Log Cabin in the Wilderness

      Well, I know this is a little late, but I wanted to write a few more lines.  We stopped near Tok, AK and stayed at a beautiful lodge.  Jon and Jill were the perfect hosts at their amazing off the grid ten acre homesite.  Jon and Jill use a combination of wind, solar, and wood to generate all of their energy needs.  There are no powerlines or gas meters in their neighborhood. We called to see if there were any openings and Jill politely said "Yes, but you have missed dinner."  Dinner is served complimentary as well as breakfast...but you better be on time!
     When we arrived Jon showed us to our cabin and gave us the tour of our area!  He also gave us the tourist bear briefing, it sounded like this, "There is bear spray in the cabin, and don't walk ANY where without it, but please don't spray it for fun because the next campers will not be happy if they need it!"  I guess you have to love the whole truth...bears are a regular occurance near their cabins, but they have something better than bear spray...DENALI!  He's a Anotolian Shepard...this means his ancestors job in the Turkish highlands was to guard the sheep and keep wolves and bears away.
      Denali is really good at spotting moose and bear; he will even chase them down to protect his people (I guess we are like sheep).  Denali also likes "me," but not Doug, I fed him treats and scratched his ears, Denali is my friend for life.   Denali is now my favorite big dog!  I would love to have one I am thinking it would be similar to having a small pony.
     Jon was a school administrator who taught his first two years in the bush.  At the present time he consults for the Apple company.  Jon is always teaching!
      We all went for a two mile hike in the woods.  Jon led the way and Jill brought up the rear, both appropriatley accessorized with firearms.  We hiked for about an hour and it was getting late.  Jon pointed out the historical areas as Jill chatted about general family infomation.  We saw a moose as we were coming into the driveway and Jon said "Denali was hot on the moose's trail." The moose we had seen earlier in the evening was clearly gone. We said our goodbyes so Doug and I went off to the sauna which was artfully hand constructed by Jon.  Doug and I had the sauna cooking at 120 plus degrees, Doug had to go out and get some air...I followed. 

Our Cabin

Babbling Brook

Sauna

Log Cabin built by Jon and Jill

      We left the sauna and headed for the cabin to have a glass of red wine.  After a glass of red wine we both fell asleep to the sounds of the brook ten feet from our cabin door.  A gentle brook trailing over river rock is a pleasant way to fall asleep! 
     In the morning we were up at 6AM and sauntered up to the main lodge by 7AM.  Breakfast is a community gathering and so the other lodgees were waking up and coming to breakfast, too.  Jill is in charge on dinners and Jon is in charge of breakfast...nice division of labor.  Our breakfast consisted of caribo sausage, scrambled eggs, fresh picked cranberries in our pancakes, orange juice, toast, yogurt, coffee, and syrup.  Jon and Jill are excellant cooks!  Their laid back personalities exude hospitality.   I was debating weather to stay another day, but the threat of landslides on the other side of the mountain.  Oh, interesting sidenote...we just missed two large landslides on the way to Alaska one near Watson Lake and one near Destruction Bay...great timing.  Doug and I were concerned about catching one on the way to Haines for our ferry trip so we deferred staying until another time. 
A quick little promo here...go to the Log Cabin in the Wilderness, its gorgeous, but the owners are the real attraction!

