June 30, 2014 Another 500 Miles (Pioneer RV Park, Whitehorse, YT)

Here's the motor home and view from last night.

 Parked along the shores of Mucho Lake.  Isolated from civilization--no phone service, no Internet, no satellite (of course we haven't had satellite for a month).

Looking from whence we had been traveling.  It's quite a road that hugs the shoreline.

The way ahead of us.  Notice the lack of guard rail along the shoreline.  It's a rugged area of road.

Do you know this quote?  "You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd!"  

Seen in a front yard of a house in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory tonight.  Have you figured out the building materials?  Bicycle tires fastened together with zip ties.  

We are averaging 500 miles per day the past two days---not nearly as many or as fast as last week, thank goodness.  

This morning we saw 11 black bear, two different herds of buffalo, and one fox.  
There was some road construction today.  Tomorrow will be the bumpy, rough, construction zone day.

We are in Pioneer RV Park, complete with all hook-ups, and WIFI, and cable television.  Living high.

Have I mentioned how good it is to be "home"?  Several times today either Glen or I have looked at the other one and said, "I am so glad to have the motor home back!"

The refrigerator is better.  Now it smells like coffee grounds!  I think that fragrance can be absorbed by baking soda, crumpled newspapers.  

Our SIX, as of yesterday, year old grandson, Zade was ring-bearer at a week end over the wedding!  Isn't he handsome.

June 29, 2014 Reporting Along the Road

June 29, 2014  It’s De Ja Vue All Over Again*

*Yogi Berra

We are traveling north on the road we just came south on this last Friday.  Somehow it looks different from the motor home!

It’s been a four bear day, one lynx, and one big bull moose that we didn’t see in time to get a picture.

Glen reports that the motor home is running smoothly, with lots of power.

The refrigerator is smelling much better.  There is now crumpled newspaper in all sections, along with coffee grounds in a bowl in the two freezer compartments.  Thanks to our niece, Suzanne, for that suggestion.  I have hope that it might be useable again.  Last night I wasn’t so sure.

We are enjoying fresh ripe sweet cherries.  We saw a sign along the road yesterday morning advertising “sweet cherries ¼ mile”.  We stopped to check out the claim.  Indeed they were local cherries, had just been picked.  There were also plums, peaches, and nectarines.  It was a wise decision to choose cherries.

I haven’t mentioned how many bicyclists there are going both north and south.  We talked to two young men at a rest area to find where they had started and how far they were going.  “Anchorage to California” was their reply.  We wanted badly to ask “why” but didn’t.   

Here’s a few funny signs/names we have seen today.

   +Wononwon—the name of a town.  Don’t you wonder how that was chosen?

   +”Wild Game Hanging Cooler”.  In this land of hunting, I guess it would take an oversized cooler for a big bull moose.

   +”Poisonous H.S Gas”. Posted at the beginning of a gravel road turning off the highway.  This brings to mind several questions.  Who put up the sign? Did they have to wear a gas mask?  Does the poisonous gas recognize the highway and stop there? 

     +RAPP—report all poachers and polluters

I hope I can find the words to make you see a sight we saw Friday.  We were so taken aback that we didn’t even grab the camera.

We were going south in an area with several vehicles going north.  I said to Glen, “look at that motorhome.  What is going on?”  After a few seconds Glen replies, “there is a man sitting on the roof of the motorhome.”  After a second quick look, sure enough there is man sitting astraddle the air conditioner unit , facing the front, waving at everyone that they met.

 Can you get that picture in your mind? Another situation that brings to mind “why?”.

We are stopped along beautiful Mucho Lake for the night.  We have enjoyed our supper with the windows open.  There is no sitting outdoors as the state bird—the mosquito and all his friends—would eat you alive.

June 28-29, 2014 Jinxed! (Super 8, Dawson Creek; Rotary RV Pk, Grande Prairie, AB)

Here's the short version of three very long days:

Traveled 1600 miles Thursday and Friday.

