The last train departed Kennecott in 1938 never to return again. It was an overnight ghost town, everyone was gone except for one last family. The mine was closed forever. In thirty years the most productive copper mine in Alaska played out. The copper was gone. The mill was empty and the only watchman lived

We went deep into the ice flows at the Columbia Glacier on the Lu-Lu Belle in mid-August during our exploration of Alaska. It was full of surprises including wildlife

Valdez is the most important city in Alaska. Of all the places we visited in Alaska, Valdez is my favorite. Of course, that is just my opinion and it is viewed from my perspective. I think that if you don’t visit Valdez when you are in Alaska it is a big mistake. Split opinion We

More than ten thousand years ago the Matanuska Glacier ended in the ocean where it combined with the Knik Glacier and formed the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet north of Anchorage. As the glacier receded, it left the Matanuska Valley and Matanuska River as a testament to its size and power. Where the glacier once

At Tern Lake, the only highway on the Kenai Peninsula splits in two directions. In one direction, Seward lies at the end of the road; in the other, Homer. The road was built starting in Seward and leading north to Anchorage long before the Sterling Highway connected it to Homer via Sterling. We visited and

Are Grizzly Bears the same as Brown Bears? Is Grizzly Bear just a nickname? It is an interesting question. Really this story is about our visit to Katmai National Park. There are no roads leading to Katmai National Park. How did we get to visit Katmai National Park when we live in our RV? Before

Alaskan Brown Bears (Grizzly Bears by nickname) are the attraction at Katmai National Park. Brooks Falls is the number one place in the world to see them. These wild bears gather at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park to feast on salmon. When the bears are at Brooks Falls, they are focused on one thing

Halibut Cove is one of a kind. In all our travels we have not ever been to any place like this. Our visit was wonderful. At Halibut Cove there are no cars or roads. Halibut Cove is located 12 miles south of Homer on the south side of Kachemak Bay. Halibut Cove is located between

Homer is the furthest southwest point in Alaska that we can go in our RV without getting a very expensive ferry involved. The Homer Spit is south of Homer. There are roads in Alaska, south of Homer but, these roads are not connected to the road system on the Alaskan mainland. In some cases, they

Alaska’s playground is the Kenai Peninsula. The Kenai Peninsula is the place Alaskans go to play. It is a very popular place, especially among Alaskans. On our travels from state to state, we often see RVers visiting different states. In Alaska, most of the RVs we see are from Alaska. My estimate is that 90%

It is beautiful in Whittier (Alaska). I was going to say prettier in Whittier to make it rhyme but resisted the temptation. It is not always beautiful in Whittier, you have to time your visit. First, you need to visit in the summer, and you have to visit on a good day in the summer,

Russia sold Alaska to the United States for one simple reason. Russia sold Alaska because Russia needed cash and the United States had cash. Although Canada would seem to be the logical choice, for Russia, selling Alaska to Canada wasn’t an option. Russia didn’t want to sell Alaska to Canada. Canada was part of the

There are many large, dangerous animals in Alaska. We have seen large dangerous animals frequently on our route here in Alaska. In Denali National Park, we really started seeing how wild Alaska can be. At Denali, we saw numerous Grizzly Bears. Sometimes they were really close to us. Three of the following pictures of mom

Denali is huge, more than 20,000 feet tall, and most visitors to Denali National Park never see it. Did we see it? How can you be sure to see it during your visit? There is no reason to be coy; you already know that we saw Denali during our visit based on the above picture.

We didn’t see any sunsets in Fairbanks. Actually, we haven’t seen a sunset since we were in Canada. The sun did set when we were in Fairbanks but, we didn’t see any sunsets in Fairbanks. We didn’t stay up late enough to see any sunsets.  If you stay awake until the wee hours of the