We Ain't Leavin' Alaska Until We See.....

Hello fine folks, I'm still in blog catch up mode. I wrote this post a few days ago and have been waiting for available/decent wi-fi service to post with pictures. Enjoy....


As we were planing our trip about a year ago, we said to ourselves that no matter what we see, we ain't leavin' till we see the northern lights perform a dance for us...and just for us. As I have found out, this is a tall order to fill in the first couple of days in August as the northern lights don't really start sparking up until mid Octoberish. We were thinking maybe we need to extend the trip by a couple of more months..what sayeth ye dear readers, can you put up with another two months of this verbose dribble?

No need to worry, as we found ourseleves at about a mile high and in the shadow of dominating Mt. Fairplay at 5800 feet or so - I'm thinking, if we're gonna see the lights, a higher altitude above the low laying clouds might just work. My supposition was further confirmed by Debbie's investigation of the UofA Fairbanks website on northern lights viewing forecast - yes, they most definitely have this and it's cool as hell - google it. They rated tonight and tomorrow night a 5 on a 1 - 10 scale of viewing opportunites. Not bad I thought.

They base their forecast on many things but the key item seems to be sunspot/solar flare activity on El Sol. These sunspots generate  powerful solar winds that carry an enormous number of energized particles across the Milky Way. These particles from the solar winds are attracted to and accumulate at the Earth's polar regions due to the magnetic forces found there and give us the aurora's. When these negatively charged particles hit the positive magnetic forces at the Poles huge amounts of energy are released in the form of light ranging from pale green to red based on energy level and altitude. The lowest, and I mean the lowest elevation of the bottom of an aurora is 60 miles above Earth. These would be the greenish hued lights, the red hues are probably 150 miles or so above Earth...so if you see some red you are truly looking inside of the heavens.

The second ingredient to the forecast model is a dark and cloud free night sky. Here's the big downer for hopes of an early August viewing..it doesn't get dark here in August. But, the main thing is the sunspot activity and the forecast showed a strong indicator here for the next two nights. I'm ready, let's haul burro to a higher elevation to weed out the low clouds and take our chances...and so we did.

Posted up near Mt Fairplay, AK

Round about midnight I say to Debbie -  we haven't seen a star since we got to Alaska (the night sky stays too bright) and I suddenly spotted one....and there's another...Debbie spies another, cool - first stars we've seen in 2 months. It also seemed darker tonight than all previous nights here in AK, maybe this high altitude is helping? Dunno, it was weird. As we were focused on the night sky we see a hint of a light green flash in the northerly skies just to our right. Hmmm...it can't possibly be, can it...this early...no, we were just seeing things right? You know, since we wanted this so badly we thought our minds were talking us into seeing something that wasn't there.

At that precise moment the entire sky exploded with green and magenta light and stayed on fire for the next two hours!

Now the following still picture is the best I have and it does a disgrace to this majestic display but I attach for your consideration and general enjoyment anyway. In the picture you will see a blob of green light but when I took this photo the entire sky in my camera view window was filled with bright green. There is definitely a correct way to photograph these auroras and I ain't got it. Artificial light settings and shutter speed are key and I just don't have the right set up and skill to make it happen, sorry guys - but the photo ain't half bad. The best way to record these lights is a high quality video to see the mind boggling changes to shape, color, intensity and pure majesty these things put out...oh my God. The absolute best way to see them is to stand under them and be spellbound.
And to be captivated by this concerto of light at the start of my 60th year was a great gift that I didn't even have to unwrap or send any thank you notes for. A perfect night at the top of the world as Tom Petty chorused - "...and I...ain't....comin'.....down..." - just for us.


You need to click on this, sorry.

But Mr. Petty what goes up must come down so we left Mt. Fairplay noonish the next day as we needed a serious sleep in from our 3 AM viewing and dancing. We headed into the small mining camp turned tourist trap of Chicken, AK and got some food and cold drinks at the small cafe there. Permanent residents here number 5 during the winter and 8 during the summers. Got it's name because the miners wanted to call it Ptarmigan (pronounced tar - ma - gan with a hard g), which is a prolific bird up here that looks like a chicken and is as dumb as one too - but the poor old coots couldn't spell Ptarmigan so they named the place Chicken.


The bad part of all of this is that Chicken lies about 30 miles from the Canadian border which marks the end of our stay here in AK. We are really sad to be leaving because we have enjoyed ourselves immensely in this place. We have also learned and grown so much in these past couple of months and leaving is going to be hard to do.
But, for all the beauty and majesty we've seen it still doesn't come close to the beautiful and majestic family and friends we have and have missed. It will be great to get home and see everyone we've missed these past couple of months.
So, what to do on our last full day in AK? Let's go gold panning, see if we can find some nuggets to help underwrite the cost of this adventure. I am now convinced that the key to successful prospecting is to know what you're looking for.

Check out Klondike Kate staking out her mining claim on Jack Wade Creek, AK.


