Streamin with Joe and Buddy

Onward to Stewart BC and Hyder AK

2014-07-31T21:32:00.001-07:00

7/27/14

Headed toward Stewart/Hyder south on the Cassiar Hwy 37. Going south, the road was pretty rough in a few places. Saw 1 sow bear with 2 cubs, 1 fox and several ptarmigans alongside the road. Stopped for the night at Rancheria Motel/RV Park, doesn't look like much, in fact it is real easy to miss. A small place, nice level spaces with power and water and super nice people in the cafe. When we got there we both had a bowl of Split Pea Soup, excellent soup. About 24 bicycle riders where just arriving to spend the night and there had been 25 the night before. There were also several motorcyclist camped. The place is not much to look at but I would definitely stay here again.

7/28/14

After Rancheria the road started to get better, in fact it eventually had fog lines and a yellow line down the middle. Stayed at Mt Shadow RV Park just north of Iskut, BC, probably one of the prettiest well manicured places we stayed at. The sites were perfect, large areas of lawn and hundreds of well kept flowers around the house. When you register you walk into the owners beautiful kitchen with a view of a lake and tall snow scattered mountain peaks all around. This deserves a 10+ rating, however I never took the time to look at the bathrooms/showers

7/29/14
Continued on into Stewart/Hyder and staying at Camp Run-A-Muck, the last place in Hyder. A nice quiet place with many pull-thrus in the woods or in the open. Good showers, (3 loonies even though we were in Alaska) Nice laundry, only takes US quarters. Only Alaskan town on Pacific Standard Time, except for the Post office, they are on Alaskan Time Zone, but the National Park further down the road is on Pacific Standard time. You just have to know where you are going to know what time time zone you are in. A very nice gentlemen, Sully checked us in, we have power, water and wi-fi that is very iffy and then not at all. Another gorgeous drive through narrow canyons, waterfalls, many creeks and Bear Glacier which we were able to get a couple of pictures through the rain. I might be able to get better pictures when we leave.
We have been driving for three days, longer than what we usually like; when we leave here we will be driving for five or six days to home so we will spend two nights here in Hyder to rest up. Hyder is the last Alaskan town we will be in for this trip. When we leave here we will go to Smithers or Houston for the first night and then continue driving every day to home. In 2011 we drove to Prince Rupert so
we already know what the roads look like from Smithers to home.

Bear Glacier

Park next to Visitor Center in Stewart, B C

Later we will drive out to Tongass National Park to Salmon Creek to see if there are any bears there. They are open from 6am until 10 pm, Pacific Time.

More about that on the next blog.

Have a great day.

Nancy

Skagway, Birthday, Zip Line, (Crazy..? maybe)

2014-07-31T20:25:00.001-07:00

7/24 - 7/26
Skagway, City RV Park
Downtown next to the Cruise Ships
A great place, walk to everything

A very small town left over from the Gold Rush. A beautiful deep water port at the end of a Fjord. Driving to Skagway is slow, many places to pull over for pictures; take hwy 98 just south of Whitehorse for one of the most scenic trips we have experienced through canyons, lakes, rivers, mountains, valleys and sub-alpine terrain, then The White Pass, at 3,290 ' and using a low gear down through canyons so stunning that pictures cannot do it justice. (At least not mine)

Skagway is located on the north end of Taiya Inlet on Lynn Canal. There are so many activities that you need several days to see and do it all. This is a tourist town with 4 - 5 cruise ships every day except Sunday. I was amazed to see so many people, it was like walking through Disney Land, we couldn't even get into the local brewery. We finally discovered that most of the ship tourists return to their ship and they leave between four and nine PM. So we eventually got into the local Skagway Brewery. The beer was not all that great but the food was fantastic.
While in Skagway there was a 5.5 earth quake a little west of Juneau, the trailer just swayed back and forth for about a minute. The earthquake broke the internet fiber-optic running from Juneau to Skagway. Merchants in town had to hand write receipts for people using credit cards. The internet came back after about 48 hrs. The internet is very weak to begin with here, especially when the cruise ships are in. Saturday morning at 0430 I had excellent internet, then by 8 AM no internet, I guess I have to wait until the cruise ships leave tonight. No such luck.

We drove over to Dyea townsite, (Dyea is long gone) the drive over was beautiful. Dyea is where the famous Chilkoot Trail to the Gold Fields started. Now you can get a permit and hike 33 miles of the trail and ride the train back. It takes about five days to hike the trail.

The beginning of the trail doesn't look too bad, of course this is before you go up the mountain. I only hiked about 30 min of the trail.

The trail pretty much follows the river before it starts straight up. The scenery here is beautiful.

There was an Avalanche on the trail that killed about 70 people. The old cemetery has markers to represent all those that lost their life.

Overlooking the valley of the town of Skagway. Actually the town is more to the right of the picture.

Stopped at some beautiful gardens and glass blowers at the entrance to Skagway.

These are glass fish in a dry creek bed that was made for the "oops" of glass fish that got cracked or just not up to standards.

More "oops" of glass

While in Skagway I had a birthday and went on a Zip Line Tour. Eleven lines and several swaying bridges to cross all in the rain forest above a rushing creek.
This is the truck we rode up in to the starting point. It has 8 gears, you can walk faster than 1st or 2nd gear. It just climbed straight up the mountain.

They also had sled puppies for sale.

This is the one I wanted.

No more delays, on to the harness room and instructions.

My first landing

Brave enough to look down but not let go.

Another successful landing.

And finally no hands and a spin...!

Walking back to our van and 100 feet away ............

....Luckily he was busy. Our guide carried bear spray with him at all times.

When the cruise ships pack up and leave all the RVers and locals come out, we finally got into the Skagway Brewery. I told Joe to smile and....
this is what i got.

We had some samples of Skagway Beer but we were not impressed so we had Alaskan Amber and Alaskan Summer.

Lots of mushroom out in the forest, these red with white spots are very poisonous but very pretty.

Of course we had to stop at the Red Onion

I don't think I have ever seen a collection of bed pans, but here at the Red Onion anything goes.

