SINCERE THANKS

June 13, 2011-Monday

Kurt left before six. He had said last night he was anxious to get to “the cabin” and start getting it ready for Becky and her parents. In addition Krista and Paul are honeymooning there and he wants to take them to Seldovia and Halibut Cove in his boat. On the way he is to stop and see a friend in Anchorage and although he didn’t mention it, he is sure to make some business calls along the way.

The driver and navigator slept as he quietly made his bed, ate his breakfast then slipped away.

Onie woke later and had some coffee before starting to work on some fresh asparagus we had brought from Sheldon. They had been put aside for pickling. She had jars to wash, spices to blend, spears to prepare and lids to tend to. While she was thus busy in her kitchen the skies opened up and delivered a steady hard rain for an hour. A helicopter, based at the park, took off and came back and the driver slept.

The driver likes to think of himself as being as strong as he ever was, and he almost is, but the passage of many birthdays may have reduced his endurance a bit even though he may not admit it. He must have been tired as his slumber continued until almost ten when Onie brought him a cup of Chai tea and asked for a breakfast order.

The navigator/cook/companion/lover/partner/helpmate and wife is very intuitive and as she saw a small smile creep across his face she asked if he would like biscuits and sausage. That was exactly what he had in mind from the first sip of his Chai tea. His head bobbed a bit of assent, she smiled and headed to the kitchen to begin warming the oven. The driver laid in bed a bit to enjoy his Chai tea. He heard the helicopter take off then got up to begin this story.

If the reader thinks the stories have a different flavor this year please send a note of thanks to our daughter, Tracy Marie Bahm. Since the story telling began the writer has used the same laptop for his truths, half-truths, outright lies and philosophical meanderings. It, the old laptop, has been upgraded to the point where there is no physical space left to do anything else to speed it up and on occasion it makes the tortoise look like a super-sonic jet. This spring Tracy gave the writer a new laptop that has 2 gigs of ram and a 160 gig hard drive. This lets the stories go much quicker and sincere thanks is sent her way for making the story telling easier and more fun.

The breakfast was enjoyed and enjoyable as we lingered over it and decided to stay here another day.

We have several loads of dirty clothes to wash, the asparagus pickling needs to be finished, there are over a hundred notes to be taken off the recorder, week two has been finished by the writer but it needs the editors attention and the writer needs to begin writing week three as well as week four which starts today. Did I mention the floors need vacuuming? The list goes on but there is no need to bore the male readers with it and the ladies can certainly guess what else needs to be done.

Onie continued working on the asparagus, stuffing the seven jars and adding the spices and vinegar, water and pickling salt. Then she placed her jars in hot water and later put the lids on. By four o’clock we knew that all seven jars had sealed. Onie is now considered an expert at canning.

After breakfast the writer headed off to check us in for another day. It was already past noon and it is safe to say the hosts had already figured out we were staying over so they were waiting when the writer showed up to pay up.

The first thing one hears when one steps out of the coach here is the sound of the diesel generator. It is quiet so one doesn’t hear it when one is inside. For large numbers of people and businesses on the Al-Can there is no central power source so for those desiring electricity they must acquire and maintain a generator, most are diesel, and the writer was told this one is a John Deere.

It is hard for the writer to meet people without visiting some so while he was settling up for the additional day he found out the lady who owns the place, a blue eyed blond with a foreign accent was born in Ireland. She was educated in England and loves Scotland. A few years ago she came here “on holiday” as the Brits like to say. Six years ago she returned and bought the place. She says it reminds her of Scotland on a grand scale. Her name is Amanda Harris.

A trip was made back to the coach to get the wash and get it started. Onie accompanied the writer back to the office/gift shop/laundry where the clothes were started to wash.

Onie had a pair of white pants that had been stained while she was helping clean the coach. Try as she would the stain was proving to be very stubborn and resisting her best efforts to remove it. Bob, a resident at the campground who collects and restores old washing machines, told her he would be glad to start a Maytag for her. Bob assured her it would get the stains out if anything could. She thanked him and accepted his offer. He filled the washer with water from a hose, plugged it in and started the wash cycle. Onie added bleach and the pants.

Bob added 20 Mule Team Borax Powder. When the wash cycle was over he opened a valve on the bottom of the machine and the wash water drained out on the ground. Then he filled the washer with fresh water and Onie ran a rinse cycle.

Now while all this may seem a bit archaic to the younger readers it was in fact very modern and up to date when the machine was manufactured around 1935. It is by far much quieter than modern day machines and does a much better job of washing clothes. Not too long before 1935 women had to do wash by hand, on a scrub board. I might add that between the scrub board and the electric washing machine came the hand or foot operated machine. Usually a child was in charge of turning the crank or stepping on the foot pedal that operated the agitator.

Again, for the younger readers, look at the picture closely and you will see a contraption attached to the top of it. That is a wringer. When the wash had been completed each piece was run through the wringer, by hand, to squeeze out as much water as possible before the piece as hung on the line to dry. Before the coming of electricity the wringer was operated with a hand crank. Do the terms “I feel like I’ve been run through the wringer” and “hung out to dry” now have any more significance?

Also note the long piece of plastic framed with wood that Onie is holding. This has nothing to do with washing clothes but it does have to do with washing gold. Back in the day, miners would use this tool to wash creek water for gold as the fine gold particles naturally stick to the plastic and rest in the grooved portion.

Then a visit began with Bob, whose relationship to Amanda is unclear to the writer except they are certainly a couple, and he began relating how various items came to White River RV Park. The monologue was very interesting so the writer interrupted long enough to say he wanted to get his camera and recorder. Back with Bob, who is just a few years the writer’s junior, the recorder and camera began working.

The first picture is of the coach, the Subaru and the helicopter with the Kluane Mountains in the background.

