Day 26 - 5 Hours of Sun!!

------------Our entertainment for the evening at Golden Nugget RV Park-----

---------------Anchorage shoreline from Earthquake Park----------a new wildflower

-----------------------The ULU Knife Factory at Ship Creek in Anchorage --

-----------------------Viewing of the Salmon at Ship Creek ------

---ULU Knife and cutting bowl ----

Friday July 30, 2010. I love trying to remember where I am when I open my eyes each day. Oh yes, we are a Freightliner, our fortress in the middle of the night! THANK YOU WALMART!

We unhooked the car hauler and turned the motor home(and the cats) over to the trusting care of Freightliner. We took the car and went to breakfast and then decided we should probably find our way to the Anchorage International Airport since we will need to know where to pick up Leslie and Pete tomorrow. It was pretty easy to find and from there we drove down to Ship Creek which is where the ULU Factory is located. Ship Creek actually is a small waterway that runs into the Cook Inlet and is known as a Salmon spawning ground. It is located just a few blocks from the downtown area and provides Salmon fishing for those who choose to do so. There is a bridge across Ship Creek and also a couple of platforms out into the water that provides Salmon viewing and fishing. We first went to the ULU Factory and spent our retirement checks for the month on ULU Knives for the family. An ULU(OO-l00) Knife is primarily used by Eskimo women for skinning and cleaning fish and played an important role in the survival of the Arctic people. The ULU design comes from the Inupiat, an Alaska native group of North Western Alaska. The knives are great for cutting vegetables, pizza or cheese--just about anything that needs cutting I assume.

After spending time down at Ship Creek we drove out to Earthquake Park which has a fantastic view of the shoreline of Anchorage and is dedicated to the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964. It is stated in all the tourist material that on a clear day(WHICH WOULD BE WHEN??) you can see Mount McKinley from this vantage point. The sun was shinning somewhat when we were there but no sighting of Mount McKinley. I did get some pictures of the Anchorage area. Earthquake Park is near the end of the airport runway so we sat and watched several large planes take off which was defiantly a birds eye view. Along this road and also in Earthquake Park were yet another wild flower, which was really a bush with tiny red berry's in a shape rather like a bunch of grapes.

We picked up the motor home around 1:30 pm and they had worked on it from 7:00am. They drove it, sprayed the engine with water, hooked it up to the computers and still could not get it fixed. They did, however, figure out how to charge out over $400 for their services. Thank goodness, it was charged out on the warranty and not to us. So we are still going to be flying down those mountainsides since no one knows how to correct our problem!!! I'd love to pocket the money they charge out for NOT fixing the problem! When we left this morning, we locked the cats in the back area, thinking that might keep them from getting out when the mechanics came in and out. When we got in to drive back to campground, I opened the door to let them out and the 2nd door into the bedroom had slid closed also so they were blocked out of the litter box as well as their food and water. Charlie and Raven come flying out, I could not see Tucker but heard him meowing frantically. I found the closet door evidently had opened and then slid shut when they drove the RV, and he was in the closet. I opened the closet and he came flying out as well. Our poor cats have been through so much trauma with having to stay in the motor home so many times while it has been being worked on as we travel. Luckily we found no accident sights left by them!!!!

We drove the RV to the Golden Nugget Campground here in Anchorage as we have reservations from tonight through Sunday night. We stayed here when we first arrived in Anchorage. I mentioned how tight all the RV sites are and how it is like being in a sardine can!! We hardly have room for the car between us and the motor home next to us. Each Friday and Saturday night the park provides entertainment in the pavilion, which is just across the street from us. Tonight one of the restaurants across the road provided soup, rolls and drinks prior to a live band.

The band consisted of 6 guys and a gal and were VERY entertaining. They played a lot of Beatles songs and a little Elvis. The singer, Sam, was fantastic. The drummer was also named Sam and he is the maintenance supervisor of the RV park, the gal played the bongo drum and she is the property manger of the park and the keyboard player, Cliff, was her brother. Randy who played lead guitar was a VERY colorful guy. He and Sam, the singer, showed up late and the gal next to us said he couldn't find anything to wear. He was dressed in really wild sleep pants and a stripped long sleeved shirt that in no way matched. He had long shaggy hair and a beard and looked like a left over from the 60's! They also had a 16 year old Indian or Eskimo kid who also played a lead guitar that was FANTASTIC! The other member was a middle aged guy who played base guitar. The band has not been together long but were so entertaining that we absolutely enjoyed them and hated to see them quit. Randy(the colorful one) left while the rest of the band was playing and when he returned I told Larry he was walking on clouds. I'm sure he went out to the car and had a 'hit' as when he came back he was funnier yet--what a very strange guy he was but his contribution was unique!

The sun was actually shinning for a short time during the early part of the day today. After we pulled into the campground, the rain started falling once again! The forecast is for more rain for the next several days. I cannot believe the rain that we have experienced since we arrived in Alaska. We talked to several of the band members tonight, who are all native Alaskans, and they all said this is very unusual. I guess we need to get use to the weather as it doesn't sound as if it is going to change anytime soon!

Day 25 - I saw the SUN in Anchorage!

---225 moose killed year to date in Palmer, AK --------------outdoor laundromat

--------------The yellow wildflower is first I've seen----------------Roast your own Coffee --

Purple wildflower for my daughter, Taylor!!

