Happy 4th of July from Anchorage

3 July - Denali to Anchorage

     We broke camp in Denali (actually Cantwell) in the rain and traveled from there to Anchorage (about 210 miles) in a pretty heavy rainy/foggy day so the photos on the way were few. We had a couple of look out opportunities to see Denali (our last chance) but the weather was so poor we could just see the road ahead of us.

     On this route we traveled through Wasilla, Alaska and as we neared there it cleared enough that we began to see through breaks in the clouds some snow capped mountains in the distance.....the Alaska Range. We needed fuel there so we also decided to stop for lunch in Wasilla at a local diner called the Mat Su diner.

Scenery near Wasilla

(from moving vehicle)

     After leaving Wasilla we only had about 30 miles left for Anchorage and we pulled into the Golden Nugget RV Park pretty tired. Ed and Kay took the remainer of the day off and Kathy and I didn't do much other than make a run to the store and a quick look around town.

4th of July Anchorage Style

     We spent the entire day celebrating the 4th of July at the downtown festivities that were a nice change for us and a great event. They had a parade at 11:00, music on two different stages beginning at noon, reading of the Declaration of independence at 1:00 and food and rides over the entire park area called Delaney Park.

Young Parade Spectator

Parade Participants

Parade

     The reading of the Declaration of Independence was at the Veterans Memorial just across the street from the park and was a quite a show. They did a flag ceremony where they demonstrated the different flags of the nation including the one where Alaska became a state and added the 49th star to the flag in 1959. After singing the national anthem they invited all the children to come up front for the reading of the Declaration where they were given flags to wave. At the conclusion of the reading they sang the Alaska state song.....I was amazed at how many folks knew and enthusiastically sang the state song. We left there feeling that Alaskans were a very proud and patriotic bunch.

Flag Ceremony

     Not exactly a health food fair but hey, it's the fourth of July! Ed and Kay had some reindeer sausage, funnel cake and ice cream while Kathy and I split a few differnt things, Thai spring rolls and chicken wings, a Greek Gyro, and a funnel cake too. We walked around the fair atmosphere and enjoyed the live entertainment at both venues.

Kids having fun

     They had a baseball game (double header) scheduled for 7:00 and 9:00 P.M. followed by some fireworks and I really wanted to go but the temp was dropping and we were all pretty tired after that day. Instead we opted for a couple cool drinks back at camp and visited for awhile before turning in. 
Happy 4th of July!

5 July - Turnagain Arm & Whittier

     Another rainy day but we were determined not to let that stop us from touring. But first, I took my truck in for an oil change and lube....all systems good. After that we struck out for a ride south from Anchorage to do some exploring without the trailers in tow. It was raining and foggy so what would have been a beautiful ride was hampered by low visibility.....but still nice.

     The route, Seward Highway, travels along the Turnagain Arm with incredible mountains on both sides of the water...at least water at high tide. Another amazing area with huge tide swings (33 feet) that leaves the bay with large areas of mud flats that come with warnings that they are like quick sand and not to walk out on them.

     Early on we saw a couple dall sheep (we think that is what they were) on a rocky mountain side....a little far away but still managed a few decent photos. We also ended up seeing a couple of eagles today but no opportunity to photograph them.

Dall Sheep

     We rode to our first stop which is the town of Girdwood and the Alyeska Resort (ski resort)...they had a tram to the top of the mountain but visibility was too poor for that to be worthwhile. The original town of Girdwood is known for dropping 8 feet during the 1964 earthquake after which time they relocated the town to the current location. Very small town.

     Next was the harbor town of Whittier....interesting to say the least and our first look at the Prince William Sound. Whittier is a town of 200 residents that all live in the same six story building. The town was built by the US Army, who have since abandoned it, and it is accessed via a 2.6 mile tunnel through a mountain. The one lane tunnel is shared by automobiles and the Alaska Railroad.

Tunnel entrance

     The harbor/docks in Whittier was a pretty scene with a lot of boats and mountains (we couldn't really see well) as a backdrop. Many folks (private boats) put in here for fishing and they also have tours departing for viewing glaciers and charter fishing. We enjoyed a salmon burger for lunch at a dockside restaurant, took a few photos in between raindrops, had a walk around town and looked through their small museum. Then back through the tunnel.

Whittier harbor

     We were all interested in what we learned about the severe tidal changes...called a bore tide. We found out that while we were out today the tide had gone out and was turning to an incoming tide as we were driving back to Anchorage. We'd read/heard that the tide was so significant that at times it looked like a 3 foot wave coming into the Turnagain Arm so we made our way to a look out point to try to witness this.....not to be, the tide did change and was swift but did not see an incoming wave.

