No Folly in Seward (Saturday 5/25)

One of the most anticipated days on our RV2AK itinerary was finally here!  Seems sorta weird too, since this would be our last full day (and night) together with the campervan.  But since initially planning for this trip and booking tours and activities we wanted to do, taking a boat tour of the Kenai Fjords National Park out of Seward was top of the list.  We were very fortunate to be able to pick up the tour tickets at 40% off during their annual sale around Thanksgiving last fall.

Because the tour departed at 8:30am, we had to be to the Seward boat marina by 8:00am.  Add to that roughly a 30 minute drive from our camp in Moose Pass; we had to set the alarm clock for 6:00am.  My goodness . . . on vacation and setting an alarm clock!  But you do what you have to, especially if you don't want to miss something you've prebooked and paid for.

The 8.5 hour Northwestern Fjord Cruise by Major Marine is billed as one of the more remote tours available out of Seward.  Traveling on a small vessel with a capacity of just 60 people, provided for ample space and a more intimate experience on the water with wildlife and the geological features.  Being the very first day of their 2024 summer season for this tour, the captain and crew were as excited as we were about what the day would provide. We were barely out into Resurrection Bay when a pod of orcas was spotted.  Shortly there after, a solo humpback whale was observed lunge feeding.  Both sightings were very far away, but I was fortunate to capture a couple of images.  These were both cropped from photographs taken several hundred yards away.

Other marine wildlife including sea otters, stellar seals and harbor seals were observed throughout our journey.  We also saw some mountain goats and a black bear far off on the land.  Puffins and a large variety of birds were also seen, although admittedly I'm not much of a birder and trying to photogragh them is always a challenge for me.

But clearly the star of the show was the glaciers seen throughout the Kenai Fjords National Park.

While at the face of the Northwestern Glacier, the thunderous boom that accompanied the dumping of ice into the water (aka "calving") was amazing!  While there, we witnessed the glacier calve a couple of times.  The ice seen floating here is the result of the glacier calving.  Seen on the larger icebergs were dozens of harbor seals.  Every now and then one would swim close to the boat, and then dive under if approached for a photo.  I just enjoyed watching them, watch us.

And the waterfalls!  Check this video out as our captain got us right up to it.  Being very early in the spring season, the melt off and early spring rains had them flowing loudly.

 

When we got back to the marina, there was a bit of rain coming down, but not to worry as we had made dinner reservations at Ray's Waterfront Restaurant right there at the marina.  It was a bit of a strange experience for us, as I can't recall a time when a server dissuaded a guest from ordering a "house specialty" because of past complaints about the serving being small.  That said, Pam had her mind made up to have the captain's catch (a seafood sampler), while I opted for the halibut oscar.  We both enjoyed our meals and did a bit of sharing as well.

After dinner, we headed back to the campground where we settled in for a chilly and damp night.  The next morning I would wake up with what was either allergies from the damp rainforest area we were camping in, or a full on cold.  Either way, I was pretty miserable for my last day with Pam before she had to fly out of Anchorage on Sunday.

TO BE CONTINUED 

Talkeetna, Palmer and Moose Pass (Thursday 5/23 - Friday 5/24)

Leaving Denali National Park a day early allowed us with more flexibility and time to enjoy sights driving down to the Kenai Peninsula and our pre-booked campground at Moose Pass.  It was late afternoon on Thursday when we headed south on the Parks Hwy.  We had no real idea where we might land for the night, but I felt Talkeetna might be in play.  Things worked out perfectly when we found the Talkeetna Boat Launch and RV Park right along the Talkeetna River. 

Arriving early in the evening, this was our first opportunity of the entire trip to do a campfire and cook dinner outside.  It was a delightful evening with steak & potatoes along with a bottle of our favorite fruity wine from Wisconsin!  Not too bad for a couple of city girls.  LOL

Relaxing after dinner around the campfire.  It really was a most enjoyable night!  We went to bed around 11:00pm and slept like babies . . . it must have been the wine . . . as we didn't get up and around until close to 8:00am.

I really wanted to have breakfast in town at the Roadhouse, but when we arrived there we learned they had not yet opened for the season.  Known for the delicious (and huge) cinnamon rolls, we needed to figure out something else to do.  Most of Talkeetna still seemed asleep, unlike the night before as when we arrived there were a lot of people milling around along the street and in the outdoor bar areas.

