Jerry and Mary North to Alaska

Recap of Our Alaska Trip

2009-09-20T21:03:00.001-07:00

Here is a recap of our trip.

Leaving British Columbia Tomorrow

2009-09-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Tomorrow we will be back in the lower 48 states, and will have concluded our most wonderful adventures in Alaska. Since the title of this blog no longer fits our going forward situation, we have started a new general blog for ourselves and for those of you who ever wonder "where are Jerry and Mary now?" The new blog is entitled "Finding Jerry and Mary." Our first posting on that blog will be after we get back into the lower 48. We will still post a recap of our trip on this blog at a later time.

But, since we are still in Rosedale, British Columbia (Canada), let me tell you about what we did today. We hiked up the mountain (only a 15 minute hike) to a waterfalls. Walking through the forest (even though there are warnings everywhere about bears) was exhilarating.

We both loved taking pictures.

The pictures of the actual waterfall do not do justice to the actual beauty of the falls and surrounding area.

Here are a few more pictures.

Have a great week, everyone. And, thank you for following our blog.

Jerry and Mary

Camperland RV Resort in Rosedale, British Columbia

2009-09-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Again,

Since we have fast internet tonight (as opposed to earlier in the evening when I couldn't even get my home page to come up), I thought I'd update this blog while the going is good. Today (September 18), we drove about 300 or more miles again to get to this RV park where we had reservations. We will be spending the weekend here.

The drive to this place was absolutely beautiful. I shot 105 pictures from the RV while we were driving, but could only resurrect about 35 of them. The reason? BUGS, BUGS and more BUGS all over the windshield! We didn't have bugs in Alaska and hardly ever had to clean the windshield. Alaska also doesn't have any fleas or ticks (per a vet we talked to up there). So, back to my pictures, I had to discard all those that were spotted with too many bugs.

The pictures I took speak for themselves. Lots of mountains, trees, rivers and the leaves turning at this time of the year made for a very pleasant drive today.

Back to Jay Leno. We heard an ad on the radio that he was on a local station tonight. And, guess what? He is on! Got to go.

Enjoy your weekend.

Jerry and Mary

Prince Rupert, Burns Lake and McLeese Lake, British Columbia

2009-09-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We are making tracks through British Columbia. The trip on the ferry to Prince Rupert was mainly in fog. But, at one point, we saw pods of whales breaching the water. We almost missed the ferry because Jerry thought it left at 7:30 a.m., but it was scheduled to leave at 7:00 a.m. (And here we were debating whether we should first run into town to get a mocha or some coffee before going to the ferry. Had we done that, we would have certainly missed it.)

After getting off of the ferry in Prince Rupert, we spent one night at an RV park in that town. The weather was misty and damp.

Then, on Wednesday (Sept. 16), we drove 300 miles to Burns Lake, BC, and spend one night in that town.

Today (Sept. 17), we drove another 300 miles to McLeese Lake, BC. We are at an RV park right on the lake. Jerry even bought wood and made a nice fire. We ate outside. It is almost a shock to our systems to be back in warmer temperatures again. It was 76 degrees when we got here. See pictures we took along the way and at the lake.
The one thing we were reminded of was that we cannot get Jay Leno in Canada. Even if we try to catch the past episodes on the internet, the computer knows that we are in Canada and the program is blocked. Go figure!

Still aren't using our cell phones, but we have had free wi-fi at each RV park so far.

Next stop will be three days at one of our Coast-to-Coast membership parks, still in British Columbia.

Until next time, have a great weekend, everyone.

Jerry and Mary

Tracking Our 2009 Trip

2009-09-17T19:47:00.001-07:00

Here is a Map that tracks our 2009 trip North to Alaska. Since it is a Google Map, you are able to move it about with your mouse, click on the location spots for more information, or even zoom in and click on the satellite view. Or, you can click to view the larger map on the Google website. We will update the Map as we move from place to place. (If you are having trouble seeing the map, zoom out (the minus sign) a number of times until the picture comes into view.)

View North to Alaska RV Trip 2009 in a larger map

Ketchikan, Alaska

2009-09-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

Good Bye Alaska (for now)!

We are spending our last stop in Alaska.

We took the ferry from Petersburg on Friday. The ferry was late arriving, late in getting to Wrangell (its one stop) and late in getting into Ketchikan. What was suppose to be an 9-hour trip turned into an 11-hour trip. Thus, it was dark getting into Ketchikan. Rather than drive 14 miles to the RV park in the dark on an island we knew nothing about, we decided to take advantage of Walmart's offer for us to spend the night in its parking lot (along with 3 other RVers who got off of the ferry).

But, let me tell a bit about this particular ferry trip. First of all, the weather was perfect (at least no rain). At the first part of the trip, the captain had to steer the ferry through the Wrangell Narrows, which at some places is only 300 feet across. There was a "spotter" at the bow of the ferry to watch for any unexpected obstacles.

The trip felt long, but the scenery was beautiful. The ferry made a brief stop at Wrangell before continuing on to Ketchikan. There were 174 people on the ferry. Here are some more of the pictures we took along the way, including one of the ferry coming into Wrangell and of the deep red sunset.

We arrived in Ketchikan at 8 p.m. and drove a couple of miles to Walmart. The next morning, we decided to drive into the town before going out to the RV park. We walked the streets, shopped, had mochas, saw the largest cruise ship we've seen so far (the "Island Princess") and bought something special for ourselves to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary this year.
We then drove to the Clover Pass Resort and Marina RV park. As we were in Homer, our coach faces directly into the marina. Right now it is Sunday (Sept. 13), and the skies are blue, the clouds are puffy and white, the water is deep blue, the trees across the water are thick and green, fisherman are coming and going, birds are sitting on the poles, there is a slight breeze, and the temperature is 60 degrees. An absolutely perfect way to spend our last days in Alaska.

On Tuesday, we take our last ferry trip out of Alaska and into British Columbia. For the next week we will be in Canada where we will turn off our cell phones again. Unless we get to an RV park with wi-fi, you'll have to wait a week before we update this blog.

Wishing everyone a great week ahead, and keep living the life you love.

Jerry and Mary

Petersburg, Alaska

2009-09-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Yes, we arrived in Petersburg on Tuesday (Sept. 8) by ferry from Juneau. Again, the weather was a bit rainy during the 4 ferry hour trip. But, as with most of Alaska, the scenery was magnificent -- glaciers, snow capped mountains, lush greenery. We even saw hump back whales breaching the water.
We passed a finger off of the main waterway called "Tracy Arm." We were told that it is a spot of absolute beauty and that people take day trips to see it. Here is what we saw at its entrance.

Petersburg is a fishing city of 3,000 people. One of our fellow travelers on the ferry told us that Petersburg has the highest per capita income in the US. Fishing is definitely big business here.

Petersburg is actually located on an island called Mitkof Island. It is only 23 miles long and 6.5 miles wide at the longest and widest points, and covers 211 square miles. There are three RV parks here, and we checked them all out before settling in on the Trees RV Park. When I say "settling in," that is what we have been doing since we arrived because it has rained heavily each day so far. Even if we wanted to explore this island, we were told that the road only goes 10 miles further. It's actually a good time to catch up on other things we need to do. Jerry has been working on his book and I'm doing some hand knitting.

While we were still in Juneau, Jerry passed a black bear while out on his run. He ran back to the RV to get his cameras (something all the instructions say not to do) to try to get a picture of the bear. We'll post the video later with all the other animals we've seen on this trip.

Tomorrow we leave early to catch the 8:30 a.m. ferry to Ketchikan. It will be an all day trip, 8-9 hours. Chanti (our dog) stays in the RV and handles it quite well. We are told that we will get to go to the RV at some point to take her for a walk.

Right now, we do not have any cell or TV coverage. But, we were able to hear President Obama's speech to the joint session of Congress on the radio yesterday.

Until next time, stay safe and healthy.

Jerry and Mary

Juneau, Alaska

2009-09-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

We hope everyone is enjoying this long weekend. We are enjoying it in Juneau, Alaska. Arrived here on Thursday (Sept. 3) on the ferry from Haines. Juneau is the capitol of Alaska, and is accessible only by air or sea. About 32,000 people live here. Since it is located in a rain forest, it averages 220 days of rain per year.

On Friday, we took the local bus from the RV park to downtown Juneau, a distance of 14 miles, to explore the place. Lots of locals got on and off of the bus during our one-hour trip to downtown. Once we arrived, we saw that hundreds of tourists were exiting some of the largest cruise ships we've ever seen to also tour/shop downtown Juneau.

First, we ate at our favorite place (Subway), and then walked the downtown area. Two places we found especially interesting were right next to each other. The first one, called Glacier Smoothie (no, it is not a drink), is one I had previously read about. This family-owned business holds a patent on making soap using the super fine powder of mineral rich clay left behind as glaciers recede, mixed with glycerin. Pat, the owner, is a very friendly person.

The place next to it is called the Alaska Crepe Escape. The young woman who owns that place graduated from a culinary scho0l and now has had her little crepe and espresso business for two years. She made us an apple pie crepe, which was out of this world, and delicious mochas.

There was a light mist/rain as we walked around. But, the one thing we learned quickly is that no one carries an umbrella in Alaska (except for the tourists). Alaskans feel that "umbrellas are for wimps."

