North to Alaska - Whittier

Brittany - riding "bear"back at Dreamers Woods

Cory has some great plans for this office chair

We drove back to Anchorage Friday. On the way up the Kenai Peninsula, we stopped to see some wood carvings that were amazing. Eric Berson is the sculptor and Dreamers Woods is the name of his business. We met Eric, his wife and children. They were very nice and Eric told us the story of how he started his business.

I really liked the Welcome Bears and Mooses that he had done, but knew there was no way I could ever get it back home. After viewing all the fun carvings, I went back to the RV to wait for everyone else. We were all back, except Brittany and Cory, and they kept going back and forth between some carvings. Finally, I opened my door and yelled, “just get it, you won’t regret it!” Well, they made their purchase, then when they got back into the RV, everyone started singing “Happy Birthday!” to me - they all gave me a cute card and the Welcome Bear that I so liked! I was so embarrassed that I had “hollared” out! What a surprise and I have to laugh every time I see that Bear on our front porch. . . . Brittany and Cory hauled the heavy thing back in Britt’s backpack! That was an incredible thing to do !!!

Last views of the Kenai Peninsula

We went over to Whittier on the way back. Whittier is a very small, isolated town (Did I say small? The town population is 182!.) The only way to get there is through a 2 1/4 mile long tunnel, which was built during WWII, or go by ship. The railroad owns all the land there, so everyone who lives there rents an apartment in two high rise buildings. I wondered what the young people do there - you would need to ski (and be in really good shape as it is quite a climb up the mountain).

We bought some great fudge there, and walked around the shops and marveled at living in a town so small and so very isolated.  We spoke to a young woman, who had grown up there and she explained their school was combined grades 1 through 12.  She said it was fun growing up there and had a great attitude!

Dad and I looking out on Prince William Sound

We watched some native people fishing in the ocean from the rocks on the water break, toured the docks and shopping area. Ray insisted that there was a lot more to the town . . . but we drove around and walked around - it is very small.

The shop that we really wanted to go into, Log Cabin Gifts, was unfortunately closed, but she had a lot of fun and interesting things around the outside of the cabin. 

One of the many beautiful waterfalls and snowfields in Whittier

Larry, Venna, Sandy, Ray, Cory and Brittany at the Whittier Glacier

Glacial Ice Sculpture

Brittany and a hunk of glacial ice

We stopped to view the Whittier Glacier, which is beautiful. There were so many interesting “ice sculptures” floating in the water. Some other people who had stopped, had seen some bear droppings on the trail around the lake, but that didn’t deter Brittany and Cory - they ran down and brought back a hunk of glacial ice.

We thought this glacial ice sculpture looked like a whale!

North to Alaska - Homer and Halibut

We drove back to Anchorage, then on down to the Kenai Peninsula. Jim had arranged a halibut fishing trip with one of his buddies, who has a fishing business. We stayed at Uncle Stowell's cabin again.  It was nice to have a little time to relax and visit that evening.

Chef Ray cooking up a tofu souffle???

Brittany pulling in a nice trout off the dock, Cory and Ray

Ray, Dad, Britt, Cory, Jim and Jay all got up at 4:30 a.m. to head back down to Nilnilchik to go halibut fishing out in the ocean. . .Meanwhile, Mom and I got to sleep in. At 10:00, we headed down to Homer with Uncle Stowell. It was a beautiful drive.

The Tea Cup House - on Mad Hatter Lane?

Homer is a fun little town, with lots of quirky shops that would have been lots of fun to look through.

The Salty Dawg Saloon - isn't it great?

Ships moored in the harbour

We saw tons of ships in the port and lots of fun shops that Mom and I would have liked to peak in, but we both felt we needed to get back.

Land's End Resort & Restaurant

We stopped at the very end of the spit at a lovely restaurant called Land’s End Resort to eat lunch. We all had a shrimp basket and I thought it was delicious! The design of the whole restaurant was a nautical theme and it was delightful to look at everything. We had such a lovely day, thanks Uncle Stowell!

