Memorial Day Camping at Eklutna

OUR FIRST TIME CAMPING IN ALASKA

( IN FULL DAY LIGHT )

We went camping at the Eklutna Campground.  This campground is VERY close to home, less than 30 minutes, making it the perfect place to camp for our FIRST time.  We were lucky enough the have friends, the Galloways, invite us to join them.  They went up the day before and got the spot and parked their car/pop-up.  We joined the next day once Dad returned from San Francisco on a business trip.  We were very gracious for the opportunity to camp with others.  I was a bit timid of just camping in ALASKA on my own for the first time. Whew!  Love good friends.

This is the kids having fun with some of the "stuff" that Dad brought along to sort. 

That "stuff" you see is fly tying stuff.  Here is the scoop on it:  While garage sale-ing one morning Dad came across an old man who is no longer wanting to make flies anymore.  He had about 6 boxes of materials all disorganized and frankly....A MESS!  I don't think he knew what he had in there.  Just lots of stuff.  Dad got it and then had to leave on business the next day.  It pained him.  He was like a little school boy giggling at everything he found in each box.  It was pretty hysterical to Sis and I.  But it had to wait for his return.  I kept it in the garage as it smelt like "OLD MAN".  You know the smell.  Mix fish into it...yep, staying in the garage.  So naturally, after returning home, he couldn't wait to go through some of the boxes.  So they came with us camping.  And admittedly, he did get a great deal.  He can be making flies for years with the materials he got.  HERE'S TO HIS NEW HOBBY FOR THE WINTER.  I might even get in on some of the tying.

We took many walks to this lake, Eklutna Lake. The older boys even fished on this lake.  The lake itself is over 12 miles long.  You can follow a trail to some free cabins that you can reserve from the forest service.  You can also kayak.  We saw an older couple who train on this lake daily with their kayak.  They are in amazing health.  This lake also provides all of the drinking water for the Anchorage area.  It is beautiful.  There are many hikes surrounding it.  I feel so small against the majestic background of the mountains.  Everything is big here.

       

These boys are so adorable.  They had loads of fun digging in the mud and skipping rocks.  The dog, a standard poodle named BEAR, is a favorite of my kids.  They miss our neighbor in Colorado's dog, Sunday, badly.  I am glad that we get to still "have" a dog here.  It is funny to be camping in bear country and call to a dog named BEAR and have others get concerned.  Makes for some good laughs!

We even had to go on a "hunt" for more firewood.  Can you believe they try to charge you $6 for a bundle of firewood when there is TONS all around.  So we decided to go out looking for some.  Smaller sticks are best so the kids could help maintain the fire.  The boys really enjoyed it. 
             

Sis enjoyed watching, holding, entertaining and never leaving the side of this adorable little girl named Abby.  She is such a little momma. 
      

This is where we slept. 

This is where our friends slept.

Someday we will have something like this.  Not yet, but someday.  It is hard to camp in the daylight in a tent in Alaska.  Having a trailer is nice for many things.  Warmth, yes it is still in the 30's at night.  Darkness, it is always light here even at 1:00 in the morning.  Comfort and Safety. 

TRUTH:  By the second night, we had two of our kids sleeping in the camper with them.  Dman refused and wanted to sleep in the tent.  He is our true outdoorsman like his Daddy.

This is just a very bad picture of a porcupine that we saw on the side of the road on our way out to the campground.  Dad and I have never seen on in the wild before.  Only on TV.  Such an awkward animal.  Wanted to get out closer, but two lane road with little shoulder.

We hope to go camping again this summer.