Day 43

We got up and visited for a while in Norman. Grant is still feverish but otherwise okay. We had a long night of vomiting and sleeping on the floor to deal with. I suspect he has gotten some stomach bug. Then we loaded up for the final leg to continue the last leg of the long journey home. It was largely uneventful. We made a stop at Chick fil A for lunch and continued home to Temple. A thunderstorm began as we drove into town. Our neighbor who happened to be outside as we arrived home said it was some of the first real rain they had since we left. It is very hot and muggy. Definitely some of the warmest temperatures in a while. Returning home was kind of bittersweet. On one hand it I great to be back, but on the other there is a sense of loss, a longing for the adventure and lifestyle that was the adventure. Stepping into the house, the kitchen and living area seem so huge, after living for a month in the trailer. We spent several hours cleaning the trailer and then took it back to the storage lot. It is amazing how much junk accumulated in that time. It was not until I drove off that it hit me. The adventure had ended. It was time return to the real world. I have a job I must go to. There are bills to pay and a yard to tend to. All of the things of everyday life that you think of and address in the real world came flooding back.
12,000 miles
2 countries
1 flat tire
1 set of new tires
43 days and 1 ER visit later we have returned
I return broke, tired, and getting ready to open a new chapter in my life. But alas, if I die tomorrow, I will die a very rich man. Not rich in the sense of a fat bank account, but rich in other treasures. I have witnessed some of the most powerful beauty of all God’s creation, the beauty of indigo blue lakes flanked by snow capped mountains, The raw, unforgiving, enormous expanse of true wilderness, the sound of true silence, the midnight sun, the perfectness of a perfect moment. These are the treasures we returned with from our Adventure. They are not treasures you can buy, but indeed they are valuable. I thank God I could experience such things during my time on Earth. It is time for the next chapter and we will see what new adventures that chapter holds.
The trip blog is officially closed
The Browne’s Alaskan Adventure has officially come to an end.

Day 42

We drove on to Norman. It was a straight flat drive. We did see a bad wreck on the outskirts of Norman and got aught in traffic for 30 minutes. We arrived at about 1 and hung out for a while with Brian. Kendra and the kids got home later. Grant has been very excited about visiting them and was very happy to see Kailey. We picked up some BBQ for dinner and it sure tasted good. We had been without good southern bbq for a while. The kids played for a bit and we noticed Grant had a fever of 103. HE complained of some belly pain and didn’t feel well. We gave him some Tylenol and then Brian and I set up a slip and slide in the backyard. Brian slid the kids down it like bowling balls. They had a blast. We put the kids to bed and Grant woke up a short time later and vomited all over the ground. I made a bed in the living room and went to sleep next to him should he get sick more overnight. Hopefully he will feel better tomorrow.

Day 41

We drove from Cheyenne to Salina Kansas today. It was long and uneventful. We were able to avoid any bad Denver traffic which was a plus. Kansas is very flat and boring. We stopped in a town called Colby Kansas and found a very nice City Park. We got McDonalds for lunch. In the Mcdonalds were a group of farmers sitting and discussing the latest rains and prices dressed in overalls and sipping coffee. We let Grant play a good while and continued on. The campsite in Saline was relatively run down and had a rude owner. Oh well, one last campsite anyways. We got to bed at a decent time. On to Norman tomorrow.

Day 40

Brigham City to Cheyenne was unevenly through Wyoming. The girls did most of the driving. It was mostly through the high country of Wyoming. We stopped for lunch and play at a place called Little America out in the middle of nowhere. We arrived at the campsite, a KOA, in Cheyenne. All in all it was nice. The people were friendly and it was clean. We got set up and I inspected the tires. I did not like the way the front right tire was wearing so I made the decision to rotate tires to avoid a blowout. This was a job without jackstands. I had to jack the trailer and remove a tire, then put on a spare, then jack and remove another, remove the spare and switch tires. It was like changing 3 tires. Of course it began to rain on me. Amy and Shari decided to go to a nearby Shari's restaurant to get a pie. I took grant and played putt putt golf and went to the playground. We had fun.

