Luckily, as Ellie becomes even more proficient at driving our rig, Peter is rememvering his touch typing from high school. This helps us keep our journal up to date. We applogize for the fact that we have been spending more time typing our thoughts and less time editing them. Please treat this as a game of "mad libs" anytime you see a word missing. We started to edit this and then realized it was edit or continue down the road… We hope you bear with it as there may be a few chuckles to be had.
We also wanted to clarify our comment about family vacations. It was meant simply to refer to the pace and degree of movement rather than to compare locations. And yes, Peter has been to other places both here and abroad in the past. The focus intended is on the style and pace of vacations, which was very different. The Brownsteins took relaxing vacations on the beach. The Rosenthals were on the move every day. We are both having a challenging time adapting. It is worse for Peter as this is much closer to a Rosenthal Style.
As we ended the last chapter we were on our way out of Denali National Park on our way to Anchorage. After a brief stop in "Denali City" to buy the requisite T-shirt we headed south. It was amazing to think there are a large number of visitors who generally come up from cruise ships who see more of "Denali City," than inside the park.
Since we got an early start in the morning we got to see a number of animals on our way, a Caribou, 2 moose, snowshoe hares (one in our campsite in the morning), and some mule deer. We also enjoyed looking at the fall colors in the tundra. Yes, this far north it is late summer- early fall and the tundra turns great colors. A plant called fireweed is now bright red and it's all neat to see.
As we head south from Denali, it was clear that the weather was beinning to clear up and that it could become a great day. We stop at several roadside photo spots and Ellie took photos at several of them. At one of them she decides not to take the photo (as Peter is getting concerned about time), and then spends the next hour regretting it. As we approach Talkeetna, which is the starting point for most of the Denali expeditions, we decide to take the plunge and head to the airport for an aerial tour of the mountain. Luckily the views from an airplane a quarter mile from these peaks is beyond words. We did however shoot at least one roll of film each during our 70 minute flight. Again, the memories of this brief period are worth it. We also saw three moose on the way back from the mountain. While the flight over the glaciers and around the mountain, is very smooth, the last 10 minutes as we land has more than its share of bumps. Fortunately neither of ate much before the flight. Ellie's system settled down again before we were back on the main highway.
As we got into the town of Wasilla, we stopped for groceries, and decided to bring our pet pink flamingo in for a tour of the store. Society up here is very accepant of all types. As Freddie is on a low calorie diet, we skipped the pet food aisle.
Sunday, August 24, 1997 - Sunny and warming into the low 70's (nights are cool).
Of interesting note, Alaska is the only place we have ever been where they tell you the date and the weather along with the sun report. When we arrived we heard how many hours of sunlight there was that day, and how many minutes of sunlight was lost that day. We hear this report everyday. As we are reminded on the radio daily, we are now losing 6 minutes of sunlight per day.
The campsite we spent the night at had some of the nicest bathrooms we have seen thus far. When we saw the disposable bathmats, we checked to see if the sign said "Holiday Inn". As we saw a computer in the office, Peter thought they might be "E-mail friendly" and allow us to dial up on their phone line. They did and then followed with a discussion of the fact that we were in the hometown of Olympic skier Tommy Moe, and that the son of the campground's owner had won 15 gold medals on the US Disabled ski team. Ellie was able to find the off switch for Peter's mouth before we lost too much time in conversation, since the day was off to a late start already and the weather was great.
On the way out we realize that we had made a wrong turn and needed to turn around. After three weeks of driving with the trailer, Peter is able to make a flawless three point turn in a driveway on the side of the road. Once headed in the correct direction, we continued on to the Alaska State fair. We saw the giant vegetables and such. Yes, miracle grow vegetables do exist, but they may have more to do with factors other than the fertilizers. The blue ribbon cabbage came in at 87 lbs. Now that we are "RV'ers" (sort of) we looked at some of what was on display. We were surprised that the units that mount on the back of pickup trucks, have almost as much space as our trailer. Maybe next time if we buy a new truck.
From the moment that we walked in and found out about the concert schedule, Peter was excited. John Kay & Steppenwolf were going to perform at 3:00pm. As someone we overheard said "you know your career is going downhill when you start to play at state fairs. The concert had as much excitement and life as a 14 year old basset hound. The magic carpet ride is worn through to the padding. There are some things in life that if you don't experience them when they are fresh, you shouldn't at all. If you did experience these things in their heyday, you should avoid the recreations, they don't stack up. The reason that they might still hang on was evident from the quantity of tie dyed clothing for sale at the booths around the fair, and the amount of "sixties" evident there. We bought some souvener t Shirts from last years fair, the theme of which was Moosie in the sky with diamonds.
