SEWARD, AK.  For the last four days we have been here, the center of Kenai Fjords National Park.  We drove in on the 26th.  On our anniversary, July 27th, we went on a national park cruise through the fjords, where advertising promised smooth waters and clear skies for photographing wildlife like humpback whales.  The weather was horrible, with heavy rain and very rough seas.  Few decent photos.  If we had not made reservations paid in advance, we would have waited until today when the weather would have been perfect.  Another couple on the RV tour went today and had a wonderful time.  Another lesson learned about Alaska:  never make advance reservations, no matter what they say.  There are plenty of seats available every day.  Wait for good weather.

Sea Otter in Harbor

Betty Got This Shot of a Horned Puffin

Aialik Glacier

Steller Sea Lions

Betty Disembarking for Supper on Fox Island

The Over-Hyped Eatery at Fox Island

 On the 28th we did housekeeping things like laundry, grocery shopping, and photo processing.

Today we hiked to Exit Glacier, so named because it was the last glacier along a mountaineer trail.  It was more like a climb than a hike, since the trail was very steep.  Quite a workout.  The rangers twice stopped us due to bear sightings along the trail.  After that we drove along the coast south of Seward.  How different Alaska is in decent weather!

Trail to Exit Glacier

Steven Hiking at Exit Glacier

Beach House South of Seward

Panorama of Beach South of Seward

Trail South of Seward.  This Is Northern Point of  Rain Forest.

 Note the ferns above.  As we saw in Mt Rainier National Park in Washington State and in northern California, ferns grow in cold climates due to moisture.

Tomorrow we head to Homer, a short drive.  Hopefully we have good weather for a while.

ANCHORAGE, AK.  Our motorhome has been parked here near the airport for two days.  It has been hectic, since we had to re-pack clothes, toiletries, etc for our flight to Port Alsworth for a day (24th), then on to Twin Lakes in a bush plane for a day (25th).  I made videos of most of the flights, some of which was in pretty weather.  Will take a while to process everything.  Reason for these side trips was our desire to see the cabin built by hand by Dick Proenneke back in the 1950s.  His story is on several DVDs:  https://www.dickproenneke.com/alone_in_the_wilderness.html  The original Alone in the Wilderness is the best.

Here we experienced the most rain that we had seen in Alaska.  As a result, we wore our rain slickers everywhere.

View Approaching Cabin from Lake

Right Side of Cabin

Elevated Food Cache at Right

Back of Cabin

Betty Is About the Size of Dick Proenneke

I Did Not Fit in the Dutch Door So Well

Yet There Is Plenty of Head Room Inside

Panorama View Inside the Doorway

Central View

Main Work Area

View Out Window from His Desk

A Guide Led Us Up the Trail to Teeter Rock

Up and Up a Pretty Steep Climb

Blueberries Among the Tundra

Until the Rock Appears Ahead

Betty Teeters the Teeter Rock

View Down from Teeter Rock

Park Ranger Shows Us Proenneke's Home Made Snow Shovel

Here Are Home Made Crampons Made From Lid of Fuel Can

Our return flight was by pilot Glen Alsworth, Jr, the grandson of Babe Alsworth, who flew in supplies to Dick Proenneke.

Glen Alsworth, Jr and Park Ranger

View from Gift Shop of Port Alsworth Air Strip

This morning we leave for Seward, AK.  Betty caught a cold in the rain at Port Alsworth the first day, but she is on the mend.  They said that that was typical weather there in the summer.  Seems you must come to Alaska in the winter to have clear days, after all the snow has fallen.  A lot of Scandinavians migrated here since they felt right at home.

Port Alsworth is also the summer headquarters for Samaritan's Purse.  Franklin Graham has a home back down a dirt road a few hundred yards from a gravel airstrip.  Seems he is an accomplished pilot, as so many are here in Alaska.  Samaritan's Purse runs the Save Our Patriots program there, where troubled veteran couples are counseled.  Many suicidal vets are treated, turning back to a normal life after time spent there.  We got a tour of the very nice facilities.  Very impressive.  Graham was in and out the whole day, visiting the vets, but we never saw him.  Port Alsworth is also the location of the visitors center for Lake Clark National Park, about the most rustic park center we have ever seen.  This national park can only be accessed by air via a bush pilot.

Betty Inside Visitor Center of Lake Clark National Park

Inside Lake Clark National Park Visitor Center

Small Book Store Inside Visitor Center

DENALI, AK.  On our third day in Denali we took our raft ride.  We took videos with my GoPro, but they are as unexciting as the raft ride was. 

On our fourth day in Denali (July 22nd), besides getting the best and biggest cinnamon bun at a place just south of Denali, there is only our drive along the Old Denali Road.

Panorama Along Old Denali Road

DENALI, AK (Day 2).  We drove to Denali yesterday and are staying at an RV park 8 miles east of the national park.  We drove into the nearby village of tourist shops, eateries, and hotels.  The wagon master calls it Glitter Gulch.  We walked through the shops and bought a couple things.  On the way back, we saw cars parked along the road.  Slowing down we saw a moose cow leisurely eating in a pond below.  We had not brought our good cameras, but I took a mediocre shot with my phone (see below).