Picture of a tee shirt is only souvenir

While in Skagway we were going to take a train ride on a narrow gauge rail up through a canyon with a steam engine but the train derailed and of course all the trains were cancelled until they got it cleared up and repaired the track, and then the inspection, couldn't stay any longer so we left. This is very popular with the cruise ships so lots of people upset, no train for three days.

The other thing we had planned was to take the Fast Ferry over to Haines, but the "head" had a leak so that was cancelled. So I guess Haines and the tour of the Haines Underwear factory will have to wait until next time. :) lol

It's so nice to have internet again, it's been about 4 or 5 days. No cell service yet, probably as we get closer to Prince George.

Have a great Day

Nancy

Valdez to Skagway

2014-07-26T22:49:00.001-07:00

7/19 - 7/23
Valdez to Tok to Destruction Bay to Carcross to Skagway
Mostly very good weather with a few sprinkles now and then

More outstanding scenery, road construction and very bumpy roads. From Tok to Destruction Bay, (D-Bay to the locals) was about 250 miles that took us nine hours, which 45 min was waiting for a pilot car. This was the longest we have been on the road since we left home, and the dirtiest. Luckily there was a car wash in Carcross. We only stayed overnight at Tok, Destruction Bay and Carcross so not much going on.

New Snow in mountains above Destruction Bay

What a mess going through all that construction.

The stuff wanted to stick like glue, very hard to wash off.

Entrance to Haines Junction

Village Bakery, several streets off the main hwy, but we found it

Had delicious sticky buns, our first on the entire trip

Emerald Lake, see description next picture

Waiting for a pilot car again, note the clean trailer

Just after the White Pass summit of about 3,500'

going down steep canyon all the way to Skagway

I have been without internet for a long time, then when we arrive to our campground in Skagway we have no phone, no internet, no water. More on that tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by

Nancy

Valdez

2014-07-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

7/15 - 7/18/14
Bear Paw Campground
Nice & warm to cold & windy

A very long blog (too many pictures), I just have a hard time sorting through the pictures to see which ones I'm going to use on the blog.

Valdez is probably the most gorgeous small port town that we have been to, majestic mountains to beautiful water, some clear and sparkling and other waters were glacier waters. Mountains all around us, with glaciers and or ice/snow packs.

I must give a "good plug" to the folks at Bear Paw RV Campground. We came in and paid for our 4 nights, which included EWS, good cable, excellent internet and free showers, what more could you ask for. Well there was one more thing....Joe scheduled a fishing trip for Saturday, the day we were leaving so we extended our time for 2 more nights (after a 12 hr day of fishing he would have needed a day to recover). The Campground had a large caravan coming in but he just put them on both sides of us so we wouldn't have to move.

Saturday came, up at 0530, make his lunch and snacks for a 12 - 13 hr day, a breakfast burrito, helped him get his rubber boots on ( I think he needs ones a little larger), jump in the truck at 0620 and head on down to the dock, I-20, The Misty Isle. Joe wanted me to just drop him off, but I wanted to take pictures of the captain, crew and boat, so we both walked out to I -20. We were the first ones there, we were told to meet at 0645 for a 0700 time to leave., Others started showing up but no captain. He finally came at 0650, kind of late, since he still had to warm up the engine and do a safety check, (I'm thinking).

To back up a little; I had been checking www.wunderground the day before and then early in the morning, and it didn't look too good. There were warnings out for Homer, Kodiak, Seward and Valdez. It was called something like a 1 - 2 punch weather system coming in. Storm from the northwest and a storm from the southwest were coming together, and it wasn't going to be pretty with seas 1 - 3 foot close in and out in Prince William Sound 3 - 5 foot seas. High wind warnings. Weather systems change very fast and very unpredictable here. When we walked out on the dock there was no wind, high clouds and not cold. So we thought there was another change in the weather.

So, back to my story about the Captain being late. He had been busy checking the various weather stations for the area and talking to a freighter coming in. There were now gale warnings and 3 - 5 foot seas out close to Prince William Sound, which is where we were headed (about a 2 1/2 hr trip from Valdez) and they were predicting 5 - 7 foot seas by noon in Prince William Sound. So the Captain explained all this to everyone, we said he could use the money but it would be impossible to fish bouncing around out there, he advised us to not go. Everyone agreed with him and thanked him for being up-front and honest. Of course everyone was given a refund.

Now back to my "good plug" to the folks at Bear Paw Campground. We had already paid for the two extra days and most campgrounds say "no refund" for leaving early. I told the Campground mgr what happened, and he immediately said no problem and we got a refund.

The Captain explaining to us about the weather and seas.

We were going to go on a helicopter trip and land on a glacier, but the only opening was for Saturday, the day Joe was to go fishing. So we relaxed in Valdez by going to a museum of Valdez which was very interesting, also drove over to the other side of the port where there is a fish hatchery and the terminal of the Valdez oil pipe.

Salmon Creek Hatchery

These fish have to really work hard to get to the ladder.

The gulls here are the largest I have ever seen. That is a good size fish he has there.

The creek behind the bridge. The water pipe at the bottom left is coming from a water system and dam area up on the hill. The water is piped over to this area that would be a dry creek bed if the water was not piped in.

Looking across the water to Valdez

I guess this didn't come out very good, the large tanks are on the left and their dock is on the other side of that little mound of a hil on the middle right side of picture. And of course is is low tide.
The oil tank farm is very large and hard to get a good picture at this angle.

Another picture, a little better.

If you look through these flowers on the left the same hill as stated above.

I took this picture because of the red branch, I later found out that is is called sheep's beard, because it has long white blooms that have already bloomed.

Pilot boats heading over to the oil tank farm, they will soon be taking a ship out to sea

The Prince William Sound is to the Left about 2 1/2 hrs away by boat.

Magpie, very pretty color.s

Back over to the Valdez side and a drive through Old Valdez, nothing there except a couple of deep water docks. I guess you will need a magnifying glass to read about this.

