Life is a Journey

NOTE : A quick post today – lots of photos and not much journaling.

Today we a full 12 hour day tour all the way to Kantishna (at the end of the Denali National Park Road) and back again. We boarded our bus at 6.30am and were given our lunch bag – which included 2 bottles of a water, a bottle of orange juice, 2 cookies, chips(crisps), nuts and a nut bar. Later we were given a wrap as well. We ate on the bus whenever we wanted to.

It was one stunning view after another.

Unfortunately Mount McKinley was not to be seen today :-(.

Unfortunately when we got the end of the road, where we got do a little walk with a Park Ranger, it was a little drizzly and there were LOTS of mosquitoes (though it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected). Ours was the only tour to go out this far but we were really glad we did it.

We got to visit the house where Franny Quigley (sp??) lived in the early 1900s. She must have been one amazing woman to have lived out here (even when her husband moved to Seattle).

There was a number of animal sightings including hares, squirrels, moose, caribou, dall sheep, eagles, grizzly bears (including cubs) and the rarely spotted wolverine.

Kevin took lots of photos but found it hard to get good shots as the animals were often far away in a bad position to photograph.

He wasn’t happy with what he got, but I was pleased.

The dall sheep, with 2 lambs.

The wolverine – which ran up the road in front of us for ages. Our guide said it was the 5th one she’d seen in 20 years and the first in over 5 years. So we scored big time.

I managed to photograph quite a few of the beautiful wildflowers.

This is a wild rose…

This is what our bus looked like at the end of the day.

We headed back to MH, which was parked at the Wilderness Access Center, and was amazed to find a moose and her calf in the middle of the car park!!!!

Kevin & I were so excited. The baby was sooooo cute.

We drove back to Riley Creek and hung out in the car park again so I do this post :-).

Tomorrow : Headed back to Anchorage and our last day in the motorhome.

Our RV site in Talkeetna backed right onto the railway line but I’d read it wasn’t too bad. There was a train around 11pm and another about 3am so it didn’t bother us too much. A bit of a relaxed morning and we were off by 8am. Lots more beautiful scenery. We’re seeing more and more wildflowers each day which is lovely.

We had a brief stop for petrol.

And arrived at Denali National Park around 11am.

We got checked into Riley Creek, where we are staying. And went to choose our spot.

I chose the one with the most wildflowers :-).

They have a system here whereby you leave your name/check-in slip clipped onto a stump to identify your site – you get to choose your own. We did this then drove to the Visitors Center.

Kevin wore his rain jacket. I didn’t bother as it was only spitting. When we came back out, so had the sun. We were just in time to watch the short film before having a look around.

I loved this little fella – how cute is he?

You know you’re in bear country when they have serious bear proof bins like this.

Kevin wanted lunch from the cafe. He got the kids burger. I stole a couple of this fries (which were really yummy) and made a cheese & coleslaw wrap later on.

We went back to our site for a while. Kevin had a nap. I ate my lunch and read a few magazines.

This was my view :-).

Just before 3pm we headed over to the Merchantile where we were picked up for our Rhino ATV tour.

This was lots of fun. Kevin had a ball trying to hit every rock, every dip in the road, and make the biggest splashes.

We had a number of stops with the most gorgeous views. We really lucked out with the weather this afternoon. Out of the wind it was actually warm.

Okay, you get the idea. We were surrounded by beauty. Our last stop was down by the river.

More stunning scenery.

And one thing I did not expect to see on our tour.

At the end I was reunited with my normal glasses – which I didn’t even know were missing. Kevin must have knocked them out of the bag when he got out his jacket. Boy, was I lucky! We were then returned to Riley Creek where Kevin had the brilliant idea that instead of sitting outside the Merchantile to get wifi that he drive the MH around to the car park. And that’s exactly what we did. Once I get this posted we’ll head back to our campsite.

Tomorrow : An day trip through Denali Park.

We were up very early this morning so decided to get ready and hit the road around 6.20am!!! We enjoyed the some tea along the way and stopped in Soldotna’s Fred Meyer to get some more groceries.

I was looking at this cute desert when I realized it was might for dogs!!! Wow they really do have everything in USA.

This is the organic/healthy frozen section – in a remote Alaskan town….. so not fair….

I prepared a bagel in the MH which I ate on the way. As you can we had splendid weather today and it was actually quite warm.

Around 11.15am we arrived at the Alaskan Wildlife Preserve (which had been recommended to us by some locals).

It’s a drive around park but you can get to see the animals and in Kevin’s case take photos.

This Mummy bison with both this years and last years calf was my favourite.

We then drove a bit further up the road to the Alyeska ski resort.

where we caught tram up to the top of the mountain. Kevin was happy because he got to stand on the snow.

It was so beautiful and surprisingly not at all cold.