Then, on Saturday, we biked four miles to the Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Waterfalls. This Glacier is one of 38 large glaciers and more than 100 smaller ones in the Juneau Icefield. The weather was perfect, blue skies, with temperatures in the low 60s.

We've heard and read various explanations of why glaciers are blue. This one makes sense to us. Glacier ice has a unique crystalline structure that aborbs all colors but blue. That is why the most intense blue color occurs deep in the crevasses and fades as the ice is exposed to air and the crystalline structure breaks down. We saw some awesome blue in the Mendenhall Glacier.

There is a modern Visitors Center on the top of a hill near the Mendenhall Glacier. We watched a short video on the glacier in years past. The glacier recedes an average of 80 feet per year, but in 2008, it receded over 600 feet (global warming, anyone?).

We walked the 3/4 mile to the base of the waterfall. The energy and sound of the falls is all-encompassing. What an experience! See the video below.

On Tuesday, we board another ferry for Petersburg.

Have a great week, everyone. And, continue to enjoy the life you love,

Jerry and Mary

Haines, Alaska Hammer Museum

2009-09-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
We had a great bike ride today and we stopped at the Hammer Museum. Take a look.

Skagway and Haines, Alaska

2009-08-31T16:47:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

What a beautiful day in Haines, Alaska. We were up at 5 am to catch to 7 am ferry from Skagway to Haines. It was a one hour trip by ferry. We left Skagway in fog and arrived in Haines with blue skies, a few white puffy clouds, temperature of 64 degrees F, and just a little wind.

After leaving the ferry, we checked out the three RV parks in Haines and settled in on the one that caught our attention the most. After eating breakfast, taking a nap (we aren't used to getting up at 5 am), and eating lunch, we set out to explore the town on our bikes. It was a perfect day for that.

We stopped first at the American Bald Eagle Foundation and toured the small facility. We learned that nearly 3,000 bald eagles gather along a four mile stretch of the Chilkat River, close to Haines, every fall to feast on the late salmon run. We will miss the event because it happens in October and November and is the largest gathering of bald eagles in the world each year.

While at the Foundation, we saw over 300 stuffed animals, birds and fish. Even though they are dead, it is interesting to see them up and close. The picture is of a blue heron.

Here is our take on Haines thus far. It is night and day from Skagway. Where Skagway was a quaint conclave of small gift shops, one right after another (60% being jewelry stores), Haines is more or less like the small town I grew up in -- where people actually live here. The few gift shops that are here are scathered here and there around Haines, a town of 2,300 people.

But, the cruise ships still stop here. And we can see why. Like Skagway, the town of Haines is surrounded by mountains, trees and water.

Yesterday, in Skagway, Jerry went on a hike and video-taped it. Here it is.

We leave on our next ferry going to Juneau (the capitol) on Thursday.

Enjoy your week! Continue to live the life you love!

Jerry and Mary

Whitehorse and Skagway, Alaska

2009-08-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

Rain, rain and more rain! Can't really complain, though, as we've had the most fantastic weather on this trip thus far. It was bound to catch up with us at some point, though. But, before we get into that, let's talk about Whitehorse.

It did not rain during our stay in Whitehorse earlier this week.

We were even able to get out our bikes and travel into town. It was smooth going downhill for about a mile after leaving the RV park, but murder trying to get back up the hill to the camp. We had to walk our bikes up the hill facing into extremely high winds.

Whitehorse has a great bike bath that took us past the historic SS Kondike riverboat.

On Thursday (August 27), we drove to Skagway. It started to rain that day, but even with the rain, the scenery was beautiful. We stopped along the way for lunch.

At one point, we had to go through extremely thick fog, almost as bad as in Cambria at times.

We are parked near the water in Skagway and can see the extremely large tour vessels coming and going each day. Skagway has a population of 800 and has over 800,000 tourist coming through this small town each year. There is really only one main commercial street in the town with lots of shops along both sides of it. Nearly every other shop is a jewelry store with very high priced items.

We are parked a couple of blocks from the center of town. We've walked the shops on one side of the street yesterday and will go back to check out the other side before we leave on Monday, putting the RV on a boat as we travel by cruise down to Haines.

Very poor internet here, so will keep this blog short.

Have a good weekend.

Jerry and Mary

Delta Junction, Tok, Chicken, Top of the World Highway and Dawson City

2009-08-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

What a week! After leaving North Pole, we drove to Delta Junction which is the end of the Alaskan Highway -- 1422 miles from Dawson Creek. We stopped to take some pictures, eat our lunch on a bench outside the Visitor's Center and pick some juicy sweet choke cherries on a tree at the Center.

Then, we moved on to Tok for just a stop over. (We were in Tok at the beginning of our trip in June.) We took the advice of Ron Dalby who wrote an article in Motorhome Magazine recommending "Fast Eddy's," a restaurant. Hey Dave and Dorothy, we had some of the best pizza at Fast Eddy's that we've ever had.

For nearly two months, Jerry was vacillating on whether or not to drive to the town of Chicken and take the Top of the World Highway. We heard all kinds of horror stories about that particular road, including from some travelers staying at North Pole who just arrived from taking the trip over the Highway. Unfortunately for them, the day they drove the Highway it was raining and foggy. It made for a miserable trip! Others have said that the road is not conducive to big RVs as big trucks can force one off to the side of the road, and that the road is very narrow, unpaved and the scenery is bland. But, others said that the trip was definitely worth it. Jerry, not really a believer in astrology, happened to read his horoscope that said he should "take the high road." Jerry also felt that, since 45 foot tour buses can make the trip, our 40 foot coach should also be able to make the trip.

First, let us tell you about the town of Chicken, 78 miles from Tok. Its population is 15 in the winter and 30-50 in the summer. We stopped in Chicken where we had the pie I've been waiting for all summer long. Susan is the baker and owner of the Chicken Creek Cafe, Saloon and Mercantile Emporium. Her pies are the attraction and written about in many articles about Chicken. Her pie lived up to its reputation. We even took a couple of pieces with us to have later that evening. Then we continued on to the "Top of the World Highway."

It is called "Top of the World Highway" because of the spectacular views and vistas. It is high above the trees and you feel like you can see forever. But, to call it a "Highway" is stretching the definition of a "highway." It is "high" up, though. And, at times the gravel road was a bit bumpy and washboard-like, narrow, and with soft shoulders. See saw one incident in which a driver of a small RV misjudge the shoulder and slid off of the road.

But, had we not made the trip, we would have missed out on one of the most awesome experiences we've had so far in Alaska. Granted, we lucked out with the weather and the particular day and time of the year to make this trip. The Highway is 108 miles long from Chicken. Yes, it took us over 6 hours from Tok (and another 3 hours, with both of us working, to clean the RV after the trip), but it was definitely worth it! From Chicken to Dawson City, our average speed was 24.8 miles per hour. At times, the road had so many pot holes, that we slowed to only 15 miles per hour. About 90% of the road is unpaved dirt and gravel. Half way along the road, we passed from Alaska into the Yukon territory.

Below is a slide show of pictures taken mostly from the RV as we traveled the "Top of the World Highway."

The Highway ends at the Yukon River. We had to take a ferry across the river to Dawson City. We have been in Dawson City for three days now. Yesterday, we road our bikes into town and checked out the place. It feels like the old west. The streets are dirt and the buildings are both historical or designed to look like the late 1800s.

Since we are in Canada, we have turned off our cell phones until we get back into Alaska at the end of this week. We will be in Canada until the end of the week, when we will cross back into Alaska to get to Skagway where we will travel down the in-land passage on a number of ferries. We leave here tomorrow (Tuesday) for Whitehorse.

Enjoy your week!

It's Christmas Every Day at North Pole, Alaska

2009-08-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We are at the most exciting place to be any time of the year! North Pole, Alaska -- where Santa and his elves are busy making great gifts -- and we got to see some of the new ones for this coming Christmas. We saw Santa's reindeer who are grazing and relaxing 364 days a year while getting ready for the big night, Christmas Eve.

I was so honored that Santa took some time to talk to me about Natalie, James, Angela, Christian, Samantha, Erin, Sara, Brenna, Ivan and Daniel. Santa whispered a special message in my ear for each of you that I put on a post card and mailed today. Look for yours in the mailbox next week.

It was a beautiful day today at North Pole -- 70 degrees. Now, if only it will stay this way for the next week as we are about to travel the Top of the World Highway. More on that next time.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

Fairbanks, Alaska

2009-08-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We arrived on Monday in Fairbanks and are staying at the Pioneer Park. It is basically a city park with a large parking lot and with many activities going on and things to see inside the park. It has real fast free wi-fi! We've walked all around the place (it goes on for blocks).

Buses with tourists arrived constantly, dropping off loads of people who come here for the "all you can eat" dinner (prime rib, salmon, halibut, and cod).

Jerry wanted the ultimate Alaskan experience - what it feels like at -40F degrees. (Having spent many years in North Dakota, I had no desire to re-experience that again.) He lasted three minutes!!

We also took the local bus line around the city today, stopping first at the highly recommended University of Alaska Museum of the North. Let me tell you, it is probably one of the nicest museums we have ever been in. It is ultra modern (re-done in 2005) and contains award winning exhibits focusing on the culture, wildlife, geography, and history of Alaska.

