Jul 31 2014

A Day of Rest

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July 21 – Today we did a short 2.5 hour drive from Seward to Anchorage.  We stayed at Anchorage Ship Creek RV Park.  There are a few pros to this park.  It is near the trains, the coast, and the Ulu factory.  There is a con as well: the trains.  We were gone most of the day so the trains didn’t bother us.  In fact, you can walk over to the Ulu factory from the Park and sit and watch the trains and people watch.

Since we have had such a hectic pace recently, we decided to take a bit of a break today and do some restocking from Walmart and Fred Myers before heading out for our last two weeks in Alaska. Nana and I went to see Sabrina at Salon Demetri to get our hair done (I feel soooo much better now) while the boys played video games.

We all enjoyed our peaceful day of rest and look forward to continuing our trip.

Later Y’all

Jul 22 2014

Mush

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July 19 – We left Homer and headed to Seward today.  It is also the day that Pat travels home.  We were all sad to see him leave.  We stayed at the Seward Military Resort.  I have to say that it has been the noisiest campground to date.  People were outside, well after quiet time, drinking and their kids were running around screaming at 11:30.  I am wondering if this happens often at military campgrounds on the weekends. Before Pat left we ate at Christo’s Palace.  We had been hoping for their filet mignon (listed on the website) and when that was changed Pat was going to do lasagne, which also was no longer offered.  He settled for sharing a Pizza with Sean while Brian ate a burger, I had a salad and Nana had clam chowder.  Overall the food was decent.  Our server was really nice but she became swamped and they really needed more help.

IMG_0237June 20 – We think the kids will be remembering today for quite a while.  Pat gave the ok and we booked a dog sled tour on Godwin Glacier with Seward Helicopter Tours.  Nana has been in a helicopter before but the boys and I haven’t (neither has Pat, but since he went home to work he had to miss out).  We had so much fun.  Brian was a bit intimidated by the helicopter.  I think he felt safer in the airplanes as there is more metal around him.  Nana got to sit next to the pilot so she got to have an amazing view on the way up.  Nana and Brian went first as the copter only sits four.  Sean and I went second.  On our way up to the Glacier it started to rain and by the time we landed it started to sleet a bit.  It did not dampen our spirits at all.

IMG_0269They had a team of dogs all harnessed up and ready to go.  Nana and Brian got into the first sled with the guide and Sean and I got into the second sled that was attached by a rope to the first sled.  Once we started settling into the sled the dogs started going crazy.  They were totally ready to run!  When we took off we averaged 4 miles per hour.  Halfway we stopped and gave the dogs some pats but they wanted to continue to run so we settled back down for the final run.  This was Sean’s favorite part.  The final run had some bumps and was downhill.  We went much faster and Sean loved popping over the bumps.  He even let out a “Yahoo”.

IMG_0280Nana has been reading Jeff Kings book “Cold Hands, Warm Heart: Alaskan Adventures of and Iditarod Champion” and she felt that having read his story and been on this sled ride really made it hit home how difficult it must be to do the Iditarod. Did I mention we got to play with some puppies?  Definitely Brian’s favorite part of the day!  He definitely gets his dog loving gene from me.   His least favorite part of the day was having to ask me for gloves.  Mr. tough guy didn’t want to bring a pair.  Afterwards we all warmed up and went to eat at Chinooks.  The burgers and shoe string fries were delicious while Nana enjoyed her macaroni and cheese with scallops in it.

Later Y’all

Jul 21 2014

Homer..and we don’t mean Simpson

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P1060261July 17 – We took a four hour drive from Anchorage down to Homer.  It was a lovely drive.  We occasionally were able to see the volcanoes across the cook inlet.  The first view of the spit in Homer is breathtaking if you have a clear day.  We stayed at Heritage RV Park for two days. This campground offers driving spaces that face the water.  Our first night Nana chose to sleep in the drivers seat to watch the view instead of sleeping.  If you are in the mood for a great restaurant we highly recommend AJ’s Oldtown Steakhouse & Tavern.  This kids loved their burgers and fries while Pat and I enjoyed our steaks.  Nana, as usual, ordered seafood and really enjoyed it.

