NANCY LAKE - 5/20/05

This weekend we went camping with our new friends. We went to Nancy Lake State Recreational Area, actually we were at South Rolly Lake, but it is all part of the same SRA. It was a huge campground, over 100 sites, and it was very nice. The weather, however was not as nice. Friday was gorgeous, but Saturday was very rainy. We were not prepared for the rain, we didn’t have a tarp and because of the trees we couldn’t open the awning. We got out the only piece of plastic that we had, and used everything we could to tie it to the trees, so we had a small shelter from the rain.


We found back to back campsites, so we could easily cook, eat, and play together. Boy, did we EAT. Most of the food we had left from last weekend is gone, but that’s OK because it was all supposed to be eaten last week.

The kids (6 kids ages 3-11) played tag and road bikes. We all took walks down to the lake, we roasted marshmallows and just relaxed around the fire. The rain did not slow down the kids at all, they all played together, running and having fun until late into the night. We knew there were bears in the area so the kids didn’t get to explore as much as they would have liked.

There was a small canoe rental place on the lake, we thought about renting some canoes but the weather just didn’t cooperate. We did go talk to the lady who ran it, and picked up some information for future trips. Maybe we will get to try it later this summer.
By Sunday the rain had disappeared, the sun even made a small appearance. We made pancakes (YUM) and eggs for breakfast and ate around the campfire. The kids ran and played again, they made me tired just watching them. Unfortunately, it was time to go home, weekends are just too short.
On our way out of the campground, we finally got to see the bear we had heard about. It was a small black bear that ran in front of our motorhome. Last year we saw a momma bear and her babies cross the road and I couldn’t get to my camera fast enough, I got it this time.

All in all it was a fun and memorable weekend, despite the rain. It may not sound like we did a whole lot, but sometimes that makes for the best time. We are already making plans for more trips with our new friends.

DRAG RACES - PALMER - 5/13/05

Our adventure actually started before the trip this weekend, we went to an Alaska Aces hockey game before we left town. The Aces are our local ECHL hockey team and they are now one game away from the Kelly Cup series. After the game(they won in overtime...WOOHOO) we left town for Palmer, arriving at our destination(Alaska Raceway Park) at about midnight. We met up with my sister-in-law, her family, and friends, the party was in full swing when we got there. There were 12 kids and about 20 adults, and motorhomes, campers and tents everywhere.
Ours is the one in the middle.
We made new friends, including a family we met on RV.net. We(me and the kids) went to bed about 2 AM, hubby stayed up until ???AM. We had a campfire and everyone had great time.
Saturday morning, we made a big breakfast and relaxed until the races started. Our new friends from RV.net moved their motorhome closer to ours and we all got to know each other. We even planned more trips together. Todays races were just test and tune so, while it WAS kind of fun, it wasn't too exciting....until the jet cars came out. These cars run on jet fuel, and shoot 30 foot flames out the back (SOOO COOOOOL). WOW, that was LOUD. There were also some motorcycles with trick riders, like a guy who did a wheelie the length of the track.

I had a fully stocked motorhome, more food than I have in my house, but did I cook dinner?? NO, we ate at the Nitro Cafe, the have a burger you wouldn't believe. It includes but is not limited to a hamburger patty, a sausage patty, jalapenos, lettuce, tomato, etc.
After the races and dinner the kids played hide and seek in the trees and even got a game of football going with some adults.
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We found out that there was a fire ban in effect so we didn't get to have a fire or make s'mores on Saturday night. It was still a fun and memorable evening.
After a late night, the morning came very early, there were machines out drying and warming the track, and race cars revving by 8 AM. The races started at about 10, and we had a few rain delays. We took advantage of this extra time to make a good breakfast. These races were a lot more exciting than Saturdays, these cars were FAST. The jet cars raced each other, reaching speeds of WAY over 200 MPH.

The kids all ran around, watching races, playing tag during rain delays, and getting autographs from the drivers. Finally we packed up our dirty, exhausted kids and headed home. This was a fun weekend and I think we will have a couple more race weekends this summer.

CLAM GULCH - 5/6/05

This was our first trip of the year. We went to Clam Gulch. This was the first time clamming for me and my kids. We reached Soldotna at about 11:30 PM, remembering that we forgot to buy fishing licenses (OOOPS). We started looking for someplace to buy some, most stores were closed. We finally stopped at an all night convenience store to ask if they knew anyplace we could get licenses that time of night. We lucked out, they sold them right there at the gas station (YAY). We continued on to the campground, which turned out to be a giant parking lot with numbered spaces. By the time we were all set up it was about 1:00 AM, the camp ground was tilted and we never did get the motorhome leveled out.
We woke up to a beautiful, sunny day, it was a little windy, which made it chilly, Low tide was at 10:00AM, so we ate a quick breakfast and made sandwiches to take with us. We had to park the 3 wheelers about a ¼ mile from the waters edge and walk. There were a lot of people there, but we had no trouble finding the clams. We showed the kids how to spot the clams and then how to dig them up.

We had a lot of squished shells in the beginning, but after a little practice, we all did pretty good. LC and KN didn’t think it was much fun, they were cold and not quite strong enough to push the shovel into the sand. They decided to go back to the 3 wheeler and eat lunch. TP got the hang of it and loved it. We ended up with a 5 gallon bucket of clams.
We went back to the campsite and boiled and cleaned the clams, we made the best clam chowder for dinner(YUM). While we were preparing the clams and dinner we listened to the Alaska Aces hockey game on the radio, we even had other campers coming over to ask the score. Unfortunately the Aces lost in overtime(DARN). After dinner we went back to the beach to roast marshmallows and watch the sunset.

It was an exciting and tiring day.
Sunday morning, we made a big breakfast and went back to the beach, just to explore on the 3 wheelers. We went about 5 miles down the beach and stopped to play in the sand.

Someone landed their plane on the beach to go clamming and the kids had fun watching it take off afterwards. We looked for cool rocks and drew pictures in the sand. The kids even tried to dam up a small creek that was running down the bluff. It was a sunny and warm day at the beach, not an easy thing to find in Alaska. The view from the beach is amazing, you can see 3 active volcanoes from there. Mt. Redoubt, Mt. Spurr, and Mt. Iliamna. When we got back to the motor home, we started packing up and listened to another hockey game(THEY WON).
The trip home was also eventful, we found out that ALL our lug nuts were loose. We got those tightened up, thankful that we noticed before a tire fell off. Then, near Girdwood, there was a small forest fire on the mountainside near the road, we watched the helicopter dumping water on it, and the firemen running their hoses. By the time we got home and watched the news it was out.
All in all, it was a great weekend, and I can’t wait for our next adventure. Stay tuned….next week…drag races in Palmer.

A Little Background

We are a family of 5, me, my husband(TW), my sons, TP, who is 9, and LC ,who is 8, last but not least my daughter KN, who is 6 1/2. Last July we bought a 35 foot motorhome to have adventures in, so far we are loving it. My kids get to see all the parts of Alaska that they have never seen. This site will contain our stories from our adventures. Check back often, as we will be having lots of them this summer.