July, 2002

Monday, July 1 - Day 51   (0 miles / 16 toad miles)

We're having problems with the CD/RW drive on the computer -- it will read DVDs but no longer recognizes audio CDs or CD ROMs. Called my office to get a number for Dell Computer and talked with Tim (our computer support person), who says it sounds like one of the lasers has failed. Called Dell and the technician was having trouble diagnosing the problem until I suggested the failed laser. They will FedEx a replacement drive to us here in Fairbanks.

It is raining today. We went to the museum at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and took a tour using digital audio recorders. The museum was organized by the different areas of Alaska and had some interesting geology, anthropology and culture. We interrupted the tour for lunch at the on-campus lunch spot.

In the evening, we went to see Bourne Identity at the theater and ate dinner at Pizza Hut.

Tuesday, July 2 - Day 52   (0 miles / 5 toad miles)

Rain again all day today. Had a light lunch in the RV then I went to see the movie Windtalkers while Carol stayed home and worked on quilting. The new CD/RW drive arrived today and works fine. We shipped the defective one back to Dell. Spaghetti supper in the RV. (As you can see, there's not much to write when it rains all day.)

Wednesday, July 3 - Day 53  (0 miles / 5 toad miles)

Well, it rained all day again. In the morning I read while Carol worked on her quilting. After lunch of beans and franks, Carol went to a movie while I stayed home and read. In the late afternoon we went to a fabric store, Sam's Club for sodas (which are expensive in Alaska because of shipping costs) and the Caterpillar dealer for more engine coolant.

Thursday, July 4 - Day 54   (0 miles / 5 toad miles)

It is finally sunny today for the 4^th of July. We went to the celebration at Alaksaland, which consisted of marches by a military band, speeches by some local dignitaries, the Army Colonel who is deputy commander of the Alaska Command, and an Air Force General who is commander of a fighter wing at Eileson AFB. At the conclusion of the national anthem, there was a fly-over by a flight of F-16s.

We walked through the craft show and sale in Alaskaland's civic center then decided to return another day when the crowd would be smaller to see the rest of the attraction -- assuming we ever have another sunny day.

Lunch at Wendy's then we went to see Men in Black II at the local theater.

Friday, July 5 - Day 55  (0 miles / 5 toad miles)

Two of the competing TV stations routinely provide quite different weather forecasts. Despite a 30% chance of afternoon rain, it rained all day long. We used the opportunity to do laundry, grocery shop, and see yet another movie, Minority Report.

Saturday, July 6 - Day 56   (0 miles / 5 toad miles)

It is finally not-raining again. We went to the native American Inter-Tribal Pow-Wow ("approved by traditional Athabascan chief Tom John") at the Tanana Valley fairgrounds just north of town. There were sellers of native crafts (we bought a fox-fur lined caribou mask and a pair of feather fans used for dancing), native music and dancing, with story-telling scheduled for later in the day. After a BBQ lunch, we went to Alaskaland to see the air museum, a program on Fairbanks and the gold rush (voice narration over paintings in a revolving theater), a quilt show in the civic center, and a few more shops. Had ice cream at the park before returning to the Pow-Wow for what turned out to be a short story-telling session. We did learn why the Raven turned black -- flying too close to the sun while taking a message to the Creator -- and how the wolves learned to howl.

Sunday, July 7 - Day 57   (0 miles / 0 toad miles)

Today was our long-awaited Arctic Circle Tour. We were picked up at the campground at 4:30 a.m. and shuttled to the airport, where we joined the 14-member group on a 25-passenger tour bus. We went north up the Haul Road, stopping along the way at a souvenir shop run by a Minnesota family that moved to Alaska in the mid-70s and raised (or is still raising) 21 children, five of their own and the rest adopted. One of the daughters showed us the cabin that they rent to visitors who want to experience a winter in Alaska. Because of the permafrost, the cabin is built well off the ground so then can get underneath to jack it up as the earth settles.

We stopped for lunch at a place where the pipeline crosses a river suspended from the highway bridge -- there are cameras and loud speakers on the bridge to ensure that you do not stop mid-span. We were able to walk under the pipeline and get some photos. Back on the bus for a trip to the Arctic Circle at 66 degrees 33 minutes. We conclusively proved that there are more mosquitoes at the Arctic Circle than anywhere else we have been in Alaska. After the Arctic Circle, we got off the bus again for a walk on the arctic tundra. This is a soggy, peat-like surface that has permafrost about 2 feet below with a winter freeze zone that comes to within a few inches of the surface. Back on the bus for a short ride to a pump station site where we boarded two 8-passenger planes for a fly over the Brooks Mountain range and a landing in an Inuit village that is located far enough north to be above the tree line. Had a brief, unimpressive tour of the village, including a dance performance by some of the locals, before boarding the plane for a return flight to Fairbanks with a 7:30 p.m. arrival..

