Alaska with the Stocks 2009

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Tom and Margi said:
I was so sorry the Top of the World highway was in such poor shape this year. 

There is a fun store in Anchorage (if it's still there) called New Sagayas -- and I may have murdered the spelling.  Pam Van Luchene recommended it.  It has all kinds of really fresh fish, many exotic seasonings, and all kinds of kitchen gadgets.  It's a neat place to wander around.  They also served a lunch buffet.


Margi

We got so much dust inside our GPS on TOTW that our GPS stopped functioning and will not eject the disc so Dean can clean it out.  He is working with Pioneer to try to get it going again.  Until then, I am functioning as navigator in the RV.  In the Jeep, the GPS disc does not cover AK (and purchase of one that does would cost $300), so I am practicing my map-reading there, too.  Scary, it is.  In fact, we went by New Sagayas when we were lost somewhere, and I recognized the name from someone's log.  I should have noted its location, but I will find out where it is and go there--it's inside, so it's dry!
 
Did you feel today's earthquake?  It was reported at 5.7 epicentered in Willows, east of Anchorage.  Probably not strong enough to cause extensive damage, but strong enough to shake Anchorage a bit?

Do take in New Sagayas.  It's just one of those neat places to stroll through.  The fish is FRESH.  We pulled a little '86 Suzuki cloth top on that trip and could barely find a place for it in the parking lot around lunch time.  Lots of Anchorage business people were there for lunch.  What better recommendation?  :D

Margi
 
June 22, 2009 Day 31 Anchorage, AK

When we awakened, it wasn't raining!  I have been wanting to barbecue fish since Valdez, and I wanted to have fish for breakfast.  Dean didn't, but he promised he would barbecue it tonight, even if he had to do it under the awning in the rain, which he is doing right now.  I unwrapped the planks and put one to soak at 6:00, ready to start cooking at 6:20.  Oops!  When Dean took it out, it had cloned, and there were two.  One side was not wet, so back into the sink it went, and we started over again. 
Before we left Cypress, Dean bought a very expensive Motostat, which has not been able to find a signal since we hit Canada.  We've been in contact with them, and they said we were not far enough west, gave us new settings, etc.  Today we decided Anchorage is far enough west, and we were going to get it working.  WiFi has been very unreliable at RV parks despite what Trailer Life says, and I wanted our Motostat to work and work well.  By the way, I have found a way to get good WiFi at the last 3 stops.  I call as soon as I know what town we'll be in and tell the RV park that I must have WiFi or I can't stay, and they park us near the office.  We have had good reception when others in the park have not. Dean went through hassles, inputting and jumping through hoops, and they closed without getting us fixed.  We will open with them at 6 a.m. our time tomorrow morning.
Our only excitement today was at about 11:28 a.m. when our RV shook quite a bit due to a 5.4 earthquake.  I was glad that we weren't on the water at Valdez.  Sherlock just looked at us because it felt very much like it does when Dean retracts the jacks.  We had a smaller aftershock later.

Weather:  Rain off and on until 3:30, then the sun comes out for about 3 hours when it's too late to go to an outside activity like the Botanical Garden or Zoo, then more rain.  High of 54?F, winds 5-10 mph, nice weather if you have on jeans (not shorts!)

 
Dean & Linda Stock said:
We got so much dust inside our GPS on TOTW that our GPS stopped functioning and will not eject the disc so Dean can clean it out.  He is working with Pioneer to try to get it going again.  
In older days the CD/DVD players used to have a small hole in the face plate. This would allow the user to insert an opened paperclip or similar sized wire/probe and that would manipulate the drive wheel which would gradually unlock the tray and allow the CD to release. If you have such a hole in the faceplate then find a paperclip and see if that helps. If there isn't a hole then you need expert attention.

Attached pic will show some options for the hole locations.
 

