Well that didn't work!

You’ll recall how excited I was to be settling down somewhere and not having to move for a while.  LOL!  Yeah, that didn't work out quite the way I was expecting. 

We arrived in Penticton just fine, and set ourselves up at the local campground, where Bob's parents had a reservation starting Thursday. It was quite tight getting down into the campground itself and then with the way their sites are set up we had to go across several of them just to fit. Anyway, all that contortion was a lot of work for a one night stay, since we had to pack up first thing to have the trailer to the dealer for repairs by 9 am Wed morning. After walking the tech through the trailer we all (adults, kids & cat) were homeless for the day. We went to the Skaha Lake playground to let the kids burn off some energy and then over to the library for a couple hours where Morgan did some school work and I had a frustrating search for specific school books for him. Four-thirty rolled around, and we went to collect the trailer.

Upon arrival at the dealer we discovered that our supposedly simple slide fix was a bit more complicated that first anticipated and that they’d like it back to investigate further. Okay. Huh. So we booked it in for the next day to get it worked on some more. In the meantime, however, Bob had booked in the truck for some much needed maintenance Thursday morning too. So, now we would be trailer-less and truck-less for several hours. I booked Munchie into boarding at the local vet (oh boy was she unimpressed with me! On the plus side, I was able to get more of her food without calling her vet for a prescription), and we decided to stay at a closer campground so we wouldn't have to move as far.

First thing I did when we collected the trailer is stick my fingers into some freshly done sealant. Oops! Guess that spot would need to be redone. Thank goodness it had been a decent day, because then everything would have a chance to dry out and cure. Um, yeah. Not so much. It poured that night. At least we got to check our problem spots!  

Up again the next morning to take the trailer in, drop off the cat at the vet, drop the kids and I back at the library to start on the day’s schoolwork and then have Bob take the truck to the GM dealer. We got sick of the library after a couple hours, went for lunch and then walked to the dealer to pick up the truck. It was about 2 by that point. The cool of the morning had cleared and the afternoon actually ended up being fairly warm and sunny. We decided to take a break and go to the beach/ playground for a while as we waited for the trailer. Just as we were leaving the beach to pick up the trailer we unexpectedly crossed paths with Sarah and the kids. We had a very quick visit, got to meet the baby, and then had to go. By 5 we had regrouped and set off back to the first campground to join up with Bob’s parents, who had just arrived. 

Finally, two days later than I expected, we could actually settle in. Aaaaahhhhh.

Over this brief period of time, we had a several “what the??” moments

-the apparent leak in our grey water tank never materialized. The insulation underneath was sopping wet, but there was no evidence of a leak from the tank itself (and they filled it completely full). Now that’s a head scratcher.

- when we collected the trailer for the second time, we learned that the main slide is slowly pulling the itself apart due to unequal forces and inadequate building to handle those forces. The dealer added some bolts to help strengthen the area, but at some point a complete rebuild of the slide mechanism may be required. Sigh. (I’m really hoping our extended warranty will cover this mess.)When we purchased the trailer we did so based a bit on the reputation of Travellaire being a well-built unit, and we have found some really bone-headed build mistakes inside and out. Guess nothing is built perfect, but really, that one should have been obvious!  

-the forecast, which had predicted the weekend would be cooler, and a little bit wet and then getting nice again has been completely altered, and now the forecast has been completely downgraded. More rain and cool temperatures for at least the next week. Really?! Apparently we have somehow invoked the rain gods and we now have rain following us wherever we go. Anyone know how to make it stop? (hmm, perhaps we can hire out and bring rain to parched areas.) 

-to top it all off, Morgan caught a cold and proceeded to share with us. Thanks kid.  

Long drive days suck

The title says it all. Today we drove 550 km (or so) from Prince George to Lac le Jeune Provincial Park, 37 km south of Kamloops. We left at 10 am this morning and rolled into the campground for the night at 7 pm. Thursday we did nearly as far to get to Burns Lake and much of last week was spent in the vehicle moving south. It’s exhausting. Frustrating too (the” inability to get things done” aspect, not the “I’m getting closer to my goal” part). All this driving has taught me one thing; this country is BIG!  I am so glad that we will be in Penticton tomorrow, and don’t plan on moving (or at least moving very far) for several weeks. 

