The Cassiar Highway Lives Up to Its Reputation (Monday, August 31, 2009) We were positioned such that we had to wait until an RV finished “dumping” before we could vacate our site, then had to empty our own black and gray tanks as we would not have a sewer dump station for the next couple of days. Also, we added more potable water since we would not have a water connection the next couple of days. Also, we both had numerous bug bites that swelled to about the size of a quarter and itched like all get out. Consequently, it was about 8 AM before we left Mountain Shadow RV Park and Campground. The Cassiar Highway steadily improved as we drove further south, and the scenery was spectacular at every turn. We saw a grizzly bear after our second stop, but neither of us was able to photograph it because of a passing car traveling at an excessive rate of speed, scaring the heck out of the bear. As we traveled further south, the road improved, and even had yellow stripes separating the lanes—civilization at last (we say this with some regret and trepidation, because it means added traffic, more people, more semis, and fewer animals). We made the turn west towards Stewart, BC, and Hyder, AK; these are sister towns separated only by the Canada/U.S. border. The great views only improved as we saw several hanging glaciers, and one glacier was very close to the highway. Today, we officially changed our minds about the Cassiar Highway; it does live up to its reputation and is very worth driving. We arrived at our RV Park about 2 PM, set up under some large trees, and vacuumed the inside of both the RV and the car. Kay thawed a salmon filet which we grilled and had an early dinner of salmon, rice pilaf, and cole slaw. We then drove to Hyder, AK, for some serious bear watching at Fish Creek, a U.S. Forest Service site some 3 miles out of Hyder, and we were surprised that there was no U.S. Customs station. We were lucky enough to see two bears right away, then saw another come upstream relatively close, all feeding on salmon. When we departed, we drove further down the road and saw another bear, turned around, were driving back to Hyder, and saw two more. This proved to be a very successful bear-watching afternoon. As we drove back into Stewart, BC, we had to go through Canada Customs, but the agent didn’t even check our passports. As a side note, Stewart, BC, is on Pacific Daylight Savings Time, so Hyder, AK, is also on the same time; however, because the Post Office is a U.S. government agency, it has to operate on Alaska time, one hour earlier!

Stewart, BC, and Hyder, AK, Day 2 (Tuesday, September 1, 2009) With some grilled salmon left over from yesterday, we had salmon omelet, hash browns, and English muffins for breakfast—our anniversary breakfast one day early. After clean-up, we drove to the foot of Salmon Glacier, climbing for about 20 miles on what should be considered a 4-wheel drive road. We opted not to drive the remaining 5 miles up a very steep grade to the top of the glacier. After making our way back down, we stopped at the Fish Creek Bear Viewing Area, and didn’t even make it off the fenced-in board walk because a large grizzly was crossing the parking area within a few feet of us. He continued passing, within 10 feet, with a large salmon in his mouth. He did not look at me—the closest human to him, only about 6 feet away—nor did he budge one inch despite all the other on lookers, and one could tell that he was single focused, and was not to be disturbed. He crossed the small creek, went into the woods, and ate the salmon. We waited an hour or so for him to return to the creek or for other bears, but no such luck. On the way back to Stewart, we took photos of the post office at Hyder for our neighbor and friend, Loretta, and stopped at the “Bus” for halibut fish and chips. This is an old bus converted to a kitchen, and seafood is prepared on site; it is rated 5 stars by the Alaska Tourism Board. Today, the lady who runs the place offered fresh halibut, fresh sockeye salmon, and fresh Dungeness crab. Returning to the RV park, Kay did laundry and “toured” Stewart, BC, and I cooked hamburgers for a future meal. The Stewart Visitor Center has free wi-fi, and I was able to read email, discovering a humongous Verizon bill; when we get back in the lower 48, Kay will have a serious talk with Verizon. Since their buyout of Alltel, and the switch over to Verizon on July 11, we’ve have not had a lot of positive service! In the early evening, we returned to Fish Creek in Hyder for more bear watching; no bears, one bald eagle, lots of people.

Our caravan is just about over, two stops, one night each, after tonight. After the caravan, we’ll drive from Prince George, BC, to Icefields Centre, AB, on Friday, September 4, then to Whitefish, MT, on September 5 where we’ll spend 3 nights, have cell phone service and hopefully, internet via our broadband card. After that, we’ll decide on the route home, and will likely detour to Yellowstone National Park for a few days. Depending on the likely route, we have just over 3,000 miles to home in mid-September. Wow!

Kay’s Take Stewart, B.C. has a population of about 500 people and Hyder, AK has a population of 100. There are two gas stations, two small groceries, a few B & Bs, one motel, a couple of restaurants and that’s it. The scenery is gorgeous – mountains, glaciers, Pacific Ocean Portland Canal, blue sky and sunny all two days.

The bear watching is incredible! The people are up on an elevated boardwalk, looking down on the habitat – a creek with returning spawning salmon, birds, eagles, and bears eating and playing. We saw a black bear driving there tonight (Tuesday) who was hugging a utility pole and scratching it’s tummy, I think. He turned his head and looked at us like ‘yeah, I’ve got an itch, so what’. Many of the bear watchers are serious photographers – specialists and professionals too. Be sure to look at the picture of the ‘Bus’ restaurant. What a hoot! Well, the Cassiar redeemed itself on this lower part – but the upper 50 miles is pretty tough. Everybody is glad our caravan is close to ending and we’re also sad at the same time. Lots of good shared memories with many special people.

Our Recommendations for Steward, BC, and Hyder, AK We definitely recommend Fish Creek Bear Viewing Area, and the drive to Salmon Glacier is wrought with spectacular scenery. Our car sits too low to the ground, and we continuously dodged potholes and heavy equiPMent tracks. There are a number of quaint buildings and churches in both Hyder and Stewart worthy of photographing, and a meal at the “Bus” is an absolute must do.

Campground There are few choices for RV parks in the Stewart, BC/Hyder, AK area. We stayed at Rainey Creek in Stewart, and had marginal 30-amp electricity—no water, no sewer, no cable. The campground sits in a rain forest, and sites are surrounded by large moss covered trees, ferns, and mushrooms. The bathrooms were clean, and showers were $1. We would stay here again, but more likely would opt for the smaller Camp Run-A-Muck in Hyder, closer to the bear viewing area.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 16,075.4
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Pacific DST
Ending Mileage: 16,268.9
Ending Time: 3:30 PM Pacific DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 193.5
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 6,876.8

