In a Tolkien State of Mind

When I woke up this morning, savoring the gentle trill of birds in nearby trees, I lay in the dark (well, semi-dark, with the RV shades drawn) and actually had to wonder for a moment where I was.

No, I wasn’t the slightest bit lost, but over the past two weeks, I’ve awakened in six different locations.

Most mornings lately, my first drowsy thoughts include a contented smile at the warmth of Ronni’s sleek body curled against mine, and then a slow, memory-searching awareness of my current location. Let’s see … where was I when I fell asleep?

This is, admittedly, one of my favorite things. Opening my eyes to snow-capped, green mountains one morning, a quiet blue lake the next. Is that a madly rushing glacial river I hear in the distance, or restless waves on the shore of Cook Inlet?

A new morning. Don’t you agree that there is something extra special about that first mug of freshly brewed coffee in brand new, yet to be explored surroundings?

Alaska Artisan Coffee (here’s a blatant plug for the tastiest coffee in Alaska, if not the world) is always stocked in my pantry, just for such occasions. Oh, all right; total disclaimer – their “Tundra Wolf” dark roast blend is my go-to every day of the week. And no, they didn’t pay me to say that. Don’t I wish!

This summer, my hoped for goals include spending a week spinning on [or very near] the beach in Ninilchik, watching young eagles 🦅 master their wings, cart-wheeling through the air. I look forward to listening to the steady sound of waves swishing (or pounding) up the shore, dancing in harmony with the breeze rustling through the tall sea grass.

Weather permitting, I also hope to awaken to the busy sounds of small boats leaving harbor in the picturesque town of Valdez. And enjoying evening walks around town, with the dachshunds always vigilant for the bunnies that call the entire town home. It’s been several years since I’ve driven that particular scenic route and it’s calling my name.

Speaking of Valdez; one special trip that has long been on my Bucket List starts in Valdez. There would actually be very little driving involved, but a great deal of sightseeing.

I’ve wished, for the past twenty years, to load my RV onto the ferry at Valdez, and feast my eyes on the mostly untouched, lush islands and forest-drenched shorelines of Prince William Sound for the six-hour ride to Whittier.

I imagine chance encounters with whales, sea lions, otters … maybe moose or brown bear along the shore. Just envision the beauty.

Other locations are on my travel radar as well. Then again, with all the rain and cloudy skies we’ve been blessed with so far this spring and early summer, I have to admit, there would need to be near guaranteed warmth and sunshine to entice me to Seward this year. One of my favorite places to wake up on a warm, sunny day – I’m not so enthralled on a cold, blustery day.

Travel is like a drug to me, both an antidepressant and a stress reliever. Heck, I even tend to sleep better.

Planning the next trip is a rush. It would be a sheer, bubbly high if I could manage to travel outside of Alaska, but there seems always to be perfectly valid reasons why this is not the time.

I worry more now about Jer’s health, and my own, giving me reasons to stay in-state. Up until this past year, that really hadn’t been a serious concern.

Wildfires raging across Canada don’t make that part of the adventure very appealing right now either.

The general unrest in the lower 48, rising cost of gas and more-so, campgrounds … the list is not insurmountable, but it does give me pause.

So I continue to discover Alaska, wishing we had a more extensive road system to explore, but knowing there are still numerous paths not yet taken. I want to find them all.

Ah, the possibilities …

No Internet Connection

I have to admit, I’d forgotten how inconvenient it can be to not have an internet connection for any extended period of time.

I can’t check email, amuse myself with Facebook or watch YouTube videos. Rhonda is loving all the extra attention. 😉

I’d also forgotten how utterly peaceful it can be to sit quietly in nature with no distractions except the occasional call of a loon or twitter of a song bird.

In my case, I’m simply camping tonight in a lovely campground out in the wilderness and there is zero cell service.

Then again, I have all this to look at …

Btw, for those of you prone to worry over my solo meanderings; I’m camped in site #1, right next to the camp hosts, who are a nice young couple, camp-hosting in exchange for a summer in Alaska.

The fact that my site is also a prime, pull-through campsite, right on the shore of Summit Lake, is icing on this camper’s cake. Oh! And did I mention it being a National Forest Service campground, which means I was able to use my “America the Beautiful” senior lifetime pass? The campsite cost me a whopping $11.50.

This extra day is an indulgence, I have to admit. Home is only about three hours away. It’s not like I couldn’t have made the drive. But hey, I’ve done quite a bit of driving already today. We started out at 9:30 this morning.

Several Scent Work competitors with RVs, including me, chose to spend Sunday night relaxing at the trial site after the trial ended and planned to head home in the morning.

When Monday morning dawned fairly clear and free of the incessant winds we’d dealt with for the previous four days, two friends and I decided to go adventuring a bit before heading north towards home.

After touring greater downtown Kenai (actually more hoping to see caribou out on the flat, grassy delta between Soldotna and Kenai – no luck there), we headed south and ended up at the Kasilof Beach – North Shore public access site. Really pretty!

