Updates for July 20th, 21st and 22nd.

July 20th

We left Grizzy campground about 8:30 AM Alaska Time or so. Headed down the road to Glenallen and gassed up. Then on to Mt Wrangell Saint Elias National Park. This park is the largest National Park in North America. But it has little access to the park interior. The visitor center is large and new with several buildings and a short trail. We left and pulled into a turnout for lunch and a nap.

Sometime earlier this morning our trip odometer had turned over 5,000 miles. Just doesn’t seem possible we had driven that far. (However, our records from our first trip up here in 1979 indicate we traveled over 11,000 miles.) Continued on the Alcan toward Palmer. On the way we saw parts of the Matanuska Glacier, one of the larger ones in the interior of Alaska. We kept thinking there would be a better view and ended up passing the good viewing area but still got a few pictures.

Arrived in Palmer and found my brother’s home with no difficulty. Barbara and Ben (Tim’s wife and son) brought pizza home for supper and we spent the evening visiting and thinking of how to spend the next couple of days. Barbara had fixed up a bedroom for us so we moved into a real bed for the next 3 nights!

July 21st

Rain this AM. Stayed in the house and played on our computers. Rain let up so we went for a walk with Tim and Barbara, ending up at the Palmer visitor center. It started back in raining, so got a bit damp on the way back. Barbara fixed a yummy supper and of course had some of Tim’s homemade wine and some fresh strawberries. I did 3 weeks of laundry.

July 22nd

Woke up this morning to sunshine and some clouds. It was nice all day, even though the weatherman had forecast 80% chance of showers (they did come late evening). We went for a nice walk with Tim and Barbara in the morning. Dale, I and Tim went out for lunch to a Mexican restaurant and then came back to pick up Barbara to go do some sightseeing in the area. We visited a Musk Ox farm when they raise these odd creatures. They look like buffalo but are actually related to goats and sheep. Our guide to the pasture area was fun and informative. You can pet and feed these animals. Of course they pick the tamest and best tempered to be near the visitors. Although there was one close to the gate they told us not to get too close to, as it was the one that put the big dent in the metal gate earlier this month. It was a young bull in rut. There are 70 plus animals including the 15 new babies this year. They like to play with a big ball in the field (we saw the balls, but they weren’t in the fields with them today). Their shedding of their winter coat is used for knitting and is 8 times warmer than wool and stronger even though it is lighter weight. The yarn is sent to the native villages to be made into the hats and scarves. It is a good way for them to make money, as the hats were $170 and scarves $245. Good thing they did not have any socks or Dale might have bought some.

After leaving the Musk Ox we went on to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters. (For those who don’t know what the Iditarod is, it is a 1,000 mile dogsled race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska in the winter.) We watched a short movie, visited the store and watched someone getting a ride with a dog sled team. In the summer they use carts with wheel for training the dog teams. Then on back to the house for visiting, playing on the internet and a delicious salmon supper. It was real nice to have a good internet connection for a couple of days.

Back on the road.