Alaska Day 4 - Exit Glacier & Drive to Denali

Friday, August 12 was a travel day to get from Seward up north to Denali, >350 miles. We had breakfast in the RV as usual, then decided to make one stop before heading out - a hike to see Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. This was the best glacier opportunity on our itinerary so we couldn't pass it up, even though it was rainy and cold. We started on the Glacier View Loop Trail then decided to continue onto the Glacier Overlook Trail. Might as well, we were already soaked! The loop was a short, easy hike, but we were scrambling over rocks and jumping streams on the overlook trail.

Signs are posted along the entire trail showing where the glacier had been in different years, making it inescapably obvious how far it's receded over time.

At one point, we came across a viewing platform that used to overlook the glacier itself and now just looked into the forest, no glacier in sight.

After the hike, everyone changed into dry clothes and we started our drive north, making a quick pitstop in Anchorage for lunch and more groceries. We attempted to see Mount Denali from the viewing areas along the way, but never were able to see the peak through the clouds. We finally arrived at Denali National Park around 7 p.m. and headed to our campsite at the park's Riley Creek Campground for a late dinner and some campfire s'mores. Odd to sit around a campfire after 10 p.m. and it still be light out! Doesn't really have the same campfire vibe. :) This campsite was the first place we noticed any mosquitos on our trip - not too bad, Alaska!

I can't forget to mention the other big news from this travel day: Zadie lost her first tooth! She'd had several wiggly teeth since Guatemala, and was so excited that it finally fell out. She forgot to put it under a pillow with all the campfire excitement, but fortunately the tooth fairy still came.

Before & After - Front Door

Quite the transformation with the new color scheme! Since our house is located in a historic district, the colors had to be approved by the historic district commission. Front Door After The colors and products used here are (not affiliate links): Door - Sherwin Williams Cajun Red ( link , a pretty red-orange in real life, looks slightly more brown here) Siding - Sherwin Williams Rookwood Blue Green ( link ) Trim (white) - Sherwin Williams Pure White ( link ) Trim (teal) - Sherwin Williams Still Water ( link ) Porch floor - Sherwin Williams Pewter Tankard ( link ) Brick foundation (not shown) - Sherwin Williams Rookwood Dark Brown ( link ) Mailbox - Ecco E4 in Bronze ( link , available via Amazon and elsewhere) Similar Craftsman-style Door With Dentil Shelf ( link ) Front Door Before

Alaska Day 8 - Wasilla

The second to last day of our trip, we had a relaxed travel day back south with the goal of ending up somewhere near enough to Anchorage for us to turn in the RV on time the next morning. Jim did some fishing (no luck), we had a leisurely breakfast in our boondocked RV, and wondered when exactly a huge moose pooped so close to our RV during the night. Fishing by our boondocked RV We didn't have a campground reserved for the night, but knowing that Anchorage campgrounds are primarily super expensive parking lots, we decided to stop 45 mins north in Wasilla. The city might be best known as the hometown of Sarah Palin, and it was covered with Palin signs. We later learned that Alaska was holding elections this Tuesday (Palin lost). In more entertaining news, Wasilla is also home to the Iditarod Headquarters and Museum. The Iditarod is a long-distance sled dog race covering over 900 miles in 8+ days. The headquarters had dog houses but no dogs visible during our visit, so we looked ar...

Votes on bath layout?

I hated this bathroom so much. The drop ceiling, the vinyl wood parquet floor tiles, the plastic sheeted fake tile walls. It was very exciting to destroy it. Our original plan was to keep the sink and toilet where they were, but swap out the tub for a smaller shower in the corner. Once everything was gone, we realized we had enough room for the sink on the same back wall rather than across from the toilet. We weren't positive if we had enough room, until the shower base and sink base were delivered this week. Now, I'm thinking this is definitely the way to go. There's so much more space to move than before (it was tight when I was pregnant)! Here are some shots of the bathroom, pre-demo: The after-demo pic below is the view through the doorway (same as the shot above), with the shower and sink bases roughly in place. On the far left, the newspaper template shows the actual toilet measurements. The blue tape on the wall is where we think the beadboard will end (same height a...

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