RV ALASKA - Whining in Whittier

Back in 2006, our family of four drove down to Florida to spend time with Alan’s brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Joan, and visit Disney World.  We had so much fun with Aunt Joan and Uncle Tommy that I gathered our photos into a slide show and set it to music.  The last song in the montage was one I think all of you old timers would recognize – if I could just remember the title.  Which, of course, I can’t at the moment.  Anyway, the music was sort of sad and poignant, and our family, to this day, refers to it as the sad good-bye music.  At least one of us will reference it whenever we leave our family’s favorite lake at the end of our summer stay.  I warned Alan that I wasn’t going to be happy about having to leave Seward, and that proved to be so very true.  And I remember thinking – and probably mentioning to him – that it was time to cue the sad good-bye music.  Although I really didn’t want to leave, I knew we still had plenty of Alaskan adventures ahead.

RV ALASKA - Wrapping It Up in Seward

Based on the previous two posts, y’all might think that Alan and I just sat around drinking coffee and gazing lovingly at Resurrection Bay during the 10 days we were in Seward.  Not true!  We biked around, poked around and found all kinds of interesting things to see and do.  And there was one place we went that we probably shouldn’t have.

RV ALASKA - Boat Nerds in Paradise

After looking through our photos and notes, I’m thinking that it will take three, not two, posts to cover our 10 days of adventure in Seward.  So, let’s get right to #2.

Alan and I are boat nerds.  We have a small power boat, we love being out on the water and we love seeing other boats of any size out on the water.  Generally speaking, it doesn’t take much to make us happy.  When it comes to boats, it takes even less.  From the comfort of our recliners or camp chairs, we spent hours intrigued by the activity going on in the Port of Seward and on Resurrection Bay.

RV ALASKA - Livin' the Dream!

No, not us.  Otter.  Otter’s livin’ the dream.  Truthfully, Alan and I are livin’ the dream, too, but this story is about Otter.

Based upon my trip-planning research, I had already booked reservations for a full week in Seward.  Following the day trip Alan and I took down to the port city during the week we were camped at Cooper Landing, we decided to add three more days, giving us a total of 10 nights on a waterfront site on Resurrection Bay.  I can’t even begin to tell you how much we enjoyed Seward, but I’m going to try.  First, though, let’s get back to Otter.

RV ALASKA - "Lean Right!" (And Don't Fall Out of the Cart!)

Even before we started out on this expedition, we knew we’d have to schedule at least two, and maybe even three, oil changes along the way.  Alan has always been a stickler about vehicle maintenance, and both times the percentage of oil life remaining on the truck dropped to a certain level, he started pressing me for more details about our schedule.  Our first oil change was done in La Grande, Oregon, while we were there to have work done on the trailer.  On an earlier pass through central Alaska, we had already identified an express lube business in Wasilla as a good possibility for an oil change; upon our arrival in Palmer on the 22^nd, we were down to 9% oil life remaining.  I believe that’s 1% above the point when we start getting alerts to “Change Oil Soon.”  (How’s that for timing?!)  So, one of the most important items on our list of activities for the Palmer-Wasilla area was an oil change.  Once that was accomplished at Wasilla Lube Express on Swanson Avenue (nicely done, we’d go back), we enjoyed breakfast at IHOP, and then headed out to a place that has been close to my heart for almost 20 years.

RV ALASKA - "The City of Lights and Flowers"

The next time I tell you that I’m going to try to catch up on blog posts, just ignore my ramblings.  When I initially made the switch to posting from the road in relatively real time, I figured I’d publish shorter posts, but more frequently.  That’s not working out as well as I had hoped.  It’s my own fault.  There are so many facets to this trip that I want to share, it’s nearly impossible for me to draft a short post.  And longer posts simply take more time to put together.  Still, I’d rather be playing catch up than short you on the details because this really is an amazing adventure.  So, please bear with the delay; I’ll catch up – eventually.  That being said, I do have a confession to make.

RV ALASKA - "The End of the Road"

No worries.  All is well.  Our trip didn’t come to an abrupt, tragic end.  But we did reach “The End of the Road” when we drove as far as you can go on “the Spit” in Homer.  Homer (population: 6,203) had all the charm that I felt Kenai lacked.  Yup, it’s a tourist town – especially the Spit, a 4.5 mile sandbar that stretches out from town into Kachemak Bay.  The Spit is where the tourists hang out.   There are RV parks, hotels, shops, restaurants, fish processors and the Salty Dog Saloon – famous for the dollar bills that patrons sign and tack all over the wall.  We liked Homer a lot, and really enjoyed the three days we spent hanging around the Spit.  But first, let’s back up just a bit.

On the morning of July 18^th, we headed west on the Sterling Highway from Cooper Landing to Deep Creek State Recreation Area in Ninilchik.  That state-run campground would be our base camp while exploring Homer, approximately 45 minutes farther down the highway.  We had visited Deep Creek earlier in the week, and had identified it as our #1 campground choice in the area (also known as Plan A).  We planned to arrive shortly after the 12 noon checkout, and kept our fingers crossed that we’d get a waterfront site with a gorgeous view of Cook Inlet and Mt. Redoubt, a volcano that’s still somewhat active.  Most state campgrounds in Alaska don’t offer reservations; otherwise, you can bet we would have had one.  We did luck out with a waterfront site.  Better yet, it was at the end of a row with no neighbors on our dinette (driver’s) side which is where most of our windows are.  On our curb side was a family of six, and they were great neighbors.  Out the big back window was a lovely view of Cook Inlet and the mountains beyond.  I couldn’t have picked a better site if I had reserved it months in advance.  However . . .