The helicopter is used to fly food and material to miners and to check on the progress of road construction crews. The writer was told that the road from here to the border will be completely rebuilt this summer. The writer is skeptical but would sure like to see that come to pass. The work started in May using big D8 Cats with rotary chippers on them to tear up the old road. The road and ground beneath it were still frozen and two or three chippers a day were being destroyed at a cost of $10,000 each. In case the reader is wondering who is paying for this work it is the American taxpayer, as the U.S. pays one hundred percent of the maintenance of the Al-Can. This should not destroy the reader’s peace and tranquility but the reader might want to destroy the peace and tranquility of his elected representative or senator if this bothers him.

The next picture is of a hand crank cream separator. When I was about eight years old and visited a dairy farm for a couple of weeks it was my job to turn the crank to separate the cream from the milk. The skimmed milk was fed to hogs and the cream was churned to butter in a hand crank butter churn. That too was my job.

This is a picture of the office, gift shop, laundry and owners housing. It was built in 1942 during construction of the Al-Can and was the officers’ quarters.

Here are two signs displayed on the office. The top one reads “We buy junk and sell antiques”. The writer thinks this should be posted on all antique shops.

During the Big War, that would be the Second World War, the writer learned to sew on a treadle operated sewing machine like the one pictured below. Look closely and you can see the large round wheel that was turned by the treadle. Look closer and you can see a round leather looped strap that connected the wheel with the sewing mechanism. Leather was used because most of the rubber, at the time, was being used for the war effort. In addition leather was hard to come by as it was being used for shoes for the military so when the leather cord broke it was spliced together using a small piece of wire. Yes, the writer learned how to do that, too.

On top of the machine is the skull of a muskox. The skull is over 10,000 years old as is a tusk from a wooly mammoth which lies nearby.

On the wall over the sewing machine is an old telephone. When the writer was seven years old, living in Cooperton Valley, in Oklahoma, a phone like this one hung on the wall of his home. It and fifteen more, just like it, were on the same party line.

The next machine baffled the writer as to its use so he asked for help in identifying it. It is a honey extractor. The honey comb was placed in the two vertical baskets and then the hand crank was used to spin the baskets inside the metal drum. As the baskets were spun the honey was thrown from the comb, landed on the walls and slid down the sides to pool in the bottom. Close examination will reveal a spigot near the bottom where the honey was drained off.

Homemakers pay attention to this next picture. If you are a baker and had been born just a little bit earlier you would have been using one of these over your wood burning cook stove. It is an oven.

Did you ever wonder what a grizzly skull looks like? Here is one.

At the entry to the White River Crossing RV Park is a fully restored vintage 1942 6X6 that was used in the construction of the Al-Can. Last evening as we were coming in it was being driven to show a rig to a camping site. Later this summer it will be used to take park visitors bear watching.

There are no pictures of the following items but they are on display here, a collection of two dozen old chain saws, mining tools, brush axes, various kinds of shovels, crosscut saws and wooden frame bow saws. In addition to the washing machine Onie used on her white pants there is a collection of old washers, some foot or hand operated which are probably one hundred years old. Handmade chairs, handmade saddles, leather ropes and lariats, lots of horns and antlers from various animals and various full body mounts of wildlife are on display inside the office. Very few of the animals and fish were killed for the purpose of display. They were obtained from fish and game officers who recovered them as a result of road kill or they were taken from poachers.

This is the original cook shed where meals were prepared in 1942 for the men and women working to build this highway. Today it is used to store various items.

From down or up the road for a mile or so one can see smoke coming from the fire pit. The smoke tells the weary traveler that a friendly stopping place is near.

Snow machines have been used for years in the Yukon for travel and work. The new machines are grandchildren of ones like those shown below.

Ever since men ventured out onto the water they have been looking for an easier way to propel their craft. With the snow machines one can see the efforts of early designers and manufacturers at providing boaters with portable engines, outboards. These are small engines. The next picture shows more ambitious efforts by Evinrude and Johnson at producing large displacement twins.

The motor on the right is an Evinrude and the one on the left is a Johnson. The last patent date shown of the Evinrude is 1935 so it is safe to assume it was produced sometime after that but probably before 1940 as most production of engines after that went to the military. The Johnson is probably a contemporary of the Evinrude.

Traveling the Al-Can has always required fuel and at one time a traveler could purchase Chevron fuel here. It would have been hand dispensed from the pump shown below. The glass at the top was filled to the desired gallonage before the fuel was gravity fed into the waiting vehicle.

Not everyone who travels the Al-Can today is in a coach, pulling a camper or carrying a tent. For those needing shelter for the night and not wanting to stay in a room, White River RV Park offers cabins for rent. They look modern and neat from the outside.

Below is the Army version of a 1942 pickup and jeep.

And from the same era a light truck.

Power shovels were used on the construction of the road. These were gasoline powered, six cylinder, and afforded the operator all the comfort of a metal seat.

No Army installation would be complete without the Army ambulance. Examination showed it had four metal bunks or racks covered with about ½ inch of padding, inside the rear area, two on either side. The ride might not have been too soft. It also had a stretcher which consisted of a wooden board, stiffened with a two by two running the length of it and covered with a thin piece of foam and leather like material. This same type ambulance would have been used to transport GIs wounded on the battlefront.

A shelter similar to the one above is where the enlisted men lived while here constructing the road.

While the writer was taking pictures and making notes Onie was busy in the laundry. From time to time the writer stopped by the laundry to offer a hand but Onie had everything under control.

He went to the coach and continued the story for today.

Outside clouds built up over the mountains and around three o’clock the clouds delivered an afternoon shower.

Onie returned with the wash and vacuumed the coach.

Writing continued as the sun began its descent and the navigator worked in her kitchen.

The writing came to an end as the writer went back to taking off notes as there were more than one hundred fifty to transcribe.

Onie went to get the last of the wash.

Out our front window one could see the rain falling on the mountains.

