August 11

Rained all night.  Awoke to drizzle.  In the 60’s but more damp than cold, low wind.  They rerouted the Parks Highway Bridge at Eagle River so we can hear traffic above us in the distance, seemed to disappear during night.  There is a small tent pitched in the slot next to us and a car has pulled in with the owner sleeping in it.  We never heard them arrive, the tent was gone before we knew it and never a sound.  We finish up our packing to ready the RV for return.  Last camp breakfast of bacon, sausage, cheesy scrambled eggs and homemade sourdough toast.  Take a quick drive up Eagle River Valley where a thick rope of fog follows the river.  As we climb up into the valley the fog lifts and we can see mountain tops under low gray skies.  The end of the road is the Eagle River State Park, a cute log cabin with decks and picnic tables and displays  overlooking the heavy willow and alder bushes and mountain tops in the distance.  We think we might try the shorter trail but they have closed it because the bears are feeding on the spawning salmon.  So a couple of pics and on the road to Anchorage just 15 minutes away.  We arrive at Brenna’s to unload the RV gear and pick up the Ford Escape SUV.  Minde stays behind to start here wash.  Drop off the RV with no problems and pick up a few groceries for the apartment.  The apartment is available early so we unpack all that we have and return to pick up Minde and the rest.  Dean is awake for a while, pleasant with a chance of grumpy.  We leave for dinner at the Lucky Wishbone.  An Anchorage favorite for 60 years.  Advertise themselves as serving Air Fresh chicken.  Meaning it is processed in the lower 48 and flown in to them fresh to serve.  They are known for diner type foods and of course the fried chicken.  Minde gets the chicken sandwich, Chuck gets big fried dinner and Pat just gets her usual chicken livers. Minde finds out about their chocolate milkshakes.  We have looked for moose all day to no avail.  As we turned onto the street back to the apartment there he was, standing in a back yard garden about 10 feet from our car, cleaning out the neighbor’s garden.  We thought he was a big statue at first.  There is no way to get rid of him.  He will stay there until it is all gone.  A young male moose with a deformed antler but he looked healthy in spite of it.  Nothing wrong with his appetite.  Back at the apartment we are still situating back into apartment life.  It’s a cloudy, rainy night, good for chilling and relaxing.  Off to Seward tomorrow for more exploration.  Ah a bed that is not in a box and doesn’t move.  Night!