We were up early and on the road a little before 6 a.m. It was an uneventful ride back to Jackson. We have made this drive so often that we are very familiar with the sights so I either played Sudoku on my little hand held or played games on the computer. I was so ready to be back home!!!
We arrived around 12:30 and Carol was here to greet us. Hot, hot, hot here, but good to be home. I rather felt like a stranger in my own home - when I went to get stuff out for a drink, or things in the kitchen, I had to stop and think where they might be!!
We spent the next several hours unloading the car, unpacking suitcases and just
stacking the boxes we did not want to deal with (which was most of them). Who wants to handle flannel sheets, down comforters, fleece blankets and winter clothes when it is close to 100 outside???? NOT ME!!!!
We also spent a lot of time on the phone letting people know we are finally home!!! E.T. is finally home!!!!
Looking back on the trip....I guess I have learned some things....
First of all...basic facts....
We left MS on May 21 and returned Aug. 11.
We put 7,400 miles on the truck
7,250 miles on the RV
Maybe it is not a good idea to turn me loose for 11 weeks with 2 digital cameras and ways to unload pictures so I can take more....I have 5,256 digital images in my laptop from this trip and will be adding some more when Barb Grainger sends me a DVD w/ some pictures to fill in for the ones I lost when I damaged the SD cards!!
Jerry has about 20 hours of video in addition to about 15 rolls of 35 mm film!!
It would have been better to have a tow vehicle. There were lots of places we would have ventured that the RV could not go.
We needed to spend longer than one night in most places.
Was sorry we did not have enough time to go fishing (plus fishing in AK is full of LOTS of strange and specific rules about where you can and can't fish, and the kind of license you need, etc...)
I should have taken more time to visit art galleries and craft stores...I love seeing all the things people can create.
I wish I had time to paint - it was all I could do to take pictures and record the places we were seeing...(of course I have fun with cameras also!)
In fact I wish I could have spent at least 24 hours in most places so I could get the sun and light in different positions.
I did not see TV or have much access to news for 50 days in the RV. A couple of times we tuned in when we were in Frank and Barb's RV. I didn't miss it.
We should have taken some music CD's to listen to on the road....no radio stations in the wilderness.
I should have loaded pix onto computer each day from both cameras, even when there were not so many pictures to load....
Wish I had taken pix of us getting to STL, getting to Piedmont and then finally getting home. I guess once I got back in familiar territory, the cameras could finally leave my hands.
Our world is an awesome creation and all the parts that I have seen have their own characteristics and personality, but they are all part of the whole.
It was a great trip and I don't know how it could have been any shorter, but I also know that I was gone a long time from home....what a dilemma...
I guess this is the official end of the blog for this trip....it has taken many hours and longer than I would have wished post trip to finish all this up, but I am glad I have persevered and finished it. The next step is to print out the text, order copies of the pictures I posted and put it all into an album. I told John I had a few suggestions for Google and blog posting.....wish they had one part of it dedicated to travel and vacations and there were easier and better formats for including pictures!
It's nice to be with friends and family. We had such a good time with Frank and Barb and then with Nana and our family in St. Louis and at Piedmont.
Our next adventure is a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico in October for the Balloon Fiesta. We have been before but are anxious to go again. Jerry's sister Carol and her very good friend are going with us and we will also go to Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley and Santa Fe. Have not decided whether to do a blog or not, but will keep you posted.
All for now and thanks for traveling with us through the blog. It meant a lot to us to know that our friends and family back home could tune in and kind of keep up a bit with us. I hope you enjoyed reading it half as much as I enjoyed putting it together (in spite of lack of internet connections everywhere!!!) Happy trails!!! Linda and Jerry
Friday, August 24, 2007
Friday, August 10 07 PIedmont
We spent the day getting ready to leave for Jackson tomorrow morning. There is always a lot to do to get ready to leave....all the outside stuff has to be put up, the inside cleaned, linens changed, and refrigerator cleaned out, etc. We really need to make a checklist of all that needs doing to close up the house so if anyone wanted to use it while we are not here they would know what to do.
To bed fairly early as we are planning on being in the car by 6 a.m. Can't wait to get home!!!!!
To bed fairly early as we are planning on being in the car by 6 a.m. Can't wait to get home!!!!!
Monday, August 6 07 Piedmont
We were up early as John and Susan wanted to take the 4 wheeler over to GreenTree and ride the trails over there. Jerry had been over earlier in the week to bush hog the trails and b/c it is so dry there was not much to do.
I stayed at the house while they went and cleaned up a bit and gathered some of the leftover foodstuff to take back to STL. We head out about 11 a.m. as their flight was at 5:45. When we got to STL we stopped at Jean's to leave the dogs, then went to the nursing home to see Jim and introduce him to Susan....of course when we were done there we had time to go to Ted Drewe's again for more ice cream and hot fudge sundaes, then we headed to the airport.
When we got there, the plane had been delayed for 1 1/2 hours so we went to the restaurant for drinks and some food. It was a good chance to visit some more before we had to say good-bye. They were finally able to board their flight and head home. We went back to Jean's and ate dinner, then left for Piedmont. We arrived about 10:30 and about 10 min. later, John and Susan called saying that they had made it back to San Francisco and were headed home. A very fast, busy weekend crammed with lots of family stuff, water sports and land sports. Sigh....they go by too fast sometimes. We wish Malia and David could have been with us but they had friends getting married in Blacksburg, VA and Malia was a bridesmaid. One of these years they will make the trip we hope.
I stayed at the house while they went and cleaned up a bit and gathered some of the leftover foodstuff to take back to STL. We head out about 11 a.m. as their flight was at 5:45. When we got to STL we stopped at Jean's to leave the dogs, then went to the nursing home to see Jim and introduce him to Susan....of course when we were done there we had time to go to Ted Drewe's again for more ice cream and hot fudge sundaes, then we headed to the airport.
When we got there, the plane had been delayed for 1 1/2 hours so we went to the restaurant for drinks and some food. It was a good chance to visit some more before we had to say good-bye. They were finally able to board their flight and head home. We went back to Jean's and ate dinner, then left for Piedmont. We arrived about 10:30 and about 10 min. later, John and Susan called saying that they had made it back to San Francisco and were headed home. A very fast, busy weekend crammed with lots of family stuff, water sports and land sports. Sigh....they go by too fast sometimes. We wish Malia and David could have been with us but they had friends getting married in Blacksburg, VA and Malia was a bridesmaid. One of these years they will make the trip we hope.
Sunday, August 5 07 Piedmont
Up fairly early and making pots of coffee.....again a leisurely breakfast as we tried to eat up some of the food that folks had brought. We had a run on cantaloupe this year - wound up with 9 of them I think....lots of food left over. Fixed biscuits, ham and cheese, fruit etc.
People started leaving around noon or in the early afternoon. When everyone had gone, John wanted to take Susan out on to Clearwater Lake. We had not checked out the jet skis and they had expired stickers but we took the bass boat and the water ski stuff and headed out.
We toured the lake and showed Susan the sights and then we proceeded to teach her how to water ski. It was kind of a tough day to learn b/c there was some wind and the lake was rather choppy. In addition there were lots of boats and that contributed to the waves and rough water. She tried and tried, persevered and finally got up! It was great!! It is always great to see someone learn to ski. John skied a bit also. We stopped at the marina for a drink and an ice cream and headed back to the house about 7 p.m.....very tired from being out in the sun and on the water.
We ate leftovers and they packed up their stuff and got ready to leave tomorrow.
People started leaving around noon or in the early afternoon. When everyone had gone, John wanted to take Susan out on to Clearwater Lake. We had not checked out the jet skis and they had expired stickers but we took the bass boat and the water ski stuff and headed out.
We toured the lake and showed Susan the sights and then we proceeded to teach her how to water ski. It was kind of a tough day to learn b/c there was some wind and the lake was rather choppy. In addition there were lots of boats and that contributed to the waves and rough water. She tried and tried, persevered and finally got up! It was great!! It is always great to see someone learn to ski. John skied a bit also. We stopped at the marina for a drink and an ice cream and headed back to the house about 7 p.m.....very tired from being out in the sun and on the water.
We ate leftovers and they packed up their stuff and got ready to leave tomorrow.
Saturday, August 4 07 Piedmont
Today is float trip....At Jack's are Tony, Mary Kay, TJ, Emily, Steve and Katie...
Pat, Annie, B.C. are coming here and will only stay the day. Robert, Danny and Sally drove in about 11 a.m. Can't believe all these kids are so grown up.
Had leisurely breakfast and coffee at the house....then scurried to get everyone ready for float....Got to Kemper's at noon and got all the canoes lined up, took group pix and then headed out.
We had 12 canoes and had a wonderful float. It was hot, but the water was cool and the shade was nice on the gravel bars where we stopped. We got back about 3:30 or 4:00 and Jerry went to pick up the meat we had ordered. I had gone over to Jack's earlier to pick up the food they were contributing. We had decided to eat immediately after the float trip rather than send them all back to Jack's to clean up, get food ready and then come back to our house. We learned that lesson last year.
We just all enjoyed being together. After dinner and the Stemmler's went back, those of us left at the house decided to play a hot game of Pictionary. We played 2 games and have added a new classic drawing to our growing list.....in addition to John and Malia's famous "duck dive", we now have John Simon's "placemat"! It was really funny and we all got lots of laughs from that one.
Pat, Annie, B.C. are coming here and will only stay the day. Robert, Danny and Sally drove in about 11 a.m. Can't believe all these kids are so grown up.
Had leisurely breakfast and coffee at the house....then scurried to get everyone ready for float....Got to Kemper's at noon and got all the canoes lined up, took group pix and then headed out.
We had 12 canoes and had a wonderful float. It was hot, but the water was cool and the shade was nice on the gravel bars where we stopped. We got back about 3:30 or 4:00 and Jerry went to pick up the meat we had ordered. I had gone over to Jack's earlier to pick up the food they were contributing. We had decided to eat immediately after the float trip rather than send them all back to Jack's to clean up, get food ready and then come back to our house. We learned that lesson last year.
We just all enjoyed being together. After dinner and the Stemmler's went back, those of us left at the house decided to play a hot game of Pictionary. We played 2 games and have added a new classic drawing to our growing list.....in addition to John and Malia's famous "duck dive", we now have John Simon's "placemat"! It was really funny and we all got lots of laughs from that one.
Friday, August 3 07 Piedmont
Up early and getting ready for today...Jerry going to STL to pick up John and Susan. I am cooking Texas BBQ for tonight and most of the family is coming in this evening. Some will be here for the day tomorrow....
Jerry got back w/ John and Susan late as they went by some places to show Susan and then of course to Ted Drewe's.....It was great to see them when they finally got back to Piedmont.
At the house tonite we had John, Susan, Carol, MaryBeth, Diane, John Simon, Jean, Ben, Grace, Buddy, Gary, Jerry and I. Had a wonderful time. It's fun to get together. We are so fortunate that we are all close and enjoy spending time with each other.
Jerry got back w/ John and Susan late as they went by some places to show Susan and then of course to Ted Drewe's.....It was great to see them when they finally got back to Piedmont.
At the house tonite we had John, Susan, Carol, MaryBeth, Diane, John Simon, Jean, Ben, Grace, Buddy, Gary, Jerry and I. Had a wonderful time. It's fun to get together. We are so fortunate that we are all close and enjoy spending time with each other.