We had bought lunch with our lift ticket and we both chose soup – Kevin had meat chilli and I had tomato with raviolli. So yummy.

Made ever better by the view we had.

We then caught the train back down. We apparently went over a bear and her cub but neither Kevin or I saw them :-(.

There aren’t a lot of wildflowers out yet but those that are so so pretty.

As were the potted flowers around the resort.

We continued on our way – up past Anchorage and Willow. Kevin got a bit sleepy around 3pm we pulled into some little down and he had a sleep for an hour. I took the opportunity to give the MH a bit of a tidy up and read some magazines.

At 4pm we were on our final leg of today 7 hour drive and arrived in Talkeetna just before 6pm.

We got set up and then walked into the town. It was such a lovely day and still wasn’t cold yet. Talkeetna is the town that inspired the TV show Northern Exposure (which I have never actually watched).

It really is an odd little town – just a handful of shops and restaurants – which I’m sure are all here to cater to the tourist.

After a quick tour we walked back to the MH. We didn’t have any wifi in the MH so I went over to the office area and sat outside to upload photos to flickr. Unfortunatley some mossies found me but I suffered for the sake of the blog :-). Once the photos were done I went back to the MH to write up the posts and have some dinner. Another Amy’s meal – tonight was Mexican Casserole. It’s probably just as well I can’t get Amy’s – I might never cook again they are that good and taste just like what I’d make myself :-).

As soon as I finish eating I’m going to post this and then do a bit of reading before bed.

Tomorrow : Headed to Denali.

Today started with breakfast at the Broadwalk Bakery out on the spit.

The owner was lovely and encouraged us to put a pin in Wollongong.

Upon her recommendation we order some waffles to share. There was only outdoor seating (and it was cold) so we ate in the MH.

Outside we found this cute pup.

Then it was time for todays adventure – a plane trip to hang out with some grizzly bears with Alaska Bear Adventures.

After being fitted for hip-wadders (a difficult process for me due to my big leg due to my previous DVT), we had a flight briefing and were then off for the 1.5 hour trip. After we went through quite a bit of cloud we flew over mountains and volcanoes, which was pretty awesome.

When we touched down on the rocky beach we had a short walk … then we spotted what we came to see… bears. There were 2 young males (around 2-3yrs old) and behind them in the distance you might be able to make out a mother with her cub.

Kevin got right to work with the big camera.

As you can see it was rather chilly…but at least it didn’t rain…

We watched these cubs for some time, then moved up the beach to admire/laugh at this young female. This time we were nice and close.

She was fast asleep when we arrived and didn’t care at all that we were close. Check out her claws!

She eventually propped herself up to check us out, but was so tired she could barely keep her head up. I never thought I’d see a bear this relaxed in the wild. It was so cute and so funny.

Love this photo – it looks like she’s looking right at Kevin.

Eventually she moved off to get a drink of water.

Then as we waited on the beach she we walked right in front of us.

Then she spotted the two males and took off after them – chasing one of them up the beach, around the rocks and all the way over to another field. She sure had plenty of energy after all that lazy around. The guides didn’t know why she was chasing them so it will remain a mystery.

You could their paw prints on the beach.

As we headed back it was lucky we were wearing wadders…

Unfortunately Kevin’s had a hole (in both) so his feet got wet! Next stop was the very rustic toilets – which us girls were very greatful for.

Then time to see another field with lots of bears (off in the distance) grazing….including this mother and cub.

The beach was covered with rocks and shells. I would loved to have bought back one of these blue shells for the girls.

Then it was time for some group photos.

The two guys standing beside Kevin are from Australia and have just started a 8 month motorbike trip from Alaska to Antartica called Circle to Circle. Needless to say Kevin enjoyed chatting with them and is VERY jealous of their trip.

Sadly we had to leave the bears and head back to Homer. We ate lunch on the way…

and enjoyed more beautiful scenery.

The houses are so cute in Alaska and instead of having a row of shops joined together, every building is seperate & unique.

Back in town we drove out to the spit again to see the Salty Dawg Saloon. It’s world famous and most people will buy a t-shirt – but we were happy to take a photo from outside.

The best thing about the drive out here was that we spotted our very first Golden.

And were able to give him a pat. So cute.

We then headed back to RV park for some afternoon tea and do some laundry. Around 6.30pm we headed out to find some dinner. I had noticed this cute building this morning.

It was opened but it was full – which is a good sign I guess. Instead of waiting for table we opted to get a takeaway pizza. Which still meant we had to wait. We sat outside in front of the bookshop part.

We took our pizza back to the MH were we enjoyed it. It was double cheese and so very good.

Later I showered, blogged and actually caught up on some blog reading.

Tomorrow : A BIG drive to Talkeetna (inspirational town for Northern Exposure)