Current update & Day 3 of our France trip (Sept 19)

Well, we made it safely to Haines, Alaska and as usual, the weather has been a bit extreme.  We arrived on Tuesday in very high winds and torrential rains and today it has snowed about 6 inches. Matt has been busy photographing the Bald Eagles and I've spent my time either studying or photographing as well.

Well, I thought I should probably finish posting photos of our Paris trip so hopefully over the next couple of days, I will have them all worked up and posted here.  Our third day in France (September 19), we left Paris and Annie (Matt's sister) was a very brave soul to drive us out of Paris in the rental car.  We did very good and didn't get lost in Paris.  We drove a little over 2 hours to Caen where Annie attended college during her foreign study. Caen is located in northwestern France near the beaches of Normandy. 

Once we finally figured out how to get to our hotel (ok, maybe there was at least two attempts on this one), we checked in, and then set out to explore the city on foot. Our first stop was to check out the many wonderful pastry shops along the main pedestrian area and of course we found some great ones. 

YUMMMM....  that pastry was delicious!!!  Matt enjoying his after snack rest on the main street of Caen.

We next headed off to explore the walled fortress area of the Chateau de Caen. 

The gate of the Chateau de Caen.  This fortress area was built by William the Conqueror around 1060.

St. George's Church located within the walls of the Chateau de Caen.

View of the walls of the Chateau de Caen.

Ted reading up on the Chateau de Caen.

This is now a museum within the fortress walls.

View of the St. Pierre church from within the Chateau de Caen's gate.

After exploring the Chateau, we then ventured out to explore several of the other sites around Caen.  We walked to the Abbaye aux Hommes which is a beautiful old church that was completed in 1063.

The Abbaye aux Hommes and its many steeples are on the right of the beautiful Hotel de ville (town hall) of Caen.

This beautiful old church was nothing more than a facade as it was in ruins. 

We had a great dinner although we kept Annie very busy translating the French menu into English!!

Much needed photo updates

So its been quite a while since I've posted photos on here so I thought I'd share some photos that have been living on my camera since we left Alaska. 

Here are some photos that I took the night that we left Haines in the snowstorm and also aboard the ferry as we traveled down the Alaskan inside passage.

Here is what the truck and trailer looked like when we arrived at the ferry terminal.  We would wait 5 hours for the boat to arrive and would have about 4 new inches of snow to scrape off when we finally got ready to drive onto the boat.

This is the ferry that we took out of Haines and into Bellingham, Washington (just north of Seattle).

Another view of the snowy ferry lot on the night we left.

Here Matt is relaxing in one of the bunks in our stateroom onboard the ferry.

Here is the truck and trailer on the car deck of the ferry.  Not any excess room anywhere.

This set of photos is from our recent Shetzer Family Reunion in Chicago.  We visited the Chicago Musuem of Science & Industry to tour the U505 German submarine exhibit.  During the war bond tours following WWII, Ted served on the  U505 during the tours of the boat.

Here is the whole family in front of the U505 along with our guide, Art.

The foreward torpedo room of the U505 - Look at the bunks, can you imagine sleeping in there?

Here Ted is in the control room of the U505.

Now this is the way to "drive" 1800 miles

We made it safely on the ferry on Monday night and have been cruising for several days now.  So far, we've had it pretty smooth with only some very bumpy spots during each night but we have been very sheltered along the coastline.

We are currently in our last Alaska town, Ketichan.  We will be in open water tonight and tomorrow and then we'll head into Bellingham, Washington on Friday morning.  The truck is still spewing "red stuff" that has dumbfounded 3 different mechanics, so we have an appointment for it on Friday morning in Bellingham with the Dodge dealership.  We are hoping its just a hose of something and can be fixed quickly.  We have a a feeling that we will be spending at least one night in Bellingham before being able to start the 3 day drive into Denver.  So far, it doesn't seem like we have any major weather systems, but any weather at all will definitely slow us down.

We were giggling that we are the ONLY RV on the ferry....  Everyone else ran months ago...  Wonder what that should tell us.

Adventures in camping.... COLD weather camping...

