Today we woke up to sun! What a difference a little blue sky did for our morale. We have been struggling with the constant gray weather since we arrived in Anchorage. But today was glorious.
We are shifting over to Seward today which was a highlight of the last trip. On the way out of town we stopped at an overlook of Homer which we had passed the last three times because it was socked in. This time it was quite sensational and Ton got some good pictures.
Sunshine and flowers.
Driving over to Seward we had views of a group of off shore volcanoes and several clear views of Mt. Denali. For the first time Alaska was living up to our memories from seven years ago.
The required picture at the entrance to a National Park.
As we came into Seward we stopped at Exit Glacier. We read that the glacier had retreated 1000 feet in the last 10 years, so we were curious about how it would compare to our memories. It had definitely moved back and the face had shrunk quite a bit.
We had a late start today and a pretty light schedule. It was still raining but the forecast showed clearing later in the day.
The most westerly point you can reach by highway in North America.
We started out by heading into town to check out the interagency visitors center. It had a trail down to a slough that we took but there was not much to see. Our next stop was the farmers market. Several of the stalls were Old Believer families from the Russian Orthodox Church. We tried a potato pie which was pretty good, and cheap.
The beach at the most westerly point.
On the boat tour yesterday they pointed out a spot of land that had the most westernmost road in North America, so we decided to head out there. As we pulled into the lot there was a group of folks standing around a car in the lot. One of them came over and asked us if we had a metal hanger so they can try to unlock their car. We gave them one of our hangers and they managed to get the car unlocked. They had an interesting operation there where they launch fishing boats directly into the surf using old bulldozers. The fishing culture in Alaska is pretty impressive and omnipresent.
Our last stops for the day were to try taster trays at the two breweries in Homer. When we returned to our spot the sun was out and the mountains were clear, but the wind was howling, so after a brisk walk on the beach we hunkered down in scout and waited for sunset.
Today we took a boat tour of the sound outside Homer. It was a wildlife viewing tour and also a visit to an island town called Seldovia.
The wildlife tour did not disappoint as we saw a lot of birds including bald eagles, about 50 sea otters, and 3 whales.
Seldovia was an interesting stop. It is located on an island about 10 miles from Homer and was one of the original Russian settlements in Alaska. It has a cute Russian Orthodox Church. Originally it was a fur and Herring fishing center. Now it seems to thrive on tourism.
Alaska was originally Russian, thus the number of Orthodox Churches.
After returning we finally got a little break in the weather, and we were able to spend a nice quiet evening enjoying the view, talking to our neighbors and watching the boats go by on their way to the harbor. For the first time on the trip we did not move Scout which was nice.
The weather is not perfect, but the views are spectacular. That is a glacier just to the right of the smoke stack of the ship.
We started our day by heading to Costco to fill up on the cheapest diesel of the trip. The diesel at Costco was almost 30 cents less than the fuel we saw around town, and equal to what we were paying in Oregon.
The drive to Homer was done in a driving rain and while the views were pretty we are hoping for better weather on our way back so we can get some pictures.
A Russian Orthodox Church we passed on the way to Homer.
Tonight we are on the Homer spit parked facing the ocean with views of mountains, glaciers and the ocean. These kind of views are why you have one of these expensive mobile hotel rooms.
A couple of cool wooden RV’s. The one on the left looks like it is still in service.Having a drink in the Salty Dawg, a must stop bar in Homer.
Today we returned to the Chevy dealer to get the new parts installed in Scout to get the Diesel Exhaust Fluid system back in service. After a couple of hours the service representative came in and said it may be 3 or 4 more hours, and offered to have their courtesy shuttle drive us somewhere.
We decided on the Anchorage Museum. The museum was undergoing renovation, but they had a very nice display of artifacts from all of the different native groups in Alaska. The artifacts belong to the Smithsonian Museum and are on loan to Anchorage. The display was really well done and interesting. They also had a section on the relationship between Russian and Alaska. We also took a walking tour of the museum with one of the docents.
The interior of the Anchorage Museum.