The attraction of the trip was riding in a bus on a highway we wanted to see but which is not good for motorhome travel. We had an excellent tour guide, who had self-taught herself a lot of Alaskan geology. We saw how the Teiga (short spruce that grow in permafrost zones) grew larger in "thaw bulbs" along the edge of rivers where the warmth of the river melts the permafrost. We also saw how deciduous trees are able to grow along the sides of the roads where road construction has done the same thing.

Monday, July 8 - Day 58   (159 miles / 0 toad miles)

Finally left Fairbanks today for our drive to Denali National Park. The visitor center at the entrance to the park was jammed -- I had to drive the motorhome and toad in circles through the lot while Carol went in to claim our campground reservations. After dropping the toad in the overflow parking -- we cannot take it to the campground -- we headed for our site at Teklinika River Campground. We passed through a checkpoint at mile 14 of the park's road, which is as far as you can drive a private vehicle unless you are staying at the mile 29 campground. We got literature about the recent sightings of wolves in and near the campground, and the closure of one tent campground due to the presence of a nearby wolf den. In the evening, we went to a Ranger- led talk on dog mushing and winter travel in Alaska. Everyone who talks about sled dogs tells of a time they, or someone they know, was saved by the dogs' refusing to follow an order to proceed into/through some dangerous place, such as where the ice is too thin or a crevice has opened in a glacier. That's why native Alaskans prefer them to snow machines for long winter trips.

Tuesday, July 9 - Day 59   (0 miles / 0 toad miles)

We got up early the morning for a shuttle bus trip further into the park -- the Eilson visitor center at about mile 60. Along the way we saw quite a bit of wildlife, most of it from a distance. Sightings included Dall sheep high on the mountainside; two bull moose by a far-away stream that we could see from an elevated viewpoint; three Caribou close to the road, including two who approached the bus, one in a bluff charge; the largest herd of caribou (200 +/-) that our driver had seen in six years in the park; two sleeping grizzly bears, one of whom finally began to move on our return trip, about an hour and a half after the first sighting; one lone caribou sitting by a creek; and a couple of caribou on the mud flats, one running from something, possibly mosquitoes.

Along the way we saw more kettle lakes (lakes formed by melted ice left behind by retreating glaciers) and some "glacial erratics," which are large rocks left behind by the same glaciers. In the evening we went to a presentation on wolves by a park volunteer, a young man from Switzerland. Although the mosquitoes are bad, these evening talks are pretty well attended.

Wednesday, July 10 - Day 60  (0 miles / 0 toad miles)

We decided not to take another bus trip today. We saw such a variety of wildlife yesterday, today could only be disappointing. After lunch we went for a walk through the woods and on the mud flats of the Teklanika River. In the afternoon I read "Tisha," the true story of a 19-year old schoolteacher who came to Chicken, Alaska in the early 1920s. Carol played some solitaire. The house batteries are weak after three days of dry camping; we grilled hamburgers outside for dinner.

Thursday, July 11 - Day 61  (209 miles / 0 toad miles)

We left the campground in Denali early this morning. When we got to the park entrance, in cell phone range, we made flight seeing reservations for this afternoon. Drove the Parks Highway to the Talkeneeta spur, then north about 15 miles to the Talkeneeta airport. Rode in an nine-passenger twin-engine Piper Navajo for a tour of Denali (Mt. McKinley). While we have heard a lot about glaciers being "rivers of ice," you don't appreciate it until you view a large glacier from the top and can see it "flowing" down. The tour was excellent; we flew up to and around the summit of Mt. McKinley, then down to see the last climbers of the season setting up camp at about the 17,000 foot level. Back to the Mat-Su RV Park for the evening, and grilled chicken for dinner.

Friday, July 12 - Day 62   (118 miles / 16 toad miles)

Today was warm -- up to the mid-70s. We drove to Anchorage, where we will make the Anchorage RV Park our home base for over a week. En route, we stopped at a transportation museum which had a large collection of trains, cars, farm equipment and road building equipment. We had lunch in the RV before leaving the museum, and arrived in Anchorage by mid-afternoon. Saw a moose cow just outside the entrance to the campground, but did not have a chance to stop for photos. This is the first campground where we have had a telephone hook-up. Discovered that we cannot get dial tone in the RV phone plugs when the cord is plugged into the receptacle -- so we ran the cord up and through the window.

