Alaska – Anchorage – State 18 of 49 on our RV Adventure

If you are a first-time reader, welcome to Lora and Erics RV Adventure Blog. You can read about us at http://www.LoraandEricsRVAdventure.com. We started in December 2017 with a goal to complete 49 states before heading home to North Carolina.

Due to limited access to internet service and Verizon Hotspot in Canada and Alaska we will be adding photos as we can. In the mean time we will continue to provide our RV adventure at each phase of our RV adventure in text.

We have a short trip from Kenai, AK to Anchorage, AK. The route will take us back through the same roads we came in on. The day is expected to be nice with temperatures expected to be in the low 70°s.

The travel time from Diamond M Ranch Resort in Kenai, AK to Golden Nugget RV Park in Anchorage, AK is 2 h 58 min 155 miles via AK-1 North.

We set off expecting to be in Anchorage between 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm. The sun is gleaming, and the sky is clear. We get out last view of the beautiful scenery around Kenai and Soldotna. The fisherman and rafters are out on the Kenai River. As we approach Cooper Landing we come up to a sign with “Accident Ahead”. We make the bend and slowly come to a stop behind a Class A motorcoach and car. The size of the RV is blocking our view. I stop the truck and step out. I see two tow trucks positioned in the left lane. The smaller tow truck is trying to pull on something. I walk to Lora’s side and see a Pepsi Tractor Trailer off the road.

We expect to be here for a long while. People further back in line are now coming up to investigate. We chat with the driver in the Class A motorcoach while we watch the tow trucks trying to upright the tractor trailer and semi.

One of the guys waiting with us talks with guy holding the Stop sign. It turns out the Pepsi driver is holding the Stop sign. The guy returns and tells us the driver was run off the road by a car coming towards him at 8:20 am. We were close to about 11:00 am.

The smaller truck is trying to pull while the big rig tow truck is pulling from the rear axles. Each time the smaller tow truck pulls the trailer leans more. After a bit the tow trucks give up and disconnect the chains. They clean up the road and move their tow trucks off the road.

The police set up cones and start to allow cars go through.

In all we were stopped for a little over 30 minutes. If the tow trucks were successful on moving the truck and trailer we could have been stopped much longer.

The drive to Portage is scenic and uneventful. The view from Portage to Anchorage is very beautiful.

We make it to Anchorage without any more delays.

By 1:30 pm we are checking into the Golden Nugget RV Park. Our reservation is for July 19th through July 22nd. Reviews of the park are mixed. There is an A side and B side. Basically, one side is residents and the other side is short term visitors. We are placed on the short-term side. Our back in side is extremely tight to get in because the next row is too close. Eventually we squeeze in without asking anyone to move their vehicle. We setup and stay put for the remainder of the day. Lora spots an ice cream truck driving through the RV park.

The evening was good for both of us. We are planning on heading to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center south of Anchorage. Before heading south, we decide to first drive to the Visitors Center in Anchorage. Driving downtown is not a fun drive with a large truck. Lora and I are interested in visiting large cities if they are not friendly to all types if vehicles. As we approach the Visitors Center we see there is no parking area, except on the street. In no way will I be able to squeeze into a parallel parking stop.

We made a quick decision to head to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. It is not our preference because we would prefer to see wildlife out in the wild, but the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is one of only a few attractions that does not include hiking or paid tours outside the city center.

The drive takes us back toward Kenai and Seward on AK-1. We drive along Turnagain Arm waterway. The scene is ever changing based on the weather, tide, and season even if it was only yesterday or a few days ago. We pass the Potter Marsh Wildlife Viewing Boardwalk. Supposedly there is a spot to view salmon coming into a small body of water. There are also many seagulls nesting in the marsh. We enter Chugach State Park followed by the Chugach State Park Headquarters. The is a parking area and some historical items including an old locomotive. The waterway is definitely lacking water. Whether we are always driving by at low tide, the water never completely fills up to the banks. Grass is growing in some parts out on the mud. Continue to head south we pass McHugh Creek Day Use Area. The park has walking and hiking trails. There is a honorary fee per vehicle to park.