We finally got Scout back about 3pm, and so with time on our hands we headed over to one of the 18 breweries in Anchorage. Odd Man Rush brewery was a hockey themed brewery with pretty good beer. The last stop for the day was the PX and Commissary at the Air Force side of the base. Gabi had told Ton that the commissary was one of the best she had seen and Ton concurred after the visit.
We woke up bright and early to head over to Alaska Sales and Service. They were able to diagnose the problem, and the good news is it is under warranty. The bad news is the part was not in stock so we have to return tomorrow to finalize the repair. They also confirmed that we could drive around town and take care of our other business.
We had some time until we had to be at Costco for our tires, so we headed downtown to check things out. We joined in a guided walk by the National Park Service. As usual with NPS talks it was outstanding. The ranger was very knowledgeable and the weather was clearer than forecast so we could see Denali and all of the other mountains.
Some flowers from downtown Anchorage, the flowers are starting to fade in mid-August.
Our next stop was 49th state Brewery. The food was good, the beer was good, and the view from the restaurant was outstanding.
We next took care of our tire replacement at Costco, and filled up our refrigerator with food. It will be nice to be able to have full confidence in our tires.
We joined Gabi and Ron for an outstanding Chili dinner. We solved a lot of the problems of the Tiger world, and shared war stories from our times in the service. Thanks Ron and Gabi for the great chili and company.
Today the plan was to get the heater on Scout reinstalled and then drive the 350 miles to Anchorage so we could get the tires we had waiting for us at Costco. At this point we thought we would have everything repaired and could begin to relax and enjoy our Alaska trip.
Sunset from our room in Eileson last night.
We wrapped up the installation of the heater and it seemed to work well. If you are in the Fairbanks area and need work on your Espar heater I highly recommend the team at Inland Mechanical Services. They did a great job getting us back on the road.
We wrapped up at Inland about noon, and began heading towards Anchorage. We went from clear skies in Fairbanks to cloudy skies as we headed south. The highway from Fairbanks to Anchorage passes Denali National Park. As we passed thru the park area it was quite cloudy so we had written off seeing Denali. When suddenly the mountain showed up clearly. Ton managed to get some good photos of the mountain.
Denali from the highway.
Right after the mountain had showed itself to us, and just when we were thinking our tour of tire shops and mechanics of Yukon and Alaska was almost over. We got a check engine light telling us our emission system needed immediate service and the truck began counting down the miles until it went into “limp mode”. Essentially we had 150 miles until the truck began limiting our speed. After some cursing we began calling Chevrolet dealers in Anchorage to get an immediate appointment. The first two dealers could not get us in for 2 or 3 days, the last dealer Alaska Sales and Service were able to schedule us in tomorrow. So once again we will be spending time talking to mechanics.
We finally arrived at Ft. Richardson in Anchorage about 7pm. We saw another Tiger belonging to our friends Ron and Gabi Moeller. They were kind enough to invite us in where we caught up on our experiences, and drank a fair amount of their wine.
Last time we visited Fairbanks we were very impressed with the botanical gardens so we decided to go again. The most spectacular thing are the giant cabbages that Alaska is famous for. I think the picture tells the story pretty well.
One of the giant cabbages Alaska is famous for.
After the botanical gardens we headed over to the visitors center in Fairbanks. On this trip we have been very impressed with the network of visitors centers along the Alaska and the other highways. The Fairbanks one is really nice with the feel of both a visitors center and a museum. It also features outstanding internet, as all of them do, making them a hub for visitors in RV’s looking for free internet.
We ended the day with another visit to Fred Meyer to get some more food and supplies. Ton also was looking for some more long pants as it is colder here than she expected.
The first chore for the day was to sort out the tires. We had both researched tires looking for a good tire with the maximum load rating. We both had decided on BF Goodrich TA KO2’s as it had a load rating of 3400lbs per tire (our current tires are rated at 2400ibs). Luckily for us one of the Costco’s in Anchorage had 4 on hand and the price for 4 new tires was pretty close to the price for 2 Nitto’s which we currently have on the truck. So after some pleading from Ron and pulling the Oregon card (the tire center guy in Anchorage was originally from Roseburg OR) we convinced them to hold the tires for us until Tuesday. So Monday as soon as the heater is fixed we will be doing the 6-8 hour drive to Anchorage.