We did spend some time at the Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station and visitor information center.  This is where those mountain climbing in Denali National Park stop for their safety briefing and are subsequently monitored during their mountaineering adventure.  A daily statistics board is maintained on the current season's progress of climbers and those who successfully summit Mt. Denali and the other mountains inside the park.

We also walked around a little of the historical buildings area of Talkeetna, before heading out of town.  This photo is of the inside of a railroad era cabin built in the 1920's.  Its most recent resident Harry Robb lived here until his death in 1975.  The cabin looks exactly as he left it nearly 50 years ago.  In the 1990's the local historical society acquired it for $1 and has done minor restoration.  The strawberry patch Robb planted in the 1940's still produces fruit annually.

Before reaching the Parks Hwy to continue on south towards Anchorage, we found our breakfast stop.  Having seen signs for the Flying Squirrel Cafe the night before, we thought it might be the perfect place to eat.  It did not disappoint!

To be honest, there were simply too many choices, so both Pam & I ordered something to eat now, plus hot beverages . . . and a little something "to go" for later on in the day.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed my baked cherry apple french toast casserole, with a side of black current apple crisp and a hot tea.  Pam had a toasted anything bagel with salmon & cream cheese and a cafe latte frappuccino something or another, which she said was delightful. As you can tell, I'm not a coffee drinker but I'm really happy she enjoyed it.

After breakfast, we stopped at the Kahiltna Birchworks birch syrup shop.  Expecting to see a little of the manufacturing process, it was a bit of a disappointment as they only had samples being offered in hopes of enticing purchases from their store.  Birch syrup is VERY expensive due to its limited syrup production and short season, so we both passed on the shopping experience.

 

As I contemplated "what next" as we headed for Anchorage, I threw a bunch of options out to Pam.  After taking a pass on the Iditarod Headquarters & Museum in Wasilla, we headed up to Hatcher Pass and the Independence Mine State Historical Park.  Our initial GOOGLE search indicated the historic area would be open, but when we arrived, it had clearly not been dug out for the upcoming summer season. Never the less, it was a lovely drive high up into the Talkeetna Mountains.

From there, we headed towards Palmer for a stop at the Musk Ox Farm.  David & I had done it before, and Pam was interested, so it was next on our early afternoon's agenda.  We learned about their lovely farm in the Matanuska Valley, raising these prehistoric looking animals in a preservation effort dating back to the 1960's.  Today tours and the sale of the hand-combed qiviut used for garments such as hats, mittens and scarves, help to support this 501(c)3 organization's mission and operations.

Our visit was extra exciting as Osprey went into labor with her first born.  Because this was all taking place out in the pasture, our tour had to be detoured to allow the new momma the space and comfort without a lot of people milling around her.  We were excited to read this past week that she in fact did give birth to this lovely little calf.

As we continued south, we ended up reaching Anchorage right about rush hour.  Traffic in the "big city" is nothing like what we're used to in the lower 48, so we just kept moving through the downtown area until reaching the other side of town and the Seward Highway.

On a past trip to the Kenai Peninsula, I wanted to check out the historic village of Hope.  But because David & I were in the 29' "beast" we didn't feel comfortable driving the narrow two-lane road down to the little waterfront town.  With the campervan, however, I felt it was a safe option so we took it.

There really wasn't much about it to see, and as the start of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, folks were arriving to their summer getaways and campgrounds.  We drove through town to the waterfront, and turned back around.  I did get out and took a look around at a couple of the restored historical buildings.

We headed back out and to the Seward Hwy, where we stopped for ice cream at Summit Lake Lodge.  It was a nice place to stretch our legs and enjoy a snack since we knew we were probably half an hour from Moose Pass and our campsite for the weekend.

We rolled into camp at around 8:30pm and set up for the night as we had an early morning ahead in Seward for our Northwestern Glacier Tour with Major Marine.

