Trapper Creek, Alaska

This morning we finally left Palmer on our way toward Denali. We stopped overnight in Trapper Creek Inn and Campground. It is a pleasant isolated setting along the road; surprisingly we got a full hookup with 50 amp service and wifi. Our Verizon phones also worked in this out of the way place. Once we were parked and had lunch, we went for a drive to Talkeetna and see the sites there/ Turns out it is just a little tourist town with a lot of places offering flights to see Mt McKinley. There were places to view the Mt, however it was just too overcast. We walked around a bit and had an ice cream cone, then headed back.



There a lot of really large hanging baskets here in Alaska.

This is one of the places that offered flights over Mt. McKinley.




After dinner we decided that we would go for a drive and see if we could find a spot to see Mt. Mckinley. We found a couple of places but the cloud cover was too thick so we head back to the bus. On the way we spotted a new store and thought we would check it out, however it was closed.

family visit in Anchorage

Today was one of those lazy kind of days. We had plans to go to Anchorage and have dinner with Dennis' cousin Paula, who we have not seen in over 20 years. Barb finally decided that she would make some of the fireweed honey that they talk about in Alaska.

After the honey was made and put in canning jars, we just kind of hung around the campground using the computer and reading.

We left for Anchorage about 4:30 in the afternoon as we want to make Walmart stop at Eagle River for dog food and treats for Roxie.

We arrived at Paula's right on time and had a surprise waiting for us. Dennis' aunt and Paula's mom Pat was there. It was really great to see her again. She is a lovely and feisty lady. We went out for a wonderful dinner at the Sea Galley, afterward back to Paula's for more catching up on families.

We will be seeing both of them again in about a week, can't wait.

The classic thorn between two roses

In and around the Mat-Su Valley

We are still in Palmer in the Mat-Su Valley. This is the prime agricultural region of the state. It is known for the large vegetables that they grow. Barbara noticed the largest rhubarb that she had ever seen growing in the campground. She asked the owners if she could pick some and they gave her permission to do so. She made a pie and has enough rhubarb left for a couple more.

Yesterday we drove back to Anchorage to go to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center. This museum features Alaska themed art, and cultural and historic displays of the city and state. We spent a pleasant couple of hours there about an hour of which was on a guided tour.

This is the giant totem pole that stood 2 floors high.

This winter coat was made by this ladies auntie when she was a young woman, it is intricate and really beautiful.

That afternoon we went to the Palmer Farmers Market and Flea Market which is a weekly event on summer Fridays. We bought some homemade honey and a willow walking stick.

The vegetable's here grow quite large.

Our outing this morning was a drive up the Hatcher Pass Road to the old Independence Mine. We toured the site of the mine which was one of the largest in the state in the late '30's and early '40's. We would have preferred the guided tour but our timing was wrong, so we did self-guided with signs explaining the various machines, ruins and operation of the old mine.

This is the old mine, it is falling down, but they have restored a number of the buildings around it.

Equipment from the old mine included several old diesel engines, the largest of which is shown below.

Just above the old mine is a rock glacier, there are so many rocks that the ice is hidden.

This evening we drove out of Palmer to a reindeer farm. We didn't do the tour but viewed the reindeer from the road. Reindeer are the same species as Caribou of North American origin, but are of old world origin and have been domesticated. The reindeer that we saw this evening appeared notably smaller than the one wild caribou that we saw near Kenai a couple of weeks ago.

Now these are the real thing, not like the ones in the lower 48; however, they do not fly.

Palmer Alaska

We're staying just outside Palmer at the Town and County RV Park for a few days. We have a full service site and it is a nice place just off the highway. We chose this park partly because they have wifi but there is a fee for it and we found that we can access the internet reasonably well with our Verizon phones so we did not pay for the wifi. We wanted to stay in range of Anchorage as Dennis' cousin Paula was out of town when we went through - no cause and effect thing here we're pretty sure . And there are some things to see and do in this area.

Yesterday we looked around Palmer and Wasilla which is 6 or 7 miles away and we shopped at Walmart and Target in Wasilla and had dinner in a Mexican resturant there. It was a time to stock up as the Walmart especially was well stocked and with mostly reasonable prices. Barbara finally got to have a margarita for the first time since we have been in Alaska. Several times she wanted to order one but the restaurant did not have a liquor license as many seem to be licensed only for beer and wine. In any case she had a good one and we had good food as well. And no, we didn't see Sarah Palin and we are pretty sure that we were not seeing Russia from Wassila - maybe a few more margaritas and who knows.

