More Dip Netting

Here is another picture of dip netting at the mouth of the Kenai River. Even though people who are not Alaskans are not allowed to dip net salmon, it is fascinating to watch. I think it is equal to our trip on the Lulu Belle as the highlight of the sights we have seen. The mountain in the background is Mt. Redoubt.

We had friends visit us a few weeks ago. Bruce and Kathy and Robert Johnston came for dinner. We met Kathy and Bruce Johnston at the Boomer's Rally in Quartzsite, at the grocery store in Parker, at the swimming pool in Lake Havasu, at the fireworks in Lake Havasu, at the Elks pre-rally in Yuba City and at the Escapade in Chico. We missed each other in Valdez by one day but then they visited us in Eagle River. Eagle River is the only time that we planned to meet. It is unusual to meet someone so often in one year! They gave me a black velvet cape that I can wear with my early 1800 costume when we go reenacting.

My friend, Dr. Carol Weishampel will be visiting soon. We plan to do some book signing together. See schedule on the media web page of http://www.rovingpen.com/.

Terry and Ruth Hager will arrive in Anchorage at the end of August. I will be going to my parent’s 65th wedding anniversary from August 10 to 24. My husband, Terry and I hope to see Terry and Ruth at the end of August. Terry is a member of the Penwheels and Escapee RV club. I went to grade school with Terry 50 years ago. Can I be that old? Remember that I said we were in elementary school. The teacher’s seated us in alphabetical order so we sat near each other for three and a half years.

In memory of Sharon Bolle

This picture was taken of Dick and Sharon Bolle in March 2006 when the four of us took a trip to see wild burros near Earp, CA. After photographing the wild animals and visiting another campground with interesting Arizona scenes in a large mural, we went to the Paradise Café for fish and chips. Sharon and I also had fun dressing up in big hats at the Spring tea held in the clubhouse.

Perhaps the best way to tell their story is to quote from my book, RV Chuckles and Chuckholes – the Confessions of Happy Campers.

“We met Dick and Sharon Bolle at an RV park in the desert of California and were surprised to see them a month later near San Bernardino at a steak dinner in the clubhouse.

Dick and Sharon were born and raised in Iowa. Since I have lived in Iowa longer than anywhere, we immediately found that we knew the same places and had common interests.

For the last thirty some years, they have lived in Texas. They travel about half of the year in their RV and live on a lake the rest of the time. Their interests are canoeing, riding a tandem bike, exploring National Forests and RV manufacturers, and eating in small restaurants where you don’t recognize the name.

They mentioned that they were planning to visit an RV factory on Monday. Were we nterested? We contacted the manufacturer and discovered that they had a 10 a.m. Class A tour and a 3 p.m. Class C tour. We offered to drive and decided to eat lunch at a little restaurant without a national franchise.

We had a good time on Monday. We even did a little shopping after the tours. I was exhausted. Dick and Sharon never complained. They were unusually courteous. Dick chivalrously opened the car door for me.

Why is this couple so special? We meet RV people all the time who are like them. Maybe they don’t ride tandem bikes or open car doors but most RVers are pleasant people whom we have met again and again.

But Dick wasn’t always like this. He has had a change of heart.

I don’t mean that he was a bad guy who became a good guy. Dick was a very sick man who has had a heart transplant.

In 1980, Dr. Cooley gave him a new heart valve at St. Luke’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. It improved his condition, but gradually he became more and more ill until he was spending almost as much time in the hospital as out of it.

Dick and Sharon moved to Houston in 1987 to an apartment to await the news of an available heart. They were at the zoo when the pager went off. Sharon pushed Dick in the wheel chair to the phone to get the news. A heart was available. When the doctors and nurses heard where they were, Dick was called “the man from the zoo”. While prepping Dick for surgery, the doctors learned that the heart was not suitable for Dick. Emotionally, he must have felt like a woman who is 9 months pregnant who goes to the hospital and is sent home again. You know that you will get this wonderful gift but not today.

He was called again on June 22, 1987 to receive the heart of a 19-year-old man. Emotionally, the time of surgery is more difficult for the close family members than for the patient. He is given pain meds and meds to make him unconscious while the family members can only wait and pray.

