The Road from Tok, Alaska to Haines Junction, Yukon

September 6th

Yes, we have left Alaska, but it is still a long way to the lower 48! We had been told by several people that the road from Destruction Bay, Yukon to Tok, Alaska was the worst on the entire Alaska Highway. We even had a few say that it was so bad they were going to go back through Chicken to Dawson City on the Taylor and Top of the World highways. As you can imagine we were expecting a REALLY BAD road. The road from Tok to Destruction Bay has plenty of frost heaves, road construction and potholes, BUT it isn’t nearly as bad as the 46 miles of gravel on the Taylor Highway between the US\Canada border to the town of Chicken, Alaska and the 70 miles of paved frost heaves and potholes from Chicken to Tok! The only two roads in all of Alaska worse than the Taylor highway are the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Ocean and the Denali Highway between Cantwell and Paxton.

We had planned to drive only about 225 miles to Destruction Bay Yukon, but all of the RV Parks in and around Destruction Bay have already closed for the season. The next open RV Park was in Haines Junction 60 miles further down the road. Although 285 miles is more than we like to drive in a day we had a beautiful day for the drive. 

I know that we have seen spectacular scenery throughout our trip, however the 225 miles from Tok to Destruction Bay was the MOST SPECTACULAR! The whole way we saw the snow capped peaks of the Wrangle St Elias range. The snow is powdered way down their slopes to tundra in autumn brown, red and yellow which in turn gives way to the evergreens that are sprinkled with the birch trees in yellow and red. There are also numerous blue lakes along the way and we had a sky full of white puffy clouds. Unfortunately, there are very few spots to stop and take pictures so most of our pictures were taken through the dirty windshield of the truck. Kathy said to send her apologies!

About an hour outside of Tok there is a very large construction area. We had to wait 45 minutes for a pilot car to lead us through. We were the first car in line and the flagman, Ray Thomas was a talkative, friendly fellow.  Ray told us about his wife, his daughters in college, his being Athabascan heritage, and his hunting plans for the fall. He told us he was going to go moose hunting. We commented that moose must really taste good because everyone we talked to in Alaska wants to go moose hunting. Ray said “I am having moose meat for lunch today would you like to try some?” From our first trip to Alaska 10 years ago we had heard how good moose was and on our subsequent trips tried to find somewhere where we could buy moose meat. On our Canadian trips we have looked for moose meat, but had never found any where it was available. We jumped at the chance! Moose is delicious; it is very lean, very tender and has almost a sweet quality to it. THANK YOU RAY!!!

When the pilot car arrived we drove through 12 miles of construction at 20 MPH or less. 

On the road to Destruction Bay, we had our closest truck and moose encounter. The moose came slowly out of the trees next to the road and I stopped completely. The moose then slowly walked across the road. Raider decided to bark at her which sent it up the side of the road a little faster. When we were back in Yellowstone, Raider had always barked at the buffalos in the road but never the moose. We have no idea why he decided to bark at this moose. Course, they grow as large as horses up in this area and he must have thought he was our guard dog!

A few miles past Destruction Bay we came across a momma grizzly bear and her two almost full grown cubs. They were walking down the middle of the highway. I stopped to let them decide what to do. This was Raider first close encounter with bears and he started barking like a Rottweiler. That sped up the momma bear and one of the cubs across the road. The other cub decided to cross behind the trailer. The cub kept looking at the truck and had a look as if to say, “Is that a wolf, Mom?!”

See the rest of the pictures: From Tok to  Hanies Junstion Slideshow

A Better Day on the Road to Tok, Alaska

Our travel day Thursday was only 120 miles. We had no problems with the truck and the Check Engine light did not come on. I am not sure what I bumped but apparently it fixed the problem caused by Chevrolet of Wasilla.

We were last in Tok on June 25th when we arrived in Alaska. When you drive to or from Alaska; Tok is either the first or last Alaskan town you see. I guess that makes this “the last town in America”. More importantly for our purpose, it is the last Post Office in America. We are planning to take 3 to 4 weeks to drive across Canada depending on how cold it gets and how many RV Parks stay open; so this is our last chance for mail for about a month. Hopefully it will arrive on Friday.