Day 39

We conducted another long range stretch today. Unfortunately we lost an hour and so it seemed we were behind. We drive from Pendleton Oregon to Brigham City Utah. The long stretches have made everyone miserable. It feels like we have developed some cabin fever. I suppose it is a real phenomenon. I should only hope we do not end up eating each other. We did stop at a park in Boise Idaho. Grant played with some children while Amy made a salmon salad. We have continued to gorge ourselves on fresh fruit. Unfortunately the girls missed the turnoff for the interstate to Brigham City and we could not turn around for 15 miles. Consequently we arrived after dark and we had to set up in the dark. I wore my LED headlight but it still wasn’t fun. I suppose constant daylight was cool. To bed for us and another long range mission to Cheyenne Wyoming g tomorrow.

Day 38

The border crossing was uneventful. I had grown paranoid they were going to confiscate my freezer of fish. The fish have become like treasure to me. We did have to wait about an hour in traffic waiting for the border. We continued on to Seattle where we got stuck in traffic. Traffic in the city is very stressful towing a trailer. We stopped for some quick breakfast items at a Fred Meyers. The drive was nice but smoky. We made great time on the interstate. We stopped for lunch in Yakima Washington; Yakima is in the middle of the Yakima Valley which is prime growing area for fruits. We picnicked at a park and resupplied at Wal Mart. We got back on the road and about 30 minutes later there was a little hand painted sign on the freeway that advertised fresh fruit. We exited and wound down a farm road to a fruit orchard. They had cherries and peaches and plums all grown there on the farm. We bought a huge bag of assorted fruit from a nice migrant worker. The fruit tastes fresh, ripe and sweet. That’s how a fruit stand should be. Grant thought it was neat to see the grapes growing on the vine there in the yard. We continued on to our campsite, gorging ourselves on cheap good fruit. The campsite tonight is basically a parking lot with hookups but it gets the job done. I took Grant to a local park to play while Shari and Amy cooked dinner. After we ate Shari and Amy went for a walk. They encountered some crazy meth addicted lady running around and screaming so they came running back to the trailer. The eventually ventured out again but this time with bear mace in case they encountered here again and she tried to bite them or something. Another long range mission awaits tomorrow.

Day 37

We slept in today. It was needed. We got up and went into downtown Vancouver. They have a city park called Stanley Park. There were many gardens and also a petting zoo and train ride that we took the kids to. They had a blast. There were goats and sheep and the like that they could pet and play with. We then went to the playground for a bit and a fat raccoon accosted Amy and Shari for food. It then went into the trash and stole some food. The traffic in Vancouver was very bad. It took us almost 2 hours to get back to the campsite. Downtown Vancouver seemed to be an interesting city. The people seemed to be trendy and vibrant. We spent the evening with Mother Bispham and her daughter Avril. Mother B knew my father growing up back in Barbados. She is now 97 and recently suffered a broken leg after a fall and had some setbacks during her recovery. She is now in a rehab facility getting her strength up. We went first to the house where Avril cooked us some good home cooked food. It was delicious and nice to sit down at a table for some home cooking for the first time in weeks. We then went over to the rehab facility to see mother B. The facility was very nice and it was very good to see her. She looked good and seemed to be in good spirits. We sat for a while and then went back for the evening. We got the children to bed. Tomorrow it’s back to the lower 48.

Day 36

We left the disgusting campsite early. We drove a long range bomb to Vancouver today. It took all day since much of the drive was on 2 lane highways. We slowly returned to civilization. The gas stations began getting more frequent and the wilderness less and less. It was somehow comforting to return to civilization, yet I felt like I left something in the wilderness. Returning to civilization somehow made it feel over. It felt like the purity of the nature was gone. The fires are bad today. The smoke so thick it has blotted the sun. Several time helicopters swooped to the rivers bellow to fill up their fire dousing buckets. The news last night said that they were planning on bringing re-enforcements from Australia and New Zealand. We descended into Vancouver and got on the freeway. We made our way top our campsite which was actually just 2 miles or so from the border. It was actually a difficult site to get the trailer into but Amy the master helmsman got it done. We have an off today in Vancouver and we are looking forward to the break from driving.

