Well, we woke up this morning and it wasn’t raining! But within 10 miles after getting underway, we were back in the rain again and it rained on us all day long. What a bummer.We stopped at the Alaska Veteran’s Memorial near the campground we stayed at. It was really neat.We then headed on up the Parks Highway and made a stop at the Denali National Park Visitor’s Center, but due to the rain we didn’t stay very long. We did stop at a souvenir shop or two near there and then headed north again. We stopped in the little town of Nenana and looked around there a little. That was neat.We kept driving and finally stopped at another small place called Ester and ate at the Ester Goldcamp Restaurant. From there we drove on into Fairbanks and found a campground on the Chena River and got a spot for two nights since we need to do some laundry and regrouping. We arrived at the campground around 7:30 PM and called it a day.The temps were ranging from 48 to 51 degrees today. Besides the rain we had a lot of fog the last several miles prior to entering Fairbanks. It was not a fun driving day. It should have been a beautiful drive, but the rain ruined it for us. We still haven’t seen Mt. McKinley (also known as Denali). We know it is there as we saw it during our trip here in 1993 and we also have seen it at each of the four Iditarods we’ve been to in March.
Pictures: Click here
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Day 63, Sun, Aug 5, 2007, Willow, AK to Byers Lake, AK
More rain! But we got to visit with our friend Donna Quante, see her new house and pet her dogs. We didn’t get as much time with her as we’d have liked—work always has to come first, and she had her job to get to. We’ve known Donna from her days in Pennsylvania, so it was really great to see her.
We traveled north on the Parks Highway and took the Talkeetna Spur highway (a really nice highway) and drove the 15 miles into Talkeetna. The road dead ends there. We looked at some of the shops, had lunch and then headed back out to the Parks Highway. Of course it rained on us the entire time. Took all the fun out of it.
We finally found the Byers Lake Campground (at the start of the Denali National Park) around 6:30 PM and found a nice spot to spend the night.
The temps hung around 54 degrees today and light rain 99% of the time.
Pictures: Click here
We traveled north on the Parks Highway and took the Talkeetna Spur highway (a really nice highway) and drove the 15 miles into Talkeetna. The road dead ends there. We looked at some of the shops, had lunch and then headed back out to the Parks Highway. Of course it rained on us the entire time. Took all the fun out of it.
We finally found the Byers Lake Campground (at the start of the Denali National Park) around 6:30 PM and found a nice spot to spend the night.
The temps hung around 54 degrees today and light rain 99% of the time.
Pictures: Click here
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Day 62, Sat, Aug 4, 2007, Palmer, AK to Willow, AK
We woke up to rain this morning. After checking out of the campground, we went to the Dorothy Page Museum in Wasilla and enjoyed going through that. Then we headed north up the George Parks Highway and stopped at the Transportation Museum. Wow, what a museum. They have trains, planes, cars, trucks, tractors, heavy equipment, snow moving equipment, old machinery, boats, old boat motors and all sorts of stuff. We could have spent a couple of days there. Then we headed on north to Willow, AK, having to put up with rain all day. Checked out a few RV sites and visited with friend Donna Quante at work briefly before settling on Willow Creek RV Resort, on Willow Creek. There are lots of fishermen here, and if it wasn’t raining, we’d enjoy watching them a bit.
Pictures: Click here
Pictures: Click here
Day 61, Fri, Aug 3, 2007, Palmer, AK
We spent some time in the afternoon at the Friday Flings in Palmer, and then went to the home of Mary and Mike Dillingham. Mary grilled some outstanding steaks for us. After dinner we fed treats to Rivers, their blind sled dog, and the other dogs. With treats, Rivers was soon Barbara’s temporary best friend, and it was such a good feeling for her.
Pictures: Click here
Pictures: Click here
Friday, August 3, 2007
Day 60, Thu, Aug 2, 2007, Anchorage, AK to Palmer, AK
Wow, hard to believe we left home two months ago! If we stick to our somewhat loose schedule, we are about one half way through the trip.
