Guess who came to lunch?

The Kaczmars were in town this afternoon. Had a wonderful lunch at the Brewhouse. They are on their way to Cooper Landing and then on to the Princess cruise. They say they had a blast in Fairbanks and Denali. The picture was taken at Elderberry Park in the Bootleggers Cove area of downtown.

Update on Ian, John & the 7 Summits Challenge:
26th June 9:00am
The waiting game continues.... Dave, Ian & John are all established at the 14,000ft camp waiting for a break in the weather. The forecast is predicting high pressure but the critical factor is the wind speed. They were hoping to move up to the high camp at 17,000ft last night and, all being well, to make their summit attempt tonight (Day 152)

The have until July 10 to break the record.

Up on the housetop, click, click, click,,,,,

Hello all! Tuesday Walter and I decided to venture up into the "valley." The Mat-Su valley that is. We drove up to Palmer to the musk ox farm. Musk ox became extinct in Alaska in the 1860s. They are big animals with horns that grow towards the ground. They can be easily killed because when attacked, the males form a circle around the females and little oxen. Whole herds can be wiped out quickly. In the early 1920s, there was a push to bring them back to Alaska. 40 or so Greenland musk ox were brought to Alaska. They were taken to an island in the Bering Sea and grew to a herd of over 500. 34 of these ox were brought to the musk ox farm in Palmer. The ox have two layers of hair. The inner layer protects the oxen from temperatures down to 100 below zero. The inner layer is called quvioit (sp). The hair can be brushed out or it simply falls to the ground. The hair is taken and made into thread. The thread is then sent to "The Bush" where the Native women make blankets, scarves, hats, etc with it. These items are then sent to coop stores in the state. The items are very warm and soft. I was disappointed because I was not allowed to pet the musk ox. Something about how they are not domesticated yet. One did get close to Walter and made a growling noise- almost like a lion. One the way to the farm, we saw signs for a reindeer farm. We decided to leave and head to the reindeer farm in hopes that I could touch some animals. We were in luck! The reindeer farm in Butte, AK was the best!!!! There were two pens of reindeer- tame and wild. We were allowed to go into the tame pen and feed the reindeer. They were very pushy! We learned that that reindeer antlers are very sensitive. Messing with an antler would be like if we slammed our fingers in a door. Reindeer can actually die if they cut their antlers while they are still growing. We saw all sorts of reindeer- including babies! After we tried to pet the babies and feed their mothers, the other reindeer wouldn't eat from our hand! And, the reindeer make clicking noises when they walk. The noise comes from their hind legs. There is cartilage like material in their legs to help them run faster when attacked. When they walk it sounds like their bones are cracking. That is why in the Christmas carol it says, "up on the house top, click, click, click..." It is the reindeer walking around on the top of the house. We then wondered over and met Eddie. Eddie is an elk with REALLY big antlers. Eddie likes to eat grass and be pet on his nose. He is very friendly towards humans, but not his fellow elk. He bosses them around and doesn't let the other elk eat grass. I tried to walk over to the other elk and feed them grass, Eddie ran around to where I was and wouldn't let them have any. What a bully! Also at the farm were horses, buffalo, moose, deer, and cats. We could pet all of them except for the moose and buffalo. I was happy! We then went on to eat at the fancy Mexican-Italian restaurant and then on to play shuffleboard. Walter and I are tied at one win a piece. Tonight we are heading north and praying it is nice tomorrow. We are going to try and actually see Mt. McKinley! If it is nice we are going to rent and plane and fly around it. Hopefully we will land on a glacier and drop off hikers!

For mom

Mom wanted to see some bald eagles. This picture was taken at Deep Creek on the Kenai Peninsula. This is where the big forest fire started by the man and his ax. I have been busy going to the botanical gardens, the mall, and gay pride festivals. I guess I don't have it anymore because no one hit on me. I actually ended up at the gay pride festival thinking it was the summer solstice festival Walter told me was going on. I hung out for awhile, but then the parade started and it was evident that I wasn't being eccentric enough. Walter is off for the next couple of days. We aren't planning on doing anything major except maybe visit the musk ox farm in Palmer. Walter has already said I can't have one. Heather called the other night. It was great to hear her voice! Don't forget- we are 4 hours behind. So when it is midnight there, it is only 8PM here. Perfect time to call! 907-278-1976. (Hint, hint mom) If you call and there is a busy signal, I am online- but that is usually only in the morning.

Long Day!

I forgot to add Happy Summer Solstice! Today is the longest day of the year- sunrise at 4:20AM and sets at 11:42PM. Also, sad news. Bob Evans died. You know, the man who started the restaurants. He was 89.

Kenai Peninsula- Near Death but Love It!

(FYI... to enlarge the pictures, double click on the pictures. The ones with the animals in it, you might have to enlarge to see the animals.)

We just got back from our trip to the Kenai Peninsula. It is absolutely beautiful there! The road there is a two lane highway around Turnagain Arm. The drive alone was worth the trip. Walter's parents were here and we drove them half way down the Arm to Girdwood and Alyeska. There is a beautiful resort at Alyeska. Walter's parents were suppose to stay there, but they got bumped because of an overbooked tour group. There is a tram up the mountain at the resort. We didn't go up. We are planning to do a day trip- Walter wants to paraglide (?) off the mountain. We stopped at Beluga Point. Didn't see any Beluga Whales. We did see Dall Sheep. They were so cute! We dropped the Alexanders off at the airport and headed south to the peninsula. The road, as I said, winds around Turnagain Arm. The Arm has glacier streams that flow into it. Because of that there is a great deal of silt and mud in the water. When the tide goes out (yes, there are tides) the mud flats become exposed and fish get caught in the shallow waters. Guess who sits there and waits for that to happen? That's right- the Bald Eagle. We saw so many baldys sitting there waiting in the mud for the fish. It was great! On we went.....

