Happy Anniversary in Alaska

Happy Anniversary

Days 41 to 43, July 6 - 8, 2015

We’ve decided to gift each other on our 53^rd Anniversary with a trip to Alaska. Easy … on July 6 we are in Canada … on July 7 we are in Alaska. The only way to

Haines from Anchorage is east to Canada and then back south to Alaska. Alaska has the most convoluted border lines and shape. Haines is our State Ferry port to Juneau. And Juneau is down in the long stretch of the state at the southeast in the Inside Passage.



But more than just a way to get from here to there we found the highway from Haines Junction to Haines (with a US customs gate halfway) is an Alaskan Scenic Byway, has Alaska Eagle Preserve stretch of highway AND an UNESCO World Heritage Site … the largest internationally protected landmass on earth (includes parts of Canada and Alaska and four national and provincial parks)

Glaciers on every mountain top, bears, lakes, wildflowers, eagles, historical buildings are found all along the Haines Highway. We stayed at two different lake campgrounds (Kathleen Lake provincial CG in Canada, Chilkoot Lake state CG in Alaska.)

Our favorite in Haines is the Alaska Bald Eagle Foundation Natural History Museum and Life Raptor Center. This center has many large rooms with the walls covered in well drawn murals … a natural background mural for the eagle room, a Tlingit history mural and awesome murals on all walls for the natural history museum filled with dozens of taxidermy animals native to the North Country. A must to see!

 The eagle is alive (mural in the background.) The Coyote is stuffed.

 

These falls and rapids are a short hike off the Haines Highway.

 Camped at two different lakes … Kathleen Lake in Canada and Chilkoot Lake in Haines, AK. This picture is Kathleen Lake. (Hi Katie).  

This is our steak and lake camp at Chilkoot Lake … see the lake through the trees.

And …. Finally, it seems the early priests were quite creative, using quanset huts to build their pioneer churches. The red one is in Beaver Creek, Yukon; and the white one is in Haines Junction.

4th of July in the 49th State

Days 38 – 41, July 2 - 5, 2015

The 4^th of July in Anchorage is also the occasion of Anchorage’s 100^th birthday! Lots of celebrations. But what struck us was their humor, beauty, friendly people and artistry. Anchorage celebrates the three compressed months of ‘spring/summer/fall’ with flowers everywhere, a great sense of humor and murals and landscaping splashes of color... and music.

 

Anchorage sense of humor

Music

This WP couple knows that the 4^th of July is never complete without a live Symphony Orchestra performance … and Anchorage came through … Thank you Anchorage Symphony Orchestra and conductor Randall Fleischer! (get a look at his face ...  he loves his work!) The expected patriotic tunes along with some music distinctively Alaskan … (Sorry no fireworks … fires still are burning in Alaska.)

 

A Salute to America’s Military

This sculpture salutes soldiers from all America's conflicts from the  revolutionary war through the civil war until today's efforts to protect our freedom and independence. This is found at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church

... and this is our favorite soldier, Specialist Medic Megan … she jumps out of airplanes while her puppy Athena protects her at home. We were so glad to be able to visit with her as we’ve known her since she was six years old.

Few Highways in Alaska

There are only 5 major highways in this vast state. Numbered 1 through 5. Our drive on the 5^th of July is an advance to the sea … east through Alaska to Canada then south back to Alaska to Haines ... 775 miles to catch a ferry to sail the Inside Passage and visit Juneau.  Along the way we popped in on the Matanuska Glacier. Glaciers are everywhere in Alaska.

Boondocking 

A word on boondocking … free! 
And because Alaska offers extensive vistas of gorgeous terrain and spring time flowers are everywhere, we always find wonderful places to stay … however, there are some places that are just, well, free.

This is our second pass through Tok. This Northern Energy Tesoro Gas station offers free water, free car wash, free dump station and free overnight parking (and they sell gas and propane) … perfect for a quick overnight stop on our trip to Haines. Coyote is licking his fingers in anticipation of barbecue chicken and grilled zucchini!

Wow … our best day ever!

Days 36 & 37 – June 30 & July 1, 2015

Our dilemma started at the junction that offers the choice between going to Seward or Homer.Seward had much to offer including possibly connecting with Wendell. Homer also offers plenty including an all day natural history tour (which we had reservations for) … both good choices … both tantalizing and beckoning to us.        So … we read the travel brochures and the Milepost and selected Homer. And unfortunately we did miss Bijou and his friends by 78 miles; we ended up with our best days ever!

     The center of this picture reveals (in the water) a land spit that sticks out into the bay about four miles ... Homer Spit. That is our goal.  We camped right on the water! The next pictures actually are the view from our Coyote at our campsite on the Spit. Also what Raffi sees from inside the RV.

   

The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies

The Center hires marine biology students from around the world to research and share the fascinating world of the marine coastal waters. It isn’t widely publicized, but we found a paragraph that mentioned it and called. They have all-day (and part-day) natural history tours leaving from Homer Spit. So we signed on for the all-day. 
      
At 7:30 a.m. we sailed from Cook Inlet to Paradise Bay. The tide was at its lowest – negative 2.5 – so he ran into the beach of the island, literally, where the Coastal Studies Center is and we jumped off from the bow onto the wet sand. The dock was unavailable at that time of day. There we met Ashley, a marine biologist from Kentucky. We had Ashley to ourselves as our special guide for the entire day.

     As the tide was unusually low we spent the next few hours exploring an area usually 20 feet underwater. YES, the tide drops and rises 20 to 28 feet every day. The picture with Dan and Ashley by Otter Rock is low tide at 9:00 a.m. … the next two 
pictures with Otter Rock sticking out of the water is the SAME SPOT at high tide at 3:00 p.m. (view from the island with Otter Rock in distance and then a view from the boat on the other side as we left the island.)

  

Our New Marine Friends

After lunch we hiked into the island … a rain forest experience in Alaska… to a small lake.

All in all … in all … it was a marvelous day! Ashley and her friend Tahia (from Australia) were wellsprings of information and education and hospitality that never ended!