NH to Alaska

Northway, AK to Anchorage

Anchorage to Tok, AK

Tok, AK to Brookings, OR

Home to New Hampshire

Saturday, July 3, 2010

July 2nd


THE DETAILS

THE WEATHER: Do I sound like a broken record yet? 55 degrees to start, cloudy all day & the high was 78.

THE DISTANCE: 0.… again!


Okay, so today we had to say goodbye to Larry! I’m sorry I haven’t introduced him yet, but he was another Rver who pulled in across from us. He and Gary got talking about tools and we hit it off with him and his wife. We spent our first evening over at their site talking about what it’s like to live in Alaska and of course, fishing! It turns out he owns a boat that is docked in Valdez and he said if we are there in August he’ll take us out for some halibut fishing. He loves to watch the tourists catch fish! We do to! I don’t know if we’ll be in that area in August (probably not) but if so, we’ll give him a call.

Today was again pretty low key. We went out for brunch at a local restaurant and drove around on the motorcycle. Matt came over for dinner and Gary & he are out fishing as I am doing laundry and talking to Sue! I’ll have to report tomorrow on how they did and post those pictures because they have the camera.

That’s about all that’s going on here in Alaska today. BTW, Dan, it’s difficult to access the internet here. I get a great signal only if I’m at the RV office or, like right now, at the laundry room. It takes a lot of time to post the blog and pictures and then check email due to a slow connection. So to try to scope out RV sites on top of that, would take more time than I really have. I do have the Milepost which gives good references for campgrounds but I love to read the reviews from the site you sent. I didn’t know this park was going to close after this season! Interesting. It’ll be a big loss for this area.

Friday, July 2, 2010

July 1st





We have officially been on the road for one month now. I can’t say I’m really homesick like I thought I would be. This routine has become normal and comfortable.

THE DETAILS

THE WEATHER: Started out at 55 degrees and cloudy…. Of course. The day warmed up to a balmy 79 degrees, slightly windy and partly cloudy. By the end of the day the wind was strong and so iit felt much cooler.

THE DISTANCE: 0

We had a slow start to the day knowing we didn’t have anywhere to go. In the afternoon we took the bike out to a botanical garden here in Anchorage. It wasn’t extremely impressive, but a fun way to spend the afternoon. We took the guided tour with another couple from Atlanta, Ga.

Matt Clark is a friend of ours from Weare. He serves in the Army and has been to Afghanistan and Iraq. He will be in North Carolina in the fall to begin training for Special Forces. He and Gary have been good friends for a few years now and he happens to be stationed up here in Alaska so we arranged to meet up with him. He came to the RV park and we went to dinner in downtown Anchorage at one of his favorite Thai restaurants (Bernie’s Bungalow). It was delicious. Afterwards we walked along the downtown streets and looked into the tourist shops and Gary stopped at a fishing store to pick up flies that he didn’t have. He brought 200 with him, I can’t imagine that there is a fly he doesn’t have!!

As we meandered through the streets we came to a shop that specialized in furs. We would love to get something for the floor in front of the fireplace but they are always so expensive… but we like to look. There were some beautiful furs there…. Beaver, caribou, wolf, bear, etc. As Gary & Matt discussed furs I began a conversation with the interesting little man who ran the shop. He stood only about 5 foot tall due to his age his back was no longer straight. I found out later that he was 80 years old and his name is Jack Kimm. Come to find out, he was born & raised in Alaska. He is an Eskimo. He has visited 190 countries and he can prove it by the dollar bills from each country that adorns his wall. Another wall are the names of all the climbers that have made it up Mt. McKinley and come to his shop to post their name. He was fascinating to talk to. He told me his story about getting drafted into the army by President Truman. “He say, you go, I must say, “Yes sir”” and he stood at attention and saluted. He only knew about 50 English words when he was drafted. He signed all the papers and then asked a man who knew English what he had just signed. He began to cry when he talked about the “good sons from all 50 states that did not return”. He spent 4 ½ years in the service and learned many more words before returning home. He told me when he returned from the service his father told him, “I have taken care of you long enough, you now, take care of me.” So he made sure every Friday his father had $500.00 in his pocket. He said, “Sometimes he only had $270.00 so I make it $500.00. Until he died.” I asked if he had ever been married. “Oh, yes, every one needs a Peggy and some kids”. He asked Matt if he had a “Peggy” and told him he should. He had 6 children, of which, 4 of them are girls. He said, “It is hard to raise a virtuous woman when they all want to grow up to be a Hillary Clinton, wear the pants and run the White House!” OMG! We were all laughing out loud listening to him go on.