We've never been panning, always thought it was kind of hokey looking, but let me tell you we had grand time. Sun was hot, water felt refreshing, had a nice picnic lunch and a few beers and there's always that hope of a big nugget ending up in your pan. We borrowed pans from the camphost Bill here at the Walker Creek BLM campground where we stayed for 2 nites, he gave me a quick tutorial and off we went. We came back with what we thought were gold flakes but a panning expert camped next to us says nope, you got feldspar there. Feldspar? Does that sell at the same price as gold? Ah, no greenhorn, time for you to leave AK. Agreed.
Tomorrow August 5th we're physically off for the 3 hour drive over the Top of the World Highway (supposedly one of the gnarliest roads in the world) to Dawson City, Yukon but our hearts will stay here in AK...one helluva place.

Fairbanks and Fit to Be Tied

Sorry for the long lapse here, we've been doing fun things in remote areas so cell activity wasn't happening and we were keeping busy. I wrote this post well over a week ago. We are now in Dawson Creek, BC and should be back in the US this Sunday/Monday.

Well we made it to Fairbanks on Saturday July 30th which marks the terminus of our northward trek. From here onward we will be making our way south and east back home. Haven't yet mapped out the precise return route but we will be following a different course than the trip up here. Thinking of a more central Yukon/BC path and enter the US somewhere in eastern WA/ID and then down eastern OR thru the Bend, OR and Crater Lake area and then haul ass back down central CA (maybe Highway 395 thru Lassen/Tahoe/Eastern Sierra's?) to home. As details come together I will expeditiously update all of you, more later as they say.
So Fairbanks....meh.
We got to town and drove around to check out some in town RV parks and were not that impressed. Additionally, we had been listening to the weather reports on the radio and flash flood warnings were posted until Monday for the Chena River which flows thru the town center. And since the river corridor is the most scenic place in town, where do you suppose they sited ALL of the RV parks here? You got it, right by the rapidly rising river. We looked at one campsite and the pad level was just about even with the river water surface - maybe a foot or two of freeboard. Park operator said nothing to us about flood potential so we just moved on. Hope those guys stay high and dry. By the way, the flooding Chena River just about wiped out Fairbanks in 1967.
We hit the Freddies, gassed up and ventured about 70 miles north and east of Fairbanks to the popular Chena Hot Springs Resort, you know, to get a bit further up the Chena River drainage basin where the flooding potential may be lower.
Checked out the resort, it looked fine so we went in search of a boondock spot. Found a nice quiet, paved turnout about a mile away from the resort, unhooked the Fit and drove up for a nice long soak in the hot springs. Absolutely magnificent. The sun came out while we were in the pool and the hot water did it's magic.

Feeling all fresh and renewed we went back to camp and spent more indoor time to stay dry as the rain started up again.
On Sunday we left Chena Hot Springs and went into Fairbanks and checked out the fine Museum of the North on the Univ of AK campus. The campus is beautiful however, I kept imagining how it would look and feel come January. At the museum we watched a very well made movie on the northern lights - informative with eye catching videos and photos of the aurora. According to the movie I'm thinking our chances of seeing the northern lights this early in the season are slim to none. Apparently a dark sky is necessary to see these and it never gets dark enough in the summer for this to happen, makes sense to me. Yet one more good reason for a return visit here in the winter.
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This museum stuff had us a bit thirsty and peckish so we went in search of the Silver Gulch Brewery in nearby Fox, AK. Very good beer and tasty food within a well appointed restaurant which was packed to the rafters on a Sunday night.
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On the way back to town we got a close up look at the Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline and walked around a bit to check it out.
If you're filling up your gas tank today consider this: the pipeline cost $7B to build in the 1970's and the construction debt was most likely serviced within 15 seconds. They have pushed so much crude oil thru this line since then it's hard to imagine it not being a great deal. Also, one of our Nation's largest petroleum reserves is located alongside the pipeline in Prudhoe Bay so it serves as a key national security asset as well.
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One of the greatest engineering and construction achievements of it's time, it gave birth to many of the advanced cold weather engineering standards in use today. Advances in structural engineering/analysis, soils engineering/foundation support in permafrost, environmental mitigation techniques, corrosion control and a host of other problems were solved and are now in widespread use today in both temperate and cold weather regions.
I spent about an hour or so poking around (you can walk right up to it and touch it), looking at the pipe joint welds, the flexible connections and the above ground radiators used to accelerate the heat transfer from the hot oil (100 degrees F) in the pipeline to the pipe supports to keep the permafrost from melting and causing a foundation problem for the pipeline. Certainly a very worthwhile stop and I enjoyed myself immensely.

We have an appointment at 9:15 AM Monday to have the Fit serviced at the Honda dealership in Fairbanks. So as we were driving thru town Sunday night after Silver Gulch and the pipeline, we saw the dealership and decided to boondock in their parking lot and do the service deal the next day.
I really hate dealing with dealership service operations - I have a bad feeling about this but mechanics are few and far between up here so I'll drop it off and see how it goes. I'll give them a day and if all is not well we'll take off and have it looked at by my mechanic when we get home. Fortunately it's nothing very serious and the car runs fine, just a bit of a nuisance to get it out of park. We can live with that for another month if we have to.