We had reservations in Soldotna. The road to Soldotna is only two lanes most of the time, so you can imagine how traffic can back up really easily. We took a right north of Moose Pass and headed to Soldotna. When you first come on to the peninsula, you are driving in mountains. The road winds along the Russian and Kenai Rivers. These rivers are known for their salmon fishing. The locals call it "combat fishing." When you get up to a pull off, there are cars everywhere and you look into the water and there are fly fishermen standing almost shoulder to shoulder fishing in the river. All the talk was that on Monday (last Monday) the "reds" would be released along the Russian River. The road winded down out of the mountains and we drove along the flat lands the rivers had created. We passed many signs that warned of high animal crossings. There was even a radio station devoted to letting people know where the animals were crossing at! Of course we saw none. We got to the Soldotna Inn and went for dinner. Most of this area was settled during the gold rushes. Before that the Russians settled the coast line and there were some natives, but not very many. Soldotna is the largest city on the peninsula. It is 140 miles from Anchorage. The people of Anchorage call the town "Slow- dotna." It is the Nahunta of Alaska!!! But, it had the only Dairy Queen in the state- so we were happy. (Turns out a Dairy Queen opened up in Anchorage while we were gone- so now the state has 2!) The hotel was nice except there was no air conditioning. No place has AC. While it isn't too hot, if your room is facing the west, you get sunlight shining in your room until well after 11:00PM.

We got up the next day and headed out to Homer. Walter and I realize that we need to get earlier starts to the day. We left by noon! We are rapidly realizing how fat and lazy we really are! The drive to Homer takes you along on a road along the water. Off in the distance you can see three active volcanoes. If I remember correctly, two are non explosive and one is explosive. To the left of the road is grasslands with some trees and to the right are cliffs that drop into the ocean. We passed Clam Gulch and Ninilchik. We came up a hill and right in the middle of the road was a female moose and her 2 babies. I froze and didn't get a pictures. They were so cute! We got to Homer. Homer is a town on the southwestern tip of the peninsula. Part of the town is on what they call "The Spit." It is a pile of narrow sand that sticks into the Kachemak Bay. The spit is where the glacier stopped and silt built up. Homer is the halibut capital of the world. Lots of fishing boats! Very windy on the spit. Walter wanted to go on a plane ride- so we did. We got a 2:00PM flight on Smokey Bear Air. This airline offers site seeing tours, but also is a taxi to towns located across the bay that have no roads going into them. These towns are Seldovia, Port Graham, Halibut Cove. Our pilot's name was Tina. She seemed a little young to know how to fly a plane. We walked out to the plane and the first thought was that we weren't going to fit in the plane. There was Walter and me, another tourist, and Bill. Bill was headed to Seldovia. The plane ride was great. We flew for about an hour. We took Bill across the bay. Seldovia is a small fishing town. We went back up and flew over the Harding Icefield. Glaciers everywhere! We got to see how a glacier forms. The whole bay area was covered by a glacier during the Ice Age. The mountains that the glaciers are in were covered by a glacier. That is why the mountains have rounded tops. We saw some mountain goats on the side of the mountain. The plane ride was great!!! Two days later the flight to Seldovia crashed and four people are in critical condition. The plane crashed on the beach of an island in the bay. Luckily there was a kayak tour near by. They were the first there until the water taxi from Homer showed up. See, I knew the plane couldn't handle us. After the plane ride, we went to have drinks at the famous Salty Dawg. We searched for Latitude 59 Restaurant. We found it. It looked like it hadn't been open for awhile. We were tired and drove back to Soldotna. We stopped along the way at the Russian Orthodox church in Ninilchik. We stopped by Deep Creek to see the bald eagles looking for their dinner. The next day a forest fire started there by a man sharpening his shovel (no lie! The radio stations are having a field day with that!). The fire has engulfed a couple of houses and no end in site until we get rain. Of course once we got to Soldotna and had dinner- we swung through the DQ. We saw Mark Wilkes there. A buff young man sat down in front of us. His pants were either too low or his shirt didn't hang down far enough. We saw major crackage!!!! I, of course, have no class and started laughing hysterically!! I got Walter laughing too. Mark Jr got up to get his order. Sat back down and there the crack was again. We had to leave before we caused a scene.

The next day we headed to Moose Pass and points southward. This was Monday. We had to drive past the Russian River. (Remember, that is the day people could start fishing for reds) There was a line to get into the public parking area along the road. Hundreds of fishermen in the water right there. Crazy! We got to Moose Pass- our home for the next two nights. Moose Pass is on the east side of the Harding Icefield. It sets in a valley. The town got its name because one time a sled dog team carrying mail was stopped by a moose. The town is very small!!! We checked in and headed to Seward. We had a 3:00PM reservation on the boat. The road winds through a valley. Seward is a cute little town. There is a marine center there. We didn't go, but have heard it is nice. We got on the boat with Kenai Fjiord Tours. We were going on a 6 hour cruise out into Resurrection Bay. The boat was a catamaran, brand new and was great! Walter and I took up six seats so no one would sit beside us. I was ready to see some animals!!!!! I would highly recommend this tour!!! We had a wonderful time. The boat was full, but with the layout we didn't feel crowded. There were windows everywhere so when the captain did slow down you could see what was in the water. You could go outside, but it was windy and cold! The cruise included dinner. Plus, you could buy snacks and drinks. The entire area we traveled (120 miles) was highly fortified during World War II. The captain said that the small islands had bunkers and small forts. We saw a whole bunch of animals! Humpback Whales and their babies (5 at least), puffins (the cutest bird ever! they eat so much that they can't fly out of the water!), stellar sea lions (they were very loud), black bear (only 1, he was very curious about the boat), harbor seals (1 family, dad was asleep and the baby waved at us), sea otters and their babies........I was in heaven! We went right up to a glacier and got to hear it!! The noise is indescribable. It calved several times while we were there. I have a video of it, I will have to figure out how to get it linked. We headed back to Moose Pass for the night.

