Day 60 (7-30-12 - Getting ready to head back through Canada)

Ferny trying to hide out and not leave

We had a busy day today.  We moved to Tundra Campground in Tok so we could have full hookups for the camper.  We needed to clean up the camper, our clothes, and ourselves before we leave tomorrrow going back into Canada. We did a little shopping and fueled up the truck and the camper propane.We had another gorgeous day.


We went to Fast Eddy's Restuarant to eat lunch.  A friend that we met on this trip from Anchorage recommended the place .  The food was good.  Lauren had a club sandwich on home made wheat bread and I had a Taco Salad.  It was the largest and best Taco Salad I have ever ate.  This makes the third time that we have ate out since we left.

You know I am Bear Aware.  I got to this campground and saw that there were no bear proof garbage cans and I had a sense of "Whew,  I don't have to wear bear bells and bear spray for  the first time in a few days". I was a whole lot less tense.  It felt like retirement day all over again. There are no worrys and no hurries.

We have several stops planned along the way through Canada, including a couple of stops back into Alaska.  We plan to cross the USA border in Washington in about 10 to 14 days.  We are not in a hurry and will decide as we go as to where we will stop for the night.  We are turning off our cell phones and mifi when we get to Canada.  We are planning on staying in Provincial Campgrounds and will not have internet most nights.  We will send blog post and pictures when we have internet again.

We have been in Alaska for 44 days.  The retirement party has being going on for 60 days and it ain't over yet.

Our Last Campfire in Alaska (for now)

Pictures:  https://goo.gl/photos/psKdgXf5SyJENUqAA

Day 59 (7-29-12 - Hanging Out in Tok)

The witch in Lauren came out again this morning.  He got his broom and chased the ravens off the top of the camper.  They know how to mess up a good sleep.

We had a few showers during the night, or during our sleep time.  When I think of night, I think of darkness, and we haven't seen darkness in a long time. 

When we got up the sun was shinning and a cool wind was blowing.  It felt like a nice, crisp, fall day in Mississippi.

We hiked the nice, wooded trail in the campground.

We rode around Tok and hit every gift shop in town.  This took about 40 minutes.  It is a really small town.

We took a short ride out of Tok on the Alaska Highway and the Taylor Highway and killed a little time.  We thought we might see some wildlife.  We thought wrong.

We are back at camp with a campfire and are planning on being well rested before we leave here in a few days.

We remembered the Park Ranger at Exit Glacier tell us that the moose poop was a good fire starter  I looked around and found Moose Poop.  I got a paper towel and carried it to the fire pit. Ranger Lou was right.   We started our campfire with moose poop/  Another one of those, Only in Alaska.

We grilled another pack of halibut tonight.  This fish is so good you can't wait for your mouth to open to put more in it.  I sure wish we would have caught more Halibut.

Pics   https://goo.gl/photos/srhs6VDDhKjsopPZ6

Day 58 (7-28-12 - Tok)

We started out with a light shower today.  The weather cleared and it turned out to be a warm pretty day.    We decided to drive until we had cell phone and internet service.  We drove 70 miles to Tok.

We are staying at Tok River SRA.  It is another pretty campground that is on the Tok River.  Again, we have no hookups. 

When we got here, we had neighbors park next to us.  We left and went to the big , exciting, town of Tok.   When we got back, no neighbors.  We watched quite a few campers leave the  site next to us. I wondered if Lauren had forgot to plug the septic tank a few days ago, because quite a few campers left the site next to us. 

Then I heard the campers two sites away tell a potential camper  that was going to park between  us, there are bees in those trees, as they pointed to two holes in the tree.  They told then that they got stung and had moved.

We had a lot of campers ride in and ride out of this spot.  The last camper that we saw pull in as we sat by our campfire were considering  burning out the bees. They must have seen the look in our eyes and reconsidered.

I am not sure if was my look of please, don't do that, or the rugged look of my honey who has not had a hair cut in over two months and has not shaved in quite a few days. They went to another part of the campground. We really appreciate their consideration.

This place feels like home.  We have the muddy, swift  Tok River.  We have a sand bar, (the first sand bar that we have seen in a while).  If it weren't for the glacier look of the water, I would swear we were at the Pearl River Swamp. 

We are planning on staying in this area for a few days.   This is a good place to rest, clean up, wash up, and stock up, before we head back into Canada.  And hopefully, Lauren will shave.

Pictures   https://goo.gl/photos/rDgTVNryN3U2PE2JA

Day 57 (7-27-12 - Porcupine Creek SRA)

We woke up to a beautiful warm day.  We were well rested listening to the creek rustle over the rocks all night while we slept.  Lauren cooked a great breakfast and we hit the road. We had no planned destination. 

The Tok Cutoff Highway was a rough but pretty ride.   After 129 miles and checking out 4 campgrounds, we decided to stay at Porcupine Creek SRS.  The campground has 12 sites.  The sites are isolated and are in the thick woods with no hook ups.  There are a few sites that are on the creek.  We had our choice of camp site being we were the only ones here.  We chose a nice creek site.

As I have typed before, Ferny has adjusted to the climate in Alaska really well.  With the temperatures in the 70's, she has began shedding her artic coat of hair that she needed for warmth.  She meowed for miles today when it warmed up.  I was hot, she was hot, but Lauren refused to turn on the A/C being we have been cold for weeks.  Lauren tried lowering the back window a little bit to give her some air.  This made her meow even louder.  Lauren  finally rolled the window up and turned on the A/C.  Ferny curled up in her dog bed on top of the ice chest and went to sleep.  She knows how to work him.