Back with the last load of wash at seven the clothes were divided and stored before the couple made the bed. The clean sheets would be wonderful.

Supper--salad, asparagus and halibut--graced the table at seven thirty.

Some easy listening music played inside and outside the distant clouds moved in and delivered a steady drum roll of rain on the roof.

After supper we took time out to reload our pill containers. It is a tri-weekly chore that we don’t like doing but are thankful we can afford.

While doing dishes Onie noticed the gray water tank was full so the author ventured out into a drizzle and emptied both holding tanks.

Ready to continue at the computers we sat back down at our laptops.

Onie began working on week two editing it and putting in pictures, after she downloaded them from the camera.

The writer continued taking notes off his recorder until he stopped to look at the pictures. Together the couple decided what pictures to delete, what to keep and what to post.

The hands on the clock had managed to fast forward to ten thirty. It was time to go to bed.

Snuggled under the clean sheets the electric blanket was turned on. As it warmed the bed and its occupants they drifted off to sleep.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE

June 14, 2011-Tuesday

Onie was up at 7. It was 52 in the coach. She turned on the front furnace.

Outside it was colder and cloudy.

Onie had her coffee and prepared the web index for week two. She is ready to post week two when we get web access.

Then she turned her attention to a game of Bookworm.

Tom was up at 8 and had some Chai tea while he was making his morning pot of Jasmine tea.

He made some notes, finished yesterday’s story and then joined Onie for breakfast; steel cut oats, blueberries, walnuts and honey. There was more coffee for Onie and tea for Tom. We visited over breakfast then had our showers and readied the coach for the road. We took out the trash.

After visiting with Bob and Amanda we were on the road at 11:30. We had really enjoyed our stay at White River RV Park and Bob and Amanda are such delightful folks we said we would certainly stop in again on the way out, and we will. He offered to take me on a photographic moose hunt, on his 6X6, and said he would call a moose in within 10 feet of us. The writer looks forward to that. Before leaving we gave them some of our frozen salmon, a pack of halibut, a pack of frozen smoked salmon and a jar of canned salmon.

As the Cummins began another leg on our journey the odometer was sitting on 123,185.

Just out of camp we passed the big, big ribbon White River which gets its’ name from all the glacier silt and volcanic ash that it carries. Now I had to stop making notes and start driving as we are into very rough road with loose gravel and frost heaves as well as pavement breaks.

Dry Creek Number One that has been dry in the past is not dry today as a little water trickles down its rock bed.

Dry Creek Number Two is less dry than Dry Creek Number One as it has a lot of water tumbling over its rocks.

An hour out of camp it is safe to say that at least half the road is gravel. What isn’t gravel isn’t that bad if one could find a long enough stretch on it to gain any speed at all. The longest stretch of good road seems to be about an eighth of a mile. One might improve the average speed if the good road was just a little longer. That is not to be as we rumble along fifteen to twenty miles an hour, content to be making some progress and watching for animals and swans.

Five minutes until one we stopped for a pilot car where we were advised, by the flagger, a young lady, that we would have a fifteen or twenty minute wait.

While waiting for the pilot car we had lunch.

We passed through the pilot car area at 1:20 just two kilometers from Beaver Creek, the last town in the Yukon. We passed thru Beaver Creek and bypassed Canadian customs and drove on to U.S. Customs, about 12 miles past Beaver Creek. The road was much improved between
Beaver Creek and U.S. Customs. It was being worked on this last year and this part permits speeds of 45 mph, much better than an hour and a half of 10-25. This is very nice. The good road only lasted about 5 miles, then it was back to rock and roll and 10-15 mph and frost heaves.

We spotted a pair of swans on the driver’s side about 10 miles before we got to U.S. Customs.

Ever since he has been a little kid the driver has liked to save the best of a meal to the last, whether a good steak, special vegetable or desert. The Canadians have saved the worst part of the road for the last. It is safe to say it is not a good memory for those leaving Canada. The last 10 miles of road to U.S. Customs rivals anything we have seen for bad road.

Boy, we just entered Alaska and the road is seamless glass smooth asphalt with a double yellow center stripe with nice white lines marking the shoulder. What a difference. Welcome home even though we did just lose another hour. We will find it in a few months, on the way back to Coldspring.

Now it was one o’clock and we were at U.S. Customs. We showed our passports and answered the usual questions then went inside for more questioning. A Customs Officer peeked through the coach and then cut us loose. We were through customs at 1:15. It seems security is a little tighter at the borders these days. It is a shame they don’t close the U.S. Mexico border.

We don’t know how long this good road will last but it is wonderful. It is by far the best road we have seen in hundreds of miles and we will enjoy it while it lasts. We are back on the cruise in Alaska. How sweet it is! After many, many miles of bone rattling, teeth jarring, eye crossing rough road this road in Alaska is just absolutely awesome.

We are traveling under gray overcast skies but regardless it is a great day to be on this road and to be alive. We ducked into our pullout for a quick peek at the St Elias and Wrangell Mountain ranges.

The welcome home road lasted about 20 miles, like everything good it was nice while it lasted. We are still on relatively good roads. We are probably averaging 40 mph. There are some slowdowns for pavement breaks and a few spurts of 50-55 but a lot of 35 and 40 but we are thankful to be back in U.S.A. and Alaska in particular.

We just had our first glimpse of roadside lupines. They are bright blue and oh so pretty.

Another thing one can’t do traveling in a car but can do in a motorhome was just brought to mind by my nose. The aroma of popcorn popping, we are going to indulge in fresh popcorn as we motor along. I challenge anyone to pop corn while traveling in their car.

Thirty miles from Tok we were blessed with more rain and a moose and calf crossing the road in front of us and going into the woods. Onie was so excited to finally see some animals. We only had to drive 4418 miles from home to see these, our first wild animals of the trip.

Twelve miles from Tok we began getting the first cell phone signals we’d had in days. Intermittent at first they finally came in strong five miles from town center.