Phone Image of Distant Moose

Today a park bus picked us up as a group and took us on the only road through the park.  It is paved for 30 miles, then loose gravel.  It is narrow and winding around sheer rock cliffs.  With all the dust, it is amazing that so many buses navigate the road safely.  The buses have windows that will lower to allow photographing without glass in the way, except that the windows are hard to open and even harder to shut, sometimes sliding shut by themselves.

For the first 3/4 of the trip we were very disappointed, since the haze/clouds/dust is so bad that no sight of the mountain Denali is possible.  Even driving here yesterday afforded no view of the mountain.  Then caribou began appearing, one running nearly into the bus, then another running down a tall hill headed our way, then veering off to the front of the bus in front of our bus.  Then some distant bears along the river.  Then a cow moose and her calf walked out of the brush and appeared by the road on our left for a long time.  We shot many photos, but still wish we could have some clear weather and (especially) a view of Denali.

Bus We Rode on Gravel Road in Denali National Park

In There Somewhere is Mt Denali

Betty Got This Shot of A Moose Cow Along Denali Road

Tomorrow we leave at 12:30 pm for a raft ride.  This will be just Betty and I.  The group will do other things they have signed up to do.  On Monday, the weather is forecast to clear up.  We shall see.  Have not decided what to do that day.

FAIRBANKS, AK (Day 5).  Today we left early to join two others on the tour to see exhibits at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF), then just the two us us continued on up north of Fairbanks to Chena Hot Springs Resort and Ice Museum. 

We began with the agricultural experimental farm that had many crops being tested for growing in Alaska as well as some horticultural exhibits.  I found the latter of interest mostly.

UAF Flower Display

UAF Flower Display

We then went to the UAF Large Animal Research Station (LARS).  The biggest attraction are the musk oxen.  The musk oxen shed a very fine and warm underwool called qiviut.  It is shed annually and harvested by UAF staff to spin and weave into products for sale at very high prices.  We passed on getting anything, since it would be too warm ever to wear in Florida. 

Musk Ox (or Muskox)

Reindeer Shedding Winter Coat

We went to the Chena Hot Springs Resort and Ice Museum mainly to see the ice museum that we had heard about.  There is a rather nice, but rustic, hot springs facility for use in the winter as well.  The main building for the resort had a very large exhibit repeated two more times so that Korean, Japanese, and English could all be accommodated.  Seems that Asians love this place and visit more frequently than anyone else.

We had been anticipating something like the ice carved buildings found in Scandinavia during their winter, which are large glorified igloos with bedrooms made of ice covered with furs to keep warm, etc.  This place in Alaska is open year-round, so it is all inside a giant freezer into which tourists venture to see the large ice carvings.  Each one is offered a warm heavy coat to wear inside.  It was very dark in there, so I had to shoot with very high ISO settings.  CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

One View Inside Ice Museum

A Chilly Place to Get a Drink

Ice Lamps

FAIRBANKS, AK (Day 3).  Spent the day doing laundry and running errands.  Nice to have free time.  It rained today, but only lightly. One of the errands I ran was to the local Verison store to find out why my connectivity is so bad.  Turns out the St Augustine store set me up with a mediocre plan, which ran OK in Florida, but out here is terrible.  I have upgraded, but it will not take effect for two days.  The lady I talked to there is a native Alaskan.  She said that what I had heard for years about heavy rains here this time of year used to be true, but "global warming" has reduced the the rain and snow and raised the temperatures.  (Also heard this in the Yukon).  This is why it is so hot and dry here now, with lightening-induced fires that they never used to have.  This is the cause of the bad light and poor air breathe-ability.  The drug stores are sold out of dust masks.  I guess I waited too long to come here.  We actually brought rain parkas and rain boots which we have not worn in Alaska so far.

Yesterday, while at Walgreens, we both got our second shingles shot.  Again we have sore shoulders, but Betty is having a general worn-out-and-achy-feeling reaction.  Has been in bed most of the day.  Please pray that she can shake it off quickly.

Tomorrow is another free day.  I have not been able to get new CPAP supplies because Procare bought out all Apria business in the state five years ago.  They require your doctor to FAX them an Rx to do anything.  I have repeatedly called the doctor, but get only a recording and no reply.  I feel like I am back in Canada.  Actually, once you leave the lower 48, you are in a foreign domain.

Last night after 11 pm I went outside to empty trash in the campground dumpster, and a lady with our tour group was walking her dog.  We talked about how we are not getting enough sleep due to going to bed late because we never sense that it is night time.  It is so light until 3 am.  I took a photo with my phone of what it looks like after 11 pm (see below).

Campground after 11 pm.

FAIRBANKS, AK (Day 2).  Spent the day at Pioneer Park with the tour group.  We saw the exhibits, then had a meal and after-dinner show about Fairbanks provided by locals.  The emphasis was on how cold it gets and the need for an outhouse due to poor plumbing with all the frost heaves.

The following photo was taken by the wagonmaster.

Riding a Great Wooden Salmon