North to Alaska: A Pause in the Plan

While Jim stayed in Anchorage, I went back to NYC for a week and a half to help Janet and Tony.  It was a rough time, but we eventually got him out of the hospital and back home with hospice care.  I stayed for a few days after that to make sure they were well connected with services and then flew back to Anchorage.  We needed to get us and Maxine and our car home before the snows arrived up north.

The trip back was pretty horrendous.  I found out when I got to LaGuardia that I would miss my connection in Houston because my plane here in NYC was late.  They must have moved our gate 5 or more times before we learned how late they'd be.  They suggested I take a shuttle to Newark, NJ, which I did and then got a non-stop to Anchorage.  It took about 12 hours of traveling.  The only good part was that the gates in Newark have monitors and tables there where you can plug in your phone or computer and you can order meals and drinks that can be delivered to the gate.  A glass of Chardonnay saved the day!

Newark Airport

 The other best part was eventually getting back to Anchorage, the kids and Boo.  The four of us went out to dinner to celebrate Josh's and my birthday.

We eventually left for Denali.  It was sunny and 60 degrees when we left Anchorage but it soon turned cloudy and cold.   

We stopped at Talkeetna for an overnight and found a great little spot on the river.  We had the place to ourselves and a little bit of sun to cheer our spirits.  It was good to be on the road again.

We hiked through a beautiful forest to get to town.
The roads and alleys in Talkeetna are narrow and there is
little room for cars, let alone RVs.

The train from Anchorage to Fairbanks makes a stop in Talkeetna, before Denali.  Talkeetna is a darling little town on a one way spur road off the Parks Highway, with a nice mix of shops and restaurants.  It is a base for many Denali climbing expeditions.

We made it to Denali the next day, where we camped at Riley Creek, which was thankfully close to everything.  As you can see, there was no sight of the famous mountain it is named for.  We spent some time driving around a bit, signing up for tours and cooking dinner.  We stayed warm inside with the heat on and lots of blankets!

Mt. McKinley/Denali

Janet was on the phone with us the next morning (August 16th)  to tell us that Tony had just passed away.  We hurried back to Anchorage, packed suitcases, bought a carrier for Boo and were off for NYC-all three of us this time.  We were so glad that we were close enough to Anchorage where we could leave Maxine and our car and that we could get to an airport quickly.  We stayed in NYC until September 1st when we finally left for the return trip.

North to Alaska: Upper Skilak, Kenai River and Seward

We left the Homer Spit and hooked up the car to Maxine at Safeway and drove up the Sterling Highway along the coast of the Cook Inlet to Soldotna, which is a supply center for the area.  You could not imagine the traffic in the parking lot of Fred Meyers!  We were going to look for a few things there, but decided to exit the madness and head to Sterling, where we took a dirt and gravel road down to Skilak Lake.  The first campground we came across must have had about 10 families of local Mennonites camping in all the possible areas.  We moved into the next one-Upper Skilak-which was just perfect for us.  We set up in #9 which was near walking paths and the lake and had a big private area.  The tent sites were even more fabulous, but our days of tent camping are now over.  We had perfect weather:  sunny, low 70s, blue skies!

Skilak Lake

Our campsite-#9

Boardwalk to a marina nearby, the
only place where we could make
phone calls (and then you had to stand
in just the right place to get a signal)

Jim at the marina in just the right place
Checking in with Janet and Tony (Tony had just returned home after
12 days in the hospital)

Lots of ducks and birds in this gorgeous water

Hiking in what seemed like a rain forest

The following day, we packed a picnic lunch and drove down the road to the Cooper Landing area where we hiked down to the absolutely gorgeous Kenai River.  Jim fished while Boo and I took a hike and then we had a lovely lunch and watched the salmon jumping upstream!

Some people in a river raft fishing

View from our hike
I only ran into one person on our hike.  He told me that he had seen grizzly scat on this
path.  Boo and I hightailed it back to Jim.  I sang all the way to keep the bears at bay!

Tying flies

The darkness out in the middle of the river are the salmon.

So gorgeous!

 We left the campground the next morning.  I drove the car up and out of the campground to the entrance which would be easier for us to hook up to Maxine.  I got there a little before Jim and I immediately saw a bear on my left.  Jim didn't see it and was pulling up ahead of me to get into position.  I knew he would be getting out of the car right away, so I pulled up between the bear, who was crossing the road in front of us, and Maxine (and Jim).  I take full credit for saving Jim's life!

The bear, escaping into the woods in front of us.  Sorry I didn't get a
great picture.  Found out later that this area is prime bear habitat.  We went
back to warn the campground host and he was well aware of many bear visitors.

Off we went, again towards Cooper Landing, to Seward. The 127 mile Seward Highway, leaves Anchorage, right near Athena and Josh's home, and ends in the community of Seward on the east coast of the Kenai Peninsula.  It is a National Forest Scenic Byway, an All-American Road and an Alaska Scenic Byway.  It is a beautiful drive, past lakes and rivers, mountain ranges, glaciers and all kinds of wildlife.  We arrived in Seward mid-afternoon and found a wonderful camping area right on Resurrection Bay, where we had a great view of the mountains and cruise ships as well as smaller craft.  The only problem was that we couldn't get the car to disengage from Maxine and we were right in the middle of the right of way through the area.  The camp host, after at first snickering a little at our situation, suggested we call a man who runs a towing service.  Although we didn't need a tow, he was the only idea any of us could come up with, so we called, Leif.  I was impressed right away on the phone as he wanted to know exactly what we had tried, etc. and said that he thought he could help us.  He had Jim put the car in forward and reverse, over and over and finally the pins knocked loose.  He charged us $135 and we thought that the lesson was well worth it!