We purposely planned to leave Alaska after Labor Day to avoid the crowds. We had no idea how much we would be avoiding others. Wednesday night at the Gakona RV Park only two other rigs came in. Here at the Sourdough RV Park there are 90 camping sites but, only 5 are currently in use. On the road Thursday in our 120 mile drive we only saw about a dozen vehicles going in each direction. We keep hearing that the RV Parks and gas stations will be closing on September 15th. There seems to be so little business that we are already wondering why they are staying open until then. We also knew that we ran the risk of colder weather by waiting to leave Alaska. The lows here in Tok have been in the mid-30s and are forecast to stay in the 30s.

You have all heard Alaska scenery as incredible, magnificent, unbelievable, etc. There simply are not enough adjectives to describe Alaska scenery. Thursday all 120 miles was all of the above. The birch trees have turned yellow and red and they go on for miles contrasting with the evergreens. The mountains are spectacular with snow covered Mt. Sanford at over 16,200 feet towering over everything. If we had stopped for pictures everywhere we wanted to take pictures we would never have gotten here in a day.

I have only put a few pictures on the blog page, be sure to check out the slideshow for more pictures: Slideshow - On the Road to Tok Alaska

Wasilla – Part 2

Last time I wrote: “So the other reasons we are staying in Wasilla for a week are: to get the truck serviced, stock up on groceries and get Raider’s vaccinations up to date before we start south. Pretty much every RVer we talk to now is staging to leave Alaska. I think the day after Labor Day someone will fire a starting gun and every RV in the state will head south.” Getting Raider’s vaccinations up to date was no problem. Getting stocked up on groceries was no problem, but did take more than one trip.

Getting the truck serviced turned out to be VERY FRUSTRATING!! The truck is still under its original warranty and has been flawless. So I went to the Chevy dealer here Wasilla called Chevrolet of Wasilla which was close to the campground.

The truck needed an oil change and one of the Daylight running lights wasn’t working. Since we only have the one vehicle and nowhere to go I sat in the car dealership reading until the truck was ready, at most a two hour job. Sure enough after two hours they tell me the truck is ready and they had to replace the air filter as well. After 26,000 miles and all of the dusty roads getting here I am not surprised. I asked “did they fix the daylight running light”. “Oh, let me check, I will be right back”. “They are just starting that now”. Four long hours later they tell me that there is a bad part and they will “overnight it from the lower 48”. In Alaska speak that means it will be here in two days. We hadn’t made any firm plans about when we would leave Wasilla, so we weren’t too concerned.

We passed a quiet day reading and Kathy doing laundry.

Friday I called the Chevrolet of Wasilla, the part had arrived and I should bring in the truck at 2 PM. I spent another four FRUSTRATING hours at Chevy. They finally gave up and said that the new part was also defective and all they could do is order another part on Tuesday and it would arrive next Thursday. I told them that it wasn't important enough to waste another week. As I walked to the truck I noticed a puddle of oil under it, apparently when they changed the oil they didn’t get the nut tightened enough. So up on the rack to get the leak fixed. Once I drove away from the Chevrolet of Wasilla, I got behind a car and I could see a reflection in the bumper. Turns out they did fix the light and probably fixed it when I was there on Wednesday. Their so-called expert apparently is totally incompetent. The daylight-running lights only come on if the truck is in gear. Apparently, he had been doing all of his testing and diagnostics with the truck in park so the lights never came on. It was after 6 PM when I left there so I couldn't go back and tell them how stupid they were. ALL GM cars and trucks work the same way! How could he not know that????

We decided to stay the weekend to avoid any Labor Day traffic and leave Tuesday morning to make sure all of the traffic is gone.

Saturday was the nicest day we have had in a long time. It was clear and sunny all day with a high of 70. We toured the Alaska Transportation Museum yesterday, it covers 20 acres. Some of the vehicles have been restored to better than new, others look to be held together by rust and a prayer. I must be getting museumed out, as big as it was I didn't think it was worth $8 a piece. The upside was we did spend an hour or so walking outside in the glorious 70 degrees and sun!

Slideshow Alaska Transportation Museum

Sunday and Monday (Labor Day) were cold, gray and very windy. The RV Park wasn’t very crowded to begin with, but with the cold windy weather all but a few left on Sunday. With the RV sites now wide open we met the couple a few sites down from us John and Lora Newby. They are fulltime RVers, like us and have only been on the road a month longer than us. They had lived in anchorage for 20 years and returned to Alaska this summer so that John could fill in at his old job for people on vacations. Like a great number of fulltimers, John & Lora our members of Escapees RV club as are we. Through the miracle of the Internet they follow many of the same blogs we do and know some of the same people. John & Lora are committed to staying in Alaska until mid-month and then will make beeline to Seattle for the birth of their first grandchild. One thing they expressed is a concern that most RV Parks and some gas stations will be closing along the route on September 15^th. In the short time we have been on the road we have bumped into many people we had met somewhere else on the road, including some people we met in Arizona last winter we met up here in Alaska, I am sure that we will meet up with John & Lora somewhere down the road.