Day 35

We made the drive from Stewart to Prince George today. We got up and got a decent start. Shari and Amy went to a local bakery and got some breakfast things. The road was pretty good and the smoke seems to have cleared a bit. We couldn’t make good time because the road was very winding and mountainous. A silly little black bear ran in front of the rig and seemed to be frolicking in a nearby field. We stopped in a local town with a park and had lunch. I cooked hot dogs while Grant played in the park. There were plenty of other kids there and he had blast until he was struck by the merry go round and came running crying. There was a medium sized airport in the town and there was a constant stream of fire bomber aircraft returning, refilling and then taking off again. The fires must be raging. We continued on to Prince George BC. It seems like we are getting closer to civilization. We stopped in the campsite in Prince George and I went to check in. We got set up and I went in to pay. I am a member of Good Sam which is like AAA for RV owners. I showed him my Good Sam card to get my discount. I have a temporary card and it does not look like the permanent ones as I have recently joined the club. The old man said “That cards no good”. I said excuse me. He proceeded to accuse me of counterfeiting my Good Sam card. He said “I don’t know where you get these made but its not Good Sam”. I was furious. HE refused to give me my discount. I logged into the Good Sam website later and showed him my active account. I was livid. I will file a complaint with Good Sam against the guy for that behavior. I guess some things will never change.Day 35

Day 34

Today was a shorter day of driving. We drove about 250 km to Stewart Alaska. Stewart is an offshoot of the highway that leads to the town of Stewart and Hyder. Hyder is in Alaska and Stewart is in Canada. The offshoot from the main highway was very scenic. There were mountain views and even a glacier that was calving into a lake. We arrived in Stewart and checked into the city campground. The only hookup is electricity so we filled our tanks. The campground was rather scenic and a bargain at only 17 bucks a night. They have electrical hookups to keep the fish cold. Just past Hyder is a National forest service area where there is a salmon spawning stream and an area where bears often come to eat them while they spawn. All of the guidebooks say that when you cross into Hyder you must eat at “the bus”. Hyder is a tiny town of 100. The only road there is through Canada and all other access is by plane. There is no customs to get there. The Bus is an old school bus that has been converted to a kitchen. There is a lady that works there and has always worked there. Her husband is a fisherman and gives her a small part of the catch to sell out of the bus. We all ordered Halibut fish and chips and a bowl of chowder. It was so delicious and the food tastes so fresh. Probably the best meal we have eaten all trip. She had old photo albums to peruse as well as an account written by some friends of hers of one that got mauled by a bear. Apparently they escaped by bashing the bears head with rocks until it aborted the attack. After supper we continued on to the national forest and the bear viewing area. At first there were no bears. We sat down on a bench and tried to keep a grumpy rant from going nuts. Alex met several old ladies that were very glad to play with her and keep her company. Finally a bear showed up. It galloped through the water and after several misses finally caught some salmon. It ate it right there on the banks in front of us. What a raw display of nature. It was quite awesome to see. Amy was bale to get some pictures. We watched the bear for a while and went back to the trailer. The kids fell asleep on the way back. We let them sleep and Amy and I went for a walk while Shari made a blueberry tart. A long drive awaits tomorrow.

Day 33

It was a long day today. We drove from Whitehorse Yukon to near Iskut BC. The smoke was bad today. Amy drove the whole time with Shari in the front. They had their girl talk while I dealt with the kids. I asked the gas station attendant on the highway about the fires. He said that there were so many burning that they had no idea where the smoke was from. I checked the wheels multiple times and the hub and bearings on the leaking hub seem to be of normal temp and function. We turned off of the main Alaska Highway onto the Cassiar highway for a different route home. The Cassiar is m ore Westerly and has better scenery. It is more of a minor highway than even the Alcan. Much of the drive today was on gravel road. Although we passed many mountain lakes and beautiful scenery, much of it was obscured by smoked. Toward the end the smoke began to clear, we picked a campsite called mountain shadow. It was next to a lake in front of a huge mountain with glaciers. We stopped and set up. There was a babbling brook behind the trailer that delivered relaxing sounds all evening. We took an afternoon hike down to the lake and watched some loons and an n eagle soar overhead. It was so relaxing. We spent much of our evening trying to put Grant to sleep as he refused to go to sleep.

