In Seattle/Tacoma Washington Area

Its Aug 31 and its official. I have a retired ID card. We're at Tacoma (McCord AFB) awaiting a flight to Hawaii. We're scheduled to leave tomorrow (Sep 1). We're planning on visiting 2 islands (Oahu and Hawaii), have reservations on the Big Island for the 5-10 Sep. Looking forward to the warm tropical breeses.

Miss you all.

Bob and Theresa

Arrived in Hyder, AK

Surprise!!!! We're back in Alaska. The only city in the panhandle of Alaska that you can drive to. Its a very pretty drive here thru Canada on rt 37A. Saw a Bald Eagle today escorting our car for a couple hundred feet (only feet off the passenger side. Theresa got a great view) Saw multiple rainbows, a few glaciers (Bear Glacier), lots of waterfalls and just fabulous scenery. Will update pictures soon. Gonna stay here a couple nights. Its really that nice. (I'm getting tired of driving.)

We ate at "The Bus", its a local seafood joint, very good food. Yes a real bus. This is the link with pictures. http://www.hyderalaska.com/thebus.html
Theresa had KingCrab Leg (1 lb) it was at least 16 inches long. I had surf and turf. It was very good food. Her husband is a commercial fisher. They also do their own smoking of salmon. We ate on the table that Robin Williams signed while here filming "Insomnia". We held a 105 gram gold nugget (cheap only $3500) at a local mall (pawn/bait/fishing/hunting/parts store) all in 1000 sq ft. Oh, he wore his security system on his belt (Colt I think).

A few facts on Hyder. Mail comes twice a week if weather is good, by float plane. Thats how they get the guns here. Kinda funny. No mail go thru Canada. Don't have to worry about customs that way. Property is cheap if you don't want a title. Otherwise..... Well you have to wait till someone dies to get some land here. Population about 100. They get about 30 feet of snow a year. And they keep the roads open.... Funny 12 inches in philadelphia and they shut everything down...

Its getting late. We're tired.. Happy reading.... Bob and Theresa

About Seward and Anchorage

I couldn't take it anymore. Bob writes the cold, hard facts, not descriptive and flowery like I do. Haha

The drive down to Seward is regarded as one of the most beautiful in the state. Considering that any road here could pass as a Scenic Byway, that is saying a lot. The road goes around the Turnigan Arm, a deep body of tidal water where whale sprouts can sometimes be seen. There are mountains on both sides, snow-capped, and some with glaciers. We didn't get a clear day for either the drive there, or the drive back, so fortunately, we will have to do it again.

We got to Seward and checked into the air force military camp. Most places were booked for the King Salmon Derby taking place. The camp we were staying at was somewhat of a fish camp, with cleaning areas and cold storage. Not a pleasant smell with the morning coffee!

Seward is very beautiful though, a true fishing community with a quaint, small downtown perfect for biking around. Many beautiful boats are docked here. We visited the Sea Life Center and learned about sea life in the surrounding waters.

We took an 8.5 tour on Kenai Fjords Tours. It took us to a calving glacier, which was amazing. The ice cracking sounded like thunder, and the ice chunks that fell into the water with a loud boom, caused swells that rocked our boat. Along the way, we saw sea otters, sea lions, blald eagles, puffins, other birds, and a young humpback whale. The cruise scenery was spectacular with cliffs full of birds or sea lions. We went to the ships private island where we enjoyed a salmon dinner. It was a beautiful day.

Aug 23 Catch up the last few days

Hello all,
We're in Tok, AK. We're about 90 miles from Canada heading back to the lower 48. We will stop in Skagway, AK for a few days and a train ride. From there down Canada to Victoria.

The past few days we were in Anchorage, AK at the Army Base camp ground. It was a great deal at $10 a day incl showers, electricity and laundry. The rooms on base were full so we roughed it. LOL. We did some sight seeing in Anchorage. Drove by the airport and along the cook inlet. It was very nice because we got to see Denali from Anchorage. (Its like 130 miles away. Pretty cool) We went to a movie, ate out a few time and drove each other crazy. (theresa is being annoying this very minute!!!!) She wants to write about our adventures.. I'll turn the keyboard over to her.......