Tuesday we finally left Wasilla about 11 AM and the roads were very empty. About an hour into the trip we hit the largest and longest construction zone we have seen yet. We were about the middle of the pack waiting for the pilot car. We had enough time to eat lunch and use the bathroom in the trailer before we started the engine again. Then the drive through the construction zone with the pilot car went for miles.

About half hour after leaving the construction zone the “Check Engine” light on the dash came on. All of my gauges were good so I pulled over to check the owner’s manual. It said that there was something wrong with the emissions system and that I should have it looked at. While driving the next 40 or so miles to Glennallen, I called the Chevy Customer Assistance but all they could say was “it needs to be looked at”.

There isn't much to Glennallen and no one to look at the truck. We stopped for fuel and then went to the Northern Nights RV Park. There were RVs in the park but no one around even though they had a sign that said the office opened at 3 PM. The guide book said they would be open until September 15^th. While waiting for someone to show up I decided to look under the hood after all Chevrolet of Wasilla did put a new air filter in the truck. All I did was jiggle the air filter to see if it was tight. We decided that if we had to go to a Chevy dealer it made more sense to go to Fairbanks rather than backtrack to Wasilla, so we started north. When I started the engine the “Check Engine” light didn't come back on. After another 30 miles the light still didn’t come back on. It seems that no one at Chevrolet of Wasilla knows how to do anything right. This is obviously the worse service we have had anywhere and I know that more than one person worked on the truck so it can’t be just one inept employee.

We pulled into the Gakona Alaska RV Park about 4 miles past the town of Gakona, Alaska (try finding that in your atlas) about 5 PM. When we arrived there weren't any RVs here, but they are open until the 15^th of September. By night fall 4 more RVs had come in.

We have decided when we leave here we will head to Tok and see if the “Check Engine” light comes back on. It is raining today and since we will have to wait in Tok anyway until our mail arrives we decided to stay here today. This is a VERY quiet RV Park off of the road. After 9 days so close to the road in Wasilla it is a nice change. Our air card works here, but they have WIFI for $2.50 per day which is much faster than the air card. We will spend the day reading, blogging and surfing the Internet, as there is no TV or cable here. Since there is no one here but us we let Raider run off lead yesterday evening and he ran himself to exhaustion. This is the most freedom he has had since West Yellowstone back in May.

I wrote today’s blog entry at least in part to let all of you know that not every day as a fulltimer is perfect.

Return to Williwaw and Wasilla

Williwaw Campground

As Homer is the “end of the road”, the only way we can go is back the way we came. At least until we get to Wasilla. We bypassed Seward and went back to the Forest Service Campground near Portage Glacier called Williwaw. When we were there last month it rained non-stop for all three days. (Our July 30th blog entry about Williwaw Campground ) As we said then even though it rained all three days “This is the MOST SPECTALUAR setting for a campsite since we have been on the road.” This visit we did have some rain every day, we also had partly sunny days as well.

Right next to Williwaw campground is a salmon viewing area. This is an area where salmon come to breed and die. When we were here in July we didn’t see any salmon at all. This time the river is full of Coho or Silver Salmon. Most are still alive but all will have spawned and died over the next few weeks.

One piece of unfinished business from our last visit was a hike to Byron Glacier. Like Exit Glacier near Seward this is an easily accessible glacier. The trail is less than a mile over mostly flat terrain. One thing I found very odd about the trail is: this is bear country and they have sign at the beginning of the trail warning about bears in the area. In bear country they always tell you to “be very careful around willows as they are food source for bears”, “make noise so that you don’t surprise a bear” and “keep on the lookout for bears near the trail”. So the Forest Service has built this mile long trail that is completely lined with willows and alders, so dense that you can’t see more than two feet off the trail. Right next to the trail flows a stream that is so loud you can’t hear anything else.

All of that aside it is a very nice hike and the glaciers are very intriguing.

