Do you know what is the scariest animal in Alaska?

It is the Caraboooooo of course.  The ice cream lady was around on her route today.  That was her joke of the day.  Did you know that Alaskans consume more ice cream per capita than any other state?  It's true.  They love their ice cream.  There are many shops that sell locally made ice cream.  It is all made from natural ingredients including local berries and fruit.  It is very good.

Morning coffee.

I have not written anything about the cost of things in Alaska.  Some may wonder how prices compare with the lower 48.  Gas is $3.87 in Anchorage.  In other outlying areas it runs as high as $4.75 or so.  I would say $4.19 would be average.

In the grocery store is where you see some big differences.  A loaf of bread runs between $3.00 and $5.50 depending on the brand and where you buy it.  Stores in larger communities have the lowest prices.  In the rural areas things are very high.  How about an ear of corn?  It will cost you $1.49 per ear at Safeway.  Or a one pound bunch of asparagus.  It will cost you $6.49.  Apples are $2.49 per pound.  Boxed cereal runs about $7.00 depending on size.  Milk is surprisingly low at just $3.25 a gallon.  A half gallon will cost you the same amount.  Ask me why, I don't have a clue.  I always have to buy the half gallon because I can't get a gallon jug in the refrigerator with everything else that is in there.  It is mostly perishable items that are higher priced.

You never tire of this view.

I would say most other products are from 10% to 25% higher than in the lower 48 with the higher prices being in rural outposts type communities.  Anchorage is priced about the same as home on most things.  It is not like it was years ago.  Most items arrive on ships just like down home.  I think the higher cost is due to having to truck things so far from the port.  Unlike home, there are not a large number of communities along the trucking route to share the expense.  Stock for the Safeway in Valdez probably has to come all the way from Anchorage with no other stores along the way to share the expense.  Bread and baked goods do not arrive everyday like back home.  They may just get one delivery a week.  The bread is sometimes very cold when you buy it.  They must store it in the cooler to keep it fresh.

Silver salmon.

Today, I went down the bank to the water's edge to fish.  The silver (coho) are running now.  I caught several and kept two.  They are small right now.  In a few days there should be larger ones in the area.  The pink salmon are not that great for eating.  They taste pretty bland compared to red (sockeye) salmon.  the silver salmon seem to be somewhere in between.   Silvers are fun to catch because they actually bite the lure.  You do catch one every few casts.  It is fun to catch and release them.  I hate cleaning fish and there isn't much room left in the freezer.

Steak and Sockeye

Buddy is having the time of her life.  She loves to sit outside watching the other people, dogs and birds that happen by.  She seems to love the cool weather too.  She isn't shedding like she was probably because it is so cool.  She wants to go everywhere with us and looks very disappointed when she knows we are getting ready to go some place she can't go.  She seems to sense when those times are.  Dogs are very observant.  I think she notices how we are dressing and preparing.  From that she has learned with certain clothes she stays home.  Time to go pout.  She is a very good traveling companion.  I love having her along though she is always under foot.

We moved to a beautiful place.

Today we drove to the other side of the inlet to view the fish run.  While there some people we met yesterday stopped by.  They told us there was a RV park just a bit further up the road.  It is right on the water overlooking the bay.  Our spirits lifted.  We didn't want to head back up to Tok yet.  We didn't really care for our campsite of the past two days so had decided to leave.

Our view from our new campsite.

This new spot is a dry camp.  We have a beautiful view out the front window.  Sea lions are swimming about catching pink salmon that are running now.  Sea otters lie on their backs munching on a salmon.  Seagulls and eagles fly over head.  And we are camped just a short distance from the terminal of the Alaska Pipeline.  This is awesome.  We have paid for 3 days.  We will see if we want to leave after that.

I went down to the water to try my hand at fishing.  You are allowed to snag salmon in salt water.   It is so easy to catch fish you feel guilty reeling them in.  The water at my feet was swirling with fish.  All you do is throw in a line with a treble hook and jerk.  You have a fish.  I reeled in fish after fish keeping six of the larger ones.