Finally, the Cassiar Highway (Sunday, August 30, 2009) We had relatively clear weather last evening, and a couple of our caravan members saw the northern lights when they got up during the night. Maybe we’ll see them tonight! We departed about 8 AM, and within a couple of minutes were headed down the BC Highway 37, also known as the Cassiar Highway. Two RVs in the caravan opted to go another route, one to have warranty work done in Moscow, IA, and the other because of the intimidating reputation of the Cassiar Highway. After a few miles’ drive, we entered a construction zone, driving on pavement, gravel, and even dirt, for several miles. The highway finally returned to pavement, albeit narrow. Kay estimated that construction stretch at 14 miles. We stopped at Jade City, a retail outlet selling anything made of jade. This particular area produces 90% of the world’s jade. Returning to the highway, we hit a 20+ mile construction zone of gravel, and fresh chip and seal. The remainder of the highway was OK. Though not as bad as the Top of the World Highway, the Cassiar Highway received our No. 2 Worst Road designation for the trip. We had heard so many great things about scenery and wildlife along the Cassiar Highway, but we were disappointed as we saw no wildlife, and the scenery was average when compared to what we had seen in the preceding few weeks. Now that we’ve driven it ourselves, the mystique is gone, and we would opt, next time, for the better Alaska Highway. After arriving at Mountain Meadows RV Park, we set up and had a late lunch of homemade soup provided by Charles Hard. It was excellent. As the sun set, a couple of the ladies rounded up some firewood, and we had our second campfire of the caravan; this group doesn’t seem to be much of a campfire group. Tomorrow, we’re off to Hyder, AK, our final trip into Alaska.

Kay’s Take The trip today was more tiring because of the ever changing road conditions – good paved road, poor & patch pavement, construction, and gravel. When we are stopped by construction waits we usually try to give the flagger several pieces of ‘boiled sweets’ to brighten their day. Most are usually quite surprised and pleased. One older guy today would have none of it. Don’t know if he was just a sourpuss or on a diet! LOL. The campground is a lovely surprise even though we do have those pesky black’ no see ums’ who bite and leave an itchy knot on our skin. I have two such bites I’ve been scratching since yesterday. If it’s not mosquitoes, it’s these pesky bugs. Well, Alaska is beautiful, lush and green and mountainous with beautiful lakes, ponds, and rivers, but their bugs are brutal also!!

Our Recommendations for Iskut, BC The remoteness of Iskut resulted in Iskut not lending itself to activities and things to do.

Campground Mountain Meadow RV Park is tucked down in the valley, overlooking a lake, and surrounded by mountains at Iskut, BC. The parking pads were gravel, surrounded by grass. It was immaculate. We had 30 amp electric and water, and free wi-fi. A dump station was available on site. This is one of the neatest RV parks in which we’ve stayed. If we were to travel the Cassiar Highway again, this would be a great place to stop.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 15,879.4
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Pacific DST
Ending Mileage: 16,074.8
Ending Time: 3:30 PM Pacific DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 195.4
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 6,683.3

Heading South (Saturday, August 29, 2009) Another early start in the rain, a little past 7 AM, and we were traveling north, up the 11 mile, 11% grade. Using 3rd gear, we experienced no problems with the climb, and once we reached White Pass, the rain stopped. We made it through Canada Customs with no problems. Instead of driving all the way into Whitehorse, we took the Taggish Scenic Loop, cutting off several miles, and true to its name, it was scenic. We stopped for fuel, both for the motorhome and us, at Jake’s Corner, where we turned south for trip home. Notable for this entire leg of travel was the change in colors of the shrubs and trees as they had begun taking on fall hues.

The drive was uneventful, though we had rain on and off the whole day. We reached the Baby Nugget RV Park at 3:15 PM, filled up with gasoline, set up the motorhome, and drove to the Sign Forest at Watson Lake where we took photos of friends Jerry’s and Ann’s sign from a couple of years ago, and to make sure our sign was still there.

Now that we’re reaching the end of the trip, it all seems like a whirlwind; after all, we were at Watson Lake on July 13 and 14, some 6 weeks ago, and much has changed since then. I remarked that on the way up, I was so cowed by the road, its history, and the mystique surrounding it, while on the way down, it seems much easier.

Caravan Adventures Tomorrow, we anticipate some RVs will leave the caravan, not wanting to make the trip down the Cassiar Highway. The Top of the World Highway and the road from Tok to Valdez was just too much for them, and the reputation of the Cassiar Highway is not a good one. We have just about completed all of our planned activities and Les Potteiger has done an incredible job, way beyond our expectations of what a caravan entails. His scheduling of activities was right on target, not too many on any given day, but not too much free time. Also, his excellent planning and leadership resulted in no hiccups; everything was ready when it was supposed to be. Frankly, we don’t know how he pulled it off given the diversity of businesses with which he dealt, and the differences among caravan members. One thing for sure, Gulf Stream (the RV manufacturer providing the corporate sponsorship for this caravan) may not realize how brand loyal their customers are, due to rallies, caravans, etc.; if they ever lose those networking activities, their business may suffer beyond recovery. More about the caravan in a later journal, but kudos for Les!

Kay’s Take We didn’t see any bears or moose on the road, but we did see a few beaver in some ponds busily working away. It was kind of funny going to the Sign Post Forest; we found Jerry & Ann’s sign immediately. We couldn’t remember at first where our caravan sign was. It took us 5-10 min. but we finally found it. I have no idea how many signs are there, but it’s got to be in the 10,000s. Maybe more. It was great to travel and not have any frost heaves. How to explain one? It’s like a road roller coaster but some dip too quickly and your backend will ‘bump or hit’ if you don’t slow down enough. Especially if you’re in a long vehicle. They’re not too bad in our little Saturn, but the higher and longer you are the harder they are to take. We heard from some friends that they broke their axle and their cabinets dropped in their rig when they hit too hard. They are not to be taken lightly. Some are marked by orange flags and others aren’t marked at all. I think they may be the worst in April and May just after the thaw because the road crews haven’t had the time to repair them all by then. By August many repairs have been made. They say in Alaska that they have two seasons: winter and construction (road). LOL. Donald had a quiet birthday – sixty sits well on him. Our anniversary (9th) is this Wed. and we will be in Smithers, BC. That’s our next to last day with this caravan. We will be heading down to the ‘lower 48’ this Friday as fast as our rig will allow.

I know it’s time and I’m glad but also sad. This land grows on you. We drove for miles and miles today with no one on the road but us – mountains, lakes, ponds, and fall is descending every hour. It was magical – such a big picture and we were just a minute part of it all.

Our Recommendations for Watson Lake, YT See our entry for July 13 and 14.

Campground Baby Nugget RV Park is among the newest along the Alaska Highway. Nevertheless, it is gravel like most of the rest. We had electric, water, and cable TV. Wi-fi was $5, too expensive for us just to read email. Baby Nugget RV Park is very nice, and most convenient for our trip down the Cassiar Highway tomorrow. The Downtown RV Park in Watson Lake would be our first choice, but it is 22 miles down the road, necessitating a 44 mile round trip if traveling the Cassiar Highway from the north. We have decided that on our next trip, we will stay at provincial parks most of the time while in Canada and US Forest Service campgrounds or dry camp in Alaska, stopping at commercial parks every 4 or 5 days to do laundry, fill with potable water, and dump the tanks.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 15,575.7
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Pacific DST
Ending Mileage: 15,879.4
Ending Time: 3:00 PM Alaska DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 303.7
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 6,487.9

Completing the Alaska Highway (Tuesday, August 25, 2009) An early start, about 7 AM, paid off for us as we saw a grizzly bear along the highway just a few miles south of Destruction Bay, and watched him for about 10 minutes. Road conditions improved considerably as we drove south to Haines Junction. From Haines Junction, we continued on the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse, completing our coverage of the Alaska Highway, from start to finish.

Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon Territory, was one of our favorite cities, and we stopped there for gasoline, groceries, and a great A&W hamburger. Shortly east of Whitehorse, we turned south towards Skagway, leaving frost heaves behind. As we crossed from the Yukon Territory into British Columbia, we spotted another grizzly ambling across the highway. Unfortunately, a tour bus was coming from the opposite direction, slowed using the exhaust brake, and scared the bear, but Kay was able to snap a quick photo. We continued on one of our most scenic drives yet, where we saw snow-covered mountains, emerald colored lakes, a small desert (actually not a desert, but sand dunes), and an almost treeless moonscape, crossing from Canada into the U.S. without fanfare. Just after the border, we began an 11-mile, 11% descent into Skagway, stopping at U.S. Customs about halfway down. I used 2nd gear, and lightly braked, while making the descent. We rolled into the Garden City RV Park in Skagway about 3 PM, Alaska DST, with a light rain which got heavier as the afternoon wore on. After several days of no sewer hook-ups, we dumped the black tank, and Kay rushed off to do laundry. We settled in for the rainy evening, watching the only television station available via antenna.

Day 2 in Skagway (Wednesday, August 26, 2009) Our caravan attended a “Days of ’98” show, featuring music, recitation of Robert Service poetry, a short play, and cancan dancing. This show was based on the historical account of conman Soapy Smith’s reign over Skagway, and his nemesis, Frank Reid, the good guy, and their ensuing gunfight which resulted in both men dying. Afterward, we walked the streets of Skagway with passengers of 4 cruise ships; Skagway was as we remembered it from our visit in early September 2004.

Day 3 in Skagway (Thursday, August 27, 2009) This is a special day; my 60th birthday. After coffee, and Kay getting a haircut, we drove the short distance to downtown for breakfast. Though recommended by a couple of locals, the food was so acrid tasting that I ate only a couple of bites. We drove the entire town of Skagway, small that it is, returning to the RV Park for Kay to do laundry before our White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad trip, something we didn’t do, but have since regretted, on our 2004 trip. Our caravan wagon master, Les Potteiger, arranged for our caravan to occupy an entire car. Regrettably, it rained throughout the 3+ hour trip, with dense fog along the route. Nevertheless, there were many scenic views and points of interest. The route went through two tunnels, and in several places we could see the other end of the train from our seat. The narrow gauge also hung on the side of the mountain in a few places, with nothing but air below our window. Interestingly enough, when we reached the pass, the train stopped, the engines unhooked from the 15 cars, and switched ends of the train, we flipped the seats and changed sides so that the back of the train was now the front, and our seats in front of the car were now in back. After deboarding at the end of the trip, we ate dinner at the Skagway Fish House, our best halibut to date, and not terribly expensive. The rest of the evening was spent receiving and making telephone calls of birthday greetings, and updating the journal. Tomorrow, we have an early morning departure, via catamaran, to Juneau.

Day 4 in Skagway, Travel to Juneau (Thursday, August 27, 2009) It rained all night, and all day, reminding us of Pierre Grey Lakes Provincial Park and Anchorage, but thank goodness, we have no leaks this time; we’ve since learned to make sure the gaskets are turned correctly when we put the slides out, and this always requires our doing it by hand. Up early, we readied ourselves for the rainy trip to Juneau, boarding the catamaran at 7:30 AM. We stopped in Haines to pick up some passengers, and traveled through very rough seas to Juneau. It was so rough that we sometimes were bounced out of our seats on the big waves, despite the catamaran riding on top of them. Enroute, we passed by an historic lighthouse, and as we neared our destination, saw 4 humpback whales. After disembarking, we traveled by bus the remaining 30 miles to Juneau where we found a sidewalk stand selling fish and chips, i.e. halibut and fries, and halibut tacos. The halibut was lightly breaded, and the best yet. Juneau was a lively city, filled with shops for cruise boat tourists, but on the downside, we saw a number of drunks on several of the streets and in the park areas, reminding us of Fairbanks; most were Alaskan Native Americans. Our bus ride back to the catamaran took us by the state capitol, the governor’s mansion (Sarah’s gone), and Mendenhall Glacier. Mendenhall Glacier is a mile and a half wide at its face, and several hundred feet high, though magnitude totally escapes us up here in Alaska. On our return boat trip, the captain tried to find more whales but was unsuccessful. Since the wind was at our backs, the cruise back to Skagway was somewhat more sedate, though we did get lots of water coming over the boat. Because of overcast skies and rainy weather, we didn’t get the full benefit of the fjord cruise, but we saw spectacular waterfalls, and even saw a brown bear fishing at a creek coming into the channel (sorry, no photos). Tomorrow, we travel north again—for the last time—crossing back into British Columbia and Yukon Territory.

Kay’s Take This drive to Skagway was one of the best yet. So many different landscapes to see – a lake that was so emerald colored you would have thought it was filled with light and dark emeralds; a desert in this Tongass NF that was so small (about ½ mile wide and a mile deep right off the road (looks like a desert but it’s a dried lake bed from long ago), and then this area called Tormented Valley that looks like something from another planet – rocks with lichen and small pools all around. And , of course, glaciers and more glaciers. The drive down into Skagway was a shock – 11 miles down a winding canyon with 11 % grades. Was I glad I was on the inside – tomorrow on the way out I will be on the outside/ledge. Yuk! I guess I’ll be experiencing another desensitizing exercise to cure my acrophobia. Now the caravan seems to be moving at breakneck speed to the end. The days are starting to ‘blend’ together. We will be traveling in the Yukon and BC the next 8 days so unless we get lucky to get free wifi we will be out of touch for at least a week. We will also have our phones turned off while traveling in Canada. I loved the Catamaran ride today – we were rocking so much it felt like ‘ride’em cowboy’ and we all screamed and waved our arms like a ‘wave’ ourselves.

Our Recommendations for Skagway, AK The downtown area along Broadway is definitely worth walking and shopping for T-shirts, other souvenirs, and jewelry. The National Park Service has facilities downtown, including a Visitor Center, and an old homestead, and those are definitely worth seeing. Also, the old railroad park is interesting with a colorful locomotive snow blower. Don’t miss the walk towards the cruise ships, and there were salmon swimming in the small stream along the pathway. We also liked the Days of ’98 show. Juneau, the capital of Alaska, has lots to see and do, but is only accessible by water or air. (Maybe that’s an idea for all of our capital cities!) This was our second time there, and we recommend a visit. If you plan to travel to Skagway via automobile, one significant note is that there is but one gasoline station in all of Skagway, and it is a long way to the next one in Yukon Territory, or by ferry to Haines.