Day 32

Amy and Grant had their free breakfast today. I was too cheap to pay 12 dollars for it so I stayed and made fish tacos with the leftover fish and chips. They said the sourdough pancakes were so sour they almost couldn’t eat them. They said the reindeer sausage and biscuits and gravy were good though. We got a decent start but soon lost an hour as we crossed the border into Canada. It was weird to leave Alaska as this signified the end of the journey and the return home. There must be forest fires burning. The smoke is very thick. So thick that is obscured much of the views. We were supposed to be able to see the St Elias mountain range. We made pretty good time stopping for gas and to run Grant at a few rest stops. We arrived in Whitehorse Yukon pretty late. We stayed at the same campground as last time as it was very nice. Grant played on the playground with some German children. It was funny to see them speaking German and him trying to respond in gibberish because he thought that was their language. He played hard and then we went back to eat. Amy had made delicious venison stroganoff. I noticed when we pulled into the campground that there were grease streaks in a star pattern from one of the trailer wheel hubs. I removed the hub cover to find the metal dust cap had worked its way loose allowing the grease to escape. The bearing seems intact, so I will push some grease back in there and hammer the dust cap back and we will see how it goes. Hopefully I am not losing the bearing.

Day 31

We made the drive from Valdez to Tok Alaska today. It wasn’t very far but took a while because we stopped and looked at a few things. On the way out of Valdez we went to a little Forrest service protected stream and watched some salmon spawn. We then enjoyed the drive again on the Richardson highway. We stopped by the glacier and hiked up to it. I ran Grant around in the gravel to try and burn some energy off. The girls did most of the driving today and talked about girly things while I rode in the back with the kids. It wasn’t half bad just being a passenger. We arrived at our campground in Tok. It is called Sourdough Joes. Every evening they have a sourdough pancake toss. You basically toss stale pancakes into a bucket from like 20 feet away. Amy and I both lost at first. Grant tried and they let him walk right up and throw a giant pancake into the bucket. He got a free breakfast. Then the host had a game for the losers. It involved 2 couples. The men had to hold a bucket on their head while the woman threw pancakes into it. Amy and I were quick to volunteer and we won. We were like circus clowns. We also apparently set the record for this season. We caught 13 in 30 seconds.
PS The freezer seems to be working nicely.

Day 30

Valdez is a great town. We had a great day. It is so nice to be away from the rain. We got up and I went to the office to register. The lady working told us about a road on the outskirts of town. It is the road that leads to the oil terminal. Along this road is a rocky coastline flanked by forest. There are bears that come down to eat salmon, fishing from the bank , and eagles she said. I bought some lures and we packed up and off we went. We arrived and there was some fog that was still hanging. There were several sea lions on a rock growling. The pink salmon are thick in here so we got out the rods and casted. I got some bites, but we enjoyed the wildlife. It was then that I had another fleeting perfect moment. As I was fishing in this beautiful sound in Alaska, with just a bit of fog hanging over the water, breathing clean air, a large bald eagle swooped down from the trees. It glided along the water almost effortlessly and finally dropped his talons into the water and grabbed a fish and flew off into the fog. Amazing. It is so beautiful here and it seems so alive. I managed to catch one pink salmon. One of the rods broke so we headed to town to make lunch and get a new rod. We fried some of the halibut we caught and the salmon we caught and made fish and chips. We took it to the park and Grant played and we had a picnic. Grant of course made fast friends with all the kids there. He tried to join in with some people that were doing Yoga. We went back home and Amy and I left Shari with the kids and we went fishing for more salmon. We caught several and then it slowed a bit. In some areas they were so thick it was like a swarm. After you catch the fish you take it out onto the rocks and find a big rock and bash the head to kill it as they are half crazy when you pull them out. I felt like Gollum in Lord of the Rings. We moved to a different spot and got into them again. A group of Air Force families from a nearby base showed up. One of the guys was obviously from the south. He was whooping and hollering and having a good old time. We got the rest of our limit and not a moment too soon as the lady that passed selling ice cream said a grizzly had come down on the other end of the beach. Time to go. We came back to the campsite and I had to clean all those fish. That took a while and we packed them and put them in the freezer. This pink salmon will make good fish and cuocou. Tomorrow the journey home begins.