This is the first campground that we have ever stayed in that has porcupine warnings, only in Alaska.

Lauren fished a little bit.  I took my usual wade in the cold creek.  I love wading in this freezing cold water when it is warm.  It must be the country girl in me. 

We have the IPod playing and my bear spray close at my side as we are cooking our salmon patties on the fire pit.  Dang, life is good!

Pictures   https://goo.gl/photos/JqEbNmHhJisUKGRz7

Day 56 (7-26-12 - Squirrel Creek)

The weather forecast last night was for the temps to be in the 30’s.  Ferny usually crawls in the bed when it is cold and warms us.  She didn’t.  I usually have hot flashes that warm us. I didn’t.  I had to get up and find jackets and robes to cover us up. It was Cold on the Thompson Pass. 

We turned on the heater for a few minutes and warmed up the camper this morning when we got up.  We were able to wear shorts today for the first time in about a week.  Lauren cooked breakfast by the lake.  Ferny came out and hid in the brush.  Everybody loved it, but it was time to move on. 

We decided to go to Chitina.  We had a beautiful drive on the Richardson Highway and the Edgerton Road to Wrangell St. Elias National Park.  We had gorgeous views of the Chugach Mountain and the Wrangell Mountains.  We knew that the ride through the Chugach Mountains would be pretty but we were surprised that the view of the Wrangell Mountains was so pretty.  We saw 2 baby wolves or coyotes on the way.

Lauren wanted to check out the fish wheels in Chitina. The locals have a special permit allowing them to use these contraptions and catch hundreds of fish.  It was worth the drive to see this unique fishing technique.

We are camped at Squirrel Creek SRA near Glennallen.  We traveled about 130 miles today.  When we got here around 2:30 pm the temp was in the mid 70’s.  We have a fantastic campsite on the creek.  The water is so clear and pretty.  I just had to wade in the creek.  It took a while to get the purple out of my toes.  It was very Cold, but worth it. 

We have no electric or water hook ups, no cell phone service, no internet service, no TV stations, and no radio stations.  The only sound that we hear is the wonderful sound of water rushing over the rocks in the creek.  Ferny has made her tour outside and rolled around in the dirt.  This is our kind of place.

Row of Fish Wheels in Operation in Copper River

Pictures  https://goo.gl/photos/KnJb9jRZw2dRaRSs7

Day 55 (7-25-12 - Thompson Pass)

We woke up to partly cloudy skies and the sound of crows pecking on our roof top, which is better than rain drops.  Lauren looked like a witch chasing the crows off the roof with a broom at 6 a.m.

Lauren decided that he wanted to try to catch a Pink Salmon, (AKA Humpy).  We walked a little ways to a fishing access point. The fish were churning the water.  Lauren fished for about 15 minutes and lost his bait.  We went back to the camper and got more baits, and yes I had my bear spray in my holster on my side.

We watched a sea lion in the water. You could hear him roar when he came up for air.  It might have been laughter instead of roaring because the sea lion caught more fish than Lauren.

Lauren managed to snag a fish and clean it in less than an hour.  He could have caught more but we don’t have freezer room.  We figured that we will have 2 meals off this fish and that is enough.  We need to have fridge room in case he catches another species of fish.

We traveled 40 miles to Thompson Pass and are staying at Blueberry SRA.  We are camping here for the night.  It is a beautiful campground.  It is absolutely gorgeous weather with the high today in the mid 60’s.   We are camped on the lake.  We have great views of the green and snow tops of the Chugach Mountains.

We took a short drive and found an off the beaten path road to a better view of the area.  A better description of the road is a beaten path road.  The road was very rough.  After a rough ride and a short hike we saw a spectacular view.

We took a short hike in the campground and found pretty much the same view as we had in the truck.  Putting the truck in 4 wheel drive to see the first view was a lot more fun and more like the Alaskan Adventure we dreamed of.

You must know by now, that the sun is shinning and we have been cooped up for a couple of days.  Yes, all the windows are open, the back door is open, and every rug, blanket, jacket, and comforter we have are airing out in the Alaska sunshine.  I bet the other campers are driving by and thinking, they must live in that camper. 

Ferny meowed and looked at the other bed until I lowered the bed for her to plunder.  She finally decided to come outside.  She ate a lot of grass and went deep in the thick brush.  She likes to explore and have her own personal space. She made the most of her quiet, secluded camping spot. 

Lauren cast a few times in the lake in the hopes of catching a rainbow trout or grayling.  No success.  We grilled some of the pink salmon.  It was okay. 

Pictures  https://goo.gl/photos/bLVsFkHGi1k48Jez8

Day 54 (7-24-12 - Close Encounters of the Bear Kind)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JR !!!!!!!!!!!!!

We actually saw more of the landscape this morning than we  had seen since we got here.  We decided to stay around the campground and charge up the camper battery with the generator.  We had hopes that the weather would clear up later today.

Lauren found out that there was a bear sighting in the campground.  The bear was eating fish at one of the fishing areas.  He took off with the camera to find the bear.  I refused to go.  He came back to camp after he couldn't find the bear. 

We heard that killer whales come up to this area to eat salmon.  We stood at the camper and watched for whales. All we saw were seals eating fish.

I was finally tired of staying around the camp.  I told Lauren that I was going to walk back and forth a short distance on the road in front of the camper to get in some exercise.  The road was wide open, there were a lot of people around, and I thought the bear was gone. 

