Oregon Coast

Just got back from a post-dinner walk on the beach.  We finally got to touch the Pacific Ocean! Spent last night in Waldport about a third of the way down the coast.  We weren't terribly impressed with the northern Oregon coast but today has been totally different.  Incredible coastline from Waldport to Gold Beach where we are staying tonight.

Delicious blackberries for breakfast. 

This morning I went for a walk before we hit the road and picked a whole bowlful of big blackberries - right next to the RV park.  They are delicious and seemingly grow wild everywhere.

Got to see some sea lions frolicking in the surf near the sea lion caves.  Tonight on our walk we saw some sort of seal, flocks of pelicans, and dozens of cormorants.  The weirdest sighting was a hawk that had caught what we thought was a fish.  Turns out it was a snake!!  It flew over the beach and dropped it, probably because it was alive and wiggling.  It swooped down and grabbed it up again, and then flew around.  It looked like he was looking for a good place to land and eat it. Didn't see where he landed.

Had to FORCE the girls to leave the wifi and walk with me on
 the beach.  Mya is none too happy but here is the "turtle rock"
the RV park is named after.  Afterwords they did
say they were glad I made them go:-)

It's surprisingly cold here (Turtle Rock RV Resort)  I didn't expect it to be so chilly.  Only 54 this a.m. but got up to 64 but that seems to be balmy for this part of the world.  The water is COLD!  Couldn't talk the girls into swimming in it.  The thermometer says it's 55 right now - almost 8 at night - brrrrrr!

Gold Beach, Oregon

Tomorrow our destination is Redwood National Forest.  Still don't know how we are going to get home - but we need to go through Nevada at some point so we can fill in the map:-)  On one map it looks like there is a HWY 50 called "the loneliest hwy" so I'm going to google that and see if it's doable in our rig.  Mya wants to go by the great salt lake "to touch it".  We skirted it when we came up through Utah but she wants to actually touch it - go figure!  We'll see . . .

Back in the U S A (and the land of decent wifi!)

Had to visit the North Pole and Santa before leaving Alaska.

At Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska

Our Stateroom on the Matanuska

Wow - what a journey!  We left Fairbanks and landed in Haines, AK on the 20th to catch the ferry south.  I couldn't bear the thought of driving through all those evergreen trees again so we took the ferry to Prince Rupert.  What a marvelous experience!!  Mya thought she was going on a cruise ship and I guess it was kind of like one - the inexpensive version.  he girls loved the stateroom.We all enjoyed it immensely especially Jeff because he didn't have to drive and had someone else to make his breakfast.  He did say the coffee was by far the WORST he's ever had in his lifetime but besides that it was awesome.  The journey through the Wrangell Narrows was spectacular.  It's so narrow that cruise ships can't go through the area; the captain has to make 28 turns to navigate through the passage.  Really beautiful.

Time to leave the "cruise ship" in Prince Rupert

We landed in Prince Rupert on the 23rd.  The trees have moss growing on them - not just on the north side but all over.  The rock cliffs have ferns growing out of them. It felt like we'd landed in the northern version of Jurassic Park. We still had to spend 3 more nights getting through Canada.  Our last night there was at an RV park along the Thompson river. We were thankful for the cold rushing water; this area is known as the "Arizona of Canada" and for good reason.  It was 106 degrees and it looks like high desert. We were happy to cool off in the river.  There were also apricot trees growing in the RV park and we got to pick them and eat them - fresh off the tree - delicious!

A lovely Italian Restaurant in Bothel, WA.

We planned to go to Vancouver BC and headed to an RV park there but had no reservations.  For some reason I thought Vancouver was this quaint little town.  Duh!  The area has twice the population of San Antonio (thank you Tina for googling the info for me!!) After being in the "sticks" for so long, the whole excursion was a shock to our systems. There was "no room at the inn" for us at the RV park and I was kind of relieved.  We decided to bag the whole idea and "head for the border".  After journeying almost 8000 miles on this trip, we have decided we are "sticks people". The traffic and people make us crazy, nervous, and irritable!!!  We still needed a place to rest our heads for the evening and every RV park I called was full - of course, it was Friday! Bad timing on our part. Everyone getting out for the weekend.  But we lucked out and on my last call we found a place in Bothell, WA (just north of Seattle) that had ONE space left!  Thank goodness. And it was a quaint RV park in a suburb of Seattle but secluded - Lake Pleasant RV Park - aptly named.  Spent two nights there - didn't figure we'd get another spot in the middle of the weekend.  But the location was great.We walked up to this darling little market area and had dinner at an Italian restaurant that had live music - one guy playing the mandolin and one on a guitar.  It was a perfect evening!!  (Something that made us raise our eyebrows - a couple came in with there little dog, sat at a table, and put a blanket on the seat for the dog.  It sat at the table with them.  Seemed normal for the area - hmmmmm?  Never seen that before!)

