This morning we took our time getting the coach ready to leave. It was less than 2 hours to our destination. I had made reservations at the Portage Cabins and RV Park and we didn’t want to arrive too early. We had a leisurely breakfast at McDonalds, with lots of Diet Coke of course. We dumped tanks, topped off propane, and filled up with diesel on the way out. The drive is very urban until you get through Anchorage. Between Anchorage and Portage the drive is beautiful next to the bay and with the mountains dropping steeply down to the bay. The RV park is another gravel parking lot with electric and water but no sewer. The park is set in a beautiful mountain and forest setting. It started raining as we got close to Portage and much colder. It is about 55 deg F with crazy wind and intermittent rain.
After a quick setup we headed to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC). The AWCC has Moose, Elk, Reindeer, Black Tail Deer, Bison, Musk Ox, Black Bear, Brown Bears, Fox, and Lynx, Wolves, and a shy porcupine. I’m sure I’m leaving someone out. It costs $15 per person and most of the park is accessible from your car, which is good considering the rain. First thing we saw were three large bull Moose right next to the fence. They were magnificent. We didn’t see the Black Bear but two fantastic Brown Bear were pacing next to the fence providing very close-up views. There was a baby Elk born while we were there. We saw the baby at about 10 minutes old. By the way, there are some Elk in Alaska but they are not native. Most of the wildlife provided very close viewing. We really enjoyed our time there.
After the AWCC we drove to Girdwood/Aleyska which is a ski resort area. Very pretty, but not much going on. After Girdwood we drove to the Portage Glacier visitor center. It was interesting and even had some large ice glacier chunks in the lake up against the shore at the visitor center. The wind and rain were awful. After the glacier we were ready for dinner and retired to the coach.