Carol's Excellent Adventures: July 2015

I mis-spoke on a previous post and said it was already day 22......it was not.
When we arrived in Dawson City, it was day 20, so I got WAY ahead of myself.

Shortly after arriving in the tight quarters at the Dawson City campground, we got set up and then at midnight drove up to the top of a nearby hill and watched as the sun set......it would rise again at 4am.......
So gorgeous up there, as the following pictures will depict.

Ain't that just a purty ole sight?
Gorgeous!!

While in Dawson City we also did a walking tour through the historic town.

making Bannock bread.

We plum wore poor ole Teddy out!

The kissing buildings

On my way to Dawson, gas stations were scarce......they weren't where the logbook indicated that they should be, and when you came across one, it was closed. Such is the case when I pulled into a gas station, and when I realized it was closed I pulled out......but not sharply enough....... I hit a metal box on the side of post. (Hey, at least it wasn't the gas pump!!!)
I tried my best to correct the turn, however all i heard was the crunch and the scratch as a gouge appeared down the side of the camper and a hole in the propane door.
To make this little snafu just a bit worse, I ran out of gas. (Fortunately I had cans of gas on board and those 5 gallons got me to a station. When I DID arrive to the campground it was with my tail dragging between my legs! I can't find the "before" pics, but the hole in the door where the white duct tape is fist sized. (Wil was being a smart butt and said he only had orange duct tape, but he came thru in the end!)
The gouge into the fiberglass on the side of the rig is roughly 12 inches long, but it looks like something that I can fix when I get back to Arizona.

So, this became my 3rd time winning the MOOSE AWARD....which, as you recall is given to the person that has goofed up, though I personally think I should have gotten the bear, which gives you a big hug after a rough day, and it was a little bit rough..........not horrible.....but rough.

I am in first place for Moose Awards, by the way!

Previous win...we got lost in Sign Post forest!

Dawson was fun, but on day 22 we headed off for Chicken, Alaska.....which meant we had to cross the river via a ferry. The Ferry could take one big rig and a few cars per trip.
It was a pretty cool way to cut hours off of your trip from Dawson City to Chicken.

lilly ready to pull out when the command is given!

Turbo waiting his turn with Wil

Onward we traveled....until coming to the road that Greg from Bay Bayou, tortured me about.......Taylor Highway....Top of the World .....

It sucked.

Not in the way that Greg tortured me about, but in the fact that it was smoked/fogged in! You could not see 5 ft in front of you. Ca CA!!!

Total White out.

yet, we made it.

The town of Chicken was very interesting and currently I am reading a book about a 19yo that made her way to Chicken as a teacher.
We went on a tour of 'Tisha's school and home etc.
The history here is so amazing.

The town of Chicken

The town of Chicken is small. there is a store, a bar, and an outhouse!!!

a doorless outhouse.....outhouses are a big thing here.

Cyndi and an old pal

Flushing toilets are a commodity.....

Once arriving in Chicken, we all went on a tour of the local dredge.....a gold mining thing, and then we met for the infamous CHICKEN CRAZY HAT CONTEST!!!!

That was so much fun! And even though mine tied for 1st place, rightfully, it should have gone to the more creative hats on display.
You know what I'm sayin!
It was a group dinner night and some folks that live in Chicken, kindly brought us the most divine of divine blueberry pie and icecream!
YUMMY!

The judges conferring!

The Winners!

From Chicken we traveled to TOK.......Highpoint here was that we were able to wash our vehicles. What a freakin mess they all were. The mud was so thick I honestly thought we would need a sandblaster and paint scraper to discover our vehicles true colors!!
Everyone helped one another, so an otherwise unpleasant task went smoothly and quickly.

Wil, Bob an Cyndi

Crazy Sherri

Linda, Jonni

A hike in the woods

Moose scat...........

From Tok we headed to Fairbanks......lovely time there, despite some rain....Rain is good. Keeps you inside a bit to scrape the dirt off of the floors and maybe, just maybe doing a load of wash......
We had a delicious meal at Chena's Alaskan Grill, saw a Northern Lights Aurora show, and went on a Sternwheeler Riverboat Cruise..........all great fun!

Angela, photo bombing Margi and Kathi

We also saw a float plane demonstration, went to the Fairbanks Ice Museum, and on a Gold Dredge Tour where we panned for gold. All of us came up with at least 15$ worth of gold flakes..
(RICH!)

Angela and Jonni

Gold Dredge #8

20$ worth of Gold!!!

caribou

Returning to the boat! LT, Carol and Linda

Jonni

Fireweed

There were tons of Ice Sculptures but I was remiss in photographing all of them

Ice Sled path!

Ice

bar!

Ice sculptor-er

Guess where we went from here???? I am squirming with delight.....we went to DENALI!!!! AWESOME BLOSSUM!!!!!!!
Pics to Depict!

Bob, Kay, Marie

Marie, Jonni, and Angela

Guess who???

The usual Denali trip is 60 something miles and we were fortunate enough to go the distance!!

Stops along the way.....

YIKES!!!

Ptarmingan.......short for chicken, in CHICKEN, Alaska

Big, bad grizzley

Kinda crowded turns on the way to the top!!

Mt McKinley

TED

Ted and cyndi

Bullwinkle.

another grizzley

The day before....we thought this was mckinley but it wasnt even close!!!!!!......but it was a lovely mountain

Marie and Jonni taking pics of what we thought was McKinley....I was right behind them, taking pics as well!!! We found out, the next day, that we were excited about the wrong mountain. It's pretty anyway!

Marie and I thought it would be great fun to go ATV driving! And, let me say, that it was an exciting trip, I do believe that Marie and I would agree that it will be the first and last time that we do this. While the others were arguing about who 'got' to drive next.....Marie and I argued about who HAD to drive next!!!! Give me a kayak any day of the week ladies!!!

great scenery despite out fear.

scenery along the way was gorgeous!!

Marie and I!

Miscellaneous pics along the way.... apparently this chicken wanted my head and the other one wanted my butt.

This polar bear wanted me bad....

Jonni trying to move in on my bear......

Jonni and Angela thrilled about the moose that grabbed them....

Santa wasn't there so i stole his seat.....At the NORTH POLE< ALASKA

Threw these pics in to throw you off!

Hillsbourough River Tampa Florida while hiking

From Denali we went to Anchorage Alaska......I truly cant remember what we did in Anchorage....I know that it was a big city and I couldn't wait to leave.......
Marie and i went on a hike and we saw the salmon spawning......

We are now in Homer, Alaska......Today it rained all day so I spent the day cleaning my camera, and then i had 3 friends over for dinner......

Tomorrow we are all going out on a boat cruise....weather report kinda sucks tonight, but being the positive thinker that I am, I totally expect to see whales, otters, puffins and a bunch of eagles......and if I don't then, I can boast that I spent an awesome day on a boat in Alaska with my friends.....

windmill farms........