20030726                       Open new window with today’s pictures.

July 26, 2003
Saturday


Start:   Oceanview RV Park, Homer AK
End:     Elmendorf AFB FAMCAMP, Anchorage AK
Miles:   224
Hi Temp: 70.7
Lo Temp: 54.0


We got up early, ate, and departed quickly.  It was still cool and cloudy, but every now and then you could see a patch of blue sky.

We headed up the Sterling Highway toward the junction with the Seward Highway. Traffic wasn't bad until we approached Soldatna. Then it got busy going our way and absolutely ridiculous coming toward us.

It seemed as though everyone in Anchorage was heading south.

Then we fell in with the same caravan of slow RV motorhomes we'd encountered on the way down.  Finally, they pulled off all in a gaggle at 11:30, which sounds like a planned lunch stop.  I don't think I'd do well in a regimented act like that.

We joined the Seward Highway and continued north, a little faster in most spots because the speed limit is raised to 65mph.  Since much of the Seward follows the sounds and inlets at water level, you can scurry right along. Lots of folks do, and this is the most dangerous stretch of highway in Alaska.

At least a hundred motorcycles headed south in five or six clumps. We'd heard something about a ride for charity and perhaps this was it.

The road spread out on entering Anchorage to three lanes at 65mph, with everyone doing 75.  This was no problem; we're quite familiar with these conditions, just a little out of practice. 

We got through Anchorage to the northeast side and entered Fort Richardson.  We went to the campground (we'd been there before and liked it very much), but it was full.  So we came over to Elmendorf AFB (they're side-by-side with nothing between them except attitude) and checked in at the FAMCAMP there. Since this is a little less attractive than Fort Richardson, we decided to shorten our stay here by one day and put something else (Talkeetna) on the agenda. We called Talkeetna and our park in the Denali region and got reservations.

Then we decided to get some shopping done. We went first to the exchange, where Dolores got a couple of tops to augment her wardrobe and I found a shirt.  Then we went to the commissary and stocked up on some things that are cheaper here than on the "outside", such as Coke, 7up, vitamins, and seasonings.  We'll go back Monday afternoon for perishable stuff for the road. The exchange and commissary share a building and support both Elmendorf and Fort Rich.

Dolores had seen some Land's End shoes she wanted, so we trotted off to Sears. She found them and I found a converter to allow my battery-powered screwdriver to turn socket wrenches. I'm going to try to use it to lower and raise the rear legs on the trailer, which must be the height of laziness.

We went back downtown to 402 L Street, between 4th and 5th Avenues and found a parking place directly across from Simon and Seafort, our favorite seafood restaurant.  We were early, so we walked the shops off the lobby of the Captain Cook Hotel, where we stayed in 1995. We found two great sculpted frogs, but one cost $4200 and the other, which was standing up and playing a violin, was $6800.  We thought that might be a bit ostentatious, so we decided against it.

We went back and were seated at a good table looking out on Knik Arm, off Cook Inlet.  Mount Redoubt was visible in the distance (we'd seen it all morning on the way up), looking like a volcano (which it is, having last erupted in 1989). Boats were running around and a tugboat with barge was outbound.

We had a cocktail first, to celebrate something or other.  Then Dolores had clam chowder and Planked King Salmon with roasted vegetables. I had a ceasar salad and Honey and pepper encrusted roast salmon. We chose our own glasses of wine to accompany the entree.  The food, as usual, was very good, as was the service.  We can say "as usual" now that we've been here three times.  It's a very neat place.

We declined dessert and returned to the little house in the spruces at Elmendorf AFB.  Since Saturday night TV is "a vast wasteland" according to Dolores, the tube is off and the books are out. Church tomorrow, then we'll see what happens.

20030727

July 27, 2003
Sunday


Start:   FAMCAMP, Elmendorf AFB, Anchorage AK
End:     FAMCAMP, Elmendorf AFB, Anchorage AK
Miles:   0
Hi Temp: 64.8
Lo Temp: 54.1


We arose late. It was dark in the little house, which hasn't happened in a while. We finally decided it was due to the combination of being camped in a forest of spruce trees that block out the sun, and the clouds that were very low and dark today.

We loafed until time to leave for church.  We went to the cathedral here, which isn't all that big or impressive.  But it was full, due in a small part to tourists like us. Much of the congregation was local, with representation from blacks, phillipinos, natives, and caucasians.  Impressively diverse.

Phillips 66 has a big office behind the church.  They leave the gates of their secure, badged-entry, parking lot open on Sundays for use by the worshipers. That's nice of them.

Then we went nuts.

One of our memory sticks for the digital camera failed on June 1st.  This is the first date since then that we've been in a town with a "Best Buy", the chain from which we bought it.  We went there and explained the problem; after a little confusion, they replaced the memory.  We put all the camera stuff back in the truck and returned to the store.