Thursday July 29, 2010. We took our time this morning about leaving our campsite since we are only driving into Anchorage and spending the night. We had met Jim who was parked next to us when we first pulled into the campground. This morning they also were pulling out and he and his wife Debby were outside trying to get everything ready to go so we also met her. We all talked for a long time. They are from near Indianapolis, IN and Jim retired as a Steamfitter. By the time we finished talking we were all eaten alive by the mosquito's. They are terrible every where we go and I assume the wet weather only adds to their 'hatch'. I saw a bumper sticker in Anchorage that said 'there is not a single mosquito in Alaska; they are all married with VERY large family's'. HOW TRUE!

Across the road from the campground, there is a place where you can roast your own coffee. We did not get a chance to stop in to find out what that was about but it looked interesting. The Alaskans take their coffee VERY seriously! I also take my coffee seriously when the urge hits me, but as mentioned the Espresso's are on every block. I would have liked to investigate the roasting house if we could have found the time.

Also we are kept informed of how many moose have been killed in various areas by the big yellow signs they post. They always have a number listed as to how many have been killed by vehicles. I find this interesting but they also need to keep track of all the other wildlife that has been killed so we know why we see none!!! I have a hard time believing that there have not been more bear or any other wildlife to be seen with all our driving.

Another thing we saw for the first time at this campground--an outdoor laundromat!! We have seen (and used) many outhouses while here in Alaska but not yet experienced the outdoor laundromat. We probably have not driven enough of the backwoods areas as I'm sure the majority of the Alaskans have both!! There are really some VERY poor people in the outlying areas.

We had a phone call at 5:30am from Leslie and believe it or not we were still sleeping! She was upset that she woke us up as she forgot the time difference. This afternoon I took advantage of the boredom and took a VERY long nap. It felt so good to just relax, of course at midnight tonight when I cannot go to sleep, I'll be upset! Seems that always happens when I nap during the day but it still does not stop me.

We drove into Anchorage and as I mentioned earlier and parked the motor home in the Diamond Center Walmart. There are a number of other RV'ers parked there as well. Some of the Walmarts we have seen traveling have so many RV's parked in their lot, there's hardly room for customer parking. Larry took off earlier to take a walk and I would guess he is setting at Border's Book Store across the road. This is such a busy area it could be to noisy tonight to sleep! We ARE right in the middle of the action here in Anchorage. We have everything we need within walking distance of us here at 'Little Arkansas'. Actually I decided to unload some of my hot cash and buy us dinner tonight. We walked across the road and had a HUGE piece of Sam's Pizza. The cheapest meal we have had in Alaska for sure--if not the most nutritious--pizza and a drink for two for $5.43. I think I have lived with Larry too long because I love CHEAP!!!

Speaking of CHEAP--since we had our hair cut at 'Great Clips' in Wasilla, neither of us can do a thing with what little hair we have left! The girl who cut(shaved)my hair used 'designing taffy' to spike it and let me say that she went all out with her idea of my NEW LOOK! Anyone that knows me and my hair knows that WITHOUT anything my hair normally spikes. Today I decided to go ahead and purchase the designing taffy because my hair is soooooo- short that the taffy makes me look like I have hair at least! I always think of my near and dear friend, Jerry Lorentzen, when I buy a new 'product' for my hair. Some time ago Jerry got a new 'look' and carried his 'product' for his hair around the office making sure we all knew what it was and how it was used. You would have to have the pleasure of knowing Jerry to appreciate his craziness!!!

Before we left the campground this morning I took yet more pictures of the wildflowers. They are so abundant everywhere you look. I keep seeing different ones that I have not seen before. Around Wasilla and Palmer they are a beautiful deep purple and they are all over the hillsides by the highway and out in the open areas. Each time I see them I think of Taylor as she would love the color of purple -- she's a purple freak! Ha! There is also a yellow wildflower that I have not seen until actually this morning when we were leaving so of course I had to photograph it as well! I'm so pleased that we now have digital cameras. I would go broke using regular film with all the pictures I take.

The good news of today is, the sun actually peaked through the clouds starting around 6:30pm tonight. The temperature was up to 71 degrees at that time which is 15 degrees higher than it has been for a week or more. Up until then, it was gray and overcast and I actually think I remember sprinkles of rain on the windshield coming in from Palmer. At least it's a start on a dry day! I'm really praying for a nice week while Leslie and Pete are here, If it stays like it has been, Leslie will freeze to death. She tends to be cold when it is 80 degrees!!!

Well the 'Barney Fife' of Walmart just paid us a visit and wrecked havoc on our 'magic kingdom'. He told us there is a new city or state(don't remember which) ordinance that forbids overnight parking in any business establishment so we would have to move. It was very thoughtful of the Walmart Security to wait until 11:00pm to inform us of that since we have been parked there all afternoon. So we pulled out and drove a few blocks over to Freightliner and they said we could park in the lot overnight. So we will be here for our appointment tomorrow morning at 7:00am. So much for a free night at Walmart. They waited, of course, to inform all of the RV'ers until they were sure we had made our 5 trips into the store to spend our money before asking us all to leave!

Day 24 -- Does it ever RAIN in Alaska????

----------------------------------The flowers of Talkeetna, AK -----------------

----------------Talkeetna has many beautiful little gift shops ------

Leslie's LUV VAN!!

Larry's new snowmobile ------- ----- My snowmobile ----

--------------------------We'll be flying through the snow come winter!!!------

Our (PREVIOUSLY) Clean Car!