He then began asking Gary some questions about why he was in Alaska, and what he was planning on doing with his retirement. His suggestion was to use his time visiting every country and learn what they have to teach. He would be a wiser man for it. He spoke to us about what Confucius says, and we spoke to him about what Jesus, the Christ, says. When he heard that Gary was going into the woods with only a 44 he said, “That is for bad men in the city, not bear in the woods.” Jack firmly stated, he needed a 12 gauge shotgun pump alternating round of double OO buck and deer slugs. Gary said, well, I don’t know anyone with a shotgun. He said, “I have a shotgun, I lend you mine”. Before any one of us could say a word he had turned around, picked up his shotgun case off the stairs and handed it to Gary. We were all just staring at him with our mouths opened. He then proceeded to tell Gary, when he comes across the bear, and his “ticker is stampeding”, calm down, decide where you are going to place the bullet and then, “Don’t miss!”. Don’t hit him in the leg or the rump, because that will just make him pissed and he runs very well on 3 legs. He dusted off a soft shotgun case, gave him ammo and then asked him if he had a good knife. Before Gary could answer he reached behind the counter top and produced a serious looking knife in a case and said, “This is 100 times more useful than the gun.” Unbelievable. He told us the best way he deals with a bear encounter is to drop his head, walk the same way as when you first saw him and begin talking to the bear; “Hello bear… I’m not interested in your woman….. I’m not interested in your kids…. I’m not interested in your food… and just keep walking slowly.” Jack was an incredible man to meet, and we look forward to talking more with him when we return his gun in a few weeks.

We finished the night at "Glacier Brewhouse" having a beer and laughing about our encounter with Jack. We didn’t get home until the sun had set and it was getting dark!!!


PS: I'll post pic's of Jack, Matt, the gun & the knife at a later date! Stay tuned.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

June 30th




THE DETAILS:

THE WEATHER: 55 degrees and cloudy. A bit drizzly. Nothin’ new! The clouds did break today and we ended up with partly cloudy skies and a high of 77.

THE DISTANCE: 30 miles to Golden Nugget Camper Park


Okay, as we inch along we have made it to Anchorage! It is by far the largest city in Alaska. We found a campsite pretty much in the middle of the city but it is by a park so it is much better than the first one we looked at which was right next to the train station and in the warehouse section of the city! We are settled in for a few days. The festivities of July 4th are going to cause the campgrounds to be full so we thought with everything to see here in Anchorage we may just stay and wait out the holiday weekend.


After hooking up we took the scooter out for a scouting trip. First we went to the Visitor’s Center in the middle of the city. It is a cute little one room log house standing next to all these modern high rise buildings. It looked so out of place, but for Alaska it was the high rises that actually seemed out of place. Anchorage has been named the “City of Flowers” because of the many hanging baskets and blossoms everywhere down town. It was very pretty. We visited the Ulu factory which is a particular Eskimo knife that is made right here in Anchorage. They are sold all over the state so you can find them everywhere.

We were close to the river where the salmon enter to swim up stream. There were a few guys fishing but not many. Once again confirming that the fishing is just not that great. From there we drove along Cook Inlet which was very pretty. We could see large barges in the water. They say there are times that you can view beluga whales in the inlet. We didn’t see any. There were multiple parks along the inlet so we continued to stop, take some pictures & move on. The last park we visited was Kincaid park where they warn you of moose & bear in the park. As Gary was taking some video of the inlet a moose ran right into the picture! We were on a porch above the ground and everyone below us started yelling to each other, “moose!”, “moose”! They didn’t seem alarmed, just informing those around them. I love this city, very picturesque, the population seems young, and everyone was out riding bikes or running/ walking. It has a very vibrant feel to it.

