As I mentioned yesterday, we went to the Alaska Aviation Museum. Jerry, one of our fellow travelers, is a retired pilot from Eastern Airlines. He was able to give us a lot of good information about the planes. We left the museum and went to Earthquake Park. There is a memorial there for all the losses to the big earthquake that hit Anchorage on Good Friday, March 27, 1964. Jim took a picture there in the park trying to show how much the ground had shifted. He says it was probably 15 or 20 feet. 4th Avenue, Anchorage's main, street dropped as much as 15 ft. The earthquake measured 9.2 on the Richter Scale. There were 55 strong aftershocks(some with 5.0 on the Richter Scale) that weekend. Nine people perished. At the airport, more damage was ... read more

I didn't have a blog yesterday. Was a cool, rainy day so most of us just rested. Carroll and Barbara and Larry and Becky went to Anchorage to the Air Force base. They were stationed here in the 70's. Carroll and Larry both retired from the Air Force. We had a potluck dinner at Jerry and Carolyn's rv as it was raining. We had a very good meal including moose brats. My first moose! Today was a beautiful sunny day - around 68. We drove north of Palmer on the Glenn Highway. Our first stop was the Musk Ox Farm. I am attaching a picture of a musk ox. Musk oxes lived in Alaska 600,000 years ago. They lived in the artic and subartic regions. By 1865 there were none remaining in Alaska. This was due ... read more

Palmer is the home of world record cabbages, carrots and other vegetables grown in the Matanuska Valley's deep loamy silt. The combination of glaciers, wind, water and lots of summer sunlight give Palmer unique qualities to grow giant vegetables. Cabbage is one of Alaska's most reliable crops, because it thrives even under cold, rainy conditions. Other vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, collards, radishes, rutabagas, turnips, potatoes, and beets are also big growers in Alaska. Spinach and lettuce mature uncommonly fast in Alaska. All of these vegetables are well adapted to cool temperatures, so they keep growing even if it gets near freeezing. Lettuce is a spring or fall crop in warmer parts of the U.S., but in the Matanuska Valley it seldom gets hot enough even in midsummer to cause unsightly tip-burn. I took ... read more

After I signed off on the blog last night, I realized that I forgot a few things. If you are tired of hearing about the sled dogs, you can skip over this portion. Denali is the only national park in America with a working sled dog kennel. Denali has nearly two million acres of legally designated Wilderness where no mechanized forms of transport are allowed - no snowmachines, no cars, no airplanes landing, no motors. When the Park has a choice between flying a load into a remote location or using the dog teams, they will use the sled dogs when feasible. As soon as there is enough snow, the patrol trips begin. Patrol trips can range from one day to many weeks. As the dogs' endurance increases and the rivers freeze, patrols push farther into ... read more

Forgot to mention yesterday that when we went to Denali Park that we didn't get to see Mount McKinley completely. I believe that on most days the top is covered with clouds. We are in Denali and that is 90 miles from Mount McKinley. When we were at Eilson in the Park we were still 30 miles away. They say that on clear days you can see the Mountain from Anchorage which is over 100 miles away. When we got up yesterday, it was 46 degrees but turned into a beautiful sunny travel day in the 60's. This morning it was 58 but was cloudy all day. It has become cooler this evening with a very strong wind. We are staying in a RV park here in Denali, which is really just a few shops, hotels ... read more

Yesterday morning it was 52 degrees and raining. Chilly. Barbara gave all the guys a haircut. That kept her busy for awhile. Larry got his truck fixed. We spent the day catching up on laundry, cleaning and getting groceries for our trip today. Michael, Jessica, Scotty and Chrissie came by last evening to tell us goodbye. Thank you for your wonderful hospitality. This morning we were getting gas and I had on a sweatsuit and jacket and a lady pulled in next to us with a tee shirt and shorts on. Wonder which of us is an Alaskan. We drove from Fairbanks to Denali. Hopefully, we will make our first visit to Denali National Park tomorrow. It is home to Mount McKinley or "Denali" as most Alaskans call it. The word "Denali" is an Indian name ... read more