Setting the clock for 5:45AM, we all got up and feverishly finished packing, which included an appallingly large amount of food in the fridge. We divided it up the best we could into 3 coolers, had multiple boxes and bags of other misc. food products along with the portable propane Barb-b-que grill we had purchased.
We put as much as we could in the car last night. Having been warned about the potential traffic, road conditions and repairs, we were all out the door about 7AM as suggested to make sure we got the rental cars back when due at noon. We made it back to Anchorage in a record 2 hours too soon! Now what?
What else? Since we were told the RV’s would not be ready
for 3-4 more hours, we stopped at the rental office, picked up two more
coolers, and we did what we do best! MORE grocery shopping ( as Vickie said
“you would think Armageddon was coming” )! Luckily we were able to keep the cars until we
could shovel the stuff out of the overloaded vehicles directly into the RV’s. Thank goodness!
Finally it was our turn to get our “home on wheels” for the
next 3 weeks. After renting the 21 foot Fiat with no slides last year in Europe,
these monsters were huge! At a little
over 32 feet with the addition of 2 slide- outs (the sides extend out a couple of feet for more width) we had
more than enough room, and then some! ABC Rental was quite accommodating by letting
us keep the cars until the RV’s were ready, and let us take extra coolers or
blankets, but I have to tell you, these motor homes were a little beat up. Mostly the front seats and all the
accompanying equipment such as silverware, dishes, pans, and linens were the
cheapest of the absolute cheap. These things aren’t inexpensive to rent, and I
think they need to spend an extra couple of hundred dollars every few months
not to gross out their clientele!
We checked out the RV, noting that the shower gasket needed
changing, and oh, by the way, we need new windshield wipers, but they were more
than happy to give us anything we discovered we needed.
I must admit we are spoiled by owning a Winnebago, and Forest River just
doesn’t compare in quality, in my opinion. Sorry, Forest River owners. We could have rented new Winnebagos from Great Alaskan Holidays but chose this company because they also rented the cars we needed.
By this time it was nearly 3:30PM, and it was suggested we
leave quickly before the military start their commute out of town. As soon as we could, we got under way and off
to our first campsite which took about an hour.
We were thankful it was not farther than that because we were beat!
As we unpacked and settled in we made lists of all the
things we wanted/needed to make our next 3 weeks more comfortable. ( new silver and glassware for one ) We all dined together as we compared our
day’s experiences and RV’s.
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Tired of stubbing our toes on the corner of the bed, a pool noodle was put to good use. |
Because this is the land of the “midnight sun”, Norm and I
lined the bedroom windows with heavy duty aluminum foil, and attached it to the
frames with painters tape to keep out the ever-present sunlight. This was Dennis’ idea, and it was
brilliant! The sun doesn’t go down here,
and getting a good night sleep is nearly impossible. Frankly, GETTING to sleep was
impossible! I really think is going to
work!
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Our new digs! What a way to see Alaska! |
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Heavy Duty aluminum foil does the trick against that "midnight sun"! |
