These are the four (4) ladies from our Greater St. Louis Unit that you have heard about in the narriative. L - R: Dottie Steurer, JoAnn Kolley, Beth, and Sharon Waters. (Note everyone's Alaska jackets)

This is the famous Columbia Glacier. We got to see it "calve" while we were watching. It was an awsome sight. The ice in the foreground is a result of this calving.

On our boat trip out of Valdez, we saw several commericial fishing vessels and this is one of them. This picture shows them hauling in their catch.

This is the Alaskan Pipeline terminal at Valdez, Ak. The pipeline is 800 miles long, 4 ft in diameter. Ships dock here to load crude to be taken to the US to be refined. The picture was taken from Valdez across the bay.

This picture was taken in mid August from the back of a boat. Note our dress compared to the weather all of you are having, and the low clouds covering part of the mountain peaks. In the background is Mears Galcier.

These are Halibut caught off the shore of the "Homer Spit" in Homer, AK. These weigh in around 50 pounds each. Some of our group chartered a boat, caught fish and had them sent home frozen.

While in Haines, AK. we drove 11 miles out of town to a place where bears are known to "fish" near dusk. As you can see, we got lucky. This bear was about 100 feet away when the picture was taken. This is the real thing, not a post card!

August 20-22, 2006 (Days 88-90)

Sunday:
We were on the road at 6:50 a.m. with the Steurers and Waters. When we left it was 49 degrees and raining, AGAIN! We crossed a mountain pass at 2,732 ft. and the outside temperature fluctuated between 35 and 38 degrees. There were skiffs of snow in the grass. It truly felt like winter.

As we descended, we came out of the fog. Mountain viewing had not been good, but by that time, we began to see some mountains again. We also saw the Matanuska Glacier. We had lunch in Glenallen and were back on the road by 12:40 p.m. We got to the campground in Valdez around 4:00 p.m. Our campground is across the street from some fish canneries. Smell wasn’t too bad! The campground sits right on the shore of the Sound.

We had dinner with Ed and the Kolley’s at a restaurant in downtown Valdez. I had Shrimp Louie and Black Devils with bacon wrap (scallops). Dan had, not a hamburger this time, but a chimichanga, with beef. :-)

Until tomorrow…..



Monday:
Today we got up early, once again to rain, gray skies and clouds. There was fog in the harbor and visibility was zero. All this stuff, and today is the day we are scheduled to have an all-day cruise out into Prince William Sound to view glaciers and wildlife. Some were skeptical about going and actually backed out. Would it be wet? Would it be cold? Would we see anything?

A CB announcement by our leader at 7:30 a.m. stated the weather was good in the Sound. There were no big swells and fog was lifting. We decided to go. About eight to ten people backed out. Boy, did they ever miss a great day!

When we got out past the Narrows (an inlet into Valdez harbor), the sun came out, it still misted some what, but that soon quit (there were beautiful rainbows) and the skies turned blue. The waters were calm, and I was glad because I’m a little chicken about being in the big waters (Pacific Ocean this time). The boat ride was very smooth and we enjoyed cruising along the shorelines and seeing some great wildlife. One highlight was seeing a mama black bear with her two cubs along the shoreline. The cubs were frolicking with each other and playing in the stream. When mama bear spotted our big white boat, she perked up her ears and stared at us for a few seconds, then hurried her cubs into the trees. Another sighting was of two bald eagles sitting on top a rock bluff in the water watching as our boat came around the corner. They were eating a fish. As we approached, one eagle flew off to the other side and into a nest where there were two chicks. The chicks soon disappeared from sight (she was hiding them) while the other eagle held his ground on the fish. What a sight!

We saw several glaciers. Alaska has over 30,000 sq. miles of glacier ice, covering five percent of the state. In one recessed area, we approached a glacier and chunks of glacier ice were floating all over the water and icebergs were very evident. As we got closer, the ice got denser and the boat was dodging around the big chunks. Did I ever think about Titanic? Yes, I did! We got “up close and personal” to another glacier and the boat sat still in the water for about a half an hour. We got to witness the glacier calving several times. Calving means big chunks of ice fell loose from the glacier and fell into the water. One could hear the ice crack, then see the chunk fall, and then hear the thunderous sound it made hitting the water. It was breath-taking. One was so big it caused waves rocking our boat ¼ mile away.

We were served a noon meal around 2 p.m. of chicken and rice (Dan was happy-no seafood), then around 6 p.m. they served us chowder. We had a choice of clam or a minestrone soup, so Dan did okay there, too.

We saw where the Exxon Valdez sunk and caused such a large oil spill in 1989. We also watched commercial fishermen in their boats casting their nets and pulling in large catches of fish. At one point a floater plane (we call them sea planes) landed near a boat (bringing something to it) and left again. It takes so much time for a boat to go back to shore to get a part or supplies, and having a plane deliver them must be cheaper. It was interesting watching the boats and men pull in the nets.

Sea otters were plentiful basking in the water. We also saw harbor seals resting on the ice chunks and stellar sea lions basking in the sun along the shoreline. Some people saw a dolphin beside our boat. I only saw the ripple of water, and he didn’t come back.