     Back to camp to wrap up some chores to get ready for tomorrow's departure to the Kenai Peninsula.

Two Days in Denali

1 July - Fairbanks to Denali

     We departed Fairbanks around 8:30 under cloudy skies and intermittent rain. Forecast was for heavy rain all day with the same forecasted for the Denali area. As we drove out any scenery early on was under heavy cover of clouds and fog....not many pictures early. As we drove on, to our surprise, the weather showed some signs of improving.

     We couldn't get in a campground at Denali so we ended up staying in a town about 27 miles south of there called Cantwell. When we arrived, the rain was light and almost finished by the time we set up camp around 12:30'ish. After a good lunch we headed into the park at Denali with the goal of finding the location for our tour the next day and possibly taking a hike, weather permitting.

     On the way to the park we saw another cow moose on the roadside but not in time to get a photo. But, right after we made the turn to enter the park we saw two moose calves right on the side of the road and did manage to photograph them. Mother moose was not in sight but I suspect not far away.

Moose Calves

Babies entertaining us beside the road

     We found the place for our tour, got our tickets and are set for the tour. We took in a movie on the park history and learned that there was a sled dog demonstration in the park and it just so happens it was a two mile hike from the visitors center. We hit the trail at a quick pace and just made it in time for the show which was great. The ranger giving the demo was a young lady from Asheville, N.C. and she was quite good and obviously enjoyed her job.

Blue eyed Alaskan Husky sled dog

Sled dog demo in Denali

     After the walk back we decided to drive into the park as far as we could (about 15 miles in personal vehicles) because the weather had improved significantly and we thought we might have a chance to see Mount McKinley (now called Denali).....the skies were clear and it was now a beautiful day. Unfortunately that mountain makes it's own weather and it was not clear/visible. At one point we thought we were able to barely see a small part of it but never the entire mountain nor very clearly.....always tomorrow. They say that the mountain is only visible about half the days of the summer season and guests are lucky to see it.

Not Denali but surrounding scenery

     Mosquitos - We heard prior to coming to Alaska that the mosquitos could get pretty bad. We started seeing some in Fairbanks and after arriving into Denali we are now seeing many more. The good news (at least so far) is they don't seem to be biting and probably a good thing as they are pretty big. Ed says when one flies near his hearing aid it sounds like a helicopter landing.

     Back to camp around 8:00 P.M. and too tired to cook....left over left overs tonight. A good night's sleep (hopefully) and a very long busy day planned tomorrow.

2 July - Tundra Wilderness Tour

     We purchased tickets into Denali on a the Tundra Wilderness tour which takes you 60 miles into the park with a narrated guide (her name was Cindy). The tour was scheduled to last 8 hours....yes, 8 hours on a bus and our departure time was 2:00 P.M.

     With that schedule we opted to rest in the morning and eat a big lunch early before heading to the park. Ed grilled a wonderful pork tenderloin that was originally planned for the night before but we were so late and tired getting back we moved it out a day. Turned out to be a great idea....lunch was really good and we were well fed for the bus ride and long afternoon.

An interesting section of road on the tour (no guard rails)

     When we left the weather was not too bad and we hoped would clear up as the day went on like it had done the day before. That was not to be...it went from not too bad to not too good...rain and fog most of the way. The scenery during the clearer times was really spectacular however there was not a chance of seeing Denali (the mountain) this day. Our best hope now is that we can see it on the way to Anchorage as there are a couple viewpoints on the way.

     Overall we were somewhat disappointed that we did not see as many animals as we thought/expected but it was still a good tour and we did see several animals. We saw a moose early on from a long foggy distance but no chance for photos of it. As we moved along we saw several Caribou which was the first we'd seen of them. We were looking really hard to see a grizzly but was not to be. The highlight on the way back was spotting a bull moose, also from a considerable distance. The tour guide said that was the first she'd seen a bull moose this season.

Bull Moose from a distance

Caribou

     As we got closer to the visitor's center (near the sled dog kennels) we also saw another cow moose right beside the road and it was a tense situation as there were several of the workers walking the dogs on leashes and the driver said that if they were not very careful that the moose would charge the dog. We came thru there with a couple photos and no one hurt.

