Aug 25 - Aug 29

Sorry for the delay.  Internet reception is pretty poor in the ship so it was tough to find an opportunity to do the blog.

Aug 25
We saw it! We finally got to see Mt McKinley unfettered. That puts us in a pretty exclusive club! We are told 30% of all visitors get to see the mountain.  It is beautiful, to say the least.  It is BIG too! But, being from Colorado..... :)

We saw McKinley often during the bus trip from Denali Princess Lodge to Mckinley Lodge in Talketna. Then we boarded a small plane and flew from Talketna airport to fly around McKinley and the surrounding mountains (also quite high).
We spent the night at the lodge.

Aug 26
This was a travel day. Unlike the other (bus) days, this one was finally on a train!  We boarded an Alaskan Railroad car and traveled for about 5 hours from Talketna down to Whittier, to catch the Island Princess for the second half of our tour.  The train trip was sometimes a little slow (it went through towns and a couple tunnels, one of which was shared with cars!) but always beautiful scenery and easier to get up and walk around.  Our train tour was the last of the passengers to arrive at the Island Princess so departure was shortly after we boarded.  Being quite exhausted from the trip, we had a quick dinner and retired. No partying that night. (boy does that sound OLD or what?)

Aug 27
I guess we were more tired than we thought, from the bus rides of the prior week.  We got up late (10:30!) but that afternoon were treated to a wonderful view of an enormous glacier - Hubbard Glacier. It was several miles across and 70 miles long. Saw some calving (iceberg, right ahead!) where pieces of glacier broke off and fell into the water to form icebergs of various size.  We got some good pictures.  Stayed up for a show this night.

Aug 28
Today we spent the day traveling through Glacier Bay National Park (a park that is mostly only accessible by water). We saw numerous glaciers (smaller than Hubbard) and had a relaxing time (though some tenseness trying to get that perfect shot of calving).

Aug 29
Our first town, Skagway.  Having been there before, this was a relaxing day checking out the town (Lilia and Rafael did a tour, though).  The town was very cute and the weather continued to treat us well. Steve had a great time in the Red Onion Bar (and Brothel!)
 We'll follow up with the Juneau and Ketchiken visits soon

Alaska Aug 19-24

We left town for the next leg of our trip: ALASKA!  We are doing a cruise-tour with Steve's Sister-in-law, Lilia, and her husband Rafael.  The 14 day itinerary is:
First to Anchorage to pickup the bus. Next to Copper River, then Fairbanks, then Denali. Load aboard the Island Princess and sail the last week on the inland passage to Vancouver.
Aug 19
This was a travel day. We flew to Anchorage. About a 6 hour flight.  As we learned, you can never tell the weather in Alaska. Landing through the total cloud cover, it was a damp (not much rain, though) day.  We met in the airport and took a shuttle bus to the Captain Cook hotel.  We had a late dinner (arrived at 9pm Alaska time).
Aug 20
Our first of many bus trips this week.  We drove mostly east to Copper Center, to a Princess lodge.  Saw a glacier or two along the way.

The trip lasted most of the day so we settled for a walk in the forest around the lodge.
Aug 21
Our first tour day. Sherry and Steve took a bus to Valdez.  On the way we spotted a bear taking advantage of the migrating salmon!  Sorry, couldn't get the image to rotate. Look sideways :)

In Valdez, we picked up a boat to cruise through the Valdez channel and over to the Columbia glacier.  It was cold and rainy but the glacier was beautiful and this is the closes we have been to one by water.  We saw lots of wildlife, including sea otters, bald eagles, and sea lions.

 

Aug 22
This was a travel day to Fairbanks. This town seems to be a major hub for the touring crowd.  The town serves as an airport/bus stop for tourists transferring to other places.  We stayed in a Princess lodge there.  The memory of the night was seeing the Aurora Borealis! Steve got some great pictures.  At 1am!

Aug 23
This was a day to take two free tours.  One was a riverboat trip a few miles on the Chena River.  The other was a trip to see a huge gold-digging dredge used in the early 20th century to get the placer gold left by the 19th century gold miners (who went for nuggets, not dust).

Aug 24
This was a travel day from Fairbanks to Denali National Park.  On the way, we saw Mt McKinley from 120 miles away.  It still looked big!  We took a bus tour into the park when we arrived. We got within viewing distance of Denali but the whole week has been cloud-covered and cold. Today it was a little clearer so we were hopeful.  We saw lots of the snow-covered mountains adjacent to McKinley but it was, alas, still cloud covered.  The park personnel say only 30% of the visitors ever get to see it.  Well, we have another chance tomorrow...