The rest of the day was spent getting the oil changed on the truck, shopping at a huge Fred Meyer grocery, visiting the Commissary and PX (grocery store and variety store for non-military folks) at Fort Wainwright we were pretty well stocked. We would have bought more but now we are going to be at a Costco on Tuesday.
After that we were able to relax a little. We visited Wendys for Chili (Ton’s favorite), Hoodoo Brewery, and Santa’s Village in North Pole, Alaska. Hoodoo is the best brewery we have been to on this trip. We did a tour led by one of the owners and brewers and his passion and knowledge was obvious. Unfortunately they don’t distribute outside of Fairbanks so we bought a few cans for future consumption.
The plan was to head to Fairbanks and restock, change the oil and enjoy some civilization before heading to Denali. We were still working on a replacement tire, and it looked like we would have to do that in Anchorage.
Then about 2am Ron woke up and noticed the heater was not working. The heaters have always been a problem with Scout, we have been thru 2 webasto heaters before converting to the Espar heater we now have in her. The Espar had been working like a champ, until now. Ron sent out some help emails to Provan and Rixen heaters at 2am hoping for some response when we got up in the morning. We huddled together under the blankets until morning.
At 6am (it was 32 degrees)Ron began calling around. The first call was to Provan and Mark answered and said he was trying to get some information and would call us back. Ron then called Rixen the supplier of the heater and they were extremely helpful and they walked Ron thru troubleshooting the unit. Working with Rixen we eliminated the obvious causes. Finally between Rixen and Jay at Provan we were able to get to get a fault code from the unit and it said that the impeller was jammed or frozen. Meanwhile Mark found a couple of places in Anchorage and one in Fairbanks that could work on the heater. After some discussion we opted for Fairbanks as it was closer and along the route we had planned.
So at about 9am we found ourselves frustrated and heading for Fairbanks and Interior Mechanical Services. We were under a bit of a time crunch as it was Friday and Interior closes at 5pm so we went as fast as we could with 3 different types of tires on the truck. We arrived at Interior at abut 2pm and Ernie the manager arranged to get us right in to the shop. They suspected that the air intake had sucked in something and clogged the impeller. This usually results in the impeller having to be replaced. They were right, but unfortunately by the time they dropped the unit and confirmed the problem we had run out of time on Friday so were going to be in Fairbanks for the weekend. Also, a gasket set was going to have to be air freighted from Anchorage so we could get going on Monday.
With the heater off and overnight temperatures in the high 30’s we were looking for lodging. All of the hotels in Fairbanks were $300 to $500 per night and even the Army base wanted $175, so we are about 20 miles south of Fairbanks at Eileson Air Force Base where we found a room for $60 per night.
So we are where we planned to be, likely for the time we had planned to be here (3 days), but still frustrated because it is not on our terms, but on Scouts terms.
Also by the way we passed the end of the Alaska Highway.
After an early wakeup we had two options for camping today, in the park they had availability in the dry campground, right outside of the park there is a commercial campground, after discussing the bathroom situation we opted for the commercial park as the park service is closing all of the bathrooms today for the winter.
We decided to head into the park before checking in at the campground. We took the bus to the Temple of Sinawatra to start the day. About half way down the trail Noi was a couple hundred yards ahead of everyone else when we came upon her talking to four people. It turns out it was two Thai couples from Hawaii and California. Everyone joined in the conversation. Ron and Dr. Dragon (that is the English translation of his name) were talking as they had both recently retired from the military, (Ron’s official retirement date was his 60th birthday). Dr. Dragon had been a Captain in the US Navy, at some point Ron mentioned that Dang had also retired from the Thai Navy. Captain Dragon then pointed at the wife in the other couple and said she had also been a Doctor in the Thai Navy. Dang and Doctor Jin began talking and it turned out they had attended the Thai equivalent of Officers Candidate School together. It is a small world when two people from Thailand can renew an acquaintance from 40 years ago in the middle of a canyon in Utah! A walk that should of taken an hour turned into three hours as a lot of catching up had to be done. At the end we agreed to meet for dinner in the evening.
