Spending Summer in Alaska, Part 1-Valdez, Anchorage, Homer, and Whittier

And so from Mile 0 in Dawson Creek all the way to Mile 1422 in Delta Junction, we completed navigating the famed Alaska Highway in a week.  We reached Alaska from northern British Columbia on our first wedding anniversary (8/8/08) and our month there will always remain etched in our memories!  Let me tell you about how my dream of spending a lovely summer in Alaska came true!  We will cover Tok, Valdez, Anchorage, Homer, Whittier, Denali National Park, Fairbanks, North Pole, and the little town of Chicken, Alaska, in two parts.  

Tok was a waypoint.  We arrived late and quickly hooked Star to electricity and water, made our dinner, watched a movie, and called it a night --- that is, after getting a call from April, my youngest, about her musings over her future.  The next morning we woke up to a day completely covered with smog from the forest fires that were raging all around.  Quickly, we called Cristine, Bill’s youngest who makes Anchorage her home, and told her we would postpone our seeing her for a few days and go to southern Alaska first as the smog was supposed to have enveloped the north from Anchorage to Fairbanks.

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There were a few showers on the way to Valdez, Alaska; the air was damp and a lot of fog hovered around.  As we lost cell signals and our broadband communications, I commented to Bill, ‘Gosh, the glaciers are puny around here.  They are just tiny patches of white.’   But a few minutes later it changed.  All of a sudden, as Star negotiated a bend, a large white mountain appeared before us.  It was Worthington Glacier, the first glacier that I could walk to from the roadside!  Bill climbed it (I feigned ankle pain) and brought back a piece of the blue ice rock which we quickly deposited into our freezer!  I could have ended the trip right then out of sheer delight!

Valdez is a quaint little fishing town in a beautiful setting.  Low-lying clouds circled the town and the boats on the marina.  The longest boat ramp in the world reached far out into the waters, which seemed to be overcrowded with pink salmon that were spawning nearby.  Allison Park was a great nature camp on the water.  Budding fishermen lined the banks.  The hiking trails were filled with berry bushes that the bears had ravaged.  Bill and I were a little bit too late!  But, better the berries than us!

Up in the hills where the trails wound, we came across a section of the Alaska gas pipeline.  But the more special thing we saw were three young men who, in their flip-flops, were hauling a canoe, heavy with provisions and equipment, up the steep trail to camp up in the mountains.  It is definitely not about age!  But what a lifestyle!  If only we were a wee bit younger!

We debated going into the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  It would take a few more days and we wanted to go back to our planned route and see Cristine.  So, we missed the chance (again!) to see the highest point of the Canadian Rockies!  On the way back to Anchorage, we passed by the 27-mile long Matanuska  Glacier.   It was so unique because the ice had spilled down to the valleys in a long thinning winding white wave.  We tried to reach it but the way there were all through private ‘for a fee’ places.  We wondered why…or maybe we were just on the wrong side!

Anchorage was the neat town we expected it to be.  There was no hint of the cold winter that had just passed.    Kyle, Bill’s first-ever grandson arrived for a vacation with his mother (her birthday gift for him; he currently stays with his father in Hilo, Hawaii) and us.  After celebrating his birthday with a dinner in Anchorage, we took a trip to Homer, Alaska (the halibut fishing capital of the world) at the southwestern tip of the state.  It has a famous spit jutting out into the cold blue waters of the Bering Sea. 

There the two guys fished to their hearts’ content and we gave the fish they caught to the chef at the inn where we were staying.  That night we had a seafood feast!  The next day we went hunting for souvenirs and good eats at the quaint shops and restaurants in the colorful huts perched above the waters along the shore.  I even had my photo taken with the largest halibut (almost 200 pounds for one) caught in a derby that day.  And that second night we had a few drinks at the famous Salty Dawg Café on the spit and posted our Philippine peso 100 bill and Cristine’s  US $1 on its currency-covered ceilings and walls.