None of us had been there before, so we got the dogs out and took a lovely walk along beautiful sandy dunes. There was just enough breeze to have clumps of sea grass waving cheerfully in the deep, clean sand and we were careful to keep our leashed dogs on the designated sandy pathways.

It wasn’t a sparkling clear day, but clear enough to see the volcanos across Cook Inlet. Quite a treat.

When the road we’d driven down eventually tumbled us back out onto the Sterling Highway at the town of Kasilof, we reluctantly turned our wheels back towards Soldotna to begin our actual trip home.

After stopping once more, this time for lunch together just outside of Sterling, I parted ways with my friends. They intended to finish the drive home straight from there, while my thoughts had turned another direction.

At lunch, we’d started talking about campgrounds; which ones we liked, which we didn’t, were they pretty or just practical and of course, would our 26-27’ Class C rigs fit comfortably in the campsites.

They mentioned how much they’d enjoyed Tenderfoot Campground at Summit Lake, and while I knew of the campground, I’d never taken that particular roadway. But hey, it was on our way home …

I decided I honestly wouldn’t mind stopping for just one more night. It was 3:00 on a balmy, sweet-smelling afternoon when I turned down yet another new [to me] road to see where it might take me. Ronni fortunately agreed wholeheartedly.

Peace and Quiet – Yes Please

You can thank me later for not inundating you with photos and chatter from three rainy days of Barn Hunt trialing. Thankfully, the trial itself was indoors. I’ll settle for one “working” photo [courtesy of Marcia Dietrich Kardatzke] and one ribbon photo, courtesy of Rhonda, who earned the ribbon.

By Sunday afternoon, it was about all I could do to stow my belongings enough that they wouldn’t rattle around while I made the ten minute drive into downtown Soldotna. I filled my propane, dumped my black and gray tanks and picked up a few groceries before heading to nearby Centennial Park Campground for a few days of much needed downtime.

While not right on the Kenai River, the site I chose has a view of the river through the trees. I had no nearby neighbors the first night unless you count the squirrels (which I’m pretty sure Rhonda did).

With a blissfully quiet, woodsy view on one side, and an open, grassy view towards the river on the door side (best for discouraging mosquitoes, which turned out to be a moot point – we didn’t see any at all), I don’t think I could have imagined a better spot to hunker down and rest.

View from my bedroom.
Our campsite.
My spinning view.
Ronni on squirrel patrol.

Three relaxing days later; we’re off again for three more days of asphalt camping. We do have pretty woods behind our RV for potty walks, but yes, it’s basically a parking lot. Ronni and I are heading for an AKC Scent Work trial.

Starts and Stops and Starts

The lulling patter of rain on the roof had Ronni and I both contentedly sleeping late this morning. It was such a relaxing sound and we were in no hurry – check-out isn’t until noon.

Once we were both dressed for the weather and I’d started water heating for coffee, we took advantage of a lessening of the rain and made quick work of Ronni’s morning toilet.

A lovely, if damp, morning walk.

Even with the clouds obscuring the mountains and rain dripping from branches, the beauty of Kenai Lake remains breathtaking. Maybe if I was a family with active children, or a fisherman, I’d feel differently, but this was just a stopover for us. Rain added a visual and audible change to our scenery from yesterday, and on a serious note, we need the rain.

After a relaxing late breakfast, it was time to hit the road again. I doubted we’d out-run the light rain, since it was forecast to continue throughout the area until this evening.

Driving along the Kenai River, we passed a group of rafters, laughing and splashing their way down stream. Dressed in dry-suits and helmets against the glacial-cold river, they either didn’t notice the rain or didn’t care.

A quick stop along the Kenai River. Geez, I could’ve sworn there were mountains over there.

Between Coopers Landing and Sterling, there is no way to ignore the devastation caused by the summer 2019 Swan Lake fire. The [approx] 170,000 acre wildfire, ignited by lightning, raged on both sides of the Sterling Highway, burning up entire mountainsides and closing roads. The fire brought traffic to a complete stop numerous times on the only road connecting the Kenai Peninsula to the rest of south central Alaska.

Five years later, the damage wrought by this wildfire remains, a mute testament to the power of Mother Nature.

So, May rains are welcome, if inconvenient for early tourists. Certainly a change already from last year, when we had literally no rainfall at all throughout May and June.

Rhonda and I are headed to a three-day, indoor Barn Hunt trial that starts tomorrow, so our only inconvenience, IF it keeps raining, will be Rhonda’s dislike of rainy potty walks. Poor dear. ☔️😉

Please don’t make me go out! It’s WET!

Only one more stop before I head to the trial site. Sitting in a Fred Meyer parking lot in Soldotna may not be scenic, but by offering a single stop for gas, propane and last-minute shopping, along with RV-friendly parking – it gets ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.