Not too much of a bore...

We left Homer in good weather and headed back down the Seward Hwy. We stumbled onto a spot off the highway, under a bridge next to a fast flowing river. We watched 100's of salmon swimming upstream.

The next day, we went to Portage Glacier and Jill got close to Smoky.


Later we visited the Animal Rehabilitation Center and watched an eagle, moose, bears and other animals being brought back to health.

An overnight stop in Girdwood was uneventful. We had thought of riding the tram to the top of the ski lifts but decided against when we saw the price. We did not get to see the home of Sen. Ted Stevens in Girdwood so we could not comment on his illegal home improvements.

After we got back to Anchorage, we headed to Turnagain Arm on Cook Inlet to watch the bore tide. The bore tide occurs only a couple of times per year. The tide is supposed to be a 6' wall of water surging at 15 mph but today the wind was extremely heavy and it pushed the tide down so it was only about 1 ½ feet. However, once the initial surge was over, the tide rose about 5' in 1 hour. I have no idea why it is called a bore tide.

Homer Simpson

The next stop after Seward was Homer. We stayed on the beach again in Homer Spit on Cook's Inlet.

One of our day trips was to Kenai Peninsula, where we watched the Alaskan residents engage in subsistence netting (combat netting). The netters wear waders and stand in 30 degree water up to their chest and close enough to each other to touch. They hold a 5' diameter net on the end of a 15' – 20' pole and wait for the fish to swim into the net. There are so many salmon, it seems to work.

Each head of the household gets to keep 25 salmon and each other member of the house gets 10. In this instance, it pays to have a big family.

We saw one guy lying in the bed of his pickup with his feet in the air and his head on the ground. When we asked what he was doing, he said, "I got water in my waders and I am getting it out."

One night, we built a huge bonfire. Another day, we visited Homer Brewing and tasted some good amber.

We also got to see 3 volcanoes, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, about 30 miles away. Augustine volcano was active and you could see smoke around the brim.

It never rains in southern California... uh, Seward

This week we headed to Seward. It also started the famous Alaska rainy season. The natives aren't sure which they hate worse, the rain or the mosquitoes, because once either one gets started, they stay around for a while and are bothersome.

In Seward, we stayed on the front row of a city park on the beach on Resurrection Bay. One of the things we noticed at the entrance to the park was the tsunami warnings and evacuation routes.



They have not had a tsunami in 200 years but if an earthquake should occur nearby, a large wave is possible.

Looking out our front window, we saw sea otters playing and eagles landing on the beach to feed.



After we got settled, we took a 2.5 mile hike to Exit Glacier. The glacier is named because the early geologists found it to be an easy exit out of the Harding Glacier fields.

The Iditarod Chronicles

After leaving Dinali and heading south, we stopped at the Roadhouse in Talkeetna and had the best blueberry pie ever. The berries were huge and so juicy, the juice ran down your chin. The crust was just like mother used to make. You can order the pie and have it shipped.



Stayed at the Sheeps Creek boat landing. We took a hike in the woods down by the river and saw a huge pile of bear scat on the trail.



No more hiking that evening.

The next day we visited the Iditarod headquarters. The mushers want to socialize their dogs so they encourage people to interact with them. We held a couple of them.





A side trip to the Alaska Veterans Memorial Park was quite touching.



We also noticed that Alaskans are trigger happy and love to shoot up their road signs.



We arrived in Anchorage and stayed for a week. Among other places, we visited the Lake Hood float plane base. The base is on a long lake with a dog-leg and is right next to Anchorage International Airport. The float planes compete with 747's for the airspace. I have never seen so many private aircraft in one place and the number of float planes is unbelievable. I was so awed, I forget to take pictures. We also visited the Alaska Law Enforcement Museum and I left a business card. While we were shopping, Jill got to hold a 2 lb gold nugget, worth about $30,000. The store clerks watched her pretty closely.

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Dinali National Park

We arrived at Dinali National Park! After we checked out the visitor center, we found that we could drive our personal vehicle 15 miles into the park for free before we needed a permit. As we came to one of many viewing areas, we looked to the left and saw all 20,320' of Mt. McKinley, 60 miles away.



It took my breath away and it was very emotional. One of the people we talked to told us that he had been here 3 times before and this was the first time he had seen the mountain, so we were pretty lucky.



Next we picked up our special camping permit that allowed us to drive the coach 29 miles into the park, which is as far as the Park Service lets anyone drive. We stayed at Teklanika campground for 3 days. The tour bus came almost to our door and we took the trip to mile 85. The bus is only way you can get that far unless you hike. We saw lots of moose and grizzly bear.



Doll sheep were at 7000' and hard to see, even with field glasses. We saw Golden Eagles in flight as well as one sitting on a rock about 30' from the bus, as well as ptarmigan on the ground.



There were also lots of mosquitoes and anything you have heard about them is not true. They are bigger and there are more of them!




As you can see, the scenery was fabulous!

The Trek Continues...

After Tok, the next stop was North Pole, Alaska. The car and coach were dirtier than you can imagine so we stopped at Santa Land Campground and they had a wash rack. 3 hours later, the outside was fairly clean but the first time we turned on the fan in the car, dust blew all over the inside. Since we are retired, we took the time to clean it.



North Pole is only 12 miles from Fairbanks, Ak. Among other things, we saw the Alaska pipeline and musk oxen at the Large Animal Research Center.



Sunset was at 1227 and sunrise was at 324, or 21 hours 3 minutes of daylight. It made getting to sleep interesting. The temp was 49 at wake up and got as high as 62. Lots different than Fl.



Headed to Dinali National Park!

Welcome to Chicken?!?

The Taylor Hwy goes past Beautiful Downtown Chicken, population 13.

Chicken has 1 building which contains a gift shop, liquor store, saloon with thousands of hats and a tiny restaurant with blueberry pies that made the stop worthwhile.



It also has a 3 hole "Chicken Poop" and a 1 legged dog named Tucker. Even though tourists stop here, this is how the 13 people actually live. Much different than any city I have ever seen!



Finally stopped at the end of the road in Tok, Alaska, and couldn't wait to get to sleep after the exhausting drive.


We saw an unusual German tour group operation. The bus holds about 30 people and they ride in the front and sleep in the rear in bunks.


I think I like my set up better.

Stampeeders Final Destination

We left Skagway, heading to Dawson City. This was the final destination of all the stampeeders and their ton of gear. The sidewalks are still boards and the streets are not paved.

We stayed 2 days and took a National Park Service walking tour. We rode the ferry across the Klondike river, the only way to cross since the road dead ends in Dawson.


Once across the river, the road is called Top of the World Highway and was gravel for about 78 miles to the US border.



Once we had to stop for a moose in the middle of the road but the scenery was extravagant.



At the border, the road became the Taylor Highway. This road was rough, narrow and dusty. This part of the trip was a 1 time adventure. We are glad we did it but won't do it again.



More as soon as we get more wifi.