Along road

The Valdez Museum had this cute fishing boat outside

Life saving boat that was used in 1980 when a cruise ship had a broken pipe and started taking on water,

Sorry for the blurry picture, this is the North Pacific Fur Fish.

These pictures are for you Alex

This is a dwarf Fireweed, it's a bush.

These are usually white so I thought I should take a picture of pink ones.

I don't remember the name, but it is a very common wildflower.

Same thing in white

Just regular weeds, oops I mean
wildflowers.

Valdez is surrounded with mountains. We only had one clear day while here.

Mineral Creek, and lots of hiking trails up this canyon

The crossing of Mineral Creek.

That's it for Valdez, luckily we had already been out on a glacier-nature tour while in Seward because the weather just wasn't very good for us in Valdez. However we have been very blessed with excellent weather 99% of our trip that started May 14th.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day.

Nancy

Glennallen to Valdez

2014-07-18T13:02:00.000-07:00

7/16/14
Lots of roller coast roads
About 230 miles

Another day for amazing scenery and eventually going through Keystone Canyon.

Several pictures of Worthington Glacier

Water coming down under glacier

Bridal Veil Falls

Horsetail falls

That's it for our drive to Valdez

Nancy

Seward to Glennallen

2014-07-17T18:06:00.000-07:00

7/14/14
Long day of driving
over 300 miles,
about 8 hrs.

Joe drove the first 100 miles, then I took over for the next 100 and he finished the last 120 miles. We have not traveled this far in a long, long time. Very tiring when the roads are not real smooth, lots of roller coaster roads and rough patches.
But we traveled through some beautiful, beautiful scenery.

I don't think I ever found out the name of this glacier, but you could drive up to it.

The end of a very long day.

Nancy

Seward

2014-07-17T17:51:00.001-07:00

7/12 - 7/14
Seward Military Resort and RV Park
Partly cloudy with showers now and then

This is a military resort and what a great place within walking distance to Seward. Great free showers, and laundry $1.25 to wash and $1.25 to dry.

I think every small town we have been to has a brewery, Seward was no exception. Time for another brew...? sure..!

While in Seward we met up with fellow Airstreamer from
Port Angeles WA; Dan, Irene, and their 9 month old Great Dane, Rascal.

Downtown Seward

While in Seward we went out on an all day glacier and wildlife tour with Kenai Fjords Tour, and we had so much fun.

Leaving the harbor

Beautiful scenery everywhere

On our way to Fox Island to pick up a few more people.

We were on our way and suddenly the Captain remembered we needed to go to Fox Island to pick up a few people that had spent the night there. You can see on the TV Monitor that we had to turn around and head back to the dock at Fox Island.

Pulling up to the dock at Fox Island

A bit blurry but that's what you get when the Orcas are moving.

Stellar Sea Lions.

A few rain drops on my lens

Holgate Glacier, kind of rainy here.

Rainy, but a magnificent view of the glacier.

Actually got to see a fairly large calving, luckily I caught the last of it at the center bottom of picture

Sort of close to one of the many islands, of the Chiswell Islands.

A little Tufted Puffin Family

A bit out of focus, but I kept it anyway, after-all this is my journal.

This rock island is straight up and down and yet these Gulls and Puffins still find a place to nest.

On the way home another Orca was spotted.

Bee Hive Island, thousands of different Gulls and Puffins swarming around.

More Stellar Sea Lions.

This was a really good tour that was a full day and great people.

The next day Joe went out on a fishing trip and came back with two halibut and three bottom fish. The resort that we are staying at has two very large fish cleaning houses, including use of a filet knife, saran wrap, freezer wrap and you could buy bags for use in their free shrink wrap machines. The also have a large freezer room.

Some one brought in a 168 lb Halibut, which is nice if you have someone that knows how to make steaks and fillets in something that big

For me these smaller 40 - 50 lb halibuts are much easier to handle.

Part of Joe's catch

Inside one of the fish houses. Two long tables on the edges of the fish house for filleting your fish and one table in the middle for wrapping your catch

Shrink wrap machine. This is the smaller one. The larger one could take 6 bags.

We had a great time in Seward and the Military Resort was fantastic. They also had Yurts, hotel, townhouses and houses. This is a very popular place we were lucky to be able to stay there for a few days. We would have stayed longer but they were booked. You can make reservations for a year in advance. The deck hands from the fishing boat Joe went on came to the resort to pick everyone up, which was really convenient.

That's it for Seward.

Thanks for stopping by, have a blessed day.

Nancy

.

Good-Bye Homer

2014-07-11T23:15:00.000-07:00

7/11/14
Homer
Ocean View RV Park
1/2 mile north of Elks Lodge

Our last day in Homer (until next year, maybe) and a few pictures of magnificent views of the area.

My halibut

Early, 0430 sunrise

Buddy, not to happy with me holding him.

View from our camp site, Ocean View RV Park

Homer, The Spit and Beluga Lake.

View from Skyline Rd, The Spit of Homer Spit on left

The Homer Spit

From Skyline or East End Rd

Across the Kachemak Bay - and a Glacier

These are both across Kachemak Bay

The Fireweed are really coming on strong. here at the Ocean View RV Park. The Stream on right side.

Buddy, just not very happy being held. Look how tall the Fireweed is here.

We have met so many nice people here in Homer at the Elks Lodge, we already feel like we are part of them.

Sue & Bob, Peggy & Sheri (Paul not in picture)

Mat the bar tender

Shirley & Don

Mirian and Hugh

I hope I got most of the names correct. These are all wonderful new friends that we have met here in Homer.

That's it for Homer, we have had a wonderful time here and are already thinking about returning next year.

Leaving for Seward tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy

Fish on..........Fish up..!!

2014-07-09T13:49:00.000-07:00

7/8/14
Homer, AK
Fishing on the Nauti-Lady
Mostly clear skies and warm

Up by 0600, make breakfast, pack lunch and out the door, heading for the Nauti-Lady on Pier C, Slip 17 where we met 15 other people at 0730 plus Captain John and two crew members. We were on our way by 0800 for a 3/4 day of Halibut Fishing. First we had to stop and "jig" for Pollock which only took about 20 min and we had a box full for our bait.