After going to Wal-Mart and Barnes and Noble, we had dinner at a small local Mexican restaurant before returning to the RV for an evening of cable TV -- something we have not had in many moons.

Saturday, July 13 - Day 63   (0 miles / 15 toad miles)

With our land line phone, we called Tampa, where Christy, Toby and Anne are visiting David and Marina for the weekend. We spent several hours at Anchorage's downtown Saturday market where we purchased a couple of small gifts -- including a KGB T-shirt for Toby -- and a carved bone statue to go with our Alaska collection. We had lunch at the market and went to Pizza Hut for dinner before another evening of watching TV.

Sunday, July 14 - Day 64  (0 miles / 159 toad miles)

Today we took the toad and drove South to the turn-off to Portage Glacier and Whittier. The glacier has receded enough that you cannot see the base of the glacier from the road or the visitor center. After touring the visitor center, we had lunch at a nearby lodge. Back on the main highway, we stopped at the Big Animal Refuge, which houses wounded or orphaned animals (plus a small herd of bison and a small herd of caribou). We saw two orphaned baby moose, a couple of black bears, and a couple of musk oxen in addition to the bison and caribou. Further back upstream we stopped at the Potter Marsh wildlife refuge where there are supposed to be many varieties of migratory birds this time of year. It was very windy, and we saw little wildlife beyond seagulls, one duck and her brood, and a dying king salmon. We then returned south a bit to watch for the bore tide coming up the Turnagin Arm -- it was not as impressive as advertised. Finally back to the RV for dinner and TV.

Monday, July 15 - Day 65   (0 miles / 40 toad miles)

Took the RV to Johnson RV Service this morning for scheduled maintenance on the engine and chassis. On the way over, we stopped and washed the motorhome at a do-it-yourself car wash. Discovered that the reason we have been adding coolant is a small leak where a hose exits the radiator. They did not attempt to fix it, but referred us to the local Freightliner dealer. While the RV was in the shop, we did several loads of laundry then went to the Zoo where we saw a variety of Alaskan animals and a lot of preschoolers. After the zoo, we went to Dimond mall (the largest one in Anchorage) for some window shopping, watching ice skaters, and a Greek lunch in the food court.

Tuesday, July 16 - Day 66  (0 miles / 22 toad miles)

We spent about 6 hours today at the Alaska Native Heritage Center which is just up the road from the RV park. We watched two story-telling sessions, one-and-a-half dance sessions, toured the five different "villages," saw kayaking and native games demonstrations, toured the museum, and had lunch. We purchased a decorated caribou skin drum from one of the native craftsmen who was displaying items in the museum. After returning to the RV for a short nap, we went to the Whale Fat Follies, a show at one of the few restaurants (the Fly by Night Club) that offer dishes made of Spam -- which we passed up in favor of more normal food. The show involved singing and skits, many about life in Anchorage, accompanied by a slide show.

Wednesday, July 17 - Day 67   (0 miles / 28 toad miles)

Took the RV in this morning to have the radiator leak fixed while we waited. We then grocery shopped and had lunch in the RV. Afternoon was devoted to TV, quilting, reading and computering. For dinner we had the second pizza that we had purchased at Pizza Hut on Saturday. It was hot today, reaching the mid-70s downtown and 80 on our side of town.

Thursday, July 18 - Day 68    (0 miles / 36 toad miles)

It rained last night and this morning -- Anchorage needed it, it hasn't rained in almost a month and they are worried about forest fires in the mountains. We used the dreary day as an opportunity to window shop at several local antique shops and to eat lunch at IHOP.

Friday, July 19 - Day 69    (0 miles / 32 toad miles)

We spent the day downtown. We started at the Anchorage Museum of Art and History where we saw art and cultural/historical exhibits. They also had a section of "found art" by children and we bought a copy of the museum catalog for this exhibit for Anne. After lunch in the museum café, we purchased several books in the museum store, including a couple of collections of native stories. We then saw the Wolf museum, which had a 45-minute film and a great collection of photos of wolves in the wild; the State Trooper museum; and the Alaska Experience Theater, which has a disappointing video of the 1964 earthquake and a better 40-minute surround film of Alaskan sights. One the way back to the parking garage, we stopped in several small, touristy gift shops. Once back to the RV we cleaned (vacuumed and window washed) then went to Arby's for a late dinner.

