July 2 – 5 (4 nights, Anchorage, Alaska USA)
Anchorage has come a long way from its 1915 beginnings as an Alaska Railroad construction tent city with only 2,000 inhabitants.
Today almost half of the state's population lives here. Despite being a big town, Anchorage has its own charm. It sits on a point of land bounded on two sides by water and on the third by the Chugach Mountains. We elected to stay at the city campground called Centennial Park. It is in a nice setting just off the Glenn Highway, the main artery into Anchorage. The weather the whole time we were there was rainy and overcast.
Sim kept hoping the weather would be better the next day so we could ride bicycles or go hiking. But we didn't have any such luck. We went to town several times to walk around and use the WiFi we could pick up parked outside the Captain Cook Hotel. It really killed Sim not being able to go out and enjoy nature.
July 4
So, although it was raining and cold, we went to the Wednesday Farmers Market and
expected to see a large variety of produce vendors.
really short here in Alaska and they grow some really big vegetables because of the really long summer days so we were excited to see some on these monsters.
Things didn't get any better because there were only 4 vendors at the Farmers Market. Only one of the vendors had vegetables. We went home with a major disappointment. Sim suggested we should go to Barnes and Noble rather than going straight home. While Sim went to her favorite section, I sat down in quiet corner and read a book by Barak Obama called the Audacity of Hope. It is very well written, and I enjoyed it. I predict that this guy will be President of the United States one day.
July 5
Another day of lousy weather, so we spent all afternoon at the local laundromat doing two weeks worth of dirty clothes. So far we have not experienced Anchorage's charm and we have not been impressed with it much. But Sim said we should stop at Anchorage again when we made our way from Homer to Fairbanks because it is on the way. She said everyone should get a second chance, even Anchorage.
July 6 – 8 (3 nights, Seward, Alaska USA)
On the way to Seward, we stopped off in Girdwood.
Sim had read that there was a fair happening in this small town just off the main highway.
We turned off and found parking then took the shuttle to the Forest Fair. The fair was like stepping back in the 60's. Flower children, painted faces, wreaths of flowers in the womens hair, two music bands performed on two different stages in the same time, and hula hoops for everyone. There were a lot of different food vendors. Sim's eyes went big when she saw the one Thai vendor.
She went to check to see who was cooking up Thai dishes, and found three Caucasian guys cooking. She said she was positive her Thai dish would be more authentic and taste better. Sim and I enjoyed some Mexican food and corn on the cob.
Sim stopped at a honey booth and tried almost all the products. She bought a jar of honey and a half pound of sesame honey crunchy candy although she didn't really like the candy much (it was too sweet for her.) But she told me she had four good reasons why she bought the candy. One, to support local producers. Two, the friendliness of the vendor. Three, she thought about me (my sweet tooth). Four, her guilt after trying every kind of free candy samples.
Seward is a charming coastal town. It is situated at the head of Resurrection Bay on the Kenai Peninsula. It is known as the “Gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park”. It is also famous for the annual Mt. Marathon Race held on July 4th. We missed the race but heard it is quite the feat of stamina. We saw TV highlights on the news. Men and women race to the top of a 3022 foot mountain and then race back down. Quickest time wins. 43 minutes 22 seconds so far for this 3 mile race. The danger, however, is falling on the way down or up, or getting hit by one or more dislodged rocks that come flying down the hill. One woman needed 15 stitches in her head on race day.
We got to Seward Friday afternoon to a packed town as lots and lots of RVers with
Alaska plates were already there. There were no more spaces left in the public campgrounds so we ended up in the overflow parking at the baseball diamond.
We parked at about the shortstop position and still had good views of the mountains and bay. It was nice but not waterfront. The Foretravel Alaska Motorcade Caravan was in town so we walked over the the park they were staying. We chatted with Ron and Betty, the couple we met in Salt Lake City. It was a good thing the caravan was in town because I was having an issue with our Generator and Jack Donaldson, the Foretravel mechanic traveling with the Motorcade, was very helpful in providing me with some troubleshooting ideas. I was able to fix the Generator on my own and it is running fine now.
The whole stay at Seward was cold even when it was sunny.
It was freezing cold when the wind blew. Despite the weather, we enjoyed Seward because of its incredible scenery; abrupt mountain slopes cloaked in shaggy summer greens and snow form an impressive backdrop. While we were walking along the bay, Sim spotted a man cleaning fish at the beach. She went to ask him where and how he caught the fish. Then she relayed all the information about how and where to catch fish to me. We also walked to the small boat harbor and two men happened to be cleaning Salmon and Halibut when we got there. Sim drooled when she saw the fresh fish. This time she couldn't help but give me a clue that I should really go fishing. I got the hint and told her I would go fishing when we got to Homer.
July 7
The sun was out so we took a bike ride out to Miller's Landing. It is about 6 miles out of downtown Seward. It was a fun, long, and dusty ride on the dirt road. The view along the bay was magnificent and it made up for the dusty ride. They have a campground and RV park out there and rent Kayaks and offer fishing charters and such. At the end of the road there was an exclusive nice black sand beach. There was one family enjoying the beach, and the parents were watching their three kids playing in the water. Brrrrrrr.