Here we are. After dinner on Fox Island, a private island the Kenai Fjord Tours uses. It was a great cruise. 

Steller sea lions. It was incredible the animals we saw. 

Aialik Glacier calving (dropping chunks of ice into the ocean) 

Bob Aialik Glacier, 20 Aug  

Theresa in front of Aialik Glacier. 20 Aug 

20 Aug on Cruise from seward. Bald Eagle in the wild.  

Aug 18 Seward, AK

Drove down to Seward today. It was mostly cloudy but with spectacular views. The mountains had layers of clouds on them. It was very nice. The airforce camp we're at has electric hookups. The weather is kinda cool in the 50-60s. Will be taking pictures and posting them. Oh.. We saw sea otters.

Bob and Theresa

Denali Trip Report

We had a wonderful time in beautiful Denali National Park. We left Fairbanks on the 11th and spent the night camper along the Denali Highway, overlooking a valley and snow covered mountains peaks. Once we got to Denali, we got a camping pass for 4 days and a bus pass to the furthest point in the park.

Denali is set up to have minimal human impact on the wildlife and ecosystem. There is one mostly gravel road that runs into the park that is 89 miles long. You can only take your vehicle to mile 15, unless you are camping at Teklanika Campground at mile 29. From that point, you ride the park school-type buses that run about every half hour. We did not realize that once we drove to the campground, that we would not be able to drive OR take the bus back to the enterance where the showers are. Oh well, we were committed at this point.

The first day, we rode to the farthest point and were fortunate enough to see Denali/McKinley Mountain, as well as: gizzlies, wolf, fox, moose, caribou, dall sheep, and snowshoe hares. The round trip bus ride from our campground at mile 29 to the end of the gravel road takes about 11 hours.

The second day, I went out by myself, while Bob stayed at the campsite fixing things (he also slept in). I got to see 11 grizzlies that day, a total of 3 mamas and 8 cubs. We witnessed a mama grizzly chasing a caribou, another mama ripping plant roots out of the ground and breaking them up to feed the cubs, and 2 cubs on their hind legs playing.

On the third day, we went almost to the end and saw more grizzlies, sheep, and caribou. I loved that we were able to just board the bus and enjoy. We also met some great people that we talked to a great deal on the long bus ride, so it was a unique experience from the other parks where everybody is isolated in their own cars.

Socks has nothing on this kitty. Lynx in captivity at the Anchorage zoo. One of the animals we didn't get to see at Denali. 17 August. 

Caribou on side of the road. Taken from the bus in Denali NP.  

Mom grizzly with 3 cubs in tow. She chased off a caribou that dared to come to close. 

Finally. A Bull Moose. They really do exist. This guy made a special appearance for Theresa on her birthday. 

Mt McKinley. We are the fortunate 20% that gets to see it. Yes we're in Denali NP now.  

Proof of moose. We know we're getting closer. 

These wild flowers are "fireweed". Lots of wildfires go thru these areas. Its kinda sureal. Very beautiful scenary. But the mud..... 

It was only 1000 miles round trip. No car wash. This stuff was caked on. After $20 it is still with us. Will the mud ever go away? 

Yes!!! This is true. No gas, strip malls, signals, nothing but gravel road. OH the gravel road.... 

Needed proof that we were there. 

This is it Deadhorse/Prudhoe bay. Caribou in the foreground.  

Bob in the Arctic Ocean. A warm 39deg. 

Aug 6 The Big trip North. 1000 Round trip.

On our way to Deadhorse. Just across the Yukon river. Thats the pipeline behind us. Little did we know what was instore for us.

We're Safe in Anchorage AK....

Hello All,
Denali NP was great. We're safe in Anchorage, AK. Will post more soon.

Quick update 11 Aug.

Hello All,
We're going to Denali NP for a few days. Not sure when we'll have phone service. Will update with pictures when we can. Miss you all.

Up and Back: An Arctic Ocean Adventure

August 10, 2005

After spending a couple down days in Fairbanks, we headed north. We departed the morning of the 6th for Prudhoe Bay, on Alaska's Arctic Coast. We drove 414 miles of mostly gravel road on the Dalton Highway. Services on this road are extremely limited. There is a gas station at mile 175 in the town of Coldfoot. Most of the drive, you have to go 30-35 miles an hour or it rattles your teeth, so this was a long drive. We did get to see a grizzly bear right along the road and the oil pipeline paralleled the road most of the time.