On the way back, we were shown the termination point of the Alaska oil pipeline. They used to give tours, but since 911, they no longer do that and have extensive security.

We returned to what had been a nice day in Valdez, too.

Since the chowder hadn’t been enough to fill the men’s tummies, we had pizza before going back to the campgrounds. Bed will feel good tonight, as we are all tired from a big day.

Till tomorrow…..


Tuesday:
It felt good to not awaken to an alarm. We heard a gentle rain, once again, on the trailer roof. We were up at 8 a.m., dressed and did six loads of laundry. Then we drove out to see Old Towne Valdez (nothing left of it) and the salmon hatchery.

While driving the road to the salmon hatchery, we heard our leaders (who were out sightseeing, too) talk on the CB about seeing bears. So, we soon came upon their trucks and stopped to look over the edge of the road. There, in a bubbling stream, were thousands of salmon struggling to get upstream. The high waters (flash flood) had come and gone and left many salmon stranded in the low water and along the edges. It was an incredible sight. I actually felt sorry for the salmon that were trying so hard to get into deeper water. Many were dying on the spot.

Soon at the edge of the stream was a bear cub who had come down to take advantage of his easy fishing opportunities. One of the people along the roadside said there had earlier been two cubs, but one was out of site. That meant only one thing….mama bear was not far away. After a few minutes, she appeared and had fun fishing herself. They must have been getting full, as they would snag a fish from the stream, take it up on shore, and bite it then walk back to the water and get another, leaving the fish all dying on the shore. We also saw another big bear on up the road. What an incredible day.

On the way back to the campground, we stopped for gas. It was $3.21 a gallon. We met Ed and the Kolley’s for dinner and then came back to the trailer to prepare for tomorrow’s departure. Dan and I are on the parking crew, so we will be leaving early with the leaders at 6 a.m. We will be scouting out the roads, as there are flood warnings out for this area and we are hoping no roads are flooded or washed out. We hear on the news about many roads and bridges that washed out that we have traveled on in the last week or so. We may be a little too close for comfort.

Till tomorrow, when we will be at Tok, AK…………

August 18-19, 2006 (Days 86-87)

Friday:
Today is a travel day again. We left Homer at 7:05 a.m. with gray, cloudy skies overhead and some rain sprinkles. It was 49 degrees. We traveled with Darrel and Sharon Waters.

Sharon is an avid quilter and craftsperson, so she wanted to stop at a couple quilt shops on the way. The first was in Soldatna which was only one and one-half hours away. Sharon had called ahead and the owner agreed to open her shop for us early since we were traveling and would be in Soldatna before opening hours. She had a wonderful shop attached to her house. We found shopping very pleasant and worthwhile.

I found a fabric that was designed by a gentleman who has designed the banners, flags, signs, etc., for the Iditerod Sled Dog Races. He is now designing fabric prints of the northwest. The fabric piece depicts scenes of most everything we have done and seen while in Alaska. To make things more interesting, his name is Jon Van Zyle. I believe it has been discussed that Van Zyle might have been the early name of Zile. Quite interesting! So, any way, I will probably make a pillow from the fabric as a reminder of our Alaska trip.

We then traveled on a road about 12 miles out of town to the small place where we had been before in Kenai that has a tremendous lot of fabrics and flannels. After purchasing a couple pieces there, we continued on the main route to Naptowne where we stopped for lunch.

We passed through Anchorage and stopped for gas at 4 p.m. We then got separated from Darrel and Sharon and didn’t catch up to them until on up the road.

It had rained moderately all day, skies remained gray, and the temp only reached 55 degrees. It was a miserable day.

We got to the campground, Homestead RV Park, around 5 p.m., got set up and went for a quick bite to eat, as we had a program at 7 p.m. in the campground pavilion. During this time, it rained so hard, we had to get a P.A. system to hear the program speakers, as it was raining so hard on the metal roof of the pavilion, that it drowned out their voices. The program was about the history of the area we are in, the Mat-Su Valley. It would prepare us for our tour tomorrow. Till then…


Saturday:
We awoke to blowing wind and pouring rain; however, by the time we were ready to board the tour buses, the rain had stopped. It was gray, soggy and windy yet, but we forged ahead in our rain coats and boots! I even had my long underwear on to keep warm! We had talked with Erin that morning, and she said it was to be in the 90’s in Wood River, IL, today. What a contrast.

We had narrators on the tour and we visited the downtown Palmer, AK, Visitor Center and Museum. We were able to tour a colony house, which is where one of the homesteaders of Palmer had lived. We learned about their arrival in Palmer in 1935 and how they lived and homesteaded. Many of the 202 families that homesteaded were from northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. A government act took them to Alaska, allowed them 2,000 pounds of goods, and gave them 40 acres. Building supplies were provided to build homes, barns, and livestock was furnished. This helped inhabit early Alaska. Remember, Alaska didn’t get its statehood until 1959. The tour was very interesting.

After the tour, we visited a muskox farm and walked around the fields of muskox watching the mamas with their babies and the bulls in a separate pen. This is a very ugly animal that serves no purpose except for the fur on their bodies that can be brushed out and made into a yarn that is warmer than wool. Each square inch of fur contains one million hairs. A scarf woven from this fiber could be purchased in their gift shop for $175. I would have liked to bring everyone one, but I’m not! So don’t get your hopes up.

