Days 1, 2, and 3

Days 1, 2 and 3 – So here we sit in the Orlando airport on Thursday, waiting and waiting for our plane to get here from Minneapolis/St.Paul. We got to the airport at 10:00 a.m. and it’s now 1:45 p.m. Neither of us waits very well!

The plane finally arrived (mechanical problems in Minneapolis), left Orlando with us on it, and arrived in Minneapolis/St. Paul at 6:15 p.m., the exact time that the buses were leaving the airport for Forest City, Iowa. Sooooo, we rented a car and drove to Forest City to the Winnebago factory, arriving after 9:00 p.m. We were rescued and taken to our RV by none other than Darrel Bennett, the owner of Great Alaskan Holidays. I was very pleased by the concern shown by all of the GAH people for my anxiety about our situation. So, now we had an RV and a rental car. Solution: drive both to Des Moines, where we planned to go anyway, turn in the car, then get on the road to Anchorage. We spent Thursday night in the RV in Forest City, and then made it to Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Friday where we dry camped in a Wal-Mart parking lot with other RVers and 18-wheelers. Saturday night we dry camped at beautiful and very remote Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area north of Ogallala, Nebraska. Sunday was spent getting to Rock Springs, WY, where we are staying in a KOA campsite with amenities, including WiFi. That’s a good thing since I’m behind in my blogging.

Friday, we traveled 353 miles, Saturday, 354, and today (Sunday), 494. So far, we have racked up a total of 1201 miles at the rate of 8 miles to the gallon. The good news is gas is a little bit cheaper up here where millions of acres of corn grow and ethanol is the name of the game. There has not been a minute since we left Minneapolis that the wind was not blowing like a Texas breeze. That would be one that makes the chain (attached to a pole) stand out at 90 degrees. We think that if it stops blowing, all of the people will fall flat on their backs/faces.

Iowa and Nebraska may be where all of the corn is grown in the U. S. but they are also very boring to travel through. At one point yesterday, I got the camera out for the first time and took a picture out of the windshield. Cliff said, “What are you taking a picture of?” and I replied, “Nothing.” That sums it up.

Tomorrow we head for Salt Lake City where I hope we will see the Great Salt Lake and the Mormon Temple downtown. So far, we have not seen anything that made us want to stop and stare or take pictures. We’ve seen a smattering of wildlife but nothing like last year on the northern route.

A comment on Nebraska: Omaha was impressive with a lot of huge buildings, home offices of major corporations, and beautiful homes (we went off the interstate briefly). It appears that the city may be home to a million or more people and the other 2500 live in the rest of the state. Joking. Well, maybe not.

We had our first real meal tonight: steak, mashed potatoes and Vidalia onions that Cliff brought in his luggage. The other meals have been suitcase sandwiches (one piece of bread folded over) and munchies. We’re good for several days because the frige is FULL. But then, neither of us has ever missed many meals or regretted eating any of them.

We crossed the Continental Divide twice today. Strange, but it circles the Great Divide Basin. Didn’t get a picture of the sign at either crossing. The story of my life with Continental Divides.

Days 1, 2 and 3

Days 1, 2 and 3 – So here we sit in the Orlando airport on Thursday, waiting and waiting for our plane to get here from Minneapolis/St.Paul. We got to the airport at 10:00 a.m. and it’s now 1:45 p.m. Neither of us waits very well!

The plane finally arrived (mechanical problems in Minneapolis), left Orlando with us on it, and arrived in Minneapolis/St. Paul at 6:15 p.m., the exact time that the buses were leaving the airport for Forest City, Iowa. Sooooo, we rented a car and drove to Forest City to the Winnebago factory, arriving after 9:00 p.m. We were rescued and taken to our RV by none other than Darrel Bennett, the owner of Great Alaskan Holidays. I was very pleased by the concern shown by all of the GAH people for my anxiety about our situation. So, now we had an RV and a rental car. Solution: drive both to Des Moines, where we planned to go anyway, turn in the car, then get on the road to Anchorage. We spent Thursday night in the RV in Forest City, and then made it to Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Friday where we dry camped in a Wal-Mart parking lot with other RVers and 18-wheelers. Saturday night we dry camped at beautiful and very remote Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area north of Ogallala, Nebraska. Sunday was spent getting to Rock Springs, WY, where we are staying in a KOA campsite with amenities, including WiFi. That’s a good thing since I’m behind in my blogging.

