31 July 2010

Yesterday we traveled from Seward to Palmer, AK. The park we stayed in was the Town and Country RV Park. It was priced right for up here in AK. It was $20 per night water/electric. Full hookups were $25. I liked it because there were no trees. Just wide open spaces, good for solar. But, it rained a lot also. They did have really good power.
Palmer/Wasilla has the largest WalMart I have ever been in. It does not look like any WalMart I have been in before either. So we left out contributions at WalMart and Fred Meyer stores as well as the Fred Meyer Gas Station.

Then on today to Glennallen, AK. The park Northern Lights has large sites and WiFi, but other things are marginal. The power is very low. We are here for the night and then onto Valdez. We have been thinking a lot about the desert southwest sunshine and not much rain.

Matanuska River

Matanuska Glacier

29 July 2010

Yesterday we did not do much. Sort of caught up on some things. Our daughter Janet did call and say she received the Halibut we shipped home to her. That is good news. Janet be sure and let us know if it is good or should we throw it away.

Today we went to get a couple of things at Safeway. Prices here in Seward are high. So we will wait until we get to Palmer tomorrow night to stock up on other items. Propane was cheap at $3.25 per gallon on 3rd street at the Penzoil lube station.

This afternoon we took a walk down to the harbor district checking out boats and Fjord tours. One of the tours was a 9 hour tour. Must be a nice tour.

Seward Harbor District

Fjord Tour

We decided we didn't want to spend the money on this 9 hour tour. Besides someone might get sea sick. I think we will have tacos tonight, not fish.

Tomorrow we leave for Palmer.

27 July 2010

We finally got some sun today off and on. I was able to get a full solar charge during the day. After 3 days of rain and clouds that is a change.

Sun Today

We went to Exit Glacier after lunch today after we had picked up some propane for $3.25 per gallon. That is the cheapest we have found in Alaska.
Exit Glacier must have melted before we got there. Just kidding of coarse. We walked the trail and climbed the hills for 1.2 miles to reach the glacier to find they had it roped off about 100 yards back from it because they said it was to dangerous to get near it. The claim was you could walk up to it and touch it. Several folks were probably pretty disappointed about that.

Along the way we head talk of how alarming it was at the rate of glacier recession. This got me to thinking about the deserts in Arizona that I walk all the time and find sea shells. It took a heap of evaporating to dissipate hundreds of miles of water that once covered those areas. I find sea shells all the time out in the middle of the deserts in the Southwest. They were once covered with seas. They make current day glacier recession look like a speck in the scheme of things.

Along the way up to the glacier, recession year posts are there showing recession progress from back in the earlier 1900s. It is clear to me the current day recession may be faster than back in the early 1900s because the slope of the land is more steep today causing faster ice melt. It is like tilting my solar panels on the RV roof toward the sun instead of leaving them flat on the roof. They get more sun. In the first half of the 1900s the lay of the land was much flatter where the glacier was then. But, who am I? I don't have anything to sell to make money off of in the field of global warming.

The thought process goes on with me when I think about all the areas that were once covered with glaciers in Colorado and are now completely gone and those areas have cabins and lodges. I've decided one can go insane thinking about this stuff. So here is a picture of Exit Glacier.

Exit Glacier Near Seward

26 July 2010

Yikes! Another cold wet day in Seward. It rained several times last night and several times today. Tomorrow is going to be the same. Wednesday we might get a little sun and then back to rain. I think we might leave on Friday when our week is up. Haven't decided yet.

This morning when we got up we discovered a diesel fuel slick running all over our space. The guy that was next door the night before lost a lot of diesel and his truck would not start. He finally got it going then left and there was lot of diesel on the ground. Well it has been raing a lot and the diesel traveled in streams to our space. The city came out this after noon and put sown some absorbing pads. I don't know if they help or not. They said they usually let the weather take care of anything less than 20 gallons spilled.

We moved to another site to get away from the mess. We went to the dump and also got fresh water in the moving process. Then it was a tour of the visitors centers and watched a couple of 20 minute movies. Then back to the 5th wheel and more rain. Yikes! It is hard to get a good charge with solar when it rains for several days straight. The Arizona desert will help that part out.