But Kyle had to leave to go back to work in Hawaii (he installs solar panels).  So only the three of us were able to go to the next adventure: a 4-hour Glacier Bay Cruise from Whittier, Alaska.  Whittier is a small town of about 200 (which doubles during summer) on the western edge of south central Alaska (Valdez was on the southeastern part).  Recently, a number of cruise lines have begun to use Whittier as a departure port for their Gulf of Alaska Cruises. Whittier is only 62 road miles southeast of Anchorage, separated from Alaska’s road system by a 2.5 mile long tunnel that is shared by alternating one-way auto and railroad traffic (quite an experience in itself).

The cruise took us to see 26 glaciers up close, some rising to 1,700 feet above sea level. We rode in a high speed catamaran with huge picture windows inside the two enclosed decks (there are extensive outside viewing areas too). The voyage included visits to Resurrection Bay and the College Fjords. We saw several types of glaciers: Alpine (hanging), Piedmont (on mountaintops) and Tidewater (on the water edge). We did not see any glaciers calving (when broken pieces of ice fall into the water and become icebergs) but we saw sea otters, seals, porpoises, sea lions and whales.  We were most surprised as we approached…Surprise Glacier, a very blue tidewater glacier many of whose pieces that had calved were floating on the icy waters around the vessel (shades of Titanic).  The highlight was when the crew served us glacial blue margaritas from the ice they harvested from an iceberg!

Next Stops:  Denali National Park, Fairbanks, North Pole, Chicken, in Alaska

   

Aren't You Tired Of Japan Yet?

Aren't you bored going to Japan every year? I get asked this question a lot nowadays. Well, just like Malaysia, there are plenty of places in Japan that we have yet to visit. If we are not tired of Malaysia, why should we be for Japan?

Then, the other question I got asked is: you just went to Tokyo, right? There was one time a guy asked whether I've been to Hiroshima and another person chipped in that I couldn't possibly been to Hiroshima yet. Come on now people, just because we never follow a tour group, doesn't mean we can't go to many places. As long as there are public transport, we can go anywhere.

Both Zaini and I have our wish list of places we want to go in Japan but yet to be fulfilled. Zaini wants to visit  Rebun Island and I think a visit to Sado Island would be awesome.

Last week, I spent some time looking at photos of us vacationing in Japan. A recap of some of the places we went to:

Tokyo is a must for every trip and usually served as our base if the places we want to go is doable as a day trip - Kawasaki, Karuizawa, Gala-Yuzawa were all done as a day trip. Here I was at Tokyo Dome.

We love Kyushu and made trips to the Island twice. Our trips to Kyushu saw us going Arao in Kumamoto to visit all the Ultra Heroes at Ultramanland (you can also visit Mitsui Greenland which is next to Ultramanland while you are there), a short visit to Beppu and Kagoshima, an overnight trip to Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Nagasaki and meeting up with a blogging friend in Moji in Kitakyushu. If you refer to the map below - we've pretty much covered the North, South, East and West of Kyushu island but of course there are so many places there that we want to visit if we get the chance.

 Map from Free World Maps

Raimie at Arao Station in Kumamoto.

Raimie and Zaini at Beppu Station, famous for its hot spring resorts and Kagoshima-Chuo Station.

At Huis Ten Bosch Station and Mojiko Station. Huis Ten Bosh is a Dutch style theme park complete with canals and windmills. Even standing in front of the station makes us feel we are no longer in Japan, what with the magnificent ANA Hotel JR Huis Ten Bosch dominating the view.

I simply love the Mojiko station architecture which was the main reason I wanted to stop at Mojiko before making our way upwards. The station of a Renaissance style is designated as an important cultural property. A visit to Mojiko Retro is highly recommended here.

A visit to Hiroshima would not be complete without a stop at the Peace Memorial Park. Here's Raimie at the Atomic Bomb Dome. There's also a Peace Park in Nagasaki, the second city after Hiroshima to be destroyed by an atomic bomb.