Lauren didn't want to leave with the generator running so he stood out in front of the camper and watched me walk.  As I was walking, I wondered where the bear lived and what path he took to get to the fishing hole.  I also hoped that he was full of fish.

After my first loop, I felt pretty confident that the bear was no where around.  I walked back where Lauren was standing.  Lauren told me to look.  I looked around expecting a whale in the water.  It was not a whale it was a Bear.  The bear was just a few feet away.  I heard Lauren say, "be still," as I jumped behind him, grabbed his shirt, and croutched behind him.   I went into panic mode, I had just made eye contact with a bear and my bear spray was in the camper.

I was so relieved to hear Lauren tell me to walk slowly to the camper.  He stood there as I walked slowly to the camper.

Lauren said that I did not walk slowly to the camper, that I was in high gear. He said I looked like Ferny Kat when she gets scared and croutches down and runs in the camper.   On the other hand, I felt like it was an eternity before I made the few steps to the camper.  I can't imagine meeting up with a bear this close in the woods.

I was not suppose to make eye contact with the bear, I was supposed to be still, I was supposed to slowly back away, and I was supposed to have my bear spray easily accessible. I had just flunked Bears 101.

I got to the camper and made a bee line to grab my bear spray.  I watched from the slightly opened camper door with my heart racing and my knees knocking.  I reread the step by step directions on the can of how to use the bear spray.  Lauren finally came back to the camper and I asked where the bear went.

Lauren said that the bear had the same look of fright in his eyes as he saw in mine.  He said that when we started backing  away from the bear, the bear started backing away from us.  The bear must have made an A+ in Humans 101.   I am glad the bear is a better scholar than me.

And by the way, Lauren didn't have enough time to turn on the camera and get a picture of the bear.

The fog and rain finally lifted today.  We still saw clouds but we saw a lot more land than we have seen in the last couple of days.  We decided to wait until in the morning to leave in the hopes that the forecast is  correct for a sunny day tomorrow.  We plan to move to Thompson Pass tomorrow.  We will not have cell phone or Mifi coverage there, so it will be a few days before we post again.

Pictures   https://goo.gl/photos/achkKdhtekB8cFfbA

Day 53 (7-23-12 - Another Nasty Day in Valdez)

Fish Ladder

We made the best of this rainy day.  We stopped on our way to Valdez at the fish hatchery again. We were going to walk the walkway at the fishery but it was closed because of a the bear activity in this area.

We looked around at the harbor and the gift shops in Valdez.

We rode to the Valdez Glacier area.  We saw a lot of fog and a couple of icebergs.

We stopped on the way back to camp and watch a few people fishing near the hatchery.

We cooked the other half of the King Salmon.  The locals recommended slathering it with a mayonaise and mustard mixture.  We added Tony's.  It was good, but we like the way we grilled it last night better.

It is still rainy but it is not freezing cold.  I never thought being in the 50's and rainy would be tolerable.  I think we are adapting to this climate.

Valdez Small Boat Harbor

Pictures    https://goo.gl/photos/udUY4iqEvkLuP4nu5

Day 52 (7-22-12 - To Valdez)

We went 101 miles south today to Valdez.  We are staying at Allison Point Campground next to the fish hatchery.  It is rainy and foggy here today, a better word for the weather is, Nasty.

The views on the drive here were beautiful, even in the nasty weather.  The views must be fantastic when it is not raining and foggy.

We are camped on a bluff overlooking the water.  We saw seals and sea lions from our campsite.  We took a ride to downtown Valdez.  It is a small town and didn't take much time.

We stopped at the fish hatchery and saw hundreds of pink salmon in the water.  The sea lions were enjoying their feast of salmon.  The seagulls were trying to steal the sea lions catch from their mouth.  The salmon are as popular to animals as they are to humans.  A momma bear and 4 cubs have been sighted at the fish hatchery over the last few days.  We will be watching for them. 

We rode around town and came back to camp.   There is a big flashing sign that warns of the bears and to stay in your vehicle.  No one, (including us), are obeying.  But we are on the lookout for them and won't be outside close to them if we can help it.

Lauren grilled half of the King Salmon filet that Aldon gave him.  Another great meal. 

We walked a trail to the fishing area.  We were warned last night that the rocks around the water are slippier.  We saw a family of 4 going to fish.  It was a nice couple with a 2 year old and 6 year old.  When Daddy was almost to the water, he slipped.  Mom wouldn't let the girls go any further.  The 2 year old started wailing.  The 6 year old looked at us and said "she is kinda whiny today."  Too funny.

They found out we were from Mississippi and said that the 6 year old needed that license tag for her game.  They came over and let her looked at our tag so she could label Mississippi  on her game board.  This is the second kid that we know that has used our Mississippi tag for their game. 

We are going to stay in tonight and hope the weather clears tomorrow.  The weather forecast is not in our favor.

Pictures   https://goo.gl/photos/QzLxe9c9kapauzAw9

Day 51 (7-21-12 - Lazing around at Grove's Campground)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUDI !!!

We woke up to a familiar sound this morning.  Rain peppering on the roof top.  It was not the sound that we wanted to hear. We  had an off and on shower until lunch time.  The sun came out about 3 pm.  It turned out to be a pretty day.

We fried our first red salmon today for lunch, it was very good.  You know at home we cook catfish, bass, or white perch.  In Alaska, you cook  silver, red, king, pink, or chum salmon.   They have a few other fish, but nobody ever talks about them except the halibut.  And there is an obvious  dispute whether chum salmon (dog food fish ) is good.  I think we can put Zatarain's Fish Fry, (with Lauren's special seasoning added),  on any fish, deep fry it and make it taste good.