Day 30

Valdez is a great town. We had a great day. It is so nice to be away from the rain. We got up and I went to the office to register. The lady working told us about a road on the outskirts of town. It is the road that leads to the oil terminal. Along this road is a rocky coastline flanked by forest. There are bears that come down to eat salmon, fishing from the bank , and eagles she said. I bought some lures and we packed up and off we went. We arrived and there was some fog that was still hanging. There were several sea lions on a rock growling. The pink salmon are thick in here so we got out the rods and casted. I got some bites, but we enjoyed the wildlife. It was then that I had another fleeting perfect moment. As I was fishing in this beautiful sound in Alaska, with just a bit of fog hanging over the water, breathing clean air, a large bald eagle swooped down from the trees. It glided along the water almost effortlessly and finally dropped his talons into the water and grabbed a fish and flew off into the fog. Amazing. It is so beautiful here and it seems so alive. I managed to catch one pink salmon. One of the rods broke so we headed to town to make lunch and get a new rod. We fried some of the halibut we caught and the salmon we caught and made fish and chips. We took it to the park and Grant played and we had a picnic. Grant of course made fast friends with all the kids there. He tried to join in with some people that were doing Yoga. We went back home and Amy and I left Shari with the kids and we went fishing for more salmon. We caught several and then it slowed a bit. In some areas they were so thick it was like a swarm. After you catch the fish you take it out onto the rocks and find a big rock and bash the head to kill it as they are half crazy when you pull them out. I felt like Gollum in Lord of the Rings. We moved to a different spot and got into them again. A group of Air Force families from a nearby base showed up. One of the guys was obviously from the south. He was whooping and hollering and having a good old time. We got the rest of our limit and not a moment too soon as the lady that passed selling ice cream said a grizzly had come down on the other end of the beach. Time to go. We came back to the campsite and I had to clean all those fish. That took a while and we packed them and put them in the freezer. This pink salmon will make good fish and cuocou. Tomorrow the journey home begins.

Day 29

I cannot take the rain anymore. Everything is damp and smells and we cannot see any scenery nor do anything. I suppose Seward is probably pretty, but we cannot enjoy it. We picked up our fish from the packager and headed toward Valdez. I could fit only about a fourth of our fish in the freezer so I figured we would stop in Anchorage for some fish boxes and ship them in the mail. The rain stopped about 50 miles from Seward. Finally. We got to anchorage and bought boxes and packaging stuff and got the fish ready to ship. We called the post office and found out we had missed the cutoff for overnight shipping. We also found out it would cost dang near 200 bucks to overnight it home. We had a crazy idea. We bought a freezer from wal mart and took out the dinner table in the RV. We replaced it with the freezer. We will keep it plugged in while at campsites and just keep it shut while we are driving. The freezer cost less than shipping and we will at least get something for it. It is a crazy thing to do but there I nothing a Bajan loves more than a whole lotta fish. We continued on the drive to Valdez. You drive down a highway called the Richardsom highway. It is breathtaking as it winds through glacier fields and spectacular views. Every now and then the Alaska pipeline parallels the road. We arrived in Valdez late. We got set up and went to bed. I am not sure what we are doing tomorrow.