When the tour was done around noon, we returned to the campground where a catered meal was awaiting us. It was very good.

It was brought to our attention by the locals that they had received their first sign of winter over night…..”termination dust”. This is the first snow on the mountain tops to signify that there are only six weeks to winter. They seem to skip fall altogether here. Some of the trees are starting to turn colors and lose their leaves already though. We see mostly yellow. That is the main color of fall. With the cold temps of today and the snow on the mountains, it is easy to believe that winter will be soon, (until we look at the calendar!).

This afternoon, I went with Darrel and Sharon into Palmer to visit a couple fabric/quilt shops. They are very unique and have beautiful materials. When we came back, all the members from the St. Louis unit (nine of us) went out to dinner together to celebrate two of the men’s birthdays. We all had pie for dessert and I had taken a birthday candle that plays “Happy Birthday”. It was a fun time.

At 7 p.m., we had a program again at the pavilion put on by one of our caravaners who used to be a juggler and acrobat for the circus in his career years. He starred with members of his family and traveled with their act all over the U.S. and Canada. He showed video tapes of their performances and a home movie of when they all got together in the 1970’s for a family reunion. The family members live all over the U.S. and this was a great family reunion. After a few beers, they attempted to recreate parts of their act. The movie was hilarious, but as retired men, they found they could and could not do some of the things they used to do. It was hilarious. After the program, we had our driver’s meeting for moving on tomorrow. We will have a long day, as we are headed for Valdez. Till then….

Here are some little known Alaskan facts:
ICEWORMS: are small black worms that live in temperatures just above freezing. The only members of the earthworm family known to live in ice and snow, iceworms generally grow no more than one inch in length. They look like small pieces of black thread. I’ve seen them and they are disgusting.

QIVIUT is the Eskimo word for the soft underhair of the musk ox. The fiber, highly valued for its light weight, softness and warmth, is knitted into hats, scarves and sweaters by Native Alaskan knitters and sold through a co-op in Anchorage. Qiviut is finer than cashmere and does not shrink when washed in warm water.

INUKSHUK is an Inuit word for a stone marker that acts “in the place of a human being.” The five most important uses are to show the way; to warn of danger, to show where food is stored, where a significant thing happened, and most importantly, as a helper in hunting caribou. We have seen them in places such as a front yard, along the road, and along a sidewalk.

August 14-17, 2006 (Days 82-85)

Monday:
A little cooler, a little earlier… Today we have 168.5 miles to travel. We are running with Darrell and Sharon Waters. Once again, it is a gray day with low clouds. No sightings of the mountains from the fog and mist and rain. We drove to Naptowne (along the route to Homer) and stopped for breakfast. It was a nice restaurant. A couple other Airstreamers rolled in at the same time. We had a nice breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns and strawberry shortcake. Delicious! Since a few more stopped there and the restaurant filled up, service was slow. Our “dining experience” took two hours.

After leaving, Darrell and Sharon and we took a side road to a village called Keni. It was about 14 miles off road. We found a fabric shop there that is “out of this world”. (Only people who sew and crafters would offer this description.) There were so many bolts of material, all color coordinated, and many patterns. Many were northland fabrics that you don’t see in the lower 48. There were many flannels. I guess that is because there is a lot of warm materials used up here. We took one and one half hours there. Darrell and Dan were very patient! We got back on the road and continued on to Homer. It continued to rain all day and temps are in the low 50’s. We arrived in Homer around 3:00 p.m.

After setting up and getting established, we took a drive into the “downtown” area of Homer and out onto the Spit. Homer Spit, a geographical curiosity, is a narrow finger of land four miles long that nearly bisects the bay. There are people who make this part of Alaska their home. They are proud to be “at the end of the road”. A motel sits at the end of the road which is called, “Land’s End”, and it is truly that.

Homer is an interesting place. It is located on the southwestern Kenai Peninsula on the north shore of Kachemak Bay. Its population is 3,946. The climate in winter occasionally falls below zero, but seldom colder. The Kenai Mountains on the north and east protect Homer from the severe cold, and the Cook Inlet provides warming air currents. The highest temperature ever recorded is 81 degrees and average annual precipitation is 28 inches.

A post office was established in Homer in 1896. In the early days, many of the coal deposits were slowly burning from causes unknown. Thus, the name Kachemak (an Aluet dialect said to mean “smoky bay”), was derived from the smoke which once rose from the smoldering coal seams. Today, the erosion of the bluffs drop huge fragments of coal on the beaches, creating a plentiful supply of winter fuel for the residents. The town is a haven of charters (either fishing or sightseeing), seafood, unique shops, campgrounds on the water, and motels and restaurants. The fishing and tourism provide a lot of economic gain for the town.

A dinner was planned for us at the Elks Club, where we were on the waterfront and were served a delicious prime rib dinner. Yeh! No seafood for Dan! It was a great meal, but service was really slow. At the end of dinner, our friend, Ed, who is serving as postmaster at this stop, announced that he had received over 29 pieces of mail for our caravan. We were the second place to get the most. We had four pieces! Everybody enjoys getting mail, and we were glad to be on the list this time. We couldn’t wait to get back to the trailer to open it. Three mailers were from Renae and a nice card with pictures from Erin. One of the mailers had colored pictures and stickers from the grandkids and pictures of them at Holiday World where they took a summer trip. These are a great balm for homesickness! Thank you.