Well, we finally woke up to our first official snow that has actually stuck around for the day.  We have forgotten what really "camping" in freezing weather entails...  Glad we only have less than a week remaining.

First of all, have you ever baked bread in a RV?  I decided to attempt to bake a loaf today as I'm bringing some to the Thanksgiving dinner that we were invited to (such great people here in Haines).  Well, I set the frozen dough out in the late morning expecting it to rise in the 4 to 7 hours indicated on the package.  To be honest, the package did state that the time to rise would depend on the temperature of the "kitchen".  Well, almost 12 hours later (after putting the bread directly in front of one of our electric heaters for the entire afternoon and evening), I was finally able to put the bread in the oven.  I haven't cut it yet, but it seems a little hollow.  Hmmm...  lesson learned...  its darn cold in here and bread does not rise when its cold...

As many of you know, we have been without our city water hookup for several weeks (since it started getting cold) so we have been filling up our tanks at least once a week so that we are operating on a limited water basis.  Well, we forgot to fill up on Friday when the office was open, so of course, on Saturday, we ran out.   Hmmm..  Ok...  Problem solved temporarily by filling up plastic containers with water from the office so we can wash dishes, flush the toilet, etc.  The plan was to fill up on Monday.   Well...  After getting the office to turn on their faucets and dragging out our two hoses and having the office drag out theirs, we finally connected all the hoses in the middle of the parking lot and turned the water on...  No wait...  NO WATER...  Hmmm...  would you believe that 3 hoses tied together across an entire parking lot will freeze in less than 10 minutes...  Still no water even today although we are proud owners of 3 hoses in our interior shower so that they warm up and un-freeze.  We will try again tomorrow.  Cross your fingers!!!

And of course to completely top off the day, my wonderful hubby comes home early from photographing the eagles today (no snow at the preserve) and proceeds to inform me that he sat in a dead nasty salmon and then proceeded to sit in the truck.... Yep...  nasty fish guts everywhere...  Well, of course he is in the middle of the preserve, no water anywhere so after spitting on the nasty gluey glob of fish parts, he finally remembers the baby wipes in the truck.  Well at least when he handed me his nasty pants, there were not fishy parts clinging to them, only a VERY NASTY SMELL...  Oh wait...  No water remember...  Off he goes to the office to fill up our water jugs so that I can proceed to wash the nasty fishy smelling pants in the kitchen sink...  Several trips later, we are now proud owners of a pair of ski pants hanging over the shower drying out (with the hoses)...

Whew....  lets hope tomorrow is a bit tamer...  but just in case, I'm starting my Thanksgiving cooking tomorrow as who knows what will happen....

Meet Feisty & Hunter...

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, we visited the American Bald Eagle Foundation to photograph some of their resident owls.  Both Feisty and Hunter were injured and no longer able to survive in the wild so they were brought to the foundation for care for the remainder of their lives.

Here is Feisty.  She is a Great Grey Owl.  Great grey owls are the tallest owls in North America, but will still weigh only about 3 pounds.  Aren't those eyes wonderful????

Next, we met Hunter who is a favorite of one of the interns there.  Hunter is much smaller than Feisty and is a Barred owl. Who couldn't love that face???

Here is Cory (the intern) with Hunter.  What a cute pair.

Haines, Alaska - More Bald Eagles

So we are now in our 4th straight day of heavy wind and rain!!  Everything here is wonderful except the weather, although the locals do say that they can't remember the last time it was this rainy... 

We took a drive today up to the Bald Eagle Preserve (click on the name for more information) to check out the weather conditions (38 degrees & rainy) and the eagles (too many to count).  As we made the drive, I attempted to count the number of eagles that we saw from the road...  Well, after less than 1/4 of a mile, I could not keep up and lost count at over 40 (just in the trees).  We stopped at several of the pullouts to see the eagles in the river flats and in the trees, we estimate that we saw between 500 - 800 eagles this morning.  We are so lucky to be able to witness this, I don't think we'll ever have this type of viewing again...