Wednesday July 28, 2010. YES it rains EVERY day in Alaska! When we got up this morning the sky had very heavy clouds and just felt cold outside even though it was probably around 57 when we first got up. I thought after yesterday we would luck out and get another day of sunshine but it was not meant to be. Last night Larry and I got a haircut in Wasilla and the girl that cut my hair said June and July have been horrible for rain and that May was just beautiful weather. She assured me that this is NOT normal weather for Alaska. Larry took the car through the 'quickie' car wash last night and it looked so nice but after today it is a muddy mess again as we drove through construction. By the way to get the cheapest quick wash here is $10.

Larry ventured another call to Freightliner on the chance that possibly they could get the motor home in for repairs yet this week. Even though they told us on Monday they were really booked this week they agreed to let us bring it in at 7:00am on Friday morning. We are still in Palmer so we plan to leave here tomorrow and drive back to Anchorage. Rather than pulling into a RV park tomorrow night we plan to 'dry camp' either at Walmart or Fred Meyer parking lot as they are both very close to Freightliner in Anchorage. We'll see what they actually fix this time!!

Today I spent some time making reservations for an RV site as well as the shuttle in Denali for Monday and Tuesday as Leslie and Pete will be here then. After I made the arrangements for Denali we decided to drive up the Parks Highway RT 3 to Talkeetna, which was 60 or 65 miles north of Wasilla. As soon as we arrived there and parked the car, it started raining--go figure! The town is so cute with such pretty buildings and flowers. Basically it is a tourist town with many gift shops and restaurants. The atmosphere is bustling with all the tourist in town and a very cheery type of place. Larry bought him a snowmobile and I have a picture of the one I'm considering. He spent quite awhile dealing with the guy. In the end he paid more than he wanted to pay, but I told him go ahead--you only live once!!! He insisted I take his picture on it so he could show everyone when he got home.

On the way from Wasilla to Talkeetna, I found a 'Luv Van' that I think Leslie would probably consider. She has always been a wanna be flower child. I had to take a picture of it for her as I know she will want it also.

The flowers in Talkeetna are just beautiful and very different from what I've seen in Alaska. Every little shop is just loaded with live plants all around. We had lunch at Neagly's West Rib Brew and Pub. Larry had a king crab sandwich and I, of course, had a salmon sandwich and we had a beer(or 2) as a 'chaser'. We sat at the bar to eat and one of the locals filled us in on his brown bear sighting. He said he had a brown bear and her two cubs(which were 5 foot tall) on his front porch a day ago. One of the waitress's who lives near him said she also saw them.

The drive up to Talkeetna was not very scenic as it was basically a pretty flat area with pretty dense forrest along the sides of the highway. Talkeetna is known as Mt McKinley's mountain town. They brag that the best professional climbers from every country in the world come to Talkeetna to use it as their base town when climbing Mt McKinley. All of the informational articles I read said on a CLEAR day(which is NEVER) you can see Mt McKinley from Talkeeta. If there were any mountains around the town, we sure couldn't see them today.

Day 23 - FINALLY Sunny Alaska

----------------Clouds are everywhere even on sunny days



------------------Chicaloon General Store--YUCK!---------------

The mountain stream on road to Hatcher Pass -----------------------------Ski Lodge and cafe on side of mountain in Hatcher Pass--

Going to Hatcher Pass

Mountains and stream on Hwy 1 to Matanuska Glacier

Glacier Pool on Matanuska Gracier

Matanuska Glacier

Tuesday July 27, 2010. We left the campground this morning around 10:00am with no particular destination in mind. Larry wanted to drive back to Matanuska Glacier on Hwy 1 also known as the Glenn Highway. We had traveled through this area on our way into Anchorage about 10 days ago. We headed out of Palmer toward the glacier area which was about 60 miles northeast. The road is a mountain road with curves and drop offs that appear to be miles down the mountain side. I mentioned this earlier in the blog about how there are no guardrails on many of these sharp high curves and coming through this area in the motor home was pretty exciting! We made our way through the mountains and the scenery is just a beautiful vista of the mountains shrouded by the clouds and the mountain stream running down the mountain side. We came into the glacier area and found a gravel road--well more like a dirt road with potholes --winding down the side of the mountain. We ended at a gift shop where they sold tickets for $15 each to allow us to continue driving about 2 more mile to the glacier area. The road ended at a parking area. The lady in the gift shop told us that the foot path going on up to the glacier was about 3 city blocks. I don't know how long the city blocks in Alaska are but it was more like a mile to get to the glacier. We carefully picked our way over the dirt path which was rocky, muddy and had many area of large pools of standing water. We made it to the glacier and walked out a short distance on the glacier and I decided to turn back and let Larry continue farther out onto the glacier. I found a seat on a picnic table and sat for what seemed hours. I began worrying about Larry as the glacier rises up to block the view of the path he left on. I imagined him falling into a crevice or knocking himself out or whatever. I started wondering just HOW I was going to find him then looked out on the glacier and he was waving his hand at me. He KNEW he had been gone much too long!!! We made the long trek back up the holey, muddy path to the car. We drove for the next hour with the windows of the car wide open trying to cool off as we had dressed much too warm for the climbing and walking.