Life is a highway

Truck School

Drive days are challenging enough. Multiple drive days in a week are extra challenging. We get up, eat, pack up the trailer inside and out (although with multiple drive days there isn't much packing outside & often we don’t even bother unhitching from the truck – as with tonight), we gather school supplies, snacks, entertainment and whatever else into the vehicle before we all climb in and go. We spend all day sitting in the truck, stopping for lunch (sometimes supper too), to fuel up,sometimes to see a nearby attraction, or possibly stopping at a playground for the kids (if we find one that can accommodate us). The miles (or km) roll by and start to blur together. The kids get squirrelly from the inactivity, they fight doing their school work (and let’s face it, having only book work to do gets boooring pretty quick – it’s a challenge to try to keep the work interesting and engaging), Bob and I get tired of driving or navigating, we all eventually get tired of each other. By the time we get to our night’s stop it’s often nearing dark with just enough time to set up, let the kids run off some of that pent up energy, and many times we still need to make supper. The kids tend to take a long time to settle to bed on these nights just because of that unspent energy and need to move. 

Playground break

The fact that it’s getting later in the year, and we’ve moved both east and south of where we were is a blessing in one way.  It’s dusk by 7:30pm and so we have to stop for the night earlier than we used to (no more pulling in at 9pm!) By the way, the stars are absolutely gorgeous here.  

Overnights (one night stays) suck just as bad as long drive days. ‘Cause I get to get up and do it all again!  Blech! Overnights get old real fast, but they are a means to making the distance disappear in a relatively short amount of time. Did I mention how happy I am that we are going to stay put for a while? The ability to actually have a reasonable and regular routine, access to school resources and a library, soak up some fall sunshine and heat at the beach, and maybe get caught up on projects or activities that have been set aside. J

Ooh, and the trailer goes into the shop on Wednesday to (hopefully!) have the required maintenance and repairs done – did I mention that the kitchen grey water tank may have sprung a leak? It’s never ending! 

Stinky truck toes - Peeuw!

   

But I guess that’s what happens when you live in a fifth wheel full time and drive 5000+km in two months. No wonder I’m sick of driving!  

Different but the same

We've been traveling for two months now, out of our house in Airdrie for a bit longer than that, and I've been reflecting on how life has changed and how it is still exactly the same. 

Before we started traveling, I had this idea that by switching up life and going traveling full time I could walk away from all the things I didn't like about my (and my family’s) life. Looking back, I’m not sure why I thought that everything would change when we moved out of the house, that we could leave behind anything negative or that we could swap out one life style for another easy as that. Really, that was a naïve and unrealistic expectation. 

Two months of traveling has given me some perspective and time to truly (start to) settle in and begin to see life more clearly - understand what is changeable, what isn't and what facets I’d really like to work on shifting into a new normal (cause “everything!” just ain't gonna – and probably shouldn't - happen). 

There are many differences to our life now –some obvious and some subtle. We live in a much smaller home (and it really has become home) and spend way more time in the vehicle than ever before.  This puts us into much closer contact all the time, but in reality we spent most of our time in the house together within just a few rooms. We are learning to navigate in unfamiliar places and how to quickly assess an area to find the businesses/ information we need. We are learning how to homeschool (which is totally unfamiliar to us all, and worthy of entire posts of its own). We have learned to be flexible in how we live day to day. Sometimes we have hookups (power/water), some days we don’t, and we run off our batteries (12V power only) and water tanks. We have new vocabulary (like “hookups”, “overnight”, and “black water”, to name a few). “Weekday” & “weekend” really don’t mean much anymore (although with school back in we are tending to follow a Mon-Fri school week). While we still don’t have a firm routine as we bounce between travel days and rest days, there’s a certain flow to our travel days that is quite unlike anything we experienced in our stationary home.  

While there are many changes, many things are also the same. My house needs cleaning, groceries need to be purchased, meals need to be cooked and laundry needs to be done. All the usual household tasks are still here, relationships are still the same, conflicts are still the same (sibling rivalry!), personalities are certainly the same, and ingrained patterns haven’t disappeared.  

Some of it is frustrating (the electronics dance hasn't changed –needing the Wii / iPod/ tablet/ phone/ computer all. the. time), some of it is silly (like my desire to check for phone messages the moment I walk into the trailer – yeah, I checked the phone for messages every day when I walked in the house for many years), some of it is lonely (there aren't as many opportunities to connect with people when you’re constantly shifting locations), and some of it is comforting (having familiar tasks and distractions available when the view outside the window is different – sometimes drastically from one day to the next).