At a quarter of four we stopped in Tok, the northern most point of our trip, at Three Bears to shop for fresh vegetables. When we stepped out of the Marlin we were met by a light rain falling through chilly air. Inside the store it was only chilly, no rain.

Twenty five minutes later we took our newly acquired victuals back to the coach, got underway once again, turned left onto the Tok Cutoff and headed southwest. From here on our track would be toward the southwest, the Kenai Peninsula, Sterling, Castaway Riverside RV Park and space number seven, our summer home.

Five miles from Tok, down the Cutoff, our cell signals went away. Our next strong steady signals will be in Anchorage.

There had been a dearth of rigs on the road since we left the lower forty eight and in Tok it was no different. On the cutoff the number increased somewhat but the big majority carried Alaskan license plates. Overall it seemed traffic was lighter than in years past and that seemed to confirm reports, less travel, we had received from locals along the way.

Making our way through the rain and mountain roads at five o’clock I smelled the aroma of fresh brewed Chai tea. Although the dash heater was running a cup of hot refreshment was welcomed. Onie had a latte. Our insulated mugs kept the drinks hot for the next half hour as we negotiated more loose gravel in the roadway.

Hot tea is always welcomed when it is chilly but when one is looking out the window at snow, below the coach, it is even more welcomed. Now passing through some areas where tree limbs hung close to the road and underbrush was thick we saw patches of snow laying downslope from where we were passing. The heater felt a bit warmer and the tea a bit hotter.

We just saw another moose, a young cow, seven miles from the infamous Meldentna Lodge where the cabins are small and the rent is high. At least they have managed to put doors back on the cabins and keep them there.

We bought fuel in Tok but only 41.6 gallons as it was almost 4.80 a gallon. We feel we can do better in Anchorage, at Fred Meyer, where we will do more shopping. Like Kroger, which owns Fred Meyer, shoppers earn fuel discounts based on dollars spent in the store. With luck and a long shopping list we will get diesel at a much better price.

The wait and ride were long but now that we are in Alaska we are finally getting to see wildlife on a regular basis. Five miles from Meldentna Onie saw a mature Trumpeter swan. Somewhere nearby there is sure to be another, perhaps on a nest, as the pair prepare for their summer family of goslings.

The birds seem to like this area and half a mile later Onie saw a pair of swans, not Trumpeters.

Here just a few hundred yards further down the road are two cow moose grazing in a marsh, about a quarter mile off the road.

Crossing the Slana River we noticed several pickups, campers and tents on a gravel bar next to the base of the river bridge. Pulled up on the gravel were a few boats and a few people were fishing from the bank. We thought they must be fishing for Copper River reds which would come up the tributary, the Slana.

A little closer to Anchorage we crossed the Porcupine Creek which had so little water in it that its namesake could wade it without getting its ankles wet.

Mounts Drum and Sanford, to our front and left, look like they might be getting a fresh dusting of snow today.

Six flaggerettes, young women, in about three miles indicated the amount of construction going on here on the Tok Cutoff. The fact that it was after six o’clock and they were still working, probably on overtime, assured us that they were state employees but it does look like they are working hard to get this piece of road up to standard.

Since we have been traveling this road we have come to look forward to the portion, eight miles, of it that serves Chistochina. Through the years it has been and continues to be a bright spot on the road as it remains smooth as silk. The fact that it remains so smooth is a mystery to us but we accept the fact and look forward to the respite from bumpy broken roadway.

Iowa radishes from Kurt’s garden are still providing snacks for us as we travel and as we wait for supper, to come later, we munch on these tidbits at five minutes to seven.

Oncoming traffic is mainly a stream of gravel trucks heading back to the construction sites we have passed through. Alaskans make good use of the long daylight hours that come with summer which is referred to as construction as opposed to the other season, winter. If they work as long as they have daylight, that will be until mid-September.

Into Gakona RV Park at mile 4.25 on the Tok Cutoff at about a quarter of eight we find it is run by nice folks. They came out and helped us level up and get connected to shore lines. The fellow helping us connect was a shy type but told us outright that he wished the president of our country was the president of a country more in line with his, the president’s, anti-Christian anti-freedom actions. He says he pays very little attention to what people say but very close attention to what they do.

Computers were taken out and accessed the open system. Almost before the writer could sign on to the web, supper was on the table.

It was eight fifteen.

Both driver and navigator were suffering from severe food withdrawal symptoms, they were starving, so without a lot of delay they began shoveling food in, chili over sour dough buns and sliced tomatoes.

With appetites somewhat sated the duo settled down to check their email. The writer had 212 to read, reply to and delete. He decided to try to answer all the personal and business related mail before diving into the political items.

Onie went to bed at ten. The driver paid some bills, online, then continued with email until he too went to bed.

LOW PRESSURE

June 15, 2001-Wednesday

Onie rose early, around six o’clock. Pawpaw woke fifteen minutes later and thought to catch a few more minutes of sleep before starting his day. He woke at 7:30.

Our little electric heater cycled throughout the night but now it was running on high as we tried to chase the cold from the coach.

Onie was drinking coffee and checking her email.

The writer got a cup of Chai tea, started tea water, fixed the tea ball and sat at his laptop to check for new email and take some notes off the recorder.

As the electric heater began warming up the coach, heat from the oven was added as it was preheated to be ready for the biscuits that were being formed in Onie’s hands. When the biscuits were done they joined eggs, sausage, Mayhaw jelly, coffee and tea on the table.

Breakfast at an end, we returned to our laptops. Onie continued on the web while the writer continued with transcribing notes and fleshing out a story.

Onie cleaned the house including vacuuming very good, put the garbage next to the door so the driver could take it out and then indulged in a very long shower. Her long shower was followed by one of equal or greater length by the driver. With unlimited water and an open gray water line it was too tempting to not luxuriate in the relaxing cleansing hot water. Once more we checked our email, did a little research on antique snowshoes then got the coach ready to travel.