July 8
Exit Glacier is located in Kenai Fjords National Park and a must visit when in Seward.
It is the most accessible of the park's glaciers. Located just outside of town on the road to the Airport, it has a Visitor Center with picnic area. The path to Exit Glacier is paved for most of the way, then turns to gravel. You can walk right up to the Glacier. Dress warm, because the wind coming down the canyon and over the glacier ice is ice cold. We visited the glacier and one of the things that amazed us was how far the glacier has receded over the years. From when they started marking its recession in the 1800's the glaciers is miles and miles back.
After we walked out to the glacier we decided to have lunch at the picnic area behind the Visitor Center.
Sim had made sandwiches so we grabbed a picnic table and began to eat lunch. There was a large group of Chinese tourists preparing their lunch as well. We noticed they kept going to their car for more and more stuff; two coolers of stuff. They even had pizza. It was about 2 minutes later and the whole bunch of them were headed for our table. We got up to see what was going on and a black bear had invited himself to lunch with the Chinese. They of course made a hasty retreat when the bear arrived. We snapped some pictures while the bear was busy eating and before the Ranger came out and chased us away. Sim ran away while sending me to take pictures of the bear. She told me to take as many pictures as I could. She came back to me later after being sure it was safe and said she didn't really run away, but went to check the sign to see if it said “picnic area with a complementary bear”.
July 9 – 15 (7 nights, Homer, Alaska USA)
Homer is at the southwest tip of the Kenai Peninsula on Kachemak Bay. It is one of the few places in the world, if not the only one, where icy glaciers, (Grewingk, Portlock, and Dixon), snow topped mountains, and the silhouette of neighboring active volcanoes (Augustine, Iliamna, Redoubt, and Spur) can be viewed at the same time. Homer is also known as the World's Halibut Fishing Capital. The town is named after Homer Pennock, a gold miner, who established the first development on the Homer Spit in 1896.
We drove down the hill into Homer and the view was pretty spectacular.
They have a turn out at the top of the hill for taking that Kodak moment picture. You can see the spit that juts out into the bay. That spit of land is where we were going to be parked while in Homer. We found a public campground right across the street from the famous Fishing Hole and pulled in. We were right on the beach facing the water. It was a great spot. We jumped in the Jeep and headed off to find some Internet. We knew that the Heritage RV Park across the street had WiFi so we drove through their park to see if we could get a signal. We could have stayed at this park but it was $75./night and we
While we were sitting there using their WiFi, Sim noticed an Eagle perched on the light pole. I took some shots with the camera, and Sim said she wanted picture of the Eagle in flight. We decided it probably would not be a good idea to throw a rock at it to make it fly, and we settled in for the wait until it decided to take off. I held the camera at the ready position for 30 minutes until my arms got too tired. Sim took the camera and walked closer to the Eagle but came back to the Jeep to get her jacket. No sooner than she reached the car and put the camera down the Eagle took off and flew right at us and over the car. Perfect shot missed. Sim was disappointed for days.
Later we found an even better spot for WiFi. Down at the end of the road was the Lands End Lodges that had free WiFi for an hour at a time. We parked in their lot and had a great view of the bay while we did our send/receive thing.
I had not gone fishing yet, so I went to the sport shop next to the campground and bought a 3 day license and inquired about what to use at the Fishing Hole across the street. They hooked me up with some frozen herring, a hook and a bobber.
I walked over to the fishing hole and about two hours later I hooked and landed a King (Chinook) Salmon weighing about 18 lbs. Now you are supposed to have a King Salmon stamp in addition to your regular fishing license, but I had not purchased one of those. So my fishing was over and I headed back to the RV as quickly as I could. There was no way I was going to toss that beauty back in. I took my new fillet knife to that fish and we had a delicious salmon dinner that night. The next day I went fishing again at the “Hole”. This time I went for Silver Salmon. The woman fishing next to me caught two in 30 minutes using salmon eggs. I only had herring, so I beat feet to the Sport Shop for eggs. I spent another 3 hours fishing with no luck. Probably the bad karma for not having a King permit.
One of the must see stops on the Homer Spit is the legendary Salty Dawg Saloon.
Made up of three old buildings, whose uses included in their early days a post office, grocery store, and the offices of the Cook Inlet Coal Company. Today the Salty Dawg, including a working lighthouse serves locals and tourists as a place to drink and socialize. The Salty Dawg is indeed quite unique. The walls inside the bar are covered in dollar bills stapled up by patrons. It is estimated that $40,000 lines the walls of the entire building. They are running out of walls and now the front door is filling up fast as well. We walked through, but did not stay as they still allow smoking inside and everyone was. Sim lasted only one minute and she had to get out. I lingered a little bit longer but I was starting to get sick afterward. However, you have to go if you are in Homer.
