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!