We also stopped by the Bald Eagle Foundation to drop off some photos we did for them from our photo shoot of the owls yesterday (I'll post some photos of these adorable little guys in a couple of days, especially for you Annie).  We also had the opportunity to be within 5 feet of the new bald eagle, Scotty, that is housed at in the Foundation's mews.  He was received by them about 3 weeks ago and they are in the process of training the injured bird to sit on the glove for educational purposes.  We were able to sit quietly in a corner to watch them train the eagle with his food (rabbit, fish & rat).  It was amazing to be that close to such a large (over 11 pounds) magnificent creature.  Here is a photo Matt took yesterday of the training.

Dan is training Scotty (the eagle) with food incentives to step onto his gloved arm.

Below are some more of Matt's great photos from the past weeks, ENJOY!!!

Take Off. An adult bald eagle takes and heads down river in search of salmon on the Chilkoot river in Haines, Alaska.

Fluffed. As the wind blew on a cold Alaskan day, this eagle fluffed up his feathers on his perch overlooking the Chilkat river.

The Cry. Overlooking the Chilkat river, this bald eagle vocalizes his dominance to the other eagles in the area.

White Tips. After seeing this eagle for three weeks out of photo range, I was fortunate enough to get close enough to get some shots of this beautiful bird. The eagle has a rare pigmentation causing its wingtips to go white, as well as its talons. It is one of the most beautiful birds in flight as the wing tips really accent its motion.  (Same eagle in the next 4 photos)

Haines - Bald Eagles Everywhere

Matt has been very busy this last month with photographing the eagles that converge on Haines each fall.  Here is an explanation from the American Bald Eagle Foundation (click here for more information):

Why Is The Chilkat River So Special?

The natural phenomenon responsible for five miles of open water on the Chilkat River during freezing months is called the “alluvial fan reservoir”. This subterranean reservoir is a result of glacial activity ending 10,000 years ago which forces the water to percolate through coarse alluvial material creating friction which results in a warmer water surface temperature in an area that is, at times, five square miles. As a result, the water surface remains free of ice, thereby permitting the chum salmon to spawn late into the year. This salmon run is the last significant salmon spawning event in North America.

Five species of salmon spawn in these and other nearby streams and tributaries. The salmon runs begin in the summer and continue on through late fall or early winter. The salmon die shortly after spawning and it is their carcasses which provide large quantities of food for the eagles. This combination of open water and generous amounts of food bring large concentrations of eagles into the Chilkat Valley from early October through February, with the highest concentration being in November.

Here are the wonderful photos (I'll have to post them all over several nights as he is way ahead of me and I think the latest number that I heard was 500 gig's of photos!!!).

Dinner on the run. A bald eagle grabs his left over salmon in the Chilkoot river and takes flight.

Don't mess with me. Staring down the camera as a bald eagle holds on to his salmon dinner on the Chilkoot river, Alaska.

Adult bald eagles compete for territory during a salmon run in Haines, Alaska.

A bald eagle takes flight as a juvenile eagle looks on in the background.

A bald eagle lands in the Chilkoot river, Alaska with his razor sharp talons extended and six foot wing span slowing him down.

Flaps Down. A bald eagle braces for landing in the Chilkoot river, Alaska. Eagle can have wing spans as large as seven feet, and razor sharp talons that can produce 500 PSI crushing power.

Stretching out for a soft landing. An adult eagle slows down from his 30 mph cruise raise for a gentle touch down on a rock in the Chilkoot river.

An adult eagle tries to steal a salmon from a young bald eagle by intimidation. Instead of giving in, the youngster lets out a defiant whale holding his ground.

Attack on the Chilkoot river in Haines, Alaska. A juvenile bald eagle intimidates an adult into submission with his sharp talons extended.

Gliding along. This eagle with talons stretch out, is looking for the perfect rock to land on.

Territorial Combat. These two adult bald eagles fight for rights for a left over salmon in Haines, Alaska.

An in flight grab of dinner on the Chilkoot river in Haines, Alaska

Cuddling Couple. A pair of bald eagles nestle in a tree together on the Chilkoot River in Haines, Alaska.

A pair of bald eagles nestle in a tree together on the Chilkoot River in Haines, Alaska.