The trash still sat by the door so the duo set out to find the dumpster and take a short walk. Strolling down a little used road with jackets on, past game trails, looking for game spoor and the animals themselves they came to a big gravel and rock beach. In the distance they could see and hear the river tumbling over rocks as it made its way downhill. A little more walking brought them to a ribbon of the river where they stood and conjectured about whether or not Sockeye, Coho or King salmon came up this river. After considering all the answers the couple walked back, hand in hand, to the Marlin where the holding tanks were emptied and the black water tank thoroughly flushed. A little more fresh water was taken on.

The morning had slipped away while they caught up with their morning chores and walk. Now they were on the road at noon with a beginning mileage of 123,437.

It was quite cool with high clouds floating overhead. Some were accumulating moisture that might descend on us later in the form of rain. Wind that had blown with some gusto earlier had lost most of its energy and now whispered about the coach as a gentle breeze.

Nothing miraculous had happened overnight, at least as far as the road was concerned. It was still rough. The gentleman at Gakona RV Park had told us we had nine more miles of rough road ahead and then we would find smoother sailing. We hoped he was right.

One mile out of camp we met another flaggerette then there was four more miles of bad road before we got to the Richardson Highway.

The Richardson Highway hadn’t escaped winter unscathed. Where a smoother roadway existed last September there were some frost heaves and pavement breaks that we dealt with.

The bridge base at the Gulkana River had more fishermen gathered to harvest a catch of salmon. The catch, some of which would be eaten fresh, would be canned, smoked and frozen to be eaten later.

During a phone conversation with our friend, Bill Hager, we were glad to hear that his health was improving but rain was still scarce in Texas.

We were still trending southwest and would be until we parked at Castaway.

A big ice floe, off to our left, coming out of a mountain valley was identified as the Tazlini Glacier. Through the roadside trees we occasionally got a glimpse of it.

Strung out over several miles of the road we saw some hardy individuals on two wheelers, pedaling along. They call themselves bikers. Some of them, riding in the moving traffic lane, might be riding with less than fully inflated tires if the reader follows me. A name other than biker comes to mind but in deference to political correctness it is not written here. To the reader who thinks the writer is an insensitive opinionated boor who never bends, please take note of this bend to the pc movement.

We are still 157 miles from Anchorage.

The first part of a long military convoy approached us. Stuck in the middle was a fifth wheel rig, an interloper. Over the next hour an additional three segments of the convoy met us, and interspersed with all the military vehicles were civilian vehicles driven by impatient drivers who were so concerned with their own interests they felt it necessary to interfere with a military exercise. Shame on them!

A note to our daughter, Tracy, we are passing the Meldentna Lodge. We are reporting that all the doors are intact on the spacious luxury cabins.

The Little Nelchina River remains little.

Ahead of us are the clouds that were mostly white earlier. Now they are mostly gray.

We just passed milepost 135. Off to the left we saw the Nelchina Glacier.

Twenty miles further along, at milepost 115, we slowed for another flaggerette.

A place, Grand View RV Park, we have stayed in the past, slipped by the driver’s side window as he headed on toward Anchorage. It is still early for travelers to be stopping but Grand View had only four rigs in it. They will be far from full tonight as some folks start early, six or seven o’clock, in the morning but quit by three and it is past that.

The much photographed Matanuska Glacier was the next named glacier to pass by our windows.

Past the Matanuska Glacier we came into the slide area of this portion of the road. In construction, summer, and winter the road is subject to blockage by material falling from the mountains. In the summer it is rocks and in the winter the rocks can be joined by snow and ice. In spite of the fact this portion of the road is subject to slides it is also a wonderful road to travel, smooth and well-engineered. A few years ago work was begun to realign the road. That literally required moving mountains and we thought we would never travel the completed road but this is the second year we have enjoyed it. It is a good guess that the portion that is still narrow and winding will soon be replaced, as well.

An 8% grade is indicated by a sign advising we use a lower gear, which we will as well as the exhaust brake, and at the bottom is the obligatory sharp turn and then the lake on the left. In this case it is Long Lake. To our right is another slide area.

Our eta for Anchorage is 4:45 as it is 70 miles away.

Henry Mancini is serenading us this afternoon as we have a blueberry/cranberry scone with coffee and Chai tea.

Since it is COLD we have been running the dash heater all day.

Yet another flaggerette has come into our lives. She is all bundled up like she would be in February, in Coldspring, but here in Alaska it is just mid-June.

We zipped through Palmer as we caught not a traffic light motoring past the Alaska State Fairgrounds. All is quiet there now, the stillness only interrupted by the sound of growing grass. Come late August and early September the place will come alive with carnies, exhibitors and attendees.

We have gained the Parks Highway which runs from Anchorage through Wasilla, home of the Palin family, past Denali National Park and onto Fairbanks. Here, near Anchorage it is a full blown freeway. We enter the moving traffic from the right and take a place in the center lane.

We visited some friends on the way up and passed close to the homes of others but since leaving Iowa we really haven’t been close to the home of anyone we really know. That has changed since we are now passing close to Eagle River, home to two couples from Castaway. In Anchorage we know three couples so we are getting back close to good friends. We will see most of them off and on during the summer.

We have just parked the coach and are getting ready to go into Fred Meyer’s to shop. It is a quarter of five. Ending mileage is 123,632.

Heading back to the coach at 6:30, to unload all our newly acquired goodies, the driver noticed what appeared to be a low tire on the left rear outside dual tire. After the new purchases were in the coach, the driver checked the tire pressure and discovered it to be half the normal pressure of 100 psi. He decided it was time to get some help with the tire.

Inside Fred Meyer, again, he looked in the yellow pages for road service that offered large tire support. He found none.