We also went on a short ferry ride to Miyajima. Tame deers that will follow you if you have food in your hand or if you smell like food (we saw a couple of deers that kept sniffing at a fellow tourist's butt), beautiful maple trees and of course the floating torii gate. Be warned though - you will be one of the many, many tourists - local and foreign alike, visiting the island.

Himeji Castle as our backdrop. Himeji is famous for the Himeji Castle, considered to be the most beautiful surviving feudal castle in Japan. A short walk away (about  15 minutes) from the Himeji Station or you can opt to take the bus there.

Perhaps we should make a longer stop in Kyoto; the heart of old traditions and culture of Japan, but truthfully we are not really big fans of visiting temples and shrines and I much more prefer a visit to the local market than the temples.

A day trip from Osaka to Kobe was a fun time for Raimie. Kobe was the film location for the Ultraman Mebius and Ultraman Brothers movie released in 2006.

Osaka - a gastronomic paradise! We even brought back a box full of foodstuff bought here back home. Here, there's another place to please any Ultraman fan located in Yao. Whenever we were in Osaka, a visit to Tsuburaya Jungle is a must for Raimie!

A day trip from Tokyo to Gala-Yuzawa for Raimie to have some fun in the snow and a shopping trip for me in Karuizawa.

In front of Kanazawa station. In Kanazawa, a visit to Kenrokuen which is one the three most beautiful landscaped gardens in Japan is a must. On our two visits to Kanazawa, we had the fortune of experiencing rainy days that somewhat hamper our plans to sightsee the city extensively.

We also made a journey to a small town of Terai, Komatsu just so that we can visit Ultraman Stadium. That's Raimie and Zaini walking along paddy fields en route to the Ultraman Stadium. There's a bus stopping directly in front of the stadium, but we like to do things the hard way because we got to sightsee more that way.

Last year, we went to Nyuto Onsen and here, we were playing by the shore of Lake Tazawa. Another visit to the place is on the cards for this year.

Lastly but not least, a trip to Aizu-Wakamatsu for our ride on a steam locomotive to Niigata. It was really a scenic train ride and we enjoyed it immensely.

Where would we be heading to next? We are limiting our trip to the Tohoku region for this year's trip. But even now, we are having headaches because even in one region there are so many sights and things to visit and do! So, how can we ever be tired of Japan?

Going Through Five Stages of the Cruising Lifestyle

Bill and I stumbled upon a cruise ship for our wedding venue.  Since then cruising has become our passion and way of life.  In fact, we are on our second motorhome in just 8 months!  Star (our first, a Class C) which we traded in for our second, has been quickly grabbed by another couple starting on their adventure.   We shifted to M’A (short for Mountain Aire, by Newmar), the Class A we bought at no other than the behemoth of the RV industry, Lazy Days. (Please see my post on ‘Buying Our New Home’.) We must have been at two different stages of RV cruising! What are the phases anyway?  I believe there are 5:  escaping, sightseeing, seeing-relaxing, sunbirding, and nesting (ESSSN).

We really did not have the opportunity to experience the first stage which I call escaping.  (You see we met at that time in our lives when we were ready to retire: he was about to sell his business and I was already tired of teaching in the US after retiring from the Philippine business landscape 4 years earlier). This is the phase when you actually have other things to do and you just want to pause, to experience the benefits of cruising (such as getting close to nature, going to new places, and experiencing new people and activities, visiting family and friends ; please see my post on Debating the Pros and Cons of Cruising as a Lifestyle). You want to gain these benefits but not suffer the disadvantages of cruising (such as losing income, being away from family and friends, and not having time for other pursuits).   It may be that you are still a student, an employee, an executive, a business owner, or a housewife.  You simply have the urge to cruise on a long weekend, be on a much-needed vacation, and escape from the busy requirements of daily life, so to speak.  