Friday, we traveled 353 miles, Saturday, 354, and today (Sunday), 494. So far, we have racked up a total of 1201 miles at the rate of 8 miles to the gallon. The good news is gas is a little bit cheaper up here where millions of acres of corn grow and ethanol is the name of the game. There has not been a minute since we left Minneapolis that the wind was not blowing like a Texas breeze. That would be one that makes the chain (attached to a pole) stand out at 90 degrees. We think that if it stops blowing, all of the people will fall flat on their backs/faces.

Iowa and Nebraska may be where all of the corn is grown in the U. S. but they are also very boring to travel through. At one point yesterday, I got the camera out for the first time and took a picture out of the windshield. Cliff said, “What are you taking a picture of?” and I replied, “Nothing.” That sums it up. 

Tomorrow we head for Salt Lake City where I hope we will see the Great Salt Lake and the Mormon Temple downtown. So far, we have not seen anything that made us want to stop and stare or take pictures. We’ve seen a smattering of wildlife but nothing like last year on the northern route.

A comment on Nebraska: Omaha was impressive with a lot of huge buildings, home offices of major corporations, and beautiful homes (we went off the interstate briefly). It appears that the city may be home to a million or more people and the other 2500 live in the rest of the state. Joking. Well, maybe not.

We had our first real meal tonight: steak, mashed potatoes and Vidalia onions that Cliff brought in his luggage. The other meals have been suitcase sandwiches (one piece of bread folded over) and munchies. We’re good for several days because the frig is FULL. But then, neither of us has ever missed many meals or regretted eating any of them.

We crossed the Continental Divide twice today. Strange, but it circles the Great Divide Basin. Didn’t get a picture of the sign at either crossing. The story of my life with Continental Divides.  

Tuesday, June 1 st

Today is cleanup day. We have packed our big box to ship home by UPS with the things that are heavy or might not make it through the possible pilferage of the airport handlers. We will take care of that in the morning before the time to turn in the RV. Most of our other stuff is packed or will be soon.


Our salmon tonight was augmented by the gift of some small red potatoes from some other GAH people who turned in their unit this morning. Have a new unit next to us today, which will be turning in tomorrow like us.

I went downtown today and shopped while Cliff stayed home. He hates to shop and constantly sighs while shopping. Got some souvenirs and enjoyed my shopping time. After the trip to the UPS store in the morning, we will finish packing and then turn in the beast. Then we will mess around until supper time when we will have our first restaurant meal since the one at the Minnesota airport on May 14th. No salmon for me. How can you top what we have eaten over the last few days?

After we get home, I’ll publish our favorite pictures and then sign off for this wonderful trip to Alaska.

Tuesday, June 01

Today is cleanup day. We have packed our big box to ship home by UPS with the things that are heavy or might not make it through the possible pilferage of the airport handlers. We will take care of that in the morning before the time to turn in the RV. Most of our other stuff is packed or will be soon.


Our salmon tonight was augmented by the gift of some small red potatoes from some other GAH people who turned in their unit this morning. Have a new unit next to us today which will be turning in tomorrow like us.

I went downtown today and shopped while Cliff stayed home. He hates to shop and constantly sighs while shopping with me. Got some souvenirs and enjoyed my alone time. After the trip to the UPS store in the morning, we will finish packing and then turn in the beast. Then we will mess around until supper time when we will have our first restaurant meal since the one at the Minnesota airport on May 14th. No salmon for me. How can you top what we have eaten over the last few days?