Till tomorrow and “Ladies Day Out”…………


Tuesday:
Today has been designated: “Ladies Day Out”. Our leader, Linda, has a day planned for the ladies. The men are on their own. We were told to carpool to the boat dock for boarding the “Danny J” at 10:00 a.m. It was a gray, rainy day again. The mountains were obscured by clouds, but spirits were high for a day of our own.

Our destination was Halibut Cove, which is on the east side of Cook Inlet in Kachemak Bay. We boarded the boat and most sat outside on a stack of life preservers. (Nice to have them close!) There was room for seven on the inside cabin. (Not good for motion sickness!). I sat outside. On the way to Halibut Cove, the captain circled Gull Island which is inhabited by only gulls. We saw many birds, mostly glaucous-winged gulls and kittiwakes who come in the summer to lay their eggs and hatch their young. An added bonus was seeing a sea otter resting comfortably on his back on a rock at the bottom near the water. As we entered the cove, we saw oyster beds where, it is claimed, the best oysters in the world are harvested. They are Kechemak Bay oysters. As the boat rounded the edge of the mountain, our eyes fell upon the community of Halibut Bay. All buildings are built on stilts, connected only by a 12-mile boardwalk that circles the area. There are no roads in Halibut Bay and no vehicles. We only saw bicycles and strollers on the boardwalk. Two years ago, the population in Halibut Cove was 42; last year it was 12. They don’t know who will stay this year.

When we docked, we had to climb up a steep ramp to the boardwalk. We would be free until boarding again at 4:00 p.m. for our trip back. Our first walk was to the restrooms. The 45-minute boat trip had been a challenge for some! These were outdoor johns. We walked on around the boardwalk and visited some gift shops and art galleries. At one end was the restaurant, the Saltry, where we stopped for lunch. Dottie, JoAnn, Sharon and I got the last table indoors. Others ate outside around an open pit fireplace. We were glad to be indoors away from the damp rain and cool air. I had tiger shrimp on bow-tie pasta with an orange sauce; Jo-Ann had chowder and a salad; Dottie ordered beet borscht and a salad; and Sharon had a salmon-salad burger and chowder. They served a delicious whole grain bread which is made at the restaurant. It was delicious. After lunch we walked the rest of the boardwalk and soon found ourselves hurrying to get back to the dock to board the boat. This place is the third in the world where the tide comes in so fast and so high. We were there at low tide, but we cold tell the tide was starting to come in. There were flowers every where. We are continually amazed at the flowers that grow everywhere and in pots. There were fresh flowers on the table of the restaurant. They even decorate the plates with fresh flowers that are edible.

When we walked the pier to the boat, we saw starfish, sea urchins and jellyfish in the waters below the pier. Wow. Our boat also served as the mail boat and delivers mail to the island each day it makes its trip.

The boat ride back was on an even smaller boat. I had to stand the whole way, as did about 5-6 others. The benches did not hold very many. When we got back, we shopped some of the shops along the beachfront. They were interesting places. We then got back to the campground at 6:00 p.m. and stayed in for dinner.

Dan and the guys found an establishment for their lunch called the Salty Dawg Saloon. I guess it was quite a place. It has been around for years and was an old fishermen’s hang out. They haven’t said much of what else they did! Dan did tackle the leak we had in the trailer, found it and was in the process of drying out the carpet. It was not serious, but will take some repair work when we can get to an RV supply place. Bed came early, but it felt good.

Till later………


Wednesday:
Not much to report today. It continues to rain and be cool in the 50’s. I worked on the blog and computer most of the day. Dan worked on importing our pictures so he can put some in with the blog. He also had the opportunity to spend some time with one of our caravaners who is very skilled in sharpening woodcarving knives. He taught Dan and thing or two, and now Dan thinks he can successfully sharpen his carving tools.

We ate dinner on the seafront with the Kolley’s and Ed. I had the best fresh scallops I have ever had, as did Ray. JoAnn and Ed had fresh-out-of-the-bay halibut. Dan had a hamburger.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Homer. We still have things to do. Till then….


Thursday:
We actually saw a peek of the sun when we got up this morning. We got our showers and went to a well-known sourdough bakery/restaurant for breakfast. I had stuffed sourdough French toast. It was stuffed with cream cheese and blueberries with blueberries and syrup on top. Yum. Dan was going to have sausage, biscuits and gravy, but they had just run out. Instead, he had cinnamon French toast.

After breakfast, we did some shopping and sightseeing. We drove up in the hills above Homer and had a beautiful view of Homer and the Spit.

Dinner was with Ed and the Kolley’s. We ate dinner at Fat Olives, a very interesting place. They also serve fresh catch of the day and local seafood. I had fresh oysters from Kachemak Bay (recommended); Dan had a meatball sandwich.

We came back to the campground (Oceanview RV Park) for ice cream and the drivers’ meeting for our destination tomorrow: Palmer, AK. Till then…..