I’m not sure if I’m disappointed in how things have panned out so far, or not. The things that frustrate me the most (the electronics; Morgan’s volatility & impulsiveness; Lily’s strong willed and stubborn personality; the lack of a united front or team (Bob & I); and the recurring feeling that this is all just futile!) are still all there. And yet, I can see some of those changes I had hoped for hiding just beyond the horizon – perhaps subtler than I originally envisioned, or maybe just needing more time to come to fruition.

Or perhaps it’s just me that’s changing. Perhaps it’s me that needs to change and learn that while the changes that have happened and are happening aren't necessarily the ones I originally envisioned, they are the ones that need to happen.

I dunno. But at the moment, that’s okay with me.  

A week in pictures

In the past week or so we've traveled a mind-boggling amount and it's hard for me to keep it straight, so here's a quick run-down.

Sept 10th - We went to the SeaLife Centre in Seward, where Lily played with the friendly & inquisitive harbour seals in the tank (they like bright red shoes!, no picture though) and then drove to Palmer for the night.

Sept 11th - drove the Glenn Highway in reverse and stopped at Eagle Trail campground, just south of Tok. While we were in coastal Alaska, fall came to the mountains and the trees & hills had turned beautiful reds, yellows and oranges

Sept 12th - Finally some sun! We stopped at the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Centre to learn about the species and first people's that call this area home & let Morgan do some school work in the sun. Then we crossed the border back into Canada and traveled further southward through some beautiful country before stopping for the night at the Lake Creek Yukon gov't campground.

Sept 13th - We changed our plans and drove to Whitehorse instead of Haines, where we spent a night at the same campground as our longer stay and the kids got to play with the friends they had made a few weeks earlier. Long drive days make the kids a bit wild (as evidenced by Lily's expression in the picture), so it was nice that they got some playtime after we finally got to the campground.

 

Sept 14th - drove the South Klondike Highway, down to Skagway, Alaska. This is an amazing road, with a long steep descent to the ocean. Wow (and you go through a territory, a province and into the U.S. all in 180 km)! On the way down we stopped at the Carcross Desert, and played in the sand dunes.

Desert!

Rockslide!

Sept 15th - We wandered through Skagway some more, had lunch and then drove back up the Klondike highway.  We took the Carcross cutoff to reconnect to the Alaska Highway to save a bit of time. We spent all afternoon & evening driving and pulled in after dark into the Big Creek Yukon gov't campground, just a bit shy of the Highway 37 junction.

 

Sept 16th - We left the Alaska Highway and headed south onto the Stewart Cassiar Highway for another long day. This is paved, but a bit narrow and winding, so it took us 8 hours to do 510 km. We saw 9 black bears along the way, including a sow and her two cubs. Very cool! We pulled into Bell 2 Lodge at 7:30 or so, had supper and then went to relax (or at least take a dip) in their open air hot tub.  Ooh, first bit of luxury in, well I'm not sure how long!

Sept 17th - A short drive south to Meziadin Lake Provincial Park. This is a lovely campground and our camp site backs right onto the lake. We even have WiFi here :) After having lunch (and letting the kids play in the lake) we drove to Stewart and then on past Hyder (Alaska!) to see Salmon Glacier (a bit of a scary road up, but amazing viewpoint of the glacier - it was cold, wet & cloudy at the top, so we didn't stay too long). On our way back we stopped at the Fish Creek Bear viewing platform. The bears hadn't been spotted there for two weeks or so, but we did see lots of dead salmon and a few live ones.

Bear Glacier

Salmon Glacier (just a small part)

Live & dead salmon

Today - an extra day at the lake to relax, catch up on school work, clean the truck & trailer and just go ahhhhh.

Meziadin Lake

Learning about buoyancy!

Fall is definitely in full swing in the north and while today was nice, it's definitely getting chillier at nights. Camping season in this area is wrapping up & the campground (and others in the area) is closing very soon. As much as I would like to stay here just one more day, we need to keep moving south - into warmer, more populated areas. Plus, I have a date in Penticton with a cute little newborn - my nephew who is almost two weeks old! 

Here a leak, there a leak

Sing it with me now!  

Here a leak, there a leak, everywhere a leak, leak. Well, only two known ones, but that is more than enough for me. 

