Sylvia's RV Journey

Here we go.... with our first full day in Alaska. Sister, Eileen, arrived late last night, and I picked her up this morning. After a quick stop at Costco and Walmart, for groceries, we headed south with a stop at Potter Marsh Bird sanctuary where we took a walk on the boardwalk, finding salmon, then on to Beluga Point hoping to see beluga whale, but we did not, and eventually we wound up near Whittier. We found a campsite at Williwaw Camp, secured our spot, then on to hike the Byron Glacier Trail. It was about a 1.4 mile hike to the edge of a glacier, where you could walk on it. I didn't though, as I didn't wear the right shoes this time. There were plenty of people. I looked up, and who did I see? Kristen Battle, Carole Battle's daughter who lives in Naples, NY. I knew she was on a trip to Alaska, and we intended to meet up, but this was pure coincidence. We hugged, chatted, and took photos. How unlikely is this? It was fate! Our camp was wonderful, and all we had a great

​A visit to  Beach Access Point Woronzof. Just the end of a peninsula where you can walk down to the beach, and and little did I know it was right next to the airport and it was stunning watching these planes fly right over your head as if you could touch them! I stopped in the park where they had an Asian food festival so I bought a few items for the next few days and enjoyed watching the chef create a papaya salad. I carefully made note of all the ingredients and hope to re-create this at some point. Delicious! I moved to a different spot here at Centennial Park. The door slammer neighbor last night kept me up last night for way to long. Ugh, I can’t wait to get back to dispersed camping out in the forest where I’d like to find more elbow room!

​ It is pouring cats and Jo Jo’s today. I went to the Alaska Native Heritage Center, just around the corner from Eagle River Camp, and it was wonderful. Artists were working and demonstrating in wood, clay, fabric, and beading. There were silver smiths, creating the ulu knife, as well as items made in fur. I took a group walking tour lead by Cheyanne, all of 16 years old, who was born in Anchorage, and grew up in Barrow, AK, a very distinctively, remote, northern tip of Alaska. We walked into at least six different native homes, depending on where they lived in Alaska, some of them were partially underground, and some were built of Cedarwood to accommodate the pan handle rainforest. We learned about the purpose of carving the totem, which was to signify the family members and their clan, we learned what they eat, and how they heated their homes mostly with burning seal oil. There were a few videos to watch, as well as speakers who live in the most outlying places in Alaska, in sight of