IMG_0216July 18 – The most exciting part of our trip was taking the boys salmon fishing on the Kenai river.  We have never fished for salmon before.  I have only fished in lakes and deep sea fishing.  We were fishing for sockeye salmon with just weights and bare hooks.  We were originally scheduled for noon but received “THE CALL” at 6 am that their first boat caught their limit and we were up.  We scrambled to get ready and headed out to Soldotna which is 1.5 hours north of Homer.  We chose Alaska Fishing with Mark Glassmaker. Our guide was Derek and he was fantastic.  He made sure that we all had a great time.  Sean now loves fishing and we always knew that Brian liked it.  We each caught our limit and we finished within 2.5 hours.  We were very fortunate to have such great weather and to have a guide who knew just the right spot.  We did get our fish vacuum packed and flash frozen for us so we can take it home and split the goods up between family and friends.  The boys like it so much they have asked to fish again.

Later Y’all

Jul 21 2014

Good Friends & Good Fun!

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DSCN2591July 15 – We arrive in Anchorage! For the last week we have been hearing people telling us that the Golden Nugget in Anchorage is not a good place to stay.  We almost changed our plans to stay there and we are glad we didn’t.  I am not sure if we lucked out on our spot (#109) or if we just have totally different expectations than others.

We had a level gravel site with full hookups that we backed into.  I was happy to see the site across from me was empty as it helped me to back in very easily.  It was only empty as we arrived at 1pm.  I believe if we arrived early evening the empty site would have been full, but I still could have backed into the space fairly easily.  The only time I felt it was tight was about 6pm when everyone seemed to come back to the campground after the days activities.  Some sites had more than one vehicle parked there and parked one on the road which could cause it to be tight to get in at night.  Their washrooms were excellent.  Nana did a ton of laundry.  While we do have a washer and dryer in the RV, we prefer to wash jeans and towels at the campground laundry as they have a better dryer.

Our first afternoon here we went to the tourist area down by the water. We ate lunch at Hard Rock Cafe, bought a few shirts and looked at some tourist gift shops.  I decided that the kids weren’t going to last (and neither would Pat) so I dropped them off at the trailer.  Half an hour later I was back where I left Nana and she was gone!  What was even worse was her leaving her cell phone in the RV to charge it.  Forty-five minutes later she comes back to where I left her.  After a discussion about never making me worry like that again, we went over to visit my best friends cousin, Sabrina.  She is the owner of Salon Demetri.  If you are in Anchorage I highly recommend stopping by to see her.  The salon is just outside of Nordstrom which is connected to the Mall.  Sabrina suggested we eat dinner at Simon & Seafort’s.  If you have a chance to eat here, and don’t mind dropping some money, the food is fantastic.  There was an hour wait to get in so we ate at the bar.  My filet was fabulous and my mom loved her salmon.  She still loves the salmon she had at Sourdough Campground in Tok more.

IMG-20140716-WA0002July 16 – Today Brian, Sean, and Pat headed out to Palmer, AK to do an ATV excursion.  According to Pat, this was a much better, and more rugged trip.  All of them totally loved this trip and highly recommend it.  We found them through the toursaver coupon book that we purchased to use in AK.

P1050724While the boys were playing, Nana and I went just down the road from the boys to the Musk Ox Farm.  Nana really enjoyed learning more about the Musk Ox.  She also enjoyed checking out the gift store as well.  She seems to think that they are cute.  Apparently we have totally different definitions of cute.

IMG_0118We all met back at the RV and Nana was nice and watched Sean while Pat, Brian, and I went to do a Segway Tour of Anchorage.  We had a lot of fun on them.  The have a max speed and since your not encased in a vehicle you feel like your really moving.  We were all shaky for the first minute but then we got the hang of it.  Its a bit like skiing.  So much so that we got off every 30 minutes or so to stretch our legs.  You can really feel it in your calves.

Later Y’all

Jul 20 2014

The Meenans Take Flight

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P1050378July 14 – We headed to Talkeetna, AK to K2 Aviation to do a flight around Denali and a glacier landing.  We stayed at Talkeetna Camper Park for the night.  We really enjoyed speaking with the current hosts.  They had a ton of information on what to do in the area and they also recommended some ideas for when we reached Homer, AK.

