Alaskan Adventure - part two

Back again for the second and final installment of our Alaskan adventure.
We're still in Wrangell and it's now Saturday and the last day before we  head on to Juneau.

We drove across the island and launched Dave's boat on the other side. We were heading Southeast about 30 miles by boat to a island called Anan to visit the bears.

This waterway is called the narrows and we went through them and on to Anan.

Another view from the boat launch area. The day was cloudy but no rain so it was pleasant.











This is a short video clip so you may have to click on it to see the video This area is one of the best in the world for bear viewing and  at this time  of the year the Salmon are running and the bears are fishing. An amazing site in the wild









Another short bear clip. We saw about 6 black bear as it was still about a week early for the  big show. They said that they have identified about 20 individuals that fish here every year and when the Salmon are in full run they see them all.




This is Dave our trusted boat captain, guide and fount of information. Note the gun in his hand. All the party leaders who come here carry loaded guns "just in case" I questioned the need for the gun and was told it was indeed necessary as a precaution. We were in the bears home and  while a violent encounter was unlikely it was possible. We spent lots of time here and then took a 3/4 mile  hike back to  the boat.



Back at the mouth of the river Heber contemplates the water and  looks for fish. Back in the boat Andi did the driving and we found our way home. What a great day and it was one of the highlights of our stay on Wrangell Island.





On Sunday we flew to Juneau in the morning and did some sightseeing in the afternoon. We took the tram up the mountain and were rewarded with this view of Juneau. Juneau is the capital of Alaska and I was surprised at how small and rural the town is.,







From the tram station we hiked up the  mountain to this overlook with a cross. Again, another magnificent view of a beautiful area.








Monday was rainy.... one of only two days of wet weather on the trip..... so we walked the town and took in the sights. Tuesday we rented a car and headed out to the Mendenhall glacier. Here we see the glacier on the left and a waterfall on the right.








We hiked to the waterfall and from there got a great look at the Mendenhall glacier. Since 1975 the glacier has receded about one mile and continues to do so today.

This is just so you can see that we survived the time in Alaska. Thanks for taking the picture, Heber.

 This is the Juneau harbor as seen from our hotel window. Lots of cruise ship so lots of folks in downtown every day. They didn't seem to bother us  so we just had a great time in Juneau. Thanks to Heber and Natalie for letting us tag along on  their visit to see daughter Andi. We're home now and the next adventure will be the desert Southwest in September. So.... till then have a great summer,

Alaskan Adventure - Part one

 

I'm doing this after the fact and not in my usual day by day style  so forgive me if I don't get it all just right.... at my age I can blame my memory.

We started our adventure by catching a plane (not the usual RV trip) bound for Seattle where we me friends Heber and Natalie. We continued to Juneau and then on to Petersberg island and finally to Wrangell Island.

Wrangell Island is in the inland passage between
Ketchikan and Sitka about 800 miles North of Seattle. Alaska airlines serves Wrangell and the trip was comfortable although it took the entire day.

In the evening we drove over town (two miles) to eat dinner and look around. The little harbor in town was picturesque and the day was warm by Wrangell standards. It was a little strange sitting around late in the evening with no hint of the sun setting. There is about 18 hours of daylight this time of year.

We stayed at the Grandview B&B near town with Leslie as our hostess. This is the view from our bedroom window. We loved waking up to this each morning and eating wonderful breakfasts in the kitchen while listening to Leslie's stories of Wrangell. She has to be good she's a Packer fan. A true died-in -the-wool cheese head!





The living room at the Grandview had large windows looking out over the water and lots of comfortable lazy boy recliners to relax in after a long day of  hiking, boating or fishing.








Tuesday afternoon we took a hike to the top of Dewey hill (250 feet elevation) and were rewarded with this view of Wrangell. Wrangell's population is about 2,000 and the entire island has only about 2,400 people. As the tee shirt says it's a "quaint little drinking town with a fishing problem".




Wednesday Leslie arranged for us to get some King Crab right off the boat. They picked two crab of us and one for Leslie.  Andi our friend, guide, local resident, all around person who took care of us is holding one of the crab we purchased. Two of these huge crab fed all five of us!

Heber, Andi and Alan cleaned the crab after cooking while I just stood around. I kept telling myself I would just be in the way........ so I did nothing.

After cleaning the crab Alan gave us some instruction in how to crack a King Crab. He soon left us on our own and  in no time  we had them cracked.

When we were done we had this bowl of crab and we sat down to a feast of crab, bread salad and white wine. This was a special treat and one that we won't soon forget!







After we cleaned the crab we left the remains on the rock where we cleaned them. In short order eagles were there claiming the leftovers and sometimes fighting over them. This guy sat there about 30 feet from where we were eating  the crab.

Eagles were everywhere we looked. At one time I stood in a parking lot at the marina and  counted 10 eagles and  didn't move a inch.
It was a sight that we never grew tired of seeing.








