Take Me Out to the Ballgame

OK, so this trip has been one hell of a great ride so far and we appreciate all of you nice folks joining along - it really has made our trip that much more rewarding in reading your nice, thoughtful comments - thanks to all of you, we love and miss you and wish you were here with us!

We left San Diego May 1st and by mid June have traveled nearly 3500 miles to the Alaskan border. It will now take us about 3 weeks to make the remaining 250 miles to Anchorage - kinda feels like we dropped the anchor somewhere after entering AK. That's alright though, time well spent getting adjusted to this wild and indescribable place. First off, our sleep patterns have been turned completely upside down. We turn in around 11 PM and the sun is still at about the 6 PM summer position in San Diego. It's pretty weird sitting around the campfire with my shirt off bagging the rays and stoking the logs, but an evening fire is essential in keeping the mosquitoes away - bulletproof, better than any repellant, those guys hate the smoke.

So, to bed by 11 PM and before you know it the sun is up at 4 AM! I usually arise at 6 AM and get the day started while Debbie can manage (don't ask me how she does it) another 3 hours or so. But 6 AM till 11 PM makes for a long day - listen to me whine, didn't mention my standard 2 hour afternoon nap!

Let's catch up since Valdez, shan't we?

Left Valdez and picked out a nice boondock spot right next to a small lake near Lake Louise.
Debbie grabbed this nice photo of a Mama Moose trying to enjoy an evening graze until we came along and spoiled her meal. She's a big'n, huh?


Interestingly enough this was the first full on Moose sighting of the trip. We caught a brief glimpse of one running away a few days ago but nothing like this. What's interesting is that we have been seeing roadway signs cautioning drivers to be alert for Moose since the State of Washington. I was beginning to think it was a conspiracy promulgated by the Friends of Moose just to F with us. Seriously, not a single Moose sighting until a few days ago and then again today.

Better watch my karma here, our next Moose sighting might be into the front grill of the motorhome at 65 MPH! Careful what you wish for, right?

Went over to the Lake Louise Lodge to have a look around. Very nice lodge, open all year with ice fishing, 80 miles of snowmobile trails, cross country skiing and a great, huge bluewater lake for summer boating, fishing and water skiing. Place is for sale if you're interested. Seems like every place we see up here is for sale, that's gotta tell you something, right?

The next day, Saturday, we were dawdling along headed for Anchorage and we stopped at a roadside turnout - these things are everywhere, usually paved and double ended so it's easy to get in and out of - this one was at the highest point on the Glenn Highway and supposedly had a great viewing venue for the Dall Sheep. We have been dying to see a Dall Sheep - I made a brief reference to them in a previous post from Teslin Lake - they are very similar to the Bighorn Sheep we see in the southern CA deserts. They like rocky terrain and thrive in these parts. So we stop and deploy the binoculars and find nothing. But wait, what is this I see down in the valley? I see a couple of folks boondocking in their motorhomes and I say, why not us? We tool on down and post up in a valley which seemed like a huge caldera from an ancient volcanic eruption and spread out surrounded by volcanic crags, glaciers and alpine lakes - breathtaking. It turns out we were in the valley created by the receding Matanuska Glacier and it could not have been better.


Chilling in the rain at the Matanuska Glacier Viewing area....

Later on the skies cleared and turned into a beautiful warm summer day. Just sitting outside from 1 PM until 11 PM soaking up the sun, listening to some nice music and stoking a small but blazing campfire. Geezus, this is very nice, and trust me - it was!

Now on to the topic of this post...baseball, we're talking ABL (Alaskan Baseball League) action. We get to Palmer, AK about 40 miles outside of Anchorage alongside the OLD Glenn Highway - not to be confused with the Glenn Highway - at the Matanuska River Park, a City owned facility with about 40 campsites situated a mile down the road from the bustling City of Palmer, AK.

Palmer seems to be a full service town with all of the modern amenities like shopping centers, quaint downtown, great Alehouse and, and BASEBALL! The ABL consists of 5 teams - the Anchorage Bucs, the Kenai Peninsula has a team, Fairbanks has a team, the Chugiak/Eagle River Chinooks and the local home team the Mat-Su Miners - how cool is that? The Miners play on a very nice diamond on the Alaska State Fairgrounds just a stones throw south of Palmer. We checked their schedule and they were playing a home game Monday night against the hated cross town rival Chinook squad from Chugiak - this we have to see and provide a full report to all of our loyal followers, right?

It was the first organized baseball game that we have taken in this season and it did not disappoint. The PA announcer also doubled as the between inning entertainment and rolled out some nice tunes - Hendrix, Lynrd Skynrd, and he seemed to have a serious need to get the Led out - I was digging it big time. Also, when a foul ball went over the stands and out of sight from the spectators, right at about the time it would have landed he sparks up the crashing window sound. Got the picture? Classic small town baseball at its finest. OK, let's move on.


Small town baseball in summertime America, at its finest...yes, the grand old game is still alive and well here in AK.

Nice crowd around 1500 patrons and all friendly as all get out and we had a most excellent time. We picked up a program with a roster that listed the hometowns and colleges where all of the ballplayers came from/attended. The ABL scouts and signs NCAA college players right after their college careers are over. Obviously these kids want a shot at the big time so they hustle, they laugh and they play some hardball - really fun to watch. At the games conclusion the homewown players came out to rake the infield, pick up trash and cleaned the place up, cool as hell.

Noticed in the roster a kid playing for the Miners from Vista, CA - Brooks Stotler, 6-1, 190# center fielder - he played his college ball with the fine Long Beach State Dirtbag program.


Number 24 on her lineup card and number one in her heart...here's Brooks with his biggest fan - a very nice guy.

Every time he came up to bat the bunt call was on so we saw him bunt (all 4 of his at-bats he got the bunt signal)  in the most ridiculous situations - lead off, you're bunting (actually not that bad of a call), 2 outs and no one on, kid you're bunting - it was like the coaches didn't trust him to swing away and take some honest cuts at the ball, weird I thought.

