Let the Adventure Begin

18th July

Touching down in Vancouver after 14.5 hours. A very smooth flight and plenty of sleep. Flying into Vancouver is so much nicer than Los Angeles. Mountains, rivers, islands, space. Log rafts (hundreds of logs tied together and floating) are moored along the river banks. Boats of all shapes and sizes are moored, just waiting to be sailed or motored away. Navigating customs and border checks was a breeze, luggage arrived quickly and our hotel is in the airport complex, all ready for an early get away in the morning. Another 4am start to fly to Anchorage, which means we arrive just after 10am. After a baggage drop delay because of a power outage causing access doors not to open we eventually deposit our bags and go through security with only a short wait before we board.

We arrived in Anchorage after some wonderful mountain views as we approach the airport, and a view of Denali, Mt McKinley in the distance. We taxi to “Go North” depot where we pick up our camper for the next few weeks. This is a new camper and the truck has only been driven from Seattle to Anchorage. An introduction to the Camper and its workings followed by some paperwork and we are off. Our first drive is a big one, only about 5 mile to Fred Meyer (grocery store) to pick up a few groceries to get us by for tonight and then to Cabelas (an iconic USA sports, fishing, hunting and outdoor store) where we can overnight in their car park while we get ourselves organised.

After some sorting and storing we head across the car park to SmashBurger for some lunch at 2pm. Surprisingly good hamburgers and fries. Then a wander through Cabelas (P – yep I am here again to throw in the odd comment) -We didn’t just wander it was out with the cash to stock up. Going to Cabelas is almost an addiction to me!)

We always planned today to be a slow day to get sorted and overcome some jet lag.

After a late dinner at around 8pm we relaxed for a while and then went for a walk to expel some energy before bed. It’s now 10.30pm and as light if it’s the middle of the day.

19th July

We both had a pretty good sleep, even though we are near the noisy airport which is surprisingly busy overnight. ( P – Anchorage is a major air freight hub between the USA and Europe)

Once we are organised we head back to Fred Meyer for some more groceries and then it’s time ……..

LET THE ADVENTURES BEGIN.

First stop before leaving Anchorage is Lake Hood Seaplane Base. This is the largest Seaplane Base in the world. It has been a float plane base for 90 years and has over 1000 general aviation aircraft based here for flight seeing, fishing and hunting trips and delivering food and supplies to the 82% of Alaskan communities not serviced by roads. It covers an area of 202 acres. We drove and walked around the planes, watched conventional aircraft and float planes land and take off, gave way to planes as they crossed the road ahead of us and then enjoyed a salad of Alaskan King Crab legs for lunch.

Driving out of Anchorage, just as we entered the Seward Highway we spotted a moose just off the side of the road. Unfortunately no pics as we couldn’t stop. We are heading to Hope for the night so we head south along Turnagain Arm just as the rain begins. This limits our view of the mountains but the roadside is pretty with many waterfalls, lush grassy ponds, rivers, sloughs and some roadworks (it happens everywhere). Turning off the main road we head into Hope, driving to the end of the road we find Porcupine Creek State park where we find a spot for the night. Not a big day but it’s fun to get on the road and start exploring.