July 10. 2014 – Anchorage, AK

This morning, we had a little R&R and got a late start. We visited the communities of Wasilla and Palmer – about 45 miles north of Anchorage. These cities have a beautiful backdrop of steep, snow covered mountains.

In the late afternoon, we returned to Anchorage, stopped at Costco for supplies, then went to Best Buy to purchase a better camera. We got back to the RV park around 8:30 and very tired.

Tomorrow we will visit Seward and take an 8 hour cruise to the Kenai Fjords wildelife area and coastal glaciers. The day will end with a salmon bake on a private island resort in the Seward inlet.

July 9, 2014 – Anchorage, AK

We left Denali at 8:30 for our 230 mile drive to Anchorage. The roads during the first part of the drive were heaved and sagged which made our drive a bit slower. However, the second half was smooth going!

We stopped in Cantwell for gas (only 2 places). The price: $4.799/gallon. Just as well be in Canada!!

In our original travel plans, we had hoped to take a flight seeing ride in Talkeetna. But since it is cloudy and you cannot see Mt McKinley, we talked about just bypassing Talkeetna altogether. Then we decided to drive the 14 miles off the route to see Talkeetna (Gayle was reluctant). When we hit the City Limits, Gayle perked right up. Apparently, Talkeetna is one of the main destinations for cruise ship land excursions as well as the bus tours of AK. (Now Randy is reluctant to proceed.) There must have been at least 1,000 tourists visiting the town. We ate lunch at the Wild Flower Cafe (very good halibut & chips). Gift shops??? Why, yes, on every corner and in between!! We visited them all. Before we left town, we indulged in an ice cream. Actually, we are glad we went to Talkeetna as we likely will not be back in this region.

We continued on to Anchorage. We were not sure exactly where the RV Park was located, so we exited the 4 lane onto side road “JBER”. Oops! This is the access to Joint Base Elmandorf -Richardson air base. We pulled into the parking lot of the visitor entrance to load the RV Park address into our Magellan. Apparently, this is not the proper protocol for the USAF as, one of the guards came out to find our what we wanted. After a brief explanation, the guard gave us explicit directions and we drove right to it.

We arrived at 4:30, set up the trailer and relaxed for the evening. Tomorrow, we will visit the communities of Wasilla and Palmer. Who knows, Sarah may invite us for a salmon bake!!

July 8, 2014 Denali, AK

We left the RV Park at 7:30 to begin our 8 hour/132 mile round trip bus tour into Denali National Park. The bus was packed (55 people) and we sat in the second to the last row. The bus left promptly at 8:30.

The Park Service says that of all the visitors that go into Denali, due to the mountains micro-climate, only 1/3 of the visitors actually are able to see Mt. McKinley. The weather was overcast and cloudy and the clouds surrounded the mountains. However, the scenery was absolutely amazing. We took over 50 photos, and we can tell you that they do not do justice to the actual view.

After four hours, we arrived at the Eielson Visitor Center. You guessed it – we could not see Mt. McKinley. The photo below was taken inside the visitor center, looking out towards McKinley. If you look closely, you can see where the Park Service has etched the glass to allow visitors to see where the peak of McKinley is (or would be if they could see it.).

Even though we did not see McKinley, the excursion was not a loss. We were able to see an abundance of wildlife including doll sheep, caribou, grizzly bears (2), and an arctic fox.

On our way back, we saw another bus coming towards us. Gayle took a photo of the bus on a bridge. Earlier we said the camera doesn't do justice to the scenery. Look closely at the bridge – particularly the bus. Now compare the bus to the mountains. Unbelievable!!!

We did have an excellent day. Tomorrow we leave Denali and head to Anchorage.

July 7, 2014 Denali, AK

Since we only had 130 mile to drive today, we didn't leave North Pole until 11 AM. The drive was uneventful – which is a good thing!!

We have noted before that the streams and rivers are running bank full. They still are. Not only that, but the ground water level has risen as well. There is water standing everywhere. Although the mosquitoes are not bad yet, we are glad we will not be here when the hatch occurs!!

We arrived at Denali around 2 PM, set up the trailer, and headed to Denali Natl Park. Vehicles inside the park are restricted to the first 14 miles of roadway. After that, you must ride an excursion bus. We obtained our tickets for tomorrow and drove the 14 miles. The Park is beautiful but in order to see Mt McKinley, you must ride the excursion bus.

At the turn-around, we were able to see 3 caribou grazing along the Savage River, but they were about ½ mile away. We did manage to get a photo.

On the way back to the RV Park, we stopped at a visitor village to do a little shopping and then stopped at the 49^th State Brewing Company for dinner. We had a great day!!

Sunday July 6, 2014 – North Pole, AK

We had a great day!!! No rush about anything for a change!! This morning we did our bi-weekly chores – laundry, cleaned the trailer, and generally spiffed up.