Went up to him after the game and found out he played at Rancho Buena Vista HS, grew up with youth baseball in Vista, CA and went off to LBSU. I asked him, so how do you like AK? He said this place is wild as hell and I'm having the time of my life. Right on Brooks, being 22 and spending the summer traveling around AK playing ball - you've hit the big leagues in my book, enjoy the summer and have fun playing some hardball my man. He thanked Debbie for her cheers during the game - Debbie's Go Vista!, Go Dirtbags! - he heard and really appreciated. The nice elderly couple in front of us seemed confused though and kept asking Debbie - what's a dirtbag, what's a Vista? We'll catch some more ABL action as we move on I'm sure.


The friendly confines of the Hermon Brothers Field with the backs of the nice elderly couple in the seats in front of us.

Oh by the way, the Chinooks took it on the chin (couldn't wait to use that line!) with a 5-3 loss to the Miners. Chinooks kept it interesting but the Miners closer shut them down big time in the top of the ninth with runners on the corners and one out to seal the deal. Miners are now in first place by half a game over the Anchorage Bucs with an upcoming 4 game road series in Anchorage over the next several days, we'll see how they do. During the 8th inning went for a beer and chatted with a local diehard Miners fan and the HS baseball coach. He says the Bucs have some tough pitching and will always find a way to win - spoken like a true coach, nice man and definitely knew his ABL baseball stuff. I'll be keeping an eye on the ABL action all summer and will provide Sportscenter like updates to you all - da da da, da da da.


Enjoying some baseball, relaxing and gettin' the Led out.

One other logistical issue that we took care of while here at Matanuska today was some catch up cleaning, vehicle maintenance and yes, more laundry. I headed out early to get the Fit washed, oil changed and necessary fluids refurbished. Debbie went out and tackled the thankless laundromat mission to wash bedding, linens, sleeping bags etc which when getting this huge load washed and dried is basically a full day type of an affair. Just doing everyday laundry is usually a slam dunk but bedding and linens, well now you've stepped into the big leagues, not meant for rank amateurs like me.

Meanwhile, back at the blue whale I cleaned the interior from stem to stern with Murphys Oil Soap (great stuff, by the way) and had it minty fresh in about 3 hours time. I am not joking, there was so much dust that 3 swipes with a clean cloth required rinsing to remove the accumulated debris. Man, it smells and feels like the real deal once again and with fresh sheets, blankets and linens to boot - heaven! Also cleaned and lubed all of the towing equipment we use to tow the Fit which was a major task as it turned out - glad that's over with and hopefully should keep us towing smoothly until we get back to SD.

First thing tomorrow we're out to get the oil changed and front suspension lubed on the blue whale and then on down the Old Glenn Highway for who knows what. I'm posting this using the Wi-Fi at the Quickie Lube joint here in Palmer waiting for them to finish up their work.

Perhaps we'll check out Chugiak, the home of the Chinooks and see if they have any home games scheduled. If so I'll be sure to wear my recently purchased Mat-Su Miners T shirt just to test the attitudes of the home fans.

Stay tuned, will update as note worthy conditions present themselves.

On Down Valdez Way

Spent the past Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the Tonsina River Lodge and RV Park right next to the Tonsina River and about 100 miles from the coast (Prince William Sound) and the port City of Valdez.

We really scored a gem here. Owned by a couple who emigrated from Russia 7 years ago, they served up gourmet food with a heavy slant towards their family recipes and hospitality from the old country - simply delicious and the best food of the trip since Ron and Susie's home on Orcas Island, WA and Phil's hang in Carmel Valley, CA - hands down. A lovely couple, Serge and Svetlana, initially moved from Kaliningrad to Miami Beach and could not handle the summer humidity and crowds. Somehow found this place for sale, sold everything they had in FL and trucked on up to AK. Still have sons and daughters and grandkids in Miami so they visit there in the winter - works great for them.

While visiting a local museum in Copper Center, AK I saw this photo of the lodge from back in the early 1900's gold stampede days.



Compare with the view today taken from more or less the same spot, interesting the log cabin is still here. Would love to have the skills to build a log cabin that could last 120 years in this harsh climate...incredible.


We took advantage of their great meals and ambience to wind down a bit from the road and just relax.

Did do some day trips in the Fit to explore the local area - Willow Lake on a perfect day will provide a mirror image of the surrounding mountains but it was unfortunately not happening during our stay. I desperately wanted this shot but this was about the best I could do. Sorry dear readers, I feel as though I've let you down.


Went back to that damn lake, by actual count, 6 times hoping to find the right lighting and wind free mirrored lake surface. Oh well, I'd give it an A for effort and C- for results, overall average at best.









Went up to the fancy shmancy Princess Cruise Lines Wilderness Lodge for cocktail hour one evening.
I had the Alaskan Amber and Debbie had the gin/blueberry something or other...fine evening with Mt. Sanford showing off in the background (a very, very small part of the grand Wrangell/St. Elias NP).


I went out and visited Copper Center, AK and took in a museum focusing on the stampede days. Figured what the hell, admission was free and I needed to waddle off those huge sourdough pancakes I just wolfed down for breakfast next door. It was actually quite well done and very informative with well thought out displays and exhibits - so the big spender from Cali dropped a finsky as a token donation.

Copper Center was the epicenter of the late gold stampede around 1900. Seems it was a bit of a scam by some unscrupulous promoters and many poor bastards wanting a rich quick solution to life got badly burned. No gold, spent a lot of money to get there and oh yeh, by the way, it gets cold up here with not much to eat in the winter months. Nearly 300 of them died due to scurvy and cold after finding zero, nada gold...bummer. The days of innocence can sometimes last for an eternity.

So, you wanna go a gold prospectin' up here in the Copper River basin? Click on this to see the short list of the things you'll need for a year.


While in Copper Center I passed by a building with a sign out front that said 'Town Hall'. Nice paved driveway, right next door to the US Post Office - looked totally legit to me - so I pull in and get accosted by an old fart - I thought maybe he was the mayor and I took his parking spot. Is it OK to park here? He gives me an emphatic 'nooo' and informs me that I'm on private property. Oh, says I, thought this was a public facility and pointed at the town hall sign...sorry old guy, I mean all I wanted was a damned map of this piece of crap town. Oh that, well that's just a joke, says he. Guess I'm not yet used to this Alaskan style of sign humor. So if you guys want to move to AK and make an immediate humorous impact with your neighbors and visitors alike, put a town hall sign up in your front yard.