Soldotna Final Liftoff

     Rain, again, today!  I am not complaining, because it was a warm and pleasant rain with intermittent bouts of dryness.   We did the loop today... the plan is to go north to Talkeetna and Denali.  We are spending the night up there and maybe doing a float trip, weather permitting. Doug and I had lunch at St. Elias one final time...love their pizza and home brewed beer.  In preparation for the trip we went to Fred Meyer and restocked for our Ferry trip and the tent camping on the rear deck. 
     We will see our sons at Princess Mt. McKinley Lodge and I am going to sacrificially donate my bear bell to the boys.  This should help me sleep at night...because I do not want the country boys to be mauled by the bears while working at Denali. 
      The last night of our Soldotna trip was spent at the world famous Kenai River around the camp fire.  Our host Gary Bennett has only opened this year and I think he will put all other places to shame.  His hospitality and generosity are unprecedented.  He sent us off with fresh smoked salmon and an invitation to return anytime...except July, because he is booked.  Anyone who knows the Kenai understands that this will be Gary's busiest season.  J.C. the neighbor made us take smoked salmon with us too!  J.C. is a campfire staple and full of "Ron White" type quips.  J.C.'s famous line is "This don't suck,"  I can hardly do this sentence justice as I type it. J.C. is a long time oil rig man in the Cook Inlet area.  He is as tough as he is quick.  We loved talking to him and learning about the oil industry.  Tonight while sitting around our campfire in the rain, a cow moose wandered into camp.  She was just munching on the grass and just wandering around.  I mistakenly thought I had time to get my camera...NOPE!  She wandered in as fast as she wandered out.  I guess she is not the neighborly type.  She was reasonably large, but did not hang around for the height and weight chart to be administered.  Moose here...Moose Gone...yes, I am in Alaska. 
     In the morning we will head out and our last stop is booked for Haines so we can take the ferry all through the inside passage.  The inside passage has some of the world's most breathtaking scenery and wildlife I am keeping my camera on my neck the whole ferry trip.   Look forward to the pictures we will upload.  Doug and I have been in the inside passage one other trip so we know we will see killer whales, otters, and magnificent glaciers.  We may not have much Internet access so we will post as soon as we reach Bellingham, WA.
     So, yes we had rain...we also had a crackling campfire, rousing conversation and a lovely last day in Soldotna, Alaska. 
     We are curious who is following our blog if you can please post a comment including your first name, city and state, and comments if you wish.  I think it will be fun to see who our group has become.  Nebraska 2 Alaska is now heading back to the lower 48 on the 18th of June. We are headed to Oregon and the over the Rocky mountains.  Looking forward to an exciting trip. 

Rain...not on the vacation planner?

      Raining today.  I want to pout about it, but pouting will do no good.  This is the very first day we have stayed inside because of weather.  Rain did not make the top ten on the vacation planner, but it was bound to happen sooner or later.  It looks like the slow drizzle we have right now will be cleared up around campfire time.  I will be thrilled to hear the crackle and pop of a glowing campfire.
      We had soup for dinner tonight...dehydrated soup.  I am still impressed that one only needs to add water to this package and a delicious bowl of soup is ready in ten minutes.  This dehydrated soup makes me ask myself "why have I spend so much time making homemade soup?" Tonight's soup is creamy, broccoli, cheese. Strategically I used up the leftover rotisserie chicken to make the dehydrated soup even better.  A steaming bowl of cheesy, chicken, and broccoli soup put a smile on my face.
     I really cannot beleive it... I did not take a single picture today.  I did however look at a beautifully wooded five acre piece of ground.  I may come home from Alaska with a summer home (acreage) as a souvenir.  It has a metal building on it about 10 x 16...that counts as a temporary cabin.   I know Doug likes the land so...we will see. I also know everyone around here wants to be along the Kenai River, but I cannot quite afford $235, 000 for a river lot. I do mean lot, too...not even an acre.  River front is measured in feet around here and more feet equals more cash.  

World's Largest Snag

     I know we have not written in a couple of days.  Suffice to say we are awed by the beauty surrounding us and keeping quite busy.  To top it all off we have been sitting around the campfire until midnight every night.   Here are the latest pictures and descriptions....On Saturday we went to the farmers market and the honey a vendor was selling cost 10 for eight ounces, whew wished I could have sold my honey for that price.  After the farmers market we went into the visitors center to see the worlds largest snag.  Literally thousands of fishing lures are snagged on one log and after years of breaking off lines at the same spot in the river some fishermen decided to gaff it and haul it up. 

      Just imagine every time a person cast their line and had to break it off because it was attached to something which could not be seen under the surface of the water.  