Thursday, August 2, 07 Piedmont
Well today is our 32 wedding anniversary. Spent the day getting ready for the weekend. Jerry took me to dinner in Dexter, MO. It is about 1 1/2 hours from Piedmont and we had to go there to pick up the jet skis so we decided to kill two birds w/ one stone....We went to a very nice BBQ place that had great steaks. It was a very good dinner and we had a very nice evening.
Friday, July 27, 07 Piedmont
Well, the bird feeders are filled, the hummers are back and we enjoyed watching them sitting in the recliners and on the porch. That is our usual routine while we drink our morning coffee. There is not too much else going on here..just good to sit back and relax and not be moving. Also nice to be back in a house with some familiar stuff....
There won't be much going on here until next weekend and the float trip. John and Susan will be here for that and we are anxious to see them...also looking forward to stuffing the house with family and being together. Will probably not post daily blogs until after the float trip....still will get to the real end of the trip when we get back to Jackson and will post then....
There won't be much going on here until next weekend and the float trip. John and Susan will be here for that and we are anxious to see them...also looking forward to stuffing the house with family and being together. Will probably not post daily blogs until after the float trip....still will get to the real end of the trip when we get back to Jackson and will post then....
Thursday, July 26 07 St. Louis to Piedmont
Up early and to St. Louis Bread Co. for breakfast. That is tradition for mornings in STL. We then went to see Jim and headed for Piedmont in the early afternoon. When we arrived the dogs were really glad to be free of confines. They always enjoy being at Jean;s because she has a large fenced yard and they can get out and chase rabbits and each other and Crystal, her dog.
I think they were probably just glad to get out of a vehicle and settle down in larger environs for a while!! They LOVE to run and have 24 acres to run at the house in Piedmont. Jerry also usually takes them on a walk each morning when here and Gabby especially loves this. She gets so excited and almost turns corkscrews as she prances in the air. By the time they come back, their tongues are hanging and then they usually get a brushing - an excuse for more attention.
We put the hummingbird feeders out and it didn't take them long to find them. Kyle, who had been staying at the house while we were gone was in the process of moving his stuff out. He had started out feeding the hummers, but they were so greedy that he was unable to keep it up due to his working hours so he gave up. They came back in droves.
We invited Kyle to stay for dinner and enjoyed visiting with him. Jerry helped him load some of his stuff and then he was gone.
We unpacked enough to get by...and then to bed.
I think they were probably just glad to get out of a vehicle and settle down in larger environs for a while!! They LOVE to run and have 24 acres to run at the house in Piedmont. Jerry also usually takes them on a walk each morning when here and Gabby especially loves this. She gets so excited and almost turns corkscrews as she prances in the air. By the time they come back, their tongues are hanging and then they usually get a brushing - an excuse for more attention.
We put the hummingbird feeders out and it didn't take them long to find them. Kyle, who had been staying at the house while we were gone was in the process of moving his stuff out. He had started out feeding the hummers, but they were so greedy that he was unable to keep it up due to his working hours so he gave up. They came back in droves.
We invited Kyle to stay for dinner and enjoyed visiting with him. Jerry helped him load some of his stuff and then he was gone.
We unpacked enough to get by...and then to bed.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
When we said good night to Nana last night, we told her we would come by this morning to see her again. We got there about 8 or so. She had arranged for us to eat breakfast with her so we waited until a table for 3 became available and had breakfast with her...it was a wonderful visit. After breakfast, we went out into the courtyard and sat on the benches and talked for a while. We had to beg and plead but we finally got Nana to agree to let us take a picture with her in it. Couldn't get one of just her so we got an aid to take one of the 3 of us. We also had a hard time getting her to smile a bit, but she finally did...just a little! Since we had the dogs in the car and we were sitting in the courtyard, Jerry went and got them and they got to visit too! Of course they got lots of attention so they loved it!
Time to say good bye and get back on the road. We will arrive in St. Louis sometime this afternoon and I guess that will be the official end of this trip. HOWEVER...I won't get home until after Aug. 6 because of the family float trip. The trip to STL was uneventful...still lots of cornfields. Although I will say we were MOST impressed with the farms and cornfields around Williamsburg. The cornfields were beautiful and looked to be manicured!!! As were the roadsides and the farms we saw. Everything was so clean and neat....I don't think a corn plant would dare grow taller than it's neighbor...it looked like very tall, very manicured grass! It is really a lovely area.
It is not too far a drive from Williamsburg to STL. We were at Jean's right at 2 p.m. after having stopped at Ted Drewe's for a frozen custard and a hot fudge sundae! Yummmmm!!! That is a most honored STL tradition in the family and we are always happy to uphold that tradition! It was good to see some familiar faces. We went to the nursing home to see Jim and then we took him and went to eat with Carol at Pietro's and had some good Italian food. Then we had some more Ted Drewe's. Jean had plans for the evening. We spent the night at her house and planning to head to Piedmont tomorrow.
Time to say good bye and get back on the road. We will arrive in St. Louis sometime this afternoon and I guess that will be the official end of this trip. HOWEVER...I won't get home until after Aug. 6 because of the family float trip. The trip to STL was uneventful...still lots of cornfields. Although I will say we were MOST impressed with the farms and cornfields around Williamsburg. The cornfields were beautiful and looked to be manicured!!! As were the roadsides and the farms we saw. Everything was so clean and neat....I don't think a corn plant would dare grow taller than it's neighbor...it looked like very tall, very manicured grass! It is really a lovely area.
It is not too far a drive from Williamsburg to STL. We were at Jean's right at 2 p.m. after having stopped at Ted Drewe's for a frozen custard and a hot fudge sundae! Yummmmm!!! That is a most honored STL tradition in the family and we are always happy to uphold that tradition! It was good to see some familiar faces. We went to the nursing home to see Jim and then we took him and went to eat with Carol at Pietro's and had some good Italian food. Then we had some more Ted Drewe's. Jean had plans for the evening. We spent the night at her house and planning to head to Piedmont tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 Watertown SD to Williamsburg, IA
We left about 9 a.m. headed for Iowa. We decided to stop there and see our son in law's grandmother who is a wonderful woman of 92. We met her when she made a trip to Jackson last year and love talking to her. She is in a nursing home so we thought we would stop in.
We drove I-29 through Omaha Neb. and then east on I-80 through Des Moines to Williamsburg. It was about 285 miles....and it seems about 284 of cornfields!!! Not really, but close I think!!! There was LOTS and LOTS of corn....sometimes there was some wheat, but lots and lots of corn! Not an especially scenic day. I did take a few pictures out of the car window, but they did not turn out too well. Still HOT!!! This seemed like a good day to get out the laptop and play a few computer games while we were riding down the road so I did. It helped to pass the time. We also had a few books on tape that we had not heard yet and we have been listening to those as well.
We tried to surprise Nana a bit, but we did call ahead and talk to her and told her we were on the way. I think she was a bit surprised that we came, but glad to see us. We made arrangements to eat at the nursing home with her and had a delightful visit and meal. She is looking forward to getting back to a newer facility that is not quite ready yet. We could see it from the road and it looks like a castle! She told us about her life on the farm and gave us directions to see her house and the farm. Williamsburg is very close to the Amana colonies so after dinner we opted to drive to see the homestead and then decided to drive through the colonies. Lots of fine craftsmanship, a few wineries, and of course the Amana refrigerators and appliances. What a fascinating place. I would have loved to have spent some time there. It looked like a very interesting place. After we got an ice cream cone, we went back to the hotel and crashed. No internet here either....I think I am getting used to this....if not I am missing a golden opportunity.....
We drove I-29 through Omaha Neb. and then east on I-80 through Des Moines to Williamsburg. It was about 285 miles....and it seems about 284 of cornfields!!! Not really, but close I think!!! There was LOTS and LOTS of corn....sometimes there was some wheat, but lots and lots of corn! Not an especially scenic day. I did take a few pictures out of the car window, but they did not turn out too well. Still HOT!!! This seemed like a good day to get out the laptop and play a few computer games while we were riding down the road so I did. It helped to pass the time. We also had a few books on tape that we had not heard yet and we have been listening to those as well.
We tried to surprise Nana a bit, but we did call ahead and talk to her and told her we were on the way. I think she was a bit surprised that we came, but glad to see us. We made arrangements to eat at the nursing home with her and had a delightful visit and meal. She is looking forward to getting back to a newer facility that is not quite ready yet. We could see it from the road and it looks like a castle! She told us about her life on the farm and gave us directions to see her house and the farm. Williamsburg is very close to the Amana colonies so after dinner we opted to drive to see the homestead and then decided to drive through the colonies. Lots of fine craftsmanship, a few wineries, and of course the Amana refrigerators and appliances. What a fascinating place. I would have loved to have spent some time there. It looked like a very interesting place. After we got an ice cream cone, we went back to the hotel and crashed. No internet here either....I think I am getting used to this....if not I am missing a golden opportunity.....
Monday July 23, 07 Glendive to Watertown SD
Left Glendive about 8:30 and another hot hot day...supposed to get to maybe 105 today!!! We sure did not miss the hot weather in AK and Canada!!! In fact I think we were glad to be in the truck and out of the RV b/c in the RV we only had flannel sheets to sleep on and that would have been hot! Of course we would run the a/c, but still.....It does cool off a great deal at night....down in 60s so mornings and evenings aren't too bad.
At one gas station there was a flatbed truck in front of us w/ a St. Bernard lying in the back....it was a rather large male and long haired. I felt sorry for him in the hot weather. He was a gorgeous dog and made us miss our Brandy!
Just inside the North Dakota border is Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It is a rather interesting park...was TR's western ranch. We drove in for several miles until we came to the loop road...We stopped at several lookouts and along the river. It was very interesting and a nice place, but it was still a very hot day and being a NP, we could not take the dogs anywhere and it was too hot to leave them in the car. It is noted for its wild mustangs and we saw some of the wild horses and also buffalo. Because of the heat and other considerations we opted not to drive the loop road as we felt we had seen enough. There was another entrance to the park a couple of miles down the road and we stopped there as well It was a "painted canyon" and although it was pretty, the colors were not terribly vivid. Some pinks, greens and grays on the bentonite hills. There were several areas in the park that were reminiscent of the Badlands but not on as grand a scale. Of course we got a park stamp here as well.
The countryside in ND is rolling w/ lots of wheat and pastureland. It was very pretty, just not spectacular. One of the more interesting exits was "Home on the Range". We just had to see what was there so we took it. Turns out it is a boy's town type of ranch community for troubled youth.
Decided to leave the interstate (I-94) and take Hwy. 85 and 12 through the SW corner of ND and diagonally through South Dakota. Lots of road construction and the road was not great. It was getting late and we started looking for a place to stay. We were close to Minnesota and since I had never been there we drove to Ortonville, but could not find a hotel that would take dogs so we backtracked into SD and found a place in Watertown. By this time it was about 9:30 p.m. and we were really tired!
At one gas station there was a flatbed truck in front of us w/ a St. Bernard lying in the back....it was a rather large male and long haired. I felt sorry for him in the hot weather. He was a gorgeous dog and made us miss our Brandy!