It was time for a Halibut trip so I booked a charter trip for Saturday. I met up with the other 5 fishermen at the boat at 6:30 am on Saturday morning. The boat was a 28' aluminum cuddy cabin with twin 150 mercury outboards. We all jumped in the boat and the van pulled us down to the launch ramp. There a tall tractor hooked onto the boat trailer and dragged us down to the water. That tractor was in 5 feet of water before the boat floated off the trailer. Never seen anything like that before. Made sense though, because of the low tide.
Halibut fishing here is done in from 50 to 150 ft of water, and because of the swift current when the tide is running, a large weight is needed to get the fish bait to the bottom and stay there. We were using 4 lb sinkers today.
All morning I was catching halibut or cod, but you are only allowed 2, so I was throwing all of them back because they were only about 20 lbs. We were at the second and last stop before it was time to head back in, and I had no fish on board. The other people were done fishing leaving only me. Well, I had two rods in the water and was working both when a 65 lb. halibut took one. It was a good fight, and I needed a shoulder strap and 20 minutes to bring the first one in. Right after I had the first one, a second 50 lb fish took the bait on my other rod. It was a great trip, and I was feeling the effects of it for days in my arms.
The boat crew cleaned the fish, and when we got back to shore the fish were cut up and packaged ready to be frozen. I ended up with 42 lbs of fillet that now fills our freezer, and Sim was in heaven.
We took one day and just drove around Homer and the surrounding countryside.
We wanted to get high in the hills to get a better view of the bay, so we took some road that looked like it was headed up into the mountain. We got up pretty high and then ran out of road. While we were turning around a mother moose and two young calves were passing by. We stopped and took some pictures. We watched them, they watched us for a while and they finally strolled off into the woods. The view was fantastic.
While we were driving around Homer we spotted a Thai restaurant called Try My Thai. It was lunch time so we stopped.
It was a buffet deal so we sampled just about everything they had. Sim wanted to find out if the cook was Thai so she headed off for the kitchen to meet the cook. Sure enough, she was Thai, so we spent a couple of hours talking with Atchara and her husband Bill. Sim leaned that Atchara's helper took summers off for fishing. So Atchara pretty much did everything from A to Z in the kitchen.
Sim felt sorry for her so when I went fishing, she went to help Atchara without accepting anything in return.
That is Sim with her big heart.
Bill and Atchara came to
our coach on Sunday night for dinner. They brought
enough food for ten or more people.
On top of that Atchara made about five pounds of Thai sausages for Sim to eat during our travels. One of the dinner dishes Atchara made was Papaya Salad, but she substituted Rutabaga for Papaya. It was pretty good and we couldn't tell the difference. The lovely evening went by fast, and we enjoyed their company. We now have new friends in Alaska. If you visit Homer, you should try the Authentic Thai buffet at Try My Thai Restaurant. Sim says Atchara uses good quality ingredients to cook. The restaurant is located at 345 W. Sterling Highway next to Oceanview RV Park. Tell Bill and Atchara that Sim and Jim sent you.
Homer has been Sim's favorite stop so far in Alaska. Eagles, sea otters, and moose are commonly seen on daily basis. She was impressed with the Alaska Island and Ocean Visitor Center, that also houses the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve and the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, for its unique architecture and detailed information and art.
July 16 – 17 (2 nights, Kenai, Alaska USA)
The town of Kenai is on the Cook Inlet at the mouth of the Kenai River. It is 90 miles north of Homer and 156 miles south of Anchorage. Kenai has magnificent views of Cook Inlet and the active volcanic Mt. Redoubt. It is dubbed the “oil capital of Alaska”. Kenai's economy was traditionally based on the oil and gas industry and commercial fishing but tourism is playing a more important role. We got into Kenai fairly early in the day and drove to the Beluga Point RV Park. We had no reservation, but we have never had reservations at any park, and we always have found somewhere to stay. Beluga was full, or rather they did not have a spot for a 40' motorhome, so we remembered we had seen a coach or two parked in the Home Depot parking lot. We drove back to the BOB and pulled in. There were 4 or 5 rigs parked out in spots in the south forty of the lot and we settled right in with them. That evening and the next day, another 10 coaches and trailers pulled in.
We jumped in the Jeep and explored Kenai.
We went down to the harbor and beach and watched the residents dip net for salmon. Dip netting is taking a big net at the end of a long pole and wading out into the river and waiting for a salmon to swim into the net. Then you drag the net into shore, club the salmon, cut it's gills so it bleeds out, throw it in the cooler and go back for another one. This practice is open only to Alaska residents from July 11 to July 31. It is their sustenance fishing for the season. In the old days, this would be the time they socked away as many fish as they could for the long winter.
July 17
We ate breakfast and headed out to explore Kenai. We drove up to Nikiski and to the Captain Cook State Park at the end of the road heading north out of Kenai. Tesoro, one of Alaska's big petroleum companies has a big refinery up there. I found it odd that the gas prices at the Tesoro station close to the Tesoro refinery had gas and diesel right at $3.00 a gallon. Apparently transportation costs don't have much to do with gas prices as this station was less than 2 miles from the refinery.