Today we decided to go whitewater rafting along the SixMile Creek. We got up early and tried to get to the place before 9:00AM. Since Walter and I don't plan ahead, we didn't have reservations. The rafting company was outside of Hope, a little town that sits along Turnagain Arm. We got their at 8:15 and woke the guy up. Turns out he wasn't running a 9:00AM trip! Opps!!!! He said for us to come back for the 2PM trip. We went to explore Hope. That took 5 min. Princess Cruise Lines has yet to settle Hope, so the town is still rustic. (As opposed to tourist rustic) We came across a moose female and her baby. Too cute! We went hiking on a trail known for bear sitings. We signed the trail book and saw that for the last couple of days everyone saw bear. Of course Walter and I didn't have any of our supplies with us. No water, bell, camera, binoculars. We had left them at the hotel because we didn't need any of them for rafting. We decided that we didn't want to be front page news, so we went and got bug spray and water. Off we went. Lots of bear scat (poop). The trail was beautiful. In a forest along the side of a mountain. We went in for about an hour and came back out. Since we couldn't talk (because we were out of breath), Walter got a stick and banged it along the trees to make noise. No bear sightings. By this time it was time for lunch and then the raft trip. When we signed up for the raft trip and signed all of our forms, the lady said something about a swim test. I was like, no problem... I can swim. Been swimming for years. I was talking a big game because I had done whitewater rafting before along the Chattooga. (awesome trip girls!) Walter had never been. I was telling him how to paddle and hold on. We had to wear these suits that looked like wet suit but bigger. On the outside of the suit, we had to wear an old pair of tennis shoes. Still, no problem. I can do this! Our guide, Rob, was all excited because the creek had been running high because of the snow melt. So high that next week they were predicting that they would have to close off the creek. We got to the drop out site. We put the rest of our suit on. I couldn't breath. Then add the helmet and life vest. I could barely walk! I started to get worried about the swim test. At this point, Walter is getting excited. As Rob was telling us what to do in certain events, we see another rafting group completing their test swim. The test swim consisted swimming across Class 1 rapids in full gear and then once you get 10-15 feet from the bank, get in the defensive position and float downriver, then swim into a little calm area to wait for the boat. I started to panic. This isn't a swim test. Its a "lets drown the people before we go." I jumped into the river and instantly I felt that I wouldn't make it. The water was so cold and rushing so fast. I had to swim in a 45 degree angle to get across the creek. I took in water with every breath. I thought, I am going to drown during the test swim. I suck!!!! I felt like the harder I swam, the slower I got. It didn't feel like I was making any progress. when I thought I was 10-15 feet from the river bank, I turned over, put my feet up and floated. I realized quickly that I was farther away from the bank then I needed to be. How can I fail the swim test? when I reached the place to swim to the calm area, I had yet to catch my breath and had difficulty getting into the calm water. I missed the turn off and had to have the rescue craft catch me and row me into the calm water. LOSER!!!!! How can I do whitewater rafting if I can't pass the swim test? I got into the calm water and couldn't feel the ground. I basically clawed my way on shore, having a hard time breathing the whole time! I couldn't stand up. Walter had to boost me up. I just knew that I was going to be told to go home. No one else had to have the rescue craft help! I started crying and was trying to tell Walter that I didn't want to do this. How could I survive falling out of the boat if I failed the swim test? He couldn't see me crying because of my glasses and didn't hear me because I had yet to catch my breath. They still let me in the boat, but I had to sit in the back. The rafting was great- Class 3-4. The water was so high we never ran into any rocks. sitting in the back is awesome! I just had to hold on and watch. Walter did so well on his swim test he sat in the front and paddled. Ladies, this was nothing like the Chattooga!!!! We went through two canyons. We pulled over. We had the option of going on to Class 4-5 rapids or stopping. I stopped, Walter went on. He said it was awesome! After we recovered, we went back to Moose Pass and had dinner/drinks. The hotel we stayed at was on a lake that had float planes. We could sit out on the deck, watching the planes land. Beautiful!

The next day (yesterday) we had to head back to Anchorage. Before we left we hiked up to Exit Glacier. you can hike right up to the glacier. The park office had a black board sign outside. This lists the animal sitings by date. It read "6/20- black bear near restrooms, 6/20 brown bear and cub, black bear half mile up trail." Opportunity to see bears! We started hiking. It has been so sunny that parts of the trail were flooded because of glacier melt. We took the .7 mile hike. There was a 7 mile hike up to the Harding Ice Field. The sign said strenuous hike. We didn't take it because if I failed the swim test, how can i hike 7 miles up hill? The hike to the glacier was awesome! when you get closer to the glacier there are no trees. The ground is a dark grey/black, fine rock. Almost dust like in parts. This is what the glacier has grounded down. Walter thought they call it glacier flour. Walter tried to get close enough to touch the glacier. The ropes stopped him. We had a wonderful drive home.

It has been hot in Anchorage- upper 70s. I am ready for it to cool off. No AC hurts! Bob can hardly stand it! Walter is back at work. I am back to being a dutiful housewife. I am going to try and go for a walk. Maybe see about signing up for swim classes. The only animal I have left to see is a brown bear. Will it happen? Aunt Terry, Uncle STan and Scott pass through next week. Can't wait to see them! Ian and John (the 7 Summits Challengers) are on their way to the top. June 19 they had flown up and made it to Base Camp II. If they summit by the 25th, they break the world record. Congrats to Beverly Brostek. She is the new media specialist at BHS. I am glad she got it because I would have felt bad leaving Dawn! I am also sad because this means an end of a friendship between Beverly and me. Good luck Beverly!!! Way to go! I can now focus on the job I really wanted- Stone's job at JMMS. Later! Young and Restless is on.......

A plea

Bob Barker will be missed! He is truly an icon! But, please, please don't allow Rosie to be put in your place!

We are on the Kenai Peninsula. We went to Homer yesterday and are headed to Cooper Landing, Moose Pass, and Seward today. Will be sure to post pictures later! Saw 14 bald eagles day before yesterday. Wahoo!

Welcome to the world Alaura!