Thursday morning we headed off to Valdez, AK to see the Worthington Glacier and take in the vibe and history of Valdez.

First stop was the jaw dropping Worthington Glacier, billed as the most motor vehicle accessible glacier in the world. True enough, the parking lot was a mere quarter mile from the toe of the beast. Hiked on up to the toe and went a bit further - maybe a half mile or so - up the left moraine alongside of the glacier until the trail started to get a bit sketchy. I'm too old for bouldering and dodging crevasses, I'll leave that for the younger set and the idiotic European tourists walking around with open toed sandals, shorts and knee high socks.
That being said, a very worthy glacier indeed.


Here's the blue whale with Fit in tow taking a breather amongst the alpine tundra after summitting the infamous Thompson Pass. Many a gold stampeder cashed in their last chips on this summit back in the day.


Then we went on into Valdez and booked up on the waterfront for the night. Big time fishing seaport and home to the Valdez Terminal where the Trans Alaska oil pipeline ends and the Arctic Ocean crude from Prudhoe Bay is transferred to tankers.

The town really did not do much for us apart from the interesting history and the waterfront was pretty cool. Other than that it appeared to be a mostly industrial center and transportation link between shipping and trucking. Lots of trucks rolling thru town at all hours hustling goods to and fro the port and the interior of AK. But, the mountains/glaciers surrounding the town on 3 sides with fjord like Prince William Sound on the fourth more than made up for that...very picturesque and pretty. A must see for sure, glad we visited.

Caught this nice shot of a small iceberg (check out that blue color) at the City's Valdez Glacier Lake Park - now, I ask you - how many US cities have a glacial lake complete with functioning icebergs as part of their City park system? Awesome!


Went in and checked out the museum dedicated to the 1964 Good Friday earthquake that wiped out the entire town - yes, the entire town -  and took 30 lives. Old Valdez was built on top of Valdez Glacier runoff at Prince William Sound and was made up of unconsolidated gravel/sand/glacial till and had a very high water table being right next to the Sound. When that combination gets violently shaken, liquefaction/quicksand results and all bets are off the table - run like hell!

Many incorrectly assumed that a huge tsunami wave generated by the earthquake is what did the old town in. But not really, the liquefied soil lowered the town's elevation by 9 feet - that's right, I said 9 feet! - in about 3 minutes time and the tidal water just rushed on in and did its thing. The quake also moved the City horizontally a distance of 30 feet! Largest earthquake to strike North America and the second strongest ever recorded anywhere - the largest was in Chile a year earlier and it wiped out the town of Valdivia under very similar circumstances.

With a City now 9 feet below sea level there was no other option but to pack up what was left and move to another location. The Army Corps of Engineers came in with the bucks/resources and two legacy families with roots to the pioneer days of Valdez DONATED the land for the new City. The land was situated firmly on bedrock this time and the new City of Valdez was born. Residents were offered replacement homes for free however many had had enough and moved on. Some of the surviving structures from Old Valdez were moved to New Valdez and I checked some of them out, very interesting.

Just so you don't get the impression that this was a little deal - Old Valdez was a legit, bustling port City with hundreds of residences, car dealerships, grocery stores, hotels, bars, factories, wharves, post office, restaurants, schools, churches - the whole gambit and all wiped from the face of the earth in 180 seconds time, wow. Most of the lives were lost at the wharf where on any given workday hundreds of workers would have been but this being Good Friday at 5:34 PM over the Easter holiday it was mostly empty (except for 30 poor souls), thank God.

I then sauntered on out Dayville Road which leads to the Valdez Terminal.

High security was strongly evident and if you get on the premises watch your speed.


Here's my theory on how this particular speed limit sign came to be. A traffic engineer must have specified that speed limits on the site should be less than 30 MPH so some smart ass in the sign shop came up with this. Sound plausible? More of that Alaskan style sign humor I guess. Think I'm going to suggest an ad slogan to the AK State Board of Tourism..."Come to Alaska and Enjoy our Hilarious Signage".

To that point, I have collected quite a nice grouping of photographs on bizarre, confusing and downright dangerous roadway signage, etc on this trip. Perhaps a future post topic?...that right there is what we in the blog business like to call a teaser.

OK, we're off at a very slow pace to Anchorage, should be there for the 4th of July.

Before Anchorage we're planning stops at Lake Louise, Matanuska Glacier and some parks off the old Glenn Highway around Palmer/Wasilla, home of ex - gov Sarah Palin. I'll let you know if we can see Russia from the kitchen window of our motorhome.

Later good people, hope you all enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed experiencing and sharing it with you.
Take care.

A Tale of Two Cities

Alaska Territory 1938, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Kennicott, AK - a town formed in the early 1900's to pull rich copper veins by the Kennicott Copper Corporation. When the mine closed in 1938 their profits (profit, not revenue mind you) had amassed over $200M (in todays dollars over $3B) in 30 years of working the hills. Contrast that with some 40 years earlier the USA purchased all of AK from Russia for the paltry sum of $7M.
USA 1 - Russia 0.


Kennicott Ore Processor, Kennicott, AK

It is also important to remember the era when all of this happened - electrification was on in a big way and TONS of copper wire were needed to make it happen. Like all success stories - vision, risk, hard work and being in the right spot at the right time with the right product. And it all ended overnight in 1938 - the great depression was still lingering and copper demand tanked. At the end of the Friday day shift all workers were told to leave. They had two choices, be on the last train leaving in 24 hours or stay here, your choice. The best of times in Kennicott were over.

And McCarthy, AK some 5 miles down the river from Kennicott, it was the booze and red light district for the folks working the huge copper mines and processing facilties. See, the owners and managers of Kennicott did not want 'their town' to be like every other mining town in the world at that time with loose morals - besides, it served as a distraction from mining and making money. And it was absolutely their town - company currency only, company provided housing and meals, company hospital - yep, the company store and thank God it is prohibitively illegal to do these days. They wanted to keep their town clean (and profitible) so you guys need to hike 5 miles downstream to get your ya-ya's out.


