If you enjoy looking at glaciers, then the Portage Valley area is one place to put on your list. It is about a 45 minute drive south from Anchorage—along one of the prettiest roads in the state. If the weather is clear you will be awed by the vistas….
Gorgeous morning===not a cloud in the sky! What a difference from our last visit when we couldn’t leave the RV because of heavy rain. However, it looks like the Gods of Easy RV Travel were not with us because while still parked in the visitor center this morning we discovered that we had no power running to any of our electrical outlets.While this is not necessarily a disaster in itself, we also discovered that the generator wasn’t recharging our batteries. This could lead to trouble and we weren’t sure if anything was also draining the vehicle battery.Nonetheless, not to be outdone by the shenanigans of the RV, we decided to press on and find a spot at Williwaw and make do with what we had.
I am still somewhat amazed by the friendly and helpful nature of other campers. Maybe this is a hold-back from all those years that I lived in south Florida where people generally aren’t as friendly. However, on our very first trip we went to a private RV park up near Orlando, Florida. This was a place where there were full-timers who had seemingly permanent spots. While I tend to keep to myself and just “figure things out”, my husband is just the opposite and before I knew it we were receiving a lot of help and advice from the man camping across from us. Simple things–like dealing with the awning, checking for lizards in the hose before plugging into the water supply, etc.
This helpful and friendly nature is apparent within the camping culture (is it a culture? I don’t know), and here at Williwaw we weren’t disappointed. Two nice gentlemen, each of whom had experience as electricians, helped us diagnose the problem as being the generator. OK, we still had low voltage lights working, and if we ran the vehicle engine our batteries would re-charge. No microwave or electrical outlet usage, but we could live with this for the weekend.
We normally travel with our 2 kids and our 4 animals (2 cats and 2 dogs).One reason we like Williwaw so much is that the bicycle trails are smooth and relatively flat. Our daughter is developmentally disabled and can’t ride a bike. We purchased a Wike which is like a regular child carrier that travels behind one of the bikes. However, it is larger and more stable than the kind for small children. Our daughter is 60 pounds and still fits in the small Wike (although, only just….), looks like soon we will have to spring for the larger model. With the Wike we are able to take her along on our rides, as long as the trail isn’t too difficult or steep. Williwaw has great trails and even more areas have been paved since we were last here in 2006. The trip from the campground to the Begich Visitor Center is about 1.5 miles, and there is also another nice (although graveled) path which is easy to navigate on bikes.
Relaxed in the evening in front of the fire with our Box O’ Wine.Seems that every time I go in the liquor store (which is practically NEVER of course) I laugh to myself about the giant box of wine (who would actually want a box of wine??). Well, now I’m not laughing so hard! We bought this box (which is equivalent to 6 bottles) and kept it in the fridge in the RV. Each night it went out on the picnic table and we never had to worry about breaking the bottle.
We decided to head down to Williwaw Campground at Portage Glacier again since the weather was great. This trip not well planned though and we had an event to attend last night which made it hard to get on the road at a decent hour. Got to Portage around 11 pm only to find the campground at Williwaw full.Not much in the mood to head further down the road going south, we just decided to park overnight in the visitor center parking lot. One other RV there, probably caught in the same situation. Anyway, no one bothered us or told us to leave, so it was fine.
Wednesday August 8th 16 hours, 29 minutes of daylight.
Wouldn’t you know, it hasn’t rained since we got home from the last trip. Endless hours of daylight as the sun circles around the sky. With all this camping I’ve been ignoring my garden, and had to spend many hours ripping out the weeds and trimming back aggressive plants. All the sunlight up here helps plants grow really large in the summer. Alaska is home to such wonders as the 1000 pound pumpkin and the 73 pound cabbage.
How does one move a 1000 pound pumpkin?
……Can’t wait to see what the State Fair will have to offer this year…
Oh….What to do when stuck in the RV all day and night. Eight of us (4 people, 4 animals). We’re tripping over each other….this is clearly one of the downsides of camping. Well, I guess it could be worse. We could be sitting in a tent, or in a class B converted van…or something.
Was able to sneak out for a short walk, but no chance for a bike ride today. How do we occupy ourselves?
I bring books, knitting, notebook, drawing pad and pencils, iPod, beads, oh….and…..liquor. (just in case)…..
Other stuff we usually have: video games to play on computer or on PSP, books, who knows what……….
We also have a portable DVD player which will work for about 6 hours on the battery.,,,, (too many electronics, I know)
Well, you can always take a nap…. or a series of naps…
The pets don’t seem to bring anything, and don’t really care much about the rain.
Saturday August 4th, 16 hours 51 minutes of daylight:
Have to say, this place is pretty even in the rain. We were able to get one of our favorite campsites on the lake (site #1) which has easy access to get the porta-bote in and out of the water. In spite of the on again/off again rain, we were able to take our bikes for a 9 mile ride down and back up Nancy Lake parkway. On this journey we saw 7 moose (although 3 were probably repeats–same moose down and back), and a cross fox. One of the moose had twins and since they were in the road we had to stop and wait for them to go back into the woods. Big twins and big mom, didn’t want any trouble!
Oh no! Our summers are so short here. The growing season is only 100 days and I’m sorry to say that my little garden looks like it is in a decline already. Of course, maybe I just need to get busy weeding it and it won’t look so sad. The delphiniums are huge–maybe 6 feet tall. The painted daisy’s grew larger than I thought they would when I first planted them, and now they are overshadowing some of the smaller plants. Oh well. It’s a learning process for me. When I lived in Florida I never bothered much with gardening—it was always too hot.
It’s already August and the days are noticeably shorter. We are hoping to squeeze in 2 more camping trips before school starts on the 23rd (and I start work again in the school system on the 16th). As long as the weather holds out (ie: not much rain) we’ll be ok and should enjoy wherever we end up going. I can tell that the cats are excited about the idea of going away again. Both are sleeping next to me as I write this………
Welcome to our blog and website, Alaska RV Camping. Through this site we hope to provide useful and entertaining information about various campgrounds throughout Alaska. Since we travel in our RV, most all these sites are accessible through the major road systems in Alaska. We also welcome comments and other reviews of sites from readers. We generally go on camping trips from mid-May to mid-September, and usually will go to any one site from a period of 3 to 7 days. Our kids and 4 pets (2 dogs, 2 cats) accompany us on most trips.
We have two dogs and two cats who accompany us on most of our trips. I have to admit this is more out of guilt than anything else…seems rather boring to leave them at home with a pet sitter checking in…..but….what do they do on a camping trip? Here are some pictures to give you the idea:
