Day 24 – We finished going across Glen highway and then started up to Chicken. Oh my, what a road! We’ve decided that this whole trip is in the eye of the beholder. We read/heard that the road from Tok to Chicken is the best part of the road because it is paved but then we talk to people that have done it and they disagree. We’ve read/heard that the “top of the highway” road is crazy from Chicken to Dawson City but then we talk to others and they say it is not bad at all. Well this is from our “eye”…the road from Tok to Chicken is not good at all. We made it, not a big deal but the frost heaves surprise you. It’s the little ones that get you. This was actually the GOOD part of the road to chicken because it was not paved. We've decided we would prefer to have the dirt roads. This is downtown Chicken! A saloon, a café and a small store (no food). That’s it! Don’t blink! They don't have city water, sewer, electricity or cell service...but you can use two hours of their internet (very slow, but they have it). Priorities, right? We had to go to the Saloon because we heard it was so unique. I told Gil it looks like we have drank across Alaska and we really haven’t. We have to visit these hole in the wall places and a lot of them happen to be saloons. This one has tattered up bras and underwear, along with hats. I asked why the underwear and bras were all frayed. They have a cannon that they shot them out of. I’m really glad because I was worried why so many people were wearing holey underwear. So Chicken got it’s name supposedly early miners wanted to name the camp ptarmigan, but were unable to spell it and settled for chicken, the common name in the North for ptarmigan. We got a kick out of that. I do that often…if I can’t figure out how to spell a word…pick a different one. You can pan for gold here if you want. We decided we weren't patient enough to do it. We talked to several people that come up here from the states that spend several weeks here a summer. We had a visitor in the downtown Chicken. He posed with the statue which was awfully kind of him. We’re in Chicken, Alaska and we are in shorts. It’s actually hot here today. I’m glad I brought a pair of shorts. I really didn’t think I would be wearing any shorts.
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Day 23 - Today was a driving day. We are headed from the Kenai Peninsula and heading towards Dawson City. We stopped in Anchorage to have coffee at Starbucks with our friends, John and Toni (met them at the campsite at Bird Creek) and we had to pass on the tradition of folding the dollar bill from our Florida friends, Tim and Terri. We had a minor issue with our battery..something touched something that it shouldn't have (how do you like that terminology) so it required a new battery. Gil said it could have been much worse...I'll take his word for it. I'm just glad he knows what he is doing. So while he installed the new batteries, I got our "on the road" lunch so we could get going and not have to stop for lunch. This is one of our usual and favorites. Pimento cheese on sourdough bread with cucumbers and purple onion. Also cheese and crackers...easy and tasty! Today's trip was mostly scenery and we are okay with that! Wow! The Glen highway is just beautiful. We're settled in for the night, cooking dinner, playing some cards and then we'll head to Chicken tomorrow. It says that the town of Chicken does not have city water, sewer or electric service. It also says no cell service...so I'm pretty certain that means no internet service either :-) So we will be off the grid tomorrow but should be up to Dawson City the next night so I'll catch up then. I thought I'd add this last picture...here is Gil doing all his computations. If you're curious how far we gone, how much it cost per gallon/liter, cost of campsites etc, he's got it! He should have been an accountant.