On our way to the glacier, I had seen a general store in a little town(wide spot in the road) called Chickaloon. On the way back I wanted to stop and look around as it looked interesting. We pulled into a muddy parking lot with pot holes the size of our car and tredged to the door. There was a puddle of water right in front of the door so you had to kinda jump over it into the doorway. We opened the door and the smell about made us pass out. It was filthy and smelled like rotten meat and sweat and many other things! There was a potbellied guy with a big bushy beard behind the counter on a computer and he never looked up once and we did not stay 30 seconds as it was so grubby. We quickly hit the door and laughed like we were crazy. Larry said you could sure cut some big farts in there and they would still be lingering when we made it back to Alaska the next time. YUCK!!

We drove back to Palmer and all the while I am shooting pictures of the mountains and the mountain stream like I'm publishing a book. Mountains and water are a great passion of mine so what can I say?? We got gas and headed toward Hatcher Pass. We drove a short distance out of Palmer on Fishook Road. I had read about Hatcher Pass on the internet and it sounded beautiful. We started up the mountain road and again, the beauty was just breathtaking!! The mountain stream rushing down the mountain was crystal clear and so pristine! I can never get enough of these places! We traveled up and up and wound around the curves for several miles until we came to lodge on the mountain top. It was nestled on the side of the mountain and looked to be a ski lodge.We went in and bought a cup of coffee and a homemade cookie to share. It was very unique inside and out. There were 4 very small cabins near the lodge which I assume are used in the winter for cross country skiers. We talked to a guy about the road that went through the pass. We were wondering if we could make it through in the car. He said as long as it is not raining we should make it by driving very slow. We took the road and it was dirt with potholes and we were making it slowly up the mountain when it started raining. Looking down the side of the other mountain, the sun was shinning bright. The farther we drove the worse the road was and the rain was coming pretty steady by now so the road was getting very slick and muddy. We got to an area that had a pull off and decided to turn around and head back down to the main road. It would have been a beautiful drive but not if we slid off the side. There were very few cars we passed on the way up so we might have been up there for eternity before someone rescued us.

Anyway we had a wonderful day with such beautiful scenery! It is so amazing how big and fluffy the clouds are in Alaska. Everywhere you look is just massive white clouds. Some of them are over the mountains and others just hoover above the mountains. I have taken enough pictures to publish a book but pictures are another weakness of mine--just ask my daughters!

Tomorrow I'm not sure where we are going or if we are staying here until we move back to Anchorage on Friday. Larry called a place in Anchorage that services Mercedes Benz, which is what our engine is in our motor home. They said they would look at the exhaust break issue if we wanted to bring it in. We are talking of driving back tomorrow to have that done.

Day 22 --The Alaskan rain just keeps falling

Espresso Drive-Thru----------------------------------------ANOTHER Espresso Drive-Thru

Mountains around Wasilla and Palmer




Homestead RV Park Palmer, AK
----------------------------------------------Mountain views from Wasilla, AK ------------------------------

Monday July 26, 2002. Left Ninilchik Alaskan Angler RV Park this morning about 10:45am. It rained all night and was still raining all the way to Palmer, which is where we are staying tonight. Palmer is about 35 miles northeast of Anchorage and is a very pretty area. It sets in a mountain basin and as always the mountain views are just awesome. If I had a dollar for all the mountain shots I have taken on our trip, I'd be somewhat richer for sure! I have a real passion for the mountains and the water which is in great abudance in Alaska. We drove out of the Kenai Peninsula today and even though this is our 4th drive through the Seward Highway into Anchorage, the views are just as breathtaking as the first. God must have created Alaska on a Saturday because after all this beauty he would defiantly need to rest on Sunday!!!

Our neighbors at Ninilchik went out on a Halibut charter early this morning. We did not see them before we left but Barb sent me an email tonight saying that they came in early because everyone on the charter caught their limit. Barb and Jim ended up with about 15 lbs of Halibut fillets. I'm happy they caught fish. Larry is still talking about how much he enjoyed fishing for the reds yesterday with Jim. I'm really happy he got a chance to go again. Wish we could get a few Salmon fillets to put in our freezer. Not meant to be obviously but we may still have a chance to try for some after Pete and Leslie leave.

Well we are back to the motor home mania again!! Of course driving in the rain we had the issue of the 'check engine' light coming on again! That I can ignore but when this happens the exhaust break quits working. Somehow I just can't seem to get use to flying down the mountain side at 85 miles an hour. When we came through Anchorage, we stopped at Freightliner. Of course when they see us pull in the parking lot they turn all the lights off and throw their 'closed' sign up on the door! They might as well do that because to get an appointment, we would have to stay in Alaska until October! They really are so hard to work with! I have no idea when they will be available to check this problem out again. By the way, I don't think I mentioned that when they had the RV in the first time, they scrapped the paint off the side of the mirror on the drivers side. They must have scraped it on the door as they drove it into the bay. Kinda makes you wonder if they have anyone that knows what they are doing if they can't drive a big rig into the bay without taking off the mirror@! I was pretty upset about that when I saw it and I wanted to call them about it but Larry told me to back off. Probably because he know we were not finished with needing their services!!!

Some of the things I have observed about Alaska is they all drink lots of coffee, liquor and all must be religious. There is an espresso drive-thru every 5 miles, a bar on every corner, church's and religions that I have never heard of. So no matter how small the town, these three establishes will make up the majority of the town. The espresso drive-thru's are funny as they are normally just a very tiny building setting off the side of the road and sometimes they are not even near a town --just along side the road by themselves.

