Anchorage & trips from ...........

Bear walks right past a patient seagull which waits for any tiny morsels which might float by....

At Katmai - Brooks Lodge, there were DOZENS of bears to be seen in all different directions, some only 75 to 100 feet away.

Shot from floatplane on route to Katmai to see the bears.

Bill went on a side trip to Katmai National Park to see Brooks Lodge (Ilea sat this one out b/c of ear problems when flying.) This place is the one you may have seen on TV where the bears all wait at the edge of the waterfalls as the salmon are jumping up the falls trying to spawn upstream. The bears actually CATCH the fish in mid-air. Place is only accessible by FLOATPLANES.

We tried to run, but we couldn't hide!! Yogi got us good!

Downtown Anchorage has a 'Salmon on Parade' art festival ...here is one of MANY.

You'll never guess ........ Bill is doing a dramatization of blowing a seal........
UP! The eskimos skinned seals , then tied off the neck end, and plugged up the butt end (except for a small straw placed in the anus - where one would blow air up the butt end ! Its a real seal pictured here) This was done so that it could be effectively used as a bouy that was attached by rope to a spear which had been stuck into a whale; whale may try to swim down and away, but in unable b/c the bouyant seal bouy brings the whale back to the surface! That really blows for the whale, huh?

1964 major earthquake that shook Anchorage has an actual PARK in remembrance of that day the earth cracked like an egg.

This was a view of Mt. McKinley from a rest stop we drydocked at recently.

Uhhh, hand me those binoculars.....Grizzly approaching....I think!!(Heard while kayaking recently)

Bullwinkle came within 10 feet of our car!

DENALI NATIONAL PARK .....

Question... do Great National Park trips make one horny?

Finally had to break out the protective head gear....bzzzzzz





We had the absolute most perfect day for viewing Mt McKinnley! Could see it all day long with no cloud obstructions.... bus driver said that you only get 4 or 5 days like that all year. It was most AWESOME - did not look real!!

Here are two of numerous GRIZZLY BEARS we saw at the Park.

Caught this shot of a Raven polishing off a reindeer carcass.......

Many many many incredible flowers!!

Ilea blends in perfectly with the surroundings... what a wildflower!

What a terrific park ... and we picked the perfect day!

More Alaskan wildlife which we had not expected to see...n

ALASKA !!!!!

Ilea shows off her new $25,000 earing of solid gold....

Bill hoping for the smallest speck of GOLD.... panning for gas money!

A romp with a sled dog...

At another ice museum, they had ICE hotel rooms with BEDS made of ICE - this one is a polar bear bed!

Debating whether Ilea needed to be airlifted out for emergency care ..... I KID I KID! Really its an open house for Airforce Base in Fairbanks area!

Santa and Mrs. Clause says we were VERY Good at being bad this year!!!

Uhh...picture says it all....

THey used these so called PIGS to clean out the Alaskan Oil Pipeline!!

This is an ANTIQUE snow mobile!!

All Alaska cars have this electric cord in front so in winter they can plug in to the many city street electric outlets so engine does not freeze!

Ice museum in Fairbanks Alaska.

Ilea was tempted to check out this place ....hmmmmm.

Made it to ALASKA !!! AKA : Trials & Tribulations

Way too many gorgeous Alaskan pictures to post!! Shot of mountains from highway of our moving RV…..


Ate breakfast at this Alaskan rest area’s picnic table…. Wonderful moments, followed by the 'not-so-wonderful' b/c soon after this pic was taken, the RV proceeded to break down TWICE on the way to Fairbanks ! Had a leak in the cooling system (hose) which ultimately delays our time in Fairbanks by a couple of days to await repairs.


Camped at “Sourdough RV PARK” world famous for its nightly PANCAKE TOSS competitions! The owner is amazing – comedian, musician, and quick mover- as you can see in the BLUR as he whipped by the piles of pancakes. Had to toss pancakes about 30 feet into the bucket (also seen in the pic) … if you did , you win a free pancake bkfst!