Alaura Lee Hughes was born June 10. She is daughter of Selena and John Hughes and granddaughter of Uncle Ben and Aunt Linda Franklin. AKA The Colorado Franklins, Mannatech Gurus

Congrats Selena! Can't wait to meet you Alaura!

Made it to Saturn

It is another wonderful day in Anchorage. The last several days have been beautiful- sunny skies, highs in the 60s. I figured out where the homeless people sleep at night. A couple of roads over there is a huge homeless shelter. I was driving by there the other morning at 7AM and the homeless people were leaving. I still am in awe at the number of homeless people. I met a neighbor. I went to take the trash out and locked myself out of the apartment. I was thrilled! I had to knock on doors to find someone who was home. I finally went down to the garage and looked to see what cars were there. There were only a couple. I saw that 313 was home. (A sign I am sure!) 313 turned out to be the home of Pam. She had taken the day off from work because she didn't fell well. She was thrilled to be having a guest in her house asking to use her phone. I then felt like a moron because I couldn't figure out how to use her cell phone! I called a locksmith and they were here fast. Yesterday I went for a walk. I pushed myself and made it to Saturn! What a wonderful walk. Saw lots of water fowl. The fighter jets from the Air Force base were flying around over the inlet. It took me a good hour there and an hour back. Felt good. Walter's parents are here. We went to lunch at my new favorite, Snow City Cafe. We then drove around town. We decided to go up to Flat top Mountain. On the way up to the mountain, we saw a bull moose!!! It was right beside the road eating. It could have cared less that there were cars around. The view from the mountain was spectacular. Tomorrow we are driving to Girdwood and Seward. Hello to Kathy A who just returned from Hawaii. Hello to my girls Morgan and Riley Dunn. I miss you two!

Our last couple of days...

So now I will fill you in our last couple of days of the RV trip....
Day 4-
We left Valdez after paying $14.95 per person for a very small breakfast buffet. Food prices are outrageous here! Our waitress worked at the local hospital. Walter talked to her about working as a travel nurse. She said that is all they had at the hospital. So, maybe next summer..... We pulled out with me driving the RV for the first time. We stopped by the grocery store to see the bald eagles. They weren't there. The day was beautiful. Sunny and clear skies. We stopped by the Worthington Glacier. We got out and walked right up to the glacier. Breathtaking! The color of the glacier is actually blue. I tried to walk Bob, but evidently I hadn't tightened the harness enough! He decided to walk up some rocks and pretty much got loose. I was screaming for Walter during all of this. Luckily Walter heard my screams and got Bob in the knick of time. If he had gotten loose he would have been living at the Worthington Glacier until he became dinner for the bald eagle looming in the tree. On we went..... we stopped at the Willow Lake pull off for lunch. Since it was such a clear day, you could see the Wrangell Mountains. One of the mountains is an active volcano. The mountains border the Copper River Valley. This valley in the early 1900s was mined for copper. There are small copper ghost towns closer to the mountains. We sat at the overlook for about an hour enjoying the scenery. We then went on our way looking for the Knifeman turnoff. (There are no "exits" on the highways. Everything is according to mile marker. Walter bought the must have in Alaskan travel- The Milepost.) Knifeman is open 9-9. You travel down this dirt road and you come to Knifeman's house. The store is in his living room. Check out Knifeman's website....www.alaskaknifeman.com. You get a feel to as what it was like! We continued on our way. We stopped in a little town called Copper Center- population 362. Cute, cute, cute! We stopped for espresso at The Fishing Widow. You must go there if you are ever in Copper Center!!! It was full of local artist work. What a great place! It is owned by a girl who was probably 30. She had been living in Orlando, working at a dead end job, hating life when she decided to drop everything and move to Alaska. Can you imagine? After a huge spending spree, we stopped for dinner at Paxson Lake- a suburb of Paxson- population of 37. We had dinner there. This is where the locals were talking about Paris Hilton. This was our last brush with civilization for 24 hours. Our destination was the Denali Highway. The Denali Highway is 134 miles of gravel highway. The road is closed during the winter. If you ever get to drive the Denali Highway, DO IT!!!! Don't be in a hurry! I was concerned getting on to the highway so late at night because of darkness. But stupid me- it doesn't get dark until late. The first thing we saw was (we think) a juvenile caribou. It was so cute! The scenery was unbelievable. It looked like a moon scape. Many plateaus with shrubs. Very few trees. Mountains in every direction. The area was formed by glaciers moving back and forth. We spent the night at a pull off located at the Maclaren Summit. There were several hiking trails. We of course took Bob for a walk. He got to walk on snow for the fist time. We put him back in the RV when we saw two bald eagles flying over head. They flew over the summit and looked like they were either playing or mating. Walter and I continued on our walk. After about 15 minutes out of no where a bald eagle flew past us. The eagle was so close that we could see that it had its mouth open and could hear its wings flapping up and down. Its mate was right behind it. After that I was on the lookout for other animals. We saw none. We went to sleep overlooking the beautiful Alaska Mountain Range. Oh, the mountains were on average of 12,000 ft. in elevation.