Moose

     We traveled thru one area of the park on the bus today called Savage River.....a camping and hiking area......... that is where we were the day before (in our own vehicle) looking for a view of the mountain. Today that area was closed to the public....they had an incident with a bear in that area scratching and biting a person/hiker. On our way back there were numerous rangers along that area apparently looking for the bear. Not long after we got back we learned on the national news that they had to kill the bear. (Sad to hear)

     All in all a great day and the end of our Denali visit....headed for Anchorage tomorrow with plans to spend a few days including the 4th of July.

A few more photos from in and around Denali:

Hello from North Pole (Fairbanks, Alaska)

27 June - Tok to Fairbanks

     Left Tok for an easy drive to Fairbanks....some mountain views on the road and road conditions better than we've been used to....nice change. We did not see any animals on the roadside and have not for several days now....still looking for that elusive moose.

Between Tok, Ak. and Fairbanks, Ak.

Between Tok, Ak. and Fairbanks, Ak.

     We rolled into town with rain and we are actually staying in a small suburb of Fairbanks called North Pole at the Riverview RV Park....pretty nice place. They advertised entertainment in their community building "Alaskan Stories, Tales and Lies" and it was pretty informal and entertaining. The guy speaking was an author himself and a storyteller....storytelling seems popular in this area as we also experienced some storytelling in Whitehorse. This gentleman recited a lot of work by Robert Service....pretty entertaining stories from the gold rush era.

North Pole Resident

North Pole

28 June - Fairbanks
     We headed out to the University of Alaska Fairbanks museum of the north in the morning and spent all morning there....it was a good visit with a lot of interesting artifacts and a few informative movies. The school has expeditions every summer to recover dinosaur bones...apparently they roamed the landscape here millions of years ago. They also had a stuffed grizzly that weighed 1250 pounds and stood 8 feet tall.....wouldn't want to run into him.

Kathy posing with Otto

     We have friends here in Fairbanks, Rob Robertson and his wife Donna (of Sun City Peachtree fame) ......they spend winters in Sun City and summers here in Fairbanks. He has been great in guiding us to the better places in the area. We met him for lunch after the museum at the Pike's Landing restaurant....a good choice. Over lunch with Rob we discussed what to do the remainder of this day and made plans to play golf the next day.

     After leaving the restaurant we made a quick stop in Lowes and Walmart before heading up towards Chena Hot Springs....a highway said to be your best bet for viewing wildlife and the Moose we are looking for. We rode for the better part of an hour in that direction without seeing any animal activity at all. We decided it was the wrong time of day so we headed back to camp.

     Resting an hour or so was a good call and we came off the rest looking for a dinner option (without cooking). We heard that there was a terrific Chinese restaurant in town called Pagoda's that was now pretty popular after a visit by the diners, drive-ins and dives TV crew....we tried it and it was pretty good. Both couples opted to split a meal each and that was a good call as the portions were huge.

29 June - Golf
     We made plans to meet Rob at the North Star Golf Club around 8:30 for a round of golf. The weather was unbelievably good.....shorts! It was about 62 degrees when we left camp and it did get to a balmy 72 degrees by the time we finished. (Sorry - I know it's hot at home).

Rob Robertson, Ed & Darrell

     The North Star Golf Course's claim to fame is that it is the northern most golf course in the United States. Ed was driving us to the golf course and when the GPS started taking us on a dirt road he was concerned but sure enough.....out of the woods opened up to a pretty cool setting and pretty golf course. They had been dealing with a lot of rain so there was casual water but otherwise a pleasant track and beautiful day.

Frost Heaves - The challenge for road maintenance up here is what they call frost heaves.....the ground freezes so solidly that it moves up and down with the freezing and thawing.....well the golf course apparently has the same problems with their greens. Hole #13 didn't have a level spot on it. They had a sign posted there that the green was built (level) in 1996. I had to take a photo of it but it is not easy to see the undulation.

Hole #13 Green - not a level spot on it

Golf course animals - at the pro shop they had a white board where people would write what animals they had seen on the course recently and in what area....example - a moose on 15 (not!). Ed and I did see an otter in one of the ponds but that was all. The score card did have an interesting animal entry under the local rules.......see below:

The last local rule is interesting

     After golf we rode out another mile or two to see a portion of the Alaska Pipeline. 800 miles of pipeline that runs from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez....an engineering accomplishment for sure. Much of it is underground but a lot is above ground too.....interesting placards there telling about it and a couple samples of the "pigs" that are used to run thru the pipeline to clean it.

