It was misty with the sunshine breaking through but we did not want anything to do with the sun in Fairbanks - not now that we were leaving town! The mist made for some wonderful pictures along the way - the sun most determindly breaking through in places. The scenery was wonderful - the mountains and rivers really lovely - a lovely ride.
We all agreed that the awesome snowpeaked mountain we saw was McKinley. It was beautiful and then quickly dissappeared again. Right after we saw this, there was a long lane of backed up traffic in front of us - all at a dead still stop. A flashing sign told us that the Denali Highway and the Parks Highway between Fairbanks and Anchorage was closed due to flooding and road damage. But no one was telling us anything and all the cars in front of us were still being shown over the bridge that was being worked on so we did not worry too much - just checked to see what road we were on. The Parks Highway.......... So when we pulled up to the flagger, I asked him if the road to Anchorage was open. No. Turn around here. No one else had asked him and he had not shared that with anyone either. We turned around. The drive from Fairbanks to this point was almost 200 miles. The scenery back was equally stunning - more photos were taken, we stopped at places we had missed on the way down and we not at all upset - does not help anyway. It is quite amazing just how different the scenery is from the other way around! And all three of us firmly believed that we had seen The Mountain! We still believe that and nothing will sway us at all. There has to be SOME payback for having to drive all those extra miles! Apparently there are not many days of the year that the Denali Mountains can be seen - we missed them last time we were here.
The skies were a beautiful blue and the camera clicked happily - we had hope of the northern lights, despite what anyone told us.
So. Back into Fairbanks - yet another photo of the "Welcome to Fairbanks" sign and we took a wrong turn, so did a gloriously slow tour along a tiny, winding, little, pavement-less road all around the airport. Things in the motor home bounced loose, were tied up and on we went finally finding the road back into town and out South towards Anchorage from the other angle. By this time it was 4pm - yes, we left Fairbanks at 9am and were leaving again at 4pm. We just gently tootled on out of town, this time I did not call anyone! We stopped at North Pole for some Chinese supper and McDonalds fries. Don't ask me - ask Wendy and Frank. The fries were delicious. Around 6.30pm it became time to stop for the night. First we found a little store alongside the road and bought a single dip ice cream. I am not sure what school those people went to, but by the time we were finished with this 4 scoop icecream, our lips were totally frozen. In our books, it is virtually illegal to throw away ice cream but it does create a problem when trying to understand what the other person is saying when their lips, tounge and swallowing tube is frozen!
A short while later, we pulled into a rest stop thinking that this might be the place to stop for the night. A lady in a car pulled up next to us, pointing at the "PenniesForCancer.com" writing on the RV. She told us that she had followed us as her daughter had a whole purse full of pennies she wanted to give us! Out came the jar and in went the pennies. It was such a lovely gesture, we hugged and they went on their way. Really lovely people. We went on for a little further and stopped just north of Delta Junction which put us only about 80 miles outside of Fairbanks - not bad: Left there at 9am, now 7pm and were were only 80 miles away. 10 hours of driving.....hmmmmmm. But we felt good, had seen some stunning countryside, met wonderful folks, were in good company, had a riverside spot for the night - what more could one ask?
The river ( I dont know which one it was) was rushing by at a tremendous speed with trees swirling along down with the current. The river was a muddy gray color and we were really glad that there was no chance of us getting caught up in those waters. The banks looks so vulnerable in places with that current beating against it all the time. It really was impressive. There were about 8 big birds that seemed to dance above a cluster of trees. At first we thought they were vulture-things but then we saw that that were just having a blast! They swirled, twirled, ducked and dipped, always so gracefully, sometimes dissappearing but always coming back up in a totally effortless leap upwards. We sat and watched them from the warmth of the RV. A boat went screaming up the river a little later and not too long afterwards, two sea-doos came leaping downstream looking very cold and throwing a lot of spray around themselves. It must have been awfully cold on there. The boat came back down a short while later. I just know there is a story there.
The wind howled all night, rocking the house beautifully - it feels almost like being at sea when that happens - glorious! The sky was clear-ish, so none of us slept very well as our eyes all popped open at regular intervals checking for the northern lights. Only when it starts getting light again did we all sleep soundly. No lights. The traffic was also fairly heavy as everyone that had tried to get to or from Anchorage on the Parks Highway was now coming this way around, on the Richardson Highway.
The next day - Sunday - we headed further down towards Anchorage. The mountains were stunning with their capes and caps of snow and ice and clouds. It rained. All the time. But what we saw was really lovely and we ooh-ed and aah-ed our way into Anchorage. The rivers were really rushing by with the rains swelling them into rushing torrents. I am almost sure that I saw puffins but that does not seem to make sense - must look that up. It was certainly cold enough and .......... I will look it up to see if it was at all possible. The camera caught one moose crossing the road. One Bald eagle - the photograph will not make the National Geographic Mag. Rain. Small trees in permafrost ground. Sometimes the tree size changed dramatically and then inbetween were these incongrous little ... towns (?) with the strangest of houses or living quarters, most of which looked as if they needed desperate TLC. Some places had all new cottages that were just begging for tourists to fill up. The views must be awesome if it ever stops raining! It rained non-stop.
And then we got a cell phone signal and I managed to get a quick call into Penny before the signal faded.... soooo nice to hear her again!
We came through Palmer and into Anchorage at about 5pm on Sunday. We were hoping to make it in time to a concert that was to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society here in Anchorage, but with the road closure, just could not get here in time. I did get to meet Vicki and a few of the others - lovely people. They had announced at the concert that we had come in and that anyone who wanted to have thier name on the RV could come and do so. No response. But while we were waiting, a young girl read the Pennies For Cancer words, balanced a penny on the rear view mirror and then donated it! A gentleman came across the road, just a passer-by, and wanted to know how to donate. He was tall, thin and had this little pile of coins inbetween his fingers. He dropped the coins into the collection bottle saying that this was all he had and wanted to give it to a good cause. Talk about being humbled! And then we had three guys walk past, come to a screaming halt, appear in the doorway again and ask how much it cost to rent 'this rig'. They were almost appalled when we told them that it was ours. "What!!?? With all this written on it?? YOURS??!?!" Then they wanted to come in and see it inside, which we let them, they then called "Pops" in to have a look too. It was a good gentle moment while they talked of their dreams of renting an rv and going traveling. After a few minutes, they jauntily headed down the road again.
Shortly afterwards we left to find a campground and to close the day. Driving in the rain takes quite a bit more out of one than doing so in good weather and we were all tired. We slept very well in the Golden Nuggett Rv park just outside of the center of Anchorage. And there I stop for this update - the Glacier Cruise deserves its own day...........
With love to everyone
Especially U3
Annie & Frank
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www.RoadrunnersUSA.com
www.livingwithcml.blogspot.com
www.PenniesforCancer.com
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