Category Archives: Touristy

Delayed in Alaska

Posted on by

When we headed to Homer there was a wildfire burning on the Kenai Peninsula and we came through some of the smoke on the way. But after a week, we had very minimal smoke on the way to our next stop, Seward.

We stayed there for 4 nights at the KOA. I know there are spots downtown, near the water, but they were only $20 or so cheaper but only electric and water. Plus you had some more ‘permanent campers there. Right by our spot was an eagle that made a nest in the only tree at the KOA:

We scheduled a boat trip to visit Kenai Fjords NP and some wildlife on the way. Naturally the day we went out was rainy and with rough seas. This meant Roxie got seasick in the 6′ swells. She didn’t have a very good time. She was able to be alert enough to see some of the wildlife and glaciers:

We took a day trip from there to Whittier. We were able to go through the tunnel shortly after the train came through:

Unlike Skagway, Whittier only had 1 cruise ship but it dominated the skyline:

Whittier was built by the US military as a base and they built the tunnel for trains. Here is one of the buildings they left behind. They decided not to tear down this one due to costs since it was built to withstand earthquakes and is filled with asbestos:

Leaving Seward, we headed back to Palmer. We had a medical issue to take care of. One of the primary reasons to head to Austin this year was to get a Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) for Roxie. This will block her nerve pain electronically. However, shortly after we left Austin she had a problem charging it. Her SCS has a rechargeable battery that connects inductively through her skin. She take a flat paddle and lines it up parallel to her internal battery. The problem is that she has to really jam her hand into her side at an odd angle to get any type of charge to the battery and it takes a very long time.

She has been struggling with this for almost 2 months. We got in contact with the representative of the device’s manufacturer (Abbott) and scheduled a time to meet with her in Anchorage. We were able to also meet with an MD that does the SCS procedure. They discovered that her battery had shifted location and was no longer in a vertical orientation but was in such a way that she could not get the paddle parallel with any consistency. Hence the difficulty.

We started the procedure to get the battery replaced with a non-rechargeable one. We needed to get insurance approval but we had some time. We had reservations for Denali NP and then on to Fairbanks.

We headed on to Denali. We stayed at a very nice spot at Riley Creek campground. We had booked a bus tour (the Kantishna Experience) which was 11 hours long for the round trip. It was a cloudy day with a bit of rain. We were only able to see small bits of the mountain for moments at a time. We did see a fair amount of animals: Caribou, Dall sheep, black bears, moose and various other small ones.

On another day at Denali NP, we went to see the sled dogs. Denali still uses sled dogs in the winter for NPS transportation as the majority of the park is a wilderness area. Here is Roxie and I with new friends:

On the 1964 trip, I remember visiting a bunch of sled dogs and all the barking. I was able to find a picture of my encounter back then:

In the background of this picture you can see a name on a doghouse. The name is Niski. On the walls of the building on the grounds, they have all the doghouse names. They take them off when they find a home for a retired sled dog and normally give the new family the sign. However they do put up replicas in the building.

I took this photo to the rangers there and asked them about it. According to their records, there was a Niski that was in a litter from 1961. This would have made the age correct. Looking for the sign:

My memory was pretty accurate. It was a lot of fun to track this down. I asked my sister about all of this and all she remembered is that she wanted to take a dog home back in 1964.

Next was Fairbanks for a week. We should know about the SCS status soon and we had our anniversary coming up (39 years).

I also remember, vaguely, from 1964 that we rode a paddlewheel boat. I remember looking down from the top deck and seeing a salmon wheel. In keeping with the re-creation of 1964, we also took a paddlewheel trip.

Roxie was a bit fearful that she might get seasick, I assured her she would not. She didn’t. The tour is a very enjoyable journey. They have a demo of a floatplane taking off and landing. They show a sled dog team take a lap around a track. They also take you to a remake of a Chena Indian village where local native americans show you the life and techniques of times ago. Here are some fox pelts:

I talked to the trip narrator and let him know about the 1964 trip. I wondered what paddlewheel was used then. He told me this one:

Still floating.