After lunch, we went to the Santa House at the North Pole (AK) - where Christmas lasts all year long. This is a large store and believe me VERY busy!! We spent the better part of 2 hours there. (Which I am reminded by Gayle that after the drive to the Arctic Circle I owed her that much time in a store of her choice :-) Gayle started her Christmas shopping with gust and zeal!! We also got to see some of Santa's reindeer.

In the late afternoon, we went to see the movie Tammy. It was humorous, but on a scale of 1-10, we rated it a 6. After the movie we re-visited Pikes Landing for dinner. Another great time. And of course, we went back to our newest best ice cream shop for a treat before returning to the RV Park at 8:30.

Tomorrow we head to Denali Nat'l Park and stay for a couple of days. We only have a 130 mile drive so it will not be an early start.

Saturday July 5, 2014 North Pole, AK

What a beautiful morning!! Here we are in the middle of Alaska – 57° and not a cloud in the sky. The forecast is 82 today and 84 tomorrow. Unfortunately, our A/C is not working. Oh well, the forecast for Monday is 68 and rain for the rest of the week.

We had a leisurely morning. I took the pickup to the car wash while Gayle got ready. We left at 11 for Fairbanks.

We had lunch at a Chena River-front restaurant – Pikes Landing. The seating was on a large deck built out and over the river bank. As I said yesterday, the rivers are at their seasonal high so the feeling was that we were right on the water. Our lunch and the ambiance was excellent.

After lunch we went to the Discovery Landing for a 3 hour cruise aboard the Discovery III stern wheeler passenger boat on the Chena River. When we arrived at the landing, there were 5 or 6 large Greyhound-type tour buses that had already unloaded their passengers – all of which were there for the cruise. We estimated there were 300 people on the cruise. However, the seating was very comfortable.

During the gold rush and for some time after, there were 250 stern wheelers carrying cargo from the Bering Sea, up the Yukon River system to many gold rush cities including Fairbanks. These boats can operate in very shallow water (39”) which makes them ideal for these rivers. The owners of the Discovery I recognized the demise of cargo boats in the 1950's and converted the boat to passenger boat. This operation grew to what is is today.

We left the landing and visited several sites including the importance of the bush planes to Alaska, the home of the 4-time winner of the Iditerod dog sled race (Susan Butcher), a re-created Indian village, and a small herd of reindeer (caribou). All in all, the cruise was every enjoyable.

After the cruise, we went to a place called Pioneer Park. This is a re-created gold rush town aptly named Alaskaland. The “town” has several shops and a carousel. They also have an outdoor salmon bake that included a salad bar, crab legs, halibut, prime rib, and dessert. This was an excellent meal!!

On the way back to the RV park, we stopped at a home made ice cream shop. A two scoop cup of mocha almond & coffee hit the spot!!

We arrived back at the RV park at 8:30. This was a fun-packed day and we are ready for a good nights sleep!!

Thursday, July 4, 2014 – North Pole, AK

As long as we are this far north, we decided we should drive further north to visit the Arctic Circle. This is just something you have to do. The location is about 200 miles north from Fairbanks.

We left at 10 AM and followed the Elliot Highway. About 10 miles out of town, we found a roadside access point for the 800 mile Alaska Pipeline. It is amazing that this pipeline was built by 70,000 workers in two years!! The pipe is 4' diameter and insulated as the crude oil is 100 degrees. The pile supports range in depth from 15' to 60' because of the permafrost. We saw portions of the pipeline for the next 4 hours.

We drove on another 70 miles where the Dalton Highway begins. This is the north slope haul road to the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay, where the pipeline begins. This is also the location where the pavement ends.

The next 120 miles, from this point north, had short sections of pavement,and gravel, but it was mostly unsurfaced. The unsurfaced roadway is treated with dust control and is regularly graded. (The grading process also includes watering, which makes a real mess of your vehicle.) Even at that, the roadway was riddled with soft spots and chuckholes (small to large). The further north we went the worse the road became. The steeper grades were 10%-12% both up and down.

At 134 miles, we crossed the Yukon River. We thought the Yukon was big at Dawson. Boy were we wrong. This river is HUGE. The bridge is about ¾ mile across and maybe 200' above the river. This is the “spring runoff” time of year. All of the streams are bank-full, including the Yukon. At this crossing, the river is probably ½ mile across and running very fast.

As we traveled along, we were able to see the pipeline at various locations, as well as other sites. We stopped at a rest area at a location called Finger Mountain. We are not sure how it got its name.

We arrived at Latitude 66° 33' – the Arctic Circle – at 2:30 PM. There is a BLM sign and roadside camping area for visitors. To our surprise, there were a bunch of people there. A 20 passenger tour bus, several motorcycles, and cars, of course. The camp host said they had greeted 130 people so far today. We took photos, got our official “Arctic Circle Crossing” certificate, ate lunch, and headed back at 4 PM.

We got back to town at 8:30. We were both exhausted and felt beat up from the rough roads. We had dinner and showered. By this time, it was 12:30 AM, but still pretty light outside. Gayle has hung towels over the windows of our bedroom to give us a little darkness.

What a great way to spend the 4^th of July!!! We had a good night of rest!!