Heber and I drove looking for a good fishing spot and came across Pat's Lake. We didn't fish but did take in the magnificent beauty of this lake.

A favorite pastime was relaxing on the front porch of the Grandview. Here Andi and Sharleen made a mistake by having their backs to the scenery but they didn't complain. We did get to relax from time to time.








We drove to a area called Nemo for a picnic lunch. As you can see the view was spectacular and that made our sandwiches taste great!

 

There was scenery like this around every bend.




Since this is getting long I'm going to end part one here and pick up with the rest of our time in Alaska in part two.

A little issue on the way home.

This post is a little late but.... just had to post it.





This is the result of a tire exploding at 55mph. We were 25 miles North of Redding, Ca on our way home. I was able to stop the truck and trailer safely and change the tire. As you can see, the tire is almost gone and we rode on the rim for a little ways. luckily, we were on a straight stretch of road and we stopped without incident. The truck sustained body damage to the tune of $2000 and is now in the shop being repaired.













When I got the wheel off this is what it looked like. I put on four new tires and the trailer is in the yard. The trunk is being fixed and so we're all set to head to Arizona in February.

Oysters on the BBQ

We're enjoying Grayland Beach State Park as we always do. This morning the sky is grey and it's sprinkling a little but that hasn't dampened our spirits in the least.

Yesterday we stopped at Brady's Oyster farm and got a dozen Oysters for the grill.

This area is wonderful for seafood and fresh Oysters are just great here.
It's so easy to grill them ..... about 3 minutes to a side and then shuck them and.....







This is what you get...... Oysters cooked in the shell and delicious.
We'll  do this again before we head South on Friday. Today we'll walk on the beach and have lunch in Westport.

It's great just relaxing at the beach and this is one of our favorite spots.







Just thought I'd add a picture of our campsite at
Grayland State Park. It's really a great park with lots of space, full hookups and the beach is close.
Love it here.

Washington State

We spent a couple of great days farming with the Omlin family near Quincy, Washington. A great time as usual with cousin Ginny and family. We left with all of Arnie's produce.... watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn and onions. They have nothing left in the garden. Thanks again Ginny and Arnie!

We then moved on to Issaquah near Seattle to visit Kris.
Saturday we drove up to Evert to tour the Boeing factory. It was worth the drive up there to see the large aircraft on the assembly line.

At the end of the tour you can have your picture taken in front of a blue screen and then choose your background. So we did the tourist thing.

Sunday we took a walk on Tiger mountain and were rewarded with great scenes of the woods. I had to take a picture of this fungus on a dead tree stump. Lots of pretty things in the woods.

Scenes like this were everywhere we looked.
About 4 miles brought us back to the car and a relaxing Sunday afternoon.





We are now in Grayland state park on the beach.
We'll relax here for three days and then off to Woodburn, Oregon to see family.

September in the Pacific Northwest

It's September and the kids are back in school and we're in Oregon. All is well with the world.
We drove to Sisters, Oregon last Thursday (a long day for us) and have spent the last three days doing fun things in the area.

We spent a day at the Newbury National Volcano Monument. The Newbury Volcano erupted here some 7,000 years ago and it's impact is still readily apparent. Here the lava flow is dramatic when viewed from the top of the butte formed by the eruption.





From the top of the butte we looked West  and were treated to this view of the lava flow and the Cascade mountains in the distance. Mt Bachelor is on the left and the three Sisters are on the right. The Cascades are part of the pacific ring of fire and run from the California border to Canada.






We hiked the lava flow and got up close with the Basalt lava rocks. Lots of volcanic cinders all around. I thought about Ella and if she were with us we could have had a "cinder-Ella" Sorry about that Ella. This is really amazing place and something we have never experienced before.






We left the lava flow and hiked the Deschutes river for a couple of miles. The scenery was wonderful and we enjoyed the hike. Back at the trailer we relaxed and sat in the spa for a while and got a good nights rest.








Today, Sunday, we hiked the trail along Whychus Creek. It's a rugged hike and we did just 2.5 miles of the entire hike. Then we headed back to Sisters for another 4 miles of hike and then back to the trailer for lunch and a relaxed afternoon. Off to central Washington and Arnie's acres RV park for two days.
Great to be back in the Pacific Northwest again.

On the road home

After nearly 6 months traveling these great United States of America ( we hit 28 states and 5 Canadian Provinces) we are now on our way home. We spent Thanksgiving with my cousin, Jane and her husband Fred, in Houston. The weather was lousy but the company great so we had a good time except for a little flu bug but it was still great.

Just so you all can see that we are still in one piece here is what we look like in Gila Bend, Arizona. We are planning to be home in two days and then the fun starts. It'll take us a few days to get settled again and get things running smoothly again.





To all who have followed us on this incredible journey we'd like to say "thank you" for taking a interest in what we were doing. It has been a truly remarkable journey and one we will relive many times. This is a wonderful land we inhabit and we were blessed to see so much of it.
Merry Christmas and have a Happy 2014!