Sharon supported Dick all the way. She stayed with him and asked questions and checked everything done for him. Their marriage is like riding a tandem bike – supporting and balancing each other.

Dick worked as a person who developed and created prototypes for heating and air conditioning systems. His work was both mental and physical. He was able to return to work in January of 1988. He has now retired. Dick goes to St. Luke’s Hospital for a yearly check-up.

Dick appreciates the gift of life. He especially appreciates that he is physically able to do as much as any 69 year-old man with a thirty-something heart.”

Dick called me this morning to tell me that Sharon did not survive an
automobile accident on July 1,2006. She was 64 years old.

Alaskan's Dip Netting

Only Alaskans can go dip net fishing. Terry’s job was to drive people and supplies the mile or so from the parking lot through the soft, wet sand to the mouth of the Kenai River where the salmon were returning from the ocean. My job was as guardian of the stuff (food, coolers, fish da bonkers and other fish cleaning supplies.) Raymond and Teresita’s job was to catch and clean salmon. We all ate salmon at the campsite. It tastes so good when it is fresh and eaten outdoors!

The scene was perfect. Snow covered Mt. Redoubt was in the background. Sea gulls fluttered about waiting for the fish heads and entrails to be thrown back into the ocean. A lone eagle circled overhead. The tide kept creeping closer and closer so I moved our stuff up the bank six times to prevent it from getting wet.

I brought a magazine to read but didn’t read very much since I was conversing with the other anglers. Lonnie, from Anchorage, gave me a cold can of Sprite.

A school of flounders were caught by many of the fishermen. Raymond even caught three flounders at one time. Flounder is good eating but most people didn’t bother with them because their bodies are so thin that it is difficult to fillet a good fish steak. The fishermen were after salmon. They gave the big flounders to a woman in a red cap and threw the small ones back. The fishermen agreed that the salmon run was poor but it is early in the season. They would get more fish the next time.

Only in Alaska?

I took this picture in a parking lot in Whittier. I’m not sure if the animals are reindeer or caribou. One place I read that reindeer are domesticated caribou. Then I learned that there is more than one kind of caribou and reindeer and caribou are different breeds.

I’ve given some thought on what to write about Alaska. I think that what I’m writing is only true in Alaska but I may be wrong. I welcome your comments in the comment section of this blog.

We were traveling along the Funny River Road toward Sterling when we saw a runway/golf course. Or was it a runaway converted into a golf course? I suppose the airplanes have the right of way. Who mows the grass?

The salmon are starting to return to the rivers. Alaskans can use dip nets to catch salmon for their own use in the next few weeks. Everywhere you shop, Wal-mart, Fred Meyers, Cosco, you find lots of fishing equipment. In Soldotna, at the Hardware and Fishing store, I saw a whole rack of de bonkers. They are also known as fish whackers. They are small baseball bat like pieces of wood used to hit the fish over the head.

We bought the Sunday paper for July 2– the Peninsula Clarion’s life section featured 3 recipes for the 4th of July. They were BBQ Moose Ribs, Rhubarb Spicy Sauce, and Perfect Salmon.

If you want to watch fireworks, the paper suggests that you watch the PBS Washington DC fireworks on TV. You will not see fireworks outdoors. It doesn’t get dark enough. Hope you had a happy Independence Day!

We went Sailing!

We woke up Saturday morning, June 24, to cloudy skies and cool temperatures but it wasn’t raining as it had for many days. Raymond and Teresita invited us to go sailing with them. We enthusiastically answered, “Yes.” We drove the Glenn Highway through Anchorage, around the Cook Inlet to the tunnel which leads to Whittier.

You must reach the tunnel by the half hour or you need to wait an hour. It takes cars, RVs and pickups twelve to fifteen minutes to drive the three miles through the mountain tunnel. The traffic goes one way along the dark, narrow stone sides of the hole in the mountain. A sweeper vehicle drives through. Now trains take their turn to drive to or from Whittier. The town was a military installation but now is used by tourists. A fourteen-story cruise ship was anchored in the bay dwarfing the other boats and ships.

Raymond backed the van to hitch up the trailer holding the ship named the “Jolly Cork” and towed it to the ramp. After sliding into the water, and moving the van and trailer back into the parking lot, we were on our way. Prince William Sound’s turquoise water was calm so we used the motor to get underway. The boat’s interior is similar to a small RV. It sleeps four, has a galley with propane stove and sink and has it’s own toilet.

