July 29th

This is Dan, reporting for Gary and Debbie...

Just got a text from them. They are now in Whittier, AK! (see map above) Wow, quite a long way in one day... looks like they are seriously on the move again.

They said they are "dry camping" (whatever that means). I presume Deb will explain in a future post, if they ever make it out of the wilderness! I think it means no hook-ups for water or sewer... EEWWWWWWW!!! Now that's real camping!

They go on to say that it's "pretty isolated, like something out of Lord of the Rings". They don't specify if that means 'The Fellowship', 'The Two Towers' or 'Return of the King'... more details to come I suppose...

Anyway, they continue that they'll be in touch when they "return to civilization"...

let's hope this is not just the opportunity that Bruno has been waiting for!

Yikes!

July 28th

So we missed the opportunity to browse around Seward on a partly sunny day yesterday due to doing bills, etc. Today we're back into the heavy clouds, no sun, but at least we didn't have any rain. We decided to go downtown anyway and see what we could of the town. We picked up a town walking tour brochure, parked the RV and got on our way. We discovered that Governor Sarah Palin named Seward the "Mural Capital of Alaska" back in 2008. So our tour turned into a kind of treasure hunt, looking for murals all over town. They were found on sides of buildings and sometimes on the inside of historical buildings. The murals are designed by one artist, then projected onto sheets of alumalite, traced with pens and then filled in with color. The color is added in one day by towns people. That's why they are called "mural in a day" projects.

Besides the murals, the town is nestled at the base of picturesque mountains on the shores of Resurrection Bay. You can walk along the shore looking for puffins, sea otters, whales & sea lions. Well.... we saw sea otters! There were plenty of boats of all sizes and shapes going in and out of the bay which was interesting to watch.

After leaving the town we visited Exit Galcier. It was a really cool walk through a well maintained trail for about 1 mile up next to the glacier ice. Not so close that we could touch it, but close enough that we could feel the cool air coming off the ice and see the beautiful blue fissures that are cut deep into the ice caused by the cracking from beneath. We got a true comparison of size standing next to that massive chunk of ice... Amazing!

We are back at Stoney Creek Campground for one more night and then we'll be moving on tomorrow. I'm kind of disappointed that we were unable to see this area on a brighter day. The weather is not suppose to break all week. Bummer!! Of course the saying here in Alaska is, "If you don't like the weather... drive 5 miles". Okay, we'll see if that works.

PS: Dan, I included one of those big travel buses I had told you about. If you zoom into the writing on the back of the bus it says, "Land Yacht" on the side!

July 27th

Okay, enough chatter about Bruno the Bear. I can't believe that the last post has warranted more comments than any other and it's all over Bruno's safety! You people are CRAZY!

Today has been dryer than the last 2 days for sure! No rain, but temperatures still linger in the 50's and low 60's. I have to agree with you Martie, we feel like we have missed the summer of 2010 all together. That's okay, I'd rather the cool weather than the heat they are enduring back home.

Today was a maintenance day. I needed to do our monthly bills, laundry & cleaning and Gary looked over the engine and organized his fishing equipment. I must say, even doing bills in the Alaskan scenery is enjoyable. The pictures are what I see outside of my windows as I work away.

July 26th

So we moved on from Soldotna and traveled the familiar road of the Sterling Highway. It was cold, cloudy, rainy, and dreary again today. We left Riverside Terrace around noon with a hug from Gary,the owner, and a very warm invitation from Tim & Don,office workers, to return next year! We stopped at Fred Meyers which is like Walmart, bought food for the road and then we were on our way.

It's unfortunate that we could not see the mountains surrounding us because it is one of the most beautiful stretches of road we have been on. After about 40 miles we turned to the south on the Seward Highway. The heavy clouds were covering the tops of the mountains all around us and even hung into the crevices that they created. Either sun shine or clouds... the mountains are a beautiful place. The road wound around the base of these giants until we reached the end of the road in Seward. It is so odd to see avalanche signs when the ocean is less than 6 feet away. The mountains literally drop into the ocean. As do the waterfalls! As we drove the road with mountains on one side and ocean on the other there were waterfalls gushing from above us. It is definitely not as interesting as Homer, but is a quaint little village by the sea. There are some interesting places we would like to visit before leaving here so we booked our campground for 2 nights at the "Stoney Creek Campground" and we are settled in for the night. We experienced our first thunderstorm tonight. It was awesome. This place is very nice. We have a river that runs behind our camper, which Gary is going to check out for fish tomorrow, and there are trees and mountains all around us. It's much quieter, other than the train whistle in the distance and an airstrip that lands small aircraft in town.

Questions have risen about whether Bruno is still with us or not. Some of you believe we may have left the poor fellow behind somewhere. Well the pictures should prove that good 'ol Bruno is still with us and has been making himself more comfortable on our couch these days, as you can see. Gary calls that the "deadliest catch". He even was brazen enough to create a road dedicated to himself here in Seward! He has become a bold bear!

Dan, if you are going to be a "blog brother" you need to abide by the blog boundaries. You can not give away locations until we have actually arrived at them, otherwise, you could escort us out of Alaska to save yourself from running out of letters. Try to refrain from further actions in the future.

July 25

So yesterday went well for the ol' fisherman. He went out in the rain and fished for 6 hours and caught 6 fish. Because there have been 50,000 fish that have entered the river they increased the maximum limit to 6 rather than 3 like it was a week ago. The fish seem a bit smaller than they were a week ago when we were here. He caught 2 that were 7 pounds. All together he put another 15 pounds towrds our total count. Today is the last day for adding to that before mailing it off to NH. That will be nice to have behind us. I have been unable to do much fishing at all due to my elbow. I fish for a little while and then have to give it a break. So that's the only thing we're up to today. Tomorrow we'll move on from here for the final time. I have to say, ever since leaving Homer I am feeling a bit sad about heading in the direction of Tok. Even though it will probably be another week or so before we cross that border into Canada, I already miss it. I think I could drive the loop from Fairbanks to Anchorage all over again! Well, I won't dwell on that while I'm still here experiencing the beauty and fresh Alaskan air. There's still plenty to see.