Alaska This is a large trip. The motor home logged over 9,000 miles, so I will break it up into sections. The sections are chronological order, and I will narrate each section as I put it in.
Alaska – beginning trip.
We start off with the first picture entering St Louis. Prior to that the front tire blew, so a short stop along the interstate got that changed. Then many miles of sheer boredom. Did stop at one jail! An interesting boot fence protected the post tops from rot. Rapidly I move up into Canada and abandoned gas stations with old trucks. The up past the Athabascan Falls to Dawson Creek, the start of the Alcan Highway. There was an interesting display of carved art, some shown here. The bikers were resting, just pulled over from the road. Lots of bikes on the road, as it seems to be the thing to do. Then the old guy 100 miles from no-where at a little roadside store. Just peddaling away. Saw tons of signs for moose, but very few moose. Maybe only 3 or 4 the whole trip!
On up the Alcan into Alaska.
Moving up the Alcan into Alaska. First I visit the Sign Forest outside Whitehorse. This is a famous place that has thousands of signs from mostly the US. Different shots of the road, bridges, trees eaten by woodpeckers, the ever present crow, and the cutest world famous church. The girl with the bike is a pedaler from Germany. Had been a German cop, and started the adventure in Teirra Del Fueago in Argentina. Pedaled up here in 2 years. Was going to the end, and then flying back to Portugal, and then biking into Germany. Then off to write a book. Hope I made it as I made lunch for her and gave her milk and PB&J sandwich. What else?
The first galcier was the Matanuska Glacier outside Wasilla. The gardens were in Wasilla and show the extreme growth from long summer sun. We took a cruise to the Glaciers, and Cathy had a Margarita made with ice from a glacier. We saw cute sea otters with shells they crack open on their stomachs. Whales blowing, a mom and baby, and many wild flowers. I tried to take shots of them and have hundreds from the trip. We ran across a flea market in Anchorage, and saw the glacier calve. Left a very interesting face on the ice. The whale tails are a collage, different views of the whales diving.
Tooling around the interior.
We start this section in the interior of Alaska. The fish was bought at Fred Meyers, and cooked in a B&B that Cathy rented in Wasilla. Then we have pictures of Mt McKinnley, closeup from the plane and from a hundred miles out at a viewpoint. The old buildings are at Hatcher Pass, a past gold mine that took millions of dollars of gold out, until it didn’t anymore. The flowers are at Tok Junction, a famous split in the hiway, one way to Cananda, one way Anchorage, and the other way to Fairbanks.
Coming back, I put the motor home on a ferry from Haines to Bellingham, a highlight of the trip. The only problem was no berths left so I had to sleep on the deck. Some people were prepared and brought tents that were taped down. The food was excellent and cheap, no taxes and no tipping. A full seafood and shellfish all you can eat for $15.00. Coming thru Kansas, I came across this limestone church built in the late 1800’s by German pioneers. Just gorgeous. And lastly, Cathy and me, enjoying life!!!
