Our annual drive to our cabin in Talkeetna, AK began mid-day Sunday June 16, 2019. Two days later outside of Cleveland, we watched the odometer of our motor home, affectionately named "the Hawk", roll over to indicate 100,000 miles.
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| Cleveland often lives in fog off Lake Erie |
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| Our nights are usually spent at a Walmart parking lot. This style of travel isn't for everyone, but it works for us. I use a Walmart directory giving location and phone number. There are many Walmarts that deny overnight parking so it's become necessary to call in advance and not to assume it's allowed. Upon arrival, we find space to put our longish rig and head in to buy a few necessities. Knowing how box stores are placed, I scope the area on the trip in to see the best options for coffee in the morning. It's often McDonald's, but no complaints from me with Green Mountain Coffee to start my day. When safely parked, we press the magic button that puts out our slide which significantly enlarges our living area. At this point, we transform from a rolling metal box to a fully self contained tiny house. Next, I move to the couch, feet up on the footstool and wait for a refreshing drink to be placed in my hand by Bucky who works the bar. This is followed by dinner prepared by whom ever is not walking the dog. And finally, we pull down our black out shades and call it a day......drive, sleep and repeat for 10 days. At the Indiana Walmart shown above, we watched from our large dinette window as Amish families arrived in vans with non-Amish drivers. While the drivers waited, families shopped and returned with loaded carts. In a process that appeared to have been preformed time and time again, goods were removed from shopping carts and placed in marked tubs. Each family appeared to have a designated area within the attached utility trailer where their tubs were then placed. When all passengers had returned to the vans, seats were taken and the drivers pulled away. We watched as 5 or 6 vans and trailers were loaded. I tried to find a connection or maybe a disconnect between the Amish lifestyle, as I know it, and the products from China within Walmart and the overall Walmart shopping experience. It struck me as not organic! |
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| 14 year old Fisher on her 9th Alaskan round trip |
This year marked our our 11th journey to and from Alaska. Once on the road, we are focused on putting miles beneath our tires. Fortunately, Bucky and I are in agreement about this. It's not that we don't notice and enjoy the scenery around us, we do, but our goal is to get to Alaska and do our sightseeing there. Yet, on this trip, we took time to visit a couple who introduced us to Alaska in 2008, Amber and Dave. They no longer live in Alaska, but have made a green oasis of a town, Petersburg, ND their home, located just off Route 2 (known as the Hi-Line), In this tidy town of well kept houses with unlocked doors and manicured green lawns, they have found a caring community of hard working neighbors. Dave still travels to Dutch Harbor, Alaska located on the Aleutian chain to work on airplanes, but with 3 weeks on and 5 weeks off he has plenty of time to fish for Walleye on Devil's Lake or one of the smaller lakes near home. North Dakota is a harsh land, but abundant in resources.
Since we hadn't seen these folks since 2011, we had some significant catching up to do. Dave was invaluable during our first Alaskan visit in 2008. That year we experienced the sinking feeling of having completed a goal and not planning beyond that. In this case, the 5,000 mile drive had been our goal each day of travel and upon arrival, we had no next step planned. The Anchorage Walmart is one that doesn't allow overnight parking so even our go to camping wasn't possible. We were unsure whether to head north or south, but we knew staying in Anchorage wasn't for us. It didn't take long for us to retrieve the folded piece of white paper given to us before leaving VT by our daughter, Carlisle, with Dave and Amber's phone number on it. She had said, "these are really nice people who will help you if you need it". That time had arrived. We were discouraged when our call to them was not returned for a day or two. We had yet to realize that many Alaskans work far from home and can be away for weeks at a time. Finally, we received a voicemail and Dave's cheery voice encouraged us to leave Anchorage, for this we needed no convincing, and we soon arrived at their home in Palmer, AK about 45 minutes north. This was to become our home away from home that first summer in AK. We parked on vacant land next to Dave and Amber's home with our picture window looking up at the jagged snow capped summits of Twin Peaks. and never tired of staring up at two jagged snow capped Using binoculars we could watch Dall Sheep negotiate the rugged rock terrain. Each morning, Dave and Amber would leave for work and Bucky and I would head out in the RV for destinations suggested by Dave We located the restaurant near Fairbanks that served grapefruit pie, we fished for Sockeye on the Kenai River, we loaded the RV on a ferry from Valdez to Whittier watching sea lions and ice burgs float by. We saw glaciers from above while flying in a float plane from Lake Hood, the largest seaplane base in the world. From a boat on the Gulkana River, Bucky caught his first King Salmon that tasted so delicious cooked on the grill that evening. The fish wasn't all that was hooked!! We knew that this was just the beginning. Each time we returned from an excursion, Dave and Amber listened excitedly to the tales we told. We celebrated our summer successes and upcoming departure that summer feasting with our friends on the largest King Crab legs I have ever seen! The huge state of Alaska had been made a little smaller through the knowledge we had gained.
During our time in Petersburg we reminisced and talked of the changes in our lives. Dave lost a son while Amber gained several grandchildren. Both expressed love for their new living situation, but I overheard Dave tell Bucky that he missed AK, when Amber and I were gabbing about grandchildren. Alaska penetrates one's soul with its beauty but can drive one away with its untamed nature.
Our stop in Petersburg provided the "pause that refreshes" and the fresh walleye, generously given by Dave, tasted fantastic that night while overlooking the Walmart smile!
My mantra as we cross state line after state line is, "when we finally get to Montana"..... Montana with her wide open views, grazing cattle, curious antelope, grain elevators, freight trains and quiet strength marks a half way point in our trip, but more importantly, Montana exudes an essence of hard earned freedom that appeals to us. In Chinook, MT we once again brought the Hawk to a stop and spent an overnight with former Vermonters, Tim and Judy. With typical western hospitality, where family is paramount, we met all the grandchildren including the newest grandchild. This brand new baby boy is already adored by his three, young, girl cousins and every adult present. A heart warming gathering of loving parents and children, with several dogs brushing our legs under a table laden with pot roast, cold drinks, followed by sweet cake, makes MT hard to beat.
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| threatening MT sky |
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| Malta, MT |
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| Saco, MT |
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| Saco, MT |
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| canola field Malta, MT |
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Chinook, MT
to be continued
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