Day 5-
We woke to a sounds of knocking. It sounded like someone was knocking on our RV- first at the front of the RV and then on the side. I thought someone had pulled up and the kids were messing around. After getting up, we saw that there was no one around. Walter later found a big ass hoof print beside our RV. If only I had gotten up sooner! There were small animals playing in the brush. We think they were ground squirrels. Very cute! They looked and acted like meerkats. We got up to walk around and we heard this noise coming from under the RV. One of the ground squirrels had gotten up under the RV. It was so funny! We spent probably 30 min trying to get the squirrel out! On we went. We topped out at speeds of 30 mph for brief moments. We made it to the Gracious House. Again, a restaurant/bar/cabin/post office. Cute place that stays in business because of the Princess Cruise Line bus that comes through several times a week. (Turns out Princess Cruise Line just about controls the whole Denali area) The landscape started to to change. More trees. Taller shrubs. We were on the lookout to see Mt. McKinley (Denali) You would think the you could see the tallest point in North America pretty clearly. WRONG! We saw a female moose and her baby. We saw another female moose who spit at us. We saw what looked like quail, but they are actually the state bird- ptarmigan. Again, no Denali! The gravel road started getting to us. We were starting to loose weight because of the jiggling of the road. And then there it was......pavement! Wahoo! The mountains here didn't seem very tall compared to what we saw earlier. We decided to take a right at Cantwell and head to Denali. We must see the mountain! We went all the way to a town called Healy. We passed many a valley and gulch. The Nenana River cuts through the rock- almost like the Grand Canyon. Beautiful colors in the rock. We made a U turn in Healy went back to the Sugerloaf Mountain area. This area seems like it was created by the Princess Cruise Lines. Lots of little shops- very touristy. We stayed at an RV park and went to dinner at what seemed the only place called the Salmon Bake. This place was created to look old. We went to the bar and talked with the bartender. The places around there are only open during the summer. All of the workers are from different places and there are cabins provided for the area help. We went downstairs for one of the least favorite dinners. I ordered a cheeseburger (imagine that!) and Walter ordered a buffalo burger. The waiter got the orders crossed and Walter had already loaded his plate before we realized the mistake. Buffalo burger not good! We went back to the RV to sleep and pray to see the mountain the next day. Bob had some issues and decided to cry all night. He got drugged.

Day 6
We walked around the little tourist area. People everywhere! Tour bus after tour bus! We drove as far as we could into the park area. Still no mountain siting! It was cloudy. We could only get 15 miles into the park. After that you have to get on a bus. We decided that we would come back in a few weeks to do the whole park thing. We headed south to Talkeetna. The scenery was not as grand. Taller trees and less hills. We saw several Denali viewing areas, but again the weather was not good. We made it to Talkeenta and the first thing we noticed that there was money in the town. The road was the best road we had driving on so far. (Again, highway in Alaska is not the same as a highway in Georgia) There was a paved bike path and new street signs. As posted earlier, this area is where all of the Denali airplane tours take off from. Downtown was very rustic. Again, how can these business stay open with a population of 800? What is that I hear- the rumbling of a Princess Cruise Line tour bus. Ahh....makes sense. We got there after the tours had left for the day. The town was cute, but touristy. I would recommend everyone to visit. We went to a local bar- West Rib. Very small, rustic. This is where the hikers hang out. There was a wall that people signed. You could only sign it if you had made the climb. This is where we met up with Ian and John. After a few drinks we decided to go eat. We walked back to the restaurant closest to the RV- Latitude 62. This is where the locals hang out. Again, the young people who were working only come in for the summer. We had one of our best dinners yet!!!!

Day 7
We awoke to sadness because our trip was about to be over. We had a tough time sleeping because Bob was protecting us all night from the outside world. I did drug him but the Benydrill wore off in the middle of the night. We went to Latitude 62 for lunch. Great again! The place has pictures of other latitude restaurants. We promised we would send one of our own Latitude 31 on Jekyll. We drove into downtown and what a difference we saw. The tour buses were in! People everywhere!!! I recommend visiting Talkeetna at night! We began our journey back to Anchorage trying to remember every detail of our trip.

We are back home now. Walter's parents will be here Thursday. Bob is grateful that he is out of the RV. We are already planning our next trip- to the Kenai Peninsula next week. Do we RV it again or do hotels? Christina and Brian will be here the end of July! Yea!!! On a personal note, keep Nell McCullers in your prayers. She is a teacher that I work with. Her son, John, is friends with the Payne boys. Her other son, Ben, has been missing since June 2nd. For more info, visit http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/georgia/news-article.aspx?storyid=83739

Mountain Climbers

Ladies, if you want to pick up a man, come to Talkeetna! This town is the base town for everyone climbing Denali. They come here and then sit and wait for a clear day. Single men everywhere! I couldn't wait to meet mountain climbers. We bellied up to a bar and started talking to these two guys, Ian and John. Ian was Irish and John was British. They are trying to set a world record- climbing the tallest mountains on each continent, back to back, in under 100 (Or about that) days. Denali is the last one. Can you imagine? Check out their web site- www.takemehigher.ie They have done 6 summits so far since Jan. I can't climb a small hill 6 times, let alone the world's tallest mountains! Good luck Ian and John!

Is Paris ok?

We are still alive. We made it through the Denali Highway. Top speed for a VERY short time was 30 mph. We are now in Talkeetna. This town supposedly is the basis for the TV show Northern Exposure. We are off to eat at Latitude 62 Restaurant and Bar. (No joke!) Our last brush with the outside world before the Denali Highway was a very small bar/restaurant/store/post office at Paxton Lake. No town within 100 miles, at least. The conversation at the bar between several very burly men was what had happened to Paris Hilton that day, if she was ok after her breakdown, and if her punishment was fair. We just sat and listened. More to come later. And Mom, the poop in the picture is bear poop. Moose poop is like deer poop (pellets), just bigger. Once you are in Alaska you learn that very quick because the moose poop is everywhere.

Bald Eagles at the store

So Walter and I were walking to the store yesterday. We saw a "baldy" in the tree behind the store. We walked over to it. It was hanging out behind the store near the dumpsters. We walked right up to it. Then an employee of the store came out with some trash. He asked, "How close do you want him to get?" We didn't know what to say. Then some chicken accidentally didn't make it into the dumpster. The seagulls got all excited. Baldy then started swooping. It was amazing. I kept pushing Walter back because it looked like the eagle was going to get us. We remarked that the seagulls were going to get the chicken first. The guy said no, that the eagle will get it. He was right. All of a sudden, the eagle swooped down and picked up the chicken. Stupid Walter and me. We thought the eagles would land and start pecking at the chicken. We were in 10 feet of the swoop. We could hear his talons scrapping the ground. Then another baldy showed up and started swooping, but there was no more chicken. Talk about awesome! The guy said that in the winter after the fish are "gone," he will have 7-8 eagles out there everyday waiting for things to not make it to the trash can. We have to go back to the store today. Maybe we will see this again!

