Day 344. July 16, 2014. Awesome seaplane tour

LOCATION:  Sterling, Alaska in south central part of state

WEATHER:  Perfect.  Sunny. Highs in 60s

We were able to get on the 10:00 seaplane bear-viewing tour with 5 other people.  We took off in this seaplane

It was a 30-minute flight out to a remote lake across Cook Inlet.

We passed over a volcano that had erupted in 2009.  

Then, we passed over a gigantic glacier.  The pilot got really close.  It seemed we could almost touch the ice.  It was dirty due to the volcano ash.

We landed and got into a pontoon boat.  Then, for about 5 hours, we watched the bears playing and catching salmon.

See next blog.  Can't post too many pictures at one time.  

Day 343. July 15, 2014. Along Cook's Inlet

LOCATION:  Sterling, Alaska, in south central part of state

WEATHER:  Nice. Highs in 60s

Our campground is full  tonight so we have to move.  We walked around the next door state park to see if there are any vacancies, but there aren't.  We drove down the road and found a campground with one vacancy.  When we went to the site, however, it had a camper in it (but no one was there).  So, they put us in another one where someone was coming later in the day.  Not sure what happened, as they did not show up, or the campground owners perhaps sent them elsewhere.  In any case, we are here for 2 days.

We unhooked, and drove along Cook's Inlet.  We drove to an old Russian town nearby (after all, we aren't far from Russia). 

We watched thousands of people catching salmon in their nets.  All the dots are people.....

We passed a Walmart and another superstore that had about 100 campers parked in their lots.  I got a little panicked about finding a place this weekend, since many people from Anchorage will be coming here this weekend to fish.  So, I found a campground online in Homer for three nights.  We still don't have a place for one night, but we can fall back on Walmart.

As we were driving around, a pickup in front of us bounced a rock onto our windshield, and made a big starburst.  Luckily, we were only a few miles from an auto glass place that was able to fix it right away.  (I think the windshield  repair places do a good business in this part of the country).  This is the 3rd windshield incident we have had on this trip.  

Our campground tonight has nice grills around for anyone to use.  George grilled some chicken. I had picked up a Cook's Country magazine and it had some grilling recipes.  Unlike most recipes, this said to cook the meat slowly st first, and then turn up the heat at the end.  It turned out really well.  

As we were cooking, we talked with our neighbors who told us about a great flight-seeing trip they made today.  We are going to try to go tomorrow.

DINNER:  The grilled chicken and mashed potatoes.  I made a salad with radishes, cucumbers and tomatoes.  

Day 342. July 14, 2014. Salmon fever!

LOCATION:  Sterling, Alaska in the Kenai Peninsula in south central Alaska

WEATHER:  Sunny and nice. Highs in 60s

We drove south about 100 miles to Anchorage.  On our way, we passed through Wasilla.  I looked for Sarah Palin, but didn't spot her.  We haven't been in a large city for awhile.  The crowds are stressful.  

We had lunch at the White Spot Cafe.  It is an old diner, from the 1940s that we had read about.  We had a grilled halibut wrap.  Yum!

We connected with our friends from Rochester, MN who are up here fishing.  They reserved a campsite for us in the campgrounds where they are staying.  Good thing, as everything is filled  up here.  The salmon are running, and Alaskans from all over the state are here, catching their limits.  Lots of boats on the road, and pickups with huge nets they use to scoop up the salmon.  

We followed Cook's Inlet from Anchorage to Sterling.  It is a beautiful drive.

DINNER:  Fajitas.  A great way to use leftovers.  I cooked onions and bell peppers in butter and cumin. Then, flavored the leftover grilled hamburger meat with cumin and chipotle.  We have electricity here, so I warmed up tortillas with a little cheddar cheese in the microwave, then added the meat and veg to the tortilla.  Beans and rice on the side.

After dinner, we joined our friends from Rochester to chat.  They are chartering a boat to go fishing tomorrow.  

Day 341. July 13, 2014. Denali National Park

LOCATION:  Near Denali, in central Alaska

WEATHER:  Sunny in AM, then cloudy and rain. Highs in 60s

Last night, when George walked to town to find quarters for the laundry, he stumbled upon this cafe that has a microbrewery.  What luck!  

So, this morning, we decided to go back to the cafe to give them some breakfast business.  We had reindeer sausage and eggs.  Then, as a breakfast dessert, George had their homemade rhubarb strawberry pie.  He was in heaven

Then, we headed south to Denali National Park.  On the way, a mother moose and her gangly baby crossed the highway right in front of us.  So cute!

