Day 70

Sunbathing!

That’s what we were doing at 9.30 in the evening!

We had a very relaxing, lazy day ( again), reading magazines, doing not much at all, and in the afternoon we drove the 30 miles into Soldotna.

Marlipops took care of business on the computer, while I read more magazines, in the library.

After grocery shopping we got back to Camp Scenic View around 6, the sky was totally cloudless, so we sat outside, had a couple of drinks and some nibbles of halibut dip and frog eye salad, and fell asleep in the sun!

We have new campsite neighbors today, a very nice family of 5 from Germany.

We very quickly got round to the subject of football, (the real football, not American throwball,) and our English audience will be pleased to know that I quickly brought up England 4 Germany 2, Bayern Munich 1, Man United 2, and Germany 1 England 5.

These are scores etched into the hearts of all English football fans, but will mean absolutely nothing to our American readers, sorry.

And they bombed our chip shop!

I promise not to digress as much again!

Happy Birthday Melinda.

Despite the glorious weather, we only saw one young eagle today.

We have booked an extra day here because tomorrow we are going to Seward, to sea kayak, and we’ll be back late.

Hopefully we will have something interesting to report tomorrow!!

Day 69

We finally arose at around 9 this morning, having slept like the proverbial logs.

It was about 3 before we had gotten to bed, coz we stayed up a while, looking at the stars. In particular, we were looking at the Big Dipper. Firstly because this is the emblem on the Alaska state flag, and secondly it was the first time we had seen stars since being up here! Having very little actual darkness, and quite a lot of cloud a lot of the time, stars were indeed a rare sight.

The state flag was designed by a 13 year old boy, who entered it into a design competition, when Alaska became a state back in nineteen something.

We spent some of the morning figuring out the new camera. Even though it is almost identical to our other one, there are some changes in operation, but being your dynamic super hero duo, we sussed it. (To suss is an English term, dating back to the middle ages, meaning to work out how to use digital cameras)

Although it was a bit breezy today, the view over the Inlet was stupendous, the whole Chigmit Mountain range clearly visible, all the peaks still virtually covered with snow, and finally a clear view of Kalgin Island. Mount Redoubt and Mount Iliamna, our resident volcanoes, were resplendent in their mantles of snow and shadows from what few clouds were around.

At the top of the driveway into the campsite, by the main road, is a “scenic view” turnout for tourists to stop and “Ooh and Aah” at the vista of the mountains. Today, there must have been a million vehicles stop for picture taking. Bob the Owner told the tale of a woman who came into the campsite for better picture taking, despite the big sign which forbids anyone except camp residents from setting foot on the property on pain of dismemberment. River and Max, the camp guard dogs immediately set upon the woman, nearly licked her to death, and she was panicking so much Bob almost wet himself with laughter. She thought the dogs were vicious, and she was gonna get maimed. These two dogs are big, see pix, but soft as brushes. The most harm they do is step on your feet, or smack you in the face with their wildly swishing tails. We are now more determined than ever to dognap River, we just haven’t worked out how to get off the Kenai safely.

It is a bit difficult to avoid the cops when there is only one road off the peninsular.

After a lunch of cheese, Cheddar, Vermont and English Stilton, and crackers, we trogged off down to the Buzz, our local friendly espresso place, where we spent a happy hour interneting and chatting to the owner.

We lazed about the rest of the day, met new campers around the evening campfire, had a wonderful dinner of grilled halibut, scalloped taters and garlic spinach.

The sunset tonight was gorgeous, and Marlipops took 10 million pix with her new toy, trying, as she puts it, for the perfect picture.

We only saw a couple of eagles today, Karen, so nothing exciting to report.

Day 68

Today is MPR!!!

The cloud we have been under, literally and figuratively, is sure to blow away now that her ladyship is returning.

So, after making sure the coach was spotless, and doing all the manly chores like laundry, off I went towards Anchorage.

For the geographically challenged amongst you, the part of the Kenai that we have been on has no mountains, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen them close up. So, driving the 180 miles to the airport, through the passes, and along Turnagain Arm, I got a “mountain fix”. They are just magnificent. Every time we drive through the various twisty turny passes and valleys, there seems to be new mountains, glaciers and lakes. The colors change, the leaves on the trees and bushes vary tremendously, and everything is fresh and new each time we see them. Absolutely fascinating.

