Day 7 of Terry and Dee's visit... (continued)
Well, Ray’s stopped serving omelets about three years ago! They don’t even open till 10:30. So to take up some time we went over to see the Benny Benson Memorial. It is pretty simple but quite moving. His photo is there, and of course the flag and some informational signs. Dee really liked it and later bought a copy of the book. We got to Ray’s around 11 and just had lunch. However, it was worth the wait. I had halibut again – I could eat halibut for a month. We were right on the bay with all the hundreds of ships and boats and the mountains were clear as a bell. Our seat was by the window and we just loved it. This guy at the next table was alone and stuck up a conversation about fishing – we just went along with him. He suggested we rent a boat and do some fishing – I don’t think so. (In the paper today, there was a story about a man who caught a 340 pound halibut.) Let’s see, after lunch we headed to the museum. It is really small but lots of stuff about legendary folks in the area, the earthquake of 64, and loads of old things having to do with mining and such. Really well done. Lots of personal things of past residents. Finally in the middle of the afternoon we headed toward the Exit Glacier. I should know but I do not know how it got that name. As we walked along the “easy” paved path, we could see signs for, say 1911, 1927, 1940, 1952, etc, that noted where the glacier extended in past years. After 1952, the easy path stopped and the upward, hard path started. We were only half way to the glacier. Terry and Dee were determined to touch that glacier and that is supposedly what you can do at the end of the trail. Well, we stared climbing. Tom was quite helpful – although I can go uphill much easier than downhill (with the knee thing going on).About half way up a kind woman said “Just a few more steps, a couple of steep ones, but you are almost there!” She was fibbing. There were a lot more steps and the steepest ones so far. I just kept going. Tom was of course just wonderful – holding my hand and pulling me up those rocks the whole way. We finally made it the summit. However, to get to the glacier – you had to go down and over this rocky path. That’s where I said – I’ll take photos – you guys go ahead. Tom did not want to leave me, but I guess he wanted to touch that glacier more – so they went ahead. I was just hoping I didn’t fall over – there wasn’t a level place to stand on that rock. I took several photos of them and was the picture taker for a lot of couples – so I served somewhat of a purpose. You can barely see the three of them, Terry, Dee, and Tom, on their way to the glacier in the photo. They are the three tiny people right at the edge of the glacier. It was quite beautiful up there and I’m glad I made the climb with them. Going down was harder – but shorter. As long as I lead with my left leg, I’m fine.

Later we went to Terry’s Fish and Chips and I had, what else, halibut. Great food, a crowded popular place. We got a wonderful photo of Terry in front of the place – like it was his own. It was an early night.

Day 8
Drove to Homer today. Highlight of the trip was passing through the Russian River area and seeing the Combat Fisherman. Hope you can tell a bit from the photo. We turned off in the parking area and knew immediately it was a mistake. Tom told me just to get out and go take my photos. So Terry and I hopped out to get our photos and left Dee with Tom. I hope she forgives me someday. The entrance was backed up to the main road and you had to show your fishing license to get in – so I don’t know how Tom managed to get through – but Terry and I saw him driving though and then going straight back out to the main highway. We had finished taking our photos and tried to run stop him – but he was pulling out! So we just walked to the main road and hoped he would come back by. He did.
I can understand why they call it combat fishing. Those guys were lined up shoulder to shoulder for hundreds of yards down the river. We watched one man pull in a huge fish. They were so close I imagine their lines get tangled. I’ve never seen such a focus on fishing before – it is an obsession here, a huge business and rightly so. When we got back in the truck, as Tom swung by, I noticed Dee was buried in her book. No telling how much ranting Tom did. It was special seeing those lines of guys fishing – and we saw the same thing that day several more times.

We traveled on through Soldotna, and some small villages on the shore. We stopped at one Russian village, Ninilchik, just before Anchor Point. It was a like a step back in time.
Old houses, old cars, old church, quite beautiful. We visited a little gift shop with Russian gifts and the lady gave us all a Russian Flag. At Anchor Point we pulled over to see the Ring of Fire – a group of four volcanoes across the bay (we’ve been on the Kenai Peninsula) but it was really too cloudy to see them. We rolled into Homer – beautiful Homer around 5pm and set up our pop up at the Homer Spit Campground. We were right on the ocean. The most beautiful scenery ever was right in front of us and we could look at it all night long. Of course we were again the only pop-up – everyone else had 5th wheelers and big RV’s. However, I love our pop-up. It is like a big tent only more comfortable. I took it easy while Tom and Terry took Dee shopping!

