Photo by The Joneses The trip through Alaska included a stop at the Mendenhall Glacier. — — — E-mail Gisela — — — SLIDE SHOW: Beautiful Pacific Northwest
ARCHIVES: You wouldn't believe how beautiful Canada is! Wouldn't change a thing Who knew there was so much to see in South Dakota? Time is flying by — but at least we're having fun! I (heart) Hart Ranch, South Dakota Rallyin' in Goshen, Indiana A special day From friends to work to warmer temps, we're still having fun in Florida Traveling to Texas Finally, we're in Alaska! On the way to Canada Boise sure has changed a lot Escapees Rally in Wyoming Bittersweet trip through the southeast From Boy Scouts to ‘Stars on Ice’ Michigan is full of treasures Arriving in Florida Earning our ears Celebrating Christmas and New Year's in Florida and the Disney Parks Down in the Lowcountry Making our way through Minn., Wisc. and Ill. The holidays in Florida Our time in Lakeland has come to an end Couldn't have had a better time in Omaha! Arriving in Charleston A day with friends from Frederick 'Life is good' in Lakeland, Fla. Leaving Florida, and heading north Our final days in Kentucky Into the Keys Out of Charleston and off to Indiana Dreams come true in Vermont You never know what you'll see or who you'll meet in Alaska Leaving Indiana, but not before taking some of the state's best sites Idaho is full of natural treasures — and moon-like craters, too It's all about the theme parks From prairie country to beautiful views to grand 'ol Yellowstone Thunderstorms, flooding, tornados and a visit with the 'Duke' And so it begins ... Moving days for Greg and his family The gang's all here! Happy to be in Florida again Strawberries, and more strawberries 'The RV Capital of the World' From the beautiful Maine coastline down to southern Connecticut Training for our jobs at Disney World Chillin' out at 'Camp Monaco' Under the weather Back in Florida At long last, back in the area Lots to see in the 'Show Me' state With family and spectacular sights in Hailey, Idaho Look back, look ahead Back in the Lower 48 The cold weather is hitting Florida From Dallas to devastation Back on the road again Leaving Idaho and heading east Beautiful Alaska A memorable visit to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula Watch out for flying dinner rolls

Our last two weeks in Alaska were filled with several exciting trips and drives along the highway with awesome scenery. In Juneau, we went out to the Mendenhall Glacier. This glacier is the largest that can be seen from land. Just like with the other glacier, the view was breathtaking.

On the way back, we saw humpback whales swimming and playing in the water. Seeing a whale dive under and then the tail breaking through the water is truly a sight to see. Also, hundreds of sea lions were “hanging out” along the shore.

Our drive back took us through British Columbia and the Cassiar Highway. Mountains, rivers, and lakes provided spectacular views along the highways. I just can’t say it often enough how much we enjoyed the incredible scenery everywhere.

Our first stay in the Lower 48 was in Washington State in an RV Park just south of Puyallup. I lived in Puyallup 40+ years ago, and it was interesting to get back to the area. However, it has changed so much I didn’t recognize anything except the beautiful Mount Rainier. This mountain is 14,411 feet high and is part of the Cascade Range. Like Mount St. Helen and other Cascade Range Mountains, it is an active volcano and has the potential to erupt again at some unknown time. We took a drive through Mount Rainier National Park, and, even though it was a sunny day, the snowy top of the mountain was in the clouds.

From there Peggy, Carolin (our German friend) and I drove to Vancouver, BC for some shopping and exploring the city. Vancouver is the site for the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2010 Paralympics. We strolled along the harbor and admired the many large gorgeous yachts.

The next day we toured Seattle visiting the Space Needle that was built for the 1962 World’s Fair held there. Spectacular view of Seattle from the top! We took a city tour with the ‘Duck’. These vehicles, used as landing crafts by the Army and Marines, can drive on the road and also travel in the water. It was a lot of fun floating in the Pudget Sound, looking at the many ‘floating houses’ and the Seattle skyline. The most interesting ‘floating house’ we saw was where “Sleepless in Seattle” was filmed. I was hoping to see Tom and Meg standing on the porch in a ‘Happily Forever After’ version of the movie!!

Sadly, at this time,, we had to take Carolin to the airport in Seattle for her flight back to Frankfurt. We ‘older folks’ enjoyed having a young person around and will miss her.

Our next stop was on the Oregon Coast. We stayed at a Thousand Trails Park in Pacific City, about a one hour drive south of Portland and right on the Pacific Ocean. The coastline there is awesome. It is very rocky and the water is choppy – we saw a lot of people surfing. Looked like fun, but also cold. The surfers all wore wetsuits.

Nearby was Tillamook where we visited the cheese factory. It was interesting to see the workers cutting and packaging the cheese we quite often buy at Costco. We did sample the various types they make and also bought some.

Before leaving the area and heading east to Boise, Idaho, we had another (the first one was in Seattle) delicious Dungeness Crab dinner. We bought them at the sea food market already cooked and ‘devoured’ them at home. I love the Maryland blue crabs and I don’t want to offend any Marylanders, but the Dungeness crabs are better. For one, they are much larger. Ours were one and half pounds lbs a piece, and the meat is tastier.

As I am writing this we are traveling east to Kansas after visiting with family in Boise and Twin Falls, Idaho. I’ll write about these visits later.