It seems that we have a larger audience than first we thought. It appears that certain family members, mentioning no names, Alisha, are letting other people read this travelog, free of charge.

Welcome all you audience members who are from the Emerald Isle.

It is a well known fact in England that we tell jokes about the Irish, as Americans tell jokes about Aggies, or the Polish, depending upon which part of the country you happen to hail from. That said, I will not insult anyone knowingly, with jokes in poor taste. I will just let you know that I’m writing today’s travelog really slowly, so everyone can keep up!!

We drove back from Anchorage, and after a pit stop at Sourdough Sals in Soldotna for a wake me up coffee, we got back to the campsite at around 1.30 in the early morning

o’ clock.

Wonder of wonders!!

Just as I predicted in the beginning of this report, the cloud was gone, vanished, disappeared, va-moosed.

It is the Marlipops magic!

However, the wind was blowing so strongly, I had to put down all the awnings on the coach, coz they could easily have broked, so it was another half an hour before we could get into bed.

There was a weird, very pale blue, almost grey sky, with lots of streaky clouds, in the west. I t was much later than sunset o’clock, so it cannot be classed as such, but more of an afterglow, only very pale. Of course, we tried to photo it, and the pix did not turn out, so you will have to make do with my verbal description.

No wildlife today, and actually no pix either.

However, as a going away gift in reverse, I buyed Marlipops a new camera, so beware, in future, probably more pix than y’all bargained for!

Day 67

Today my head was in the clouds.

Actually all of me, plus the coach, the yellow peril, the campsite, in fact the whole world was in a cloud. And it sat on top of us all piggin’ day. I have decided never to commit a crime which would land me in jail, coz I would go stir crazy very quickly!

Not much happened today, obviously, except that I had some very nice home made clam chowder, courtesy of Owner Brenda, lovingly prepared, so I am told, with the clams that I digged up the other day. It was delish.

So, come 9.30 in the pm, I trogged off on my now habitual Oil Well Road moose safari.

Nothing going east on the road, as usual, but coming back I did see two mooses, about 200 yards away, heading towards some trees, which abutted the road. So, master hunter and stalker that I have become, I stopped the peril opposite the trees, turned off the engine, opened the window, anointed myself with bug spray, and waited for them to appear right where I knew they would. And waited, and waited and waited. And eventually……………nothing. I heard all sorts of noises, snorting and grunting and bushes movements ( Is that anything to do with our president?) but absolutely not a thing was forthcoming.

So, dejected, disheartened and as miserable as an Astros fan, I called it a day and drove to the main road. Not a mile further on, munching away on the left side of the road, a fully growed Mrs. Moose! So, I took a few pix, but it was almost dark, so I turned off the camera and sat and watched. A few vehicles went roaring past, and she flinched nervously a couple of times, but nothing was going to deter her from supper.

A delightfully pleasant and rewarding end to a miserable day.

I also saw a fishing boat charter company named “Afishunt Charters”

Some are pathetic, aren’t they?

Wildlife watch today was the aforementioned mooses, and two bald eagles, early on, flying low over the campsite.

Day 66

No moose stories today. In fact no wild life to speak of, just some wild scenery.

I decided to wander down to Homer, the town right on the end of the Kenai Peninsula, and luckily, the clouds were quite high, the sun was doing its best to sun, and the view of the mountains all around Kachemak Bay were spectacular.

I saw a couple of amusing names.

One was on a big boat, it was called “The Other Line”

One was on a tow truck, it was “Happy Valley Hookers”

If you buy a piece of property up here, and have a road or driveway built for access, you get to name it whatever you like.

Occasional feature # 321.

If The Captain and Marlipops built a road, what would they call it?

Answers please, but keep it clean, this is a family show!

After I left Homer I took a side road, along the southern edge of Kenai, which meandered for over 20 miles, was very up and down and wiggly wiggly, but had breathtaking views over the bay, and I even saw 2 glaciers wot I didn’t know existed down here.

In the evening I did my usual late trip down Oil Well Road, to see if I could see some mooses, but three times in a row was asking too much.

