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HOME & FORUM -- HOBBIES

NORTH TO ALASKA


ON THE ROAD WITH ROY and LINDA DIXON


 

ALASKAN DIARY
Roy and Linda start their journey on the Alaskan Highway

Entry 1 Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula

We have enjoyed Anchorage. Visited the downtown which has awesome flowers and lots of gift shops.

Entry 2 Soldotna

Roy was scheduled for a Halibut fishing trip. He and one of our Escapee friends met at 6:30 A.M. They drug back in victorious at 4:30 P.M. Roy caught a 25 pound and a 35 pound fish. Two is the limit. So we had it frozen and sent to my cousin, Jan in Washington State.
Soldotna Halibut fishing trip Roy cuaght two of these halibut

Entry 3 Seldovia

We took a great boat trip to Seldovia one day. It is a small, formerly Russian, town only accessible by air in a very small plane or by water. We also took a boat to Otter Cove for lunch. We saw many sea animals and sea birds on both trips.

 Seldovia city street
The Otter Resort Seldovia coastal area

Entry 4 Seward

While in Seward we rode the Seward Trolly! We visited The Alaska Sealife Center. It was great. Learned a lot and saw so many sea animals and birds. We hiked up to Exit Glacier.

Entry 5 Denali and Fairbanks

We boon docked about a mile out of town. Took a super four hour airboat ride up the river. Saw a black bear up pretty close from the boat. We took a nature hike with a lady guide who carried a large rifle. She said if you talk to the bears they figure out that you are human, not dinner and leave you alone.
Linda on her flight seeing trip over Mt. McKinley

Entry 6 Mt. McKinley

Linda went on a flight seeing trip of Mt. McKinley with a glacier landing but Roy wouldn't go. Wow! How totally awesome! Words cannot express what I saw, but I took lots of pictures. Landing on a glacier with skis on the plane is exciting but the take off down hill with the skis was so fast. It was a great experience. I am so happy I did it.
View from the plane View from the plane over Mt. McKinely

Entry 7 Dog Sled Contest

We went to the dog mushing demo. It was fun. The dogs were so eager to run. I got a photo of one dog jumping 2 feet off the ground. He was so excited. He grabbed the lines and pulled trying to get the rest of the dogs to go. It was fun to watch them run.
Roy holds up the Alaskan Pipeline

Entry 8 The Arctic Circle

We are on a trip to the Arctic Circle today. We are escaping the forest fire smoke of Fairbanks, Alaska. It is almost 80 degrees. We crossed the Arctic Circle, saw the Alaska Pipeline and touched permafrost. Permafrost is almost two feet down now, so we had to put our arms down in a hole almost to our shoulders. What a mucky mess! It was worth it. When you feel it, it is icy cold because it is frozen. Some people use a permafrost refrigerator. They dig a hole and put whatever they want to keep cold in a watertight container. During the building of the Alaska pipeline some kids had a lemonade stand and kept the lemonade cold that way.

Entry 9 Fairbanks in the Smoke!

We went to the Eldorado Gold Mine. Lots of fun included a train ride and gold panning. Later that day we went to Gold Dredge No. 8. Got a great tour, some miner's stew and once again panned for gold. By putting our gold together, we got enough for two necklaces somewhat filled with gold flakes. One for me and one for our daughter, Kirstie.

Entry 10 Whitehorse

We attended the Frantic Follies while in Whitehorse. It was a Vaudeville type show. It was very funny. This beautiful young thing needed help in removing her garter and she came out into the audience to find help. Who did she choose@ She chose Roy. He did such an excellent job they gave him an Order of the Garter Certificate and he got to keep the garter!We stayed in downtown in the state capitol, Juneau at The Alaskan Hotel, a big mistake. We took a walk down to the "famous" Red Dog Saloon, like in the North To Alaska Song.
North Pole visitors center>

LETTERS HOME


June 2005

"Hi!
We had a wonderful anniversary. We spent June 25th at Muckluck Annie's. It can't be beat! For about $29.00 U.S. for two, we had a wonderful meal; fresh King salmon, ribs, baked potato, baked beans, salad bar, tea or coffee and dessert. We also had an hour long boat ride on the lake narrated by Muckluck Chuck, Muckluck Annie's husband. Free dry camping overlooking the lake, free truck and R.V. wash, free dump and free water to fill our tanks. What a deal!! We paid $7.50 to dry camp two places already and one didn't even have a dump.

We are traveling to Whitehorse today. Will stay there three days. We plan to see The Frantic Follies, and many other points of interest.

The mosquitoes have only been bad two places. They were so bad it made up for all the good places. When they bite you, you itch for three days. They must be heavy-duty mosquitoes! I figure that they are so big because they probably feed on moose.

A fellow Escapee (Full time R.Ver - ed. note) we met at Quartzite last January, who is from British Columbia, told me to buy a L'Executeur. It is great! It looks like a badminton racquet on steroids. You lay it by the bed at night and if you hear one, you swing it and then a spark of light; no more mosquito. Wonderful silence. I certainly recommend it to anyone coming to Northern Canada or Alaska.

We have had to try to darken our bedroom. It is still light at 2:00 a.m. and the sun comes up at 3. They say there are 19 hours of daylight but it never really gets darker than twilight.

Awesome Trip!
Love,
Linda and Roy

July 2005

Hi!
The drive to Haines was really pretty. Tall mountains and snow next to the roadside. This was the 3rd of July! We enjoyed the Eagles in Haines.

We took a float trip through an Eagle Preserve and we also went to the Eagle preservation museum. It was very interesting. We watched the 4th of July parade. It is a very small town.

We traveled from Haines to Valdez with a stop in Destruction Bay overight. Valdez is the most beautiful area we have been in. There are majestic mountains, glaciers, Prince William Sound; it is all so beautiful. We took a boat trip to view wildlife and to see the Columbia Glacier. It was fabulous! We saw seals, sea otters, sea lions, puffins, eagles, humpback whales, waterfalls and small glaciers.

We really enjoyed seeing the icebergs as we approached the glacier. It was really cool. (literally!) The crew fished out glacier ice, cleaned it off and broke it up and passed it out.

We were suppose to arrive back at 6:30 but the captain stopped to let us take pictures of all the different animals. We arrived back at 7:40. That is a crew who loves their work.

We were excited at the Worthington Glacier because we were able to hike up to it and actually touch it. Got some great pictures. One was of the sun going down behind a mountain. Of course it didn't go far. It never gets really dark.

We left Valdez and headed to Anchorage. We spent the night in a great gravel pit. Beautiful mountain views. Arrived in Anchorage today. Actually drove on a 4-lane highway for the first time in weeks. This is a big city. Ahhhhhhhhhh civilization. Will be here several days. Kinda enjoying the "Big City". Hope all is well with everyone.

Love,
Linda & Roy
Roy and Linda Dixon after their three month trip to Alaska.

Our thanks to Roy, retired CHSP Automation Electrician, and his wife, Linda, for sharing their three month trip to Alaska. Thanks also to Andybill Jarmon for providing us with their pictures, diary and letters.

Web Team: Dick and Barb Arthur
Email: arthurdb@go.com