We are staying at the Homestead RV Park in Palmer. The campsites are very pretty with huge cedar trees all around the grounds and looking out our front window is the most beautiful mountains imaginable. We hooked up and it was still pouring rain so we both laid here watching TV from the back of our eyelids for more than an hour. The only thing I can say about the rain is it makes for good sleeping --you feel like that's all you want to do. We finally got our body's off the couch and went to Wasilla to buy groceries. We used our last 4 slices of VERY stale bread today for sandwiches while driving. I had to ration the food while in Ninilchik as there was no way I planned to buy any groceries there at their prices-- ie: $7.39 for a loaf of bread!! We ended up at Wally World in Wasilla tonight and restocked our cupboards and frig. Wasilla is a very nice and modern town. They have a Target, Sears, Lowes and many small shops so it's like an oasis here in Alaska. On the Kenai Penisula there are mostly ma and pa general stores with prices to die for.

Not sure what the plan is for tomorrow. Possibly we will find a river to fish as Larry has the fishing fever now.

Day 21--And the Alaskan RAIN continues!

Sunday July 25, 2010. It just continues to rain with no end in sight. Whatever you want to do it better be fun to do in the rain! WOW I am REALLY sick of the rain!@!#

Nothing much happening with my schedule today. Larry and Jim got their gear together this morning to go fishing for sockeye salmon. They also call these 'Reds'. It's hard to keep track of all the species and their nick names. Tom mentioned this yesterday that they all have nick names and he even found it hard to keep all the names straight when he first came to Alaska. Jim and Larry did not leave until about 11:00am for their trip. They went up to Sodotna, which is about 60 miles north of Ninilchik.

After the guys left, I started doing laundry, talked to both my girls, answered my emails and baked some bran muffins. I was just getting ready to do a little cleaning when Barb from the RV next to us knocked on my door. She came in and we talked for a long time. I was still doing laundry and had the sink full of dirty dishes so after she left I started cleaning but didn't get much done before Larry and Jim came home at about 6:00. They had quite a day. Larry hooked a sockeye but could not get it to shore before it got off the hook. Jim kept casting his line and bringing up carcases of fish that someone had cleaned and thrown back into the river. Larry finally got one on and pulled it to shore only to find he had hooked it in the side and had to throw it back. The rules and regulations on fishing up here are varied. You cannot keep a salmon unless it has been hooked in the mouth. This seems to be a strange rule as I would think if they are hooked elsewhere they could be injured enough to die once thrown back into the river. I guess there must be more to this rule than I understand.

Barb gave me some names of campgrounds at Denali so when Pete and Leslie arrive we can move up there for a few days. She also said they are leaving here on Thursday to go to Valdez and she talked to one of the RV campground's there and they told her to decide when she wanted to reserve a site soon because August 1st the salmon will be running down there and the campgound will be like a fish camp with no spaces available.

The guys put their gear away and I ended up baking a meatloaf for our dinner. Was pretty disappointing not to have fresh salmon but since we are leaving tomorrow it seems unlikely I will have one soon! I'm not sure where we are going tomorrow except somewhere around Anchorage. We need to be making plans as the campgrounds are all very busy right now.

Day 20---Beautiful RAINY Alaska

The moose on way home from salmon fishing

---------------------------------40 lb King Salmon

Fish eggs used as bait for Kings

--------------------------------------------------------------Larry, Delane and Leroy

Our charter boat(a drifter boat)

Sat July 24, 2010. Today was our Salmon Charter. Larry ran down to the General Store in Ninilchik to find out if he could get the line on his reel changed to a heavier weight line as he and Jim our neighbor next to us are planning to go fishing tomorrow. When Larry went to the store, I told him to pick up bread and eggs. When he returned he had neither because he said the bread was $7.39 a loaf and the eggs were over $5 a dozen. HOW do people live here at these prices ??When he got back we packed our lunch and all of our cold and wet weather gear and drove the 20 miles down to the Kasilof River to meet up with Tom our guide for today. Our charter was due to leave at noon and shortly after we arrived Tom came pulling in with our Salmon boat in tow. There were several other charters getting ready to leave as well so the launch area was pretty busy. We met up with Delane and Leroy the other two signed up for the charter with us for today. We had met Leroy at the RV Camp last night so we introduced ourselves to Delane and we all boarded the boat and found our respective seat for the day. Larry and Leroy sat in the bow of the boat and Delane and I in the middle. Delane is 74 years old and has had prostrate cancer and Leukemia so he has had a lot of chemo and not in the best of health. He is a wonderful person and was very interesting to talk to. He was a music teacher for several years then returned to school to study computer science and worked in setting up a large network for some type of farm services. Leroy is 70 but seems to be plenty healthy. He is a farmer, semi-retired, and both he and Delane are from near Omaha , Nebraska.