A light bulb went off somewhere inside his head. He picked up his phone and called Good Sam Emergency Road Service. He gave them his location and predicament. While he was on ignore, sometimes called hold, the service person, Roosevelt, called Wingfoot Road Service in Anchorage. They could take care of the job and would be on site in 70 minutes, eight twenty. The driver crawled underneath the coach and found what he suspected was a puncture from a nail or screw.

The writer went inside the coach where supper was waiting. We sat down to eat our salad at 7:15.

Promptly at 8:20 the Wingfoot service truck rolled up and stopped next to the Marlin. The coach driver met the truck driver and explained what he thought the problem might be and offered to use the coach jacks to lift the suspect tire off the ground. The truck driver quickly accepted the offer and the deed was done.

Tom watched as the service man removed the lug nut decorative covers then removed the decorative wheel cover. He, Tom, was stunned when he saw the service man begin to break down the tire while the rim was still on the coach. Taking a tire hammer he hit the tire two or three times around the edge of the bead. When the bead was broken loose he took some grease, greased the rim, then took two tire tools and removed the tire from the rim.

The service man inspected the tire and found a piece of wire in the middle of the tread. The hole Tom had found was only a superficial cut. The wire was extracted, the hole prepared and then plugged.

With the tire repaired it was put back on the rim and aired up. The decorative parts were put back in place and the jack retracted. The repair had almost been made in less time than it takes to write about it. The whole operation was indeed something to behold and the service man said it had been a tire man’s dream job, not having to unload and use his own jack and not having to remove the lug nuts and rim.

At the fuel pumps we filled up using our forty cent a gallon discount which reduced the price paid to $403.9. We had once again averaged 10 miles to the gallon.

We pulled back into traffic, on Muldoon, a couple of minutes after nine and headed for the road to take us out to and around the Inlet.

Passing a bank we saw its sign reading 54 at 9:45.

Rounding the Inlet we saw the tide was in and higher than we had seen it in some time. It seems we usually pass the Inlet at low or near low tide.

Potter Marsh, a birders paradise, on the other side of the highway also had more water in it than we had seen in quite a while thanks to snow melt and heavy rains.

The rains have just taken a break but seem certain to return, the road is still wet, as heavy clouds lurk over the mountains surrounding the Inlet.

While at Fred Meyer we talked to LaVon at Castaway to tell her we would be in tomorrow. She said it was raining cats and dogs there and had been doing so most of the day. Oh for a bit of the rain that is falling here to fall on our beloved Texas and Coldspring.

On the slopes and peaks on the western side of the Inlet the sun is casting its last rays on the snow that remains at the higher altitudes. The glow that results colors the sky with a pinkish glow known as Alpen Glow and has to be seen to be appreciated.

One is asked to always drive with their headlights on in Alaska but here at ten o’clock it seems superfluous to do so as the amount of light on the road is equivalent to that at six o’clock in the afternoon in Texas.

Passing just to our right and below us, right next to the water, the evening passenger train, on time, from Seward to Anchorage is on the last leg of the trip before it pulls into the station at Anchorage. If the reader ever gets the chance to make the trip the writer highly recommends it.

It is usually windy rounding the Inlet and this evening is no exception. It is also normal to see a number of small waterfalls rushing down the mountain sides but due to our later arrival this year there are only three left. The rest, all fed by snow melt, have fallen silent until next spring.

Nearing the end of the Inlet we have mountains to our right and immediately in front of us. Each of them raised their head to rest in the clouds where they were undoubtedly receiving a new coat of snow to cover their craggy peaks.

The Seward Highway, where we are traveling, is showing some real signs of wear from weather and traffic as it is rough and getting a few frost heaves and pavement breaks. With all the traffic it carries it will have to be refurbished or perhaps rebuilt in the near future.

The exhaust brake slowed our approach to the turnout at Turnagin Arms Pass and as we drew closer the air brakes slowed us even further. We turned in and headed toward an area that past experience told us was somewhat level. It also had the advantage of allowing us to put out both slides.

Our timepieces read 10:54 when we had leveled up and the ending mileage was 123,693.

Onie baled and went promptly to bed.

The writer stayed up taking off notes until 2 A.M. when he joined Onie.

Outside it was almost dark but one didn’t need a flashlight to walk about the pullout.

SETTLING IN

June 16, 2001-Thursday

We rose in unison, at 8. Both of us had a very restful night sleep. We had slept under three blankets.

It was 55 inside the coach. We each had two cups of hot beverages and the writer had two chocolate chip cookies with his while we discussed what to have for breakfast.

Outside it was a bright sunny day.

There was not much traffic into the turnout although there was a fair amount of traffic on the road but have seen no rigs passing yet.

When we stepped outside we could see where we came from and from inside we could see where we are going.

While we were outside we took pictures.

We had the Marlin moving 10:45.

When we started we had 31 miles to go to the Sterling Hiway and 84 miles to camp.

We will go seven miles past the road to camp to Noble Car Wash to clean up the car and coach.

We will probably be in camp by 3:30 or 4.

By the time we get in, level up and hookup the electric and TV and get the slides out it will be supper time.

The road to Hope is only 5 miles away. Hope is near the traffic department would have us believe. I inadvertently took that road once with no assurance of what I would find. It was a change from the road I had followed but when I got to Hope I was terribly disappointed with the change as it was a dead end, a desolate place, that led nowhere except to a cold watery grave. It just wasn’t what one had expected when one saw the sign that said Hope and one knew it would be a change but what that change was, was totally unacceptable. The road that offered change was not what I had hoped for and when I saw where it led I quickly turned around and got back on the tried and proven road. I knew it would take me to my desired, real destination. That destination would be where there was productivity and where we ended up with some happiness as well as prosperity. The fish came in, we did our work, we prospered and we had a good time. We and our neighbors, who worked, lived well. Those who didn’t put in the time and work to catch fish would do without this winter, as it should be. Ants eat and grasshoppers die.

