Alaska, Denali National Park

We left Fairbanks via motor coach for the 3.5 hour trip to Denali National Park. We spent two nights at the McKinley Chalet Resort on the outskirts of the park. Our entire trip was with Holland America land and sea package. We were surprised to find out that they own the hotels we stayed at, the buses, and train cars we were in. It is quite a smooth and well run operation.

We were in Alaska at the summer solstice time. I never did get over the fact that there was 22 hours of daylight. Here is the scenery from our hotel at 10 pm. The sun is still shining on the mountains.

The next day we took the 8 hour Tundra Wilderness tour with the National Park Service. Our driver was great, and found lots for us to see. As we came around a corner, he pointed out the first chance to see Mount Denali. At first, I didn't see what he was referring to. I thought it was clouds, but it was actually the mountain in its full glory. At this point, it was about 80 miles from us.

He told us he hadn't seen it in almost a week. The mountain is 20,310 feet above sea level, the highest point in North America, and creates its own weather system. It is only seen in any part about 30 percent of the time. We were so lucky to see all of it, which only happens about 5 percent of the time.

We had several more opportunities to see it on the route. We also saw the four big wildlife animals; grizzly bear, moose, Dall sheep, and caribou. Some of them were at quite a distance. Our bus had a camera that could zoom in on the animals, and then the driver put it up on screens inside the bus.

Here's a grizzly mom and her cub we saw twice as we made our way to the turnaround and back again.

Next up were caribou. We had several sightings of them. They are the most likely wildlife to see on the tour.

As we got closer to the turnaround, we saw Mount Denali a few more times. Our driver was pushing to get to the turnaround, which would be the closest view of the mountain, about 40 miles away. He said the weather could turn in a few minutes, and it would disappear.  As you can see in this picture, a few clouds were already creeping in.

We agreed to skip one of the stops, and catch it on the way back. When we got to the turnaround, there were already clouds beginning to obstruct the view. We still had a great view, and took lots of pictures.

Here are Kevin and myself with the mountain to the right behind us.

Buses that arrived about 15 minutes after we left reported that the mountain had disappeared. We were so fortunate to see it as much as we did. On the way back, we spotted Dall sheep twice.

And this moose was sitting on the ice by himself.

At one of the stops, they had moose and caribou antlers to examine. There was only half of a moose antler, and it was so heavy, I could barely lift it.

The caribou antlers were much lighter. I'm glad I don't have to carry that rack around on my head.

We stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks. The scenery in Denali is magnificent. Pictures definitely don't capture the overwhelming beauty of it all.

We had dinner at one of the McKinley Chalet complex restaurants that evening. Both of us tried a caribou burger. The waiter told us they add beef fat to counteract some of the gaminess of the caribou. It tasted like a beef hamburger to us.

Our stay at Denali was everything I had hoped for and more. It was my favorite place on the trip. Actually, my favorite part was the scenery all over Alaska. Each day brought more beauty. It is impossible to describe or capture in pictures, but it is a memory that will stay with us forever!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Alaska, Fairbanks

Our first view of Alaska mountains from the plane was breathtaking.

Our friends Myra and Richard picked us up at the airport. We met them in Yuma a few years ago, but they have both lived in Alaska all their lives. When we told them we were coming to Fairbanks, they invited us to come a day early and stay with them at their beautiful home.

After dinner, they took us out on their boat on the Chena River which runs right past their home. We saw two eagles and a beaver home.

We stopped at a local establishment for a drink.

Myra let us try on some fur coats they own. Kevin is wearing wolf, and I am wearing a seal coat.

The next day we went golfing at Chena Bend Golf Course on Fort Wainwright. The weather in Fairbanks was in the 70s and sunny. Even though we were much further north than the rest of the trip, the weather was the nicest in Fairbanks. They have been as hot as 99 degrees in the summer, and minus 66 in the winter. That's quite a swing.

Myra and Richard treated us like royalty. We so appreciated their hospitality. Myra dropped us off at the hotel, and we began our official tour with Fox World Travel. The next day we began with a tour of the Historic Gold Dredge #8. Gold mining put Fairbanks on the map in the early 1900s. This massive dredge was used to mine gold.

Part of the tour was panning for gold. We ended up with $15 worth between the two of us. Not going to get rich that way!

We also saw some of the Alaskan pipeline which runs 800 miles through Alaska, and was completed in 1977 at a cost of $8 billion.

In the afternoon, we took a three hour ride on the Discovery Riverboat tour.

The boat docks right next door to Richard and Myra's house. They were out waving to us with their grandsons as we went by. As you can see, the river is really low right now.