The first day, we were feeling great about the drive. There was heavy smoke from wildfires, so we didn't get to see much of the scenery, which is supposed to be beautiful. We wanted to get out of the smoke, so we kept driving to find a place to camp that wasn't smokey. However,we drove from dense smoke into dense fog, right before we had to go over the highest,steepest, windiest pass in Alaska. I was very uneasy about it as we could only see 5 feet in front of us and the roads were muddy from a light drizzle. We made it through the pass and decided to stop to camp in the arctic tundra. (We missed the sign that said we had crossed the Arctic Circle.) Bob's comment on Atigun Pass "it was kinda nerve wracking - muddy, slippery, and the visibility sucked, but we made it."

The wind was howling through the tundra canyon and it was damp, so it felt bitterly cold. We really felt that we were in the middle of nowhere, aside from the trucks that passed or stopped occasionally.

The next day, it rained the entire way which caused the car and camper to cake with mud. As we passed into the Arctic coastal plains, we saw some snow along the bluffs. This area is a bird sancuary in the summer, so we saw tons of birds, as well as herds of caribou.

We got to the industrial town of Deadhorse (aka Prudhoe Bay), and I had a little bit of a meltdown from the smokey, rainy, and foggy drive, the mud everywhere, and the dinginess of the town. Nobody actually lives in Prudhoe Bay, it is basically a large camp to support the oil workers who fly up and and work two weeks on/two weeks off.

We had scheduled a tour for the following morning, but we found out there was one going out in the evening, so we decided to join that one so we could leave earlier the next morning. The tour showed us a propoganda movie made by the oil companies about how their to concerns are the environment and their workers. We then boarded a bus, where our guide drove into the Prudhoe Bay oil field and camps. We then drove to the Arctic Ocean. The water temp was 39 degrees, so we only put our feet in. There were some men who were there to join the Polar Bear club. They stripped down to nothing, ran in, and right back out again. There were no polar bears drinking Coca Cola and sliding across the ice, or penquins, or even ice for that matter, just cold ocean water.

We packed up the morning of the the 8th and headed out. Bob is excited his truck hit 130,000 miles. We started our trip at 122,000 miles. The return trip was much better. We had beautiful weather and the smoke had cleared. We got to see everything that we didn't see on the way up. We stopped to do some gold panning on the way back and took pictures at the Arctic Circle.

From Fairbanks, we covered almost 1000 miles round trip, on mostly gravel road, in 4 days. We can say we did the drive and have been to the Arctic Ocean, but we both agree that we would never do it again. We finally got back to the base and were able to take our first shower since we left for Prudhoe on the 6th.

We are both exhausted, but have a lot to get done today. Tomorrow am, we head to Denali National Park, where we will spend about a week. Don't know what kinda services we will have. We will update pictures when we get a chance today.

Aug 4th, Eileson AFB near Fairbanks, AK.

Ahhhhh civilization. Bed, toilet that flushes, hot showers and TV. All for the low price of $24.50. Life is good. We're relaxing, cleaning, restocking and other maintenance tasks. Gonna visit the North Pole, and the Fairbanks Fair. Planning on staying here for a few nights then heading to Prudhoe Bay then down to Denali National Park. Alaska has been beautiful. The weather has been OK. Today highs were in the 60's mostly sunny with scattered showers. Look forward to hearing from you.
You can comment on the blogs. We actually look forward to hearing from you.!!!!!!!!

Bob and Theresa

Log from Aug 3rd.

August 3rd, 2005

We finally made it to Alaska on the 2nd. We spent the night in beautiful Chicken, Alaska. Chicken consisted of only a handful of buildings and has a population of 35. The town has no power so the businesses run on generators (shut down at 7:30pm) and they have no water lines. They do have gold panning, so we dry camped for the night, lured by the prospect of finding gold. We did find quite a few small flakes. Despite the small size of the town, they had great coffee and many coffee choices. We could have stayed longer, but we'd really like to shower, especially after playing in mud.

