Blogs from Alaska, United States, North America - page 2

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North America » United States » Alaska July 31st 2023

Up at 5:30 so we could leave by 6:15. We have to meet our shuttle at 7:00 at the Visitor Center in town. Even Charlie thought it was too early. I finished getting everything together and ready then made some oatmeal for breakfast. I shouldn't have tried to do that at that time of the morning. I ran out of milk the other day (should have listened to Mike the last time we were at a grocery store) so I couldn't make my overnight oats. I looked at the container for directions and saw a microwave option. I put the water, oats and a pinch of salt in a microwave safe bowl, put a big cover over it so if I made a mess it wouldn't be all over the inside of the microwave. The directions ... read more
Where Did the Kid Go?
Kuskulana Bridge
A Long Way Down

North America » United States » Alaska July 30th 2023

This morning I used the park's free shower to clean the road off me and wash my hair. The water smelled like rust! Upon closer inspection the shower curtain liner was stained a reddish brown as was the shower head. The water sprayed kinda wonky coming out of there, too. Great. Oh well, better to use their already messed up equipment than possibly ruin ours. Quick shower because I didn't want to be in that water any longer than absolutely necessary. Back at the trailer I looked at the water coming out of the faucet. It had a dirty yellow tint to it. Lovely. I ran it through our Brita pitcher and the yellow was a little lighter, but still there. Oh, yay. Tomorrow we'll be taking a bus into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and the ... read more
You Big Dummy, I Ain't That Redd Foxx.
Hi Mom!
Only  2,000?

North America » United States » Alaska July 29th 2023

It rained again last night. I hope it didn't wash away ALL our trophy dust and dirt. How will people know we drove to Alaska and back if the truck and trailer aren't filthy when we pull up to the house?!? Our truck and trailer are the color of the dust and dirt so you can't see it anyway unless you get really close. From even a short distance it will still look the same as when we left. Our only hope is the tinted windows; they show dirt really well! It was raining again when Mike opened the door this morning to take Charlie out for his after breakfast walk. Charlie took one look outside and backed up as far as the leash would let him. When Mike turned to pick him up he dropped ... read more
The Fog Descends
A Bright Spot in the Drive
Casualties of a Stubborn Washer

North America » United States » Alaska July 28th 2023

Another cloudy morning, but we rose early (relatively speaking) and drove eleven miles to the Exit Glacier Nature Center. The parking lot is somewhat small and I'm glad I heeded the warning posted on the National Parks Service website about their busiest time being between 10:30 and 3:30. We arrived at 9:45 and found plenty of parking still available. Our first stop was the Nature Center. It's a small building showing the history of the glacier as it's receded over time. Along the highway and within the park are wooden signs with a year routered into them. The signs mark where the toe of the glacier was at that point in time. There are a few different paths you can follow, some have a higher elevation gain and are more strenuous than others. The easiest trail ... read more
The Toe in 1951 and the Outwash Area
Exit Glacier
Ice Cave and Crevasses

North America » United States » Alaska July 27th 2023

The list of activities on the itinerary for today include driving into Seward to visit the Alaska SeaLife Center and see the Iditarod Trail Mile 0 marker. The SeaLife Center is a very nice aquarium. It has two floors and you start your visit on the second floor. There are the usual aquariums with a variety of fish, urchins, sea stars and one tank had a Giant Pacific Octopus hiding in a corner. They made it interactive to a degree with a tablet sized screen that scrolled through the inhabitants of each aquarium and how many of each animal was in the tank. It encouraged you to find them all, like an I Spy book come to life. Outside are three large tanks. The tank on the left was enclosed with netting and housed a variety ... read more
Hello to All My Fans
Wait Your Turn!
I Can Fly Over the Water and I Can Fly Under the Water

North America » United States » Alaska July 26th 2023

Crab cakes and a chocolate chip cookie for breakfast! I feel so much better. Dave was right, the crab cakes were kind of meh. I did find one chunk of crab meat in one of the two cakes. Otherwise the crab meat was shredded, chopped or minced so small you could barely taste it. The flavor was mostly the seasoning and spices. The crab was almost an aftertaste. Last year while Teri and Dave were in Hawaii, they chatted up a couple and found out they hailed from Alaska. Teri told them the four of us were planning a trip to Alaska. Sometime after they returned from their Hawaiian vacation, Teri and Dave received a package from the couple filled with books, brochures, maps and whatnot all about Alaska to help us plan our route and ... read more
The View from the Deck
The Right Technique
Charlie and Me vs. Cooper - Cooper Won

North America » United States » Alaska July 25th 2023

I was laying in bed contemplating getting up when I heard a loud BANG! I asked Mike what it was. He said the people behind us dropped their 5th Wheel on the bed of their truck. They hadn't secured the pin in the hitch before driving away. Oops! There didn't appear to be any visible damage from where we sat watching as they finally exited with their trailer following. Dave did that once. Unfortunately it did do some damage to the bed of their truck and now their tonneau cover doesn't fit quite right and has to be finagled into place. Mike and I brainstormed possible solutions to our slide problem: Could it be the batteries? Could it be a relay somewhere? Could it be the motors themselves? We looked online for nearby RV repair shops. ... read more
This is Gonna Be Great!
Puffin!
Amazing Scenery

North America » United States » Alaska July 24th 2023

We made it through our stay in Cantwell without having to empty our tanks, yay! The road was in better shape than what we'd seen for the most part so far. I'd also noticed a lot more cars on the road in both directions. We kind of missed being the only drivers out there. There weren't many rest areas, though; just pullouts with lined parking spaces. A few campgrounds ago I saw a window decal in the back window of the RV parked across the road from us. I thought it was really cool and wished I could get one for myself. The day after I took a picture of it, the driver left the campground for their next destination. I wasn't able to ask where they'd found it. Throughout the next couple of days my ... read more
Downtown Anchorage
The Roads Weren't Always Smooth

North America » United States » Alaska July 23rd 2023

Brunch day! Back to McKinley Creekside Cafe for a late morning feast. Again, the portions were plentiful and delicious. All of us were curious about the hundreds and hundreds of acres of dead trees in what should have been a beautiful green forest. They hadn't been burned by forest fires past. We asked our server if he happened to know the cause. He did. He said the spruce beetle began killing off trees in Seward and has been making its way north. A little research shows the spruce beetle is native to Alaska and outbreaks are a regular occurrence. Air temperatures and snow levels affect the life cycle of the beetle. The current outbreak is located in south-central Alaska (southern Denali National Park, Cantwell, Carlo Creek and McKinley Village). Our bellies full, we went back to ... read more
Igloo City
The Convenience Store
The Gas Station

North America » United States » Alaska July 22nd 2023

We still had two tickets to try to sell before the green bus left at 12:30 today. We left for the park about 11:00 loaded with snacks, water, cameras and dogs. And the bus tickets. We pulled into the bus depot parking lot and began scanning for possible buyers. We saw one guy getting out of his car so Dave parked the truck and he and Mike took both tickets and approached him. Teri and I reminded them to tell him the park entrance fee was included and we just didn't need two days of the same trip, hoping that would encourage the man to buy them. They approached him looking like two men unsure of how to score drugs, talked with him a while then came back to the truck, both tickets still in hand. ... read more
Animals We Will Probably Only See at the Visitor Center
Fish, Furs and Fruit
Lynx and Hare Photobombed by Moose




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