Soldotna, Thursday & Friday

The weather in Soldotna was no better, so we spent Thursday in the Fred Meyer parking lot. We use their parking lots like we use the WalMart "resorts." This Fred Meyer even has a dump station and fresh water for their RV guests. Friday we visited the Soldotna and Kenai Visitor Centers. The two towns are near each other and both have interesting visitor centers. The one in Soldotna is on the bank of the Kenai River. They have a walkway along the river, and we were able to watch both men women fishing for salmon. A few of them were successful while we were there. However, the most successful was a woman. At the Kenai visitor center we watched a documentary on Alaska. The picture is an infamous Kenai River snag. It contains about 2,500 lost lures. Someone was successful in removing it from the river. The picture was taken through glass, so there is some glare. We spent Friday night at Captian Cook State Park.

Alaska SeaLife Center, Seward

Our trip to the SeaLife Center was lots of fun. Carol, especially, fell in love with the Tufted Puffins when we were here in 2007. She purchased a souvenir stuffed Puffin, which has been riding on our dashboard. In the above picture the puffins have been trained to step on the scale to measure their weight, and they are rewarded with food. There were two sea lions. This was the larger one. He also would perform for food. The Center rehabilitates sea life, in addition to doing research. It had been rainy all day and the forecast was for more rain. We decided to drive to Soldotna.

Anchorage to Seward

We left Anchorage about noon to travel the 125 miles to Seward. A few miles south of Anchorage is the Alaska Wildlife Sanctuary. They rescue orphaned animals. Some they can release, like the four baby moose. They were single births and were all six to eight weeks old. We got to see them bottle fed. The bears cannot be released, due to their becoming habituated to humans and would not have enough fear of man. They would then be very dangerous. The three brown/grizzly bears were a lot of fun to watch. One was playing in the water with the leg bone of a moose. Often highway kill is taken to the refuge for the animals to eat.

Rainy day in Anchorage

Since it was raining today, we didn't move the motorhome the early part of the day but spent our time updating the blog. In the afternoon we drove to the Wild Berry Park and Theater. Soon after we arrived, we found an attendant "walking" this reindeer the way we would walk a dog on a leash. She said that her name was Hungry and certainly demonstrated her name as she ate the shrubbery. According to the girl, Hungry is real tame and a very special pet. The feature film we saw was "Alaska: The Land Beyond."













alaska,

Earthquake Park & Lake Hood

Two years ago we saw a large bull moose in Earthquake Park, so we went back moose hunting. We had about given up seeing one, when a man told Carol that there was one just down the road. We were elated to see a mother with a calf. While we were watching, the mother crossed the road; and shortly thereafter the calf followed her. Some of our pictures are better of each of them separately, but this is our best of both of them together. Earthquake Park is a memorial to the 1964 earthquake that devastated Anchorage. Some streets dropped as much as 15 feet.





The airport is nearby. One section, Lake Hood, is devoted to seaplanes. The above movie is actually a sequence of still pictures that John took as a seaplane took off. Lake Hood is the world's busiest seaplane base with as many as 800 takeoffs and landings per day during the summer. There are 781 seaplanes based here. Alaska has several times more private aircraft than any other state.

Thursday, Friday and Sabbath

Not much to report for these days. We did the laundry in Wasilla and then drove south to the O'Malley Seventh-day Adventist Church and office of the Alaska Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which are next to each other in Anchorage. The conference office has excellent WiFi, and they have allowed us to use it. This is helping us get caught up on our blog. We dry-camped in their parking lot for the last 3 nights and plan to stay until Tuesday. Sabbath we attended church and stayed for the fellowship dinner. Since it was raining in the afternoon, we just stayed put.

Travel from Fairbanks to Sarah's town, Wasilla

Before we reached Nenana, we saw an interesting sight on the hillside. These couches and stuffed animals were also there in 2007. We wonder what happens to them in the winter. Nenana had 2 forest fires burning nearby, so we saw many helicopters flying back and forth. Some had water buckets hanging from them. The smoke smell was very strong.

