Even though we were disappointed to have another rainy day, I love the way the clouds curl around the mountains and settle in the crevices!
We were surprised to come upon a decorated spruce Christmas tree in the middle of the Denali highway (well, technically not really the middle, but we found it amusing).
Some scenic views along the highway
When we were hungry for lunch (sometime mid-afternoon--we don't pay much attention to schedules), we stopped the truck at a turnout, I got in the back and made sandwiches, put them, some fruit, and some drinks in a bag, and took it up to the cab of the truck. It's not often that being short is an advantage, but I have no trouble moving about in the camper even with the top section collapsed--I just have to bend my head down a little :) We ate our little picnic lunch sitting in the cab, watching the pouring rain and then continued on our way. The Susitna River bridge
Some caribou in a meadow
Later in the afternoon we passed the Alpine Creek Lodge, which had a sign out advertising free coffee and snacks. Since we needed a break, Ernie thought coffee would perk him up, and we needed a bathroom, we decided to stop and check it out. Jennifer met us at the door, introduced herself, told us to help ourselves to coffee, lemonade, or water, and showed us where the restrooms were. It was more like visiting someone's house than a lodge or restaurant--her son was watching TV, someone else was on the computer, and another couple was sitting at the table (just one big dining room table). She had some homemade brownies on the table, so we got something to drink and sat down and started visiting. The other couple was around our age, maybe slightly younger. Ernie had mentioned something about me retiring from teaching, so we discussed that for a bit--Jennifer had taught for a while before getting married, moving to Alaska, and having a son, and Sharon, the other lady, said she had a degree in education but had never taught. Ernie asked her what she did, and she said she works for Milepost. Milepost (for those who don't know) is the "Bible" of Alaskan travel--it's a book that everyone who travels in Alaska uses, with descriptions of everything along the mileposts of every Alaskan highway and every access road from Canada to Alaska. It's updated every year, and we had bought the 2010 version in Canada. As we used it in our travels, I wondered who wrote it and if they traveled every road every year to update. Turns out Sharon has been working for Milepost since 1975 and is responsible for all the unpaved roads in Alaska. I said, "So you wrote everything we read in the Milepost on our way up the Haul Road?" She said she had and told us a little bit about how they work! She took our pictures sitting at the table, and when we got back in the truck and looked at our Milepost, I noticed many of the pictures I'd admired were taken by her (Sharon Nault, for those of you who have a Milepost)--so maybe in the 2011 edition, there might be a picture of Ernie and I at the Alpine Creek Lodge :) As we were leaving, Sharon and J.T. (her assistant, husband/partner?) asked about paying; Jennifer said, "There's a tip jar, that's good enough." The whole experience was quite unexpected and very cool!
Saturday as we were driving the Denali highway and saw a few caribou, Ernie commented that he was glad we had seen some, but he had been hoping to look down in a valley and see a big herd of caribou. Well, Monday was the day of the caribou! We had seen several along the way, a few individuals and one small group, but he finally got his wish late Monday afternoon! We saw two herds with hundreds of caribou stretched out over a vast area. Fortunately we had decided Saturday morning to buy a pair of binoculars since we'd left ours at home, so we were able to see them quite well, even though they were quite far away.
This is just a small portion of the herd
You can't really see the caribou in this picture, but it gives an idea of the terrain and the vast area in which they were spread out. For a while they were running along the water bank, and then seemed quite agitated for while. We could never find anything (like a bear or wolf) that might have gotten them riled up, and they seemed to settle down after a while. Later we found another herd that seemed quite calm.
If you look at the lighter green areas, you can see little black dots spread out everywhere...those are caribou! The herd contained bucks, does, and many babies.
A closer view. It was just so amazing to see so many in the wild like that, in their natural habitat!
After observing and photographing the caribou for quite some time, we drove a short distance and spotted some trumpeter swans on Waterfowl Lakes again.
Shortly after passing Maclaren Summit (at a little over 4000 ft., the second highest highway summit in Alaska), we drove off the highway a ways (imagine Ernie doing that!) and walked out farther to overlook the Maclaren Valley. I didn't go as far as Ernie--it was already 8 pm, I was tired and hungry and ready to be wherever we were stopping for the night; in addition, the path was rocky and muddy, so I stopped and waited. After he walked on, I looked up at a ridge and saw a lone caribou standing there looking down at us. Very cool!
After we continued on our way, another caribou was standing in the road and wandered off down by the lake as we passed.
"Sunset" over Tangle Lakes--a little after 9 PM
We finally made it to Paxson, 135 miles from Cantwell, about 10 PM, 10 1/2 hours after we left! The Paxson Lodge--the only place in Paxson, except for some cabins--had closed, but their lounge was still open. The owner offered to fix us some food--very casual--he rattled off a few things he could make for us, we chose from the short list and were just happy to have some food without having to cook that late at night! He told us about a campground a few miles down the road, which we found. We spent the night at the Paxson Lake Campground, a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) campground, which was very welcome. We love BLM campgrounds--usually well-maintained, quiet, and in beautiful settings. They don't have any hookups (no electricity, water, etc.), no showers (just pit toilets), but by 11 PM, we didn't care! I think we set a new slowness travel record Monday: we traveled a total of 152 miles in 11 1/2 hours!! (I can just hear our kids groaning now and saying they're glad they weren't with us!) It rained most of the night, but otherwise it was quiet and beautiful--very good sleeping weather!
Our campsite at Paxson Lake Campground
Tuesday morning--late--the rain just made it too hard to get up--we continued down the Richardson Hwy. toward Anchorage. We stopped at the Sourdough Roadhouse, where their claim-to-fame is sourdough bread made with starter that dates back to 1896! We had some bread, bought more, and bought some starter. We picked up the Glenn Hwy. in Glenallen and continued to Anchorage. For a change we had some sunshine part of the way . . . between clouds and occasional showers. Matanuska Glacier
We spent Wednesday in Anchorage again because Ernie had to wait for a nurse interview for some long-term insurance we had purchased before leaving home. We did some organizing, planning, made phone calls, caught up on emails, imported pictures, paid bills, updated the blog, etc. Thursday after some errands (bank, groceries) we head south to Homer on the Kenai Peninsula. We probably won't make it all the way to Homer, but we want to get at least halfway. 