Saturday, July 20 - Day 70   (0 miles / 32 toad miles)

Slept in this a.m. I then spent most of the day reading, reconciling the SunTrust Profit-Sharing-Plan statement -- a sorry quarter for the stock market -- and working on this journal and other record keeping. Carol went out for a while to shop and for lunch. In the evening we went to the Wayne Brady and Friends show at the Performing Arts Center. Brady likes to do improvisational songs (except hoe-downs) -- the title that won an autographed basketball for the audience member who suggested it was "Lucky, the One-Eyed Dog."

Sunday, July 21 - Day 71    (0 miles / 140 toad miles)

We took a day trip to Palmer and environs in the toad. We visited a musk ox farm, where a herd currently numbering 42 animals is raised for quivet, the underhair that is 20 times warmer by weight than wool. The farm is part of a native co-op, the quivet is shipped out to members who knit traditional items and return them for sale. A quick lunch at McDonald's, then a trip to depressing wolf compound which was more like a kennel than anything you would see in the wild. Then drove up the mountain to the Independence gold mining site, one of the few hard rock gold mining operations. We saw abandoned and reconstructed buildings and got a flavor of what it was like to mine for gold in the teens and twenties, though the mine stayed in operation on-and-off through the 1950s. Returned to the RV for a spaghetti dinner and an evening of TV.

Monday, July 22 - Day 72    (0 miles / 26 toad miles)

Today we spent doing errands. In the morning we did several loads of laundry then went to Sam's Club to stock up on sodas -- which are expensive in Alaska because of the cost to ship them into the state. Stopped for a couple of minutes at Michael's (for Carol) and CompUSA (for Rick). Lunch at La Mex, a Mexican restaurant, then to a Mail Boxes Etc. to ship home another accumulation of souvenirs, gifts, and read books. We finished the errands with some grocery shopping at Meier's and dinner in the RV.

Tuesday, July 23 - Day 73    (0 miles / 18 toad miles)

We spent the day in downtown Anchorage. We saw three different films -- an overview of wild Alaska, a film on bears, and one on the aurora borealis -- at the Performing Arts Center. Between films, we had lunch at the New York deli, which really wasn't very much like New York, food or otherwise. Also went to a number of souvenir and native art shops and finished most of our gift purchases for the trip. Back to the RV for a tuna salad dinner, TV, and playing with my new computer game from yesterday.

Wednesday, July 24 - Day 74    (137 miles / 13 toad miles)

We departed Anchorage for a few days in Seward, stopping at the Bear Creek RV Park about 6 miles north of town. It was a rainy day, and the campsite was muddy. Lunch in the RV after setting up camp, then into town -- a small one -- to walk through the souvenir shops.  Returned to the RV for a fajita dinner and more computer gaming.

Thursday, July 25 - Day 75    (0 miles / 22 toad miles)

We arrived at the small boat harbor at 7:00 a.m. to get good seats on a wildlife/glacier cruise -- no need to have got there so early, the boat was only about half full, since there was no cruise ship in port this morning. On the cruise we saw an eagle, several river otters, a herd of sea lions, assorted birds (including puffins) and two different pairs of hump-back whales -- one two adults and the other a mother and youngster. Humpbacks weigh about a ton per foot, so a 30-foot female can weigh in at 60,000 pounds. They spend the summer feeding in Alaska, then swim to Hawaii to give birth before returning to Alaska the following year. They do not eat on the migration, and a female can lose up to 30% of her body weight (18,000 pounds) swimming both ways and feeding her baby the 150 gallons of milk a day that it takes for the youngster to gain 8 pounds per hour. Puffins are also interesting -- they spend their life at sea except to mate, have solid vs. hollow bones, and dive to depths of 150 feet and more for fish. Because they do not reach maturity for five years, their first five years are spent floating on the ocean. The glacier was somewhat smaller than the one we saw in Prince William Sound (Valdez) but still was an impressive sight. After rain last night, the weather was surprisingly clear for the boat trip, though it started to rain again this evening after we cooked steaks on the grill.

Friday, July 26 - Day 76    (0 miles / 29 toad miles)

It rained all day today. We went to the Sea Life Center which is both an educational and research facility. Viewing tanks let us see puffins, harbor seals, and sea lions all swimming underwater. We had lunch at Subway before driving to Exit Glacier, a small glacier in Kenai National Park. You can walk to within about a quarter mile of the glacier face. It rained on our walk to the glacier and began to clear on our walk back. The monthly Fed Ex package arrived this afternoon with our supply of prescriptions. Fortunately, the FedEx plane that crashed in Tallahassee this week was inbound, not outbound, so our package arrived safe and sound. Had a light dinner in the RV and, of course, watched cable TV.