Traveled 82 miles Friday.

Arrived in Grande Prairie Alberta Friday to pick up motorhome.  It runs great.  Glen says lots of power.

Here's the jinxed part....

The refrigerator/freezer had quit working several days prior to Saturday's pick up.  

STINKY! ROTTEN!  HOLD YOUR NOSE!  Throw everything out, quick.

RV technician at nearby RV Service/shop says an electronic/control board has quit.  Before we have one ordered we want to make sure the smell comes out/disappears from the surface of the refrig/freezer. 

We will make do with coolers the rest of the trip.

Yes!  we are continuing with our trip.  We will leave in a bit, heading back north, to meet family/friends at Valdez, Alaska.  Another 1500-mile trip!

The up side:  we will be sleeping in our bed!  There is beautiful scenery!  We are together!

Lastly!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR YOUNGEST GRANDSON--ZADE DARIN HICKEY.

This boy is handsome, smart, the best St. Louis Cardinal's fan, a great brother and son.  Best of all, he loves his Mimi and Poppy, and we LOVE him back.

June 26-27, 2014 Famous Last Words (Super 8 Motel, Dawson Creek, Canada)

Famous Last Words....
Thursday night:
We will get a room in Whitehorse.  It's a large city.  There won't be any problems.

Wrong!
There was some kind of tournament going on and all hotel/motel rooms were booked except for one.  That one was $197 for one night.  No, thank you.

We drove on down the road 40 miles, pulled into a rest stop and slept four hours in the cab of the truck.

Glen awakened at 4:15 this morning and we started south.  
We stopped tonight in Dawson Creek at 9:15 at the Super 8 motel, renovated in 2013.

We learned our lesson. I called this afternoon and made a reservation!

Total mileage Thursday and Friday: nearly 1700 miles.  You might say we are anxious to get the motor home tomorrow.  

The long drives have been more interesting by the wildlife we are seeing.  Totals the past two days:  6 grizzlies, 12 black bear, 2 moose, herd (100+) of elk, herd (40?) of bison, 1 stone sheep, rabbits galore early this morning, 1 ptarmigan, several swans.  

I have pictures but will do a separate entry for pictures when it isn't so late. 

We will make it to Grande Prairie by noon tomorrow.  We will pick up the motor home, make sure it is running properly.  We fully expect all to be all right but won't leave until Sunday morning.  

We will be sleeping in our bed tomorrow!

Trisha and family traveled through four time zones yesterday.  They arrived home, tired, but without delays or problems.  Brady and Natalie leave Sunday for church camp.  They have a busy summer!

June 25, 2014 Last day in Anchorage with Burklow-Wilkinson Family

It has been a lazy, wet day.  It rained all night and all day.

We have gathered all our things to go in the truck out of the small motorhome.  Plus...all of the foodstuff that Trisha's family has left over.  She has repacked all of the heavy coats, long underwear, gloves, and hats in the containers we brought with us.

There will be no need for them in Arkansas.  :}  It is in the 90's there

The story of the day....
Trisha, Jeff and all of the kids except Brady, who stayed with us, went to an indoor water park this afternoon.  On the way, in downtown Anchorage, Tanner announces "there is a black bear, a big one."  They thought he was kidding, eventually turning around to see the bear.

Trisha says Tanner was correct: it was a big black bear.  They watched it for several minutes in a yard.  They eventually turned around to go on to the water park.  To their amazement the bear comes out into the street, in front of them.  Trisha says it nearly touched the front bumper of the truck.  It finally ambled to another yard, and then climbed a tree.

Trisha was amazed.  She kept saying "a bear, a bear in the middle of town."

Yesterday afternoon Trisha had decided we would take a Segway tour of downtown Anchorage.  We--even Glen and I--were fitted with helmets and got a 15-20 minute lesson outdoors on how to keep them balanced, go backward, make turns.  It was fairly easy to learn, some easier and quicker than others.  Natalie looked like she rode one to school every day.