Today we drove up the Glen Highway to see the Matanuska Glacier. This was backtracking as we had come up this highway on our way here in June. It is easier to do sightseeing in the car and we were hurrying along when we came by earlier. We saw some great views of the river valleys, mountains, and the glacier. Dennis walked the 1 mile glacier viewing loop but the views though at a different angle were not better than from the viewing center by the parking lot.

This is a group of teenagers Barb met while Dennis was walking the glacier trail. Actually, they wanted to meet our dog Roxie. They are with a group called Adventures Cross Crountry. This group takes teenagers on a 30 to 40 day camping trip to different states. This group was visiting Alaska. They were in need of a little puppy love after 30 days. They were a very friendly and polite group of kids. They all agreed that showers were the thing they most missed.

This is a view of one of the mountians just before a storm came through. It was one that was surrounding the glacier.

Getting Leaks Fixed

We drove yesterday into Premier Coach in Anchorage to have the hose under our fuel tank replaced. They are the garage for a tour bus line but they do outside service work. They had been recommended to us by a driver on one of the tour buses. They don't start work until noon as most of the work on the tour buses comes in late in the day. They were ready to start on our bus shortly after noon. They looked things over carefully and agreed with our assessment of the source of the leak and what needed to be done to repair it. All went reasonably well but it was time consuming draining and filling the tanks and they had to get hoses made up after they had the old ones off (we agreed that all four should be changed not just the leaky one), so it was approaching 6 o'clock when it was done.

We drove around and did a bit of shopping and familiarized ourselves a bit with Anchorage while we waited.

We had talked with the service manager about a leak in our coach air system that we recently noticed when we applied our air powered door lock on the road. It is so bad that we were afraid to use the lock even though our compressor could keep up with the leak. We were able to show approximately where the leak was coming from. They had identified that a hose needed to be replaced, but said that it was too late in the day to get one. The hose is from the auxiliary air tank and would affect operation of the windshield wipers as well, so it seemed important to get it fixed. So we agreed to come back in tomorrow. They don't allow anyone to stay overnight in their lot but said that others have stayed on a quiet dead end street between the garage area and a city park. So we stayed there.

Parking on the street turned out to be surprisingly quiet and pleasant with the possible distractions of a nearby airport, major thoroughfare and the tour bus facility itself. Dennis took Roxie and walked over to the park that evening and watched a few innings of a slow pitch softball game. Haven't done that for a long time.

We had visitors the next morning. It turns out that the Anchorage Police had been called to investigate a couple of homeless individuals living in cars in the area we were in. After talking to them they came by to see us. They asked how long we had been there and we said just overnight and added that we were waiting to have our coach worked on that day and that we planned to leave about noon. They said fine and were pleasant but implied that staying longer would not be welcomed. We had the morning free as we were going to have our air leak repaired in the afternoon. We took the opportunity to visit the Alaska Zoo which is a rather small zoo that specializes in northern wildlife including such things as Polar Bears, Musk Ox, and Dall Sheep.


Just love this guys face



Big Bare Bear Butt:

Profile is much better:
This one is the big pappa bear







Musk Ox




Dall sheep, they are really beautiful





This one says I'm watching you too!!



This is an unusual camel


We brought the coach in and dropped it off for repair to the air hose. It was not a problem but took a bit longer than expected.

It was after 4 when completed. We decided to wait around and have dinner and drive through Anchorage after rush hour. We had investigated staying at Centennial Park in Anchorage as an affordable option in the city but found oddly that the campground had closed for 2 days. So we drove back toward Palmer and ended up staying the night at the same spot along the Matanuska River where we had stayed on June 20. Even though it was a very nice spot we hadn't planned to stay there again but other spots that we considered didn't look as good so we went on.

Mechanical Woes

Today was supposed to be an easy and restful day. We were planning to go at our leisure to a campground just short of Anchorage. That should give us time to enjoy our last day on the beautiful Resurrection Bay, walk Roxie, and take it easy, then make the short drive, and rest or do a bit of sightseeing. Well, things started well. The pleasant cool weather continued with no rain. Barbara found some great sweet rolls, and a spot to view eagles.