This is a "pod" of Orca (killer whale) whales as seen from the boat. There were 30-40 in this group. It was the most the captain had ever seen at one time.

The Alaskan Explorer (on the left) is the boat that took us on our all day Kenai Fjord cruise where we saw the sea life mentioned in the narrative.

This is the Alaskan Railroad train we rode out of Anchorage to get on the boat at Whittier, AK.

Six (6) years ago what appears to be two glaciers here was one galcier. Two (2) years ago the black spot between the glaciers was very small. Now it appears as two separate glaciers. Note how cloudy it appears to be. Actually, the sky is a little hazy.

August 11-13, 2006 (Days 79-81)

Friday:
We awoke to gray skies and light rain. It was 52 degrees. Just before leaving, a walk around the trailer showed a low tire. Dan took the pressure reading and it was 37psi. (He keeps the tires at 60-65psi). This must indicate a leak, and we felt we needed to get it fixed before leaving Anchorage. On this day, we had not planned to drive with anyone and thought we could be on our own. We started driving to find a tire repair business. It took us seven stops, each one recommending another, pulling a trailer in and out of rush hour traffic in downtown Anchorage before we found a place to look at the tire. They found two slivers of metal imbedded in the tire which were causing the leak. They were pulled out, tire patched, and we were on our way at 11:00 a.m.

We stopped after an hour at the Portage Glacier, a recommended stop. By now, it was raining harder, had gotten colder, and we swore we had sleet on our jackets before we entered the visitors’ center there. The glacier was obscured by clouds, but we saw chunks of ice in the river. It was a nice visitors’ center with a nice gift shop and lunchroom. We decided to eat lunch there before leaving. Our timing was great, because just as we got our food, two tour busses drove up and unloaded about 60 people who waited in line for some time to get their food. There was just one cook and two waitresses. They said it was overwhelming to have that many people at one time, but they were used to the buses.

We drove on toward Seward. There are many lakes and rivers. It is said Alaska has three times the amount of lakes as Minnesota. We arrived in Seward at 3:30 p.m. We were the last ones to arrive. The clouds were hanging over the mountain tops. There was road construction. They must hurry as winter is coming in six weeks. A football game at the school held up parking somewhat, but we finally got set up on the school parking lot. No utilities here. We joined the Kolley’s and Ed at a seafood restaurant on the waterfront for dinner.

Seward is on Resurrection Bay, east coast of the Kenai Peninsula, and is at sea level. Seward was voted the “All-America City of 2005”. It is an ocean terminal and supply center. Fish processing plants were abundant in the town. The smell was in the air at all times. Historically, Seward was an important transportation hub for Alaska’s mining, exploration, fishing and trapping industries. The town was established in 1903 by railroad surveyors. The Iditarod trail was surveyed in 1910 as a mail route between Seward and Nome. It was used until 1924 when it was replaced by the airline industry. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race that is run each March between Anchorage and Nome actually starts in Seward.

Resurrection Bay is a year-round ice-free harbor. Its economic base includes tourism, a coal terminal, marine research, and fisheries.


Saturday:
We were up bright and early to get ready for a bus ride to the boat for a day-long Kenai Fjord Cruise. This cruise is Alaska’s #1 wildlife and glacier cruise. The boat was three levels, all enclosed and held about 150 people. As we cruised toward the glaciers, we had incredible wildlife sightings. We saw sea otters, stellar sea lions, harbor seals, humpback whales, many species of birds (including puffins and bald eagles) and on our return trip, a large pod of orca whales. There were several families of them. The narrator, who is a whale specialist, said it was the most orca whales she has ever seen in one place. She estimated 30-40. They came within 50 feet of the boat. All this, plus the views of some awesome glaciers. The captain got the boat up close to the glaciers. We saw some ice fall into the water as it cracked and came loose from the glacier.

The water was quite choppy, and people were advised to take seasick medicine if they had it. Many headed for the drug store at the pier to buy Dramamine before boarding! The water was rough. There were many people—men, women, and children—with seasick bags all through the cruise. We were lucky and didn’t suffer.

A couple hours into the cruise, they served us lunch. It was a finger-food lunch of either halibut or chicken fingers. We both had chicken. I know that’s a surprise, but I had had halibut the last three meals and felt I needed a change. I’m sure getting my Omega-3 supplement (from fish) on this trip!


Sunday:
It felt good to sleep in this morning. We were really tired after our day-long cruise, but what a great day. Dan worked on the shelves in the pantry which were about to cave in again. We’re just hoping that Silver Tent will make it back to Wentzville before it completely falls apart! Later, we drove around the downtown area of Seward and toured the Alaska Sealife Center. It was a very nice sealife learning center, and we enjoyed it.

We drove to Exit Glacier, about ten miles out of town. It is a glacier you can walk to, but it was about a one mile walk, and I didn’t feel I could do it. We could see the glacier, though, and it was beautiful. There had been bear sightings on the trail that day and the day before, which I didn’t want to encounter.

In the evening, we had a driver’s meeting to prepare us for the day tomorrow when we drive to Homer, AK. Till then……

This is Mt. McKinley (20,320') or Denali. This was taken from about 100 miles away. You can see both the north and south peaks (south is the highest on the left). We are lucky to have this picture because when we got to the official viewing point, it was fogged in.