We drove around all of Kenai, including the harbor and a couple of the other RV parks in the area. We decided that the Home Depot parking lot was better than any of the other parks.
We took the walking tour of old Kenai. There is a Russian Orthodox Church that is on the tour, and we stopped an went inside. We met the pastor or preacher or whatever they are called and he was very informative and talkative too. We saw a lot of old buildings from the 1700s. Some were still in use, others in total disrepair and falling apart. We have seen a number of women in town wearing long dresses and head scarfs and believe them to be of Russian heritage as well.
Well our stay in the Home Depot parking lot is over. One of the Manager's underlings came by and told us we had to be out of here by 5:00 pm this evening. So I guess we will head down the road to Soldotna. We heard there is free parking in the Fred Meyer parking lot.
July 18 (1 night, Soldotna, Alaska USA)
We got to the Fred Meyer parking lot around 6 or 7 pm, and the place is packed. We found a spot near the back entrance, parked and unhooked the Jeep because it was sort of sticking out in the driving lane. We went inside the store and did some shopping for fresh vegetables and fruit. That night we were awakened by loud crashing and banging close by. They were doing some parking lot demolition and loading big chunks of asphalt into metal buckets with a skip loader. This went on from 2 to 4 am. We did not get much sleep that night. We were up early to avoid the line at the dump station, dumped and took on water and were on the road by 9:00 am.
July 19 – 21 (3 nights, Anchorage, Alaska USA)
We arrived back at Centennial Park after the drive from Soldotna. We stopped at Portage Valley along the way and visited the Begich Boggs Visitors Center at the base of Portage Glacier.
Portage Glacier is one of Alaska's most accessible and frequently photographed glaciers. In less than 70 years, the glacier has receded over 2 miles. The 8 million dollars center is the only one of its kind in the state. It was one of the nicest centers we have seen with many displays and informational items. The Center is named after a couple of US Senators that were lost in an airplane crash back in 1972. Congressmen Hale Boggs and Nick Begich, along with the pilot and a couple of aides went down on a trip from Juneau, Alaska and were never found. The 4.5 mile drive to the Visitor Center was well worth the drive to enjoy the beautiful Access Glacier up close.
The weather in Anchorage on this occasion was really good, and we were excited to see this town. In the evening we walked down to the park that is close to the campground. There were a hundred or so people at the park. Some were playing soccer and most were eating. A dozen men were around a net that was set up where 4 men were playing a game called TraGraw. I recognized the game as the same one I have seen men in Thailand play. Sim and I walked over to them, and Sim asked one of the players what the name of the game was. She found out it was indeed the same game they played in Thailand. However, these folks were all from Laos, and they were from the Hmong people. For those of you who are not familiar with TraGraw, it is played on a court with a net just like volleyball. The court is only 1/4 the size of a volleyball court. The ball is round but woven like a basket and hollow inside. The ball is tossed underhand to your teammate who must then, using his foot, hit the ball to the other side of the net. Play continues with the opponents returning the ball to your side using feet, knees and heads only. The side that misses loses serve. Points are scored the same as volleyball. The top of the net is a about 5 feet so athletic players can leap into the air and spike the ball to the other side of the net using their feet.
I am sitting in the coach writing about the day's events, and when I looked up, a mother moose and calf are walking right in front of our coach. I grabbed the camera and took this picture. I was hesitant to go out to get a better shot as the Rangers have warned us about getting too close to a mother moose with calves. They can get really mad if they think their kids are in danger. But, three seconds later, there were a whole bunch campers walking by our coach to see the moose up close. One of them told me that she once saw a black bear near the camp site checking out garbage bins. Now this information made Sim's eyes go wide and stay peeled for as long as we were there.
July 20
Today we visited the Alaska Native Heritage Center.
They have a great center with many exhibits and informational films playing all day. They have instructional sessions covering wildlife and flora and fauna of the area.
Out in back they have reconstructed five native villages (Athabaskan, Yup'ik/Cup'ik, Inupiaq, Aleut/Alutiiq, and Tlingit/Haida) and have local Indians and Eskimos stationed at the exhibits to answer questions and give a brief explanation of the exhibit. Indians around Skagway had access to trees and their homes were built out of logs. The Aleut Indians had no trees on the Aleutian Islands so their homes were built into the earth. Another tribe or clan were nomads so they built homes that looked very similar to the American Plains Indian tepees. Did you know that the Alaskan Eskimos never lived in Igloos?
In the evening we went down to Sullivan Center where the World Eskimo Indian Olympics were being held. We saw demonstrations of many of the games played in the Olympics. Each of these games were designed not only for fun, but to develop skills necessary to survive in the harsh environment of Alaska. Our second visit to Anchorage did not disappoint, and we were glad we stopped by again on our way north to Fairbanks.