Day 9
We got up early to meet our cruise boat to Seldovia – a small village on the other side of the bay. The boat was not very full and the guide was a former bush teacher whom I really enjoyed talking about common experiences. We saw loads of birds at Gull Island where I also saw my first Puffin. See Otters were everywhere just taking in the sun and playing around. The giant sea kelp was absolutely scary. I was up and down the steps getting the best photos and those steps were steep. It was sunny and windy and cold all at the same time. Dee just about froze – but she would not move from her wonderful viewing seat. Seldovia was very pretty. We ate lunch at this lovely little café that Terry picked out called the Three Bears Café. I had a smoked salmon sandwich and it was delicious. Afterwards I sat at the table on the porch and wrote post cards while the others walked around. It was a really beautiful place and we all wanted to move there. Oh, I forgot!
When we boarded the boat to leave that morning the tide was out – which meant we had to walk down this ramp that was maybe a 45 degree angle - a little steep!
We got home late in the afternoon and first thing we walked over to the Salty Dog to get photos. We were hoping to eat there but it is really is just a bar. We went to eat later at a really nice little place – can’t remember the name of it but I had a wok salmon dish that was quite tasty. Well the showers at Homer Spit Campground close at 9pm. We got home around 9:30. Terry went in to ask the manager if we could get showers – they all knew us because I had really messed up our reservations for the campground. The manager said we could all go in the men’s showers together and take our shower, so that is what we did. It was pretty funny – and we couldn’t let other folks know we were in there and we had to keep the door locked and we were all laughing. Hated to leave the next morning. I could live in Homer.


Day 10
The drive back was wonderful, with beautiful weather. Our only long stop of the day was a side trip to Hope Alaska – a small, quaint village across the bay from Turnagain Arm. We had lunch at the Seaside Café, shopped at a couple of little stores, then visited the local library where I was able to check my email! Not too much tourist stuff here. They had a two week period of no electricity in the village this past winter. The coast guard had to fly out supplies to them. I could have lived there too – so peaceful and secluded. We got back into Elemendorf, popped up the pop-up and had out first picnic lunch. Early to bed.

Day 11

Pretty much last minute things – Terry and Dee had to repack some things, and also mail back some purchases they had made. We finally made it to the Arurora Lights film downtown which Dee did not want to miss. And of course we had to have one last meal at the Sourdough Mining Company. The owner dropped by our table for some reason and in conversation we discovered that he was originally from Elijay GA. He had built that restaurant in 1981 – and now spent his summers fishing in the Florida Keys. We managed to get them to the airport on time and said our goodbyes. I think they had a wonderful time.

It is now six days later. We have rested, watched several movies and walked the dog about a hundred and fifty times. My friend Mary arrives tonight – so we may not be able to post until next Tuesday – since we are leaving for St. Paul on Friday!! I promised we would keep quiet about our lack of knowledge about birds. All of the folks on this tour will be birders. Tom and I picked out some new binoculars just for the trip. I’m looking forward, well, I can’t wait to see the thousands of fur seals on the beach.

Day 6 of Terry and Dee’s visit and this is the first minute I’ve had to write anything! Let’s see, we picked them up Sunday night at the airport – after taking our precious Roxy to the kennel for her 10 day stay. This kennel is really first class – the dogs are walked three times a day, they have washing machines and dishwashers for the doggy things, they groom (extra), and the vets are right there working in the same facility. So we feel very confident that Roxy will be just fine. She will be mad, but she will be fine. Back to Terry and Dee…they were really impressed with our little camper. We had improved their mattress and given them two heavy blankets and the sheets. They were pleased that we could turn on the heat and had running water, although it is cold. We had moved the camper to the slot closest to the bathhouse. The Elmendorf Air Force base campground is quite nice – lots of trees and the showers are brand new. It is quiet except when the planes fly over or the sirens turn on from the ambulances across the road.

Monday, we took them to Gwennie’s for breakfast, then Lake Hood and the Aviation Museum. They were impressed with the hundreds of float and ski planes and we got to see several of them land and take off. Dee loved the little houses they build to hold the supplies and equipment for each plane – some even had sod and flower boxes. She saw her first moose in a back yard near the lake. We then went over to the Ulu Factory, took a tram ride through town and saw Ship Creek where the salmon run. Bunches of folks were out fishing, so that was nice. We dropped them off to see Resolution Park and the Captain Cook Monument. Later we went to the Alaska Native Heritage Museum where we saw Native Alaskan dancing, crafts, games, and homesite replicas. It was their favorite activity of the day. Several times during the afternoon, Chevak was mentioned by the folks there and they even had dance from Chevak. One of the dancers was related to John Pingayak, who is our Cup’ik Culture teachers in Chevak. Another one of the instructors mentioned the steam bath he had in Chevak. By the time we left Dee and Terry thought Chevak was famous.

We ate Saturday night at the Sour Dough Mine and they gave us entirely too much food. In fact Tom and I shared one meal and Terry and Dee shared one meal and we still brought home a doggie bag. Food was delicious – we will definitely be taking all of our guests to the Sour Dough Mining Company.

