneuver around another vehicle.
It was truly a wonderful drive. The park is 13.2 million acres of peace and quiet. It has been pretty much left in its natural state and it does not seem to have a huge amount of tourists driving in, partly because the road is 60 miles of dirt and bumps, one way, but trust us, it is worth the drive. At one point the road came to an end and we had to walk across a foot bridge, Unfortunately this is where the “commercialism” comes into play. On the other side of the footbridge there are small vans waiting (for a fee) to drive you the last five miles into Kennicott Mines. Hans asked what the auto bridge was for a bit down the river and why couldn’t we just drive over that??? The answer was that it was a private bridge???? Anyhow, we of course wanted to see the mine so off we went.
There is a rather large glacier near the mine which was a little different from the rest we had seen. Perhaps just a different perspective as we were looking down at part of it. The bottom of the glacier was a mass of peaks that were covered with silt that deposited as the glacier flowed south. It was interesting to see it from that vantage point.
We walked around the mine, Hans inquired about taking the tour but we did not have enough time to do it. Oh, I forgot. There was another bridge on the Mcarthy Road that we had to go over. Apparently a couple of days before we arrived a truck too large tried to pass through and broke a beam that goes across the top of the bridge. The bridge was actually closed but reopened the day we went! Unfortunately they would only leave it open from 7am to 7pm. Hence the reason we did not have time for the mine tour.
While we were waiting for the van to take us back to the foot bridge a lady recognized us from the campground. They were visiting here from Australia. Very nice people. We got to chit-chatting, the woman really wanted to see bears. I suggested she come to our camper that evening and I would show her the video I took of the bears in Valdez so she could get a better idea of what she might be able to see. She was thrilled and was now really looking forward to her stop in Valdez.
The next morning it was off again. This was a sad day as we knew we were leaving Alaska. We had another nice clear day and chose an especially nice area to stop and have our lunch. It only seemed fitting to see water, spruce trees andmountains as we were about to exit this magnificent state!! The further we drove the more we realized we weren’t quite ready to go!! So the decision was made to drive down to Haines. We calculated our days and felt that there would be enough time for this and still make it to Montana in time for our trip with Patricia & Mike!!! Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The drive from Mcarthy took us to Tok and then to Haines Junction by way of the Alaska Highway. The section from Tok to Haines Junction was the absolute worst stretch of road so far. The permafrost creates the worst potholes and dips for about 150 miles….poor Hans, there wasn’t even time to sightsee he had to be so careful. I looked out the window at one point and noticed the rear tire on the camper was looking a little soft. We decided to check it our at the next rest stop. Sure enough we had a flat. After a bit of work we were able to get it changed and on our way. We had the tire repaired at the next stop and are all equipped again.
We woke the next morning to another bright sunny day and were excited about our trip into Haines. Truly, this place just gets more beautiful everywhere we go. The drive into Haines was gorgeous!! Some of the mountains were still covered in a very thick blanket of snow and glaciers were everywhere. We arrived at the campground we thought we might like to stay and it was gorgeous. Fortunately they had space for a few days.
As we were checking in we heard familiar voices, Laurie and Brian, a couple we met in Denali were at the same campground. We also met up with them in Valdez and did some bear watching together. We ended up spending quite a bit of time together in Haines and had a really good time. Laurie said we had to stay as long as them because we kept getting all the nice weather. Apparently their ride into Haines was nothing but rain and fog!!! So, as luck would have it we had some really, really nice weather while we were there. We drove back up the Haines Highway with them one day just so they could see what they missed.
The campground in Haines was awesome. Right on the ocean, not too big. The campers were pretty snug but the scenery and the people were so great it didn’t matter. The campground hosted two crabfest while we were there. They provided and cooked Dungeness crabs and the rest of us supplied pot luck. It was fun and soooo delicious.