We have met the nicest people along the way.  The RV community is very friendly.  We all share experiences and information.  You learn the best places to spend a few days.  We discuss the turnouts with the best photo ops, best campgrounds, tours that must be taken and where you can get the best halibut sandwich for the least money.   People in half million dollar motor homes are parked next to the guy with an inexpensive unit like ours.  There is no class distinction when it comes to being friendly and neighborly.

Alaskan sneakers for the ladies.

I have no idea what these things are for.

Alaskans as a whole are very friendly to outsiders.  I know from experience in some areas if you are an outsider you are treated with a certain disdain though they try to keep it veiled.  Every shop we stop in we end up engaged in a long conversation with the local clerk.  They are eager to share about life in Alaska, the area they live in and about their families.  They also offer many tips on bargains and must do things in the area.

This old boat helped clean up the oil spill. 

I was visiting with a young lady in Sugar and Spice gift shop yesterday.  I asked her why on earth did so many of the buildings in Valdez have a flat roof.  You would think they would collapse under 30 feet of snow.  She said that always puzzled her too.  She thought they should have a pointed roof so the snow could slide off.  She went on to tell us to look around and we would see buildings with a snow blower sitting on top.  They use them all winter to keep the snow load off but when winter is over they just leave them up on the roof.

Valdez has a very nice community museum.  This is Valdez first fire truck.

We were sitting at our campsite when we heard the familiar tune of an ice cream truck.  We went out to meet it and are we glad we did.  We met the most unusual lady (I mean that in a good way) behind the wheel.  She was all dolled up in a goofy costume.  She had ice cream cone glasses, a shark hat on and bright pink clothes.  The wagon advertised ice cream and hot soup.  She was prepared for all kinds of weather.  She also had a long list of lunch items also.

The coolest ice cream lady in the world. 

She has you laughing the minute she stops.  She is very entertaining.  She said she became disabled and couldn't keep doing the work she had been doing.  She said she won a Texas Hold'em jackpot and invested in the ice cream truck.  She is a very creative person.  If you want your photo taken with her, you have to put on a shark hat like hers.  Then she pulls out a big bag of marbles.  You get to pull a marble from the sack.  If you get one of the four gold ones, you win a prize.  We bought ice cream for ourselves and for our friends, Don and Sherri who had invited us to a campfire tonight.

Darlie always insists on me putting goofy photos of me on here. 

Today has been a beautiful sunny day.  We have been outside in our shirt sleeves all day.  We don't get many days like this.  It is usually cool and cloudy.  Tonight dark clouds are gathering around the mountain tops to the north.  It will probably rain later tonight.  You don't go many days without some rain drops.  But that is just all part of the Alaska experience.   After awhile you begin to develop the attitude of Alaskans.  Weather doesn't matter.  There is life to be lived so lets get on with it.

Valdez

The trip down the Glenn Highway and Richardson Highway to Valdez has some of the most beautiful scenery we have seen in Alaska.  There are many turnouts and parking areas along the highway where you can stop and take in the scene.

This area has the most vivid greens I have ever seen.  We also passed by several glaciers.  The largest was Katanuska Glacier.  It averages over two miles wide and is four miles wide at its terminus.  The melt water is the source of the mighty Katanuska River.

The other large glacier is on the Richardson Highway about thirty miles from Valdez.  It is the Worthington Glacier.  There is a state recreation site at the base of the glacier.  There is parking and paved trails to a viewing area at the base of the glacier.  It is a spectacular site.

Katanuska Glacier

Worthington Glacier

Glenn Highway and Richardson Highway reintroduced us to frost heaves and gravel breaks.  Though not as bad as those on the Alaskan Highway, they became my refresher course in how to drive on these kind of roads.  A heave that looks bad may not be bad at all.  One that looks tame may catapult you out of the seat, breaking springs and other suspension hardware.  It is best to go slow at all times.  If someone behind me seems in a hurry, I pull off into a turnout and let them pass.  I am not going to destroy my equipment.  What is the rush.

Another beautiful lake.  I forget its name.