In any place you visit or live you will always here commercials on the radio that are only applicable to the region. The one that caught us today was for a vacuum packaging shop. "If you Grew it, shot it, caught it, or Hit it with your truck, bring it to us". Before we knew it we were in downtown Anchorage, and decided to stop for our weekly dinner out. Years ago, I had always heard that when on the road, you should eat at truck stops as the truckers know where the good food is. Let's clarify that, truckers know where they can park large trucks. Luckily we found two parking spaces in front of a good restaurant downtown, and Peter practiced paralel parking 40 feet of truck and trailer. While waiting for our food we did the yuppie thing and brought in the notebook computer to read the emails we downloaded in the morning. On our way out of town we saw someone walking their reindeer through the park, yes a man and his reindeer walking on a leash in downtown Anchorage.
Of note up in the north is the expresso craze. Maybe because it started in the northwest, or maybe because they like it, Alaska has the largest per cappita expresso and drive-thru expresso stands. Every corner has one. Visitor information services, grocerie stores, trailers on the highway, everywhere! No, Ellie has not tried them all.
The drive down to Seward was a clear sail heading in our direction. You could, however, see how much traffic heads back into anchorage at the end of a weekend. The Kenai Penninsula is billed as Anchorage's Playground, and this was evidenced by the line-up of cars, RV's, and boats returning home from the weekend. We did see a few Beluga Whales out in Turnagain Arm hanging out right near the shore, cute white things. The Kenai Penninsula is seperated from the main landmass by Cook Inlet a georgous area with tall mountains all around. Turnagain arm is the innermost water area of Cook Inlet. It was so named by Captain Cook who was looking for the Northwest Passage and had to keep turing around due to shallow water. We drove around the arm on our way out to Seward. Of note, every book we have, and signs on the beach warn visitors not to walk out on the mud at low tide. Apparantly the glacial silt and sand that forms this mud can form quicksand and people have become trapped in the mud as the tide came back in. We enjoyed from the road thank you.
We did go through a section of road construction on our way. Most of the time we think of road construction as one or two lanes closed and traffic is moved towards the shoulder. In Alaska, they simply tear up the entire section of road, in this case six miles, and leave you to drive on the graded dirt. The potholes in this section were comparable in size to the cabbage at the fair. You can avoid the first few but then you realize that you must just drive it and deal with it later. Later meant that we looked inside the trailer and saw it looked like a house ransacked by a burgalar, or your first college apartment.
We stopped at Tern Lake to look for moose on our way to Seward , but instead Ellie got a glimpse of a beaver swimming out to increase the size of his home. The lake was beautiful and the mountain reflection made a great photo. We also had a stunning sunset as we drove into Seward (yes we drove in at 9pm to sunset, but it was not dark until9:30 this far south).
As we drove into town we passed two campgrounds 6 mile out, and decided we wanted to be closer to town so we kept going. In town, however, they had the beach (pull up and park with 200 neighbors), or a nearly deserted gravel (and mud) lot with electricity. Since we like the heat, we took the later, but it does not rate as our favorite campsite. Two days later we found a nicer hook-up area along the beach but decided not to move again for the night. We do wonder, however, whether other states have this many RV spots tucked into odd places, or are we see them now because we are looking.
Monday, August 25, 1997 - Raining low 60's
Seward is a beautiful coastal town with mountains on all sides and glaciers abounding, when you can see it. We woke up to fog and clouds effectivly killing our plans to hike up to the icefields (no trail and what would we see anyways). So we got a slow start and took morning walk down at the harbor, and checked out the NPS office for Kenai Fjords NP. We asked them for suggestions of what to do in the rain, they found a few things to keep us buzy. Luckily the rain stopped so we headed off to Exit Glacier. The glacier is six miles out of town, and half a mile from the road. We took a nice ranger walk, and walked up to the glacier and marveled at the ice and its shapes. On our way out we ran into two travelers from Europe who had been out for 10 months traveling the world, and the last six weeks of their trip was Alaska. They were desperate for a ride back to town after their hike around the glacier and we were able to move enough stuff to accomidate them. We think we are on a long trip?
Back in town we check out the hardhat tour of the new Alaska Sealife center opening next may. This is a fundraiser and we got a behind the scenes look at the place. The sealife center is being built for research, and education at a cost of 50 million. The dollars came largely from money from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Our tour guide was a newly retired high school principel from the area. There are 700 students in the 7-12 grade.
As the Laundromat in town is $3.00 load we finnaly decide to buy more underwear. A simple issue of economics. The campground we found is a gravel lot with electrical outlets. We spend three days tracking wet black sand into trailer. No rest rooms at all at the facility. It is quite the other extreme of the palace in Palmer the night before.