While we were in Haines we met Wendy’s (our neighbor in Mason) brother Scott. When he turned around we knew we had the right guy, he could have been Wendy’s twin. Just as friendly too. Unfortunately we played some phone tag and never got to meet up again but it was nice seeing him even if for a short time!!!
We saw more bears, this time a younger mother grizzly with two cubs, new this year. There was a river near the state park where there were salmon running so the bears come down often to feed. Laurie and Brian went out one night and actually heard a couple of bears fighting in the woods, they said it was an incredible sound. Our theory is that one bear got too close to the cubs and Mama did not like it!!!
While in Haines we a had a nice group fire one night. There was a couple from Yukon camping and the wife’s sister was with them from Ontario. They were the nicest people and so funny!!! We had a really good time. Laurie and I visited with the sisters again the following day. It has been so nice getting to know new people…..and let’s face it, we are all on vacation and having fun so we are showing our best sides…..can it get any better!!!!
We didn’t do too much in Haines other than relax. We did go to the, for lack of remembering the name, a kind of rescue place for eagles and other birds. They did a live talk about owls and they had two owls that had been injured. It was really interesting and fun to listen and to watch the owls.
Our last night we took a walk around town and then went to the local hotel for dessert. The bartender was a young man from Gloucster, Mass. We told him that Dan & Nome would be living there next year. As the conversation went on he also spent some time in college at Humboldt State and lived in McKinleyville Calif where Eric and Dawn live. He was getting quite a chuckle out of all the coincidences!!! Nice kid, says he likes Haines but one winter was enough. He spent last winter in a cabin with no water and a wood stove, this summer he is a raft guide by day and a bartender at night. Says he is going home to spend some time with family and then go somewhere where he can actually swim in the water!!!!
Oh my, I can’t believe I almost forgot this, good thing I was writing some notes. We were actually able to glimpse the Northern Lights. It is a bit early but I guess the sun has been having some storms so we were able to witness the lights. Now granted, it wasn’t great but hey, we didn’t think we would get to see them at all. The light would start in one spot and then gradually spread to other areas. Mostly we saw just white but the occasional bouts of green. The only way I could describe it was kind of like you were watching the sky make music, the lights just sort of dancing in the sky. I was the die hard, staying up till 2am after everyone else had got to bed. Limited though it was it was still spectacular!!!!
All in all Alaska has been a great time, if possible, it is safe to say we would both love to return some day. It is a magical place and mother nature rules!!
So, although we have left Alaska behind our journey continues. We are now in the Yukon, headed back to Montana by way of the Canadian Rockies. We will have no trouble doing that drive again. After a visit with Rachel and family at their new place in Montana we will gather Patricia and Mike from the airport and visit Glacier and Yellowstone. We are really looking forward to seeing it all through their eyes!!!
Internet may be sporadic from here on in as we plan to stay mostly in the provincial parks, they don’t have electric but their parks are beautiful. So, no worries, we are fine and loving life. Thanks for sharing Alaska with us and continue along with the next part of our journey!!!! Check out the new pictures.
Love to you all.
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DAY 72 VALDEZ · 37 days ago
I loved this photo from Prince William Sound!!
The bears were in rare form the next time we ventured over to Allison Point. This time they made it over to the harbor side. Apparently before we arrived the Mama crossed the road, someone shouted bear, the fisherman dropped their poles and scattered. Mama safely ventured out to the shore with her three cubs. One of the cubs enjoyed a nice salmon fillet from someone’s cooler along the way.What a sight. We were able to watch them play around and eat their fill of salmon for quite some time. The cubs are two years old now. I guess this family has become quite a regular to the area, lucky for us. After a bit the family headed off to the tall grass where you could see the occasional head of the cubs stick up during their play, it was awesome! This fullfills another wish on our list of things to see!!
