This blog is definitely for the birds!  It’s been raining all day again so this was a good time to visit the Sealife Center.  This was built using the monies from the Exxon settlement.  Beautiful place.  Don’t forget to click on them once or twice to see them larger.

It wasn’t a great day but we still managed to see lots of moose, 5 brown bears, 1 red fox with her pups and caribou.

Before I go any further on this blog, let me say that, this blog site is for the purpose of keeping my family and friends up to date on what we are doing and where we are in our travels.  I enjoy hearing from anyone BUT this site is NOT for the use of VENTING your disapproval on things we see or do.  Please use your own web site to do so.  THANKS!    I enjoyed learning about the mushing and I’m looking forward to keeping track of Jesse Royer in her up and coming race. 

After traveling for 2 months and seeing nothing but mountains and more mountains it’s hard to believe that each are so different and more beautiful than the last ones.  Tomorrow we take a 11 hour shuttle out to Wonder Lake.  Again it’s suppose to rain. 

We took a trip to the Chena Hot Springs.  Sorry no pictures.  It started to rain lightly but it felt good because the springs were soooo warm.  I think the water temp was 102 degrees.                               I didn’t want to put this in the last blog as somehow it just didn’t seem fitting, but we stopped off at a meat packing place on our way to the North Pole and bought some reindeer sausage.  Not real impressed with it.     (Don’t forget to click on the pictures to see them larger and to see them even bigger, click on them again.)

We stopped along the way to view the sled dogs of Susan Butcher and her husband David Munson who still trains them and runs them.  Susan was a champion musher, who won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race four times.  She died in 2006. 

This was one of the first things we had to see when we came to Fairbanks.  The Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is one of the longest pipeline systems in the world.  Alyeska Pipeline Service Company has operated TAPS and transported more than 14 billion barrels of oil since start-up.  The length of the pipeline is 800 miles-420 miles above ground where unstable permafrost makes it necessary to elevate the pipeline; and 380 miles below ground, where the pipe is buried in stable bedrock.                                                                                  

Yesterday, Cynthia and Dan, well Cynthia took us, as Dan stayed back to work on their boat, on a tour to Tracey Arm Fjord.  We boarded a boat for 10 hours of breath taking scenery and exciting wild life.  I hate to overwhelm ya’ll with all these pictures but just be thankful I didn’t post all 200 of them.  =)  At our age you have to take lots of pictures, since you’re never sure how much longer the mind is going to remember all this.  Thanks Cynthia and Dan for a wonderful day!    (DON’T FORGET TO CLICK ON THE PICTUES TO REALLY APPRECIATE THEM AND SEE THEM LARGER)

We left Skagway, by ferry, at 7 am and arrived in Juneau about 1:30 pm.  Found our campground with no problems and proceeded to set up camp when Cynthia rode up on her bike.   The next day we ran around and did errands got our fishing license and ready to go fish the next day.       First day out fishing, I slipped on the rocks and went down.  Bruised my tailbone really bad and have a bruise on my bottom the size of a baseball.  Sorry, no pictures!   If that wasn’t enough, on the way back, walking on huge rocks all the way, I slipped again and twisted my knee.  I thought for sure, I tore something but it’s feeling a lot better, which I wish I could say the same for my tailbone.  On top of all this, Cynthia was the only one to catch any fish. 

Sunday, we went over to Cynthia and Dans for dinner to try bear which Dan shot.  It was excellent in the ways that Cynthia prepared it.  (Don’t forget to click on the pictures to see them larger.)

I know what you’re thinking!  This is one to many sign posts!  It’s a fun place to visit.  It’s also like a graveyard.  You could stay for hours to read them all and each one is different.  There’s about 60,000 of them now.  When it first got started, it was more or less just license plates and pieces of wood.  But now, as you see, people have gotten more creative.

Went to buy some bananas today and saw that they were $1.17 a lb.  So, we will wait until we get to Whitehorse and see what the prices are at Walmart.  Leaving tomorrow and heading for Teslin. 

We are now in the Yukon Territories.  I called several campgrounds here and found that they have all closed down the end of the season last year.  Not much up in this area open anymore.  No such things as rest areas in the Yukon. 

I’m also thankful that we cut cardboard to put up at our bedroom windows.  It’s so light here!  I got up at 12:15 a.m. and found it still light and up again at 4 a.m. and it was getting bright.  I thought it was 9 o’clock in the morning it was so light.  I’ve not seen the sky dark or black yet.   (Don’t forget to click on the pictures to see them larger.)   We are in Watson lake for 3 days.  Not much to see here and the campground is just a dusty gravel parking lot but at least I can get the wash done.  =}