McCarthy town sign fashioned out of old railroad spikes

I really like this shot...sculpture depicts the AK state flag with Dipper and North Star and I managed to frame a nice glacier high on the hill. McCarthy, AK.

I think we should all go take a look see and check out the tales of these two cities - wanna come along? OK, let's go then.

Getting there - from Chitina it's one way in, one way out and you can only get to within 1 mile of the first town McCarthy by crossing a pedestrian bridge and then catching a shuttle (or walk) on up to town. The 40 miles of washboard road from Chitina will make you want to appreciate the majestic surroundings about you. The road was touted in the info guide books as extremely degraded and in fact, all of the rental car/RV rental companies up here prohibit their customers from driving on it. The other ingredient for our planned day trip out there was heavy rain in the forecast for the day (Monday June 20th, the longest day of the year).

Here's how the road starts off...wowser.

We got up early Monday AM and said the hell with it, let's go and we soldiered on, just to grab some stories and pics for you, our loyal followers and co-pilots. We were a razors edge away from cancelling but we're so glad we followed thru. Sort of became a bit of a challenge for us which ended up making the trip that more exhilirating and memorable.


The Fit (for a low clearance ride) did great, although a bit dusty.

The advertised bad road conditions (I think it is really an attempt to get people to buy shuttle/air services to avoid the road, but that's my cynacle side speaking) and the forecast for rain was on our mind as we started down the 60 mile (20 miles paved/chip seal and the rest gravel/washboard) one way out and back road. We then quickly find that we're cruising the singularly most beautiful stretch of road we have ever been on. What crappy road? What jarring lower back condition is happening to me right now? It all pales into insignificance if you look around and marvel at the scenery...absolutely mind blowing! Slow and easy was the order of the day.

We were most pleasantly surprised at the good condition of the road out there. You could make 30 mph pretty easily but it required close attention to the potholes, dips and sudden crossings of old (early 1900's) exposed railroad ties and spikes. The road today follows the old copper ore railway line constructed back then along with, still functioning, steel truss bridges built for the railroad, not casual tourists like us.

It was such an adrenaline rush to be driving this route - yes, even at 30 mph! Lasted long about 3 hours I reckon - finding bliss on a beater road, nuttin' better!

The promotional brochures for Wrangell/St. Elias NP (surrounding McCarthy/Kennicott) bill it as "Little Switzerland". I've been to Switzerland and Switzerland ain't got shit on this place - this slice of heaven makes Switzerland look like a ghetto. I mean 25 Million acres as one of our NP's? You could fit all of Switzerland, Yosemite and Yellowstone NP's into this mother and still have plenty of elbow room left over...Little Switzerland, yeh right. Switzerland should be called Little Wrangell.
USA 1 - Switzerland 0.

Absolute highlight of the trip was the tour of the old Kennicott Copper mill. I heard from at least a dozen travelers that this was a worthwhile tour so I booked the supreme tour which included the town, mill site AND the inside of the mill. If you go make sure you book the tour that takes you thru the inside of the mill - not all tours do it and it would be a shame if you missed it.

This facility is massive. Built in 1907 it is 14 stories tall (see photo from 1st paragraph) and processes copper ore from underground mines 4 miles up into the mountains which is trammed to the processor via cables and ore cars.
They had 5 mines working 24/7 for 30 years - one mine had such high grade copper ore it did not even require processing, nearly 95% copper and it bypassed the mill and went to the smelter down in Tacoma, WA via rail/ship. The rest of the ore went thru the mill.

I was completely fascinated with all of the old machinery that looked as though a little spic and span could get them running just as well today as they were when first built. Works of art as well as turn of the century engineered marvels, beautiful stuff - nothing comes close to the quality and workmanship today.


A beautiful pressure boiler inside the ore processing facility.

The other engineering marvel associated with this mill was the railway constructed from the port of Cordova (chosen by Kennicott because it was the most northerly ice free harbor on the AK coast) straight to the mill in Kennicott. 60 pound bags of pure copper powder were loaded on to the train, transported to Cordova and then shipped to the Kennicott smelter in Tacoma, WA.

This is the grade used today for the 60 mile route from Chitina to McCarthy - I was loving it.

McCarthy is today, how should I put it - a tourist trap not trying to look like a tourist trap. They are 100% dependent on tourist dollars but they have this air of being out in the middle of nowhere, not wanting contact with other people, we're free/leave us alone. I don't know, it was weird. Maybe I was just a bit tired from the drive and tour, who knows.

At the same time the people were all friendly and we heard some good stories of how they ended up here. We stopped in to the local saloon, had a quick beer and then shuttled back to the footbridge, got in the car and drove 3 hours back to Chitina.

Here's our man guarding the entrance back into Chitina and welcoming us home from our adventurous day, thanks buddy. Man, I believe someone's (Debbie) getting the eagle eye!

















Sorry TJ, we were looking for more of a blues and reggae campground.

Long day, had dinner in town, early to bed and we pull out tomorrow for the Tonsina River lodge for some Russian food...more later.

The summer soltice was a bust sorry to report. It was overcast all day, no rain, but we never saw the sun or the moon - not for a second. No weirdos either...damn, I was looking forward to that part. Oh well, try again in another 70 years I guess.

We moved on Tuesday and spent a couple of nights at the Tonsina River Lodge owned by a Russian couple who immigrated from the motherland 7 years ago. Love Alaska, love the opportunity of owning their own business and deeply appreciate all of the joy in being American citizens. Besides, they are a lovely couple and whipped up some excellent Russian food and hospitality. Shouldn't have let these two go Putin.
USA 2 - Russia 0.

More on our stay there and our time in Valdez in the next post.
Later good people and thanks for following along.

The Historic Gakona Lodge

Situated just a smidge north of Glenallen, AK the Gakona Lodge sits alongside the Tok Cutoff Road headed towards Valdez (pronounced Val-deeze) and Anchorage, AK and is about 2 miles from our campsite at the Gakona RV Park.