There are wayside stops along the way that are large enough for large campers to park and take in the views. We pass Beluga Point, a large parking area in the water side for photo opportunities. After Beluga Point there is a small parking area where on the other side of the road there is a fresh water spring tapped into the rock mountain side. There is a constant flow of people filling water bottles to 5-gallon water dispensers. Big rigs cannot stop but be careful of people crossing the road or filling containers from the spring.

Not far more there is one of a few side roads. We did not take any, but in making this blog, I wish I did to maybe see some wildlife. Rainbow Valley Road takes you over the mountain, deep into Rainbow Creek. The road eventually ends according to satellite views.

Keeping on AK-1 we reach the town of Indian. There Indian Valley Mine & Gifts on your right. A small parking lot, but here you can pan for gold for a fee. There is also a lodge, Coffeehouse and Eatery, BBQ, and closed Saloon.

We pass Bird Creek Access parking area. Bird Creek is a short walk down from the parking area. Each time we have driven by there is a people wading in the creek fishing. The Salmon must be coming upstream from this opening into the waterway. Even with the low water there appears to be a channel cut into the mud that is fed from the Bird creek allowing the Salmon to swim upstream. There is also a second parking area on the other side of the creek.

Bird Creek is the next small town along the highway. There are some side roads you can take that might give more wildlife viewing opportunities. Past Bird Creek there is Bird Point. There is a Beluga Whale Sculpture there to photo opportunities. The rail road is most visible around Bird Creek from the AK-1. Girkwood is the next town and the largest of all the towns along the waterway. After Girkwood there is a long stretch before passing Portage Train Station. There is Portage Townsite Ruins Park down farther.

We finally reach the end of this long stretch along the east side of Turnagain Arm waterway. The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, AWCC is on right. We turn into AWCC.

The past 2 times we have driven by on the way and back from Kenai there is a slow down for vehicles turning into AWCC. All the Wildlife Viewing Tours coming out of Anchorage include AWCC in their tour, so they can guarantee you will see wildlife, even if it is behind a fence.

The parking lot is completely full. The cost is expensive at $15.00 per person. Buses and Motor Coaches are taking up a lot of space as well. We drive further back and find a parking spot along the caribou fence line. The facility is broken into sections. The rear section is dedicated to the endangered wood bison. The next section moving toward the front is caribou, grizzly bear, reindeer, caribou again, musk ox, fox, moose, gift shop with bald eagle, owls, and other small creatures, porcupine, timber wolf, prairie bison, and a couple more animals. The only conservation efforts they promulgate is the re-introduction on the wood bison into Alaska.

We are not impressed with AWCC, it is a tourist trap more than a conservation center. The staff driving around on four wheelers feeding the animals don’t care about the visitors. The musk ox looked filthy compared the musk ox at the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer where they care. There were 4 bears killed the other day at Centennial Campground in Anchorage. A mom bear and 3 cubs for entering peoples tents. The park staff said they were unable to find an organization to take the bears, so they had to shoot them. The AWCC is less than 10 minutes from the site and there is plenty of space there.

In the future we will be hesitant to visit such places without reading reviews in advance. The number of foreigners visiting by bus was amazing. Most likely part of a tour package.

Getting out of AWCC was a challenge. To make a left toward is Anchorage is impossible with all the traffic. We made a right in hopes to find an easy turn around down the road.

In a short distance there is a right turn onto Portage Glacier Road. We decided to drive further in to see Portage Glacier. The road is part of the parks system. There are campgrounds, trails, and viewing sites along the route to Begich Boggs Visitor Center and Portage Glacier Café. When visiting Portage Glacier Café, you can book a cruise to visit Portage Glacier and get 300 yards from the glacier by boat. If you cannot get to Whittier, Seward, or Valdez I would recommend at least once to close to a glacier by boat. If you can witness calving of a glacier it is an amazing site.

We stop at Portage Glacier Café and take with a park volunteer from Florida who has been working up here since early spring. He is a pastor when not managing the café.

After a pleasant conversation we drove around taking pictures of the glacier and snow packs on the adjacent mountains.

We continued down Portage Glacier Road to the entrance of Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. The tunnel is the only access to Wittier on the Prince William Sound. The tunnel is one-way, so it is open in intervals to allow traffic in each direction. The cost varies by vehicle. The length of the tunnel 2.5 miles, the longest tunnel in North America. Between vehicle traffic, the tunnel needs to be exhausted by jet turbines to clear the exhaust from emissions. The tunnel also includes a rail track for trains.

