It Always Feels Like “Home”

The 44 hour ferry ride on board the MV Kennecott was smooth and uneventful. We are becoming old pros at this type of transportation, and highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Alaska.

After de boarding the Blue Canoe in Whittier at 0500, we drove to the entrance of the Whittier Tunnel and got in line. This tunnel is 2.5 miles and is the longest bimodal tunnel in North America. It is one lane, shared by cars and trains and traffic alternates direction every half hour. You can enter into Whittier at the bottom of the hour (at the 1/2 hour mark). Traffic leaves Whittier on the top of the hour.

Exiting the tunnel we are now driving next to the Turnagain Arm. With large glacial mud flats when the tide is out. In fact the Turnagain Arm’s tidal bore, also known as “The Bore Tide Wave”, is a breaking wave that rushes in twice daily at speeds of 6 to 24 mph. Stretching across the entire Turnagain Arm, the wave can vary between 6 inches and six feet in height. Tides rise and fall by 35 feet which is second highest tides in North America after the Bay of Fundy which we have witnessed both. You can watch paddle boarders and surfers on the these bore tides.

An hour later we arrived in Anchorage, at JBER. It is called this because it is a joint Air Force and Army base. Twelve of these joint bases were created by BRAC 2005 from 26 installations that were in close proximity or shared a boundary. We are at the FAMCamp here on base for four nights. Each and every time we drive up to and through a security gate at a military installation, it feels like home and JBER is no exception.

We came here for logistics for both Bigfoot and Elkhorn and also their owners. Oil change, fuel filter, and prescriptions filled and resupplied with general provisions.

Now that we are 100% we are leaving in search of the ever elusive salmon. Heading down to the Kenai Peninsula for the next 10 days. One week ago, our son, Jon, his wife Jen, and our grands, Em and Gav, flew up to Alaska and rented an RV for two weeks. Amongst all the sightseeing, activities, and driving they did, they still managed to catch over 200 pounds of fish that they brought home. Isn’t that great…But ya know, as a parent, we always want the best for our kids, and pray they do better than us. But really, 200 pounds…. LOL. Jen sent me her notes where they fished and their secret sauce. Oh boy, but wait a minute, I know your thinking the pressure is on, but remember, we are living in a 75 sq foot box in the bed of our pickup truck with a very small freezer. SO no, there is no competition here, we only plan on catching what we can eat, and the moment is getting closer when we will run out of those cans of spam we bought in Austin, MN.