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Linda, are you talking about the TV or internet MotoSat dish?  We had MotoSat TV and couldn't get signals after about Prince Rupert.  On the return down the Alcan we got TV at Soldier's Summit but no where else until we got closer to the U.S.  No one else could get it either, so don't be surprised if you're out of range.  Someone in Skagway told us you have to have a really big dish up there because of the latitude and we've since heard the same thing.  We had the same situation in Newfoundland, except for the first night which wasn't very far from the ferry dock.

Writing the above reminds me that every day as we'd pull into a campground on the Alaska trip Jerry would put up the dish and almost immediately there would be a crowd of guys around asking, "Can you get it to work?"  None of them could either.  ;D

ArdraF
 
Ardra,

Fred and I both bought 30 or 32 inches dishes in Dawson Creek to try to maintain TV reception. I can say it wasn't worth the money. Worked a few places.

Ken
 
Ken, that's interesting.  I wonder how our new 5 LNB dish would work up there.  It is larger than the previous one but the way it triangulates to get the right satellite might preclude its usefulness too.

ArdraF
 
June 23 & 24 Days 32 & 33 Anchorage, AK

Dean spent half of Tuesday, all day Wednesday, and an hour this morning working with MotoStat trying to get the internet working.  He was on the phone and busy continuously with it, with no breaks, about a 12-hour exercise. We have read with a great deal of interest the replies, and if misery loves company, we're happy.  Unfortunately, everyone agreed today that it just doesn't work here.  Dean's thinking is that the footprint should be largest in Anchorage.  He'll try again in Homer, but I'm focusing on the things we can do and see. 
We had heard from other tourists that the Anchorage Zoo was poor, so we decided to go check it out ourselves.  It is small, but if your expectations aren't too high, you, too, could have a nice afternoon there.  They had most of the Alaskan animals, and they were awake!  We saw owls, bears, hawks, foxes, deer, eagles, lynx, wolverines, a river otter, a harbor seal, musk oxen, an amur tiger, Dall sheep, a snow leopard, caribou, freshly shorn alpacas, yaks, a porcupine, moose, and more.  There were signs giving the facts about each, and I'm sure it's very expensive to keep it going.  Each of the 6 wolves needs about 10 pounds of food per day.  Admission was only $12 (I used a Toursaver coupon and got in free), and we had a good time.
I've been cold, and I found a wonderful "Alaska" coat today.  It has lots of pockets, lots of layers, and is cuddly.  I love it!  Meanwhile, Dean wore shorts.
We got our mail yesterday, took care of business today, and will move to Homer tomorrow.

Wildlife:  Wendy, I know stuffed animals don't count, but how about animals in zoos?  If so, we had a great count today.  We did see 2 uncaged squirrels.

Weather:  We saw the sun a few times today!  Cloudy, high of 57?F, a few minutes of rain a few times today, but mostly dry.
 

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Day 32 & 33 jpart 2

The zoo had elevated boardwalks for viewing of some of the exhibits without having bars between you and the animals.  This made taking pictures much better.

More photos.

    Dean
 

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We had HughesNet coverage everywhere in AK that we could see the horizon, including Anchorage.  You are on the Horizons 1 127W satellite, right?  That's the only one that works reliably in AK.
 
Linda:

We also had good coverage in Anchorage with 127W. Tell Dean not to givre up, they always try to fond a reason other than their equipment.
 
Mike, LOL

  Where is PETA when we need them. They are worried about killing a fly. Guess you know what I am talking about. I'll kill a fly in a moment and love animals in safe quarters in a Zoo... free meals..

carson FL

 
Mike (ex-f-221) said:
The last photos:
#4 before and #3 after a visit at the barbershop?

#3 was definitely after.  There was one unshorn alpaca in the pen, and we should have pictured him for comparison.  The shaggy beast (#4) is actually two beasts--a mother yak and her baby.  They just kind of look like a big blob of fur.  I didn't even realize the baby was there nursing until s(he) moved.  They could definitely use a trip to the barbershop!
 