Campground Garden City RV Park is the standard Alaska RV park—gravel and no trees. We had all the basic utilities such as electric, water, and sewer, but cable TV was not, and had not, been working. We did have good wi-fi. Skagway is small enough that RVers parked here can easily walk to the downtown area where all the attractions are located. There are other RV parks in the town, but Garden City RV Park has easy in and out, and would be our choice again.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 15,305.3
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Pacific DST
Ending Mileage: 15,575.7
Ending Time: 3:00 PM Alaska DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 270.4
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 6,184.2

Our 2nd Worst Road (Sunday, August 23, 2009) We departed Tok shortly after 7 AM, missing a group breakfast of sourdough pancakes and sausage, biscuits, and gravy. We have eaten so much and so often, we couldn’t bear to eat another “outside” meal so soon. Our first moose sighting proved to be a false alarm; instead of a moose, a horse had escaped its pasture and was grazing dangerously close to the road. The first several miles of the Alaska Highway east of Tok were easy as the road was in great shape. Then, the further we drove, the worse the roads became, particularly for several miles on either side of the U.S. and Canada border. Frost heaves were everywhere, pavement switched from good, to okay, to poor, to gravel, and back several times; thank goodness Kay insisted we put the Protect-A-Tow on today! We stopped at the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center for a homemade scrambled egg sandwich and a driving break, then stopped again a few miles further south to top off our gasoline tank before crossing the border into Canada. We had no problems with the border crossing, answering questions regarding where we were from, our immediate plans, and whether we had alcohol, tobacco, or firearms. Crossing into Canada resulted in changing time zones, this time from Alaska to Pacific Time, one hour later. Fall colors were appearing along the roadside, perhaps a little more pronounced than yesterday. We traveled slowly over the frost heaves, stopping for lunch at a roadside pullout with a great vista, arriving at the Destruction Bay Lodge and RV Park at 4:30 PM. After a meeting explaining our schedule for tomorrow, Kay stayed for a chili dinner, and I “retired” to the motorhome, calling it a day.

Day 2 in Destruction Bay (Monday, August 24, 2009) Day 2 in Destruction Bay began with a pancake breakfast in the RV Park “restaurant”. We were supposed to have had a water color painting class, but schedule conflicts resulted in our going to the Burwash Landing Museum. The museum was an unexpected surprise, with excellent wildlife exhibits. Though small, this is a must see if time allows. Near the museum is an old, but still active, Catholic Church; this is amazing considering that Destruction Bay has a population of only 37 people. A priest comes from Haines Junction for services on Sunday afternoon. We made a quick stop back at the RV Park for binoculars and drove south about 20 miles to Sheep Mountain, part of Canada’s Kluane National Park and Reserve; we spotted several Dall sheep on the mountain side. If one is traveling the Alaska Highway north, Sheep Mountain is BEFORE Destruction Bay, and it would be more time-saving to stop on the way up. As it was, we were traveling south on the Alaska Highway, covering new territory—we had traveled the northern route from Whitehorse to Dawson City to Chicken to Tok on our way up. As part of the day’s activities, Kay began making a diamond willow hiking staff, which she will finish at home; it will be very nice indeed. We had a short travel meeting at 5:30 PM, followed by dinner consisting of roasted beef, various salads, and a combination berry crisp. The owner of the RV Park worked very hard on dinner, but it did not live up to expectations. The beef was overcooked and very dry, the smoked baked potato salad did not have a smoky taste, and the rhubarb in the crisp was a bit stringy. This was not a big deal, except for all the RV Park owner’s hype preceding the meal both last evening and this evening. (Note: Destruction Bay was named so by the US Army Corps of Engineers because of the constant winds, sometimes reaching 100+ mph, destroying the camp established for construction of the Alaska Highway.)

Our Recommendations for Destruction Bay, YT We both enjoyed the Burwash Landing Museum, and recommend a visit; admittance is $3.95 for adults, and $2.95 for seniors over 60, cheap enough.

Campground Destruction Bay Lodge and RV Park is an adequate facility if you desire electric and water hook-ups. Wi-fi existed, but would only serve 4 users at a time; nevertheless, it was available. There was also a dump station on site. Two television stations were available via antenna. On the negative side, the sites sloped from side to side and front to back significantly, and leveling without automatic jacks was difficult. Also, the sites were so narrow we could literally reach out and touch motor homes on either side of us. Part of that was due to us being parked between two very large RVs, one of which took up a space and a half.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 15,080.1
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM Alaska DST
Ending Mileage: 15,305.3
Ending Time: 4:30 PM Pacific DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 225.2
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 5,913.8

Frost Heaves Galore (Saturday, August 22, 2009) Our travels today took us from Valdez, AK, back to Tok on our way to Skagway, via Destruction Bay; we had not yet traveled the section of the highway between Tok and Destruction Bay, so this will complete another leg of the Alaska Highway for us, leaving only a short distance we’ll drive in the next few days. There were three notable items today, in an otherwise uneventful travel day on our way to the next stop. First, the road between Valdez and Tok was filled with frost heaves, rough in many spots, with numerous small sections of gravel. Second, we saw a cow moose, near Glennallen, and were able to take several photos. Last, we noticed that roadside vegetation had begun to take on fall colors. Upon arriving in Tok, we filled up with gasoline and took advantage of the free spray wash. We parked at the same RV park at Tok as before, went to dinner at Fast Eddy’s with other caravan members, watched the pancake toss, and were entertained by a local magician.

Our Recommendations for Tok, AK Please see our previous entry for TOK, Leg 17.

Campground Please see our previous entry for Sourdough RV Park at Tok, Leg 17.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 14,824.7
Beginning Time: 8:00 AM Alaska DST
Ending Mileage: 15,080.1
Ending Time: 2:30 PM Alaska DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 255.4
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 5,688.6

A Very Scenic Drive (Wednesday, August 19, 2009) Up early, for us, we departed the RV park at 8 AM, driving east towards Glennallen on Alaska Highway 1, then south to Valdez on Alaska Highway 4. We had been looking forward to the Valdez leg of the trip because of the fondness with which Gerald, my brother-in-law, talked about the town; he was one of the workers responsible for constructing the Pipeline which has its terminus at Valdez. We digress. As we drove through Palmer, then continuing east, we began to see snow covered mountains on all sides. Mountains in front appeared to have a fresh covering of terminus snow. Terminus snow is the first dusting on the mountain tops, and continues getting lower and lower until everything is covered with snow. Typically, terminus snow is the sign for travelers to head south. Despite the terminus snow, we had a beautiful driving day with partly cloudy skies, and temps in the 60s. We saw many glaciers among the mountains along the mostly unsettled areas served by the highway.