Dolores has wanted a new color printer (and our old one is dying), so we bought a new HP printer.  It's very compact (a must for this lifestyle) but still has high resolution.  We also bought spare cartridges, and some CD/RW disks. So getting a new memory to replace the bad one only cost us $150 for the new printer and accessories.

Then we went to Borders Books and bought books.  Dolores was yelling, "Stores, stores!!! Spend, Spend!!”  We decided we'd better stop and go back to normal.

We went south of town, back down the Seward Highway, because Dolores wanted to see a sheep. A Dall sheep, one of those things that runs around on cliffsides.  The traffic coming back from the Kenai peninsula was horrendous - a solid chain of cars and campers returning to the city. We pulled into the turnout from which you're supposed to see sheep.

Sure enough, way up on the side of the hill, we saw a tiny white spot. The binoculars confirmed that it had four legs and a head, and was wandering around, apparently eating. By definition, a Dall sheep. Nothing else is white and stupid enough to live up there.

We called that a success and joined the stream back to town. We stopped at Potter Marsh, a wildlife area in a swamp that is home to many migrating birds.  We didn't expect to see much, what with the 20+mph wind and sputtering rain. We saw a family of Canadian geese (two plus two young ones) and some migrating salmon going upstream. The eagle family here last time must have moved on.

We found the address for an Italian restaurant we'd eaten in before and returned to it for an early dinner. It was really good.  As we were finishing, several other couples came in and said hello to the staff; I'll bet Sorento's does a good business.

Then we returned to the little house in the spruce trees.  I worked at greasing things for a bit, then came in and installed the new printer. Now we're going to play with it and settle in.

 

20030728                      Open new window with today’s pictures.

July 28, 2003
Monday


Start:   FAMCAMP, Elmendorf AFB, Anchorage AK
End:     FAMCAMP, Elmendorf AFB, Anchorage AK
Miles:   0
Hi Temp: 67.5
Lo Temp: 53.8


We got up late, ate, and headed out. We attempted to go to the Anchorage Museum, but the parking downtown was such a hassle we left and headed north of town.

First, we drove up Arctic Valley Road to the ski lifts, some seven miles.  There were good views of the city, but the photographs won't look very good due to the clouds. The skyline of Anchorage looked very nice.

Then, we went to Eklutna.  There's a Russian Orthodox Church at Eklutna, and it's become something of a tourist spot.  There's the old church, built in 1870, and the new church, built in 1962, and the cemetery. There's also a tiny chapel built by the children of the parish (St Nicolas Parish) in 1978.

A guided tour by an Orthodox sub-deacon was just starting, so we joined it.  Another couple, from Kettering, Ohio, were the only other participants until a group of youngsters with chaperones came running up to join. We started outside the old church, where the subdeacon told us a little of the Orthodox Church so we'd understand some of the things we would see.  Then we went in and he showed us the icons that came from Russia in the 1860's. 

Then we went next door to the little chapel. He talked about that for a bit. 

Then he talked of the cemetery as we walked around it. There are very few headstones, since the families know and pass on the knowledge of who is where. There may be a "spirit house" over the grave if the family wants; it's not mandatory. The spirit house is a native belief that is not discouraged by the church; the house provides a place for the spirit until resurrection.

There were a few unusual spirit houses.  One three-layer house was placed for a family of father, mother, and daughter who died together.  There are several spirit houses that have a second tiny house inside where a pregnant woman died.

Then we came back to the new church; he talked about it and then we went in. He showed us the use of icons in the church and talked with the kids when they asked him about baptism (Orthodox belief is in submersion) and how could an adult fit into that thing (the font), and so on. He was a good speaker and entertaining while educating.

We left Eklutna and traveled back through east Anchorage to the Zoo. We walked around the zoo looking at the animals; it seems quite a while since we've seen a bear or a moose. There were black bears and moose and a brown bear and a polar bear (he put on a nice show) and Dall sheep and a coyote and a wolverine and an orphaned two-month-old muskox (he was cute).  The caribou and eagles and hawks and a red fox and muskoxen and yaks and an elephant pretty much rounded out the population.  It started to rain while watching the polar bear, so we waited in the shelter a while.  It looked as though it would go on, so we left the zoo and headed downtown.

We parked and went to Club Paris.  It's a bar and dining place that serves the best beef in Anchorage.  Dolores had a steak and I had prime rib.  Both were very good (again - this was the third time we've been here).  When we left it was still raining, so we walked through a couple of stores but bought nothing. We wandered back to the truck and drove back to the little house in the wet spruces.

Each of the three restaurants in this web page has been mentioned in novels by Dolores’s favorite mystery author, Dana Stabenow.  Ms Stabenow writes amazing mysteries wrapped up in Alaska life environments.  She also writes a regular column for Alaska magazine.  At least we picked these restaurants as our favorites before we read her books.

I was going to do a few chores while daylight remained, but it was too wet.  So we settled in to do the photos, these notes, and read.

We move on tomorrow.