Lauren took the day off from fishing.  All that fishing must have wore out Ferny Kat.  She has been asleep most of the day.  The only time she was awake was to eat and to stare at the next door camper's dog that was sitting on the picnic table.  She was sitting on boxes looking looking out the back window of the camper.  They were eye level with each other.  Every now and then she would pattycake the window with her paws.  He would paw back at her.  She is such a tease.

The CG owners had a pot luck supper tonight.  The owners grilled red salmon.  They actually put barbeque sauce on it.  Delicous.  The rest of us campers brought a dish.  We had every thing from oreo cookies (my favorite) to baked beans.  I cooked Jambalaya.  It must have been good, there is none left.  I have to say it was nice to have some barbeque sauce and creole rice.   Not a thing that you find very often in the frontier state.

We are rested up and are planning on furthering our journey to Valdez tomorrow. The weather may change our minds.

 pictures   https://goo.gl/photos/G6jHy3rmHgyUT64M7

Day 50 (7-20-12 - Another Day of Fishing at Grove's Klutina Campground)

Got the Limit

It was another beautiful day in The Last Frontier. 

Lauren caught his first fish really fast this morning.  He lost a bunch before he caught his second fish.  He lost a bunch more before catching his 3rd fish.  He finally limited out.  He is wore out.

The first fish Lauren caught today is a "fish story."  There was a father and son fishing next to Lauren.  The  father was reeling in a fish when his son hooked a fish.  The son's fish jumped about the time Lauren's hook hit the water.  The son's line broke.  Lauren told the son when he was reeling in the fish that he thought it was his fish.  And he was right.  The son's hook and Lauren's hook were both in the mouth of the fish when he landed him.  Lauren gave the  guy his hook back. These two, (father and son), limited out early.  They thought this would be a great story to tell when we got back to Mississippi.  The story will make it home before we do.

We got a guy to vacuum seal our fish so that we might get the fish in our freezer.  We barely got 9 of the 10 filets in the freezer. We had to pull out frozen sausage and hash browns to make room. We will be eating hash browns and sausage patties along with the other filets for the next few days.

The guy that vacuum sealed our fish invited Lauren to join him for a walk to the mouth of the river to catch a King. Lauren declined.  The guy came back with a 38 pound King Salmon. I know now why he had a big gun at his side.  When he came up the path by the river, all you could see was a big fish tail sticking up out of his back pack.  He looked like bear bait to me. 

He gave us a peice of fillet from his King.  Now we have 2 filets to eat. Not a problem, Omega 3 is good for the heart and good for the belly.


After he cleaned his fish, he used his ulu knife to cut the ivory out of the head of the fish.  He is going to make earrings for Christmas presents for his family next year.  Cool.

The guy that caught the King moved here from North Carolina.  His wife is a nurse.  Lauren is trying hard to get me to check out the jobs around here.

After seeing the temperature reach 79 degrees today, we feel that we are in a heat wave.  Thank goodness for warmer, dryer weather.

Pictures are here:https://goo.gl/photos/2UVco9QDYgMxzehr9

Day 49 (7-19-12 - At the fish camp in Copper Center)

"I'll be glad to get back to Crossroads,  we have flow wells and are not rationing water"

It has been a gorgeous day.  We actually had on shorts and flip flops.  Finally, we are not freezing.

We went to the unisex restrooms and showers at the campground.  There are 2 showers and 3 toilets.  These are located in the laundry room.  We were able to wash our clothes and ourselves at the same time.

I have the luxury of blow drying my hair now that we  have an extension cord connected to the camper supplying our electricity.  A good shower and hair styling is a rare treat since we rarely have any hook ups for the camper.  I feel like a new woman, that is cleaned and fluffed.

Lauren successfully caught a salmon this morning.  He went back this evening and hooked two and lost them.  Not bad for a Redneck with no salmon fishing experience.

Ferny didn't come to bed last night. She was on night patrol.   Last night was the first night in a while that she slept solo.  She usually gets in the bed and steals our warmth.  It is a good thing.  With her fur and my hot flashes, Lauren would have probably been set on fire.

As usual, I have another favorite place in Alaska. 

Exhausted!!!!

Today's pics   https://goo.gl/photos/LVTQMF1pZPY9ZHEm7

Day 48 (7-18-12 - Copper Center)

Lauren's first salmon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANITA!!!

We traveled 180 miles today to Grove's Klutina Campground in Copper Center.  It was a gorgeous day.  We saw Matanuska Glacier and many more scenic views along the way.  We are camped on the river and listening to the water rushing over the bolders.  It is so relaxing.

Judy and Terry stayed here about a month ago and highly recommended this place.  We called and found out the salmon were running.  We told Mary that we were on our way. When we got here we had to wait for her to come back from fishing.  She said that she thought she would be able to catch a fish before we got here.  She did catch a fish.  It was the biggest salmon that we saw today.  We had no problem waiting on the camp host to catch a salmon.  This is our kind of place.

Lauren has cooked both meals that we ate today.  He cooked sausage and pancakes for breakfast and his wonderful grilled chicken this afternoon.  My man can cook!!

Lauren went fishing for a couple of hours.  The first fish he hooked, got off.  The second fish, broke the line.  The third fish, is in the fridge.  He is one happy fisherman.

I can't wait for him to cook his catch.