     This catch was finally hauled in by John and Bryan Lowe and their friend Vincent Hooper in July 9, 1987.  The estimates on this snag say it contains some 2, 500 lures the Spin-N-Glo type and all the sinkers and swivels which would go with the lures.  It weighed 600 pounds when it was wet according to  the visitors center information tag posted on the glass case.
     This display made me feel better about my fishing skills or lack thereof...obviously there have been some other people who have lost lures too, now I know I am not the only one. 
    

Homer, Alaska

     We went down to Homer and watched a couple of fair halibut being cleaned.  It was a grey day, but I still managed to get a few stunning pictures.  The picture above has the Homer spit in it and a cruise ship on the left...the mountain range rises up so high it makes a person feel very insignificant.

Halibut in Homer

Doug's Fishing Spot!

This has been our fishing and lodging view for the past four days and we plan on being here for three more days.  Imagine this view with a cup of coffee every morning.  The Kenai River is quite famous for its Kings and Reds, but it should be for the view a fisherman has while fishing and waiting for the big King to grab the hook.  Each day we end with a camp fire to relax and recap our daily explorations.  So, here is Doug's fire!  All warm and cozy.

Kenai

Clam Gultch

Clam Gultch with Whale

Cow Moose and Calf

We are in Soldotna!  The Kenai is the most beautiful place I have ever been.  These pictures were taken by Calm Gultch. The second picture has a little swirl in the water we believe it is a whale.  Doug and I also found lodging which exceeds all of our expectations.  The pictures of the interior of our cabin are just a sample.  We also have 300 feet of private Kenai river front to salmon fish on, by ourselves!  The moose and calf were 20 yards from us and I snapped a couple of pictures.  She was bristling on her back.  I am sure she was saying "stay away from my baby, or I will turn your car into a heap of tangled metal."

 Our Lodging

This is the kitchen area of our lovely accommodations.  We have everything that the comforts of home would provide and our host is so knowledgeable. Gary, the man who we are renting from has built an amazing compound.  For years he drove down from Anchorage every weekend and worked on building a home, shop, bunk houses and many other buildings.  He now lives here full time and rents out to people and groups for fishing.  To sit next to the fire ring and be 40 feet from the river is amazing.  A drift boat this morning is the first activity we have seen on the river in two days.  Let the run begin and then we will talk about activity on the river.  There has been a black bear hanging around camp the last few days but we haven't seen him yet.

Looks like Saturday might be a good day to go to Homer to catch some halibut.  It will be nice to put a chunk of fresh halibut on the grill.  Homer is only a little over an hour south of us so it will make a nice drive down then not too long to get back after the charter. So, with any luck pictures of Homer Alaska and a few nice size halibut will be posted soon.

Salmon fishing is work!

      Tok, Alaska was a beautiful place to spend Monday night.  Tok is in a level area, but surrounded by mountains.  The views leaving town are impressive. Doug and I stayed in a little cabin along the roadside.  We had our first dehydrated soup meal and frankly it was wonderful.  The soup mix requires water and heat.  A hot bowl of creamy wild rice soup was ready in only about 10 minutes prepared on our Etna portable camp stove.

