Thursday June 30, 2011

Thursday morning we left the campground about 6:45 and left our R.V. at the visitor’s center near where spent the night and headed to Seward by car. We traveled about 80 miles and arrived in good time to board the day cruise ship “Kenai Star”.  This was advertised as a good cruise to see both marine life and glaciers; true to the advertisements we had a good time and got to see glaciers some were ‘calving”, meaning that ice breaks from the glacier and falls into the water and makes a loud noise as it breaks loose. We also got to see whales, sea lions, porpoises, sea otters, and several species of birds. The cruise included a salmon and prime rib (including dessert) buffet meal at noon. We arrived back at our R.V. about 7:30 so we had a full day of activity including travel time.

Marie before boarding Keni Star

 Marie and Merrill at Holgate Glacier

Sea Lions and Corramonts

Wednesday June 29, 2011

Our first stop Wednesday morning was Crow Creek mine about six miles from Alyeska Resort in the Girdwood area. This is a gold mining community with many of the old building still standing and much of the old equipment on display. The whole place was kept up very well with both wild and domesticated flowers to accent the grounds. Crow Creek mine also offers the opportunity to pan for gold, we didn’t pan for gold but we walked down to the creek and watched other “prospectors” for a while. The host told us that weddings are often held on the premises in fact they were making preparations for a wedding on Saturday. After the gold mine we headed down to Portage Glacier Valley Cabins and R.V. Park. We stopped at a visitor’s centers and got information on various Glacier Cruises and then had lunch. After lunch we decided to purchase tickets to take the glacier cruise tomorrow out of Seward. As soon as we parked the R.V. we drove the car to Whittier to see what we could see. Whittier was an old military town surrounded by mountains and glaciers. It has become a sea port town mainly for fishing and shipping industry; cruise ships provide many tourists that also benefits the Whittier community. In order to drive to Whittier a toll tunnel was built through the mountain which is shared by both trains and automotive traffic. We had to schedule our entrance and exit at the specified time for auto traffic. Upon returning to the campground we ate supper, Stanley and I got haircuts, we all got hot showers, and prepared for our cruise tomorrow. Since we have access to a gas grill here at this campground I volunteered to grill chicken so we have it ready to eat whenever we need it. I grilled the chicken over at the pavillian and visited with several other campers. It is always interesting to hear of other travel experiences. We are trying to get to bed a bit earlier since we need to get up early in the morning and travel to Seward by car.  

  

 Mining Truck

Marie and Merrill

Tuesday June 28, 2011

Events of Tuesday Posted Wednesday morning by Merrill

Last night (Monday night) when we were coming from inside the Fred Meyer store to the parking lot we saw a very interesting sight.  It was after 11pm (still daylight) when we came back to the parking lot where our R.V. was parked; there by our camper was a mother moose and two calves wondering around in the parking lot. After we and others took a few pictures she wondered off in the woods; how neat is that to have a wild moose come right into a business parking lot in downtown Anchorage.  Before we started traveling today we took our R.V. to have the oil changed and the ladies did some shopping. While in town we went to the Resolution Park at Cook Inlet where we ate a picnic lunch and then to the Ulu Factory by Ship Creek where we were hoping to see salmon running however it is a bit too early in the season. We headed south out of Anchorage on the Seward Hwy. a beautiful scenic route so we stopped numerous times to get out and walk and take pictures. Our destination for today was Girdwood, Ak. where Alyeska Resort is located. They have a cable tram that has two gondolas that take passengers up the mountain for an awesome view. On the mountain is the round house restaurant and gift shop. We purchased tickets to ride the tram and also took the opportunity to use the hotel’s internet. 

 Mother moose with two calves

 Marie in Front of the Ulu Factory

 Scenery along route to Girdwood, Ak.