Haines, Alaska

Well, its official, I paid for the ferry trip out of here on the 15th of November today (GULP!!!).  We will board the ferry on the afternoon of the 15th and arrive in Bellingham, Washington (near the Olympic pennisula, north of Seattle) on the morning of the 19th.  We are a bit nervous of how we get the trailer on the ferry as the Skagway ferry required the RV to be backed onto it (YIKES).  We are enjoying our time here, but definitely ready for some better (and warmer) weather. 

We have a couple of weeks to explore somewhere in Washington and Idaho (please let me know if you have any recommendations) before we head into Denver for a couple of weeks stay to visit friends and check on our homes.  We are then off to visit family for the holidays with stops in Missouri for Christmas and Houston for New Years.  We will then take a side trip to Chicago with Matt's family before heading south to South Padre Island, Texas, to hopefully soak up some warmer weather and sun!!!

Its been rainy and windy here today so we've been enjoying the comforts of the RV.  Below is a picture that Matt took of this beautiful place when the weather was clearer (a couple weeks ago).  If you look closely, you can actually see the RV on the waterfront.  The snow line is actually much lower now as this latest storm lowered the snow level to 500 feet.  We are thinking we won't be snow free here on the water front much longer.

This is such a nice friendly town, we will definitely miss it (but it will be nice to actually be able to buy something you need in a store instead of mail ordering it).  I will share some more eagle shots tomorrow with you. 

New Photos - Utah & Alaska

I wanted to share a couple of photos from earlier in our trip.

The first photo is from our visit to Zion National Park in Utah.  We visited there from May 4 to May 10 and really enjoyed hiking all around the beautiful park.  This photo is from the Court of the Patriarchs which is located just inside the southern entrance to the park.  Matt took this at sunrise.

 

Click here to be taken to the Gallery

This next photo was taken in Seward, Alaska from our visit back in August.  This photo was taken by Matt at sunset just a little ways down the beach from our campsite.  It is of some old piers that were destroyed during the 1964 earthquake that devastated the town of Seward.  

Matt took this last photo while we were in Valdez, Alaska just last month.  This adorable harbor seal (nicknamed "Sea Sausages" by the locals) was lounging on some glacial ice that had recently calved from the Columbia Glacier.  We had taken a cruise out of Valdez and over to this huge glacier that was surrounded by huge fields of icebergs (some were larger than our boat).

I think that catches me up on past photos.  I do another one in a day or so of some new eagle photos from here in Haines.

Haines - Brown Bears in Action

We survived the storm and man did it ever rain and blow.  The trailer rocked constantly from the 50+ mph wind gusts.  We went for a drive yesterday and every gully had water streaming from it and the rain was blowing sideways.  Today has been nice (by Alaska standards) so we resumed our normal schedules of Matt photographing and me walking around town and scrapbooking.  I counted 4 eagles flying over me in a short 30 minute walk this morning.

As I promised on Monday, I wanted to share some of Matt's photos of the brown bears on the Chilkoot River here in Haines.  He has been thoroughly entertained by two sets of mothers and cubs (1 with 2 cubs and 1 with 3 cubs).

This young spring cub did not like to get wet as he holds his salmon above the cold waters of Chilkoot River, Alaska.

A pair of Spring cubs relaxing on a log while their mom fishes for Salmon.

A pair of Spring cubs watch on a log while their mom fishes for Salmon.

A young spring cub, relaxes on a log as its mother fishes for salmon on the Chilkoot River in Haines, Alaska

A brown bear sow, stands up to rub on her favorite scratching post.

A young spring cub, relaxes on a log as its mother fishes for salmon on the Chilkoot River in Haines, Alaska

A young spring cub, relaxes on a log as its mother fishes for salmon on the Chilkoot River in Haines, Alaska

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A pair of young spring cubs, relax on a log as their mother fishes for salmon on the Chilkoot River in Haines, Alaska

Some relaxation after a day of learning to fish for twin six month old grizzly bear cubs in Haines, Alaska.

Young grizzly bear cubs play with each other which will benefit them with experience fighting when they get older to dominate the best fishing holes.

Young grizzly bear cubs play with each other which will benefit them with experience fighting when they get older to dominate the best fishing holes.