We might have done more – but Dee loves to shop!!! It was a successful day.

Day 2 – We folded up our camper and headed toward Denali Park. Our first stop on the way was Thunderbird Falls. I insisted that we stop and walk to the falls because I had heard that it was a quick easy walk. Tom decided to stay with the car – since we had so many bags in the truck. Well, this was a mile long walk up and down steep rollercoaster hills – and me with my upcoming knee surgery. About half way through we met a guy coming back – he said we didn’t have to go all the way that he would share his photos with us and that’s what he did. We turned around and trekked back over those steep hills to our truck.

Tom did a great job with the camper – like he had driven it for years. We got to
Denali that evening, checked in and then drove to our campsite at
Teklanika Campground at Mile 27 on the park road. Very pretty – but no electricity (no heat) and no water. We had to use the primitive bath rooms and we had to keep all food and such inside the trailer so as not to attract the bears and wolves. We were really, really cold! Got in bed early with no bath and had no bath the next two days.

Day 3
We took the shuttle bus at 7:55 to Wonder Lake. I have wanted to go to Wonder Lake for a year now. That’s the lake you usually see in the photos of Denali when there is water in front of it. There are no words to describe how beautiful, how immense that park is. It was truly overwhelming. But let me get to Wonder Lake. The bus ride there was over five hours. I was prepared with a mosquito net and repellant and was expecting to have wonderful time. Upon our arrival the bus driver said 35 minutes. I couldn’t believe it – 35 minutes!
We got off the bus and were met with about one million mosquitoes. We pulled those nets over our heads at the same time we were spraying repellant all over us. I have never seen anything like it. They were lighted all over my netting trying to get to me! Two campers were throwing their gear on the back of the bus and getting on as fast as they could since they had obviously camped the night before. Some folks were not even getting off the bus. I realized immediately why they only stayed 35 minutes. But we four braved it – we sat down and had a picnic lunch - lifting our nets only to put food in our mouths. We walked down to the lake and watched our bus leave. We would just catch the next one back. Just for moment when the quietness came (except for the mosquitos buzzing) – I wondered if maybe we had made a bad decision. We walked down to Wonder Lake and felt like we were the only people in the world. Took lots of photos and waited a while for the next bus to arrive. When it did, we were sitting four in a row on a log with our mosquito nets still on. A woman on the bus took our photo from her window! We hopped on that bus to return on the five hour trip to our campsite. We sure laughed a lot about the mosquitos - but I was a little disappointed about Wonder Lake. I guess I did not believe it about how bad the mosquitos could actually be. I’m glad we stayed a while and felt the tranquility and silentness of the place. It was beautiful – of course we could not see Mt. McKinley because of the cloud coverage. We saw lots of bears, Dall sheep, a fox, moose, rabbits, and of course the one million mosquitos at Wonder Lake. We really had a wonderful adventurous time.
Day 4
The next morning we drove back towards the visitor center, stopping by to see the fabulous sled dog demonstration which Dee loved. We were able to see the dogs up close and pet some of them – then they hitched them up for demonstration ride. I will always be surprised by the total excitement of the dogs when they realize they have a chance to run with that sled. These dogs are born to run. On the way home to Anchorage we were fortunately able to see the mountain since it was a bright sunny day. I was so glad for Terry and Dee because I thought – gee, going all the way to Denali – camping with no water or electricity, traveling ten hours on the bus and then not seeing the mountain. Luck was with us on the way home and I think they were happy.

We have the camper take down and/or set up down to 30 minutes. Tom is doing fairly well with his frustration level – he gets just tad tense when it comes time to take down and set up. I have to read his mind to figure out what help he wants and when he wants it. Tom works alone. I do try to assist with comments and observations (totally unwelcomed and ignored on his part) and I do actually pack up the stuff inside.




We took a day trip to Whittier – a lovely place which we had to access through a dark train tunnel. We took a Prince William Sound tour to see some glaciers and they were absolutely fabulous! We were out there several hours, had some great crab cakes and chocolate chip cookies. Saw oodles of birds, Mary. You are going to be so impressed with all these birds. On the way back we stopped at the Alaskan Wildlife Park where they rescue animals and take care of them. We got there late – only had 30 minutes to see the animals because they were closing. The girl at the desk took pity and told us we could have an extra 15 minutes since they still were feeding. Sooo – we were the only ones there, and they were feeding the animals. It was wonderful. We were following the feeder from animal to animal. We saw bears eat this hunk of red stuff and “argue” over it. Almost every animal was up near the front because they were being fed or waiting to be fed. We could have reached out and touched every one of them. Reindeer, bison, a fox, muskoxen, brown bears, black bears and some other brown bear, owl, beautiful elks. Very nice 45 minutes.