2 caribou, 2 otters, several bald eagles, and 2 piles of bear poop

We have begun our great RV adventure!!! I am sitting here in wonderful Valdez, Alaska for our second night. All I can say is "Wow!" We left a day early- Wed. Walter's gout was acting up. As some of you know, the medicine he takes says to take until "severe diarrhea." That started Tuesday night so he had to call into work Wed. We decided that we should just go ahead and go. And so we were off!!! Let me say that every person should take this trip at least once in their life!! I will try not to get into too many details. But you know how I am..... I am adding some pictures. Sorry to some of you who will have to sit through looking through all of the pictures later on! Have started to get use to the daylight. Bob is having some issues with the time change, daylight, and walking on a leash . Nothing Benadryill wont cure.

Day 1-
We left Anchorage pretty late- 5ish. But hey- it doesn't matter because it is daylight for a long time! We drove into the Mat-Su Valley. It is a very lush valley that is between two mountain ranges. Lots of veggies are grown here. We began our approach into into the Matanuska River valley. The valley has mountains on each side and different rivers draining into the Mat River. Breathtaking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Came across my first glacier ever! Matanuska Glacier. Get this- there is a school on the edge of the glacier!!!!!! It is called Glacier View School. Can you imagine? We have learned that there is trailer trash in Alaska. There is also a Glacierview Bible Church. (for some reason I thought of you Dawn! Can you imagine having service overlooking the glacier?) We spent the night at Slide Mountain Cabins. Nothing fancy. We pulled in, made dinner, and went to bed. We didn't bring any blankets because it has been so warm in Anchorage. Things are different when you get away from the city. We couldn't figure out how to turn the heater on. We about froze to death. Bob was freaking out, Walter was sick, and I was contemplating my future while I couldn't sleep because of the daylight and coldness. Made for a fun night! But the sun rose from the horizon and a new day began....

Day 2-
We figured out how to turn on the heat. Just adjust the thermostat. Imagine that! Drove to Lake Louise along the Glenn Highway. I have learned that highway in Alaska doesn't mean I95!!! It means that it is a mostly paved road and open during the summer. We drove through an area that the Nelchina Caribou herd hangs out. 40,000 caribou!! I was on the look out! The book we have (The Milepost- a MUST have for this trip) said "watch for caribou" for about 10 miles. I saw nothing. Lake Louise is about 19 miles off of the Glenn Hwy. The recently paved road (thank God!) was an easy ride. We saw our second glacier- Tazlina Glacier. I guess I have seen pictures of glaciers, but nothing compares to the view in person. Awe- inspiring to see this massive piece of ice in between two mountains. It looks almost fake. When you come up to a glacier, there is no mistaking it. You know it is a glacier. It's just there. I know that is corny. But, it is true. We went on to Lake Louise. Guess what we saw..... a juvenile caribou! At first we saw a rabbit on steroids. We got all excited because we thought that would be it for the animals. Then we saw it. I don't know if it was a male or female, but it wasn't an adult. It was curious about us, especially when I was running to pet it. But, Walter stopped me and I just watched it. Then we drove on. Lake Louise is huge. It reminded me almost of the 1000 Islands of New York. (What up New York Franklins!!) There were islands in the middle of the lake the people lived on. Can you imagine in the winter living on the island? Talk about harsh. We then went back to the Glenn Hwy. On our way there was another caribou in the road. It was almost comical! It saw us, we saw it- we shared a moment and then it ran. We had lunch at the Caribou Hotel & Restaurant. It is so strange because when you come up to these towns you expect to see a town. These towns have like less than 1000 people in it. We got to Glennallen and hung a right south to Valdez. I started to become nervous because it was very windy and there is a big pass (Thompson Pass) you have to drive through to get to Valdez. We drove and pulled off here and there to see the mountains off to the left (east). The road followed numerous rivers. The river beds are very wide with a small amount of actual river. There are numerous mud flats along the rivers with lots of dead trees. Looks like the rivers might flood at times. At times we followed the Alaska Oil Pipeline- Trans Alaska Pipeline. It ran along the road for a large part of our drive. Just a simple bright, silver pipe. It is a beautiful drive into Valdez. Flat along the river beds and then you get into the Chugach Mountains. The mountains go right up to Prince William Sound. I couldn't see how we could get through the mountains for there to be a town! We came across another glacier- Worthington Glacier. It seemed like it would just fall onto the road! Thompson Pass was unbelievable! How can it be the best place for a road? You start way up on the mountain and it is steep descent into Keystone Canyon. It gets over 200 inches of snow a year. It is closed a great deal in the winter. So, in the winter, the ONLY road into Valdez is closed!! There are tall poles on the side of the road so the snow plows knows where to go in the snow! Keystone Canyon was like a different world. It was like driving through a mountain. Waterfalls on either side. Very green. We came upon Old Valdez first. It is were the old town of Valdez was located before the 1964 earthquake/tsunami. The whole town was destroyed then because it was built upon mudflats, sank about a foot, and then the tsunami came in. The town was moved to more stable ground 4 miles south. The town of Valdez is small- 4100 people. We stayed in a RV park along the harbor. No commercial businesses like McDonalds. Small little businesses. Again, can't imagine the winters. Can't imagine the effect the oil spill of 1994 (I think) had on this area. Across the sound is the pipeline terminal. Very unassuming. There is a community college here. Doesn't charge for out of state tuition. If I had only known!!!! Went to a local bar. The local bar in the movie "The Perfect Storm" comes to mind. I could hardly breath because of the smoke. But, if you were a woman trying to pick a man- that was the place! Went to dinner at the Best Western. Russian employees! Are they legal?