On the way back, on the main road, was a horse, trotting along in the middle of my lane, so I followed him for about 5 minutes before he disappeared into an opening in the bushes on the side of the road, there to get eaten by bears, or mooses or something, supposebly.

So, an uneventful day, but some good pix.

One day to MPR.

Day 65

Today’s report is going to be serious. No attempt at humor.

It is now 10.50 pm, and I am writing this with some very mixed emotions. Happy and sad together.

Tonight I saved the life of a moose calf.

No lies, embellishments or bullshit, I saved a moose calf from certain death.

As you can see when you open the pix, the female and calf were on the opposite side of the road from me, and I was happily taking some good pictures. The calf decided to trot across the road, (see the pix,) and started eating the fireweed on the side of the road I was parked on.

I was busy taking more pictures, when a white Chevy truck, towing a boat trailer came around the bend, towards me. I immediately started flashing my headlights, but he did not slow down so I jumped into the road, on his side and started frantically waving my arms. As he got nearer, the calf got scared and ran, right towards me, trying to get back to its mother. By this time the driver of the truck had seen me and came to a screaming halt, the calf ran right in front of me and the truck, and skittered off into the bushes, having been missed by a whisker. If I hadn’t jumped into the road, the truck would never have seen the calf, and gone straight into it.

As you can see from the pix, these calves are all legs at this age, and run very awkwardly.

I am happy I saved the calf, or at least stopped it from being hit, but sad because I now see how easily they get killed.

So, my semi humorous report from yesterday has taken a serious, and personal, turn.

I know one person cannot save the world, etc, etc, but I now know I will be advocating slower night driving wherever I can.

Having lived in Florida for 3 years, and discovering the real beauty of the wildlife there, ospreys, raccoons, turtles, and of course the alligators, we have become keen nature watchers and lovers. The cynical amongst you might say we are tree huggers, and Green Peacers, but that is not the case. We just appreciate what Nature has provided, and marvel at the diversity.

Since we have been in Alaska and Canada, we have been amazed at the wildlife, we can’t get enough of it.

I know I keep relating sightings of bald eagles, and they are so abundant up here, but they have only recently been taken off the endangered species list, and they are so regal and majestic in flight, we could watch them for hours. I only ever saw one during almost 20 years in Houston and Florida, and they are definitely not “commonplace” to me.

So, I will keep mentioning them.

It’s the same with all the mountains, fjords and glaciers. No matter how many times you see them, they are still awesome.

This part of the Earth is so big, so grand, and so wild it is humbling. I’ve said it before, and I know I will say it again, but we have fallen in love with Alaska.

Day 64

Today was Wednesday, last but-one-day for a few weeks of really, really low tides and clamming.

Bob the Owner, ( I have awarded him the honor of a capital O ) knocked on the coach door and invited me to go clamming with him and Brenda, so I did.

We drove down to Ninilchik again and got on the mule on the pebbled part of the beach.

The mule is a Kawasaki four wheel drive red beast, which will go anywhere, underwater, over water, sand and snow, and even the moon probably. It has a neat arrangement of combined anti crush bar and air intakes. Marlipops keeps referring it as the moose, so now that name will stick.

Anyway, after a crash revision course in locating clams, off I went.

If you want a hobby that knackers your back, knees and thigh muscles all at once, choose clamming.

I have previously described the contortions you have to go through just to get a mouthful of shellfish, and we digged up over 100 in a couple of hours.

Captain Cautious, ever mindful of his poorly bad back, did his stint, then became chief clam hole and neck spotter. These stupid things literally stick their necks out, above the top of the sand, thus making them very easy to spot, and dig up.

On the way back we saw the obligatory bald eagles, Karen that’s 325. ( private joke)

After a lazy afternoon doing laundry and piddling about, at 10 in the evening o’clock, I thought it was about time I saw some wildlife, so off I trotted, down the road, to a little side road called Oil Well Rd.

Marlipops and I had previously been down here, to look for wildlife, coz we had a tip from a friend, but had not seen anything.

So, Your wise and proactive thinking Captain thought he would drive fairly quickly along the gravel and dust part of the road, about 6 miles off the main road, and scare out all the bears and mooses and things. Then he would turn round, come back slowly slowly, and creep upon all that had been disturbed. So I did, and what did I see? Dust. Yes, all the dust I raised in zooming past took it’s own sweet time to settle, and nothing wild, except great swathes of purpley fireweed, seemingly painted at random by Mother Nature all along the side of the road. An interesting “fact” about fireweed is that it grows and flowers all summer long, and when the flowers get to the top of the stems, then there are supposebly only 6 weeks left to winter.