This is the glacial silt (mud flats) Beth mentions in the narrative. This was taken at low tide. It acts like quicksand.

This is the Blackstone Glacier up close. The dark area where the snow has melted away is 630 feet tall. The water fall is snow melting between the ice and the rock. They get over 120 feet of snow each year adding to the glacier; however, as you can see some does melt each year. Look back at the previous picture and you can see this 600 ft area as a spot.

This was taken from about 5 miles away from Blackstone Glacier on our boat. The dark at the waters edge is actually an island. This glacier is huge.

August 7-10, 2006 (Days 75-78)

Monday:
Today is Michael and Renae’s 13th wedding anniversary and my dad’s birthday. Dad would have been 91 years old had he lived this long.

We got an early start at 7:35 a.m. leaving Healy to travel to Anchorage. It was a cool and cloudy 52 degrees. Later the sun came out and cleared up the clouds so that we had a great view of Mt. McKinley. It is the tallest mountain in North America at 20,284 ft. It is awesome to see, and we were lucky to have a nice, clear day to see its majesty. By 10:00 a.m. and another viewpoint, the clouds had moved in again and the mountain was out of sight.

We traveled on to the junction of Talkeetna Road which dead ends in the village of Talkeetna about 14 miles down the road. This was an interesting village with a blend of old-time Alaska small town and modern tourist destination. It is an aviation and supply base for Mt. McKinley (Denali) climbing expeditions. It has a population of 868 when everyone is home and sits at 346 ft. elevation.

We walked the walks, most of them wooden, with dirt streets. Shops were quaint. We ate with some others from the caravan at a “pub and grill”. I had a wonderful meal of a seafood kabob, with large chunks of halibut, salmon, and cod on a spear with green and yellow peppers, onions and cherry tomatoes. It was the best seafood I have had so far. Dan had a hamburger and fries.

We continued on our trip to Anchorage after a couple hours by taking the same road back (remember, the road dead-ended in Talkeentna). When we got into Anchorage at 4:30 p.m., it was 73 degrees.

Tuesday:
We were up early to be at the train station in downtown Anchorage at 8:15 a.m. It was the Alaska Railroad. We got our boarding passes and boarded the train about 9:45 a.m. The train ride was about two hours long. We saw some amazing scenery. We passed the mud flats which are caused by a tide rise and fall of the Pacific Ocean that comes through Prince William Sound. When the tide is at low tide, the water completely drains out and leaves acres and acres of gooey mud. Everyone is taught to not walk in the mud as it is like quicksand and can suck you in. (When we returned later that evening, the mud flats were filled with water at high tide.) The train passed through a couple mountains, with us in a tunnel for over three miles at one time. The end of the train ride was at Whittier. Whittier is at the base of mountains that line Passage Canal, a fjord that extends eastward into Prince William Sound and leads to a portage from there into Cook Inlet. It was created by the U.S. Army during WWII as a port and petroleum delivery center tied to bases farther north by the Alaska Railroad and later a pipeline.

At Whittier, we all boarded the S.S. Emerald Sea for the cruise through the fjords and glacier fields. We were soon served a buffet dinner, all we could eat of salmon, prime rib, rice, potatoes, salad, green beans, rolls, dessert and drink. It was delicious.

The sights we saw are almost non-describeable. The glaciers, which were massive mountains of ice were reflecting beautiful colors of blue. We were lucky to have such beautiful sunny weather. The captain got us in close to the glaciers and we could see pieces of ice fall into the water, some beautiful waterfalls and sea life, which included sea otters, seals and many birds along the way. We took lots of pictures and hope to send you some on the blog.

We returned to the train to go back to Whittier. We got into Anchorage around 9:30 p.m. Needless to say, we were all exhausted, but stopped to give our tummies a little nourishment with a piece of pie and cup of coffee. It was a “wrap” for the day.


Wednesday:
Everyone slept in today. We didn’t get up until around 9 a.m. Around 10:30 a.m., the Waters and we decided to find some quilt shops. Sharon is very talented and has lots of creativity, so she is always interested in fabric shops. Up here, the shops are full of northern-designs and fabrics and notions. The men were good sports and tolerated our stops at the stores. Around 5 p.m., we went to the “Moose’s Tooth”, a popular and very good pizza den and micro-brewery. The pizza was really good there. On our trip back to the campground, we found ourselves in Wal-Mart for a few supplies.


Thursday:
Another day on our own. We slept in again, as we felt we hadn’t yet caught up from the busy days before. We left with a big laundry to do, an oil change for the Suburban and a couple other stops. I was able to get some medicine refilled which was needed. My prescription was from Walgreens, and I was told I could access one in Alaska, but there are no Walgreens in Alaska. So, I tried a Wal-Mart and they were able to fill it for me. I thought I had it all, but found a couple weeks ago I was going to be short. So, that problem has been resolved.

We met Ed and the Kolley’s for dinner at Lone Star. Ed likes his ice cream, so we finished the meal off with ice cream from Baskin Robbins 31. Then we made it back to the campground in time for the driver’s meeting for tomorrow’s departure to Seward.

Till then……..