Day 3-
We decided to stay in Valdez another night. We went hiking on some cross country skiing trails. We drove over to the pipeline terminal. We couldn't get on. We decided to take another trail. It went up to a dam that was high in the mountains. The entire trail was 3.8 miles. My body was in for a shock. We went for it. The trail was right above the pipeline. (the pipeline is buried for a stretch leading into the terminal) We saw fresh bear crap!!!!! So, we made sure the bear bell (also called bell bell in one of my emails! sorry!) the walk was great! Water everywhere! We walked for 4 fours and got to the top of the dam. The dam is way up on mountains. There is a lake behind it and the lake was frozen over. People had driven on it. The water was so blue! We got some driftwood for souvenirs. Walked back down the mountain and saw more bear crap! Again, no spotting of an actual bear. We got down to where we could see the water and saw two otter swimming and eating in the sound. Went and had pizza and went walking around Valdez. There is an airport here. Don't know what type of flight service there is. We are headed to the Denali Highway tomorrow. It is a 134 mile unpaved highway that is suppose to be beautiful! Hope so!

I will post tomorrow about the AWESOME bald eagle experience we had today. Too tired now.

Hope all is well! Shout outs go to Kathy A. who is headed to Hawaii with Aaron. And to Misty Pond who is getting getting hitched this weekend. Wahoo! Happy Birthday (belated) to Karen. What up Monica D in Texas teaching summer school. Also, in remembrance of D-Day and my Great Uncle Keith who passed away last week. He was Grandma Nell's baby brother. How much fun he must be having hanging out with Grandma Nell. He fought at Iwo Jima in WWII. I am headed to bed. Kudos to everyone!

Getting ready to go RVing

Tomorrow we leave for our RV adventure. Don't worry Mom, I will email you the itinerary. I haven't been up to too much except for being a good housewife. That gets old fast! I went walking yesterday to the next park over. Anchorage has this trail that highlights the planets. It is pretty interesting. The sun is to scale in downtown and you can walk to the other planets. The other planets are to scale and the walk mimics the time it takes light from the sun to make it to that planet. I made it from Mars to Jupiter. The only wildlife I saw were birds- ducks, seagulls, and the grackle that we can't find the name for. I learned that Bob can get off his leash and harness. He also wont come to me when I call him. This caused a little panic on my end. Luckily he tried to climb a wall and I got him. I went to the grocery store. Things are def. more expensive up here. I had to buy store brand stuff. What is the world coming to?
I am in mourning. One of my favorite persons is moving to Maryland. Good luck to her and her family. I will try to control my rocking in the corner. I must find a way to move on. I guess I should start saving money now to buy my own beer/wine at concert downtown.
I will be sure to post about our RV trip. When you do add comments, I do read them and respond back. It is nice to hear from people!

Waiting for a bed and city moose

Greetings from Anchorage.....

It is Monday morning around 7:30AM. I am having a hard time with the time change. Walter is back at work today so I have all day to explore by myself.

Aaron and Christy Carone were here Saturday. They flew in Friday night and are renting an RV with Christy's parents. It was good to see them. We didn't have much time to hang out, but Walter did show them Anchorage. We went to Earthquake Park. The park has a big drop off area caused by the earthquake in the 1960s. I was expecting to see some damaged buildings- but as Walter says- it has been 40 years and the stuff has been fixed. We went to see where the salmon run in downtown Anchorage. Some of the stuff I read said you might see bears there. Unless the bears are REALLY hungry and love to be around humans, I highly doubt one would see a bear there. Lots of people fly fishing. Ship Creek is right beside downtown and flows into Cook Inlet. Not very deep. After we dropped off Aaron and Christy we went walking around downtown Anchorage. Every weekend in the summer there is a big market area. Walter and I have concluded that the market is a big tourist trap for the cruise line passengers. We visited the start of the Iditarod Dog Race. It is hard to imagine that there is that much snow in downtown for there to be dog sledding. We decided to go to the zoo. The zoo is located north of downtown. If you are an old, dying, or disabled animal- you get sent to the Anchorage Zoo!!! The Amur Tigers were 17 years old. In the wild they live to like 15 years. The sign said that the zoo was trying to make the tigers "as comfortable as possible." I guess so since all they did was lay there. I don't even know if they were breathing. There is a big debate about the elephant at the zoo. Its mate just died and "Maggie" is said. She fell and refused to get up. Up until a couple of days ago Maggie had to were a sling to make here stand. When we saw her, she didn't look like a happy elephant. She was very gaunt looking. Some people say she needs to be taken to a warmer climate and be around other elephants. There was one moose there- must be pretty stupid to be caught and put in a zoo when his relatives are roaming freely right outside of the zoo! We did come across an exhibit that had these birds that Walter and I have seen around town. I think they are grackles, but they are much bigger, have a longer tail, and have a white belly. Of course the exhibit was the only one in the zoo to not have the name of the animal! We then decided to drive up to a lookout. The mountains are everywhere and are so beautiful. The ones closest to Anchorage, the Chugach Mountains, have snow at the very top. The mountain range to the northwest are huge and are all snow. That is where Mount McKinley is. (Or you can call it Denali!) We decided to walk a little on Powerline Pass Trail. It wasn't cold, cold. There were people everywhere, most of them looked like experts at hiking and biking. We tried to stay out of their way! We walked for about 15 mins along a horse trail and then came along Powerline Pass. As the name implies, the trail follows the huge powerlines that cut through the valley. The trail was beautiful. I could just imagine all of the animals that were out there waiting for me to love on them. It would be a great place to take a chair and a good book and sit all day. As were walking back, Walter noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. There was a female moose just hanging out. She looked so cute. She was eating and walking in and out of the evergreen trees. I was so happy we finally saw our first moose. It only took 24 hours to see! We then went to dinner at the Moose's Tooth and stuffed ourselves to celebrate. Moose's Tooth is a local pizza place and micro brew. AWESOME! We then went out and drank with the locals. Some of the true locals are very scary looking and look like they are drunk pretty much most of the day. It is unbelievable the amount of homeless people there are here in Anchorage! Most of them look like Inuits. How can you survive if you are homeless in Anchorage?