We turned onto the Sterling Hiway at 11:20. We were on the final leg of the trip.

The navigator remarked on the lack on litter on Alaskan highways and there is a remarkable lack of litter on the highways here. And there is a thousand good reasons for the lack of litter. Those thousand reasons are all dollars that is the fine for littering. That will get even the most devoted littler bug’s attention. Big fines will get today’s folks to comply with traffic laws and litter laws. Appealing to their sense of honor, country, pride or asking them to help maintain the environment won’t work but hit them in the wallet, hard, and they will listen and comply.

Coming into Cooper Landing we see Kenai Lake to our left and as we crossed the bridge we saw the Kenai River on the right. The bridge separates the two.

We don’t know if there are a lot of fish in the Russian River just yet but there sure are a lot of fishermen, hundreds of them.

What is better than driving the last few miles on the smooth Sterling Highway before one gets to camp and that would be driving on the smooth Sterling Highway while munching on fresh strawberries. That is what we are doing.

At 12:10 it was just five miles into Sterling and five minutes later we were in Sterling. Across the Moose River and right up the road is our church home while we are in Alaska.

Suzie’s Café, on our left, seems to have a good lunch crowd.

Road crews are resurfacing the road in Sterling. The new surface is very nice.

Now we are passing Scout Lake Loop which will take us to the campground once we are cleaned up. The odometer reads 123,770.

In Soldotna at 12:25 it is fifty two degrees.

We turned left and drove into Noble Car Wash where we unhooked and washed the car cover, on the car, then started on the coach.

The car was placed in the sunshine to let the cover dry.

Our attentions and efforts were focused on the coach for the next hour and a half before we pulled it out of the bay and cleaned the windows. Then we put 303 on the car cover and removed it before driving the car back into the wash bay where we finished washing it and cleaned the windows.

We were finished 3:50 and on the way to camp.

Two miles from the carwash down in the bottoms a nice sized cow moose was seen feeding.

Now that everything was nice and clean it looked like we would get rained on tonight. We will get rained on sooner or later anyway.

There was a steady stream of traffic coming in now from the direction of Anchorage. It could be locals of folks from Anchorage coming down to try their hand at catching some of the first run reds.

Two miles from camp, we were getting sprinkled on and getting road splash.

Onie had gone on to camp in the Subaru to help me back in when I get there. On the final leg on Scout Loop Road it had rained hard just recently. Now less than a mile from camp on Lou Morgan Drive the rain finally came down hard.

The coach passed the road to Kurt’s house and then turned left onto Sir Martin Drive, a gravel road. A maintainer had worked on it recently so it was a little bit smoother than when we left last September but it still had little chug holes in it. They were full of water and splashed on the clean coach each time a tire rolled through one.

The driver made the left hand bend and then a jog to the right and another bend to the left and then he could see the campground.

Almost all the spaces were filled with rigs.

Onie was just turning in.

It was 4:07 and we were looking at the Castaway Riverside Welcome sign. We were home for the summer.

Now all we have to do is settle in.

Making the loop to space seven I passed Jay and Kay’s rig and their truck. They are home so we will see them later today. There was a car at Donnie and Julie’s so they are here. Dixie and Chelsea aren’t here. There was a car at Frank and Enger’s. Les and Wendy’s coach is not here yet. There were three rigs in the park I didn’t recognize. They would belong to new folks.

Our site has been dramatically improved. In years past the back of the coach has hung over the grass and we have had about five feet of patio area. This year, with the improvement, the coach is totally over gravel and our patio area is probably 14X40. It is very nice.

With the navigator’s help the coach was backed in, leveled up, slides put out, electric hooked up and the TV cable attached.

We were just getting ready to start working on the interior when Jay and Kay came over to welcome us. Then it was Donnie who dropped in to say welcome. Julie was sunning.

After a little rearranging inside the coach Onie fixed supper.

It had been a long day we felt we had labored enough.

We went to bed at 10.

SO MUCH TO DO

June 17, 2001-Friday

Onie was up early. The writer crawled out at 8:30.

Overhead the sun shone brightly.

Inside, faces refreshed by a good night’s sleep smiled across the table at one another as they sipped their coffee and Chai tea. Tea water simmered in the electric pot and the tea ball, loaded with Jasmine tea, was ready to be dropped in as soon as the water boiled.

Onie had been checking her email earlier while the writer slept.

Now she stirred and started breakfast, steel cut oats, blueberries, English walnuts and Texas honey.

Breakfast at an end the couple opened the coach to let in the morning air that was beginning to warm under the strong sunlight.

The navigator got out her vacuum cleaner and started cleaning house. The writer became the furniture mover as she moved from place to place.

When not moving furniture, the writer was busy checking his email and reading news on his computer.

With the house clean and the email read the couple dressed and continued getting settled in.

Onie worked in the coach arranging her kitchen and pantry as well as fixing deviled eggs and red beans and rice for the shindig at Donnie and Julie’s this evening.

Outside the driver was busy getting things out of the shed, flower pots, planters, garden gnomes, the Welcome Bear and chairs. From the Subaru he took the car cover, foam pads, blanket that had covered the grill under the car cover, jars for canning, canned salmon, tool boxes, fishing equipment and the rod his friend, Jim Johnson, had given him. The rod will soon be tested against halibut.

Onie’s rod and reel were taken out of the shed and put together to wait for her to pick them up and try her hand on the grate. Her rod, Pawpaw’s rod, the net and the bucket holding the terminal tackle were all placed under the coach, in easy reach, against the time when they would be put to use.

Things that had gotten damp on the way up were laid out to dry. Later they were rolled up, secured with bungees and placed in the shed until they are needed for the drive out. Vidalia onions that Sidney and Barbara had brought to the wedding in Iowa were passed out to folks in camp per Sidney’s instructions.