We had some troubles. First the carbon monoxide detector in the camper crapped out, then we found a busted LED headlamp (remember this from Otter Creek, Lori?), and then when we woke, the car battery was dead. We left a power strip on with the laptop plugged in all night. Ooops. Bob used the DC output from the generator, then used the campsite power through the camper to recharge the car battery.

We are currently driving to Fairbanks where we will spend 2 nights at a minimum. We need a break and need to restock on provisions. We stopped and got lunch out. It was great to waited on. Oh yeah, we also are on paved roads finally, back on the Alaska Highway. The Top of the World Highway had beautiful views. The camper and car are still covered in mud. It stresses out Bob. We thought we were hitting rain, but it bugs smacking the windows. Bug winshield cleaner is a must up here.

Our guide says that moose are abundant on Alaska Highways. We still haven't seen the elusive moose. It's a steamy 65 degrees at 4pm here.

Another interesting point is that the last traffic light that we can remember seeing was 1350 miles ago in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Wild, eh?

Bob working hard in Chicken, Alaska. (Gold fever strikes)

Bob panning for gold. Oh by the way its 11 pm when this picture was taken.

Arrived in Alaska

We made it to Alaska. WOW!!! It's a long drive. One bike rack, and one windshield and lots of gas later.

Tuesday Aug 2 Morning

Hello All,
Theresa did an update post. Actually 2 of them. We are cold this morning, its only 41 degrees. (Had to have the heater going). The days up here are long. It didn't get dark till (well it didn't get dark) the sun went down at 11 pm but is never got dark. The sun was up at 5ish. It was very freaky. It wasn't dark. Just twilight. Makes it difficult to sleep. (The body wants to stay awake.) Imagine having kids!!! "But mom its not dark out......."
We're a little road weary and kinda punchy. It's ok though, we're just taking things a little slower than usual. We are going to drive to Eagle, AK today. We have to take a ferry across the river. The town was had put out bids for a bridge but the bids came back too high. So they are keeping the ferry. This road closes in the winter that connects to Alaska. The town stays open year round. We are on the "Top of the World Highway". Its been a good road. Paved most of the way. We got a star in the windshield. It's low and can be hidden by the bobbing head dog Theresa got me when we first starting dating. (It was driving me crazy seeing it!)
The scenery is beautiful, rolling mountains, high peaks, tall and short trees, its really varried and incredable. Words don't describe it and pictures don't do it justice. I am very blessed to be able to do this with Theresa. Well thats the current update. Visit often and write soon. Miss you all.

Bob and Theresa

Catch up from August 1st

We stopped to try our luck at panning gold at milepost 188 (Hoole Canyon) along the Campbell Highway. We didn't find any gold, but it does appear there is silver. Afterwards, we decided it was too late to move forward and our camper brakes were out, so we decided to set up camp for the night. It was a beautiful place to stay, along the river rapids. At night it sounded like we were along a waterfall.

Bob fixed the brake connection by borrowing the twist connecters from the refrigerator fan. They broke from the bumpiness of the gravel road and the badgering of the flying stones. He also washed down the car and camper. He was really bothered by the dust we picked up along the way.

It was a nice, cool night, and quite aside from the water and rain that fell later in the evening. I inspected the ground for new animal tracks in the fresh mud in the morning and found 4 set of different animal tracks, none were bear tracks. There was a den in the bank that we did not inspect up close, but looked the right size for a fox, wolf, or wolverine.

Bob made a great breakfast of ham and cheese omelets with sliced garlic new potatoes. We don't usually cook breakfast, so this was a nice treat, especially with our picturesque setting.
The drive to Dawson City was uneventful, though we did have a momma bear and her two cubs pass in front of us. We got to Dawson City at 9pm. We get to take a shower in the morning, hooray! We haven't taken many pictures the past couple days since we have mostly been driving, but we will add more soon.

Arrived in Dawson, Yukon

Arrived safely. Its 11 pm and its still light out. Will leave more tomorrow morning.

Bob and Theresa

Sitting riverside, Enjoying breakfast

Good morning all. Care to join us for a cup of coffee, riverside? We're dry camping here. It's a pull off just off the road. It was very peaceful. Running water all night.