Blogs from Alaska, United States, North America - page 3

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

Woke to an overcast day. We'd been warned about the constantly changing weather around here. On the docket today was driving into Denali National Park and catching a glimpse of The Great One. No, not Wayne Gretzky. Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley. Our method was a self-guided Jeep tour of Denali National Park. We went with the self-guided tour because it was much cheaper than the guided tour and we wouldn't be limited to the guide's predetermined route. A guidebook of suggested routes was included in the rental. It had short descriptions of the routes and information of the area. We met James, our rental delivery man, in the parking lot of one of the many lodging complexes near the entrance to Denali National Park. Our mode of transport for the next four hours would ... read more

On the list of activities today was a lazy morning, The Santa Claus House, The Home Depot for plumbing repair pieces, a trip to Walmart for provisions, the Fairbanks Ice Museum and twilight golf with the sun still high in the sky. Mike took another look at the water leak we'd sprung and couldn't figure out the true source. Each time he thought he'd found it he'd been proven wrong with wetness when he went back later to check it. He happened to see a mobile RV repairman working on a rig nearby and asked if he might have time to take a look when he'd finished. When Paul, the repairman, came to see about our problem he checked all the pipes and connections and could find no holes or loose fittings. He finally asked what ... read more

Can we just be able to hook up and go without running into some sort of delay? This morning Mike discovered water in the basement well where we store our Legos (leveling blocks) and wheel chocks. The well has a plastic tub liner and everything stored there is plastic or rubber so there was no danger of anything being damaged. He mopped up the water and traced the water and drain lines to find the source. Once he had an idea of where the water was coming from he formulated a plan for when we got set at our next destination. Originally, we were supposed to drive to Cantwell today which is about 25 minutes beyond Denali National Park. The plan was to drive back to Fairbanks to do the activity we had planned there: golf. ... read more

Anne and I traveled to Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska in mid July for a week-long cruise aboard the MV Sea Wolf. The Sea Wolf is a converted US Navy minesweeper that protected San Francisco harbor during WWII. Originally built in 1941, she was commissioned as the USS Observer (Amc-91). She was decommissioned in 1947, then through several different owners, was purchased in 2003 by the current owners. Thoroughly remodeled in 2003 and again in 2019, she is now the current small ship cruise host for up to 12 passengers and a crew of 5 or 6. This trip has been on my bucket list ever since our trip to Glacier Bay NP back in 2015. I finally convinced Anne, or wore her down sufficiently to agree, that we should do it before we are ... read more