By the way, this Honda dealer is one of only two in the entire State of AK and I made my service appointment 10 days ago, the soonest time available - nice business model 'eh?
We're now (Monday Aug 1) posted up at the Pioneer Park in Fairbanks. This is a surprising little gem in the City center that was built as an Exposition in 1967 to celebrate the centennial of the US purchasing AK from Russia for $7M or about 2 cents per acre. It has beautifully maintained log cabins, churches, native art exhibits and mining equipment from back in the day.
We should have been on our way today but things with the Honda service went about as well as we expected. Dropped the car off Monday at 9 AM, got a call at 5 PM that all is fixed and ready for pick up. Show up, plunk down $225, drive the car a half a block and problem returns. To make a long saga short I finally got to the Service Manager Frank and he assures me everything will be corrected first thing tomorrow. Hearing his plan I am somewhat convinced that he can make this happen, we'll see. However it goes we are out of Fairbanks by high noon tomorrow.
At 8 AM Tuesday we schlepp on over to the Kendall Honda dealership and I share good mornings with the asst service manager Dean. So Dean, how we lookin'? Well the tech just got here and you're his second job this morning. Cool, I'll check back with you later. Now we have the LD parked about 100 yards from his desk and in a location giving us a perfect view of their back lot. As soon as I get back to the RV I see them drop my car off in the back lot and there it sat for 3 hours - I tell you, I'm a repair shops worst nightmare!
So I wander back over and say, Dean whassup? He's starting on it right now, OK great. Head back to LD and sure enough the Fit is now in the shop and as it turns out into the most expert hands of William (didn't catch his last name).
Dean calls me about 30 minutes later and said come on over William wants to ask you some questions. No problem, go in and talk to the mechanic William and he asks if I have a schematic from the shop that installed our aftermarket tow wiring harness. He further said that whoever did this work did a very clean install and it looked very good. He asked who installed this and I just gave him a big smile - he inquired, you did this? Very nice work Mr. Arnold - I said yeh me and my son Charlie wired her up during half time of a football game a couple of beers in. Then I said we couldn't have done that great of a job because it's not working worth a shit right now and he howled.
He then says I suspect the problem to be a short somewhere in the tow wiring harness which is an aftermarket item and something we are not allowed to touch. I saw his point, the repair shop could be on the hook for damaging someone's aftermarket expensive audio or alarm system so they just don't do it. I told him no big deal with me, the thing cost all of $75 and is easily replaced, but all the same I understood his position.
OK then William just go ahead and wrap it up and I'll live with it til we get back to SD. I could see the acrid taste of defeat on his face...he says, you know Mr. Arnold, I have NEVER been able to not fix a car problem and I'm bummed that this is my first.
So I head back to Dean and explain what's happening, thank him and then went to the Service Manager Frank, thanked him and told him how happy I was that William and Dean went the extra mile for me. Let's be honest, these guys know they'll never see me again let alone have me as a future customer...very professional outfit I thought.
So I'm waiting for the car and Dean comes out and says I've got good news for you, William fixed it and I'll let him explain when he gets back in from test driving it. William returns and hands me a component from the tow wiring harness and says I need to shitcan this thing cause it's shorting everything out. He explained everything and I told him I had suspected the harness all along but wasn't sure. So he says, yeh your wife was telling me you're an engineer so now I get how you understood everything I was talking about.
Hang on, you talked to my wife? Now Debbie has been completely out of this mess and no one at the dealership has seen or spoken to her. He says yeh I cruised over to your motorhome to tell you the good news but you weren't there so I talked with your wife. You knew we were in the motorhome back there? Yes Mr. Arnold, EVERYBODY in the shop knew you and your motorhome were back there. Sorry, was I that obvious?  Like I said, I'm a repair shops worst nightmare.
So good deal, the Fit is fixed but now I have a non operational tow wiring system - not good because the brake lights and turn signals on the Fit will not work while being towed due to the offending component that I had to trash. Off to find a replacement component. Very difficult, after going to two RV places finally ended up buying 3 pieces that I fashioned into a proper replacement.
With a little wire stripping, soldering and cussing got it all MacGyver'd in and it is working great...yes!! God do I hate electrical projects.
Like I said earlier, Fairbanks...meh.
We hit the road out of Fairbanks about 2 PM and ended up at the top of the world on the Taylor Highway later that evening around 8 PM. Boondocked at a nice roadside turnout on the eve of my 60th birthday.

OK, I can't wait to get this out... while boondocking Tuesday night Aug 2nd at the top of the world (Mt. Fairplay) just about smack dab between Tok and Chicken, AK, we were feted with a northern lights display that lasted for 2 hours. I need a couple of days to absorb this experience before I can begin to relate it to all of you. But, by God, right at the strike of midnight on my 60th birthday, a green/purple vertical streak of light started to our right and constantly changed form and intensity as it danced it's way across the heavens 180 degrees to our left...and this show of light energy continued until 2 AM. I'm at a loss for words right now. If you have a minute hit your Pandora key, listen to Tom Petty's "I've Got a Room at the Top of the World Tonight" and you'll get an inkling of how we felt. And yes, we listened to that excellent song as the skies went a dancin' for us. Absolute heaven on earth.
Peace out kind followers, more detail/pics on the aurora borealis in the next post, I promise!

