Saturday, August 8, 2015

On Our Way Home

August 8, Saturday

We are back in the lower 48, tired and driving, headed for the barn. The rest of our sea faring adventure went without a hitch, with a stop in Ketchican, first city of Alaska. We had calm seas through to Bellingham, with a 6:30am arrival. Super fun with kids.  

The ferry was fun, a novelty. The kids busied themselves driving us crazy, running all over, torturing everyone in their path. Tough to wear them out in limited space. I tried to send them on scavenger hunts around the ship, but clearly they needed some more incentive, like candy or prizes. Pre-planning has not been my forte.  

We disembarked to a sunny, cloud strewn skies and a very cute Bellingham. As we were heading out of town Reese commented that all the license plates were Washington plates. We had seen so many different plates in Alaska. He then asked if there was a National Park in Washington, to which I replied Olympic National Park. He said, 'that's where all the different plates will be'. 

Another difference we noticed right away is how dry it is, even here. Grasses lining the highway are the golden color of late summer, something we had yet to witness.  And the van!  After two weeks of not traveling I turned to Rich and asked 'is it always this loud?'  Part of it is the road, but the din is something get accustomed to again. 

And our hearts?  The kids are anxious to see their friends again, that is all I can get out of them. Rich and I are torn between being ready to stop living out of bags and being rooted. I am going to miss the french fries, as we have been on a french fry and IPA tour. I won't miss eating the same thing at restaurants all the time. Having to cook every night will be a big adjustment. My heart is ready to be home, among my friends and family. I am not looking forward to planning, managing, multitasking. The beauty of looking forward only a day or two is overlooked in our society. As is being out of cell service. Even now, driving down I-5 I am not burning to get on Facebook, call or text. I want to savor the last few hours travel however good or bad they may be. I will check back in a week or so and let you know how that goes. 

And just when you are lulled into a sense of complacency ......WHAMMO!  After an all too brief visit with our dear friends Jay and Erika we headed out I-90 for Boise. The kids were screaming as we drove out of the city, we were climbing the pass as the temperature gauge started to climb as well. We made a brief stop once before calling it quits at the top, complete with smoke billowing out of the engine compartment.  We quickly exposed the engine and I lead the kids off to the conveniently located microbrewery where we ate too many nachos while Rich dealt with the van. The regaled the outdoor seating area with their rock climbing and jumping prowess while we waited. Down off the pass after adding water we appear to be okay, but pushing the envelope. Home may be in site, but it may not be tonight.  Fortunately we are well seasoned at taking it one day at a time

We are limping home without a radiator fan, windows open and heater running. The kids don't seem to mind, in the back seat where I can no longer hear them. If I thought the van was loud before it is now deafening. Ninety decibels according to an app on Rich's phone. The sun is shining in my window as we have yet to turn south. Every ascent is a breath holding affair, as if we are trying to be lighter, and the van doesn't need to work as hard. 

As we approach Le Grande OR the sun sets behind us and the gloam eases in. I close my windows and brave some heat, the decibel level drops and conversation is possible. Our headlights still don't work, so we are using only running lights unless no one is about. We'll be home tonight, late. The kids are hooked up to the iPads watching the same shows they've watched all summer without a care in the world. When we passed through Yakima and it's golden grass hills Reese looked up and asked if we were at Bruneau Sand Dunes. As we left Boise, so we return, right? Slightly broken, but excited about what tomorrow has to offer. 


Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Ahoy! From M/V Kennicott

August 5, Wednesday  

Aboard the M/V Kennicott, the one of the largest of the Alaska Marine Highway fleet at 382 ft long, on our way to the Outside, as Alaskans call it. We boarded in the light at 10:45pm after fanangaling with boxes and bikes to meet our 19 ft requirement. It was quite the scene, Rich and I removing bikes, mounting part of the bike rack on top of the van, moving boxes and trays from outside to inside. We were in line to get on the ferry at this point, Reese and Ruby riding their bikes among parked and moving cars, running around like banshees after a long day of errands. 

