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 - On to the Kenai Peninsula!

In September of 2004, Alan and I celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary with our second Alaska land tour and cruise with Princess.  Kyra was five, Ryan was ten, and we all had a wonderful time on that trip.  One of our overnight stops on the land tour portion of the trip was the Kenai Princess Lodge in Cooper Landing.  For our current expedition, I considered Cooper Landing a good base camp for exploring the central part of the Kenai Peninsula.  When I began researching campgrounds in the area, I was stunned to learn that Princess also operated an RV Park adjacent to the lodge we had stayed at 20 years ago.

RV ALASKA - Traveling Highways in Alaska Leads to a Gem in Palmer

At 586,000 square miles of land, Alaska is, by far, the largest state in the union.  It’s more than twice the size of Texas, and larger than the next three biggest states combined (Texas, California and Montana).  Texas has 314,000 miles of public roads; Alaska has less than 18,000.  It doesn’t take long to become familiar with the major highways in Alaska simply because there aren’t that many of them.