Day 28

What a day. We got up at 5am to get to the harbor in time for our fishing charter. We arrived in our rain gear and they gave us rain boots to wear. The boat was a sport boat that was captained by a guy named Eric. He was a young guy, who looked to be about 27 or so. The other passengers were an older lady who has fished the same charter for the last 20 year6s when she comes up to visit her friend. She was interesting. There was also another couple who kind of kept to themselves. It is still raining. Apparently it has been raining for 10 days before we even got here. They said it was the first day the fishing boats could get out. Eric took us out of resurrection bay and near cape resurrection. He demonstrated how to use the tackle and caught one on his first cast. We all went after them. We got our limit of 3 silver salmon a piece in 45 minutes. Eric was having a good time with us hollering “fish on” when one would get on a line. You are allowed 3 more back in the bay, so we headed back there. Amy had gotten a bit seasick as the seas were rough. She took some more motion sickness medicine and that seemed to help. The fishing slowed down in the bay. We stopped at one spot and Amy accidentally let her line go all the way to the bottom. This was a blessing in disguise as Amy hooked into a halibut. We all lowered our lines to the bottom. I hooked one next. Those halibut can get heavy and reeling them in from 200 feet deep will wear your arm out. We fished for more salmon but caught more halibut and various rockfish. We got back to the dock and the fish were filleted and packaged. We went back home to rest and prepare for our afternoon cruise in the bay for wildlife watching. The trailer is nasty and damp. Nothing will dry and the bathroom smells disgusting. If only it will stop raining. We took short naps and then we all went back to the docks for our whale watching cruise. On the way to the island stop we didn’t see anything. The visibility is terrible because of all the rain. Dinner was served. It wasn’t that good. The salmon had no flavor. Grant was hyper and hard to control as well. On the way back, we managed to see a humpback whale. That was pretty cool. We also were able to see seal lions, a soaring bald eagle and some puffins. Grant made friends with 2 little girls and followed them. After the cruise, on the shuttle bus back to the parking lot Grant talked to the little girls parents. He told them miscellaneous stories about things kids think are important. Then he said. Today I poopoo’ed in the potty. They told him how that was good. He then said “Daddy poopoo’ed in the potty too”. “His was a really BIG ONE”, as he held his arms like 2 feet apart. I about died of embarrassment. Tomorrow we leave. This rain is depressing.

Day 27

It is still raining. Everything is starting to get that damp feeling to it. Nothing will dry in the RV and the walls are sweating. It is just so damp and nasty. We decided to go to the Seward aquarium since it was indoors and out of the rain. It features native Marine life. It was not very big and very overpriced however. It featured exhibits on salmon, seal lions and a few other native fish. We finished it in about an hour. We went into the sea bird exhibit and one of the puffins was attempting to murder an arctic tern. It had caught it and was holding it underwater. Someone alerted the keeper and he scared the puffin off and scooped the tern out with a net. It didn’t look so good. I suspect it died. It was ultra violence. We then hustled into the car and went to a local diner for lunch. We had some halibut and chips and chowder. We found a local bakery and got some goodies and coffee. If it would only stop raining. Last night Grant woke up and crawled into our bed saying he was scared because there was a bear outside. We let him in thinking yeah right. Well, when I got up to put my trash away in the AM. The owner asked us if we had heard noise at night. Apparently there was a bear that had come into the campsite overnight and been raiding campsites. He was apparently still there in the morning and they had taken pictures and showed them to us. There was one where the bear was sitting on the picnic table of the campsite next to us. I guess Grant really did see the bear outside. Guess we need to take him seriously.

Day 26

We left Ninilchik today to head toward Seward. It is still raining and generally a nasty day. We got packed up and set out. We drove past the Kenai and Russian river areas and again there were arm to arm salmon fisherman going for their salmon. We passsed a little something on the road. It was a little bear cub that had been killed on the road. We arrived at our campsite near Seward several hours later. The road was very winding and we did not make good time. We checked into the campsite. It was a family run place with a little lodge area. We checked in and I asked about fishing creeks in the area. They told me about a stream a couple hundred yards up the street that had good Dolly Varden fishing. The man sitting at the bar didn’t think it was a good idea, as there had been a 100 pound grizzly bear visiting there for the past view days. It was still raining. We drove into Seward. The waterfront is very pretty although we could not see much of the scenery because of the haze. There are bald eagles everywhere. We found a playground to let Grant play, and sat back and watched the eagles in the tree. We walked a bit on the waterfront and headed home.

