Hello all:

While our truck is being repaired, I thought I would update with a few pictures. We visited family in Oregon, and then on to California. We stopped in Idywild, a mountain, 6,500 feet, east of Hemit and northwest of San Diego. The temperatures in Hemit was in the 100s +, but never got above 85 during the day and into the 40s and 50s at night in Idywild. We needed to drive off of the mountain to visit my brother, in Hemit, and Darlene's cousins in San Diego. Here is the view from Idywild.

My Sister lives in Stevens Ranch, CA, north of LA. We meet in San Diego for a weekend and found the California version of the green flash.

We made one more trip to San Diego to visit Darlene's cousin. The gave us a nice tour of San Diego. Here are some pictures.

Arizona was next on our list to visit brother Dale in Phoenix. It was hot in Phoenix so we went to Flagstaff and camped in the national forest, again 6,500 + feet. This is where Dale does some of  his hunting. We went with him as he scouted out the elk situation. We got up before dawn, hiked to a mound of rocks and started looking for elk. 

After Dale left, we moved into a regular camp site in Flagstaff. We took a drive around Flagstaff and visited Oak Creek Canyon. Again the photos don't do the vistas justice.

 

We are now in Albuquerque waiting for our truck to get fixed. We took a hike to Sandia Crest. This is called the 10k hike, not because it is 10k but 10,000 feet in altitude.

And the leaves are changing at the higher altitudes.

While in Wrangell, we decided to take the tour to Anan Bear Observation post in the Tongass National Forest. This is one of the locations where you see bears catching the salmon as they return to their spawning grounds. It is also one of the sites usually featured in National Geographic or the nature shows. The bears were there in large numbers but mostly ignored us. We had a guide that lead the way and was carrying a weapon along with bear spray. We had to stop and wait for the bears to clear the trail several times to reach the observation platform and our return to the boat.

On the trip to Anan Bear Observation, we passed some cute harbor seals.

As you look at the pictures you will notice many salmon carcase laying about. The bears only eat the row, brains and guts as they are fating up for the winter. The rest of the left over salmon doesn't go to waste. The birds, otters, harbor seals etc eat what ever floats down stream. We watched as an eagle ate one. The eagle with the spots are the immature birds. 

It was a worthwhile tour that I would recommend to any one visiting the area.

So here come da bears!!! 

But mommy I don't want to do that, kids are the same everywhere.

 

Watch out Darlene!!! Yes they can come over the rail. The ranger said they kick the bears off the viewing area every morning.

There were some people that wondered what a ferry would look like and how did we get our truck and 5th wheel on to the ferry. Below is the pictures of how that happened.

The ferry trip from Haines to Juneau was spectacular and again, the pictures don't do justice to the scenery. I had never seen a vertical rainbow but it is was amazing. (Does anyone know any other adjectives I am running out)

When we arrived in Juneau, it was 11:00 PM and dark, no moon and a light rain. This is the first I had driven in the dark since we left the lower 48. It was a little unsettling and I was glad when we arrived at the camp site. In Juneau we did the West Mendenhall Glacier trail. The area is part of the temperate rain forest with a tall tree canopy and a lush undergrowth. The area gets over 400 inches in precipitation a year. I had seen the lichen all over Alaska and Canada but the denseness was captivating. Darlene was a trouper until we had to wade through water, ice cold, to an unknown depth. We headed back to the camper and I went on the east Mendenhall Glacier trail and the visitor center. The photos below are from those hikes.

On Sunday we visited the Glacier Botanical Gardens. Some guy named Steve got carried away and created an area that will make any flower gardener salivate.