JCollins
Jim Collins Joined: December 30th 2007
Logged in: December 18th 2011
Logged in: December 18th 2011
Widowed in 2009 (wife Juanita Sutton-Collins). Two daughters, Kate Collins-Nunes and Colleen Collins. Granddaughter Elizabeth (Little-Bit) Nunes and son-in-law, Ron Nunes.
Retired health care executive and owner of Informed Decisions, Incorporated.
Home: Richfield, MN USA (Suburb of Minneapolis)
Born: Elroy, WI
Graduate of Regis HS Eau Claire, WI, Loras College, Dubuque, IA and University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
Enjoy reading, writing, fishing, cooking, biking and traveling
Travel Blog Posts
Alaska Forever
Day 15-Wednesday, July 20, 2011 We had breakfast at Sheila’s and caught the 11:15 flight. We arrived in Minneapolis at 7:30 PM so it was less than 5 hours. It was a great trip with stunning scenery and great friends. Happy Trails, Jim Collins ... read more
Day 14-Tuesday, July 19, 2011 The day has been restful while buying gifts for family friends. Watched them fish for Salmon in Ship Creek. Read in the paper that a huge run of reds occurred in Kenai on Sunday (240,000 vs. 100,000 last year). They dip net them from shore and some people were catching five in one dip. We were in Kenai on Sunday evening. We had Halibut for supper. Donna ha a special recipe that is great. Got our boarding passes and ready to head out tomorrow. ... read more
Musk Ox 1
Day 13-Monday, July 18, 2011 We drove back to Anchorage. On the way we had a wonderful visit at the Musk Ox farm outside of Palmer. They had the bulls, cows, young and newborn. They use the hair to weave ouvite in small native villages. It is eight times warmer than wool, very lightweight and will not shrink in any temperature water. We watched two bulls in a head-butting contest while one frustrated bull was trying to destroy the fence. Got back to Anchorage and had a restful evening. ... read more
Palmer 1
Day 12-Sunday, July 17, 2011 After Mass, we headed north for Palmer and the Matsu Valley. We resupplied with beer, gas and chips at Fred Meyer in Palmer. Palmer has an excellent visitors/history center. We drove up the Glennellen Road (AK 1) and stopped at the Matanuska Glacier. We stayed at the Grand View RV. It has full service including TV, which we do not know how to use, but again, we resorted to reading the instruction manual. I guess things are changing in my world. ... read more
Silak
Day 11-Saturday, July 16, 2011 We stayed at Upper Skilak Lake campground. It had a nice view and excellent facilities. On the way out we checked out Deep Creek Lake Campgrounds on the Skilak Loop. It has great campgrounds and beautiful Deep Creek Lake. We then drove through the tunnel to beautiful Whitter. The ferry was in and a large cruise ship. We stopped at the Portage Glacier Visitors Center on the way back to Anchorage. ... read more
Homer
Day 10-Friday, July 15, 2011 We decided to go to the Russian Village in Anchor Point and then go north to Nikiski and then up to Captain Cook State Park. The Russian village was not much. We drove north to Kenai and tried unsuccessfully to secure an RV site. Drove to west entrance of Skilak Lake Loop and stayed at Upper Skilak State Campgrounds. It was a great place to camp but we had a rather loud family next to us. ... read more
Homer
Day 9- Thursday, July 14, 2011 It is my birthday, so Happy Birthday to Jim. We definitely had a full day. Went to the Homer Spit (5 miles long) and checked out the tourist shops and Halibut fishing. We got the weather for tomorrow from the Harbor Master Office and decided that 20-knot winds and 4’ swells was not the ideal Halibut Fishing weather. We visited the famous Salty Dog watering hole on the spit. Money and messages hung on the walls. We talked to a local and decided to go to Fritz Creek General Store. What a great and inexpensive meal. Bob had the best pizza he ever had, I had a brisket sandwich, Jane had a salmon bisque soup and Donna had a veggie sandwich. All of it was great. We then went to ... read more
Anchor Point
Day 8-Wednesday, July 13, 2011 Again, we stayed at Scenic View RV Park, MP 127. We then went to visit Bob’s friend who took us on an all-afternoon tour after showing us his place and the new home he is building. We enjoyed learning the history of Anchor Point. We took the most westerly road in the U.S., and then watched them launch boats with a big frontend loader. We decided to stay Thursday night at SVRV. ... read more
Seward
Day 6-Monday, July 11, 2011 We decided to stay in Seward for the day. We went shopping and of course, with this being the first day on the road, we had to learn how to run everything in the motor home. This included, leveling the RV, running the TV, water, heat etc. We actually resorted to reading the instruction manual, very unmanly. No Collins would ever do it until they had thoroughly screwed things up. A big treat was going to the Alaskan Sealife Center in Seward. What a great facility for learning and viewing the sea life of Alaska. We loved the Seller Sea Lions. Donna and I bought some nice jackets. Also, they have a mountain race on July 4th. The course up and down the mountain is unbelievable. See the picture. ... read more
Hope
Day 5 Sunday, July 10, 2011 We picked up the motor home at Great Alaskan Holidays and then stopped and did our shopping. I thought $330.00 is a lot of money, but then it is for 10 days for 4 people, not too bad. We drove south down the Kenai and stopped at Girdwood for lunch. We made a little lunch and then I tried to cut off my fingers. After a little ER, we were on our way to the town of Hope, made famous by the gold rush. There were the twin towns of Hope & Sunrise, but Sunrise is gone and Hope remains, no analogy intended. We then decided to camp in Seward, about 75 miles south of Hope. The first campground was straight out of deliverance, but the second had great mountain ... read more