Day 22 - Three weeks down and we are beginning our fourth week! We knew it was supposed to be rainy today so we decided to do a boat tour. We knew it was enclosed and we hoped the rain wouldn't make it too bad. It was a bit foggy but we still saw some spectacular animals. Here is the boat we were on and a view of Seward from the boat. Right as we went out we saw this humpback whale. Luckily I remembered from our Alaskan cruise that you are supposed to watch the birds. They'll circle above the whale to get the "leftovers" so I kept my camera on the birds and presto! We also saw an eagle, some sea otters and these sea lions just chillin'. It was quite foggy so we didn't see as much scenery as we would have hoped but what we did see was great! I can imagine how much more beautiful it would be on a clear day. The boat ride came with a great lunch of prime rib and salmon. It was served on Fox Island. There was a family kayaking in the rain. Don't let the rain stop you in Alaska... And then the finale! We were almost back to shore and another humpback whale finished the ride for us! Just like Mt. Denali...I got a picture of the mouth of a humpback whale and the tail of a humpback whale. Maybe I can photoshop it and get the full thing haha. We ended the night at the Alaska SeaLife Center. This is a place that rehabilitates and breeds rare animals. It's cool to see them in captivity because we are helping them, not just for our entertainment. We got to pet the sea creatures as well. So weird but very cool. We found some new friends..but I don't think they'll be following us on our blog. Don't you just love the sea otter playing with the ball. I told Gil I want to be a sea otter. They don't mess with anyone, they just enjoy life! So they had a scale to see how you would weigh in regards to the sea animals. We got on because we were curious on how much we have gained on vacation haha. I love that we started at -2, that helps! Gil took a picture of my weight...the butt! So I had to take another picture WITHOUT my weight. I think we spent more time at this computer screen taking pictures than we did in the sealife center (not really but we did have so much fun). You take your picture and then you email them to yourself. We did about 10 pictures haha On to Glenallen tomorrow about a 5 hour drive.
Day 21 - We left Homer today and it was completely overcast and rainy. We came..and left at the perfect time. We got some great picture the day we showed up in Homer. On the way to Seward, we caught a glimpse of this moose. It was actually up to his neck in water at one point. You can't see the water because of the grass (and there were TONS of lily pads) We pulled into Seward and got settled and then stopped by the visitors center. We got a few pamphlets and then headed to "Exit Glacier" for a hike. The hike has two ways to get there. One trail was closed because a bear killed a moose calf on it (we'll that made me excited to go on this hike, not!) We kept taking pictures and the closer we got...the more pictures we took. It was spectacular! They have markers everywhere showing you where the glaciers were each year. It was amazing to see the difference each year. We kept hiking and getting closer.....and closer.....and closer.... Then Rick, at the Salty Dawg, told us to go on the rock and go right up to the Glacier. Even though it had this sign. He said it was fine and you aren't breaking the law, they'd just PREFER you not go back there haha. Gil, being the "rule breaker" said he was going and he talked me into it...sometimes I wonder about myself. It actually wasn't bad and it was extremely cool being that close to it. We are close...but not as close as it looks mom :-) Dinner tonight...Fresh Alaskan Halibut from our fishing trip yesterday! Best halibut we've had since we've been here and we cooked it in our RV :-) After dinner we headed to the harbor. The weather is not supposed to be as good tomorrow so we thought we'd better enjoy as many things outdoors as possible today. The girls were really needing a good walk too (9 miles for us today though). The cruise ships were in and hundreds of boats. There has always been something about a harbor that I love. We walked the waterfront trail and saw our FIRST otter! The waterfront trail was also the original Iditarod trail. I'm glad Gil reads everything and gives me the "reader's digest" version. I had to take a few pictures of my favorite human/animals..... I'm sure I drive Gil crazy at times...oh, let's go down this road...and this road. Downtown Seward is super cute. They've kept the buildings looking old fashion, different colors, mercantile stores etc. Very sweet town! Then down one of the residential areas we saw this church up against the mountain...now that was a view while sitting in church! We will be in Seward another day tomorrow!