While we were at Williwaw, Fred, Jo, Faith and Isabella came to stay for Faith and Isabella’s last day in Alaska. http://www.mytripjournal.com/wanderingwishnies I can’t think of a nicer spot for a last day in Alaska. I think what makes the Portage Valley and Williwaw so special is this is the Alaska that most people think about when they hear the word Alaska. It has spectacular tall green mountains with snow fields, waterfalls and glaciers.

Wasilla

We returned to Wasilla because some of the parts needed to complete our repairs from July had arrived. Unfortunately one of the parts arrived defective so we still have an outstanding minor issue. However, we are good to go, to start back to the lower 48 states. Wasilla is the last big town we will see until we get to Whitehorse, Yukon in a few weeks. You can tell a town size in Alaska by their grocery stores. The really small towns have no grocery stores. The slightly large towns like Seward and Homer have a Safeway grocery store. The next size up has a Safeway and a Fred Meyer’s store. A big town like Wasilla will have a Safeway, Fred Meyers’s and a Wal-mart Supercenter for groceries. The really big towns like Fairbanks and Anchorage have multiple Safeways, Fred Meyer’s and Wal-marts. Big of course is relative and this entire enormous state has less than half the population of our home town of San Jose, California.

So the other reasons we are staying in Wasilla for a week are: to get the truck serviced, stock up on groceries and get Raider’s vaccinations up to date before we start south. Pretty much ever RVer we talk to now is staging to leave Alaska. I think the day after Labor Day someone will fire a starting gun and every RV in the state will head south. Our current plans are to make a few more stops and let the crowd get ahead of us before we leave Alaska.

The Headquarters of the Iditarod Dog Sled Race is here in Wasiila. Kathy must be the biggest Iditarod fan in California, so we made a stop at the Iditarod Headquarters and museum. Kathy even got a chance to fill a lifetime wish to be pulled by sled dogs. Since there isn’t any snow in Wasilla just now they use a cart on tires. Kathy said it was a great ride and she couldn’t believe how fast the dogs can pull. Her next breath was “Next time I want to be pulled on snow”.

Right next to Wasilla is the town of Palmer (only large enough to have a Safeway). It is the home of the Alaska State Fair. The State Fair is a really big thing here in Alaska. People plan for it well in advanced, they take time off work and pull kids out of school to attend. We went on a Tuesday afternoon and it was surprisingly crowded. I can’t imagine how crowded it must be on the weekends! It being the only State Fair we have ever been to we can definitely say that it is the nicest State Fair that we have ever been to.

BirdingRVers slideshow of Williwaw Campground and Byron Glacier

BirdingRVers slideshow Iditarod Headquarters and Museum

Homer, Alaska – Part 2

A map of the Kenai Peninsula

Today’s blog written by Kathy

As we have reported earlier, this has been a cold wet summer for Alaska. Despite the rain, we decided we wouldn’t rather be anywhere else to just kick back and relax than in Homer. When Grant went up to the office at the RV park to extend our stay another week, Glenda in the office said not to worry, she’d already made room for us and we can stay in the same site. Great! She did warn us that 2 more caravans were coming in on Wednesday but would leave by Sunday, Holiday Rambler and Fantasy Tours.

These groups were a more quiet than the previous two groups and more considerate. Several days we slept into almost 8:00, because nobody woke us up hollering on their way to the fish docks at 5:29 AM. There were 3 days of non-stop rain of some kind: drizzle, mist and absolute down pours. Even though we are on hard packed gravel, the rain wasn’t sinking in like it had! Rain or shine, there are still the multiple dog walks Raider requires, and even he headed straight back to the trailer to get in out of the rain. No long walks on the beach for a few days.

I forgot to mention a lady we had met on the bay cruise to the Rookery!

Her name was Liz Bashaw, who owns the Alpenglow Chalet/Bed and Breakfast. She had a day off from the B&B and had decided to take the cruise of Kachemak Bay. While waiting for the boat trip, she overheard us say that we were from California. It turns out she’s from Chula Vista, CA, near San Diego and they run the Chalet and B&B during the summer up here in Alaska. Her husband is quite handy in construction, so he has guaranteed work no matter where he is and she is also a registered nurse. They stay in Homer until about November and then head south for winter. I was so busy taking pictures of the scenery that day that I forgot to get her photo!

Sunday in the afternoon we took a drive up to the highpoint above Homer, to look out and also find the Alpenglow Chalet. It is a way up the hill with a breath taking view of the bay and Homer Spit! I stopped by in front to take pictures, hoping Liz would be home, but she must’ve been at the B&B, which is down the hill, a few miles outside of town. It’s the weekend, I’m sure she’s really busy.