Getting all set up to go.

Deck Hand, giving us our safety talk.

Pollock, a white fish. I don't know if this is their regular size or if they grow bigger......but they did the trick as they became our bait.

We motored out for 2 hrs and what a gorgeous day we had.

Our fist siting of whales, they put on quite a show.

By the time we got to the fishing area, known as "the rock pile" the bait was cut and on the hooks.

I caught the largest fish on the boat, 44 inches long at about 35 lbs. I also caught the first fish, but threw is back, as it was only 31 inches. The new rule is that you can have two fish, but one must be 29 inches or less. I caught a total of six fish and I think Joe caught 10 fish.

There's my fish, too big for the box

My fish

The whales were very playful, slapping their tails on the water.

Returning home,
everyone got their limit.

Mt Redoubt was in our site all day long

Last picture because I used all of the battery with about 200 pictures.

After a full day of fishing we went to the swearing in of four people at the Elks Club, one being Lee, one of our new friends. Lee is a truck driver with a home base in Alabama, but he comes up here to Homer every year to visit with his good friends, Tom and Deb, also Elk Members. We better watch out or we will become members of the Elks Club in Homer. Sure a lot of really nice people. We have been in their RV area for six days, but have now moved (7/9/14) to a new place just up the street, Ocean View RV Park for a few days while we wait for mail.

That's it for a full day of fun, thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Beautiful Homer, AK

2014-07-07T22:34:00.001-07:00

7/4 - 11/14
Homer, AK
Elks Lodge
Temps have been mild mostly sunny
clouding up in evening and a few
sprinkles at night.

We are still here, waiting for mail and tomorrow a fishing trip for halibut, hope we are successful. While here we have driven all the way out to the end of the East End Road. Beautiful drive, and many homes out there on the hill. Homer is much larger than you would think.

This guy was right outside our door, he was grooming himself for a while and then when he shook a white feather fell down and I found it. Not very big but I know for sure that it is from an Eagle.

His is looking at a crow that won't leave him alone

The crow was really upset, the Eagle probably stole a baby crow or egg.

How American can you get, the Flag, Eagle and Airstream, all we need is a Harley.......But keep reading, a Harley and miniature Airstream appeared before the day was gone.

...... and the rest of the story,
Harley pulling an Airstream.

check out cyclestream.com, he custom makes these trailers. The top opens up for storage. He tried to talk to Airstream, but they would not return his call.

Dave Shu...... what about this.

Too bad the Eagle had already left for the day.

The flowers here are soooo big and beautiful. The Fireweed are just starting to bloom. Most are 5 - 6 feet tall. Another few weeks and they will all be in bloom.

That's it for today's post, hope you have enjoyed, have a blessed day.

Nancy

This and that....... and.... Sand Hill Cranes

2014-07-05T21:31:00.004-07:00

July 5th 2014
Elks Lodge, Homer, AK

The end of yesterdays Pig Roast and BBQ. As you can see this is a very simple set up for roasting a pig. Both sides are up when roasting and there is a grate with space to put the charcoal in and then a little motor that turns the spit.

The left overs

A really nice crowd. This is the first floor of the Elks Lodge with a large lawn to the right and then these large windows overlooking the water.
The second floor is about the same, very nice place.

The July 4th parade started at 6 pm, This kid was all over the place
entertaining us while waiting for the parade

Everyone was either in the parade or watching.

I love these small town parades.

Alex, this is for you. They had lots of green/yellow fire trucks and a few red ones, but this was the best one

Of course they had their political stuff, but the dogs were the cutest.

Even their Zamboni was in the parade because the Pee Wee hokey team won the State Championship

The hockey players

No high school band but they had a group of horses

Today we drove out to the East End, a little hazy today.

Now the best part of today

Sand Hill Cranes in the yard right next to us.

This particular group migrates to the Sacramento area every winter

But they have their chicks about 1/4 mile up the beach

Aren't they a handsome couple.

There is another flock of Sand Hill Cranes in the Fairbanks area that winter in Texas. I guess the "snowbirds" all have their favorite place to go for the winter, just like people.

That's it for today, hope every one had a Blessed 4th of July.

Nancy

Happy 4th of July

2014-07-04T22:28:00.001-07:00

July 4th, 2014
Homer, AK
Homer Elks Lodge

We had such a fun day with the Elks here in Homer. Their day started at 0430 with hammering a spike up the but of a pig and then onto the spit. The reason we know it was 0430 is that we are staying in their parking lot and we were woke up with the racket. This is an annual event so they have everything timed just right. The menu was: of course the roasted pig, four roasted turkeys, and lots of hot dogs and hamburgers along with beans and many salads along with home made deserts. What a grand feast they put on to celebrate our Independence Day, all the veterans were asked to stand to be recognized and thanked for their service.

First I have a couple of pictures on the way to Homer

Mt. Iliamna

Mt Redoubt

That thin little line in the middle of the picture is "the Homer Spit".

The Elks Lodge is right on the water, a beautiful lodge with three floors and large windows facing out to the water. The little building on the right is the pit for roasting the pig.

The pig, the black on his body is some kind of a rub that was put on the night before.

Head Chef in charge of the pig and the Bloody Mary in his hand.

Everyone pitched in to help

The day ended with a parade in town (pictures tomorrow) and fireworks. Even though the sun is still up at 10:00 it was still fun to see the fireworks.

End of a great day, fun to meet so many nice people here at the Homer Elks.

Nancy

A Flight, Fishing and Bears, OH MY

2014-07-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

July 1, 2014
Soldotna, AK
warm and sunny

Our fishing charter didn't happen so I called Talon Air to find out when was their next flight out that had room, for fishing and bears. They said "Can you be here in 1 1/2 hrs. That's all it took. We were ready to go in 30 min, with lunch and license in hand, and away we go. I forgot to take pictures of the fish being reeled in, mostly because the boat was a little tipsy. But we each got our limit of three Sockeye each, which gave us a real nice amount for our freezer. So this is just pictures, hard to decide which ones to delete.

glacier

The lake that we landed in

this is two bears, mom and year old cub

river is thick with fish waiting waiting to go up through the rocks.