Talkeetna is a small quirky town of less than 900 people.  If you do decide to stay here make sure you eat at Latitude 60 which has excellent food.  We ate here for lunch and dinner and we weren’t disappointed!  We also had breakfast at the Roadhouse in town.  They serve sourdough pancakes as big as your plate.  Even Pat was stuffed after eating one!

DSCN2429I do have to say that we have been totally spoiled on tour guides after our flight with John with Talkeetna Air Taxi.  We flew with K2 Aviation in a much larger airplane with 3 other people.  Our pilot was very mechanical with talking about the different peaks and general information.  We didn’t expect him to be a chatty Cathy but we did expect him to make an effort.  Our other two pilots were very friendly and very professional.  We all realized they needed to concentrate on the flight and that any information we would get would be secondary.  I think by having two excellent tour guides we may have expected more than we should have.

P1050477The other aspect about our flight was cloudy weather.  Pat didn’t get to join the 33% club as it was too cloudy to see the peak of Mt. Denali (aka Mt. Mckinley).  One last disappointment with our flight was that we were unable to land on the glacier.  We did get a refund, but after the disappointment with the bland tour guide and barely seeing the mountains, the glacier was the last hope to save the day.  At least we did get to eat dinner at Latitude 60.

Later Y’all

Jul 20 2014

Puppy Love

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Hot Rod Mama

Hot Rod Mama

July 13- Today we had multiple adventures.  We went ATVing, visited Husky Homestead and Pat and Brian went on a Jeep Excursion.  My mom was a bit reluctant to go on the ATV adventure.  She is not into a bumpy ride or speed.  She prefers nice and slow so she can take in the scenery.  We lost our small camera (thanks Pat) so all we have are a few pictures I took with my cell phone.  We all had a good time and would have had a great time except it was very, very dusty. I don’t know how many showers it will take to finally feel clean.  When we booked the ATV tour they had a combo deal that included a visit to Husky Homestead.

Puppy Love

Puppy Love

Husky Homestead is owned by Jeff King (4 time winner of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race).  Everyone loved holding the puppies except Sean (who was worried about being licked) and Pat who wanted to take pictures instead.  I am sure it didn’t have anything to do with how adorable the puppies were and how much Brian has been begging to get a dog.  After an overload of cuteness, we switch over to viewing Jeff taking a group of dogs out for a practice using an ATV.  The dogs were all yammering, hoping to get a turn.  As soon as they were hooked up they got down to business and ran.  Our final step was listening to Jeff as he talked about the Iditarod Race.  After all the running around we went to grab some dinner before Brian and Pat headed off to the Jeep Excursion.

Pat and Brian loved the Jeep Excursion.  They started with a white jeep and it ended up completely tan in the end.  There jeep was equipped with a snorkel and they needed it.  We don’t have very many pictures as Pat was busy driving.  According to Brian, Husky Homestead was better but only because he got to hold a puppy.

Later Y’all

Jul 13 2014

The Mountain!

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July 12 – Today we did a bus shuttle into Denali National Park.  We had hoped to go on a tour with a naturalist.  However, I did not call early enough to get the tickets.  I should have called a week ahead instead of just three days.  Our shuttle bus driver, Kim, was fantastic. She was doing the Kantishna Shuttle which totals 12 hours.  Six hours each way.  Knowing the kids would never last the whole day, we opted to fly back to an airstrip just outside the entrance.  We saw four grizzlies, one moose, four Caribou, and one ptarmigan. Brian and I were really hoping for a wolf as there are 12 packs in the park but our luck was gobbled up by stellar views of…(da da dum) THE MOUNTAIN.

Pat joined us today after flying into Anchorage and driving a rental car up to Denali.  We at dinner at the Salmon Bake which we highly recommend.  There is a variety of food.  Brian loved their burgers and our service was stellar.  Tomorrow we have a full day planned so we are off to bed early.

