Sharon was elated ! She went ahead and made up an itinerary that would cover the the complete time that her cousins were up here. She picked this little trick up from her sister when we would visit England, with an itinerary your sure not to miss a good attraction and to see as much as we can in 10 days.
Stacy is 25, and Cory is 28 both were born and raised in Arizona. And we had never met face to face before.
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| Leaving Arizona |
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| On the way |
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| Clear flying |
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| Arrival in Alaska |
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| Back yard around 10:00 P.M. |
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| Bob and Sharons' guard dogs Lilly and Lolly |
They arrived in Alaska at 5:45 in the afternoon on Sunday July 12. We picked them up at the airport and brought them to Wasilla, had a quite dinner and learned a little about each other. We then went on to explain what our plans were going to be for their visit. And explained we're not going to have that many Down Days
Woke up early Monday morning and headed towards the Iditarod Headquarters which is in Wasilla.
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| Stacy and Cory |
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| Cory found a new friend a real Alaskan Sled Dog |
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| Sled Dogs are hard to pass up |
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Taking a dog sled ride with Ramie Redington, the son of Joe Redington Sr.
The father of the Iditarod |
Palmer Alaska
Next stop was Palmer for a quick lunch and then a trip up to Hatcher Pass
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| Palmer Alaska |
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| Matanuska River |
The weather is starting to close in a little bit time to move up to the mountains
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| A historical center refurbished by the State Parks |
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| Mountain Rain |
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| Moose Guard made of branches |
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| Stopped to visit a friend on the way back from Hatcher Pass |
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| Great Meal included Prime Rib, Salmon, for $12.00 Addit. Crab Legs. All you can eat |
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| View off Porch you can eat outside weather permitting |
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| Families skipping rocks together |
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| Our meal at Fox Island, all you can eat WOW |
So our day started out at 7:00 AM, we arrived in Seward for a 12:00 sailing.
The tour took about 5 hrs to complete. We had reservations at the Land's End Resort that evening. Getting to Homer going to be another 4+ hours
Day Three
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| View from our rooms at Lands End Resort |
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| Infamous Salty Dog Bar in Homer Alaska |
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| The inside of the bar is plastered with dollar bills with names or sayings on them |
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| And naturally Stacy and Cory added their dollar to posterity |
We had an additional stop to make before we headed for home base
Alaska Wildlife Conservatory
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| Beautiful setup for seeing live bears |
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| Yup thats a lounge bear |
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| It's about the time for the bears to be fed, 3:30 for Black Bear 4:30 for Brown Bear |
The next stop was home because we have in Talkeetna Alaska to ride some Zip Lines
Day 4
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| From left to right Bob, Cory, Stacy, Sharon, And another couple from Arizona |
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| Stacy getting wild |
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| Hanging out in the trees |
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| Short Rappel |
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| Hanging out in the trees |
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| One of Two Rope Bridges |
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| Add caption |
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| The whole gang |
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| Zipping is over |
The last ride
Next stop is Home and packing for the trip to McCarthy. This is going to be a modified camping trip we just need to get together sleeping pads, sleeping bags, one large tent small cook stove for coffee-hot chocolate. We'll be eating our meals in restaurants
McCarthy is about 300 miles away from our house, the last 60 miles of which is probably best driven at 20-30mph it is a dirt road. We have been going there since 1984 a year after a guy who used to live there tried to kill the entire town
Days 5-6
To get to McCarthy you have to travel up the Glenn Highway, there is always a lot of construction during the summer time. But this sign really caught my attention.
The drop wasn't that bad but you can never be to sure.
The Matanuska Glacier
This glacier carved out the valley we now live in.
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An Alaskan tip. It's always chilly standing in front of a Alaskan Glacier,
Alaska Pipeline
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Alaska Pipeline
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About 17 miles on the road you get the opportunity to cross the Kuskulana River
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When me and Sharon first came across this bridge it didn't have any guard rails. Just 12 x12 timbers on each side
Needless to say we never got out of the car.