Aug 3-4 - Florence OR

As we drove up the Oregon coast we realized that we were driving right past the part we thought we would visit - all the craggy coastline we had heard about.  So note to self to explore southern Oregon the next time.  But we drove up US 101 to central Oregon and a small old fishing town called Florence.  The benefit was first even slightly inland we had sun and the temperature was a lovely 70+ degrees.  Second, it was a charming town with lots to see nearby.

Day one we first wandered Old Town Florence.  Had lunch in a chatchky filled restaurant called Mo's that definitely had the small town feel.  There was a little art festival on the warf but we were good and only perused.  The town seemed to be crazy for art deco bridges and the dock gave us a great view of the best one.  After lunch we went to see the Sea Lion Cave just up the coast.  The day stayed glorious so the views were amazing.  The Cave is the largest sea lion cave and is made accessible via a lot of walking and an elevator.  Beautiful cave but we were not there at the best time of year so there were two lonely sea lions inside with a ton outside.  In the fall and winter it is packed with the animals, but I'm thinking the smell would be there to match, so I was very content with what we saw.

Day two was more like what we had expected - a little grey at the RV park but when we went to the beach, it was foggy, cold and very, very windy.  But we bundled up and tromped through the sand, laughed a lot, felt really sorry for the poor horse one guy chose to try to ride (saw him come and go pretty quickly).  We then drove up the coast to see the lighthouse we saw from the Seal Cave the day before.  With the fog the coastline took on a completely different (kind of spooky) feel.

From here it's home again, home again, jiggity jig.  First travel day ended with a stop in Bend OR.  Might as well be in any snooty town and couldn't leave fast enough.  Day 2 travel ended in Fruitland, ID.  We've stayed in this RV park before and are taking a breathing day before hitting the road again.  We figure to be home by the weekend. If we have nothing to report, we'll resume blogging after we depart for Alaska.  Happy Trails!!!

Aug 1 - Redwoods

Steve remembers driving through the Avenue of the Giants as a child on a family vacation.  I drove through redwoods on a drive from Mendicino to Napa, as part of a vacation with my friend, Judy Burbes, in the 1980's.  But now we visited somewhere neither of us had ever been to - Redwoods National Park.  Plus we had the benefit of walking for about four miles through these glorious trees.

Holy Shamoly, are they tall!!!  And big!!!  This is definitely something that photos can only do partial justice.  Our imaginations were having a heyday, with so many Ents, and homes for gnomes, and dwarves.  It's easy to see where an old age forest can get a creative mind spinning and writing (thank you Tolkein).

On another note, sadly for us, it's now obvious that our plans to make it all the way up the coast through Washington were a little ambitious, especially since we need to get home in time to drop off Bodecia III (our trailer) and repack for the Alaska cruise (life is so hard).  So Oregon will be as far north as we will be going.

Aug 2 was a travel day to get us to Florence, OR.  Route 101 between California and Oregon is mostly a small local road with lots of hills.  We were fortunate that we traveled on a week day, since the traffic was rough in spots (still in one piece!)  And lots of curves :-\.  Steve concentrated and did the job while Sherry meditated to keep the gasps and cringing to a minimum, and put that imaginary brake to full use.  Mileage is better at sea level by a couple, so that is good.

Steve says: I'm not happy with the silly highway laws: laws passed by legislators influenced by feel-good voters usually means they're poorly analyzed, resulting in dysfunctional results.  Two speed-limits (65 for cars and 55 for trucks and towed vehicles) in California cause constant traffic congestion, especially on smaller roads. In Oregon, drivers are not allowed to pump their own gas; a minimum wage job creator that results in long lines and additional charges at the pump  (though California has the highest prices of the trip - .60 per gallon over Colorado).

So we are on the Central Coast, Oregon, and have still more exploring to do and it seems that in Oregon we are actually seeing the sun again.  Yay!

HAPPY WEDDING, JENNA AND NORWOOD!  Wish we could be there to help celebrate but we will toast you this evening.

7/31 Trinidad CA

The day was supposed to be a travel day since our next goal after Wine Country was the Oregon coast.  But we decided to extend a day to visit the Redwood National Park then got a flat tire on the trailer moving from one spot to another in the RV park in Arcata, CA.  Lucky actually since the tire was obviously ready to go and it happened where fixing it was relatively easy and weed free (easy for me to say since Steve did all the work).  But it did change our plans since we lost most of the day on the repairs.  In that "lemons to lemonade" attitude, the woman in the RV park pointed us towards Trinidad which was just up the road.  A beautiful coastline and a nice hike up to the top of hill overlooking it all made the day.  After so many days of sitting, it was good to get off our duffs a bit and stretch those legs!  Tomorrow we'll see more of those glorious redwoods that we only saw in passing on the road north.



