ALASKA’S INTERIOR… DRIVE IT TO REALLY SEE IT!

  A few of you expressed some interest in our trip to Alaska we took in 2002.  It’s hard to believe it was almost 10 years ago that we had that adventure.  It all started with a crazy dream of driving our pick up all the way to  Prudhoe Bay and see our most Northern state.  We discussed it, looked at the map, did some thinking, looked at the map again, wondered if we could do it…and looked at the map yet again!! When Dennis turned 60 years young that spring, we made the decision to throw all doubts and caution to the winds and “JUST DO IT, DAMMIT!!”

I have included some links for those of you who are interested in possibly making the trip…or making it AGAIN..

The wildlife was everywhere….and the roads drove through such “mountain majesty”…

Salmon bake out of an RV, in Soldotna …Middle pic is The Hutch , our B&B at Cooper Landing ,where we had a room on the top floor…Yes, you are correct in thinking there were NO elevators.  McGuyver  and I hauled our luggage AND the all important cooler clear up to the top….Right photo is Dennis watching float planes land on the Kenai River from outside our room. WHAT VIEWS!!

 

..Obviously, I was in 7th Heaven…In the right side photo, we were stopped along the “Haul Road” (Dalton Hwy), getting a pop out of the cooler. Our entire “on the road life” was in the back of that truck..and notice the road ahead of us way in the distance, with the pipeline snaking along beside it on the right, seeming to go on forever…

The cabin on the right was the office/gift shop at Carlo Creek Lodge,  in Healy, where we stayed in a log cabin, using it as a base camp to tour Denali.

Left is The Lynn Canal in Haines, Alaska…and right …a few homesteads tucked into the trees at Haines…Haines is basically like a misty fiord.  The humidity is usually high and there are low clouds over the canal, as you can see.  Cruise ships stop there, but not so much as Skagway. Skagway is much more tourist driven than quiet Haines.  Haines was home to the first permanent Army post, Ft. Seward, in 1902…. and some of the old buildings are still there.

SHOPS ALONG Resurrection Bay  IN SEWARD, WHERE WE TOOK A WHALE WATCHING CRUISE…

DIDN’T SEE A WHALE, BUT WE DID SEE A LAZY SEA OTTER AND SOME STELLAR SEA LIONS, LOUNGING IN THE SUN.

   Hey you peeps out there with Kindles, Brindles, Nooks, Snooks, Hooks , (can you tell I don’t have one?) and all the other named e-book readers….If you haven’t read the book, Alaska by James Michener, and you love history, READ IT!! It delves deeply into Alaskan history and especially the all important roll that the “Bush” pilots have played…Speaking of bush pilots….

McGuyver and I happened upon small business called “Coyote Air”,( as you can read over the door on their little office.)  We were headed North on the “Haul Road”, on our way to Prudhoe Bay, and found it on a little side road adjacent to Coldfoot, (which is in the middle of NOWHERE!! ) This pilot and his family lived in a trailer behind the cabin/office, and operated his flying business just North of Coldfoot,  which is North of the Arctic Circle..I couldn’t resist googling this place to see if it is still there…YES IT IS!!!!..Click the link and read about it…Still there after almost 10 years!!

YOU JUST CAN’T GET THIS STUFF FROM THE DECK OF A CRUISE SHIP!!!

OK, I could fill up 10 blogs with Alaska photos, and I ‘m pretty sure many of you have been there…But to those who have not,  and have the time and the “ITCH’ to see some pristine wilderness…..make sure to scratch that itch before you can’t reach it anymore.  The only things you need is: some time, a reliable vehicle, and an unflappable spirit of wanderlust…( of course a little cash wouldn’t hurt)….In the words of a very stubborn, crazy person with a “devil may care” attitude (that would be ME)..….. JUST DO IT , DAMMIT!!!