Seward Harbor

A new cruise ship comes every day.

Lots and Lots of Boats in every direction.

25 July 2010

The last two days and nights have been rain and clouds. Rain most of the time. Very wet around here. Some folks are heading back down to the lower 48 for better weather. It does test your endurance for wet RVing. It does give you a chance to catch up on reading.

I think it would be much easier if we had a propane ceramic heater we could leave on during the day as needed. They are very efficient , silent and does not use electric like the furnace. The furnace uses a lot of propane and electricity.

Tomorrow is predicted to be like the last two days. Very wet.

Seward Wet

Out The Back Window Again

How often have you looked out your living room window and see a huge cruise ship backing up and spin around in front of you and head out of sight. This Holland America Line ship backed out of it's berth near by and spun around right in front of us. Those white specks you see around the ship are a lot of sea gulls flying around the ship waiting for something to be thrown overboard. What a sight to. There will be another ship in port by the time we get up in the morning.

23 July 2010 Day 39

Seward, AK 23 July

We are signed up to stay in the Seward Water Front Park for 7 days. The park is right at the edge of the bay. Beautiful snow capped mountains surround the town and the bay. Cruise ships dock in the bay on a regular bases. Mt. Marathon is directly in front of us and a vie of the bay is out the back window. The campground has 441 sites. Tomorrow we have a lot of exploring to do.

Out The Back Window

Another Out The Back Window

Mt. Marathon Out The Front

On The Way To Seward

We stayed around Centennial City Park in Soldotna through the 18th of July and received out mail at the Soldotna Post Office general delivery. It took only three days to arrive from Colorado. We fished for Sockeye Salmon several days without any success. On the evening of the 17th we caught our limit of 6 fish on the Kenai River. The next morning on the 18th before we left for Ninilchik I caught 3 more fish in 20 minutes before we left. Wow those reds are fighters. So there is about 25 lbs of salmon in the RV freezer.

Sockeye Salmon

The morning of the 19th we headed out to Ninilchik and the Alaskan Angler RV Resort to catch my halibut charter for the next morning of the 20th.
In the afternoon after we arrived we drove out to the the Russian Orthodox Church near Ninilchik.

Ninilchik Russian Orthodox Church

View from the church front yard.

I caught my charter to go out halibut fishing at about 9:30 in the morning. With the A Fish Hunt charter service. Arthur and Erin were the crew members. The charter took eight of us out about 17 miles and anchored in about 150'-175' of water. The waters were very rough and took about 45 minutes to arrive at the anchor point. The ride out was not all that bad. But, once we got anchored I can tell you without a doubt that I do not have sea legs. Everyone on the boat got their limit of two fish. One halibut was 31 lbs and the rest were around 20 lbs. After getting back in I spoke with several people and all agreed the waters were very rough and other people on other boats had problems also. My advice is to visit your doctor and get something for sea sickness before you think about going out.

Hard Eight

On the 21st we drove down to Homer and drove out to the end of the Home Spit. The Spit had changed a lot since were there in 1997. Condos and other businesses were abundant all the way to the end of the Spit. The Eagle Lady had died in 2009. She was a fixture on the Spit for 30 years.

On the Homer Spit

The 22nd of July we drove back to Soldotna from Ninilchik to the Fred Meyer's parking lot for the night. It is amazing how much shopping you can do when you stay in a parking lot. I think Fred knows that.

Day 29

13 July 2010

It rained most of the night and all day. We mostly stayed in and rested up and caught on on a few things needing to be done. A couple of walks down to the river to check out fishing was also in order. The reds have not started to run yet.

We can see the Kenai river out the back window. The Kenai is a swift running river. The salmon run close to the shore which makes accessing them easier. The Kenai flop and twitch is the method used to catch the reds (Sockeye) since they do not bite the hook. It is a technique I will explain again. You flip a hook with some colorful yarn tied to it about 15'-20' in the water and let it drift a little ways and then give it a good yank. The line also had some lead shot weights about 3' up from the hook. The idea is to snag the fish in the mouth. If you miss the mouth and snag any other part of the fish you have to throw it back.