Saturday, July 27 - Day 77    (163 miles / 70 toad miles)

It was raining again this a.m. when we left Seward for Homer. It rained for about 2/3 of the trip before the sun started to shine through. By the time we arrived in Homer, the bad weather was behind us. Set up camp at the Ocean View RV Park then drove down to Homer Spit to look around. We had lunch upstairs in the Happy Face seafood and Chinese restaurant, where we both opted for the Chinese lunch specials. After a quick driving trip around downtown to get the lay of the land, we drove out East End Road to the end of the road about 20 miles east of town. The road rose several hundred feet and we got a good view of mountains and glaciers across the bay. Stopped to wash off the toad before returning to the RV for dinner. Since we have cell phone service here, we made bear-viewing reservations for Monday and campground reservations in Kenai for later in the week.

Sunday, July 28 - Day 78    (0 miles / 27 toad miles)

Stores in Homer are closed on Sunday. This morning was spent working on the journal. We drove onto the Homer spit to look around some more and had lunch at an upscale seafood restaurant. Back to town to do several loads of laundry during an early afternoon shower. The weather then cleared and we drove up on Skyline Drive for a good view of the city and harbor.

Monday, July 29 - Day 79    (0 miles / 8 toad miles)

Today was our bear viewing expedition. We left the airport on Smokey Bay Air at 8:00 a.m. for a half hour flight across the Cook Inlet to one of the few privately owned "lodges" in Lake Clark National Park. After landing on the beach, we were met by one of our guides, Luke, in a 3-wheel ATV towing a small trailer. We rode first to the lodge for a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and fruit, then with Luke and Pete (an Indiana native and graduate of Ball State University with a degree in Philosophy) and Murray (the owner's dog) in search of bears. During the morning trip, we saw a brown bear trying, not very successfully, to feed in a stream where the salmon are just beginning to run. This was our closest encounter of the day, probably about 40 yards. We then ATV'd north and saw one bear a couple of hundred yards away on the trail in front of us and a pair of siblings about a quarter mile away. After Luke stopped to pick us a couple of salmonberries (like red blackberries), we returned to the lodge for a lunch of salmon (caught yesterday), mashed potatoes, and fresh green salad from the garden. Pete pointed out Cow Parsnip, a plant whose flowers contain a chemical that will cause blisters if it gets on your skin and is exposed to sunlight. The Soldotna visitors guide contains a drawing of Cow Parsnip and explains that its stalk contains medicinal ingredients, but fails to point out the slight problem with the flowers.

More bear viewing in the afternoon. We saw a sow and cub from about 60-75 yards on the other side of the salmon river before they crossed the stream in our direction. Also saw the two siblings and another lone bear from a distance. A sow will have one to three cubs a season and on average about 50 percent survive their first few years. Major causes of loss are males eating the young and starvation during their third year, when they must fend for themselves the first time.

As we were returning in the p.m. to await the airplane, we saw a strange mirage along the horizon at the edge of the inlet -- it looked like a sea level platform, a series of vertical lines/poles, and an aerial platform. A return flight across the inlet about 4:30 put us back to the RV a little after 5 p.m. where we dined on beans and franks. From the airplane, it looks like the mirage might have been caused by an island on the horizon whose shape is similar to the sea level and aerial "platforms" we saw.  We later learned that this mirage is called a "fata morgana" -- a common occurrence in Alaska over water in the summer and over land in the winter.

Tuesday, July 30 - Day 80    (0 miles / 7 toad miles)

We spent the morning visiting Homer's museum, which has surprisingly good exhibits on native culture, and visiting several art galleries. After a pseudo-Mexican lunch at Don Jose's restaurant, we drove up on Skyline Drive again -- this time with cameras -- to take photos from the prime overlook point. In the afternoon I played a computer game while Carol drove to a local quilt store. The RV engine battery seems to be dying -- we may have to jump start in the morning.

Wednesday, July 31 - Day 81    (90 miles /  101 toad miles)

Yesterday's prediction was right, the RV batteries were dead this morning and we jump started from the CRV. There is no good auto electric place in Homer, so we called ahead to Soldotna and made an appointment for tomorrow a.m. for a diagnosis. We drove back up the highway to its junction with K-Beach (short for Kalifornski Beach) road then up that highway to Kenai. Checked into the Beluga Overlook RV park, where we had a bluff-front pull-in space overlooking the mouth of the Kenai River.

After driving north to the end of the Kenai Peninsula, we returned for lunch at Pizza Hut. After grocery shopping, we then drove up to Soldotna to find the auto electric shop and to see what else was there. We grilled burgers for supper and unsuccessfully looked for whales at high tide -- there were a lot of fishermen out with dip nets along the beach below us.