Pretty view from the CG

Pictures     https://goo.gl/photos/DHEwjH62UmnEzMyj8

Day 47 (7-17-12 - Anchorage)

We had a gorgeous sunny day today with the temperature reaching 70 degrees.  Finally we were able to be outside in short sleeves.

We took a ride to Anchorage.  I needed to do my monthly weigh in at Weight Watchers and this was the best opportunity that I have for this month.  I met the leader and a trainee.  The leader was from Lake Charles, (small world). 

The two weigh in stations were separate and private. This was the most impressive weight watchers facility that I have ever been in

 I told them that I have been a life time member for over 6 1/2 years.  The lady in training was very impressed and told me that I inspired her to continue with her training. I felt like a weight watchers superstar when I left. Oh, and I lost 3 pounds since last month, a total of 4 pounds since I left home. I think being stress free is a big factor.

The trainee apologized for the cold summer in Alaska. I told her not to worry, we have thoroughly enjoyed Alaska.

I knew I was long overdue for a hair cut.  I had Lauren in a "it's all about Kim mood,"  so I went a got a trim.  The hair cutter was as nice as everyone else that we have met in Alaska.  She also apologized for the cold summer.  I assured her that we are having a blast.

We went to Earthquake Park.  It was a great memorial to the 1964 earthquake.  It made me speculate about what must have went through their minds as the ground shook and broke apart for 90 seconds.  It goes without saying, that you need to live each minute to the fullest.

We took a ride downtown to Ship Creek where the salmon were supposed to be viewed from the bridge.  There were no salmon.  We took a ride closer to a hatchery, and found several salmon waiting under the bridge on their way to their birthplace for their last spawning.  Their story is like a Romeo and Juliet fish novel. 

After a great day in Anchorage, we are at the camp.  We have the back door down.  We are listenening to the sound of the generator and hearing and watching the rushing water in the river.   We have had another fantastic day in Alaska.

Pics are here: https://goo.gl/photos/Bct5XhisQMwjud8G6

Day 46 (7-16-12 - Eagle River Campground)

Coming out of the Tunnel

We woke up to a  foggy cold morning.  We took a ride through the famous train tunnel to Whittier.  We had a short delay waiting for a train to come through before we were cleared to enter.  We rode 2.5 miles through the hole in the mountain riding on the train track.  A very unique experience.

We heard the locals say the weather is sh_____ier in Whittier.  Guess what, the weather was prettier in Whittier.  It was a beutiful day except for the cold wind.  We walked around the harbor and through the pedestrian tunnel.  We took a ride up the mountain and found some more gorgeous views of Prince William Sound.  We took a hike up a trail to look at a pretty waterfall called Horsetail Falls. 

We went back to the campground.  The fog had lifted, but it was still cloudy and cold.  We took a walk on the Trail of Blue Ice that runs behind our campsite.  This was a very well maintained trail with a lot of boardwalks.  There were pretty views of Middle Glacier and the creek.  We finally saw the waterfall that we had been hearing at our camp site. 

We moved 65 miles inland to Eagle River which is a suburb of Anchorage.  We are camped at Eagle River Campground in Chugach State Park.  It is another nice campground.  We took a ride to Walmart  to restock.  We walked around the campground then sat around the campfire for several hours. Ferny Kat was as happy to be out as we were.  She loves it here. We were not getting rained on so I pulled out the mats from the truck and the rugs from the camper.   Everything, including us, needed to be aired out.

We grilled pork chops over the campfire and had corn and peas with them.  We really like cooking over the fire pit.  There is no clean up when you are done.

We are able to pick up TV channels tonight.  We have found that there are only oldies on air TV in Alaska. At least we will be able to watch the news in the morning.  With poor radio and TV reception most of the time, we have no clue what is going on in the world and we haven't missed it.

We have done a lot of relaxing, enjoyable, walks today.  The fitbit count is 8 miles today.  We were so caught up in the  beautiful surrondings, we were both suprised that we walked this far. 

Pictures https://goo.gl/photos/2GtcBsF6c3fGSBfD6

Day 45 (7-15-12 - Williwaw Campground)

It was hard to leave Quartz Creek but it was time to move on.  We relocated 55 miles to Williwaw Campground near Whittier.  It has been another rainy day.

We are camped at the base of one of the glaciers, Middle Glacier.  We have a good view from our campsite.  It is another pretty campground in the Chugach National Forest.

We went to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center.  This center is named after Hale Boggs, U.S. House of Representatives majority leader, who disappeared in a plane when traveling to Juneau.  There were gorgeous views of glaciers and glacier ice floating in the lake at the visitor center. It was an honor to know that this center was named after a representative from my birth place.

We went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. We wanted to see musk ox and porcupines.  The musk ox are really ugly and the porcupines need some good deodorant.   We preferred to walk instead of drive but it was too rainy.  It was okay, but too many people for us.

We took a ride to Girdwood on Seward Highway toward Anchorage.  We were going to ride the tram in Girdwood.  It was not running today.  It probably has something to do with the 45 to 65 mile per hour winds that are forcasted for this area tonight.  Turnagain Arm was not as pretty as a few weeks ago.  Sunshine makes everything look a lot better.

We cooked our hand caught, (muscle tired), halibut tonight.  We were going to grill it, but the weather was so bad we decided to cook it as fast as we could.  We fried it.  It is absolutely the best fried fish that I have ever ate.  I know Otha and Audrey are in heaven thinking, no way.