Oh well, it looked like such a charming place to stay in Homer. If anybody is looking for a nice place to stay, here is the website: http://www.alpenglowcabin.com/

Saturday was rain-free and the sun even sneaked out for several hours in the afternoon, how nice it was! We walked down to the beach and watched a pair of Sandhill Cranes out on the sandbar. They weren’t in any sort of hurry, took their time to preen themselves while several of us looked on with fascination. Cranes are graceful and elegant. Naturally, I left the trailer without the camera not expecting too much on our walk!

In the evening there were no clouds in the west when the sun slipped down below the ridge. As I let Raider out for his nightly run before bed time I noticed a bright light in the sky, something we hadn’t seen since May in West Yellowstone! Is it a UFO?! No, it’s the full Moon, brightly shining over the bay!

Sunday morning we slept into 8:40 when we heard the first rumblings of the caravans getting ready to “bug out”. That is always so interesting watching these monster RV’s move. Do they have a coin toss to see who leaves first? Unfortunately, the couple in the big motor home directly behind us was having mechanical problems. Since our Montana has the great big picture window on the back, I could actually look over the guy’s shoulder as he was fixing the “do-hickey” and the “watch-a-ma-call-it”. Then he had to call in for back up. The tail gunner came to the rescue and they were ready to go by 10:30. By 11:00 AM, both caravan groups were gone and we had our scenic view spot again!!

The tide was way out due to the full moon, time to check it out. Raider was ready for a run on the beach, but the trail was still slippery so I convinced him we didn’t need to walk ALL of the way down there. I was able to get some photos from the bluff showing the low tide.

Then we walked up the hill and over a block where there’s a better viewing spot. As we’re standing on the bluff, I could hear the unmistakable call of the Sandhill Cranes. (At least a pair of them comes buzzing by our campground several times a day, but I hadn’t seen them in a few days.) I called out to them, “Hey, where have you guys been, goofing off?” All of a sudden they changed course in mid-air, made a right turn and flew directly over us! How cool is that?! Were they just curious of us? I don’t know, but I had a lot of fun attempting to get photos of them! Even Raider was watching their graceful flight overhead. And that call of theirs! It sounds something prehistoric like it should be coming from a “winged-dinosaur”!!

Monday-Aug. 18th we called Tim, our oldest son back in Chicago, to wish him Happy Birthday. Later we celebrated Tim's 29th birthday at Captain Paddies for lunch. Grant enjoyed the baked Halibut and I had the Crab Melt Sandwich, two of our favorites there. Outside it was intermittent sun, though the clouds were gathering, inside it was cozy with great food, good music to dine with and a view of Homer Spit! A fond memory for later!

By 4:00 PM it was drizzling and by 6:00 PM it was pouring very hard! In fact, at one point it was louder than the TV! It rained all through the night, but the next morning we could see clear across the bay and by 11 AM we had sunshine, which lasted all day!!

Not wanting to waste the sun, we took Raider for a long walk, enjoying the sea air and Homer's incredible view. When we got back to camp the first RV's were rolling in for yet another caravan! This was an Airstream group, trailers and motor homes. We were allowed to stay in our spot and they worked their way into their sites all around us. We are the SOB's in the middle! (Some Other Brand) Friendly folk, more around our age, on a 65 day whirlwind trip of Alaska, starting from Dawson Creek, BC. They endured lots of rain, rough roads (like that's new!), but they have the distinguished award for having one of their rigs attacked by a bull moose!

Fred and Jo came over the peninsula from Seward to Homer today and we stopped by during "social hour" to say hello and meet their daughter Faith and her daughter, little cutey, Isabella. What a treat to meet them after hearing so much about the family! Isabella was having a fun time playing with Boo Boo, the shitzu, while we chatted!

After that, since it was late, we opted to go to the Cosmic Kitchen for burritos. These were the largest burritos in the world!! They were so big....you had to eat it with a fork. There was no way you could pick up in your hands like regular burritos! Delicious with all kinds of peppers and onions sautéed with the meat! Yum!This morning we woke up to more sunshine! Yeah! So we took the Raider dog for a long walk on the beach. Due to the extreme low tide there was so much sand exposed. We managed to get past the large stones and let him have a good run on the sand! Boy did he kick up his heels, he was in Fat City! I think he was thinking, "Now this is a beach!" The waves had made a wonderful pattern on the sand when the tide was high. Since it stays fairly shallow it resembled waves on a sand dune.