You learn a whole new vocabulary when visiting Alaska.  I will list some common terms below and their definition.
     Breakup:  Not when your spouse leaves you.  It is when melting snow raises the level of ice covered rivers causing the ice to break apart and flow downstream.
     Bush:  Anywhere without a road to get to it.
     Cheechako:  A newcomer.  Someone who hasn't spent a winter in Alaska.
     Outside:  Any place other than Alaska.  If you aren't from Alaska you are an Outsider.
     Sourdough:  Someone who has been in Alaska forever.
     Termination Dust:  The first light snow to fall on the mountain tops marking the end of summer.
     Frost Heave:  Areas where the pavement on the highway has sunk due to spring thaw resulting in a big dipsy doodle.
     Gravel Break:  Areas where frost heaves have been filled with gravel to level them out.
This is not a complete list by any means but you get the idea.

Just before you get to Valdez you cross over Thompson Pass.  It is known for its record snowfalls.  In the winter of 1952-53 it received 974.5 inches of snowfall.  That is 79 feet of snow!  When you enter the Richardson Highway from the Glenn Highway, there is a sign that advises you if the pass if open.  I imagine there are many days in the winter that Valdez is cutoff from the outside world due to snow.

The park ranger at Worthington Glacier showed us some photos of her home in Valdez taken during the winter.  Snow completely buries her house.  She keeps a snow shovel inside so she can keep the tunnel into the house open during snow storms.  She said if you don't dig out your windows, the snow freezes solid over them.  Then you have no light in the house the rest of the winter.  She showed us the photo of a two story house next to hers with snow up to the eaves.  The man built a lookout on top of the house so he could go up and see outside in the winter.  That is a bit extreme for me.  The ranger said she moved here 47 years ago from Cocoa Beach, Florida.  She thinks she is getting too old for the winters here and has been thinking of going back to Florida.  Boy is she in for a surprise if she hasn't been back to Florida in 47 years.

Can you see the fish in this photo?  There are at least one hundred.  Wish I had a polarized lens.

The ranger told us to be sure to visit the fish hatchery in Valdez.  They spawn pick salmon there and release them.  Each year the mature salmon return to the hatchery to deposit their eggs.  This provides a healthy catch each year for the commercial salmon fishermen.  Your can of pink salmon may have come from right here.

She said the bears come here to catch a salmon dinner.  Sure enough, one showed up.  He walked right past the people to the water.  Caught a salmon and walked right back past the people and back into the woods.  I didn't get that close as you can see from my photo.  Sometimes grizzlies would rather have a leg of man rather than a salmon.

We say goodbye to the Kenai Peninsula

We left Homer Sunday and drove up to Soldotna.  On the way, we had to stop at Anchor Point to have our photo taken by the sign that says this is as far west as you can drive on the North American continent. Now we have been to both ends of US 41 and we have driven as far west as you can.  I wasn't about to drive as far north as you can because the Dalton Highway will destroy your car.  Rental companies won't even let you take one up there.

Salmon fever is still in full swing there.  We couldn't get up to a gas pump let alone find a place to park.  Business is good for those who depend on the salmon run.  I knew we could drive over to the city of Kenai to find gas.  It is just a short drive from Soldotna.

The salmon action has moved upstream for Kenai so things have settled down there.  We had a long list of things to pick up at Walmart.  After several trips back and forth to the store we still thought of something else we needed.  We decided to stay the night in the parking lot.  The campgrounds are overflowing in this whole area.

Darlie, Bob and Bob Jf.

This morning we continued our trek up the Sterling Highway towards Anchorage.  We stopped in Cooper Landing to pick up Darlie's moose.  You should see it.  It is a bullwinkle look alike.  Bob, the creator of the moose, was hesitant thinking we might not like it.  Both of us were delighted with his appearance.  I took a few photos of Darlie, Bob and Pam, Bob's wife, together with the moose.  I think we will call the moose Bob or maybe R.J., Bob's initials.  Bob made "Bob" so his horns come off making him easier for us to pack into the motor home.  As we drove away, Bob and Pam were waving goodbye with big smiles on their faces.

There are so many beautiful wildflowers in Alaska.  Each week a new one blossoms as an old one fades.  As we drove along the Sterling Highway, we were taken by the beauty of the Alaskan Fireweed.  It is the state flower.  Darlie made me stop several times so she could get photos of them.  It was a rainy day.  I think  the rain added to their beauty.  What do you think?