 Tram Gondola at Ayleska Resort

 Marie and Merrill on Mt. Ayleska

Black Bear Getting Supper out of Dumpster



Monday June 27, 2011

Posted on Tuesday Morning for Monday June 27th

Monday morning before we left from Dennis and Crystal Byler’s place Crystal shared two loaves of homemade bread, and a bag of spinach and vine ripe tomatoes from their garden and greenhouse. She had already given us some of her homemade sweet rolls; all of which were very good. I guess she is trying to bribe us into coming back next summer; we really did enjoy our time with the Byler’s but I don’t think we will be able to come back anytime soon. We had met Dennis’ parents, Roman and Susan Byler (Roman is about my age) and they invited us to stop by their house about a mile up the road. Before we hooked our car to the R.V. we drove it over to Roman and Susie’s place. Soon after we got there Roman ask if we would like them to show us around the farms in the area and perhaps we could see some Alaska wildlife. We accepted his invitation and all got into his dual cab pick-up and away we went. This turned out to be a great adventure. We met a neighboring farmer and saw a herd of buffalos that he has grazing on his farm, also as a mother moose with a calf, a fox, and two Caribou. Our short visit turned into a half day but as Roman reminded us we are all retired and time is not an issue. We did have a wonderful time with them as well as seeing more of Alaska. When we finally got on the road we stopped at a wayside “pull off” and ate fresh tomato sandwiches (thank you Crystal). On our way to Anchorage we went through the town of Wasilla, Alaska the hometown of former governor and vice presidential hopeful, Sara Palin. We went by her house however public access to her house was blocked (as we expected) so we moved on. We are now at Anchorage, Alaska at a Fred Myer store parking lot. We did take time this afternoon to visit the Alaska Wild Berry Products Store. Our plans are to stay here in Anchorage tomorrow morning until we can get the oil changed (we now have over 5,000 miles on the current oil) in the R.V. and Marie has a prescription to get filled at Wal-Mart pharmacy.    

 Our campsite at the Bylers

 Roman's truck - see Marie looking out 

 Herd of Bufflao

 Alaska Wild Berry Products Store

Chocolate Falls Twenty Feet High in the Wild Berry Products Store

Sunday June 26, 2011

Sunday Events posted on Monday by Merrill

Sunday morning we ate our sweet rolls that we purchased at the Talkeena Roadhouse for breakfast. After a leisurely morning we drove over to Talkeena Baptist Church where we attended the worship service. I was interesting to see some of the same people that we had met the day before when we were tourist in Talkeena. The people at the church were very friendly and we felt a warm welcome as we worshiped with them. After church we drove a few miles to the visitors center where stopped on Saturday and had our lunch there. The visitor’s center had wireless Wi-Fi so we were able to get on line for a little while. Leaving the visitor’s center we headed South on the Parks Hwy. toward Wasilla. Stanley’s cousin’s daughter, Crystal Byler her husband Dennis and her family live about 25 miles out of Wasilla. Mary Jane and Stanley have been in touch with the Byler’s and they invited us to stop for a visit when we were in the area. As it turned out we made it to their place Sunday afternoon and stayed at their place Sunday evening and participated in their hymn sing Sunday evening, a very enjoyable evening. After the hymn sing the boys went out in their larger front yard and played ball and were still playing when I took their pictures about 11pm. The people really enjoy their long daylight days here in the North Country. The Byler’s made us feel welcomed and told us we could use their place as our campsite for the night which we accepted.  In addition to their friendship and hospitality we also felt blessed to be able to use their internet connection.  

 Talkeena Baptist Church

Sign at the lane to the Byler's 

 Flower Bed at the Byler's

 Front of the Byler's house

   Playing ball at the Byler's 11pm

Saturday June 25, 2011

Saturday Events - Posted early Monday morning.

Saturday morning we were on the road by 9:30 heading south on the Parks Hwy.  At the location where the hwy. crosses the Nenana River they have a pedestrian walkway bridge which looked very interesting when we saw it last evening.  We decided to stop and walk the walkway and watch whitewater rafters going down stream. Several other tourists were doing the same thing so we got to visit with them as well. We wanted to see Mount McKinley however the cloud cover was too dense so we continued toward Anchorage without seeing McKinley.  We stopped by Hurricane Gulch and ewed and awed the deep depth of the gulch. When we got to the road leading to Petersville we drove our car out Petersville Road about 16 miles because this is reported to be a good place to view Mount McKinley if the clouds don’t hide it. The cloud cover was still hiding the mountain and it was drizzle rain off and on but the drive allowed us to see another remote part of Alaska. We headed south to the road leading to Talkeena which is another good place to view the tallest mountain in North America and went off route for about 16 miles again just in case the sky would clear this afternoon or in the morning. Talkeena is a quaint Alaska town with a population of about 850 people. They have shops of all kinds within walking distance of each other so we parked the camper and car and got out Stanley’s scooter so we could tour the town as pedestrians. One of the first places we visited was the river where we were told that yesterday was great for viewing the McKinley Mountain. We are camping tonight in a roadside “pull off” a free camp site. Several fire rings had left over firewood so we built a fire and after supper we made blueberry mountain pies over the open fire. Our plan is to leave here in the morning in time to attend Talkeena Baptist Church about 3 miles from here with or without seeing mount McKinley.

 Stanley at our campsite

 Harricane Gulch

Stanley and Mary Jane at Harricane Gulch

 Talkeena Roadhouse



Shops in Downtown Talkeena

Fairbanks to Denali, Alaska.

