Just Back Home from a 3 Weeks Trip - Without the Egg. - Fiberglass RV
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Old 10-15-2010, 01:04 AM   #1
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Smile Just Back Home from a 3 Weeks Trip - Without the Egg.

Back home tonight after our First Trip to Alaska to see our new grand-daughter. (3rd grand-daughter, 4th grand-child). We flew out of Tucson (where my daughter lives) and stayed 3 nights and two days in Seattle Area as well where we visited a cousin.

Seems we had some pretty good weather while there, warmer and dryer than normal for Alaska. Colder than down in the 48th State, but not as cold as I had expected. We got to see some neat country around Fairbanks, made it over to Denali Nat'l Park (but Denali was hidden by clouds) but we got to drive 20 miles on the dirt road which is normally only for bus use and got up to the start of the Dalton Hwy north of Fairbanks as well. Saw some of the Pipeline to Valdez, saw some moose, got to drive and ride on a 4 Wheeler and a Side by Side, got to see some snow and ice on lakes, rivers and creeks. Alaska was really neat to see, very different vegetation than anywhere we have been. We got to eat at Back home tonight after our First Trip to Alaska to see our new grand-daughter. (3rd grand-daughter, 4th grand-child). We flew out of Tucson (where my daughter lives) and stayed 3 nights and two days in Seattle as well where we visited a cousin.

Seems we had some pretty good weather for Alaska while there, warmer and dryer than normal. Cold for us perhaps but not as cold as I was expecting or as cold as it could have been. We got to see some neat country around Fairbanks, made it over to Denali Nat'l Park (but Denali was hidden by clouds) and got up to the start of the Dalton Hwy. Saw some of the Pipeline to Valdez, saw some moose, got to drive and ride on a 4 Wheeler and a Side by Side, got to see some snow and ice on lakes, rivers and creeks.

We got to eat moose prepared several ways, even with red chile (moose) meat, and grilled & in a stew and it was all very good, we had caribou as well and grouse and pink and red salmon all very good indeed.

But the best was getting to see our newest member of the family and to play and visit with her two sisters. We had a blast, even getting a little under the weather with a dripping nose and cough was worth the trip.

We enjoyed out visit with my cousin and her husband in Seattle Area (Puyallup); they drove us up to see Mt Rainer, it was hidden most of the time with clouds as well. But it was a buitiful drive and saw many great vistas, even saw Rainer out of the clouds as well on the way back. It was a perfect day the next day when they drove us over by the Sound past Tacoma up to Port Townsend and by some other same port cities on the way there. Got some great "Homemade" New England Clam Chowder with smoked salmon grated on top at a small cafe in one small port village and some other sea food at a fine restaurant near the Tacoma waterfront which had some very good food. Some very new to me. I had Clams Portuguese style, and Lobster Bisque. BlueJeans had Salmon baked on a shingle, which I had a few bites and it was great.


Saw some neat country, very different from the Southwest for sure, but it was good driving back today from Tucson and being able to see off into the distances forever. It's good to be back to the High & Dry Southwest. Ha!
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Old 10-15-2010, 05:32 PM   #2
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Sounds like a great trip - both for the scenry and all the good grandkid energy and love'n! Maybe next time you head north you'll take the trailer!

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Old 10-15-2010, 09:52 PM   #3
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Adrian, I was holding my breath reading this, wondering what tragedy befell the egg left behind in Alaska. Then I realized you didn't even take it!

Regards,

Matt
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Old 10-16-2010, 12:03 AM   #4
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Smile Photos of our Trip

Now for a few photos of the trip:















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Old 10-16-2010, 12:04 AM   #5
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Old 10-16-2010, 12:05 AM   #6
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Port Gamble. One of the many neat old Homes next door to the cafe/shop where we had bowls of the best "HomeMake" NEng. Clam Chowder with Smoked Salmon Shredded over the top. Ahhhh! So Tasty!

Mt Rainier from Port Townsend.


Two views of the Port of Kingston.
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Old 10-16-2010, 12:21 AM   #7
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Pics of the Reasons we made the Trip:










We did a lot of playing with blocks & legos and reading many, many stories and just playing.
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Old 10-16-2010, 10:35 AM   #8
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Great pictures! The wonders of life - the majesty of Nature, the awesomeness of a new life, the joy of children - and legos! You had it all! Thanks for sharing (you even hit up our neighborhood! Port Townsend, Port Gamble, etc. nice places eh? Not as grand as Alaska, but throw in views of Mt Rainier and its not bad!