Do you remember that we were on Prince William Sound when we were in Valdez? Whittier is on the west side of the sound while Valdez is on the east side of the sound. The two towns are approximately 100 miles apart via water but over 300 miles apart via roads. Have I mentioned that Alaska is huge?

We rode with the shoreline visible on both sides of the boat. The trees are a lush dark green. Rocks are various shades of light brown to black. The mountains vary from the blue snow of glaciers to white capped peaks. We passed a rookery where the sea gulls were nesting. Thin bands of water trickled down the mountains where they met and formed larger waterfalls. We anchored in a cove where five waterfalls met to form one large white cascade of water flowing into the bay. The sound of the waterfall was music to accompany our lunch. Sometimes the sails caught a gentle breeze and we were able to navigate without the motor. An eagle soared over our heads. A seal dove into the water and bobbed up with a salmon in his mouth. Sea Gulls fluttered around the seal hoping for leftover seafood. After six hours of sailing, we returned the ship to dock and made the return trip through the mountain tunnel and along the highway home. It was a great day!

Living in Alaska

The state bird of Alaska is the ptarmigan. This one I photographed while on the trip to Denali. He seems to be in transition from the winter white feathers to the summer brown ones.

We planned to go to Flat Top Mountain and see the sun go around the mountain on the summer solstice on June 21. Teresita and Raymond have beautiful pictures of it taken in 2004. However it rained this year. It feels like it is always too early to go to bed at night since it never gets dark. Terry has fixed styrofoam in the windows so our bedroom gets dark. Once we get to sleep, it isn’t too bad.

One of the problems with RVing is that it is difficult to get dental appointments when you are only in an area for a maximum of six weeks. We have not stayed longer than that in one place since 1999. Since we are in Alaska for the next few months, I contacted a dentist named Dr. Yassick for an appointment. What could be a more appropriate name then “yes sick” for a Doctor?

The dental receptionist was surprised at the results of the four-page questionnaire that I filled out. The last time I went to a dentist was in Raleigh, North Carolina. My Dr. is in Iowa. My address is in Texas. My area code for my phone is in Oregon. I told her that I am an RVer.

He surprised me too. Where but in Alaska will your dentist be a bush pilot and his office be in a log cabin?

Another good thing about being in one place for several months is that I have my own library card. One thing a writer loves to do is read. Pardon me while I read awhile.

Lu-Lu Belle

In my book “ RV Chuckles and Chuckholes – the Confessions of Happy Campers”, I wrote about the RV lifestyle changes which include where you go to church.

On page 19 you can read, “Sometimes we do not meet in a building. In Valdez, Alaska, we were welcomed aboard a cruise ship called the Lu-Lu Belle and taken into Prince William Sound where we sang familiar songs including one about us all being in the family of God.”

We returned to the Lu-Lu Belle last weekend. We were not disappointed in the one-hour church service with message given under a beautiful waterfall. On the Saturday cruise, we saw Orca whales which seemed to know when we were photographing them because they splashed into the water as the photo was being taken. Raymond had the fastest camera and took some good pictures. The Dall porpoises dove into the wake of the stern of the ship and played peek-a-boo with us. Everyone could get close enough to take pictures of the sea lions and otters. We saw the regal eagles as they flew and landed in the trees beside us. The puffins were busy sitting on their nests. The icebergs were close as you can see in the photo.

Sometimes you meet someone who has a vast knowledge of his or her work and is able to articulate it well. Occasionally you will meet a person who loves his work and is able and willing to go the extra mile. Captain Fred Rodolf is such a person. The cruise was over 7 hours instead of the 5 and ½ hours because Captain Fred Rodolf wanted to show us the whales. The ship is immaculately clean. The patina of the teak and mahogany wood showed the care given the ship. I have never before been on a ship that has oriental rugs on the floor. The cruise was everything we dreamed it would be. Thank you, Captain Rodolf. You made the trip extraordinary!