Historic because it is one of the only remaining roadhouses that were built in the 1920's every 30 miles or so along the Valdez to Eagle Trail to serve the gold fields. Mining supplies and personnel were shipped into Valdez and wagonned up to the gold fields and the yellow rock came back down the trail and was shipped out. Today, the port of Valdez loads the black gold (oil) from the North Slope onto tankers as it is the terminus of the Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline. If you've ever purchased a drop of fuel from ARCO the origin of that gasoline came thru this pipeline and port.

The lodge is now mostly a tourist destination with many of the original buildings in use as a restaurant, tavern and about 20 rooms and cabins situated right next to the raging Gulkana River.
Debbie and I stopped in last night and had a delicious dinner in the log building that served as a wagon repair shop back in the day. Very cool room with lots of artifacts, photos and other historic memorabilia to ponder over.


Read some of the history here.....

After dinner we slid on into the tavern for a quick nitecap and talked with some of the locals. Here's some of the characters we met and their stories:

Julia and her hubby (can't remember his name) - older retired couple who have lived next door to the lodge since the early '70's. She was the town postmaster for many years while hubby 'worked the slope' - assuming that meant he worked up in the oil fields on the North Slope. Told us all the history of flooding due to ice dams in the Spring, incredible tales of the annual Copper River 300 Mile Dog Sled race and how much they love living here.

Crystal - nursing a glass of white wine at the bar, she's a local gal, probably late 30's. Born and raised about 500 feet down the road, went off to Fairbanks to get her college degree, traveled for a few years and ended up back in Fairbanks for about 10 years working and missing home. Been back home for around 4 years now. We ask, how are the winters up here? She says the cold doesn't bother her but the long days of darkness is the toughest part to handle. Said if she could get out from Thanksgiving til Valentines Day that would be ideal - and this is from a person who has lived here most of her life. So, she casually mentions that she guided river trips in the area for many years. I ask, who would you recommend if we wanted to do a guided rafting/fishing trip? Oh, hell I'll take you, when do you guys want to go? I don't know, how about tomorrow? Checks her schedule on her iphone and says how about 11 AM for $100 for the both of you? More on this later...

Matt - appeared to be the manager of the lodge, very nice - but a bit verbose and authoritarian - grew up in Colorado and has been out here 10 years or so. He said the top 3 things you need to do here in the Copper River Valley is - take a flight tour of Wrangell/St. Elias NP; go river rafting; fish for salmon. He said if he could pick only one thing it would be the flight tour, want me to call them for you and reserve a spot? Now I'm thinking, OK this guy has a spouse or a close family member that owns or pilots for the flight company. No, thats OK Matt, where are they located and I'll check it out, thanks.

The rest of the crowd seemed to be locals and very friendly with smiles and nods towards us when we made meaningful eye contact. Unlike some other places where the locals tend to not like outsiders...this was a refreshing change, very nice people.

We woke up the next morning (today) and the weather temps were forecast in the low 60's with high winds so we called Crystal and cancelled, next time Crystal, thanks again for the kind offer, it would have been a blast but not in cold, windy weather.

We did however notice that the skies were clear with great visbility so I motored on down to the airstrip in Glenallen to inquire about a flight tour of the Wrangells. Talked to Meade, a mid 20'ish guy who grew up on a ranch in Colorado with an airstrip - both his parents were pilots and he was flown home from the hospital by Dad right after he was born. He said, for sure, today was a great day to fly but might be a tad bumpy due to the winds. Let's do it Meademeister!

At 1 PM Debbie and I take off with pilot Jim and view some spectacular scenery.


Put those trays in an upright and locked position.....we're pulling away from the gate.

Words can not describe it so I'll let the pics speak for themselves. The pics barely describe it as it needs to be seen to be believed but the pictures come a little closer than words do.


Glaciers to the right.........


Glaciers to the left.....

I loved the colors in this one, go ahead and click on it you know you want to. This would make a great 1500 piece jigsaw puzzle.

Loved the colors here too...looks like someone spilled their Gatorade.

Matt was right, this flight tour was well worth it!

After the flight Meade told us the Lodge is having a concert tonight so we may head down and check it out. Late update - checked it out and what fun we had. Lots of locals digging the tunes of a really good local band, fun was had by all! Alaskans are so cool.

We're staying here another day or so because there is so much to see and quite frankly we need a few days off of the road to get our senses and bearings back in order...it's working out fine, just another day or so and we'll be off to Chitna/McCarthy and then on to Valdez.

Oh, forgot to update you all on the cannabis situation in Tok. Nothing noticeable - no shops, no ads, no displays...in talking to the locals the legislation is so new no one can figure out what is allowed or not - sounds like every other piece of legislation that's passed, right? You can do it but by God don't ask us any details on how it is to be implemented, controlled or managed. There are no visible weed stores although I'm sure they exist if you ask the right question to the right person. So there you have it - no weed in Tok. Now, if one of you enterprising folks out there wants to make some good cash and clean up, what better place to open up a weed shop than Tok? If nothing else think of the advertising fun you could have with that one. Get in now while the gettin' is good, I say.

I'll leave you with this...I need to research this expedition a bit as you know I love me some expedition stories. Never heard of it before but sounds very interesting.

Oh, one more final note and then I'll stop bothering all of you nice people. Next Tuesday is the summer solstice which is always a huge deal up here. Even better this year as the longest day of the year will be accompianed by a full moon...last time that's happened was 70 years ago and won't happen again for another 70 years. Yes, the celestial/zodiac weirdos are definitely going to be out for this one. Sounds cool though, full sun and full moon up in these latitudes at the same time, should present some good photo ops. Don't worry, I'll snap a few pics of the weirdos too for your enjoyment.

Take care all, good night from the land of midnight sun.

Does a Bear Crap in the Woods?

The answer to the age old question is.... not necessarily, unless its 10' feet away from a Lazy Daze Motorhome (us) and even closer to the driver side door (me).



This grizzly did not have a care in the world, just give me and my 2 cubs some more danbdelions to eat. This beauty and her youg'uns were found roadside along the Alaskan Highway just south of Beaver Creek, YT and about 10' feet away from our motorhome. We were driving along, minding our own business, when a southbound traveler alerted us to the presence of a mother grizzly and two cubs some 1 to 2 miles ahead. This made our day!