Fireweed

Traffic was heavy around Turnagain Arm.  The road is narrow and winding.  The scenery is better.  We stopped at Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.  They have elk, moose, bears, carabou, muskox and buffalo roaming on the grounds.   Some of these animals are rescue animals.  The buffalo are being raised to reintroduce into the wild.

Grizzly Cub

We watched to brown (grizzly) bear cubs romp and play in their area.  They look like large teddy bears.  They hardly look dangerous.  One of the keepers went into the enclosure to feed them.  He has them trained to sit up and to raise their paw for more food.  They really seemed to enjoy his interaction and company.  After their dinner, they went back to acting like a couple of adolescants again.

Elk

All the antlered critters are in velvet.  That is when their horns look fuzzy while they are growing.  The elk have massive antlers as do the carabou.  You wonder how they keep their balance with those things waving around over their heads.

Carabou or Reindeer

After we had walked around the park for a time, we realized we had been here before.   Our bus driver on our Holland America tour drove us through here.  It was much smaller then.  He threw the extra activity in because our Portage Glacier cruise had been canceled due to high winds.

Anchorage is a relatively small city but very modern.  It is like any small city in the lower 48.  For Alaska though, it is very busy.  We had forgotten what traffic was like.  Honestly, cars zooming in and out around us made us a bit nervous.  It is funny how quickly we lose our sense of balance in such situations.

In Anchorage, we picked up the Glenn Highway.  It will take us over to the Richardson Highway that will take us to Valdez.  There are only a few highways in Alaska.  The major ones have route numbers but every one of them also has a name that is more commonly used.  There is the Parks Highway from Fairbanks to Anchorage,  the Sterling Highway from Anchorage to Homer and so on.  Looking at a map of Alaska is deceiving.  It looks like it is just a little way between things until you look at the scale of miles.  Alaska is a very big place.

Matanuska River

We stopped at an overlook of the Matanuska River near Palmer.  The cliff is fenced to keep you from falling over the edge.  You are up very high above the river.  Places like that make me very nervous.
Tonight we are camped in the King Mountain State Recreation Site on the banks of the Matanuska River.  It is a wild place.  Nothing fancy here.  A bear or a moose could walk by at any time.  I love places like this.

Windy!

Yesterday was beautiful.  It was sunny and warm all day.  We were out in shirt sleeves.  That isn't unusual for Alaskans but it is for Floridians here.  We visited the Pratt Museum in the village of Homer.  We also scoped out some churches for Sunday morning.  All of them have very small parking lots except the Jehovah's Witnesses.  We will see if we can squeeze in somewhere.  There are many churches in Alaska, unlike many areas we have traveled in the lower 48.

After our visit to town we browsed around the various gift shops on the Spit.  It is interesting to see all the items that are made by locals.  Many of these people are very talented.  There is a man here who makes the most beautiful knives I have ever seen.  Each is a unique work of art.  They carry a hefty price tag too.

Everyday we have new neighbors.  Some are friendly.  Others keep to themselves and you seldom see them.  A couple from Ottawa, Ontario parked next to us later in the day.  Before we knew it we were all sitting around my campfire sharing stories of our travels to Alaska.  That is a popular theme of conversations among RVers.  We chatted until well after the sun went down.  Yes, it does go down now but that doesn't mean it gets dark.  You have a couple of hours of twilight after sunset.

This morning we woke up to wind and rain.  The wind is rocking the motor home.  Darlie opened one of the roof vents this morning only to have the wind rip it right off.  Fortunately, I was able to find it and duct tape it in place to keep the rain out.  So far it is holding.  I won't be able to replace it until after I get home unless I decide to swing by Winnebago in Iowa on the way home.  I am told if I bring my Winnie in they will restore it to like new condition.  For the right price of course.

