{"id":12162,"date":"2020-06-21T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-21T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/?p=12162"},"modified":"2023-06-19T19:39:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T23:39:59","slug":"a-scenic-drive-or-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/12162","title":{"rendered":"A Scenic Drive or Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are anxious to get out and explore so as soon as John gets home from the job site, we head out to a couple of scenic drives a few miles north of Anchorage. The first one one we come to is the Artic Valley drive.<\/p>\n

\"P1010019\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The road takes us up to the trailhead for the Rendezvous Peak hike. There are a few pull-offs for pictures and we take the opportunity to get a picture with our surrogate Jeep, \u201cBig Blue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"20200620_162300\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Due to the affects of the moist air coming off of the ocean, Alaska gets plenty of rain in the summer and snow in the winter. That means there is sufficient water to support trees and thick underbrush.<\/p>\n

\"20200620_162338\"<\/a><\/p>\n

However, the high-peaks don\u2019t always have plant life growing. This gives us the feeling of being in the mid-west and Pennsylvania all at the same time.<\/p>\n

\"P1010023\"<\/a>We are really hoping to see some wildlife, specifically a moose. The only thing we actually find is a sign indicating that there is an \u201cagitated mother moose with twins in the area\u201d and to stay away if we spot her. We only spot mountains.<\/p>\n

\"P1010020\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From one of the lookouts we can see the Fort Richardson Military Reservation, downtown Anchorage, and the Cook Inlet from our 3000-foot vantage point.<\/p>\n

\"P1010030\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mt. McKinley is out there somewhere but the sky isn\u2019t clear enough for us to see it.<\/p>\n

\"P1010031\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Our next stop is the Eklutna Lake in the Chugach State Park.<\/p>\n

\"20200620_173603\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We get all the way to the top and the lake is completely hidden by tall trees and the only access, the boat launch area, is packed full of people and boats. The beach access road is closed so this is a bust. I do get some pictures of some flowers though. When I see this beauty I\u2019m positive I\u2019ve seen this flower back home in PA. Sure enough it is a wild rose and we have seen them on the Old Logger\u2019s path hiking trail.<\/p>\n

\"20200620_174119\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It is getting on towards supper time. On our way down the mountain we notice this colorful compound, Rochelle’s Ice Cream Stop, and decide to stop in. We get cheese burgers and fries, and for desert, some ice cream. They have an ice cream named Fireweed and Honey. We have to know what this is all about.<\/p>\n

\"20200620_175438\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alaska fireweed is a wildflower (I found this picture on Pinterest) that blooms mid-summer. It likes disturbed earth and is one of the first plants to appear after a forest fire, hence the name. It, supposedly, has a sweet smell and can be any color from pink to purple. The flower is edible and according to the locals is a their favorite ice cream. We are in! Opinion? It is a very subtle taste, sweet, and leans towards vanilla.<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/p>\n

We eat our supper at one of the picnic tables, despite the mosquitoes, and enjoy the mountain scenery.<\/p>\n

\"P1010037\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This band is part of the original Alaskan pipeline. It was removed from the Isabel Pass area in 1976 because of a bad weld.<\/p>\n

\"P1010039\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To get to a lot of the spectacular scenery requires a bit of a hike. I want to save our hiking for visiting glaciers. John\u2019s knee can only take so much hiking so I\u2019m going to choose wisely.<\/p>\n

\"P1010041\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are anxious to get out and explore so as soon as John gets home from the job site, we head out to a couple of scenic drives a few miles north of Anchorage. The first one one we come to is the Artic Valley drive. The road takes us up to the trailhead for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-container-style":"default","site-container-layout":"default","site-sidebar-layout":"default","disable-article-header":"default","disable-site-header":"default","disable-site-footer":"default","disable-content-area-spacing":"default","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,437],"tags":[1128,1127,112],"class_list":["post-12162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-workamping","tag-alaska","tag-anchorage","tag-scenic-drive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/20200620_162338.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3hvz5-3aa","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2604,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/2604","url_meta":{"origin":12162,"position":0},"title":"Our Last Day at the Bosque RV Park","author":"Wendy","date":"May 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Quebradas, Back Country Byway is calling. This is another scenic drive close to our campground. Quebradas, which means \u201cbreaks\u201d, is a drive through 24 miles of rugged land east of Socorro, NM. The landscape was varied with rolling bench lands\u2026 box canyons and rugged ridges of alternating bands of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/IMG_1170_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/IMG_1170_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/IMG_1170_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2590,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/2590","url_meta":{"origin":12162,"position":1},"title":"Our Next Adventure with John and Sharon","author":"Wendy","date":"May 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Close to the Bosque RV park are two scenic drives through BLM land. We chose the informal, and not well documented drive first. John wanted to do some rockhounding in this area too and help out John and Sharon with their rock picking. Many of the more popular drives into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/IMG_1139_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/IMG_1139_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/IMG_1139_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15103,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/15103","url_meta":{"origin":12162,"position":2},"title":"Iron Mountain Scenic Road","author":"Wendy","date":"July 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"John will be heading to South Carolina for his next job this weekend so we are taking advantage of this nice weekday to do some sightseeing In Custer State Park. There are two scenic drives we definitely want to do on the bike, specifically, Iron Mountain Road and the Needles\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230712_151545_thumb.jpg?fit=856%2C643&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230712_151545_thumb.jpg?fit=856%2C643&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230712_151545_thumb.jpg?fit=856%2C643&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230712_151545_thumb.jpg?fit=856%2C643&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12776,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/12776","url_meta":{"origin":12162,"position":3},"title":"A Trip to the Alaskan Coast","author":"Wendy","date":"June 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is John\u2019s second day off and we are heading south to the coastal area of Anchorage in the hopes of seeing some marine life, maybe a moose, and if we have enough energy, a glacier. We are starting with a walk through the Kincaid Park and a stroll along\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/P1010048_thumb.jpg?fit=731%2C549&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/P1010048_thumb.jpg?fit=731%2C549&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/P1010048_thumb.jpg?fit=731%2C549&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/P1010048_thumb.jpg?fit=731%2C549&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":136,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/136","url_meta":{"origin":12162,"position":4},"title":"Another Party for Me-Me","author":"Wendy","date":"July 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Aunt Sandy and Uncle Tony came in to town today to celebrate Me-Me's birthday. Brittany was also able to join us for dinner. We went to Red Lobster for some great food. Me-Me got her favorite Crab Cakes, and Britt and I obviously had steak. \u00a0Uncle Tony ordered a Lobster\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/photos\/m071909MeMebday93_2.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4183,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/4183","url_meta":{"origin":12162,"position":5},"title":"Day 3–Fire in the Hole!","author":"Wendy","date":"September 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u2019ve moved from Grant Village to Madison campground. The campsite looks the same, we are squeezed between two trees, and in addition we have no Internet, no satellite, no cell service. When you have scenery like this in your backyard, it hardly matters. It was getting late in the day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3282.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3282.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3282.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3282.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12162"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14158,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12162\/revisions\/14158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}