We weren't in our berth (4 beds, bathroom, linens and towels provided) until midnight and not asleep until 1am. Long day. I was still tired after waking at 10:30 this morning.

The Kennicott is big, with the top floor housing folks in the solarium where they sleep in lawn chairs or put up tents. They share bathrooms and showers. There are various types of cabins on the next three floors, ranging from single berths with shared bathrooms to four person berths with private bathrooms. We are in the interior, no window. Makes for good sleeping, but we would prefer an outside berth with a window. 

People gather in the forward lounge, on computers, doing puzzles, chatting, on computers. The theater shows two or three movies a day. There is a cafeteria and lounge that no longer serves alcohol. One can only imagine. You can have purchase beer or wine with meals or drink discreetly--stated as drinking in your cabin. 

Ruby has made friends already, and Reese only wants to play Munchin, a fantasy D&D type thing he played nonstop on the Babkin with the boys.  My drive to reach out and connect with others has been dampened by our week in PWS. Or perhaps I haven't spied any of my people, not that I don't enjoy hearing others' stories. I still try to pick out friends for Reese and Ruby though.

We crossed the Gulf of Alaska without view of land to stop in Yakatat, a fishing town only accessible by boat or plane. Rich's introduction to 
Alaska was here and we wandered around, marveling at the changes, which were few. The dock had been repaired and shored up, the Mallot General Store still standing after 65 years.  The Lieutenant Governor is Byron Mallot, of the same store. The fog had lifted, the kids got to run and yell and throw rocks in the ocean. It was a brief and nice break from the ferry. 

Today we head into Juneau for a brief visit. Our ocean experience has effected by our week in Prince William Sound. While we are mildly interested in whales and the outside of ferry, we have had such a wonderful experience already the ocean is not as interesting.  We still have our binoculars, and we love to watch the boat dock but we aren't scanning the ocean for 'blows' indicating whales. Not yet at least. 



Saturday, August 1, 2015

Prince William Sound

August 1, Saturday

We are headed into Whittier after a spectacular week on PWS. We explored and played in rain, sun, clouds. We had it all. It did not stop us from hiking, paddling SUPs and kayaks, searching out whales or catching fish. We had a few days where we saw no one. 

There were nineteen of us on two boats, five of those ten years and younger. Old family, new family, blood family. We all pitched in and cooked, did dishes, filleted halibut (we caught seven over 24 hours) dropped shrimp pots, pulled shrimp pots, took kids and dogs (there were three) to shore, trolled for salmon, caught spawning salmon by hand--and teeth!, filleted salmon, loaded and unloaded kayaks, harvested glacier ice, chased whales---our days were full!  We didn't get started until nine or so and we were lucky if the kids were in bed by eleven at night, with the sun setting. 

Reese lucked out and caught the first fish--a tom cod and the only salmon--a pink and a silver. He got skunked on the halibut but all our freezers are full. The boys were obsessed for much of the trip. Ruby liked the moon jellies-non stinging translucent creatures that looked like flowers or beating hearts with four chambers. 

The glaciers changed the weather and water temperature. Harbor seals followed us like bad spies, ducking beneath the surface when you looked behind your kayak. Dark eyes in sleek faces, so curious and cute. Reese and George put on survival suits and jumped in the frigid water and clambered around on an iceberg. The Chenega Glacier creaked and roared as it calved. Glaciers seem to be a reoccurring theme on our trip. 

Sea otter, sea lions, porpoises, birds that fly and swim. Orcas, two families one with a baby. And humpback whales. We were so fortunate to see breeching, slapping pectoral fins, tail slapping seventeen times from one whale. Magical. 

The week has been magical. I don't think it could have gone better. The pictures don't do it justice, just sayin'. 






















J

Thursday, July 23, 2015

The Kenai--or Skunked Peninsula

July 23, Thursday

Hopin' for fish. That is what we were doing in Hope. Reese wouldn't  give up as others all around were pulling in pinks, or chum salmon. Rich was trying to keep his cool as he 'messes with gear' and Ruby found friends and was doing her thing. The rain had not made an appearance yet. The radio got fixed (a fuse) and we all got some sleep despite the party going on around us. 