Since this is a fishing town Ellie decided to check out the local food. She got fresh salmon for dinner, and smoked salmon to try. The smoked stuff was a great hit with both of us, and we got some more the next day. Yes, Peter ate it too. We have also had time to check out the new cookbook we got from the Gustavus in near glacier bay, there fish recipes are useful since Ellie keeps enjoying the fresh fish around here.
Tuesday, August 26, 1997 - cloudy low 60's - Pouring rain last night (amazing how it rains at night)
We got a late start due to weather with clouds and early morning rain, but the rain stopped and we headed off on a boat trip to Kenai Fjords NP. We share a table on the boat with a family of five from Chicago who where on a one week trip. These folks were not the typical travelers we have been running into. A number of factors make this seem unusual. We find out they had booked a trip to Disney World and were bumped. They were smart and used the air credit to see Alaska.
The ranger on board collects all of the kids ( about 8 of 100) for the Junior Ranger Program, and sends them off to work. Next we spot to sea otters, Not. They were floating logs which our ranger and captain carefully described as otters, as they explained why the logs were sitting that way. Next we saw three otters hanging out. They lay on their backs with their flippers and paws and head out of the water. Periodically they roll over, doing a 360, to their stomachs and back to their back. Fun critters. We saw several birds and a bunch of islands, and then it started to rain again for a period, so even Ellie came inside for a few. Our all you can eat lunch came next (better than the cardboard on our last trip). We arrived a Holgate glacier and pearched there to watch a huge piece of it fall into the sea after much cracking and small pieces falling in. these sights continue to be amazing.
We also saw a number of Eagles perched and flying. You find the Eagles by looking for golf balls in the trees (white heads), but we saw a young one, and a mature one from 50 feet. Several took off for us and put on a nice show. Later in the day we ran into some Orca whales, again. They didn't hang around for long the first time, but later we found them again, playing. When whales play they often throw themselves out of the water, termed breeching. It aparantly takes only two flicks of their tails and out the come, but it is amaging to watch as two whales do this repeatedly. They then came over to, and under our boat just for fun. Next we saw several humpback whales one of whom came up next to the boat to check us out. We could see the barnicles on his back. Huge.
While touring the glacier we also saw a mountain goat. He was eating on a steep mountain side next to the glacier. Mountain goats get to the oddest places, just imagining the climb to get where he was, let alone hanging there to eat, is difficult. Though the weather was not as smaszing as it was for our last boat cruise, the sights were great and the animals fabulous.
We also passed a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Of note in Alaska, there a multiple wilderness cabins throughout the state. They are for public use, and have a wood stove and cots. Due to animals (bears), and the drastic weather, these make backcountry travel easier and much safer. Anybody can reserve one for a nominal fee. We hope to take advantage of this before we leave.
Along similar lines, we are having an amazing time (we've run out of new words to describe what we see), so we are trying to rearrange schedule to stay here longer. This probably means we won't be going to Ashland or Crater lake this trip so we can get four more days in Alaska.
As Peter had found out that the captain of the boat is also a ski instructor, he figured that the captain may be willing to spend a few moments to teach him about how to use GPS as a navigation tool. The lesson was great until Peter decided to find a more stable area of the boat. Open water is not Peter's favorite.
Wednesday, August 27, 1997, Partly cloudy, sunny & light rain, Upper 60's
Something that we have not mentioned much thus far is the permafrost and what it does to plant life. There are many areas which are called "Drunken forest". These are areas where the trees have been growing at all sorts of unusual angles as the ground heaves and thaws.
Again we experience an RV caravan coming towards us. These always leave us with an unusual feeling as we wonder if we have gotten somewhere late, or if it's time to be heading south. As the Labor day weekend approaches, we wonder what that will mean to our trip. If nothing else we are convinced that we will run into very few northbound travelers at the rest stops. The next sight is a mower on the side of the road. It is surrounded by a cloud of dust, grass, and smoke. We name it the Pig Pen mower. Actually, as we drive nearer he is mowing down fireweed in full bloom, which releases a white cotton like stuff, but it sure did look like pig-pen from Peanuts.
Before we leave Kenai, we find a Kmart and are able to find a Door mat for the trailer (to reduce the gravel in our home, and a package of Hanes laundry extender for Ellie, Peter bought his two days earlier. We are also surprised by the quantity of churches in Kenai. Perhaps this is designed to get us ready for Salt Lake. As we tank up we spend some time with the Golden Retriever at the gas station. One of those times when we both know we should be moving but like to get a few moments break.