There were the eight of us and another older (than us) couple.  We divided into five with each leader.  Glen, Brady, and the other couple and I left in one group.  We weren't five blocks from the start when there was a sideswipe, and I went sideways and down to the pavement.  Yep, some road rash on my right knee and elbow, with a few sore spots.

The man from the other couple was crossing in the crosswalk, I was on his right and had him cleared, I thought, when he swerves to the right.  At least that is how I saw/remembered it.  He wasn't hurt, and his Segway was fine.  I got to the corner; the leader dragged my Segway off the crosswalk.  I got my breath and was ready to go on.  BUT, the Segway wouldn't start.  I decided to walk back to the departure location; Glen came with me.  The leader left the Segway with a store on the corner, and went on with Brady and the other couple.  

Trisha, Jeff, Landon, Natalie, and Tanner and their leader (much younger than our leader) picked up Brady at some point.  There was not much historical background given, but lots of fun riding!  

The Segway company gave Jeff credit for the two Segways that didn't go far.  A nice gesture which not all companies would have done.

Today the elbow is more sore than the knee, but it won't take long to heal.  
Two big things I tried this trip....zip lining and Segways.

These 13 days with Trisha and Jeff and kids have gone by so quickly.  It has been great family time and made lots of memories.  I just hope the four teenagers haven't been bored to death.  We drove about 1200 miles and saw lots of beautiful scenery.

June 24, 2014 Portage to Anchorage (Golden Nugget RV Park, Anchorage, AK)

Morning plans before heading to Anchorage included a boat trip on Portage Lake to see Portage Glacier.

 Portage Lake with a 15' high ice berg floating.  Only ten percent of the berg is above water.  The lake is 650' deep.

 Close up of the glacier.

The glacier is 1/2 mile across/wide.  

 Brady, Jeff, Tanner, Landon, Natalie, Trisha, Gayla, Glen

Gayla and GlenE

Each glacier is unique and beautiful.

We shared the boat ride with a bus of travelers from all over the United States.  They all spoke with an accent that sounded alike.  Two of the ladies we spoke to were originally from the Ukraine, now from San Francisco; another was from Russia, now from New Jersey.  It was only the second day of their tour.  They were speechless at the beauty of the mountains and glacier.  They were all very gracious.

We continued toward Anchorage, stopping at the "Turnagain Arm Pit" for lunch.  Don't you just love the idea of eating bar-b-que at the "Arm Pit"!! They served St. Louis-style ribs and pulled pork sandwiches, and delicious.

We are back at the Golden Nugget RV Park in Anchorage.  It is centrally located, not the best of views (it is in the city) with full hook-ups; perfectly adequate for what we need.

Tomorrow it will be time to start "cleaning out" the two rental rv's.  They have to be turned in 8-10 a.m. Thursday morning.  Trisha, Jeff and kids are scheduled to fly at 5:15 A.M.  which means they will leave the RV park about 3:00-3:15 a.m.

June 23, 2014 Chapter Two (Portage Valley RV Park)

Supper....Half and half basket....shrimp and halibut with fries, was delicious.  Rhubarb crumble with ice cream for dessert.  

Here's the greeting committee when we returned to the rv park after supper.

It was a small bear.  We learned on the bus ride in Denali NP that bears are usually born in December, so I would say this bear is about 18 months.  He wandered all over the park; tried getting in the dumpster, then disappeared into the woods.  We all agreed that we should be alert if going to the shower house/bathroom in the middle of the night, though it won't be dark.

This sandhill crane was wandering through yards in Homer this morning as we left the Two Sisters' Bakery.

The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel between Portage and Whittier.

Portage Glacier and Lake.

Wood carving at Whittier.

Now, a few Personality Plus Family Photos:

And, a few more:

This has truly been a memorable two weeks.  There has been humor, laughter, closeness--in more than one way--(small RV's), love, and many memories.