Onwards to Fairbanks at a Fair Pace

We left Hope and the Kenai Peninsula and made our way northward to Fairbanks, about 350 miles from Anchorage.
Purposefully we plan to take a few days to cover this distance because there are still many things we want to see and do along the way. First up was to complete our souvenir shopping in good ole Talkeetna.
I don't know what it is but this funky little tourist trap really cast a spell on us as this is our second visit here in as many weeks. It is located right on our way so as we approached the turnoff to Talkeetna we each shrugged our shoulders and said OK, what the hell let's go.
We lodged up at our previous boondock spot, made lunch, took a nice nap and headed off to town after the cruise and tour bus crowds departed in the early evening.
Debbie wrapped up souvenir/gift shopping - boy, she is really knocking items off the to do list, I better step it up - while I waited with ALL of the other men out in front of the shops to shoot the shit.
Afterwards we went over to Denali Brewing for a quick beer, walked thru town, went to the post office and then back to camp. Denali Mt was clouded over big time so no sightings of the high one this day. While walking thru town I noticed the white board out in front of K2 Aviation that advertises the flight viewing prospects for the day: Today's Views - We're Still Flying!. When we went two weeks ago the board said Spectacular Day to Fly! I wonder if they reduce their prices when you can't see the mountain, or more importantly, do they jack them up when you can see it? Hmmm, curious minds want to know.
While walking thru town I captured this shot of the Fairview Inn where President Warren Harding stayed while visiting AK in the 1920's. Seems Mr. President caught some kind of a flu bug at the Fairview and while in CA  two weeks later he up and died from it. Since that time no sitting President has visited AK until Obama came here last year to videotape a glacier walk with that phony adventurer Bear Gryalls.


Next morning I made the mandatory stops at Talkeetna Lodge for coffee and Flying Squirrel Bakery for a savory bun and then buttoned up the rig and down the road we went - 'with no particular place to go' (thanks to Chuck Berry for that stanza), just head generally north towards Fairbanks.

Denali was cloud obscured the whole way north to Cantwell, AK where we decided to drive a few miles east on the Denali Highway which is a 150 mile long unpaved gravel road all the way east to Paxson, AK and the Richardson Highway. The views along this scenic byway have been highly recommended but we truthfully were not up for 150 miles/8 hours of washboard/potholed gravel road.
We went out the Denali Highway about 8 miles east of Cantwell and happened upon a very beautiful campsite at a spot called Joe Lake, now how can you go wrong with a boondock spot called Joe Lake I ask you dear reader. You'd go for it too, I know you would. Parked the RV right next to the shore of a mirrored lake with 6000 foot peaks on three sides and a crisp view of Denali on the fourth side later that evening.


Spent the day swimming, soaking up the sun, fished a bit, read and napped. It was partly cloudy but mostly sunny all day until about 7 PM when the western skies completely cleared giving us yet again crackling views of Denali 'only' 75 miles away.

With a lot of moisture in the air we were also treated to an evening rainbow and spectacular cloud coloring/lake reflections thanks to the slowly setting sun - it was very pretty indeed, and the quietest spot you could ever imagine.


We spent the next 48 hours speaking to each other at a whisperlike decibel level, very very peaceful - we are sooooo relaxed. That's Joe Lake for you right there my friends. Eager beaver in the foreground, Denali demanding respect in the far top left (click on it, it's a good'un).


For this evening's entertainment we sat out and watched a group of 4 beavers swim right in front of us, haul out of the water, go ashore and gnaw down small trees/branches and swim them back across the lake some 100 feet or so to their lodge. They were so close we could hear them chomping away on the trees onshore about 20 feet from us - and this went on non stop for 2 hours! We were mesmerized. They liked coming close to shore (us) where they could lay in the shallow water with their backs on the sandy lake bottom to have a quick bite to eat from the tree branch before heading home with it. Kind of like I did when I'd pick up drive thru for the family, you know no one will notice a coupla handfuls of french fries missing when I get home, right?
Let me tell you these guys were busy working their huge tails off - I'd estimate each beaver measured in at around 4.5 feet in total length with the tail about 2 feet long and 18" wide, they were fat too. But man could they swim, stayed under forever when they weren't carrying their goods and terrific swimmers while on their backs pulling these small trees across the water - very efficient guys. One of the finest 2 hour wildlife specials we have ever watched, that's for sure.


As this was going on we both turned to each other, then looked at the sun setting behind the mountains and said it almost simultaneously, let's stay here another night...done and done.


Spent the next day under mostly cloudy skies and it rained fairly hard starting about 3 PM and continued off/on thru the night.
Right on time at 6:30 PM the task focused beaver crew punched in for work and we watched the same show as last night from the IMAX room in the LD because of the rain showers, until....
speaking of wildlife viewing check out what showed up at our campsite around 7:30 this evening, picture taken from the IMAX room:


...damn jeepers.....
Keep in mind we are in the middle of nowhere with not another living soul for miles and maybe at peak hour one car every 10 minutes passes by. And geezus were they loud, I was pissed 'cause they scared the beavs away...a-holes. Looked like an organized/guided jeep tour and credit to their tour guide as it appeared he was in tune with the whole scene and was politely moving them along...but how clueless can you be, come into such a serene space where we've been whispering for 2 days and nights and start screaming at each other?? It sure was a quick and jolting wake up to reality I suppose...but it really sucked dear friends, paradise lost. And they chased the beavers off, pretty rude commercial break to the wildlife program I'd say.

