Cordova 2025

For our big vacation this year, we decided to stick a little closer to home since we’re both still recovering financially from our Iceland trip last year. Neither of us had ever been to Cordova, so that’s where we decided to go! My sister agreed to babysit the kittens for us, so we packed up our rented RV and hit the road to Whittier to catch the ferry.

The ferry ride was quite the experience: they pack those vehicles in there tighter than sardines! Bryan was super nervous about getting our big rig out of it, since it was not a straight drive thru. We had to drive in from the back of the ferry, then had to take a 90-degree turn to the right to exit the side. Our RV was not a large one, just 25 feet, but even that had a hard time making that turn. But, 6 hours later, we arrived in Cordova!

The campground where we reserved a spot was a nice one, with a shower/bathroom house, power hook-ups, and even a communal fire ring. We set up camp and were quite comfortable. My brother loaned us his big pop-up tent and a small generator, and Bryan had tables, chairs, camp stoves, and all of that. The camper came equipped with a lot of that as well, so we had more than enough.

Each morning, we would walk into town for a cup of coffee, about a mile and a half each way. There were basically two coffee shops to choose from, so we alternated back and forth between them.

From there we’d walk the docks for a while, inspecting all the boats and watching people gear up for their day of fishing. Cordova is definitely a fishing town (commercial, not recreational) – I think there are more boats than there are houses!

The breakwater that protects the harbor from the ocean had a nice little walkway on it, complete with a few benches and some informational signs. It was a short walk, but we did get to see lots of birds & otters, and of course more boats.

The town of Cordova is small but really nice. Bryan found himself a bar to sit and have a drink now and then – their sign outside the building is up-side down! Not sure if that was intentional or not – but I’m sure there’s a story behind that.

After walking through town each morning, we would head back to our camper for lunch and then pick a direction and drive out that way, to see what we could see. Sometimes we’d go hiking, sometimes we’d go fishing, sometimes we’d just enjoy the views.

The Eyak River Trail was a surprise; I did not know it would be that beautiful out there. Lush and green and just breathtaking. The trail was easy enough to walk on, with minimal trip-hazards and only a very slight elevation gain. We hiked in for about an hour and then turned around and headed back to the camper.

The longest drive we took was about 15 miles out to the Sheridan Lake Trail that leads you a short distance out to the Sheridan Glacier. We almost didn’t go: not only was that a gravel road (really hard on RVs) but once we got there it looked like the trail had been washed away. Thankfully, a kind hiker showed us how to get around the washout so we could continue our walk. The glacier was beautiful.

The Heney Ridge Trail was definitely a bit more challenging but oh so worth it! Again, we could have gone a lot farther than we did, but we turned around after an hour. Lots of elevation gain to this one but the trail was a good one with steps and/or boardwalks where needed.

The Fishing turned out to be really good this year. We had apparently timed our vacation perfectly so Bryan got to catch 5 fish over 2 days of fishing. One of them was the biggest silver he had ever seen, so he was a happy little boy! In fact, he’s now thinking that next year he’ll pack up his truck and head across the bay for a weekend a few times to fish the rivers some more.

We saw a lot of wildlife: mostly otters and harbor seals, along with millions of seabirds. But we also saw a bear – I just didn’t get a picture of it. Sorry.

Weekend Get-Away: Sutton

We had a lovely weekend get-away this month, driving about 45 minutes north of Palmer to the community of Sutton. Our cabin was located up on a hill above the Matanuska River and was quite secluded in a beautiful birch forest. They even had a fire ring outside for Bryan to smoke his cigar each night while I read my book in bed.

Inside the cabin was very well laid out, with a fully stocked kitchen and a comfortable couch strategically located right by the perfect view of the mountains outside.

Upstairs was two full-size beds and lots of space for my crafting table and his computer work. We hooked our DVD player up to their big screen TV and watched Harry Potter movies all day, while the kittens enjoyed exploring their new environment. All the windows had screens on them, so I was able to open them all up and allow the cats to check out the view as well.

Apples, Apples, Apples! (again)

It’s that time of year again! This year, I got 6 boxes of nice big juicy apples – much bigger than the ones I got last year. We spent our weekend processing: we made one batch of applesauce, one batch of apple pie filling, several batches of apple juice, and this year we tried a few new things.

First, I wanted to see how my dehydrator would work on them. These are not your typical apples like what you would buy at the store. They are quite sweet and tasty, but their texture is much softer, sometimes more like Styrofoam even. Bryan bought me a special tool to more easily core the apples after I peeled them. Then I sliced them into “O” rings and loaded up the treys. I must say, they are pretty tasty! I took them on a hike the other day, and they got some good reviews from my fellow hikers.

Second, we are attempting to make Hard Apple Cider – you may recall an earlier post about that. Sadly our first attempt was a total failure. It was completely undrinkable, so we poured the whole batch down the drain. We determined that it may have been because you’re not supposed to cook the apples before fermenting them – so we bought a fancy Apple Press and tried that out instead of our regular juicer, which operates on hot steam. What a MESS that was! The darned thing barely worked, and that was only after he jerry-rigged it using spare parts found in our garage. That press got a scathing review on Amazon, let me tell you! But we did manage to get enough juice to try the hard cider again. We have it bubbling away on the back counter as we speak, fermenting and doing great. I have high hopes for this batch!

Hiking the Rippy Trail = TWICE

Last month, I joined the hiking group for a very wet hike on a trail that was new to me called the Rippy Trail. The trailhead is off a dirt road that goes on for miles back behind Lazy Mountain and is just the most beautiful country. I really enjoyed the scenery back there, despite the rain. Actually, I think the rain made it even prettier than it would have been on a dry hike! There were a couple of creek crossings that I was not prepared for but managed to make it across with minimal soaking. As always, the group was a good bunch of ladies; we all had fun chatting with each other along the trail. We’re all about the same level of fitness (not including our guide who I think is part mountain goat and could climb Denali with no problem) so going with them is very easy and key.

I loved it so much I took my sisters on it a month later! We get together, the three of us, at least once a month – normally to have dinner, but occasionally we switch things up a bit and do something different. We did that train ride a while ago, if you recall. This time, we opted to pack ourselves a lunch and take a leisurely stroll up the trail. Neither of them had ever been there, so it was fun getting to show them what is now one of my favorite trails.

Good times!