Just inside the North Dakota border is Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It is a rather interesting park...was TR's western ranch. We drove in for several miles until we came to the loop road...We stopped at several lookouts and along the river. It was very interesting and a nice place, but it was still a very hot day and being a NP, we could not take the dogs anywhere and it was too hot to leave them in the car. It is noted for its wild mustangs and we saw some of the wild horses and also buffalo. Because of the heat and other considerations we opted not to drive the loop road as we felt we had seen enough. There was another entrance to the park a couple of miles down the road and we stopped there as well It was a "painted canyon" and although it was pretty, the colors were not terribly vivid. Some pinks, greens and grays on the bentonite hills. There were several areas in the park that were reminiscent of the Badlands but not on as grand a scale. Of course we got a park stamp here as well.
The countryside in ND is rolling w/ lots of wheat and pastureland. It was very pretty, just not spectacular. One of the more interesting exits was "Home on the Range". We just had to see what was there so we took it. Turns out it is a boy's town type of ranch community for troubled youth.
Decided to leave the interstate (I-94) and take Hwy. 85 and 12 through the SW corner of ND and diagonally through South Dakota. Lots of road construction and the road was not great. It was getting late and we started looking for a place to stay. We were close to Minnesota and since I had never been there we drove to Ortonville, but could not find a hotel that would take dogs so we backtracked into SD and found a place in Watertown. By this time it was about 9:30 p.m. and we were really tired!
Sunday, July 22 07 - Many Glacier to Glendive MT
As we left this a.m. we decided to drive 8 miles or so to the north road into the park. This road just goes to Swiftcurrent Lodge about 15 miles down the road and passes some other lodges along the way. It is not as well traveled as Going to the Sun Road (which by the way is only 50 miles long) and follows the north side of Swiftcurrent Lake.
Turns out that this is the day for grizzlies!!!! At one point all these cars were stopped along side the road and everyone was watching these bears up on the side of the mountain! There were at least 3 females w/ cubs and a couple of others as well. We had to leave the place where we had stopped b/c we were run out by a ranger (we were in a no stopping area). We went on to the end of the road for breakfast at the Swiftcurrent Lodge.
On the way back we stopped at a parking area and talked with a ranger who was waiting for a busload of kids to show up as he was leading them on a hike up to a glacier. They were from a Mennonite school. While we were there we spotted a huge bear on the side of the mountain...also with a cub but a much bigger cub. We got out the spotting scope and watched her for a long time. The busload of kids pulled in and they came over and also looked at the bear through the scope.
Further down the road we passed a cyclist who was waving and pointing down towards the lake. There was maybe 20 yards between the road and the lake. Turns out another mama grizzly was there w/ her 2 cubs and according to the cyclist she seemed a bit agitated and the cyclist was a bit concerned. We watched and the bear was out of sight for a while, but then we caught a glimpse of her moving quickly along the shoreline of the lake. We walked down the road a bit (very carefully) and then returned to the truck and got in b/c she was really pretty close to us. We drove down a bit and then we saw her moving along at a rapid clip and her cubs were following as well. That was exciting. We stopped again where we had seen the group of bears on the way up (this time it was a legal stop) and watched them again for a while before driving on.
We stopped several times for pictures. Saw a coyote and then another moose as it crossed the road in front of us. We stopped at a turnout and got some pictures looking back up the valley and lake to the mountains and glaciers. It was really pretty. As we left the park we took a highway heading east and again stopped a few times to look back at the park. It truly rises up out of the plains. The countryside to the east of the park is rolling and mostly pasture land. What a wonder our National Parks are!!!
Made it as far as Glendive MT. Once we left the mountains, it got really really hot...like 103!!!! We were worried a bit about our a/c. Of course in the truck we were able to run at 70+ mph and it just wasn't cooling. Jerry tried slowing down for a while and it kicked right in and finally got cold. If it was going to be that hot we really needed a/c!!! We did pass through Cold Foot, MT and saw this penguin stating that Cold Foot is the coldest spot in U.S.! Not today!!!
Stayed at a Day's Inn in Glendive. They advertised Wi-Fi so I was looking forward to working on the blog and loading some pictures. I could not get connected in the room so I went to the desk to see if there was a password or another trick to get on. She said sometimes people had trouble connecting from the rooms and perhaps the lobby would be better. There was another woman in there with her laptop trying to connect and neither of us was able to establish a connection. Evidently their server was down. I tried to tell that to the desk clerk, but she was clueless. Sigh....I guess this blog will never get done in a timely fashion!!!
Turns out that this is the day for grizzlies!!!! At one point all these cars were stopped along side the road and everyone was watching these bears up on the side of the mountain! There were at least 3 females w/ cubs and a couple of others as well. We had to leave the place where we had stopped b/c we were run out by a ranger (we were in a no stopping area). We went on to the end of the road for breakfast at the Swiftcurrent Lodge.
On the way back we stopped at a parking area and talked with a ranger who was waiting for a busload of kids to show up as he was leading them on a hike up to a glacier. They were from a Mennonite school. While we were there we spotted a huge bear on the side of the mountain...also with a cub but a much bigger cub. We got out the spotting scope and watched her for a long time. The busload of kids pulled in and they came over and also looked at the bear through the scope.
Further down the road we passed a cyclist who was waving and pointing down towards the lake. There was maybe 20 yards between the road and the lake. Turns out another mama grizzly was there w/ her 2 cubs and according to the cyclist she seemed a bit agitated and the cyclist was a bit concerned. We watched and the bear was out of sight for a while, but then we caught a glimpse of her moving quickly along the shoreline of the lake. We walked down the road a bit (very carefully) and then returned to the truck and got in b/c she was really pretty close to us. We drove down a bit and then we saw her moving along at a rapid clip and her cubs were following as well. That was exciting. We stopped again where we had seen the group of bears on the way up (this time it was a legal stop) and watched them again for a while before driving on.
We stopped several times for pictures. Saw a coyote and then another moose as it crossed the road in front of us. We stopped at a turnout and got some pictures looking back up the valley and lake to the mountains and glaciers. It was really pretty. As we left the park we took a highway heading east and again stopped a few times to look back at the park. It truly rises up out of the plains. The countryside to the east of the park is rolling and mostly pasture land. What a wonder our National Parks are!!!
Made it as far as Glendive MT. Once we left the mountains, it got really really hot...like 103!!!! We were worried a bit about our a/c. Of course in the truck we were able to run at 70+ mph and it just wasn't cooling. Jerry tried slowing down for a while and it kicked right in and finally got cold. If it was going to be that hot we really needed a/c!!! We did pass through Cold Foot, MT and saw this penguin stating that Cold Foot is the coldest spot in U.S.! Not today!!!
Stayed at a Day's Inn in Glendive. They advertised Wi-Fi so I was looking forward to working on the blog and loading some pictures. I could not get connected in the room so I went to the desk to see if there was a password or another trick to get on. She said sometimes people had trouble connecting from the rooms and perhaps the lobby would be better. There was another woman in there with her laptop trying to connect and neither of us was able to establish a connection. Evidently their server was down. I tried to tell that to the desk clerk, but she was clueless. Sigh....I guess this blog will never get done in a timely fashion!!!
Saturday, July 21-07 Eureka to Glacier NP
Got up and left town early headed to Glacier. We were about 1 1/2 hours from the park...we arrived at Apgar entrance around 10:00 a.m. It was JAMMED!! We managed to get a parking space there at the visitor center where there was also a lodge, restaurants, etc. We immediately went to get our stamp. We had tried to get a room at a lodge in the park, but all was full for the weekend. It turned out to be some sort of special celebration weekend for the park (this park is an international park as it sits both in Canada and US). We went to restaurant and had a late breakfast while we decided our plan of action. We came to the obvious conclusion that we should have spent last nite closer to the park so we could have gotten here earlier, but that was hindsight. We live and learn (maybe slow learners). When we finished breakfast, we had almost decided NOT to do the park today and find a place to stay outside the park and drive the Going to the Sun Road early in the a.m. In the end, we decided that since we were already here we would brave the crowds and traffic and just go on through today. I made Jerry promise NOT to get impatient and upset w/ idiot drivers, etc. if we did this....he was pretty good about it....there were lots of slow places where people had stopped to watch bears, etc and all the scenic turnouts were crowded, but it really wasn't too bad.
Going to the Sun Road is just AWESOME!!! We started our drive along Lake McDonald which is probably the lowest part of the park and pretty flat. Lots of scenic turnouts and we hit a couple of them. We were able to get right down to the lake and it is so clear and pretty. The colors in the rocks on the bottom were beautiful also. At the end of the lake the road climbs pretty rapidly. Long switchbacks as it climbs up the mountains that the park is noted for. We stopped at lots of lookouts for gorgeous scenic vistas and until we got close to the pass we were able to look down into the valley where we had started out.
At Bird Woman Falls Overlook you look across this awesome valley to the falls which boast a drop of 492'. At one scenic point there were cars everywhere and someone had spotted a bear up on the mountain. It was a bear w/ 2 cubs and we think it was our first grizzly sighting. Of course we stopped also and got out to look and take pictures. One cub was black and the other brown and they were foraging alongside a waterfall and then finally wandered off along the mountainside.
Just before getting to the pass and the Continental Divide we stopped at Oberlin Bend that offered a gorgeous view of the mountains and valleys and the part of the highway we had just traversed....there was also a prairie dog village, a gorgeous waterfall from Oberlin Mountain and a mountain goat that was grazing right under the elevated walkway we were on....
When we got to Logan Pass, it took us forever to find a parking place and I thought Jerry was going to get into it w/ a woman who had darted out of a car and was standing in the empty spot where we were going to park and was "saving" it for her son who was coming around in his truck. However, someone pulled out a few spaces down and we had a better place to park. We went into the Visitor Center and got some information on some trails. We had seen lots of people walking along this trail above the road and as we got closer saw this beautiful meadow that you walk through as well so we wanted to walk part of that trail.
We took water and Snickers in our packs and headed out. When we had first arrived, there were bighorn sheep grazing on the grass strip of the parking lot...I went over to watch them, but by then they had moved on but there were some just across the road. They are so pretty....
The hike was absolutely breathtaking....gorgeous views and the walk through the meadow was beautiful as well. This is the Highline Trail. Once we got through the meadow, the trail was carved out of the side of the mountain and pretty level, but rocky. Along the cliff side there was garden hose covered chain anchored into the wall for handholds for the faint of heart. It was never really scary as the trail was plenty wide (3-4') in most places, but until you got used to it, the handrails were a good security blanket. We didn't go far, just far enough to get out on the rocky part of the trail and then some, but it was a nice walk.
Back at the truck we left the pass then went started downhill. We stopped at a vista of one of the few glaciers remaining in the park and it is diminishing fast. This was Jackson Glacier. The really neat place was Sunrift Gorge where this mountain stream rages down this chute that is maybe 5 ft. wide w/ walls 100+ feet. It was a very long chute as well. The water was absolutely gorgeous. This was also the shortest walk to Baring Falls and that was pretty neat as well. As we were driving along the eastern side of the park (still on Going to the Sun Highway) we passed the hanging gardens and a weeping wall and then came to Lake St. Mary. It was beautiful and we stopped at the boat launch and discovered that we could take a short cruise to the head of the lake. It was about 4 p.m. and we were nearing the park exit so we decided to come back for the cruise at 6 and went on to find a place to stay. St. Mary's Lodge was just outside the park and they had some rather rustic log cabins in addition to the lodge. The lodge did not accept pets (and every other place that did was full). They worked with us and we got a cabin which was right on the river. It had not been cleaned so they did that in a hurry...we kind of checked it out then drove back into the park to go on this cruise.