A quick jump out of the RV along the TOP OF THE WORLD 100 mile gravel road between Dawson City , Yukon and Tok, Alaska.

Travel day from YUKON to ALASKA….. Shows RVs in line to cross the Yukon river; we arrived at 7am and had to wait about 2 hours. After a couple of weeks driving thru CANADA, this was THE DAY we would cross to Alaska and it was NOT A GOOD ONE…… Ilea did not sleep much b/c she had significant discomfort in lower abdomen , and now this morning as we wait in line – she has bloody urine. Suspect perhaps passing a stone or infection. PROBLEM: from where we are, its over 7 hours backwards direction to Whitehorse (capital of Yukon) ..OR, forward to AK about 5 hours over TOP OF THE WORLD HIGHWAY to Tok, Alaska,which is mostly gravel and often very BUMPY and narrow (not ideal for a person passing a stone!!!!) Ilea wants USA so off we go. Note the ferry you see only could take one or two RVs at a time across the river. We did get Ilea to a clinic in TOK and fortunately, they diagnosed her with ‘only’ a bladder infection and probable passing of stone. Blood has ceased thankfully, and on antibiotics, she has since dramatically improved, and concerns for now , have mostly subsided.

The YUKON.... the doorstep to ALASKA !!

AWESOME FIGHT TO THE END of these Moose…. We have seen about half dozen of these! Apparently, when the male Moose fight for a female or a territory (?same thing?), they often fight to the DEATH. What happens is that these formidable Horns can do significant SKULL PENETRATING damage. Also, horns can really LITERALLY become LOCKED! Sooo, combination of the penetration of a horn into one moose head which kills THAT one is a real problem for the temporary ‘survivor moose’ b/c although you have killed your enemy, you now have your antler stuck FOR GOOD in his skull, and your horns are LOCKED!! This moose too will die a slow death, unable to shake the dead moose from his head. Pic shows the left over skulls of 2 moose that engaged in such a battle.




Snow bank in JUNE still persists…. Note the river flow has greatly subsided, and also , you can see the roots of the brush on the shoreline UNDER the snow exposed.

This Dawson City #4 Gold Dredger has been restored (dug out of 30 foot of frozen muck) and is now a museum. Breifly : this monster was like a huge Amoeba , moving in different directions, traveling with its own huge ‘puddle’ of water (100 yard diameter) … if it wanted to head , say west , it would dig its way westward , GO THRU and Crudely SIFT ALL IT HAD DUG UP, for GOLD of course/ picking it out, and deposit the non-gold stuff behind itself on the EAST shore of its ‘puddle’ ….. by doing so, it effectively MOVED itself and its puddle in a westward motion.

Took in a Can-Can show in an historic old gambling hall –‘Diamond Tooth Gerties’


On Midnight Dome hill in Dawson City – can view 360 degrees of evidence of gold digging over the last century.

Unbelievable wildlife ….. click on this pic to enlarge and see if you can find all TEN yes 10 diamond needles in this approx one square foot area of grass ! ! !

This shows one of the spectacular views of the flower lined highways we have been seeing up North.

Campground in Yukon rented out their Teepees to camp in!!

Canada.... Watson Lake Sign Post Forest...

There are over 63,000 signs posted here in the Sign Post Forest ..... started over 60 years ago by a military guy who missed home. We found some from Ithaca NY, and many other NY and FL cities ...... we posted our own unique rendition.......

Bill carefully places one of two of our signs in the Watson Lake "Sign Post Forest" and if you blow up the pic (click on it) you may see what it says ....

On many occasions during our several day drive in Canada thru the British Columbia and the Yukon, we have seen Rainbows going across snow covered peaks as in this shot- if you look carefully, you will see it!!

How are the roads up here, you may ask?? Not too bad most of the time.... however, there are some spots which are Sooooo bad, that you need to be accompanied by a Canadian 'Pilot Car' so you don't drive off the road!!!