Most all of the fishing supplies you will need are available at Fred Meyer not far down the road. Oh, bring a small club, hip boots and maybe a net. Is is most useful to have hip boots or waders. I don't have boots. The club is to stun the fish or knock them out before you cut them up. I have been told it is best to cut the gills before sting them to bleed them out in the water. The meat will taste a lot better.

Day 28

12 July 2010

We have moved to the Centennial City Campground. The city of Soldotna runs the campground and it fills up by the evening time. There are about 166 plus site and an overflow area. We are in site 7 which is large and has good sun exposure for the solar. We have not had to use the generator at all on this trip.

I cleaned up the rig and my other half went fishing and took a hike around the campground. I told her to get supper and I would clean windows. Actually she told me to do the windows. I got the windows done and she did not bring home supper. So I had to grill.

Tomorrow I am going fishing. I need to wash the truck this evening. I'm glad it stays light most of the night.

Centennial Campground

Day 27

11 July 2010

Soldotna & Kenai

We went fishing again this morning and still did not catch anything and no one else were catching any. The reds just are not running right now.

After lunch we went to Kenai and visited the visitor center and watched the fisherman trying to net the reds down on the beach. They were not catching anything also and this was at the mouth of the Kenai River where the Salmon come in from the Cook Inlet. Maybe this week they will come.

Dip Netting at the mouth of the Kenai River

Then it was time to visit the Russian Orthodox Church in Kenai. The Russian Orthodox Priest was there and invited us into the church. This was my highlight of the visit to the Kenai. He was very interesting to talk with. He explained to us the reason for the slanted cross member of the Russian Orthodox cross. The icons of the church are now located in the visitors center because they are redoing the church. If you get a chance to go inside the church and talk with this man, do it he will be a highlight of your visit to Kenai.

Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Priest

Day 26

10 July

Soldotna,

Fred Meyer parking lot is a busy place. The free dump attracts a lot of people from the surrounding area. You can dump and get free water. There is a Fred Meyer man that comes around and keeps track of how many days you stay here. You can stay 3 days then leave for a couple and come back if you want. I would think after 3 days here you are ready for new scenery.

We went fishing today and met up with Butch a local who fishes the Kenai River behind the Visitors Center. He taught us how to fish for Reds (Sockeye Salmon). They don't really bite. So it is like snagging in a way. No luck today.

We scoped out a couple of campgrounds and will move to one on Monday. It is a city owned park campground with access to the river. The Swift Water CG charges $16.96 per night and $10.50 to use the dump. Fred Meyer is close by and free dump and water.

Day 25

Soldotna

We made it to Soldotna about mid afternoon . Fred Meyers allows RV parking in the parking lot for up tp three days. We plan to move to Centennial Park here in Soldotna. They have large spaces and is close to the river for fishing. Soldotna is a very busy place. You can fish right down on the river behind the Visitors Center. The Visitors Center is very helpful and has free WiFi. Good signal in the parking log. You just have to go inside and ask for the pass word.

Soldotna Visitors Center

Day 24

8 July 2010

Anchorage Centennial Park

From Healy to Anchorage was a long drive today. We were not able to see all of Mt McKinley due to clouds. We did see the base of the mountain covered in snow.

The RV Park we are in is the Anchorage Centennial Park. They have about 88 spaces but many are not large

enough for an RV. We are in site 88. Probably the best site for us. It is large enough for a Montana.

The park has a lot of road noise. About 8:30 this evening someone took a Honda 2000 generator here in the

Park. They cut the cable and just took off with it. The owner was visiting next door 15' away.

Got to remember 8:30 in the evening here is daylight\ like mid day. The police were called but they were

busy and might get out in a couple of hours. This area of town is not the greatest.

We are out of here in the morning!

Heading to the Kenai

Pullout along the way to Kenai

Day 23

7 July 2010

Denali NP

This morning before lunch we went into Denali NP to the visitors center and took in the 20 minute film. There are a couple of visitor centers close by with different movies. After lunch we went to the dog sled demo. You should go to this so you can feel like a real tourist. Later in the afternoon we decided to take a hike for a couple of miles. Unless you take the bus tour back into the park there is not all that much to do. Since we had taken the 11 hour bus tour previously in 1997 we decided to skip that part of it. The tour Tom took early this morning and is still not back was the 11 hour tour for $42.

