06/15/12 HAINES, AK

 We left Whitehorse this morning for a good days drive to Haines. The scenery was beautiful, especially between Haines Junction and Haines.  We saw a bear and a beaver on the side of the road and a juvenile Moose walking down to a stream.  I wanted to stay at Oceanside RV Park which is right on the water.  It’s just a gravel parking lot but the view over the water is magnificent.  They did not have an available sight for the three nights we want to stay so we went to a bigger park just 6 blocks from the seashore, Haines Hitch Up RV Park.  It’s real nice and very well landscaped.  While backing our rig into a site we saw a large moose across the street.  It was amazing; he crossed the road and moved on.  I was able to grab my camera and get a couple pictures.  

They are having an annual bicycle event tomorrow where cyclists ride from Haines Junction to Haines.  They do have some cruise ships come in to port here, and also have a ferry system that carries pedestrians and vehicles including rv’s to and from Skagway.  Haines is a very small town and seems to have kept that small town coastal town charm.  I can’t wait to go prowling around tomorrow. 

6/16/12  HAINES, AK

The day started out heavily overcast and rainy so we stayed inside and enjoyed our coffee all morning.  We had arranged to have our mail forwarded to Haines Post Office while we were in Watson Lake about a week ago so went to pick that up.  I’m amazed at the reduction in mail since I signed up for paperless statements months ago.  We received our new replacement Tire pressure monitoring system.  The one we bought and used on the way up here burned up, literally after plugging it into the car for 45 minutes it shut off and was hot hot hot to touch.  I emailed the company and they sent us a new one.  So we’ll get that hooked up tomorrow and hope this one works better than the last.

We visited the information center and there really isn’t just a whole lot to do here in Haines.  They have the Bald Eagle Foundation that sounded interesting, with eagles, raptors and other birds.  But once we got there found out almost all the birds were on loan in Whitehorse.  They have a 2:30 Eagle feed, but wouldn’t you know it, Scottie their only eagle in the place today was fasting!  We didn’t feel like $10/ticket was worth it to see empty cages.   

Haines had their annual Salmon Bake in Dalton City tonight. Dalton City is the name of the southeast fair grounds located one block over from our RV park.  It’s set up like an old mining town, and some buildings actually had stores in them.  One was a brewery which we went into and sampled brews.  We walked over to enjoy the meal and were not disappointed.  The salmon was delicious, and free.  I am amazed at this little town. It is not over run with tourist like us.  It has retained it’s small town feel .  I LOVE THIS TOWN!  I can only imagine most tourist don’t want to make the extra trek down here as it is a ways out of the way.  I’m sooo glad we came here.  This is one of those “I could live here” places.  Although it is VERY far from any large town with shopping, etc.  I enjoyed people watching at the Salmon Bake, everyone knew everyone, it was a joy to see.  I observed the same thing at the post office, “Hi Sue, how’s Travis doing?”, “Did you go to that ….. up at the school the other night?”, “Thanks for sending Devon up to mow our lawn, he’s a great kid”.   What a sense of community!  We must have stood out like sore thumb tourist, people ask us where we’re from.  I had a nice conversation with a young man probably 30 years old or so. He has lived here 20+ years. Said this is a very hard town to live in, people are really struggling to survive.  I imagine so, there isn’t much here and tourism seems to be very low.  A live band played during the festivities.  Watching families, small children running around in their rubber boots, it was a sight to see.  After the Salmon Bake we walked the 6 blocks down to the dock and walked around.  There were almost NO cars, no people, it was absolutely amazing!  I’m sure this will be the most unpopulated town we’ll see from here on out.  It is a fantastic town.  When I did see the occasional person walking down the street they would wave at the car passing by. They really do know each other. 

6/17/12 HAINES, ALASKA

This morning started out drizzly so we stayed in and installed the vinyl tiles on the hallway floor.  Remember I removed the carpet a few weeks ago?  It turned out nice.  Now we just need to buy a little trim to finish it out and we’ll be done.  This is so much better than the carpet that was in there.  I like these kinds of projects.  After lunch we walked all over town.  Since our RV park is only 6 block to the dock we walked down there and checked out all the little nooks & crannies.  I still can’t get over how quiet this town is.  No traffic on this nice Sunday afternoon!  No tourist (except us).  Almost like a ghost town.  I LOVE IT!  I’m tempted to stay another day or two.  I love it that you can walk all over town.  We discovered a very small grave yard, just up a little hill across the street from the bay.  I saw huge trees and wondered what was on the other side.  It turned out to be a nice grassy park with picnic tables.  Upon further inspection I noticed a tall granite grave marker, then another, then another.  It was a fantastic find!  The old mossy grave stones were from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.  Incredible!  You would never know it was there unless you stumbled upon it. There was no mention of it in any literature I read about Haines.  I guess I just like that kind of stuff.   I LOVE THIS TOWN!       

Tomorrow we start heading toward Valdez via Kulane Lake, Delta Junction and the Richardson Highway.

We saw this moose as we were backing our RV into our site.

Hidden little graveyard overlooking the ocean.

See a leaning stone on the right and another taller one in the middle down the path.  There were probably a dozen stones that were visible.