        Salmon is on the agenda for Tuesday.  We drove down the mountain range toward the Copper river area.  The mountain view after the cabin picture is where I lost my set of keys to the car.  I do not have the time or patience to going looking for that set of keys on that mountain side!   We had stopped for a comfort break at a scenic overlook and well...100 miles later I could not find my keys.  Oh, and my keys open the car...Doug's just drive the car, his keys do not open anything.  So, if anyone sees my keys...they are somewhere by the mountain.
      The river we fished was the Klutina river.  A big thanks to the Alaska Outdoors forum for the fishing advice!  Doug limited out the two days we fished at Klutina River.  I on the other had only managed to catch one fish...the littlest.
    I titled this as "Salmon fishing is work" because I only fished on day one.  Day two I was content to sit along the shore and watch Doug catch his limit again.  Catching fish is a little harder than it looks.  I am way better with the camera!   Here are the pictures of Doug's Red Salmon.  Doug cooked one of our first days catch in butter and season all salt.  We could not eat it all and so we shared with the neighbors.  The neighbors came calling about ten minutes later asking for the recipe.  When we told them what he cooked the salmon in, they could not believe it.  Doug made it simple to have great tasting fish! Doug's fishing skills will be talked about around the campfire, but Doug's cooking skills on the river will be talked about in kitchens all over Alaska.  Doug says this is a stretch, but I don't think so!
     It rained from Glenn Allen all the way to Soldotna!  I did not take any pictures.  Anchorage was just an area we drove through because all the motels were booked up.   We however saw a moose with her twins and scenery which can be best described as breathtaking.  With each curve we would see a new valley or mountain range.  Most the the area we traveled through has mountains from 11, 000 to 18, 000 feet.  The gorges we so steep only a mountain goat would dare traverse this area, yet people have in the past.  These individuals must have had great courage.  I was intimidated just driving by this range in a car and trying to imagine traveling through this area on foot or horseback.  Yikes!
     Last night we had brick-oven baked pizza at the St. Elias Brewing in Soldotna.  This place is a must on any travel plans to Soldotna.  The beer was cold and brewed right on site! The pizza was cooked in a brick oven and the crust was chewy.   A tasty ending to a rainy day!

Canadian Speed Trap

     I have several pictures to post today!  I promised yesterday I would do this as soon as I have internet access.  We have arrived at Tok, Alaska.  It is beautiful and Doug said "I feel like I am home...,"  I of course politely remined him "home is in Nebraska...we are just visiting here." I think I am the confused person here...he is just going to buy land and we will send for the children after we get settled. 
     A Canadian traffic stop really got me today!  We only saw one patrol car the whole time we were in Canada....nearly 2800 miles of missing patrol cars...but as we crested a hill and saw a reduced speed sign, there was a patrol car sitting on the side of the road.  I was in fact about five kmph over the speed limit.  I slowly squeezed the brakes so it would not be to obvious that I knew I was exceeding the posted speed limit.  Good, the patrol car is not pulling out on the highway...very good!  Doug and I then brust our laughing as I passed the waiting patrol car...it was a very realistic life sized, plywood cut out of a patrol car and it was difficult to tell it was plywood until I was right up on the fake patrol car. Running out of internet time...so I will write two blogs tonight...with more pictures.  See blog number two today.

Wild Kingdom!

     This morning dawned with rain and damp weather.  We started early as we have on everyday of our trip,  Doug claims that the animals are out in the early morning and evening and these are the optimum times for wildlife viewing.  He also, assured me yesterday that I would see moose and he was correct!  We had not driven 50 miles and there on the side of the road was a cow moose and her calf.  She was very shy and I could not get a clear picture of her or her calf.  The next moose was quick and equally as shy but I managed to snap her picture as she turned her backside toward me.
      This brought us into the wild kingdom moment.  We talked about the moose and how huge she was and her quick reflexes for such a enormous animal.  I still can not express how quickly we would spot a moose and then they would be gone!  Next on the wild kingdom day was was a grizzly bear.  He was turning over rocks along the highway looking for a roadside snack.  The grizzly was young and retreated into the woods as we slowed down to take his picture.  We took about five but I am only posting one picture.  We stopped at Laird Hot Springs and just before we turned the last corner into our soaking spot...there were two Stone Sheep along a shale outcropping. 
     The tip off was the a mini-van from Nevada parked beside the road.  The sheep were minding their own business and currently being disturbed by the tourists.  We slid in behind the irritating tourists yelling at the sheep and snapped their picture from the highway.  You will see that the pictures never seem to do justice to the animal, but I did try to capture the moment.  Bison are abundant and all along the roads...they lay there and do not care if you are taking their picture or yelling at them...this one in the picture barely gave us the time of day.  I snapped several pictures and continued on my way.  The day continued to be rainy and dreary, but after every corner there were animals and wild life.  The final curve had a young black bear feeding on the grubs he found while clawing at the dirt.  I will apologize now, because not one picture would load...there is always tomorrow morning.