Day 20 - We woke up bright and early in Homer with this view waiting for us with a hot cup of coffee.... We got on the Firefox boat and started out to go fishing. It didn't start out bad but as we got further out, it got rougher and rougher. Gil was up front fishing and I was "trying" to fish in the back. I couldn't even reel in the 3 pound weight WITHOUT a fish. I had no idea what I was doing. So I just faked it until Gil caught his and then I went up front and he "helped" me which meant I put my finger on the pole and he did everything else haha. We heard that having bananas on board was bad luck. There was a Chinese guy that had a banana but he caught the biggest fish and he didn't get seasick so I'm not sure I'm buying it. We had a lot of people named "Ralph" on the boat. Luckily I took medicine just to be safe and was I happy I did! There was this cute little 10 year old boy and he threw up the ENTIRE time...all the way out and all the way back. Not a tear shed. I couldn't believe it. He kept saying to his grandpa "Grandpa, please fish, I feel bad you aren't fishing". His grandpa was more concerned about him obviously. This kid needs a medal! The sea was so rough I was thrown across the bow once (that will leave a bruise) and Gil almost fell. I had him by the back of the shirt trying to hang on to the boat and him. It was quite the adventure. Once we got back we had the fish processed so we are set for the trip back! Leave it to me (really Gil) to catch a fish that no one recognizes and doesn't know what it is. They took a picture and sent it back to the harbor. They said it looked like a halibut but had a weird mouth. They said they wouldn't keep it haha...so we threw it back. When we got off the boat, I was sooo cold. I took every bit of hot water we had in the motor home to try and warm up. Gil wasn't that cold but I have no idea why. I think when I finally thawed and it made me even colder. We drove around Homer a bit to look around and stop at the grocery store. Our friends from Florida texted and said they would be pulling into Homer that night. This will be the last time we will probably run into them because of the routes we are taking. I HATE goodbyes! We promised it would not be goodbye. We have had such a good time hanging out with them. We will definitely try and meet in Florida..or Utah...or wherever. We decided to leave one of Tim's "collared" dollar bills in the Salty Dawg with all our names on it. Erik shared his table with us...so, of course, Gil and Tim made another friend! Meet Erik! We think Gil and Tim were separated at birth and are really brothers. Here they are pretty much standing on their heads trying to get the best shot of our, now famous, dollar bill on the Salty Dawg Saloon wall. Homer had definitely been a favorite. On to Seward tomorrow!
Day 19 - Some days I just look at Gil when we show up at a new place and watch him beam. This has been a dream of his to come to Alaska for sooo long and he is like a kid in a candy store. I'm having a blast but watching him is just as much fun. We headed out of Anchorage, down the Seward highway and took a short stop at Tern Lake. We headed into the Kenai Pennisula....new territory! Today as we pulled into Homer, his face lit up. He said this is his favorite place now...for now, that is! The picture below is not my picture but I wanted you to get an idea of where we are staying. We are staying on the Homer Spit (the land out in the water...never heard of that kind of "spit" before) Once again, we have a fantastic view from our motorhome...right on the water. I don't know how we do it honestly. This place is packed and there is no more space (we made reservations so that helped) but I have no idea how we got a waterfront spot. This is the view out our RV window (I zoomed in so you can't see the dashboard of RV but this is what we are looking at each day).... There is a viewpoint before you get into Homer where you can take pictures of the area and the "Homer" sign and I ran into a man that was taking pictures. He saw our motor home and mentioned we were missing a few states on our map on the side (North Dakota and some of the east coast). I told him we haven't had a reason to go to North Dakota yet and laughed. Then he said "There is more to see in North Dakota than Alaska. This is our last state to see and we have been so disappointed". I almost fell over...are you kidding me. That just proves that there are some people that are never happy. That conversation didn't last long...can you believe he even said that? The beauty in this state is incredible. We got settled in and we went to "downtown" Homer Spit. There's stores on each side of the spit. We had to go to the famous "Salty Dawg" and have a salty dawg. We met Rick there :-) Another new friend is following us now on the blog haha. Such a nice guy...we renamed him "Ralph" because he kept telling Gil his stories about working on a boat and having people throw up. Everyone knows how much Gil loves to talk about that. Once Rick figured it out, his stories would circle around to end with a throw up story. Maybe we will run in him tomorrow as well at the Salty Dawg! Fun times! I had to take a picture of this quote on the bathroom wall of the Salty Dawg (of all places). I think Gil and I are trying to live this out. "Life is a not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and preserved body but rather to skid broadside totally worn out and thoroughly used up and proclaiming...wow what a ride!" There has been a few nights on this trip that I have been "thoroughly used up" but in a good way! We walked around (and some of us used the swing) around the pier and had dinner at a little place on the "spit". It was the BEST clam chowder soup I've ever had and seafood cheese fondue. Definitely a do-over. Tomorrow we are going to see if Homer is the "Halibut Fishing Capital of the World". A morning of fishing...let's see if I can beat Gil again :-)