 

The second one is what I will call the sight-seeing stage. This is the phase at which Bill and I entered the groove.  This is when you finally have the time to see a lot of places on a looooong bucket list you have started to build.  So you pack up, make an itinerary, and go on a cruise! We wanted a motorhome that was not any longer than 25 feet so we downsized to the bare minimum.  Star was the perfect getaway vehicle!  We did not have to pack/unpack, we could cook our meals anywhere any time, and take showers and other daily requirements.  It was our moving bedroom, bathroom, dining room and kitchen! We bought Vino, our scooter, because we soon found Star still too difficult to maneuver in town, was a chore to unhook and reconnect from campgrounds, and was consuming gas at 10 miles to the gallon.  In 7 months we covered 21,000 miles sight-seeing from the Arctic to Mexico to Florida!  

But 8 months later, by March 1, 2010, we were in another RV for the second stage.  I call this third stage, seeing/relaxing.  Our children were right; they could not believe we could go on doing what we were doing: travelling almost every other day to a new place, as if we were running out of time. They were actually beginning to wonder when we would find Star too cozy for comfort.  However fond we had become of Star, we actually began to think of replacing her in December when we had April, my youngest, traveling with us from Mexico to Texas to Louisiana for about 2 and a half weeks.  If you can just imagine a 24-foot Class C motorhome (that means after the drivers space and engine we actually had a living area of 17 feet long by 8 feet wide (no slide-outs).  That means 136 square feet! Every night we had to transform the dinette into April’s bed (and tuck away the little Christmas tree that housed our collection of Christmas ornaments!).

At about the same time, Bill caught pneumonia in congested Mexico City.  So it was timely that we relaxed a little and made space for visiting family and friends.  What was holding us back was that we had just bought Star and we thought, if we could not trade it in for a good value, our lifestyle will end up to be quite an expensive one, something ‘frugal us’ could not live with.   But lo and behold!  Lazy Days had thought about such psychology a long time ago.  The secret of their success is to understand what goes on in the mind of those who want to enjoy RV cruising as a lifestyle and have the right gear available for whatever stage and whatever budget!  They gave us the marvelous opportunity to own a 37-foot quality Class A motorhome (albeit a 1997 model) that had a good-sized slide-out and was very light-colored and airy inside!  We even had enough money left for a workable dinghy!

So, now we have M’A ‘turn, the former (our Mountain Aire by Newmar) to take us to new campgrounds where we can relax and entertain and the latter (our Saturn SL1) for running around to see the many attractions around.  In spite of becoming poorer by tens of thousands of dollars, we now enjoy the best of both worlds, of both sight-seeing and relaxing.  We relaxed Three Flags RV Resort in Wildwood, Florida, and were tour guides for Dittas, my visiting friend from the Philippines, around Savannah, Georgia and Hilton Head, Beaufort, and Charleston, South Carolina from The Oaks at Point South RV Park in Yemassee, South Carolina (please see my post on ‘Touring the Low Country USA with a Friend’).  Right now we are again relaxing in Forest Lake RV Resort in Advance, North Carolina before we go sight-seeing around the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park with JingJing, another visiting friend from the Philippines, from Lynchburg RV Park in Gladys, Virginia and the Green Mountain RV Park in Lenoir, North Carolina.

Bill and I foresee that we will go through the other 2 stages of RV cruising as we become older, not that able to withstand wider differences of temperature and weather, and becoming more mellow  and,  hopefully, wiser.   The fourth stage, sunbirding, really means that, when we are in America, we will stay 4-6 months in the northern areas during late spring to early fall and the other 4-6 months in the southern states during late fall to early spring (much like what birds do, migrating to the south during winter and to the north during summer).  And the last stage, nesting, is when we would stay in a locale for most of the year , finally settle down, and ultimately establish our nest.  We imagine that we would just travel to go out to visit a child (or wait for them to visit us) during major holidays or birthdays.  We are now thinking that may be somewhere in Utah which is about 4-5 hours from each of our children’s homes. We hope that M’A ‘turn will still be with us then!

