Last night was a blast!  The title will become clear further down the story.  We stayed in bed and slept late (migraine/sinus headache) oh well.  After we got up headed to the free shower very clean and great water.  We grabbed lunch and bummed around Anchorage until dinner with Tundra Tim, Klondike Kate, Karma, her husband all cachers and pinball sharks.

Dinner was awesome we got there a tad early so I could start laundry (thanks Tim and Kate).  Noshing on some great salmon dish and catching up then dinner and more chatting.  The games began after dinner.  Last year when we were here Tim had a pinball machine that he was restoring, task completed.  

You know when you are a kid and you think you are hots*it at something, then you don’t do it forever you lose that skill.  Lesson to self don’t brag before you play.  I would start out good but let’s say I know what the basement looks like.  We had a blast breaking in this pinball machine, Tim was smiling like a proud papa.  He even fixed it a couple of times when we would get the ball stuck.

Tomorrow it’s off to Talkeetna, then the Denali Highway.

I got yelled at by a chipmunk. OK, I thought it was a baby squirrel.  MY BAD!  In my defense I only saw the tail, it was tiny but squirrel colored.  I said what a cute baby squirrel, it came back to the road and showed me its stripe.  He wouldn’t stop chattering until I said ok cute chipmunk.

Speaking of animals yesterday I saw a bunny and Roy saw nothing.  We did explore the base staying at JBER (Joint Base Elmdorf – Richardson) Army Air Force combined base.  The base is HUGE you can also tell the difference between both sides.  

We stopped by the DFAC (dining facility) and the only thing I could think about when I almost cut across the grass was something Sgt Brown said.  Here’s the back story.  We were in school at Ft Sam and decided to cut through the grass we could have gotten away with it.  Except, my battle yells (HI SGT BROWN) and waves.  You guessed it busted so for the rest of the time allotted for lunch we had to shout every time someone came out of the DFAC keep off the grass.  Needless to say we didn’t get caught again. (You thought I was going to say we didn’t do it again).  Funny what memories come up.  I will let you know I stayed off the grass yesterday.

Today we are meeting some fellow cachers for dinner.

Soon we even turn the page to the last month of our journey.  Yesterday we headed to the post office to mail some post cards, we realized we went in the wrong direction. We try to mail post cards from unique locations this one is going to be Clam Gulch, Alaska.  What’s a person to do but continue down to Homer, because we realized it was the wrong post office at Anchor Point which is only 14 miles from Homer.

On the way to Homer Roy went 4×4 on the beach, Whiskey Gulch.  I experienced my first 18% grade crazy but I think I can handle it on the way to Bella Coola BC.  Speaking of crazy, the occupants on the beach had one to many whiskeys.  This was a place to just visit I would not have camped or stayed too long.  Even Roy caught the vibe.

On to Homer drove by the Visitor’s Center and the Marine Refuge Visitor’s Center.  Saw a picture of a truck stuck and sinking due to the quick tide coming in.  The times we drove on the beach in the back of my mind this picture was going through it. (We don’t have flood insurance LOL)

Roy and I were able to have some red salmon on rice for dinner at Fat Olive in Homer.  On the way home we stopped by Deep Creek one last time to get Roy some coal and me some more eagle pictures.  We caught an eagle bathing then got a closeup of a bald eagle’s head.  I am glad Roy is helping me with focus and choosing pictures.  I’ve taken 1,700 pictures with the canon and a few hundred with the nikon, Roy has seen all of them and has helped me with the keepers.

I will post some of those pictures tomorrow, and explain the coal connection.

Last night we were ‘Wallydocking’ and discovered we have a dud battery after 5 days 4 nights boondocking in Hidden Lake campground we discovered our sealed AGM battery will not keep a charge.  It did good while there but we were charging it a little every day so did not notice it.  So no boondocking, until after Anchorage.  

I am glad the second run of king salmon is late makes campgrounds easier to get into.  Called last night and was able to get a spot for a week.  We get to our full hook-up campground to find the electric is off all over the Kenai.   Well power is back on so all is good, heat, keurig, water without the pump running, and charging battery.  

I was supposed to go bear viewing tomorrow, but the weather is not playing nice, so the 24th we are shooting for.  This has been a much rainer trip then last year, but at least this year we aren’t in a tiny trailer.  If Roy gets on my nerves I can send him to the bathroom and close the door.

So I know one day we are going to check out Deep Creek for eagles, maybe do Clam Gulch, I have bear viewing one day, not sure what else to do.

a lazy day, that’s what today has turned into.  Roy and I are taking antibiotics to break up this creepy crude, I just couldn’t drag myself  out of bed to go looking for animals this am.  I think I am going to grab my coffee andheaddown to the lake to see my beaver.

Saturday morning I walked down to the lake and saw a quite comical beaver. THEY KNOW when you are watching them.  I was watching him swim along so my thought record it. Just after I start recording he dives under the water, turn off the recording like magic resurface.  Like I said THEY KNOW, I did get a few pictures though.  

We got moving today right before lunch, almost gave up the hunt so to speak.  I saw two little cubs in a different clearing and then saw mama bringing up the rear limping.  Turns out there were three cubs younger then the three we saw the other day.  These guys needed to put on some weight.  I have some pictures of all three plus mom.  It is amazing how many bears around this year according to the locals.

After lunch we played two games of cribbage and headed back out into the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. We wasted enough time doing that we came upon a Wildlife Officer looking through binoculars.  I tell him that is just a rock and has NOT moved for three days.  He said that’s the largest 80 inch rock he ever saw.  Roy and I had just been talking about the lack of moose.  Ask and you shall see.  The officer said it was the largest bull moose he had ever seen.  YES, I did get pictures.

This has been quite the animalpoloosa this year.