This path led the entire way into town and out to the
docks where the cruise ships were.

That evening, we found out that Tony had ended up back in the hospital and I decided that we should return to Anchorage and that I needed to fly out the next day to NYC, where Janet and Tony live.
When we called to tell Athena and Josh of our plan, they informed us that Josh's grandmother had died and that they were flying to Denver in the next few days.  We arranged for Jim to hold down the fort in Anchorage with their 3 dogs, Boo and their cat, while the rest of us flew off to our duties.  We stopped at Exit Glacier on the way out (didn't have my camera) and loved how they had sign posts to show the speed of receding in terms of years.  It sure is now happening fast.

The drive back was astoundingly beautiful along the Chugach Mountains and Turnagain Arm.  The only issue was that we were missing Girdwood and the beluga whales on the way back-perhaps when we get back on the road again.

North to Alaska: Anchorage and Homer, AK

We spent some lovely time with Athena and Josh and their three pups:  Leo, Kramer and Chloe and their elusive kitty, Elaine.  They have a fabulous house in Anchorage, very near the ocean and right off the highway to Seward.  It was nice to see them happy and settled in their own house off base.

While Jim had some things checked out on Maxine, ordered the new toilet and purchased new batteries, I had a wonderful day at the Alaska Native Heritage Center.  It is in a beautiful setting where cultural sites representative of six First Nations lie around a lake.  Artists and performers tell their stories and sing their songs in the main hall.

Storyteller

Demonstration home

Another underground home site

Entrance to one of the exhibits

Each site had a native of that culture explaining how the
different first nations live today and in the past.

A native fan dance

Being a "Raven Lunatic", I
loved the sculpture in front of
the building.

 We left during the week for a trip down to the Kenai Peninsula, passing the beautiful Chucach Mountains.

The Kenai lies south of Anchorage and east of the Mainland of Alaska. It is filled with glaciers, gorgeous mountains, rivers and lakes. The Peninsula, "Alaska's Playground" is situated in the famous Pacific Ring of Fire.  There are four beautiful volcanoes in the area, Mount Redoubt, Mount Augustine, Mount Iliamna and Mount Douglas.  Some just spit out steam, but some have had recent eruptions like Redoubt in 2009 and Augustine in 2006.  Tsunami warnings are evident throughout this area.

A highlight of driving down to Homer was passing the Kenai River which was host to a whole lot of fishermen who were there for the annual salmon run.  On the way back we stayed in this area for a few days.

We had an idea of where we wanted to stay when we reached Homer but that RV park, though close to the ocean, had no ocean views and was a typical "parking lot" type place.  So, we went hunting for
another place and found an area right on the water and, although crowded, had great views.  We squeezed into a sight right next to two young girls (Sarah and Haley), whom we later found out were from Boulder!

Maxine on the Homer Spit

 Homer Spit is a narrow 4 1/2 mile strip of land.  Rock walls and a dedicated community keep it safe from winter storms.  Even in the middle of summer, it was very windy and chilly but, thankfully, sunny while we were there.  I expected a much more natural area, but this area is primarily a commercial beach town.  There are many wonderful natural areas available by boat but we stuck to the Spit as we wanted to get back to Athena and Josh on time.  Pacific Eskimo are known to have lived here thousands of years ago.  Since then, Athabaskan Indians, Russian explorers, trappers and traders preceded todays tourists and adventurers.

The colorful marina

The Visitor Center which has incredible views and
displays of what this area has to offer.  It is the largest seabird
refuge in the world!

We took a hike down to the marshes to catch several sandhill cranes foraging
for food.

Another glacier in the distance

All kinds of housing solutions along the marina

More halibut fish and chips!

Many adorable restaurants, storefronts and fishing charter companies
line the beach.

The Hole
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game stocks "The Fishing Hole"
with king and silver salmon, creating a fishing opportunity for locals as well as
tourists.  Hatchery-raised smolt are transferred to pens here allowing the
smolt to imprint in this lagoon.  When they are released, they gradually migrate
into Kachemak Bay and the ocean.  

Jim gave it the old college try, but probably
didn't have the right equipment.

Low tide-amazing how far out it extends
A great place to walk among the tide pools

Sunset
We had a wonderful campfire with the girls next to us
This was very late in the night-we went to bed
at 11:45 and it was still light outside.

Sunrise

Certainly, this will be a place we will come back to.  There is so much more to this area than we could see on this trip.  There are lots of amazing hiking trails aside from the one we walked along the spit.  We would have loved to have gone out for a tour of the wildlife in the bay and alot more time to catch a few of those luscious salmon.  There are local art shows, farmer's markets, festivals to enjoy.  We will be back here in the future.  For now the Kenai River and Seward are beckoning us and we look forward to being back with our kids in Anchorage!