I think Gary is interested in trying his skills at fishing tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens. We heard that the “real” party on the 4th of July happens in Seward. That’s south of us and on our way to where we’re headed, so we’ll think about moving in that direction tomorrow or maybe the 2nd. There is a problem with fireworks here though. The sun doesn’t go away! It doesn’t get dark enough to see them. I was told by the Visitor’s Center that they have a big double-header ball game which takes them until midnight to finish and then they shoot them off in the ball field and just don’t send them up very high so they don’t get lost in the sky. Too funny! I never thought about that until today. I think I’d rather be on Bridge Street in Manchester with the home gang. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

June 29th




Happy 1 month anniversary Kim & Tommy!!

THE DETAILS:

THE WEATHER: It started out at 55 degrees and cloudy and it was all down hill from there. The day ended with rain showers and low lying clouds.

THE DISTANCE: 20 miles


We are “crawling” along on our way to Wasilla…. But Dan, we finally made it. Yes! The home of the infamous Sarah Palin. Though it was cloudy and we could barely see the mountains in front of us Gary is convinced that you can see Russia from here on a clear day. It’s just across the ocean! Well, we weren’t able to drop in on Sarah but her dad dropped in on us!! Seriously. We checked into our campground around 6:00 pm and we were told that we were welcome to join the salmon feast that they were cooking up on the grills in the middle of the campground. So at the last minute we joined all the other campers and had sockeye salmon (red) grilled with lemon pepper or dill or brown sugar & soy sauce. Also halibut and moose ribs! It was amazing. Other campers brought the rest of the meal and we had a feast. About ½ way through the meal the guy we were sitting with said, “I’m going to get my picture taken with Sarah Palin’s dad”. Sure enough…. He was there and I took a picture of them also. Mr. Palin is on the left. We were going to ask him to pose with Bruno, but he left before we could ask.

Other than traveling, we went shopping for food, and then Walmart and then Gary picked up a spare alternator belt…. because you know you should always have a spare!! Wasilla is the largest city we’ve been to since Canada. It’s strange to be in so much traffic!

On our way through Wasilla we stopped at the Iditarod Museum. There were real sled dogs that were pulling a wagon on wheels and there were 2 puppies that were soooo cute. We watched a few minutes of a movie about the race which was incredible information. Dan, you can now post info on that. We got to talking to an older guy who was standing with the dogs and he was so knowledgeable about the race that I asked him how he knew so much. It turns out he came in 7th in the race one year and his father is the museum’s original owner. He now has 2 sons that run the Iditarod one of which came in 11th .

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

June 28th



THE DETAILS:

THE WEATHER: 55 degrees to start with cloudy skies. There’s the threat of rain but the sun broke through the clouds around noon time and the temperatures rose to the low 70’s. It remained partly cloudy

THE DESTINATION: We left Talkeetna at 11:00 am and arrived in Houston (not Texas!) around 9:30 at Riverside Camper Park.


I was able to walk this morning for the first time in a long time. About a ½ mile away, a red fox with something dead in it’s mouth crossed my path. It ran ahead of me for the next ¼ mile. He was so funny. He kept looking back as if I was out to get his breakfast! Yuck.

We drove the 14 miles back to Parks Hwy and stopped to fill up the gas tank. As we went to pull away there was a strange thumping sound in the motor. Gary pulled over to the side of the large parking lot and that’s where we stayed for the next 2 ½ hours. Major problem #2. The thumping that we had heard was a belt that had been frayed and broke off. He discovered that it was the alternator belt that gave way. Of course he brought a spare alternator belt…. doesn’t everyone travel with a spare alternator belt? It was a project getting it all back together but he, as usual, accomplished the job and we were on our way with the motor sounding better than ever. Thank you Lord for the perfect place to work on it & no rain to deal with!

