May 27, Falling Apart in Alaska

At the beginning of our trip, we had some problems with the furnace.  All was going well and then two weeks later we woke up to a chilly motorhome again.  Bill came to the rescue again...getting out of bed, getting dressed and fixing the problem.  

I kept warm under the covers. :-)

The clamp on the exhaust pipe for the generator broken and then the pipe got bent.  We didn't notice it until we got to Chicken.  Another thing for Bill to fix.

Bigger problems...require bigger tools.  The slide-out started to slide in crooked and required some jerry-rigging to keep it the way it should be to travel.  I did hold the bolt while Bill drilled in the screws into a plate to help the problem. :-)

Think it's annoying when someone leaves kitchen drawers or doors open at home?  In a motorhome, if latches don't hold.....every corner you go around.....they slide or swing open, then shut, then open, then shut...I think you get it!

Simple solutions here...put the drawer back on it's track and just slam the door.  That was easy!

If you watch Alaskan State Troopers, you may have seen this water tower.  The program takes place in this area in the Matanuska Valley.  It's only 10 miles from Wasilla, so we went down there for lunch and to check out a few stores.  In 1935, President Roosevelt's New Deal established the Matanuska Colony.  203 families, from the drought-starved Midwest, came to this area and drew lots for 40 acre lots to farm.  Even today, this area is a garden hub for the rest of Alaska because if its microclimate that produces giant vegetables. 

Igloo greenhouse?

Whoaaaa...Target with a view!  

This is where all those Flamingos go in the summertime. 

 Back to the campground to relax and to 

have an Alaskan beer and some munchies.

Maybe...we should forget the munchies and.....

...just have the Alaskan beer.  

Hey, doesn't everyone keep their beer in the shower?

  

      

Yes...We Have No Belugas... We Have No Belugas Today. (Day 27)

Lazy day today.  We have to stay somewhere not too far from Anchorage because of Bill's dentist appointment on Tuesday.  That's okay, we will take shorter trips to different places and do some site-seeing.  There are lots of little towns on the inlet with some interesting things to see.  Today we stopped in Kenai, which is about 160 miles south of Anchorage.  The campground is called Beluga Outlook which is on Cook's Inlet.  I didn't see any Beluga Whales though.  I talked with a man that said he hasn't seen any of them for two weeks. :-(  "FOILED AGAIN!"  I did see another moose and eagles on the way here though, so I did see some wildlife today.

Closest we got to a Beluga Whale.

Took a neat walk down to the beach.

I checked the shells and rocks along the shoreline.

Bill check out what looked like an old engine to something

lying in the tall grasses.

I think Alaska is just teasing us...

we keep finding only "traces" of that wildlife!

There is still evidence of the Russia culture in Kenai.  In 1791 this area was an important fur trading settlement of Russia.  This  Russian Orthodox Church was built 1895 and served the community then and is still an operating church today.  We met the priest inside and he gave us some very interesting history of the church and how it came to be.  Inside are beautiful paintings and religious books brought from Russia.  The priest said that besides being in Alaska, he served at a Russian Orthodox Church in

 Kenosha, Wisconsin......small world! 

  There are some real nice Visitor Centers in Alaska. 

 Oh...would I like to find one of these!

Nice picnic table at the campground.  It better be in the place they want it because I don't think they can move it!

At the office of our campground...

I'd like to meet the person with the green thumbs!

Think they would miss one so I can hang it on our motor home?