We had not been on the river long when Delane got a King Salmon on his line. How exciting it was to watch him struggle with the fish trying to wear it out enough to reel it into the boat. He would work on reeling it in and then the fish would take off and pull the line out again and again! By the time he got the fish up to the boat close enough for Tom to dip it, he was clearly exhausted. His fish ended up being a 20 lb King Salmon. We were all pretty impressed that Delane was strong enough to land the fish. We continued down the river with Tom instructing us when to reel in our lines and when to put them out and each time, he would add new bait on our lines. He was baiting our lines with Salmon eggs gathered from previous female catches. The eggs were mixed with some type of chemicals that made them stick together and also when he put them on our line he just wrapped the line around them once and they stuck perfectly together and stayed on the line when we let our lines out again. It was amazing to see how this worked. I found a rubber glove in my rain suit pocket left there from our Canada fishing trip so I was joking that it worked great for baiting the line and taking the fish off--if you were a sissy. Then I saw that Tom was wearing rubber gloves to bait our lines so I joked him about being a girly girl. He then told us that the chemicals mixed with the eggs stained everything it touched and was not good to handle without gloves. As we ventured down the river we ran into many other charter boats and all the guides were wearing rubber gloves to bait the hooks as well. Tom said the stain gets on your skin and lasts a week or more. The boat we were in was probably about an 18' boat and was very curved up in the bow and is called a 'drifter' boat. Tom said the design made it easier to manauver through the river as it kinda sat on the surface of the water and drifted along rather than sucking down tight on the water. The river had a rather swift current up at the top where we boarded and we just kinda drifted along the river. Tom would row us into a salmon 'hole' and we would let out our lines and set for awhile, then he would pull anchor and we'd drift a little farther. Most of the places we would stop there were several other charter boats stopped as well. Tom told us when anyone near out boat got a king on his line that all of us should reel in. The reason for this is because the salmon fight so hard and run every direction and they do not want the other lines out in the water to get tangled as the fish is struggling. During the day we witnessed several kings being pulled in among all the boats but Larry and I did not even have a strike on our poles.

We were a little beyond half way down the river when Tom explained the bathroom routine to us. He told the guys he had a coffee can in the back of the boat if they choose to use and for me he would pull over to the shore. I had asked in the office on Friday night about the bathroom arrangements and the girl told me that about halfway down there was a port-a-potty that they could stop at IF I needed to do so. Well as Tom is rowing toward the shore I'm looking for this port-a-potty and when he stopped he told me to go up the bank and do my thing. I climbed up the bank and looked around and all I saw was trees and weeds. I found a clearing and went then realized when I got back to the boat my shoes were wet up to the ankles from the water in the marshy area. I got back in the boat and he told the guys they could either go up the bank or use his coffee can. Larry and Leroy chose the woods. When we came home tonight I told Larry that the entire state of Alaska must be a considered a port-a-potty as the girl had indicated.

We were drifting along and Tom pointed out two moose that had come down to the water to eat and we saw several bald eagles and thousands of sea gulls, of course. The other boats along side us were pulling in a king now and then and we'd all have to reel our lines in until they landed it. We finally got to the last salmon hole called surprisingly, 'the last chance', and the tide started coming in. Tom said this was the place we'd catch our king as when the tide comes in it sweeps a lot of them into the river. We all had our lines in and Delane got a strike but missed hooking the fish. Then we sat there almost till the tide had receded and Leroy got a strike, hooked the king and struggled with him until I thought he would drop from exhaustion. He worked and worked on reeling him to the boat and just when he would get him up to 4 or 5 feet of line the salmon would take off and run and pull his line back out. This went on for a very long time and by the time he got him to the boat he was almost in tears from the pain in his hand and arm. This king weighed in at around 40 lbs. I don't think I have ever seen a 40 lb salmon prior to this. Needless to say Leroy was very proud of his catch. It was time we should have been heading in but Tom was pretty upset that Larry nor I had caught our fish so he asked if we wanted to stay a little later. We said fine but he did not have to stay for us. We stayed and fished and rebated and fished and came up with nothing! At about 8:00 we headed back to dock. It was almost 2 miles that Tom rowed up the river to the dock area where one of the other guys from the charter had driven his truck and boat trailer around to pull our boat out. The bank at this launching area was very steep so getting the boats out of the water was rather different. This process was very interesting also as when one boat was pulled out, they would hook a line onto the back of the truck and that truck would pull up another boat, and on and on this process went until all the boats were out of the water and loaded.

We all hauled ourselves into the truck and Tom drove us back to our cars. We were all freezing and wet and Larry and I ran the heater in the car on the highest setting the entire 20 miles back to the RV campground. On our way back to the campground we had an encounter with another moose. He was just on the very shoulder of the road grazing on grass. It was still pretty light out at 9:00pm but because it had rained all day was rather overcast and a little hard to see as the window was fogging up. We didn't really have an encounter with him but we stopped and did get a very close look at him. It was another bull moose which Tom had told us was pretty unusual to see in this area as they were mostly small males with button horns or females. This guy was defiantly decked out in a huge rack! This is either the second or third bull we have now seen. They are so majestic to look at it is hard to believe they can be so dangerous. Well we got home, dried off had a very light snack, and I went to bed and slept so sound nothing could have brought me back to life. I had had a much more fulfilling day than I needed. I was exhausted and I know Larry was as well. Nine hours of the cold and rain was more than I would have liked but the day was very educational for me!