Sheep Mountain, just north of the highway, was colorful, with various earth tones interspersed with green, reminding us of Polychrome Basin in Denali National Park. We glassed the area for mountain goats, and finally spotted a small group on one of the distant green patches. Along the way, we encountered a couple of construction stops, up to 20 minutes. This is a way of life driving Alaska roads, and we’ve become accustomed to it; however, we enjoyed the vistas so much along this route, we would like to spend a few days hiking and fishing the area between Palmer and Glennallen on our next visit. At Glennallen, we turned south on Alaska Highway 4, stopping at the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Visitor Center. We expected a lot of activity but were surprised to find only a couple of RVs and automobiles in the parking lot. The Visitor Center complex is new, and very accommodating. However, the only workers present were two high school students serving as National Park Service summer employees. They were eager to help, but were not up to providing good interpretive information. We did note a large administrative building with several cars! We had intended to hike the short trail at the Visitor Center, but a black bear had just been sited along the trail, and we chickened out. We did see the park film, Crown of the Continent, and it was the best we’ve seen thus far. In any future visits, we’d like to spend several days in this area, and with a 4-wheel drive vehicle, drive the two interior roads. Our friends and fellow RVers, Jerry and Ann, did a flight-seeing tour of the Kennicott Copper Mine, the largest in the world when it was active, a couple of years ago, and we would like to spend a day there, as well.

Continuing our drive south, the paved road became quite rough, better only than the Top of the World Highway. Frost heaves were everywhere, though manageable, but expansion joints every 100 feet or so jarred us, the motorhome, and everything in it. Despite the terrible highway, this travel day provided scenery that was among the best experienced in Alaska thus far outside of Denali National Park. We began to see the Pipeline about half way between Glennallen and Valdez, west of the highway.

Worthington Glacier was a necessary stop, and the State of Alaska provided a 0.4 mile road to a parking lot and small visitor center. Though we couldn’t walk to the actual toe of the glacier, we were able to get quite close. It’s much bigger than it looks!

After Worthington Glacier, we continued our southbound route, descending a very long grade after Johnson Pass into a canyon leading to Valdez. Waterfalls were at every turn, and we took photos of each one.

We arrived in Valdez to one of the nicest RV parks yet, Eagle’s Rest, set up and had dinner at Ernesto’s in Valdez. What a surprise! Ernesto’s is a Mexican food restaurant, and one of the best at which we’ve eaten. I had the shrimp and crab enchiladas dinner which was superb. We may have to eat there again before leaving Valdez.

Day 2 in Valdez (Thursday, August 20, 2009) The Lord has blessed us with another beautiful day when we wanted it—for our afternoon wildlife and glacier cruise in Prince William Sound. After making a great omelet, Kay cleaned the motorhome from top to bottom. I tried finding an inexpensive car wash, but with no luck, hand washed the Saturn at the RV site. Most RV parks do not allow washing vehicles at one’s site, but this one does. While washing the car, a black bear wondered into the campground, about 30 yards from our RV. With all the onlookers and noise, it got alarmed and ran off. It crossed the road, and several police and locals chased it into the brush. After they went into the brush, the bear came back out to the road and watched! This was a comedy reminiscent of the Keystone Cops!

As we waited to board the Lu-Lu Belle, our afternoon entertainment, Kay took several photos of Oscar the sea otter. He hangs around the boat slips and poses for pictures. We finally boarded the Lu-Lu Belle. She is a 75-foot yacht built in the late 1970s, and the guy who built her is still her captain. We boarded at 1 PM for the wildlife and glacier cruise. This is one of the most highly recommended activities in all of Alaska. Heading out of the harbor area, the captain steered us by a raft of sea otters which inhabit the area. Fishing boats surrounded the west side of the bay leading to Prince William Sound, trolling for salmon.

Next, we cruised by an awesome waterfall. It must have been several hundred feet tall, and had to be larger than many of the famous waterfalls in the lower 48. (Note: there seem to be two standards for the U.S., the lower 48 and Alaska; it would be unfair to compare things in the lower 48 with those in Alaska!) Bald eagles were in trees along the shoreline, waiting for salmon.

We cruised by a buoy marking the location of where the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Good Friday, 1989. Interestingly enough, the buoy locates Bligh reef, named after the one and only Captain Bligh, first mate on the Bounty who orchestrated the mutiny on the Bounty). Captain Cook, and Bligh, traveled these seas in their early days, thus Cook Inlet and Bligh Reef. After motoring a short distance, one of the crew climbed into the crow’s nest atop the yacht, and began looking for whales. She spotted a humpback some 8 miles in the distance; wow! After a lengthy ride, the whale was again spotted, sounded for 11 minutes and resurfaced. It was like a food fight to get in position to take photos, and because of his politeness, I lost, only able to take photos by holding the camera behind and above everyone. Our next stop was to view puffins and Stellar sea lions. In his attempt to find puffins, and/or show off his piloting skills, the captain pulled the Lu-Lu Belle into areas of jagged rock with only a foot of clearance. As we were backing out of one of the small coves, we did witness a puffin coming out of a crack in the cliff face. As the yacht quieted, we heard this loud rumbling sound, and discovered it was hundreds of sea lions, sunning themselves in the rocks. The noise was so loud it could be heard above the two 600 horsepower diesel engines.

Finally, we headed to Columbia Glacier. We had noted ice bergs floating in Prince William Sound all afternoon, and soon discovered the source. Columbia Glacier unfolded before us, extending as far as we could see. It is so massive, and regrettably, photos do not do it justice. The captain maneuvered Lu-Lu Belle to the wall formed by icebergs being calved by the glacier. Very impressive!

Captain Fred talked non-stop for 7 hours, some good, most BS. He has a very conservative, right-wing view of the world, and it is clear in his talking. I took particular offense to his subtle slamming of government laws, policies, and regulations, and especially government employees. He was also pretty loose with the facts. Unfortunately, a lot of unknowing people who listen to him take his message as truth. After dinner again at Ernesto’s, we returned to the motorhome, calling it a night.

Day 3 in Valdez (Tuesday, August 18, 2009) Our third day in Valdez was somewhat anticlimactic, having been on an outstanding wildlife and glacier cruise noting where the Exxon Valdez ran aground, spotting whales, seeing sea lions and puffins, and standing toe-to-toe with Columbia Glacier. Our morning began in great fashion as our new friend, Julie Hard, brought us fresh pastry. We took advantage of the free day today to download photos, catch the journal up-to-date, and do laundry. Kay decided to air freight her catch of halibut, plus some sockeye salmon filets she bought, back home for the freezer. We spent a lazy afternoon in the motorhome, visited the local library for reading email, ate at a great Chinese restaurant, Fung Ku (yeah, sounds like Kung Fu, and we have enough left over for two more meals), and watched salmon swim upstream in a nearby stream. Tomorrow, we head to Tok for an overnight stay on our way to Destruction Bay and Skagway; this will be our last travel day completely in the U.S. until we complete our trip in a couple of weeks (Skagway is in the U.S. and we’ll spend 3 nights there, but travel to and from will be partially through Canada).

