Our week off started about 4pm on Friday and after showers – we were outta here!  Linda & Steven were making dinner and we were bringing the HH apps, queso and guac with chips!  They were staying about 30 miles up the road at the Kenai Princess RV Park.  This was their last night on the Kenai Penninsula, the following morning they were heading to Anchorage and then back down to WA.

Ok – so we arrive and ate and drank and talked for hours!  The evening went by so quickly – we completely forgot a pic!  Us!  The selfie queens – how could this happen?  We were just focused on the fact that this would be our last evening for – well – we don’t know how long!  How sad is that?  VERY!  We had hugs and “see ya laters” and will hopefully catch up next spring on the east coast.  Neither of us has a definite plan – but be sure that all possible efforts will be made for paths to cross!

Safe travels guys!

We got home late – around midnight! – exhausted!  We had started early (7:30am!) so we could get done early and I struggled to stay awake on the ride home!

We slept in a bit Saturday, but not too late – I had cleaning and prepping to do!  Tracy & Lee were coming and spending the weekend with us – in our rig!  A double feature sleep-over!  There was an extra special occasion – Lee’s birthday!  I wanted everything just right!  This would be the first time having someone other than family stay with us.  There was some concern about the “closeness”, but we were willing to do whatever to make things go smoothly.

Our guests arrived around 4, while we were up at the lodge checking on the ribs that were slow cooking in the oven.  They came in and met Gary and looked around the lodge before we headed out to see the rest of the property.   All cabins were rented out, but #5 hadn’t checked in yet, so off we went to see it.

Northern Nights has cabins for rent, but they are very basic cabins, not “hotel room quality” cabins like we have here at Renfros.  Tracy took her shoes off and looked around inside, Lee preferred to peak in the door and admire the views outside instead.  Can’t say I blame him!

Gary had graciously agreed to let us have dinner in the lodge, and after making the potatoes and cole slaw, we headed up there.  Bill and Lee already had the grill set up and charcoal was getting hot.  A guest in a cabin had left us a bag of charcoal and we decided to use it for finishing the ribs!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner (if I do say so myself!) and conversation never slowed down.   Plus the added bonus of getting to watch Lee eat the ribs is awesome in itself!  That man loves to eat and enjoys every bite of food like its his last!

After filling our bellies with ribs, potatoes and cole slaw, we headed down to Seward to show Tracy & Lee around town.   We walked around the small boat harbor, I was secretly hoping we would see an otter.  Well, not only did we see an otter, but we got quite the show as he/she munched on a halibut carcass.  He sure did enjoy it!  Bonus – he was so close – the following pics aren’t even zoomed in at all!

Next, we drove over to the other side of town, near the Sea Life Center and looked around there a bit.  Tracy & Lee really liked the vibe of Seward and wished they could spend more time.

We arrived back at Renfros and it was time for birthday pie!  Lee’s fav dessert is pie and Tracy came prepared with an apple and cherry!  We stayed up way too late, considering we had a fairly early start the next day.

We were up and out the door, after coffee and some toast, by 9am!  That’s not hard for Tracy & Lee – they are early birds by nature – Bill & I – not so much, but we can manage it when we need to!  We had a train to catch in Whittier!

We left Tracy & Lee’s truck at the Portage Visitor Center and all piled into our truck for the ride through the tunnel.  Our timing was perfect and we only waited about 5 minutes.  I don’t think Tracy was a huge fan of the tunnel, (she’s claustrophobic) but Lee thought it was cool!

Thankfully, the weather had improved and we were able to have lunch on the picnic tables by the harbor.  It wasn’t as clear a day as last time we were there, but it wasn’t as hot either.  We enjoyed our lunch and then decided to finish with some ice cream!

We drove around town a little (there aren’t many places to go – only a few roads).  We walked up to the stream and took some nice pics there.  We drove by the Walking Dead building (that’s not really what it’s called – it’s my nickname for it!) and stopped where we had views of the harbor and surrounding mountains.  The clouds were very dramatic and Tracy was impressed with how many glaciers were visible.   I was just so happy there was some blue sky showing through.

Soon it was time to go check in and catch our train!  After a phone call to verify where we needed to go, we parked right at the train “tent” and waited til it was time to board.  We booked this tour using our TourSaver coupons, BOGO!  We had no idea what it would be like, but we were all excited to find out!

The train made a couple stops to pick up others before we got to our destination, Spencer Glacier and Lake.  After disembarking, we followed a National Park Ranger on a short walk to see the lake/glacier.  As we walked, you could feel the air temps cooling off, and it was already a cool day.  The ranger stopped a few times to give us information on how glaciers were formed and how they effect the landscape, etc.  For example, mountains that are rounded were at one time under a glacier, while pointed mountains were not.  “U” shaped valleys were cut by glaciers.  It was all very interesting.

The train ride back didn’t take quite as long since it didn’t stop as much and we made it back to Whittier just in time to leave through the tunnel at 6.  We were somewhat concerned we might have had to wait until 7, skipping that one stop helped us out a lot!
That evening, we enjoyed another awesome meal of fried halibut!  Bill cooked it just right, it was moist and tender!  I had made tarter sauce and cocktail sauce and we had potatoes and cole slaw as sides.  Followed up with – you guessed it – pie!

We all went to sleep just a little earlier than the night before – it is safe to say we were all exhausted!   Tracy & Lee had wanted an early start but that was not to be, since we all slept in!  We even skipped the eggs and bacon breakfast so they could get out of here and not get home to Glennallen at midnight!

We had such a great weekend, which started with Linda & Steven and ended with Tracy & Lee!  It is so amazing to me that we have as busy (sometimes more so) a social life out here on the road than we did when we lived in one place!  But – don’t lose interest yet – we have this whole week off!  You’ll have to check back and see what other trouble we can get into!