Wandering Dawgs

Day 66: It’s all about the fishing

July 23, 2013June 19, 2015Posted in AlaskaTagged A Fish Hunt Charters, Halibut fishing, Kenai Peninsula, Ninilchik, salmon fishing

Day 66: Saturday, July 20, 2013. Seward to Ninilchik, Alaaska. Alaskan Angler RV Park Site EW7. 132 miles traveled

We left the city park in Seward to continue our journey through the Kenai Peninsula. We traveled up the Seward highway and then down the Sterling Highway which ends in Homer, Alaska. This part of the Kenai Penisula has many more villages and people than the area going to Seward. Our drive took us near the Kenai River where fishermen flock to fish for salmon. There was more traffic than we have seen for a while and we found out later the red salmon were running and it was the first day the limit went from 3 per day to 6 per day per person because of the high number of fish. We passed by the Fred Myer Store (similar to Walmart) in Soldotna where the parking lot was overflowing with cars and RV’s.

After setting up camp we drove to the beach at Ninilchik to see where the boats were launched into the water. A log skidder (huge John Deere Tractor) backs the boat and trailer into the water and then quickly pulls forward leaving the boat in the water. The captain fires up the engines, turns the boat around and heads out into Cook Inlet. The tide was just past high tide and the sea looked pretty rough. I was a little worried about rough seas for our fishing trip the next morning. The tides in this area are the second highest tidal change in the North America, about 22 feet while we were here.

When we returned to camp we watched our friend Ted clean his catch of red salmon. He has been fishing every day and caught so many he and his wife bought a chest freezer to take them all home in their motorhome!

Ted and Ruth Ann fixed a grilled salmon feast at their motorhome which was delicious. Nothing like fresh fish right from the water. I brought over some Savannah Red Rice which Ted loved. It was a great evening.

Boats leaving the beach in Ninilchik head into Cook Inlet

John Deere tractors are used to launch the boats on the beach in Ninilchik

Our friend Ted with some of his sockeye salmon catch

Glaciers and Wildlife in Seward, Alaska

July 22, 2013February 10, 2016Posted in Alaska, Birds, City Park, Glaciers, National Parks, Restaurants, WildlifeTagged Aialik Glacir, glacier calving, Holgate Glacier, humpback whales, Kenai Fjords National Park, Kenai Peninsula, Nature, Puffin, Sea Otters3 Comments

Our Alaskan Journey continued in Seward, Alaska where we spent three nights in the Seward Waterfront Park.

Day 63: Wednesday, July 17, 2013. Palmer to Seward, Alaska. Seward Waterfront Park, Resurrection Campground Site R5. 132 miles traveled.

Our drive took us through downtown Anchorage and then south along the Seward Highway. There were spectacular views of Turnagain Arm and mountains most of the way.

Turnagain Arm at low tide

Turnagain Arm south of Anchorage

Henry and Blondie enjoying the view

Gorgeous scenery every where we went

Resurrection Campground City of Seward Waterfront Park

Small boat harbor in Seward, Alaska

We arrived in Seward and searched the city campgrounds for a waterfront site but had no luck so we picked a site in the fourth row from the water and then took a walk to the small boat harbor to check things out.

Day 64: Thursday, July 18, 2013.

A van picked us up at 9:45 and drove us to the harbor for our 7 1/2 hour sightseeing cruise on the Spirit of Adventure with Major Marine Tours. Our trip took us through parts of Kenai Fjords National Park and there was a park ranger on board to tell us information about the wildlife and glaciers we were seeing. We had comfortable seats inside a cabin where we stored our gear and then went outside to see the sights. As we traveled through Resurrection Bay we could see our RV when we cruised by the campground. There were sea otters in the water and we stopped to watch a mother and calf humpback whale.

