Day 28 (6-28-12 - We are in Homer Spit)

We had our first Halibut tonight.  We cooked it ourselves, (or rather Lauren was talking while I cooked).  It is really good. 

When we got to Homer Spit at the Fishing Hole Campground, Lauren made a bee line to talk to people that were cleaning their fish.  The first couple of men that he talked to had taken a charter boat and was not real talkative.  The next couple of men that he talked to were probably locals.  Lauren asked him all kind of questions.  They were not impressed with their catch, we were.  One of the men went to his vehicle and got a plastic bag and gave us 2 filets of halibut. Thank goodness for Lauren’s gift of gab.  It really does pay off.

We have seen a lot of eagles here today, they are everywhere.

It is has been a rainy, windy, cold day.  We have not seen the sun shine all day.  From what I hear, this is normal for this time of year.   

We took a stroll at the Alaska Wildlife Visitor Center and then took another stroll down the road from the campground to shop and check out charter boats for halibut fishing.  We strolled 5.5 miles.  We were constantly pulling our rain suit hoods over our heads to keep dry.  We stopped at the Salty Dog Salon and had a Homer Brew.  It is a very unusual place.  I wished I had all those dollar bills that are plastered all over the ceiling and the walls in my bank account.

Ferny is not really happy here.  She couldn’t wait to go outside.  As soon as she heard all the eagles and sea gulls she cowered down and went back inside.  She is happier sitting at the door looking out, than she is going outside.  I don’t think we will stay here very long.

We met another couple of men this evening that had some nice halibut that they were cleaning at the campground.  He has a smaller boat than the charter businesses.  The charter boats take about 20 people.  The captain of this boat is taking us out tomorrow.  We are paying his gas bill.  There will be 4 of us and his dog on board.  I have my Scopolamine patch on.  We will leave around 7 am in the morning.

When we arrived today the tide was way out.  It has finally come in and is lapping at our back door of the toy hauler. 

Ferny Kat is snoring. She is lying on my jacket on the floor. We are joining Ferny, (except we are going to bed).   I bet it won’t be long until she joins us.  We are calling it a night.

Even though it is not the weather that we wanted, it is still a beautiful place.

We saw plenty of eagles today and 1 pheasant. 

 Pics : https://goo.gl/photos/cBWmH1ES1CpMvKMZ7

Day 27 (6-27-12 - Houston to Soldotna)

Wait until you see our pictures from today.  Awesome!!!!!!  We left Houston and traveled to Soldotna and are staying at a city campground called Centennial Campground. It is on the Kenai River.

We traveled the Parks Highway and the Glenn Highway to Anchorage.  We then traveled on the Seward Highway and the Sterling Highway to Soldotna.  

The Kenai River is another big river in Alaska.  We opened the back door of the toy hauler and pulled down the screen, (to keep out them nasty, mean, obnoxious mosquitoes).  It is really nice doing my blog and seeing the river and hearing the river as I type.

At 9 a.m. this morning, we were at Miller’s Market.  Lauren bought a fishing license.  I will wait and see if the fish bite before I buy mine. 

It was all I could do not to get an ice cream cone for desert after breakfast.   I even justified eating ice cream at 9 a.m. by telling myself that it is 12 p.m. at home.  I kept reminding myself that I will weigh again in about a week at Weight Watchers.  I had to leave the campground at Houston before I ate more ice cream. 

Lauren was unsuccessful in his fishing expedition, (which lasted about 30 minutes).  If the fish catching doesn’t improve I will probably be investing my fish license money on more bear spray and bear bells.  It looks we will have a lot more time for hiking.

The ride here was amazing.  All the sudden, we left Anchorage and we saw Turnagain Arm, (a finger off the Cook Inlet), on one side of the road and snow topped mountains on the other side.  We also saw a lot of snow that melted into waterfalls coming off the mountain.  Breathtaking views!!

The song Free, by the Zac Brown Band is our retirement song.  This song played on the radio as we were traveling through Anchorage.  It was perfect timing.  And the part at the end where they sing “We don’t have a lot of money,” we can really relate to.  I love this song.

It was another day that is gorgeous one minute and light rain the next.  We actually made it from Houston to Soldotna without getting a lot of road grime on the vehicles.  This is the first time we washed the vehicles and rode this long without road grime.

The girl that checked us into the campground is from Tyler, Texas.  Her daddy got her a job here when she came to visit.  Very sweet girl.

We saw a couple of Dall sheep on the ride here.  We traveled 201 miles today.

It is cooling off really quick.  It is time to close the back door and light the campfire. 

Todays Pictures :  https://goo.gl/photos/tN6gQezgrWfHbCJp7

Day 26 (6-26-12 - Houston to Wasilla)

Great Ice Cream

                                    
We woke up to light rain peppering the camper. We decided to stay another night at Riverview Campground.  We love this campground.  It is right on the river,  it is quiet, and the people that work here are really nice.  We were ready to relax for the day.

We decided to go to Wasilla and do a little shopping.  We were very impressed with Wasilla.  It was a nice city that is bigger than what we expected. 