Take care Y’all

Jul 12 2014

Denali

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DSCN2073July 11 – We left a bit earlier than planned but everything worked out well today as there was mile after mile of construction on Rt. 3 from Fairbanks to Denali.  The majority of the construction was on the Denali end of this portion of Rt. 3.  Every time we got to a break in the pavement one of the construction crew would flip his sign to stop.  We had to wait 10-15 minutes until the pilot vehicle showed up.  Leaving a bit earlier than planned got us to the Denali RV Park & Motel right about where I planned.  We wanted enough time to take a ride down the first 15 miles of the park road (the rest of the road is only for tour buses or campers with permits).  Afterwards we stopped in at the Princess Lodge (part of the Princess Cruise Line) and ate at Lynx Creek Pizza.  Sean loved their pizza and ate two whole slices and then had some cinnamon pizza sticks.  Brian recommends the cookie pizza with ice cream for desert.

Tomorrow we head into the park for a long ride (92 miles).  We still have a few animals to see before our list is complete.  Brian would like to see a wolf.  Nana would like to see a bull moose.  I would like to see Caribo.  Sean just wants me to bring the extra batteries for his Ipad.

Take care Y’all

Jul 11 2014

Fairbanks, AK

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P1030920July 6 – We arrived at Rivers Edge RV Park and Campground today.  We happily set everything up as we will be staying here for 5 nights!  That means all I have to drive is the jeep.  It’s not that it’s hard to drive the RV.  It’s just stressful.  I am happy to be having some R&R.  Sean is just happy to not have to continually move and Brian is happy he gets to sleep in.  Nana, is always flexible and rolls with the flow of moving around.  We have been very lucky on this trip and this campground was no different.  We received a very level, gravel site with 50amp FHU.  Even the Wifi worked well.  I would have to say my only negative about this location is that the spaces are very close together.  Thankfully the sites are on an angle.  I would hate to have to pull a 90 to get in here.  If you are here on Wednesday evenings you will get a chance to see a classic car show onsite.  We used this campground as our base to get around to all the sites near Fairbanks.

DSCN1786July 6 – Our first place we visited we actually passed on the way to the Campground.  We visited North Pole, AK.  Santa was away but we did get to visit the Santa Claus House and picked up a few new ornaments for our tree this year.  They had some cute t-shirts that we picked up for the boys as well.  We didn’t spend too much time here as it’s a pretty small town.  We had hoped to drop off some mail so it cold be stamped with North Pole, but we didn’t think ahead and we don’t want to drive an hour back just to drop off a letter.

 

Ice Museum

Ice Museum

July 7 – Today was the day we went to Chena Hot Springs.  I had planned on taking the kids into the springs but the weather didn’t cooperate at all.  It was overcast with occasional rain showers.  There is a portion that is enclosed but I opted to just skip it.  We did enjoy seeing 5 moose on the ride to the springs.  The nice thing about the hot springs is that they have a lot of activities that you can do.  We opted to visit the ice museum.  They provide jackets as they keep it 20 degrees and I have to say it is very chilly.  The tour guide gave us lots of information about the couple who do the ice carvings and if you don’t mind paying $15.00 you can get a margarita in an ice glass.  You can also go horse back riding, have a tour of the resorts gardens and their thermal power plant.

We decided to return home and visit The Great Alaskan Bowl 20140707_172046Company. We all enjoyed looking at all the different shapes and sizes.  We were really amazed at the sets of family bowls. Was interesting to see the size of the starter pieces they used for the family bowl sets.  They also have windows so you can see them making the bowls.  Call and find out when they will be working on the bowls as we missed this part.  The boys were very excited to be able to pick out a small bowl of their own.  I figure when they grow up and move out of the house the bowls will be great to use for keys so it will be good for a lasting memory.

Nana has gold fever!

Nana has gold fever!

July 8 – Today was a day we set up just for the boys.  Last year they had so much fun “panning” for stones that we knew they would enjoy Gold Dredge 8.  I didn’t tell them much about the trip ahead of time.  They were surprised to see that we were going to take a train to the dredge.  While on the train we got to learn about the gold rush in the area and how they mined for the gold.  Our favorite was learning about how they actually mined for pay dirt in the winter.  Later they used dredges to reach the gold.  I do have to say that they know tourists pretty darn well.  After the tour we went to a covered area with pans and warm water.  We each received our own poke (bag with pay dirt) and we all set off to find our gold.  Nana was a bit hesitant as she didn’t want to lose any gold.  The boys and I dug in and quickly found our gold.  I only had 4 flakes so mine was split between the two.  Brian found $37 worth of gold and Sean found $34.  They were both pretty happy with their finds.