July 21
We visited the Museum in the morning. It was very informative and all of the displays were very well done. Sim enjoyed the museum tour very much because she could relate todays information with the knowledge she learned yesterday from the Alaska Native Heritage Center. She said, however, that information only filled her brain, and not her stomach. She was hungry since it was 12:30 pm when we finished the museum tour. We had fried rice with prawns for lunch in our jeep while checking our email. We walked four blocks to the Saturday Summer Market. Sim saw two Buddhist monks strolling at the market. She thinks the monks should be at the temple praying or doing good deeds rather than shopping in the market. Then she thought maybe the rules and disciplines may have changed. She hopes it is not true. She had some second thoughts about me taking a picture of them and ultimately posting that picture on our website. Oh well she said the truth needs to be depicted.
July 22 – 24 (3 nights, Willow, AK USA)
Willow is a small town north of Wasilla and Palmer. We picked North Country RV Park to stay for a few nights because it had 50 amp electricity. We have been dry camping for the last two weeks and running the generator twice a day for an hour and a half and just wanted to be plugged in for a few days. When we arrived, there was only one other camper. The park was well laid out with gravel roads and pads but there was no one here. We found out later, that there was a park just up the road that was right on a river and it was full. Anyway, the second day the trailer left, and we had the place to ourselves. No line at the water or dump station.
July 23
We jumped in the Jeep and headed up the road to Hatcher Pass.
It was paved road for 5 miles and then turned to gravel and then turned to washboard, rutted, potholed dirt.
The bad road conditions lasted for about 6 miles then improved somewhat. We arrived at Summit Lake high in the tundra and had lunch sitting on a rock at the top of Hatcher Pass.
After lunch we continued down the other side of the pass to the old Independence Mine. This gold mine was active up until the 1950s. We walked the property and hiked up to a still active mine in the area. We didn't find any gold nuggets laying around however.
July 24
Today we drove down the road a bit to visit Martin Buser and his dogs.
Martin is a 4 time Iditarod Champion. He lives with his wife and two sons out in Big Lake. We arrived a bit early and Martin was not home yet, but his son Nicolai, showed off his dads trophies and showed us a short movie/slides about the Iditarod Race. Martin showed up by the time the movie was over and took us out to show us his equipment and answer all of our questions about the race and the dogs. We went to visit the dogs and Martin hooked up five of them and took a spin around the property on a sled. Boy are those dogs eager to work and pull. They were falling all over themselves as Martin was picking out 5 dogs. He took off like a rocket when he let them go. I can't imagine what it is like on a sled behind 16 dogs and on snow.
July 25 – 27 (3 nights, Matanuska Valley, AK USA)
We had been on our way north to Denali National Park but we had been unable to book a campground inside the park.
At Willow we went to the local library and were using their WiFi to do email and to make reservations at Denali but the website was not working properly. I finally called and was able to book Denali over the phone. But we could not get in until 8/5.
So we had 10 days to kill before Denali. We decided to back track back to the Matanuska Valley to see some things we had passed by the first time through.
We drove south and then each on the Glenn Highway to Glacier View RV Park. We had a nice view of the mountains and there were Dall Sheep grazing in the hills behind the RV Park. You need binoculars to see them, however.
We took the walking trail out from the park to a ridge line where you could see a nice view of Matanuska Glacier and the river as well. Sim spotted blueberries along the trail and vowed to return with a basket to collect enough for bread or a pie.
July 26
We dressed warmly and headed off to visit Matanuska Glacier.
We read that this glacier is one of the few that is easily accessible and anyone can hike on it without special gear or a guide. We paid our $30 to access the glacier and drove out to the parking area. There were 15 or so cars in the lot, but the glacier is sooooo big there is plenty of room for everyone. We started out on the trail to the terminus through the mud and gravel. We both had tennis shoes on but were warm in our jackets and parkas.
We tried to stay on the gravel or the ice with gravel as much as we could, but there were times when we had to walk on the ice.
It was fun, and I only fell a few times. We walked back into the glacier about 1 mile and saw some pretty and interesting ice formations. We walked into a valley like area where you walk on flat sheet of ice that is surrounded by white mountains of ice.
Sim was curious to see every corner of this area so she started exploring the area without any consideration of the possibility of it being unsafe. I reminded her to check to make sure the surface is hard enough to walk on.
She told me it should be safe since there was no warning signs. I told her the water under the ice surface must be at least 20 degrees. On the way out of the ice field, I decided to take a short cut,
but ended up in deep mud and was forced to turn around and find our way out the same way we came in. I can imagine how easily it would be to get lost in there as everything looks very similar.
We went back to the ridge trail at the campground and Sim picked a basket of blueberries while Jim stood lookout for bears. She baked up some banana/blueberry bread that was outstanding. The next day Sim was thinking about hiking at Matanuska Glacier one more time. But, I had seen enough glacier and besides my legs were still sore from yesterdays hike.
July 28 (1 night Willow, AK USA)
On our way to the North County RV park, we stopped at Carrs for our groceries. Then we made a second stop at a glass chip repair service. Two windshield chips on the coach and four on the jeep. While the windshields were being repaired, we had lunch. I walked around and saw wild raspberries and told Sim. She loved picking wild flowers, wild berries, etc. She came back with a basket full of raspberries.