At 5:20 Onie told the driver that he needed to stop and get ready to go to Don and Julie’s for supper and a doings. He came in, washed his hands, brushed his hair and pronounced himself ready for supper and the accompanying visitation with other folks in camp.

At 5:30 they left the coach and walked over to Don and Julie’s where a few folks were already gathering. With them they took the deviled eggs, red beans and rice along with some pickled asparagus and some spicy sweet pickles.

With the sun still high but the temperature dropping and the wind picking up the folks from the Marlin found their way home. Inside they closed the windows, locked the door and prepared for a quiet evening at home. It was eight thirty.

After a few short moments in the living room, where the writer made a few notes and the navigator, in the kitchen, cleaned up a couple of dirty serving trays, the two migrated to the bedroom where the TV was showing Family Feud. As the evening progressed they watched ensuing shows until Onie went to sleep at 11.

At midnight the TV was turned off and the writer joined his spouse, in sleep.

WAXED AND SCREENED

June 18, 2011-Saturday

Having went to sleep an hour earlier Onie woke an hour earlier, at 7. She got up, made herself some coffee and read yesterday’s paper.

At 8 Pawpaw joined her and made a cup of Chai tea for him before fixing the tea water and tea ball.

Over the hot brews the couple discussed plans for the day then Onie fixed breakfast. Over breakfast they returned to their old habit of working crosswords during the meal.

Crosswords finished along with breakfast, coffee and tea, Onie left for the lodge and showers. After all, it was Saturday and time to scrub off the weeks dirt.

Still in the coach the driver worked on the remote for the navigator’s side of the electric blanket. When it was working again he set about his morning ablutions.

Becky and her father, Burt, came by to say hello and to say they would be back later in the day. Becky’s smile, as always, was so warm and Burt always seems to be smiling, as well.

Onie just missed their visit as they had only been gone a few minutes when she returned from her shower.

On the way back she noticed our friend, Sandy Camp, was out walking her dogs, so she went to say hello and visit a bit.

The sun, which rose around 4:30, was shining brightly, warming the coach, as the writer sat at his laptop and finished yesterday’s story and began this one.

Taking a break from story telling the writer went outside with Onie where they unloaded more items from the basement of the coach. Some were put in the shed, others in the Subaru for delivery to Kurt and Becky and still others were placed aside to await Kris’s arrival.

That done their attention was turned to getting up the screens on the front of the coach but before they could go up the front needed to be waxed. With Onie working along with Pawpaw they got the top half waxed, interrupting their work to visit with Inger and her friend, and once the waxing was complete the screens were put in place.

Inside for a lunch break at 3:30 they noticed how much nicer it was inside with the additional privacy that the screens provide.

The cook put together BLTs, fresh asparagus and fresh strawberries for our lunch then it was back to work.

By ten after five we were all done outside and done in. We had waxed the front of the coach, put up the screens and Onie had cleaned the tires and rims and put 303 on all of them.

Her flower boxes, that Donnie and I moved yesterday, were positioned in front of the coach waiting for plants and our Welcome Bear, courtesy of Sidney, was standing next to them.

Inside Onie sat down with a glass of wine and the writer sat down with his laptop to continue today’s stories then continue taking off notes.

Outside we heard a sound that was very frequent last year but hadn’t been heard at all this year, the sound of a four wheeler. A quick look out the window showed us that the newly-wed couple, Paul and Krista, were coming to visit. We met them at the door with hugs and greetings, ushering them into the coach for the visit. Supper would soon be waiting in the house on the hill but they had wanted to come by and say hello. Seated on the couch together with the glow of their newly made commitment still shining on their faces they seemed happy and excited to be starting married life.

After a short visit they had to leave for supper but promises were made to see each other in the fall.

Later the cook fixed a wonderful meal, haddock, courtesy of our friend Joan LeBlanc in Nova Scotia, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, sliced tomato and avocado.

After supper it was movie time and we settled in to watch Troy before pulling the covers up around our necks and going to sleep.

Outside the rain fell.

FATHER’S DAY

June 19, 2011-Sunday

Onie was up at 7:30. Outside it was 50.

Onie had her coffee.

The writer rose at 8 and made his chai tea, got the paper, took out the crosswords and then sat down to a breakfast of haddock, egg, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, toast and jelly.

The writer showered while Onie had more coffee before she showered. Then both dressed for church and left for church at 10:40.

It was 54.

At church we said hello to Tim and Julie.

Kurt, Becky, Jan and Burt came in and sat with us.

After church we stayed for lunch.

At home about two we changed clothes. On the way home we saw a cow moose with a little one that was a week or ten days old. They were grazing in 62 degree weather.

After changing clothes we went up to Kurt and Becky’s to unload the Subaru. The boxes of various items we had brought up for Becky were unloaded and taken into the house where she began opening them. Not remembering everything she had packed weeks before she said it was like opening Christmas presents. When the boxes had been opened we gave her and Kurt a house warming gift we had found in the Yukon.

After visiting a while we went back to the coach at four.

Dixie and Chelsea were back in camp and we said hello to them and visited until Kurt brought down two ladders to facilitate waxing the coach.

Together Kurt and the driver worked on the passenger side of coach waxing it from the front wheel to the back wheel. When we were finished we put down the awning then took a break

Bob, the sheet rocker came by to visit with Kurt and me.

When sprinkles began falling we moved under the newly deployed awning where we talked until eight when they departed.

Inside the coach Onie was waiting with sliced tomatoes and avocado. When we had downed those she served chicken gumbo. Lingering at the table we worked crosswords until twenty minutes ‘til ten.

Before turning to his laptop the writer checked his phone for calls and or voice mail. He had father’s day greetings from David, Dawn and Clair.

Onie checked the TV listings and selected a movie on LMN to watch at 10.

Outside it was cool and misting.

The movie was over at 12 when the couple turned off the tube and went to sleep.

Outside rain fell intermittently.