Wednesday afternoon.  The wind is blowing.  It is raining and it is 54 degrees in the afternoon.  The wimpy residents of Alaska are grousing.  Will spring never come?  We, who don’t know any better feel that it is supposed to be always cold in Seward’s Icebox.  So, we took a hike this morning from the Eagle River Nature Center.  Struck out on bear, despite warnings of their presence, and saw only moose and a marvelous dipper bird.

We left the interior wilderness and arrived in the Mat-Su Valley on Sunday.  Descending from Sheep Mountain we saw the vegetation turn from brown to green.  Here the leaves are almost full sized at sea level.  The foliage is “greening up the mountains around our camp at Mountain View RV Park.

Here we wandered up the Hatcher Pass Road yesterday to go from spring back into winter.  Showers turned to flurries as we walked up the (closed) road to the mine.  With daily showers here every day so far we wake up to find another dusting of snow on the mountains above us.  Wonderful. 

Here the tree line is at about 1,500 feet, so one goes quickly from grouse to ptarmagin country. 
Our son, Alex, arrives Friday evening.  We will take him out to supper in Anchorage before returning to camp.  Then we’re off to Valdez on Saturday.  Many residents say the road to Valdez remains one of the loveliest in the state.  We’ll find out.

Our travels go on well.  We enjoyed settling in here after more than a week of dry camping.  This park has the best wi-fi we’ve had since California.  Allows us to catch up on chores and the news.  Also communications.

Memorial Day is coming.  Let us remember and let us enjoy.  Best wishes from Alaska.