We decided to take another cruise so that we could see Prince William Sound. Now we both felt that although the sight of the ice floats was absolutely amazing this particular cruise was not going to make our list of the top ten!! Narration is ok but SOME quiet along the way would have been nice. We were so wanting to hear the ice noises, which are incredible, amidst the silence, but, the narrator droned on and on and on and on……………there was also one of those groups of people on board who felt there was no need to share their warm seats at ANY time to those of us who preferred to spend most of our time out on the deck. This did however allow us to meet a very nice couple who were also feeling a little put out. They will be celebrating their 53 wedding anniversary next week, bless them!!!
The ice floats were truly amazing, the colors, the size and the amount of them was quite staggering. Surrounded by them the outside temperature dropped to 33 degrees while the water was a warm 36!!
To our delight there were sealions lounging on the floats along with a very large group lazing on shore. The puffins were resting in the cliffs, I am finding it is very difficult to get a good shot of them! The whales were quiet although we did get to briefly see a mother with her young, they surfaced a couple of times but were not being overyly playful. The sea otters as always put on a nice show. It’s so fun to watch them eat. They just put the fish on their stomachs and lazily float around on their backs and eat!! Those guys are sooo cute. All in all the trip was well worth it just to be in the midst of the beauty of all the ice floats!!We leave Valdez today with no definite plans…..be sure to check out the new pics!!
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DAY 70 NINILCHIK TO VALDEZ · 38 days ago
Let’s share some of the heat….we have been a damp 52 degrees with quite a bit of rain and fog!!!
We left Ninilchik on that bright sunny morning headed for a return to Crow Creek Mine.
Before we reached our destination for the day we took a side trip out to Portage Glacier. This glacier is situated on a lake, the lake of course being created by the glacier. The boat took us out and back in an hour. It was quite lovely. There is a picutre of an arch that was formed at the bottom of the glacier, don’t think it is going to last much longer though.
On one stretch of the road there was a beautiful meadow that we could not resist walking through. The flowers and the backdrop of mountains was lovely. We reached our destination of Crow Creek Mine. Remember, we made it there on the trip down and loved it so much we returned. The new generator will allow us to stay in more of these isolated campgrounds. It really is a magical place. There is a small area where the buildings from the old mining days have been preserved. It was beautiful to walk through. We met a nice young lady who was doing the grounds work. She comes in one day a week to keep the place looking lovely. She also told us that she volunteered at the local children’s park to spruce the place up. She really enjoyed working with the kids although the planting was so “plenitful” and packed in she is not sure how much will actually grow properly. She learned real fast that a group of three year olds cannot be reined in with a packet of seeds!!! She was pleased with the outcome of their flower beds though, proud volunteer. Good for her.
After you wander through the old mine “town” they allow you to go to the creek and do some mining of your own. Hans was content this time to watch the others. They do quite a brisk business there most days, guess the fever still runs high. I helped with one scary moment while we were there. Some guy lost track of his son who was maybe four. He was calling and looking a bit panicked. I told him that I thought I saw him with a woman walking up the hill. Dad’s eyes were just on the fast running water of the creek, at one point it was going pretty good. I went off in one direction and he in another. I saw a girl on the trail back, she also said she saw the boy with a woman. Eventuallly the father and I arrived back at the start of the trail and sure enough there he was with the woman, I guess an aunt. She received a very stern lecture from Dad about the dangers of being out there, not only of the water but of the wildlife, and why wouldn’t she tell him she was taking the boy? I took my quiet exit back to the creek! He did find me later to say thanks, my response being just happy that the boy was ok. A little while later the boy comes running down the hill, the aunt lagging way behind…..some people just don’t get it!!!
While were camping at Crow Creek we made some new friends. The first two were the dogs that live up there. They would just come over and lay down like they owned us! We also met a nice family from Switzerland. They had two young girls who made the best campers. They were very content to play with whatever they could find outside. They were so busy building homes of sticks, rocks, ferns and whatever else they could gather. Imagination is a great thing. The parents had spent three weeks camping and fishing up on the Brooks Range..(I was jealous, maybe next time we can go north!) Then the kids arrived with their grandparent, who promptly left on a cruise. The kids and their parents had just been cruising around Alaska for two weeks. They really were having a great time….the mom was sad that they had to go home in a couple of days. They shared a nice glass of wine with us and we had a really good visit.
