At work in the campground/Meet the Moseley's

Trip Start May 05, 2009

Trip End Sep 20, 2009

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Flag of United States Denali Park, Alaska, United States
Monday, May 25, 2009

I have not been able to do a blog in several days because we have been busy working at Savage River, and of course you know that Savage River Campground is incommunicado with the rest of the world. Val is the one that gets up and gets to work early in the morning. Dave and I stay up late and put the camp to bed. Val leaves the trailer about 7:30 a.m., first making a visual sweep of the surrounding area to check for bears, or wolves, maybe a moose. Seeing none of these she proceeds south past Liz and Ed's campsite to check campsites for expired tags, and any violations of camp rules she may spot. The crunch of her boots on the hard packed road announces her arrival. As she nears the bend in the road, she stops to see if Mt. McKinley is visible. Yes! The mountain is out, and it is georgeous. She doesn't linger, but moves on past the Taj Restrooms (that are not open yet because there is no water in the park) to check camps on the back half of this loop. "Good morning. How are you today? It's a beautiful day. Have you seen the mountain? It's out. You say you don't know where to view it at? Come with me, I'll take you there. Now isn't that a sight to see. You are most welcome, have a wonderful day." Back to checking camps and greeting campers. Before she knows it she has completed both loops and is back at the trailer. She starts the generator and then goes inside for her second cup of coffee for the day, and maybe some toast while the generator is running. Life is good.

The three of us have had the pleasure of meeting the most delightful couple from Cambridge, England. They are retired from a college there where they worked in administration. (I could give you the name of the college, but I left my notes back at camp.) Anyway, we have had 5 days of fun with Bob and Jen Moseley. Jen is partial to Beagles, and I remind her of a Beagle that belongs to a friend of theirs. So Jen always gives me attention, and so does Bob. Did I say that they are really nice folks? We have walked around the park with Bob and Jen, first to show them around, and then to view the bears. We liked to hear at the end of their day what they did, and what they saw.

Bob and Jen retired 8 years ago, and have been traveling ever since. They spent 2 1/2 years traveling all over Australia, 3 months in New Zealand, they have been to South Africa, Antartica, all over Europe and the U.S. I guess it would be easier to say where they have not been. They have a wonderful world view, and are so interesting to talk to.

They tell us that they have been planning this Alaska trip for some time, and booked their rental RV a year ago online. They paid for it ahead of time, and thought they had a pretty good deal for the price...until they actually got to Alaska and picked it up. When the guy rented them the RV he meant just an RV. No pots and pans, nothing inside. Yikes! So they had to make a stop right away to purchase things for their inside comfort. Bob is just hoping that the thing doesn't break down before he returns it.

They like their royalty. They respect the queen, and they like Prince Charles, and of course the boys. They liked Diana at first, but later she became a lose cannon. Fergie is a tart, but she never pretended to be anything but a tart. They prefer their monarchy to our system, but things are a mess over there just as they are here. Same problems.

They have left this morning for the Kenai, and good wishes go with them. Don't you just love to listen to the English speak English. They do it so much better than anyone else.

We saw a mother bear and two cubs from probably last year down by the river, and some caribou. The mountain has been visible more days than not and the weather has been wonderful. Val and I "go to work" in the campground together several times a day, and before you know it I will be a lean, mean, fightin machine.

Your Getting Trim Beagle,
Remington