Spent three days in the exciting parking lot of a Fred Meyers store in Anchorage, still awaiting arrival of the shock absorbers that were ordered from Spartan Motors. Used this time to perform some “maintenance” items, such as front end alignment of the Jeep, necessitated by the aforementioned “sliding front wheel” episode, laundry, grocery and miscellaneous shopping, and retrieval of mail forwarded from AZ.
Williwaw Campground, AK
Where is Williwaw Campground, Chugach National Forest, AK?
I breezed straight through Anchorage, and headed for this more southerly location. I usually do not stop in large cities. I have burned out on museums, etc.
On the 24th I decided that I needed a day off from the pressures of driving and decision making, so we just stayed put at this campground, mostly novel-reading. I also need to dally around this area a little as I have shock absorbers ordered at a shop in Anchorage to be installed on Monday, and my first delivery of forwarded mail should be awaiting me at Anchorage General delivery.
I will take day trips to Seward and Homer from here, as any activities I may pursue will probably not exceed the time required to walk their port-side boardwalk with an ice cream in tow.
Sunday is spent 1) removing bugs from front of the motorhome, but it would probably be easier to just remove the motorhome from the bugs, there are so many; 2) removing tar from the windshield of the Jeep, deposited from following-to-close to the motorhome; 3) Brushing Annie with the brush I bought yesterday. I figured that every hair removed outside is one less hair I will eat inside.
I am listening to the “Prarie Home Companion” broadcast from redmond, WA. There are some absolutely hilarious sketches on this program, particularly about playing golf on the Bill Gates’ golf course, who is absent because he went to India to get his laptop fixed. If you can find it and listen to it on the web, do so (NPR).
Homer Side Trip, or "Stuck in Sand"
Visited Homer today from base at Williwaw. Homer appears to be a combination seaport and tourist town, as all seaside Alaskan towns do. However, Homer is more a fishing-oriented town then the others I have visited. Considerable commercial fishing, and lots of sport fishing available. I opted to not take a sport fishing “cruise”, because Annie objected to going to a kennel (a thin excuse).
In Homer all tourist and fishing activities are located on a long narrow spit, with each side l\of the single road lined with businesses hawking everything to “invisible dogs” to tours and cruises.
Homer is an ugly little town to visit. But as a sport fisherman, one probably could care less what the town looks like, as long as there are fish to be caught. I was told that the (long from Anchorage) drive there was beautiful, but even that did not live up to it’s reputation.
On the way to Homer I pulled onto a bay-side beach to photograph the view. When I hit the sand, I knew that something was amiss, as I came to an immediate halt, although I was traveling territory that others have recently traveled. While trying to extricate myself from this situation, I found myself buried to the axle, and digging was providing no results. Unfortunately I did not take a photo of my newly acquired tires buried to the axle.
A very short period of troubleshooting revealed that my front hubs did not engage, so I was not in 4-wheel drive as I thought. I now recall a vacuum line that has dislodged before, but I could not get under the vehicle in the sand to try to re-attach it.
Soon, a kind lady came by in a 4×4 3/4 ton pickup. She asked if I had a tow rope, she could help. After extracting the tow rope that any 4×4 driver worth his salt always carries, I was quickly pulled to terra firma. Unfortunately I did not get this kind lady’s photo.
Seward Side Trip
Visited Seward today from base at Williwaw. Seward appears to be a combination seaport and tourist town, appearing much like Haines, with Haines having considerably less “seaport.” However, both host the Alaska ferry system, as well as cruise ships.
Seward is a pleasant little town to visit, with it’s tourist attraction “Alaska Sea life Center”, which provides information and live exhibits of sea creatures. The drive to Seward from Anchorage is truly beautiful.
Glenallen, AK