July 29 - Wine Country

Yesterday was a travel day.  We tried to avoid the heavier traffic by going slightly inland. Unfortunately the goal was Sonoma area so that was only partly possible. We settled on 680, which was the eastern-most freeway through the bay area. It was still busy!  5 freeways northbound and still massive traffic even after rush hour!
But the biggest congestion was the KOA in Petaluma.  A huge campground with no parking for registration. RV's were lined up out to the main street! People were abandoning their RV to search for a way to get registered and the road was blocked for almost an hour!  Couldn't turn around, couldn't go forward! This place was a disaster!
But then someone finally came out and discovered to her amazement that people were trying to get in. After a few minutes of digesting this, she stopped selling softdrinks and candy and actually started registering people.  We got in and started to be on vacation again.  This was Sunday, so I guess it was a complete surprise. Yet even on Monday, the campground was full. But we had a reservation, so here we are!

Sherry performed research on just where we should go to get the wine-tasting experience.  Suddenly, we were shocked that there were literally hundreds (over 400) of wineries in the Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino (and surrounding) counties.  Lots of web sites that offer suggestions.  Yet  we weren't planning on staying that long so seeing even the most popular became impossible. So we retreated to local brochures, chose a region (Sonoma because it was close), chose road (12) and started driving.  As it turned out, we stopped at only two wineries, yet enjoyed the experience! 

Our first stop was Ledson Winery (we picked from a list of recommended lesser-priced wineries in Sonoma).  It doesn't have distributors and most of the grapes are sold to other wine producers.  But they do bottle a small number for their own label.  We shared a tasting (6 wines for $15).  Steve loved the Zinfandel and Sherry loved it too, so we bought a bottle. 

We stopped and ate our picnic lunch before continuing down the road a few miles more.  Our second stop was Kunde.  Sherry previously developed a fondness for a Reserve Chardonnay from there, which was no longer available.

This place turned out to be the largest family-owned vineyard (1800+ acres being cultivated).    One hill had a cave which housed over 6000 barrels of wine.  They still sell 40% of their grapes but have enough left over to make a few bottles (each barrel can produce 300 bottles! - or so we're told)

Still early in the growing season but there were lots of grapes to see!
We again shared a tasting and Sherry found her Reserve Chardonnay (only available to club members and visitors due to limited supply).  So she became a club member (which obligates us to a case of wine - aughhhhhhhhh - shouldn't decide such things after a wine tasting).  We also got a copy of the DVD 'Bottle Shock' which was a 2009 movie dramatising the 1976 (bicentennial) tasting in which California wineries surpassed French wineries on certain wines (including a Chardonnay).  We didn't see that winery (Chateau Montelena) but part of the movie was filmed in Kunde winery!

Our next destination is Northern California coastline and on to Oregon!

July 27 - Winchester Mystery House

I convinced Steve to visit the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose because the kids had spoken of it so often.  Ends up that it was indeed odd but not as mysterious as I had thought. 

Mrs Winchester had moved west after her only child had died very young and her husband, her parents, and parents-in-law all died in one year and I psychic told her that the spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifle needed to be appeased.  I realized that after all the talk of her speaking with psychics and basing large decisions on what they said, that no one mentions how prevalent a practice that was in the late 1800's.  Years ago, I read a book about one of the prominent psychics of the day and how she had advised presidents, industry leaders, etc. and how many decisions they made were based on her readings.   So, whatever her motivation (if interested, check out the website for the house - pretty interesting), it's a beautiful Victorian house with amazing architecture.  And if we all had limitless funds, we would probably make a house as specific to each of us as she did. 

But she did build without stop, 24/7, for 36 years.  She rang a bell at midnight and 2 AM every night.  So there were definitely some eccentricities going on.  Her favorite number was 13, so it's repeated everywhere.  13 bathrooms, 13 pillars (upside down) holding up the rounded porch, lots of rooms and outdoor siding with 13 panels.  She also liked daisies and spider webs so those motifs are all over the place too. 

She was very intelligent: spoke four languages, was an accomplished musician and horticulturalist, and had very good taste in building materials.  They spoke a lot about her being a recluse, but she stayed on top of the engineering accomplishments of the day and had electricity and indoor plumbing added early.  She had elevators and converted to the automobile early on.  And the interesting ways that heat, hot water, etc. were delivered into the house was fascinating.

It was definitely worth hassling a downtown situation to see.  It reminded us a bit of the Molly Brown House in Denver, now surrounded by condos.  Cody - the gardens were amazing.  I took lots of pictures of the arbor because it's something I think we could definitely adapt for the CR backyard , in our own small way.