Kennicott

We celebrated Raymond’s birthday with a four-day trip to Mc Carthy, Kennicott, and Valdez, Alaska. We traveled past glaciers and along 60 miles of gravel road to reach Alaska’s largest ghost town – Kennicott. When we arrived close to the town, we had to park Raymond’s van and walk across the footbridge over the Copper River. We called the Kennicott Glacier Lodge who drove a car to the bridge to transport us the final five miles to the ghost town. In 1908, when the copper mine was in it’s height of productivity, the road was a railroad bed. Today you can see about 40 buildings in various states of disrepair. A few have been restored and many are in the process of stabilization since it is a National Historic Landmark in the Wrangell-Elias National Park. The Chugach Mountains are in the background with the Root Glacier and it’s murrains in the foreground of the town. In the background of the picture is the 14-story mill building. In front are Raymond, Teresita and myself. Terry is taking the picture.

New John Deere Machine

The “new” John Deere machine was delivered on June 1. Actually the machine is pretty old. The driver who brought it to Raymond’s house said that it is older than he is. Terry and Raymond will use it to do grading for Raymond’s new house. Raymond is in the red shirt moving a huge rock in the picture. Terry is in the brown shirt.

The best way to describe the lot is that it is like a chair. The back of the chair is the steep mountain. The seat is where the log cabin will go after the basement and driveway are dug out. The legs of the chair are Upper Fish Lake.

Denali National Park

We went to the Denali National Park over the weekend for a wonderful family time. The weather was perfect to see Mt. McKinley. (Only ten percent of tourists get to see Mt. McKinley because it is usually hidden by clouds.) We stopped at a pull off to see the mountain from a distance. Raymond took this picture of the sign with the mountain in the background. By placing the camera on a tripod and using a timer, he was able to be part of the picture. Left to right is Teresita, Darlene, Raymond and Terry Miller. This trip was the 4th tour through the park for Terry and myself. We saw more wolves, caribou, and dall sheep than we ever saw before. Snowshoe rabbits were everywhere. Most of the animals were close up as well as far away so we got several excellent pictures.

On the way home, we had problems with Raymond's van. The transmission did not work properly. We parked at a parking place off the highway by the Little Susitna River. I grabbed a map to look for markers to tell the tow company. Where the river crossed the Parks Hwy. was a symbol for a boat landing. You will never guess what it was called. Okay, I’ll tell you. It is “Miller’s Landing.” (I thought that it was ironic since all four of us are Millers.) Raymond called a friend to drive us home. We arrived home (Raymond and Teresita's house and our RV) late on Monday evening. Shortly after we stopped, we heard sirens and emergency vehicles rushing past us. I thought, “Thank God, it could have been much worse. We could have been in an accident.” The car is now in a repair shop.

Birthdays, Graduations and Anniversaries

In our family, there are a lot of birthdays, graduations and wedding anniversaries in May. Ray and Teresita’s anniversary is May 1. My daughter Karol’s birthday on May 12, grandson Nathan on May15, granddaughter Jamie’s on May 19, my birthday on May 21, granddaughter Ann’s birthday on May 25 and my sister, Joy’s birthday on May 27. My nephew, Ben Hoven, graduates from high school on May 20. Ann not only has her birthday on May 25 but graduates from high school on the same day! This is a picture of Ann.

One of the problems with Rving is that we can’t be where our children live for all the special days. They happen too fast to be in North Carolina, Iowa, Texas, and Alaska a few days apart but Rving does allow us to travel to see them once a year. When we lived in a stick house, we only saw them every other year. Happy Birthday and graduation everyone!

Mother's Day

We arrived at Raymond and Teresita Miller’s home on May12. They did everything to make us comfortable. We got our RV washed and hooked up to water and electricity. We drove and then hiked up the mountain to see the Denali Mountain which was about 150 miles away. Raymond gave me his arm to assist in coming down the mountain. Teresita had dinner ready.

On Sunday, they gave me this bouquet of red roses for Mother’s Day. My children phoned on Sunday. For those of you, who are confused as to who is who in our family, let me introduce you. Counting our birth, step and adopted children, we had 8 children.

The oldest of our children is Richard who is married to Shelly Klein. Rich works for 3M in Knoxville, Iowa. Rich and Shelly have a daughter, Heather and a son, Jason. Heather has 3 children and Jason and Betsy have a daughter.