She said she left a few for the bears (very considerate). So the next day we had a delicious raspberry and chicken salad.
We selected North Country RV Park again so we could use the 50 amp electricity and prepare 10 meals as the plan now was to dry camp at Byers Lake for 5 days.
Once again we had the entire RV park to ourselves. We took advantage of the free WiFi at the public library once again. The library was closed but I just parked by the front door and had a nice signal.
After Sim finished cooking the 10 meals, we drove down to the Float Plane dock and looked at the planes. Sim has never been up in a small plane, and I have never done a take off or landing in a float plane. We may try to take a short ride before we leave Alaska.
Today almost half of the state's population lives here. Despite being a big town, Anchorage has its own charm. It sits on a point of land bounded on two sides by water and on the third by the Chugach Mountains. We elected to stay at the city campground called Centennial Park. It is in a nice setting just off the Glenn Highway, the main artery into Anchorage. The weather the whole time we were there was rainy and overcast.
Sim kept hoping the weather would be better the next day so we could ride bicycles or go hiking. But we didn't have any such luck. We went to town several times to walk around and use the WiFi we could pick up parked outside the Captain Cook Hotel. It really killed Sim not being able to go out and enjoy nature.
expected to see a large variety of produce vendors.
really short here in Alaska and they grow some really big vegetables because of the really long summer days so we were excited to see some on these monsters.
Things didn't get any better because there were only 4 vendors at the Farmers Market. Only one of the vendors had vegetables. We went home with a major disappointment. Sim suggested we should go to Barnes and Noble rather than going straight home. While Sim went to her favorite section, I sat down in quiet corner and read a book by Barak Obama called the Audacity of Hope. It is very well written, and I enjoyed it. I predict that this guy will be President of the United States one day.
Sim had read that there was a fair happening in this small town just off the main highway.
We turned off and found parking then took the shuttle to the Forest Fair. The fair was like stepping back in the 60's. Flower children, painted faces, wreaths of flowers in the womens hair, two music bands performed on two different stages in the same time, and hula hoops for everyone. There were a lot of different food vendors. Sim's eyes went big when she saw the one Thai vendor.
She went to check to see who was cooking up Thai dishes, and found three Caucasian guys cooking. She said she was positive her Thai dish would be more authentic and taste better. Sim and I enjoyed some Mexican food and corn on the cob.
Sim stopped at a honey booth and tried almost all the products. She bought a jar of honey and a half pound of sesame honey crunchy candy although she didn't really like the candy much (it was too sweet for her.) But she told me she had four good reasons why she bought the candy. One, to support local producers. Two, the friendliness of the vendor. Three, she thought about me (my sweet tooth). Four, her guilt after trying every kind of free candy samples.
Alaska plates were already there. There were no more spaces left in the public campgrounds so we ended up in the overflow parking at the baseball diamond.
We parked at about the shortstop position and still had good views of the mountains and bay. It was nice but not waterfront. The Foretravel Alaska Motorcade Caravan was in town so we walked over the the park they were staying. We chatted with Ron and Betty, the couple we met in Salt Lake City. It was a good thing the caravan was in town because I was having an issue with our Generator and Jack Donaldson, the Foretravel mechanic traveling with the Motorcade, was very helpful in providing me with some troubleshooting ideas. I was able to fix the Generator on my own and it is running fine now.
It was freezing cold when the wind blew. Despite the weather, we enjoyed Seward because of its incredible scenery; abrupt mountain slopes cloaked in shaggy summer greens and snow form an impressive backdrop. While we were walking along the bay, Sim spotted a man cleaning fish at the beach. She went to ask him where and how he caught the fish. Then she relayed all the information about how and where to catch fish to me. We also walked to the small boat harbor and two men happened to be cleaning Salmon and Halibut when we got there. Sim drooled when she saw the fresh fish. This time she couldn't help but give me a clue that I should really go fishing. I got the hint and told her I would go fishing when we got to Homer.
July 7
It is the most accessible of the park's glaciers. Located just outside of town on the road to the Airport, it has a Visitor Center with picnic area. The path to Exit Glacier is paved for most of the way, then turns to gravel. You can walk right up to the Glacier. Dress warm, because the wind coming down the canyon and over the glacier ice is ice cold. We visited the glacier and one of the things that amazed us was how far the glacier has receded over the years. From when they started marking its recession in the 1800's the glaciers is miles and miles back.
After we walked out to the glacier we decided to have lunch at the picnic area behind the Visitor Center.
Sim had made sandwiches so we grabbed a picnic table and began to eat lunch. There was a large group of Chinese tourists preparing their lunch as well. We noticed they kept going to their car for more and more stuff; two coolers of stuff. They even had pizza. It was about 2 minutes later and the whole bunch of them were headed for our table. We got up to see what was going on and a black bear had invited himself to lunch with the Chinese. They of course made a hasty retreat when the bear arrived. We snapped some pictures while the bear was busy eating and before the Ranger came out and chased us away. Sim ran away while sending me to take pictures of the bear. She told me to take as many pictures as I could. She came back to me later after being sure it was safe and said she didn't really run away, but went to check the sign to see if it said “picnic area with a complementary bear”.