TO BE CONTINUED

Denali National Park (Tuesday 5/21 - Thursday 5/23)

In my opinion, no trip to Alaska is complete without spending at least one full day here at Denali National Park.  My first experience was back in 2006, when a work assignment made it possible for David & I to take that "once in a lifetime" trip.  After the completion of the conference I was attending, we spent 3 days/2 nights in the Denali area . . . leaving me to vow to return "someday."  Since that fateful trip in 2006, I have been back to Denali National Park 5 times, each for a minimum of 4 nights camping at the Teklanika Campground inside the park at MM29.

Too often I hear of family and friends who want to go to Alaska, but they don't have the time or perhaps the money to really do more than a few hit or miss stops via a land excursion that is piggy-backed onto an Alaskan cruise. I cringe when I hear of their plans, especially knowing how much they might miss by not allowing more time and independence in their adventure.

That said, I also know and on this trip had to accept that how I enjoy and choose to experience Alaska is not for everyone . . . and what gives me great peace and joy, may simply be boring to others.

When you book a campsite at TEK, you must reserve and pay for a minimum of 3 nights.  The dry campsites run $40/night (or half price with the NPS/BLM Access or Senior Pass).  For David & me, this has never been an issue as the last couple of times, we booked for 5 or 6 nights at TEK.  For this trip with Pam, I knew that 3 nights may have to be abbreviated to just 2 either due to a late arrival or perhaps the desire to check-out a day early.  The latter would be the case this time.

Since the road slumping at Polychrome Pass back in the summer of 2021, access into the park has been greatly affected.  In past years, David and/or I have gone as far as Wonder Lake (MM85) and even the end of the road (MM92). But with the transit buses limited to East Fork River (MM43), the park experience and opportunities to view wildlife are significantly reduced.

With our first sighting shortly after entering the park Tuesday evening, this moose gave me great hopes in anticipation of seeing a lot of animals on this trip.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as our first journey into the park on our scheduled TEK Pass trip on Wednesday morning we only witnessed a few caribou and a nursery of dall sheep & lambs almost too far away to see with the naked eye.

Our first transit bus trip into the park from the TEK campground . . . Wednesday @ 8:15am at the TEK overlook and rest area (MM30).

With the greatly reduced ride to East Fork and then back to our campground, the entire trip was about 2 hours long.  Back at the campervan, we had a conversation of the experience had thus far, and how best to enjoy our time in Denali.  It was agreed we'd have some lunch and then do the bus trip again in hopes of seeing more animals later in the day.  We also decided we would plan to exit the campground the next morning, a day early, and enjoy some of the other park's activities at the front entrance area.

Here are a few of the photos taken during our two transit bus rides to East Fork (MM43) on Wednesday.

Dall sheep nursery . . . ewes with lambs very high up on the cliffs

Ptarmigan - the Alaskan state bird, still in the process of changing colors from winter's full white to summer's brown camouflage.

The next morning, we had a leisurely breakfast before heading out to the main entrance of the park for showers at the Riley Creek Mercantile.  We then headed over to the park headquarters/visitor center where we could park the campervan and take a shuttle bus to the Denali Park Kennels for their scheduled demonstration at 2:00pm.  We enjoyed poking around the visitor center exhibits and watching a short movie about the park before heading over to the kennels.  All in all, we made the most of our time at Denali NP and were happy with our decision to cut our time short by a day, to provide some cushion to see and do other things as we worked our way to our next scheduled stop . . . Moosepass Campground (Friday evening) and Seward for the Northwestern Glacier Tour on Saturday.

Exhibit area inside the visitor center at the park's headquarters

The Denali Park Kennels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 TO BE CONTINUED - Talkeetna & Beyond

 

Fairbanks (Monday 5/20 - Tuesday 5/21)

After a good night's sleep, a wonderful shower and breakfast in the campervan . . . we headed out to take on the day in Fairbanks!  Over the years, David & I have enjoyed Fairbanks as our base for the 4 (2010, 2014, 2016 and 2020) RV Adventures we've done thanks to bartering our timeshare in Waikiki with the Culbert Family for their 29' Winnebago Chalet.  I was looking forward to sharing a little of what the city has to offer with Pam.  First up was the University of Alaska - Fairbanks' Museum of the North.

We toured the museum and watched this short movie, as well as another on the aurora borealis.  There are a lot of archeological artifacts on exhibit here, as well as the telling of Alaska's history including its native people, Alaska's role in WWII and how statehood occurred in 1959.  With a $20 admission fee ($16 for seniors), I feel while a bit pricey, the money goes to support a good cause so I'm OK with it.