So, thoroughly disappointed, I got to within ¼ mile of the main road, and there, as if by magic, were not one, not two, but three mooses!!

Mrs. Moose and two mooselets.

They did not give a damn about me, so I just stopped, turned off the engine, got some good pix, then turned off the camera and sat and watched them munch their merry way along the side of the road. An absolutely wonderful end to the day.

I have decided to start a campaign to stop all driving in Alaska after dark. On the way back to the campsite, every shadow was a bear, and every bush was a moose. It is quite nervy driving at twilight, wondering if something big and hairy is going to jump in front of you. I am not worried about damaging the yellow peril, but it would be terrible to harm one of these magnificent, harmless creatures. Thus the no driving after dark campaign.

The fact that there is not a lot of sun up here for about 7 months of the year is a tiny detail, which should be ignored. As a lot of road signs say: “ Give Moose A Brake”

So, to bed.

Wildlife watch was definitely worth watching today.

Only 4 days to M.P.R.

Day 63

I went to watch the clamming today. There was an incredibly low tide, and the world and his wife were out on the beach digging and shoveling and boring and scratching for razor clams.

Bob and Brenda, our campsite owners were as busy as beavers, filling their quota for the day, so they have some food for the winter, to go with their 5 million pounds of salmon!!

The weather here today was naff, which for our non English audience, means it sucked the big one!!

Windy and chilly and no sun to speak of, I even put the heater on in the coach.

I have to mention the new arrivals at the campsite. We have been extremely lucky so far on our travels in that we have not had any noisy people, nor any unruly kids running around.

That all changed today when a coach, smaller than ours, pulled in, with 4 adults and 4 kids, . How they all fit in a place smaller than ours I dread to think. Bob says they are only going to stay tonight, which is a good thing, coz I won’t put up with kids chasing dogs around my coach. Feed ‘em to the moosses, I say!!

The fish and chip perfection search resumed today, at the Boardwalk café I have mentioned before, down the road a bit in the little village of Ninilchik.

Not as good as before, the halibut not as moist, and I had to request vinegar, never a good omen.

I was on the beach this morning and for the first time saw 2 bald eagles sitting in close proximity, so I have included a pic for your delight.

Nothing much else happened here today.

It would be nice if we got a little feedback from our worldwide audience, letting us know if we are still keeping a modicum of interest, or if we are boring the pants of y’all!!

Wildlife watch today was the eagles, and noisy kids.

Day 62

Marlipops has left and gone away!!

She took off on the big silver bird to stinky Houston, to take care of some stuff, leaving me alone here in paradise.

What am I going to do?

All those fish waiting to jump on my hook, all those bears and mooses waiting to be photographed.

I suppose I’ll have to suffer relaxing, reading, snoozing and other strenuous pastimes until she returns!

We actually saw some new wildlife today, mountain goats. They were perched on the rocky mountainside on the edge of the highway from Seward, nonchalantly eating the vegetation and fauna, jumping, leaping and prancing from rock to rock. Marlipops asked me why they don’t fall, and the answer is simple, they have four wheel drive.

It is a total of 180 miles from the campsite to Anchorage airport, and it took us 5 hours, with a stop for gas, on the way there, Marlipops in the driving department.

It took me 3 hours, with a gas filling up stop, on the way back.

The highway is well built, and when there is little traffic, my left foot gets heavy!!

Just before I got back to the campsite, I hit a full blown fog bank. It just appeared off the Inlet, more of a mega cloud really, and suddenly visibility was down from bright sunny to zippo. So, Captain by name, and Cautious by nature, I slowed down to the speed limit, and right then, Mr. Alaska State Trooper decided to take a look at the back of the car. So, thank you, cloud gods!!

Scenic View RV Park is not at present, it is 10.03 in the evening o’clock, and previously mentioned cloud bank is still out there, totally blocking the view.

So, I’ll have to watch a movie.

Helen P…….did you get the seeds?

Wildlife watch today was mountain goats and a bald eagle.