Arctic Circle Crossing

Arctic Circle Crossing

July 9 – On today’s schedule was a drive up to the Arctic Circle.  Once we realized that it would be 5 hours to get there and 5 hours to get back, we quickly changed plans and decided to wing it there instead.  We booked with Northern Alaska Tour Company.  They provide a variety of different tour options.  We decided to do the 5 hour arctic circle air adventure.  After getting our bags weighed we climbed aboard 9 passenger plane and flew just over an hour to Coldfoot, AK.  We then drove 30 minutes to the town of Wiseman where we listened to a long time resident who spoke about how they survive in such a harsh climate.  The kids really enjoyed the flight.  Brian truly loved it.  Probably due to being the lucky one who got to sit next to the pilot.  We all received certificates for crossing over the arctic circle.

Riverboat Discovery

Riverboat Discovery

July 10 – Our last day in Fairbanks.  We embarked on the Riverboat Discovery. The boys enjoyed seeing a bush pilot take off and land on the river and they got to view Susan Butcher’s kennel all while aboard a working paddleboat.  They have a commentator onboard who kept everyone entertained.  The last portion of the trip was Nana’s favorite.  We stopped in a replica native village where we got to see how they use a fish wheel to catch fish, heard a lot about native life both past and current and finally got to pet a few retired sled dogs through a fence while the guide answered questions.

Tomorrow we are off to Denali National Park & Preserve.

Take care Y’all

Jul 11 2014

Looks Like We Made It

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DSCN1766July 4 & 5 – We finally made it to Alaska! We didn’t have any real difficulties with crossing the border.  I did learn that if there is an overhang, I need to know that I can clear it.  The over hang is 12’10” and we should have used the truck lane.  I had read on other blogs and several websites not to use the truck lane unless instructed to do so.  I pulled up and paused and wasn’t instructed to go to the lane.  I’m supposed to be 12’7″ max with roof a/c.  I learned that 12’10” is too short.  Thankfully my antennae are flexible and we survived a close one.

P1030787I have to say that from Whitehorse to the border contained some rough roads.  I learned early to slow down for any discoloration I saw in the road so we fared well on the roads.  The worst part of the road is after White River, YT.  Most people have read in other blogs that Whitehorse to Tok is a rough road.  I am sure it’s not as bad at Top of the World, but as long as you give yourself extra time and take it slow, it’s not too bad.  Of course we expected the worst and when it wasn’t as bad as we thought we ended up being pretty happy.

Parade in Tok

Parade in Tok

After crossing the border we headed to Tok, AK.  Everyone who drives into Alaska can either a) take a ferry out, b) fly out, or c) drive though Tok twice.  Ferries are very expensive so we will be driving through it twice.  We were happy to arrive back in the USA just in time for the 4th of July celebration.  Tok had a great parade and afterward we headed to Sourdough Campground.  We preferred this campground to others as their sites have trees.  We figured we would have plenty of camps without trees so we better enjoy them while we can.

Needs a Bath!

Sourdough is a nice campground just outside of the main portion of town.  One of the benefits of staying there is the rv wash.  It does cost you money but $12.00 in quarters was worth getting all the muck and dirt off the rig from the Whitehorse to border portion of of the trip.  The jeep is twice as dirty as it looks.  Now imagine all that dust (and even mud) up and down both sides of our 40 foot rig.  We sprayed off all the main dirt and when the water stopped I used a bucket full of soap and water and my extension pole with a sheepskin cover to get the rest of the grime.  While I scrubbed, Brian washed off the dirt on the other side. When I finished soaping my first side, we switched and he rinsed.  We had a pretty good system.

Play me some country music!

This campground has a nightly pancake toss where you get two pancakes to toss.  First one is practice.  If the second one gets in, you get a free all you can eat sourdough pancake breakfast the next day.  In addition to the toss, we enjoyed (ok, my mom and I) listening to some country music.  He took requests all night and of course sang North to Alaska and On the Road Again. They even had a couple of guys get up to sing with him.  The boys declined an invitation to go and instead watched a movie in the RV.