We have been watching the activities around a ship that is anchored out front.  It is called the Alucia.  I looked online to see what it was all about.  It has all kinds of special gadgets on it.  It turns our it is a very luxurious research vessel.  It has a crew of 22 and has luxury quarters for 16 visitors.  I wonder who these visitors are.  You can see the inside of this ship at this website

Alucia

It must be for sale.  The website appears to be a listing for the vessel.  It would be pretty neat to own.  It comes with two submersibles.  


In the morning we will leave Homer.  We don't know where we will land next.  We have a few things we want to see down here on the Kenai before we head east to Valdez.  We also have to stop back by Cooper's Landing to see how Darlie's moose turned out.  I did tell you about the chainsaw artist, didn't I?

Fishing

We have been fishing the past two days.  At the end of the spit there is a place where all the fish processing places expel all the fish waste.  There are tons of fish processed here every day.  All the carcasses are ground up and pumped out into the bay where fish and birds eat it.

Every once in a while a huge blast of water boils up from the bottom when they flush out the fish waste.  The birds swarm around diving for morsels.  You can see the fins of fish swimming around having their dinner also.  This is a good place to catch fish,  It is so good they say, "if you ain't catchin, you ain't fishin".

We went down there yesterday to fish.  Every cast you caught a fish.  Most of them are pollock which we threw back.  I did catch a cod which I kept.  We had it for dinner tonight.  It was very tasty.

The fish cleaning station has been very busy with people cleaning hundreds of salmon.  They are coming from the Kenai River.  It is the largest salmon run in history this year.  It is reported by Fish and Game that over a half million fish entered the river in one day.  People are having record catches.  I have never seen so many fish being cleaned anywhere.   I wish I had gotten to see the run.  We were a couple of days too early.  It will be past its peak when we go back up that way.

Car ferry leaving Homer.

Today we went out on a half day charter boat for halibut.  It was a fun trip.  On the half day trips you don't get the monster halibut this area is famous for but you still catch lots of fish.  As soon as your line hits the bottom you have a fish.  They are very hard to reel in.  They are big flat fish that do a good job of resisting capture.

Our Catch

Each person is allowed two fish.  We had our limit in no time.  You can continue to fish but you have to throw them back.  After landing several fish I was pooped.  I decided to sit and watch others.  A family from Mexico City was on board.  They had never been fishing in their lives.  They were having a great time.  One of the deck hands was teasing one of the daughters.  He told her it is tradition that you kiss your first fish.  She almost fell for it but she was afraid of the teeth.

We sent our fish off to the packing house to have it packaged and frozen.  We think we can get all of it in our little freezer.  If there is room left we might go salmon fishing.  We have been using everything in the freezer to make room for fish.  It is empty now.  You can have your fish shipped home.   The more you ship the cheaper the rate.  Fifty pounds of fish would cost $150.00 to ship overnight to your door.

After we got back to the motor home, we built a fire and visited with our neighbors for a couple of hours.  They are from Florida also.  They sold their house a year ago and have been traveling since.  They are getting tired of living in the motor home all the time.  They are thinking about buying a smaller one like ours then buy a house back in Florida.  They say you always accumulate things and before you know it you have too much stuff.  They miss being able to stretch out too.

As we sat outside this evening, a guy went by on water skis.  He had on a wetsuit but still it is cold.  He skied by all the tourists in the RV parks.  I think he was showing off and giving us a photo op.

Deadliest Catch....am I talking about Darlie?  No, she was a good catch.

Sunny Day In Homer

We awoke to brilliant sunshine today.  It is cool and breezy though.  I sat in up front drinking my coffee this morning taking in the beautiful view we have from the MH.  Several little girls were playing on the beach.  They are Alaskans.  How do I know this?  They are dressed in T-shirts, skirts and Alaskan sneakers.  Alaskan sneakers are rubber boots.  Everyone wears rubber boots.  Some only come up to mid calf.  Others have on hip boots.  There is so much marshy, river banks and tidal flats to run around boots are a must.  Two things I find most Alaskans bring to the campground are rubber boots and a chainsaw.  I am not making fun.  These are simply observations.

View in front of us today.

I continue to be impressed with Alaskans in general.  They are friendly.  They love to talk about Alaska.  They eagerly share fishing tips, advice on where to get the best halibut in a restaurant and other essentials such as that.