(The architechural team designed the museum to evoke images of "alpine ridges, glaciers and a diving whale's tail" per its brochure.) Here are some more pictures we took inside the museum.
Something I really enjoyed was the "The Place Where You Go To Listen." It can't be described in words. It has to be experienced. But, here is what the designer had in mind:

"We are immersed in music. The earth beneath us, the air around us, and the sky above us are filled with vibrations. Most of these vibrations are beyond the reach of our ears.

In this room you will hear some of this music.

You will hear no familiar musical instruments or sounds of nature. Yet every sound you will hear is connected directly to natural world, here and now.

The atmosphere of sound and sight changes with the movements of the sun, the rhythms of day and night. Daylight sings like a choir of bright voices. Its colors are yellow, orange and red. The voices of night are darker. Its colors are violet, blue and cyan.

The moon rises and falls, appears and disappears, like a solo voice.

When the aurora borealis is active (even if hidden by daylight and clouds) bell-like sounds float across the ceiling.

When the earth quakes (even imperceptibly) the walls and the floor shudder and rumble like deep drums.

The music has no beginning, middle or end. Even in moments of apparent stillness, it is always changing. But it changes at the tempo of nature. To experience its full range requires listening in the day and night, winter and summer.

This is an ecosystem of sound and light that resonates with the larger world around it. When no one is here, the forces of nature continue to reverberate within this space.

But the awareness of the listener brings it to life.

The Place Where You Go To Listen is not complete until you are present and listening."

John Luther Adams

Jerry took a picture of me in this room.From there, we took the bus to downtown. Pictures of the downtown area are shown below and on the side of this blog.

Until next time - take care.

Denali National Park

2009-08-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

When someone says "Denali National Park," one immediately thinks of Mt. McKinley. But, did you know that only about 20-30% of the people coming to see the Mt. actually see it? It is so high (nearly 4 miles high) that, as they say around here, "it creates its own weather pattern." Thus, most of the time, the Mt. is shrouded in cloud, fog or mist. We took a shuttle to try to see the mountain, but ended up in the 70-80% of the people who did not see it. Jerry even asked the shuttle bus driver to stop so that he could get out and take a picture of what he can't see. The shuttle bus driver (who has been driving the bus all summer long) said that he has seen it only four times. He also said that sometimes one can see it going into the park, but cannot see it coming out again.

Unfortunately, also, it rained off and on every day we were in the park, including the day we had planned a hike. Notwithstanding, we did take a bike ride (in the rain) around the area to see the various sites. Except for a few pictures, there is not much more for us to say about our experience in this beautiful park.

Today (Monday, August 17), we traveled from Denali to Fairbanks. The scenery was quite nice.

(See another picture below.)

We are staying in the Pioneer Park right in town. Will tell you more about Fairbanks in the next blog -- but from what we have seen thus far, it is a clean and modern city (compared to Anchorage) with wide double-lane streets. I think we will have fun here.

Until next time, have a great week.

Whittier, Anchorage and Willow, Alaska

2009-08-13T18:24:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We are the road again! The scenery on the drive from Seward to Whittier is just breathtaking.

First, we went back to Whittier because, again, it is an awesome place -- the most beautiful campgrounds we've ever seen -- everything paved, private, large sites, and surrounded by high mountains with snow and glaciers all around. Plus, it has the most wonderful bike/walking paths though the woods and along the waters that you can find anywhere.

We stayed two days and took a long bike ride one of the days. We saw salmon spawning, rode up close to the glaciers, took a look at what was left of the iceberg in the water (see earlier picture below of all the icebergs we saw the first time we were in Whittier), and basically hoped we wouldn't run into a bear (as they were in the area).

Then, at night, Jerry built a fire. Here is also where he decided to document the wonders of the mosquito zapper. See video below.

The weather was in the low 60s most of the time, and overcast with a few sprinkles.

From Whittier, we drove to Anchorage (our third time in Anchorage). We met with a Toastmaster friend from our Central Coast area and all went out for Mexican dinner. It really taste good after all the halibut we've been eating.

Unfortunately, the RV parks in Anchorage (and there are three of them) are just stopping off places as we move on to other more scenic parks. Here is a picture of our neighbor in the Anchorage RV park last night.

Today (Thursday, August 13), we drove to Willow and are at a very neat RV park right on a river. After salmon spawn, the female fish do not eat and eventually die. Guess that is what is happening at the river right in front of our RV.

We expect to move again tomorrow, as we continue to make our way to Denali National Park.

Until next time (which may be awhile if we don't get internet connection), enjoy the life you love.

As always -- Jerry and Mary

Dealing With Mosquitoes in Alaska

2009-08-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Watch this video. The mosquito zapper is cool!

Seward (again), Alaska

2009-08-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We moved on to Seward on Thursday (August 6). The scenery on the trip from Seldotna to Seward is beautiful. (See pictures below.) We were in Seward on the front part of our trip to Alaska, but it had rained most of the time when we were here last time. It was the only real rain we experienced on this trip so far. We wanted to see Seward without the rain because it is such a beautiful city on the shores of Resurrection Bay. We were lucky enough to get a spot for our RV as this place is filled with RVers this time because the silver salmon fishing season opened this weekend.

We weren't here 5 minutes and guess who showed up again!! It was great. We had two more days with Dorothy and Dave.

On Friday, the four of us went to visit the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward, Alaska's only public aquarium. It is a learning center, enabling visitors to view an assortment of birds, fish, sea lions, sea urchins, and experience various interactive displays. We listened to yet another presentation on the devastation of the Valdez oil spill some twenty years ago by now, and were told that the oil is still hanging around some of Alaska's shores.

Jerry and I took our bikes out for a ride around the place yesterday, and, of course, we stopped for a mocha.

Last night, we all had a great salmon dinner with Dorothy and Dave. Afterwards, we said our "good byes" once again. Only this time we think it is for real. So, for those of you following Dorothy and Dave's trip, you will just have to wait for Dorothy's post cards to arrive.

We will leave here tomorrow and head north towards Fairbanks and Denali National Park.

Until next time, have a great week!

Anchor Point and Seldotna (again), Alaska

2009-08-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

We finally moved out from Homer after spending nearly two weeks on the Homer "Spit." We said our "good-byes" to Dorothy and Dave as each of us were now going to go our own ways for a while. But, when Jerry and I got to Anchor Point (only a few miles up the road) and stopped to eat our Subway sandwiches we purchased in Homer before we left, who comes knocking on our door but Dave and his friend. So we ended up spending the night in Anchor Point and joining Dave, Dorothy, our pilot, his wife and grandson, Dave's new friend and his wife for a fish fry. Later, they sat around the fire while Dorothy and I (with Chanti) took a long walk.

Anchor Point is the furtherest road west that is inter-connecting with other paved highways. You cannot drive further west on any highway in the USA. (Is that Russia over there?)

This morning, we again say our "last good-byes" while we moved on to a new RV park in Seldotna. Guess who just showed up at our door???? More to follow!

We're adding a video to this blog from the charter fishing that Dave and Jerry did last Saturday out of Homer. Hope you enjoy it.

It is about 65 degrees outside and raining. We will probably stay here for a couple of days before moving on. Right now there is a fire burning 25 miles from Fairbanks and that the reports we are hearing are that there is severe smoke in and around that area. Thus, we will take our time getting there.

Until next time, enjoy the life you love.

Jerry and Mary

Kachemak Bay Alaska Air Tour

2009-08-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

The one thing we have discovered in RVing is that you meet the nicest people -- and you often keep running into the same ones at different places as we all keep moving around. Well, David and Dorothy struck up a friendship with a couple who knew a retired Delta pilot who owns a Stetson (they stopped making these planes in 1948). He worked for Western Airlines at the time I also worked for that airline -- small world. He was willing to take us on an air tour of Kachemak Bay.

So, on Sunday, he took Dorothy, Dave and me (Mary) in the airplane. (The plane seated only four people, so Jerry didn't go along.) We wore headsets and listened to music, including Louie Armstrong's "It's a Wonderful World" as we took in the beauty of Alaska from the air and he described the various sites.

We saw a small Russian village that is most difficult to get to. The pilot told us that there are three such very remote Russian villages along the way. We saw goats on a mountain, glaciers, waterfalls, lush greenery, blue waters, snow, and then ended up in Seldovia. (When Jerry and I left Seldovia the other day, I had no idea I would be back there within a week.) After stopping for lunch, we walked a path along the river where the salmon were arriving to spawn. We found and tasted berries, including salmon berries, which I never heard of before.

We have some video that we will put up on the blog at a later point; but in the meantime, here is a slide show of some of the scenery we were blessed to see.

Still in Homer, Alaska

2009-08-02T23:25:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

So much to do and see in this place. Everyone has to visit the Salty Daug Saloon, which we did on Thursday. It is a landmark here in Homer. Inside, people hang dollar bills, business cards, underwear, and whatever on the ceilings and walls!
Here we are outside of the place.
(Remember that you can double-click on any picture in this written blog and enlarge the picture on your monitor.)

Then on Friday, Jerry and I biked into town to see the Homer Visitor's Center. This is a "must see" place for anyone coming to Homer. The Center is an ultra-modern structure, artistic, and over flowing with pertinent information on Alaska's marine and wildlife, volcanoes, birds, glaciers and hands-on aquatic life experiments and learning projects.

From there we biked to the Pratt Museum, another very special place. Between the Visitor's Center and the Pratt Museum, you can get answers to any questions you may have about Alaska's natural resources. One interesting thing we found was that they have cameras in the wild and out at the bird rookery (the one we saw on our way to Seldovia the other day) that beam back live action continuously. On one of the screens, we watched a wolf near a running stream, trying to decide if he should cross over to the other side.