We BBQ'd one of the smaller salmon, was delicious.

.........And a safe landing back home.

That's it for July 1st.

Thanks for stopping by

Nancyh

Kenai and Soldotna

2014-06-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

6/27 - 6/30/14
Anchorage to Kenai and then
to Soldotna

In Kenai we stayed at the Beluga Lookout RV Park which is right at the mouth of the Kenai River on a high bluff overlooking the river. When the tide is going in there are supposed to be Beluga Whales in the mouth but we didn't see them. A beautiful place but a little pricey.

Driving to the Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage close to Portage.

Crossing the Upper Kenai River, beautiful color of water.

One mile from campground in Kenai.

At our campground, Mt Redoubt Volcano, I think.

This young eagle just hung out here for several hours.

View from campground

6/29/14 we moved over to Soldotna, about 5 miles away. We are now staying at the Edgewater Lodge and RV Park on the Kenai River and we'll be here for several days. Joe is going King Salmon fishing when the season opens up on July 1st with a guide. Down at the river were some people that had been dip net fishing on the upper Kenai and had several ice chest's full of salmon that they were cleaning. We were very lucky, being in the right place at the right time, they gave us a couple of filets which we BBQ'd that night, and of course they were so good, I'm surprised that we had some left over which will make a great sandwich.

We were eating the salmon so fast I almost forget to take a picture

Dip nets, lots of places have them for sale or for rent. For residents only on certain days.

When we were driving up from the river we ran into the fishing guide that Joe is going out with. He stopped and we all got up on his brand new boat that he had just brought up from Medford, OR. It's a beauty, I'll have more pictures in a couple of days.

Many places along the river has "fish walks" and ladders going to the river or platforms. This is to keep the erosion down along the river banks.

Apparently I had bronchitis and now that I am on antibiotics it is finally getting better. So that's it for now, thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day.

Nancy

Anchorage in the rain

2014-06-26T15:52:00.002-07:00

6/23 - 6/27
Elmendorf/Richardson AFB Fam Camp
aka JBER

Another very large joint base, a wooded campground very close to the the gate, just off Muldoon Rd. I've really been too sick to do much of anything. Found the Ulu Factory and bought the traditional knife and cutting board. It sure is sharp, just need to get use to it. It has now rained solid for 3 days. Good time to recuperate and read. I read Amanda Knox Memoirs. Very fascinating to hear about her side of the story and how sad that she had to go through this ordeal., especially when there is no evidence. It appears that the Italian court system, at least in Perugia, has really screwed.

Not much to write about when you are sniffling, sneezing, coughing, then repeat 99 more times. Tomorrow will be much better.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Palmer Elks Lodge

2014-06-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

6/20 - 6/23/14
Palmer Elks Lodge
on the shore of Finger Lake
Power only.

We ended up staying here, a beautiful spot overlooking the lake with mountains in the background, for three nights instead of just one because I have a nasty, cough/cold with slight fever and chills. I basically slept for three days and I still have they dang thing, but gradually getting better.

Isn't this a beautiful setting?

While we were at the Elks, the local Search and Rescue Team was having a training session for some of the new dogs. They were being taught to get into the boat, jump out of the boat and fetch a play toy back to shore. Some of the more experienced dogs actually brought in a person (with life jacket) The training lasted about 6 hrs for the trainers, the dogs got to rest most of the time. They were all trained very well and stayed by their handler's side.

It was nice that they had such a good place to practice.

That's it for today

Nancy

Birch Syrup

2014-06-24T17:42:00.001-07:00

6/19.5/14
On the way to Talkeetna

I almost forgot, on our way back to Talkeetna we stopped at a Birch Syrup producing place. I had tried birch syrup before and did not care for it and never bought any. This birch syrup was very good, so of course we bought some. This was quite and interesting place, they tap the trees and run lines just like maple syrup.

This explains the entire process. I takes more birch sap than maple sap to make the syrup. You start with 10,000 gallons of sap and end up with 100 gal of syrup.

Notice all the little bottles lined up in an arc on the left. Every day during the harvest they fill a different bottle. The beginning of the season the syrup is very mild. At the end of the season it is so strong that it can only be used for baking. The season is only 2 - 4 weeks. As soon at the trees start putting out leaves the sap is gone. Each year is different, this year they only harvested for about 17 days.

Along the way we stopped at the Alaskan Veteran's Memorial

This Fireweed is almost chest high, it would be nice to see it bloom

That's about it, thanks for stopping by.
Nancy

Denali to Palmer

2014-06-24T16:57:00.001-07:00

6/19/14

Talkeetna
pronounced Tal KEET na
Spent the night behind the Visitor Center.

Leaving Denali, good bye until next time We missed this sign coming into the park.

We are headed to Palmer but first a side trip to Talkeetna, a little town about 14 miles off the Hwy.

We came across a Denali Ranger that was giving a talk about how to climb the mountain. A Ranger inspects everyone's pack, checking to see if they have the right equipment, food and clothing. Then you fly up to the 7,500' level and stay there for 3 - 4 days to get acclimated. While on the mountain you can ski, snowshoe, play volley ball, basket ball. You are then given a sled to put you gear in and you pull it along the way. This is only the beginning of the trip that takes over two weeks to complete.

The town was a real cute tourist town, we did have a nice lunch and a micro brew out on the deck; the best part was listening to the Ranger talk and demonstrate about the climb to the top of the mountain.. There are Rangers at each camp along the way and a hospital tent. The last 2.5 miles to the top of the south summit takes about 18 hrs round trip. This is way beyond extreme hiking. (No Brenda this is not for you and Tom.)

Enough for today, Palmer tomorrow.