While in the town of Girdwood, where the mine is, we decided to go back to the restaurant of the infamous cinnamon roll and try breakfast. They had this “plate of potatoes” that really looked good. It was amazing. Potatoes, onions, spinach, mushrooms, zuchinni, roasted tomatoes all fried together and topped with this amazing cheese. It really was enough for four people so we brought it “home” and had it with lunch. Yum. We got to talking with a couple as we left and then told us of a nice trail that we could take to Virgin Falls. It was a really nice hike, again there is so much moisture here the moss is just beautiful. The falls were very pretty. We met a couple of nice young men along the way. I think the young people think that us “older” folks are cool for abandoning our “materialistic” life and hitting the road, kind of cute sometimes! Of course they haven’t seen our camper yet! Anyhow, we talked about how great we think Girdwood is. One of the boys let us in on the secret of Girdwood, that it is the pot capital of Alaska….explains why everyone is so friendly and relaxed. No worries, we love it here!
We then ventured off to see the great Alyeska resort. Quite an amazing place. The ski mountain is beautiful Apparently there can be an average of 600 inches of snow a year to as much as 1000 inches at time. I think that it would be fun to spend ONE winter just for the experience. On leaving the resort Hans spotted movement out in the meadow and sure enought there was a Mama bear and three cubs. We watched for a bit and then a couple from Tasmania stopped to watch. She was very excited. She is actually going to take a flight from Seward to watch the bears from above!! We told them about Crow Creek Mine as well and later in the day we did see them again up there and talked for a bit more. They travel every year to the US to sightsee. They have a motorhome that they store on the west coast. She said that people at home have a wrong impression of us americans, she thinks we are lovely. Good on her!!!!!
After a lazy day around the fire we decided that we would take the hike the following day. It was amazing…you won’t believe what we did. After hiking in about a mile there is a hand tram that you must get in and pull yourself across the gorge with the river flowing underneath. Now, although there is not a picture of me doing it, I did. I had the camera around my neck though so Hans could not take a photo. I was a bit afraid but it was fun. Hans enjoyed the whole adventure. (well, maybe not so much having to help pull all the other hikers over) Of course unless you want to make it a 7+ mile hike you must go back across the tram again. I had to do it ASAP so I wouldn’t chicken out!! We did it!!!! We met a nice young man there as well. He recognized my “accent” as being from New Hampshire, do we have an accent??? Anyhow, he was from western Mass. and has an uncle in Peterborough…makes me laugh how many people we have run into already familar with the area!! He was packing his skis and heading up for the snow!!!
The same afternoon Hans convinced me to take the big tram up to the top of Alyeska….no problem….it was gorgeous up there. I really think that anyone who skis there is very brave, it is a very steep mountain! The sights were beautiful and it was nice to see approximately where we were camping wedged in between those mountains.
We had yet to venture on the campground road past the entrance to the campground so this seemed like a good time. Our thought was that it was just a quick ride around the corner with a turnaround, then back. Huh!!! It was quite a bit in and at times very narrow and curvy. At one point a truck coming up almost smacked us going down…I had to hide my head while Hans maneuvered around him, one of my most admirable moments, haha. The ride to the end was awesome. To our surprise there were actually people living way up there. Hans says it reminded him of hippie hollow in Greenville. I wonder if those people live there year round. The road past the campground is not maintained in the winter so if they stay there they must rely on snow machines and generators as there is no power from the bottom of crow creek road! Brave souls. The view at the end was spectacular. Made us feel really small to be in amongst the mountains. A beautiful river was flowing through the area as well.