We headed out late afternoon after trying every lure and trick possible. Somehow Reese got skunked again. We headed down the Kenai, and until she fell asleep Ruby screamed her head off because we were leaving and she would never see her friends again. When we saw a grizzly in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge across the highway and Kenai river and stopped to view it (with many others) she woke crying she would never see her friends again. Some never forget. 

We camped off the highway at a beautiful lake without good fishing but many 'pellets' or beebees at the camp site. Reese and Ruby spent the evening picking up pellets and competing for different colors while we listened to the gulls tell each other to be quiet. All night long.  

We were blessed with beautiful weather in Homer, which was fortunate. Reese continues to be determined to catch fish and the amount of time he spent with a rod in his hand wouldn't have worked in any other weather. Multiple lures, discussions with any person who caught a fish, bobbers, bait, he tried it all. I am so proud and heartbroken all at the same time.  The wind howled and the sun blazed into the night and I hid in the van. It is beginning to feel like the trip is coming apart. Not as adamant about dinner times, what we eat, cleaning up. However the kids still have to 'earn' screen time with workbooks and reading. 

The weather was starting to move in with a streaky sky and no direct sun. We moved back up the peninsula to the lower Kenai River to try some more fishing. Without luck.  The river is wide, milky aqua and full of fish. Apparently sockeye eat krill and aren't interested in feeding. The best one can do is drag a hook along the bottom and snag a fish's mouth. Reese took it like a champ. We cooked hotdogs instead of fish over a coal fired fire. Rich and Reese found coal on Bishop's Beach in Homer and Rich was tickled to fire it up. I was told it didn't effect the flavor. 

We headed up the peninsula, referred to now as skunk peninsula due to our fishing luck--or lack of prowess, I am not sure. The ecology is surprising as one would expect a more coastal flavor of Sitka spruces and Devil's Club, however it is still very much a Boreal forest. The Boreal forest extends over most of Alaska. It is really fun to see the kids identifying plants we have learned about on various ranger led hikes, from Mt St Elias to Denali.  

Seward is more coastal, on Resurrection Bay. The town is surrounded by mountains and glaciers, and the Kenai Fjord National Park. We hiked up to Exit Glacier and went to Seavey's Iditarod champs
to hold a puppy and get pulled by a dozen dogs. Ruby and Reese loved it. It poured rain all evening as we sat looking out at the bay, camped at the city RV park. We watched sea otter and porpoises. The awning is godsend, creating extra room as I prepare a meager dinner of quesadillas and grapes. The "*uckits" have hit hard. The end of the camping portion of the trip, six and a half weeks of living in the van. Wine at lunch?  Sure!  (We typically eat one meal out, lately it has been a late lunch). Salami and cheese sticks for dinner?  Sure, but eat an apple with that. $2 shower?  Wait until we get to Anchorage.  It feels good not to care so much, and in some respects I wish it had hit earlier.  After visiting the Sea Life Center and having lunch we are headed back to Anchorage to rendez-vous with friends and family and head out on Prince William Sound for a week. Let's hope for good weather!









Saturday, July 18, 2015

Heading out the Kenai

July 17, Friday

We headed out of Anchorage today in the late afternoon along with plenty of other folks judging by the lack of block and dry ice. This is our last road adventure before getting on the Babkin for a week in Prince William Sound. We rolled into town on the 14th and headed to Whittier to get on the boat for a brief but meaningful cruise. We were honored to be included at a memorial for the Von Wichman's late mother, at the foot of Tebenkof Glacier.  Chum salmon were returning after spawning providing endless entertainment for the boys and dogs. It was a beautiful ceremony attended by close friends and a bald eagle. The weather came in the next day and we headed back to Anchorage (who hears Michelle Shocked singing every time they read it?) where the weather is more mild. 