Day 25

Alex’s first birthday went well considering we celebrated in a trailer camp in Ninilchik Alaska. We made the best of everything. Amy and Shari baked a strawberry cake and covered it with with a chocolate frosting. Grant had a blast helping to decorate the cake! We all sang happy birthday and watched as Grant happily helped her to blow out the candles. She seemed to have fun and it was fun for us. The weather here on the Kenai Peninsula has been awful. It has rained all day and everyday for the past week according to the locals. It is kind of depressing. I wish the fog would lift so we could enjoy more of the view. That’s just the way of it I guess. The weather is due to be rainy and nasty for the foreseeable future. Everyone in this RV park kind of keeps to themselves. It appears there are some serious Alaskans from the mainland who come down to fish. They have freezers plugged into the outside of their RV’s. We watched a fishing charter come back with a load of halibut. Some were big but they looked mostly like large flounder. The clamming expedition was an adventure. Amy and I got up early and went to rent clamming “guns” and buckets from the office. A clam gun is a big tube with a T handle that has a small hole in it. Placing your finger over this hole will create a seal as you dig down with the gun and as you lift, technically should pull out a cylinder of soil and the clam. That is in theory. We arrived at the beach about 30 minutes before low tide started. There were tons of locals with all of their equipment ready to go. A local game warden showed up and people seemed a bit nervous. I have noticed seeing a game wardens make rednecks nervous like seeing a cop in the ghetto will make a black person nervous. We gathered and began looking for the “show” or little hole the clam makes as its digging. This proved difficult. The holes were often subtle and an hour passed with no success. I heard locals talking about how the clamming wasn’t that good today. We did begin to figure it out and snagged some of the rascals. We ended up with about half a bucket full. Digging with the clam gun and pulling it up is actually very physically taxing and I was exhausted after the morning. When pulling the clams out you are elbow deep into a sandy mucky hole. Grant went to help, but after the cold water touched his feet he had enough. We ended up wearing him on our backs. A bald eagle circled overhead looking for scraps. We came back and cleaned the clams and froze them. Perhaps we will make chowder tomorrow. We leave for Seward tomorrow. Hopefully the truck won’t get stuck in the mud pulling out the trailer.

Day 24

It was kind of nice to get up early. Today is another cold wet day. I found a mechanic shop a few blocks down to change the oil. It took about an hour. I read the local newspaper. It seems as if a lady was asked to stop breastfeeding at the local water park and it is now a big deal. I am not sure what has happened in this country that people are so hung up on a woman breastfeeding an infant. Sarah Palin is also having a series of farewell town picnics. After the oil was changed, we hooked up and ate breakfast of French toast with blueberry sauce. We drove on to our next stop Ninilchik. The drive down the Seward highway was breathtakingly beautiful. It was like the postcards of an Alaska cruise. It was still very rainy and nasty though. The drive took about 4 hours. We passed several areas where people where fishing arm to arm. We arrived at our campsite. Because of the rain, the whole area seems dreary. We inquired a bit about clamming tomorrow and the lady told us some about it and how we could rent equipment at the office. We will try that tomorrow when the tide is low, about noon. We got setup, ate dinner and drove to the beach. We walked around a bit and watched the gulls and some fisherman cleaning up after a days of fishing. There was a bald eagle circling overhead. We will try to get the children to bed early tonight so we can have a productive day of clamming. Apparently the razor clamming days have hundreds of people scrambling for these clams. We shall see. I enjoyed a nice bit of rum as I was able to refill the trailers grog in Anchorage. They did not have Mount gay so I got some Bacardi. There is no comparison.

Day 23

Today we packed up and made the drive from Denali to Anchorage. We continued along the Parks highway. This has been some of the most scenic driving on the trip. It wound through green valleys and lakes and marshes with moose grazing. Some of the water was so still and clear it appeared as if there was a mirror image of the mountains in the water. We got a bit of a late start and didn’t arrive in Anchorage until about 3:30. We had wanted to take Grant to the zoo. We stopped at a place called Centennial Park. It is a city park that offers campsites. It was actually very nice. We are near an Air Force base and fighter jets are buzzing overhead. We quickly set up camp and drove to the zoo. I dropped everyone off and went to try and get some errands run. I went to an RV shop and asked them to check the torque on the hitch ball. A nice technician came out and torque it and they charged me nothing. I then went to try and get the oil changed and the oil change place claimed they weren’t accepting any new customers even though it was almost an hour until closing. I had some time to burn so I went to Wal Mart for some supplies. I bought oil and I figure I will take it to a mechanic tomorrow and see if I can just get them to change it. I picked the others up from the zoo after that. They said there were lots of bears and you were able to get very close to the animals. It was a small zoo otherwise. We then went to the grocery store and stocked up on groceries and supplies for Alex’s birthday party. We went back to the trailer and Amy and Shari begun dinner while I went to Lowes to get some things to repair the broken jack. I took Grant with me and since he had been good all day, I bought him a toy monster truck which he was very pleased with. We went back and ate some delicious chicken parmesan and got to bed. I will need to get up early to try and get this oil changed.