Headed up into the mountains

We are in a nice motel tonight in Ft. Nelson.  If you look it up on the map that means we drove another 600 miles today.  The Alcan highway is a beautiful conglomeration of pine, aspen, and birch.  There are small service stations about every 20-50 miles and the scenery is as unique as it is breathtaking.   As we headed up into the mountains a rain storm comes over the mountains. We took these pictures and the rain came shortly afterward.  The pines in the foreground are over forty feet tall and it is difficult to see, but the area in the shadow is all pines.  We drove down the hill called Suicide Hill today.  The claim is that at the top of the mountain used to be a sign which read "prepare to meet your maker," as we were driving down all I could think of was "I am so very happy we had our brakes done before this road trip, so happy!"  Oh, and new names of towns Blueberry and Beaver.

Mile Marker Zero

     Greetings everyone!  We are now in Dawson Creek, British Columbia!  Mile marker number zero of the Alcan highway is about 1600 miles from Nebraska and a little under half way to Alaska.  We slept in Whitecourt, Albert last night it was a mini-adventure as three motels we stopped at did not take cash.  Can you believe it they only wanted credit cards or debit cards.  We did not want to use those so we kept going from motel to motel until one owner said "I don't care when we asked if he would take cash", I have taken a couple of pictures, but not nearly as many as I thought.   It is so hard to take pictures with Doug on a mission to get to the next spot on the map each day.  He claims he will start relaxing now...we will see. 
     Overall there could be a straight line drawn in the soil where agriculture ends and logging begins.  It is such a stark contrast, one minute we were traveling through fertile farm country and the next we were in large stands of pines, aspen, and birch.  This morning when the moose cautionary signs seemed to show up with every 50 kilometers or so...we say a cow moose and her calf dead in the median.  I have yet to see a live moose.  Doug has guaranteed me I will see a moose.  I guess if I do not see a moose I get my money back...right. 

     We have passed towns called Buffalo Pound, Fox Creek, Lovering Lake, and Moose Jaw.  I am keeping a log of unique town names to share a few each day.

Computer Crash

    Well, one week before our trip to Alaska just as I began my blog my hard drive on my computer crashed.  I carefully placed my computer in Andrew's hands last Tuesday and he assured me it would be finished by the 29th of May...a full three days before I would be leaving on our adventure.  Andrew the computer technician called me on Saturday to explain I would need a complete document recovery and asked me what I would like to do.  I promptly went and bought the external hard drive I have wanted for over a year.  All is well right??  NO, it is not because on May 29th my computer was not done.  On May 30th my computer was not done at... 1, 3, 5, or 5:30PM.  I called every two hours because Doug and I decided to leave a day ahead of schedule on the 31st of May early in the morning. Finally when I called at 5:30 a high school senior on his way out the door of the computer business said "well if you need it tomorrow I will come back to work after class tonight and finish up your computer, do not be surprised if I call you at 8 or 9 tonight."  I was not completely convinced, but at 8:47PM the phone rang and my computer, the new hard drive, and external hard drive with all of my documents were finally useable again...I was very impressed.  The tension over my computer possibly not being done made packing a little tense for Doug.  He kept asking me where I wanted things in the car and I kept saying "I don't care." I bet toward the end he wanted to leave me at home.   
    After a month of packing and staging we loaded the car and started the trek to Alaska.  Doug and I left at 6:30AM this morning.  We both were armed with coffee and bagels.  I kept feeling like I was forgetting something, but could not decide what was missing.  Our goal was to reach Canada by 5PM.  We did not have any problem reaching Canada on time.  The Canadian border stop was very efficient and polite!  After twelve hours of driving we are finally settled into a quaint motel about 2 hours into Canada.  The biggest surprise of the day...North Dakota, what a beautiful and diverse state.  I especially liked the valley setting which Minot is in, the entire area was very lush and inviting.  I beg to differ with anyone who says that state is boring.  Oh, and I finally figured out what I was missing my toothbrush...yikes!  The prepacking and staging really paid off...I found a new toothbrush in my make-up bag and all is right with this travelor again.  I will post more tomorrow... and some pictures.  Thanks to all of you who have graciously agreed to host a Markworth teenager at your house and families who are guarding the house, goats, and chickens

Dry Run!