I'll keep it short today and let these grizzly photos entertain you.
Click on them for a full screen view, they're pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. Enjoy!

An Alternate Method of Getting to Alaska...and Cheap Too

I'm writing the text of this post (Tuesday, June 14th) from Kathleen Lake (yes, yet another lake!) within the Kluane National Park in the Yukon. When we get a strong cell/data connection I'll post it with pics...this one may lag by a day or two.

It's a grey, rainy day and outdoor activities have been temporarily suspended so we're enjoying a lazy day in the rig looking out at this stunning landscape thru our 3 huge windows in the back (both sides and the rear are completely windowed)- we call it the IMAX room with just about 360 degree viewing. Pretty sweet...hats off to the designers at Lazy Daze, these windows are what sold us on this motorhome and we've yet to see anything else on the road that comes even close. I saw one motorhome the other day called 'The View' and there was only one single window in it that was about 18" square. We've got a very comfortable set up indeed.

Now, to the title of todays post.....

We left Skagway, AK yesterday and took the ferry over to Haines, AK. A short one hour ferry trip away, Haines was like entering another world. Skagway was a bit overwhelming for us with cruisers - 3 cruise ships were in dock when we left. These 3 boats cumulatively dumped about 3,000 tourists onto the streets of this tiny little town and it really sucked. We were driving down Main St and I kid you not it looked exactly like a summer day on Disneyland's Main Street. Clueless people wandering in the middle of the street, snapping photos of buildings that have been built with fake facades to make them look like they were built in 1897 during the gold rush days. Ole Walt Disney himself couldn't have staged this deal any better.

The flip side is that the locals are raking in tons of cash and I suppose that's a good thing for them. Talked to a gal serving us lunch and she said the next date that no ships are scheduled into Skagway is August 27th! Said she's looking forward to the day off when it comes. But, she makes enough cash here in the summer to support her plus college expenses for the rest of the year back down in Florida...hey, you do what you gotta do I say. A means to an end.

For all of my negativity on the place I say if you're able to get outside of the downtown tourist section of Skagway you'll find some epic and very beautiful countryside with interesting history to enjoy - highly recommended place to visit.


Skagway......

Now, back to the the ferry....it is run by the Alaska Maritime Highway System and is just about as bureacratic as it gets. If it only takes one person to do a task then lets assign 3 so that no one knows what the hell to do. It took FOREVER to load about 50 vehicles onto this thing...actual elapsed time was from 1:30 til 3:45 PM. The voyage ended up being OK - we saw some very nice scenery along the way and it saved us a 359 mile all land route drive to Haines.

If you're comng this way (and you most definitely should) best to allow a full day for this Skagway to Haines ferry operation (even though the actual trip only takes one stinking hour) and make reservations a day or so ahead of your planned departure date.

Seems an alternative way to get to AK is to put your car on a ferry in Bellingham, WA (just a scootch north of Seattle) and cruise up the Inside Passage on the ferry to AK. They call it the poor mans Alaskan cruise and we had a chance to check some of these guys out.

The ferry has a top deck near the bow section of the ship that they call the Solarium. It's a half covered, half open deck area that can seat (in plastic lawn chairs and chaise lounges) around 40 people under the clear roofed cover and room for about a dozen or so 4 person tents in the open area.
You should have seen some of the elaborate methods these guys used to secure their tents to the deck with tape, bungee cords, etc - MacGyver would have been put to shame.

I'm not sure what the costs are or how long it takes to get to AK using this mode of travel, guess I could look it up on their website. I recall briefly researching it for our trip and I quickly did the math and seemed like it was a lot more expensive than gas costs, plus you miss some great scenery and meeting wonderful people along the road like we have.

Now, if you're 4 young folks in a van and can split it 4 ways and sleep in a tent on deck I'm guessing it would be a good deal and most likely a hell of a lot of fun. Just don't plan on doing any drinkin', druggin' or camp stovein' for a few days....


I'm wagering you're not going to find a sign like this on any deck of the Royal Carribean Cruise Liners going to AK....

We had planned to do a lot of boondock style camping on this trip and surprisingly did our first roadside hang last night outside of Haines. It was SO beautiful and beats the hell out of any RV Park/Campground...from what we hear many more opportunities like this will open up for us in AK, we can't wait.



Went into Haines last nite for, in no particular order - cash/ATM, groceries and liquor - it would be more convenient to have all of these in the same store, but noooo let's spread them out all over town. Did however give us a chance to check out Haines, AK. Visited the local Haines Brewing Company for a taster. OK beer but the locals inside exuded a very negative vibe, kind of felt this way all over town. Quoffed a quick one and returned to the peace, beauty and solitude of our roadside boondock.

Drove up the very fine Haines Highway today from Haines to Kluane NP. Started off in Haines with coastal scenery smack full of estuaries, marshes, eagles nests, white swans, roaring rivers fed by glacier melt and then up and up into full on glacial mode....way too many glaciers to count but all unique and all extremely gorgeous. Topped out at the Haines Summit amongst alpine tundra landscape and harsh volcanic crags, lakes, waterfalls - the full nine yards. Probably the prettiest and most geologically diverse terrain I've ever seen, all smushed into 130 miles. I've said it before and I'll say it again...this place is unreal!

Staying the night here at Kluane NP Kathleen Lake Campground (looks like we're the only site occupied of 40 sites available) and will do a 5 mile RT hike to see Rock Glacier in the morning (weather permitting of course) and then we're off to points north......heading towards the US border crossing at Port Alcan, AK and then on into Tok (pronounced Toke), AK.

Cannabis legislation was just passed this year in AK, wonder if you can find any weed for sale in a town named Tok?

Your intrepid observer will dutifully report back to you all on that one.
Stay tuned....

Meet the Clark Family of Timber Point on Teslin Lake, Yukon Territory

Long post today, sorry guys. But read on, its a good'un.

