Headed to Fairbanks

Friday was the day to say goodbye to the Kenai Peninsula, which includes Seward, Homer, Kenai, Soldotna, and places we never made it to where we would have loved to spend some time, such as Cooper Landing (drove through it a number of times) and the Captain Cook State Recreation Area just north of Soldotna.  But the season was upon us, ready to gobble us and everything and everyone in its way…it is called, “Dip Net Season”.  This is where Alaskans are able to use nets which are dipped into the river to catch loads of Salmon to help them (Alaskans) to get through the winter.  As we were leaving, we can see the signs of RVs and many cars headed toward Soldotna and Kenai…you can see their nets in the back of trucks, through windows of SUVs.  Just getting gas and propane and water was a challenge, especially when not everyone wants to wait in line for it.

     

      

It was sure a pretty day for a drive back to Anchorage, but our hearts were a bit heavy because we really liked the Soldotna area…the people have been great, the Soldotna Animal Hospital was just the best, and we had a good stay at the   Diamond M Ranch Resort/RV Park.  The owners, the whole family, their work campers, and those who stay there for months each summer…they were all wonderful.  And the best part…we got to leave with our little Skruffy who is 80-90% herself again!

    

And when we got to Tern Lake, the Trumpeter Swan was there…but a bit far for great pictures.

 

But the great weather sure made a great picture of Tern Lake looking Southeast towards Seward.

One thing I wanted to point out is that there are many pullouts like this in all of Alaska.  Some are this size, many much smaller.  For those who are traveling in motorhomes, it makes nice places to have a meal, sit and relax, or for some, to camp all night at.  The bad thing is that most don’t have any type of cell phone, or very weak cell phone service…which you find in towns.  If the town has a Walmart, a Fred Meyer, a Cabelas…well, you can park in their parking lot all night long.  Some even have waste dump stations and allow you to fill your tanks with water.  Many of the Tesoro Gas Stations (and others) have waste stations too.  Essentially, you can park in many places as long as there are no signs telling you not to park all night.

    

    

Friday night we made it to Anchorage, and decided to park in the Cabelas Sporting Goods Store lot for the night.  It is a great place to park in Anchorage, away from the noise of the city.  We were there with about twenty other motorhomes, and a few vehicles which people were sleeping in.   Saturday we headed over to Wasilla to get the oil changed in both the motorhome and the HHR at Wasilla Lube Express, ($92 combined total, in and out in under a half hour, not bad for Alaska -- they don't do Class A's) then we hung out near a skateboard park for most of the afternoon, and moved over to Walmart for the night.  Tomorrow we will head up towards Denali, find a place where we can stop and try and catch another view of the mountain.  By Tuesday we should be in Fairbanks for a few days.

Note:  I heard a few did not read the last post titled: "Skruffy's Last Bark?" because the title indicated that she might have died...please read it, she is alive and fine and doing well.  I did initially start writing it a couple of weeks ago because I was pretty sure she was dying and it was very therapeutic for me in handling the near loss of this faithful dog.  However, the miracle of good medicine, the fine work of the "Fisherman Vet" who I called the "Fisherman of Dogs", and by the Grace of God, Skruffy is doing fine.