Day 19--In Alaska

Guy at Kenai Harbor with 'Red' Salmon
'
Bull Moose


Ninilchic River



Point at Capt Cook Park

Petroleum Plant

Dipping Salmon at Kenai Harbor

July 23, 2010. We had a pretty laid back day today so we drove up to the town of Kenai and from there we kept driving straight through town to a little town called Nikiski. It was pretty remote and looking at the map it appeared the road ended at the Cook Inlet area which I thought would be a big panoramic view of the ocean. We kept driving out of Nikiski and the road just literally ended. There was nothing at the end other than a forest of trees and a sign saying 'Road Ends'. We turned around and headed back a short distance and there was a sign pointing into the forest area saying 'Captain Cook State Recreation Area'. We turned onto a gravel road and headed in the direction the sign indicated and ended up at the end of this road and there was a nice little park area overlooking the ocean. It was quite pretty there and there was a guy out with his dogs that we talked to for awhile. He was from New Mexico and had been to Alaska before. He knew quite a lot about the area and was interesting to talk with. We came back to the main road and drove 5 miles or so and we both yelled at the same time that there was a moose off the side eating in the bog area. The tress were blocking our view so we turned around and came back to see him. He was HUGE and was a bull moose with antlers that were very large. We took several pictures which didn't seem to show his best side but he was within a half block from our car and we could really see him up close. This is the first bull moose we have seen and they are quite impressive. I actually got out of the car and took a few pictures and he became interested in me enough that I got back in the car. I decided that I did not want to get to know him personally. We took the rest of the pictures from the car.

We drove back to Nikiski where they have two huge Petroleum Plants and less than a mile down the road a gas station selling regular for $3.89 a gal. I just can't seem to grasp the concept. Alaska where there is oil and refineries everywhere and the price of gas is so high. I also do not understand why they crab and lobster right here where we are and the price is higher than we pay in Illinois!! I guess they know we are from 'outside' and come to Alaska with our pockets bulging!! LOOK AGAIN!(I have been dying to use that 'outside' term as that is what the Alaskans call anyone that is not from Alaska--A little triva for today). They refer to an Alaskan or Yukon old-timer as Sourdough and a Cheechako describes a newcomer generally someone who has not yet spent a winter in Alaska. OK! enough Trivia, however I have more.

When we came back to Kenai we took a road out of town going south and came
to the harbor area. We pulled in and a guy and gal were just walking onto the roadway so we stopped to talk to them. They had a bucket of 'Reds' and picked one out and showed us. They had been down on the beach dipping salmon. He said they were really running today and looking out on the water it was filled with boats using dip nets to dip the reds. The shoreline was also filled with people in chest waders out in the ocean dipping as well. There was a telescope on a deck area up from the ocean that you could 'zero' in on the boats and I could not believe how small the boats were --hardly larger than a john boat. In these small boats would be 2-4 people all using a dip net to get their catch for the day. Only residents of Alaska are allowed to dip for fish. They are allowed 10 fish per family member, per day. Later we were in the sports/hardware store and I saw recipes for canning and smoking salmon so I assume they prepare them in a variety of ways for winter eating. I love Salmon but I'm wondering how many days in a row I could eat it for a whole winter.

As we were driving along today Larry said he wondered what they do for
bathroom facilities on the Salmon Charter that we are taking tomorrow. I
had a moment of panic as I had not thought of that. Our charter leaves at
noon and is a seven hour charter. HOW does ANYONE wait seven hours for a
bathroom break??? Gosh, Larry and I stop every hour on the hour, when we
are driving, for a bathroom break! Of course we probably drink too much
coffee, soda, water and BEER! Let me say that I will drink nothing but a
sip of water now and then tomorrow. I WAS curious as the boat we go out in
is like a very large row boat and I know there is no concealing area for a
bathroom! When we stopped at the office tonight to pick up our information
for tomorrow, I asked! The gal told us there was an area along the shore
that had a port-a-potty that they COULD stop at if need be!@# ARE YOU
JOKING???? AND I found I am the only female as only four people go out on
each charter and the other two are men. OH WELL!

The weather forecast for tomorrow is-- what else --RAIN and mid 50's. I
will probably have every item I brought with me on my body to stay warm.
Today it was also cool and windy but the sun did peak out off and on all day but felt plenty chilling each time we got out of the car.

Jim, our neighbor next to us here in the campground, came over tonight to
ask Larry if he thought they would have time to fish together before we
leave. He and Jim have talked about going together since we've been here.
We had planned to leave on Sunday but I told Larry I'd really like for him
to get a chance to fish some of the rivers here before we leave. I suggested we stay another day so he can fish with Jim at least a day. I love to fish but am so cheap I do not want to spend more money for myself a fishing license. I know Larry would enjoy it more than I. On our charter tomorrow we are each allowed only two King Salmon. We spent $350 for the charter and $60 for our ONE day fishing license. I figuring if we catch Salmon, they better have 14K gold fins!! We met the guy and his wife parked on the other side of us, Craig and Marylou, a couple of days ago. Craig had been on a Halibut charter the day before. He caught three Halibut and he said he figured they cost him about $50 a pound! We all laughed but the fact is--NOTHING IN ALASKA IS CHEAP!

Speaking of the prices in Alaska--We have only eat about 6 meals out since
we left home because of the prices. This morning we decided to treat ourselves so on our way to Kenai, we stopped at a nice 'family' restaurant for breakfast. We had 2 eggs, 1 sausage, hash browns and biscuits and gravy--which I might add was like a special on the menu. The gravy was horrible and we tried to figure out what it was made with as it had a strange flavor. The sausage was not editable--I'm imagining it was raindeer meat! The eggs were ---WELL--eggs and the hash browns were just plain ol' frozen hash browns heated up. OH YES--we also had coffee! Our total bill was over $25 --- the memories -- PRICELESS!!!