Steven, our second son, is married to Marsha Klein. Steve is a welder in Houston, Texas. Their 3 children are Ann, Jamie and Jacob.

Mark is married to Connie Klein. They live in Pleasantville, Iowa with their 5 children, Amanda, Matthew, Joshua, Emily, and Nathan. Mark commutes to Marshalltown for his job as a supervisor at Lenox Corporation.

Raymond and Teresita Miller live in Eagle River. Raymond has his own sleep equipment sales company called Alaskan Sleep in Anchorage, Alaska. Teresita is a registered nurse.

Michael Scott died on December 31, 2001 in Houston, Texas of an aneurysm.

Karol Rhoads works at Wells Fargo as a banker in Knoxville, Iowa. She has 2 children, Ryan and Kari.

Robert is married to Nathalia Miller. His home is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Robert has two daughters, Victoria and Laura. He has his own construction company.

Joy Miller works full time for NASA in Texas, and goes to college full time with a 4.0 average.

Construction Work

Construction work on the roads had already started. We asked some questions of the girl who was directing traffic when she stepped up to the side step on the driver’s door of the RV. When she jumped down, she said “Thanks for the lift.”

We were so glad to arrive at our son’s home in Eagle River after one and a half days of terrible roads, and wintery conditions as we drove over the mountains.

May 11 and 12

Spring and autumn are the seasons that we like the best. Often we travel so slowly north in the spring and south in the fall that we have several months of colorful flowers and leaves and mild temperatures. But we beat the season when we came to the Cassiar which is also known as Hwy. 37. This scene shows that it was still winter. We had a stretch of road 16 kilometers and another of 12 kilometers which were gravel. We unhitched the toad. I drove the car and Terry drove the RV after I took this picture.

Black Bear

The central and northern areas of the British Columbia coast are known for the large amount of black bear. From May 4th thru May 11th, we searched for bears and other wild animals. Pictured is a large black bear who watched us take his picture through the car window. The first 5 days, we used the green toad (4 wheel drive Suzuki towed car) and traveled to road’s end. The last 3 days were in the RV as we traveled toward Alaska. The goats and sheep were seen from a stopped area where we looked through binoculars and spotting scope. (They are like looking at white ants with the naked eye.) We did see 8 sheep which came down for water so we have good pictures of these.

The totals of the animals that we saw are 56 Black bear, 8 eagles, 1 lynx, 2 foxes, 5 deer
3 Moose, 10 caribou, 1 wolf, 5 swans, 42 dall sheep (with great pictures of 8), 20 white mountain goats + a grizzly bear chasing them. He did not catch a goat during the two hours we were watching.

Canada and North Vancouver

Canada and North Vancouver

The natural green areas in the city surprised us. We hiked in Lynn Canyon where we walked over this suspension bridge. I am pictured with Shawn. The bridge is much longer than it looks in this picture. The pine and evergreen trees seem to be hundreds of feet tall. The water was clear as it spilled down the waterfall to the rocks below. On Monday, May 1,we drove along the Howe Sound to Whistler, which is a ski area that will be home for the 2010 Olympic games. Although there is construction to widen the road, it is easy to travel with our Suzuki. Because of the hairpin curves and gravel roads further north, we were advised not to try to travel with our RV on Hwy 99 to Lillooet and to Hwy. 97.

We traveled back to Blaine, Washington to get our RV. On Tuesday, May 2, we returned to British Columbia with our RV and toad (towed car).

We had no problem at the border. We showed our passports and answered a few questions and were on our way in about five minutes. Now we had to make a few changes. Miles became kilometers. We soon learned that 100 kilometers is equal to 60 miles per hour. Of course, 50 kilometers is equal to 30 miles per hour. If you are not sure of the speed, you just make sure that you are driving under the speed limit, which is not the speed that the Canadians are driving.

Bridges were a concern because they are measured in meters. Since we are 12 feet and 6 inches tall, we learned that we are okay as long as the bridge is at least 4 meters tall. They seemed to be built for semi trucks to travel so all the bridges that we encountered were tall enough.

We exchanged $100 for 20’s, 10’s, 5’s and twonies and loonies. We were given $109 for $100. Later the rate dropped to $105 for $100 of USA monies.