I took this standing in the doorway of our trailer at 10:30 p.m. (Sat 8/5/06). This is a reflection on the clouds of the sun set. This gives you an idea of how light it is at that hour. So far we've not had any problems going to sleep while it's still daylight outside.

We saw this in Nenana, Alaska (south of Fairbanks). I guess even the natives have their limits! Also saw a Contintental Telephone Company buried cable warning marker in this town, imagine that!

This is a close up picture of the Alaska Pipeline. It's 4 ft in diameter. Note the "slide" its setting on so it can move between the two verticle pilings as the ground shifts. The pilings set in the perma frost (that is ground that is always frozen). When the heat of the day transfers to the permafrost via the pilings, it realeases gasses in the pilings that come out through the "vents" you see on top of the pilings. This cools the pipe and thus keeps the perma frost frozen. This pipeline is 800 miles long..amazing.

This is salmon hanging up to dry (it's being smoked from a fire you can see under it). It's been sliced according to tradition. What's considered "bad" is cut and dried for the dog sled dogs vs the "good" slamon that is smoked for the family.

Beth (she doesn't like the picture) and our friend JoAnn (from Chesterfield, Mo.) panning for gold. As you can see, Beth is very intent on the gold.

Beth and I crossing the Artic Circle. As you can see, they rolled out the red carpet.

August 1-3, 2006 (Days 69-71)

Tuesday:
We got up this morning around 6:30 a.m. to get ready for our departure on the Arctic Circle trip. We were ready by 11:15 a.m. and walked up to the campground entrance to wait on the bus. A bus came and took a group of 21 of our caravan to the airport to board planes to Coldfoot, AK. We were broken into three groups for three airplanes. We were with just one other couple on a Cessna 7-passenger, plus pilot and co-pilot. Seating was very cozy. We just had a pilot; he has been flying for 50 years.

We were lucky, because this day when we went was the first that the sun was shining. The other groups rode up in rain. I thought our flight was rough. It was an hour and ten minutes long. I have never been air sick before, but about fifteen minutes before landing I got nauseated and thought I was going to lose it. Luckily, while I was breathing in the barf bag, the nausea went away and when we landed at 2:30 p.m., I was okay. The runway was made of gravel. Coldfoot is about 270 miles north of Fairbanks, and 60 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

At that point we boarded a bus (with the other two groups that had been on the other two planes) and started our return trip south. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and a couple scenic look outs before getting to the 45th parallel where the Arctic Circle is located. I expected snow on the ground and for it to be very cold. All my expectations were not realized. It was around 60 degrees and no snow. In fact, it looked like many other parts of Alaska: grass, flowers, green trees. We had our pictures taken by the Arctic Circle marker, as did all the others. As we traveled on, there was nothing; no towns, no houses, no businesses, nothing. This went on for 125 miles.

We had a good tour guide. He also drove the bus and narrated all the way. We stopped once at the Alaska pipeline. It is built all along the road, the Dalton Highway. The road was gravel and very rough. At times we wondered what held the bus together as the windows rattled so bad. The driver drove fast and we bounced all over the road. The only traffic we passed was 18-wheelers carrying gas and supplies to the northland. The total time for this trip was over ten hours.

We arrived at a truck stop by the Yukon River which was built halfway between Deadhorse and Fairbanks during the construction of the Alaska Pipeline. There, dinners were awaiting us that we had ordered that morning, then were faxed to the truck stop. My dinner was fresh halibut on a bed of rosoto and a fresh vegetable medley. Dan had ordered a hamburger and fries.

By the edge of the Yukon River at the truck stop was a tent and a couple young women who were selling jewelry and boxes and decorations that they and their mother had made from willow bark. They lived down river and had paddled a canoe 4 ½ miles up river to set up their tent and sell their goods to the bus loads of tourists that stopped there. (I believe ours was the fourth that day). These women and their family live off the land and travel by canoe on the river. They had pictures of their home that they had built and the ice floes from last winter that almost destroyed their home. They had a very interesting story. It is unbelievable how some of these people live in the northland.

Back on the bus and on the rough, gravel road to continue our trip. At one spot we stopped and walked on the tundra. The tundra is made up of mosses and a sponge-like material that is bouncy when you walk on it. Only a few inches down is perma-frost. This has evolved from the ground staying frozen for two years or more. It forms a seal that prevents the ground from draining during the warmer months, causing boggy terrain known as muskeg.

At 10 p.m. we stopped at Joy, Alaska, which is an old mining camp. One family with 8 adopted children run the camp. It has a tourist gift shop and the bathrooms are outhouses decorated with pictures on the walls and oak wooden toilet seats. Quite a place. There we were served chocolate bundt cake with whipped cream on top. Dan bought a shirt that says, “I Crossed the Arctic Circle”.

Back on the bus for the rest of the way back to Fairbanks. There were TV screens on the bus, and we were shown one movie, “Bear”, and three short documentaries on the Pipeline, Native Culture, and Gold Panning. We spotted moose two different times. The driver saw a Linx. Remember, it was still light at midnight.

Our bus returned us to the campground at 12;30 a.m. We sure were tired.