Denali was busy.  Hundreds of Princess, Celebrity, and Holland American tour busses were there, up from the port in Anchorage.  In order to control traffic and to protect wildlife, they don't allow cars on many of their park roads.  They have busses to take people deeper into the park.  We took one for a 2-hour ride.  It was too cloudy to see Mt. McKinley.

We saw a bull moose in the distance, and another female with her baby, born in May.

The Denali campground was full, so we drove on.  We went to a cute little town called Talkeetna with plans to stay there overnight.  It is an artists' village with cute shops and restaurants.  They were having a festival, so their campground was full, too.  They do a lot of flight-seeing tours around Denali.  

We drove down the highway a few miles and found a nice state park.  We were the only ones here until about 10:00.  On nights when we only plan to spend one night, we don't unhook.  That makes everything easier.  

DINNER:  Shrimp and grits want-to-be.  We had leftover grits made one morning for breakfast using the morel mushroom water.  In the small grocery where we had shopped along the road, I had planned to buy shrimp, but the frozen shrimp were $31 for a small package!   There weren't any canned shrimp, so I substituted a can of tuna.  I started with sautéed onion and kale stems, left from a salad.  They added a nice crunch.  Then, I added the tuna, grits, and pepper cheese.  Pretty good, considering.  We are headed south where I think seafood is plentiful and inexpensive.  

Day 340. July 12, 2014. End of Alaska Highway

LOCATION:  Near Fairbanks, in central Alaska

WEATHER:  Really nice.  In low 70s

We got an early start and left Chicken.  We connected again with the Alaska Highway and drove to its end.  1422 miles altogether.  

We found a car wash and washed the worst of the dirt off the camper and car.  It was really stuck on!

The direct road to Denali National Park is not good, so we took the longer route, via Fairbanks.  We drove about 350 miles...long day in the car.  We saw our first Alaska moose.  We stopped at Hoo-Doo Brewery in Fairbanks.  It was sunny, so everyone was outside enjoying the weather and beer.  

At a visitor center south of Fairbanks (on our way to Denali), we asked for directions to the nearest state campground.  She recommended the commercial one in the village, and we're glad she did!  Very cozy.  The showers are really nice.  An added touch is that the owner provides homemade bath mats.  There is a sign requesting that you place it in the bin in the adjacent laundry room after your shower.  Since it was so convenient, I did laundry while George tended the campfire.

Here is George eating dinner at 10:00 PM.  He still has his sunglasses on!

DINNER:  Cheeseburgers (without the bread), kale/cucumber salad, and baked potato.  

 

Day 339. July 11, 2014. Cluckin' in Chicken

LOCATION:  Chicken, Alaska on southeast border, near the Yukon.

WEATHER:  Nice.  Highs around 70

We started the day with a special breakfast.  I had reserved a few morels.  We had them with scrambled eggs....a great combination.  

Chicken is an old gold-mining town.  At one time, there were about 3000 people here.  Now only 3 residents remain here year long.  The roads close in the winter. 

In its heyday, the settlers wanted to name the town ptarmigan, the bird that is now Alaska's state bird, as these birds were plentiful here.  They couldn't agree on the spelling, and didn't want to look stupid to the outside world if they misspelled it, so named it Chicken instead.

This mine is the oldest wooden dredge in North America

People still come here in search of gold.  Gold panning is popular at our campground, and in the nearby rivers.

 We made a day trip to Eagle.  We back-tracked a little on the Top of the World Highway, then drove north 65 miles to the town.  It used to be a major port, on the Yukon River.  This is an old sod house (still lived in) with a tall food storage building on the side

 

This is a new house with the same type of building to store food, safe from bears and other animals

We drove back to Chicken and had a beer at the Chicken Saloon.  This is the "town"

DINNER:  Leftover steak and rice cooked in the water that reconstituted the morel mushrooms yesterday.  Sautéed zucchini and onions on the side.  George had homemade cranberry apple pie from the Chicken restaurant/bakery.

Day 337. July 9, 2014, part 2.... At Diamond Tooth Gerties in Dawson, Yukon

Continued from previous blog.....

The show started with beautiful Gertie singing and welcoming everyone.  I'm sure this "Gertie" is cuter than the original.

Then, she walked down to the audience, and flirted with George.

Between her acts were the can-can girls.  They really put on a show

Lots of kicking and whooping it up

Then, the can-can girls danced around the audience.  One chose George's lap to sit on.

I think it was a song about baldness.

Then, they pulled 2 men up to the stage to dance, George and another guy.  It was hilarious!

They put a can-can skirt on him and taught him a dance

Then, he had to take off one of the girl's garters

It was a fun evening. If our daughters had been with us,  they would have been so embarrassed!