August 22 – Prince Rupert, BC to USA

August 22 – Prince Rupert, BC to USA

After a final Alaskan dinner in a restaurant across from the ferry terminal in Ketchikan we boarded the Matanuska ferry for the final journey. After gathering our things to include a blanket & bidding good night to Bennie we went up the stairs to the lounge area to claim our seats. We were surprised to see friends, Jean & Steve, whom we had met off & on the ferries. They were from Bisbee, AZ & were taking a 2 week backpacking trip on the Alaska Maritime Highway, getting on & off the ferries & backpacking in & around the communities where the ferries stopped. They were supposed to arriving in Ketchikan that evening but instead they just stayed on the ferry because of the bad weather in that area. They would be getting off the ferry in Prince Rupert, also, but would then pick up the British Columbia ferry system to Vancouver & from there they would go to Seattle to fly home. An interesting & fun trip for them! We hit some rather “rough” seas during the night, but I’m assuming it was in the areas where the Inner Passage is not protected by the peninsula & we were totally exposed to the Pacific Ocean. I say “rough” but honestly most people on board, to include Steve, never knew that there was any wave action. I had stayed awake later just knitting & catching up on some reading & a little quiet time. The boat has quite a wide girth, so the rough waters seemed negligible. The Matanuska arrived in Prince Rupert about 5:30 am but it took us at least an hour to get through customs before we could get on our way. We became a little “nervous” when we saw the car ahead of us get searched but when our time came to be at the head of the line the custom’s agent was pleasant & asked us the usual perfunctory questions & sent us on our way. It was a cloudy & rainy day in Prince Rupert but that is what we had come to expect. We did stop at a restaurant for a little breakfast to get us back on track before beginning our day’s journey.

We drove a few hours & then Steve pulled over at a lovely rest stop & we both took about a 2 hour nap. Canada has some very beautiful rest areas & this one was quiet & was nestled among some very tall trees with a river running along side. Quite a nice rest! From there we continued our drive on through BC to the town of Burns Lake where we stopped at the Visitor’s Center & received information on a nearby campground. The following day we drove nearly 350 miles to the town of 100 Mile House (named during the gold rush days!) & camped in a municipal campground for the night. Steve grilled salmon burgers for our dinner & with a couple of sides we had an enjoyable night. The following morning (Aug 25) & after a quick cup of coffee we got an early start moving toward our destination of San Diego. What a beautiful drive we had that day! The road winded up & around & through Fraser Canyon with beautiful mountains & a deep narrow river sometimes below & sometimes along side the road. The weather is now sunny & we have gained at least 10 degrees in temperature. At the end of a long & tedious drive that day and another long & tedious wait at the US/Canada border we drove into Bellingham, WA & found a very nice WA state campground just outside of the town. It felt wonderful to be back in the Lower 48, but I have to admit that both Steve & I were in total confusion with all the roads & road networks that were everywhere. Plus I was so busy gawking & gazing at all the many stores that abounded on all sides of the roads that I was little help with the maps. We ate dinner that evening at an Italian restaurant in the very cute nearby town of Fairhaven which was just outside of Bellingham & quite near our campground.

From Bellingham we made our way south to Olympia, WA which is south of Seattle & closing in on the Oregon state line. I have notified our San Diego friends & family that just possibly we might be arriving in their areas by the weekend! Things are going well. Even though we are sad about having to leave Alaska & we have such grand memories of that beautiful state we are also excited to see Shannon & the grandchildren in San Diego & the Baldwins & Castros in Carlsbad.

August 19 – 22 Ketchikan, AK to Prince Rupert, BC

A View of Ketchikan Harbor from the Airplane

Beautiful Misty Fjords

The "Wall" in Misty Fjords from the Airplane

Misty Fjords

August 19 – 22 Ketchikan, AK to Prince Rupert, BC

We decided to pull chocks early from Ketchikan as we have found ourselves immersed in the largest temperate rain forest in the world & there is apparently no let up in sight. We were able to change our ferry reservation to leave Ketchikan tonight (Friday) at 9:30 pm as opposed to waiting till Sunday morning. We’ll sleep in the sleeping lounge in their recliner seats.

