July 2020- Alaska-Day 2

The Smokey to my Bandit

Alaska Day 2- Mile 4294- Mr. Bullington and I woke weary but excited for our big reveal! You see, the trip we’d planned a year in advance had not let the Bullington children in on one little secret and the clock was about to strike RV:30! We snuck out of the room while they slept to make our way to the Great Alaskan Holiday RV rental place! I mean even the name sounds like a party on wheels! We watched an informative videotape on how not to mix up your black water with your drinking water or some such. I’m sure we’ll be fine. I mean, how hard could it be?? I'll admit, I was suprised that they basically just tossed us the keys, even after I asked 2.3 million questions and requested a walk-through for some hands on learning. We literally had no idea how to work this modern marvel.  Thankfully, this smoky lady with a sandpaper voice and a camel red dangling from her lips took pity on us and demonstrated how to cut on the stove. And fortunately, I'd had some logistics help from my friend Dana who has the cutest Airstream Camper and more experience in this realm. I called her a couple of weeks ago and she gave me all sorts of tips and recipes, so now I think I’m pretty much an expert RVer just by osmosis.  And, I know all you smart-alecky science friends that know how osmosis actually works are making fun of me. Stop making fun of me in your head! I can hear you! We hopped aboard and gingerly steered our vacation vessel into the Marriott parking lot, eager to introduce Winnie to her new inhabitants. The reactions ranged from pure joy (Thomas) and cheerful acceptance (Mae) to guarded skepticism (Charlotte) as the reality of sharing tight quarters set in. 

You mean, we get to spend MORE time together???

After settling into all the little nooks and crannies of our new home, we did what any red-blooded American does when they need to outfit an RV, we headed to the Wal-marts!  We procured all the necessary items for a 10 days on the road, food, drinks, and a DVD of Girls Just Want to Have Fun which brings together the acting chops of Helen Hunt, Sarah Jessica Parker and a very young Shannon Doherty in a coming of age tale of love amid a cut-throat TV dance competition. If only Camel Red Lady had shown us how to work the DVD Player.... I hadn’t planned many stops for today as I figured learning to drive and adjust to our humble house on wheels would be enough. En route to our stop for the night, we took a side trip to a little town called Whitter. I’d read about it when doing my research for this trip. Not only do you get to travel through the LONGEST TUNNEL IN NORTH AMERICA to get there, but the entire population of the town (250+ people) all live in the same building.  The building has apartments on the top floors and businesses on the bottom. We couldn’t go in because StupidCovid,  but got to see it from the outside which was about as anticlimactic as you can imagine. 

Errybody in Whittier lives here

The drive to Whittier was beautiful though, a hulking mountain,  glacier, lake, or waterfall around every turn. Alaska is hands-down the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. 

A little roadside rock skipping

I Wonder as I Wander

And, I take expensive naps

Afternoon Fish 'n Chips Scooby Snack

   

I swear she had on pants.

 We finally arrived at our first RV park of the trip. Back when I’d first booked this location, I snatched up the last spot available, but now the park was less than halfway full. Thanks, Covid! We had a lovely little place right on the creek and were greeted by our new neighbors! The family on one side had one set of grandparents, one set of our-age parents, and 6 kids under the age of six all sharing the love in one RV.  Grandpa had three little kids and his adult daughter had three little kids. Grandpa was also drunker than Cooter Brown. Can’t say that I blame him…While we were getting to know the set of parents that were around our age and much less plowed than Pee-paw, this pair of Bald Eagles swooped through the campsite! I squealed and probably scared their little Eagle selves half to death, but it was glorious! I cooked my first RV meal while the boys built a fire and the girls explored the campground.  We nestled into bed at 11:00 in broad daylight. The 24-hour sunshine is slightly off-putting and very disorienting, but I’d call day two a success!

What this fire needs is more oxygen!

Cheerful little Kitchen Helper!

Bipedal Bullingtons