When we got back, the fisherman had returned. They had caught their limit in just a few hours and even though it was a windy, rainy day out on the ocean, they all had a great time.

The Captain

The Ship

and the mottley crew . . .

Jim, Larry, Jay

Cory & Brittany

Ray - looking a little under the weather

Brittany - first bite . . . will she get it in?

All the fisherman placed bets in a pot - first one to catch and, biggest catch would split the $

Brittany - first catch and she wins the pot!

Cory caught so many cod ~ he became "The Codfather!"

Ray brings one in

Dad with his catch

Quite a catch!  Ray, Cory, Brittany, Larry, Jim and Jay

Dad has wanted to do this for so long . . . I am thrilled that we were all able to go to Alaska and share this adventure!

North to Alaska - Iditarod, Musk Ox Farm, Matanuska Glacier

In Wasilla, we stopped at the Iditarod Headquarters and Museum. We saw a short movie on the Iditarod race and looked at photos of the Iditarod winners over the years.Dorothy G. Page, a resident of Wasilla  recognized the importance of an awareness of the use of sled dogs as working animals and of the Iditarod Trail and the important part it played in Alaska’s colorful history. She presented the possibility of a race over the Iditarod Trail to an enthusiastic Joe Redington, Sr., a musher from the Knik area.

Most of us had wanted to take a ride on a dog sled behind the team, but after we arrived and saw the buggy being pulled by the team and the 30 second ride around a small loop in the trees, we all decided to pass, except Ray. It was Joe Reddington’s son who was the musher on Ray’s little trip through the woods. I was really surprised at the size of the dogs. I expected large huskies, but the dogs were all very thin and smaller than I expected. I suppose since they had been shorn for summer, they looked smaller, but because they run such long distance, I suppose just like long distance runners they can never eat enough to make up for the energy they expend in running. The dogs would get so excited when they knew they were going to be able to run and pull the buggy. There was a heap of howling going on!


We then headed up the Glenn Highway. We stopped at the Musk Ox Farm, where Brittany wanted to go on a tour. She got to pet some baby Musk Ox and picked up some of their soft wool from the ground, called qiviut. The rest of us looked at them through the fence. The scarves and hats the natives knit from qiviut are so light and soft, but apparently very warm. Unfortunately, they were out of my price range. $225.00 for a scarf . . . a bit pricey, but they looked lovely.

Some of the amazing scenery on the Glenn Highway

Back: Ray, Larry,Venna, Cory Front: Sandy, Brittany overlooking the Matanuska River

Matanuska Glacier ~27 miles long and 4 miles wide,

the largest glacier accessible by auto in the U.S.

We drove up to the Matanuska Glacier in the Mat-su Valley. Everything in Alaska seemed a bit pricey, so we shouldn’t have been surprised at the $20.00 per person charge to hike over to the glacier!

There were several hundred yards of glacial morraine that we had to hike over to get to the glacier,  - it looked like a walk at Craters of the Moon in southeastern Idahovery gray and bleak looking.

 

Cory, Sandy, Brittany ~ Matanuska Glacier

Once we got on to the actual glacier, it was beautiful to see. The ice is packed so hard, yet there are fissures and crevasses that go so deep you cannot see the bottom. In one area, a stream of water shot down into the abyss and just disappeared. The glacier itself was so varied, huge crevasses, swirling streams disappearing into deep holes, huge boulders, lots of sand and gravel.

Sandy and Ray at what we call the Blue Eye of the glacier

We saw some beautiful shapes in the ice and hiked over to a lake within the glacier.

Mom and Dad stayed back at the RV, so Brittany and Cory actually were able to get a 24" piece of ice to come off and Cory carried it back in my jacket so Mom and Dad could see it. Mom stood on it and we took a picture of her standing on the glacier. She was so delightful!

 
Mom standing on the glacier!