We treated ourselves to dinner on our last evening. There was a restaurant at the bottom of the road that was said to have the best steaks in Alaska. I decided that is what I wanted to order. To my dismay thought the steaks all averaged 16-20 ounces, way more than we would ever eat at one meal….decision was made to share and Hans also order a shrimp and chicken gumbo. The steak was amazing, no false advertising there!!! Outside the restaurant was a very nice garden, within the garden were some pottery mushrooms, I think they were beautiful!!!
Off to our next adventure heading to Valdez. The scenery along the Seward highway is beautiful. The area referred to as Turnagain arm is fantastic. When the tide is out there are some amazing mud flats! We reached the Glen Highway not quite sure how far we would get. This stretch of road was rather rough, some pretty good potholes and dips. The scenery made up for it though. Pretty stretch. We stopped at one stretch to take a small hike and view a glacier. There was a river down below where we witnessed a rafting group that did not quite make it. The raft was pushed against the side of a bridge support. Everyone looked safe though. A man was down below tying a rope to the raft and they were eventually able to pull the raft out. A bit further up the road we decided to go to Glacier Park. Apparently you could camp overnight and then take a hike to the glacier. The road down was a bit scary, very steep, narrow and the lovely curves in the road. There was also a very narrow, rather scary looking bridge. If I had not already seen some large motor homes down below I would have freaked out, but all was well. Except the price. They wanted $15.00 to camp plus we would have to pay the entrance fee of $20.00 EACH to walk to the glacier. Needless to say we left. And we were happy because right down the road was a very beautiful spot called Sheep Mountain. They had lovely cottages and a I think like 5 campsites. It was all surrounded by beautiful mountains. All perfect although it was very windy and cold!! Hans ventured up to the lodge to use the internet while I finshed up dinner and details and wandered up after him. He was sitting at a large table with a family of six while they were having their dinner. They were from Austin, Texas traveling around Alaska with their four teenage kids. Very nice family. I was wondering why Hans was sitting with them but he said he was there first and he offered to leave but they said stay put, they would just join him…..everyone is in such good spirits when they travel! In the moring we took a short walk up into meadows along one of the trails, it was so beautiful.We paid our highest price for diesel along the Glen highway that morning,$4.80 per gallon, ouch!
As we approached the end of the Glen Highway nearing the turn for Richardson Highway to Valdez we began to see one of the mountain ranges within Wrangell-Elias National Park. We decided to stop in at the visitor center and see what this park is all about. We were able to view a short film on the park and if the weather cooperates we may make a stop and drive the Mcarthy road into Wrangell on the way back out from Valdez. It looked lovely!!
The drive into Valdez was incredible. There are a tremedous amout of waterfalls, all amazing. There is a lot of climbing up and down the hills, one pass that was very foggy and rainy but still quite beautiful. We came across another glacier that we had to see, the Worthington Glacier. We were able to walk to this one, to Hans delight we got our first real close-up of a glacier. Be sure and check out the photo. This walk to the glacier was FREE, so were very glad we did not cave in to the other park!!!!!!
The first sights of Vadez were incredible. The mountains were shrouded in layers of fog. That eery, mysterious beautiful fog lying above the water in the harbor and covering the mountains surrounding the harbor. Sort of a cross between beautiful and a Stephen King movie!!!! When we arrived at our campsite our host told us that a Mama grizzly and her three cubs have been coming out to feed about 8:30 every night. No need to tell us twice. We headed out, drizzle, fog and all to witness this sight. Sure enough, there they were, along with a rather large amount of people. After viewing them for a bit we headed up to the hatchery area to witness the salmon run. Unbelievable. These salmon were all raised in this hatchery so they are returning to spawn. The fisherman and woman were delighted! We were amazed by the scenery. What a nice harbor. There were a million gulls eating their fill, probably 20-30 sealions lounging around barking, lots of sea otters being their playful selves, and eagles sitting up in the trees just observing the situation!! The noise from the gulls was incredible, but I loved every minute!!! After enough viewing of the salmon we headed back. The bulk of the bear watchers had left so we pulled over for another look. To our delight out they came again. The cubs were being quite playful, even the mother was quite relaxed, so much so that at one point she stopped to nurse one of her cubs. We feel so priveleged to have witnessed this!!(luckily I had my camera rolling!) We pretty much lazed around the next morning, did some laundry and prayed for the rain to stop. No luck!!! We went out and bought some King Crab to enjoy later in the evening. Then we ventured back down to the harbor, rain and all. I decided it would be fun to make a video just standing down amongst the chaos of the gulls with the sealions in the back along with the fisherpeople along the shore. It was a fun result. No bears tonight, they probably didn’t like the rain either.