Post for Friday June 24, 2011

 As we were preparing to leave the Shirk's I was informed that Ed had volunteered to lead us out to our route on his Harley Davison motorcycle and give Mary Jane the motorcycle ride that she missed out on earlier this summer. The ladies wanted to get some groceries so the Safeway grocery store in Fairbanks was a good place for us to end Mary Jane’s motorcycle ride and have her join us for our continuing Alaska trip. Stanley and I were able to get online a bit from the Safeway coffee shop. After getting groceries and gasoline we were once again on our Alaska trip. We traveled to a campground 11 miles North of Denali; left the R.V. there and did our run this afternoon with the car. After spending time at the visitors center we drove as far into Denali Park as private vehicles were allowed (approximately 15 miles) and just before we headed back Marie spotted a caribou grazing down by the river so we had a lot of fun along with other tourist taking pictures of the caribou and wild flowers.  We are now back at camp; Stanley and I are trying to catch up on posting information for those of you who are following us.

  Our campsite at McKinley RV and Campground

               Merrill & Marie

                  Caribou at Denali

Delayed post for Thursday June 23, 2011

Today (6/23/11) was our sleep in day and this afternoon we went to the Riverboat Discover ride near Fairbanks on the Chene River.  This is a very popular tourist attraction; as we found out this is much more than a paddlewheel boat ride.  This is a family owned business started by Charles Binkley back in 1898 and the family continues to do the river boat tours; the fifth generation is now taking on the business responsibility. The entire trip is narrated by a very knowledgeable narrator. The tour includes a stop at a simulated Athabasca Indian Village where they do live demonstrations showing how the natives were able to survive in the North Country. Many of the workers at the village are native college students who are doing a great job of carrying on their native traditions. After the boat tour Ed and Lorrie went home ahead of us to prepare supper giving us time to shop at the gift shop and purchase souvenirs. Their son-in-law, Neal brought four large salmon that they cleaned this morning in preparation for this evening.  Ed wanted to get home and get the salmon in the smoker in time for supper. In addition to salmon and salmon roe, Ed also grilled moose burgers and reindeer sausage so we really had a great feast tonight. After supper we viewed photos of our time together and began packing for our departure tomorrow morning. Our time at the Shirks will always be a “highlight” of our Alaska trip.

 Paddlewheel Riverboat

 Athabascan Clothing



Ed, Lorrie, Jonni, Neal, Stanley, Mary Jane, & Marie

Wednesday June 22, 2011

This post is delayed because we had no or limited access to the internet.
Posted by Merrill at Denali on 6/24/11.

Marie, Merrill, Mary Jane and Stanley in Rhinos 

After a short night of sleep (we watched the sun set and rise about an hour later) we got home about 3:30 am 6/22/11.  We got up and headed out about 9:30 am to the Compeau Trail for Rhino (four wheeler riding) with Ed and Lorrie Shirk.  This is a trail that is on Bureau of Land Management property going up the mountain. It took us about 40 minutes to get to the trail entrance with Lorrie driving her car and Ed was driving his pick up truck pulling a trailer with the two Rhinos on the trailer.  At the trail beginning spot we unloaded the Rhinos and our belongings and headed up the trail with Ed, Stanley, Mary Jane, &Lorrie leading the way and Marie  and I following in the second Rhino. The trail offered a wonderful experience even thought the weather was cool and rainy.  It was only misting rain however a heavy fog moved in by the time we got to the top of the mountain 10 miles from the starting point. We stopped and ate our picnic lunch and headed back rather than go any further since the visibility was so pool. After returning to Ed and Lorrie’s home I drove the R.V. over to a mechanic friend of Ed’s to have our cruise control check out; it hasn’t worked since leaving Oklahoma. While on the way over I tried to use cruise and "wow" it worked like it was suppose to. I still left it with the mechanic to test it and called him later in the evening to find out his diagnosis; he said he couldn’t make it fail and that I could come get it.  Since he didn’t find any problem he didn’t bill me, that was good news and it is great that the cruise control is working again.

Tuesday in Fairbanks, Alaska

We are having a nice time scouting around Fairbanks. The ladies are out shopping; Stanley and I are at McDonald's making use of their Wi-Fi connection for a short while. We plan to go to a salmon bake this evening also watch the sun set and rise about two hours later.  No total darkness tonight on this part of the globe.
Best to all,

June 20, 2011

We are spending the day in and around Fairbanks, Alaska. Our visits for today included going to the visitors center, University museum, and meeting Ed. and Lorrie for lunch at Zach’s restaurant in Sophie’s Hotel here in Fairbanks. We returned to the museum after lunch and are now concluding our time at the museum.  I decided to post this now since we have access to a good internet signal here in the museum.  More later.