Canadian Cousins

Canadian Cousins

Terry and I left our RV at a campground in Blaine, Washington and drove our green toad (Suzuki 4 wheel drive towed car) to North Vancouver.

We had no problem with Canadian Customs. We showed our passports and answered a few questions and were on our way.

Cheryl Miller Megalos and Joanne Miller Richardson’s grandfather, who was Raymond Edward Miller, and Terry’s father, William Charles Miller, - were brothers. Joanne brought her sons, Austin and Shawn, to Cheryl and Jimmy Megalos’s new home on April 30. Joanne Richardson is standing behind the log. Left to right is Cheryl Megalos, Shawn
Richardson, and Austin Richardson.

Cheryl and Jimmy’s new home is part of a triplex. On it’s 3 floors you will find 3 bedrooms, a den, a laundry room, kitchen, living room and 3 and a half bathrooms. Terry and I appreciated using a bathtub before retiring since we were invited to spend the night.

We pass through large cities but do not spend much time there since most cosmopolitan cities are not RV friendly. The Megalos family uses public transportation as well as driving their car. A bakery and other specialty shops and restaurants are within walking distance. We walked to a restaurant called “Incognito” for dinner. The Canadian cousins were very friendly and hospitable. It was so good to connect with family again.

RV Authors Cooperative

RV Authors Cooperative

There were 23 books at the RV Author’s Cooperative at the Escapees Spring Rally in Chico, CA. Left to right are Janice Lasko, the editor of Escapees magazine, Judy Frances, who wrote in RV Womens’ Traveling Tales, Jane Kenny, who wrote the book, Casino Camping, Alice Zyetz who wrote You Shoulda Listened to Your Mother, Darlene Miller who wrote RV Chuckles and Chuckholes – the Confessions of Happy Campers, and Jaimie Hall who wrote Support your RV lifestyle. Alice and Jaimie are also the editors of RV Women’s Traveling Tales and the writers of the cd Taking the Mystery out of RV Writing. The four days passed quickly as I learned much from these talented women about writing and marketing books. We had fun and interesting conversations.

Escapade- Kay Peterson and CARE

Escapade, Kay Peterson and CARE

Sorry about the late posting of these journal entries. We have been traveling in areas where we could not connect our satellite dish.

Meeting people and becoming involved with them is one of my goals while traveling and exploring. The best way to do this is to volunteer. At the Escapees Rally, I looked at the list of volunteer “work” and decided to be a hostess for seminars. This involves introducing speakers and checking lights and assisting the speaker however possible.

It was an honor to introduce one of the founder’s of the Escapee Club, Kay Peterson. Kay is the little lady in the picture with me. She spoke about a unique project of hers – the CARE facility in Livingston, Texas. The acronym of CARE means “continued assistance for retired Escapees.” The facility is a day care and residence for people who temporarily or permanently can’t travel anymore. What makes this center different from any other project for assistance of the elderly and infirm is that they live in their RV’s with their own pets and personal things but receive care and meals with their friends. I have volunteered at CARE and have found the facility superior to any other facility that I have seen or worked at as a registered nurse.

The second speaker that I introduced was Janet Taylor who spoke on “Travel Wardrobe Enhancement Made Easy.” She demonstrated how to change T-shirts and shirts by adding iron –on transfer studs and crystals.

Terry, my husband, went to seminars about photography, solar collectors, and diesel engines. We visited with special interest groups of Escapees called BOF (birds of a feather) groups such as Boondockers, Boomers, and Elks. We went to all the entertainment. I sold my book at the RV Author’s Cooperative.

Red Hat Ladies

Since the grassy areas with the power hook-ups were saturated from a recent rain, we were told to park our RV on the edge of the pavement. Terry did. Remember what I said about being parked in a safe area in the fairgrounds? Well, forget that.

A group of people was setting up for a Vintage Clothing Fair when we felt a jolt in our RV. A woman hit us. Fortunately, she only scratched a little paint off the bumper of the RV. She was so upset that I ended up hugging her. She paid us for the damages but it was an upsetting day.

I did have fun though. We dressed up in our red hats and purple clothing for lunch. (I am the second person from the back row on the left.) In the evening, we went to the Marysville Elk Lodge for a fish fry.