Nancy

Last day at Denali

2014-06-23T22:29:00.001-07:00

6/18/14
Last Day at Denali National Park

I wanted to go hiking out on as many of the trails around the Visitor Center Area as I could, I caught the bus into the Visitor Center where I would eventually meet Joe at the Morino Grill. The Visitor Center was spectacular, new in 2008. If you hurry you could see it in about 2 hrs, but that doesn't take in the many movies they have. If it was a rainy day you could easily spent most of you day inside the Center. I cut it short as I wanted to get out on the trails.
Yesterday I started coughing a lot, thinking it was just more allergies, The cotton from the cottonwood trees was falling rather heavily which also makes me cough. However today, I am starting to feel like I am coming down with a cold, dam it, dam it, dam it. One thing about coughing it will keep the bears away, and it did.

Out on several trails I came across these informational boards that I wanted in the journal.

That's it, time to go take Tylenol and maybe some wine.

Have a blessed day.

Nancy

THE MOUNTAIN IS OUT

2014-06-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

6/17/14
Denali National Park
Savage River Campground

Happy 80th Birthday to Joe. What better way to celebrate his birthday than to take a narrated bus trip into Denali and then dinner out. Life can't get much better.

This will be an 8 - 9 hr trip with lots of stops along the way.

My first sighting ever of a grizzly bear, these cubs are a good size and probably last year's babies.

lots of these pictures are taken through the bus window

And here is Mount McKinley, the taller peak between the clouds is the south peak, the taller of the two peaks. This was just breathtaking to see such an awesome mountain. She was in and out of the clouds all day we we saw her many times.

Just a pretty view along the way

We were at a view point with three other buses and we were all outside looking when suddenly the bus driver yelled "everyone back on the bus, bear coming up the road"
And he was serious, even yelling at several people that were lingering along. Four buses = 200 people, we were still getting on the buses and another bus pulled up right next to us so this was the only shot I could get of the bear, she had two cubs only about 6 - 8 weeks old weighing about 10 lbs Our driver was a retired wildlife biologist from the Denali area.

This little red fox was just wandering up the road next to us

Turn the corner and there she is again.

Another red fox, this one was just walking by and then suddenly he wasn't there.....he had jumped up in the bushes and came out with a ground squirrel. This guy was quick.

Look close, he is in the bushes

Again look close he has the ground squirrel in his mouth. The ground squirrels here are look like a prairie dog only much fatter, They also have tunnels all over so they can just hop down one hole and travel along the tunnel system.

Isn't he handsome?

We finally arrived at Eielson Visitor Center. The clouds kept closing in on the mountain and by late in the day she was gone.

Sub-alpine flowers

This is the tundra and we are allowed to walk where ever we wanted. The dirt area on the left side of the trail is where a bear was digging to get to a ground squirrel. There are mounds all over and the bears know that the squirrels are in there someplace. At times the bear will stand on his hind legs and then come crashing down with his front legs on the squirrel hole, then squirrels poke their heads up at other holes. Kind of like "Wac a Mole"

another place where the bear was digging for squirrels

The ground squirrel.

The grizzly is now called a Brown Bear according to our naturalist, look at the size of his rear foot.

Large bull moose trying to hid in the tall bushes.

That's it, have a blessed day

Nancy

The long anticipated, Denali National Park.

2014-06-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

6/15/14
Father's Day on the road again.

After a breakfast of Father's day waffles ( we have to have electric hook ups in order to fire up the waffle iron, another reason to stay at a RV Park for one night),

We are camped at the Savage River Campground, a beautiful primitive site in the National Park about 13 miles from the main entrance. The campground has the A Loop and the B Loop. A Loop is for rigs up to 40 feet and B Loop is for rigs under 31 feet. Since we are under 31 feet I made the reservation for the B loop. We were lucky to find a spot that we would fit into. Actually there were several spots we could fit into, but this is a first come first serve and those that are leaving must be out by 11:00. We arrived at 10:00 and the camp host told us that there was a spot we would fit into as soon as the other people left, which was only about a 15 min wait. Later, wile walking through the A Loop we saw that every site was a pull-thru, about 90 feet. Next time we will get into A Loop.

Since we are 13 miles back in Denali we will be riding the free shuttle most of the time. The problem is this it is still early in the year and the bus only comes by every two hrs, on the odd hr. it takes some real planning to go somewhere. The day after we leave the buses will start their summer schedule of coming every hour. We rode the bus with a really nice driver who lives in Fairbanks and then works here driving buses all summer. We managed to get to the correct place and purchased a ticket for a bus ride to Eielson Visitor Center for tomorrow, the 17th, Joe's birthday, it is an 8 hr trip back to about mile 66, with many stops along the way. Luckily for us they will pick us up at the entrance to our campground.

Look hard, a moose in the pond

Next day,
6/16/14

We drove up to the bridge at Savage River, about two miles. There is a short hike there that follows the river downstream, then crosses the stream and returns back to the parking lot. A beautiful walk with several wildflowers in bloom. We are at only 2,700' but this is sub-alpine, the tree line is at abut 3,000'. This is a popular trail so I felt it would be ok to go by myself while Joe and Buddy hung out in the truck waiting for me. No wildlife, I was really expecting to see mountain sheep, but not today.

Many Arctic Azaleas along the path

Not much on taking a selfie.
I think I'm safe, a bear would take one look at me and run the other way!

Another short hike I went on was from our camp site down to the Savage River and along the river, up to the first campsites from back in the 1920/30s. What a beautiful area. There were many information boards along the way showing the area then and now. Now there are more trees and the brush is larger. In the last 29 years the area here is about 7 degrees warmer during the summer months and the summer is a bit longer. This causes a change in wildlife. The Caribou like the smaller, shorter type of bushes and the liken, the Moose like the larger type of bushes. I wonder if in another 29 years the Caribou will move on and the Moose will take over.

Same spot, same tree

This little tree must have been a favorite, the top of the sscratch marks was about at my eye level.

As I was walking along the river I noticed many Moose prints and Moose poops. Which reminds me of a joke. (knowing that it is wise to make noise or have bells on your walking stick so you don't startle the Grizzly Bears) The camper was asking the Ranger; What is the difference between Black Bear poops and the Grizzly Bear Poops? Without missing a beat the Ranger said, well that's easy, the Black Bear poops look a little like cow poop but black, The Grizzly Bear has larger poops with bells in it.

