Page 49 – De & the Dachsies

Off the Road (for now)

I definitely planned to be off the road before the 4th of July weekend – and it seems I barely squeaked in under the wire. I expected some vacation destinations would pick up a bit for the holidays, which is why I chose to return home … but I had no idea. 😳

Although I totally understand how the extended stay-at-home mandates, the coronavirus itself and the stressed economy have combined to give everyone a bad case of cabin fever (my trip this past week being a prime example) – I am still amazed and appalled to see so many people seemingly throwing caution to the wind to converge on crowded lakes, rivers and campgrounds for the 4th of July weekend – in dense groups.

As I traveled home yesterday and today, I passed more and more places where RVs were converging in large bunches, with central group campfires, multiple vehicles per campsite and people everywhere.

Why in the world did I think Alaskans would exercise more common sense than has been shown to be the case elsewhere in the country? Sigh.

I’m so glad I had my week of quiet, relaxed travel when I did. Businesses in small towns are being cautious and proactive (and with good reason – it’s a long way to any sort of serious health care services) – everywhere I went, store clerks were wearing masks, even at gas stations. Business doors regularly bore signs to the effect; “Thank you for protecting our employees by wearing a face mask.”

I took to keeping a clean mask folded up in my jeans pocket. Even while camping, you never know when you might want to pop into the office/gift shop/cafe, right?

The way things are looking this weekend … I’m feeling bad for those small towns and businesses. It’s a no-win situation. They need the tourist dollars, but at what risk? I was so hoping to see social distancing and more individual families camping.

ANYWAY … enough of that. I did indeed make it home safe and sound. I truly did follow all prudent safety and sanitation mandates while I was on the road; wearing my masks indoors, social distancing, washing my hands a lot and even wearing disposable gloves when filling up at gas stations. Hopefully, I was as safe as I felt. 🤷‍♀️

I arrived home just before noon today and had to smile as I couldn’t help but notice that my own driveway is just as pretty as some of the campgrounds I stayed in.

Today I also realized how filthy my poor “Roada” is … and it’s time to pay the piper. I think my hot, sunny 4th of July celebration is going to include a garden hose and a big tub of soapy water!

I tried calling the Mobile Wash & Detail folks, but it seems they are not providing this service right now. 😢 I’m on my own.

Well, at least I have my new ball cap to keep the sun and soap bubbles off my face.

Since it was a beautiful day today and I’m anticipating being totally wiped out after bathing Roada tomorrow, we celebrated the holiday a day early with burgers on my little camp grill and some fun play time with the two pups – right in our own yard. ❤️ I think Baxter is glad Ronni and I are home, too.

Happy 4th of July, everyone. Please celebrate responsibly!

On the Road Again 🎵🎶🎵

Let’s sing the chorus one more time! Gotta love driving down the highway to Willie Nelson songs. Rhonda doesn’t even seem to mind my singing. 😉

Speaking of things you just gotta love … get this. I had a doctor appointment this morning at 11:00 am. Because of the pandemic, I’ve been doing tele-med appointments for the last several months. So, this morning, I had my doctor appointment while drinking coffee in my RV, in the parking lot of the Denali National Park Mercantile (I had to vacate my camping space before 11:00 am, so drove over to the main entrance to take the call).

Oh! And while I was waiting for my appointment, I found my perfect hat! It was one of my goals for this trip – finding a replacement ball cap (I’ve misplaced my favorite Doxie cap – I’m bound to find it now. 👍🏼). I was beginning to think it wasn’t going to happen – and then there it was! 😀

The drive from Denali to Talkeetna was beautiful in a foggy, wet, green on grey sort of way. “The Mountain” most certainly was not out today, which is fine. I’ve seen Denali and the entire Alaska Range on absolutely glorious days, but I’ve seldom been through this mountain pass shrouded in mist and mystery as it was today. It was a lovely drive, as long as you weren’t hoping to see the majesty of Denali.

I actually thought I might make it home tonight, although 190+ miles of winding mountain roads would’ve been pushing it, but I hadn’t reckoned with crazy holiday drivers. Where did they all come from? Even though (thankfully) most of them were headed the opposite direction from me, they were making driving stressful.

After having to brake pretty hard for the second time due to oncoming traffic passing on blind curves over double yellow lines, I said “enough already!” and pulled off the road. No biggie … I’ll make it home early in the day tomorrow, and be a lot less tense.

I have wanted to check out Montana Creek Campground for years, so it was a happy happenstance when I saw the sign coming up just as I was debating where to stop. Its a fairly quiet, family-oriented place with a nice selection of picturesque RV sites right on the creek … which were, of course, all full two days before the 4th of July.

The bright side (for me) was that there was almost no one in the grassy dry-camping sites (no hook-ups) at the far opposite end of the park. Tonight, “no hook-ups” just means I don’t have to pull electric cords or hoses out. 😉 Cheaper, too!

Nothing fancy, but nice and grassy for Ronni. I’m planning an early night with a simple dinner, maybe a movie (on my laptop so I can watch it in bed) and a good night’s sleep.