Whittier is a small Alaska town in Prince William Sound. It is about an hour from Anchorage.  The proximity of the two is as the crow flies, and was amended for vehicles by the U.S. Army during WWII. Whittier was originally a fuel depot, and to be able to get supplies to Anchorage the Army blasted a train tunnel through a mountain. People eventually settled in Whittier, inhabiting an old Army barracks, the harbor was used by fishermen.  The only way you could get your boat to Whittier was drive it through the sound from another coastal town or put it on the train. Tractor trailers, personal vehicles and individuals would use the train. It wasn't until 2000 that the tunnel was modified for vehicles. It is 2.5 miles, single lane and in the summer it opens at 5:30 and closes at 11:15pm. The direction alternates every half hour and the train still uses it as well. Pretty interesting situation. 

So the kids wore themselves out playing before before we hit the road again. We are ready for fishing and rainy weather, new lures and new boots. It is freeing to set out in our little home, despite the radio that doesn't work for some reason. We will spend the night in Hope, across Turnagain Arm and eighty miles from Anchorage. 





Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Caribou and Grizzlies and Moose, Oh My!

July 14, Tuesday

We turned south after visiting the Museum of the North on the Fairbanks University of Alaska campus. It brought to light how much we haven't seen. Heading out of Fairbanks Rich and I both felt as if we had turned the corner, the final stretch of the trip. We still have a while to go and lots of adventures ahead, but we have reached our farthest point in the trip. 

Denali has proven to be a wildlife extravaganza.  We took the green bus to Eielson Visitor Station for four hours and 86 miles before turning around.  Denali is interesting in that private vehicles are not allowed to drive past the first fifteen miles of the park. There is a great shuttle system within the fifteen miles and tours past the fifteen miles. Bike paths are plentiful around the entrance facilities. During our green bus tour our first day we saw in varying degrees of closeness at least twenty arctic ground squirrels, fourteen caribou, eleven moose, five grizzlies and a dall sheep. Don't worry, I have an expert record keeper keeping track of every animal. The kids kept busy on the way up with their Junior Ranger workbooks. They are Junior Rangers seven times over now, including the Canada National Parks. On the way back it has been a bit more rambunctious.  

On our return trip we got off the bus at Highway Pass to hike in the tundra. In Denali they encourage people to hike off trail, as there are few maintained trails. As we arranged our gear on the side of the road another bus pulled up coming from the opposite direction.  The driver informed us there was a grizzly up the draw around the corner from us. Naturally it put us on high alert, verging on evacuation.  Except the bus had left. We headed away from the alleged ursine at a brisk clip, bear bells ringing. Tension was high waiting for another bus to flag down, and Reese attempting to catch grasshoppers added another element. We escaped unscathed needless to say, and rode down to Tolkat River to mess around instead.  We also got a glimpse of Mt Denali's shoulder the clouds which defies the odds. 

We were blessed with warm weather and blue skies for our second day in Denali as well.  A guided three mile hike took us to the dog kennels, where the park keeps it sledding team. Denali still uses dog sleds in the winter for transportation of supplies and people as well as for patrol. When the five dog sled pulled up for the demonstration Ruby exclaimed 'that's what I want to be when I grow up!'  She loved the dogs and the puppies and stated we were getting a dog the second day we get back. Our stay was timed perfectly, as it has been raining all morning. We are headed south toward Anchorage, grateful to be in the car for a change (at least I am). We are all ready for showers (I am ready for everyone to have a shower), clean clothes and regroup to head down the spit to Homer.  Reese is ready for pizza. Rich said for the first time the other night that maybe this trip is too long. I don't wish I were anywhere else, but sometimes I wish I wasn't living out of a cooler in a van. I love the adventure and experience but it has been so long I feel my connection to my friends and family have faded. It is difficult to carve out alone time in traveling microcosm. It is also all I seem to need, or all I can cope with. Rich and I struggle with patience with the kids, the struggle between being friends or enemies. In terms of personal or spiritual growth it puts me right in the fire. It makes me question the wisdom of having children at a late age. Would I have been more patient and less controlling when I was younger?  Probably. It seems all of it would be easier. That's okay. We will all survive and be richer for our experiences. I just keeping hoping this old dog can learn new tricks!