While on the boat, we had a float plane demonstration.

We stopped to meet the dogsled teams of Susan Butcher. She won the Iditarod race four times before dying of cancer. Her husband and daughter continue her legacy.

We got off the boat at a reproduction of a Native Chena Village. We learned about how the native people survived and lived many years ago. This ceremonial robe was gorgeous.

Our first three days in Fairbanks were amazing. Our next stop will be Denali National Park for two nights. More Alaska adventures in the next post.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Three New RV States For Us

On Monday we drove from Provo to Meridian, Idaho; a suburb of Boise. Idaho was one of just a few states we haven't been to. We stayed at the Meridian KOA, a very nice, clean RV park in the middle of the city. The pleasant lady that checked us in said the city grew up around them.

Our main purpose for stopping here was to visit our wonderful friends, Everett and Nancy. We met them a few years ago in Yuma at the RV resort we now live at. They lead the hiking club, and have a park model two spaces over from ours. They have become good friends of ours.

They invited us over for a delicious dinner on Monday. Nancy is a great cook. They have a beautiful home on a golf course in Meridian. Everett is quite the hunter and showed us his sheep trophies in his office. I know one is from Alaska, another from the Yukon, and I don't remember the rest. The hide is from a goat.

It is high on my bucket list to see Big Horned Sheep in the wild. Over the years, we have hiked in several areas where they can be seen, but no luck. Maybe this is as close as I'll get.

On Tuesday we golfed with them at the course they live on, Lakeview Golf Club. We had a fun time, and really enjoyed the company and hospitality of such a great couple. In fact, we were having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures. That's a shame, as their house and yard are beautiful.

Wednesday morning before we left, we did a quick drive into Boise to visit the Idaho State Capitol building. We don't go out of our way to tour capitols, but if we're nearby, why not.

Although the Idaho Capitol is an impressive building, it was pretty much a ghost town. It was eerily quiet and empty. We found the visitor desk, but it was unmanned. There was a brochure that said a free tour booklet was available at the gift shop. The sign on the gift shop door said they open at 9:30 am. We were there ten minutes after, but it was closed up tight.

We wandered around on all four levels. The rotunda is impressive with a huge Idaho flag hanging from the top. No paintings or murals though. Most other rotundas we've seen are more decorated.

The walls, stairs, and floors are made of four types of marble. The 219 pillars look and feel like marble, but are artificial. Really pretty and impressive. I did a little research and discovered this building was completed in 1920 at a cost of $2 million. It was restored in the early 2000s. The bronze eagle on top is nearly six feet tall.

Wednesday was another new state for us. We have never been to Oregon. One thing I really noticed in both Idaho and Oregon were the many rose bushes. Absolutely beautiful!!

We drove to Farewell Bend State Park in Huntington, Oregon. Although we had a pull through site, it was tight getting out of it because the end of it was on a turn in the road. There are seven foot tall bushes all along the sides of the roads. This park is on the Snake River and was a wonderful setting. However, it was very much in the middle of nowhere. At our site we had no TV or cell signal. That rarely happens. No problem for one night. I was amazed at how mountainous Eastern Oregon is, part of the Cascade Range.

Thursday we arrived in Washington State. We spent a week in Seattle in April of 2010 with our boys on a family vacation, but this is the first time we'll be here with our RV.  More hills and mountains. We stayed at Yakima River RV park in Ellensburg, west of Yakima. The views of the Stuart Range were fantastic. This was a no frills, very clean, park; but perfect for an overnight.

A short walk down the entrance road is the Yakima River.

Yesterday we arrived at Pleasant Lake RV Park in Bothell, Washington where our fifth wheel will be until July 8th. This afternoon we put it in storage here at the park, and begin our Alaska adventure. This park caters to RVers travelling to Alaska, allowing you to park in the storage area and keep your refrigerator plugged in for $10 per night. We return from Alaska on June 23rd, and then plan to explore northwestern Washington State for 2 weeks.

I must say that the scenery all the way from Yuma to Bothell has been amazing. So many beautiful sites all the way, with hills, mountains, lakes, rivers, open range and forests.

We are very excited for our Alaska trip!! I will probably do some Facebook posts on the trip, but no blogging until we return.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah

We arrived at Lakeside RV Campground in Provo on Friday afternoon. It's an okay place for a few days to explore the area. Our site is a FHU pull-thru, but the neighbors slide is about a foot from ours.

