June 4 Day 26

Chuck awakes at 8:00, while Pat sleeps in to 9:00 as it is still raining which is normal for Portage. After breakfast we head to the Portage Visitor center. Walking from the RV to the entrance doors is a challenge in the blowing wind and rain. This is really our first day of bad weather on the entire trip.

We take our time visit the Portage visitor center, and when we exit the rain and wind have stopped. We then head to the Portage Lodge for a short visit following which we drive toward Anchorage and stop at Girdwood. As we enter Girdwood, we first stop at the Chugach National Forest Headquarters, as we have always past by the visitor’s center but never stopped in.

We pick up some literature and then continue on to the Alyeska Lodge. We tour the grounds and then head over to the Art Gallery that we enjoy, before heading to Anchorage.

The drive to Anchorage is along Turnagain Arm, with a twisting road that has great views as the sun is out and we watch the tide going our. We arrive at our friend Karen’s house were we will be staying until we depart on Monday.  We have activities planned with Karen and also with Brenna and Zach for the remainder of our trip. The RV gets turned in on Thursday morning, so Chuck will clean out the RV on Wednesday.

This basically ends the blog, and hope you have enjoyed reading our experiences

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 74 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4600

Total miles traveled 5503

Total RV travel time 3 hours

June 3 Day 25

 

We arise around 10:00a, make coffee, breakfast and a campfire. Before heading out we introduce Zach to the game of Mille Bourne. After lunch and our game of Mille Bourne, which Pat and Zach won as partners, we start our journey towards Anchorage as Brenna and Zach need to be at work tomorrow.

Our first stop is Summit Lake Lodge, where we have coffee and ice cream while walking around the grounds. Brenna and Zach had camped out here in an RV during one of their bike races several years ago.

Next on our agenda is a stop at Hope, which is a funking little town across the inlet from Anchorage. Before the 1964 earthquake there was about 3,000 people; today living in Hope, now there are maybe 200 people scattered about. The National Park Service just finished redoing the campground there, so we drive through it to see the upgrades and while going through it we see a mother moose and her baby. Back in Hope we walk part of the old village and visit several artist galleries that are open.

We then head to Girdwood for dinner. Our favorite restaurant is the Double Muskie, but it is closed on Mondays so Zach suggests we go to Chair 5 restaurant. After a relaxing dinner and good conversation, we say our good-byes as Brenna and Zach head back to Anchorage and we head to Portage for our last night in the RV.

Well as we get closer to Portage, the weather changes and we enter a wind and rain storm. So no last night fire, so the inside warmth of the RV

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 74 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4526

Total miles traveled 5429

Total RV travel time 4 hours

June 2 Day 24

We sleep in till 10:30, get up make coffee and light brunch. After dishes are done, Chuck and Zach take RV to dump the holding tanks and fill up the fresh water tank.

We then head off to Seward, which is about an hour away. We stop at the commercial district by the boat harbor and have a few appetizers and light lunch, also with a few local beers.

Walking around the upper deck boardwalk, we see the various fish charters returning, and survey the various catches. One young woman has caught a 75 pound Halibut, with all of the others in the 10-20 lbs. range. After which we head to the old downtown area to walk around.

Zach and Chuck decide to try the new local brewery while Brenna and Pat go window shopping. Zach and Chuck’s opinion of the brewery is that they have the atmosphere correct but seriously need a new brewer. We then continue looking at various shops in the downtown area, before heading back to the RV.

On the way back we stop at the Exit Glacier lookout point, and enjoy our drive back to the Quartz Creek campground, spotting an occasional moose along the way. We get back and Pat and Brenna cook dinner; fresh Halibut, pasta, spinach and fresh shrimp.

After dinner we settle down around the campfire, before calling it an evening at 11:30pm

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 0 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4452

Total miles traveled 5385

June 1 Day 23

 

We arise around 10:00 am, make coffee, start a campfire and fix brunch. Weather is a bit cloudy with a few rains drops that start to wear off around noon.

After brunch, we take a short hike up to the trading post and restaurant at the top of the highway and visit the one vendor who offers horseback rides.

We then pack up fresh clothes and shower materials and head off to Brenna’s friends Sarah, who just moved to Kenai in March, has a lovely home and is about 1 hour south of our campground. We bring along fresh crap dip, smoked salmon and wine, with the food all being gone by the time we all take our showers.

He then head over to the local Kenai Brewery call Kassiks to try their wares and talk to the owner. After which we head to dinner at the Duck Inn. Sarah takes us for a short drive around the area and we see moose and caribou.