We returned home and enjoyed our King Crab…..what a treat!!!!
It rained quite heavy during the night and is still quite drizzly this morning. If you weren’t aware of the surrounding mountains you could probably visit here and never realize what you were missing in the fog!!! We are off to the local museum to spend part of this rainy day. They say that it is such a nice museum that the Smithsonian had actually offered to purchase, no such luck though!!!
Guess we are all caught up now!!! Happy Reading….
Liz, so great you are following along, hi to Garth and Devin!!!
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DAY 64 MAGNIFICENT!! · 45 days ago
God is here…..after three rather dismal days here on the bluff we were treated to the most amazing sunset….just as we were getting ready for bed. All of a sudden there was a glow in the camper and we knew the sun was there! Out we ran with the camera and what a treat. Although the pictures are good trust me, it does not capture the spectacular scene that we were able to witnesss. This photo was taken about 10:45 PM, the temperature was about 51 degrees. Each day we fall more and more in love with it up here.
This morning is glorious as well. The sun is shining and we were able to get full views of Mt. Redoubt and Mt. Iliamna. These are all active volcanos in this area. Mt. Redoubt had a small eruption last year. If you notice the morning view of Redoubt you will see a plume of steam at the top.
I wish I was brilliant at expressing how great the beauty is here in Alaska…I hope at least some of that is trickling through to you….I find it so hard to capture all that I see and feel, but believe me, I am so very thankful that Hans wanted so badly to take this trip, it is for me the best trip we have ever taken!!! Maybe the length of the stay helps because we get to interact more, never have to feel rushed….
Yesterday we drove into the town of Soldotna…Hans watched the people fishing from the fishwalks…this was a little bit more humane. They used poles and would just let a small amount of line out, then just pull it in and throw out again. Similar to fly fishing but with a short line and sidewards throw. There was a woman who was pulling the salmon in like crazy. The fish don’t actually bite, they just get snagged on the hook. You must hook the fish in front of the eye to actually be able to keep it. She says that it can take catching up to 20 to 30 fish before you can keep one. Here the fish must be cleaned at the cleaning areas and no leaving carcasses lying around! The limit for the day is three.
I visited the Homestead Museum. Around 1946 the government offered 160 acres of land to anyone who was willing to come and stay for a year. There is a woman still living the Soldotna today who was the first homesteader with a family! They had a tremendous amount of artifacts from the area….I was the only visitor so had quite a personal tour!
We are going to be back in Girdwood for the next couple of days if the weather holds out ok….no electrics so we will catch up with you when we get back to civilization.
This has been the best campground….Scenic RV in Ninilchik….the scenery, when the sun shines, is fantastic. What really makes the campground great though are the hosts here. So friendly and helpful. Seriously, how often do you get presented warm, fresh, smoked salmon upon arrival?? And “Bawb” was out snapping photos of the sunset just as excited as we were!
Thanks to all the nice compliments in the last few days!!!!! Jessica, I bought the camera at Wal Mart, it is a Nikon Coolpix L110….it has taken very nice photos. But, the longer we are here the more I begin to realize the value of a high quality digital camera ….I can dream, hahaha!!!!
Patricia, are you going to share your good news??????????????
