the RV

We rented a 25' Winnebago Chalet, the next-to-smallest of the fleet. The 25' featured a bed at ground level rather than above the cab in the 22'.

We constrained ourselves to 3 suitcases, and had plenty of room for all our duffle. We never used the two cupboards over the bed.

A short closet, 3 drawers below, some storage under the refrigerator/freezer in which we left the vehicle documents.



Thermostat controlling central heat, central air (latter left untouched). The furnace was great.

For just the two of us, the freezer was more than adequate.

The 'fridge was ample as well. We sometimes left empty containers or glasses in spots to keep stuff from falling over.

We ended up storing clothing in these cabinets. It was easier to access these than those over the bed, and we didn't need all the room.

The microwave proved a good spot to contain easily bruised fruits and veggies as we didn't use it often for cooking.

We dry camped 10 nights out of 19. We only used the generator once. It is only needed to power the microwave, A/C (not an issue for our trip), and the AC outlets.

All else runs off the 12 V house battery.

Signs

The rustic rough edges were crafted by bears that like to scratch on the signs. 

The start of the Iditarod race is in Seward, and the trail runs along the city campgrounds.

Presumably a sled harness counts as a leash.

This bear proof dumpster was nearly Paul proof.

Bird Creek to Anchorage

We woke without the alarm, hmm, never heard it, had the last of our cinnamon bun and cereal breakfast, then headed off to Anchorage and journey's end.

Photographer Ginnie poised for the next shot.

Driving back along the Turnagain Arm heading to Anchorage.

We were only about 20 miles from Anchorage, but we didn't want to spend the last night in the city.

We found a recommended gas and propane station near home base, topped off the tanks and got safely to Great Alaskan Holidays without incident.

We had purchased the optional CDW (collision damage waiver) figuring that over the distance we were driving there was a good chance of a damaged windshield. It was unscathed, but I have no regrets buying the insurance.

Check-in went well. They agreed there was no damage, and after deducting for mileage over the allotted 3900, we would get the balance of our damage deposit back in a few days (and did).

We met up with the Coffeys from Texas who were also due in that morning. They were going to stay a few more days via car and hotel, which sounded like a good idea, but we were booked and on our way.

All in all, it was a great 'venture, 4600 miles to the tenth including 20 today.

Seward to Williwaw was the plan

We had light rain overnight; glad we're not in a tent. The furnace stopped working sometime in the night, and we woke up with the inside temperature 57 F. We cycled the furnace a couple of times, and it lit up. Wimps.

The morning's plan is to send a bunch of heavy books, maps, etc. home by mail; we don't want to encounter the airline's punitive luggage weight charge.

Next we head to The Exit Glacier outside Seward, then drive closer to Anchorage aiming for a national forest service campground at Williwaw near the Portage Glacier.

Along the road to The Exit Glacier were signs showing where it ended up years ago.

 1894

I thought this sign was great, understated, and funny in a way. Then it dawned that it is serious. This is the first I'd seen a warning about 'eat you'. I'd rather not think about it.

Along our walk, I kept talking. Ginnie who was behind me asked if I was talking to her, I replied, "no, to the bears."

1926

We didn't attempt to hike to the glacier as we didn't have appropriate footware, or interest in bears.

There was much moose scat. So much so, that I was grateful we didn't encounter the moose.

The Exit Glacier, May 2012.

 

Next stop, the Portage Valley and the Portage Valley Glacier.

We learned that the native word Williwaw means wind. The Portage valley where we planned to spend the night at the Williwaw Campground is a wind tunnel between Prince William Sound and the Turnagain Arm. We drove into the campground, saw no one there, the RV was rocking in the wind, and we figured that it wouldn't be a good night's sleep there.

We may have seen the glacier, but we didn't venture out to check. It was cold and very windy.

We moved on to the visitors center in a driving rain.

So we winged it, heading towards Anchorage without a plan. We found a small state fishing access parking lot at Bird Creek which allowed overnight camping for a small charge. We grilled the last of our frozen salmon for dinner, cleaned out the cupboard, finished packing, and got ready for our early morning check in at Great Alaskan Holidays.

 

Miles today 129, total 4580.

Seward

It rained overnight, and that is the forecast for the next few days. We'd better get used to it.

The clouds over the bay outside about 50 feet above the water.







 
We came to Seward thinking we might go on a fjords tour by boat, but hadn't booked anything in advance. Given the weather, the timing, and duration of the tours, we stuck to land touring.










We walked to the SeaLife Center where we had an enjoyable, leisurely tour.














We are often reminded of our grandkids when see things age appropriate for them. Since they live in the south, they probably don't see warnings like this.












Grandkids, again. They'd have fun with this boat ... and its catch.

Pretty sea wildlife we don't get to see.

We are WiFi challenged in Seward. I'm using the Wi-Fi in the SeaLife cafe to check on things.

The sun came out for a while in the afternoon, but the overall day was gray. The campground was much busier yesterday with the crowd taking an extra day with the holiday.


We walked down to the harbor for a dinner out. The sockeye salmon from The Copper River was fresh and/or just becoming available, so that's what we had.

We also scored a cinnamon bun for breakfast, or more likely two breakfasts, from a local bakery.

I don't know what's up with the cinnamon buns, but it's something bragged about on the Alaska highway. The first time we encountered them was in Tetsa River, BC where we met up the Coffeys - Claire, Mike, and Shirley, Claire's mother who also stopped for the famous (?) buns.