 Bridge over the Columbia River - Border between Oregon
and Washington is half way across.

Our goal for this stretch of the trip is to travel the coast highway (101) to see the ocean and seaside towns.  Tonight we are staying in an KOA near Astoria/Seaside Oregon.  The campground has a gazillion things for the girls to do so they are out there playing and making new friends.  It's fun to see them play with other kids they've just met - in these RV parks, no one is a stranger when it comes to the kids.  It's almost like a way of life.  Tomorrow we are heading down the coast and have reservations in a little place called Waldport.  We are a little disappointed that even here the traffic is fairly congested.  Seems like everyone loves the west coast.  We plan to make it to the Redwoods and then turn inland - unless we change our minds, of course.

This trip is truly an adventure.  As with anything, some days are better than others but on the whole, it continues to be amazing.  My hope is the girls will cherish the memories we've made on this trip - I know I will.  They have been amazing travelers and we've all learned so much from the places we've been and spending this time together.  Today, Mya said something about "Back to School" and I told her I better not here her utter those words again while we are on this trip - lol!!!

Our house sitters, Angela and here sister, are enjoying staying at the house and Marty doesn't seem to miss us at all. We are so thankful for both the girls for taking good care of home while we are away.  It will be strange being in one place.  Maybe we are destined to be gypsies . . .

We finally saw a grizzly bear - Jeff got close:-)
 Chilkoot Park, Haines, AK

Fresh crab in Haines, AK.

Catching the breeze on the ferry.

So many friends and family, so little time!

After living in Alaska for half a lifetime, it's a feat of monumental proportions to try to see everyone, but I think we managed to see quite a few folks.  My "little brother" arrived from South Carolina to join my sisters and my mom in Anchorage.

Having a blast with Angie and Daniel

 Got to see my niece Angela and her seriously funny husband Daniel.  We may have violated the RV park' quiet hours that evening with all the laughing and storytelling going on:-) We also got to see some of my mom's old friends, Joan and Paul Bittner.  My parents have known them since the late '50s when they all moved to Alaska in the military.  What amazing old memories we shared about growing up with their boys, Tim and Mike, and living in Anchorage.  I also got to go to dinner with some of my friends from my teaching days at West High. Darla, Amy and I ran the Honolulu Marathon together in 2002 and we talked about doing some crazy thing like that again - maybe the San Antonio Rock-N-Roll marathon in 2014?  We are older but no wiser - lol!  Tina, Clay and I got to sit around one afternoon sharing old stories.  Mya was with us and she kept begging for more stories.  She even got to tell a few of her own. What fun!

The family at Glen Alps (Flattop) with Anchorage
in the background.

Friday we headed down to Homer with Mom and Clay.  Gorgeous day.  We stayed on the Homer Spit and were treated to three glorious days of blue skies, warm temps (60s), sunshine, and a fabulous view of Kachemak Bay.  There are few more beautiful places than Homer on a warm summer day. Jeff and I even got to go to lunch and walk the beach, just the two of us.  The girls spent the day with Granny and Uncle Clay doing their own beach exploring. The whole time I was down there I wished I could just make time stand still, just to be able to savor the moment a bit longer.

But as the saying goes, time waits for no one.  We headed back to Anchorage yesterday and met Susan, Jackie, and "Grandma Pat" (Susan's mom) for a reunion of sorts at our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Mex. So strange to see each other after such a long absence and we just pick up where we left off.  That's the beauty of long-time friendships - so fun to spend time getting caught up.

Stopped by to say hello to my niece, Violet who we hadn't gotten to see yet and say goodbye to my sister, Tina and her family.  The girls had a great time hanging out with cousin Violet before we had to hit the road.

This is the first time we have had a deadline to meet in terms of being somewhere on a particular date.  We (I?) decided to take the ferry back from Haines to Prince Rupert.  I couldn't bear the idea of driving through miles of trees in Canada again so this will cut off about 2 days of driving.  Plus, the girls have never been on the ferry and Jeff and I have never been through the Inside Passage of southeast Alaska so this, too, will be a new adventure for us.

We have to be in Haines by the 20th to catch the ferry so we hit the road early today.  Needed to get to Fairbanks by evening (358 miles from Anchorage) and we also wanted to stop by Denali National Park to get our stamps and stickers for our National Park passport books.  Didn't spend much time at Denali given our deadline, and unfortunately the clouds obscured the mountain, but we got to go through the exhibits in the visitor's center.  What an amazing display covering the history of the development of the park and the ongoing conservation of the area.  Amazing to see all the new development that has gone on in the area.  Jeff visited Denali his first year in Alaska (35 years ago!) and he was shocked at how things have changed.  It definitely looks like a tourist destination now.