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DAY 63 ONE MORE THING · 45 days ago
I forgot to mention something…the Russian Orthodox priest that is in the picture, well believe it or not he was born in Claremont New Hampshire!
It is 8:30 am, no sun yet….maybe later??
DAY 62 NINILCHIK · 46 days ago
Hard to believe that we have been away for two months!! It is even more incredible that so much of what we see continues to amaze us.
The drive from Seward to Ninilchik was great. The morning was quite drizzly and foggy in Seward, a bit on the cool side. By the time we reached the Cooper Landing area the sun was shining and a wonderful blue sky appeared, it was also much warmer. We stopped along the way to admire some fisherman just floating on down the lovely blue river…I believe it was the Kenai River. On we rolled, by the time we reached our campground the rain and fog returned with a temperature drop of 13 degrees. The campground is awesome though, right on the Cook Inlet we are on a bluff overlooking the water….we cannot see the mountain range for the fog. Our hosts here are such nice people. Once we decided on a site he promptly ran out to his smoker to give us a fresh sample of smoked salmon! Everyone is instructed how to park so that noones view of the inlet is blocked, very thoughtful! We have seen quite a few eagles soaring along the bluffs here, they seem to catch the wind just right.
Ninilchik was a small Russian village. Unfortunately for the natives when the Russians arrived they brought their diseases with them so there are very few natives left. The old town sits right on the Cook Inlet and there are quite a few fishing vessels that go out from there. Check out the picture of the marina, they must have a really good coordinator to get all those boats out…and you better know your tides, it was pretty low while we were there. Some boats were barely in the water. There was a nice Russian church and cemetary, beautiful location on the bluff.
Yesterday we decided to go check out the town of Homer. It is situated at the end of the Kenai Peninsula. The very end is referred to as the “spit”. The weather in Homer was a bit clearer than what we had in Ninilchik in the morning! We were able to get some views of the mountain range. These are volcanic ranges here, Mt Redoubt is still steaming a bit! Homer spit was quite nice. Lots of little shops, lots of fish charters. We walked down to the marina where some fisherman were cleaning their catch. At least one guy will start talking every time we do this. This time the gentleman asked where we were from and then told us he was from East Gloucester. Nome, he knew exactly where your Grandmothers book store was!!! Small world filled with nice people! We decided Homer would be a nice place to have some “fishy” lunch, can’t imagine that it will get any fresher….I had the most delicious salmon poached in a sage/pesto cream sauce served over pasta,mmm….Hans had his famous halibut sandwich, he’s really starting to enjoy it!!
Oh, almost forgot….luckily on the way to Homer Hans needed a “rest” stop so we pulled into a visitor center. It was a wildlife refuge center and it was awesome. They had some great history of the area and the preservation of the Aleutian Islands…showed the work that they have done and continue to do to preserve the birds and other wildlife that thrive there. We were able to view a really good film as well, the scenery was wonderful and you wouldn’t believe the number of birds that arrive there for the summer months. Incredible…..I also found the documentary I was looking for in their book store on my newest hero, Mardy Murie!!! So, all in all it was a wonderful stop to use the bathroom!
Today we decided to drive north a bit and see what this dip netting salmon fishing is all about. You wouldn’t believe it, they stand at the mouth of the Kenai river with these huge nets and just hold them there till the fish swim in. Apparently the fish can’t see the net. Now think about this, this fish was hatched in this particular river, goes out to the big wide ocean for about 4-5 years, knows exactly which river to go back to to spawn, but before he can get there some guy standing in the water, just out of luck, catches him in a net….just seems wrong don’t you think? Only Alaskan residents are allowed to dip net, each person is allowed 45 fish maximum. There are very strict rules and paperwork you have to fill out. I guess the fine is pretty hefty if you get caught breaking the rules. However, I think more should be done as far as regulating. Look at the pictures and see how many people are standing in the mouth of this one river…and then the fish carcasses on the beach…ugh….I was tripping over fish heads! I love my salmon but I am not sure that this is quite the right approach to fishing!