Then on Saturday, Jerry and David took an all-day charter boat out to go halibut fishing. They had to be there at 6:30 a.m. which was a bit hard for both of them to do -- but they made it on time. By 1:00 pm, everyone on the boat had caught their limit (2 halibut per person). Guess what we will be eating for the next month? While they didn't catch the biggest halibut of the 14 persons on the boat fishing, one person on the boat did land a 145 pound halibut. But, not as big as the one we saw the other day of the guy that caught the 292.4 pound halibut. (See photo on the side.)

Will write more about our experiences here in Homer in the next blog. Until then, have a great week!

Seldovia, Alaska

2009-07-28T21:15:00.001-07:00

Hi Again,

On Tuesday, July 28, we took a water taxi charter boat called the "Discovery" from Homer across Kachemak Bay to Seldovia. The only way to get to Seldovia is by air or water. There are no roads leading into this small town of 282 "friendly people and a few old crabs." (Actual words from the Seldovia Chamber of Commerce Welcome Flyer).

It took almost 2-1/2 hours to get there because the folks running the charter took us past various islands, coves, and passageways to see the thousands of birds in a couple of bird rookeries and beautiful scenery along the way.

Also, when was the last time you saw two dozen sea otters floating on their backs and, seemingly, waving at us as the boat goes by? The weather was a bit rainy and overcast at times, actually kind of mystic, about 60 degrees temperature, and the sea was calm.

After arriving at the port, most people looked for a place to eat. We found a great restaurant, with a table near the window overlooking the sea port, and had a wonderful lunch, including a salmon coconut bisque soup. Then, we walked the town (down the middle of the road because there was no traffic -- in fact, they don't even have sidewalks) and, we saw the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church (built in 1895), what's left of the old boardwalk after the 1964 earthquake, wood cravings located along the streets, picturesque old houses, and flowers.

It took only 1-1/2 hours to get back to Homer. We left Homer at 11 a.m. and returned at 5:15 p.m. It was well worth the trip. If you are planning a trip to Alaska, make this a side trip - six hours of spectacular views for $45 a person.

Still planning on staying here in Homer until Sunday. Dave and Dorothy arrived here today, Wednesday. Tomorrow, Dave and Jerry are going out halibut fishing (if the sea is calm). Dorothy and I plan to walk the little shops on the spit tomorrow.

After they arrived today, Dorothy and I decided to walk into the town that is nearly 3 miles out. We left at noon and didn't get back until after 6 p.m. Except for a 30 minute sit-down to grab a bite to eat, we walked the whole time. And, Dorothy had already walked 5 miles before we did this. Both of us are very sore and should sleep well tonight!

More to follow.

Homer, Alaska

2009-07-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

We like Homer, Alaska! What more can we ask for. We are on a peninsula (the "spit"). Water all around us, mountains with some snow dripping down them, puffy clouds hanging around the mountains, blue sky between the clouds, absolutely no noise (except for an occasional boat or airplane), a bit of a slight wind -- and our RV now faces right into all of this.

We arrived in Homer on Wednesday (July 22) and stayed at a private RV park (same scenery as above) for four days until moving here today (Sunday) to the City of Homer RV Park. The difference? Better spot here and much cheaper! The negatives: no hook-ups (but they do have water and a dump on site). With our generator and inverter, we do just fine dry-docking.

Yesterday, Jerry took a really small water taxi (with a few others) to a cove across the bay to dig for clams. I didn't go because that is just not my thing. He really got a work out! After seeing his video, it confirmed for me that I made the right decision by not going along. To top it off, it was a cold, rainy, and windy day. But, we had the most delicious, best ever, clam linguini with garlic bread last night.

We are planning to stay here for the whole week, take our bikes to explore the place further and walk all the little shops again (we missed a lot of them on our first walk) and check out the down town.

Talked to Dorothy and Dave last night. They are still in the Glenn Highway area heading towards Anchorage. Should be in this area later in the week.

Will add more to this blog later this week. Enjoy your week!

Hope, Alaska

2009-07-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

What a find! Beautiful road leading into this small town of a few hundred people and easy access to fishing. Below are some pictures of the scenery on the way into the city of Hope. The picture on the top is pretty much the whole town.

We parked with the back of the RV towards the river. So, all we had to do was walk a hundred feet or so to the river.

Jerry, after a bit of a learning curve, caught two pink salmon. There is something special about eating the salmon that you caught yourself and served on my birthday.

The weather report for the whole Kenai peninsula shows rain. But, that doesn't always mean a thing because more than half of the time the report is wrong. It did rain a bit in Hope, though, and one night we had very high winds that rocked the RV all night long. Put me to sleep and kept Jerry awake!

We've moved on to Homer and will tell you more about Homer in the next posting.

Until next time, enjoy the life you love. And, thank you to those who emailed or called me on my birthday yesterday.

Jerry and Mary

Wasilla, Alaska - Home of the Iditarod Trail Headquarters

2009-07-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

Well, today we learned more about the famous Alaskan Iditarod at its Headquarters here in Wasilla. The Iditarod Trail sled dog race takes place every March and represents the ultimate challenge in outdoor adventure. For the 70 or more brave souls (ranging in age from 18-69 this year) who start the trip, it is a human and animal trial of unimaginable weather and terrain conditions from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, a journey of over 1,049 miles. Each person, in their own way, bonds with their dogs and with nature. It certainly takes courage, stamina, endurance, skill and a little luck. One woman has done it 30 times and has come in the top 10 for the last 20 years. This year was the 37th running of the Iditarod.

At the Headquarters, we saw the puppies that will later become sledding dogs. We also had a chance to experience a ride pulled by actual musher dogs. Picture on the right is Jerry taking a ride and video-taping it. See Jerry's video and pictures below and on the side. (If you double-click on any of the pictures in the written blog, they will enlarge on your screen.)

The weather forecast has called for rain for the last three days and into the coming days. However, it hasn't rained during the day, just at night. The temperature is about 68-70 degrees. Perfect for biking, which we did to get to the Iditarod Headquarters, and yesterday, to bike into town for our usual Subway sandwich. Jerry brought back wood for burning at night and we have eaten all of our meals outside -- cooked on the grill by Jerry. (For those of you out there that do not know this by now, I don't cook. Jerry makes all of the meals. Can't beat that! And he loves to cook!!!)

Tomorrow we move on to somewhere else. We will figure out where that is tomorrow. After dry camping for four or five days, we like to go to a place that has full hook-ups.

Until next time, take the time to enjoy your life.

Jerry and Mary

Talkeetna, Alaska Events

2009-07-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

Hello to All,

Lots has happened in the last few days. Dorothy and Dave joined us on Friday. Had a nice shrimp pasta dinner with garlic bread that Jerry cooked outside and we ate outdoors. The weather has been unbelievably pleasant -- in the low 80s during the day and 60s at night. Hardly any mosquitos, though Dave and Dorothy had just come from Willow and they said they were nearly eaten alive by mosquitos there.

On Saturday, Talkeetna held their annual "Moose Dropping Festival." No --- they don't drop a moose; they drop the moose droppings. We were under the mistaken assumption that the "moose droppings" they use and actually sell were fake or made out of candy. Not so! They use ACTUAL MOOSE DROPPINGS in a variety of creative ways!!! And, get this -- people actually pay money for them! See picture of moose dropping earrings (decorated and painted). (Moose droppings with numbers on each one were also used for the "Moose Dropping" Contest later that evening.)

They held a 5K run that started at 10:30 a.m. Jerry entered it. There were 289 runners in the race. He came in third for his category (age 60 and over). The parade started at noon. See slide show for a brief overview of the parade.

There was music, lots of vendors selling all kinds of things, and the 37th annual "moose dropping" contest. You had to purchase a moose dropping with a number on it for $5 each. Duplicate numbers were then put into a bag and dropped from high in the air. The people holding the first 12 numbers closest to the center of the circle on the ground won money ($1,500 for first prize), and so did the one with the number farthest away from the circle ($300). See Jerry's video of the event that took place at 6 p.m.

Later that evening, Jerry grilled steaks with baked potatos and corn on the cob. Dorothy and I bought rhubbarb crisp from a vendor for dessert that evening. But, since the guys were too full to eat dessert, Dorothy and I encroached on their pieces after first eating ours. (We also ate rhubbard pie in the afternoon!) Now, we all were full!!

On Sunday, Dorothy, Jerry and I took the local Alaska train 55 miles into the wilderness and back again. (David had to stay with his dog, Moose.) Normally, one can see Mt. McKinley (about 45 miles away) at the end of the train run. But, with over 60 fires currently burning in Alaska, the view was shrouded in smoke and we could not really see the mountain.
Other than that, words cannot describe the scenery -- so here is a video that Jerry made of the ride.

Here is just one picture taken on our train ride.

Yesterday (Monday), Dorothy and Dave left to go north to Denali National Park. Jerry and I will visit the park later in August. We will head on Wednesday to go back to the Kenai peninsula to hang out there some more.

Again -- keep living the life you love.

Jerry and Mary

Talkeetna, Alaska

2009-07-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

After spending three more days in Soldotna and exploring further that little town, we left yesterday (June 7) and drove to Anchorage. OMG! Getting into the city at rush hour was not our cup of tea. We forgot about the traffic at rush hour. Certainly not as bad as LA, but something we like to avoid.