Rhonda is patiently waiting to be leashed up for her evening walk, so I’d better finish this up and get moving. You may not be able to tell, but Ronni is NOT doing a “sit pretty” here … she had started to jump up on the seat, but something caught her attention. She turned and settled onto her haunches and is leaning back against the seat – totally relaxed. Silly girl. She’s had a entertaining week. It wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun without her. 💗

A Week Apart From the World

The only sound to break the silence in this spruce forest for the past hour was the lonesome whistle of the Alaska Railroad train as it passed nearby. It’s good to know the train is running, albeit on a reduced schedule.

From what I gather, the Denali Park tour bus was finally going to start operations today, July 1st, on a limited basis with just two buses per day and only going to a single location within the park. The buses will run at 50% capacity so as to allow for social distancing. I find myself hoping that isn’t an overly optimistic prediction of the available number of paying guests.

This is the first time I’ve camped inside the park and I’m sad to say, I’m finding it depressing.

Wolf Loop in Riley Creek Campground – remarkably quiet tonight.

There are some tent campers, truck campers and a few motorhomes here in Wolf Loop, just widely spaced out. Hopefully, there are more over in Bear Loop. Caribou Loop isn’t open at all. Considering this is peak summer season, it’s a stark reminder of the reality of the pandemic affecting the world around us.

On the bright side (there always is one!), Ronni and I got to watch a large arctic hare take a dust bath in the sunshine today in the empty site directly across from ours! Oh my, was Ronni all aquiver with excitement!

As we get into the evening hours, I can make out the flicker of a couple of campfires through the trees, and the sound of children playing. I imagine marshmallows will be consumed soon.

It’s been chilly enough during my stay here (40s at night, low 50s during the day) to keep the mosquitos from being a nuisance, which has been nice. In fact, looking back, this entire trip has been a lot more bug-free than the last few. Yay for that!

I’ll be saying goodbye (for now) to Denali National Park tomorrow morning. I’ll probably take the time to empty my holding tanks first, but even so, I should be trucking down the highway before noon.

The quiet here has been nice and the forest has been an interesting change of venue, but the closer I get to home, the more I find myself dwelling on the non-stop bad news. I promised myself a complete break from the news, but my cell phone insists on bringing me daily “alerts” and “breaking news”, leaving me less isolated from all of it than I had hoped.

I am concerned for my family (many of them in CA and TX), my state and our country as a whole … but I’m going to try to hold that worry at bay for another day or two.

Perhaps I’m more fragile, emotionally, than I like to think … but I NEEDED this break and I’m not sorry I listened to my heart and body and took the time for myself.

Boy, is “Roada” going to need a good bath when we finally get home!

Day Six – Homeward Bound

Slowly, we turned towards home … Oh, how my heart wanted to find some other route. Something other than the Parks Hwy, which will lead us back to our “normal” life. Eventually. 😉 But not today.

All right, no more whining. I know it’s past time to call a [temporary] halt to this particular ramble, fun though it certainly has been. I needed a break from the scary and often depressing “real world”, so turning off the TV and going “walk-about” (so to speak) was my way of coping. It’s been working just fine for me, too.

As I stopped for gas before leaving Fairbanks, I caught sight of this menacing creature and thought I’d share it with you to make up for all the missed wildlife photo opps from the other day. 😉

Very large (carved wood) brown bear near Fairbanks, AK.

The promise of sunshine in Fairbanks receded pretty quickly into dismal gray clouds and sporadic showers as we made our initially reluctant way down the Parks Highway. The weather matched my mood.

There wasn’t even much in the way of beautiful scenery for the first couple of hours. Mostly just miserly peeks through the cloud cover, hinting at the lovely mountain views that would be there, if only it wasn’t raining.

That one big, black cloud opened up and dumped a load of wetness on me! Blew in on a nasty storm front with high winds. I turned into a handy roadside pull-out and sat out the worst of it. It was nearly lunchtime anyway.

The scenery, and even the weather, improved as we neared Denali National Park & Preserve. I stopped and walked back out over the highway bridge to get this photo of the mighty Nanana River – it was eerily silent, not a single vehicle passed me while I walked out to take these shots and then back to the RV.

Rhonda started out the day in her usual position as substitute navigator (Baxter sat out this trip at home with Dad), but as often happens, she ended up sleeping on the job. Except when I pulled off the road for a potty break – then she was all ears and tails!

Pulling into the usually bustling, hectic and crowded “tourist district” of Denali was a humbling and achingly painful moment.

Only a shop here and there open. Restaurants, hotels and tour companies closed. Tour buses parked and idle – at the end of June. Unreal. In a normal year, those parking lots are so packed, I wouldn’t dare try to pull an RV in. 😢

Even the campgrounds aren’t open to full capacity. And really, why would they be? Riley Creek campground is the closest to the main visitor center (closed 😢), usually the busiest, and would normally offer a jammed-full transit bus taking tourists to park tour jump-off spots and restaurants. Getting a campsite here for a 27’ motorhome, without a reservation, is a rare thing. I went in (wearing my face mask as requested) to register and was told, “Sure – just pick a site.” I had plenty of choices.

And no neighbors within about 4-6 sites from mine …

Unless you count this guy – and Rhonda was all about counting him!

The campground is quiet, peaceful and relaxing. Probably a good place for me to sit back, take a breath and sort myself out. Who knows, maybe tomorrow will be sunny.

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