It was an interesting cruise. We went right around Wild Goose Island which is one of the most photographed sights in Glacier...it is a tiny island w/ a few evergreen trees in the middle of this gorgeous lake. The park ranger on board narrated the trip, including the geology and some of the history of Glacier. One of his concerns was global warming and what it is doing to the park...this is his 5th season here and when he started 5 years ago there were 39 glaciers in the park and now they are down to 26....who really knows for sure - we have heard conflicting reports all through the trip. When the cruise was over we headed back to the cabin, got our stuff out and let the dogs run a bit. We had dinner reservations at the lodge at 9 and after dinner, we headed for bed. I downloaded some pictures onto the laptop, but there was no internet so still can't get back to blog!
Going to the Sun Road is just AWESOME!!! We started our drive along Lake McDonald which is probably the lowest part of the park and pretty flat. Lots of scenic turnouts and we hit a couple of them. We were able to get right down to the lake and it is so clear and pretty. The colors in the rocks on the bottom were beautiful also. At the end of the lake the road climbs pretty rapidly. Long switchbacks as it climbs up the mountains that the park is noted for. We stopped at lots of lookouts for gorgeous scenic vistas and until we got close to the pass we were able to look down into the valley where we had started out.
At Bird Woman Falls Overlook you look across this awesome valley to the falls which boast a drop of 492'. At one scenic point there were cars everywhere and someone had spotted a bear up on the mountain. It was a bear w/ 2 cubs and we think it was our first grizzly sighting. Of course we stopped also and got out to look and take pictures. One cub was black and the other brown and they were foraging alongside a waterfall and then finally wandered off along the mountainside.
Just before getting to the pass and the Continental Divide we stopped at Oberlin Bend that offered a gorgeous view of the mountains and valleys and the part of the highway we had just traversed....there was also a prairie dog village, a gorgeous waterfall from Oberlin Mountain and a mountain goat that was grazing right under the elevated walkway we were on....
When we got to Logan Pass, it took us forever to find a parking place and I thought Jerry was going to get into it w/ a woman who had darted out of a car and was standing in the empty spot where we were going to park and was "saving" it for her son who was coming around in his truck. However, someone pulled out a few spaces down and we had a better place to park. We went into the Visitor Center and got some information on some trails. We had seen lots of people walking along this trail above the road and as we got closer saw this beautiful meadow that you walk through as well so we wanted to walk part of that trail.
We took water and Snickers in our packs and headed out. When we had first arrived, there were bighorn sheep grazing on the grass strip of the parking lot...I went over to watch them, but by then they had moved on but there were some just across the road. They are so pretty....
The hike was absolutely breathtaking....gorgeous views and the walk through the meadow was beautiful as well. This is the Highline Trail. Once we got through the meadow, the trail was carved out of the side of the mountain and pretty level, but rocky. Along the cliff side there was garden hose covered chain anchored into the wall for handholds for the faint of heart. It was never really scary as the trail was plenty wide (3-4') in most places, but until you got used to it, the handrails were a good security blanket. We didn't go far, just far enough to get out on the rocky part of the trail and then some, but it was a nice walk.
Back at the truck we left the pass then went started downhill. We stopped at a vista of one of the few glaciers remaining in the park and it is diminishing fast. This was Jackson Glacier. The really neat place was Sunrift Gorge where this mountain stream rages down this chute that is maybe 5 ft. wide w/ walls 100+ feet. It was a very long chute as well. The water was absolutely gorgeous. This was also the shortest walk to Baring Falls and that was pretty neat as well. As we were driving along the eastern side of the park (still on Going to the Sun Highway) we passed the hanging gardens and a weeping wall and then came to Lake St. Mary. It was beautiful and we stopped at the boat launch and discovered that we could take a short cruise to the head of the lake. It was about 4 p.m. and we were nearing the park exit so we decided to come back for the cruise at 6 and went on to find a place to stay. St. Mary's Lodge was just outside the park and they had some rather rustic log cabins in addition to the lodge. The lodge did not accept pets (and every other place that did was full). They worked with us and we got a cabin which was right on the river. It had not been cleaned so they did that in a hurry...we kind of checked it out then drove back into the park to go on this cruise.
It was an interesting cruise. We went right around Wild Goose Island which is one of the most photographed sights in Glacier...it is a tiny island w/ a few evergreen trees in the middle of this gorgeous lake. The park ranger on board narrated the trip, including the geology and some of the history of Glacier. One of his concerns was global warming and what it is doing to the park...this is his 5th season here and when he started 5 years ago there were 39 glaciers in the park and now they are down to 26....who really knows for sure - we have heard conflicting reports all through the trip. When the cruise was over we headed back to the cabin, got our stuff out and let the dogs run a bit. We had dinner reservations at the lodge at 9 and after dinner, we headed for bed. I downloaded some pictures onto the laptop, but there was no internet so still can't get back to blog!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Friday, July 20 Spokane WA to Eureka MT
Well, up EARLY and cleaning the RV like mad....spent almost 4 hours cleaning it between last nite and this a.m. It was certainly cleaner when we turned it in than when we got it!!! Left RV park early and had to find someplace to get propane....finally found a place but they had no one to pump it until 9 a.m. so we went to McDonald's for breakfast and then got the propane. Turned it in by about 10 a.m. and all was OK. We put 7200 miles on the RV!!!!
Hit the road in the truck headed towards Glacier NP - of course taking the scenic route! After getting in truck, headed into ID and up around Lake Pend Oreille and on into MT. Beautiful mountains and scenery of course. Stopped at Kootenai Falls MT and that was gorgeous. I walked in by myself b/c there was a pedestrian bridge across the RR tracks and on the other side there were LOTS of steps to get down to the ground as it dropped off between the parking lot and RR tracks. The steps down were steel grating w/ some fairly sharp exposed patterns for traction and the dogs were unable to do that and we were unwilling to carry them. Jerry had been here before and opted to stay w/ dogs while I went to the falls. Then up to Libby Dam and along the Koocanusa Lake to Eureka. We stopped at a few campgrounds along the lake and I stuck my feet in the lake...crystal clear water!!! We were late getting into Eureka, but found a motel room (advertised Internet) and it was kind of sketchy. Had to get extension cord to power up computer from the bathroom plug but it evidently was false advertising....b/c could not get access.....sigh.....
We went to dinner at a place that we did not expect to be very good but it was EXCELLENT! Jerry got a steak, but I had proscuitto wrapped pork tenderloin topped w/ wilted fresh spinach and some crab meat....It was so good! Jerry was wishing he had ordered what I ordered.....Dogs adjusted to the truck OK...of course it was familiar to them, but they don't have the room to get up and go get a drink or change seats, etc. Kudzu still thinks my lap is the best place for him! They seemed to be OK w/ hotel room also. To bed, to bed, b/c tomorrow is Glacier.
Hit the road in the truck headed towards Glacier NP - of course taking the scenic route! After getting in truck, headed into ID and up around Lake Pend Oreille and on into MT. Beautiful mountains and scenery of course. Stopped at Kootenai Falls MT and that was gorgeous. I walked in by myself b/c there was a pedestrian bridge across the RR tracks and on the other side there were LOTS of steps to get down to the ground as it dropped off between the parking lot and RR tracks. The steps down were steel grating w/ some fairly sharp exposed patterns for traction and the dogs were unable to do that and we were unwilling to carry them. Jerry had been here before and opted to stay w/ dogs while I went to the falls. Then up to Libby Dam and along the Koocanusa Lake to Eureka. We stopped at a few campgrounds along the lake and I stuck my feet in the lake...crystal clear water!!! We were late getting into Eureka, but found a motel room (advertised Internet) and it was kind of sketchy. Had to get extension cord to power up computer from the bathroom plug but it evidently was false advertising....b/c could not get access.....sigh.....
We went to dinner at a place that we did not expect to be very good but it was EXCELLENT! Jerry got a steak, but I had proscuitto wrapped pork tenderloin topped w/ wilted fresh spinach and some crab meat....It was so good! Jerry was wishing he had ordered what I ordered.....Dogs adjusted to the truck OK...of course it was familiar to them, but they don't have the room to get up and go get a drink or change seats, etc. Kudzu still thinks my lap is the best place for him! They seemed to be OK w/ hotel room also. To bed, to bed, b/c tomorrow is Glacier.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Today we are headed to Spokane and will spend the nite there getting ready to turn in the RV....that means packing and cleaning...yuck! After we left the campground this a.m. we went by the Windmill Forest (see pix)..it was amazing to see what people could use to make a windmill or at least a wind vane. Very interesting. We also walked across the dam of Banks Lake and got another view of our campground. Then we headed down the highway alongside the lake. This is a huge lake...miles long. We drove through the town of Coulee City and opted to continue for a few miles down the road to Dry Falls State Park.
What a fascinating place!!!! There was a Nova TV show done about this area and if you ever get a chance to watch it, it must be fascinating. There is VERY interesting geology of this area. Back in Ice Age, evidently there was a HUGE ice dam from Lake Helena in MT. and when it broke it sent an enormous amount of water down this river. They speculate that this canyon was carved out in a matter of weeks or a few months at most because of the volume of water that came through here....talk about a flood of Biblical proportions!!! We watched a very interesting movie at the visitor center. In the pictures of the canyon, the cliffs on the left and far wall were part of these enormous waterfalls that would have dwarfed Niagara Falls at that time....only a portion of the cliffs of the cascade could be seen....in fact we were about 800-1000' above the canyon floor and at the height of the water, it would have been over 300' over our heads! It really scoured the valley and took out all the loose stuff and then some! There is an area at the bottom called 10 Lakes (I think) that is a recreation area...we did not have time to explore.
We were only about 90-100 miles from Spokane so it was an easy driving day. When we got to Spokane, we drove straight to the RV rental agency and picked up the truck then headed for a really nice KOA campground. We figured we could pack and load the truck today, then spend a couple of hours in the a.m. cleaning up the RV. We got to the campground around fairly early. Jerry decided that although we had a waiver on cleaning the outside of the RV that it was really too dirty to turn in that way so we went to an RV wash and he was rushing to get the most out of the hose nozzles....RV looked much better when he was done. Back to RV park and packing....I needed prescriptions filled and a couple of things from Wal Mart so I headed out shopping while Jerry packed and loaded. I got back to RV park about 6:00 and finished up stuff.
Planned to work on blog tonite as they had Wi-Fi connections, but every time I tried to get on I had no luck.....finally went to office and turns out the server was down....I had really planned to get all caught up, but alas.....That's OK I guess b/c we were really tired and had no trouble falling asleep.
What a fascinating place!!!! There was a Nova TV show done about this area and if you ever get a chance to watch it, it must be fascinating. There is VERY interesting geology of this area. Back in Ice Age, evidently there was a HUGE ice dam from Lake Helena in MT. and when it broke it sent an enormous amount of water down this river. They speculate that this canyon was carved out in a matter of weeks or a few months at most because of the volume of water that came through here....talk about a flood of Biblical proportions!!! We watched a very interesting movie at the visitor center. In the pictures of the canyon, the cliffs on the left and far wall were part of these enormous waterfalls that would have dwarfed Niagara Falls at that time....only a portion of the cliffs of the cascade could be seen....in fact we were about 800-1000' above the canyon floor and at the height of the water, it would have been over 300' over our heads! It really scoured the valley and took out all the loose stuff and then some! There is an area at the bottom called 10 Lakes (I think) that is a recreation area...we did not have time to explore.