June 23, 2014 Traveling North (Back to Portage Valley RV Park, Portage, AK)

It's time to start traveling north.  These past ten days have just gone by much too rapidly. 

We left Homer after a visit to Two Sister's Bakery.  We have wonderful memories of eating there four years ago.  Today it seemed that the memories were better than the food.  We learned it is "meatless Monday", which means the "biscuit and gravy" served was brown gravy and mushrooms.  Even Glen didn't like it.  Tanner and Landon cancelled their order for biscuit/gravy after Glen gave a review of his big bowl filled with mushroom gravy.

Even the quiche was "vegetarian".  My slice was spinach and sweet potato with cheese.  
The sticky buns and cinnamon rolls were on the dry side.  

The rest of the Framily Caravan are parked in Ninilchek for three days.  Jim/Dee and Jeff/Marcella are going halibut fishing tomorrow.

Oh...we stopped at the fish processing company to pick up the halibut caught yesterday.  It was in seal-a-meal packets and frozen.  There were 21 one-pound packages, which will be divided between us and Brady's family.  It will remain in the freezer until Thursday morning.  They have a box lined with styrofoam to carry their share on the plane.  

Are you wondering about the cost to process the fish?  We were pleasantly surprised to learn it was about $1 per pound.  That was to cut-to-size, seal-a-meal package and freeze. 

We are back in Portage, which is about 8 miles to Whittier.  We are going to travel through the two-and-half mile tunnel to eat halibut at Whittier one last time.   

It is raining--once again.  There hasn't been too many days, if any, that hasn't a shower or two.  

June 22, 2014 The Fishermen have Returned (Homer, Alaska; Homer Spit Campground)

Brady:  "It was like Christmas morning!" with a tired smile on his face.

Brady and Poppy Glen are so-o-o tired they can't wiggle, But they are two happy fishermen.  It was a great day.  No rain, but overcast.

The charter boat, "Sundy", took the fishermen into the Cook Inlet one hour and forty-five minutes from the departure marina.

Brady and Glen with their keepers.

Two of the keepers have to be under 29 inches.  The other two can be any size/weight. There is a limit of two halibut per fisherman.

The charter boat "the Sundy".

Brady and Glen talking to a deck hand.

They used three pound weights on their lines with a three-inch chunk of herring for bait.  

They fished in water 180-feet deep.  These fishermen said it was "tiring" to reel in the line each time they lost bait or lost a fish.  Brady caught ten halibut and one cod; Glen caught ten halibut.  

The fish were cleaned and filleted out to see, so no pictures when they disembarked.  

June 21 and 22, 2014 Leaving Seward and Arriving Homer, Alaska

On travel days there isn't much to report, especially if we don't see wildlife.

These two bald eagles were perched on a tree in a cloud, as if to say "good-bye" as we left Seward Saturday after lunch.

These prices are high but doesn't compare to Canada.

There were the usual beautiful streams, snow-covered mountains, and trees, trees, trees.  No wildlife seen.

We drove by one stream where the salmon fishermen were lined up nearly shoulder to shoulder.

Speaking of fishing: Glen and Brady are on a halibut fishing charter today.  It was Brady's number one wish for the trip.  Thankfully it isn't raining or windy.  It is overcast and cool at the campground.  They reported to the charter boat at 6:30 a.m. with a stop first to get Brady's fishing license.  I do hope there are fish tales, successful ones, of course, when they get in tonight.  

The laundermat here at the c'ground is convenient, clean, and relatively cheat: $2 per load, both wash and dry.  I did one load.  The number of clean undies was verging on the low side!  When the boys get in tonight I will collect the dirty jeans and do one more load.

I am content to do nothing today.  If the sun comes out I will take a chair to the beach/shore and watch the waves.  I think Trisha, Jeff and Landon, Tanner and Natalie are going to explore the area.

Homer is on the southern edge of the "Ring of Fire", an area of seven active volcanoes.  On a sunny day the views of the snow-covered mountains is spectacular.  Ah-oh, I think I hear sprinkles on the roof.  

