July 11, 2010

We were awakened around 2 am by series of loud bangs that sounded like a pistol. After we got up we saw that someone had set off a firework device that had 6 charges it in. I guess some kids thought it was funny to set it off. When I was their age I probably would have too. Jim made pancakes for breakfast and I cooked breakfast links made with both bacon and sausage. We hooked up and then talked to a couple from Texas who live in Frankston, near Tyler. He retired from East Texas Medical Center in Tyler. We headed to the Denali Highway from the west end near the Denali National Park out of Cantwell. We stopped on the way at the Alaska Veterans Memorial. This memorial is for all military service branches. We took a picture at Hurricane Gulch bridge. We set up camp at the BLM Brushkana Creek Campground at mile 104.6 P or 29.2 C, depending on which end of the road you were coming from. The road was slightly muddy in a couple of places because there were scattered showers today. The Casita and Pathfinder are now dirty again.

July 12, 2010

We woke up late, at 9:20 am. It was mostly sunny today. We headed out to drive the Denali Highway to mile post 68. We drove the other end to mile post 68 from Paxson. We went on a couple of short hikes into the tundra. We took pictures of Mt. Nenana, Mt. Deborah and Mt. Hess in the Alaska Range. There were glaciers in between the mountains. A beaver ran across the road and into a pond. We saw another Ptarmigan family. We took a side road to Valdez Creek Mine, a former gold mining camp at Denali which was founded in 1907 after the 1903 gold rush. This mine closed in 1995. We took our gold pans to the creek and tried our hand at gold panning but it didn't pan out. As we left the mine area there was a grave on a hill in the middle of nowhere -- it was that of a prospector. We ran into the lady with the Scamp who we saw in Banff National Park (we also saw her in Talkeetna.) She has her partner with her now. The camp host gave us two pins that celebrate the 10th anniversary of BLM's National Landscape Conservation -- one for Scenic Trails and one for Wilderness. We stopped to purchase a can of diet coke to have with lunch and were charged $5.00. This is a record price.

July 13, 2010

When we got up this morning it was cloudy again. We left camp and it started misty raining. It never really downpours here. We drove to Nancy Lake Recreation Area around Willow, Alaska. There were 30 campsites here and no one but us. We went to pay and when we came back Vicki and Lowell and a couple that have been traveling with them were setting up. What a surprise!

July 14, 2010

We were watching the news this morning and there was a report about the Taylor highway being washed out due to weekend rains. The highway was washed out in several places between Chicken and the road to Eagle. Around 30 people were stranded. This was the Top of the World Highway we took from Dawson City to Chicken. We talked to Vicki, Lowell and their friends before leaving camp. We drove to Wasilla (home of Sarah Palen) and took the Knick Road to see the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters. I got to hold a puppy. We stopped at a museum in Knick but it was closed. Behind the museum was an Athabascan cemetery with "spirit houses" over the graves. We continued on to Anchorage and parked in Mary and Phil's driveway. They have a beautiful place in Anchorage. Very shady, green grass and Mary has planted some really pretty flowers. Her Lilac bushes are blooming and the fragrance is marvelous! They had a picnic to attend for the end of soccer season for Jacob's team, the Spyders. We met them at the Hill Top Ski Area and had a great time.

July 15, 2010

We got up and I did a load of laundry (sheets). Jim did some computer stuff and then we met Mary for lunch at a Mexican grill. Then Jim and I went to the information center. The Glacier Brew House was nearby so we went there for a beer. We drove by the Alaska 49th state monument. Then to Sleeping Lady Brewing, Midnight Sun Brewery and to Moose's Tooth Brew Pub. We ordered pizzas to go and picked up a growler to take back to Mary and Phil's. They had two of their friends over and we had a nice visit. Phil and his friend were doing some work on his boiler system. They have another friend flying in tonight from Houston to go fishing with Phil this weekend. Mary, Jacob, Jim and I will be going camping.

July 16, 2010

I met Mary at her church this morning and helped her pack groceries from the food bank for some people in the community. Jim went shopping for stuff he needed to do a mod on our Casita. When he was done he came by the church and helped us pack groceries. Then we all went to Cafe Amsterdam for lunch. We were going to go camping this weekend with Mary and Jacob because Phil is offshore fishing but we decided to stay here in Anchorage. Mary, Jacob the two dogs and I went for a walk while Jim did his Casita mod -- a new front mounted storage tube for the sewer hose. He had to move the sewer hose from the bumper because the receiver hitch Phil will be adding to the Casita will go through the middle of the bumper. Mary fixed us some great tacos. Jake lost a loose tooth while eating. We sat outside and played our Phase 10 game, then around 8 PM we decided to take a ride to the top of Flat Top Mountain in the Chugach State Park. From here you can see the Cook Inlet, Turnagain Arm and Anchorage. We left there and went to Potter's Marsh. We drove by this the last time we were here but didn't stop. We saw an eagle, two moose, salmon, geese, assorted birds, a swan and a beaver building on his house. We drove to Beluga Point on Turnagain Arm to see the sunset. We got home around 11:15.