We were making our way towards Skagway, AK and the road was dusty and jarring us to the core.
You see we're in frost heave country where the severe cold of winter (-50 is quite common) freezes the roadbed and the warming spring air essentially melts it, causing a heave and ho action resulting in the pavement riding atop the bed to buckle and break into a million pieces each about an inch square....and this goes on for miles and miles. The road crews have the short summer period to get out there, scoop up the damaged pavement, lay down new base material and pavement to get set for the coming winter and another round of frost heave.

The downside for the traveler is you have tens of miles of gravel, dusty, washboarded roadway  to contend with in these construction zones. The zones are broken up by miles of good pavement, whch only breaks your heart when you see the hated "Construction Zone Next 20 Kilometers Ahead" signs. And the truckers up here are batshit crazy, they come tearing down the opposite way or pass you at rediculous speeds spitting gravel all over the place. I've gotten pretty good at slowing down and getting as far to the right to reduce the carnage, seems to be working - no major body damage to the vehicles. But, it is nerve wracking and takes a lot of attention and focus which can make for a long day behind the wheel.

So we're bouncing along near Teslin Lake in the Yukon and we see a sign indicating another 10 mile stretch of road consturction coming up and we looked at each other and without a word spoken knew that each of us had enough for the day. Right at that moment we see another sign for a private campground called Timber Point RV Park right on the shores of stellar Teslin Lake. Applied the brakes, wound the LD down and copped a hard left into the RV Park.

We pull in and see a beautiful home, cabin and a huge freshly mowed grass field with picnic tables and campfire rings spread out all over the place, maybe 20 of them or so. No access roads, no RV pads, no site numbers and no one around so we just freestyled across the grass, found a nice shady spot, put her in park and set the emergency brake...mama, we're home.


Posted up at the Timber Point RV Park....not a great picture, it was actually a very level site, photo is a bit off kilter. Killer RV site.

Check in consisted of stuffing a $20 bill into a slotted box on a wooden pole and we're all tucked in for the night. There was one other fifth wheel trailer out there but as I said the place was empty with people.

It was a wonderfully warm day so we got into beach mode and went out to have a walk about.


Debbie gracing the entrance to the beach at Timber Point RV Park on Teslin Lake, Yukon Territory.....

Spent a very relaxed afternoon at the beach, went for a swim, bagged some northern latitude summer rays and generally just unwound.


Yeh, don't ask...that water was, let's just say, refreshing....

Now here's where things got very interesting and shows you how serendipity can hit you like a brick from behind.

We get back from a pleasant day at the beach, napped and had a nice dinner. Place provided free firewood so I sparked up a small fire while Debbie relaxed in the motorhome reading and looking at the gorgeous scenery surrounding this very nice lake.

I then decide to do a little fishing - to be honest I was very hesitant because my fishing license up here is only valid in BC and not Yukon Territory (YT). But I thought if an industrious and zealous fish and game officer was going to bust me out in the middle of nowhere with no one around, then hats off to him and I'll respectfully pay the piper.

So around 10 PM I went off and fished for a bit and met two young guys from Calgary who just stopped in for the nite on their way to a rafting trip. Mike and Austin, nice guys and we shared a few beers, life stories and a lot of laughs.

About midnight I return to camp, stoke the fire and was sitting by myself when out of the duskness comes Ben...he says, Are you Howard? Why, yes I am. Hey, my name is Ben Clark and my parents own this place. Seems Ben is out here for the weekend in the fifth wheel trailer we saw on site.

You want to go out in our boat tonite and do some lake fishing? Well Ben, I'd love to but you see I have a bit of a problem. What's your problem brah? I don't have a YT fishing license. He laughs and says don't worry brah I'm First Nation and we don't need licenses on our boat to fish our waters.

What??? Mind you this is 1 AM, so of course I say, 'hell yeh' I want to go out fishing on a moonlit lake with First Nation rules in full effect!

In Canada, the native people are made up of many different tribes but in the eyes of the government they are collectively known as First Nation and among other things they retain their ancestral rights to fishing and hunting...apparently licenses aren't required and there are no limits on what or how many may be caught.

Ben tells me he talked to the boys from Calagary, they said I was cool, so we're all off at 1 in the AM to do some fishing.

I could spend another 5 pages relating all of the fun and laughs that I had on this outing but let's just leave it at this....Ben turns out to be one of the most down to earth, funniest and warmest souls I have EVER met.

So off we go with Ben's girlfriend Cynthia, her nephew Joel, Ben's son Devon, the Calgary boys and Bens buddy and boat captain Saul...and yours truly. We pull into the beach after finishing fishing around 3:30 AM, howling at the moon and laughing our asses off. It was one of the best nights of my life. In fact I told Ben that and he said I need to hang out in the Yukon more often, brah. All great people that are running wild and free and everyone's their friend....cool as hell I say.

The next morning Ben introduces me to his father Jim who moved up here from Alberta in the 70's to work for the YT Road Department. He's retiring in 3 weeks after 35 years of trying to keep these roads up here together. Can you imagine going out in the middle of a winter night up here at -50 to plow, clear culverts, fix damaged guardrail, etc? Whoo boy, tough gig. But as he told me he found a home and he'd rather be no where else.

Jim met and married a super nice woman named Minnie who is First Nation, an accomplished professional photographer, activist on wildlife conservation, has the rights to several trap lines (she traps fur during the winter on her snowmobile!), fishes, hunts - in a responsible manner - and runs the household and RV park.

About 15 years ago she was single handedly responsible for putting a stop to the reckless hunting of the local mountain sheep whose numbers had dwindled to the teens. They're kind of like the bighorn sheep we see in the deserts of southern CA but their horns are thinner and of similar size, believe they're called northern sheep. This area marks the northerly boundary of these type of sheep and then the Dall Sheep takeover all the way up to the Arctic Ocean.

Since many of the local businesses relied on the income from well heeled hunters (I mean really, pay big bucks to hunt sheep? - why don't you just go out and hunt a cow, where's the sport in that, sheesh) Minnie was not very popular with her friends and neighbors over this but as Jim told me 'when you're right, you're right and you gotta stand up and be counted'. Further she is a very shy and softspoken person - but with a fiery heart and soul, I could see it in her eyes - so I know this must have been a very difficult thing for her to do. One hell of a person, I have all the respect and admiration for her - quite the lady my friends. Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend too much time with her as she was off to a Territorial Resource Council meeting to do her thing.