We arrived in Ketchikan on Wed. night at 11:30 pm & drove the BF to a nearby WalMart & camped out there for the night. It worked out great especially since they opened their doors at 7 am & we were in line to go inside for freshly made coffee at the Subway kiosk. It was also a great 1^st time experience doing the WalMart campers’ scene. How lucky we were that yesterday was beautiful. We walked around town & visited the Visitors’ Center where we signed on for a float plane flight seeing excursion over the Misty Fjords which is the largest land & water monument in North America. It was truly a beautiful flight & we were so happy that we had taken advantage of this opportunity. Wouldn’t seem right coming to AK either without doing at least one flight trip on a float plane or a small plane with a bush pilot. That’s Alaska!

Due to the plentiful rain in the Southeast Region of AK & because we feel saturated with tourist shops found in the port cities of the cruise ship stopovers & the numerous museums we have visited throughout AK, we have decided to move on. We’re preparing now for our last cruise on the Inner Coastal Waterway tonight & our drive from Prince Rupert south to San Diego eventually. Steve & I are both sad to be saying our final farewells to the beautiful & great state of AK. We're so greatful that AK is part of the USA! I’ll add pictures regarding these past 3 scripts at a later time.

August 14-19 Sitka to Petersburg

August 14-19 Sitka to Petersburg

SUN! GLORIOUS SUN!

Upon our arrival in Sitka we found real sunshine & clear skies, & we felt renewed! There were 2 campgrounds located near the ferry terminal so as soon as we got off the ferry we investigated them. However, since the nice US Forest Service campground was dry camping only, but lovely wooded spots, we moved on. Since we were going to be in Sitka for 4 days dry camping would be a little challenging. We drove into town & found a nice small city campground across the O’Connell Bridge that had hook ups & all the spots faced the surrounding bay. This campground was less than a mile from town so it was great for riding our bicycles to town during the days. The O’Connell Bridge connects the town of Sitka to the small Japonski Island. It was the only vehicular cable-stayed bridge in US at the time of its completion in 1972. (We’ll have to research that “cable-stayed” term later. In 2006 AAA named the O’Connell Bridge one of “Seven Remarkable Bridges” of the West. It was lovely & fun to ride our bikes over when going back & forth to Sitka. The Sitka Airport is located on Japonski Island so the 2^nd morning in Sitka we rode our bikes to the airport & had breakfast there in their restaurant. We enjoyed watching the small aircraft land & take off as well as the 1 Alaskan Airline plane take off for it’s daily flight to Seattle. 1 plane in & out to Seattle daily & 1 plane in & out to Juneau daily. Other than that the small planes will take you wherever you wish to go.

We enjoyed our stay in Sitka but it turned out that 4 days there was a little lengthy. Most of the town is filled with tourists shops which become a little tedious after a day or two. Most of these towns along the Inner Passage are stopovers for the many cruise ships that visit AK each summer so the towns are filled with cruise visitors during the day time. We did visit the Tlinget Totem Pole Forest, the Raptor Center, & Castle Hill, the site of the Russian Baranof Castle. The castle was located on the top of a hill on the edge of town & it was the location of the transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States on Oct. 18, 1867. Oct. 18^th is celebrated each year as Alaska Day! We also celebrate son, Mike’s birthday on that day! The Raptor Center was particularly interesting. It is a hospital & rehabilitation center for injured eagles, falcons, owls, hawks, & other raptors. They also rehabilitate injured ravens but they are not considered raptors. We also walked around the Pioneer House which sat upon a hill on the edge of downtown. It was originally a US Marine Barracks but when the Marines left it was converted to a home for aging pioneers. It was lovely & very well maintained. We attended the local Sitka Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning which was fun. I have really enjoyed going to many local farmers’ markets during this trip.