Day 22

Wow, what a day we had today. We got up, or at least I did, at 4:45. It was the usual struggle to get the women and children up and going. We got there slightly late, and had to take the last seats at the rear of the bus. Luckily, the bus people had car seats we could borrow so we did not have to take the ones out of the truck. The day started of a bit cloudy and the guide prefaced the drive by saying it may not be the best day for seeing wildlife and Mt. McKinley. You basically ride an old green converted school bus along a narrow dirt road. At some times the ride was harrowing as there was no shoulder, dirt road with no guardrails and hundreds of feet of sheer cliff. The driver assured us he knew the roads like the back of his hand. Just after we crossed a pass past the point where you are not allowed to drive by yourself, the view opened up to the most magnificent vista I have seen. There was lush green subalpine tundra with a backdrop of the Alaska Range as far as the eye could see. It looked like something out of a Lord of the Rings movie. I expected to see a Giant lumbering across the plain at any movement. We saw a large male grizzly down below. As we moved further a female grizzly and her cub popped up not 50 feet from the bus. The casually ambled across the street in front of the bus and frolicked in the field next to us. We were able to see moose, Dall sheep, Harriers, and Golden Eagles all in this area. Further along you are supposed to be able to see Mt McKinley, which is the tallest mountain in North America. In reality, it is covered in clouds 70-80 percent of the time as it is so large, it creates its own clouds and weather. As we crossed the bend, the road opened up to a magnificent view of the mountain. It was one of the most awe inspiring things I have ever seen. The pictures here are truly worthless and no picture I could post could convey the enormity of it. We arrived at the far visitor’s center and hiked a bit with Grant. Unfortunately it was very windy and cold and they could not tolerate much of a hike. Soon after the mountain was engulfed by clouds again. We boarded the bus and headed back. Some British hiker boarded the bus from the road and gave us his leftover apple and muffins. We rode back and absorbed more of the view on the way back. It was an awesome trip. We came back to the trailer and Grant did some activities from his junior ranger bag while I performed some maintenance on the trailer. Many of the hitches bolts needed tightening. I do not have the tools to check the torque on the ball so I will see if there is an RV store in anchorage that will check it for me tomorrow. We went back out to the visitor center, and Grant turned in his junior ranger activities. He got to wear a ranger hat and the Ranger made him swear an oath to protect Denali. He got a little badge for this. We then went to get ice cream, Amy was very sad to see that the flavor she wanted “birthday cake” was gone. We came back t o do laundry. We reheated leftovers over a fire. Today we did laundry. Some fool was making a stink about how the washer wasn’t fast enough and how he needed to use the dryer first because he was with boy scouts. The kids are tired and we will try to get them to bed early. Tomorrow we head to Anchorage. We booked our fishing charter for salmon today. Hopefully we will catch a mess of fish.

Day 21

So far the first part of the park hasn’t been very impressive in that you can’t see much. Mostly its dense trees flanked by some mountain vistas. It is very clear today as most of the smoke seems to have cleared out. We did several small hikes. Grant tired quickly today and I had to carry him most of the way. After the hikes, we stopped again at the visitor center for Amy and Shari to research the berries and find recipes. We also bought some ice cream after that. I got a cup of coffee. We decided to pony up and just by tickets on the bus that takes you into the park. We decided on 6 am as we figured it would be better for viewing wildlife and would leave us the afternoon to do other things. We tooled around a bit more and came back and grilled hotdogs for dinner over a campfire and then more smores. We wanted to get the kids to sleep early since it would be an early start. Hopefully the weather will be good tomorrow. Amy and Shari have made a blueberry coffee cake tort thing that we will eat for breakfast.