Our Neighbors, Craig and Marylou, left the park today and tonight we have
a couple from Wasilla, Alaska, the home of Sarah Palin! We talked awhile
and he told us the Palmer area, which is very near Wasilla is a very
pretty area. We have discussed going to either Palmer or Eagle River which
are both just above Anchorage. We will probably hang out three days there
before Leslie and Pete fly into Anchorage. We are due to go back to the
Golden Nugget RV in Anchorage on Friday. We would like to find anyplace
other than Golden Nugget to stay for next weekend as the personnel there
are very rude and unorganized. It is also like being packed in a sardine
can as the RV's are parked so close.

The temperature just keeps dropping since we got back to the campground and
the wind is really whipping. PLEASE let tomorrow be warmer!

Day 18--Beautiful Alaska!

Salty Dawg Saloon

Mountains rimming Homer

Street coming into spit at Homer

$78 per night RV Park on Spit in Homer

Beautiful Wildflowers of Alaska

More Alaskan Wildflowers

Harbor on spit at Homer

Halibut weighing 60 lbs first on left ---------------- Shops on spit at Homer

Today is Thursday July 22, 2010. We drove back into Soldotna(about 60 miles) stopping along the way to look at various scenery. We bought a few groceries and came back to Nimilchik and dropped them off at the motor home. We had a sandwich and drove to Homer which was about 40 miles south of Nimilchik. Homer is a very unique area. We drove down to the Spit which is the peninsula roadway that ends at Kachemak Bay. The spit is very commercialized with building on both sides of the roadway that either house gift shops, charter companies, coffee houses or brew houses. One of the most unique bars is Salty Dawgs and it is built onto a lighthouse. Alaska must live on Espresso! Every 10 miles along the roadway is a little hut that is an espresso drive-thru. Homer was a beautiful area!! It is rimmed by the most beautiful mountains you could ever imagine. The spit is just a strip of land out in the ocean and when you get to the end of the strip it just falls off into the water. There are many RV Campgrounds along the Spit. Tom who was parked next to us at the Golden Nugget in Anchorage is also here as I mentioned yesterday. He told us that there was one of the RV Parks on the spit that was charging $78 a night to park. We found it and checked on it ourselves and, YES, to park there which is on the water is $78 per night and they had many people parked there. On the other side of the road, which also is right down on the shoreline was $25. I'm really not sure what the difference was because the $25 spots had a beautiful view. I guess a fool and his money are easily parted---so I hear!

We walked around the shops and saw them hauling Halibut in from one of the boats down in the harbor. We also saw them hanging the Halibut and also cleaning them at several places along the spit. At the first place we watched them weigh them and the first one was 54 lbs. That is a LOT of fish! The second place had one hanging that was marked 60 lbs. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to catch one. We checked into a charter trip at the campground and we could take either a Halibut or a Salmon charter. We signed up for a King Salmon charter which goes out on Saturday morning. I am looking forward to it. Larry and I had Halibut several times since we have been in Alaska and really enjoyed it. One day a guy we were talking to said that some of the Halibut that are caught are full of worms. Since then Larry cannot stand to hear the word Halibut. He has marked it off his list of favorite foods. That is why we are going on the Salmon Charter--even though he does not like Salmon. I, on the other hand, could probably eat Salmon 7 days a week--which I just might be doing if we catch them on Saturday.

It rained off and on today but by the time we got back to the RV Park, the sun was out and it was beautiful. We grilled a steak for Larry and a Salmon Fillet for me. We had fresh corn on the cob, Larry had a baked potato and I had a baked sweet potato. We visited with Barb and Jim that we met yesterday. They are parked next to us and are from near Wisconsin Dells. They also just did the sight seeing drive today. We had all talked about clamming today but decided to see the area instead. The weather is so unpredictable that it is hard to plan much unless you are willing to do it in the rain. We have done a majority of our activities in the rain since we hit the Anchorage area.

I know I repeat myself day after day but I have never seen such beauty that we see everyday here. I must have 500 pictures of the mountains and the water but I keep thinking I will actually capture the real beauty in one of them. I find this is impossible because as beautiful as the picture is, it does not compare in any way to seeing it with your own eyes. I just wish all of my family and friends had the opportunity to see Alaska. It makes you feel very small in the scheme of it all. What beauty God created here!

In the RV Park, there are several native Alaskans parked here for, I believe, the sole purpose of fishing. Every night they come in with huge catches. The wives garb up in their plastic aprons and rubber gloves and help the men unload the day's catch and then they all work on filleting them. They have a cleaning station at the end of the park as well as a smoker that is available for everyone to use. It is smoking day and night and I'm sure it is mainly being used by this group. We were talking with our neighbors last night and figured they probably exist on this during the winter. I doubt most of them can afford to buy much food as the prices here are very high.

The wildlife sightings have just dried up. We have not seen any wildlife since coming from Tok. There are signs everywhere regarding watching for the moose and they actually keep track of how many were killed by cars and post it on the signs. Either they have all been killed by cars or the locals have them all in their freezers. No moose, no deer, no bear--nothing --The gal that owns the RV Park said she has lived here in this same area for 8 years and has only seen 1 bear. Looking at the countryside, you could imagine the bear would be everywhere. Anyway we still enjoy looking at the wildflowers if not the wildlife. The wildflowers are so varied and they are everywhere you look. Like one big beautiful flower garden along the roadway.