Ferny Kat was adamant that she was going outside. We thought that she would go outside, feel the cold and the rain and come right back in.  Wrong.  We took turns as she led us around for a while in the cold wind and the rain.  The locals have told us to layer up and continue with our plans. I guess Ferny Kat has adapted to the Alaskan way of life.  If you want to do something, go ahead, regardless of the weather.   

We are in for the night listening to the rain.  We need to go to bed early and get up early to go to Whittier tomorrow.  We have been sleeping until after 8:00 the last two mornings.  Oh well, who cares, we are retired.

 Pictures    https://goo.gl/photos/KbDcfKkYfJxNjDCr6

Day 44 (7-14-12 - Quartz Creek Campground)

The headlines are true, It's Cold!!

This is the warmest day that we have had in weeks.  We had a high of 63 with partly sunny skies.  It was nice for most of the day and then the rain set in.

We slept until 8:30 this morning.  We decided to cook lunch instead of breakfast.  We cooked hamburgers over the camp fire grill.  This is our last pack of Fortenberry meat.

We drove 19 miles on a gravel road to Skilak Lake.  There were some pretty views around the lake.  The only wildllife sighting was a coyote.  On the way back to camp, we stopped for ice cream at Wildman's.

Lauren went fly fishing in Quartz Creek.  He didn't last long.  It got cloudy, cold, and windy.

We had a nice visit with the family that we met at Deep Creek.  They happened to be camping at Quartz Creek Campground.  They were the ones that told us about Quartz Creek Campground.  They cooked a delicious cherry cobbler in a dutch oven over the fire pit.  It was great to see them again.

Pictures   https://goo.gl/photos/3cdLKn7nTYCZ8X7KA

Day 43 (7-13-12 - Seward to Quartz Creek)

We woke up to the sound of eagle chirps and Ferny Kat purring this morning.  This is the adventure we dreamed of.  No generators and no doors slaming. I think moving across the bay was worth the isolation for a least a good nights rest.

Lauren was slow to get up.  He had some sore spots, (probably a bunch of sore spots from snagging yesterday), on his body.  He looked really tired when he went back salmon snagging this morning.

Lauren must stick out like a, "I'm not from here,"  kind of guy because for two days, there have been several guys walk up and give advice.  They have offered him their fishing pole to snag with and even give him treble hooks.  The generosity of these guys is unbelievable.

After a couple of hours with no snagged salmon, we decided to move on.

We moved 46 miles to Quartz Creek Campground.  

Our friends that we met at Deep Creek highly recomended this campground.   We are glad that we went out of our way to stop here.

We were agravated by the ravons when we got here   We acted like we were picking up rocks and throwing at them.  They flew away. Now we know what to do.

We rode around downtown Cooper Landing.  We had a milkshake at Wildman's.  Lauren had a pineapple milkshake and I had a chocolate milkshake.  Lauren  reminisced about me fixing his pineapple milkshake at Zesto's.  He said that this was the second best milkshake that he ever had.  I think he is right.

We walked around at the Russian River Ferry.  We met a man who is the manager of the Russian River Ferry that is originally from Laurel, Ms.  He went to PRC in 1960.  It was pretty cool to meet someone that went to PRC in Alaska.  I bet that it is rare to have 3 alumni from PRC at the Russian River Ferry in Alaska.

Ferny is purring again.  The three of us are happy.  Only one of us purrs.  Gotta love it!!

Pics https://goo.gl/photos/Do6upBUzUMr7zaa1A

Day 42 (7-12-12 - Lauren tried Snagging)

It was still raining today but the wind was calmer.  Lauren decided to gear up and try snagging.

We rode across the bay to Spring Creek Campground and watched people snagging.  The tide was in and the waves were rough.  Lauren watched for a while and saw several people that were sucessfully snagging fish. We saw salmon jumping out of the water. He decided to give it a try.  He cast for 4 minutes and lost his first treble hook.  He cast for about another 10 minutes and the line broke at the reel.  His 30 year old 808 reel was slipping and groaning.  It was time to rethink this.

After 3 trips to True Value Hardware he felt he had the appropriate snagging gear. We moved across the bay to Spring Creek Campground.  It is another city campground, but is more isolated than the others. There is 1 other camper here tonight. 

We set up camp and grilled our first King Salmon.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lauren tried snagging with his new rod and reel.  He caught a lot of sea weed and lost plenty of hooks. He finally snagged some kind of fish, but it was not a salmon. 

If it keeps going like this, we will be going back to True Value Hardware tomorrow.

Pics: https://goo.gl/photos/C3bf4VJmiDcW6vta8

Day 41 (7-11-12 - A rainy day in Seward)

It is a miserable, cold, wet day in Seward.  It stated raining yesterday evening and has not stopped.  According to the forecast, it is going to be this way until Saturday.   We are so happy that we had not planned a cruise today.

We went to the Alaska SeaLife Center and the True Value Hardware Store.  The sea life center had good habitat exhibits.  The True Value Hardware Store had a mixture of stuff, such as hardware, clothes, household goods, fishing goods, charters, etc.  It was an interesting shopping experience.

We had planned on pulling out the grill and cooking Salmon tonight.  Mother nature changed our plans.  We did a lot of thinking and researching.  Lauren found a recipe that kinda reminded me of momma cooking daddy salmon patties.  We both got in our tiny little kitchen, did some slicing and dicing, added some secret seasonings and cooked what we call salmon patties.  Man, they were good.

This Louisiana Woman and Mississippi Man have our own unique alaska cuisine.