On our way back north through the construction site, we are held up for 20 minutes at a section of one lane road. The flag person comes up to talk to us. Before we have gone we know that she had lived in Boulder for several months and details about her grandchildren, and who knows what else.
We also stopped at Portage Glacier, the visitor station here is one of the most modern and beautiful we have ever seen.
Thursday, August 29, 1997 Sunny, Clear Warming to 70
We unhook the trailer and head south to Girdwood to take a hike up Crow Pass. The road to the trailhead is described as rough, but passable in the summer. This is a fair description. Luckily we had no oncoming traffic going in or out, but were glad that we did not have the trailer with us. It was a wonderful hike with a few shallow water crossings, and views from above a glacier at the top of the pass.
On our way back down we stop to talk to a hiker who says he has been waiting for a group of scouts that he is leading. We watch for 30 minutes and find the rest of the group that is off on another trial. We decide that this guy has a much different style for "leading" hikes than do either of us. After one more member of the group shows up, the two take off again. Within 10 minutes we could see that they are again separated by at least a quarter of a mile.
After the hike, we continue up the road to visit the Alyeska Ski Resort. Not much of a resort although there is a Westin hotel that looks nice as we drive by. We talk to the sales clerk at the gift shop who tells us that it is a mostly Anchorage crowd with a few folks coming up from Seattle. It also sounds like a more moist coastal type snow. Peter decides that with the 14 hour travel time from NY, it would not be a great destination for the National Jewish Singles Ski week. Perhaps Ed Thomas would want to book a trip here.
We have a "discussion" over whether we stayed at the best location the night before. What is becoming clear is that when two people spend 99.9% of the time for a four week period, within 20 feet of each other, it requires unusual efforts to keep communications clear. One thought is that we need at least a few moments per day in different places. At least we both acknowledge the stress of the situation and are aware of it.
We then went back to pick up the trailer and headed 24 miles north to Anchorage. As we pull into town we look through the guide books we are carrying, and attempt to select a good campground/RV Park. We choose based on proximity to some things we need to get done in the morning like an oil change and grocery shopping. We also find a self service car wash and rinse the top layer of crud off of the truck & trailer. Ellie wonders why we are doing this when we are not out of the mud yet. It is determined that it is a "guy thing".
While looking over the trailer, Peter finds that when the springs were replaced, the mechanic put the U bolt over the wire for the brake and that the wire has now been cut through causing brake failure on the trailer. Yes, we have brought along enough band aids to fix this one. We get ready to do our standard BBQ surf & turf for dinner, while Ellie does the laundry. We felt better as the machines are only $1.50 per load. Peter then looks at the calendar to determine where was the last place we stayed that had showers. Guess what is next on the agenda.
Friday, August 29, 1997 - Clear mid 60's
In Linc's journal of their trip a few years ago, he spoke of pulling into a neighborhood in Anchorage and calling a friend. The friend immediately told them to get out of the area. Well, we are convinced that we found that same area near the small airport. We listened to sirens a portion of the night, and watched assorted happenings in the area. If we were going to stay in town a second night, it would be at the other campground in town. A salesman Peter spoke to later confirmed that we were on the edge of where we should not be. We thought about getting the bear spray out of the truck to keep with us for the evening. (Linc, we are told that Mt View is actually better than it was 2-3 years ago.) Ellie found the Post Office to pick up the mail.
As this will be our last major town before the warranty on the truck expires, Peter decides to find the local chevy dealer and at least have them do an oil change and quick check over of the truck. Of course this ends up taking much more time than it should. Never mind that sign that says quick lube in 29 minutes, After 90 minutes I take out the notebook and begin typing in the waiting room as Ellie has walked to Safeway to stock up on food at a larger supermarket. Two hours and counting. When the nearest other dealership is over 1,000 miles away, customer service is not quite as important. We are on the road by 1:00 pm, scenic stops, lunch, etc.
On the way to Valdez we went through some more construction with about a 30 minute delay. We then engaged the four wheel drive so we could get up the hills in the muck. So much for the wash the day before. When we arrive at 9:00 pm it is actually beginning to get dark out By the end of the trip we may even need to use a flashlight or lantern.
Although it may sound strange, this campground again is a gravel lot with hookups, but for some reason it has a much better feel. We decide that it may have something to do with have live employees, or lots more people staying there. Perhaps it may be that the owner has told Peter he can use a phone line to connect to Email.
As we are sitting here typing and Ellie is pouring her cup of coffee, we look around and are surprised what a mess our home on wheels is. Groceries on the floor, dishes everywhere, the bed is not made, dirty laundry, computer on table. As everything must be picked up before we move, we have perfected the art of making a large mess in a short period of time. Luckily it's only 125 square feet to clean up.