We got to a bridge where we found a lot of fishermen in the river. The Mile Post said it was a good river to fish for kings so Gary decided to try his luck. The other fishermen were frustrated and said not to bother, the fish weren’t in. One guy did see a grizzly this morning though, walking along the bank. There was nothing at that stream so we headed further towards Wasilla and visited a state park that also looked promising with lots of cars in the parking lot but after talking to a guy that happened to sit on the board with the fish & game department we decided to not even get out of the RV. First, he confirmed that the fishing this year has not been good. He said the fish just don’t like the water this year. Then he told Gary that if he went down to the river and stood shoulder to shoulder with the others and tried to fly fish!! Who ever had the closest gun would pull it out and tell him to leave! These are some fierce fishermen…. And not just men… there are a lot of women and whole families that are rigged up and spending the day at the river. The F & G guy told us that they are what’s called “meat hunters”. They literally depend on the fish in the summer to fill their freezers for the winters. I can understand with the prices of food up here. It’s high.

So the F&G guy told us of a place that was his “secret” fishing spot and swore us not to tell anyone. It’s where he catches trophy rainbow. So we spent a few hours there at a BEAUTIFUL stream and caught….. nothin’! Well, like they say, “a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work”.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

June 27th



THE DETAILS:

THE WEATHER: It started off raining and 50 degrees and hasn't changed all day.

THE DISTANCE: 0


Another uneventful, rainy day. We continued to stay in Talkeetna as Gary fishes the area. Last night when Gary went fishing he was prepared for everything. He left on the motorcycle with a backpack filled with fishing tackle, etc but absolutely NO food. He even took out the Jetboil and coffee! He carried the 44 in case of any bear problems. When he got to the river he was surrounded with families gathered by the river side cooking up bratwurst, children riding bikes and shoulder-to-shoulder fishing in the river with other fishermen. The river ended up being wider than anticipated and a faster current than he had prepared for. So he stayed quite a while and didn’t get anything but he learned a lot from watching others and “reading” the river. So one of the things he learned is to pull the fish in ASAP so that the splashing doesn’t attract a bear. The sound means food to Bruno’s kind. That was good to know. The size of hooks they are using are huge. The picture will indicate their size next to a quarter.

The other picture above shows our last camp ground at 12:30 at night. It didn’t even need a flash.


Due to the rain we weren't able to get to the church tonight :( .

June 26th




Since you won’t be reading this until June 27th I thought I’d remember Adam by saying Happy Birthday! The sign above was seen all across Ontario, Canada. I thought it was ironic considering we are honoring his memory by going on this trip. Did you know that the Alaskan flower is the forget-me-not.

THE DETAILS:

THE WEATHER: We have had an unusually gloomy, cloudy, drizzly day here. The temps stayed in the 60’s all day.

THE DISTANCE: ½ mile!!

Okay, well, it wasn’t exactly an action packed day. Because we were having to move campsites in the middle of the day our morning was rather slow. I drove the RV for the first time on this trip…. A ½ mile to the next campground! That’s all Gary will trust me with it. He drove the scooter over. The site here is much more like RV city and is much closer to the road but it does have a great internet connection. I spent the rest of the day working on bills and Gary went to the Montana river to see what he could catch. He’s been told that the king’s are running but another guy said the fishing hasn’t been real good this year. It’s hard to know. There’s a guide service here that will take him out to a good spot on the river and leave him there for the day and pick him up later …. all for $55.00. Not bad considering going on a boat for 4 hours at another place will cost him $160.00. That’s why he decided to try his luck on his own today. It’s now 10 pm and he’s still not back. He did try to call a little while ago and all I heard was “I’m alive” before the connection went bad. I am also posting those pictures that for some reason didn’t post last night.


DAN: I can’t believe how much information you’re finding about this trip on line. The info about the 2 campgrounds was absolutely correct. We are very close to the train tracks and yes, their whistle can be very loud, but fortunately, for me, I grew up in Acton where I would hear the train whistle in the distance at night in my bed and I thought it was the coolest sound. So now it doesn’t bother me, actually, I love to hear it.