Pictures   https://goo.gl/photos/Sp7xaQjHDno42npv9

Day 40 (7-10-12 - Kenai Fjords Glacier Cruise)

We had a fantastic time today.  We boarded a 7 1/2 hour glacier cruise on a boat named, Spirit of Adventure.  The day started out beautiful.  The last 2 hours of the cruise it rained.

We stayed on the outside top deck for most of the trip.  Standing in the cold was well worth the views.  We went inside when it started to rain and took more pictures from the rain covered windows.  We loved the scenery so much that we exhausted both of the batteries in the camera.

I prepared well for this trip.  I put on my Scopolamine Patch and the sea bands that Captain Lane gave me when we went Halibut fishing.  I never experienced any motion sickness on this cruise. 

There were several people that got sea sick.  I overheard a crew member calling and reporting that there was a woman unresponive.  The word unresponsive gave me flashbacks of working.  She also said that a paramedic was taking care of her and that the paramedic thought the woman was sea sick.  They carried her to the back deck, propped her up on lifejackets.  She eventually was able to get off the floor.  I sure did feel sorry for her and all the others who were sea sick.  I know first hand how miserable it is.

We cruised from Resurrection Bay to the Gulf of Alaska.  We saw jelly fish, sea lions, sea otters, seals, puffins, bald eagles, mew gulls, mountain goats, dall's porpoise, humpback whales,and  killer whales.  We saw several beutiful glaciers, including Bear Glacier, Aialik Glacier, Holgate Glacier, Pederson Glacier,and numerous others that were not named. 

Glacier calving sounds like thunder.  You look toward the sound and see a large piece of the glacier fall into the water.  It is an amazing experience. 

We ate out for the first time since we have been on this trip.  The cruise had a buffet of prime rib and wild salmon.  They even had prime rib that was well done.  I was suprised because most prime rib is rare and I won't eat it.  They also had a desert bar of brownies, fruit salad, and cheese cake. The food was delicious.  Hopefully I'll have enough exercise in this week to cover the extra calories that I ate.  I definitely got my money's worth.

The crew said that they scooped up glacier ice from the bay and were selling cocktails with glacier ice added.  Of course, I had to have one.  They ran out of margaritas, so we got a puffin on the rocks.  The ice looked like a big chunk of glacier to me. It was pretty good.  Lauren doesn't believe that they actually got the ice from the glacier.  But I believe.

The Spirit of Adventure was true to it's name.  We had an unforgettable adventure today.


We walked back from the pier to our camper in the rain.  We have a 60 percent chance of rain tonight.  We are settled in for the night.

                                                                Glacier Calving

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/r4nuUhdF1LJwdjPr5

Day 39 (7-9-12 - Exit Glacier)

We hiked 7.5 miles and climbed 146 floors, (per Fitbit), at the Exit Glacier.  We are tired but really enjoyed the hike.  The first hike we took this morning was a ranger guided hike with Lou.   We hiked the Glacier Edge Trail.  It was slow paced for us but we learned a lot about Glaciers.

The other hike we took on our own, was to Marmot Meadows on the Harding Icefield Trail.  It was 1.4 miles up the mountain with an increase of 1,558 foot in elevation.  Another tough hike, but well worth it.  We could see the blue color in the glacier that looked like ribbons carved in the ice.  Very nice and well worth the hike. We saw a couple of marmots on the trail.  We stopped and waited for them to get off the trail.  We needed the break so it was good to wait about 10 minutes for them to get off the trail.  They were picture hogs.  When we made it back down, the ranger told us that it looks like someone is feeding them.  I agree, they were not scared of us.  As a matter of fact, I think my bear bells summoned them out of hiding.  We saw them as we were going up and coming back on the trail.

We saw several people on the glacier from Marmot Meadows.  They hire guides to take them on this trip.  We were told that it is usually 1 guide for 2 to 3 people and is very costly.  We were also told that the guide is very selective on who he or she takes on the hike and that some people would be turned down by the guide.  With our inexperience with hiking in an glacier, we had no chance of going with a guide.  Good.  We were exhausted from walking up the trail of mud and rocks.

We admired the view of the glacier, and started down the mountain.  We had a  light shower.  It is very slippery walking down the muddy rocks.  We had a few slips of foot but made it to the bottom without injury.  Unless, you consider the injury to our muscles in our tired, shaky legs.  I am sure that we will recover in a few days.

We got back to the camper and opened the back door and pulled down the screen of the toy hauler.  Fernie was very happy.  She sat in the back of the camper and watched people.  Almost everyone walking on the walk/bike path commented about the cat.  We would see people walk by, look in the camper, point, make a comment, and laugh.  One lady told us that she liked the house that our cat lived in. This is a true statement because we bought the camper so the cat could travel with us. Ferny was the talk of the walk.

We watched a couple of whales and a lot of boats in the bay this afternoon while we were recuperating from our hike.  The waves are really rough at high tide.  The waves were coming over the bow of the smaller boats.  I hope the seas are calmer tomorrow when we go on the Kenai Fjords National Park cruise.

                                                                Ferny (the talk of the walk)

Pictures :  https://goo.gl/photos/cfeNcNPM6xrJmaXG7

Day 38 (7-8-12 - Resurrection Bay)

I have a new favorite place in Alaska; Seward.  I love this place.  We traveled 6 miles today and are camped in the city campground on the beach.  Resurrection Bay is gorgeous with the mountains surrounding it. 