At what stage would you begin cruising in an RV? Up to what stage will you continue to do so?

Navigating the Alaska Highway, Part 2

Northern British Columbia had some very scenic spots that we chanced upon:  Muncho Lake, Tetsa River, Stony Mountain, Summit Lake, and Liard Hot Springs.  It was in this part of North America where  we saw the most number of wildlife by the road sides: a mother bear and her cub relaxing among the grass and wildflowers, a herd of bison lying on the ground with a huge one walking along the road beside our motorhome, and a moose hiding among the shrubs by the hot springs.  There were no mileposts on the first 1000 kilometers of the Alaska Highway but we started seeing them on the Yukon.   The Highway criss-crossed the British Columbia/Yukon border several times.  So we were primed when we reached Watson Lake, the first city on the Yukon part of the Highway. 

We went to see the Northern Lights Museum expecting to be educated about the Aurora Borealis at $10 each.  It turned out to be just a brief video of the lights recreated on the dome ceiling for effect.  It was not worth the time and money the 3 couples spent on the ‘show’.  But the memorable place in Watson Lake was Signpost Forest where we were the 67,000^th visitor to place a signpost.  Ours reads ‘Bill & Carol, Pittsburg, Ks/ Manila, Phil. 8PM, 8/8/08’ which we painted on a wooden board we purchased at a HomeBuilders’ Centre.  The paint was provided by the Visitor’s Information Centre where we also registered as Yukon Gold Passport holders, with the chance to win 5, 10, or 20 troy ounces of gold if we complete 10, 20, or 30 rubber stamps of tourist spots we visit on the Yukon!!!

Along the highway between Watson Lake and Whitehorse were rocky embankments (between Upper Liard and Rancheria along the Yukon part of the Highway) that were used by many to arrange rocks into letters to memorialize their passing through the Highway.  We arranged ours to symbolize BC (not British Columbia but Bill and Carol) alongside others.  We originally thought we could spell out our names but we found out how difficult the endeavor was and gave up with just the 2 letters!

At another bend we saw a large arrow sign which we followed and chanced upon Whirlpool Canyon, a river that made a whirlpool as it wound its way.  There we met a Canadian couple who also followed the arrow.  They were making their way from Calgary (just like us) going to Nunavut past the Arctic Circle hauling a small aluminum boat with an outboard motor to fish.  They dry camped often and they taught us about dumping gray water (washing dishes and showering) almost anywhere and drinking creek water, as long as we were sure there was no beaver contamination.  A small town we passed was called Toad River.  It featured a gas station, a restaurant, and a country store.  There was a place there dedicated to thousands of hats and Bill pinned his Taquan Air baseball cap which he got from a private charter company in Sitka, Alaska where he went for a fishing expedition with friends in 1999. At this part of the Highway, gas was at $4.50 per gallon!

Whitehorse is the biggest city in the Yukon.  The largest weather vane (in the Guiness Book of Records) in the world was there.  It was a DC3 plane!!!  Bill thought that it has to be a very strong wind (at least 10-15 knots) to move that plane. Smith House at Whitehorse’s LePage Park gave us 2 whitehorse pins to brag about, but so man y places, including the biggest fish ladder in the world, was already closed for the season.  So we didn’t see the salmons jumping out of the river to spawn!  We had to be satisfied with the SS Klondike, one of the biggest boats used for transporting gold to and from the Yukon River.  And the experience that topped it all?  We feasted on the world-renowned bowl of chili con carne at Tim Horton’s, the great Canadian coffee chain! Claudine (my second daughter) had gifted us with a Tim Horton’s gift card before we left Calgary…and they had it in Whitehorse!

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 The unfortunate thing was smoke fire from Whitehorse thru Haines Junction to Beaver Creek (50 fires around the Yukon since it had been so hot and dry that summer) stole all our beautiful scenes.  We could hardly see anything beyond the nose of Star! Burwash Landing was almost wiped out by a huge forest fire caused by humans camping (although lightning is the more common cause). 