Day 5
The next day we packed up the trailer and headed south. We stopped on the Turnagain Arm at the Indian something gold mine and panned for gold. Such fun. This place was so cute – all sorts of old mining stuff and camp stuff. I loved it. We all found gold and I also found a garnet, so it was loads of fun. We then drove over to Alyeska resort and took the tram to the top of the mountain. There was snow everywhere – although the sun was shinning and it was hot. There was a skydivers convention of some sort going on so lots of young men going around with huge packs on their backs and a continuous succession of skydivers taking off on the top of the mountain. Very colorful and exciting. We had lunch – reindeer sausage and cookies. It was magical.

Day 6
We are now in Seward at the Military Recreation area (Thanks for this reference Mary) and about to leave to get some sort of legendary omelet at Ray’s. Then we will go to see the Benny Benson? Memorial. He was the little 13 year old orphan who in 1926 submitted a design for the Alaska Flag and won out over hundreds of entries all over the state. There is a children’s book about him. Afterwards we will head toward the museum and later to the Exit Glacier. This will be a really low key, relaxing day. We pull out in the morning for Homer. Now, we went downhill the entire 87 miles from Portage. So I guess we will go uphill all 87 miles back to the turnoff to Homer. Oh, I had blackened halibut for supper last night. We also drove out by the shore and took photos of eagles and sea otters. I want to live on the ocean, this place is beautiful.

On the way down yesterday we stopped at a rest stop to see some rafters training. The leader made them prove that they could swim across the current to the other side of the water before he would take then rafting on this fast water. You wouldn’t believe all the colorful gear.

We have had wonderful sunny days in Anchorage and Kenai.

Today Tom and I actually had time to get out of town. We drove south to Portage Glacier – actually a little recon mission in preparation for our visitors coming up this summer. We’ve been in this city of Anchorage going to doctor’s appointments and getting shopping done for so long that we forgot we were in Alaska. Today was really special. We did not go more than one hour from Anchorage but we felt like we were in another country. We saw Dall sheep on the mountainside, two eagles, a moose and a bear. The bear ran across the road in front of us in a photo rest area. Roxy nearly went through the window – I couldn’t take a photo because it took both of us to hold her back. We drove around the corner, still watching for the bear and we saw this man coming quickly out of a little nature trail area. He was white as a sheep and appeared to be shaking and was walking pretty fast. Tom lowered the window and said to him, “Let me guess, you saw the bear!” It was wild! The man was a little shaken but he did manage to say, “That was not a little bear!” It wasn’t …glad we were in the truck. .

Our friend Jeanne, from Chevak has been with us since Monday. She came home from the hospital today and will stay with us in the camper until Saturday when she flies back to Chevak for the summer. I think Jeanne is the only teacher staying in Chevak for the summer – she is really into the culture there. I believe she will even stay at one of the fish camps, and she loves those steam baths. Not for me….

My doctor’s appointments are multiplying. Today when we went back to the dermatologist both Tom and I had to have additional spots removed. And I have to go see another dermatologist next Thursday and he will remove an even larger area around that melanoma that I had removed earlier in the week. I will have sutures after this one – but I am assured that this is only preventative. These trips into Anchorage are getting to me. Now, today they called from the Family Physician’s office and they want Tom to come back tomorrow and do his blood work all over again which means he has to fast again tonight. Then the doctor wants a follow-up appointment at 9 am in the morning. Then my MRI on my pain filled knee showed the following: bursitis under the kneecap, a torn acl or alc ligament, and a leaking popliteal cyst on the back of the knee. (I'll get the correct spelling of these things soon.) I have to go see an orthopedic surgeon next week. I guess Chevak has been hard on our health. Oh, I now have high blood pressure medication, too. Ok - no more medical news alerts.

I finally saw Babel and really liked it. Casino Royale was special – I knew Daniel Craig would make a great James Bond. Finally saw The Departed and it was a fantastic movie - I want to see it over again.

Our new trailer has heat – but it works really well and gets a little warm. We have to learn to adjust the temperature. Tom and I slept on the dining room table last night – really cozy. Honestly, it makes into a bed and a comfy one at that. I think we have enough space for everything – since we travel lightly. We used the stove, the sink, the heater, the lights and the fans. We haven’t used the toilet yet and I kind of hope we don’t.

Again, we are on the bottom of the totem pole with our camper. Everyone here at the Elmendorf campground has those huge 5th wheelers or the ones that are like buses. I really think that if one could afford one of those huge buses – well the could also afford rooms at these expensive lodges and have great room service and private guides. That’s the kind of life I would lead anyway. We are really happy with our pop-up and hope it serves us well. We both were nervous driving with the camper on the back the first time. We are going to practice here at Elmendorf some before we pull out on the tenth. The roads are wide here on base and the speed limit slow.

If you are still reading, I apologize for the length of the last two posts.