Debbie and I instantly hit it off with their family and really enjoyed getting to know them, we hope to be able to return the hospitality someday in San Diego. You guys would love to know them too and I know they'd love meeting you guys as well.

Back row, left to right - Cynthia, Ben, Jim and Saul

Front row, l to r - Joel and Devon

Turns out during the summer their beautiful home and expansive RV Park serves as a location for their large family to come, spend the weekend camping, catch fish, eat fish (Ben made an absolutely delicious batter and lightly fried fish dish, it was like eating candy) and hang out. It is very much like the Cory gatherings at the Lagoon in Carlsbad and the old Burke gatherings at the Camp in Burghettstown, PA. They have such a happy family and we talked quite a bit with them sharing our experiences with these types of family gatherings and how important they are in keeping large families together. It was very cool getting to know this happy family and we will never forget them.

Jim and Minnie's place...right by the beach, boieee!

Well after a three day diversion of the best kind at Timber Point we finally headed off to Skagway, arrived yesterday and posted up at the harbor next to the cruise ship lines. After I turn off the computer here I'm off to hike a bit of the Chilkoot Trail, the trail all the Klondike gold prospectors used to get from Skagway up to the gold fields. Supposedly tons of the old stuff they carted up there is scattered along the trail - stoves, shoes, beds, etc. Should be kind of cool, I like shit like that!
Then later this morning we're off (these cruise folks are everywhere and rather annoying - there are 3 Princess cruise ships in port this morning - time to beat feet we say!) via ferry to Haines and up the Haines highway.
Full report to follow....

We Finally Made it to the Alaska Highway!

We moved on from Lake Meziadin, aka Lake Mosquito - no joking on the mosquito label, they were very intense. We were totally owned by a small, flying insect - yet thousands of them, gotta like their odds, 'eh? We started to hear them whining near our ears when none were present..that's domination I tell you....strength in numbers and we numbered two - clear advantage went to the mosquitoes. My hats off to them, they were superior and for that I salute you king of the mozzies, well done.

So off (BTW, 'Off Botanicals' is a most appropriate repellent for these mozzies - field tested and H man approved) to Waters End RV Park at Dease Lake.

We pull in to the RV park and talk with the owner Chuck Phillips who is about 75, rolls his own smokes and has owned this RV park since the '70's. He and his lovely wife Gracie spend their summers here at Deese Lake and winters east of the Salton Sea - you know, to warm up a bit.

So we pick out our site, get the camp chairs out and I start looking around the hood. Mind you, this place is in the absolute middle of no where...7 clicks north of Dease Lake, BC which is the definition of the middle of nowhere. First thing I notice is to the right of us is what looks to be a major tailings pile from a previous mining operation.
Then, I casually, look to the left and notice a plethora of old mining equipment. I'm trying to put all of this together in my mind and relying on my mining engineering classes from Virginia Tech, the best damned engineering school in the world by the way, this guys not running an RV park, he's running a gold mining operation. Now, Chuckie, you've got my attention...rolling your own cigarettes, I'm on to you Chuck!


You need to click on this photo...notice the wooden sluice box leaning against the building, the large metal sluice box to the left, pallets (what respectable miner doesn't have a few pallets on hand?), plastic buckets to collect the yellow rock, CAT front end loader to move ore - I say, the evidence is overwhelming, gold mine - how do I invest Chuck?
I then smooth on down to his office to, you know, get agressive friendly and find out what the deal is.
He was very nice and friendly but guarded, I suppose would be the best word to describe it. I got the sense that he didn't really like some damn whippersnapper from Kaliforny asking questions about his gold mining enterprise.
He may have been nervous about the whole encounter but I dug the shit out of it!

After Dease Lake our goal was to make the Alaska Highway at Watson Lake, YK (yeh, first time you've seen YK, stands for the Yukon - we're in the freaking Yukon, can you believe it?)..pinch us, we've made it this far!



Prior to hitting the Yukon border we saw this dude crossing the absolute middle of the  road, had to stop the caravan...hey, I'm going this way and I don't care where you're going but I'm going over here....how's that? OK by us big man, this is your world, we're just a couple of squirrels trying to grab a few nuts....



Posted up at the Downtown RV Park in Watson Lake, YK where they have us nooked in by cheek and jowl with the rest of the RV set heading to AK. I have to watch  myself 'cause we'll probably be seeing these guys again on our travels north. Oh, what the hell, f' em I say.




Hung out with the RV Park owner Archie, from Scotland....I gently inquire - say Archie, how'd you come to end up owning this joint? Well,  (I think his Scottish accent was bullshit, but so be it, let's move on...) I was in California and an old friend of mine was up here and said come on up and visit. And after a bottle or two of vodka I was the proud owner of an 88 site RV park in Watson Lake, YK. Really, I bag on the man but he is a good soul and someone I enjoyed spending time with on a BS level, if you know what I mean.

Ole Arch turned me on to an epic trail around Lake Wye right adjacent to the RV Park, most pleasurable walk after watching my Pens lose Game 5 to the hated Sharks, crapitola - come on Pens, you're better than that.


Something we've grown to appreciate about Canada...they make outdoor recreational opportunities a priority. Every small town, no matter how econimically depressed, the local or provincial government has made parks, hiking trails, etc a focal point and have provided all opportunities for the citizens and visitors to get out and relax....muy bueno Canada!






Rest stop at the bee-u-ti-ful Boya Lake In BC, wish we had kayaks/canoe for this stop....


Those are some road weary vehicles right there...

Manana, we head on up the Alaska Highway towards Skagway/Haines, AK. OK, now we're getting serious about this North to Alaska 2016 stuff...stay tuned gentle readers.

A final photo for your consideration....we've been hearing the tales of AK bound travelers and broken windshields. Well we've now got the worry out of the way...clear taped it to reduce dust, water intrusion in expanding the crack. Sounds good theoretically...hope it lasts until we get back to SD. Don't want to replace a windshield tomorrow and have it crack again the next day, know what I mean?



Good night, tired and going to bed, come on Pens!