RoadNotes: Anchorage Redux

Cabela’s RV lot, Anchorage, Alaska – August 5 , 2014

It’s time to leave our waterfront site in Seward and get started towards Anchorage. But first, we must a stop to take care of what we call the ‘necessities’. Empty tanks, and fill with fresh water. We split up, with EJ getting some last minute groceries and a good cup of java. I’m second in line, with a short wait before I can take care of things. By the time we get to filling up with fresh water, the line behind me has grown considerably.

The weather has been iffy on our drive today. Overcast, light sprinkles here and there. So we wrestle with the decision to try once more to visit the Wildlife Refuge in Portage, AK. We’ve been thwarted by tour busses and weather previously, but this is our last shot at seeing this attraction. We will not be passing by here again on this trip.

We pull in at the train depot in Portage, get a cup of free coffee and a dollar bag of popcorn to mull things over. It’s still drizzling off and on, plus over by the mountains it appears to be raining. Finally we decide that we didn’t travel 5000 miles to let a little rain bother us and that, by golly, we’re gonna go see some animals.

The Wildlife Conservation Center takes in animals that have been injured or orphaned. Those that can be nursed back to complete health are released into the wild. Others have a home here as long as they need. In some cases, for instance the Wood Bison, are being cared for until the herd is large enough and strong enough to relocated into the wild as a whole.

Black Bear.

Sleeping grizzly.

Two moose and half a moose.

Baby moose.

Musk Ox.

Elk.

Wood Bison and babies.

Caribou.

Flowers. Not really rehabilitated, but pretty none the less.

We were lucky and the rain held off during our visit. It’s another place to put on your ‘must see’ list.

Now it’s time to continue on towards Anchorage and our anticipated overnight stop at Cabela’s.

We find Cabela’s although for some reason I thought it would be on the east side of town instead on the west side. I finally figured out that I had it confused with the new Pro Bass Store.

We got settled in and rushed off to the King Street Brewery to get a growler filled. Then over to Walmart to get more ‘stuff’. We finally called it an evening.

The next day, we rushed off in search of a camera store so Frank could buy an ultraviolet filter for his camera. Preferring not to go downtown, we tried two locations in the suburbs only to find them not findable. One simply didn’t exist and the other, well even though it said on the outside it was a camera shop, it wasn’t. We never did figure just what it was. So we finally bit the bullet and headed downtown to Stewarts Camera Store. The hot deal downtown is to park at JC Penney’s since they give you an hour for free. Otherwise you can park on the street at meters for a fee.

Safely parked at Penney’s we go find Stewarts. I go in the store and EJ heads off to find the ‘necessary’ room at the visitor center. What she didn’t realize is that she would have to go through a security inspection before being allowed to enter the building. It just happens that the visitor center is housed in a government building and Homeland Security has declared a ‘Level 1 Security Threat’ today. She said it was not nice having your stuff inspected and having to be calm and rational while certain parts of your body are under severe internal pressure. Fortunately, no accidents occurred and the security guards survived unscathed. EJ is returning to tell me the story.