Day 61

We’re back!!

Scenic View RV Park, Ninilchik.

This is where we spent an idyllic week, and now we are back here, for at least 10 days.

We had an uneventful journey from Trail River, did a bit of shopping in Soldotna, and decided to see if we could book in here a day early.

We were welcomed back like long lost friends, and since the place is nearly empty, had the pick of the sites.

We both wanted the site at the bottom of the hill, on the left, next to the site we had previously stayed in, and we got it.

We have no other campers either side, and a perfect view over Cook Inlet. In the evening, Bob the owner built the usual campfire, Brenda the other owner brought out clams and nibbles, we contributed some of Marlipop’s halibut dip, others brought out marshmallows, and a wonderful evening was had by all. The sky tonight was a stunning mixture of colors and clouds, but all the mountains on the other side of the Inlet were clearly visible, and we could even see steam rising from some of the volcano vents. How exciting to be able to see several active volcanoes.

The weather today was brilliant, so warm that we had to put the AC on in the coach.

Marlipops has been fascinated by the riot of flowers in Alaska, and everywhere we go there is one particular variety called fireweed, which is all over the place, so we’ve included a picture, which does not really do it justice in terms of the richness of color, but we’ve done our best.

Wildlife today was River and Max, Bob and Brenda’s dogs, who are just delightful, and a new camper’s dog, but we don’t know it’s name yet.

We have told Bob and Brenda that we are going to dognap River, who is nearly two years old, and BIG.

….until tomorrow.

Day 60

Two months on the road!

It seems a lot longer than that, yet it was only at the beginning of June we were in Arizona, and we have been in Alaska, on and off, since the beginning of July. Time really does fly when you are having fun!

We had a lazy morning, watching the magpies fight in the trees, and taking care of household chores. Marlipops made a fantastic dip, using mayonnaise, left over halibut and other stuff, which was delish on Ritz crackers.

We wandered down to Seward, found the local library where WiFi access is available freely, and had a light lunch in a Bistro which had been featured in the Anchorage Daily Rag.

Do not believe all you read in newspapers!

The place was all polished wood, even the bench seats, the food was lukewarm, and the salad Marlipops ordered was missing half the ingredients, so we had to send it back. The service was mediocre, so we were not impressed. The waitress was probably not impressed with the tip we left either. We reckon the newspaper reporter was bribed, or drunk or something.

We then were drawn to the harbor, where there was a bunch of activity, fisherists and tourists and boatists all returning with, or without, their catch of the day. We saw a few big halibut, and a lot of salmon. This harbor is unlike a lot we have seen. All fish cleaning and filleting has to be done at a central area, where all the fish remains fall down into a big tank, probably 20 ft by 6 ft, which has netting all round it, to prevent seagulls, eagles and other scavengers of the sky from getting at the scraps. Supposebly, (remember the word from yesterday? Just keeping you on your toes) this prevents a big build up of birds, and more importantly, bird crap, which is highly corrosive, and can burn holes in your boat faster than the creature from Alien!

The scraps are then taken out to sea and dumped, where they are recycled by the denizens of the deep!

Makes you think, though, if the fish bits are eaten by other fish, which are then caught, and those fish are then recycled back to the sea, how many times is the same fish caught and recycled, and more importantly, how many times has the fillet that you keep been eaten??

One tale from yesterday, which I forgot to relate, is the rush hour traffic.

We were merrily driving down to our campsite from Anchorage, a pleasant journey along the winding coastal road, admiring the views, and around six o’clock, it was as though someone had turned on a tap and emptied the city. We were surrounded and overtaken by all sorts of trucks, cars, campers and trailers, all with local plates, rushing like crazy down to the Kenai Peninsula. They were taking huge risks with the overtaking, blowing their horns and waving to us as they passed. Of course, on several occasions, I waved back cheerily, using a minimum of fingers, just to acknowledge their presence, and to wish them a happy trip. It was as though everyone had finished work at 5pm on Friday, and had to get to their fishing spot as fast as possible, coz “The reds are running!!”

The red salmon are coming in to spawn, and the personal limit has been raised, so there must be a glut this year. Sounds good to us, salmon will be cheap all over the place.

