Johns Trippin'

In between Homer and Whittier, we stopped in Soldotna, AK. Michael tried so hard to give me a fishing trip here, but with windy water conditions and a lack of professionalism, it never panned out. We stayed one night for free in the Fred Meyer parking lot. There was also free water fill-up and a dump stations. While we were there, we filled up our gas, propane and restocked our food. That night we watched an episode of the Chosen before bed.                       In the morning, I took the kids to go and see Solid Rock Bible Camp. I had a friend that worked there named Amy. Maybe we would only find a closed gate, but I thought we could go and check it out. We drove in and missed the turn to the office. The kids played some hillbilly golf, a rodeo horse toy and tether ball. Ben, a lifeguard that was helping with another camp using the facility, gave me directions. I asked for Amy at the office and she came out to welcome us. She is t...

There's no national park in Homer. We went to Homer because it's one of those "Nice Towns" in Alaska. Our first campsite in Alaska was the Homer KOA. It was on a cliff by the ocean. When we got there, we went on a scenic drive called Skyline Drive. We saw a moose with two calves, and we saw two sandhill cranes. The water was pretty, looking across the bay. The next morning, Caleb Jordan and I took the bunnies to the playground that was an old boat. The bunnies liked the dog park. Right before we left, I took the drone up to get a picture of the Homer Spit. Then we moved to a different campground on the Spit. Although, to call it a campground would be a bit of a stretch. It was just a gravel parking lot with RV sites marked out. We went to a park on the water and there were hundreds of gulls. (There were also good rocks for skipping.) That night, mom and dad went to pick up dinner. They took soooooooooooooooooooo long. The next morning we went to the "Fishing Hole...

Being poisoned (by food or otherwise) is never any fun, but I successfully found a way to enhance the experience even more. First, you need to successfully poison yourself. This part is easy. Empty your RV's tanks. Do not wear gloves; they will impede the poisoning process! Note that you don't need to actually get any of the sewage on your hands during emptying; simply handling the hose should be sufficient. Do not wash your hands. This is critical! Washing your hands at this juncture will force you to start over. It is helpful if there is an RV waiting to pull into your site so that you can feel rushed. Eat a variety of finger food snacks while driving to your next destination. Foods like flavored chips that leave a coating on your fingers are especially good choices as they'll force you to lick your fingers repeatedly, making the poisoning process more effective. Once poisoned, you can enhance the experience by following these easy steps: Park at a campground with no amen...

Denali is the tallest mountain in North America at 20,310'. Depending on your source, it is said that somewhere around 80-90% of people that visit Denali National Park never see Denali. Count us among the masses. The weather wasn't terrible for our visit, but the cloud cover was persistent, and it obscured the mountain (with one small exception, which I'll get to in a bit). If you've ever wondered what happens in the minutes  before  our sign pictures, here you go: Julie standing at the ready while children climb whatever they can Denali was one of the few parks to which we actually took the RV. We booked a campground within the park for two nights. This made it much more convenient to visit the park. Denali was also unique in another way: Julie's cousin Jason (technically, second cousin) volunteered there! He worked at a restaurant outside of the park but volunteered a few times a week within the park to walk one of the sled dogs (his was Disco). Denali is the only...

We stayed five nights in Fairbanks, AK. Five very, very long nights. We came here after tent camping a night at Wrangell-St. Elias, where I was sure I was going to peek out of my tent and see a bear or at least a moose. In all the excitement, I saw nothing, and got little to no sleep. I finally stayed awake at 5:30, because there was already light outside, and I was too excited to sleep. Our previous adventure was the jarring journey of the the Alaska Highway. Our next stop was the quick, easy, cheap and convenient parking lot of Pioneer Park in Fairbanks. This was not the place for me to get any rest. It was so very loud here; my earplugs did not work. I had ignored the reviews. I did not sleep. We could stay here for up to five nights at $12 a night with access to a fresh water spigot. My intention was for 1 night only and then for us to move on to another place. The other places just never worked out. Stuck. And very tired. It never got dark at night, just dusk; my sleep mask kept s...