6/30/2009 So Long Denali

A travel day for us again. We're stopping in Anchorage for the night on our way to Seward, where we'll be for the next week.

Before I tell you about our day, I like to share some pictures I took at eleven o'clock last night. Yes, that's the sun! Still very much up!

Look how light it is...at 11 p.m.! This is still strange to us even after all the time we've been here.

OK, on with our day. This is one of the first scenes we saw as we pulled out of the RV park this morning. Sheesh, what a way to start the day!

I really need you to feel my pain. I have to spend my days sitting in that cushy leather captains chair in the truck for several hours every travel day and spend my time looking at scenes like this! Don't you feel my pain? Are you saying to yourself, "Oh thank heavens I don't have to do THAT!"

In this next picture I want you to take notice of the trees.

These are the evergreens of Alaska. The only kind I've seen so far. They are called Black Spruce trees. I was expecting big evergreens, Blue Spruces, Douglas Firs, all kinds really. Instead, there are these skinny trees with branches no longer than the arm of a seven year old child. What do Alaskans do for Christmas trees? Can you imagine how much a tree for the holidays must cost if they have to be imported? I bet there are a lot of artificial trees here come Christmas time.

We never expected to see a four story igloo!

Ok Here's some more scenery shots. I've been thinking about this and I was meant to take these pictures to help stimulate our economy. Let me explain. When I take a picture like this....

or even this.....

I'm using the battery in my camera which ultimately makes it run down. In order to restore it I need to plug it into the charger which runs by electricity of course. The more electricity we use in the campground, the more they have to pay in their monthly bill. The higher the monthly bills, the more money the electric company makes. The more money the electric company makes the more dividends its stockholders get. The more dividends paid to the stockholders, the more money they have to spend. the more they spend, the healthier our economy is. So you see, you think I'm out here having a good time, seeing all this beautiful country of ours when in reality I'm out here doing my part to stimulate the economy. And you thought this was all fun and games.

When you were a kid did you ever lay on ground in your backyard and look up to the clouds in the sky and play "What Do You See?" As we were going down the road today I happened to look up and this just jumped out at me. Bob saw it right away too. Do you see the dog?

As we were going down the road we came upon about a half dozen cars pulled over on the side of the road in a designated parking area. I had been really into the scenery we were passing and suggested we pull over too because I wanted Bob to take a few minutes and have a chance to really enjoy the sights before us. He pulled over and when I got out I noticed that everyone was in one area and all had cameras and they all seemed pretty excited. I thought maybe a bear or a moose was in the field. I looked but didn't see anything and asked one the guys standing there what was everyone looking at. Here I was looking at the field when I should have been looking beyond. The peak of Mount McKinley was visible. Not the whole mountain, just the peak, but it was still a sight to behold. Look at dead center.

See the mountains with the snow on them? Those are BIG mountains so you can get an idea of just how huge MT. MCKINLEY is. Its the tallest mountain in all of North America at just over 20,000 feet.

One fella was there that was coming from the south and had seen the mountain before the clouds rolled in about 40 minutes prior to stopping here. He got a picture of it and shared it with us. Just incredible. I am really hoping to see it on a clear day before we leave here.

We traveled through Wasilla on our way to Anchorage. No, we didn't see Sarah or any of the other Palins but what a nice town Wasilla is!

We couldn't help but notice all the fireworks stands.

I don't get it. Come 4th of July....it isn't going to be dark enough for fireworks. When do they use them?

We finally made our destination of Black Spruce Fam-Camp in Fort Richardson. We're only here for one night and tomorrow morning we'll pull out and head to Seward. One nice thing about this place... FREE laundry! I scrounged enough for a load just to take advantage of it. We'll be back here in a few weeks when we're here to pick up our friend Dianne at the airport.

Wow, I'm caught up. Being away from the blog for those nearly two weeks,,,,well, I thought it would take me a lot longer to get back to a day to day basis. It's one in the morning, I've got to get some sleep. Until tomorrow.......