Fireweed

Another Bridge

Day 22

26 June 2010

Fort Nelson

From Dawson Creek we took Hwy 97 to Fort where we spent the night. Along the way at about KM marker 130 there was an unmarked dip in the road that was really bad and caused some problems in the rig. It happened so fast there was no time to slow up or react in time. The couch came apart and the chairs in the back bent the back shade. The bad dip is not far past the place the Mile Post Magazine calls the Cut and well before Pink Mountain.
The park we are in is called Triple G Hide Away formerly known as West End RV Park. It is very crowded and a poor choice of a place to stay. There is another park before you get to town but I don’t know how it is. A pullout along the road would be a better place to stay. There was even a large party going on past midnight. When we checked in they said it would be over by 8:00PM. They obviously do not care about quiet hours.
We filled up for $1.15 per Litre at the Fort Nelson Husky station. Prices in Canada are always the same at every station in each city we are in. Very pricey fuel around here.

Fort Nelson Triple G

27 June 2010

Liard River Hot Springs.

From Fort Nelson Hwy 97 took us over Steamboat Mountain and onto Liard Hot Springs. After getting set up in a campsite we all donned our swim wear and went into the hot springs. The water was about 120 degrees.

The road today was not bad. It did have several gravel patches a lot of hills and curves.

Liard Hot Springs Camp Spot

Liard Hot Springs

The Yukon

Watson Lake Sign Forest

28 June 2010

Swift River Pullout

After leaving Liard River Hot Springs we stopped at Watson Lake to see the Sign Forest and try to look up our license plate we left there in 1997. We searched the almost 65,000 signs for about an hour and half but did find our plate. The lady at the visitor center told us the signs are taken down from time to time and new posts are put up. Using a photo from 1997 we did locate the signs that were around our plate.

We stopped for the evening at the Swift River pull out at 88 miles past Watson Lake. The pullout is a large graveled area on the left side right before you go up a hill. There is plenty of room and the stream runs by the pullout. We took advantage of the stream and washed up our rigs. I had brought along a 12volt pump and an electric pressure washer. Worked great using a 30 gallon plastic storage bin from WalMart to hold water from the stream.
Diesel was $1.09 per Litre in Watson Lake.

Swift River Pull Out

29 June 2010

Kulane Lake Pullout

When we pulled out from the Swift River Pullout this morning with clean rigs the roads were wet and there was a light rain. We ran into some gravel patches with watered down sections. Naturally we got dirty rigs again. That is the way it is when you travel to Alaska. Just expect to have dirty rigs. We stopped at the Marsh Lake rest area for lunch.

After lunch we got into Whitehorse and headed to WalMart on the North end to do some shopping. When we got to WalMart there were a lot of rigs in the lot and very crowded. We filled up at the Shell station adjoining the parking lot and headed down the street to a Super Store to do some grocery shopping.

Then it was onto Kulane Lake where we found a big pullout on the south end of the lake ad decided to spend the night there. There was a lot of dust from the road construction on the west side of the lake blowing across the lake. The dust did settle down during the night after traffic slowed down. We were not affected by the dust. This afternoon at 5:00PM the sun was at the normal 12 noon position we are used to. I found that interesting.

Kulane Lake

30 June 2010

Tok, AK

There was a light rain this morning when we pulled out of the pullout at Kulane Lake. The pullout was a good place to spend the evening and had a great view. From Kulane Lake all the way to the Alaskan border was very bad and about 45 MPH was all we could do most of the way. There was a lot of frost heaves and gravel sections. We crossed over into Alaska and the US at about 1:30PM Alaska time. I was surprised at a couple of questions the US Customs agent asked me. He asked me if I had any weapons on board and if I had more than $3000 in cash with me. They wanted out passports and vehicle registration.

We stayed at the Tundra Lodge & RV Park about a mile out of town. It was very nice and priced lower than the Tok RV Village. The sites were in the trees but very well trimmed back.