Prior to being at the ferry terminal on Monday at 3 am we enjoyed a lovely dinner at VanWinkle Restaurant in town. After dinner we parked the BF in a parking area at the Old Sitka Historic Park which was near the ferry to sleep for a few hours prior to going to the terminal. There were no signs saying No Overnight Parking so we just pulled in. One bit of caution that we took is that we didn’t walk Bennie around the area since it was heavily laden with lots of brush & trees & plants. Hence, bears could be nearby!

In the ferry vehicle line the next morning (3:00 am!) we actually witnessed a most SPECTACULAR sight! The Aurora Borealis appeared right overhead! What an amazing & magnificent sight it was! It lasted about 7 minutes & it even “danced” right before our eyes! BEAUTIFUL! It is a little early in the season for the Northern Lights to appear so we were indeed blessed to have had that sighting.

We boarded the M/V Matanuska ferry about 4 am & she quietly left port about 5 am & headed south on the Inner Passage. The Matanuska is about the same size as the 1^st ferry were we on, but it didn’t seem to be as newly refurbished as the Malapina. People were sleeping all over the boat – in seats, on the floor, tents on the deck with campers, on the few sofas that were around, etc. Everything is quiet & dark. (No safety announcement on this leg of the journey! Don’t want to disturb the guests, I guess.) Steve & I tried sitting by a window in the bow of the boat to watch the us traverse the waters out of & around Sitka (there are many many teacup islands in that area) & I began “penning” this blog, but eventually we gave way to the sandman & hit the recliner lounge for a little snooze. There were 2 USFS personnel on board who presented several lectures during the day. The mid morning presentation was on whales & miraculously we saw many humpback whales alongside & in front of the boat was she was speaking. The humpback & the orca or killer whales are the most common whales seen in the Inner Passage. We have our eyes peeled to hopefully see an Orca before leaving AK! The afternoon presentation was about the difficulty boats have for navigation the Wrangle Channel & also a brief discussion on the town of Petersburg which was our destination for this ferry trip. We will pass through the Wrangle Channel after leaving Petersburg on the way to Ketchikan.

Our arrivial in Petersburg was interesting. During our 11 hour journey that day we had decided to try to change our ferry tickets so as not to stay in each of these island towns quite as long as we had originally planned. Besides becoming anxious to see our little “grands” in San Diego, we found that we really don’t need multiple days to visit & take in the sights of each town & island. After getting our ferry schedule rearranged we headed into town (1 mile from the terminal) to scope out the campground that was highly acclaimed in some literature we had collected. As we drove up to it I said to Steve “Let’s keep on going!” We did drive on but stopped a block or so passed the campground & looked at one another with the “Go where?” written all over our faces! As we hurriedly tried to find something else in all our books & pamphlets we had with us a car pulled up alongside the BF & a woman said to us “Are you looking for a suitable campground in the area?” “Yes, please!” we answered. She told us to drive 3 miles north & there would be a nice campground that we would like much better than the one we had just passed by. We found it easily & happily pulled in for the next couple of nights. It was rather late in the afternoon (5 pm) & we had little food on board because you have to turn off your propane on the ferries & therefore we carry little fresh food in the refrigerator during these long hauls, & we were now discussing about where to go to get something for dinner. Ah ha! The very nice woman (She & her husband live in the campground we came to find out.) who had rescued us on side streets of Petersburg came up to our camper with a bag full of freshly caught & cooked Dungeness crab for us. Wow! For us? For dinner? Yes, it was caught right in the bay waters off the campground & she wanted us to have it. Now that is what Alaska is all about! Everyone has been so kind & friendly & has reached out to us & to all the visitors who visit their state during the travel season.

After a lovely night’s rest we will explore Petersburg for a day & a half & then head to Ketchikan via ferry on Aug. 20.