We sure that the drive to Anchorage must be beautiful. But, we couldn't see the mountains for the dense smoke from the fires in Denali. We checked out two of the three RV parks in Anchorage that we were aware of, and settled in on so close to the railroad tracks we felt as if the train was really going to hit our RV. (We didn't see the railroad tracks when we checked in.)

Today, after getting our Starbucks mochas, we headed for Talkeetna and had to drive through Wasilla to get here. Sarah Palin hails from Wasilla, so we were a bit more interested in that little town than usual. Let me say this -- it is small! There was a sign directing people to the downtown on Main Street. We made a right hand turn to go in that direction and saw the post office and another government building -- and two blocks later, we were past the downtown. Actually, the highway runs straight through the town, with numerous little businesses along the way. We ate our Subway sandwich there and were once again on our way.

The road to Talkeetna (Highway 3 - Parks Highway) was a bit bumpty. And, again, we couldn't really see what we think may have been beautiful mountains because of the smoke. Talkeetna is geering up for its annual "Moose Dropping Festival" this weekend. The town reminds us of Cambria, CA -- lots of small unique shops and many people already here just walking the streets.

The weather is hot -- 84 degrees! And, very little breeze. Tonight, we will walk the town ourselves and actually find a place to eat. (Jerry, the cook, wants a night off.)

Dorothy and Dave will be joining us this weekend for the festivities. Will tell you more about it in our next blog.

Until then -- take care.

Jerry and Mary

Happy 4th of July From Soldotna, Alaska

2009-07-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2009

On July 3, 1776, the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams (our second President) wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigail:

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfire and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

Although July 4 has been designated as the day to celebrate this momentous event, Mr. Adams's prescience was amazing -- especially when he referred to "this Continent." And, here we are in Alaska some 233 years later, not only celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but also the fact that Alaska became the 49th state some 50 years ago as of this year.

Today, we joined the City of Kenai in its celebration of both events. It was not much different than how Cambria celebrates the 4th each year -- except that Kenai had a parade. See picture of kid eating a hot dog.

There are no firework displays tonight here in Alaska as it doesn't get dark enough. We hear that they have their firework displays in January.

Hope you had a great celebration, too.

Jerry and Mary

Soldotna Cinnamon Rolls

2009-07-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

The large sign says that they serve "World Famous Cinnamon Rolls." We had to try one. So we walked to the place (about 2 blocks from the park) and each ordered the "small" cinnamon roll with coffee. Can't imagine what the "large" one would look like!! They were delicious. But, there was no way we could finish them and we each took over half of ours back to the RV.

Here is another view of the Kenai River taken from a boardwalk near the Visitor's Center in Soldotna. Lots of sea gulls fly around waiting to pick at the left over parts of fish cleaned by the fishermen along the shores.

Dorothy and Dave are in Homer and will join us tomorrow.

Until next time -- have a great 4th of July.

Jerry and Mary

Soldotna, Alaska

2009-06-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

While we were still at Captain Cook State Park, Dorothy and Dave unexpectedly happened to drive by on Sunday afternoon. They then took the space next to ours for the night. Dave brought over some freshly caught salmon and Jerry cooked it on the grill outside. We are eating a lot of salmon!!! And we love it!

Later that evening, we took a walk to the cliff and took some more pictures of the beautiful sunset. Again, it was 11:20 p.m. when we took these pictures.

The next day Dorothy and I walked around the park before Dave and Dorothy took off.

Today (Tuesday), Jerry and I left our peaceful hide-away and moved into the small city of Soldotna, where we will stay for the 4th of July weekend. The RV park is located right on the Kenai River (see picture below) and is within walking and biking distance of downtown. Dave and Dorothy are due to join us on July 3rd.

We have really lucked out with the sunny weather on this trip. All the locals that we talk to tell us that this weather is uncommonly sunny for this time of the year. Normally, Alaska experiences a lot of rain. But, we encountered rain only in Seward thus far. Hope it stays that way for the 4th of July.

Until next time, stay safe.

Jerry and Mary

Captain Cook State Park - Alaska

2009-06-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

Well, it really took us 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes to get here today. What a lovely place!. Nestled in trees with campers spaced well apart, situated right on the ocean, and with no one on either side of us, it is almost as if we are here by ourselves.

Saw a bear crossing the road as we drove in here earlier today. The Park Host told us that the mother bear died and her two cubs are roaming the park area -- and they are aggressively trying to get at the people's food. We were advised to be careful.

Jerry is grilling salmon outside (salmon that Dave caught), and we will be eating outside tonight. Later, he will build a fire and make popcorn. Hope the bears stay away! It is sunny and 67 degrees, with very little breeze.

Our internet connection in now via Verizon broadband -- not at all what it was in Kenai.

We plan to stay here until Tuesday. Hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

Jerry and Mary

Kenai, Alaska - Tides and Mount Redoubt

2009-06-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Just want all the travelers out there to know that the Beluca Lookout Lodge & RV Park here in Kenai, Alaska has the fastest wi-fi internet speed of any place we have been to since the start of our trip. It's a beautiful park, too, right on the bluff overlooking the water and within walking distance of town's various commercial and eating places. Also, the RV Park has washers and dryers which have a number of boondockers coming here just to do their laundry. Kenai is the largest of the towns on the Kenai Peninsula and has 7,100 people. For those that need supplies, it also has a Home Depot, Lowes, and a Walmart under construction.

From our RV window, we can watch the tides come in and go out. The incoming water rushes in so fast, it is amazing to watch the bay fill up. The literature states that the "37-foot tides here are exceeded only by those in Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy." See picture of the high tide above and picture of low tide below it.

Today, we took a nice 3-hour bike trip around the town. The city of Kenai has a great bike path running along the Kenai Spur Highway.

As an added benefit - we can see Mount Redoubt also from our RV window and watch the steam coming off of the mountain. See picture below.

Tomorrow (Saturday), we will pack up and travel a short distance to the Captain Cook State Park. It will probably take us a whole 15 minutes to get there.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Jerry and Mary

Exit Glacier, Cooper Landing and Kenai, Alaska

2009-06-24T22:38:00.000-07:00

Hi again everyone,

We are located at the mouth of the world famous Kenai River in Kenai, Alaska where it meets the ebb and flow of the Cook Inlet tides. Here is where the salmon enter that the people on the Kenai River are trying to catch. Dave and Dorothy left on Monday to get a head start on fishing.
Even though it rained off and on most of our time in Seward, Jerry had to build a fire on the last night we were there. We loved Seward and only wished we could have taken our bikes out on their long bike trail. Who knows, we may just come back to this place.

(We have super fast wi-fi here in Kenai which makes updating this blog fun and easy.)

After we left Seward, we went to see the Exit Glacier. The drive to the Glacier was on 9 miles of paved scenic road. The Glacier itself is 3 miles long. We had to walk 1/2 mile to get there and then could walk down to the "toe" of the Glacier. Unfortunately, they didn't tell us that after we got down to the bottom, we, along with everyone else, had to figure a way to cross the running water from the Glacier. Most people (including us) decided not to try to cross the water streams.

(See more pictures of Exit Glacier on the side and down below.)

After leaving Exit Glacier, we stopped near Cooper Landing. Everywhere we saw a river, we saw people standing in the water trying to snag salmon. We stopped at a beautiful place along the highway and had a great halibut dinner that Jerry made. See picture below of our view.

After dinner, we were driving down the road and saw Dorothy and Dave's RV parked in a rest area beside the road. We made a U-turn and joined them. But, Dave's plan was to move on at 11 pm so that he could fish from 11-2 am (that was suppose to be the best time to catch fish). Sure enough, they were gone this morning. He later left us a voice mail to say that he caught four salmon last night.

We plan to stay here at Kenai for at least three days. The temperature is about 55 degrees with a few clouds. Even though it is now 11:30 pm, it feels like 6 pm as it is that light outside.
We have been staying up quite late because it stays bright outside, even in the middle of the night.

Will probably write more later before we leave here. Have to take advantage of this fast internet.

Take care,

Jerry and Mary

Beautiful Seward, Alaska

2009-06-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers, step-fathers and father substitutes out there!

Well -- finally we had the pleasure of eating fresh salmon just caught the same day here in Alaska. Jerry and Dave went fishing at the mouth of a river where the salmon were traveling from the ocean into the river, going upstream to spawn. Dave hooked three salmon. And, we had a great salmon feast that night. Just had to tell the world about it!

See video below:

It rained real hard the last two days, and off and on all day today (Monday). The forecast is for three or more days of rain.

We are dry camping and expect to leave Seward on Tuesday. Hate to leave Seward because it really is a beautiful place -- easy to walk the town or the bike path, watch the sea otters floating by on their backs from our window, see the cruise ships come and go, watch the tide levels go up and down, and with binoculars, check out the number of people fishing across the bay (where Jerry and Dave went fishing).

Until next time -- enjoy your life. Jerry and Mary

Whittier and Seward, Alaska - Kenai Peninsula

2009-06-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We hung around Valdez for four days and really enjoyed this sleepy little town. Not much to do there, but it is beautiful with all the high snow covered mountains surrounding the whole place and its location right on the water. See more pictures below. Jerry washed the RV (a five hour process after all the mud and dirt caked on it from our travels on those rough roads).
On Wednesday (June 17), we had a scheduled appointment to drive the RV onto a Ferry that took us on the marine highway for 2-1/2 hours over to Whittier, Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula. We took the noon Ferry because the only other one leaving Valdez would have taken 5 hours and would have left at 8 in the morning. Taking the Ferry saved us driving approximately 320 miles to get here and traveling back over some of the same roads we were already on.

