July 28th - August 3, 2024 Travel to Anchorage and Friends

(NOTE:  Apologies - I am so far behind in the blog.  As you know, I take lots of pictures and it does take time to go thru and pick what to publish - plus do some research.   

We did so much in Seward and I will post that later as I get caught up.  But for now I am trying to be near real time so I don't forget - easy to do now a days..LOL!)

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July 28th, 2024

We woke to a cloudy day, stopped by the dump to empty our tanks and away we went:

The drive out of Seward into the mountains is beautiful.  Sadly, the pictures do not do it justice!  We went past many glacial streams:

And beautiful waterfalls:

Clouds in the mountains:

The train!:

I don't think we have any fear right now:

I love the way the clouds hang on the mountain tops:

This lake is still reflecting:

WOW!

And another WOW - we are near the Turnagain Arm area.  This area sank 8 - 12 feet during the 1964 earthquake.  Cannot even imagine the flooding!

Starting up the Seward Highway by Turnagain Arm:

This area of the Seward Highway is considered one of the most scenic drives in Alaska and one of the most dangerous highways.  It hugs the mountains on the one side and the water on the other side, with the road and railroad in between.  The scenery is dramatic and my pictures do not do it justice.  (On another note - there are so many beautiful and scenic roads that it would be hard to pick my favorite - not only in Alaska but all of the U.S.)

Anchorage in the distant and the Alaska Range in the far distance:

We made our way to the Golden Nugget RV Park where we will be for the week.

July 31, 2024

The highlight of our week was to see our friends, Jack and Rita, who are living here. We met them in Benson Arizona in 2009.  They were so great to us and have been throughout the years.  They are now off the road so it was great to see them and get caught up. Thank you Jack and Rita.

I have to give a shout out to their story.  They homesteaded in Alaska before it was a state and have written books about it.  (Their books can be found on Amazon - search for Jack Stoudt Alaska. Very interesting!)

July 28-August 3, 2024

We did not do any sightseeing for our week in Anchorage.  We spent time doing some maintenance, fixing some things, cleaning, shopping, planning and relaxing.  I have been touristed out!  I know that is not a word and I need to explain.  There is so much to see and do here and much of the scenery and experiences are incredible.  But sometimes, I get sensory overload and then do not really enjoy what I am seeing.  So, hence, the break.

Our plans for the next few weeks are Palmer, Talkeetna, Denali, and Fairbanks.  I am very surprised I got a place in Denali for 5 nights - Hope to see the mountain.

Tomorrow we head to Palmer so stay tuned and enjoy today.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 128 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Alaska:  Ballaine Bvd; Seward Highway AK-3; E. 15th Avenue/ Debarr Street; Hoyt Street

July 24th, 2024 Travel to Seward

We woke to a beautiful bluebird day and headed south to Seward.

Wildflowers along the way:

The lush greenery - Oh My!:

Beautiful lakes and reflections:

And, of course, some construction:

Breathtaking colors:

And so much greenery heading into Seward:

We made out way to the city dump because we needed to dump out tanks and fill with water.

Afterwards, we made our way to Resurrection Campground South, where we had reservations, and set up.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 82 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Alaska: Portage Glacier Road; Seward Highway AK-3; Third Avenue; Ballaine Bvd; Jefferson St.

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We (I) mostly write about the good stuff!  But today was not one of those days - SO I am going to be real here and tell you how our day REALLY WENT!

We got everything ready to go in Portage and our slide went in to about 6 inches from where it was supposed and then QUIT!   It just stopped - we could not bring it in or out.  So we are now in a dilemma.  We have no cell service and do not know what we are going to do!

We do decided to leave and go to a parking area for the Alaskan Railroad (about 4 miles)  where we know we have service.  We are 40 miles from Anchorage and feel that there may be some places that will help us there.

We parked and make our calls.  WELL!  there are many folks that have problems and we will get a call back, if not today, maybe tomorrow.     Oh No!

Andy says, we met a gentleman in Tok who was mobile, lets give him a call.  We did and left a message.

So what to do...We decided to head to Seward with our forward slide sticking out 6 inches from our RV, - but it was not passed our mirrors...!