August 12-14 Haines, AK to Juneau, AK

August 12-14 Haines, AK to Juneau, AK

Up & at ‘em early on the 12^th as we needed to get in the ferry line by 7:30am for our 9am departure. We have reservations on the Alaska Marine Ferry for our entire trip south to Prince Rupert, but all the ferries have a 1-2 hr. advance show time. When we got to the terminal Steve went inside to pick up the tickets. After more than 30 minutes I thought I should check things out to see if they were reviving him or something. Certainly there was no crowd of people going inside so I just couldn’t imagine what was going on this time. Turns out that the nice woman at the counter could re-do our ticketing to save us more than $150. It was certainly worth the time spent. Besides the only other thing to do was to wait in line with the other vehicles for the 7:30am boarding. At boarding time we were efficiently loaded on the ferry named M/V Malaspina sailing to Juneau. The Malaspina holds 500 passengers & 88 vehicles. We enjoyed watching the land crew load the container trailers while we waited patiently for our turn. All the ferries in the Alaska Marine Hwy are named for Alaskan glaciers. The Malaspina was the first commissioned ferry in the AMH system & has since been re-outfitted twice. We thought it was lovely, very large & well appointed for public transportion. There are different types of seating arrangements throughout the ship from airline style seating to tables & chairs. There is a study area where a passenger can utilize at a desk separated by dividers. There is a children’s play area, a restaurant, movie theater, outside walkways, cocktail lounge, & just about any amenity that we could envision. (Note: we’re not your typical cruise ship passenger, so we don’t have much to compare this with!) An additional nice thing about the ferries is that passengers can bring their own food on board. Although most ferries have staterooms for sleeping, many people bring their own sleeping bags & air mattresses & just rack out on the floor. The cruise is remarkably quiet & very comfortable. The water so far has been calm although we did have lots of rain from Haines to Juneau & for our entire visit in Juneau. It’s disappointing to see the skies so clouded over these beautiful port cities & towns but we are in the Southeast of Alaska now & that is Alaska’s rainforest so we shouldn’t expect much else. During our cruise we saw several bald eagles flying overhead & around the ferry & we also saw a pod of 6-8 humpback whales! Pretty exciting! They are so beautiful diving in & out of the water.

Our arrival in Juneau was about on time. It’s not an issue if these ferries leave or arrive exactly on schedule. Much of the schedules depend on the current tides. The city of Juneau is a beauty! It reminded us of a little San Francisco. It is nestled at the foot of the Juneau Mtns. & the harbor appears to be all around the base of the city. When you are downtown all the city streets go uphill from the harbor, but it was certainly very manageable walking for us. While in Juneau for 3 days we visited the Alaska State Historical Museum which had an especially lovely presentation of the bald eagle. We also took a self guided tour of the state capital which was lovely & impressive considering the short history of Alaska as a state, & we walked around the grounds of the governor’s mansion. Steve, of course, inquired as to the whereabouts of Sara & since the legislature is out of session the answer was that she is in Wasilla, her home town. We enjoyed a particularly delicious & entertaining lunch at the Hanger Restaurant on the wharf. I had fabulous halibut tacos which I would love to have again someday. We were seated by the window so we had a spectacular sighting of all the float planes coming & going into the Juneau harbor and they docked in slips right there on the wharf by the restaurant. There were also multiple cruise ships coming in & out of the harbor. It is a great spectator sport! While in Juneau we camped at the USFS Mendenhall Lake Campsite in the Tongass Natl. Forest. The Tongass NF is the largest national forest in the world. The campsite was located next to the Mendenhall Glacier which we could view as we drove into & out of the campground. What can I say? Another spectacular view!

From Juneau we took the fast ferry, Fairweather, on Aug. 14^th to Sitka. The Fairweather is a beautiful ship & seem luxurious by comparison to the Malaspina. It is a catamaran ferry & has been in service for 4 years. The dock hands meticulously loaded the big vehicles such as ours and gave each of them special care & attention. We enjoyed a very smooth & rather fast trip along the Inner Passage to Sitka. The regular ferry takes 8 hours while the fast ferry took just 4 hours.

August 9-11 Haines Junction, Yukon to Haines, AK

Beautiful Mountains on the way to Haines, AK

Life Is Good!Arriving in Haines on the Fast Ferry from Skagway

The "Veendam" Holland America Ship in Haines
CruiseWest.com in Haines
A Small Cruise Ship/Very High End, we're told!