But, even more so than that, the experience of boating right past ice caps sticking out of the water, seeing a beautiful glacier, watching the lush greenery of the mountains with snow patches and waterfalls, and feeling the speed of the Ferry was exhilarating. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, but that was minor.

After driving our RV off of the Ferry (with guidance from the crew), we drove through a 6-1/2 mile tunnel (one way traffic only). We were held up, along with all the tour busses and everyone else, because we were told that two motocycles went down in the tunnel.

Dave and Dorothy saved a spot for us at a very nice RV park outside of Whittier, Alaska (yes - Sue and Raul, there is a Whittier, Alaska, too). We spent the evening catching up. This was a great spot for parking the RV and we may come back to it. It is called the Williwaw Park.

On Thursday, we all moved on to Seward, another city surrounded by mountains, and located on Resurrection Bay. We are parked parallel to the water's edge (about 25 feet from the water) and look across the water to the mountains on the other side. We see cruise lines and hugh oil tankers come and go right in front of us. Since we have been here, there have been low hanging clouds in the mountains and an occasional rain.

Dorothy and Dave joined us for dinner and afterwards then we all took a long walk on the paved bike/walkway that runs along the ocean bank. There are numerous RV parks here, one right after the other along the waterway.

Today (June 19), Jerry and Dave left to get a fishing license for Jerry and then try their hand at fishing. Dorothy and I will hang out together for the day.

Valdez, Alaska

2009-06-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We decided to drive from Tok to Valdez even though it was a longer drive than we had planned for the day. But, the drive was absolutely beautiful. We saw the Worthington Glacier (and "blue ice" that we had never seen before). It was raining off and on, so it was a bit difficult to capture the beauty of this drive on the camera. But, we tried. See slide show below. As great as the scenery is, one has to put up with the rough road, though.

Dorothy and Dave are in Anchorage and we will catch up with them in Seward next weekend.

Jerry and Mary

Tok, Alaska - Mile 1314

2009-06-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

WE MADE IT TO ALASKA!

But, first, let us catch you up since the last blog.

After passing through Telsin, and encountering a few slow-downs due to road constructions (mainly on bridges), we wanted to go to Johnson's Crossing (Mile 809) because we read about the good cinnamon rolls and pastries served at the place. It was raining slightly when we arrived. Later that night, we saw a red fox about 15 feet from our RV. Tried to get a picture, but he/she heard us and moved quickly away.

The next morning, we walked over to get a cinnamon roll and a turnover (cherry and blueberry). They were as advertised -- delicious.

Johnson's Crossing is known for the highest bridge on the Alaskan Highway. See picture below.

After leaving Johnson's Crossing, our plan was to spend a couple of days in Whitehorse (Mile 888), the capitol of the Yukon (pop. over 24,000). But, once we arrived, we felt that we were somewhat back in civilization (even had our Starbucks) and decided to move on. But, before we did, Jerry tried to buy some halibut and salmon (obviously, we haven't been fishing for them, yet). He went to three grocery stores. Two had salmon, alright -- Atlantic farm raised salmon. Can you believe it? But, he found Copper River Sockeye salmon and Alaskan halibut at the third place. In a few more weeks, we (I mean Jerry) should be catching our own.

We left Whitehorse after shopping and headed up the road to the Takhini Hot Springs. We had to leave the Alaskan Highway and travel on the Klondike Highway for about 10 miles. After our great experience at the Liard Hot Springs, we were hooked on hot springs. But, what a disappointment the Takhini Hot Springs was! First of all, it was more like a commercialized hot swimming pool. It was not a spring. The water may come from a spring, but they have enclosed it in a large concrete swimming pool with algae on the bottom and dead mosquitoes floating on top of the water. Not only that, along with the fee for camping (which is on the high side), you have to pay to enter the "hot springs." All-in-all, definitely not worth the price. We didn't even bother to take pictures, except for the wonderful RV site surrounded by all trees.

For those of you who are specifically following Dorothy and David's adventure, we had an opportunity to talk to them the other night by cell phone. They made it through to Liard Hot Springs prior to the Highway being closed down. They are in Valdez where Dave is trying to catch fish.

On Thursday (June 11), we spent most of the day traveling the Alaskan Highway, making 280 miles in 7 hours. This was one of our longest drives, and we expect to slow up from here going forward. Everything we have read and heard prior to making this trip was that, between the Haines Junction turnoff and Beaver Creek (just before the Alaskan border), the road would be under major construction and is some of the worst part of the Alaskan Highway. Well -- it lived up to its reputation! Between pot holes, gravel roads in the process of being resurfaced, dirt and dust for miles, and road heaves (dips in the road), it was quite a bumpy ride. When trucks pass you coming or going, they kick up a real dust storm on the gravel roads -- and they throw rocks. Yes, our windshield has already been hit. Replacing the front RV window after an Alaskan Highway trip is a given and should be factored into the cost of trip.

Last night we stayed in Beaver Creek in the Yukon (Mile 1,168). It is just a few miles from the Yukon-Alaskan border. It rained most of the night and this morning.

Then, today (June 12), we crossed into Alaska, and, of course, had to have our picture taken by the welcome sign. See it below. We are staying at the Sourdough RV Park in Tok, Alaska. They are known for their sourdough pancakes and reindeer sausage. Earlier this evening, they had their daily "pancake throw." The key was to throw a left-over pancake and get it into the bucket about 24 feet away. Only four out of 35 people were able to do it -- Jerry being one of them. For that, he gets his breakfast free tomorrow. Looking forward to having the fresh sourdough pancakes and reindeer sausage in the morning before we leave, heading towards Valdez.

So far, we've traveled 5,300 miles on this trip, partly because we went south before going north to Alaska. Now that we are here, we will be taking our time trying to experience as much as we can of this beautiful state.

Until next time -- Jerry and Mary

Watson Lake, Yukon Territory - Mile 613

2009-06-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone Again,

Trying to catch up, with internet connections slower than dial up, is a challange. If you didn't have patience when you start writing a blog under these circumstances, you quickly develop it.

Today, we walked over to the Watson Lake Signpost Forest, a block from the RV park. See the picture of the sign below that describes this unique area. Of course, we had to add our sign consisting of a Pines by the Sea license plate cover with our names, date and words from part of an old (embossed) t-shirt from the East West Ranch (now called the Fiscalini Ranch) ("This is Your Land" Cambria, North Coast SWAP California). In 2006, there were 61,398 signs posted in the Signpost Forest. Now there are 61,399 and, obviously, a lot more than that. See the video of us hanging our sign.

Then, this evening, we attended a show at The Northern Lights Centre that included a portion on astronauts and the aurora borealis. Having actually seen the aurora borealis while living in Grand Forks, ND many years ago, I found the scientific explanation comforting. The Centre is a state-of-the art panoramic video and surround sound system inside a special titled dome. The show lasts 55 minutes and is well worth it.

Tomorrow, we move on again up the Alaskan Highway. Every now and then, it feels good to get back into civilization. But, we are more than ready to move on out again. Never know what we will experience next!

Jerry and Mary

Muncho Lake and Hot Springs, British Columbia

2009-06-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

Whew! What a week! It's times like these that we are so thankful to be able to live our lives without any timeline.

Dorothy and Dave left us on Tuesday (June 2) to move on to Muncho Lake. Driving to Muncho Lake and surrounding the Lake are snow capped mountains. There are only 15 sites in this particular Provincial Park and they were all filled. But, they were able to secure two sites for us early the next morning. And what beautiful sites they were -- right on the lake as you can see in the pictures! In the five days that we spent there, it was amazing to see the number of RVers showing up after 5 p.m. each day expecting to find a site at this small park.

The one thing you first notice about this beautiful 7-mile long lake is how blue-green is the water. This is because sulfur leaks into the water, turning it a stunning blue-green color. The air temperature was in the low 80s and it was great. The slide show shows a little about our stay in this beautiful place.

On Thursday (June 4), Dorothy and Dave left because Dave was anxious to get to Alaska to start fishing. We stayed on because it was so beautiful.

On Thursday afternoon the Park Ranger came through and told everyone that the Alaskan Highway was closed about 60 miles up the way due to a severe fire. (Makes us wonder if Dorothy and Dave made it through before the highway was closed as we still don't know. Our cell phones haven't worked yet.)

Word came on Friday that the highway was now open. We finally left on Saturday and headed for Liard Hot Springs. If you have never been to a hot springs, it is really something to experience. Talk about "hot!" We couldn't even put our toes into the water until some people in the water told us where to get in (a place where the water was a bit cooler, but still hot). We loved it so much, we went back today (Sunday) before we left for Watson Lake.

The picture shows us parked at Liard Hot Springs. Everything is so lush and green because of the hot springs.

Driving to Watson Lake, we we were able to see where the fire was and still somewhat burning in the numerous hot spots. We had to wait for an escort to lead us through. We figured that there was an easy 15 miles of fire damage, some on both sides of the highway. There was still so much smoke from the fires, it looked as if we were back in Cambria, CA driving into the fog.

