Welcome home!

After all that time away and wondering about how the garden would do, look at this! It is my Himalayan poppy which is now about three feet high with a blossom. I had two red strawberries too, but something ate them over night. Need some kind of a cover for that plant. Anyway, how does your garden grow? Pretty darned good, thank you.

Anchorage and farewell

The cousins are safely on the airplane now (I think). We spent the last day in Anchorage, went to the Native Heritage Center and then split up with Ariel and Celeste shopping and Aaron and I drove around the city looking at things I thought he would find interesting. Among them, and after driving all over the place in Alaska, we came upon a moose just eating grass by the roadside in the city. So much for wilderness experience. We looked at the place where the 1964 earthquake did so much damage and then to Potter Marsh, a wildlife sanctuary on the south end of the city. After that it was dinner at Simon & Seafort's with Ariel's mother. Then the kids went out to boogie and the old man, who had hit the wall by then, went home. They spent the night at Ariel's in the city and she was supposed to get them to the airport this morning. And so ends the great Alaska Invasion of 2009. Hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. Fare well.

PHOTO GALLERY

Cheated death yet again

Long day on the road but we finally made it back to Palmer. Not much happened. We stopped at the waterfalls in Keystone Canyon again, took a quick look at Worthington Glacier and then drove pretty steady the rest of the way. We did come across a caribou who ran along next to the RV for a while. And home. Tomorrow (Friday) we do Anchorage.

Ariel's album

PHOTO GALLERY

Cousins

On the road back to Palmer, but here's a pic of the cousins.

DAY 5, They survived the sea voyage

Celeste, Aaron, Ariel and Justin took a seven-hour boat tour in Prince William Sound to Columbia Glacier and back. They saw in addition to a lot of ice, bald eagles, sea lions, Dall porpoises, humpback whales, sea otters, harbor seals, surf scoters (another quiz word) oh, and puffins, and marbled murrlettes, cormorants. And then Chuck Norris showed up and things got really crazy. Picked up a recipe for Russian tea. There was a little person on the boat. A lot of chatting among all the relatives, they played some game on their iPods. Aaron played a bunch of Drop 7. All the iPod batteries ran out. Ariel and Justin who have worked on these boats for years (I did too) they could anticipate the captain's spiel much to their own amusement. More will be added later I am sure.

PHOTO GALLERY

Day 5 (it's only the beginning)

The gang is about to arrive on the boat. But in the meantime. Here are your otter pictures. OH, and the halibut, ohhhh the halibut.

Photo gallery

Later that same day (4)

After a drive of 300 miles and Ariel joining us the intrepid travelers made it to tidewater at Valdez, arriving about 9 p.m. Justin joined us for a chinese dinner and Celeste got her sushi at last. All parties tired, but ready for the boat trip tomorrow (Wednesday) Sure to be more pictures then. Meanwhile here we are in Alaska with all of its wonders and everyone is playing with iPhones. So it goes.

A bit of explanation about the previous two days. Monday we climbed onto a jet powered river boat and rode the 12 miles up the Talkeetna River to a landing on a beach about a mile from the cabin. We hiked to the cabin and spent the night. (Whatever Aaron said about Uno is absolutely untrue.) It rained all night and when we had to hike the mile back to the riverboat, the trail had turned to mud. Celeste managed to stay upright but Aaron slipped and fell twice and I did it once, managing to plug the barrel of my rifle with mud. Good thing we didn't run into a bear then. You have to hear it to believe it -- them walking down the trail, their bear bells jingling with every step. (There is a joke in Alaska on how to tell the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat. Black bear will have berries in it; grizzly will have bells.) We got to the landing right on time with about a minute to spare and 10 minutes later the boat came around the bend to pick us up. About half an hour later we were on land again in Talkeetna and on the road to Valdez, which leads to the first paragraph of this post. For a look at the cabin there is a gallery down the right side column of this page (the one called "At the East Pole") And a few pictures in the trip gallery. The picture on the post just below this one is Aaron waiting on the river bank for the boat to pick us up.

Photo gallery

DAY FOUR

AARON WRITES -- Day Four, Spirits are high, even though pants are wet, (or split) Great slippery hike back to the pick up point. Was not expecting Bob (the Captain of our flat bottom boat) to be there yet. He was only 10 minutes late this time, so cannibalism did not become an option.
Stumbled into Sarah Palin's home town. Still can't see Russia.
Tim still claims to be the Sir World King big champion guy of Uno. Would have left him in the woods if the boat reservations weren't in his name. Plus, he could make it back before we could.
Celeste wants coffee, nothing new there.

PHOTO GALLERY

Day 2 or is it 3?

Celeste and Aaron took the shuttle bus into the park yesterday. They went 60 miles in to what is called Eielson Visitor Center. They hiked around there for a while and then rode part way out and went down a trail along the Savage River looking for the place where a friend of mine said they would find Dall Sheep, but no luck. But, then, they didn't see a bear either so it's all good. They did see caribou, sheep way off in the distance, moose, golden eagles and the state bird willow ptarmigan. Northern harrier, also. They got back about 7 and we had copper river red salmon for dinner (the picture in yesterday's post.) Today we are up and moving at 9 and heading for Talkeetna where we will take a river boat and a hike to my cabin. (Down the right hand column here is a gallery of the cabin. It's the one called "At the East Pole") Out Tuesday and off to Valdez.

Here is a link to a photo gallery of the trip

More on day One

Aaron and Celeste rode the bus out to Eielson Visitors centeer, 60 miles into the park. They hiked around there for a while, then on the way back got off at Savage River and hiked down the canyon looking for where my friend said they could find Dall Sheep. No luck. But back at camp we had copper river red salmon for dinner and are heading for Talkeetna and the cabin tomorrow.... cabin gallery in the right hand column.

They made it

Outran the bear

Day 1

Despite the airline delays, we made it to Denali National Park by about 6:30 p.m. so over all only a couple of hours were lost. We got this behmouth settled in a camp site and figured things out and went to sleep early. For the Invaders, it was already midnight at 8 p.m. It is noon now Day 2 and they have been off in the park for six hours already and will come back with adventures to tell about, I am sure. At this time, about 2:30 in the afternoon Celeste and Aaron should be happily chasing Dall sheep down the Savage river, or a grizzly is happily chasing them UP the Savage River. Copper River red salmon on the grill for dinner.

Day Zero

The chariot is packed. The invaders made their flight and are on their way. Denali Park by midnight. That is if the creeks don't rise. Bit of rain falling but supposed to let up later today and tomorrow. And, after all, what's the fun if it's easy.

Day Zero becomes Day Zero minus One.one

Flight out of Buffalo cancelled due to thunderstorms. We have cancelations for things like earthquakes, volcanos and snow and ice, but never thunderstorms. At any rate, tomorrow is now Day Zero. The good side is the invaders arrive early enough in the day to still make our run to Denali National Park, so it's all good. First Alaska lesson: Don't fight the weather. Do what it allows.

Day Zero minus One

So, the chariot has been liberated from the city and is safely parked for loading. And, where are you? And, oh, yeah, how does the garden grow? Pretty darned good. So it goes on the Last Frontier (not counting space)