Sunday morning around 3:00 the wind came up strong and woke us. Then the rain started again. We finally managed to get the camper dried and folded up and got on the road by a little after 9. It was cloudy and rainy all day, so no views of Mt. McKinley again. We drove through Fairbanks, stopping at the Walmart there for groceries. We then went to North Pole, AK, where we bought postcards to send to the little folks and some Christmas ornaments. Then on to Eielson AFB where we stayed at their FamCamp and did laundry. Monday morning the skies are clear, so we head back to Fairbanks in hopes of seeing Mt. McKinley from UAF. We got there and could see lots of mountains in the Alaska Range, but McKinley was as elusive ... read more

On our way out of Trapper Creek we stopped in at Wal*Mike's. If he doesn't have it, you don't need it. He has everything from antacid to zipper oil. A fun place to look around, some antiques, some hardware, tires, t-shirts, antlers, wood stoves, a few souvenirs, and tons of junk. We stopped at a couple of overlooks to get another glimpse of Mt. McKinley, but the clouds had the top totally covered. We could see some of the other mountains in the Alaska Range, but Denali stayed hidden. We ran into a little rain here and there, but not much. We found a campground north of the Denali NP and set up campers and ate lunch before going back to the park. We visited the Wilderness Access Center, where we got tickets to ride the ... read more

We headed back up the Sterling Highway, watching the eagles swoop across the road in front of us. We hadn’t gone very far when Gena pulled over after spotting a big moose. We managed to get a couple of pictures before it ambled off. We stopped at Sterling because we wanted to browse the Alaska Horn and Antler shop we had seen yesterday. They had moose, caribou and elk antlers as well as other types of animal horns, tusks and whale baleen. Some were whole, some were pieces and some were carved with intricate patterns. It was quite a fascinating place. At Moose Pass we turned south on Seward Highway to the town of Seward. There we checked into Seward Resort, the military campground. After setting up the campers and eating lunch, we drove over to ... read more

It was drizzly this morning, but the rain stopped long enough for us to close up the camper. We drove west on the Glenn Highway with low clouds and frequent showers, making the scenic overlooks a waste of time. The rain finally quit and the skies cleared somewhat just before we reached Matanuska Glacier SP. Matanuska Glacier is a valley glacier, which means it exists on a valley floor, as opposed to the smaller alpine glaciers that hang off mountain slopes. Most of the glaciers in Alaska are alpine glaciers. Matanuska Glacier is 24 miles long and 4 miles wide at its terminus, averaging about 2 miles in width. It is an active glacier and advances one foot per day. We took some pictures from the state park viewing area and Kerry noticed a road down ... read more

We drove all over Tok (population 1,393) looking for a tire for our camper. We finally found one at the fourth tire and rv repair place we tried. We bought two tires, and had just one of them mounted, so now we feel secure again. We finally left Tok, heading toward Glennallen on the Tok Cutoff. The road climbs up from the Tanana River drainage through Mentasta Pass in the Alaska Range, and along the Copper River. The distant snow-covered Wrangell Mountains were often visible as we drove through woodlands of black spruce and aspen. We set up the campers in Glennallen, then drove to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park's visitor center at Copper Center. Its a very nice visitor center with great displays. Wrangell-St. Elias NP is the largest of our national parks, six times the ... read more