July 17, 2010

We went to the farmer's market this morning and bought a few things. We drove back up to Flat Top Mountain to see the view in a different light. Then we drove into downtown and stopped at Elderberry Park just off the Coastal Trail near the port and had a picnic. We stopped at Resolution Park and saw the Captain Cook monument. Then we drove out to Goose Lake and Jacob played in the water's edge looking for minnows and such while we watched the Cardboard Boat Regatta. These boats were hilarious. Does that lady in the pink boat look familiar? Lowell and Vickie Lee were there also. We went to the Saturday Market downtown and to Ship Creek to see the spawning salmon. On the way home we went to Celestial Meads and I tried 13 of their 18 meads. After getting home, Jim grilled hamburgers and later we had strawberry shortcake. We also played a very funny game with Jacob, "Apples to Apples". We have been having a great time seeing Anchorage and visiting with Phil and Mary.

July 18, 2010

It was rainy today so Mary, Jacob and I went to the movies. We saw "Despicable Me". Jim stayed at home. Phil and his buddies got back from fishing and we had fresh Halibut and Rock Cod on the grill. They caught 200 pounds of halibut, salmon and cod (this is the weight on the fillets, not the weight of the whole fish.) Mary made some baked potatoes and baked apples and I sauteed some fresh Bok Choy from the farmers market. Phil's friend from Houston brought a Goode Company BBQ pecan pie all the way with him on the airplane.

July 19, 2010

Jim and I picked up Jacob from the summer camp at his school and we all went downtown. We stopped at Earthquake Park. This shows the effect the 1964 earthquake had on Anchorage and the surrounding area. We went to the Native Alaskan Hospital. This hospital has a marvelous array of native arts and crafts. You start on the 5th floor and work your way back to the 1st floor via the stairwell. They had beautiful ivory carvings, dolls, clothes, baskets and masks. We went to the Alaska Aviation Museum. There were lots of memorabilia from Alaska pilots and also some ghosts of old planes. They were in the process of restoring one. Jacob got to fly a flight simulator in hanger #3. It was cool. We drove to the Alaska Museum and looked at the art and a great display that came from the Smithsonian of Alaska Native artifacts. There is an Imaginarium inside the building that encompasses 3 rooms. Jacob had a great time in there. It's like the Childrens Museum in Houston with a science twist. We went in the Army/Navy store and got me a rain suit. Jim has one he got at Fred Meyers and I needed one to go fishing this weekend. Everyone got back around 6 and Mary and I made some sour cream chicken enchiladas with some roasted Hatch chiles that I brought we us. Three of the men who went fishing with Phil came over too. They packaged the fish in airtight bags down in Phil's "man cave" and divided it all up. There was an amazing amount of fish! Note Phil's latest brewing system -- lots of valves to keep track of!

July 20, 2010

We did a lot of preparations today getting ready to leave. We washed clothes, updated the blog, took showers, went to buy waterproof shoes (to wear on the boat this weekend), bought groceries and washed the Casita and Pathfinder. We left at 3 pm. Just after turning off of Mary and Phil's road, a cub and mother black bear went across in front of us. We went to dump and fill up with gas. We drove out of Anchorage on the Seward Highway and around Turnagain Arm. On the way we saw where houses around Portage had sunk and broken apart as a result of the 1964 earthquake. We decided to camp at Chugach National Forest Williwaw Campground on the Portage-Whittier Highway. After setting up camp Phil called and wanted to know if there was any excitement at his house before we left. The two bears had doubled back and broken into his trash storage shed, ripping out the back and strewing trash everywhere. We told him we had seen them but they were heading away from his house. The view from our site is of the Middle Glacier.

July 21, 2010

We decided to stay here another night and went for a drive. We visited the Begisch-Boggs Visitor Center for the Chugach National Forest. This is at Portage Lake going toward Whittier. The view is the Portage and Burns Glaciers. The Portage Glacier in 1914 extended to the visitor's center. It has retreated severely. We called and made a reservation for the Alaska Railroad Discovery Train from Portage to Grandview and back. We saw fabulous scenery of mountains, glaciers, rivers and animals. We saw moose and a nesting bald eagle. We made a stop at Whistle Stop at the Spencer Glacier and took a walk. On the way back to camp we took pictures of the Explorer Glacier and Middle Glacier and went back to the Portage and Burns Glaciers. There is a trail by our camp called the Trail of Blue Ice and we took a walk on it. We didn't go the extra few miles to Whittier through the longest tunnel in the U.S. because we went there last time we were in Alaska in 2006. On that trip we took a ferry from Whittier to Valdez. We also took the 26 Glacier Tour from there.