They're both small seepages, but water in RV walls is bad news. We discovered the first leak in Anchorage - water was seeping into the edge of wardrobe slide through the cracked silicone seal. Not a difficult fix, but the slide really should be dried out completely before resealing the seams. The weather, our location, and our current travel plans haven't exactly been conducive to getting that done.

We've been dealing with this leak by keeping the slide in as much as possible. Okay for the short term, but annoying in the long.  

The second leak appeared during our soggy trip to Seward. The right side kids toy compartment was damp on the wall. This one stumped me for awhile since the other side was completely dry  and there were no noticeable breaks in the seal in that area (the very front of the trailer where the kids' bedroom is has two narrow, deep compartments that we use for toys & books - they are right against the nose of the trailer). Several days later, in Skagway, I noticed that the overhang on that side of the trailer has come loose on the right hand side, right near the hitch. A board or something has come loose - not dangerously so, but enough to let cold air into the area & create condensation in the compartment. 

While this leak is causing less trouble, it is actually more troublesome, as it means the trailer needs to go into the shop to be investigated closer. We need to plan a longer stop in a more commercial center to deal with the leaks as well as some other maintenance on the trailer. We will have that soon - either Prince George in a few days, or for sure in a week or so when we arrive in Penticton area for a few weeks.  But, the dealerships are plenty busy right now with people winterizing their units.  I'm not sure we won't have to give up our home for a couple days in order to get the fixes done properly...

Ah, the joys of living in a moving home! 

Morgan and Lily go on a boat ride

We never did get data working on my US SIM card, and so we did not have internet access for days, and days and days.  Oh the horror!!  Well, actually it's only been a few days, but it feels like forever.

Anyway... after leaving Anchorage, we headed south to Seward on the coast, following the scenic Seward Highway. We traveled the length of the Turnagain Arm (which is really cool, and I'll write about later), through beautiful mountains and arrived a few hours later on the coast to Resurrection Bay and the town of Seward.  

The next day we took a marine wildlife cruise, even though it was pouring rain and rather chilly.  This is the report the kids dictated to Bob that evening.

If you can't read it, it says:

"Lily and Morgan go on a boat ride.

We saw sea otters (3 or 4).  Mommy got seasick when we went over big waves. Lily brought her crackers, in case she got hungry. 

We saw a whale a couple minutes later.

Morgan & Lily had hot chocolate to drink, and rice and bread to eat. Near the end of the trip they had a brownie. 

Lily earned a junior forest ranger badge for completing the ranger activity book.

THE END

P.S. Lily also had a nice visit in the wheelhouse with the captain."

Sea warriors

Lily getting her badge

Up close to one of the waterfalls

Meeting the captain

The kids enjoyed the cruise, especially Lily who did her junior forest ranger workbook and got to charm the captain at the end of the trip. The waves made Morgan a bit dizzy, but a bit of playing on his IPod and he was fine. As the kids reported, I spent a good portion of our 5 hour tour rather queasy and so didn't enjoy it as much as they did. In an effort to not share my queasiness with everyone, I spent much of my time up on deck - in the pouring ice cold rain, which resulted in me being queasy, soaked to the bone and shivering cold. Good times! lol. It was kind of fun (the cruise, not the seasickness); I just wish I had felt better to enjoy it more.

Tired of Touring

We have been busy the last few days exploring Anchorage and checking out a variety of sights & activities. For the most part on the blog I've been following a pattern of writing up what we did each night, and sharing as soon as I could, but the past few days that hasn't seemed quite right. Perhaps it’s the rain putting a damper on my enthusiasm. Or perhaps it’s that I've reached the point where all this exciting stuff just isn't so exciting. I’m tired of the constant doing, doing, doing. We went here, we saw this, we did that. Every day it seems like we have some activity that we just Have. To. Do. It’s exhausting always going and never just being, and I desperately feel the need to just stop and feel normal for a while. 

That’s not to say I haven’t been having a good time. Over the past couple of days we have done a variety of activities, all of which have been quite enjoyable and interesting. But Bob and I have also been discussing how much we’re looking forward to getting into southern BC and changing our pace. Shifting from touring mode, which is what we've pretty much been doing since we got started, into something slower. I’m excited about the idea of staying put for a few weeks (and seeing Bob’s family & meeting my new nephew!).

But, we’re not quite there yet, and it will be a few more weeks until we get that far – there’s a lot of driving to get us from A(laska) to B(.C.), and a few places we want to check out first. 