Our campground from the water – we’re in the middle on the back row

The buildings on the top of this rock are bunkers from WWII

We saw sea otters all day

Sea otters enjoying the day

So relaxed

Humpback Whale

There were Puffins in the water

The cruise continued thorough Ailiak Bay to the Holgate Glacier for a close view of the half mile wide Holgate Glacier and Surprise Glacier. Captain Nicole turned off the engines so we could listen for the sound of ice breaking loose from the glacier before falling into the sea. When the ice breaks loose and falls it is called calving. We heard and watched about four or five calvings before moving on to the next glacier.

Henry and Beth at Holgate Glacier

Holgate Glacier

Surprise Glacier

Ice fallen from the glacier floated all around us

Our next stop was at the mile wide Ailiak Glacier where we witnessed more spectacular calvings. There was complete silence on the boat as we waited for the roar of ice. We were fortunate to see several more chunks of ice fall into the water including what our captain said was one of the biggest ones she has ever seen. Take a look at the next sequence of pictures to get an idea of what the ice falling looks like.

Seeing ice calving on Aialik Glacier on the Kenai Fjords trip from Seward

Hearing and seeing the ice fall was simply amazing. I could have sat there all day but the cruise continued as we traveled through the Chiswell Islands and saw more humpback whales, puffins, and other wildlife. Captain Nicole got us back to the dock right on time at 5:30. What a great day.

It was our anniversary so we drove about four miles out of town to the Salmon Bake restaurant for a Salmon dinner to celebrate. I just can’t get enough of this salmon!

Day 65: Friday, July 19, 2013

After a day at sea, some of it being in very rough waters, we were both sore and exhausted. I think 2 months of travel and sightseeing tours finally caught up with us. We both slept late and took it easy all day. We took a last drive around Seward in the afternoon.

View across Resurrection Bay from Seward

The Iditarod Trail starts in Seward

The tiles on the Seward library are designed to look like the Northern Lights

Three nights in Palmer, Alaska

July 17, 2013July 4, 2017Posted in Alaska, Historic Sites, Tourist Attractions, WildlifeTagged Alaskan Husky, Big Bear RV Park, Hatcher Pass Road, Iditarod Headquarters, Independence Mine, moose, Palmer Alaska, Titanium Fifth Wheel3 Comments

I’m sure many of you are getting bored to tears with all my posts and photos so I will condense our three nights in Palmer into one post.

Day 60: Sunday, July 14, 2013. Talkeetna to Palmer, Alaska. Big Bear RV park, Site 56. 145 miles traveled. We are actually closer to Wasilla but the RV park has a Palmer address.

After all the excitement and fun we had in Talkeetna we hated to leave but there is still more of Alaska to see. The drive was uneventful except for seeing a moose cow and her calf cross the road in front of us.

Our first order of business after getting set up was to go to Walmart a mile down the road to get some much needed supplies. When we got back we met some fellow Titanium owners from Missouri who were parked in our row.

Day 61: Monday, July 15, 2013

Our plan for a drive on Hatcher Pass Road was shortened by fog but we enjoyed our drive as far as the Independence Mine

Henry and Blondie at the Little Susitna River

Wildflowers by the river

It was foggy all day

Marmot on top of one of the old buildings

Independence Mine State Historical Site

Old Mine Train

Henry and Blondie exploring the Independence Mine in Alaska

Wildflower

Independence Mine

Day 62: Tuesday, July 16, 2013

A trip to the Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska and then a shopping trip to Fred Meyer for our final grocery shopping before heading to the Kenai Peninsula.

At the Iditarod Trail Headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska

Dog sled team running down the track

Two of the Alaskan Husky puppies

Iditerod dog team taking a break

Beth with one of the puppies

Day 59: Blondie takes a ride on the Alaska Railroad

July 16, 2013February 12, 2015Posted in Alaska, Restaurants, Tourist AttractionsTagged Alaska Railroad, Hurricane Turn, Journey to a Dream, Man vs Food, Mary Lovel, Roadhouse Cafe, Sherman Alaska, Sherman Alaska City Hall1 Comment

Day 59: Saturday, July 13, 2013

Nothing could top the thrill of yesterday’s flight-seeing tour to Mt. McKinley and the Ruth Glacier so we decided to take a relaxing railroad ride.

