More of the Same

Wednesday - A day of errands or at least a morning. All done on the Ural, of course, so were they errands or recreation? I stopped at the university to let the parking office know that I got a new license plate for the Ural. I picked up a new one when I got the permanent registration i.e. no more renewals. That will be convenient. I also sent off the fishing poles via UPS that Tim's group had picked up to fish in Alaska. And I picked up some tools at Lowe's.

I'm trying out some tofu in the air fryer right now. I'm missing several ingredients in the sauce recipe so we'll see how it turns out. Missing items are honey and chili paste. I think I'll just add it to the stir fry and call it good. It didn't turn out too bad though the tofu came out better when fried in a pan. The air fryer dried them out too much.

Thursday -  On the way to morning coffee, Bridget was following in the Prius and noticed that the tail light on the Ural wasn't working. Upon checking, the bulb was ready to burn out (barely holding together) and the ground screw was loose. The ground screw was probably the actual reason and the light has probably been blinking for the last couple of years.

Friday - Two test sessions today plus some more errands. It’s starting to feel colder during the day as well as at night. It seems that sunset was after midnight not too long ago. Today, it’s at 10:16pm. Quite a change. Tomorrow, the local amateur radio club is having a hamfest. Basically a day of presentations and a swap meet. It’s being held at the North Pole Plaza starting at 9am. 

Saturday - Most of Saturday was spent at the North Pole Plaza. There were a few presentations and a lot of used equipment up for sale. There were elections and I withdrew from the board as we are out of town so much. I served on the board for the last three years and they had someone new volunteer. 

Back to Fairbanks

Friday - We left Anchorage around 9:30am. Thank you, Travis and Katrielle for your hospitality! We stopped in Houston, AK, which is just past Wasilla, to meet up with friends Gary and Stacy. We had a good visit over breakfast/lunch and they showed us around their property where they are building a new home. We continued north and made a short stop at Denali National Park before heading back home. I didn’t take a single picture on the trip. It rained in Anchorage, around Denali and coming into Fairbanks. But otherwise, it was just overcast with temperatures around 60°F. The Ural ran great and I’ve put on almost 2k miles this summer. The sidecar was empty on this return trip so performance was a little better than on the trip south. And 33 mpg!

Saturday - Just the normal stuff. Ham radio testing, grocery shopping, etc. I thought about going to the Tanana Valley State Fair but just didn't feel like it. BTW, all of the fairs in Alaska claim the title of "State Fair".

Sunday - Rain in the forecast for the afternoon and evening. It was the last day of the fair.

Monday - Another test in the morning and led a test in the afternoon. Right now, it’s raining and I’m making some burgers on the grill. It’s not raining hard but has been coming down throughout the day. The fireweed flowers are almost to the top which, I’m told, means that summer is over.

Moose Pass then Back to Anchorage

Wednesday - Our vacation is almost over and by vacation, I mean this trip to south central Alaska. On Tuesday, we left the B&B in Cooper Landing and went to a hotel in Moose Pass. The hotel wasn’t stellar but it was very basic and clean. We had dinner in the bar and my jalapeño burger was good. 

This morning, we headed back to Anchorage. The trip from my last gas fillup in Soldatna to the next gas station at the Girdwood turnoff was past my range so I went ahead and dumped the contents of my gas can into the tank. I still stopped at the turnoff but not to get gas. They had delicious baked goods at the ridiculously expensive bakery. 

I was originally thinking of traveling down the Glenn Hwy and visiting McCarthy then returning on the Denali Hwy but I’m just not feeling it. I think the plan is to head back to Fairbanks on Friday. 

Thursday - We are staying with my nephew and their family and he has a surplus army truck. The intent is to turn it into an overland vehicle (off-road RV). You can see a completed vehicle at Lori’s blog at https://blazeourway.wordpress.com/ . We took a ride on it today. It’s quite the vehicle. 

Cooper Landing and Seward

Sunday - This is not where we are staying but visiting some who are in the associated RV park. It’s a nice setup. Sunny, clear and 70°F is hard to beat. Actually, I had to find some shade as their site is pretty sunny at this time of day. It’ll be shady in a couple of hours. This morning was a chilly 45°F which makes me think it’s going to be fall soon. 

I’m not really sure if there are any “plans”. I don’t have any. 

Monday - Today, we drove about an hour to Seward. The first stop was the Alaska Sealife Center. This is a puffin, one of Alaska’s more recognized birds. They dive into the water for fish but it wasn’t their feeding time when we were there. 

I don’t remember what this fish was but it kept swimming near the aquarium glass. 

This is Resurrection Bay from the Sealife Center. We have a beautiful day for exploring Seward. 

We then went to Exit Glacier. It is now a two mile walk from the visitor center to the glacier viewpoint. When I was first here in 1983, it was only a ⅛ mile walk to the glacier itself.