While walking along the beach we met the gentleman from Georgia, whose trailer had been attacked by the moose! He related the story of how he was driving, near Tok, Alaska, when all of a sudden a moose explodes out of the trees. He saw the bull and even pulled over to the side of the road to avoid him. The moose kept coming, hit their beautiful 1971 Airstream Classic mid-ship! With his rack he tore open a huge hole in the aluminum side!! The bull then stepped back, shook it off and charged back into the forest! They were stunned! They had saved up for 5 years to do this Alaska trip! Now their prize possession was a shambles! And the stupid moose lived! By the time they made it down to Fairbanks, their insurance company "totaled" the trailer as not repairable, and then handed them a check for the replacement. That sweet southern gentleman, with a great penchant for story telling we could surmise, told us, "I found someone who would buy the wrecked trailer as salvage!" So he came out of the deal very well!

I asked him, "It must have been sad to see it go?"

He replied, "well, yes, it was my favorite! I still have a 1975 Airstream and I'm in the process of buying a 1951 Airstream from a friend of mine. So, we're ok!". They bought a new trailer while in Fairbanks and have continued on the tour with the caravan.

BirdingRVers slide show of Homer Part 2

HOMER, Alaska – Part 1

Homer bills itself as the “end of the road” because from here the only place you can go is by boat to Kodiak. Yes, this really is the end of the great North American road system. We had seen this wonderful seaside town back in 2002, but barely had 24 hours to enjoy it before racing back to Anchorage to catch our plane. We vowed to return and spend some time here. Like the first time we came here, it was very gray out and the fog lingered on the mountains across the way, hiding all of the glaciers when we arrived. At least it wasn’t raining. We checked out the campgrounds down on Homer Spit, a sandbar that extends 4.5 miles out from the town. There were several to choose from, but we didn’t feel a need to be that close to the commercial fishing smells. So we drove back into town and found the Ocean View RV Park that was only 1/3 full. No problem finding a place here, plus they had nice wide sites, full hook ups, and cable with 150 channels! Plus we have beach access and a million dollar view! We signed up for 3 days, then adding another 7 days. We have now added another week to our stay here. This will be the longest we have stayed anywhere since we have been on the road except when we were unable to move on due to the flu in Tucson.

Tuesday we woke up and the fog had lifted, by lunch time the sun was out! YEAH!! What a dramatic difference up here when there’s sun!! We could see a lot more of the glaciers and grand mountains around Kachemak Bay! Off we went to visit the Spit. It is a unique place, with all kinds of charter fishing trips being booked left and right. The sockeye salmon season is over, but the halibut trips were all successful. We had a great lunch at Captain Pattie’s, tasting some of that wonderful fresh halibut! There is nothing like it.

Then we checked out some of the shops and returned home to spring Raider from his “Home Alone” feeling. He needed a good romp on the beach, off leash and feeling his oats. The beaches up here don’t have too much sand, just gray or black rocks. Perhaps that’s because Homer is in close proximity to at least 3 volcanoes, some still active.

The next day we woke to glorious sunshine, which helped motivate us to get out and about, especially walking Raider. After tiring him out, we could take off and see the sights. We went to visit the Islands and Oceans National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center just down the street. They had just started building this when we were here last, so it was quite impressive to see inside. There were lots of great interpretive exhibits for the region.

Grant had to check out what kind of volunteer programs they have, and spoke to a refuge employee. We had been kicking around the idea of volunteering at a National Park or Wildlife Refuge in exchange for a free camp site and utilities. She was very enthusiastic and asked if we had our own RV. We told her we do. “Oh great, we pay for your site at the Ocean View RV Park during your stay here, which include your hookups and we even pay a stipend. We have two groups. One group of volunteers that comes up in April and leaves in July and another group that comes up in June and leaves in September.” She encouraged us to fill out the application because they would be planning on next summer real soon.

We thanked her for the wealth of information she gave us, but it’s a little too soon to attempt a volunteer job way up here until we’ve done it down in the lower 48. It looks good on the “volunteer resume” to have prior experience. Plus, we’re still in vacation mode. Trying to see all of places we want on the road to see in the first place. However, given our absolute love of Homer, we definitely plan to come back and spend a summer as volunteers at the Islands and Oceans National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. We just don’t know which summer we will be doing it.