Rain continued thru the night so we hit the road the next morning and stopped at the Clear Sky Cafe near Anderson, AK for a light lunch. Your basic log structure, dark interior with antlers hanging all over the walls for decor and friendly people - pretty standard Alaskan roadside cafe. Server asks, so you folks up here for the music festival? What music festival, please tell us more.
Well, this is the annual 3 day Anderson Family Music Festival with 30 bands playing all types of music. Hmmm, sounds like fun. So we finished lunch and drove out to the Anderson River RV Park to snoop around and met the organizer and his family welcoming folks at the front gate - it sounded like a ton of fun, plenty of room to camp in the RV section for free and $40 per person admission for the weekend, not too bad. But, and here's the big but, it was pouring down rain and forecast to do the same thru the weekend. We were not up for a 3 day Woodstock like mud bath but in all honesty the people we saw there were having a ball.
Alaskans deal with rain a lot differently than Debbie and I do. It's almost as if they love it. Kids run around in T shirts, shorts and flip flops; adults walk down the street texting/talking on cell phones; haven't yet seen an umbrella in use (other than ours, yeh we kinda stick out) since we got here; people waiting outside in the rain for 90 minutes to get a table at the hot restaurants - it's crazy, never seen anything like it.
If the weather had been a bit fairer we would have hunkered down for the weekend and got our groove on, oh well maybe next time.
Here's another one for next time...organizer was telling me that every Memorial Day weekend the Anderson Family Park also hosts a "machine gun" (his words) derby which he says is a real hoot. Now that would be one helluva weekend! Freaking Alaska - where else on planet earth can you take in a machine gun derby and then follow it up with a music festival at the same site?
Free love, free ammo and free RV parking, what's not to like about that?
We continued northward to the quaint village of Nenana, AK right at the confluence of the mighty Tenana and Nenana Rivers about 70 miles or so south of Fairbanks. Here they engage in a rather unique lottery.
For the past 100 years community leaders have conducted the annual Ice Classic (google it for more info). Basically, the lottery winner has to pick the EXACT date and time (to the minute) that the ice will break up on the river come springtime. To record this exact moment they construct a huge, probably 50 feet high, log tripod that is painted white and black (like a lighthouse), put a giant red flag atop it and then haul it out onto the river ice. Then they attach a wire to the top and run it onshore where the other end is attached to a gigantic clock atop another huge tower. When the ice breaks and the tripod falls into the river, the wire is tripped and the clock is stopped at the exact minute and a winner is declared.

This may sound kind of corny but trust me it is a BIG deal. Not only does it signal an end to the long, dark and cold winter these Ice Classic Lottery tickets sell all over the State for $2.50 each (we bought 10) and last years winner won.... get this, $400,000! And here's the best part, the community charities rake in the cash with parties, events, parades, and other celebrations leading up to the big moment - not to mention a nice cut from the ticket sales...pretty cool, 'eh?
Next day (Saturday July 30th) we continued on into Fairbanks and I'll relate our experiences there to you fine folks in the next post.
Take care all... we're hoping this rain will stop - 5 days straight so far with no end in sight. More scientific proof as to why everything is so green up here and the 4,000,000 lakes are all full to the brim.

A Captain, a Keen Eye, a Homer and There's Always Hope

On Saturday July 23rd we sadly bid our farewell to Mark and his family and decided to stay on the Kenai (Keeneye) Peninsula for a few more days to visit the westerly and southerly sides.

Our first stop was at lands end - yet another end of the road for us - at the northwesterly Captain Cook State Park. Now we have seen this explorers mark from Hawaii to Vancouver to Alaska, I tell you this chap got around back in the day. Eventually he wore out his welcome with the Hawaiians and bought the farm on the Big Island - sir, the Captain will not be coming top deck today for roll call, you're now in command.

We found a very tranquil campsite and enjoyed a nice stroll along the bluff top trail overlooking Cook Inlet and the volcanic southern Alaskan Range across the way. Also took the bike for a cruise around the park and beach area - very nice with lots of volcanic rocks and agates strewn about on the beach. Great views of Mt. Redoubt, an active volcano that last unleashed her fury in 2009 sending ash and debris as far north as downtown Anchorage - she is one of several very alive and very active volcanoes in the range.

Here's a shot of a peaceful and inviting bench we found on our walk at a point overlooking the water and volcanic landscape. It was so nice we returned later that evening with a glass of wine and thanked our lucky stars that we are so blessed to be able to share this moment together.

Now all of this partying and sightseeing over the past coupla weeks has come to an end so the to do list of chores has gotten rather lengthy and largely ignored. In no particular order: laundry (always with the laundry), bills to be paid, general vehicle cleaning (by the way, we just passed 6000 miles on the LD for the trip and probably another 1000 miles on the Fit for all of our side trips/excursions), take the Fit in for some electrical work, and it goes on and on.

We have been having an on again/off again perplexing electrical issue with the Fit since Oregon. For some unknown reason I keep blowing a 10 amp fuse that protects the horn, brake lights and the mechanism that unlocks the automatic gear shift from Park when you depress the brake pedal. So when this fuse trips it is necessary to do the manual unlock of the gear shift by pushing the override button located within a small slot on the shift cover with a screwdriver, it's called the tow truck drivers button and is kind of jenky. Also we have no horn or brake lights so it is definitely a safety issue. What's frustrating is that it comes and goes and I am at my wits end to diagnose it. I have tried everything and can only conclude that we most certainly have a short (loose wire/connection?) somewhere in this circuit so I'm taking it in to have a pro look at it...we'll see how it goes.