We have Bella B back at the camper, so we decide to opt out of going through the tunnel. The time was near 3:15 pm and if we traveled through the tunnel and visit Whittier we will not get back till after 6:00 pm. We will make the trip another day we hope.

Heading back was now our third trip through Turnagain Arm Waterway along AK-1.

Back at the Golden Nugget RV Park we see new campers passing through. Lora takes pictures of some unique RV’s traveling Alaska.

Saturday is another decent day. We are overcast so we cannot see the mountains across from Anchorage. Today we want to head north. We are only an hour from Palmer, but since we already visited Palmer, so we want to find somewhere in between. Before heading North, we go to Carbela’s Sporting Goods. I want to buy a sleuth box to filter my bucket of gold. We buy a sleuth box and a gold panning kit.

We travel to St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Eklutna, AK. We find out the park is not open on weekends. There is an honorary fee box if the office is closed so you can walk through the cemetery and view the buildings. When the office is open Eklutna Historical Park staff will provide a guided tour to the old log Russian Orthodox Church, see the Spirit Houses, and visit the new Orthodox Church. You'll learn about the history, culture, and customs of the Dena'ina Athabascans in combination with Russian Orthodox traditions. The cemetery needs major repair and the funds should be spent in buying a lawn mower to clear the brush around the cemetery plots.

We try to see a few more attractions before heading back but get lost in the hills above Anchorage where the rich live. Our fuel situation was getting low, so we decided to get fuel before heading back to Golden Nugget RV Park.

When we return to the campground I try out the sleuth and gold panning kit. After a few hours of panning, I find a few flakes of gold. There are a lot of small flakes, but I cannot retrieve it with the equipment I have, so it just gets washed onto to ground.

I go to sleep earlier than normal. While I am a sleep Lora normally hangs outside smoking her cigarettes and drinking her wine. A woman walks up asking her if she can borrow her phone because there is a young woman down the way that needs assistance. Lora and the woman walk down to a young woman worried she has snakes in her hair. She is coming down from a drug. She lives in the park (homeless) across the street. Lora walks here back to the camper while the woman calls the police. I am in and out of sleep and only get up when Bella B will not stop barking. I open the door to let Bella free and see someone sitting on the couch in my hoodie. I close the door again and try to get back to sleep. Lora comes in all pissed I let Bella out, oh well. After some time, I am getting pissed there is no end. The clock in the backroom shows quarter to midnight. I get up and see another person walking into the camper, I ask Lora what is going on and tell her to get my wallet and her purse before anything is stolen and she needs to come to bed. Of course, she does not listen.

After more time passes I am now really pissed, there is more commotion outside the door, so I get up and walk in telling Lora if they are not from the park they need to leave now. I say Lora tends to talk to people when she has her wine, but this was way too much. The woman says she does live in the campground and she agreed with me, that they need to leave the inside of the camper. Lora came to bed a little past midnight. Our clock in the back is always 1 hour ahead so Lora can take her blood pressure medicine.

Now Lora’s rendition. The woman from the campground finds a young woman tripping on something. She does think she has snakes in her hair. Lora and the woman try to console her while the police come to investigate. She refuses to leave with the police, so the police leave. Lora gives her food and water as she comes down from the high. The woman wants her belongings being held by a guy in the woods. After my outburst, Lora and the 2 women walk towards the park to get the young woman’s belongings being held by a guy named Walter inside a tented area in the woods. Lora as bold as she is screams for Walter, but he does not come out. Luckily the other woman suggests to Lora not to walk in the tent in case it is a scam. After a bit Lora agrees. They eventually leave the woman behind because she does not want the other woman to drive her to a shelter. The woman keeps saying don’t leave me, but she also does not want to leave. Lora is back in the camper alone by midnight and locks the camper before going to bed.

The next day we pack up and leave without ever seeing any of the two women. Today we are headed to Seward, Alaska. The weather is expected to be rainy the whole time there which is very disappointing because we heard so many good things about Seward.

If you want to follow us as we travel across America and Canada, please subscribe to our blog. The posting is our own opinions and experiences.