Day 43, Mon, Jul 16, 2007 Wasilla to Anchorage, AK

Time to go back to Anchorage. We need to do more laundry and campground laundry fees were $2 per wash and $2 per dry; laundrymat fees in Wasilla itself were worse. On the Military Base they were $1 to wash and $1 to dry. So we left Wasilla and drove to Anchorage.

We went to Fort Richardson, the Army base in Anchorage and found a campsite. Even better, they have 5 washers and dryers and they are FREE! We got the only campsite they had and it had no hookups, so they strung an extension cord from the neighboring site so we could at least have some electricity. Good thing too, because it was quite warm, especially for Blackie and Little Bear in the motorhome, so we had to run the air conditioner during the afternoon. That was about as much electricity as we had without overloading the extension cord, but this evening is much nicer and we’re getting along with only the fantastic fan pulling some air through the open windows and keeping comfortable.

We had a hankering for Chinese food this evening, so we went into town and found a place that also had a Mongolian BBQ. The BBQ was good, but the Chinese food was only so-so. Oh well, we gave it a try.

We are on the waiting list at this campground for full hookups, so hopefully tomorrow we’ll have plenty of electricity and also water hookups so we don’t have to listen to this noisy on board water pump every time we use any water. We are hoping to stay here in Anchorage through the weekend.

We didn’t catch the low temp for the day, but this afternoon it got up to 72 degrees and was mostly sunny. A really nice day, but quite warm after all the cool weather we’ve been experiencing.

We gassed up on base for $2.969 today. Gas prices are about the same all over town. It was $2.999 most everywhere in Wasilla.

Barbara’s highlight of the day was when she went to the bath house to shower. There she saw a sign saying “Danger – Bears”. She was almost afraid to walk the short distance back to the camper after that what with the way they made it sound!

Day 42, Sun, Jul 15, 2007, Wasilla, AK

Today we took a down day. The highlight of today was that Mike and Mary Dillingham came by the campsite and took us out for brunch. They were gracious enough to pick us up so we didn’t have to unhook the motorhome. It was great to see them again. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing paperwork. Unfortunately, bills have to be paid even on vacation!

Pictures: Click here

Day 41, Sat, Jul 14, 2007 Anchorage to Wasilla, AK

We decided to surprise our friend G.B. Jones in Knik and join him at his picnic that we’d told him we wouldn’t be able to attend. As it turned out, we were an hour and a half late (normally no problem as they last all afternoon) but he was getting ready to leave for a friend’s funeral.

We found a campground in Wasilla and spent the afternoon cleaning house and doing laundry, some much needed chores. Also tried to upload pictures, but can’t get a fast enough internet connection and keep timing out. We also found out the hard way that we’re being charged roaming fees on our air data card. We got our monthly email notice for our Verizon air data card bill and instead of the normal $60, it was $297.00! Ouch! We were not aware they charged extra for roaming data, so every time we get on the internet it costs us big time since we are constantly roaming up here. That may have been only for the Canadian part, but we have to contact them and find out for sure. So our picture uploading will have to slow down until we can confirm they are not charging us extra.

Day 40, Fri Jul 13, 2007, Homer to Anchorage, AK

We’ve decided we want our cake and eat it too. We want all the tourists to go home, we want the nice campgrounds, but bigger sites at half the cost, and yes, we acknowledge that we are tourists, too! Since we’ve been here several times before though, we don’t feel like tourists, and we get just as annoyed with the other campers as Alaskans do. We’re Alaskans in our hearts. Also, we realize the tourist industry is important to Alaska and we’re doing our part to increase Alaska’s economy!

We arrived in Anchorage around 7:00 PM and went to Elmendorf Air Force Base and found the FamCamp and found one of only three sites left. We finally settled in around 8:15 PM.

Today we have sunshine with occasional periods of clouds and rain and a high of 58 (in Anchorage), low of 51 (in Homer).
Drove 272 miles.
Sunrise in Anchorage: 4:46 AM
Sunset in Anchorage: 11:22 PM
Gas prices in Anchorage: $2.969
Gas prices in Homer: $3.139

Pictures: Click here

Day 39, Thu Jul 12, 2007 arrive Whittier, AK, drive to Homer, AK with a stop at Hope, AK

What an interesting day! We stayed in Whittier an hour, making an attempt to see Iditarod musher Perry Solmonson. But he was out on a kayaking trip so we just left a message. From there we thought we were driving to Homer, but Barbara the Navigator, screwed up and directed Jerry to Hope. It turned out to be a beautiful drive along the Cook Inlet. However, we decided to turn around and head back to Homer, getting us there around 6:00 p.m.. The place was full of RV’ers and the little town was ready for them. We found a small campsite with no picnic table, but full hook-ups for $39 that crammed us in beside monster Class A’s. Normally Barbara would enjoy one or two tourist shops, but this was like the day after Thanksgiving! We did enjoy another halibut fish and chips dinner and went back to the campsite for a good night’s sleep.

Drove 257 miles.
Temp 49 at Whittier, 52 at Homer, occasional light rain.

Pictures: Click here

Day 38, Wed, Jul 11, 2007, on board M/V Kennicott with a stop at Yakutat, AK

Today we had a stop at Yakutat, Alaska at 8:00 AM. We were there for two hours. We took Blackie ashore to find some grass which of course he thoroughly loved. We got underway at 10:30 and spent the rest of the day in open ocean rocking and rolling. We also did a lot of rocking and rolling last night as we were mostly around 12 to 15 miles offshore. Today we are mostly about 30 miles offshore.

We watched a movie, “Happy Feet” on board this afternoon.

The pets seem to have gotten their “sea legs” and don’t seem to be bothered by all the rocking and rolling we’re doing out here. We’re real proud of them.

Jerry was lucky enough today to get a short glance of a whale about ½ mile from us. Barbara was talking to the Purser at the time and missed it. We’re told we will see many whales early tomorrow morning in the Prince William Sound, so we’re going to bed early and plan to get up around 4:00 AM to whale watch and prepare for a 7:30 AM docking at Whittier.

Pictures: Click here and Click here

Day 37, Tues, Jul 10, 2007, Juneau, AK

Today started off as a real bummer. Jerry had put the awning up last night to give us some area without rain. He’d done it correctly, with a slant for rain to drain off on one corner. Well, about 7:00 this morning he heard a loud noise—the awning was bent, torn and broken. We tried to roll it up but it wouldn’t fit into its bracket. A nice gentleman came along and helped us, but he couldn’t force it into the bracket either. We finally decided the best solution was to cut the awning off and take it to the city dump. The dump’s procedure was to weigh the motorhome first, then unload the awning, and weigh the motorhome again. Then we were to pay by the pound. They had a minimum weight. We were at such a low weight that Shannon, the lady who worked there, voided our ticket. Up until this time we were ready to take the first ferry home, (except there weren’t any!) and Shannon’s act of kindness made Barbara break down into tears (and then Shannon did too). All was well again and we made a quick trip to Mendenhall Glacier before boarding the ferry M/V Kennicott for Whittier at 5:00 PM.

Pictures: Cick here