Kay’s Take Many think Valdez is the ‘little Switzerland’ of Alaska. It is a very clean and neat city, even the small harbor & docks. One really cool sighting on the cruise boat was seeing porpoises. They jumped out of the water,& ran very fast right in front of our boat for several minutes. It was like they were ‘playing’ with us. They were incredibly fast, crisscrossing in front of our boat and each other. It was a ‘WOW’ moment for sure.

I visited with some of the ‘meat’ fisherman at this RV park. The silvers (salmon) have started coming in the bay and up the creeks/rivers. They want to catch them in the bay because they taste better just coming in from salt water, so most of the fishing is done from boats. They can catch and keep 6 silvers a day and the cleaning station is busy from early morning to late afternoon. I went to Peter Pan seafood company to have them ship my halibut, and I also bought several sockeye filets to ship. Our little RV freezer can now breathe again – it was way overpacked! We’ve had light rain and mist most of today but that’s okay because our other days here were sunny and beautiful.

Our Recommendations for Valdez, AK Valdez was one of our favorite towns. It is clean with modern structures, brought about by total eradication of “Old Valdez” by the 1964 Good Friday earthquake which registered 9.2 on the Richter Scale for about 5 minutes. A tsunami hit the town, killing some 30 people and destroying most of the structures. The remainder was determined to have been built on unstable ground, and the town was moved 4 miles to its present location. There are many things to do in and around Valdez, and we did not take advantage of them—several good hiking trails are nearby, “Old Valdez” is close, there are a couple of good salmon viewing areas, and the downtown area is definitely worth exploring. We definitely recommend a wildlife and glacier cruise in Prince William Sound. The Lu-Lu Belle is a very clean vessel and many photo opportunities will present themselves. If we do it again, we’ll know to wear ear plugs! Valdez also had the best dining of anywhere we’ve visited thus far, with Ernesto’s and Fung Ku being especially good; we did not try any seafood restaurants. Fishing for silver salmon is especially good here this time of year, trolling along the bluff lines in Prince William Sound. Halibut fishing is also very popular, and there are fly fishing opportunities for salmon, trout, grayling, and dolly varden nearby. We will definitely include a few days in Valdez on our next trip.

Campground Eagle’s Rest RV Park was one of the best in which we’ve stayed. The park was clean, laundry was reasonable and clean, restrooms spotless, sites were large enough to accommodate RVs and toads, and the 30-amp electricity was better than average. Cable was outstanding. Wi-fi did not work the first couple of days, and when it did work, there was so much traffic that we could not get on, having to use the library hot spot instead; this was a definite negative for us. Valdez is a small town, and downtown activities are within walking distance. We would stay here again, but would probably opt for a $10 site downtown along the waterfront.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 14,561.9
Beginning Time: 8:00 AM Alaska DST
Ending Mileage: 14,824.7
Ending Time: 2:30 PM Alaska DST

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 262.8
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 5,433.2

Back North (Sunday, August 16, 2009) We left the Kenai Peninsula this morning, heading back north through Anchorage, then east to Palmer in the Mat-Su Valley, short for Matanuska. The Mat-Su Valley was the location of a Roosevelt New Deal resettlement of families from Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and also is home to really giant cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. We arrived at the Homestead RV Park about 2:30 PM, set up, “rested”, and had a lecture-type PowerPoint program on the history of the Mat-Su Valley by the RV Park owners. The park owners were former teachers from the Lower 48 who came here on summer break in the 1990s, began work camping the following year, and ended up retiring, selling out, and buying the place. The presentation was very interesting. In fact, our wagon master, Les Potteiger, has done an excellent job of arranging outstanding presentations at each of our stops.

Day 2 in Palmer (Monday, August 17, 2009) Kay spent a good part of the morning checking with Ford dealerships with respect to the loose ball joints we were diagnosed with on Saturday, and whether or not it was covered by warranty; no one could/would give us a second opinion because of the weight of the RV, and she finally called our selling RV dealer. We jointly came to the conclusion to continue as is until we reached the Lower 48. We met the bus about 9:30 AM today at the park for a tour of Palmer, which included a stop at the Visitor Center, viewing old resettlement houses and barns, touring a resettlement house and complimentary community buildings like the female nurses’ and teachers’ dormitory, church, etc. In fact, we had lunch in the dormitory. As we saw all the accommodations provided for the resettled families, I couldn’t help but think of the tough times Mom and Dad had during the same period, and how the resettled families lived so much better—oh well! Following lunch, we visited a musk ox farm where musk ox were being domesticated (they are 50 years in a 250-year process); the underfur is used to make scarves, blankets, and such, and is much finer than even cashmere, and more expensive, too. We returned to the park and “rested” again. Fourteen others from our caravan took a planned excursion to Hatcher Pass and an old mining town; we regret that we missed it, but were too tired to make it. We had Pam Flowers, adventurer, as our evening speaker and she was awesome. Pam was the first white woman to walk to the magnetic North Pole, took a dogsled and dogs solo across the northern Arctic, a 2500 mile journey, and just recently hiked the Appalachian Trail. She has written several books, and been on PBS. Not only did she have interesting stories to tell, but she knew how to tell a story, holding the audience spellbound. It was definitely one of the best talks we’ve ever heard.

Day 3 in Palmer (Tuesday, August 18, 2009) As the days are getting shorter (only about 15 hours of daylight now) we are sleeping longer, and today was no exception. After coffee, Kay opted to wash a couple loads of laundry. We decided to use our free day to do some shopping, return to the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, have lunch, and visit Hatcher Pass and the mining town. We made it through shopping (buying an air compressor that has the capability to air up 80 psi tires) and the Alaska Native Heritage Center, but got hungry and had a hot dog at Café 150 (Costco’s $1.50 hot dog and soda special). We opted not to visit Hatcher Pass and the mining town, leaving it for our next trip to Alaska! In the evening, we enjoyed a great wine and cheese party for caravan members, hosted by Jean and Les, our wagon masters. We returned to the RV, hooked up the Saturn, and prepared for our departure to Valdez, AK, tomorrow.

Our Recommendations for Palmer, AK Palmer was a pleasant surprise. The history lesson was well worth the time spent, and the lectures were outstanding. If you ever get the chance to hear Pam Flowers speak, take advantage of it. (She visits schools, etc. in the winter in the Lower 48). Definitely visit the Visitor Center, the resettlement house, church, dormitory, and other buildings left over from the experiment. We regret we didn’t go to Hatcher Pass and the mining town. Also, we just didn’t have the energy to visit the Iditarod Museum in Wasilla and will do it next trip; Wasilla is the official start of the Iditarod Race. (Note: Speaking of Wasilla, during the last election in which Palin was the republican VP candidate, the media made Wasilla out to be a hick town; it is not. It is a modern mid-size city.) There’s lots of hiking and fishing in the area, and we didn’t make the time to do either; again, next trip. The musk ox farm was interesting, but I’m not sure we’d do it again.