Alaska Pipeline

Alaska Pipeline "Pig" - for cleaning the pipe

     On the way back to camp, eagle eye Kathy spotted a mother moose and her baby near a pond in a field just off the highway. Unfortunately I didn't have my long lens with me so I did the best I could with what I had. We parked and got out to watch them for several minutes before they ran off into the woods. We can now check moose off the list but would still like to see a bull moose. We will continue to keep or eyes peeled.

Mother moose and baby

     Dinner at the Silver Gulch Brewery, owned and operated by Rob's stepson. Rob's wife, Donna and her dad joined us for a nice dinner, sampling of their beers, and a fantastic tour of the brewery operations. It was way more than we could have expected and a nice surprise. It was billed as the farthest north brewery in America. Yes, more tee shirts (and a six pack to go!)

     I really enjoyed talking with Marvin, Donna's dad, who is 84 years old and telling a lot of local stories....quite the character and sharp too.....at one point I said "I sure hope I live to be 84 years old" to which he quickly replied,  "I hope you do too....stop by and see me".

30 June - Maintenance Day
     We extended in Fairbanks an extra day to take care of some maintenance items.....Ed is getting a spring modification applied to his truck, we need to do some maintenance on the rig, shopping, haircuts, laundry, cleaning, etc.....yes, we are taking all the same chores from home with us on vacation. I am trying to schedule my next oil change while we are in Anchorage next week.

Happy customer at the barber shop!

Next stop is Denali National Park!

Catching up - Skagway, Inside Passage, and on to Tok, Ak.

Apologies for the longer than I prefer blog post....lack of internet and/or connectivity too slow to work is a contributing factor. We have several more photos we'd like to share but that isn't working too good at the moment either. I may update this page with additional photos later if conditions improve.

23 June - Whitehorse to Skagway

     Yay, we can finally say that we made it to Alaska. We departed Whitehorse around 8:00 for the 110 mile drive to Skagway where we stayed at the Garden City RV park. It was a beautiful drive over/through a mountain range with lots of scenic views.

Near the border crossing

     We made a few stops along the way to admire the views and take a few photos. First stop was near a town of Carcross (still in Canada) where we came across what appeared to be a high desert.....lots of sand and sand dunes with the mountain range as a backdrop.....definitely a clash of landscapes but pretty cool to see. They said it is really a dried up lake bed.

Clashing Landscapes

     Next stop was the Caribou Crossing "point of interest" as descried by the milepost. It was an interesting stop as they had a nice wildlife display, a few other animals on display including Alaskan Husky's and some of their pups. In fact when we pulled up, you could hear those dogs howling to get out....sounded cool. They also had a little coffee and do-nut shop that we tried.....took us two donuts each to confirm we liked them :-)

     We crossed the U.S. border, answered a few questions from a stern faced agent and we were on our way. As we got closer to Skagway there were numerous busses leaving town carrying cruise ship passengers out on different excursions. This town (because of the cruise ship population - three ships) was crawling with people.

Rainbow Lake

     After walking through every tee shirt shop in town and identifying where (which pier) our catamaran was leaving from (next day) we headed out to a walking trail and enjoyed a walk around the rim of the bay while Ed and Kay had a little nap. They joined us later in town for a stop into the Red Onion Saloon and Brothel for a drink or two and then dinner at the Skagway Fish House.....everyone but Kay ordered some form of Halibut but it didn't compare to what we had in Whitehorse.

Skagway

24 June - Skagway and Inside Passage

     Fjord Express catamaran was the plan for the day (for Kathy and I) while Ed nursed a cold, that Kay shared with him, they did a little hiking to smugglers cove and rested a bit.

     Our catamaran tour left the dock at 8:00 A.M. and returned at 8:30 P.M. and we were so worn out by the time we returned to camp.....but we had a really nice day despite the weather. We cruised to Juneau but on the way there and back we were looking for (and seeing) lots of wildlife while the guide and first mate taught us much about what we were seeing.

Harbor - Haines, Alaska

     Scenery - although the weather was overcast at first and rained later we saw some spectacular sights. The mountains (Tongus National Forest on one side and Chilkat Mountain range on the other) were only about 4200 feet high but achiviening that from sea level with a straight up climb looked impressive and beautiful. Not sure the photos will do it justice. We were in the Lynn Canal which is 2500 feet deep.

Lighthouse Station - Lynn Canal

     Animals - we saw many eagles, whales, sea lions, otter, and seals. The wildlife was plentiful....just wish the weather would have been more cooperative.