We then checked out Beluga Slough and estuary out behind the visitor’s center. Bishops Beach was at the beginning of low tide, we didn't see a single shorebird just a few gulls.

After that we went back to the Spit to make reservations for a “Wildlife viewing and lunch cruise” on Kachemak Bay. Next we went to the local microbrew Homer Brewing Company. They have free beer tasting, but because they don’t bottle their beer you can only get it restaurants. They do sell half gallon Growlers (bottles), however they take up a lot of room and don’t make a good collectable for RVs. We didn't want to end up with another growler! However, they said they would fill any growler we brought in. Fortunately, we still have a growler from the Jasper Brewing Company, because we knew that our return trip will take us back to Jasper. Among the beers we sampled was “rye beer” a new type of beer for us. We will have to go back with our growler to get some to go. For lunch we tried the Sourdough Express Bakery. This is Alaska’s first green restaurant. It has an interesting history of being founded in 1982 by a couple that baked their way up the Alaska Highway in an old bread truck selling bread to get money for gas. Once here they never left. History of Sourdough Express . Next was a visit to the Pratt Museum. Homer is justifiably proud of the Pratt Museum; it is the nicest small town museum we have ever been to. It has exhibits that detail life in Homer from 1903 to the present day. Pratt Museum

Thursday morning we walked on the beach from the RV Park back to Bishops Beach and still no shorebirds. Walking back to camp we noticed all of the fields of Fireweed, a bright magenta flower that begins to flower from the bottom. When the top blossoms are open, Alaskans know that summer will so be a memory!

We decided to kick back the rest of the day and just enjoy our view. For dinner, we went to Fat Olive’s. It is an Italian place with wood fire ovens for the pizza. It came highly recommended and always has a full parking lot. Barely a block away, we walked down for an early dinner so we could get in. The pizza was incredible, maybe the best pizza we have ever had!

Friday was our day for the wildlife viewing and lunch cruise. We had a perfect day, the sun was out and visibility was 60+ miles. We could see the active volcano St. Augustine 60 miles blowing steam from its top. The cruise starts at the small boat harbor on the Spit and heads to “Gull Island”. Most of the birds on “Gull Island” are Black-legged Kittiwakes. There are also Pelagic Cormorants, Tufted Puffins, Common Murres and a few Glaucous-winged Gulls. The Kittiwakes and Murres were still had nestlings and were bustling to feeding them.

Our next stop was “60 foot rock”. It also would normally have Black-legged Kittiwakes, Pelagic Cormorants, Tufted Puffins, and Common Murres.

However when we arrived a Bald Eagle had taken up residence at the top of the rock and the other birds abounded from their nests for the safety of the water. The Bald Eagle apparently decided he had seen enough of us and flew off. Immediately the birds came back to check on and feed their chicks.

Our finally stop was the Rookery Restaurant. This is a magnificent setting! We dined out on the balcony on this gorgeous day. The food was very good but the view and the ambiance were OUTSTANDING! Rookery Restaurant .

We had a “small world” experience while on this cruise. When we were in Alaska in 2003 we did an 11 day small boat (only 60 feet long and only 6 staterooms) cruise on Prince William Sound. Christine was the 1st Mate and chef on our small boat cruise. Kathy recognized her as the guide and deckhand on the trip to the Rookery. Have you been in a place too long when you recognize the locals? NO! She definitely remembered the trip and was delighted somebody would remember her. It was a very memorable trip and Christine was a wiz in that tiny galley! Of course we would remember her!!

While we were out, our quiet almost empty RV Park was descended on by two RV caravans at once, between them they had more than 40 RVs. We never cease to be amazed by the number of RV caravans we see here in Alaska. Saturday thinking that the caravaners would be heading for the Spit; we packed a picnic lunch and went up the road to Anchor Point. Homer may be the “end of the road” but Anchor Point is the furthest west you can drive. We stopped to chat with Gordon and Juanita who we had first met in real time last week in Soldotna for a bit. Gordon and Juanita's Alaska blog . After that we went further up the road to an Alaska State Park for our picnic.

They have about 12 sites and are so small that our truck barely fit into them. There is no chance for a trailer of any kind. We had stopped there when we left Homer on our trip back to Anchorage in 2002. The park is on the edge of the cliff and has some great views, but to the north we could see mostly clouds.

BirdingRVers Homer Slideshow part 1

BirdingRVers Homer Slideshow part 2