Sunday June 19, 2011

Posted by Merrill on Monday afternoon.

This morning (June 19th) Stanley’s brother Ed met us at the camp ground so we followed him to church. We had a good time of fellowship and worship at Community Covenant Church in Fairbanks, Ak. where Ed and Lorrie Shirk attend church.  After church we went back to the campground and drove our R.V. to Ed. Shirk’s place where we will be staying for a few days. They have a real nice place and are very hospitable, I know we are going to enjoy our time here.  We ate lunch at the Shirk’s residence; their son Markus, his wife and three children joined us for lunch, a very delicious home cooked meal by Lorrie.  This afternoon Ed. received a service call and needed to go to the hospital where he is employed to handle a maintenance issue. He invited us guys to ride with him so we accepted his invitation.  After Ed fixed the problem he gave us a grand tour of his work area. He is in charge of the maintenance department and supervises eight men there at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. Upon returning to Ed and Lorrie’s house we spent a quiet evening visiting and snacking.

Harding Lake to Riverview R.V. Park

Today 9:45 was our departure time heading north.  The first place that we stopped  was The Knotty Shop in Salcha, Alaska. This is a large gift shop specializing in knotty wood working and crafts. They also sell ice cream and frozen yogurt; so, yes we had a frozen treat.  We passed by Eielson Air Force Base south of North Pole, Alaska and stopped in at the North Pole, Ak. visitor center.  Here we got directions to KJNP (King Jesus North Pole) radio station. We went to KJNP where they gave us an interesting tour of their ministry.  While in North Pole we visited the Santa Claus House; this is another gift shop that has all kinds of Christmas ornaments and gifts. I made the comment that by the looks of the senior citizens going into this shop, it seems that older folks would be over Santa Claus.  I guess it is just a fun thing to do especially with grandchildren in mind. We also stopped by the North Pole “Pole” that was the twin to the pole that was actually dropped at the magnetic North Pole.  From there we stopped and the ladies purchase a few groceries then we headed up the road to find our camping site for tonight; we only traveled 44 miles today. We are at a nice full service campground; we needed full hook-up since we did without full hook-ups for two consecutive nights thus the delay in updating this blog.

 Knotty Wood Shop

 Marie and Mary Jane

Marie & Merrill

 KJNP Radio Station Studio

 Merrill & Marie at the "Pole"

North Pole "Pole"



Merrill & Marie 9pm 6/18/11

Delta Junction to Harding Lake

Delayed post by Merrill for June 17, 2011

June 17, 2011 we left Delta Junction and drove 55 miles to Harding Lake Recreation Park.Since we are somewhat ahead of schedule we are taking time to enjoy some of the local places of interest.One of the highlights was our visit to Rika’s Roadhouse. This is a restored roadhouse and out building representing the early 1900s.It is located along the Richardson Highway at the same area as the Alaska pipeline crosses the Tanana River. Since we were expecting a lot of walking we took Stanley’s motorized scooter out of the trunk, assembled it and secured his cane and Marie’s purse in the trunk and began our walk to the roadhouse.Stanley decided that he might as well talk his cane with him; that is when we discovered that our car was locked with the key in the ignition and our spare set of keys were in Marie’s purse locked in the trunk; what a dilemma?We are members of AAA motor club and just before this trip we enrolled in Good Sam’s Emergency Road Service so I began looking for help.The host at the roadhouse was helpful and put me in touch with a local locksmith. I couldn’t locate a phone number for AAA so I called Good Sam’s R.V. Emergency Road service who assured me that they would reimburse me for the locksmith’s fee.No harm done just a minor inconvenience; the locksmith came promptly and we were able to proceed almost as planned. Before heading north we ate lunch beside the river at the site of the pipeline.After lunch as we were proceeding northward we spotted a moose in a body of water beside the road.We stopped for a moose photo shoot as did several other R.V.ers.Soon after getting back on the road saw a sign and drove to Harding Lake a very beautiful lake but no camping available at that spot. A few miles down the road we found Harding Lake Recreation Park that has camping so we stopped early for a time of relaxing.Marie and I took naps while Stanley and Mary Jane scouted out the place.In the evening Stanley and I built a fire while the ladies prepared supper.We ate outside by the fire which was very pleasant since the evenings cool off so much.  