We arrived in Seward and the mobile tech we called, called us back.  He was sick but gave us things to try and sent us a few videos.  I have to do a shout out - THANK YOU NICK!

We watched the videos, went to the local hardware store for the tools, and can you believe it!  Fixed the slide.  Now we do have some issues and will be contacting NEXUS for an appointment to really FIX the issue.

OK.. so in the middle of this, we had an issue with our propane tank and our stove.  Halfway thru our slide fix, the glass top of our stove EXPLODES and we have a FIRE in the RV.  OMG!!

We get the fire out, stop the smoke detector that is Howling, clean the glass from the floor (cause I am worried about the cats) and continue with our slide fix.

Once the slide is fixed or at least we now know what we need to do, we clean up the glass and fire reside!

By then it is 6 PM!  I am NOT making supper.  They have a great American Legion in town which is where we went - We both needed a drink.  And they had food available.   What a great place.

Have to say, we both slept good that night..

I post this because... we all see posts where everything is unicorns and rainbows and mostly it is.  BUT. there are times that it is not.  And this is one of them...

On another side note... the RV repair shops in Anchorage do not have an opening until late August.  God bless those folks who really need a repair quickly and say a prayer for them.

May 6 - 8, 2024 New Inverter and Preparations

On Monday, May 6th, we left our family and headed south.  The weather was rainy and "crappy".  We pulled into the Puyallup Elks, dumped our tanks and settled in.

After setting up we did do a check on where we needed to be tomorrow and just hung out.

Miles Traveled: 61 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Washington:  WA-9; WA-522; I-405; WA-167; WA-410; Main Avenue

On Tuesday, May 7th, we made our way to Infinity Coach in Sumner, Washington.  If you have been following, we have had issues with our inverter/charger for a while now.  Last month, it really gave us problems and we knew we needed something new.  I am not going to give you the details but we found Infinity Coach and made an appointment...over a month ago.

So today we arrived and there was not a record of our appointment BUT...the folks that we talked with do remember our situation and they did our assessment.  Honestly, I figured that we would have to wait a week or so but they did it that day!!!  WOW! 

Have to give a shout out to the young lady who did all our work.  I am always excited when I see young women in a field that typically were all men.  Good for you.

We spent some time talking with the owner, Jim, about his parents, the business and RVing.  What a great guy and we HIGHLY RECOMMEND if you have any problems with your RV.

We ended up back at the Elks later that day and decided that we would stay here another night or two - just to be sure everything worked.

Happy Anniversary to us - 36 years!  No we did not do anything special but that was okay.  

On Wednesday, we both did some chores around the motorhome and truck, phone calls, some future planning, etc.  

I did a grocery run and saw that "the mountain was out"!  Coming home, I called Andy and said "put your shoes on, lock the motorhome, and I will pick you up - we are going for pictures"!

Our spot at the Elks:

Me, coming in to pick him up:

Mount Rainer in all its glory!

It almost looks fake, doesn't it.

It is a nice weather day when the mountain is out.  The local news will say "Great weather today, the mountain is out."  Remember, this is the Pacific Northwest, where there is lots of clouds and rain.

But when you have a clear day, the view is SPECTACULAR!

Tomorrow we head north so stay tuned and enjoy today.

April 29, 2009 – Make Beautiful Day – :-))

Make Beautiful Day!

And that is what we did.  Andy finished cleaning and polishing the outside of the motor home.  I cleaned part of the inside and was able to wash some of the rugs.  The Tracker was washed (inside still needs to be done).

I gave Andy a haircut, I got a haircut in town, and Andy helped me color my hair.  I was going to let it go and see how gray I am but alas, couldn’t do it – maybe next time – LOL!

I did the laundry and met two of the locals and had a great chat (as well as a great chat with the hairdresser).  As most of you know I hate doing laundry but when I can get to met the locals and learn about the area and their stories, it makes it ok!

So that was our day.  Tomorrow we decided we would dry into Fairbanks and check out some campgrounds, the RV dumps, and do some shopping…

Until then, have a great evening and tomorrow.