Just as we left Seward, to head back to our campsite, the Alaska Railroad train was departing, going the same direction. Actually, it has no choice, there is only one direction by land out of the town. Marlipops was in charge of the driving department, so Captain Cautious threw all caution to the wind, opened the window, leaned out and started taking pix of the train as we drove alongside it.

Then, superhero that she is, Marlipops suggested we zoom up the road to Moose Pass, where there is a wonderful lake, and get pix of the train passing.

So we zoomed. And rushed to park the yellow peril, and ran down to the lakeshore, got a nice spot to sit, and waited. And waited and waited. The train took over half an hour to reach us, and when it finally came into view, it was going so slowly we could have walked up to it and got on without breaking a sweat.

Still we got some lovely train, lake, floatplane and mountain pix.

Today the weather was absolutely brill, around 75 degrees, no wind, and of course no stinkin’ humidity!!

It might not have been mentioned before, and if it has I apologize, but we have to put on record how warm and friendly everyone in Alaska has been. This is not just people we talk to in the street, or other tourists, it is everyone, even the minimum wage youngsters working the boats and the fast food establishments. What is also very refreshing is their politeness and good manners.

We really have fallen in love with Alaska, and who knows, we may never leave!!

Wildlife watch today was lots of birds in Seward, and a picture of a moose.

Day 59

Coffee.

Alaska and Anchorage in particular loves coffee. There are drive through espresso huts everywhere. It is estimated by the local rag, The Anchorage Daily News, that there is one espresso/ coffee hut for about every 100 residents of the city, and that doesn’t count all the Starbuckses, and wannabe Starbuckses, that appear seemingly overnight at locations where there weren’t even locations before!

Move over McDonalds, here come The Espresso Men!!

Of course, we have not lowered ourselves to go to a drive through coffee place, ……….only because they are all the size of construction toilets, and if I hit one even gently with the coach, it would vanish in a puff of coffee beans and frothy milk!

Today we spent a happy two hours getting the oil changed in the coach, ……24 quarts!!

Then off to the free dump and carwash.

The exciting morning was topped off with a trip to the auto parts store for replacement bulbs.

We hitched up the yellow peril, all sparkly clean, and headed south again.

After only half an hour of driving, down the Seward Highway, along Turnagain Arm, we had to stop, several times, coz the bore was running.

There is an occasional tidal bore, on the incoming tide, and it moves faster than a man can run sometimes, and twice a month the bore is over 6 feet high, and is quite spectacular. We were not so lucky to see a big bore today, but we watched in fascination as the two foot bore rushed headlong up the Arm, sweeping everything aside.

Turnagain Arm is best described as a big river mouth, longer rather than wider, and was named by Captain Cooke. He was looking for the fabled Northwest Passage through Alaska to the Arctic Ocean, or Pacific, or Houston Ship Channel, or somewhere. Anyway, he tried several times to get through, but when he finally realized that his dirty great big ship would not go over snow covered mountains, he supposebly said, “ Oh S…, we’ve got to turn again” And that, dear readers, is where the name came from.

Now, you will all have proof read thus far, and noticed the word supposebly. Our old landlady in Florida, Shelly, bless her heart, used the word, and it has stuck. I propose that it be entered into the English language as a proper word, so y’all can speak like wot I do.

We finally ended up at Trail River campground, which is one we stayed at last week, surrounded by green mountains, a rushing river and eagle sized skeeters. Marlipops reckons she saw a skeeter swoop down and pick up a horse, but I told her not to exaggerate, it was a dog.

Halibut.

For a change, to keep your attention, we are occasionally going to offer a new feature. Today’s new feature is a recipe for halibut.

Go to Alaska, catch some halibut. Have it filleted. Then:

Mix together some mayonnaise, some lemon juice and some herbs of your choice.

Spread it all over the halibut fillets.

Cook on high on the outdoor grille, for twenty minutes, while fighting off the skeeters with gallons of Off.

Fish is cooked when you slide your outdoor stainless steel spatula from Academy under it, and it lifts easily and gently from the skin.

Serve with roast potatoes, onions and brussell sprouts, ( or anything else, really) and a flagon of beer.

Get the other half to do the dishes, coz it takes hours to scrape the cooked fish skin off the platter!!

Today’s wildlife watch was nothing, sorry.