So we are sitting here in River's Edge RV park in Fairbanks, Alaska alongside the Chena River.  The advertisement in the Milepost looked so beautiful and it is, but they should have named it Sardine RV park. Good Grief - it's like the airlines - how many spaces can you pack into one area.  Hopefully we can get out in the morning without ripping off anyone's front bumper or awning!!  And really, who can complain when the wi-fi works; plus the mosquitoes must be on vacation at the moment. We were able to walk outside without bug repellent:-)

Yesterday was our 5-year anniversary in Texas; a bit of irony in that we are in Alaska.  It's been 5 weeks since we left home.  Sometimes at night I wake up and have to lay there and think about where the heck we are. You also know you've been an RV too long when you try to flush a regular toilet with your foot!!!!   The other day we were at my mom's house and I had just used the "facilities" and I tried flushing the toilet with my foot (those of you who have stayed in an RV know you flush the toilet with the foot thingy).  I honestly had to stand there for a few seconds to think about how to flush the toilet!  Jade said the same thing happened to her - lol! Earlier in the trip Jade said she wanted to skip a year before we go "adventuring" again; yesterday it was 4 years.  And I do admit there are moments when I think how cozy it would be to be back home.  But we are still having fun and we still have lots of sights to see.

Tomorrow we head for the Alaska/Canada border, about 300 miles.  We are psyching ourselves up for the trip from the border to Haines Junction, the absolute worst part of the road on the whole trip.  But then we get to go "cruising" on the ferry.  Prince Rupert, here we come!

next day:  (sorry there aren't more pics - the wifi is very temperamental in uploading stuff so it's this or nothing!  We got to hit the road!)  Jeff woke up this morning and said "Jurassic Park woke up - lots of old people here!!!

Waterfront Property Pics and Quartz Creek

Had a great time in Seward even though it rained most of the time we were there.

Cruise ship in at Resurrection Bay in Seward, AK

He looks like a a happy little alien!

My friend Suzette (have known her since we were 5!) had some complimentary tickets to the Seward Sealife Center and so we spent our last day there looking at and touching all the cool sea creatures.  Well, Mya didn't touch anything - she didn't want to put her hand in the starfish tank!!  But we saw sea lions, fur seals, puffins, an Octopus and a bunch of Octopus babies - really tiny.  They also had a great display of salmon, from the hatchlings up to the 5-year-olds.  But our favorite was this little stingray that seemed to be smiling at all the tourists:-)

The girls and I also walked to the Seward Library and Museum (Couldn't miss the library!) .  The building it just beautiful.  The outside is covered in these metallic rectangles that change color as you walk by - opalescent I believe would be the right description - like fish scales. Upstairs is the library which looks brand new and has great little teen area.  Downstairs is the museum and we got to watch some short videos of folks who lived in Seward during the earthquake.  Fascinating to hear the first hand accounts of that infamous event.

My attempt at creativity.

We left rainy Seward behind (the clouds were getting brighter as we left!) and headed to Quartz Creek. This is probably one of our favorite Alaskan campgrounds.  It's right on Kenai Lake - such amazing turquoise water. Girls practiced their rock skipping skills and I created "nature art".

Jade hiding from the mosquitoes - talk about an alien.

Our first campfire of the trip.  It was wonderful.

Had  a lovely two days there but time to head into Anchorage visit with family and friends.  My brother, Clay, flew in from South Carolina and my mom was in from Homer.  Nice family reunion.

Waterfront Property

Been lazy and haven't posted in awhile.  We are here in Seward with no Wi-Fi so I'm typing this on my phone.  Teeny keyboard!!  Spent a few days in Anchorage and got to see my wonderful sister Tina and go to church with her.  Also got to see our good friend Susan, and the Coverdales: HelenAnn, Miles, Sibella and Mira.  A short but sweet visit.

We managed to get a site in Seward with power and water!!!  I think it was the last one.  And then today someone vacated one of the coveted waterfront sites so we grabbed it and now have a fabulous view of Resurrection Bay.  

Yesterday was a hoot.  There's nothing like 4th of July in Seward.  Cold, wet, windy - just like I remember it.  The Mt. Marathon race is run by some tough folk.  It was a whopping 54 degrees yesterday.  We ate all that yummy fair food:  pickle on a stick, kettle corn, dippen' dots.  There's nothing like the combined food smells at a carnival!!  

Today it's hovering at 51!!  Stopped by the bakery this a.m. to get cinnamon rolls and bear claws for breakfast.  All this cold weather just makes us want to eat.  And not salads.  Luckily, there are lot of places to walk here.  Just have to bundle up.  We will be here until Sunday then head to Quartz Creek where we will stay until Tuesday when we head back to Anchorage for a few days.  

Missing all that warm weather down south.
(Have to add pictures later.  Can't seem to do it from my phone at the moment:-(