Life on the Kenai Peninsula

After 6 weeks in our new home I realized that I have not blogged, although I have posted lots of photos on Facebook. I will try to recap our adventures here in one of the most beautiful places I have been. The photos don’t always do it justice. Alaska is the one place I always recommend you visit to see it for yourself.

Our RV site next to the bunkhouse

We got set up in our RV site in Lowell Point State Recreation Area on May 17 after attending a meeting of all the Kenai state park volunteers on May 16. We are about 2 hours from the rest of the volunteer sites as they are all on or near the west side of the Kenai Peninsula and we are on the east side. We had not heard from our ranger after multiple phone calls but we were assured by the other rangers that he was around and we should just move into our site. We had scouted it out already so hauled our home out a 2 mile rutted dirt road with a solid rock wall on one side and a drop off to Resurrection Bay on the other. It was considered a 2 lane road but due to rock slides there were several places that 2 RVs could not have passed each other. It was very tricky backing the 5th wheel into the site with an S curve but Rollie did it after 3 tries. We realized we would not be making trips in and out with the RV. The hookups were primitive and a little difficult but we were lucky to have them as we had learned that some volunteers had none.

Latrines and parking for the trailhead to Caines Head State Park

With our general instructions from the volunteer meeting we started cleaning the latrines, stocking them with toilet paper, picking up trash and checking cars in the 2 lots to see that they had paid their $5 day-use fee. If not we placed a payment envelope on their windshield. The second day we met Andy, the Park Specialist, who was remodeling the bunkhouse and helping the ranger (who we still had not met) with large projects. He was very helpful, gave us some of his canned smoked salmon from last year, told us where to find things in town and generally made us feel welcome. We met Ranger Jack, our boss, 5 days later. He apologized, asked us if we needed anything and was on his way in 5 minutes. We have seen him twice since then.

Trail down to the beach

We are situated on a hill in a temperate rain forest which is very much like the terrain in Ketchikan; big old-growth spruce trees, lots of ferns and moss. I was excited to see salmonberry bushes blooming in open areas and later learned there are blueberries too. I am picking both now. There is a trail down to the lower parking area, the second set of latrines and the beach. There is also a road. We have access to the trail crew bunkhouse next to us which was empty until last week, and contains a washer and dryer, full kitchen and bathroom. 

New tree growing around an old stump

We also have a park truck but share it with the trail crew (3 young men who appear not to be very happy to be working this job). The woods is dense so we are sheltered from wind but not much light gets in except when the sun is directly overhead.

Very old stump covered in moss

It stays cool here in the woods but we have a fire ring and wood outside and heat inside. No TV, which is a problem for Rollie. He is a little bored. There is a nice variety of radio stations so I am happy. We do have ATT service so we have wifi with our hotspot.

Salmonberry bush in bloom

I had 2 weeks in Seward before I started work in Soldotna, 2 hours away. I got a nice furnished apartment and a rental car (a red Prius just like I used to have!) with my 3 month assignment at Central Peninsula Hospital. I negotiated four 10-hour shifts with 3 consecutive days off so I can travel to Seward for 3 days each week. I have finished my training and am working the evening shift with a great bunch of people. My first day they asked me to stay permanently! I will certainly stay through September when they are going live with a new hospital-wide computer system (Epic). We are thinking we will stay through the winter and most likely next summer so are looking for winter housing. The average low winter temperatures are a little higher than MN but too cold to live in the RV.

We have been asked to move to a busier park on the west side of the peninsula, Crooked Creek State Recreation Area near Kasilof. They have no park volunteer and the salmon are starting to run, meaning lots of folks coming to fish. Seward does not have a salmon river. The Resurrection River flows directly from Exit Glacier into Resurrection Bay with no lake for the baby salmon to mature. The big Seward Fourth of July celebration and Marathon Mountain Race are coming up so we will stay based in Lowell Point until the middle of July. Rollie will be coming over to “my side” of the peninsula on Thursdays to work at Crooked Creek. As my contract is up 8/20 I can renegotiate to extend it at least a month, give up the apartment, take the housing allowance and live with Rollie and the dogs full-time again. I will have a 20 minute drive to work through an area with a lot of moose so will have to be very careful late at night. As I discovered after my first late shift, moose do not show up in the semi-dark! I didn’t see the 2 standing on the shoulder until I was right next to them!

Speaking of dark, I took a couple photos to show what night in Alaska looks like. Rollie said he was up at 3 am one night and it was dark. Most of the night the sun is down below the horizon but it is not completely dark; shades of twilight.