We walked 6 and half miles today.  We have a walking/biking trail behind our camper.  It is a really busy trail with walkers, dogs, skate riders, and bike riders.  Our campfire is between the walkway and the beach.  Awesome, (unless you want privacy.)

Lauren's gift of gab has paid off again.  We were leaving the campgroound today to go to Safeway, Lauren saw some guys taking their pictures with their fish. He wheeled around, left the ignition running, and checked it out.  After about 15 minutes, I turned off the ignition.  I knew that this was going to take some time.  He came back with several pounds of king salmon and silver salmon.  This was perfect in the Zatarain's Fish Fry that Lauren doctored up with spices.  It was another great supper.

Ferny has decided to stay in the camper and people/dog watch.  As usual, there are a lot of dogs, several of which are not on a leash.  We are planning on staying here at least 3 nights.  Maybe the next site will be Ferny Kat friendly.  For now, she is watching out the windows.

We drove around the bay today and watched fisherman snagging for salmon.  Lauren is ready to give this a try.  It looks hilarious to me.  You throw a hook with about 3 trebles sticking up, (no bait) and try to snag a salmon.  As good as the salmon tasted that we had tonight, I hope this works.

We saw some sea wildlife today.  We think it was sea otters and dolphins.  We were unable to get pictures because they were better swimmers than we were photographers.

We watched a cruise ship leave the dock around 8 pm tonight as we were sitting by our campfire.  There were very few people out on the deck on the ship.  It is chilly right now.

We are planning on hiking tomorrow and taking a glacier cruise Tuesday.  This is the most plans we have made since we decided to leave home.

As usual, we have had another great day in Ak. We have met a lot of really nice folks, and we are enjoying every minute of it. 

The good news is, it is slightly warmer here, but it is still cloudy and rainy. We have been chilled a few times today, but not chilled to the bone. There is hope that we won't freeze.

Did I mention the view is spectacular.

Pics:   https://goo.gl/photos/BG9VqqMBUKpHohw1A

                                                                                                                                                                                                

Day 37 (7-7-12 - Moving to Seward)

                                                          Clam Chowder Mississippi Style

It's Saturday and time to wash clothes and clean the camper.  We moved to Seward, (130 miles). We had pretty scenery on the drive here with off and on rain.  We stopped at the Walmart near Sodotna and stocked up. 

Lauren lowered the other bed in the camper and put Ferny in it last night.  She was happy to hide up there.  It was like a new play ground for her.  She jumped in and out of the bed all night, shaking the whole camper.  We raised the bed back to the roof this morning and she meowed until we lowered it for her to jump back in.  She likes having her own personal space.
We heard a bang on the side of the camper this morning before we left Captain Cook State Park. A bird that was flying by, flew into the camper, fell to the ground,  and flopped around.  I hope he made it.  I wonder if it is the same bird that has been walking on top of our camper every morning.
We are staying at Bear Creek Campground.  It is the first campground that we have stayed at in 11 days that has any type of hookups, (this one has full hookups).  We don't have to ration the water and the battery power tonight. We have cable TV, this is very rare.  We found the Lawrence Welk Show.  I guess it takes a long time for TV to make it to Alaska.  We don't have the view of the beach, although, we  can see some mountains.
Ferny is enjoying drinking running water from the faucet. Ferny thinks that she is supposed to drink out of the faucet, not a bowl. She only gets a trickle of water from the faucet when we are don't have water hookups.   She is definitely not a conservatist.
We had fantastic razor clam chowder tonight that we made.  We found a recipe on the Diamond M Campground blog. We added Tony Chachere's to the recipe. YUMMIE!!!!  Lauren may have to go back clamming.  I hope we find some more good clam spotters if he goes again.  The clam chowder was worth all the work, at least it was for me, I just watched.

We saw two moose today, (momma and a baby) on the ride here.

                                         Last night, no tv to watch, so Ferny was in the box

pics: https://goo.gl/photos/seu3dCbAyLadQkfDA

Day 36 (7-6-12 - Captain Cook SRA)

As bad as we hated to leave Ninilchik, it was time to move on.  We moved about 70 miles north to the end of the road, we are staying at the Discovery Campground at Captain Cook Recreation Area.  We are camped on a bluff overlooking the Cook Inlet.  We have another gorgeous view.

As usual, before leaving Ninilchik, we woke up to the sound of rain on the roof of the camper.  When we arrived here it was mostly sunny.  It has clouded up again but is a lot warmer in the trees at this campground than it was on the beach at Ninilchik. 

For the last two mornings at Ninilchik, we have had a bird walk on the roof of the camper.  Ferny Kat ran around in the camper chasing this bird.  Ferny walked all over us, jumped from one side of the camper to the other, as the bird walked on top of the camper  It has been our alarm clock for the last couple of days.

This campground is in a beautiful forest with plenty of mosquitoes.  There are several eagles here but not like the bumper crop at Ninilchik

We hiked 6 and half miles today.  Obviously, there have been strong winds in this area recently.  There are a lot of trees blown down.  These downed trees turned the walking trail into an obstacle course.

We hiked deep into the woods.  It was nice to see some greenery.  I wore my bear bells and made Lauren carry my bear spray.  We walked down the bluff to the Swanson River.  The tide was out and it looked like a mud hole.  It will probably look better at high tide.

We encountered several dogs on the trail that were not on a leash.  I began to worry more about being dog bit instead of mauled by a bear. 

We saw plenty of moose poop on the trail but no moose.  We did see a couple moose on the road before we got here today.

Pics:  https://goo.gl/photos/hg6r6jNBFaHbmPpi7