Natalie, our picky  eater with a limited plalate, spotted a McDonalds when we arrived in Homer.  Yes, that is where we ate dinner.  She was so happy.  

I like this Wall Art.  It's on a building here in the campground.  

A fishing report and pictures at the end of the day.

BTW: have you thought about the time zone in Alaska.  It is three hours earlier than Central Time.  These facts are borrowed from Marcella and Jeff:

"Today is summer solstice, a much celebrated day in Alaska.   Sunrise was at 4:32 AM and sunset will be at 11:26 PM. 


An interesting fact: Civil sunrise and sunset is the period before and after sunrise and sunset in which it is still light. Civil sunrise was 2:43 AM and civil sunset will be 1:14 AM tomorrow morning."

June 20, 2014 Seven and a Half Hour Glacier and Wildlife Cruise, Seward, AK

First, I have 143 pictures from today.  I will wait for faster Internet to post them.

Oh, what a beautiful day.  The sun shined all day. The seas were not rough, which was great for all those dreading sea-sickness.  

We saw many glaciers, three kinds of whales, Dall/doll porpoises, harbor seal, sea lions, sea otters, many varieties of birds.

At eight tonight Jeff Schnakenberg built a fire in a fire pit for everyone.  At 8:10 the rains started.  Everyone left.  at 8:20 the rains stopped.

Orca whale

Half a mile across.

Sea otters.

This is just a few.  More when download time is faster.

June 19, 2014 Portage to Seward (Seward City Campground, Seward, Alaska)

It was a scenic two hour-drive to Seward.  More snow covered mountains, beautiful gurgling, fast flowing streams. rivers.  Alas, no wildlife was seen from the road on this trip.

We arrived early enough to have our choice of the three-tiered city-owned campground.  Of course, the front row---the water's edge was filled.  The other tiered/levels are not lacking in scenery.  
We  are parked on the second row, and the rest of the caravan are parked on the third tier.
There is electricity and water hook ups for $30 per night.  It's a bargain in Alaska.

Most everyone except us went to Exit Glacier.  It's a 1.2 mile hike to the edge of the glacier.  Glen and I felt the need for a nap.

The view of Resurrection Bay is fantastic, almost indescribably beautiful. Here's somepictures  of the family on a stump that has washed on shore.

Cloud covered Resurrection Bay

Brady

Brady

Brady, Jeff, Trisha, Tanner

Brady, Jeff, Natalie, Trisha, Landon, Tanner

2500 miles to Hawaii.

June 18, 2014 Denali Nat. Park to Portage, Alaska (Portage Valley RV Park and Cabins, Portage, AK)

We went to sleep last night to the winds howling and the rain falling.  It's "ditto" for tonight.
The howling wind makes it sound as if a blizzard is raging.  It is raining and the temperature is in the upper 40's.

Between Denali NP and Portage we stopped in Anchorage for lunch at Red Robin and stopped at Wal Mart to restock the cupboards.

We arrived at Portage Valley RV Park about five o'clock.  We have caught up with the rest of the Framily (friends and family) Caravan.  They have been exploring the area.

As soon as the RV's were hooked up we were ready to travel.  This time only 12 miles to the small fishing village of Whittier.

Whittier sits on an inlet of Prince William Sound, is a hub for fishing.  14 years ago Whittier could only be reached by rail, boat, or seaplane.  

Now the two and half-mile rail tunnel is also used by vehicles.  Vehicles takes turns with in-going and out-going trains.  The cost of entering the tunnel is $12 per vehicle, more for RV's and other rigs.  

One of many waterfalls on the mountains surrounding Whittier.

Natalie.  Who can resist this pose.

Brady.

Location of the BEST halibut ever.

More waterfalls.

One of several glaciers in the Whittier area.

The colorful fishing village of Whittier, sitting on the shores of Prince William Sound.

No animal sightings today.