July 26 - Half Moon Bay

At the request of our neighbor, Denise, we ventured to the coast to visit Half Moon Bay.  Steve doesn't remember ever going there before and knew for sure that the section of Rt 1 would be a first.  Unusual for him and always a goal for me (to find places he has not seen).

Not surprising, the drive up the coast was beautiful (after we got through Santa Cruz).  But unfortunately the marine layer was pretty thick so I don't think we got the full view of the Bay at its best.  We had our picnic lunch over looking the Bay and being overlooked by one very anxious seagull.  For his patience, Steve gave him a few grapes which the gull caught on the first bounce every time.  Where are the sports scouts when you need them.

A pretty peaceful day.

July 25

Steve said he wants to be part of this so he will be putting in his two cents too.

Didn't write yesterday so to catch up...  We had a wonderful evening on Tuesday getting caught up over dinner with our friends Doug and Katie Varner.  These trips to CA are too far in between so there is never enough time to get everything said, but it was great seeing them and our other CA friends and family. 

Wednesday was a travel day.  A long straight boring for me - tedious for Steve - drive up I-5 (we're allowed to call it 'The 5' since we are in California - Colorado people, it is 'I5') to our home base for the Central CA part of the trip.  We are staying in Casa de Fruta (on state 152, Pacheco Pass) which started as a fruit stand in 1908.  Lots of old farming equipment and peacocks.  The RV camp is nice and will be home base for 3-4 days.

Thursday, finally a day to tour.  Today was our day at Monterey.  A beautiful drive there through rolling golden hills to the fog enclosed coast.  But once on Cannery Row, the sun came out with a wonderful blue sky.  After a very luxurious lunch overlooking the bay we walked to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Steve's pictures came out much better than mine and we are sharing some of those with you.

We have been pretty good (for us) on the souvenir front, but couldn't not get something for our granddaughter Lana.  So with Crush in hand we were the envy of every kid under 10 we passed. (Steve) And the adults liked him too!

We then did the 17 Mile Drive around Pebble Beach.  Incredible scenery and some unbelievable mansions.  No pictures of those, but trust me...

These are the coastal cypress trees that have been photographed by so many.  Hard to believe this is a golf course.

This just made me laugh since we get the same warning signs "if there's a flood get to higher ground".  Duh.  But I doubt the little guy on the sign has enough time to be clear of that wave.

This is Bird Island, just covered with black birds, sea lions and seals.  The smell was horrific but the sight amazing.

Steve's cents #1

A few pictures from Monterey.  This one was of jelly fish 'Jelly Mon'.  Amazing aquarium.  BTW, this is Sherry's first visit to Monterey so the aquarium was a new, and fun, experience. Those who know me, well we hear that after Labor Day on weekdays, it isn't so crowded :-)



The seahorse exhibit was great! And so lifelike!

Another Cypress tree.

It is our intention to head North on PCH (US1 Pacific Coast Highway) and head towards Santa Cruz and farther tomorrow. 



July 23
I had promised to start this at the beginning of our travels and here we are at the beginning of week 2 and I have just figured it out.  Hopefully, it will be better going forward.  Short synopsis of the trip so far...  We started out on Monday 7/15.  I was a zombie and slept through most of the day having way overextended the day before.  Our first stop was in Clifton CO outside Grand Junction and it was just a place to sleep.  Day two had us going through Utah and some of our favorite views on I-70.



Stop # 2 was in Beaver UT, another place to sleep.  Then on to Las Vegas.  We had hoped to see Love again but poor planning put it out of financial reach so we opted instead for a really bad Johnny Depp movie.  107 degrees outside and it only went down to 92 at night.  REALLY glad to leave.

Then finally reached the San Diego area.  We spent then next four days visiting with family.  Raphael and Lilia kept us busy.  We played marathon dominoes followed by a day at the races (a first for Steve, and a first time in 30 years for Sherry).  We both won a bit which made a very fun day even more so.  A long walk on the beach completed a really nice visit (plus we made our plans for going together on an Alaskan cruise at the end of August). 

Sunday evening was spent visiting with my cousin Debbie, Bob, Vanessa and my Aunt Marge.  It had been way too long since our last visit and this one way too short but it was wonderful getting caught up even a little.

Back on the road on Monday as we made our way north to LA.  A bad drive any time but really challenging for Steve pulling the RV.  But the day ended with dinner with my best friend, Suzanne, and Jeff.  We always feel immediately at home with them both so it was a wonderful relaxing evening.

So that brings us up to date.Today is a relaxing day with me trying to figure this out, ending with dinner with our friends Doug and Katie.  Tomorrow points us North and on to adventure.