The red salmon (sockeye) started running yesterday in the Kenai River.  We were up there a few days ago but there were very few fish in the river.  I stopped at the fish cleaning table here today to chat with guys cleaning salmon.  One young man said he and his group just got back from dip netting in the Kenai.  They got 500 salmon among them.   He told me they watch the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife website for fish counts. If there are only 5 to 10 thousand entering the river they stay home.  It is a big river.  That few fish are too spread out to catch many.  He said there are 50 thousand entering the river now.  They are literally on top of each other.   When the fish run, Alaskans drop everything and head to the river.  I love their priorities.

Red Salmon

Another man was cleaning cod.  He caught them here at the end of the spit.  He said there is a large discharge pipe there where the fish processing houses discharge their fish scraps.  It draws in the fish.  Darlie and I  had heard about this from others.  We rode our bikes down to take a look.  The shoreline was lined with anglers.  Soon a gusher of reddish water shot up in the air.  The seagulls swarmed around squawking and making a big ruckus.  It was dinner time.  I may go down there and throw in a line myself.

We made the rounds at the craft and gift shops.  Many of the little shops are owned and operated by the same people who produce the gifts.  They spend the winter making these things to sell to the summer tourists.  The workmanship is fabulous.  They don't sell cheap Chinese reproductions of native items.  They make these things themselves and the care and quality show.  It is very interesting talking to these people.  They love to share about life in Alaska.

We also stopped by the shop run by the Hillstrand brothers who star on the Deadliest Catch.  They are co captains of the Time Bandit, an Alaskan crab boat.  Neither of the brothers were in today.  When they are they will let you take your photo with them for $20.  By the size of the crowd in the store, I would say they are doing very well.

We had lunch at the Happy Face Restaurant.  They had a halibut and chips special.  We just can't get enough of that halibut.  I wish I could take a couple hundred pounds home.  We have met some fishermen from the lower 48 who come here every year to catch halibut.  One guy had shipped over 350 pounds home.  It costs about $4.90 per pound to do that.   Depending on where you buy it, fresh halibut runs from $10 to $25 per pound.  So the shipping cost isn't too bad.

Wind blown

I would love to be able to come up here every summer.  I didn't really get into it until we came down the the Kenai Peninsula.  I love this part of the state.  There is so much to do and see here.  I think it is the most beautiful part of the state too.  We have neighbors tonight who have been coming up for years.  They drove up like we did the first time.  Now they fly up and rent an RV for a month.  They said it is much cheaper and you don't have all those long miles to travel.  They come to fish.  They will send home salmon and halibut and if they get time, they will go clamming too.

Darlie forgot to take her camera with her on our bike ride this morning so I don't have many photos to select from today.

Homer Spit

We drove down to Homer today.  We are camped on Homer Spit.  It is a narrow strip of land extending out into the bay from Homer.  It is about three and a half miles long.  There are many tourist business, fishing charters and fish processing plants out here.  The ferry dock is also located here.

Midnight at Ninilchik

I couldn't make up my mind which I liked best so I put both of them on.  That is Mt. Redoubt on the left.

We are camped on the "Fishing Hole".  It is a special place developed where tourists can get a line in the water.  The salmon that run into this hole have been specially bred in a hatchery to come back to this hole when they mature.  They don't spawn here as there is no place for them to do that.  They are only here for the fishermen to catch.  We did see a couple of very large salmon tonight while walking along the outlet of the hole.  The water is very clear.

Wildflower

This afternoon I watched two seals swimming around in the hole.  They appeared to be looking for lunch.  This evening I took Darlie over to see the seals but the tide was out and so were the seals.  We will check again when the tide is up.  Darlie got a photo of an eagle instead.

We have paid for a week at this campground.  This is a very bike friendly place with many interesting places to ride too.  We also have a charter scheduled for Wednesday to go out for halibut.  It rained most of the day today so the bikes didn't' come off the RV yet.  We have had several very beautiful days in a row with bright sunshine and warm temperatures.  I hope it warms up here.   Right now it is pretty cool.

View from tonight's campsite.  Where could you get a view like this for $13.50 per night?