Campground Homestead RV Park was very nice, lacking only sewer which was fine with us; many of the beautiful trees would have to be cut to have sewer. The wi-fi was excellent, the park was clean, laundry was reasonable and clean, restrooms spotless, sites were large enough to accommodate RVs and toads, and the 30-amp electricity was better than average. There was no cable, but we had several HD TV stations via antenna. The park had an enclosed pavilion with audio-visual capability and our caravan used it every night; this was definitely an asset. Absent the caravan, they have activities such as square dancing, ice cream, etc. there most nights. On the down side, the Glen Highway was less than 100 yards away from our site, and road noise, particularly semis, on the highway was loud, and could be distracting; this was not an issue with us. The owners were delightful, had more than a passing interest in their guests, and were integrated into the Palmer community. We would definitely stay here again.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 14,363.5
Beginning Time: 8:00 AM Alaska DST
Ending Mileage: 14,561.9
Ending Time: 2:30 PM Alaska DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 198.4
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 5,170.4

Rain, Again (Wednesday, August 12, 2009) Our luck ran out with respect to clear weather, as it rained all yesterday, last night, and this morning traveling the short distance to Kenai. We noticed some tire wear on the front tires in Seward, and had an appointment in Soldotna to have them aligned. They rotated the tires, and called and said the upper and lower ball joints were loose, needed replacing, and alignment would be worthless. At $1400 and several days wait, we decided to test our warranty and will have Ford check the ball joints. Since we had to unhook the Saturn, Kay took advantage of the extra time and visited the hair salon. It’s a trial keeping the gray away. I drove the RV to Beluga Point Lookout RV Park, set up, and began drying out from all the rain; it’s not that the rain is so bad, but with all the gravel, the grit sticks to everything. The RV Park sits high on a bluff overlooking Cook Inlet, but we did not have an unrestricted bluff view. We had a good internet connection at our site, and were able to bring up-to-date both the journal and the web album, no easy feat. Because of the success of the halibut fishers yesterday, the caravan had a fish cookout and potluck. The food was very good; one thing we’ve noticed about RVers is that they like to eat! After dinner, we strolled a couple of blocks along the bluff and took photos of another old Russian Orthodox Church. This church was built in 1894 while the rectory was built in 1891 and thought to be the oldest building on the Kenai Peninsula (the Kenai Peninsula includes several cities and towns.

Kay’s Take One interesting side note. The owners of this RV park are from Illinois and their last name is Dunn. A couple in their late 40’s or 50’s, I’d guess. Beluga Point used to be a great place to watch the beluga whales come in Cook Inlet and going up the Kenai River eating the salmon as they came home to spawn. No more. Where once there were 1500+ belugas now there may be only 300 on the entire peninsula. No one saw one here that we know. There were some people fishing in the surf and my hair stylist said it was a great beach for ‘clamming’.

Our Recommendations for Kenai, AK Kenai was an overnight stop for our caravan, and we didn’t have any scheduled activities. Consequently, we don’t have any recommendations for Kenai.

Campground Beluga Point Overlook RV Park was a very clean park, with gravel sites, sitting high on a bluff overlooking Cook Inlet. The 30-amp electricity was good, water and sewer were OK, and we received several stations via cable, and wi-fi was good. Sites were extremely small, both in width and length. Neither of used the showers, restrooms, or laundry. We would stay here again.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 14,274.0
Beginning Time: 8:00 AM Alaska DST
Ending Mileage: 14,363.5
Ending Time: 1:00 PM Alaska DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 90.5
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 4,972.0

The Road to Homer (Wednesday, August 12, 2009) After a great stay in Seward, we departed about 8:45 AM, in no big hurry to get to Homer. We crossed through and over the mountains to reach the other side of the Kenai Peninsula, watching summer disappear almost before our eyes. As we left the coast, the fireweed had bloomed all the way to the top, and we noticed some slight fall colors among the vegetation. The locals say that fall is about 3 weeks early this year. I saw a bald eagle snatch a fish from one of the many lakes along the way. We both caught a glimpse of a cow moose along the roadside; when she saw me point towards her, she immediately headed for the woods. As we drove beside the Russian River watching fly fishers combat fish for salmon, we saw a grizzly bear eating a salmon along the small beach. We were able to park the motorhome, walk up highway across the river from the grizzly, and take photos as it was joined by another grizzly. The first bear was comical trying to keep the gulls away, charging, then backing off, charging, etc. Of course, the gulls would just fly a few feet and come back to the salmon. He swatted at them with his paw a few times also. As we approached Homer, we saw the volcanoes, Mount Redoubt, Mount Iliama, and Mount Augustine; Mount Redoubt either blew or was supposed to blow early this summer. With rain in the imminent forecast, clouds had formed, covering all the mountains. Still closer to Homer, we saw mountains and glaciers fill the landscape across Kachemak Bay.

We arrived early at the RV park, parked the RV, unhooked the Saturn, and headed down to Homer Spit. We were both disappointed after all we had read about it. The view was absolutely wonderful, but RV parking sites were far and few between, and pretty rough around the edges. Of course our park was no real beauty, either!

Day 2 in Homer, AK (Thursday, August 13, 2009) With only one activity planned for the day, we were looking forward to some serious sight-seeing. We joined other caravan members for a visit to the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Refuge museum—we sure put a lot of tax dollars into this one—guess it helped to have Ted Stevens as your senior senator. It was a beautiful building, with classrooms and labs, and the displays were well done, but there just wasn’t much to it. I returned to the RV park, and Kay toured the Homer area with some caravan members, eating lunch at the Fish & Chips on the Spit, then touring the Pratt Museum. Mid-afternoon, we drove to Ninilnichik, an old fishing village home to Russian settlers a couple of generations ago where we toured the old Russian Orthodox Church, the quaint cemetery and then drove through the fishing village.

On our return to Homer, we stopped at Anchor Point, driving to the end of the most westward continuous road in North America—pretty impressive until you see the photo. Our next stop was the town of Nikolaevsk, another old town whose citizens were of Russian ancestry. This particular sect of Russians was “old belief” Russians, and we’re not sure what that meant. We did take a photo of their Russian church before reading the sign that we were not to take photos without permission. Upon our return to the motorhome, Kay got her clothes ready for tomorrow’s halibut fishing, and went to bed early because of the upcoming 6 AM departure time.