The Yukon Queen On the Way to Skagway

Farewell to Haines

The Alaska Ferry Heading South on the Inner Passage

August 9-11 Haines Junction, Yukon to Haines, AK

Upon leaving Haines Junction on Sat. morning we traveled south through a valley surrounded by numerous mountain ranges & with lakes & rivers seen all along the highway, until we reached Haines, AK which located by the Lynn Canal (It’s really the longest & deepest fjord in N.America!) & very near Glacier Bay. In my mind I was thinking that after all this travel around AK that surely we had seen it ALL & what could one more drive through the mountains do for us? Suddenly it was all there right in front of us & on all sides – THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SCENERY we’d seen anywhere! How can this be? I just don’t know, but truly I am a believer that Alaska is truly beautiful & even though I’ve always felt that the mainland US has some incredibly beautiful scenery & sights, there is probably nothing to compare to Alaska! We love it & we’re so happy to be here!

We drove into the small town of Haines, located at the north end of the Inner Passage, about mid afternoon & although I had a campground on the edge of town picked out for our Haines stay, we decided to drive into & around the town first to get the feel of the area. As we got down to the water’s edge we spotted a small camping area right on the Lynn Canal. (It’s really a bay, but was designated a canal by the early explorers.) so we pulled in to check it all out. They had 1 spot left so we grabbed it & called the next 3 days home – our vehicle facing right into the Bay with all the cruise ships & fishing vessels passing by & with mountain ranges rising up along the edges of the bay. Just one more spectacular sight!

Once we settled into our campsite I hooked onto the internet (I had to pay for a hotspot which is annoying, but at least it works!) & decided to do some research on Bennie’s episode with the foxtail. Even though he was not choking & hacking any longer, Bennie had been acting continually more lethargic as the day went on. Then we started to worry about the wild grass being poisonous so I thought I should seek information on the internet. Sure enough, there it was, listed with a few hundred other plants that are potentially toxic to animals! Now I’m freaked out! I asked the campground owners for help & they put me in touch with the local police department who put me in touch with Animal Emergency which is located in Anchorage! Even though they could not verify that foxtail is toxic, they told me that Bennie should be definitely seen by a vet and that the nearest vets are in Juneau or Whitehorse! Good grief! each of those cities is over 200 miles away! They also said to try to get him to eat & drink! No problem! He got lots of “people” food that evening! I did a little more web investigation & couldn’t find that foxtail was listed on other lists of poisonous plants so we decided to calm down & just let Bennie relax & recover at his own rate. By morning good ol’ Ben was himself again!

Yesterday, Sunday the 10^th, we took the Fast Ferry from Haines to Skagway, a very popular port for cruise ships. We learned from the ferry captain that the Lynn Canal is over 2000 ft. deep! Incredible to think how deep that is! We saw a couple of humpback whales, an eagle & some seals as we took the 45 min. ride across the canal to Skagway. Skagway is an interesting AK tourist town because there are at least 4 cruise ships in port there everyday. The town is swarming with tourists from all the cruise liners; there are hundreds of tourists shops such as souvenir shops, jewelry stores, furriers, and on & on. It was fun to see, but much more fun to head back to quiet little Haines on the Fast Ferry about mid afternoon. The water had become a bit rougher compared to the calm seas we had in the morning but the Fast Ferry is a catamaran which made for a very stable ride. Our campground was sponsoring a Dungeness crab feast Sunday night so we arrived back in time to enjoy that Alaskan delicacy for dinner. It was fun, & of course, we talked to lots of new people & got their stories on how they happened to be in Haines. Monday morning a Holland America cruise ship & a small Cruise West ship were in the Haines harbor so this small town was busy with cruise passengers for most of the day, but it was nothing compared to the flurry we saw in Skagway!