Did I tell everyone the road that we were driving on was the roadbed for the railroad that took the copper from the Kennicott Mill to Cordova Alaska. They had to build quite a few bridges to be able to make that trip
Some history on this Bridge, Double click on this link
This Bridge was built in 11 days
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| A good friend of mine did some wild camping here a couple of years ago |
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| 11 days to build that Amazing |
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| Swans and their family They bond for life |
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| Since the Park Service took over they built quite a few way stations for people |
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| And the interiors are clean and stocked |
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| A beaver lodge on a pretty good sized lake |
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| The town has changed quite a bit since we've been coming here but I think it's all been for the good |
McCarthy the reality show on Discovery channel
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| Waiting for the bus to get to Kennicott |
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Stacy going native with her head covering
Kennicott History Click here to see
Kennicott was the copper mine and McCarthy was the place where the single men could unwind.
There is a separation of seven miles between the two. Today there is a shuttle service that will transport you from the bridge to McCarthy and back no charge. If you want to make the trip up to Kennicott the shuttle charges $5.00 one way or $10.00 round trip |
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| 14 Story Concentration Mill |
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| The Kennicott Recreation Center |
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| The copper ore went from here to Cordova Alaska |
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| I have always been amazed that those stacks never fell over |
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| The building on the left is the Hospital it was originally whitewashed. The rest of the buildings were all painted red as the color was the least expensive |
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| The Power House |
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| This was Cory's very first camping trip |
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| Our Campsite |
Day Seven
We brake down the camp and are on the road by 8:00
Heading to Valdez to catch the ferry to Whittier
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| Along the way we get to see a little wildlife |
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| Some of the little guys have never seen cars or trucks |
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| And it's evident, as to how close you are able to get to them |
I told you a friend of ours, Mike Saunders did some wild camping on this spot
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| The amazing Copper River |
On the way in to McCarthy while driving down the Edgerton Highway, we passed a very clean farm-ranch, but what caught my eye was the word
Fithian that was carved in to a log sign and that was the only thing that I saw racing by at 60 mph. Sharon and I have been in Alaska for 35 years and during that time I have only met one person with that name, I told Sharon we're going to have to stop on the way to Valdez. Coming from the other direction on the road I almost missed it.
I pulled in to the front yard and there was a small cabin, but the main house was a little further in on the property. Now remember I've not set my eyes on this man in close to 30 years. I call out two or three times, hello anybody here. I'm just about ready to give up, when this guy pops out of the house tossing on a cowboy hat, Our eyes catch each others and we both call out to each other Bob. I couldn't believe it.
Bob and I both worked at the Independence Mine. I had come up fromWyoming, and he had come up from Colorado. He stayed in the mining industry and branched out to a lot of different things. His oldest son is 30 yrs. And he has 12 grandchildren. We swapped some stories and promised to get back together again
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| Two old Miners |
It was great meeting up with you and Barb again.
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| One of many Yaks |
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| I think this is a bull |
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| Bob and his wife Barbaras' Ranch |
Double Click on the link ( great clip of a yak stampede)
Alaska Yaks
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| Worthington Glacier in Keystone Canyon on the way to Valdez Alaska. |
Summer Vacation Stacy and Cory
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| Bridal Vail Falls in Keystone Canyon |
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| I believe this is Horsetail Falls in Keystone Canyon |
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| Bridle Vail Falls |
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| Catching up |
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| Lunch at the Fat Mermaid in Valdez Alaska |
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| Hard to believe anyone can bite into a burger like Cory |
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| How to take a bath in a public washroom |
Day Eight
Getting ready to get on the ferry that will take us to Whittier the only problem it is leaving at 7:00 in the morning And we have to be ready to board at 6:00. So the four of us decide We'll just sleep in the truck, Note to self do not do again, we would have been better off just sleeping on the grass oh well live and learn.
The trip between Valdez and Whittier is a little over 4 hours, a very pleasant ride via the
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| We're going to be driving behind a camper unit |
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| Here we go |
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| On the other side of the mountain is Portage Lake. When we first came came to Alaska you were able to see the glacier, but it has receded around to the left of the mountain in front of you. |
And this is just for your enjoyment