Our campground host offered us a nice fillet, (half a salmon) that he was just cleaning when returned from our day out, so of course we did buy it. Very reasonable, very fresh….I hope he used a pole :)!
We are hoping the sun shines tomorrow so we can set off for a new adventure. Thanks for following along!
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DAY 59 LAST DAY IN SEWARD · 49 days ago
The sun was shining so off we went for a hike. The Lowell Point State Park had a nice hike that took us through the woods to the delta. The trail was a bit rocky in sections, we think that it is a runoff for the spring waters. It was quite a moist area so there was lots of green moss and mushrooms. Be sure to take a look at the pictures.
Now the sign said that the trail was a mile but in the end we did our longest hike yet, 6.47 miles round trip. It was well worth it though. We saw a salmon in the river and the delta area was fantastic. It is so beautiful to see the ocean and the mountains meet, I love it!!
I just finished reading a book by Margaret Murie, tells of her life visiting the far north of Alaska, awesome reading for anyone who wants to borrow it when I get back. Anyhow, she describes this one spot she discovered as giving her the feeling of being in a fairy land. We felt like that at one point today. There was an area with a tremendous amount of moss covering everything, including the trees. Lots of lush green underbrush, we were surrounded by beauty. The only sound was the singing of the birds, trickling streams and the distant sound of the ocean. Quite mesmerizing!!
We both thought after climbing “down” a portion of the trail that it was going to be tough going back up. But, we did good, it was not nearly as far as we thought.
Overall it was a great hike. When we got back to the trailhead we drove over to a small beach where there were quite a few people fishing. This is where I was able to get this picture of the eagle. After a bit of quiet sitting we drove over to Miller’s Landing. We really liked it there. It had a campground and they did fishing charters. You can sit on the back porch of the campground office and just watch all the activity. A woman told us that as she was watching yesterday a seagull swooped down and stole a filet while the guys were cleaning….the gull dropped it on the ground near her camper and a few seconds later an eagle swooped in and stole the filet from the gull. Too funny!!
I had some really nice pics of Miller’s Landing but somehow they are gone…hmmm..perhaps I deleted from my camera before I downloaded to the computer….dah!!!!!
Tomorrow we head off to the other side of Kenai Peninsula to a small town called Ninilchik. A gentleman here told us of a nice campground there so we are going to check it out. He says they are the friendliest people, they do clamming and have a group fire pit area where they steam up the clams for everyone. Hans is planning to go fishing for halibut over there so keep your fingers crossed. I personally wouldn’t mind a salmon or two!!
Jessica, good luck with your computer shopping!! I am going to email Dennis Avery and just see if he thinks he could get your pics back, you never know….
Bye, bye for now!!
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DAY 57 EXIT GLACIER · 51 days ago
Today was a “relax” day. The sun was shining so we decided to venture back up to Exit Glacier. Part way up a ranger was trying to catch some of the ice chunks floating down the river. The monkeys decided to see how it felt to sit on glacier ice that was over 100 years old! They decided that it was very, very cold!!!
There was some very obvious changes with the glacier just in the last couple of days. The warmer weather caused some melting and in some spots the water was running down at a pretty quick rate. This glacier melts as opposed to the glacier we saw on the boat trip that shifts and breaks.
Now for news…for those of you who haven’t already heard Rachel, Jacob and the boys have decided to move back to Montana….boo hoo……….but on a serious note we really wish them well and hope that all works according to plan!! They are planning to make the move at the beginning of August. Needless to say we will be stopping in Montana again before we continue our trip to the west coast.
The next couple of days will just be resting up time and then we are off to the other side of Kenai Peninsula. Hans plans to do some fishing out of Homer , I will do some wandering around Homer and then hopefully eat fresh halibut and salmon!
Patricia & Mike, glad you are home safe and sound.
Christine, isn’t it lovely at Southwest Harbor…I absolutely love that area of Maine!!
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