They have a turn out at the top of the hill for taking that Kodak moment picture. You can see the spit that juts out into the bay. That spit of land is where we were going to be parked while in Homer. We found a public campground right across the street from the famous Fishing Hole and pulled in. We were right on the beach facing the water. It was a great spot. We jumped in the Jeep and headed off to find some Internet. We knew that the Heritage RV Park across the street had WiFi so we drove through their park to see if we could get a signal. We could have stayed at this park but it was $75./night and we 
While we were sitting there using their WiFi, Sim noticed an Eagle perched on the light pole. I took some shots with the camera, and Sim said she wanted picture of the Eagle in flight. We decided it probably would not be a good idea to throw a rock at it to make it fly, and we settled in for the wait until it decided to take off. I held the camera at the ready position for 30 minutes until my arms got too tired. Sim took the camera and walked closer to the Eagle but came back to the Jeep to get her jacket. No sooner than she reached the car and put the camera down the Eagle took off and flew right at us and over the car. Perfect shot missed. Sim was disappointed for days.
I walked over to the fishing hole and about two hours later I hooked and landed a King (Chinook) Salmon weighing about 18 lbs. Now you are supposed to have a King Salmon stamp in addition to your regular fishing license, but I had not purchased one of those. So my fishing was over and I headed back to the RV as quickly as I could. There was no way I was going to toss that beauty back in. I took my new fillet knife to that fish and we had a delicious salmon dinner that night. The next day I went fishing again at the “Hole”. This time I went for Silver Salmon. The woman fishing next to me caught two in 30 minutes using salmon eggs. I only had herring, so I beat feet to the Sport Shop for eggs. I spent another 3 hours fishing with no luck. Probably the bad karma for not having a King permit.
Made up of three old buildings, whose uses included in their early days a post office, grocery store, and the offices of the Cook Inlet Coal Company. Today the Salty Dawg, including a working lighthouse serves locals and tourists as a place to drink and socialize. The Salty Dawg is indeed quite unique. The walls inside the bar are covered in dollar bills stapled up by patrons. It is estimated that $40,000 lines the walls of the entire building. They are running out of walls and now the front door is filling up fast as well. We walked through, but did not stay as they still allow smoking inside and everyone was. Sim lasted only one minute and she had to get out. I lingered a little bit longer but I was starting to get sick afterward. However, you have to go if you are in Homer.
Halibut fishing here is done in from 50 to 150 ft of water, and because of the swift current when the tide is running, a large weight is needed to get the fish bait to the bottom and stay there. We were using 4 lb sinkers today.
All morning I was catching halibut or cod, but you are only allowed 2, so I was throwing all of them back because they were only about 20 lbs. We were at the second and last stop before it was time to head back in, and I had no fish on board. The other people were done fishing leaving only me. Well, I had two rods in the water and was working both when a 65 lb. halibut took one. It was a good fight, and I needed a shoulder strap and 20 minutes to bring the first one in. Right after I had the first one, a second 50 lb fish took the bait on my other rod. It was a great trip, and I was feeling the effects of it for days in my arms.
We took one day and just drove around Homer and the surrounding countryside.
We wanted to get high in the hills to get a better view of the bay, so we took some road that looked like it was headed up into the mountain. We got up pretty high and then ran out of road. While we were turning around a mother moose and two young calves were passing by. We stopped and took some pictures. We watched them, they watched us for a while and they finally strolled off into the woods. The view was fantastic.
While we were driving around Homer we spotted a Thai restaurant called Try My Thai. It was lunch time so we stopped.
It was a buffet deal so we sampled just about everything they had. Sim wanted to find out if the cook was Thai so she headed off for the kitchen to meet the cook. Sure enough, she was Thai, so we spent a couple of hours talking with Atchara and her husband Bill. Sim leaned that Atchara's helper took summers off for fishing. So Atchara pretty much did everything from A to Z in the kitchen.
Sim felt sorry for her so when I went fishing, she went to help Atchara without accepting anything in return.
That is Sim with her big heart.
Bill and Atchara came to
our coach on Sunday night for dinner. They brought
enough food for ten or more people.
On top of that Atchara made about five pounds of Thai sausages for Sim to eat during our travels. One of the dinner dishes Atchara made was Papaya Salad, but she substituted Rutabaga for Papaya. It was pretty good and we couldn't tell the difference. The lovely evening went by fast, and we enjoyed their company. We now have new friends in Alaska. If you visit Homer, you should try the Authentic Thai buffet at Try My Thai Restaurant. Sim says Atchara uses good quality ingredients to cook. The restaurant is located at 345 W. Sterling Highway next to Oceanview RV Park. Tell Bill and Atchara that Sim and Jim sent you.
We jumped in the Jeep and explored Kenai.