Fairbanks, El Dorado Gold Mine & Georgeson Botanical Garden

This morning we went to the El Dorado Gold Mine. The small train traveled through the original gold fields that once were part of Alaska's richest mining district on record. Vonda and Dexter Clark demonstrated how to pan. Then they, and two helpers, dipped their pans in the sluice trough. The picture shows the combined gold they panned. Each tourist was given a cloth poke filled with pay dirt. We went to an area where they had long troughs filled with water and were able to pan our own gold. We had it weighed, and the total value was $34.



Later in the day we went to The Georgeson Botanical Garden. The wind was a nuisance, and we had difficulty getting nice pictures. About the time we were ready to snap a picture, the wind would blow and destroy the picture.

Moose Video taken on Chena Hot Springs Road

We drove out to Chena Hot Springs, a resort about 60 miles from Fairbanks. We understood there could be wildlife to view along the scenic route. We did not see anything on the way out. It started to rain just before we got there, and the pavement stopped at the gate to the resort. The parking lot was very muddy, so we just turned around and headed back to Fairbanks. On the way, we spotted these two moose in a pond. What we saw was worth the trip. We had seen moose before but never when they were feeding under water. Can you imagine eating with your head under water!


Above is the home of Mary Shields, the first female to finish the Iditarod. She has participated in many races and also made a dog-sled trip across Siberia. During our visit, Mary told us a lot about the races she has participated in and answered our questions. Although generally there are more visitors there, it was special to be the only ones that evening. We also met her dogs and be able to mingle with them. Her home is a log cabin she and her former husband built. It is real neat. She served us raspberries that had grown on her roof.

Fairbanks

This morning we went to the Fairbanks visitor center to watch a video on the Brooks Mountain Range, in the far north of Alaska. It is between Fairbanks and the north-slope oil wells. We visited the Yukon Quest sled-dog race headquarters. The Yukon Quest is a two week dog-sled race in February. Mushers race over 1,000 miles through winter wilderness between Fairbanks, AK and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. There were five-week-old husky puppies, eight total, piled up together. At the ice museum we saw some of the smaller ice carvings from the annual World Ice Art Championships. They also had a very special film in the evening of the aurora borealis. See ice art web site: http://www.icealaska.com/09/09sculptureindex.html

Fairbanks

We attended the Fairbanks church again, and they had a fellowship dinner for guests. In the afternoon we visited Creamers Field for the second time--see June 27. We took a three-mile nature walk out into the fields and the boreal forest. The only wildlife we saw were the Sandhill Cranes we had seen the last time we were here and mosquitoes in the forest. They had a nice little garden that represented a garden the wife of the original owner of the property put out each year. We like the little signs they use to identify each type of vegetable plant.

World Eskimo-Indian Olympics, July 15-17

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These games are probably unlike anything you have seen before. We had wanted to attend them in 2007. John's cousin, JoNell, had recommended them. They had always been held in Fairbanks. However, in 2007 they were held in Anchorage. We missed seeing them because we failed to research WEIO so were not at the right place at the right time. We did see a 30-minute video in Fairbanks and knew we wanted to see the competition in person. Before we left home, we had WEIO in our schedule for this year. Above is the women's blanket toss. The natives do this to spot game over the horizon.





This girl is doing the kneel jump. The practicality of this event comes from the quickness and balance one has to have when out on moving ice during break up. Her parents sat in front of us. They told us she is a pre-med student. She won first place.



This activity is the two-foot high kick. The winner was able to kick the suspended ball at 96 inches with both feet at the same time and land on both feet at the same time. Years ago in the coastal whaling villages, the people of the town learned of a successful hunt when an approaching messenger would jump and kick both feet into the air while running.


This is the one-foot high kick. The contestant balances on one hand and one foot. He then springs up on one hand, kicks the suspended ball and comes down in control. He cannot let any part of his body touch the floor, except the hand and foot which touched the ball. This boy broke the record at 8 feet. He practiced at home touching the ceiling which was that height. This gave a message that help was needed because a whale had been taken or a caribou was nearby.

Other competitions included four-man carry, ear pull, knuckle hop, arm pull, greased pole walk, stick pull, fish cutting and seal skinning. They also had a native baby and Miss WEIO contests. Every evening natives from some of the remote villages demonstrated their native dances.