Another unfortunate thing was the perennial damage caused by permafrost effects on the Alaska Highway, especially after Destruction Bay.  The cost of maintenance must be high.  There are always many road fissures and small ponds on the fields along its sides.  The highway had a roller coaster feel to it and evergreens in nearby fields could not grow any taller than a few feet.  Orange flags were everywhere, designating permafrost damaged areas.

And then there was White River, colored off-white due to volcanic ash from two successive (in geologic time) pyroclastic eruptions of Mount Churchill in the Wrangell Mountain Range.  The first eruption occurred in 1890 and the second in 1950. Thick layers of pumice-like ash over 340,000 square kilometers ( 211,276 square miles) severely disrupted food supply and caused the migration of people steadily southward.  The river is not recommended for boating; the ecology could not be restored.

So camping on the Kluane RV Park in Haines Junction was not what we expected.  At the junction we were supposed to be able to see a glimpse of glaciers in Juneau and also the highest mountain peak of Canada and the Canadian Rockies.  We didn’t, of course.  We also thought we found a great hiking trail near the campground but we returned to our motorhome right away after we found out that the mosquitoes were sooooo hungry!  What saved the day was the discovery of quonset huts that have been turned into churches that could sit 30 people.

 The next day we hurried to resume our trek to Alaska through Beaver Junction, Yukon and Delta Junction, Alaska which was the official end of the Alaska Highway!  The signpost at the Visitor Center reads:

This highway was constructed during World War II as a military supply route for interior Alaska Military and Airfields in 1942. 7 Army regiments and 42 Contractors and Public Roads Administrators working from Delta Junction South and Dawson Creek North completed it when they met at Soldiers' Summit at Kluane Lake Yukon Territory in November 1942. At the peak of construction, 77 Contractors employed 15,000 men and 11,000 pieces of road building equipment. The total construction cost for 1422 miles was $115,000,000.      

Next Stops:  Tok, Valdez, Anchorage, Homer, Seward, Fairbanks, and Chicken, all in Alaska 

My Groceries Bills Are Too High!

Well, I can't really complain when the stuff I buy are mostly imported stuff. Plenty of the stuff in my kitchen are those I won't find in my Mom's kitchen, that I can say. Actually, when my siblings came visiting on a short notice, I will most likely not serve them a typical Malay style cooked food because my kitchen is not stocked with typical Malay food items!

These are the stuff I really need and will be stocked up in my kitchen. Japanese short grain rice, miso paste (instant), gochujang, kimchi, bottles of shoyu, tsuyu, sesame oil, worchester sauce, packets of instant furikake, dried wakame, sheets of nori, cheese - sometimes I think when people look into my fridge and in the kitchen, they will not think it's a Malay family kitchen!

My shopping lists do cause a serious dent to our monthly expenses, but then what fun in life if one cannot eat what one loves, right?

I sometimes feel guilty about the carbon footprint caused by consumers like me who wants imported food so we try extra hard to compensate and be more carbon footprint friendly in other ways; by using less energy at home, less fuel for our car, recycling, etc. May not be enough, but we try.

Mom, Can We Go To UltramanLand?

Raimie has been asking us to go Ultramanland when we go to Japan in September. The problem with this request of his is that we are planning to visit only the northern part of Honshu this year and Ultramanland is located way below, in Arao which is in Kyushu!

Raimie had visited the Ultraman theme park twice already; in 2007 and 2008 and I know he enjoyed the visits tremendously. He got to see so many Ultra Heroes there.

And since I'm in the mood of posting old photos of us vacationing in Japan, here are some photos of Raimie with his heroes in Ultramanland.

When we told him that it's too far for us to travel all the way to Kyushu, he asked whether he can go to Ultraman Stadium instead. Ultraman Stadium is located in Terai, Komatsu in Kanazawa. Another hard reaching place to get to. I think only hardcore fans like us would make the trip to Ultraman Stadium!