Wednesday:
It felt good to sleep in. We got our breakfast and left to do some shopping, then met up with the Kolley’s and Ed. Together, we toured a Pioneer Village, an animal farm with Muskox, Caribou and reindeer, and the campus of the University of Alaska. Then we went to a salmon bake which was quite an experience. We bought a plate, then could eat as much of anything we wanted. This was all outdoors, except a dining hall where we could eat under cover. There were areas for salads, desserts, and drinks. Then they had an outdoor cooking pit where they were grilling salmon, halibut, cod and prime rib. We feasted.

Thursday:
We got up early to be ready for a full day of activities. We went to the river where we boarded a sternwheeler boat for a three-hour tour of the river. We passed a local’s home on the river bank where she demonstrated cleaning salmon and hanging it to dry. This is how the locals prepare salmon to feed themselves through the winter. Another was watching a seaplane (called float planes) take off and land beside the boat on the river. We also spent an hour in a Chena Indian Village. They are one of the “Tribes” of native Americans in the state called Athabascan. There were several beautiful houses along the river.

After the river boat ride, we had time for lunch and stopped at a combination KFC and A&W. There are several fast food restaurants here, as well as expensive restaurants. We went in one for dinner one night, and after seeing the menus featuring dinners from $28-$32 and up, we walked out.

Our second activity of the day was a ride on a train to a gold mine, with demonstrations on panning for gold. Then we were each given bags of “pay dirt” that we could “pan”. Dan and I both got gold. When we had it weighed, it weighed 13 grams. It was not a lot, but enough to make some jewelry. It was fun.

After a light dinner from a deli in a grocery, we came back to the campground and went to a driver’s meeting for our travels tomorrow.

It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day today. Temp got up to 81 degrees. We had a great day. After three weeks, we have done so much. Half our trip is still before us, and we wonder what lays in store for us. Till later….

July 30-31, 2006 (Days 67-68)

We left the campground shortly after the leaders, and went back to town to a truck stop where they had an RV/truck wash. We couldn’t face going on with the Black Bear and Silver Tent being so dirty. Car wash cost $10. It was 44 degrees and raining. There were dark, heavy clouds in the sky, and we couldn’t see the mountains. We traveled with the Steurer’s and Waters’. They waited on us at the campground until we were done at the RV wash.

Our first stop was at The Knotty Shop. They featured a lot of nice souvenirs and knotty wood products. There were many products made with burl wood, and that was interesting.

On down the road, we were in the NORTH POLE! I never thought I would see the real North Pole, but now I have. Santa’s house was there, along with the corral full of reindeer, a toy shop and souvenirs. The buildings in the North Pole were all decorated for Christmas and are the whole year. Christmas music was playing, and it made you feel as if you were in Branson in December!

We traveled on then, as the guys pulled all us women out the door after about an hour shouting and screaming. (I can do a lot of damage in an hour!) It was a fun stop.

We got into Fairbanks around 1 p.m. There was a meeting by the guide who is responsible for planning our trip to the Arctic Circle. He told us what times we departed, some on one day and some on another. We have Tuesday afternoon. More on that later.

Most of the restaurants have a menu of reindeer sausage, buffalo burgers, caribou. You can choose hamburger, if one can believe it is beef. We’re not sure and no one is talking.

On the way to Fairbanks, we passed Eielson Air Force Base. We were told not to take any pictures of the base as we passed by on the road. There is high security there. It is the farthest north fighter wing in the U.S. Air Force. It contains two fighter squadrons that are ready to deploy any where around the world at a moment’s notice. Eielson has more than 60,000 square miles of military training airspace, and has the largest aerial range in the country. Military units from around the world come to Eielson to hone their skills in the skies of Alaska.

Fairbanks City has a population of 29,954; Fairbanks North Star Borough has 84,979. The elevation is only 434 ft. Mountains tower around the city, and on a clear day, you can see Denali. Once again, Fairbanks is a city that evolved from a trading post to a bustling city during the gold rush days. It played a key role during the construction of the trans Alaska pipeline. Our campground, the River’s Edge, is on the edge of the Chena River.

Bedtime came early, and it felt good. Until tomorrow…..


Next day:
Since we had no schedule today, we had the day on our own. Once again, Dan had to fix some things in the trailer. The microwave had now fallen down on the second shelf. So he had to take everything out of the pantry and disconnect the microwave to fix it. A trip to Lowe’s and Home Depot was in order. It’s a good thing the town had them.

Since Darrell and Sharon, who are parked beside us, were on their trip to the Arctic Circle this day, we were to take care of their little dog. She is old, blind and can’t hear. We were to get her out of the trailer and put her on the grass. She immediately squatted and did her pee-pee. Only once did she do more than that. I had a plastic bag to pick up the half-Tootsie Roll deposit, but lost track of it and couldn’t find it. Four of us were looking around all over for the deposit. Quite a sight, and we are glad no one stopped us to ask what we were doing!

We visited the new Wal-Mart and Lowe’s. When we returned to the campground, Darrell and Sharon had returned and we went together to dinner, stopping at a wonderful quilt shop on the way. They had a great collection of wildlife prints and Alaska prints that you don’t see any where else.

After returning, we started preparations for our trip to the Circle tomorrow. That will be an interesting read. Till then…….