June 25, 2009 Day 34 Seward, AK

What a glorious day!  When we awoke, there was no rain, AND the SUN was SHINING! I thought to myself, "How stupid we are to be leaving!"  I had read the weather reports, and Homer was supposed to have rain for the next 5 days, so we decided to try Seward instead.
We were going right by Potter?s Marsh, and we couldn't resist stopping to see wildlife on such a gorgeous day.  We saw an Arctic tern right away, zigzagging over the water catching fish.  We were mesmerized by his quick turns and acrobatics, forgetting to get a picture until the last minute as he was flying away. We heard lots of songbirds, but they were hidden by the trees and grasses.  I did spot 2 Canadian geese in the grass.  There was a nesting box right next to the boardwalk (which was quite extensive).  The parents were busily flying food in for the chicks inside.  They had a turn-around time of less than a minute when delivering, and it took them about 10 minutes to collect the food.  They were white-bellied, with back and wing feathers of the most beautiful royal purple-blue color.  I wondered if they might be starlings.  Unfortunately, they were quicker than we were, so no photos.
  Quietly sitting near the boardwalk were two families of geese, one with mom, dad, and 3 goslings; the other was mom, dad, and 2 goslings.  All the bird parents we saw today were very attentive, guarding their young and providing for them.
I think I've seen 3 of the "Big 5" in Alaska-bear, orca, caribou.  But, I haven't seen a wild moose I could count-the big brown blob we saw behind the rock doesn't count.  I told Dean at the beginning of the day that I envisioned seeing a moose standing in a lily pond.  I was surprised when The Milepost said we were coming to Lily Pond, and to watch for moose.  We watched, but all we saw was a pond completely covered with lilies that were about to bloom.  So we stopped and took a picture of this pretty pond.  I thought about photo-shopping in a moose, but only for a second.  The owner of our campground says they had a moose stroll through 3 days ago.  Is the 5th animal of the ?Alaskan Big Five? a Dall sheep?
We're in a very nice campground on a creek. A new electrical problem is giving Dean new challenges, so we went out to dinner at Chinook?s Waterfront.  The bill for food only was $53.36, with a coupon for 5% off from our RV cg.  The fish was good, but the sides were just wild rice and a tiny bit of cole slaw.  Afterwards we drove around and familiarized ourselves with the layout of Seward. 
I am so glad Dean has technical skills and can work with the problems we are encountering.  As soon as we get this new problem straightened out, Dean will try some of the technical advice Forum members have sent us.  Thank you all.

Wildlife:  2 magpies, 11 Canadian geese, 1 sandpiper, 2 possible starlings
 

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Dawn said:
That's the scariest thing you've typed yet! :eek: 

Even with the young, memories sometimes fail us.  Do you remember going somewhere special every Friday during the summer?  Do you remember a mother who taught you and your brother to use a Thomas Guide when you were about 8 years old and who drove where you told me, even when I knew it was the wrong direction?  Do you remember being hired as a dispatcher for the Sheriff's Department based primarily on your excellent knowledge of the freeways and map-reading? 

The main navigation problem I have is maps with too little detail, and up here in Alaska, most cities don't have a whole lot of streets, and there is only one big highway going from city to city.  Piece of cake!
 
HI Linda and Dean--

Having "done" a blog with entries almost every day for our last trip which was from the last week in March until mid June, we're well aware of the time and thought that goes into this effort you are making for us and wanted to send you a big THANKS!

Mary Ann and I haven't made the trip to Alaska, so we look forward every day to sharing your adventure -- and the pictures are great.  Please keep it going!

Hope the electrical gremlins get exorcized soon and that the rest of your trip is easier.

Thanks again.

Don and Mary Ann
 
Dean & Linda Stock said:
Do you remember going somewhere special every Friday during the summer?  Do you remember a mother who taught you and your brother to use a Thomas Guide when you were about 8 years old and who drove where you told me, even when I knew it was the wrong direction?  Do you remember being hired as a dispatcher for the Sheriff's Department based primarily on your excellent knowledge of the freeways and map-reading? 

The main navigation problem I have is maps with too little detail, and up here in Alaska, most cities don't have a whole lot of streets, and there is only one big highway going from city to city.  Piece of cake!

Let me know when you hit Mexico. 
 
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