We were only about 90-100 miles from Spokane so it was an easy driving day. When we got to Spokane, we drove straight to the RV rental agency and picked up the truck then headed for a really nice KOA campground. We figured we could pack and load the truck today, then spend a couple of hours in the a.m. cleaning up the RV. We got to the campground around fairly early. Jerry decided that although we had a waiver on cleaning the outside of the RV that it was really too dirty to turn in that way so we went to an RV wash and he was rushing to get the most out of the hose nozzles....RV looked much better when he was done. Back to RV park and packing....I needed prescriptions filled and a couple of things from Wal Mart so I headed out shopping while Jerry packed and loaded. I got back to RV park about 6:00 and finished up stuff.
Planned to work on blog tonite as they had Wi-Fi connections, but every time I tried to get on I had no luck.....finally went to office and turns out the server was down....I had really planned to get all caught up, but alas.....That's OK I guess b/c we were really tired and had no trouble falling asleep.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Well today I am 60 years old!!! that is hard to believe....I am glad we went on this trip, but I wish I was partying!!! I had really wanted a big bash...for some reason the ones that end in 0 are kind of special...I will save the party for later and do it up right w/ all my other 60 year old friends!!!
Jerry had reserved a pontoon boat for the day and we had planned to spend the day on Banks Lake. You know us and water and boats!!! If it is there we will try to find a way to get on it...! However, the weather had other plans. We awoke to thunder and lightning and rain. Had breakfast in RV and since we have to turn in the RV on Friday decided to use this time to do some packing, cleaning, etc. Jerry decided to use the rain to his advantage to try and get a layer of topsoil off the outside of this vehicle. I went through stuff inside and tried to decide what I could get ready to pack, what I needed for the week of travel when we will be in the truck and just to basically get organized.
Around noon the weather let up and began to clear. We had a quick bite of lunch and then Jerry went over to see if we could still get the pontoon boat for a couple of hours. Of course they were more than happy to take our money so we headed out with the dogs. I confess I was not too excited about this trip just from basing the lake on what we could see from the campground and dam. Boy was I wrong! When we got around the bend from what we could see from the campground it was really pretty. There were lots and lots of islands/rock formations, etc. and the cliffs along the shores of the lake got really steep and high. It was great! We stopped at one island w/ a small sandy beach area and Jerry and the dogs climbed up on the rocks for a look-see and I waded into the water. It was so refreshing as it was not too cold. However it was kind of cool on the lake in the wind - maybe low 80s, high 70s so I did not stay in long. We were protected from the wind where we were. When we left, there were some other boats down the way and the kids on them were jumping off some fairly high rocks. We really enjoyed cruising through the rocks and around the islands.
After a couple hours, we headed back to the campground. We are going out for dinner at a local restaurant....supposed to be the best one around, but I that is all relative. We had to drive across the bridge towards where we had taken the dam tour yesterday afternoon....restaurant name was Melody's and it labeled itself as "fine dining" on the outside, but when we got inside, it was billed as a cafe. There were old worn formica tables, etc. and it definitely had a "diner" atmosphere. We had drinks and ordered our dinner. Jerry ordered prime rib, but she came back and said they were out of it, so he ordered a rib eye. I ordered a grilled chicken pasta w/ marinara sauce. When the food came, Jerry's steak was medium rare as he had ordered it, but it was cold so he sent it back. When he found out that they would just throw it back on the grill and he realized it would not still be medium rare, he ordered liver and onions. The waitress left his baked potato so he would have something to eat while I was eating my pasta and then came and left a saucer w/ his liver and onions on it....my pasta was not good either. Oh well, it was filling and beat a 45 minutes drive to the nearest fine steakhouse. After dinner, in lieu of birthday cake we stopped at an ice cream place and I got a hot fudge sundae. THAT part was delicious. We sat outside and watched the clouds change color and ate our ice cream. We had a view of the town and it was very pleasant. After that it was back to the RV and bed. I did a bit of reading and played a couple of games on the computer as there is no internet here.....sigh...story of this trip.
All in all, it was a very memorable birthday!!! I bet I don't ever have one like that again! Luv you all and thanks for the birthday wishes.....Linda
Jerry had reserved a pontoon boat for the day and we had planned to spend the day on Banks Lake. You know us and water and boats!!! If it is there we will try to find a way to get on it...! However, the weather had other plans. We awoke to thunder and lightning and rain. Had breakfast in RV and since we have to turn in the RV on Friday decided to use this time to do some packing, cleaning, etc. Jerry decided to use the rain to his advantage to try and get a layer of topsoil off the outside of this vehicle. I went through stuff inside and tried to decide what I could get ready to pack, what I needed for the week of travel when we will be in the truck and just to basically get organized.
Around noon the weather let up and began to clear. We had a quick bite of lunch and then Jerry went over to see if we could still get the pontoon boat for a couple of hours. Of course they were more than happy to take our money so we headed out with the dogs. I confess I was not too excited about this trip just from basing the lake on what we could see from the campground and dam. Boy was I wrong! When we got around the bend from what we could see from the campground it was really pretty. There were lots and lots of islands/rock formations, etc. and the cliffs along the shores of the lake got really steep and high. It was great! We stopped at one island w/ a small sandy beach area and Jerry and the dogs climbed up on the rocks for a look-see and I waded into the water. It was so refreshing as it was not too cold. However it was kind of cool on the lake in the wind - maybe low 80s, high 70s so I did not stay in long. We were protected from the wind where we were. When we left, there were some other boats down the way and the kids on them were jumping off some fairly high rocks. We really enjoyed cruising through the rocks and around the islands.
After a couple hours, we headed back to the campground. We are going out for dinner at a local restaurant....supposed to be the best one around, but I that is all relative. We had to drive across the bridge towards where we had taken the dam tour yesterday afternoon....restaurant name was Melody's and it labeled itself as "fine dining" on the outside, but when we got inside, it was billed as a cafe. There were old worn formica tables, etc. and it definitely had a "diner" atmosphere. We had drinks and ordered our dinner. Jerry ordered prime rib, but she came back and said they were out of it, so he ordered a rib eye. I ordered a grilled chicken pasta w/ marinara sauce. When the food came, Jerry's steak was medium rare as he had ordered it, but it was cold so he sent it back. When he found out that they would just throw it back on the grill and he realized it would not still be medium rare, he ordered liver and onions. The waitress left his baked potato so he would have something to eat while I was eating my pasta and then came and left a saucer w/ his liver and onions on it....my pasta was not good either. Oh well, it was filling and beat a 45 minutes drive to the nearest fine steakhouse. After dinner, in lieu of birthday cake we stopped at an ice cream place and I got a hot fudge sundae. THAT part was delicious. We sat outside and watched the clouds change color and ate our ice cream. We had a view of the town and it was very pleasant. After that it was back to the RV and bed. I did a bit of reading and played a couple of games on the computer as there is no internet here.....sigh...story of this trip.
All in all, it was a very memorable birthday!!! I bet I don't ever have one like that again! Luv you all and thanks for the birthday wishes.....Linda
Monday, July 23, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Left Oroville heading south and took a back road at Tonasket. Stopped there for breakfast at Subway and as we were heading across this back road we saw one of the fires that is raging in the area. We had seen lots of smoke for a long time and we knew there were some fires close by. There were several homes along the way that could have been in the way of the fire, but hopefully they were spared. We did actually see flames at one point. The forest office in town was full of cars of firefighters, etc. and there were firetrucks and firemen around the houses closest to the fire. There were firefighting planes as well - tanker planes that scoop and carry water to drop on the fires.
Got to the town of Republic which is noted for its fossil beds. Went into one store/shop and we were fascinated by all the rocks and fossils on display. You could check out equipment and walk a short way up the hill to the fossil beds and dig your own. We did not take the time to do that, but we did enjoy our stop there. Then we headed down hwy. 21 an stopped briefly at a campground by a stream to let the dogs out. Drove on down hwy. to Keller Ferry to take it across Lake Roosevelt which is the lake created by Grand Coulee Dam. After getting off the ferry, we were definitely in Washington wheat country. There were miles and miles of wheat fields.
Drove on to the dam and found an RV park in Electric City on the shores of Banks Lake.....this is part of the Coulee project and this lake was dammed to be used for irrigation. Got into park about 4 p.m. and headed straight to dam. Got the last tour of the day at 5 p.m. and it was very interesting, but also a bit warm. Headed back to campground for a bite and then back to Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center for the laser light show they have every evening at 10 p.m. It was really neat....we got there about 9 and walked through the visitor center which is very very interesting. The light show is projected onto the face of the dam. Just before the light show, they start letting water come over the dam so the whole face of the dam is white w/ flowing water. The lights are then projected onto the water. It was pretty cool. I took some pix of that but they are a bit dark. Light show over at 10:45 and we headed back to RV park. Have pontoon boat reserved all day tomorrow.....
Got to the town of Republic which is noted for its fossil beds. Went into one store/shop and we were fascinated by all the rocks and fossils on display. You could check out equipment and walk a short way up the hill to the fossil beds and dig your own. We did not take the time to do that, but we did enjoy our stop there. Then we headed down hwy. 21 an stopped briefly at a campground by a stream to let the dogs out. Drove on down hwy. to Keller Ferry to take it across Lake Roosevelt which is the lake created by Grand Coulee Dam. After getting off the ferry, we were definitely in Washington wheat country. There were miles and miles of wheat fields.
Drove on to the dam and found an RV park in Electric City on the shores of Banks Lake.....this is part of the Coulee project and this lake was dammed to be used for irrigation. Got into park about 4 p.m. and headed straight to dam. Got the last tour of the day at 5 p.m. and it was very interesting, but also a bit warm. Headed back to campground for a bite and then back to Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center for the laser light show they have every evening at 10 p.m. It was really neat....we got there about 9 and walked through the visitor center which is very very interesting. The light show is projected onto the face of the dam. Just before the light show, they start letting water come over the dam so the whole face of the dam is white w/ flowing water. The lights are then projected onto the water. It was pretty cool. I took some pix of that but they are a bit dark. Light show over at 10:45 and we headed back to RV park. Have pontoon boat reserved all day tomorrow.....
Monday, July 16, 2007
Left Kamloops about 9:30. Headed into wine country and I wanted to stop at a winery. Stopped at Larch Hills Winery at Salmon Arm. It is a small winery that makes wines from grapes grown in B.C. They have a couple of wines that are made solely from grapes grown on this property, but the other wines they make use a variety of grapes from B.C. We got to taste several varieties of wine and then bought several bottles to bring back. I enjoyed the morning, but Jerry not too wound up about going to wineries.
The road followed several lakes, many of which are MILES long...one was over 60 miles long.
Went thru Kelowna and although it was frustrating b/c of traffic, it is located on Okangan Lake and it was a very pretty drive. We can tell we are getting back to civilization b/c the lakes now have houses and developments along the shores.
We evidently were driving through the fruit basket of Canada as there were orchards and fruit stands everywhere. It is the height of cherry season so we stopped at one of the markets and I got a cantaloupe and some cherries. They were all good!!! Lots of apricots, plums, cherries and blueberries. We were on Hwy 97 South, headed for U.S.