Sunday we went to a great place to eat lunch- Snow City Cafe. Again, awesome food! We then went to the history and art museum. Not much to those! We then took Bob to the park. We are trying to get Bob use to being around others. We harnessed him up and out we went. He did really well! At first there were too many people and dogs for him to relax. We then found a quite place along the Coastal Trail overlooking the mud flats. He loved it. There was some tall grass there and he just sat and watched everyone. I plan on taking him there again today. After about 45 min. Bob decided he was done and (no lie!!!) walked over to his carrier, got it, and laid down as if he was telling us it was time to go. We couldn't believe it! So we went home.

This morning I had to get up and take Walter to work. Thinking it would be an uneventful trip, I didn't take the camera. After dropping him off, I came up to an intersection. A fairly busy intersection, and there in the middle was a moose!!! I am getting the feeling that they aren't smart animals. This was a male moose- really big antlers. He was just hanging out- didn't care about the cars around him. Didn't look scared. I think he had just woken up! He casually walked across the intersection and went on down the street. Too funny! Now I am waiting for a bed to be delivered. Who knows what time the bed will show up. It was suppose to be here 3:00PM Friday. So, I sit and wait!

Hope you like the pictures to the side. The one of Chris Ruff and Pres. Bush is so neat! Take care!

1st Moose Sighting!

Yes, that is right!!!! We saw our first moose today! Walter, the expert animal spotter, saw her while we were hiking north of Anchorage. She was hanging out going in and out of the evergreen trees. What a beaute! (sp?) We do have pictures. That is my goal tomorrow to figure out how to upload pictures to the blog.

Bring it Barry!

Just heard about the tropical storm in the Gulf. While I wouldn't normally be happy about one forming, WE NEED THE RAIN!!!! Jekyll hasn't had significant rainfall in months! So, hopefully there wont be high winds or storm surge- just rain!

First Thoughts

I finally made it to Anchorage last night at 11:30. My flights were very easy, although every seat was filled. There seemed to be some concern by people when another passenger would start coughing because of the TB scare. Bob did great until the last 30 min coming into AK. Most people didn't even know that I had a cat with me. With everything I did to prepare for taking Bob, no airline person ever asked me for any type of documentation concerning his health. The people working on the plane had no clue I even had an animal. I couldn't believe it. I left Brunswick after a busy morning doing last minute stuff. Tavia was a great help!! Said goodbye to Killer. On the flight to Atlanta I sat next to Brooke Bartlett- GA '92. It was really nice catching up with her. She is living in Salt Lake City, has a husband, and teaches middle school. Flying into Seattle was beautiful. The sky was clear so I could see downtown, the Pacific Ocean, and the mountain/volcano that could destroy Seattle. Mount Rainier was breathtaking. The same can be said about flying into Anchorage. I could see everything. I was sitting next to a woman who was coming to to Anchorage to take a 10 week class. She had never been either. We were like little kids seeing mountains for the first time. Anchorage is beautiful. Mountains on one side, mud flats on the other. The mud flats look like one giant swamp. We landed and while we knew there would be daylight, we were just amazed at the daylight. I got my luggage and met up with Walter. I had forgotten to tell him that since I was married know, I deserve an in airport pick up. Not a pull through the pick up area. But once we cleared the air, it was nice seeing him after 28 days!!!!!!!!!!! Our apartment is a block away from the water and mud flats and a block away from downtown. There is a big hill in between us and downtown. I haven't ventured out today to find out how brutal the hill is. Our apartment is cute. It is older, but trendy. Bob has fit in and has taken numerous naps in different places. I couldn't sleep last night, so I stayed out on the couch. Walter had to work today. My body isn't accepting the time change. So, I have been up since 4:00AM. I took a nap, but didn't sleep very well. Walter and I are going to check out downtown tonight. Aaron and Christy Carone fly in today. They are on vacation with her parents. We are going to see them tomorrow. Walter told me last night what we are doing next week. At least I think it is next week. Stealing the idea from Aaron and recommendations from coworkers, we are renting an RV and driving around the country from here to Valdez and Fairbanks. The people at the hospital said that Valdez is just beautiful and full of wildlife. They also told him about a side road west of a town called Delta Junction that takes you to the Anchorage to Fairbanks road. It is a beautiful road with breathtaking views, but you have to check with the state troopers to find out if it is open. I am not too keen taking that road. My mind keeps thinking of that family in California who took a shortcut through the mountains in winter. We will see.

As some of you have seen, Tavia and I were in the Brunswick news today. What a great article. Although, we made it clear in the interview that Christina was with us and we wanted her name in the article too. I also asked him to use my married name, but that didn't happen either. But the whole Bob Barker retiring has made me reflect on the memories made during that great trip. I will never forget getting to spend time with my California family, getting to see and touch the Pacific Ocean for the first time, sitting second row watching a tv icon, and spending time with my two great friends Christina and Tavia.

Some of you might not know...I interviewed at Brunswick High School for the media specialist job. While I applied weeks ago, the call for interviews happened at the last minute. I got called at 8:00AM Wednesday morning and had to be there at 3:00PM. I think I did ok, but I felt that I wasn't prepared because I didn't have days to think of creative answers to say. I did include to trash talk my competition, Beverly Brostek. (Good luck Beverly!) I don't know when I will hear anything. I had already settled on coming back to Jane Macon. I will have a new teammate- Lane Wooten. Some of you may remember him from the Jekyll dorms way back when....15 years ago....when I had the hugest crush on him. He teaches at Risley Middle and is coming over to JMMS. It will be an interesting year! I am glad this year has come to a close, it is time for a new beginning. Although, I will miss my teammates Dawn, Nicole, and Glonda.

I hope to update this "blog" with our experiences in Alaska. I would love for yall to post comments so I can keep in touch! I am hoping to be able to put pictures on the blog. I will have to work with that. Thanks Christina for recommending the site. I had been thinking of doing a website (Rande's suggestion) but hadn't started working on it. Until my next post.....