The Alaska/Canadian Yukon Trip

7/24/17 We left the Seward campground around 9:30, and headed back on the same road to Anchorage .   We stopped in Anchorage at Costco for gas, then headed for Palmer.    The weather did not cooperate with us.   The low-hanging clouds and fog kept up from seeing the big mountains on the way in.   Arrived in Mt. View campground in Palmer around 2:00.   Settled in and visited with some of the group.   I read and finished my second book.   According to the Palmer information, it looked like about 3 streets wide and not much else.   We decided to do our touring tomorrow. 7/25/17 Slept in and took our time in the morning as we had the whole day to ourselves.   Around 10:00, Tom and I took off in the Jeep to the Visitor Center in Palmer.   We watched a movie all about the ‘colonists’ who settled the town of Palmer .   It was so interesting that we stayed there in front of the movie (called ‘Alaska Far Away’) for over an hour.   So here is a little history for my bl

7/21/17 This morning I caught Tom with the binoculars looking out the windshield at the bay – Penny was interested too.   Tom thought he saw a whale, but no luck, it was just a log.    Tom and Penny looking for a whale We left the Homer campground around 9:15.   The skies were clear and the sun came out – Hooray!   We stopped at a turnout where 2 volcanos were visible – Mt. Redoubt was on the left and Mt. Iliamna was on the right.   Quite a sight, as we couldn’t see anything when we came in to Homer due to rain and clouds.    Mt. Redoubt on the left   Mt. Iliamna on the right  We stopped again in Soldotna for gas and enjoyed the ice-covered mountains, rivers, and lakes along the route.   All of a sudden we came to a mountain pass with a lake in front of it on the right side of the road.   The mountain and the clouds reflected into the lake, and it looked like a marketing postcard for Alaska .   I yelled for Tom

7/18/17 Left the campground in the morning. Got gas across the street at Costco in the motorhome and the Jeep.  We  passed the Turnagain Arm, which is an inlet from the ocean.  When the tide is low, all you can see is quicksand as the inlet is almost devoid of water.  When the tide is up, Beluga whales swim into the inlet.  Quicksand in Turnagain Arm Our first stop was Portage Glacier Visitor Center .   It was very informative, and we learned how the glacier has receded over the recent years, creating Portage Lake (Also there was a lot of information about the 1964 earthquake which measured 9.5 and completed wiped out the town of Portage) .   The current town of Portage was rebuilt about 2-3 miles away from the original site.   Here is a picture of the lake (the glacier has receded behind the mountain. Portage lake (glacier to the right and behind the mountain)  We stopped in a turnout where we saw Chris and Dottie, our Wagonmasters, stopped.   Chris was helpi