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 12^th, we will begin our big ferry trip down the Inner Passage. We will be cruising on the Alaska State Ferry which carries passengers & vehicles. We have a showtime at the marine terminal of 7:00 am. Our ferry leaves at 9:00 am & we will arrive in Juneau about 1:30 pm. I may have mentioned previously that Bennie will be staying inside the BF for the ferry journeys. We had thought that there were specific times that we can visit & walk our dog, but we have since learned that we can only do that when the boat is in port & most of those times will be when we disembark anyway. Our ferry jaunts are normally not too long so we are not concerned that it will be a problem for Bennie. He will probably be delighted to have the peace & quiet & hopefully smooth waters on which to cruise. A break from some rough highways will be a nice change for all of us. In addition to stopping in Juneau, our ferry route will take us to the ports of Sitka, St Petersburg, Ketchikan, & Prince Rupert in BC where we will disembark the ferry for the final time on Aug. 26^th & drive to Seattle, WA. From Seattle we have decided to drive south along the coast, but not the coastal highway, to San Diego. Those little Lindbloms are “calling” us & they are asking to see the AnnMaMa & Poppa Steve’s Alaska mobile. They are also expecting us to have marshmallows with us! Guess we’ll have to have a campfire with somemores when we get there. We hope to get to San Diego as close to Labor Day a possible. We’re uncertain how long we’ll be staying there before making our final drive east. Will keep you informed. As you can see, we’re still Yondering…!

August 7-9 Valdez, AK to Haines Junction, Yukon

August 7-9 Valdez, AK to Haines Junction, Yukon

We drove out of Valdez Thursday morning with heavy clouds all around, lots of rain & rather cold temperatures. Is AK becoming less fun?? We were heading to Tok once again. You may recall that we were in Tok several weeks earlier when we first arrived in AK & I had said that everyone who drives to AK visits Tok twice – once coming & once going! Well, now we’re going! Our drive along the road from Valdez was simply marvelous. The road took us through several deep canyon areas that featured spectacular mountain scenery with many waterfalls coming from the melting ice fields and along beautiful rivers & streams. At one point we could see 6 large waterfalls all in one scene! Most breathtaking! We arrived in Tok in the late afternoon where we stopped by the visitors’ center for some camping advice. Steve had hoped to get another hour of driving in so it was perfect to be directed to a small campground located next to a lake about 50 miles away. It was a dry camping area, operated by the Fish & Game Commission & there was no charge. Deals like that are helpful when traveling by RV! Heading out of Tok we were once again on the Alaska Hwy! How quickly we had forgotten – rough roads, lots of frost heaves, pot holes, hwy construction, etc.! At least we got part of it behind us the first day because Friday was going to be a full day of driving on the Alaska Hwy! We had a nice dinner in the camper that night & yes, it was still raining! Friday morning we began again along the Alaska Hwy heading to Haines Junction in the Yukon in Canada. We will be going in & out of Canada a few times before landing in the “Lower 48.” Friday’s drive became very interesting as Bennie was exhibiting very weird behavior. He kept gagging & coughing & would try to jump out of the closed window. We stopped many many times to walk him, but he continued the same for most of the day. Bennie’s behavior, the rough roads, & the bad weather did not make for a very pleasant journey, to say the least. At one point we stopped at a Visitors’ Center for the Kluane National Park & Reserve which we were driving through. We stopped at the VC mainly to give Bennie a break & us, too, as his behavior was rather unnerving. We were talking with a park ranger about the Dall sheep that we could see in the mountains & the ranger commented “Did your dog get a fox tail caught in his throat?” since Bennie was hacking & acting very skittish. I asked what she meant & she showed me what a wild fox tail looked like, which, of course, we have seen many many along our travels. She told us that dogs often eat them & they get caught in their throats & they act like porcupine quills. Yuk! Sometimes they have to be surgically removed if the dog can’t cough them up themselves, she said. Wow! Where is the nearest vet? Not near, we were told. Maybe Whitehorse in Canada or Juneau in AK. At that point we let Bennie eat as much good grass as we could find which in itself was not any easy task. The plan was to get him to throw up as much as possible with the hope of dislodging the nasty weed. Eventually we saw some results & he (and us, too!) was getting some relief. There was some additional hacking during the night & I got up early (5:30 am) to begin the grass eating regimen again. I tried to talk Steve into taking Bennie out early this morning by moaning about how afraid of bears I am, but unfortunately that scheme didn’t work too well! We’re hopeful that the problem is beginning to clear up as we are several days away from a vet unless we change our route & our time schedule.