While fueling up in the pleasant community of Kenai, Debbie got talking to a local named Don, very nice 70'ish man who moved here from Bakersfield 20 some years ago - retired teacher I believe. Noticed our CA plates and wanted to tell us his story. He's on the Board of Directors for the local ABL baseball team the Kenai Oilers. He laid tickets on us for today's double header against the Bucs and told us all about the town.

It simply amazes us how easy it is to get someone's story while traveling - and let me tell you - everybody has got one, they are always anxious to share it and for the most part are unique and interesting (sometimes the stories can get pretty weird too). All it takes to get these stories is a friendly smile and an earnest 'hello, my name is Howard' and then let them go, one of the true pleasures in traveling for sure. I mean in the space of time it took to fill our gas tank we heard this man's life story, scored tickets to a double header and found the top 5 things not to miss in Kenai - I challenge any visitor center to match that performance.

Unfortunately we missed the game as we were posted up some 40 miles away and with the Fit giving me a fit we passed on the game. But, as Don said, if you miss the game no big deal, you can redeem your tickets at the local Arby's and get some free sammiches.
Thanks Don, nice to hear your story and Go Oilers!

On Sunday we left Capt Cook and made our way south to the pretty cool town of Homer. The town looks nice with lots of artsy places and some nice restaurants against a dramatic Kachemak Bay and Chugach Mountains backdrop. South of town is the Homer Spit which is a 6 mile or so long and narrow peninsula that houses the fishing fleet, cruise and ferry ship terminal, ticky tack tourist shops, restaurants all dishing out the same slop at exhorbitant prices and rediculously jammed RV parks charging $80 per night. The place was mobbed with people and we instantly wanted out. However, we found the best spot on the spit at a City owned campground right on the beach with no hookups for a very reasonable rate - Mariners Park. Did a little beachcombing and returned to the rig when the rain started, it is forecast to be raining for the next two days here so we will take advantage of having our house on wheels - pack up and go where the weather is nicer! Also, was unable to find someone in town to work on the Fit so off we went the next day.

Eagles standing guard on the Homer Spit

Yours truly looking for a way off the Homer Spit

On Monday morning July 25th we left Homer and drove the 4 hours or so to the small town of Hope, AK located about 15 miles off of the main highway leading back to Anchorage from Kenai.
On the way we stopped by an old Russian Orthodox Church in Ninilchik, AK to check out the onion shaped spires and soak in the past history of the area. Built in 1881 by the Russian Orthodox Chuch of Alaska it is perhaps the best still standing example of early Russian trading influence on the area.
We had a bit of a problem though...seems their parking lot did not have ample turn around space for the 41 feet of LD/Fit assemblage we had with us and we (not we, Debbie actually) needed to, politely, ask a couple of men sitting in their parked cars to temporarily MOVE so we could get out. They were not so happy as they were there for the funeral of their dear departed brother/uncle which was scheduled to begin in 30 minutes. I could see it on their faces...damn, we can't even bury a loved one without having to put up with the BS from these tourists. Felt bad for them but, as they say, it is what it is (IIWII). Sorry guys and thanks, our condolences and we hope your brother/uncle had a proper send off.
Having said that the church was spectacular.....check it out.



On to Hope, which was founded in 1895 by gold miners (whom else?) to work the local streams and hills. There are quite a few remaining cabins from the day and has a very popular salmon fishing stream running thru town. The hot spot seems to be at the location where the stream empties into Turnagain Arm and is jammed, and I mean jammed, with fishermen. They actually call it combat fishing up here because the anglers are squezzed in literally shoulder to shoulder with huge traffic jams and associated vehicle parking madness in the area. Many times fist fights break out with guys tangling lines, moving on to someone's special spot or just plain drunk and disorderliness - hence the moniker combat fishing and definitely not my style of fishing at all. And all of this for a lousy salmon, not worth it I say. Give me a nice secluded mountain stream or lake laced with trout and a beautiful setting, leave me the hell alone and let me relax with a pole in one hand and a refreshing brew in the other. This is why I elected to not go fishing here on the Kenai. This may change however, if I find a spot that meets my simple criteria as we move north and east/south. Think I'll wait til we get back to British Columbia - that place fits my style of fishing a lot better than the salmon/halibut circus that is Alaska, hyped way way too much in my opinion.

And here's the bonus - the weather in Hope was slightly overcast with no rain...our plan to move out of Homer is coming together nicely I'd say.

I set out that evening hoping to capture Hope in all it's glory in photographic form but my old, trusty Sony Cybershot with the 10x optical zoom has apparently given up the ghost. Man, I am bummed, it's like losing an old amigo - this camera has seen some places and captured many captivating images for me over the years, some of which you have seen in this here blog. Guess I'll need to get up to the Best Buy in Anchorage and try to find a suitable replacement...crap, add one more item to the list.
Speaking of the list...absolutely nada, nil, zip, zero items were knocked off of it today - hey man, there's always tomorrow. On second thought Debbie paid the monthly bills, I didn't do shit.

