Back in the Lower 48

We camped 1 night at Glacier National Park, MT. Saw a black bear a couple of times. Drove as far as allowed on the Going To The Sun Road. To Avalanche from West Glacier. We were surprised to find the town of West Glacier virtually closed down. The only restaurant & service station place open was scheduled to close in a few days.
More snow. Spent a night at West Yellowstone at the Brandin' Iron Motel & RV in the snow. The roads at Yellowstone Park were only open from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful Lodge. All the rest of the roads were closed due to fires, construction, or snow.
Farther south we go. To the Grand Canyon! We spent several nights at Yavapai Lodge (with Mollie, poor girl, sleeping alone in the camper). Enjoyed it a lot. Vegeterian chili and Wi-Fi at the Canyon Cafe at Yavapai and also at Maswick Lodge. Special treat of breakfast at El Tovar, an afternoon of blogging and then sunset at the canyon. Annabel and Mollie went on a long hike along the canyon rim. We saw lots of animals at the Grand Canyon, including our favorite elk Clyde along with 4 of his lady elk, a bunch of deer, and a coyote.

Not home yet...

From Fairbanks, south on the Alaska Highway and through Canada

Saw quite a bit of snow in Alaska and Yukon. Loved driving the Alaska HighwaySaw Buffalo, stone sheep, elk, swans. Enjoyed stopping by the few restaurants and service stations that were open, some with Wi-Fi. Pat's personal favorite stops are Destruction Bay and Toad River Lodge. Buffalo at Liard Hot Springs. Stone Sheep at Muncho Lake. The resident elk herd at Toad River. Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep walked right down the road past us at Radium Hot Springs, BC. Saw and heard the bugling of elk at Jasper Park Lodge. The night temperature at Lake Louise was predicted to be -15C, so we fled south!

North toward home ?????

We spent some time in Anchorage (at Creekside) washing clothes and resting up before heading north again for one last visit of the season at Denali. Stayed at Rainbow RV several days. Took the last Tundra Wilderness Tour bus of the season into the park. More fall scenery, more animals! Enjoyed more vegetarian chili at the park's Morino Grill. Drove into the park several times. This was the moose rutting season, so there were lots of them around. You could also hear them bugling off in the woods. Supported the local economy be participating in the end of season sales. While we had seen lots of snow earlier in the mountains inside the park, we were thrilled to wake up to snow on Mount Healy right outside the Village. The locals refer to the first snow of winter as 'termination dust.'
On to Fairbanks for several days to prepare for the Alaska Highway and the long trip home. Both of us had colds off & on through late summer and needed to rest a bit more. We did go on the Discovery River Boat tour, which we really enjoyed. Spent time with books and lattes at Barnes & Noble. Ate several times at AW Family Restaurant (Airport Way), lots of comfort food. It turned cold and snowed while we were in Fairbanks. Overnight low around 23 one night before we left.

On to Homer with John

After we returned from Katmai, we immediately hit the road south toward Homer, one of our favorite places. John stayed at Land's End Hotel, which is aptly named, since it's ai the end of the Homer Spit, which sticks out 5 miles into Kachemac Bay. We stayed next door at Homer Spit Campground. Couple of nice meals at Homer. At Lands Inn, then at Sourdough. We went moose-looking outside of town, and saw a bear! We were able to see lots of the glaciers around the bay. Then we drove back to Anchorage, where we had a good Chinese dinner and John stayed at the HIExpress and left for home the next morning.

It's all about the BEARS...

Katmai National Park. You only get there by plane or boat. We flew into King Salmon on a commercial small jet, then floatplane on to Katmai. We all three shared a cabin there for 3 nights. We saw lots and lots of bears. Annabel and John had a pretty close encounter with a bear that didn't know they were supposed to be 50 feet away... The bears there are extremely well fed because of the salmon streams. There's so much food, that the bears even tolerate other bears and also humans nearby. We watched lots of bears fishing, swimming, and just walking around. We also went on a bus tour to the Valley of the 10,000 Smokes, a valley buried in volcanic ash about 100 feet deep in places. This is from an eruption in the early 1900's. Annabel was brave enough to hike down into the valley. Long hike, several miles, but over 800 feet change in elevation. Like the steps of an 80 story building. She said it was twice as far coming back up! Float plane back to the Angler's Paradise Lodge, and more bears, where we caught a small private plane back to ANC.

On to Fairbanks and Barrow

Drove farther north on the Parks Highway, stopping for breakfast at Nanana. Also stopped at John's all-time favorite stop, Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn. Fits in with his sense of humor. On to Chena Hot Springs, about an hour north of Fairbanks. John and Annabel soaked in the hot springs and visited the Ice Museum. John enjoyed his stay at the Holiday Inn Express, where there is a pool and morning cinnamon buns. We all enjoyed a visit to Barnes & Noble. We flew up to Barrow, on the Arctic Ocean. The plane stopped on the way at Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay. Point Barrow is the northernmost point on the continent. Lots of native folks here - Inupiaq. They live a subsistance life, hunting whale, caribou, ducks, seals, and drying meat on outdoor racks. Stayed 1 night at Top of the World Hotel. Ate at Pepe's, the northernmost Mexican restaurant. Saw snowy owls, tundra swans, and other geese & ducks. Barrow is probably on of the most unususl places we visited. We saw native dancers, and even Coast Guard guys jump into the Arctic Ocean to qualify for the Polar Club. John and Annabel walked around town in freezing rain and snow. They ended up having a nice Chinese dinner.

Enjoying Denali with Brother John

We picked up John at the airport in Anchorage on Aug 26 - dinner at our favorite ANC restaurant (Alladin's). Next morning, a short shopping trip at the weekend ANC Market, then we headed north for Denali. John spent 2 nites at the Princess and we camped at the Rainbow RV across the street. We rode in on the bus twice. (The 95 mile road, remember, is accessible only by bus.) Saw lots of animals, and great fall scenery. The plants were gold and red all around the park. We even had a 3-dog night at the park (saw wolves, foxes & a coyote on the same day). Watched a young moose struggle to navigate the road and steep embankments.