After the Museum of the North, we headed over to the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitor Center!  The last time I had visited the Fairbanks CVB/Visitor Center it was housed in a small log cabin on 4th Avenue.  Now open for 14 years, I was glad to be able to see the new building and all of the wonderful exhibits created to tell the story of Fairbanks and her people.  This photo is of the Gould Cabin (ca 1910) which is on exhibit in front of the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitor Center.

The self-guided walking tour through the cultural center is very well done!  There are a number of exhibits with detailed storyboards, as well as murals and dioramas depicting Alaskan life throughout the seasons.  Both Pam & I felt this experience was more enriching than what we experienced at the Museum of the North . . . and it is free of charge.  While both are good, if you only have limited time to do one or the other, we'd suggest this one!

After a day of taking in some local sights, it was time to have a celebratory birthday dinner for Pam!  While her birthday was earlier in the trip, I knew I wanted to take her out for a special dinner with local flavor and ambiance.  Fairbanks' Pumphouse Restaurant & Saloon was the perfect choice.

This photo is the view of the restaurant from the Chena River from the Riverboat Discovery (taken the next day).  This historic building dates back to the gold rush era of the 1890's and is on the National Register of Historic Places (1982).

We started our birthday celebration with yummy adult beverages!  For dinner we each ordered an entree and then made shared plates.  We had elk tenderloin medallions and the fried seafood platter featuring scallops, halibut and shrimp.  We capped off this fabulous feast with key lime pie and a decadent cheesecake that was enough for 3 people!

This Brunswick-Balke-Collender pool table is an original, built in 1898!  There are photos on the wall showing patrons in the early 20th century playing on this very table.

After dinner, we took a ride north out of town to visit the Alaska Pipeline exhibit up along the Steese Highway. There are several pieces of equipment here to tell the story of how crude oil is moved from Prudhoe Bay over 800 miles to Valdez. Truly an engineering marvel of the 21st century, no trip to Alaska is complete without learning about the oil industry and the economic impact for all Alaskans.

 

The next day (Tuesday) would be another full day in Fairbanks before we head on south to Denali National Park.  Thanks to a local friend, we were able to score discounted tickets for the Riverboat Discovery Tour.  With an 8:15am scheduled arrival, it was nice to be camping just minutes away from the marina.  As expected, we were on a tour that was largely booked by those doing a land tour with one of the many cruise ships serving Alaska.  When we pulled into the parking lot, there were already 4 or 5 large tour buses unloaded for our trip.  Fortunately, even with all of the tourists onboard, the boat was at less than half capacity, allowing for plenty of room to be comfortable for the 3 hour trip down and back on the Chena River.

The Chena Village Living Museum, where we had a 30 minutes stop and a guided walking tour of an Athabascan village.

 

 

We also visited the kennel of the late, 4-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher, whose husband &  daughter now train and run the dogs.

 

After our tour on the Riverboat Discovery, we met up with my friend Tracy Culbert for lunch at a local favorite . . . The Cookie Jar.  The time passed by too quickly, and I was sorry I didn't think to snap a photo of us before heading out for Denali.  Lunch was good, but her company and friendship is the BEST!  But alas, it was time for us to get going as we had a couple of hours yet to get to Denali National Park . . . and then another hour plus to get to our campsite at the Teklanika Campground.

This stop to use the vault toilets had us laughing.  Not open for the season yet, the large boulder was one way to keep people out.

Further on down the road, the Nenana Train Depot & Museum would be a welcomed stop along the way, especially since they had public restrooms.  After a short 15-20 minute stop, we were back on the way to Denali!

In Healy, we spotted this lone moose grazing off the highway.  While it seemed a little skiddish, it did allow for some photos before heading into the trees.

We finally reached the park entrance around 5:00pm!  The drive took a little longer than expected, not just because of the stops we made, but also the high winds we encountered for most of the afternoon.  We were happy to finally be to the park, and checking in at the Riley Creek Mercantile.

Next stop . . . TEK Campground at MM29 inside Denali National Park on the Park Road.

TO BE CONTINUED