That's it for a couple more days, thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Fairbanks to Denali National Park

2014-06-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

6/14/14
Rainbow Lodge RV Park
One mile from entrance to National Park

I had no internet for about 5 days so I kept a journal and then I added the pictures.
Fairbanks to Denali National Park, about 120 miles. Along the way we stopped at this really small cute little town, Nenana. Their "fame to glory" is the Annual Ice Classic that began in 1917. In March they drag a 26-foot tall tripod out onto the thick river ice and wire it to a clock. When the ice breaks up a cable trips the clock. We bought two ticks at $2.50 each and we write down our guess of the exact day, hour and minute the ice will go out on the river. That's what they call it "when it goes out". The ice usually goes out between April 20th and May 20th. This last spring it went out on April 25th; over two dozen people split the $363,000 pot for guessing the exact day, hour and minute the ice on the Tanana River broke up. When the wire is attached to the clock it is guarded 24/7 which could be two months.
The Tanana River which is on the banks of the town of Nenama a working river with barges going to remote Alaskan villages, it is the fastest navigable river in Alaska.
St. Mark's Church an old fashioned log building was moved to higher ground in 1905 after the original church was washed downriver.
Mural on Coghill's Store was painted by Erica Lord, a native of this small town of Nenana with a population of about 550 people.

Lunch stop.

This was a very good dirt road.

Are we there yet?

Next stop was The Rainbow RV Park, about one mile from the entrance to Denali Park. They had full hook ups, supposedly internet, and a good place to stop so we could get into Denali first thing in the morning. Across the street was the Grand Princess Lodge (or something like that) We enjoyed a dinner show there with Salmon and Beef Briscit where the waiters were the actors, lots of fun it runs two times a night every night throught the summer. It's so nice being early in the season when the crowds are just not there. While we were there we went into a fur shop and I touched a fur coat valued a t$7.495, so soft you could hardly tell you were touching it. I forgot to look to see what kind of fur it was made of, I just carefully laid the sleeve back down.

The dinner was family style.

One of the actors telling us that we can't take pictures during the performance.

One of the rangers giving a class on bear safety. There are all these rules as to what to do and when to do it when you see a bear, moose, etc. How may yards are they away? When to take the safety off your bear spray, when to spray it and make sure you are not standing down wind. Are they just looking at you or are they charging?
No bears in class, they must have had their class at a different time.

That's it for day one at Denali, have a blessed day.

Nancy

Last Day in Fairbanks

2014-06-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

Fairbanks Part 7
Musk Ox at the Large Animal Research Station
6/13/14

One of the things on our list was to visit the Musk Ox farm, after we rested up from our flight to Barrow; that sure was a long day and a long time to sit in one spot.

A beautiful setting for their research station

Muskox are left over from the last Ice Age. Very interesting on how the muskox was almost extent until they became protected. About 20 Muskox were captured in the very northern regions of Greenland and taken to a tiny island off the shore of Alaska were they were studied, given food and they started producing, eventually they were able to re-introduce muskox to various locations (the red spots) where they once roamed. They have to be in the arctic climates only.

This guy was hand fed and is the only friendly one that will come up to the fence.

Yearly the muskox are gathered up and get their coats brushed to get the qiviut, an underlying coat that is lighter and warmer than the finest wool or cashmere. The qiviut comes off in a sheet like a sheep being sheared. The strands are hollow allowing the warmth from their body to be trapped inside the qiviut which is how they stay warm in their frigid environment.

They have true horns, they do now shed or regrow. If a horn is broken off it just stays that way. This is the female skull

And, the male skull. I don't remember what that top bulb on their horn is called but, it is there for a very good reason. During rutting season the males butt each other with a terrific force, the same force as if a car drove into a cement wall at 30 mph. Then the skull of the male is very thick at the top for added protection of them butting each other. And because of this thickness their brain cavity is smaller than the female.

The caribou have antlers and loose them every year. The male needs his big set of antlers to attract the right female. After mating they loose their antlers. The female keeps her antlers until a few days after the new calf is born. The antlers have a rich blood supply that is needed for the female to help her make it through the winter months until she gives birth in the spring.

When they shed their antlers they are actually pink/reddish showing their blood supply which immediately dries up and the antlers become a brownish bone color.

That's it for Fairbanks. I'm sure glad we stayed an extra day after our flight to Barrow. Both of us had sore muscles from sitting in one spot for so long on the flight.

Have a great day, thanks for stopping by

Nancy

Up, Up and away we go to Barrow, AK

2014-06-14T22:23:00.002-07:00

Fairbanks part 6
6/12/14
Clear and up to 70'

Today is the day we have been waiting for, in celebration of Joe's 80th birthday (6/17) we took a little flight up to Barrow, AK. The day started early, the weather here in Fairbanks was going to be the clearest and warmest yet, but not so in Barrow. After taking Buddy out a couple of times to do his thing we left at about 0620. Buddy would be alone for 12 - 13 hrs. He's done it before but not recently. The weather in Barrow was going to be a high of 31' with rain and snow showers all day, so just in case we had to spend the night there I asked Jim, our campground host to get Buddy if we got stuck up there. Well bless his heart, Jim came over around noon and took Buddy for a little walk

We arrived at the North Alaska Tour Company in no time at all, we had to be there by 0700. Another couple, Jan and Mike arrived at the same time and then a single lady, Jeannie came shortly after, so we are five people going on a Piper, nine passenge,r twin engine plane.
This post might get boring for some of you but it's my journal so I need all these pictures, focused or unfocused, clear or through a dirty window.

The skies were so clear here that we even got a glimpse of Mt McKinley with no clouds around her.

Greg, our pilot, giving us the last bit of information. We were about 40 min late because of the bad weather in Barrow and Cold Foot, our refueling stop. The flight almost got canceled. Cold Foot had zero viability so we were headed to Bettles to refuel, it was only rainy there. At Bettles Greg would then decide if it was still safe to land and take off in Barrow.