We went down to the harbor and beach and watched the residents dip net for salmon. Dip netting is taking a big net at the end of a long pole and wading out into the river and waiting for a salmon to swim into the net. Then you drag the net into shore, club the salmon, cut it's gills so it bleeds out, throw it in the cooler and go back for another one. This practice is open only to Alaska residents from July 11 to July 31. It is their sustenance fishing for the season. In the old days, this would be the time they socked away as many fish as they could for the long winter.
We drove around all of Kenai, including the harbor and a couple of the other RV parks in the area. We decided that the Home Depot parking lot was better than any of the other parks.
Portage Glacier is one of Alaska's most accessible and frequently photographed glaciers. In less than 70 years, the glacier has receded over 2 miles. The 8 million dollars center is the only one of its kind in the state. It was one of the nicest centers we have seen with many displays and informational items. The Center is named after a couple of US Senators that were lost in an airplane crash back in 1972. Congressmen Hale Boggs and Nick Begich, along with the pilot and a couple of aides went down on a trip from Juneau, Alaska and were never found. The 4.5 mile drive to the Visitor Center was well worth the drive to enjoy the beautiful Access Glacier up close.
I am sitting in the coach writing about the day's events, and when I looked up, a mother moose and calf are walking right in front of our coach. I grabbed the camera and took this picture. I was hesitant to go out to get a better shot as the Rangers have warned us about getting too close to a mother moose with calves. They can get really mad if they think their kids are in danger. But, three seconds later, there were a whole bunch campers walking by our coach to see the moose up close. One of them told me that she once saw a black bear near the camp site checking out garbage bins. Now this information made Sim's eyes go wide and stay peeled for as long as we were there.
They have a great center with many exhibits and informational films playing all day. They have instructional sessions covering wildlife and flora and fauna of the area.
Out in back they have reconstructed five native villages (Athabaskan, Yup'ik/Cup'ik, Inupiaq, Aleut/Alutiiq, and Tlingit/Haida) and have local Indians and Eskimos stationed at the exhibits to answer questions and give a brief explanation of the exhibit. Indians around Skagway had access to trees and their homes were built out of logs. The Aleut Indians had no trees on the Aleutian Islands so their homes were built into the earth. Another tribe or clan were nomads so they built homes that looked very similar to the American Plains Indian tepees. Did you know that the Alaskan Eskimos never lived in Igloos?
We jumped in the Jeep and headed up the road to Hatcher Pass.
It was paved road for 5 miles and then turned to gravel and then turned to washboard, rutted, potholed dirt.
After lunch we continued down the other side of the pass to the old Independence Mine. This gold mine was active up until the 1950s. We walked the property and hiked up to a still active mine in the area. We didn't find any gold nuggets laying around however.
Today we drove down the road a bit to visit Martin Buser and his dogs.
Martin is a 4 time Iditarod Champion. He lives with his wife and two sons out in Big Lake. We arrived a bit early and Martin was not home yet, but his son Nicolai, showed off his dads trophies and showed us a short movie/slides about the Iditarod Race. Martin showed up by the time the movie was over and took us out to show us his equipment and answer all of our questions about the race and the dogs. We went to visit the dogs and Martin hooked up five of them and took a spin around the property on a sled. Boy are those dogs eager to work and pull. They were falling all over themselves as Martin was picking out 5 dogs. He took off like a rocket when he let them go. I can't imagine what it is like on a sled behind 16 dogs and on snow.
So we had 10 days to kill before Denali. We decided to back track back to the Matanuska Valley to see some things we had passed by the first time through.
We drove south and then each on the Glenn Highway to Glacier View RV Park. We had a nice view of the mountains and there were Dall Sheep grazing in the hills behind the RV Park. You need binoculars to see them, however.
We dressed warmly and headed off to visit Matanuska Glacier.
We read that this glacier is one of the few that is easily accessible and anyone can hike on it without special gear or a guide. We paid our $30 to access the glacier and drove out to the parking area. There were 15 or so cars in the lot, but the glacier is sooooo big there is plenty of room for everyone. We started out on the trail to the terminus through the mud and gravel. We both had tennis shoes on but were warm in our jackets and parkas.
It was fun, and I only fell a few times. We walked back into the glacier about 1 mile and saw some pretty and interesting ice formations. We walked into a valley like area where you walk on flat sheet of ice that is surrounded by white mountains of ice.
Sim was curious to see every corner of this area so she started exploring the area without any consideration of the possibility of it being unsafe. I reminded her to check to make sure the surface is hard enough to walk on.
She told me it should be safe since there was no warning signs. I told her the water under the ice surface must be at least 20 degrees. On the way out of the ice field, I decided to take a short cut,
but ended up in deep mud and was forced to turn around and find our way out the same way we came in. I can imagine how easily it would be to get lost in there as everything looks very similar.
We selected North Country RV Park again so we could use the 50 amp electricity and prepare 10 meals as the plan now was to dry camp at Byers Lake for 5 days.
Once again we had the entire RV park to ourselves. We took advantage of the free WiFi at the public library once again. The library was closed but I just parked by the front door and had a nice signal.