11 pm June 20, my back yard in Soldotna

2 am June 26, leaving work in Soldotna

I really love Seward: the mountains, Resurrection Bay, sea otters, harbor seals, bald eagles. It is a beautiful setting with lots of wildlife. Rollie saw a black bear near our RV site, headed away from him. We have a bear bell on Mia’s leash and a little air horn because noise is a deterrent that works at a distance. Some folks carry bear spray but bears have to get close to use it. We are lucky to have a beach to watch for sea life and watch the tides, which are around 9 feet. The beach goes from about 6 feet wide at high tide to about 40 feet wide at low tide. Unfortunately there are not a lot of shells or other beach treasures, unless kelp is in that category. There are not many moose here but Moose Pass is about 30 miles up the highway so there must be some around. Our temperatures range from lows around 45 to highs around 65. We love it!

Our fire ring outside the RV

Bald eagle

Moose near Soldotna

Tern Lake between Seward and Soldotna

On Seward Highway north of Seward

Seward Small Boat Harbor

Sea Otter

Moose near Moose Pass

Blueberries

Salmonberries

Trip to Alaska 2016

Another One off the Bucket List!

We had a great time visiting with my siblings, our kids and grandkids in Indiana. A good time was had by all even though the weather was cool and rainy. Some were in the RV campground, some were in cabins, some were in a motel and some were at home but we all ate together.



Monday 5/2 we headed to MN to see Rollie's sisters and take the dogs to our hometown vet for their health certificates. Interesting that Canada only requires proof of current rabies vaccination but AK requires a health certificate stating that all immunizations are up-to-date and the animals are healthy, within 30 days of entering the state.







Tuesday we made it to Wall, SD, even though there were strong headwinds that really cut the gas mileage. Had breakfast at Wall Drug on Wednesday morning before hitting the road, just for fun. They still have free water and 10 cent coffee!




Arrived in Sheridan, WY, and found the KOA RV Park where we met our fellow traveler, Bob. He has made the trip several times and prefers not to travel alone. We have not done this trip before so it was nice to have company. We met online at RVillage.com which I describe as FaceBook for RVers. Saw pronghorn antelope and our first peek at the Rockies.

We all wanted to see Glacier National Park so traveled to Shelby, MT, near the Canadian border and an hour east of Glacier, for 2 nights. The next day we went to Glacier and although the road was not open all the way through the park, it was worth the visit.

The next morning we crossed into Canada without incident and found a really nice RV park in Cochrane, AB. just west of Calgary. it was right on the Bow River (thus it's name of Bow Riverside RV Campground) and there was a dog park and hiking trails all along the river bank. Rollie and I also discovered the community center next door included 3 sheets of ice where we learned the game of Ringette. But the best was that this location was about an hour from Banff National Park and Lake Louise which we visited the next day. There was still some ice on Lake Louise but it was a beautiful blue, and quite the tourist destination. On the way we saw 3 elk, clouds, rain, a little snow and beautiful mountain scenery.

Mother's Day at Lake Louise

Next stop was a little RV park outside Valleyview, AB, after a long day on the road and then off again in the morning. We crossed into British Columbia and stopped in Dawson Creek for pictures of the beginning of the Alaska Highway (formerly the AlCan). So far the highway had been like any state highway in the US. We started climbing and seeing mountains again in the distance.

Stopped that night in Fort Nelson, BC, at a fun little park with a bar/restaurant on site so we ate out for only the second time since entering Canada. Most days we packed our lunch in the morning and ate on the road, then I usually cooked supper. There was a burning ban for all of western Canada so campfires were not allowed. We did cross a small area that had burned a few days earlier and we could smell the smoke. We were not near the big fire that ravaged Fort McMurray.

We saw signs warning us of wildlife on the highway but did not see many animals. We saw 2 foxes, 3 black bears, 1 brown bear (grizzly), 1 moose in the distance, stone sheep (similar to bighorn sheep), elk, caribou and bison. There were also "wild" horses in one area and we saw a small herd. I was disappointed we didn't see more moose and that I didn't get more pictures but...

We did see Lake Muncho the next day which was even more beautiful blue than Lake Louise and smooth as glass. We were climbing into the mountains but the roads were good and the going was not difficult.

On to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, that day where we visited the famous Signpost Forest which is part of the history of the Alaska Highway. It was started by a homesick GI working on the highway in 1942 and he put up a sign pointing toward his hometown with the mileage and others followed suit. It has snowballed to over 100,000 signs and license plates from around the world.