The drive on the Alaskan Highway had us weaving in and out of British Columbia and The Yukon. Watson Lake is located in The Yukon where we plan to stay a couple of days, just to get back into civilization (update this blog, get our washing done, and Jerry wants to wash the RV) before heading out again into the sparsely populated area of The Yukon.

We wish all of you great week ahead. We will tell you about ours in the next blog.

Jerry and Mary

Alaskan Highway - Mile 404

2009-06-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

What a treat this is to travel the Alaskan Highway! We knew from our research that the Highway is constantly under construction at one place or another. But, we didn't expect to see the first construction right in Dawson Creek when we left that place on Monday (June 1). Actually, that was not too hard to take compared to what we encountered the next day (today). More about that later.

Before leaving Dawson Creek, we did a little food shopping at the Safeway. Now their prices were at least reasonable compared to another food store we found that, for example, was charging $19.95 for a whole chicken!

We drove 173 miles on the Alaskan Highway. The scenery was very green. Don't know about their truck drivers, though! They fly past us from either direction with their large empty flat bed hauling trucks. Guess the drivers are in a hurry to get home after unloading their cargo. We saw only one highway patrol car so far and he was stopping one of the truck drivers.

We went off of the main road to drive 6 miles on the old Alaskan Highway. Half of it was not paved and we were sorry we did that. Our RV tosses up so much dust! Here is a picture of the beautiful wooden bridge we crossed.

We ended up at the Buckinghorse River Wayside Provincial Park.

There were only 5 campsites taken out of the 35 that were available. What a beautiful place by a river. Later, we sat around a fire that Dorothy made and ate Jiffy Pop campfire popcorn that Jerry made and did not burn. It tasted delicious.

We are already starting to feel the effects of the changes in the sun setting and rising. It is now 10:45 p.m and it is still light outside. This morning, I happen to wake up at 3:45 a.m., and it was light outside. The guy next to us just told us that he was up at 3:30 a.m. and it was light already. Good thing that someone told us about buying night blinders before we left home (the Tempur-Pedic ones that are so soft with memory foam). Last night was the first night I needed mine and it worked great. Jerry has been using his for some time now.

Today we stopped at the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum where we learned more about the building of the Highway (we watched old film footage) and saw the items used back then. The American Army, with the permission of the Canadian government, started construction of the road in November 1942 (November!!!) to provide a passage over land to get to airstrips and ports in Alaska. This was in the event the Japanese tried to attack Alaska and then down into the United States. It took 20 months, with 25,000 men, to complete the 1,500 mile Highway.

More about construction on the current Highway: this is what we encountered today in one spot.

What about all the animals? Didn't we see any? Well, yes, we did. We saw elk, caribow, bear, moose and stone sheep. Seeing the moose by the side of the road was most interesting. Just as we came up to him, he darted across the road right in front of our RV. Luckily, Jerry had slowed to 15 miles per hour -- or we would be eating mooseburgers tonight. And, this time, my camera was ready.

Tonight (June 2), we are staying at the Toad River RV Park. (As you can tell by this blog entry, there is wi-fi at this park.)

Dorothy and Dave decided to travel up the Highway a bit to find a Provincial Park. Because they are gypsies at heart, as we are, each couple is free to do its own thing. We each go our own way during the day, but then Jerry and Dave plan how and when we will meet up again. This gives each of us the freedom to go where we want, stay as long as we want and yet, get together to catch up down the way. It seems to be working for both of us.

The temperature outside was 81 degrees today. We ate dinner tonight on that bench in the picture. We have really lucked out with the nice weather we've had.

Don't forget to scroll down to see the additional larger pictures at the bottom of this blog.

Next stop: Muncho Lake.

Everyone, take care and keep enjoying the life you love.

Dawson Creek Mile "0"

2009-06-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

Dawson Creek, BC - Mile "0" of the Alaskan Highway

2009-05-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

We are now in Dawson Creek, BC. First thing we did was to find the Mile "0" sign that is the start of the Alaskan Highway. There are two such signs, one near the Visitor's Center and another one in the center of their main street in town. We stopped in at the Visitor's Center to get information and ask about the two signs. We were told that the one down town is the true one that was moved to its current downtown location because cars kept hitting it in the round-about. So, across the street from the round-about by the Visitor's Center, they erected a larger sign, more conducive to tourist photos at the start of Mile "0." We are showing you both signs below. (The RV in the picture is parked at the sign near the Visitor's Center.) (Make sure you always scroll below for larger pictures that we add to this Blog, and click on the tracking dots on the Map for more information about where we are at.)

After finding the Subway and eating our lunch, we headed out to the RV Park located within walking distance of the small town. Although it is sunny out, it is extremely windy. So windy, that it almost takes both of us to open the door of the RV as the wind is forcing it shut.

Finally, fuel prices for diesel are less than the prices for regular gasoline. We filled up our fuel tank in town and paid $.85 a liter (that converts to $3.20 per gallon for diesel), while regular gasoline (after the conversion) is $4.20 per gallon.

One other conversion we have to constantly make is the speed limit for miles per hour and the number of miles to our next destination. That one is easy. If the speed limit is 100 kilometers (km), you multiply that number by 6 and drop the last number. That gets you to 60 miles per hour. If the number of miles to our next destination is 320 km, you multiply that number by 6 and drop the last digit. (320x6=1,920 or 192 miles). Keeps us on our toes!

We are going to relax here for the weekend and start up the Alaskan Highway on Monday. The tour books tell us that we will not see much change in the scenery until we get about 400 miles from here.

It is interesting to meet the people along the way. While getting our fuel today, Jerry talked to the couple next to us (also RVers) who told him that they, too, were making the trip up the Alaskan Highway -- and, get this -- it will be their 31st trip in the last 40 years!

Until next time -- stay safe, healthy and enjoy the life you love!

Jerry and Mary

Chetwynd, British Columbia

2009-05-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We are staying here in Chetwynd, BC (60 miles from Dawson Creek) for two nights. Dorothy and Dave have moved on to spend the night at Tumbler Ridge. We are to meet them later this weekend in Dawson Creek.

Our trip here took most of the day yesterday. On the way, we saw 7 bears (one mama bear and her two cubs) and a large moose by the side of the road. I had my camera ready the whole time, but didn't get even one picture. Instead, Jerry grabbed his Nikon 200D and, without looking through the view finder while driving the RV, was able to capture three shots of one of the bears that we saw. But, after looking at the pictures he took, he erased them. Our goal is to get a really good picture of a bear and put it on this site.

Chetwynd is known for its wood carving artistry. They have an annual festival in the middle of June. See picture of the town's welcome display below.

Today, the four of us took a side trip to the W.A.C. Bennett Dam. The Bennitt Dam is one of the largest-earth filled hydro-electric dams in the world. The dam's embankment stretches 1.25 miles across the top edge and is nearly 600 feet tall. See the small white patch at the bottom of the picture? Those are cars -- gives you some perspective of how large this dam is. We were able to take a trip down into the tunnel underneath the dam where we learned more about this impressive man-made structure that utilizes natural rock to hold back the water.

Next stop: Mile Zero of the Alaskan Highway!

Banff and Jasper Provincial Parks in Alberta, Canada

2009-05-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

Well -- it's been one week without any internet!! Luckily for us we are at an RV park in Prince George, British Columbia tonight where we have free wi-fi. We each had to catch up with a week of emails. And, before we leave tomorrow for Mile One of the Alaskan Highway in Dawson Creek, we are trying also to update this blog. Since we are already too far north, we have lost out DirecTV and our XM Satellite radio is about to disappear, too, in the next few miles.

But, the peace and quiet -- and the beautiful views from mountains with snow, valleys, lots of trees, water falls, pristine lakes, perfect climate in the Banff and Jasper Provincial Parks -- is priceless and definitely worth giving up the internet.

Banff, Alberta was everything we could have asked for and more. Stunning scenery, temperature in the 50s and 60sF (they use Centigrade here), and Dorothy (my sister from Minnesota) and her husband, David, joined us on May 22. We will be making this trip with them. Here you see Jerry grilling our first meal together after they arrived.
Dorothy and I spent the next day walking the town and visiting all the wonderful shops in Banff. Later that evening, we all decided to go out to eat at a local Italian restaurant. We spent two days in Banff before moving on to Lake Louise.

Lake Louise was somewhat disappointing to Dorothy and Dave who had seen it twenty years earlier. They remembered the clear turquoise water. Instead, Lake Louise was still somewhat frozen over. Jerry and I were impressed with it, though.

We spent Sunday night (May 24) in a Lake Louise. We were being warned about having to share the parks bears, moose and elk. Even so, Jerry and I decided to bike on the bike path for a bit. We also enjoyed ourselves just sitting by the running river reading our books. (See Jerry with his Cambria Coffee Roasting Company mocha and Chanti.) By the way, we travel with roasted whole beans from the Cambria Coffee Roasting Company which we grind each morning -- the best coffee anywhere!

We also saw the Athabasca Glacier in Columbia Ice Fields.

The one night we spent in Jasper, it rained. Jerry would start a fire, get it going quite nicely, then the rain would come and put it out. When the rain left a few minutes later, he did it again -- only to have the rain put out his fire again. The good thing was that the firewood was free.

Today, we drove for nearly six hours to get to Prince George. We are now back in Pacific time, so we gained an hour. The drive was full of scenic views and we even saw two bears and a large moose.