After we get home, I’ll publish our favorite pictures and then sign off for this wonderful trip to Alaska. Next trip to follow.

Monday, May 31st

We didn’t have WiFi last night so I couldn’t post. We’re at the airport in Anchorage and I’m catching up in a parking lot while Cliff rents a car. We agreed that it was too much trouble to move around. Anchorage in the RV and anyway, we’ll need one on Wednesday after we turn in the RV at 11:45 a.m. Our flight isn’t until 9:15 p.m. and no sane person would willing sit at an airport for that long.


We had salmon again last night, will have salmon salad for lunch and more salmon tonight. It is so delicious. Because we didn’t count on having such an abundance of salmon, we’re going to have food left over. Poor planning perhaps, but that salmon cost a whole lot more than that can of Bush’s Baked Beans sitting the pantry – and tastes better, too. We have been told that any unopened food is donated to a food bank here in Anchorage. Me thinks they get a fair amount from GAH patrons.

Our RV park reservations are for tonight and tomorrow night, then like the turtle that went to the psychiatrist, we’re coming out of our shell. The Winnie, that is. Get it? Ha, ha.

I gave away some of the salmon tonight. It would be such a shame to waste her since she gave her life to me. We had a great wine with dinner tonight: Chateau Ste. Michelle Harvest Select Riesling, Columbia Valley, 2009. It would be way too sweet for you Roxanna and Bill, since it is on the sweet end of the harvest. Sweet people that we are, we loved every drop.

We have met several members of the group from Forest City, Iowa, some in the park where we are tonight. Seems we all have had similar problems and we decided that we are on a shakedown cruise for Great Alaskan Holidays so that they can identify any problems with the new units and fix them before renting them. The GAH people are very smart. Of the three couples we talked to this afternoon who are staying in our current RV park, there are numerous problems that need to be addressed before the company rents the units. We all had furnace problems, one TV fell off the wall on the Yukon end of the Alcan. I thought that ours was going to also but it held on for dear life.

Cliff went to a nearby liquor store to get ice for the fish and when he went to the counter to pay, they carded him. Of course, he asked why are you carding me since I buying ice and obviously older than 21? It seems anybody buying anything in a liquor stores gets carded by law. He thought it was funny.

Sunday, May 30th

We’re taking it easy this morning showering, sweeping the RV and “computering”. We need to be in Seward about 11:30 for the cruise. It has drizzled most of the night and continues now. Hope it’s not raining later since I’m prepared with two sets of batteries for the camera. : )

The five-hour cruise was very good. We saw a sea otter, many seabirds such as Kittiwakes, Arctic terns, two kinds of puffins, common muirs, cormorants, and herring gulls; saw several mature bald eagles including a nesting pair on the nest. We saw Stellar sealions and three Orcas; also saw mountain goats, one nanny and her kid perched on a tiny outcropping that didn’t look quite big enough to hold them. Bear Glacier was pretty far in the distance but that was as close as the boat could/would go.

There is an unusual tunnel to get to Whittier. It is two and a half miles long, carved out of solid basalt which is evident as you drive by the rough hewn walls. It is a single lane and also has railroad tracks. The traffic lines up at the entrance according to size and every 15 minutes one side gets to go through the tunnel, unless there’s a train scheduled. The east and west portals are alternated every thirty minutes. The picture of the RV with Cliff waving from the door shows us as first in line in the RV lane.

Here’s a picture of Bear Glacier and one of a mountain we decided looks like the RKO logo. The seals were numerous as they sunned themselves on the rocks. The picture of the rocks where the kittiwakes nest is too disgusting to add to the log, educational but ikky.

Whittier had what seemed hundreds of trucks and boat trailers parked in the public lots. It seems that a lot of Alaskans have boats and RVs. Since it was a long weekend, Seward was packed with them also.

We went back through the tunnel to a remote park for the night.