Day 18 - We have loved sooo many things on this trip but I think the thing we have most enjoyed is all the wonderful people we have met on the way. Gil started talking to John and before we knew it we were enjoying a glass of wine at their campsite. It felt like we knew them for years...I really wished they lived closer. What a nice couple from Anchorage. We exchanged information (and our blog...see John you are in our blog) so hopefully we can cross paths again! Cheers to you John and Toni! Oh, by the way, this picture was taken at 10:30 at night...I'm obsessed with the lighting situation here! We woke up bright and early and decided to explore Seward highway a little bit more (we had to wait for the sleepy heads to wake up so we could steal their spot for our Florida friends that night). This is Beluga Point...however we didn't see any beluga's. We chatted a bit from our Anchorage Friends, reserved their spot for one more night and headed to Anchorage to explore a bit more. We decided to try Momma's O for a "butt" sandwich..that is halibut. It was good but Gil and I've decided it is NOT the fish but we prefer Salmon so that is going to be next on our list. It was very good though! We decided to drive around Anchorage a bit and get a feel for the town...we wish would had a little more time to do the bus tour around town but we got a good feel for the city. We had a busy day. We then went to the Native American Heritage Museum. They had dancers, items for sale and the history of their culture. It was quite interesting. On our way back to camp, we stopped by the Potter Marsh Boardwalk. It's a great place to look for different birds (and they did have some fish in the marshes). Once again the dogs couldn't go with us, poor dogs! We met up with our friends from Florida and we went to watch the bore tide. It only happens on certain days and we just happened to be at the right place at the right time. It is where the outgoing tide collides with the incoming tide and creates a wave. The wave is a long wave (you can kind of see it in the picture below) and a lot of surfers will surf it. We didn't happen to see any where we were. We ended the night with a tram ride to the top of the Alyeska Resort and dinner for four. We FINALLY got some good salmon. What a view for dinner! On our way back to camp...this is what we saw! We had to turn around and get a picture of this beautiful scenery. We were going to go over to our friends campsite to make a campfire when Gil saw that their neighbor already had one (and he's never met them before)...so why not make our party of four now six AND you don't have to use your own wood. So we added another group to our list...Ruth and Ed. On to Homer tomorrow!
Day 17 - I think we have "vacation hangover" right now. We are running a little slow today. We want to see everything so we tend to go from early morning to night (not so late haha). However, today we slept in until 6:30 so we got a little later start. Our plan was to stay in Talkeetna but the RV place did not have a space big enough for us. The other RV park had an extension cord and a hose for hook-ups (according to the guy at the full RV place). We were a little skeptical but we went down there anyway. It was like a junk yard and somewhere in there we were supposed to camp. No one was in the office so we decided it was a sign to "move on". We've learned when things don't seem to be working, don't force it. It's not meant to be. So we decided to walk around town a bit and see this cute little town. It looks like what you would imagine a old Alaskan town would look like. It's funny, we were supposed to travel with two other couples on this trip. Things prevented that happening but we have our own "couple" we are unofficially traveling with. Teri and Tim (from Florida) seem to be right behind us most of the time. In fact, they were on the bus tour yesterday in Denali and we didn't even know it. So....we hooked up for lunch in Talkeetna! I got a lesson from Tim on how to fold my tip money so it looked like a collared shirt. The things we learn when we are on vacation....that is something I'll use in the future, for sure! Gil and I shared the Caribou chili and it was excellent and then we shared the halibut olympia (the special). We've been so excited to eat fish while we are out here and both times we have had it, we've been disappointed. It looks really pretty but it just didn't have a lot of flavor. Maybe we need to wait until we get to Homer and Seward. We said our temporary goodbye's to Teri and Tim because we are going to hook up with them again tomorrow night. We were all worried about getting a campsite on a Friday night so we will save them a spot tomorrow when they come down tomorrow (they had a spot short enough for their rig in Talkeetna so they are staying the night). This is my daily struggle with BOTH dogs...if I get up for a minute, they want my chair. In fact, this time, I decided to sit on Braska and she still refused to move. We made it to camp (Bird Creek Campground) and on the map it looks like we are RIGHT on the water...which we kind of are, but there is a ton of trees between us and the campsite. Still a nice place and it has a really nice walking path. The girls are glad they get to FINALLY go on walks with us, unlike Denali. We're going to take it easy tonight (read some more of my book "Fostering Dreams" from my former student DeJay Lester). We will be staying here again tomorrow night as well.