Since pictures tell a better story than our words, see the pictures below.

Thank you for following our blog. We will update it again when we get to the next wi-fi spot. Everyone stay healthy and enjoy your life.

Lethbridge, Alberta (Canada)

2009-05-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

We left Cambria 6 weeks ago, and are finally now in Canada. So we turned off our cell phones and will keep them off until we get to Alaska, approximately 4-6 weeks away. Rates in Canada are too high.

Our drive from Montana to Lethbridge, Alberta was a bit hectic. The winds were easily 60 miles per hour, hitting us from the left side of the RV. That caused the awning on the left side to unroll while we were traveling down the road. Not just once, but so many times we couldn't count! The way Jerry handled it was to slow down the RV, and the awning would automatically roll back in. After doing this for numerous times, we sighted some grain silos beside the left side of the road. He drove to the right of the silos to block the wind. Then, with a little duck tape and bungie cords, we were set to go without any more incidents.

We've been in Lethbridge for three days now and will leave tomorrow to join up with Dorothy, my sister, and Dave (her husband) who will be making the rest of the trip more or less with us in their camper. We are looking forward to the experience.

We've been using a device called SPOT, a GPS tracking device to let family and friends know (by cell, text, or email) where we are, or to get help, if necessary, or to dial 911 in the event of something serious happening to us. The device also pin points on the Google Map the exact place we are staying. We will update the Google Map below with each new posting.

Until next time -- we repeat -- live the life you love!

Deer Lodge, Montana

2009-05-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

Never heard of Deer Lodge, Montana? Well, neither did we until we stopped here on our way into Canada. This is our last week before we cross the border. Deer Lodge reminds me of the small town I grew up in - Cold Spring, Minnesota -- just one Main Street running through the town.

Getting here from Salt Lake City was somewhat of a challenge. When we left SLC, the temperature was in the low 70s. By the time we got to Deer Lodge (with one night stop at Black Foot, Idaho), the weather was 38 degrees F. Not only that, but the winds were at over 40 miles per hour with rain (and some snow flakes) falling. Jerry had to work extra hard to keep the RV on the road as we kept getting hit with strong wind spurts. See pictures below taken while we were traveling to Deer Lodge.

Bryce Canyon Hike

2009-05-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

Highway 12, Kodachrome Basin and Salt Lake City

2009-05-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers (and mother substitutes) everywhere! We send our best wishes for an enjoyable day.

We certainly had one of the best RVing weeks ever. The State of Utah has some of the most exquisite scenery around. As we mentioned before, we traveled off of Highway 12 to the Kodachrome Basin State Park about 20 miles from Bryce Canyon. It is a relatively small area, far from any civilization and surrounded by red-orange natural rock towers ranging from six to 170 feet in height.

We stopped for a bit, took some pictures and then moved back on to Highway 12 to Escalante, Utah where we planned to spend four days. The first day, we walked to the Petrified Forest about 2 miles from camp. We climbed to the top of a hill (remember, the altitude is still over 7,000 feet) where most of the petrified rocks were. Again, another day of good exercise!

However, we couldn't get the peace of Kodachrome Basin out of our mind. So we packed up and drove back 30 miles to the Basin -- only to find that all 27 camping sites were taken. But, lucky for us, the host offered us the Host Site, the only one with electricity and water. It was set away from the other 27 sites, so it was if we were alone out there -- no cell or internet coverage. This was our back yard behind the RV.

Jerry grilled the dinners and we ate outside every night. The weather was in the 60s. On Thursday, Jerry decided that we would bike the area. I wrongly assumed that we would be biking on a bike path around the area. NO -- it was a two-foot wide dirt path with rocks and tree stumps, hills and valleys -- and certainly not my idea of biking. Even he agreed that I shouldn't do that again.

On Friday, we drove to Salt Lake City for Mother's Day weekend. Yesterday, we spent about 3 hours at the Family History Library. What an amazing operation! There are five floors and millions of records on the internet and microfilm. I had a chance to copy the 1910 and 1920 U.S. Census relating to my grandparents on my mother's side. We were told that the Library is in the process of digitizing the records and that 100,000 people from all over the country are currently working on the project. Jerry also found out information on his mother's side of the the family. I guess just about everything anyone wants to know about family history is archived there.

Last night an old friend, Mike J., joined us for dinner. It was good catching up with him.

Then today -- we had a once in a life time experience! The RV Park where we are staying provided shuttles to downtown Salt Lake for us park attendees to attend the weekly live Mormon Tabernacle Choir television and radio performance. With 360 people in the choir from ages 25 to 60, including a full orchestra, the Choir is the longest running radio show in the world -- 80 years. This was its 4,156 show.

We sat fairly close to the front in the balcony and absolutely enjoyed the whole proceeding. The music was so powerful in the hugh dome, and the voices blended with precision.

In the audience was David McCollough, the Pulitzer Prize author of John Adams (made into a miniseries on HBO). I am 75% finished reading the book, after which Jerry and I are planning to watch the HBO miniseries on DVD. In honor of Mr. McCollough, the Choir sang their Grammy winning rendition of "Battle Hymn of the Republic." I don't think there was a dry eye in the audience. It was a great way to celebrate Mother's Day. (We even dressed up for the occasion!!!)

Have a wonderful week, and thank you for following our blog.

Jerry and Mary

Bryce Canyon, Utah

2009-05-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

Hello to all!

After leaving Las Vegas, we spent the night in Mesquite, NV. With one of the two main casinos in Mesquite closed down, the place was not a den of activity. The weather was in the high 70s. We wore shorts and I wore my sandals as we left Mesquite.

But, somewhere along the nearly 4 hour drive to Bryce Canyon, the temperature dropped into the 40s as we were at almost 10,000 feet altitude going over Highway 14 pass. We were surprised to see snow along the highway.

After descending from the summit, we headed towards Highway 12. An article in The Tribune before we left Cambria stated that Highway 12 in Utah was a "must see before you die." Thus, we wanted to include Highway 12 on this trip. And are we glad that we did! So far, we have seen Red Canyon and Bryce Canyon. We are spending 5 days at an RV park just outside the entrance to Bryce Canyon.

We rode our bikes into the State Park. It was a bit of an up hill ride, and being at 8,000 feet altitude didn't help our breathing. Of all the people visiting Bryce this week, we were the only two (plus a dog) riding bikes. It was a real workout, but well worth it. In this slower mode of travel, we were able to take in more of the scenery and wild life -- because we didn't zoom past it in a vehicle.

We had fun taking lots of pictures and have put together a short slide show for you. See also a couple of pictures below the slide show. Enjoy!

2009-04-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are in lovely Las Vegas! Driving here from Albuquerque, we had to pass the Hoover Dam area. OMG, are they ever doing a contruction project with the freeway system around the dam! It won't be done until December 2010. Because the the possibility of terrorism with the dam, all vehicles have to go through a security check before proceeding around the area. It wasn't anything like the security checks we've been through going into and out of Canada. Instead, there were three security officers. One came into the RV and check the cabinets and two went with Jerry to look into the storage areas below the RV. When we asked what they were looking for, they said "explosives." When you think about it, if terrorist blew up the Hoover Dam, it would cut off power to one-third of the USA. A very scary scenario! As a result, they are building this hugh 4-lane highway and bridge that by-passes the current road that goes over the dam to divert traffic from the area. See pictures of construction project that we took as we drove by the area. The new bridge will be soooooo high up, though it is hard to tell by the picture below!

In Las Vegas, we are staying at our usual favorite place -- Sam's Town RV Park, right next to the Sam's Town Casino. (Sean, you remember this place?) It used to be way out of town. But now the town has caught up with it.

Yesterday we attended an exciting XanGo regional seminar during the day. For those of you who don't know what XanGo is all about, you can check it out on our XanGo website: http://www.mymangosteen.com/cambria.

Then, last night we attended the Barry Manilow concert at the Hilton. We bought the "cheap" seats three rows from the back at $110 a seat. But right before the show started, they moved all of us up into the middle section to fill in a few empty seats that were there.

Barry Manilow put on a great show. It was a high energy stage production with vintage footage from when he first started out in the '70s. He sang all of his hits.

We will leave Las Vegas on Tuesday for Bryce Canyon, still slowly continuing our journey north to Alaska.

Until next time, enjoy your week and your life!

Jerry and Mary

Balloon Glow

2009-04-21T22:20:00.000-07:00

The Rally at Albuquerque, New Mexico

2009-04-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

We left Cambria, CA on April 7th, but regard our Alaskan trip as actually starting at The Rally in Albuquerque, NM, where we are right now. For those who don't know, The Rally is a once-a-year RVers get-together. There are over 3,000 RV coaches here, approximately 6,000 people, hundreds of vendors, numerous classes and seminars on all the various aspects of RVing, and lots of new RVs to go through. There was/is also entertainment -- Neil Sedaka, Rita Coolidge, the Osmonds, and Papa Duo Run Run.

The weather did not cooperate with the Event on the first day -- high winds, rain and snow (temperatures in the 30s). But, each day thereafter just kept getting better. We are at the place where the annual balloon festival is held. The picture of the parking lot is just one of many parking lots for the attendees.

Last night, the folks from the Albuquerque Balloon Festival put on a "balloon glow" display of five multi-colored balloons. See video.

We leave on Tuesday, heading to a XanGo Regional in Las Vegas. Will update this blog next week.