 Moose cooling it in the pond 

 

Camp site at Harding Lake

June 16, 2011 Tok, Alaska to Delta Jct., Alaska

Delayed post by Merrill on 6-18-11

This morning (June 16, 2011) we enjoyed our sourdough pancake breakfast at the campground café.  It is so much fun to visit with the campground host and volunteers, they tell some very interesting stories.  It was about 10:00am before we left the campground.  About three miles up the road we were able to wash our R.V. free with gas fill-up so since we needed gas and the price was $4.29 per gallon just like the other competitors in the area so we filled-up and took time to wash the R.V.  It was about 11:00am as we pulled out onto the highway heading north from the R.V. wash.  As we were traveling on the Alaska Hwy. on the way to Delta Jct. we saw a moose along the edge of the road, by the time I got slowed down and creep toward the moose to take pictures another R.V. camp from behind and the moose was scared away so no pictures.  We stopped at the small community of Dot Lake, Alaska and visited with the postmaster for a little while; he is the one who told us that about forty people make up the population of Dot Lake.  We also visited a small unique community church building and made use of their “outhouse”.  Before we got to Delta Jct. Mary Jane spotted another moose but by the time I got stopped the moose had disappeared so no moose pictures today.  At Delta Jct. we stopped at the visitor’s center; this is mile post # 1422 of the famous Alaska Hwy. and this is the official end of the highway that was constructed in 1942.  Soon after we left the visitor’s center we located the Delta Recreational park where we are staying tonight. Our travel with the R.V. today totaled 113 miles.  This is the same park that Marie and I stayed in during our trip in the summer of 2003.  We made pizza and blue berry mountain pies for supper over an open fire at our camp site.  After supper we took a drive to see the river that the ranger told us was across the road from the park entrance; what we found was a muddy river flowing over a wide area that changes its water flow over time. While we were looking over an “overlook” a local residence came out and talked with us; he told us of another river that is clear water so we drive out about 12 miles and sure enough we found the Clearwater River and another beautiful park.  On the way out there we were privileged to see a beautiful rainbow even though the rain did not adversely affect us. We returned to our R.V. and listened to another chapter of the audible book “The Betrayal” before retiring for the day.  No internet access so this blog entry will be posted later.

     Stanley and Merrill washing the R.V.

Boarder City to Tok, Alaska

Today we left Boarder City, Alaska about 10am and traveled to Tok, Alaska only 87 miles. On our way we stopped at the Telslin Welcome Center where we were able to see a moose grazing off in the distance from the porch of the welcome center. When we got to Tok we stopped at the visitor center and then went on to Sourdough Campground and got a camp site. After we ate lunch we took the car and went back to the visitor’s center and several gift shops to shop for souvenirs. This evening the campground provided live entertainment that was held in the pavilion here at the campground. In addition to the country music singer they held a sourdough pancake tossing contest with the winners receiving a free sourdough pancake breakfast in the morning. I was one of the winners and another winner who was not able to stay for breakfast in the morning gave his winning token to us as well. Our plans are to stay here at the campground café for a sourdough pancake breakfast before heading on North.

 Telslin Welcome Center

 Alaska Wild Flowers

Alaska Wild Flowers





Merrill Tossing a Pancake into "The Bucket"

Haines Junction to Border City, Alaska

Last night we decided that today would be a good time to“sleep in” since we have a relatively light travel day planned for today. About 9:30 we went to the Village Bakery in Haines Jct. and purchased coffee and sweet rolls for breakfast and visited with the local merchant. It was about 11:00 by the time we left our camp site then we filled up with gasoline in Haines Jct. and hit the road again traveling north on the Alaska Hwy. The road was good the first part of the way but we did encounter rough and gravel road a good part of today. Part of the way we had to deal with road construction workers so hopefully they will get the road in better shape. We made a few stops along the way and our wildlife sightings today included one black bear and one bald eagle. We reached the Alaska state line at 5:00pm Alaska time, stopped and took a few pictures then traveled to Customs. At Customs we had to declare our holdings and the officer ask us to surrender our lemons because they were not allowed to cross the border. Just before handing the bag of lemons to him I ask if we could make lemon aid with them; he said "you can take the lemons if you peel them and leave the peelings here."  Marie and Mary Jane quickly peeled them and we gave him the peels in exchange for him returning our passports that he held and headed on.  We are now in Alaska proper (about 2 miles north of the boarder) at Border City Motel and R.V. Park. Our travels today included driving a mere 204 miles; according to our GPS we are now a mere 4,186 miles from home.

Camp site last night at 11:30PDT

Mary Jane, Marie, and Stanley outside of bakery

 Village Bakery in Haines Jct.

 Breakfast at Village Bakery

Merrill, Marie, and Mary Jane & Stanley