The road and weather continued to be good and we were ahead of schedule. We decided to spend 2 nights in Whitehorse, the next stop, and take a daytrip to Skagway, AK. That meant going from YT through a bit of BC into the US to get to Skagway which was the reverse order the gold crazed folks traveled in the Klondike Goldrush of 1896. Skagway was where they disembarked from ships to climb up over this pass to get to the Yukon River and the goldfields.

Skagway was not open for business yet because the cruise ships have not yet arrived. We understood this very well from living in Ketchikan. We did find a restaurant open and had a nice lunch before driving back through the mountains to our RV park near Whitehorse.

The next day we had by far the worse road conditions. From Whitehorse we passed through Haines Junction then through a stretch of lakes mountains and gravel highway. Construction had begun but the very dry conditions made it very dusty and the road had many washboard patches. There were beautiful lakes and we made frequent stops but we were determined to get to the AK border. We did, after all, have about 18 hours of light. There weren't any towns in this section and this was the only time we came close to running out of gas. There was a "station" made of two shipping containers and self-service gas and diesel pumps just in time for us to fill up the last time in Canada. Crossed the border with no problem then discovered that RV parks were not open yet in AK. We had no problem all across Canada! Spring had come early but AK was not ready for travelers yet. We drove much farther than we had planned to find a place with electric hookup. It was in the parking lot of a small motel/restaurant in Glenallen, AK.

But that meant it was an easy drive to our final destination in Seward, AK, after stopping for gas and groceries in Anchorage where we had been told everything would be cheaper. We arrived Saturday early afternoon and parked at the city operated RV park right on Resurrection Bay as we had not heard back from the park ranger who would show us where our RV hookups were. But it is a beautiful place to spend a few days and explore our summer home!

 

For more photos, go to https://goo.gl/photos/tDPmMA3KNahiKMhB6

Pictures from East Coast Trip

Finally got the photos organized and captions on them:

https://picasaweb.google.com/117452363263691970425/TripToTheEastCoastFall2015?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOunsqKb-fG4-QE&feat=directlink

Now I need to work on the last trip to the West Coast!

Mary

East Coast Trip 2015, Part 2: ME to FL

It was a little difficult to leave the coast of Maine. We were enjoying the scenery and cool weather. Besides, the trees were not in full color yet! But we had more places to visit and people to see. We had decided long ago that we wanted to revisit Lancaster County where we had lived for 5 months in 2007-2008. So we headed south down I-95, except when trying to avoid the cities, which we learned is nearly impossible.

But there were some picturesque coastal towns along the way.

I surprised myself by being able to navigate the city of Lancaster after all those years. This is Soldiers and Sailors Monument (1874) in Penn Square, downtown Lancaster.







Lancaster Central Market was started on this location in 1730. It's like a farmers market three days per week all year. You can find just about anything here.

And then there is the Bird in Hand Farmers Market with mostly Amish produce, meats, flowers and handcrafts.

And north of Lancaster in the little town or Lititz, where I worked, is our favorite chocolate manufacturer, Wilbur. Their products are more like European chocolates than good ole American Hersheys. We had to buy some Wilbur Buds (the size of Hershey Kisses but different shape).

After leaving Lancaster we skirted Baltimore and DC to continue south. It was a long day but we made it to southern NC.

One of the highlights of the whole trip was visiting My uncle Lyman who is 98 and going strong. He lives in a senior apartment in Hilton Head, SC, and my cousin, Nona, works at the same complex.

After lunch with Uncle Lyman we saw our only "wild" alligator sunning next to a pond in the senior complex.

Our RV park/marina in Hilton Head was very luxurious and right on the water. Our site was next to one of the 2 pools and we took advantage of it!

Next stop was Savannah. We took a trolley tour and saw many beautiful houses and historical sites. I enjoyed how the old part of the city was laid out to create neighborhoods. And I had read "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" which was mentioned frequently by the tour guide. Also saw the bench where Forrest Gump talked about life and chocolates.

 


Halfway down the Atlantic coast of Florida we found a nice park with beautiful sunrises.











We visited several beaches from Cocoa Beach to North Beach.

We crossed to the gulf side to attend Living the RV Dream Rally south of Tampa. We learned a lot from more experienced RVers and saw some new electronics to make our lives easier.

Visited Siesta Beach which was voted the #1 beach in the US. It certainly was wide with very fine white sand.

To be continued...