I didn't realize how accustomed we had gotten to no traffic and no people on the roads until we got to this part of the country. Seems like there are people everywhere and cars, cars, cars....
Got to border and stopped at duty free shop. Got one more bottle of wine and a couple of boxes of maple filled cookies that we love! Patti and Gene Snipes acquainted us w/ those a couple of years ago.
Drove 221 miles today and crossed the border about 5:30 p.m. HOORAY!!!! BACK IN THE USA!!! Crossing here was a bit more involved....had to pull over and 2 customs agents came in the RV to get our citrus fruit and check for other stuff.....let us go on some wine stuff - I had gotten too much to bring back legally....oh well...was pretty close so they let us off on that one. It was good to be back.....whipped out the cell phones and started calling folks....
Found RV park right there in Oroville WA which is right at the border. A nice RV park on the river w/ full hook ups for only $18/nite. Jerry walked dogs and went to do a load of laundry while I did some stuff in RV.
The road followed several lakes, many of which are MILES long...one was over 60 miles long.
Went thru Kelowna and although it was frustrating b/c of traffic, it is located on Okangan Lake and it was a very pretty drive. We can tell we are getting back to civilization b/c the lakes now have houses and developments along the shores.
We evidently were driving through the fruit basket of Canada as there were orchards and fruit stands everywhere. It is the height of cherry season so we stopped at one of the markets and I got a cantaloupe and some cherries. They were all good!!! Lots of apricots, plums, cherries and blueberries. We were on Hwy 97 South, headed for U.S.
I didn't realize how accustomed we had gotten to no traffic and no people on the roads until we got to this part of the country. Seems like there are people everywhere and cars, cars, cars....
Got to border and stopped at duty free shop. Got one more bottle of wine and a couple of boxes of maple filled cookies that we love! Patti and Gene Snipes acquainted us w/ those a couple of years ago.
Drove 221 miles today and crossed the border about 5:30 p.m. HOORAY!!!! BACK IN THE USA!!! Crossing here was a bit more involved....had to pull over and 2 customs agents came in the RV to get our citrus fruit and check for other stuff.....let us go on some wine stuff - I had gotten too much to bring back legally....oh well...was pretty close so they let us off on that one. It was good to be back.....whipped out the cell phones and started calling folks....
Found RV park right there in Oroville WA which is right at the border. A nice RV park on the river w/ full hook ups for only $18/nite. Jerry walked dogs and went to do a load of laundry while I did some stuff in RV.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
We were both tired from yesterday's 5 1/2 mile walk so we were kind of lazy this a.m. I think I must have been really tired as I was in a grouchy mood and certainly in no mood to see anything else. I think I must be homesick....at one point the RV was closing in on me and I thought if I saw one more waterfall, glacier, river, mountain, tree, bear or moose it would be too much...However I am glad I got over it, because the sights today were really pretty. We left RV park about 9:30 or 10 and went into Clearwater for breakfast. Clearwater is the site of the Wells-Gray Provincial Park. We drove into the park which is noted for its gorgeous waterfalls. First stopped at Spahats Falls which was pretty....a short walk from the parking lot and the falls are narrow but drop about 250 ft. into this canyon...
The second falls we stopped at was Helmcken Falls and that is probably the prettiest waterfall I have ever seen. The drop is 141 metres which is about 450 ft. Although not a very wide falls, it was really spectacular.....the canyon wall was carved out behind the falls and the splashes of water as they cascaded over the edge was really pretty.....We spent quite a bit of time there and walked along the edge of the cliffs looking a the river below.
We then drove on to Clearwater Lake (since we have a Clearwater Lake in Piedmont) although we did not get a really good view of the lake. I did not get a pix of the lake but I did of the sign. We then stopped at Dawson Falls which is called the Niagara of Canada...it is a very wide falls, but not a huge drop. Each falls had its own personality and characteristics. All in all it was a very enjoyable day.
Continued driving on to Kamloops and it was an interesting drive. By the time we reached Kamloops we were getting more into a desert like environment. We followed the North Thompson River the whole way. It was an interesting drive.
Found a place at Kamloops River View RV Park and had view of river and bluffs across the way. It was a nice place but no internet connection....sigh...the story of this trip!
The second falls we stopped at was Helmcken Falls and that is probably the prettiest waterfall I have ever seen. The drop is 141 metres which is about 450 ft. Although not a very wide falls, it was really spectacular.....the canyon wall was carved out behind the falls and the splashes of water as they cascaded over the edge was really pretty.....We spent quite a bit of time there and walked along the edge of the cliffs looking a the river below.
We then drove on to Clearwater Lake (since we have a Clearwater Lake in Piedmont) although we did not get a really good view of the lake. I did not get a pix of the lake but I did of the sign. We then stopped at Dawson Falls which is called the Niagara of Canada...it is a very wide falls, but not a huge drop. Each falls had its own personality and characteristics. All in all it was a very enjoyable day.
Continued driving on to Kamloops and it was an interesting drive. By the time we reached Kamloops we were getting more into a desert like environment. We followed the North Thompson River the whole way. It was an interesting drive.
Found a place at Kamloops River View RV Park and had view of river and bluffs across the way. It was a nice place but no internet connection....sigh...the story of this trip!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Up early and let dogs run again in the pasture. I got my long pants on and walked out there with them. They both really enjoyed the freedom of it. Gabby had her nose to the ground and kind of went far afield. We tried calling her, but she didn't respond so we started walking back. When she looked up and checked on us and saw us walking away, she came bounding through the weeds....it was funny...Kudzu had already done the same thing altho he did not get quite so far away.....we worry a bit more about him b/c he is getting so hard of hearing. After the run and breakfast we decided to backtrack a bit and headed back up to Robson Provincial Park in B.C.
At the visitor center, the walk to Kinney Lake had been highly recommended so when we got to the park we checked it out and decided to walk it...supposed to be fairly level...150 meter elevation gain which is not bad. Picked up a couple of Snickers and water for the trail....turned out to be 4.5 km walk which is about 2.5 miles (one way). I almost gave up on it....the walk was nice as it followed the river up to the lake. Where the trail was close to the river, it was very cool. Other parts of it were kind of hot. The lake itself was very pretty, but again the water was high and we had to either wade or make our way around rocks, etc. when the trail was submerged. The lake itself was very pretty and at the base of Mt. Robson. A beautiful setting....There were lots of big trees along the trail....cedars, hemlock and spruce....and lots of bit logs in the river. The good thing about Canadian parks is that you can take your dogs with you as long as they are leashed. Gabby and Kudzu enjoyed the walk I think - however they were tired when we were done....
We finally made it back...I was exhausted!!! On the road on the way out we saw a black bear cross the road. I was in the back of the RV so I just saw the bear and did not have a chance to get a pix....Jerry said she had 3 cubs w/ her and I did not get to see them at all...
Continued driving down the highway to Birch Island B.C. and Birch Island RV park....kind of a rundown place, but they had water and electric although I did not trust the water as there was a boil water notice posted there. The camp host said the problem had been corrected but the sign was still there....Got to camp about 7 p.m. and I was so tired I never even got out of the RV.
At the visitor center, the walk to Kinney Lake had been highly recommended so when we got to the park we checked it out and decided to walk it...supposed to be fairly level...150 meter elevation gain which is not bad. Picked up a couple of Snickers and water for the trail....turned out to be 4.5 km walk which is about 2.5 miles (one way). I almost gave up on it....the walk was nice as it followed the river up to the lake. Where the trail was close to the river, it was very cool. Other parts of it were kind of hot. The lake itself was very pretty, but again the water was high and we had to either wade or make our way around rocks, etc. when the trail was submerged. The lake itself was very pretty and at the base of Mt. Robson. A beautiful setting....There were lots of big trees along the trail....cedars, hemlock and spruce....and lots of bit logs in the river. The good thing about Canadian parks is that you can take your dogs with you as long as they are leashed. Gabby and Kudzu enjoyed the walk I think - however they were tired when we were done....
We finally made it back...I was exhausted!!! On the road on the way out we saw a black bear cross the road. I was in the back of the RV so I just saw the bear and did not have a chance to get a pix....Jerry said she had 3 cubs w/ her and I did not get to see them at all...
Continued driving down the highway to Birch Island B.C. and Birch Island RV park....kind of a rundown place, but they had water and electric although I did not trust the water as there was a boil water notice posted there. The camp host said the problem had been corrected but the sign was still there....Got to camp about 7 p.m. and I was so tired I never even got out of the RV.
Friday, July 13, 2007
A sad day today....we say good-bye to our traveling companions Frank and Barb....we have had so much fun together and so many laughs and many great memories....hate to part w/ good company but they need to get back to Olympia, WA to help out w/ some grandkids and we have to get back to Spokane by the 20th to get RV back.
We are headed down Hwy 16 south on the west side of the Canadian Rockies. First part of day not too scenic till we reached the mountains. Then it was GREAT! Went to Rearguard Falls which is as far East as the salmon run....pretty amazing at that....it is pretty far inland. It is a beautiful waterfall. We watched some rafters going down the river and they had portaged around the falls so we got to watch them lower the raft into the river (quite interesting as the raft had to be lowered about 50 or more feet). I bet it was a great trip....Has really warmed up too...about 90 today.
Found RV park at Valemount (Canoe RV Park) and got a site....first site was too sunny so moved...however 2nd site only had 15 amp hookup and running a/c kept blowing it....so we moved back to the first site w/ 30 amp hookup....I had headache and took a nap for a couple of hours and felt better. Had some leftovers for dinner.
Dogs have really slowed down since it has gotten hot....they were full of energy in the cool weather....Jerry took dogs out for a run in the pasture next to the campground. It was also right at the river which was running full and fast....in fact we have seen evidence of lots of flooding and high water in B.C. Some of the highways were closed when we were on our way up.
Walked down to camp showers to check them out but decided against it...I walked into the ladies shower and there was a husband and wife in there ---they were German I think, but I didn't feel like sharing w/ men....will just shower in RV. More later....
We are headed down Hwy 16 south on the west side of the Canadian Rockies. First part of day not too scenic till we reached the mountains. Then it was GREAT! Went to Rearguard Falls which is as far East as the salmon run....pretty amazing at that....it is pretty far inland. It is a beautiful waterfall. We watched some rafters going down the river and they had portaged around the falls so we got to watch them lower the raft into the river (quite interesting as the raft had to be lowered about 50 or more feet). I bet it was a great trip....Has really warmed up too...about 90 today.
Found RV park at Valemount (Canoe RV Park) and got a site....first site was too sunny so moved...however 2nd site only had 15 amp hookup and running a/c kept blowing it....so we moved back to the first site w/ 30 amp hookup....I had headache and took a nap for a couple of hours and felt better. Had some leftovers for dinner.
Dogs have really slowed down since it has gotten hot....they were full of energy in the cool weather....Jerry took dogs out for a run in the pasture next to the campground. It was also right at the river which was running full and fast....in fact we have seen evidence of lots of flooding and high water in B.C. Some of the highways were closed when we were on our way up.
Walked down to camp showers to check them out but decided against it...I walked into the ladies shower and there was a husband and wife in there ---they were German I think, but I didn't feel like sharing w/ men....will just shower in RV. More later....