We left Anchorage today and drove to Palmer, AK, about an hour’s drive north. We found a campsite at The Homestead RV Park near Palmer. Then we went to the Reindeer Farm, where we got to hand feed reindeer, a black-tailed deer, who wouldn’t even get up for us, but ate out of our hands, and an elk whom we were told would eat grass out of our hands all day long. The funny thing is, while I was bent over picking grass, the elk tried to eat my sleeve!
After the Reindeer Farm we went to the Musk Ox Farm. We didn’t get to hand feed them, but the tour guide fed them fireweed, a wildflower that’s blooming all over. We learned a lot about the history of musk ox and their personalities—they even have balls that they play with!
This evening we went to the pavilion at our campground where they had square dancing. We thoroughly enjoyed that and it really brought back some good memories from when we were heavily into square dancing 25-30 years ago.
High 63, low 54, very cloudy and some rain showers.
Pictures: Click here
We left Anchorage today and drove to Palmer, AK, about an hour’s drive north. We found a campsite at The Homestead RV Park near Palmer. Then we went to the Reindeer Farm, where we got to hand feed reindeer, a black-tailed deer, who wouldn’t even get up for us, but ate out of our hands, and an elk whom we were told would eat grass out of our hands all day long. The funny thing is, while I was bent over picking grass, the elk tried to eat my sleeve!
After the Reindeer Farm we went to the Musk Ox Farm. We didn’t get to hand feed them, but the tour guide fed them fireweed, a wildflower that’s blooming all over. We learned a lot about the history of musk ox and their personalities—they even have balls that they play with!
This evening we went to the pavilion at our campground where they had square dancing. We thoroughly enjoyed that and it really brought back some good memories from when we were heavily into square dancing 25-30 years ago.
High 63, low 54, very cloudy and some rain showers.
Pictures: Click here
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Day 59, Wed, Aug 1, 2007, Anchorage. AK
Well, we love our little motorhome, but it doesn’t store much so we have to make lots of trips to the store, giving us less time for sightseeing. And if we were gone from home for 2 or 3 weeks we could put off paying bills and doing laundry, but a 4 month trip means we have those chores just as we would at home. Sometimes it seems we’ve spent a lot of time in the Anchorage area doing nothing, but like it or not, it’s time to move on.
We had a delicious Hawaiian dinner tonight with our friend Rosemary then drove to Otter Lake here on Fort Richardson. It’s a recreational area with cute log cabins and a stunning view of the mountains—and a brutal gravel road to get there. But on the way back a black bear crossed the road in front of us! We finally saw one!
High 68, low 54.
Pictures: Click here
We had a delicious Hawaiian dinner tonight with our friend Rosemary then drove to Otter Lake here on Fort Richardson. It’s a recreational area with cute log cabins and a stunning view of the mountains—and a brutal gravel road to get there. But on the way back a black bear crossed the road in front of us! We finally saw one!
High 68, low 54.
Pictures: Click here
Day 58, Tue, Jul 31, 2007, Anchorage, AK
We drove south today to Girdwood, home of Alyeska Ski Resort, and a tiny town. The post office is probably the largest building, and looks new. That’s about as exciting as Girdwood gets, unless we missed something. Oh, there is the little strip shopping center on the main road with a store called the Tourist Trap. At least it’s accurate! And, yes, I bought a few things.
Then we headed to Portage to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, a non-profit organization that takes in injured and orphaned animals and provides them homes like they’d have in the wild. And visitors get to see them up close. I (Barbara) even petted a moose’s nose and it’s velvet antlers. We also watched a black bear cub in a tree top trying to take a nap and he couldn’t seem to get comfortable; he kept changing positions. We could have told him he’d have been a lot more comfortable on the ground! His mom was enjoying some salmon. Hopefully we’ll have pictures up soon.
High today 64,low 55.
Pictures: Click here
Then we headed to Portage to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, a non-profit organization that takes in injured and orphaned animals and provides them homes like they’d have in the wild. And visitors get to see them up close. I (Barbara) even petted a moose’s nose and it’s velvet antlers. We also watched a black bear cub in a tree top trying to take a nap and he couldn’t seem to get comfortable; he kept changing positions. We could have told him he’d have been a lot more comfortable on the ground! His mom was enjoying some salmon. Hopefully we’ll have pictures up soon.
High today 64,low 55.
Pictures: Click here
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