Alaska Trip 2013 Tolsona - Kenai Peninsula - Fairbanks - Tolsona

On day 12, June 21th, we left Tolsona Wilderness Campground and drove the 165  miles to Anchorage. When I originally planned this trip I estimated that it would take us about 15 days to drive the 4500 miles from Pelham to Anchorage. That schedule would have put us in Anchorage on June 24th. Regan and Gantt were scheduled to fly into Anchorage late in the day on the 25th. However we had made much better time than I had originally figured so here we were in Anchorage four days early. We spent a few hours in Anchorage and then headed down the Seward Highway to the Bertha Creek Campground. Linda and I had stayed there in 2008. It is small, only about a dozen spaces but it is a wonderful campground. When we got there I checked to see if space 6 was available and it was. We parked the Roadtrek and Dixie and I walked up to the entrance and registered. I like space 6 because it comes with its own waterfall.

The next day, June 22th day 13 we left Bertha Creek and went down the Seward Highway to Seward. They say that Seward is where the cruise ships dock, but I have never seen one there. It is the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad. There was a train going south at the same time we were and we got to Seward at about the same time. We wandered around Seward for a while, ate lunch at a food truck (actually I think it was a trailer instead of a truck) and found another car wash and made another try at cleaning up the Roadtrek. White trucks and dirt roads don't do too well together. After I finished washing the truck, we went back up the Seward Highway north of town and turned and went out to see the Exit Glacier.

I had intended to spend another night at Bertha Creek but when we got back up there that afternoon, it was full so we went back down the Seward Highway to the Sterling Highway and went over to Kenai. We spent the night in Kenai and spent the next two days June 23rd and 24th, day 14 and day 15 exploring the western part of the Kenai peninsula. We drove down to Homer, Up to the Captain Cook Recreation Area and out Funny River Road south of the Kenai River in Soldotna. At the end of the day on the 24th we found ourselves back at our favorite campground, Bertha Creek.

Next day, June 25th, day 16, we left Bertha Creek and went up the Seward Highway to Anchorage. Remember I said that I left my bed roll at home. I had been using the spare linens that I originally intended for  Regan and Gantt. They  were due in later that day so I went shopping for additional sheets, pillow cases, etc. After that we went to a Lowes and got a longer handle for the squeege that I had bought in Lloydminster. For lunch we located a deli down close to 100th ave and Old Seward Highway and had a great tuna salad sandwich.

Later that afternoon we went over to the Ted Stevens International Airport and waited in the cell phone parking lot for Regan and Gantt's flight to arrive. The cell phone parking lot is right next to Lake Hood. Lake Hood is where the float planes land and take off and it seems like about every minute there is either one taking off or landing. If you look behind the light pole in this picture you will see one of the float planes just lifting off.

Later on when Regan and Gantt's flight arrived, I picked them up and we went to get supper and then headed back down to Bertha Creek. When we got there, space 6 was occupied but we were able to find a space, just not one with its own waterfall.

Next morning June 26th, day 17 we headed down the Seward Highway to the Sterling Highway and took it over to Cooper Landing. One of the things that Regan and Gantt had hoped to see was a salmon run. A guy that was camping at Bertha Creek had told me earlier in the week that they were beginning to run at Cooper Landing. We saw a few fishermen but no true combat fishing. I think we were a bit early. Mid July would have probably been a better time.

We left Cooper Landing and made our way back out the Sterling Highway to the Seward Highway. We spent the rest of the day in Seward and camped that night at Miller's Landing south of Seward. I did not take many pictures while Gantt and Regan were there because Regan was able to do a much better job and I was driving, but I did get this one while we were camped at Miller's Landing of Gantt and Dixie watching TV in the back of the Roadtrek.

Next morning June 27th, day 18 we went up to Seward and ate breakfast and then went to the Alaska Sealife Center. It was a great place, full of lots of interesting aquatic exhibits. The highlight was when they fed one of the sea lions.

We left the Sealife Center and made our way to the local Safeway to buy some groceries and use their wifi. After we left Safeway we went up the highway and drove out to the Exit Glacier. The three of us walked out to an observation point that was much closer than I had been when I went earlier. When we left the Exit Glacier, we went back out to the Seward Highway, then up it to the Sterling Highway and turned and went over to Soldotna. We spent the rest of the day in Soldotna and Kenai seeing the sites. We went out Funny River Road and Regan and Gantt had their first moose sighting.

Next day June 28th, day 19, I took Gantt and Regan over to Whittier so they could take the 26 glacier cruise. I think they enjoyed it, but before they came up, I had told Regan that it was unseasonably warm in Alaska and she had packed accordingly. Consequently she did not have any really warm clothes with her and  I think she nearly froze on the cruise which lasts about half a day. I stayed in the Roadtrek and rested while they were out on the glacier cruise but I did snap a couple of pictures from where we were parked.

Whittier is down on the water with mountains surrounding it. They say that there is a period of time in the winter that direct sunlight does not hit it, the light reflected off the mountains is all they get. Judging from the two times that I have been there, they don't get a heck of lot of sun the rest of the year either. After we left Whittier we made our way back up through Anchorage and spent the night at the Big Lake Recreation Area located near Houston.

Next morning, June 29th, day 20, we went up the Parks Highway to Talkeetna and had breakfast at the Talkeetna Road House and then walked around the little town of Talkeetna. Some folks claim that the fictitious town of Cicely AK in the TV program Northern Exposure was based on Talkeetna. After we left Talkeetna we got back on the Parks Hwy and made our way up toward Fairbanks. The Parks Highway has several places where on a clear day you can see Mt McKinley in Denali. This time the mountain was obscured by clouds just like it was in 2008. It took us quite awhile to get to Fairbanks. Part of that is due to the fact that it is 330 miles from Anchorage but we also had construction delays to deal with and when we got close in, they had pilot cars leading us through an area that was having problems with smoke from the forest fires to the north limiting visibility. When we got to Fairbanks we went to the Rivers Edge RV Park and hooked up the electricity and turned on the air conditioner. It was hot.

June 30th, day 21 we left Fairbanks and drove down to North Pole to the Santa Claus house. Did not see Saint Nick this time but we did see some reindeer and got some presents for the peeps who had to stay home and did not get to make the trip. Gantt and I flattened some pennies in the elongated penny machines. We left North Pole and made our way down the Richardson Highway stopping at Rika's Roadhouse for lunch and stopping at several sites to view the Alyeska pipeline. Late in the day we found ourselves near Glennallen so we made our way over to the  Tolsona Wilderness Campground and spent the night.