If you would like more information and see more videos, you can check out the WEIO website:
http://www.weio.org/mm_videos/index.php?VidCat=2008

July 10 to July 14, Denali National Park

On July 10 we drove to Denali National Park from Wasilla, and on July 14 we left the park and headed to Fairbanks. We camped Friday through Monday nights at Teklanika River Campground, at mile 29 of the park road. Private vehicles are not allowed to travel beyond mile 15, unless they have a camping permit. Campers are only allowed to drive in and out one time with their permit. All travel beyond mile 15 is done by shuttle bus. We rode the buses three days. Most are comparable to school buses. Two days we went to mile 85 and one day to mile 66, where there is a new visitor center that was just finished last year. It was under construction when we were there in 2007. We prayed that we would be able to see Mt. McKinley one of the days we were there. As you can see, our prayer was answered on the first day. After that it was obscured by smoke and clouds. Alaska presently has 70 forest fires, and there are a number in the Denali area, causing a lot of smoke. Driving north to Fairbanks from Denali it was particularly thick and completely obscured the sun.
This momma Grizzly and her two cubs were busy eating vegetation. She had just disciplined one by giving it a couple of good swats which we missed catching on camera.

Look at the hind legs on this snowshoe hare. This is the animal we saw the most often in the park.

Denali is patrolled in the winter using dog teams. They are more reliable than snowmobiles. They don't have to worry about a part breaking down in a remote area. They use a sled with wheels for this demonstration.

We saw a number of fox along the roadway. This one posed for us for a long time.

Momma grizzly and her cub were just waking up as we drove by.

It isn't every day that a wolf is sited. We felt fortunate. It was walking up the road in front of the bus early in the morning.

In some places the road is only one lane wide and winds around the often, very steep mountains. It is much worse than it appears in this picture.

In the Polychrome area the mountains are brilliantly colored.

Caribou were not abundant. We saw one or two each day.

We saw golden eagles soaring in the park. This is an immature. Bald eagles are not common, as they prefer a fish diet; and there is not an abundance of fish in Denali. We did see one.

Alaska Zoo in Anchorage

Today we went to the Alaska Zoo. The Muskox had a baby, but it was located where we could not get a good picture. This zoo features animals that live in the northern, colder climates. A large number of the animals were animals that had been rescued--injured or orphaned.
There were some Alpacas. One had been sheered and the other had not.
The grizzly bear was quite active.
This coyote had been serenading us with it's howling as we walked up. Of course, when John was ready to take a picture, it quit.
There were beautiful flower beds and hanging baskets throughout the zoo.

Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday was not a sightseeing day. We drove down to Anchorage and went to Costco to replenish some of our groceries and also ate at Golden Corral. During our vacation we have not eaten out much; but we have bought Subways occasionally, when we are in a hurry and they are available--not often on the Alaska Highway. We are dry camping at the Adventist Church parking lot where we stayed for a week back in 2007.

Wednesday we stayed put all day in the parking lot. Carol was not feeling her usual self and wanted to rest. We had planned to visit the zoo which is just down the street about a mile, so that is on the schedule for Thursday. The WiFi here is excellent--one of the best we have had. Since the Alaska Conference is next to the church parking lot and they have an open-guest network, they have given us permission to use it.

We moved about five miles to Big Bear RV Park in Wasilla. The previous RV park charged $2 for WiFi, which John refused to pay, because of the principal of the thing. Their nightly charge was more than enough to cover it. We had heard some parks had WiFi charges; but in over 40,000 miles of travel in the past 26 months, this was the first time we encountered it. We had stayed at the Big Bear in 2007. Their rates are lower, WiFi is free, the restrooms and laundry are nicer. The manager of the Homestead Park we left was not very nice when John told him we were leaving because of the WiFi charge. The only thing Homestead has going for it is the location in a pretty grove of trees. Big Bear is out in the open. After getting checked into the park, we drove to Independence Mine. This is an abandoned gold mine that the state has taken over as a state park. There are a number of buildings in pretty good condition; however, most of the mine and some buildings have collapsed. The last 13 miles of the trip was up a pretty stream with a lot of rough water and flowers along the roadside. There was a beaver dam and lodge. Both can be seen in the picture. The evidence indicated it was an active site. The beavers must have been taking a nap or doing indoor housekeeping.