Before we left Fairbanks we still did not know that status of the SCS replacement but decided to head back to the Anchorage area in anticipation of good news. He stopped for 2 nights in Talkeetna and rode the Hurricane Turn train.

We also saw some salmon heading up the river to spawn

We got back to Palmer (for the 3rd time) and found out Roxie got the go ahead for the procedure. Alas, we can’t get the procedure scheduled for 2 weeks after we got here, which means being here for 3 weeks total. But this is part of life on the road. You have to become a local at times.

However, we can see this from our campsite:

Next entry hopefully talks about being on the road again (Go Willie!).

Between the holidays

Posted on by

We were at our house during Thanksgiving but the day after we headed to the SF bay area to visit our family there. As usual, the issue was finding a place to stay with the trailer. Our go-to location is transitioning and only have 2 spots now that would fit our trailer. We opted to stay in Pacifica at the SF RV Resort. The last time we were here, RV’s could back up to the cliff and hear the waves crashing. Things have now changed. There has been such erosion that area has been closed off due to safety concerns. We were only there for 3 nights.

We headed south from there to Paso Robles. This is another location that we have stayed at many times and there used to be only one major RV park there, Wine Country RV. This time we tried a different one, Vines RV Resort. It is a very nice park and, as a bonus, a Passport America participant. We were able to visit some of our usual locations in that area while we were there. Here is a sunset from there:

After 4 nights there we headed to our next stop, a favorite, Catalina Spa and RV, in Desert Hot Springs. This leg was over 300 miles, which we try to avoid, so we decided to break it up. We did an overnight stop outside of Bakersfield at the Orange Grove RV Park. It was a nice place for an overnight but a bit pricey and, alas, the oranges were not ready to pick!

We stayed at Catalina for 8 nights and took advantage of Passport America with them also. We always have a good time in the Palm Springs area and we were biding our time for an upcoming event. The mountains got some snow on them while we were there:

Our next stop was Van Nuys. We were heading to the Hollywood RV park, we knew it as Balboa RV park. We have stayed here also and like its’ proximity to many things to do.

We primarily came here because we had tickets to a filming of Jeopardy. I love Jeopardy and have always wanted to see it taped so I decided to get tickets. Roxie thinks I should go on it sometime but I KNOW that would be the episode where the questions were about Opera or English monarchs!

Unfortunately we got a phone call that the Jeopardy taping had been cancelled but they offered us seating at a Wheel of Fortune taping. We accepted. They put us on the production guest list for a different date. It was OK with us even though I would have rather seen Jeopardy.

Prior to the day of the taping, we met up with our friends the Chens. We met them at the Sriracha factory in Irwindale CA for the factory tour. They have wanted to go to this tour for a while and we are always willing to on one. The story of the founder of Sriracha is really great, you should read it here. Here are some shots from the tour:

We then drove to their house but stopped off at the California Yuan Yung Buddhism Center. It was nice and serene with good views from the hills:

One night while we were down there, we went to eat at Lawry’s Prime Rib. I remember going there once as a child and seeing them carve the prime rib from a hunk of beef in a cart. They do this right at your table. Not much has changed. The food was very good, the ambiance was great and the service was fantastic!

The next day was the Wheel of Fortune taping. We first went into the wrong gate at Sony studios but since we were early it didn’t matter too much. When we went in the right gate, we couldn’t fit the truck in the parking structure and had to park on the street (meters). The assistants started lining people up and we were taken first (remember we are on the production guest list) and this was a good thing! I forgot that my pocket knife was in my pocket. This is a no-no. I had to walk/run back to the truck, then back.

I made it back with plenty of time. They brought all of us into the studio and seated us. They gave us instructions on when to clap, when to be quiet, when we can go the bathroom, etc. They taped 3 episodes that day. There was a LOT of clapping that you were supposed to do and follow the assistants. I figured out that we were cheap labor for the show. There is a possibility that we will be seen on one of the shows. Our shows are being shown on Feb 7, Feb 8 and Mar 13.

After our 7 nights in SoCal, and 24 nights total, it was time to get back to Visalia for Christmas time.