Thursday, July 27

It has been a while since we posted anything.  We spent 5 great days with our kids/grandkids in
Portland. Went to the children's museum.  Sorry to leave them.  We are headed home.  We are in Moab, Utah tonight.  This afternoon we drove & hiked around Canyonlands National Park.  It is an awesome park, a combination of the Grand Canyon and Sedona.  Spectacular views.  We will head out tomorrow and probably get home tomorrow night or Saturday depending on if we decide to stop anywhere else.  So, this will most likely be our last addition to the "Williams Alaska Adventure."  Thanks to all of you that have been traveling along with us and encouraging us along the way.  We have really enjoyed your company.  It was fun for us to record our experiences and some of our photos as we travelled along.  God has truly blessed us with 6 1/2 wonderful weeks and a once-in-a-lifetime trip. In case you are interested we are planning another trip to Alaska. Stay tuned!!

Tuesday and Wednesday, July 19 and 20

These have been travel days.  We stayed in Chetwynd, Canada (BC) Tuesday night and tonight we are
in Hope.  We are about 45 minutes from the U.S. Border crossing at Abbotsford which we are told is
a lot easier than Vancouver.  The last two days we have encountered lots of delays because of road construction and have seen very little wildlife but the scenery has been beautiful.  Today we drove along side the Frasier River. Saw a group of Bighorn Sheep, but we were in too much traffic so did not get a picture.The drive was steep hills and inclines and lots of switchbacks. Weather is still cool, but somewhat humid tonight.  The last two days we have noticed an interesting phenomenon.  It
has been getting dark about 10:00.  We have not seen darkness in over 3 weeks.  In Alaska the darkest part of the night was between 2 and 4 a.m. and then it was still somewhat light. We got used to it and it
never did interfere with sleep.  I think that probably says something about out age.(?)  Anyway it will
be good to be back on U.S. soil tomorrow.  One thing we failed to mention in earlier blogs is how surprised we have been with the number of people bicycling across Canada and Alaska.With many of the hills at 8-10% grades we had a hard time seeing how they could climb those hills, but climb they did.  Some of the people are loaded down with all sorts of personal gear on the front and back of their bikes. Others we have seen are part of a travel group. Anyway, a heck of a way to see Alaska and Canada.  Happy Trails!

Saturday, Sunday, Monday, July 16, 17 18

We left Tok, Alaska Saturday and crossed into Canada about mid morning saying a sad goodbye to
Alaska and reflecting on all the fun we had and our favorite cities and sights.  We are already planning
our next trip - Judy says by plane or a cruise - its a lot easier on our vehicles and our bodies.  The
construction on the highways really slowed us down Sat. and Sun., lots of dirt and gravel and just
enough rain to make it really messy.  We spent Sat night in Whitehorse in the Yukon.  We had stayed here going north also. Got in late and left early.  Sunday was a travel day.  Made i to Muncho Lake and dry camped on the lake.  Started raining shortly after we got there and rained well into the night. Beautiful spot.  Today we made it to Chetwynd in British Colombia.  We are now on a new portion of highway that we have not yet traveled.  We have turned south toward Vancouver as we are on our way to Portland to see our kids/grandkids before we head back to Albuquerque.  We have seen a lot of wildlife the last 3 days. A number of moose, black bear, carriboo, bison, and deer.  We finally spotted a young bull moose standing in a shallow lake.  We watched him for quite some time.  We also watched a black bear grazing along the side of the road.  He was fine with us watching him but when a big semi blew by us he got scared and ran up the hill.  What fun it was to watch him. That's it for now.

Thursday, July 14 and Friday, July 15

Thursday we explored Valdez, a small community where fishing seems to be the primary hobby, or
livelihood. In the way of amenities it does not have much to offer but for hiking, photo ops, viewing glaciers, waterfalls, and lush green forests it is tops.  We were tipped off about an area where bears go
to feed at low tide so we went in search of bears.  It was near the fish hatchery.  We went there about
mid morning-no bears but lots of salmon and lots of people trying to catch them as they escape into
the river and the bay.  In the evening we returned and found lots of people with the same idea.  We saw
an abundance of bald and immature eagles and some sea lions.  We had just about given up on the
bears when a brown bear appeared and we followed him/her for about an hour watching and taking
photos. Very exciting!  We met a man taking photos that happened to be a local celebrity, an artist/
photographer and author of numerous books on Alaska travel and wildlife.  Judy purchased one of
his books which he autographed for us and he also gave us one of his 2012 wildlife calendars.  All in
all a great note to end our time in Alaska.  We have been to the "end of the road" and even further.
On Friday we headed out to Tok, only 90 miles from the Canadian border.  We stayed there for the night and will head into Canada Saturday.  We have had such great fun in Alaska.  We hate to leave but look forward to returning one day.  But....the adventure is not over yet.  The Yukon lies ahead!

Wednesday, July 13,2011 Homer/Valdez AK

Left Homer early this morning and drove down to Valdez. What a gorgeous area!! There are five active glacers in the immediate area. The town of Valdez was totally destroyed in the 1964 earthquake. Therefore the town had to be totally rebuilt and now is less than 50 years old. Gas prices in town are atrocious. You would think with the pipeline ending here prices would be somewhat decent.  It is in such a beautiful setting. Wonderful weather, high today about 62. Hope the photos tell a little of our day.

Monday, July 11,2011 Homer and Seldovia

Left early this morning for an all day tour of the island of Seldovia. This island is only accessable by boat or plane.Yes I braved another boat ride and did not have any issues today. The island was settled in the early 1800's by the Russians as a fishing village. On the two hour boat ride to the island we stopped to enjoy a number of sea otters and a variety of birds on Gull Island. On the island we hiked from the main street to the outside beach, about a 1.5 mile hike both ways. Hike was thru a dense forest, ended up at the beach walking thru a light rain all day.The picture of Lewis is with our charter in the background. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Sunday, July 10,11 Soldotna/Homer

Visited College Heights Baptist Church in Soldotna this am. Nice small church, with a TAM graduate as the Pastor. Music and message were appreciated. Visited our nest of eagles and took some pictures of some wild turkeys as well. Headed down the scenic byway to Homer after lunch. Stopped at a little town, Ninilchik, to see another old Russian church and the quaint town. Had to disconnect the car from motorhome as we did not have space to turn around the town is so small. Staying at Oceanview RV park on the Kachemak Bay, thanks to our friends Les and Donna Bruce recommending. Drove to the Homer spitz which is a long arm off the end of Alaska, described by Tom Bodette as "the end of the road". We found lots of "lights on" and a cute little restaurant, Captain Patties, to have some chowder and calamari. Yum, Yum!! On the way back to RV park we spotted these two eagles. Stay tuned.

Saturday, July 8,2011 Kenai

Spent most of the day in Kenai. You probably get tired of us saying how beautiful the places are, however each day brings new beauty and sights. Old Kenai was so interesting which dates back to the early 1800's. The old church and the painting inside are dated 1802. Has a large Russian influence which we tried to show in the picture of the church and the Priest. Lots of the original buildings are still there, ie. Verionica's and the large cabin. The old cabin about to fall down caught our interest as we are thinking of purchasing as a "fixer uper" for a summer home. Moved our RV park from last night for a couple of reasons and enjoyed a potluck dinner here, they furnished the fish, mostly salmon. We then took a short drive down to see a mother eagle and her young, pictures included. Tomorrow we will attend church here in town and then head to Homer. Till then....