Greg, going over the last bit of safety instructions

At N 66" we crossed the Arctic Circle

We had been in the clouds for about 30 min, when we cam out our gravel runway at Bettles, AK was right in front of us and it was only raining at 34', no snow and viability was about 1.5 miles. What more could you ask for?

After fuel, coffee, a sack lunch and a nature call we were on our way again.

Luckily we were above the clouds most of the time as we were headed to Barrow, the northern most city in the North American Continent.

We arrived at Barrow about 30 min late so our tour guide, Walter had to hurry along the tour but we had a great time with him. Unfortunately I discovered that I don't have a picture of him. This is the Inupiat Heritage Center which has a fantastic Whaling history of their people and how the Inupiat People survived over the last 10,000 years.

Walter said that his family and all the Inupiat people have gone by these values for the last 10,000 years and that is how they survived through time

Each whaling community has their own flag which they fly when they have a whale

Bringing up the whaling boat and the whale is that dark spot in the water

After everyone has their share of the whale, the rest is stored down in an ice cave about 30 feet below.

Walter said that his friend has a parka and pants similar to this one and he is so hot wearing it that he has to take it off and go to store-bought parka and pants if it's only -30' or more.

Jaw bone of walrus,

Turn it over and it's a
Cribbage Board

This is a workshop where the Elders teach the younger people about their culture and how to make items to sell or use on a hunt.

Can you guess that this long thing is?
Hint: One like this was featured on the Johnny Carson show.
( A block of drift wood and 2 nails is holding up up)

A section of baleen

Brand new hospital, just dedicated last fall. Has all the latest equipment, including a MRI

Just pictures along side the road

Sign at entrance to their college, which is free, IF, you show an interest and get good grades.

Skull of a Bowhead Whale, this whale was about 28'

Farthest north football field

A lady was visiting on a tour just like ours and learned that there was no football field, they just played in a gravel area. She went back home to Florida and raised $900,000 for this football field, and it's named after her. (But don't remember her name)

Look hard, the last bit of snow/ice is the Arctic Ocean

Standing on the Arctic Ocean.

Next pictures are out the plane window so not so good

Coming up to a gold mine, this was a dome hill and now it is 1/2 deep

Nenana River, it wanders all over and in July the river will be up from snow melt and then the the sand bars will be covered and the course of the river will change.

The end of the ride, back home again.

For some reason my computer and Picasa stopped talking in the middle of this post and it has taken me two days to get it working again,.

So this is the end of our trip to Barrow, Alaska in celebration of Joe's 80th birthday!

Nancy

Fairbanks Part 5

2014-06-12T00:57:00.000-07:00

6/11/14
It seems like we are in Fairbanks a long time, well we are. Joe was stationed here back in the mid 60's. Of course he doesn't recognize anything from back "in the olden days" I'm probably in trouble if he reads this.

Today we boarded the riverboat Discovery III, and what a great day we had. The Binkley family's steamboating tradition goes back over 100 years and five generations to the Klondike Gold Rush. In 1898, Charles M Binkley hiked over the Chilkoot Pass with other stampeders, he was not so much in search of gold as he was the chance to chart and navigate the Yukon River and its tributaries. He became a respected pilot and boat builder in the north. His son, Captain Jim Binkley Sr., followed in his father's footsteps and piloted freight vessels on the Yukon and Tanana Rivers in the 1940s. Today, the Binkley have 3 men and 1 woman that are U. S. Coast Guard-licensed riverboat captains. As years went by the paddle riverboats. became larger, the Discovery III is 280 tons, Beam of 34 ft and passenger capacity of 900

On each deck there are several TV screens to watch. This cute little airplane took off, circled and landed for us to see on the river. This plane also uses skis in the winter for landing on the river. In fact many people use the river as a road to and from work with snomobiles, dog sleds, cross country skiers and airplanes. It's a busy river in the winter. The river is frozen by end of October to where you can walk or drive on it.

Just one of the houses along the river.
The tour guide seemed to know everyone along the river, many came out to wave to us.

The Discovery I, docked in front of the Binkley's home.

The Captain, grandson of the first Binkley.

Susan Butcher's home: Iditaron Champion and an Alaskan Legend, unfortunately died in 2006 of leulemia. Her husband and daughters carry on the tradition. This is Dave, Susan's husband talking to us on the boat through his microphone. This was a pretty cool stop. The logs in the front of the picture are at slightly different heights. This is a training ground for the 6 week old pups. At first they can't get over the logs until they are helped by a trainer, then they learn that they can go over the logs and learn to trust their trainers that the trainers would not tell them or expect them to do anything that they can't do., the pups learn at a very young age to trust their handlers and to be confident enough to try to get over the log.

Harnessing up the team, they are very anxious to start to pull

.....and...they're off, no stopping them now. they will go about 20 mph on a course and come back

coming back and good brakes

The dogs are each petted and told how good they were and then out of the harness and down to the river to play. What a life.

Continuing down the river we come to the Chena Village. A mock Indian Village where we disembark and toured in three groups. This was run very smoothly and lots of fun going to different "stations" to learn about the early Indian days and their survival.

Preparing Chum Salmon for dogs

This gal is an Athabascan Indian and has been doing this since she was about 3 years. She is now a junior at the University of Alaska, studying business.

Set up as a fish camp with a fishing wheel in front.

Left to right, Caribou, Moose, Grizzly Bear

A chief's rob, so very beautiful

This gal is from New Mexico and is a Navajo/Apache, but her mother is Navajo with ties to the Athabascan, so this young lady has been in Fairbanks for 6 years now learning the ways of her ancestors and is also a junior at University of Alaska in the RN program. Congratulation to both of these young ladies.

Left to right, Red Fox, the black one is a Silver Fox, then a mixture of Red and Silver
and last is the Arctic Fox

Reindeer, which are domesticated caribou and a little smaller are farmed for their meat, just like cows.

Again another great day in the neighbor hood, thanks for stopping by.
tomorrow we go to Barrow, the most northern city in North America.

Nancy