June 26, Soldotna and Kenai

We drove over to Kenai, about 10 miles, and met Kathy Romain, Orville Terry’s daughter. Kathy has lived here since 1980 and is very enthusiastic about the Kenai Peninsula and was very helpful about things in the area to see and do. We had Sandi’s glasses sent to her from Alberta, Canada so the eyeglass saga is finally over. Kathy recommended the Swiftwater Campground just south of Soldotna, a city park right on the Kenai River, so we moved this afternoon. It is much nicer spot than the one we had at the Fred Meyer parking lot. This afternoon we tried to make plans for the next couple of weeks and decided we are running out of time. Not sure we can see it all. We have been trying to get a good look at a Moose and this evening one walked right through our campsite. Almost close enough to pet. Had a campfire this evening and roasted hotdogs for supper. There are only 2 times hotdogs are good, at the ballpark and over a campfire. But, someone forgot to pack the chocolate bars so no smores. Darn!

June 25, Cooper Landing to Soldotna,

Drove down to Soldotna and found us a place with lots of other campers in the Fred Meyer parking lot. Plenty of room here and lots of other travelers. The store even provides a dump station and drinking water fill station. Since we left the lower 48 most communities cater to the traveler as many have dump stations and water available, even a lot of gas stations. The weather has finally changed and the rainy spell has passed out of the area. Today is about 70 and a cloudless sky. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and picked up some information about fishing charters and this area of the peninsula then went to a chainsaw carving shop outside of town. Fantastic carvings, they should have been at Chetwynd.

June 24, Cooper Landing

Cooper Landing is situated with the Kenai River on one side and the Kenai Mountains hovering on the other side. It truly is a beautiful place. The Russian River joins the Kenai here at Cooper Landing and it’s a fishing paradise. We went to the Russian River this afternoon to watch what the locals call “combat fishing”. The river is lined with fishermen in waders about 10 feet apart as far up and down the river as we could see. We drove down the highway and they are fishing absolutely everywhere there is an open spot. The limit is 3 salmon per person and we saw some people carrying coolers that looked heavy (we assumed with fish, not beer) and lots carrying nothing. That’s the way I fish, a cooler of beer and no fish. We didn’t try to fish here, going to wait until we get to Kenai or Soldotna and get a guide. This didn’t look like anyplace for a couple of rookies. Overcast and rainy again today. Saw a Bald Eagle in the top of a dead tree in our campground but too far away for a good picture.

June 23, Wasilla to Cooper Landing---146 miles

Made our way into Anchorage looking for more Moose. The City of Anchorage has over 1000 Moose living within the city limits. No sitings. Found a Medical Clinic so Sandi could get her eyes looked at. They have been hurting her and watering a lot so thought we better get them checked. Apparently she has an infection so the Dr. prescribed an eye drop and 2 different nose sprays. Figure that one out. Went to the large Farmers Market in downtown Anchorage. Not much produce yet but lots of vendors selling neat crafty stuff; carved deer and moose antlers, fur hats, photos, burl bowls, etc. Alaskans made almost all of it. Gives them something to do in the winter according to one vendor. We ate a reindeer brat for lunch. It was very good. Drove south out of Anchorage down the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm. Once again the scenery was beautiful and once again it was overcast and rainy. It was still a beautiful drive but no good photo opps! We pulled into a campground right beside the Kenai River in Cooper Landing. The water in the river is a vivid turquoise color because of the ultra-fine glacial silt. The Russian River and the Kenai River join here and it is a Mecca for fishing-persons looking for Salmon and Rainbow Trout. Our neighbor and his buddy caught 42 Trout today. He was still wound up like a $3 wristwatch when he got back to the park. Went to Gwin’s Lodge for dinner and ate fresh King Salmon. It was awesome. Gwin’s Lodge is an original roadhouse that was restored in 2005 and is celebrating its 55th season. The place was packed so we shared a table and conversation with a couple from New Hampshire. They are only here for a week so just hitting the high spots of the Kenai Peninsula. Too bad for them but they’ll be back.