We came back and washed the camper and the truck.  It is rare that a campground will allow you to wash your vehicle at your campsite.  It sure beats paying $28.00 at a car wash.  Washing your vehicle here pays for your camping.

There is no wildlife to  report for today.  It has rained on and off all day and the highest temp we saw was 62 degrees.  And, we found gas for $3.99 per gallon, WHO HOO!!

Day 25 (6-25-12 - Denali NP to Houston, Ak.)

We had another great journey today.  It was cloudy, cool, but not windy.  After cooking breakfast on the Coleman stove, we had a nice ride out of Teklanika Campground to Houston, Alaska, (205 miles).  With the clouds, we knew that there was no chance of seeing Mt. McKinley along Parks Highway.

Ferny Kat was not a happy camper when we left.  She loved Denali National Park and cried for at least 15 miles.  She did not want to leave

We are staying at Riverview Campground.  It is a very nice campground on the Little Susitna River.  We are on camping at the end of the campground on the river.  The river is above the banks and is right outside our site. We can hear the rumbling of the river.

Lauren was planning on fishing.  The woman at the campground office told us that the river was high and that she had not heard of very many fish being caught.  So, we did our laundry in the light rain, ate ice cream from Miller’s Market.  Or rather, I had a chocolate/ vanilla swirl ice cream cone and Lauren had a chocolate milkshake.  DELICOUS!!!

As we were cooking our fried white perch, we saw a raft coming down the river with a man, a woman, a dog, and their camping gear.  They posed for a picture.  They looked like they were having a great time.

We saw 5 caribou sitting at Savage River and 2  moose along the Parks Highway. 

Pictures:   https://goo.gl/photos/CdxxE9WKmvsDHhqH6

Day 24 (6-24-12 - Denali National Park - Another ride to Eielson Visitor Center)

Sunrise 3:45 a.m. Sunset 12:26 a.m.

We put on our shorts and short sleeve shirts this morning.  We walked out of the camper and walked right back in and changed to sweat shirts and jeans.  It was cloudy, windy, and cold. 

We had planned on hiking at the Polychrome Overlook.  We decided it was too windy and went to Eielson Visitor Center and hiked the Tundra Loop.  It was a short loop but pretty.  It was 54 degrees and extremely windy.  We had had enough of the wind and took the next bus back to camp.

Mt. McKinley had clouds all day.  At the visitor center we saw the base of the mountain then stopped on the road back and got a view of the North Peak.

We saw 28 Dall sheep, 4 bears, and 4 caribou.  I guess the cold wind had the wildlife laying low. They were like us; they stayed low to keep out of the wind.  Smart animals!

Pictures:   https://goo.gl/photos/DkWhmnLkoFbN2hBX7

Day 23 (6-23-12 - Denali National Park -Teklanika CG)

We had another gorgeous day today.  We had reserved tickets on the bus for 8:55 a.m.  This was the first morning we have slept past 6:30 a.m. in a long time.  We woke up at 7:30 a.m. and had to get up and go.  I hate having schedules.  It is much more fun to wake up and ease into the day.  Retirement spoils you.

We took the bus to Eielson Visitor Center.  We had an unpleasant bus driver who was overbearing.  We felt that we were on a military school bus.   

We hiked the Alpine trail at the visitor center.  It was 0.8 miles, (one way) with an elevation increase of 1,010 feet. My heart had not beat this hard and fast since I took my first picture of a bear in Canada.  According to my fitbit we hiked 5.5 miles today and went up 180 flights of stairs.  According to my wobbly, tired, legs, the fitbit is pretty accurate. 

It was great on top of the mountain.  The views were spectacular.  Mt. McKinley had a few clouds over it and was not the view that we had hoped for.  Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

We grilled buffalo burgers for supper tonight and are going to bed.

We saw 31 Dall Sheep, 25 Caribou, 6 bears (2 sets of a momma and two cubs), and a fox.

Pics:  https://goo.gl/photos/yfTUrEiPeiDkFnMS7

Day 22 (6-22-12 - Denali National Park - Teklanika CG)

We had another gorgeous day today.  We moved to Teklanika CG this morning and will stay here for 3 nights. It is a pretty campground on the Teklanika River.  On our ride in to the campground we saw the peaks of Mt. McKinley.

We took a round trip ride on the bus from the campground to Eielson Visitor Center.  We had a great bus driver named Elton. The views were spectacular. 

We were thoroughly entertained on the bus watching a grizzly get a bath.  The bear laid flat on his back, stretched his back paw out of the water, and splashed around in the mud.  After his bath he shook off the water like a dog, and then he scratched his butt on the underbrush.  Lauren asked Elton if it this was a bear or a park ranger dressed as a bear to entertain us.  It was fun to watch.

When we arrived at Eielson Visitor Center, the clouds covered the top of Mt. McKinley and we could only see the base.  We are going back tomorrow and hopefully we will get a view with no clouds.

Alaska finally has impressed us with their wildlife.  We saw 9 grizzlies (two of these were cubs), 10 caribou, and 4 Dall sheep.

We enjoyed our first elk steaks that we cooked on the campfire grill. We finally are going to bed around midnight and as usual the sun is still bright.

Pictures from today: https://goo.gl/photos/7G5p1YNYYuG6LEs99