Now, for the family wants to know what we've been up to, here goes:

We took the kids to see Planes – cute movie, I missed the part with the tunnel though, cause Lily had to go;

We went to the Alaska Zoo, which is a really nice preservation/education style zoo, with many native creatures, including Lily’s new favorite – the musk ox. Bob spent quite some time communing with the river otters (which is his favorite, and Morgan’s too). I don’t think I have a favorite, but I do want to note that their Kodiak bear was frighteningly enormous. They make the standard grizzlies look small, in comparison.;

Big bear! - hard to get perspective here

Playful otters

We went to the Anchorage Museum, which houses the Imaginarium & Planetarium within (really wish I had taken pictures here). The Imaginarium is a fantastic kids (and adults) interactive science area where you can check out all sorts of interesting phenomenon (bubbles, earthquakes & tsunamis, marine life, magnetism & physics and a bunch more). My favorite was the wax volcano, where you can direct the flow of “lava” and build up your own volcano. I would love to have one of these to play with & make visual art.  The museum also houses several galleries & exhibits, including the Alaskan History gallery which takes you on a visual journey of Alaskan history, from its various original inhabitants ( the human ones that is – the Aluets, Inuits, Athapaskans, Tlingit, and several others), to the early explorers, settlers, and all the way up to present day.  This had one of the best displays I've seen to accentuate and explain how each of the areas’ native groups lived quite differently from each other because of their environment and resources (this concept that is being visited in Morgan’s social studies, and so when I find good examples of it I try to get him to really observe and think about it).  We all quite enjoyed our day there.

Last night we had a campfire and s’mores, which attracted several of the other kids in the campground over. We were slated to pull out this morning, but decided to stay an extra day at the campground, not because we wanted to do more in Anchorage, but because the kids made some friends. The family in the site across the playground from us have two younger boys, not too far in age from Morgan, and the kids spent quite a bit of the evening playing (Morgan included!). Morgan invited them in to play Wii last night, and everyone got along pretty good. 

Today Bob took the kids to one of the many pools in town and I stayed at the trailer to putter, tidy up & read a book. The neighbour boys came back over for more Wii after the kids were back from the pool, and the three boys played a couple different games. They co-operated really well, and I was really happy to see Morgan stay involved and engaged for quite a long period of time. Socializing doesn't come easy for him and so when it does happen I’m happy to facilitate it (even if it does mean he gets way too much Wii time in a day!). Speaking of - I think Bob was in need of some outside-the-family socialization more than he cared to admit, and he spent some of the evening chatting around the neighbours’ fire. I know it’s something I've been missing – the neighbourly chats and feeling like part of a community. It’s hard to do when you don’t stay anywhere for more than a few days. 

Tomorrow we say goodbye to our new neighbours and head south to Seward and the coast. We want to see the Alaska SeaLife Center and perhaps go on a boat tour before we head back inland and re-enter the mountains.  

A is for Musk Ox

No, I haven’t forgotten my alphabet. J It’s the title of the kids book I picked up at the Musk-Ox Farm just outside of Palmer Monday. I thought it was quite cute, and the kids might enjoy it as a bedtime story. Turns out Musk-Oxen are pretty cool (even without the book). We took a tour of the farm (in the rain), and learned about the musk-ox (the only big North American land animal that doesn't migrate to warmer climates in the winter). People are just beginning to domesticate these big shaggy beasts, and it turns out that that shag is worth a fair bit. Musk-oxen have a fine underwool called quviut (kee-vee-ute; really good scrabble word) that’s softer and warmer than sheep’s wool (8X!), and can be harvested when they shed. It is spun into yarn which can is knitted into scarves, blankets, and such by an Alaskan Native run co-op which uses traditional patterns in the knitting. The work is really beautiful and still quite rare as there aren't that many animals being farmed yet. Bob & I would have both liked to get a piece, but it was a bit out of our own price range. I think the cost is pretty justified, though. Would you want to comb out a 900 lb, relatively undomesticated animal? (Can we say danger pay?!)

After an extra day in Palmer (because we just didn't feel like moving yet. Life’s flexible that way.  It’s nice.), where Bob & the kids took a walk along the trail system surrounding the campground and found many interesting mushrooms, we moved a whopping 40 minutes south and are now on the north edge of Anchorage at the city run Centennial Campground. They just finished putting electrical into some of their sites, and have lots of trees & a playground for the kids, so we decided to stay. The final grading of these sites still needs to be done, so at the moment they’re a bit uneven (and muddy with all the rain). But, they’re going to be quite nice when they’re all finished.