Update: I monkeyed around with my camera later that night and she is working fine once again. Hang on, so I did get one thing off of the list that day after all...sweet.

That's about all for now good folks...on a slow path north to Fairbanks where we're hoping to catch a glimpse of the northern lights before heading southbound and down. Keep your fingers crossed for an early opening to the northern lights season for us. With your crossed fingers and continued good luck on our part I should have some very nice photos of the aurora borealis for youse guys.
Take care

Kenai Fjords

Here are some more photos from Kenai Fjords.........

Seward's Folly

I don't believe President Lincoln's Secretary of State James Seward ever got anywhere close to Alaska but he bought the damn place just the same. I also think he was the prime conspirator in Lincoln's assasination, but that discourse is for another blog.
He may have been a scumbag but he got this purchase right.
We have spent the last few days in Seward, AK and have enjoyed all of its treasures, James Seward be damned.

The caravan that is us, brother Mark and family and sister Sue motored down from Cooper Landing to the picturesque setting that is Seward. We find very suitable grounds for a coupla days at Miller's Landing about 2 clicks south of town alongside the unforgettable Resurrection Bay - Res Bay baby. Everchanging tides, swift currents, cold water, glaciers to the east, white and black spruce trees dominate the landscape complete with eagles circling to the west - please wake me up, I can't take anymore of this.

First on the agenda was a boat cruise to the Kenai Fjords National Park - the only way you're getting there is by boat or plane. The captain and crew were - how should I put this - you can really tell when someone loves their job and is proud of their hometown and wants to show it off to the world. Get the picture? It was fantastic..check out these photos of Kenai Fjords on a picture perfect day.


As a bonus, Debbie and I have been searching for an Orcas Whale sighting since Memorial Day in Washington and have finally witnessed  the grace and magnificent power of these beauties here on Res Bay....simply one magnificent creature.


Sorry, wanted to add more Kenai Fjords photo but Blogger was uploading VERY slowly tonite, I'll add some more in the next post.

Sue and I trekked up to the Exit Glacier and checked out this rapidly receding glacier...next year it will look totally different and perhaps be gone within 50 years.

Went for a bike ride around town to check things out and unbelievably found myself in yet another brewery...Seward Brewing Company. Great beer, friendly folks and this.....
A 32 oz beer canned at the bar to go - called a crowler - and as happenstance it fits perfectly into my water bottle rack on my bike. Sweet! I mentioned this to the head brewmaster Jason and he said he was not aware that their canned 32 oz'ers would fit on a water bottle bike rack. He told me he would be promoting that aspect very soon...you're welcome Jason.


So my 60th birthday is coming next month and my sister, brother and Debbie wanted to treat me to a nice neal and some belly laughs. We ended up at Thorns Showcase Lounge which came highly recommended by some locals, they said to look past the cheesy decor and ambience because the food and service is the best in Alaska. They were spot on...let's just say the Jack Daniels and halibut went down smooth! Man, the hali was like eating candy. Whoo boy, did we have us a time at Thorny's! Can I turn 60 every day? Thanks guys for a most wonderful evening that I'll never forget...and all of you that were there know what I'm talking about.


As all fun things must come to an end it was time for my loved ones to leave. First up was Sue who left Friday so we had a proper campfire send off for her Thursday night. She has been wearing this aqua colored zip up cardigan for most of the trip. Now this raggedy ass thing could serve as a suitable travelogue for her adventure thru Alaska...I mean this tapestry had everything on it - Campfire burn holes, stains of every variety - grand marnier, chocolate, wine, beer, glacial dust, alpine moss, Oregon cherry ice cream, BBQ sauce, and a host of others - the only appropriate action to take was to burn that mother, which she did. There was no way she was taking this thing back to Boston, best to burn the evidence...what happens in AK stays in AK as they say.


The following day my brother Mark, Kim and Blake left for home in San Diego. On their way back to Anchorage the outside rear dually tire of their rented RV blew out. Mark called the rental place and they basically said you're on your own pal. He called me and I advised him to leave the keys on the dashboard, call them to come pick up their RV and I'd drive up to meet them and take them to the airport to catch their 2:30 PM flight. But, my brother and sister in law being the studs they are, changed the rear dually on a 10 ton truck chassis by themselves on the side of the road right outside Moose Pass, AK! Now I ask you, how many people can say they've done that? Way to go Mark and Kim, I'd travel to the ends of the earth with you guys. Yep, they made their flight with plenty of time to spare...stud hall of fame!

It was sad to say goodbye to all of our loved ones and we will miss their company and laughs becasue we had some wonderful moments that we will cherish forever. What a time we had. Thanks you guys for coming up to Alaska and spending time with us, we hope you all had as much fun as we did!
Now Debbie and I are off to Homer, AK by way of Kenai and Captain Cook (is it just me or did this Capt. Cook fella really get around?) State Park.
Talk with you all soon...take care.

Rolling on the River

The Kenai River that is...and rolling we were.

Let's get caught up here shan't we?