Day 3 in Homer, AK (Friday, August 14, 2009) It rained the entire day today. Today was role reversal day, with Kay waking early and going halibut fishing with the boys, despite rain all last night and forecast for all day today. I opted to stay behind because of the long boat ride, and the almost certain bout of sea sickness; I did the week’s laundry, uploaded more photos to the Picasa web album, and enjoyed free time. And now, for the rest of the story…

Kay’s Take: Halibut Fishing Story, “This ain’t Fishin’” I joined the ‘boys’ and one other lady at the dock behind the Salty Dog Saloon on Homer Spit. That saloon is a hoot! It’s several small log cabins put together around an old lighthouse. Every surface from the ceiling to the walls is covered in dollar bills that people have signed and left. It’s still a working bar, too! Anyway, I digress. We carry our backpacks, belongings, etc. down the ramp and divide up between two boats. I got on the boat with Don Skinner, Ron & Hazel Riffel, and Don Barker. The other boat had Bob Combs, Richard Raikes, Art Nocks, John Lester and our wagonmaster, Les Potteiger. Before we left everyone agreed to $5 each in the pot for the biggest fish of our group. When I saw our boat, I have to admit I was disappointed. It looked rode hard and put up wet to dry. It was small also. No seats for fishing on the ‘deck’. Standing up against the rail to fish. Also the inside cabin was small, dirty, and falling apart. The ‘head’ (bathroom affectionately called in seaman terms) was pitiful, a tiny closet, and the toilet paper was out and loose and soaked with water. Needless to say, we all just held it in and suffered. Our captain was a young man named Matt whose pants hung so low slung on his hips that his ‘crack and cheeks’ were way too exposed. We all averted out eyes every time he had to climb up the steps to the top of the deck to check on problems. Yes, there were several technical problems with the boat. The first sign was when Matt tried to back the boat up in dock the chain or something kept slipping, finally it did back up but he had it throttled so high we hit the dock with quite a jolt. All of us were wide eyed. We took off and Matt was wanting to take us way out past the point of the Kenai Peninsula were there was a bed of really large halibut. He said the weather was iffy but if we were up for it, that’s what he wanted to do. The guys said yeah and off we went . When we got out of the bay area the chop on the water increased and the further we got towards the end of the peninsula the worse it got. Matt was boring down and we were diving into and out of huge and more huge waves. It was an absolutely bone jarring, spine jamming boat ride and gave me a headache. Finally Matt realized it wasn’t going to get better just worse about the time he saw that we were losing oil pressure. Here we were stopped in these huge waves, rolling about, tilting right and left, and he’s pouring gallons of oil into two big motors. It was about then that I realized, I may have placed myself in a very bad situation. Questionable boat, bad weather, huge waves, and very cold water. Yes, dear friends and kids, I became slightly scared. I must have lost my mind signing up for this fishing thing. Well, after 3 hrs. of travelling , we finally made it part way back to another area with about 10 other boats (trawlers, I’d call them), and began fishing. When we stopped and he started putting out the rods, I realized we would be fishing from this small deck, no seats, no safety belts. Water pouring over the rails, tipping, sliding, tossing with the waves. If I’d been among strangers, I would have just said, ‘no thanks’. But, everyone else climbed up out of the cabin and took a rod so I did too. The rod was heavy and the line also had a 3 lb. weight on it and a dead fish for bait. We were fishing in 240 ft. deep water. Halibut are near the bottom. Sure enough, drop the line, when it hit bottom, crank it a couple of times and wait. Within seconds, there was a heaviness to the line and you started cranking, and cranking. It was like pulling up a corpse that weighed 20+ lbs or more every time. But sometimes it woke up and fought or pulled back down. We were fishing so close that the fish swam in circles fighting and our lines would get tangled up. My arms were so tired and sore after the first fish I couldn’t believe it. I would lift the rod with my left arm and crank as hard as I could with my right and then hold and rest. Lift and crank. Lift and crank. I think I know what a hoist feels like. God, this isn’t fishing; it’s work!! Well, I threw back in probably 6 or 7. The 4th fish I caught was around 30 lbs. the captain thought so we kept it.

He helped me reel it part of the way. Really the smaller fish were harder because they fought more and longer. I took a break and ate a sandwich and drank a whole bottle of water. I also stripped down and removed a layer of clothes. I had worked up quite a sweat. Did I mention that it had also begun raining during our journey out? Lovely weather. After my break, I probably pulled in 4 or 5 more halibut and threw them back. The captain wanted all of us to break at least 25 lbs. But my arms were so tired when I pulled in my last fish, I said I’ll keep him. I quit, I’m tired. I went into the cabin. Also the husband of the other lady had become deathly seasick.

He was managing okay as long as we were traveling, but when we stopped and that boat started rocking as much as it was, he turned green and upchucked the rest of the time. Next Don and Hazel got their two and gave up from exhaustion. The other Don probably caught another 15 or more and kept throwing them back. He really wanted a big one, but he finally settled on a 25 lber. Our boat had a diaphram leak and was leaking oil; so captain decided we would head back. We were all exhausted. I had caught the largest fish on our boat. It was about 4:30 when we got into dock. Everyone else was disappointed that our captain wasn’t going to hang all of our fish behind the Salty Dog Saloon and we’d take pictures there before they processed our ‘meat’/fish. I could have cared less. I was bone tired and everything/and all of us smelled like fish! Ugh! Our captain said our company we chartered with didn’t pay extra to do that, so he filleted our fish right there on the dock and handed us our bag of filets. I headed straight down to the fish processing hut and had mine weighed – 20 lbs of filleted halibut, vacuum packed and frozen. Then I went home to the rig, showered and washed my hair, and we washed everything including the backpack to get the fish smell out. I guess I’m glad I went halibut fishing this one time, but never again! My arms and legs are still sore today. Oh, yes, I had the largest fish in both boats so I won the fish pool for our group. The men were fairly good sports about it. LOL Our freezer in the rig is now full of halibut. I donated 3 lbs. to a fish fry the caravan men are cooking tonight. That’s my ‘fish story’ but I don’t consider that real fishin!!

Our Recommendations for Homer, AK Homer is surrounded by Cook Inlet, Kachemak Bay, and beyond those, mountains and glaciers. Unfortunately for us, we were never able to completely see all the beauty because of clouds and rain. Other than fishing, and Homer has outstanding halibut fishing, we did not find much to do here. We would return, just to enjoy the scenery, but would only stay a day or two.

Campground Oceanview RV Park was typical of most RV parks in which we have stayed in Alaska—gravel sites and lots of dust. The sites were on a hill side overlooking Cook Inlet, but we were sandwiched between two big rigs so all we saw were motorhomes. The 30-amp electricity was marginal. Water and sewer were OK, and we received all major networks via cable, though NBC was barely visible. Free wi-fi did not work at our site, but was available in the crowded laundry. One-hour complimentary wi-fi was available at our site, but was so slow it took almost 15 minutes to download our bank statement. Neither of us used the showers or restrooms. The laundry was $2 per load washing, and $2 per load drying, and was adequate, though quite limited in size.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 14,112.5
Beginning Time: 1:00 PM Alaska DST
Ending Mileage: 14,274.0
Ending Time: 4:00 PM Alaska DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 161.5
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 4,882.5