Our visit through the Canadian border station went remarkably smooth this time. Steve pulled right up to the window & immediately announced that we have a dog & a shotgun! As Steve was handing the agent our passports & all the related paperwork for the dog & the shotgun, the agent said just keep them handy in case any patrolman asks to see them while in Canada. In other words, “Have a nice day!” During our drive yesterday in the Yukon we saw several bald eagles soaring overhead which is such a magnificent sight & Steve also spotted a large beautiful gray wolf crossing the road about 200 ft from our vehicle! We stopped our vehicle & watched as the wolf headed off into the brush but we didn’t have time to snap a picture. Oh, by the way, we did find sunshine & warmer temperatures as we approached Haines Junction where we spent last night. It’s a relief to know that summer is really not over in the direction we’re heading! We will drive about 150 miles today to Haines, AK where we will stay about 3 days before starting our ferry jaunt along the Alaska Marine Hwy. The ferry will take us through the Inner Passage, the same route that the cruise ships take but our lifestyle will be at quite a bit lower existence! We have plans to get on & off the ferry about 6 times to visit the towns along the way. Many of our days will be about 8 hrs on the ferry. Bennie will stay in the car on the ferry & there will be designated times to visit & walk pets. Should be an interesting experience. I hope we’ll have internet & phone service available when we depart the ferry each day, but if you don't see postings you'll know we're out of touch, which has been a problem for most of this trip.

August 1-5 Anchorage to Valdez

Leaving the Pools' Home in Eagle RiverBeautiful Fireweed Blooming at the Top

6 more weeks till Winter!

Bridal Veil Falls on the way to Valdez

August 1-5 Anchorage to Valdez

We departed the Pool’s home, located in Eagle River outside of Anchorage, the morning of Aug. 4^th. The skies were overcast & cloudy, the temperature was nearly 58 degrees with an expected high for the day of 62 degrees, the leaves were beginning to fall from the trees, a light snow, called terminal snow dust by the Alaskans, is reported on the mountain peaks, & the wildflower, fireweed, was now blooming at the top which folklore says “6 weeks more weeks untill winter!” Also, the days are now losing more than 5 min per day of sunlight! WOW! Summer is about over in Alaska & we’ve been here for AK’s entire summer! We arrived in AK on July 5^th!

While in Anchorage we were once again hosted by the wonderful Pool family. We camped in their driveway & plugged our RV into their electric & we enjoyed the use of their bathroom, their water, their food, their washer/dryer but most of all, their sincere friendship. We are most grateful for the friendships we have established with Carol & Lloyd during our time together. They are truly the most wonderful friends we could have! When we arrived arrived at the Pool’s home they immediately said, “Any friend of Russ’ is our friend! Come on in!” And their hospitality just began at that point!