We have been searching for several weeks to get a close up of eagles, finally this morning out of the blue here were these two beauties.
This is the male, and below is the female, who kept flying back to the nest.

Things continued on track until we started the bus. Dennis went out to make the pretravel checks while the bus idled. After idleing a minute or so it ran rough briefly and stalled. This was disconcerting as it is something that does not happen. So Dennis went in to start it again, and it turned over but wouldn't start. After several more rounds of this it seemed clear that it was not going to just decide to start. After considering possibilities, Dennis decided that it must be a fuel problem. So the first guess was that the engine had somehow lost its prime. That happened once before 3 or 4 years ago. It turned out we had what we would need to reprime. We gathered our spare fuel pump with lines and fittings, a 5 gallon can with maybe a gallon of diesel fuel, wrenches, and wire and went to work. The techniques is to tap into the fuel line going to the engine and pump fuel from the fuel can, then try to start the engine. With a handful of wrenches and fittings, and running a wire from our house battery bay to run the external pump it looks more complicated than it is. While Dennis runs the extra pump Barbara starts the bus. It starts quickly and runs well. It is using the fuel from the can quickly and we don't want to run out as that could easily cause us to lose the prime again, so we shut if off. We reconnect the bus lines to run as usual from the tank, confidently put the tools and everything away and start the bus again. Dennis is explaining to onlookers how easy the old diesels are to work on. Unbeknown to him, Barbara has already explained to neighbors that thought Dennis must be a mechanic that he is in fact a retired psychologist who knows in general how a lot of things work but is actually a klutz at working on them. So Dennis is probably the only one surprised when the engine sputters and dies again.

So back to square one. The question is whether to try the same procedure again or what. Dennis is still sure that it is a fuel problem and thinks that changing fuel filters may be be the way to go. A rather well informed onlooker calls a friend who has experience working with buses and they agree that it is a fuel problem. They suggest looking for any evidence of leaks in fuel lines and especially at connections in them, then if that doesn't work try changing the fuel filters in case they are clogged. So we spent a few minutes and didn't find any fuel line problems. Dennis went to a gas station and filled the 5 gallon can with diesel fuel. He changed the 2 fuel filters ( we have carried spares for years but never changed them on the road before). We then hooked up the external fuel pump again and went through the same procedure. But we had more fuel and ran for a much longer time from the fuel can before reconnecting the lines to the bus tank. This time Dennis starts the bus and holds the accelerator at a high idle for several minutes, before letting it idle at the normal speed. It runs fine and we are able to leave. This leaves some question about whether the problems was a clogged filter or losing the prime for some reason, but at least we are on our way and all agree that the engine sounds good. So we made our hour and a half trip, and stopped for the night at a very quiet rustic campground in the Portage Valley.

Ironically this all happened the day before we plan to take the bus into a shop in Anchorage for another problem. When we got to Soldotna we found that we had a small but steady drip of diesel fuel under the bus. We put a pan under to catch it and found that it was a little less than a quart of day. Dennis spent a lot of time looking for the problem. Our worst fear was that it was a leak in one of our fuel tanks. After taking off a compartment cover for the main fuel tank and getting into the compartment with the auxiliary fuel tank we were relieved to find that neither of the tanks was leaking. We spent some time checking all lines from the tanks as well as our diesel generator and diesel heater. We studied diagrams from the bus manual, and concluded that the only thing left that could cause it was a leak in the lines from our main fuel tank to our auxiliary tank 10 feet or so away. There are two lines under the bus with hoses at each end connecting pipes to allow for removal of the tanks if needed. Dennis drove the bus us on some 2 by 10 boards that we carry for leveling and crawled under with a flashlight. Yes, the leak clearly was coming from a hose connecting to the auxiliary tank. Possibly, hopefully, just a hose clamp loose. Dennis tried to get at the clamps for the hose involved but the whole are is covered by a long shield to protect the lines. He couldn't get at it and was afraid that if he took the shield off he might be too awkward to get back on in the dark cramped space under the bus. So he reluctantly gave up but was at least relieved to know where the problem was. He went to several garages in the Soldotna area and the only one who expressed confidence that they could deal with it was backed up for over 2 weeks. So somewhat reluctantly Dennis went under the bus again a couple of days later. A neighbor made a very useful suggestion about how to keep the shield in place with a much longer bolt of the same thread while getting it out of the way. It worked great! But the problem is not just a hose clamp; it is the hose. Replacing this large fuel hose would require draining the tanks of fuel. Unfortunately we have over 100 gallons in the tanks. This is clearly not a do it yourself job that can be done in a campground. Dennis makes a crude patch for the hose involving a section of a rubber glove, duct tape, and a solid hose clamp right over the leak. Surprisingly this seems to slow the leak considerably. It goes from close to a quart a day to about half a cup a day. But we still need a real fix. So we got the name of a bus garage in Anchorage and are scheduled to go in tomorrow.

