Good day, all of you who are "outside"...which is the Alaskan term for "outside of Alaska" or "the lower 48". It's Sunday afternoon, 64 degrees, beautiful blue sky, and Denali looked gorgeous today. I found a better place to catch wifi; the parking lot outside of the library. So here I sit.
Since our tailgate is in Indiana, Chris had to make one so that we can carry stuff in the bed of the truck as needed. So, this is our new tailgate.
Here is the view of Denali as we drive north through Willow, towards our campground. I'm still waiting for a stark blue sky with the mountain against it. Not yet.....
More of "my mountain" that Chris took from the top of the hill behind the maintenance compound. How many pictures of Denali do you all want to see?
You wondered why we needed a tailgate? Here's why. Chris here is beginning to pull the truck out from under little "Palomino", so we can set her down on the ground. That way we have a vehicle to get around in and are not captive in the campground.
Out of order picture. But there you see it set on some big 8 x 8' timbers; our bug hut next to the camper....which is kind of our living room. And you see Chris doing some raking around our fire pit.
In order picture.... truck just got pulled out, and Chris is cranking down the camper.
Here's our home away from home, all set up. You can't see it from this angle, but there is even a front porch...in the rear, so that we can just step up into it. Even Tommy can walk in and we don't have to pick her up. I have a better picture, but just lost it off of the blog. So just look toward the back of the camper and you can see the platform. The ranger heard that we were going to buy some wood to set the camper on and he just told us to get stuff from their huge scrap yard. Worked for us! and the price was right. If you can see those blue ribbons flowing from the front of the camper. Those are there so that we don't klonk our heads. Chris has done it twice. (sound familiar, Dean?)
On walking around the campground, checking on campers, etc, etc., I started toting so much jumk in my pockets, that I started using this fanny pack I got at Cabela's. Side note: many, many Alaskans are "packin'". Know what that means? Yup....packin' heat. In other words, they carry guns here, for protection from animals. It is nothing to see guys playing ball with their kids, or fishing, with a gun holstered on their side. Lots of guns around....this is Alaska. Well, this fanny pack of mine is actually for a lady to carry a gun in. Yup. I might gets lots of respect from campers if any of them know what it is. No....I do not carry a gun. Christopher....thanks for pointing me in the direction of this fanny pack in Cabela's. Very useful
Here's us by our new "digs". The first night here we didn't get to bed until 11:30 p.m. Of course it was still light. But, that's cool. We fell asleep instantly, only to get jarred awake at 4:30 a.m. when Tommy fell out of bed. She didn't have all the packed stuff on her bed that held her cushion in. That was a rude awakening for the little girl. Speaking of Tommy. Yesterday, when we were making our rounds of checking the latrines, we tied Tommy to one of the pillars outside of one of them. Then finished there, and off to the next latrine. Down the hill, Chris suddenly said "Where's Tommy!?" Oooops. Left here back at the first latrine. Ran back up there to retrieve her, and there she was just laying in the sun. Some folks right there in their camper didn't even notice here there. So, if Tommy survives her forgetful parents, we'll be doing fine. She just goes with the flow. Good dog.
Here's what's on the back of our host jackets that we are wearing in the above picture.
Here's the rig of a fellow host as he pulled out of the maintenance compound.
And here is Wayne from Holland, OH. He's heading to his campground north of us. We plan on visiting him soon. He's much closer to Denali than we are. He was a real fun guy these past few days.
And here is the library in front of which I sit right now writing this blog. I'm right next to that drive through, sitting in the shade. But now that we found this place to access the internet, I have found a better spot. Will show you pics and that story next time. We went to church at St. Christopher's church in Willow this morning. Only about 5 miles or so from our campground. Pictures comming next time. Only 6 pews on each side in this church. Very nice. More to follow.
Since our tailgate is in Indiana, Chris had to make one so that we can carry stuff in the bed of the truck as needed. So, this is our new tailgate.
Here is the view of Denali as we drive north through Willow, towards our campground. I'm still waiting for a stark blue sky with the mountain against it. Not yet.....
More of "my mountain" that Chris took from the top of the hill behind the maintenance compound. How many pictures of Denali do you all want to see?
You wondered why we needed a tailgate? Here's why. Chris here is beginning to pull the truck out from under little "Palomino", so we can set her down on the ground. That way we have a vehicle to get around in and are not captive in the campground.
Out of order picture. But there you see it set on some big 8 x 8' timbers; our bug hut next to the camper....which is kind of our living room. And you see Chris doing some raking around our fire pit.
In order picture.... truck just got pulled out, and Chris is cranking down the camper.
Here's our home away from home, all set up. You can't see it from this angle, but there is even a front porch...in the rear, so that we can just step up into it. Even Tommy can walk in and we don't have to pick her up. I have a better picture, but just lost it off of the blog. So just look toward the back of the camper and you can see the platform. The ranger heard that we were going to buy some wood to set the camper on and he just told us to get stuff from their huge scrap yard. Worked for us! and the price was right. If you can see those blue ribbons flowing from the front of the camper. Those are there so that we don't klonk our heads. Chris has done it twice. (sound familiar, Dean?)
On walking around the campground, checking on campers, etc, etc., I started toting so much jumk in my pockets, that I started using this fanny pack I got at Cabela's. Side note: many, many Alaskans are "packin'". Know what that means? Yup....packin' heat. In other words, they carry guns here, for protection from animals. It is nothing to see guys playing ball with their kids, or fishing, with a gun holstered on their side. Lots of guns around....this is Alaska. Well, this fanny pack of mine is actually for a lady to carry a gun in. Yup. I might gets lots of respect from campers if any of them know what it is. No....I do not carry a gun. Christopher....thanks for pointing me in the direction of this fanny pack in Cabela's. Very useful
Here's us by our new "digs". The first night here we didn't get to bed until 11:30 p.m. Of course it was still light. But, that's cool. We fell asleep instantly, only to get jarred awake at 4:30 a.m. when Tommy fell out of bed. She didn't have all the packed stuff on her bed that held her cushion in. That was a rude awakening for the little girl. Speaking of Tommy. Yesterday, when we were making our rounds of checking the latrines, we tied Tommy to one of the pillars outside of one of them. Then finished there, and off to the next latrine. Down the hill, Chris suddenly said "Where's Tommy!?" Oooops. Left here back at the first latrine. Ran back up there to retrieve her, and there she was just laying in the sun. Some folks right there in their camper didn't even notice here there. So, if Tommy survives her forgetful parents, we'll be doing fine. She just goes with the flow. Good dog.
Here's what's on the back of our host jackets that we are wearing in the above picture.
Here's the rig of a fellow host as he pulled out of the maintenance compound.
And here is Wayne from Holland, OH. He's heading to his campground north of us. We plan on visiting him soon. He's much closer to Denali than we are. He was a real fun guy these past few days.
And here is the library in front of which I sit right now writing this blog. I'm right next to that drive through, sitting in the shade. But now that we found this place to access the internet, I have found a better spot. Will show you pics and that story next time. We went to church at St. Christopher's church in Willow this morning. Only about 5 miles or so from our campground. Pictures comming next time. Only 6 pews on each side in this church. Very nice. More to follow.Worked out nice. Got up this am, and then went to the maintenance compound for a hot shower and then to Mass. Was nice. Didn't have to look grubby mountain folk. And, Jeanne, many folk here can't shower daily because they have no running water. So, laundromats are the place to go. I will really appreciate my daily shower when we are "outside" in Indiana.
Now, I'm headed back to camp to put the clean clothes away and see how Chris is doing.
Until we "connect" again.....
What a beautiful place "our" Alaska is.
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