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Old 10-16-2010, 01:10 PM   #9
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Thanks, Penney! Your area is extremely nice and very grand indeed.

Correction, the mountain seen from the dock at Port Townsend in my photo is Mt. Baker, I have been informed in another forum.

Some RVing related Observations:
We saw a few RVs still staying at an RV Park in North Pole the first few days or or two week visit. However, they were all gone shortly after we had gotten there. Our guess, they closed it down for the winter.

We saw a few private campgrounds which seemed to have some quests as we drove to Denali Nat'l Park. However, at the very tourist centered community of McKinley, which is just after the town of Healy and just before the entrance of the Park, most of the shops, the gas station, RV parks and lodgings were all boarded up for the winter. Healy had more open, including a couple of gas stations and at least two cafes. We ate at Rose's which was ok, not great, but we were happy to find it open out far from almost anything.

On the Elliott Hwy (2) to the Dalton Hwy, we noticed many pull off areas which were mainly wide and long and fairly flat as well as pull offs which many had a looping road back to the Hwy with places one could "camp" or overnight. The few we checked out had "homemade" fire rings built by those using them in the past.

We saw a few RVs on the roads & streets around Fairbanks, many truck campers. I can see why truck campers would be popular in Alaska (all the small nooks and crannies in which one could camp).

Fairbanks was a very nice, clean city. It seems to have many things to visit and things to see. It has a very nice shopping areas with some of the big name retailers, such as Wally World, Sam's Club, Safeway, Lowes and Home Depot, Sportsmen Warehouse and Fred Myers, to name a few. We enjoyed checking out "The Prospector" a winter clothing, hunting, hiking and climbing supplies mega store. Very neat to see.

North Pole has a very good Chinese Restaurant, "The Pagoda" which was featured on "Dinners, Drive Ins and Dives". Pagoda Link We found it very good indeed. There is another Dinner featured as well in Fairbanks which we did not try, Big Daddy's Bar B-Q. My son and family liked the meat there, but did not care much for the Bar B-Q sauce.
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Old 10-16-2010, 11:03 PM   #10
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yes, your picture is Mt.Baker, but you can also see Mt. Rainier from PT, just in another direction.

Love your comment " North Pole has a very good Chinese Restaurant" - I guess Santa likes Chinese food!

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Old 10-16-2010, 11:44 PM   #11
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Maybe he does, my daughter-in-law did say you can see a tattoo through his shirt.
The address is 431 Santa Claus Lane
North Pole, Alaska 99705

http://pagodanorthpole.com/default.aspx

We have stayed at Birch Bay State Park twice over the years, used it as a base for going to Victoria, Canada. Once on the way out of Canada, once before going into it. It is a 194-acre camping park with 8,255 feet of saltwater shoreline on Birch Bay and 14,923 feet of freshwater shoreline on Terrell Creek. The park is rich in archeological significance and offers panoramic views of the Cascade Mountains and Canadian Gulf Islands. Very nice park, neat views, neat seafood in the area.

In 1986, we enjoyed a short stay at Sequim Bay State Park, a year-round, 92-acre marine camping park with 4,909 feet of saltwater coast in the Sequim "rainshadow," just inside Puget Sound on the Olympic Peninsula. The bay is calm, the air is dry and interpretive opportunities await visitors.

To get to Sequim from Birch Bay, we did take a ferry to Port Townsend. Can't remember route at this time. We also took a ferry from an island (Bainbridge Island, it would seem), which we drove to from Sequim, to Seattle. Bough some fresh pawns at a small country stop & shop and some smoked salmon from some guys selling it from their van along the way. Go some crab boil at a Super Market in Sequim. Oh, was it a feast! We went to the Aquarium in Seattle and rode a tram to close to the Space Needle.

There has been a lot of building in Port Townsend from what I can remember from '86. Like most places much of it seems to be on the outer edge of the old town. They had a lot of construction going on down by the waterfront now as well. It will continue to be a neat place I am sure.
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