Day 16 - It's been a long but great day. The weather has been absolutely beautiful. Yesterday was cloudy and a little rainy. Today, you would have no idea you were in Alaska. Perfect! We knew we would be on a long bus ride this afternoon so we decided to get in a hike in the morning. It was a three mile hike to Horseshoe Lake. It was 3 miles and a perfect workout. Not as easy as the one yesterday to Savage River Trail but not as hard as Angel Rock. We hiked for about an hour and a half. We were the only ones out there until we headed back. The advantages to getting up early (and not showering BEFORE you go hiking). The only thing I don't like about this place is you can't take your dogs on the trails. So we go on long hikes and then we have to take the dogs walking. They get the short end of the stick. Just to get them out a little more, we took them with us in the car to the Denali gift shops in town. We bought a few souvenirs and a cup of coffee to end our morning hike. We came home and made a sack lunch and walked the dogs because we were going on the Tundra Wilderness Tour at 1:30 that would last 8 hours. The dogs go crazy with the squirrels in the area (remember how the sled dogs yelp because they want to run...well Bella does the same thing now with the squirrels) so we have to lock them up in the back so they don't annoy the neighbors. Our tour guide was so good! She was a great story teller and told you all the history, stories and facts about the animals. We had some GREAT people on our bus that could spot a "speck" on the mountain and see that it was a bear etc. I could hardly see the speck, let alone what animal it was. It was impressive. Mt. Denali is a HUGE mountain. The tour guide said that, on average, you're able to see Mt. Denali 7 days out of the month in the summer. At one point we saw the top (it looks like the clouds but you can see the point). And when we got to the end of our road, we could see the bottom. The tour guide said the picture below is LESS THAN 50% of it, can you believe that? Maybe I can photoshop the two pictures together and get the full mountain. We leave tomorrow and there is a "south viewpoint" and a "north viewpoint" so we are crossing our fingers to be one of those "7 days" this month. The scenery on the ride, was once again spectacular. It went on for miles and miles and miles (I bet you sang that last statement). We are headed to Anchorage tomorrow for two days but I read in a blog that the little town of Talkeetna was fun to visit. Then we heard from another traveler that they really enjoyed it too so we are going to stay one night in Talkeetna and one night in Anchorage now.
Day 15 - We headed to Denali. It was a cloudy drizzly day so it was a "pull your hair up" kind of day! (Gil, that is). First on my list was the dog sledding demonstration. I told Gil I was here to recruit my own dog sledding team. I already have two on my team (a little weak but they'll do) so I have 14 more to go! We went to the kennels before anyone had shown up from the bus so we had some time to walk around and bet the dogs. As you can tell...I was in heaven! There is a difference between sled dogs for racing and sled dogs for working. These dogs are used for hauling supplies so they aren't necessarily fast but they are very strong. We came back to watch the demonstration. When I first saw them carrying the dogs like this I felt bad for them but then the ranger explained that this is "Two Paw Drive". These dogs are so strong and so excited to pull that when they know they are going on the sled, the trainers have to hold them like this to control them. Otherwise, they'll carry the poor guys off. When they are pulling they are in "Four Paw Drive". You should have heard the howling when they started to get the dogs. ALL the dogs went nuts howling because they wanted to pull. It was so funny. They love what they do. We started a trend. Once we posed like this for the dog sled, everyone decided it would be a good idea. It was cute seeing everyone pose. Gil says that this picture depicts "The Story of His Life"...always pulling the load. Man, I love him! The weather let up for a bit so we decided to try and get in a quick hike. This was more like a stroll but it felt good to stretch our legs after our long "journey" yesterday to the Arctic Circle. This is Savage River Loop Trail. This picture is just because I wanted to take a picture of my handsome husband...and yes, I was watching no trains were coming :-) We'll be in Denali one more day!
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