June 22, Denali National Park to Wasilla---239 miles

Good news and bad news today. The bad news is that lightning started a fire near Trappers Creek (about 100 miles south of us) last night about 9:00 p.m. This morning when we got up the smoke was so thick it looked like a fog had set in and the air smelled like a smoldering campfire. The good news is that we had exchanged our original bus ride tickets for Thursday from Friday (today) so we lucked out again. More bad news however, because of the smoke we could only see a few hundred yards down the road so seeing Mt. McKinley was out of the question. We had such a good day yesterday however that we are OK with it. Heard tonight that several thousand acres had burned and was still out of control. The Denali N. P. has a dog sled team and provides free tours of the kennels with a presentation by a ranger. They still use dog sleds to patrol the original 2 million acres of the Park (the park now is 6 million acres). When it came time for the dogs to perform they just went wild barking and jumping. They were so excited to get hooked up to the sled and run it was amazing. The ranger said she didn’t have to look at her watch; the dogs would let her know when it’s time for their run. They hooked them to a sled and they were off like a shot. They are really fast so you better hang on tight. Dog sledding looks like great fun and would be a blast to do until you remember that it could be 40 below zero or more when you do it. That would sort of take the fun out of it. Headed on south from the Park and drove into Talkeetna, which is a tourist town with a neat name and surly clerks. It’s another very small town, actually most towns in Alaska are, and the tourists were thick as flies. We couldn’t get out of town fast enough. Drove on to Wasilla to see the Iditarod race headquarters. Watched a very interesting movie about what goes on behind the scenes of an Iditarod race and settled in their parking lot for the night.

June 21, The longest day of the year. Denali National Park

Got up at 5:45 this morning to get ready for the tour and get to the Wilderness Center to catch the bus. Eleven hour trip with no food or water so we had to fix lunch and drinks to go. The ride on the school bus was better than I thought, for the first 6 hours. Hardly even thought about it the scenery was so beautiful. But, rather, I mean Butt, it turned out to be a long day, actually the longest day of the year. We really had a great time though. The roads are gravel one-lane roads built on the side of the mountain (not all are that way) and when we met another bus one of the drivers had to pull over to let the other by. We were very lucky to see all the wildlife we did. We saw 11 bears all together, first a Mamma bear and 2 1-year old cubs that were romping and playing with each other. They kept getting closer and closer to the bus and ended up only about 50 – 100 feet from us. I started taking pictures when they were quite a ways away and as they got closer I took more, then they got closer so I took more, then closer, etc. you get the “picture” don’t you? Anyway, I have lots of pictures of bears. Digital cameras are great aren’t they? I took over 70 pictures on this trip but pared it down to 20 keepers. We later saw another mamma bear with 2 very small cubs that were still nursing, still later another mother bear with 2 cubs and then 2 more. Also saw about 40 Dall sheep at various times but that’s a guess as we weren’t allowed to “count sheep” on the trip. Saw several caribou and some grouse and Sandi wants me to mention her rabbits. I don’t understand it, she shoots them at home with the .410 shotgun but here she thinks they’re cute. The big disappointment was that we did not get to see Mt. McKinley very well. We saw it early in the morning from a long distance but when we got to Wonder Lake it was covered in clouds. Maybe tomorrow at Talkeetna.

June 20, Fairbanks to Denali National Park—132 miles

Had breakfast at the Cookie Jar in Fairbanks, filled up with fuel (got 10 cents a gallon discount at Safeway so only paid $2.759. Isn’t it hell when you think $2.759 is a bargain) filled with water and hit the road. Before we left town I had to use the fire extinguisher to put out an engine fire on the pick-up truck that belongs to the man that sold Sandi the smoked salmon. Now we think we know how he smoked it. Drove through Nenana on the way to Denali, population 549. This town is so small their Art Center is a painted turtle. Today Nenana is the hub for the tug boat/barge shipping industry that traverses the rivers of the Interior, providing goods to numerous villages. But Nenana is perhaps best known for the Nenana Ice Classic, an annual event that awards cash prizes to the lucky winners who guess the exact minute of the ice breakup on the Tanana River. The contest has been a spring highlight throughout the state since 1917. The Ice Classic starts the end of February with the Tripod Raising Festival and culminates at breakup time in late April or May. When the surging ice on the Tanana River dislodges the tripod, a line attached to the tripod trips a clock located in a tower atop the Ice Classic office, thus recording the official breakup time. Last year the winners received over $303,000. If you want to enter next year just let me know. We got to Denali about 3:00 and found a place to park the motor home; took the Jeep and headed for the Park. Got to see the Visitor’s Center and a little of the Park before it closed but not much. We are scheduled for an 11 hour tour of the park tomorrow, starting at 7:15, on a school bus. Personal autos aren’t allowed in the park so the only way to see it is to pretend we’re back in school. Not looking forward to a whole day on a school bus but there are several stops where we get out of the bus. They have tours of varying lengths, 6 hour, 8 hour, 11 hour and 12 hour. We are doing the 11 hour tour to Wonder Lake. I think I said Watson Lake in an earlier post but that was the town with the signpost forest. This tour is to Wonder Lake. Hope to see Mt. McKinley and lots of wildlife.