We left Denali last Friday the 15th and met up with my brother Mark, his wife Kim and 14 year old son Blake in Anchorage. We enjoyed a great repaste of appetizers and drinks at the Hilton and visually feasted upon, once again, - excellent views of Denali Mt., quite remarkable that it has been in view everyday now for a solid week - the locals say this is unprecedented in recent memory.
We then rambled off to the nearest Fred Meyer's to stock up on groceries as Mark's family is renting an RV and car for the week. This was their first experience with a Freddies and they enjoyed it immensely.

Let me try to give you a description of a Freddies. You can buy ANYTHING at Freddies - from a high def TV to a gun and everything in between, everything EXCEPT alchohol. Yep, you can buy a .44 Colt pistol with ammo on the spot but not a Colt 45 beer...I find that very peculiar. Maybe it's a good thing, you know let's not get these gun toting dudes liquored up. Freddies does have an ancillary liquor store right next door and a full service gas station out front. And all the groceries, clothing, shoes, carpeting, tools,  washing machines - it goes on and on - that your little heart could desire.
Most excellent people watching at a Freddies - take your local Walmart and multiply it by 5 for entertainment value.

The next morning we pick up the rentals and head off to the Kenai Peninsula.
Just to keep track of all of this, we now have 6 people, 2 automobiles, 2 RV's (with only 5 people licensed to drive) with sleeping accomodations for 9.....don't you just love America? Well, I sure as hell do. Somewhere the last Siberian White Tiger is shedding a tear.

We roll into the Kenai and it is peak salmon fishing time - the Sockeye's are running big time so every legit campground and RV park is full. No need to panic though dear followers, this is Alaska and one thing is for sure, you will ALWAYS find a great camp spot in the Great North country. So we park the caravan at a highway turnout and Kim and I go a 'splorin in the rental car for a suitable hang for the next couple of days.

We found a perfect spot in a large gravel lot all to ourselves right next to the glacial fed Kenai Lake. A beautiful swimming spot located nearby to occasionally rinse the dust off and all was well with the world.


Nephew Blake on our hike up to Upper Russian Lakes...nice looking young man, wouldn't you say?

This location provided us with the best launching off spot for our Monday morning rafting trip down the wet and wild Kenai River.

The 6 of us occupied one large Zodiac type raft with a 20 HP outboard and the very experienced helmsperson Alicia manning the oars. Alicia was one of the most experienced guides we have met on the trip. Knew all about the river, has guided it for the past  7 years and knew where all the wildlife was located. Said she is getting ready to get her advanced degree in geophysics at Univ of Washington this Fall. Very peaceful and fun Class 1 and 2 rapids with excellent views of what else, glaciers, wildlife, birds and wildflowers. The run went about 18 miles from Cooper Landing down to Skilak Lake where we motored the last few miles across the Lake and found eagles, bears, cormorants, puffins and a ton of other things.


Alicia at the helm and Debbie doing what she does best, kicking back and enjoying the moment....

Sister Sue and brother Mark soaking in the moment at the end of the rafting trip...pure bliss on those faces......

Mark and Kim basking in the sun on Skilak Lake, AK...

When we got back to the boathouse Debbie, Sue and I stayed back to update the blog with their WiFi and Alicia joined us for a beer outside at the picnic table. Rob the other guide joined us as well. Now Rob has a story...young early 30's, kind of nerdy but a funny and super nice guy. Got his degree in molecular biology from Univ of Minnesota and started a genetics testing firm where he developed some whiz bang breakthrough in genetics research and as a result is a multi gizzilionaire. He decided that what he really wanted to do in life was to come to AK and learn everything he could about salmon - he says the most fascinating living being on the planet. So he chucked the day to day, now lightly oversees the business operation from afar and spends his days guiding salmon fishing floats on the Kenai River and living in a tidy 800 SF cabin riverside - he says it's got everything we need. Met and married a gal who plays with the Anchorage symphony and life could not be sweeter...sounds pretty nice 'eh? Way to go Rob, can't wait to hear of your upcoming breakthrough in salmon research that may advance human medical knowledge. Now just to let you know this was no BS we heard his story from Alicia before he arrived at the table and he struck me as the type of guy that would never divulge any of this information to a stranger. He also had one of the best smiles and laughs I've ever heard, you know the kind that comes from a free and unbridled heart.

Spent the next day hiking around Snug Harbor on Kenai Lake where we boondocked, ate some great campside meals, drank some fine wine and beer, had several nice swims in the Lake - my nephew Blake could not get enough of these lake swims, he was one very happy teenager enjoying the midnight sun with a cool refreshing dip. Old Uncle HaHa enjoyed being there with him, such a fine young man and a great guy to travel with.
Sadly we pulled out of our comfy confines at Snug and ventured off to Seward, AK where we had reservations at Millers Landing RV park and Adventure camp right on Resurrection Bay just a couple of clicks south of town. Here we have lined up a boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park, Zipline adventure, dog sledding demo's, hikes up to and on Exit Glacier and lots of nice halibut tasting - my favorite slice of fish in the world, it's like eating candy.

Posted up at Campsite Joe (named after our son Joe) at Millers Landing, Resurrection Bay, Seward, AK......

I will post more about our time in Seward next time.
Let me just say this, I'm almost brought to tears over having my older sister, brother and his family, and Debbie all together here as one and laughing and plain out having a ball together - the time of my life.
Later good folks.