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Heading to Prince George today.....should be a short driving day. In fact we were in the RV park by 11 a.m. The drive was through farmland and not much fantastic scenery although it was a pretty drive...just not as spectacular as we have become accustomed to...They are in the middle of a horrible pine beetle infestation in B.C. and we have seen at least 100 miles of mountains that are full of dead pine trees. The spruce appeared to be faring better, but it is really sad about the pines. In fact we saw one place that was had been planted in pine trees about 15 years ago and the whole plantation was infested w/ pine beetle....Really a shame...
We stayed at Southpark RV camp and it was OK....a bit further off the hwy. than we thought. We got set up and Frank and Jerry did a bit of work on his RV...something about the steering adjustment....(have pix of the 2 of them under the RV together....how sweet!) Took them 3 times to get it right....Frank had to drive it to see if it was right so they took the RV for a couple of spins around the park...went the wrong way the first time and the campground host (actually the campground nazi as we referred to him) had a fit....did have internet and did a bit of catching up on blog and email....
This is our last nite w/ Graingers - :(((( - we have really had a great time traveling w/ them...We fixed pork tenderloin, sweet potatoes and cauliflower.....
Having the paper bag mask passed to me by Lorna has been "weighing"on me HA...kind of talked around it and decided to pass it on....Lorna had signed it, so I signed it and passed it on to Barb who will be the keeper of the mask until she finds someone worthy of passing it on to...has to be someone a bit crazy and have the right personality. I think I am going to start a blog site that we can post on the mask and hopefully everyone who gets it will go to the site and give the details on when and where it was passed on....I plan to confer w/ John on this when he comes in for the float trip in MO to see the best way to set this up....Barb will hang on to the mask until I get this set up...since they are full time it will be easier for her to pass it on...maybe it will be fun to check on....Not just anybody can be an "RV Bag Lady!"
Jerry went down and did the laundry while I did some major catching up on the blog.....have not been able to load pix or even get on line in a while. Kind of a down and catch up day to get some stuff done, etc....
We stayed at Southpark RV camp and it was OK....a bit further off the hwy. than we thought. We got set up and Frank and Jerry did a bit of work on his RV...something about the steering adjustment....(have pix of the 2 of them under the RV together....how sweet!) Took them 3 times to get it right....Frank had to drive it to see if it was right so they took the RV for a couple of spins around the park...went the wrong way the first time and the campground host (actually the campground nazi as we referred to him) had a fit....did have internet and did a bit of catching up on blog and email....
This is our last nite w/ Graingers - :(((( - we have really had a great time traveling w/ them...We fixed pork tenderloin, sweet potatoes and cauliflower.....
Having the paper bag mask passed to me by Lorna has been "weighing"on me HA...kind of talked around it and decided to pass it on....Lorna had signed it, so I signed it and passed it on to Barb who will be the keeper of the mask until she finds someone worthy of passing it on to...has to be someone a bit crazy and have the right personality. I think I am going to start a blog site that we can post on the mask and hopefully everyone who gets it will go to the site and give the details on when and where it was passed on....I plan to confer w/ John on this when he comes in for the float trip in MO to see the best way to set this up....Barb will hang on to the mask until I get this set up...since they are full time it will be easier for her to pass it on...maybe it will be fun to check on....Not just anybody can be an "RV Bag Lady!"
Jerry went down and did the laundry while I did some major catching up on the blog.....have not been able to load pix or even get on line in a while. Kind of a down and catch up day to get some stuff done, etc....
Monday, July 16, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Usual morning routine. As we were getting ready to leave, we decided we wanted pix of Lorna and the passing of the mask (I will post). She signed it and put email address on it. After we got in RV, we got idea of passing mask on to other RV women. So, the plan is to create another blog site where you can go when the mask is passed and log in as to when and where you got the mask. Hopefully everyone who gets the mask will post the details. Will be interesting to see how far it will go.
As we got started this a.m., we went for gas and ran into the campground owner. He recommended a couple of scenic spots and Jerry and I decided to go see them. Frank and Barb went on as they had spent a couple of nights in Kitwanga waiting for us and had "done" the town. We couldn't find the hilltop scenic spot he told us about, but did drive through the town and saw some neat totem poles and a wonderful little Anglican Church. Took lots of pix of those.
Kitwanga is surrounded by mountains that have snow on them and are just beautiful. It is a really pretty setting. All the rivers are full to overflowing (there were sandbags around some of the houses on the river) and pretty muddy. The drive itself was great.....however there is horrible infestation of mountain pine beetle here and over 75 million hectares have been killed off....you can see brown hillsides for miles and miles and miles. It is really sad.
Did a stop in Smithers and I picked up a few things at Safeway then on to Moricetown at the canyon and falls there. It was nice, then on to Houston where the world's largest fly rod is on display - over 60 ft. tall. That was unique and Graingers were waiting on us there. Went across to A&W and they all had root beer floats while I had a chicken sandwich meal as it was about 1 p.m and I had had nothing to eat yet today.
This highway (called the Yellowhead Highway) is noted for its lakes and rivers. There is lots of fishing here also. We were looking for RV park to stop for the night and they are few and far between....most towns didn't even have RV park that we found. Finally stopped at one on Lake Fraser - Piper's Glen. It was on the lake and had great views.
There were also boats for rent there. We had an early dinner, then Jerry went to see about renting a boat. We did and got in a 14 ft. aluminum boat w/ an 8 hp motor. Took the dogs and headed out....Jerry headed directly across the lake (did I mention that this lake is MILES long??? It is a really big lake). We made it fine, explored the far shore a bit, then went and saw this little town where kids were jumping off the bridge over the river that was the exit from this lake. Spent a couple of hours on the lake and then back to RV park. Barb and Frank declined to join us, which probably was wise as it was a very small boat. No internet tonite, so games on the computer and a bit of reading, then to bed.
As we got started this a.m., we went for gas and ran into the campground owner. He recommended a couple of scenic spots and Jerry and I decided to go see them. Frank and Barb went on as they had spent a couple of nights in Kitwanga waiting for us and had "done" the town. We couldn't find the hilltop scenic spot he told us about, but did drive through the town and saw some neat totem poles and a wonderful little Anglican Church. Took lots of pix of those.
Kitwanga is surrounded by mountains that have snow on them and are just beautiful. It is a really pretty setting. All the rivers are full to overflowing (there were sandbags around some of the houses on the river) and pretty muddy. The drive itself was great.....however there is horrible infestation of mountain pine beetle here and over 75 million hectares have been killed off....you can see brown hillsides for miles and miles and miles. It is really sad.
Did a stop in Smithers and I picked up a few things at Safeway then on to Moricetown at the canyon and falls there. It was nice, then on to Houston where the world's largest fly rod is on display - over 60 ft. tall. That was unique and Graingers were waiting on us there. Went across to A&W and they all had root beer floats while I had a chicken sandwich meal as it was about 1 p.m and I had had nothing to eat yet today.
This highway (called the Yellowhead Highway) is noted for its lakes and rivers. There is lots of fishing here also. We were looking for RV park to stop for the night and they are few and far between....most towns didn't even have RV park that we found. Finally stopped at one on Lake Fraser - Piper's Glen. It was on the lake and had great views.
There were also boats for rent there. We had an early dinner, then Jerry went to see about renting a boat. We did and got in a 14 ft. aluminum boat w/ an 8 hp motor. Took the dogs and headed out....Jerry headed directly across the lake (did I mention that this lake is MILES long??? It is a really big lake). We made it fine, explored the far shore a bit, then went and saw this little town where kids were jumping off the bridge over the river that was the exit from this lake. Spent a couple of hours on the lake and then back to RV park. Barb and Frank declined to join us, which probably was wise as it was a very small boat. No internet tonite, so games on the computer and a bit of reading, then to bed.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Up early this a.m. and sad to leave this place. We loved it here. Since we were dry camping (no water, electric or sewer hook-ups) it was a breeze to leave....I just had to stow all the stuff that would get bounced off counters, etc. and we were ready. I kind of have that down pat now, but sometimes I do forget to put some things in the sink and then have to get up and scramble to collect them from the floor when they get bounced off. It was raining and had rained during the night. That was good news and bad news.
We headed for Kitwanga, B.C. to meet the Graingers who were waiting for us there. It is about 350 miles to Kitwanga so we had some driving to do today. First there was the 15 or so miles of dirt road between the campground and Dease Lake where we stayed Sat. p.m. THEN, after Dease Lake, there were MILES of road construction - dirt, gravel, pitted asphalt - yuck! and ROUGH??? Did I mention good news/bad news????
We stopped to fill up w/ gas at Dease Lake and Jerry cleaned the windows, including the rear window. About halfway through the construction, the back window was so muddy you couldn't see out of it. I took a picture, but it had started raining so it had washed some of it away - at least there were streaks through the mud. The good news part of this is that there was no dust - the dust would have been stifling!!!! The bad news is that the RV is now a mud bug. There is dirt coated on the door handles and Jerry had trouble opening some of the outside compartments b/c it was so caked w/ mud.
We saw 4 black bears along the road - got a pix of one. At one point the road was so rough an RV in front of us and another car lost his hubcap. We were in a follow-the-lead car situation, but we stopped and picked it up. The guy pulled out at a viewpoint and we followed him and reunited him with his hubcap. A good deed for the day....
The Cassiar Highway is noted for being rough and muddy and it was for sure!!! We were certainly glad to see the Cassiar RV park and our friends Frank and Barb! Of course he had already cleaned their RV and car....I don't know how many times he has washed the car and RV already on this trip, but I don't think he is done yet.....
Met RV neighbors from Eureka CA. Lorna and John Petersen. Lorna is a reluctant road queen also. She was scared of riding in their bus - before she left, her friends made her a mask out of a paper bag that she could wear when things got too scary. Of course we all stood around and traded stories....I told her I was also a bit reluctant to sign on for such a long trip. Later on, about 9:30, I was at the computer and she came and knocked on the RV. She wanted me to have the mask. We got a big laugh out of it - it is a paper bag w/ a face drawn on it.
Finally got to bed and more later.....
We headed for Kitwanga, B.C. to meet the Graingers who were waiting for us there. It is about 350 miles to Kitwanga so we had some driving to do today. First there was the 15 or so miles of dirt road between the campground and Dease Lake where we stayed Sat. p.m. THEN, after Dease Lake, there were MILES of road construction - dirt, gravel, pitted asphalt - yuck! and ROUGH??? Did I mention good news/bad news????
We stopped to fill up w/ gas at Dease Lake and Jerry cleaned the windows, including the rear window. About halfway through the construction, the back window was so muddy you couldn't see out of it. I took a picture, but it had started raining so it had washed some of it away - at least there were streaks through the mud. The good news part of this is that there was no dust - the dust would have been stifling!!!! The bad news is that the RV is now a mud bug. There is dirt coated on the door handles and Jerry had trouble opening some of the outside compartments b/c it was so caked w/ mud.
We saw 4 black bears along the road - got a pix of one. At one point the road was so rough an RV in front of us and another car lost his hubcap. We were in a follow-the-lead car situation, but we stopped and picked it up. The guy pulled out at a viewpoint and we followed him and reunited him with his hubcap. A good deed for the day....
The Cassiar Highway is noted for being rough and muddy and it was for sure!!! We were certainly glad to see the Cassiar RV park and our friends Frank and Barb! Of course he had already cleaned their RV and car....I don't know how many times he has washed the car and RV already on this trip, but I don't think he is done yet.....