Upon arriving in Anchorage on Thursday, the 1^st, we stopped by an RV dealer to see if we could arrange to have our awning fixed. It had been broken in a severe wind while we were in Homer & we were away from the campground. Even though the dealership thought the part could be ordered it turned out that it wouldn’t be shipped until Aug. 18^th so we dropped that idea. We made a “necessary” stop at Costco that afternoon & stopped for pizza at the Moose’s Tooth Pizza & Brewery for a fun pizza dinner! A very popular place in town! We’d heard about it from other travelers along the trail. Eventually we made it to the Pool’s where we enjoyed an evening chat with Carol. Lloyd was already onto his next outdoor adventure – canoeing on a series of lakes on the Kenai with his canoe enthusiast friends. Friday Steve & I visited the Alaska Native Heritage Center located near Eagle River & visited Lake Hood, the busiest float plane landing “strip” in North America. In addition to the Ted Stevens International Airport, Anchorage also has Merrill Field which is the landing strip for small private airplanes & as mentioned previously, there is the float plane airfield as well. 1 in 6 Alaskans owns his own airplane & there are landing strips everywhere. We even saw a housing community that had a grass landing strip right behind the each row of homes! The planes were parked right by the houses! Guess that sort of equates to having a dock at your home on the Chesapeake Bay! On Saturday Steve & I departed early to drive to the Anchorage train station to catch the Alaskan Railroad train to Whittier where we took the “26 Glacier Tour” on a large catamaran boat into Prince William Sound to view both sea wildlife & many (26 to be exact) glaciers. We were served a delicious halibut fish & chip lunch while on board & we enjoyed many spectacular sights throughout the day. After the boat trip we returned to Anchorage via rail & arrived back at the Pool’s homestead by 11 pm. Carol was so kind to take care of Bennie during the day & he was able to “help” her get ready for baby shower she was hosting the following day! We weren’t told if he ate any of the special food for the event. On Sunday Steve & I made a final visit to the Anchorage outdoor marketplace & purchased a few treasures for our memory chest. In the afternoon Lloyd joined us & escorted us to visit Earthquake Park which is a memorial park commemorating the 1964 earthquake that greatly affected much of central Alaska through both the earth tremors, the aftershocks, & the ensuing tsunamis. I believe I mentioned previously that the earthquake was rated 9.2 on the Richter Scale, the largest earthquake ever recorded in North America! It was astounding to see steal girders that were bent in multiple places during the earthquake & also to see how much of the land had sunk 10 or more feet. We also spent a good 2 hours in the Natural History Museum & particularly in the Alaskan Room studying the history of the native Alaskans. Sunday evening the Pools & Lindlbloms enjoyed a wonderful farewell dinner & birthday celebration dinner for Lloyd at Simon & Seafords renowned restaurant overlooking Cook Inlet. After dinner we returned home to enjoy Carol’s delicious German chocolate cake which she bakes for Lloyd each year on his birthday. It was a most enjoyable evening & one that will last in our memories always!

We departed the Pools’ home on Monday morning & headed east of Anchorage toward Valdez. We made a stop in Palmer to visit a musk ox farm which was most interesting. The musk ox are descended from prehistoric ox animals. They look kind of like small bison but with a very long double coat of fur. The native Alaskans spin their fur or wool into yarn to make clothing. Apparently the musk ox wool is 7 times warmer than sheep’s wool. Of course, it is at least 10 times more expensive. One skein of the musk ox wool is $80!! We drove from Palmer along the Glennallan Hwy.(#1) to the town of Glennallen & actually drove though the primary agricultural region of Alaska. There really isn’t too much agriculture in AK & we really couldn’t tell what they grow or harvest in this area but the land was lush. We weren’t able to find a proper rest area to stop for lunch so we pulled off the roadway & fixed ourselves a light lunch before driving on. Bennie & I took a little walk among the wildflowers after lunch &, since this wasn’t a protected area, we gathered a few of the beautiful wildflowers growing on the roadside with which to decorate the BF. At Glennallen we turned south on the Richardson Hwy (#4) toward Valdez but it was becoming late in the afternoon so we stopped about 80 miles short of Valdez at a state campground for the evening. The campground had lovely campsites along a babbling stream which ran into a lake with campsites around it also. We spent the night there & enjoyed a delicious dinner of grilled salmon compliments of the Pools who ensured our freezer & refrigerator were full of fresh caught salmon & moose. Our freezer & refrigerator are very full & we couldn’t be happier! Everything will be greatly enjoyed by the Yonderers!

Today, August 5^th, (Happy 3^rd Birthday to our dear granddaughter, Emery!) began with rain, completely cloudy skies, & cold temps & it looks as though that it will stay that way for a few days. We pulled into Valdez about noon & the proprietor at the Bear Paw Campground mumbled that Valdez has NOT had 2 consecutive days of sun all summer! (While we were in Homer we were told that Homer had not had more than 2 days of over 65 degree weather this summer!) Anyone thinking about retiring to AK? It has definitely been a colder & rainier summer than normal for AK this year. We will remain in Valdez a couple of days. It is uncertain as to whether we will take another boat ride into Prince William Sound (from a different vantage point than our trip from Whittier) or not. We’re giving serious thought to this weather!