8/21/12 Near Delta Junction, AK

As much as we wanted to stay at 48 mile pond we decided to press on to begin our long trek home.  This morning we were awoke by a helicopter flying low to the ground.  It was loud and soon our rv began to shake then the helicopter motor suddenly turned off.  I told Norm “I think it landed”.  We got up to see and sure enough, there was a helicopter just outside our rv.  Too funny.  A van pulled up with a logo on the side that said something like “mobile radio”.  A guy got out of the van, the helicopter pilot got out and they proceeded to load some boxes into the helicopter.  Then they both got in the helicopter and took off, only to return about 30 minutes later.  They walked around for about a half hour or so then took off again.  Shortly they returned then left in the van.  Hmmm…. Wonder what that was all about.  Anyway, today turned off cloudy and cold.  If it had been nice we probably would have stayed another day to soak up some sunshine.  But I couldn’t see staying and not being able to be outside, it was that cold.  We ate a big country breakfast and drove to Delta Junction.  We stopped to visit Rika’s Roadhouse, a historical site that the state took over years ago.  It was established in the early 1900’s as a hotel, restaurant for gold miners to stop and rest a spell.  A very interesting place on the bank of a river.  I love to imagine how life was back then.  There are a lot of roadhouses in Alaska due to the gold rush.  One every 15-20 miles or so. 

I had read in the milepost that the Delta Junction visitor center had a nice exhibit so we stopped quickly to check that out.  Then we drove another 30 miles out of town toward Tok to a free campground Norm found out about.  It’s located right off the road with restrooms and a few camping spaces in the trees.  We found a sandy road that led out beside the Gerstle River and that’s where we are camped.  The water is just 4 feet out our front door and running swiftly.  We opened the bedroom window so we can hear the soothing water all night long.  A good spot for aurora viewing.  I set my alarm for 1:00 a.m. since the clouds dissipated and the blue skies came out later in the afternoon.  It was hard trying to wake up out of a sound sleep, putting on layers to keep warm; I took my time getting outside.  I looked out the kitchen window, no lights.  As soon as I stepped out the front door I immediately saw the green lights to the North.  I hollered back inside to Norm “the lights are out”.  We watched them for probably ½ hour then they faded away not to be seen again.  They were low on the horizon and faded out this night.  We hope to see them high and vibrant like we did last week before we get out of the aurora zone, which will be about the time we cross the Canadian border to go into the lower 48 states.  We like this spot by the river so much we decided to stay another day and night.   Man, its tough leaving this amazing state.  We sure are dragging out feet.  Our home state of Texas pulls us home, but Alaska pulls us back.  

 

Our camp spot on Gerstle River