BARB'S FISH TALES

Ever since we came to Alaska the one thing that I want to do more than anything else, was FISH, and to catch salmon. Arriving in Seward, the main objective was to get on a boat and fish. We finally set a time for Sat. July 11. I arrived early for the trip but sure did not want to miss the boat. I was schedule on what is call a six-pack trip which is 6 people and the captain on a small boat.

The captain was a tiny little woman named Kat and she was a real character. Said what she meant and meant what she said. After arriving early 4 of the other fishermen were on time and we had to wait a long time for the last woman show up, she couldn't find the the right dock.

She finally shows up 45 minutes late and we were ready to go after Kat gave us the rules of the trip. The safety features of the small boat were only the life jacket location, and to hold on while moving. The other important information regarded the toilet rules. There was not enough ceiling space for the men to stand up to pee, so they had to stand facing the toilet just outside the door and pee in half a milk container, then poor it over the side of the boat. While this was going on the ladies had to face the other direction as if whale watching.

We finally go on the way out to the fishing spot, there were hundreds of boats out there, big, small and even smaller than the one I was on. Kat decided that we would go to Pony cove as planned since there were so many people out on the weekend.


We found our spot and Kat got all of us set up with the rods, bait and instructions as how to lower your line into the water. To say the least I was very nervous, very large body of water, very small boat, with a short wall to lean into with my knees for support. Jim got the first bit and he pulled a really nice salmon up close so Kat could get with the net. Now I was really nervous, just thought I would never get one and then, there was this slight tug, I pulled up on the rods and the fight began. It was wonderful, he was a real fighter but Kat kept yelling hold him, follow him down the boat, I had to keep reeling while ducking under the other lines in the water, then there he was and Kat got him in the net. I was so pumped up I couldn't believe that I caught that big fish, and couldn't wait to the line back in the water. The limit on salmon in Alaska is 6 per day except for King and that is 2 per day.


I was afraid that I would not be able to catch my limit, Jim was the first to do so and he also caught the biggest one. Everyone was caught off guard when I caught two at the end to finish my limit in second place. I only lost 2 off my hook the whole day so I felt that I did a good job/ 3 of us got our limit and the other 3 caught 3 each for a total of 27 fish. Eat you heart out.



This is one of the six that I caught, they were all pretty much the same size. Dennis will be eating salmon for a while now. As for myself, I cant wait to try this again.



This is what all six looked like.

ON TO EXIT GLACIER

But the day was not done. We wanted to go to Exit Glacier which is the only part of Kenai Fjords National Park which is accessible by land. We drove up with a plan to hike up toward the glacier. We walked in with Dennis wanting to do a more difficult hike and Barbara an easy one. When we got the information, we found that the difficult hike above the glacier was in fact longer and more strenuous than expected. So he decided that he would take the moderate 2 mile hike to the glacier. Barbara started with him but decided to bail out and settle for a side trail with good views of the toe of the glacier. As this morning wasn't exciting enough for Barbara, seconds after we spit up, Dennis and another hiker caught sight of a black bear right where Barbara was heading. Dennis called out to her and she caught these views of the bear crossing the trail ahead of her.


He came out of the woods in front of her and did not seem to even notice that she was there and continued across the road sooooo...

she continued clicking and clicking until he re-entered the woods on the other side.



Here are some pictures of the glacier.


This a view of the toe from the bottom of the glacier.

This one view from the edge of the glacier.

Another look at it



and other from the edge of the glacier.