Sea Lion

Humpback Whale

     Once we left the dock we had one stop in Haines to pick up additional passengers and then we were on our way. We pulled into Juneau (well near Juneau where we took a bus) around lunch time with plans to be there until 3:00. We walked every shop in town and I think we doubled our souvenir tee shirt collection. We were going to take the tram up the mountain but it was so foggy that we felt that we would not be able to see much so we skipped it. We did lunch at the Hanger and Bar while we watched the harbor cruise ships and float plane activity.

Whale photobombed the Alaska Ferry Photo

     Our bus driver, Kaitlyn, was very good and funny. She drove us to Mendenhall Glacier where we spent about another hour but it was so nasty weather by then that we viewed it from the visitor's center and watched the movie they had on it. Kaitlyn was good about narrating all we saw on the bus ride. She is originally from Utah and after a couple of years of seasonal work here she has become a full time resident of Juneau. She is single and said the ratio of men to women in Juneau is tilted to more men so she has been told that her "odds are good" to which she replies that the "goods are also odd". Funny girl :-)

     We returned back to camp to learn that Ed had washed his truck and camper and also washed our camper for us....nice surprise because they were getting pretty grubby looking. Since we had driven our truck to the pier I washed it before departing Skagway.

25 June - Skagway to Destruction Bay

Full Moon at Departure
     Time to head out and get back on the Alaska Highway headed for TOK. As we were getting ready to pull out of the campground around 8:30 a camper (Airstream) in the lot caught my eye as Kathy and I had been talking about liking that kind of camper. When I looked over a lady was squatted down peeing just outside the door of the camper in broad daylight.....not sure why because there was likely a bathroom inside and there was definitely a bathroom in the campground a short walk away....we had a good laugh on the way out of that campground. (she didn't notice us laughing or taking a picture)

A little privacy please!

     The ride back over the mountain pass into Skagway that was so beautiful on the way in was shrouded in fog on the way out...visibility was terrible and no photos on the way out of that area....good thing we grabbed a few on the way into town.

International Incident (well almost)
     When we left Skagway and headed back to the Alaska Highway (near Whitehorse) we had to cross the Canadian Border again....Kay was driving their rig at the time and we were following. Ahead of us she handed the agent their passports and he began looking and questioning them as another agent approached our vehicle. They were through ahead of us and pulled over to the side (we thought to wait for us) but Ed was out of the vehicle walking back towards the border guard. Turns out that Kay thought the agent said "have a good day" and she proceeded to pull ahead while Ed was questioning whether he told them to go. When they pulled over and realized that the agent still had their passports it became obvious he had NOT told them to proceed and Ed was walking back to explain what happened and retrieve the passports. By then we were near where the agent that helped them had Ed and asked us if we thought he should let him go or arrest him....we had a good laugh and the agent told Ed that for future reference - the international sign that you are cleared to proceed is "when you get your passports back"! Ed and Kay had a long discussion about the meaning of "Go" versus "Whoa". A good laugh and thankfully a friendly agent!

     A pretty long day of driving and a roadside stop for lunch in the campers and we pulled into a campground called Cottonwood that is about 15 miles south of Destruction Bay in the Yukon and just off the Alaska Highway. As we approached the area we noticed a huge cloud of what appeared to be either smoke or fog over a large lake and entire area....as it turns out (according to the campground lady) the glacier is receding and the river that once fed the lake has dried up and the wind is blowing up silk like particles....really a weird looking environment.

Driving into Lake Kluane

Dust Cloud over lake

     We got settled into a beautiful campsite on the Kluane Lake....largest lake in the Yukon and grilled up some chicken for dinner. Beautiful setting, great meal and great company.
Tomorrow we are on the way to Tok, Alaska

Life is good!

26 June - Destruction Bay to Tok, Alaska

     Departing Destruction Bay and headed to Tok. We almost immediately run into nightmare roads....gravel roads with wash boarding slows our pace to around 10 MPH for many miles. In addition we  came to many construction zones that required us to wait for 15-30 minutes for a pilot vehicle to escort us thru the work zones.....a long day of driving. All of the construction/bad roads were in the Yukon and as soon as we crossed back into Alaska the road conditions improved.

Alaska Highway - under repair

     We pulled over at a roadside stop for lunch that had a beautiful lake and a lot of dragonflies hanging around.

Lunch time company

Lake setting lunch spot

     As we approached the U.S. Customs Kay was driving their rig and she insisted that we stop and let Ed take the wheel.... a little nervous about the border crossings now :-)  I am proud to report that we cleared customs without incident this time and made our way to the Tok RV Village and set up for the evening.

     Moving on to Fairbanks tomorrow.