We enjoyed breakfast at the Roadhouse Cafe, another restaurant featured on Man vs Food. After filling up on their delicious sourdough blueberry pancakes, we wandered through the Talkeetna Cemetery to see the memorial which honors the memory of the mountain climbers who lost their life attempting to climb Mt. McKinley.

Mount McKinley Climber’s Memorial in the Talkeetna Cemetery

The placques display the names of all the climbers who lost their lives on McKinley

Mt. McKinley Climbers Memorial

Our train adventure was aboard the Alaska Railroad’s Huricane Turn Train. It is one of the last flag stop trains in the country. Passengers can get on an off all along the route. Anyone going camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, or taking provisions to their cabin in the wilderness can get on or off wherever they wish. Since it is a sightseeing trip the baggage car has open doors so passengers can watch the view without looking through a window. The baggage car was piled with back packs, suitcases, and supplies.

We found out when we arrived at the station that we could bring Blondie so Henry ran back to get her before boarding. She was one happy dog when she knew she wasn’t going to be left behind.

All Aboard!

Blondie wanted to look out the window

Mt. McKinley from the train

Conductor Warren loves his job

Beautiful wildflowers beside the track

Ponds beside the train tracks

Our conductor Warren shared stories about the area and about the railroad. The scenery was spectacular with more views of Mt. McKinley. The train stopped on the bridge over Hurricane Gulch before reversing directions to make the return trip to Talkeetna.

A couple of miles before Hurricane Gulch, we got off the train to stretch our legs

A passenger train goes by on the other track

Shadow of the train on the bridge over Hurricane Gulch

Henry enjoying the train ride

A ride on the Alaska Railroad to the Hurricane Turn

Beth boarding

We stopped at Indian Creek to look at salmon

On the return trip we stopped at Sherman, Alaska to meet author Mary Lovel and buy a copy of her book “Journey to a Dream” which tells the story of moving to the Alaska wilderness with their four children 49 years ago. She signed each book and even handed out a pen with her name and email address.

Home of author Mary Lovel in Sherman, Alaska

Mary Lovel signs her book for Beth

The conductor Warren was disappointed we had not seen any wildlife. Near the end of the trip he spied a moose in a field and ran through the car to tell the engineer to stop and back up so everyone could see the moose. The moose was having none of that and ran back into the woods before I could get a picture. Other than the moose I saw a pair of swans swimming in one of the many ponds we passed.

Day 58: Flightseeing trip to Mt. McKinley

July 15, 2013June 19, 2015Posted in Alaska, Glaciers, Tourist AttractionsTagged Adventure, Flightseeing, Mayor of Talkeetna is a cat, Mt. McKinley, Ruth Glacier, Stubbs, Talkeetna, Talkeetna Air Taxi3 Comments

Day 58: Friday, July 12, 2013

We woke up to beautiful sunny skies. The weather forecast was sunny and warm all day. A perfect day for viewing Mt. McKinley.

We started the day by walking to beautiful downtown Talkeetna.

Welcome to beautiful downtown Talkeetna

Downtown Talkeetna.

House rules at the historic Fairview Inn

Stubbs, the Mayor of Talkeetna. He hangs around downtown.

I had a spinach bread for lunch. It’s kind of like a square pizza with spinach and cheese.

Next we stopped by Talkeetna Air Taxi at the airport to book a flight-seeing tour with a glacier landing. The first flight available was at 4:00 so we returned to the RV park to get the truck and drve to the Talkeetna overlook for a view of Mt. McKinley with no clouds.

Beth and Henry at the Talkeetna overlook

An Airplane flies over Mt. McKinley

At 3:30 a van picked us up to take us to the airport for our flight. There were six passengers on our plane – two guys and a gal from Norway, a man from Maryland, and us. Our pilot Alex was from Georgia.

The flight was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Seeing the mountains from the air and flying so close to the south face of Mt. McKinley was awe inspiring. It’s a day I will never forget.