Alaska US Border Crossing

1 July 2010

Chena Lake Recreation Area

After leaving the campground in Tok this morning we filled up the main tank with diesel at the Tesoro Station. The price was $3.79 per gallon. Along with the fill up we were able to wash up the rigs at the car wash out back for free. So we took advantage of the car wash and got back on the road to Fairbanks at about 11:00AM. Alaska Hwy 2 has several gravel patches but the frost heaves are not bad.

We are spending the next four nights at the Chena Lake Recreational Area. We called the Rivers Edge RV Park in Fairbanks and they could not take us for more than two nights. This is the 4th of July weekend and everything is booked up. There are no hookups here, only a couple of water pumps in our loop. The water has a lot of iron in it. The park is a Corps of Engineers Park.

Along the way today we stopped at the Delta Meat & Sausage Company near Delta Jct. They had several different kinds of meat available with samples. I bought a pound of Yak Summer Sausage. The samples were sure good.
The next stop was the Knotty Shop. They had unique gifts and an interesting collection of burl sculptures in the front yard. The sculptures were of insects and animals made from tree burls. It is worth the stop to see the burl collection and for the free scoop of ice cream when you bring in your Mile Post Magazine with their ad. A good place to select a diamond willow walking stick to create your own walking stick with diamond eyes.
Another stop was Rika’s Road House. This was a historical park with antique displays and buildings. They have a gift shop and a restaurant.

The Knotty Shop

Begonias at Rikas Roadhouse

2 July 2010

Fairbanks.

Today was a day to go to WalMart and the Fred Meyer store. Diesel at Fred Meyer’s was the best price around. It was really busy every place we went. Diesel was $3.54 with our Kroger card. WalMart had several RVs in the parking lot spending the day. There was not enough room at the Fred Meyer store to do that. The station would also be hard to get into with a rig behind if it was as busy as it was today. The 4th of July weekend is a time to be put around here.



3 July 2010

Fairbanks

Today we all toured Fairbanks and made several stops around town including the Farmers Market. All the produce was very expensive. We didn’t buy anything.

The museum at the University of Alaska Fairbanks took most of the afternoon to tour. They have a large collection of Native art and displays. They have three different movies about Alaska running every 15 minutes.

We bought out fishing licenses at WalMart since they would take credit cards. The cost is $145 for the non-resident yearly license. If you plan to fish more than a two week period the yearly license is the best way to go. They also cover you when you go out on the boat halibut fishing.



4 July 2010

Fairbanks

After attending church at Zion Lutheran Church in Fairbanks this morning we stopped at the Sourdough Café for lunch to celebrate Jeanne’s birthday. We all had a breakfast special. Each plate was more than each of us could eat. All the food looked excellent.

After the Sourdough Café stop Lucy and I decided to go back by WalMart and pick a couple of things up. I bought a new 8’ fishing rod. Look out salmon.

My truck only made it to Fairbanks

5 July 2010

Fairbanks

It rained most all night long and it was raining when we got up this morning and our trip to the steamboat Discovery was in doubt today. At about 11:30AM we all decided to head to town and take a chance that things would clear up. Sure enough at about 12:30 when we got to the boat tour parking lot the sun came out and things were looking up. So we paid $54 each and got our tickets for the steamboat ride up the Chena river to where it met up with the Tanana River. We passed by the kennels of late Susan Butcher and visited a native village. It was a touristy thing to do but it was interesting and informative.

On the way home we stopped at U-Haul and bought propane. The price was $3.70 gallon, about average for this part of the country.

In the morning we head to Denali Park area.

Discovery lll Steamboat

6 July 2010

Healy, AK

We are in the McKinley RV Park this evening. This private park is located about 10 miles north of the park in Healy, AK. Not many choices for parks around here where you can open your slides. I was put in a site where I could not even turn into the street. To tight and overgrown pine trees. So I pulled out and was ready to leave but they gave us a nice wide open site. We let them know I would not drag my rig into any campground where the trees would drag down the side of the rig or the roof. This park need some serious attention. I got to speaking with another guy while we were doing laundry and he said Rainbow Village a little ways down the road was a better park and had wide open spaces. But, they book full about every night. We were already here so we were not moving.

Tomorrow Tom is taking the 11 hour bus ride in Denali Park. The rest of us will visit the Visitor Center and take some hikes on trails available around there.

Lots of Bridges in AK