We drove from Valdez to Palmer and passed some potentially-pretty scenes. However, there are a number of forest fires in Alaska right now; and the pictures are hazy. We have to drive some of the same roads when we leave Alaska and trust the fires are out by then. They have been started by lightning strikes. The fires are allowed to burn unless personal property is in danger. We hope the rain forecast for next week will put most of them out. Carol took the picture of the river to show you what glacier water looks like. It makes the water look milky.

After another Kenneth Cox DVD for church we rested for a while and then drove around to the other side of the bay. We came to a small pool that had a momma duck with 10 ducklings following her. After spending some time taking pictures of several Bald Eagles, someone told us there was a grizzly out by the bay. It would come into site and then go behind a small hill. After a short time, it went out into the bay and started to romp around trying to catch salmon. It was not having any luck but it was hilarious watching. After some time it started toward some fishermen who were fishing in a stream that ran into the bay. They started toward the parking lot, and the bear spent some time looking around where they had been. It found a good-sized fish and then headed for the parking lot. Everyone was scattering. It went across the parking lot and up into the woods to eat in private. The eagle is an immature Bald Eagle. We counted six different Bald Eagles at one time. This immature eagle is one of them.

Today we took a Sam Stephens wildlife and glacier cruise out of Port Valdez. In fact, Mr. Stephens was there the evening before when we purchased our tickets, and we were able to visit with him. When we returned from our cruise, both he and his wife were there. They seem to be a very down-to-earth couple. On the cruise we were served a delicious minestrone soup, and I asked her the name of soup company. Found out they are also vegetarians. Our favorite sea animal is the sea otter. When they are not feeding on clams, they lay on their backs soaking up the sunshine. Sometimes there will be two or three and sometimes there will be a large number. They appear to like to watch the tourists go by. The buoy had two sea lions on it when we came up. One got off but then wanted to get back on. It was fun to watch while it made several attempts before being successful. This is the try that was successful. The one already on the buoy was making quite a ruckus. Maybe some of you have seen the noisy sea lions on the wharf in San Francisco. The real highlight of the trip was to see the glacier calve. This is our third trip to Alaska and the first time to see a glacier calve. Two years ago we went on two glacier tours, and when we did the Princess cruise we stopped at several glaciers. None of them calved except some small chunks of ice falling off. Click on the glacier to see the calving. By the way, in blogspot you can double click on any picture to see it in a larger format.

This was a stay-put day. We needed to do the laundry and spend some time on our blog. The WiFi in the Sea Otter Campground was better than some we have had. We are camped next to the Port of Valdez. John is quite certain he saw some sea otters, but was not close enough to get pictures. We saw a harbor seal many times but figure it was the same one in different locations because we never saw more than one at a time. Since there is not much in the line of pictures for today, we are posting some of the beautiful wild flowers we have seen along the many roadways.

A few miles from our campsite this morning we stopped to take this picture of Worthington Glacier. It is the most visited site in this part of Alaska. While there, this man rode up on his bicycle. We have seen a lot of bicyclists with saddle bags on both the front and back wheels. John asked him where he had come from. He said Argentina. We thought he meant he was from Argentina. It turned out he was from Belgium and had flown to southern Argentina and ridden all the way to Alaska. His usual distance is about 30 miles per day. Not only had he ridden all the way up South America, Central America, the west coast of the US, Canada and Alaska; he had taken side trips. He did the trip we had just done to Kennecott. Earlier he had made a 456-mile trip to Inuvik, Northwest Territories. That is 912 miles of gravel road. Carol asked him if he would like a candy bar. He said yes he had run out of food and would not be able to buy more until he reached Valdez which was about another 30 miles. We also gave him a breakfast bar, a bag of almonds, a bottle of drink and Carol made him a sandwich. He kept thanking us over and over again. He is 40 years old. His next project is to fly to Cape Town, South Africa and bike Africa from South to North. He has already done Europe from West to East.