      Alrightly then...the cots will not fit in the tent!  We did the dry run and set up the tent, set up the cots and even the regular size cot will not fit. The cots were about six inches too big for the tent, even though it is a four man tent.   Soooo we are now using a blow up mattress for sleeping...against my better judgement.  I can just envision it, I am in the Yukon and there is a small leak and by the time I lay my weary head down the mattress seems full, but by morning I am sleeping on the ground like a cold, moist, grub worm. I am glad we had the dry run, but still miffed about the blow up mattress.
        Every blow up mattress I have ever slept on has deflated at some point so the real question is when and where does this one deflate.  Doug seems confident, but I am unmoved.  We have everything we need for our adventure.  We are even going to try some new things like dehydrated soup and a brand new stove! The propane cook stove boils water in 2 minutes. That fact means coffee is ready in 2.5 minutes, very happy wife! The dehydrated soup relies on boiled water, too.  Honestly I have never really eaten dehydrated soup, most of the soups I have consumed are from scratch. So, this will add to the adventure...dehydrated soup, I am trying not to laugh.  
       Really all I care about are a hot cup of coffee in the morning, a glass of dry, red wine at night, and a bed that doesn't go flat! So, everyone look forward to the daily rant about the blow up mattress, to be or not to be...that sounds cliche, but it is a serious question.  Women without sleep are unpredictable...even in Alaska. 

Everyone Knows!

We went to the pharmacy yesterday...and someone asked us when we are leaving for Alaska.  We were dumbfounded at first because only the people in our family know we are going to AK (or so we thought).   After some cursery questions we found that everyone in the pharmacy was interested in how we decided to travel to Alaska.  We stood in the pharmacy for ten minutes answering questions about our travels and hearing stories of brothers, cousins, and friends who have gone to Alaska.  Not one of the pharmacy staff had ever been to Alaska, but all of them wanted to go.  Their ages ranged from early 20's to 50's and we were the center of attention because we were going on an adventure!  I don't know what we will see, but all of you reading this will see it with me!  I will upload pictures and videos for everyone to see. 

Alaska the other Woman

    While I was in the working on the final stages of my thesis I would look up from my computer and ask "what are you looking at dear?"  We both sat diagonally across from one another with our laptops flipped up and our eyes averted downward, this was our nightly routine.  Doug (my spouse) would respond almost in a whisper "Alaska", and I would respond "Yes, the other woman in your life." This is how the majority of our evenings went as I worked toward a long awaited Master's degree. 
    Well, I finished graduate school on the 5th of May (Thesis and all) and (Doug) wants to take me on an adventure before I am gainfully employed.  Not all wives and mistresses should meet, as a matter of fact there should be no need for a mistress,  but I think it is prudent for me to visit this magnificent, mysterious, beauty who has captured my husbands heart.  I am first in my husband's heart, but after our children and grandchildren,  Alaska seems to garner much of Doug's brainwave attention. 
     We are in the beginning stages of planning.  Each morning I see a new list of items we need to pack.  The list is hastily scribbled and sitting by Doug's shaving kit. His lists are in journals, on napkins, and grocery receipts... along with places we should visit. No lipstick here, just camping gear and bug spray. As I am writing this he is researching the travel route and trying to convince me that going to Glacier is out of the way, by almost three hundred miles! Our plan is simple...one car, two people, three weeks, and four thousand miles of driving--one-way!