Anchorage Again, July 21, 2011

Made the trip back to Anchorage from Seward along the Seward Highway. We awoke to rain this morning but it was clear and beautiful by the time we left our camp at 8 AM. We’re hoping to get to Anchorage early so Jim can take the tow car back into the shop and have them check the struts and suspension. There was not much traffic as there just about never is on the roads in Alaska. Only in the larger towns have we found traffic. There are lots of lakes and other waterways along this part of the highway. All the hills and mountains are covered with green until the snow and ice at the tops. All the rivers are running fast with glacier melt. The water looks like very thin concrete because of the glacier “flour” mixed with the water. Along the roads I am amazed to see how the mountains come right down to the road or straight down into the lakes. Lots of undisturbed land. Most of the homes we see, which are not many, are log homes or homes made of wood…no brick like at home. The fireweed is abundant along the sides of the highway and sometimes covers open areas of land. The roads have been good…no frost heaves or potholes. Some of the roads are narrow and we’ve crossed many of one-lane bridges.


We did get to Anchorage early…about 10:30 AM. We parked at the Sam’s Club on Old Seward Highway and Jim took the car to the shop. I stayed at the motorhome and had some salad to eat. I made some calls and just relaxed until Jim returned with the car and said the service group could not find anything wrong with the car. It has mysteriously lost the rattle and squeak in the rear. I guess we’ll just go on towards Valdez. We stop to refuel the motorhome and then headed out of Anchorage on the Glenn Highway. We’ve decided to stop midway and find a camp to stay the night.
We did find a campground, Grand View RV Park, to stay tonight. It was just in time as we had to recover from the trip from MM 80 to MM 109 where the campground is located. The road follows along side the Matanuska River and sometimes at a great height. Jim drove on some pretty narrow roads which were up and down and curving all around with steep drops and no guardrails! I was on the steep drop side so tried to keep looking straight ahead. Amazing sights but a little scary too. Our campground is set right in the middle of mountains and just past Matanuska Glacier. Too bad we didn’t feel we could pull over anywhere to get some photos. Just trust me that it was breathtaking to say the least. We could have unhooked the tow and driven back but we were tired and ready to settle down for the night. In the morning we head to Valdez.