After dropping Sarah off at home, we then head back to our campground.

We do a small fire and then call it a night around 11:30pm.

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 0 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4452

Total miles traveled 5385

Total RV travel time 0 hours

May 31 Day 22

We arise about 10:30 as we were all tired. Coffee gets made, campfire started and then Chuck fixes a brunch. Brenna spots Mountain Goats and Sheep up on the one mountain.

After brunch and dishes being cleaned, we decide to take a drive to view some trails that Zach and Brenna know about that are in the area. We drive back the first one to Upper Russian Lake and get 3/4 the way back before our journey is stopped short as the upper road is still all covered in snow.

After reaching the main road we drive down further to the Siklak road. There is a flashing sign that says 4 wheel drive wheels only due to soft road conditions, but we decide to press on anyways. We soon find out what the soft road conditions mean but Zach is able to maneuver the car through the various spots and we continue along to the Hidden Lake campground. The campground has all paved roads and sits on a Hidden Lake. Continuing our journey on Siklak Road we can only go another mile before the road conditions prevent us from going any further so we turn around and head to the main road.

On the way back to camp we stop at the Princess Lodge at Cooper Landing, have a drink and a small bit to eat. We return to our campsite for a dinner of fresh Copper River King Salmon, Scallops, and shrimp cocktail. After dinner we play a game of Scrabble while the campfire glows.

Temperature starts to drop, so we go inside the RV

We finally call it an evening at 11:00pm

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 0 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4452

Total miles traveled 5385

 

May 30 Day 21

We awake at 5:00AM to full sun and blue skies. Mountains are all snow covered and glistening in the sunlight.

Today is catching the ferry out of Valdez to Whittier, and we need to be at the ferry dock by 6:00am. We quickly take showers, have some coffee and pack things up.

After we board the ferry with our RV, we head to the back deck to take some pictures of Valdez as it glistens in the morning sunlight. As the ferry departs Valdez, we notice a fog bank rolling in at the far end of the Valdez inlet. Within a short time we enter the fog bank, saying goodbye to the sunshine, and feel the temperatures drop dramatically. 

We brave the outside deck under cover, and see sea otters, bald eagles and a few stellar seals. Then the Columbia Glacier ice field comes into view. We cannot see the glacier, just the ice field created by recent calving, so there are lots of Kodak moments. In this area the snow is still down to the water, temperature drops further and it starts to rain so we head back inside to have some breakfast.

We place our order and when it arrives, we forgot about the generous food portions that are given on the Alaska State Ferry system. After breakfast we go back to the outside deck to see if the weather has changed but it hasn’t. A small pod of Orcas comes by the ship which offers more Kodak moment opportunities. We decide to go back inside and settle down in the front viewing area.

Around College Fiord area the skies start to clear up and we go back to the outside deck. The sun comes through and the temperatures jump by about 30 degrees as we leave the fog bank, and the tide water glaciers of the College Fiord are off in the distance.  Other passengers come out to the back deck to enjoy the warmth of the sunshine, and we all migrate to the front bow of the ship to watch our entry into Whittier. The hillside around Whittier is glistening with the large snow cover.

After we get off the ferry we stop to turn our propane gas back on and to walk around. We take the underground tunnel to “Downtown Whittier” and stop in the Grocery/Hardware store and the Anchor Inn. We walk back to the stores by the waterfront, enjoy a beer at the Hotel and take a leisure walk back to the RV, as it is now time to drive through the railroad tunnel and out to Portage.

We arrive at Portage in brilliant sunshine and check out the campgrounds since we will be staying here on Monday night. We then decide to drive up to Girdwood, since the weather is nice, and along the way we watch people dip netting for hooligan. At Girdwood we stop at the Jade shop but it is closed, and drive up to an artist shop that Pat likes.

After the art shop visit we head back down Turnagain Arm to our campground at Quartz Creek, where we will meet up with Brenna and Zach for the next 4 days. We setup camp, and while Pat fixes part of the dinner, Chuck gets the awning up over the picnic table and starts a fire. We have dinner ready for Brenna and Zach when they arrive at 8:30pm.

We enjoy their company at dinner, and then sit around a campfire talking till 11:30pm we are all tired so it is off to bed with no set agenda for tomorrow.

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 92 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4452

Total miles traveled 5385

Total RV travel time 3 hours

Total Ferry Travel Time 6 hours