Fall colors add to the beauty of Zion.
Ron’s stealth run to the brewery was busted when one of his credit cards turned up missing in the morning. Everyone was worried and turning the truck upside down looking for it. After dropping Dang and Noi off for shopping at the visitors center, and another run into the park Ron was forced to confess that he had left it at the pub, and he and Ton went to retrieve it.
While Noi and Dang were making a second run into the park, Ron and Ton took care of getting Elephant settled for the day, and took a little breather. In the evening we had a very nice Mexican dinner with our new (old) friends from Thailand!
Noi was up before the crack of dawn for some sunrise shots, while Dang, Ton and Ron slept in until about 7am. After Noi returned we had a fairly long drive to Zion. On the way out of Grand Canyon we stopped at a few sites for some more pictures.
Grand Canyon.
We arrived in Zion about 3pm and like Grand Canyon we were able to get full hookups for the first day and then we will have to figure out what to do for tomorrow. After arrival the three Thai women made a reconnaissance run on the bus up into the Canyon.
Ron elected to stay behind and rest his ribs. After a while he decided to make a stealth run to a brewery in town to check out the local beers, and to scout for a place to watch the Timbers tomorrow.
Sunset from our campsite in Zion.
After another long day we had a late meal and everyone turned in. The plan is to head up the canyon early tomorrow after relocating the truck to another campground.
We are making a quick pass thru Monument Valley. We managed an early start to the day to cover the 140 miles to Monument Valley in time for Dang, Jeap, and Noi to do a Jeep tour of the valley. Ron and Ton stayed behind as the women decided Ron’s ribs were not up to a rough road.
On the way in we swung thru Gooseneck State Park which is a famous place where the San Juan river makes several 90 degree turns in a short area.
The San Juan River turning on itself at Gooseneck SP.
The tour was a great success and lots of pictures were taken. The guide was a Navajo women named Hope which was interesting as almost every other guide is male. She brought a different experience to the tour.
Some of the famous monuments in Monument Valley.
After the tour we were sitting on a balcony in the visitors center waiting for sunset, when a couple of small birds landed in a bush in front of us. Dang said that they were sparrows, and Ron with great confidence told her it was not a sparrow. About the same time a Navajo sitting next to us said that it was not a sparrow. He had been there for a few minutes doing pencil drawings of the valley. After a couple of minutes of looking at the birds I saw him take out his phone and open a bird app. After a couple of minutes he smiled looked up and said it is a sparrow, a Barrel Sparrow to be exact. Chock one up to Dang and Thailand over an American and a native living in the valley!
Darrin told us he was a guide and asked if he could answer any questions. We spent an hour or so talking to him about the Navajo, Monument Valley, and the surrounding area. He was a fountain of knowledge and clearly incredibly proud of his tribe, and heritage. On top of that his sister is a graduate of Oregon State living in Eugene with her husband a graduate of University of Oregon, so as he said his nephews are platypuses. For non-Oregonians that means a product of parents of the two universities whose mascots are the ducks and the beavers.
The day started with Ron and Ton heading into town to try to pick up some prescriptions for Ron. But after waiting around awhile for Ron’s doctor from Oregon to contact the pharmacy in Moab we decided to head back to get Noi, Jeap, and Dang.
The women headed back to Arches for some follow up photos and another shopping spree at the visitors center. They had strict instructions to return by five as the pharmacy closed at six.
Another view of Arches NP with no Arches.
They completed everything and were back at Elephant in plenty of time to head into town to fill the prescription and take care of some laundry.
The day ended simply with some cheeseburgers and a salad. The cheeseburgers were a hit as everything tastes better when grilled outside.
We were up before the crack of dawn to head into Arches for sunrise. Ron had a very uncomfortable night sleeping from his fall the other day, and was beginning to wonder if there was more damage than he thought initially.
