Week 9

August 3rd, 2008

We went to the Alaska Native Heritage Center and learned a lot about the native Indian cultures in Alaska.

Then we met up with Kay and Bill’s niece Patty who lives here in Anchorage. She took us to some different areas where we saw hundreds of sea planes around Lake Hood, another cow moose, some more Dall sheep a little closer, and of course, more gorgeous scenery.

August 4, 2008

We had some free time today so it was shopping at Wal*Mart for souvenirs and Fred Meyer for groceries. Elaine hit a couple of quilt stores from her handy directory. Then we went to the Sourdough Mining company for dinner and a show. They alsohad the world’s largest chocolate fountain. It pours through those large copper kettles down into the fountain. No tasting though. Next to it are fifty 10 pound blocks of chocolate.

August 5, 2008

We are in Seward, AK - 123 miles today. We put 53 gallons of gas in this morning at $4.369. For you number crunchers, we have now driven 5,499.8 miles from home and put in 814.554 gallons of gas at $3,720.93 for an average of about $4.57 per gallon. Still under $5.00.

For the weather watchers, we have had rain or drizzle for the better part of each day for the last three weeks with the exception of two or three partly sunny days. Temperatures on rainy days are in the low to mid 50s; better days go to the high 50s to low 60s. We have hit 70 once or twice.

Low clouds or high fog shroud the mountains as you can see in the pictures. No, we did not get to see “the mountain”. Some folks we were talking to said on a clear day you can see Mt. Mckinley from Anchorage, 200 miles away. They also mentioned the last clear day was June 26th.

BUT . . . on the drive in today we saw Beluga Whales in Turnagain Bay off Cook’s Inlet outside Anchorage. Cars, trucks and RVs were stopped on both sides of the road as cameras clicked. All you could see was their backs as they swam and occasionally their fins. But it made up for the rainy drive.


		Granted, these pictures aren’t like the ones at Sea World where they jump out of the water or stand on their tails. But we were pretty excited to see them in the wild. And Bart is pretty proud of the photos as they only showed their backs for a second or less.


	Since we didn’t take a lot of pictures today, we thought we’d show you a few of the wild flowers Kay and Bart have been photographing.

August 6, 2008

We took a bus tour of Seward and the Exit Glacier at Kenai Fjords National Park today. Look for the blue ice which is characteristic of glacial ice. Seward is Alaska’s northern most ice free port city so they have a harbor full of boats. It is also a city with terrific mountain scenery in the background.

You may notice something strange about the pictures today . . . BLUE SKY and SUN! We finally had a nice sunny day with temperatures in the high 60s and maybe low 70s.


	One of the fellows on our caravan happened to be in the right place about 10:00 pm a few nights ago in Denali and he saw the clouds start to lift from Mt. McKinley. He started snapping pictures and eventually the clouds rose past the twin peaks and he got this shot.




			August 7, 2008 This was a free day. Elaine and Bart went shopping and then did housework and maintenance around the coach. Bill and Kay went sightseeing and got a picture of a sea otter.

August 8, 2008

We drove to Homer, AK today, 169 miles. We stopped to see a chainsaw woodcarver and then had lunch at this restaurant. Fish and chips and the best clam chowder in the area, no dancers though.


	Then we stopped at this beach where they launch and retrieve fishing boats with huge tractors. The boat radios in and they hook a tractor to the trailer, back it in the water, drive the boat on and haul it out. Less that five minutes!


	We are camped on the water across from the Katmai National Park with its gorgeous mountains, some of which are volcanos.


	We also saw a couple of “lighthouses”. They are not real. The lower picture was built by a guy who wanted to live in a lighthouse. The other is a cabin you can rent in Homer.









		And of course we saw scenery. The volcano is Mt. Augustine which was spewing forth steam.

Please let us know what you think of the “round” pictures.

We have been using PhotoScape which has a cropping tool that allows round and oval shapes.

If you like them we will continue to use them on occasion.

August 9, 2008

Spent the day in and around Homer. Bart went sightseeing in the morning. Kay and Elaine attended crafts. Later all of us went out on the Spit (a peninsula of land extending out into the bay) to shop and sight see. We saw this motorhome that had been damaged by fire so they rebuilt it with wood. Some of the group went halibut fishing. In the evening we had an impromptu campfire on the beach.

Week 10 starts tomorrow. It is hard to believe we are more than halfway through our caravan. Only 20 days left to go. It seems like we just left Dawson Creek a few days ago.

Last updated August 9, 2008.