Portage, AK - Getting Slimed

We followed the bore tide up with a visit to the the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Here I learned 2 very valuable lessons:

        Don’t stand near the person tossing out bloody hamburger to the bears

                                                and

        Don’t stand under a feeding area when sea gulls are flying overhead.

Got those two lessons? Because I’m sharing this knowledge so you don’t have to suffer the indignity that I did. We got to the Conservation Center, parked and noticed a big ‘jam’ a few yards away. One of the rangers was feeding the bear. We rushed over, I got a spot right in back of the ranger - who was reaching into a big pail, pulling out bloody hamburg, balling it up and tossing it into the enclosure. Cool, great view.

‘Ooh, what’s that liquid that just hit me in the eye? Ugh, blood.

‘Ooh, what’s that brown stuff that came from the sky and is now on the camera and all over the front of my shirt?’ Ugh - sea gull poop.

And, I walked back to the car to clean up, change and recover my pride. (BTW, these nylon hiking shirts clean up really well.)

The Center which takes in orphaned or wounded animals and rehabilitates them was pretty cool. We walked around, observing the animals they had.

Nursing elk.

A moose hiding in tall grass. Can you see him there? Look closely, now.

Then we hit the brown/grizzly bear feeding. I DID NOT stand next to the Ranger tossing the raw meat. I DID stand under the roof of the viewing platform. Lessons learned. But I did get this picture - these bears are huge.

Meanwhile Gary had found his inner Alaskan and knew he had to have these pjs.

We knew that Portage, the used-to-be name of the town where we are staying, actually disappeared after the 1964 earthquake.

As far as Portage is concerned, a few of the buildings are still visible, most have fallen into decay. Here’s one building we found. We didn’t see any others in this area.

These trees which originally had been on land, were now covered with salt water which killed them but then preserved them as they were. Yep. salt preserves. Theses are now called ‘ghost’ forests.’

Girdwood, the town we visited today, when the shoreline sank 10’, actually moved 2 1/2 miles inland from where it was originally on the shore of the Arm. It’s much safer here.

Great fun today, some planned and some unexpected. That must be what makes it an adventure.
Looking forward to visiting Whittier tomorrow.

I forgot to include these pictures from our campground in Anchorage. One day, we looked out and watched all of the RV’s in the 2 rows in front of us close up shop and move out. Hmmm. Something is going to happen, we knew. Sure enough, shortly after they all pulled out, we saw this scene across the way.

And, then 35 RV’s began to roll into the campground. That guy in the pink tutu pulled out a walkie-talkie and began to talk these newcomers into their space in the campground.

Very organized caravan or wagon train - a group of people traveling through Alaska led by this guy. I’m sure that the people who lived in the neighborhoods around us have seen this all before but, still, 35 RV’s in a line in front of your house must still be amusing. The front of the first RV has that white sticky stuff on its front just like the white sticky stuff you see in new houses stuck to every carpet for protection. This protects the front of the RV from bugs, rocks a bit and sure does look dandy.

Our campground in Portage, Williwaw, has filled up today. I saw only one spot as we came in. On the other hand, we’ve seen 6 RV’s racing through the campground while we ate dinner. Hey, don’t they realize that there are kids biking in the road here? Older people strolling around? Speeding in a campground just frosts me. Either they’ve got a spot reserved and are heading towards it OR they came here without a spot reserved and are racing for the last one. Good luck. I’m not sure what they will do if this campground is full - there aren’t many others around.

I’m adding these lines not because I’m making fun of Alaskans but appreciating their ingenuity. They live in a harsh climate and they have adapted.

You know you’re in Alaska when:

. . .you design your Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit.

. . .the mosquitoes have landing lights.

. . .you have more miles on you snowblower than your car.

. . .you have 10 favorite recipes for moose meat.

. . .you've taken your kids trick-or-treating in a blizzard.

. . .driving is better in the winter because the potholes get filled with snow.

. . .you think sexy lingerie is fleece socks and a flannel nightie with only 8 buttons.