We had planned to see several sites and attractions in Anchorage before heading a little further south into the Kenai Peninsula, but our timing has reverted to its usual poor self and our list has gotten shorter. Several of the places we wanted to check out are now either closed for the season or down for maintenance. Grrr. Note to anyone planning a trip to Alaska. Come earlier in the summer! Tourist season is pretty much done by the end of August, and between that and school starting right after the long weekend, many businesses wrap it up early Sept. That said there are still plenty of things to do. The zoo, several museums, the Imaginarium for the kids, shopping in the downtown, seeing the 20 foot high chocolate fountain (and preventing the kids from wanting to jump in), fixing the trailer (oops, yep – we are rattling things apart as predicted. While taking the laundry out to the truck I discovered the rivet on the step had come off – by having the step half collapse under me, of course). 

Yesterday’s we went to the Museum of Science and Nature. It had lots of hands on displays and exhibits detailing the prehistory of the area (dinosaurs, volcanos, glaciers, and ice-age animals & people) Today, I think we’re off to the zoo (That is if we can actually get our butts out of the house! The kids are quite enjoying their schoolwork today.)

Rain, rain go away!

What is it with Alaska? Ever since we have arrived in this state it has rained! Not quite non-stop, but enough to make things dreary and damp. To add insult to injury, the sun will pop out in the morning for an hour (unless it’s pouring), just to provide a little teaser before the clouds close in again. Guess it's typical for this time of year though.

Well, rain or not, that hasn't stopped us from taking part in the local activities. Arriving at the right time, for once (we have been doing a good job of arriving at the wrong time), we made it to Palmer in time for the final weekend of the Alaska State Fair. The Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Valley is known for its gigantic cabbages and vegetables due to the mild climate, glacial rich soil and super long summer days. The fair provides locals the opportunity to compete to grow the biggest vegetables possible. Cabbages, pumpkins, squash, carrots, you name it. They’re all super-sized. The fair is very agriculture oriented, and there were many 4-H animals on display (Lily quite liked the pigs and found the turkeys intriguing), an equestrian competition as well as the standard “fair” going rides, games, and food. The kids got to choose a couple rides each (I had great fun with Lily getting a nice cold shower on the whirlwind in the rain. Whee! Um, not.) We sampled some of the food (corn fritters with honey butter are my new friend), checked out the reptile exhibit, took a look at the King Tut exhibit featuring replicas of artifacts found in his tomb (the kids were extremely unimpressed, but I thought it was pretty interesting), and watched a ventriloquist act (this was a hit with the kids and we came home with his DVD). We spent the afternoon, and much of the evening there, but eventually the wet & chill got to all of us and it was time to head home.  

Big veggies!

Morgan vs the snapping turtle

An almost 1200 lb (I think) cabbage

Somebody find me a signal!

One of the hardest things on this trip so far has been finding cell phone & internet access.  In Canada we can use our cellular data plans – as long as we have cell service (which isn't so easy in the middle of nowhere!).  That can get expensive though (you can burn through 1 Gig in a shockingly short amount of time), so we also try to find free internet.

Our options are finding a business that offers wifi or finding a campground with internet service. These businesses aren't always close by, and trying to take the family in and work on the net can be an exercise in frustration (for both me and the kids!).  Many campgrounds advertise free wifi, but often it is restricted in use or only accessible right near the office.  These parks also tend to be (but not always) the more expensive ones where our only option is to take a full service pull through spot (which are always the most expensive, and we don’t actually need most days).  The ones that do have good internet from the comfort of my trailer are gems! We try to search out less expensive options, in order to keep overall costs down, but there’s never a perfect solution.

Take the last few days for example…

We spent an extra day in Tok, because we needed a do-nothing day.  And we did pretty much nothing.  I caught up on the blog and checked emails and such before flaking out for the rest of the day.  It was fantastic.  Moving on the next day towards Palmer, we traveled along the Glenn Highway.  It’s beautiful mountain country, and the road south from Glennallen is designated a Scenic Byway (which I’m guessing in American for “pretty road”. There are some very tall (+10,000 ft) snow-capped mountains around here.  It was raining though, so those lovely mountains were mostly cloud covered. We stopped to take a few pictures, but mostly just drove down the wet highway.  I had investigated a couple potential stops for the night, and planned a walk along the way.  The first of those stops was too expensive, and too small for what they were offering.  Um, no thanks, I don’t want to pay that much to try to squeeze my 40 foot monstrosity of a trailer into that! 

Sticks - an essential tool for poking at mud

But this was also where there was a tantalizing bit of information about a one mile hike to see a mud volcano. Well, mud spring.  But it sounded intriguing. We parked the trailer on the grassy area (for a fee – I’m noticing Alaska likes to charge fees just for parking in certain areas!), checked in and then went to find the trailhead. We were warned that it was a basic trail leading through the forest, marked by CD’s on trees, and finding the trail did take a little bit of work. Once we found the trail, it was easy to stay on, since it was the only thing even remotely resembling a trail anywhere around. We followed the narrow track, heading up the hill, through (wet!) muskeg filled with scrawny black spruce, and into a lusher area containing lots of bushes & deciduous trees. Reaching the end of the trail, we broke through the brush into a roughly circular open area covered in mud.  Several pools of water bubbled slowly, providing evidence that this area was something other than muddy bog.  I was a little concerned about the safety of walking out to the pools, at first, but a multitude of large animal prints on the flat indicated we wouldn't have any difficulties. So we all had a bit of fun poking at the pools, watching the methane bubbles, looking at the variety of animal prints, and just wondering how anyone ever figured out this thing was here. The light rain of the day picked up a bit and we decided that it was time to turn around and head back.  The walk up took 45 minutes of so, the return a bit less. I was quite impressed with the kids – other than a few momentary protests at the very beginning of the walk, they didn't complain the whole way, even though the trail was not what I’d call easy.

Mystery print on the mud flat (lynx, maybe?)

By the time we reached the truck and changed into clean, dry clothes it was 6. We were committed to heading further down the road to check out the other campground option I had read about, so off we went.  I have mentioned that there seems to be a profusion of hunters & campers in the area, and this being the Friday of a long weekend, people were everywhere. We began to notice that large gravel pits along the highway were full of trailers. Hmm – we’re certainly equipped for dry camping, and for an overnight stop we have no need of hookups & campground fees. We checked the Milepost (which has been a fantastic reference and pretty much details every bump on the roads it logs), realized another gravel pit was coming up, and then promptly missed the turn. Luckily there was a scenery pull off spot a moment down the road. We turned around, pulled into the gravel pit and found ourselves a lovely spot for the night. It had an absolutely fantastic view of the surrounding mountains across the road and the hill behind us was covered in fall reds & oranges.  Other campers pulled in after us, but there was plenty of room to go around.   

From the hill behind - the picture does not do it justice

We had a relatively slow morning, as we knew our drive wouldn't be that long. Morgan played on the hills and then came in for some school work.  Finally packing up, we got in the truck and got going. The grand views of the mountains, glaciers and scenery were again overshadowed by rain. The main highlight on this stretch of road is the Matanuska Glacier. We stopped twice to take a look - first at the local elementary school (where the kids enjoyed the chance to play at the playground), and then a few miles down the road at the Matanuska State Recreation area (again with the parking fee!). We took a walk to the viewing platform for a better view of the glacier (with much protest from both the kids – guess a walk a day is too much), and then had lunch.

We are not impressed

Okay, enough with the slow travel day – time to get to Palmer. We drove to the Visitor Centre, inquired about campgrounds, and chose the Mat-Su Borough run Mat River Park, which has electrical hook-ups at a very reasonable rate (no wifi though), over the other area campgrounds (with full hookups). The playground swung our decision in its favor a bit too. The campground is in a very nice area, and quite close to everything.  It’s all grassy, and treed around the edge with a good playground & day-use area beside the camping loop. 

I’m missing my internet connection though. Especially as we still haven’t figured out the phone thing, now being in the US and all. Bob went to get a phone last night, but failed to read the fine print on the pay-as-you go plan and purchased one that can’t actually call Canada! Live & learn. I am sitting in the Starbucks at the local Safeway (and the kids are happily eating cake pops) so I can actually post this! 

P.S. (This post may make us sound cheap, but travel can get expensive. When one part of our budget goes overboard (eg fuel costs), something else needs to give a bit to balance this out, and one easy way is campground fees)