We hit all of the highlights of Arches and sunrise was spectacular. Near the end of the day Jeap and Noi decided they wanted to hike about 4 miles to Delicate Arch for sunset photos. Ron’s discomfort from his fall a couple of nights ago was still pretty intense so while they did that Dang, Ton and Ron headed to the urgent care clinic in Moab.
One of the views from Arches NP but no Arch in site.
After some poking and prodding and X-rays it turns out that Ron has three broken ribs, which explains the discomfort he was feeling. Unfortunately there is nothing to do about broken ribs but rest so he will be soldiering on.
Jeap and Noi set personal records for steps during the day at 27,000, and got some great photos.
Primarily a driving day again today. It was a little farther than thought it would be to Moab from Ogden, and we had to pass long ways thru Salt Lake City which was not fun Elephant.
This little arch gave us a preview of tomorrows visit to Arches NP.
Our first stop in Moab was to pick up the rental car. After getting the car (with a nice upgrade from what we ordered from Enterprise) we headed into our packed KOA in Moab.
Ron was a little stiff and sore from his tumble yesterday, plus he and Noi were still fighting the effects of colds. After settling in we headed to bed early as we are planning to be in Arches NP for sunrise and sunset tomorrow.
Today was another driving day. After a slow start to the day we headed down the road. The first and only stop for the day was at the Costco in Pocatello ID to stock up on supplies and to boost the economy of Idaho with some purchases for Thailand.
For the night we stayed at Willard Bay State Park. It was located right on the Great Salt Lake. It turned out to be a nice place to stay and convenient. We had a nice grill out and dinner despite having to fend off some mosquitos.
Sunset at Willard Bay SP.
We decided to repeat our plan in Moab of renting a car and leaving Elephant stationary for the visit. Something made Ron decide to call ahead to get a reservation. Good thing as there was a mountain bike race, and a long school weekend going on in Utah. It took calling five places before we got the last spot in the KOA in Moab. The price is a little bit of a rip off but there was no choice.
One problem for the night was Ron fell going to the bathroom at night and landed pretty hard. There is a little step down from the bedroom in Elephant and Ron missed the step. There was some moaning and groaning but he was able to get up and get back to bed.
Today was a day to explore Zion. After a relaxing morning we headed to the river walk with Pae and Supachai. It is a easy walk beside the Virgin River towards an area called the Narrows. It was a very pretty walk that seemed easy after the walks the previous couple of days.
The trail from our Ranger walk today.
We had signed up earlier in the day for a two hour ranger talk. It was quite fun and interesting and as usual the Ranger did a good job and was very well prepared.
Ton spotted this caterpillar along the trail during our Ranger walk.
At the end of the tour we said good bye to Pae and Supachai. Ton and I would like to thank them for a great time, and we really enjoyed their company.
Today we shifted base to Zion. We had agreed to meet Pae and Supachai at the hotel so we had a pretty early start so we could dump our tanks. When we got to the dump station we had an international dump station party with a couple from Germany, and England. With some cooperation we were all able to get out of there pretty quickly.
Part of the scenic drive between Bryce Canyon and Zion NP.
The drive to Zion was an uneventful 70 miles. Our next target was to get into a campground in Zion. Given how busy Bryce was we were pretty pessimistic about getting into one of the Park Campgrounds. When we pulled into the station to pay the entrance fee they had a sign saying both campgrounds were full. We decided to check anyway as it was still before noon hoping someone left. When we pulled into the South Campground the campground host waived us down and we were expecting the worst. But she told us this was our lucky day because we could have their last spot if we wanted it. Of course we did and jumped in. After setting up we headed into town to have a quick Thai lunch.
Flowering cactus near our campground in Zion.
Zion was very busy and the bus system they have in place was overwhelmed. But we were able to go up and hike the Emerald Pools Trail. What a difference 70 miles can make. When we woke in Bryce in the morning it was 40 degrees, and when we went to hike the Emerald Pools Trail it was 93 degrees. We took it easy and it was well worth the trip.
This squirrel posed for Ton on the Emerald Pools Trail.
We called it a day a little early as Pae and Supachai were staying in a hotel about 50 miles from the park. Ton and I enjoyed a relaxing sunset from our campsite to call it a day.