On Saturday we drove about 45 minutes to Salt Lake City. We started our day with a 1.5 hour tour on the Salt Lake Trolley. The conductor and two tour guides were quite entertaining with songs and stories to enhance the experience. I felt it was definitely worth the $29 fare. This was not a hop on, hop off trolley, although that option is also available in the city. Ours did make a few stops where we could get off and take pictures, and we were allowed to go into the state capitol and The Cathedral of the Madeleine to take pictures. The tour offered a very good overview of the city and its history.

The guide claimed that the Union Pacific Railway station was the inspiration for the station at Disneyland.

Near the railroad station is the Devereaux House. This was the home of William Jennings, Utah's first millionaire. He was mayor and owned part of the railroad.

The City Hall was built in 1894. It was designed to rival the Salt Lake Temple as the city's architectural centerpiece. Pride Fest is taking place this weekend, so there were lots of booths for that event set up in front.

Utah's state bird is the seagull. There are statues of the birds on top of a bus stop. It's not a very good picture, but I had to include it for our son Eric who has to fight off seagulls in Milwaukee, Wisconsin when he is working on rooftops. The seagulls saved the first Mormons who came to Utah. Locusts were eating their crops, but seagulls came from the Great Salt Lake and ate the bugs and saved the crops.

We stopped at the Cathedral of the Madeleine built in 1909. What a beautiful building, inside and out.

Salt Lake City is Utah's state capitol. The Capitol building, begun in 1912, is beautiful. It looks very much like many other capitol buildings we've seen.

Due to lack of funds, the rotunda wasn't painted for 20 years. The Depression Era Public Works of Arts Project funded the cyclorama depicting scenes from 19th century Utah life. The chandelier dates back to 1915.

After the trolley tour, we drove downtown to tour Temple Square. The temple was built by the original Mormons who arrived in the valley in 1847, led by Brigham Young. He had a vision to build the temple on this spot, which took 40 years to complete. It is located in the very center of the city.  Most parking lots downtown are underground, which is not good for our truck. We finally managed to find a street parking spot. The good news is there is 2 hours free parking on Saturdays.

We walked to Temple Square and entered the South Visitor Center. There are many displays about the history of the buildings and the Mormons. The Temple is considered sacred, and visitors are not allowed to enter. There were several wedding parties having pictures taken on the grounds, so it was quite crowded. Over three million people visit here each year.

I wanted to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform. The public is invited to their practices on Thursday evenings, but we weren't here for that. We could have gone to the Tabernacle next to the Temple on Sunday morning, but we would need to be seated by 9 am. I didn't want to fight for a parking spot again and drive the 45 minutes from Provo to get there, so I took it off my list. We could have heard an organ recital on Saturday afternoon, but the grounds were so huge, and it was confusing where to go, so I gave up on that, too.

At the entrance to the square, there is a statue honoring Brigham Young and the pioneers who founded the city. He arrived with 147 people. Forty years later over 60,000 Mormons had joined them. It is truly an interesting part of our country's history.

About a block from the Temple is The Beehive House, Brigham Young's home and office. He was the president of the LDS church as well as Utah's territorial governor. We took an interesting free tour of the house. It has been beautifully preserved.

Next door is The Lion House where most of his family lived. He had 56 wives and 57 children, so needed lots of space for them all. The table in the Lion House is said to have seated 70 people. It is now a restaurant.

We left downtown and drove to the The Great Salt Lake, the largest salt lake in the Western Hemisphere. It is saltier than the ocean. It has no outlet, so tributary rivers bring in salt which is left behind when the water evaporates. I dipped my fingers into it, and it tasted very salty!

Driving back towards the city, we had a good view of downtown. You can even see the Capitol on the left.

Utah Lake is walking distance from the campground. It is the 3rd largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi.

On Sunday we tried to do a scenic drive up to Mt. Nebo. About 8 miles up the Nebo Loop Road, it was closed. There was much evidence of the fire that swept through this area in October of 2018, so we're guessing maybe the road is closed due to fire damage.

Next we drove through Provo to the Alpine Scenic Loop Road to visit Bridal Veil Falls.
The falls are beautiful and the surrounding mountains are also gorgeous. You can't see it in the picture, but people were actually scrambling up those rocks to the falls. It looked extremely dangerous.

We really enjoyed our first visit to this area. We found both Salt Lake City and Provo to be clean, pretty and interesting cities. The mountains surrounding the area are amazing.

It reminded me a lot of the Denver/Boulder areas, only on the western side of the Rockies. Every afternoon we were here, clouds would build up over the mountains, and we would hear thunder and have some rain showers. I don't know if that is typical.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!