Met RV neighbors from Eureka CA. Lorna and John Petersen. Lorna is a reluctant road queen also. She was scared of riding in their bus - before she left, her friends made her a mask out of a paper bag that she could wear when things got too scary. Of course we all stood around and traded stories....I told her I was also a bit reluctant to sign on for such a long trip. Later on, about 9:30, I was at the computer and she came and knocked on the RV. She wanted me to have the mask. We got a big laugh out of it - it is a paper bag w/ a face drawn on it.
Finally got to bed and more later.....
Monday, July 9, 2007
So, I said yes to this 7 hour canoe trip today....It was beautiful and the first part of the trip was fabulous! Dennis took us to the put in spot about 10 a.m. The put in was just below Dease Lake and the campground was several miles away by road and lots more by twisty river. I figured this was my best chance to see a grizzly and Bullwinkle! HA!!! They don't exist! They are all figments! Shortly after we got started on the canoe trip we passed a sand bar and there were BIG bear tracks in the sand, but by the time I realized what they were we were past it and I did not get a picture.....of course I was still thinking I would see the real thing along the river.....
At that point the river was running fast but no rapids. I didn't have to paddle at all and all Jerry had to do basically was to steer and keep us out of trouble. The river was gorgeous and it was a great day. Then we got to the wider part of the river.....and that means SLOW water, little current.....I was perfectly content to let Jerry paddle but then I had to paddle as well or we never would have gotten back. Just before camp the river widened into a lake and we had to paddle across that....thank goodness for the wind at our backs...a headwind would have been a killer. We finally made it back to camp about 5 p.m.
Total wildlife sightings on this trip....2 female moose butts as they were running away, 3 eagles feasting on the carcass of a moose, some ducks I will have to ID when we get back to MO and I can look them up (they had babies too!) and 1 loon on the lake we paddled across.
We were exhausted when we got back to camp....the dogs were REALLY glad to see us. We had decided to leave them in RV - we did not want to risk upsetting the canoe should the dogs see a moose or a bear and get excited. Kudzu probably would not have been much of a problem, but Gabby gets pretty excited at anything with 4 legs and she is enough to unbalance a canoe.
Jerry took the canoe and the dogs and paddled down the lake we were on to an old goldminer's cabin and a waterfall. He did not get to the waterfall, but did have a bit of a scare when he landed the canoe - Gabby started barking and just took off. He was worried she wouldn't come back, but fortunately for her little fuzzy gray fanny she did. The wind also cam up while he was out and he had to paddle back against the wind. I was beginning to get a bit worried and was looking for them out of the RV w/ binoculars, but didn't see them as he had to hug the shoreline b/c of the headwind.
Jerry built another campfire tonite and we enjoyed that until it started raining and chased us inside. We LOVE this campground....Dennis and Lana are great and the location is fabulous!!! Even dry camping, we loved it....could stay here a lot longer and both of us feel this could be a destination. We were more than ready for bed tonite!!!
At that point the river was running fast but no rapids. I didn't have to paddle at all and all Jerry had to do basically was to steer and keep us out of trouble. The river was gorgeous and it was a great day. Then we got to the wider part of the river.....and that means SLOW water, little current.....I was perfectly content to let Jerry paddle but then I had to paddle as well or we never would have gotten back. Just before camp the river widened into a lake and we had to paddle across that....thank goodness for the wind at our backs...a headwind would have been a killer. We finally made it back to camp about 5 p.m.
Total wildlife sightings on this trip....2 female moose butts as they were running away, 3 eagles feasting on the carcass of a moose, some ducks I will have to ID when we get back to MO and I can look them up (they had babies too!) and 1 loon on the lake we paddled across.
We were exhausted when we got back to camp....the dogs were REALLY glad to see us. We had decided to leave them in RV - we did not want to risk upsetting the canoe should the dogs see a moose or a bear and get excited. Kudzu probably would not have been much of a problem, but Gabby gets pretty excited at anything with 4 legs and she is enough to unbalance a canoe.
Jerry took the canoe and the dogs and paddled down the lake we were on to an old goldminer's cabin and a waterfall. He did not get to the waterfall, but did have a bit of a scare when he landed the canoe - Gabby started barking and just took off. He was worried she wouldn't come back, but fortunately for her little fuzzy gray fanny she did. The wind also cam up while he was out and he had to paddle back against the wind. I was beginning to get a bit worried and was looking for them out of the RV w/ binoculars, but didn't see them as he had to hug the shoreline b/c of the headwind.
Jerry built another campfire tonite and we enjoyed that until it started raining and chased us inside. We LOVE this campground....Dennis and Lana are great and the location is fabulous!!! Even dry camping, we loved it....could stay here a lot longer and both of us feel this could be a destination. We were more than ready for bed tonite!!!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Jerry and I decided we wanted to go back to the Dease River campground we had seen on the way in. It is about 40 miles backtracking, but we felt it was worth it. Graingers decided to push on and not go back so they were going to take a couple of easy days waiting for us to catch up. Our plan is to spend 2 nites there.
Jerry had called and they had non-denominational church service at 10:30 followed by a pot luck dinner. We didn't make the church service, but did make the dinner. Met some wonderful folks. The owners, Dennis and Lana Bieber are retired dairy farmers from Wisconsin and stay and run the campground until winter. They had bought it about 8 years ago. Really neat people. Then we met Judy and Joe, their friends who they met through the campground and have come back ever since and now help them with things around there. We really enjoyed talking to everyone at the potluck dinner. In spite of the lack of hookups, etc, this is a most impressive place.
After the dinner, Jerry and I decided to take a relatively short canoe trip. We started at the campground and Dennis would leave a truck at the end of the trip. The trip would take about 4 hours and he said we should see a few moose along the way. We left the dogs as we were a bit unsure of their reaction to moose and wild animals and did not want to be dunked in the water if they got too excited. We saw 10 moose (all female) and one calf. No Bullwinkle! One of them was in the middle of the river at least shoulder deep and just diving for the stuff on the bottom. Jerry says no wonder they are so ugly.....look at what they eat!
The take out place was at a guy's cabin (also named Jerry) and he had a wonderful dog named Tinker. He came out and talked to us and showed us his garden and talked about the area. He has been there for 45 years! Dennis had left the key to his truck for us and we drove back to the campground. Very trusting people. When we pulled in, they said just pick a place and we could pay when we left. It is pretty cool here also. We had a campfire tonite and it was great although there are lots of mosquitoes. Thank goodness for Deep Woods OFF!!! I fixed a coffee w/ Kahlua and milk to drink by the fire. We sat out and watched it until it burned down.
We also watched a guy fishing down the way and he caught a nice lake trout and a couple of other fish. Still haven't fished yet. I said yes to the longer canoe trip tomorrow so Jerry made the arrangements w/ Dennis. He is having truck problems and is planning to take it into the town of Dease Lake tomorrow anyway and this is on his way.
Will definitely sleep under blankets tonite...it is cold outside. I had on a tshirt, sweatshirt and fleece and was not overly warm!
Jerry had called and they had non-denominational church service at 10:30 followed by a pot luck dinner. We didn't make the church service, but did make the dinner. Met some wonderful folks. The owners, Dennis and Lana Bieber are retired dairy farmers from Wisconsin and stay and run the campground until winter. They had bought it about 8 years ago. Really neat people. Then we met Judy and Joe, their friends who they met through the campground and have come back ever since and now help them with things around there. We really enjoyed talking to everyone at the potluck dinner. In spite of the lack of hookups, etc, this is a most impressive place.
After the dinner, Jerry and I decided to take a relatively short canoe trip. We started at the campground and Dennis would leave a truck at the end of the trip. The trip would take about 4 hours and he said we should see a few moose along the way. We left the dogs as we were a bit unsure of their reaction to moose and wild animals and did not want to be dunked in the water if they got too excited. We saw 10 moose (all female) and one calf. No Bullwinkle! One of them was in the middle of the river at least shoulder deep and just diving for the stuff on the bottom. Jerry says no wonder they are so ugly.....look at what they eat!
The take out place was at a guy's cabin (also named Jerry) and he had a wonderful dog named Tinker. He came out and talked to us and showed us his garden and talked about the area. He has been there for 45 years! Dennis had left the key to his truck for us and we drove back to the campground. Very trusting people. When we pulled in, they said just pick a place and we could pay when we left. It is pretty cool here also. We had a campfire tonite and it was great although there are lots of mosquitoes. Thank goodness for Deep Woods OFF!!! I fixed a coffee w/ Kahlua and milk to drink by the fire. We sat out and watched it until it burned down.
We also watched a guy fishing down the way and he caught a nice lake trout and a couple of other fish. Still haven't fished yet. I said yes to the longer canoe trip tomorrow so Jerry made the arrangements w/ Dennis. He is having truck problems and is planning to take it into the town of Dease Lake tomorrow anyway and this is on his way.
Will definitely sleep under blankets tonite...it is cold outside. I had on a tshirt, sweatshirt and fleece and was not overly warm!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Up early as Jerry and I were headed into Watson Lake to revisit the Signpost Forest since I lost the pix of us putting up our sign. It is only 22 miles down the road. Barb and Frank not sure if they were going to wait on us or not and if not, we would catch up with them along the road.
We got to Signpost Forest, found our sign and got the pix made. It is still a very fascinating place and I could spend hours there wandering through all the poles and looking at the signs. On the highway side close to the entrance there was a pole that had a Tupelo MS sign on the top and a Gulfport Ms sign on the bottom. I thought that was interesting. I was also fascinated by all the stuff that people have used to make their signs including a toilet seat, hard hat and toaster. We also looked in a couple of shops for Jerry's hat...he found one and got it, but not exactly what he wanted. I looked for some t-shirts as well.
Met a guy who was on his way to go salmon fishing....he was interesting to talk to. Had a pickup truck camper on a flatbed truck and the space underneath he had a freezer to put his fish in. He was planning on staying several weeks to fish in Soldotna. He comes up regularly for the fishing.
Back in RV and headed back down the road. We had heard lots of horror stories about the Cassiar Hwy. and how bad it is. It is pretty bad, but so is the Al-Can in places also. They said the worst part was the part we drove first. It was pretty bad - lots of dirt and gravel parts and LOTS of construction.
One of the major stops along this road is Jade City. Over 75% of the jade in the world is mined close to here. We caught up with the Graingers there and they had gotten some jewelry and other stuff. I picked up a couple of items, but that was it. I really liked the chunks of jade that were outside and I should have gotten one or two for bookends. They were very pretty. Frank and Barb drove on as they had been there a while and again we would catch up w/ them later.
As we drove on down the highway we were beginning to look for an RV place where they might have stopped and came upon Dease River Campground. What a GORGEOUS place! However, no Frank and Barb...they had gone on to Dease Lake campground which did not have the setting or ambience of the other place. However, the other place had no hook-ups at all so it was strictly dry camping.
Went to the store to pick up a couple of items and drove back down the road to check out a campground supposedly on the lake. It had no hook-ups either and only 15 sites and was not especially what it was advertised. Back to the RV park and bed.
We got to Signpost Forest, found our sign and got the pix made. It is still a very fascinating place and I could spend hours there wandering through all the poles and looking at the signs. On the highway side close to the entrance there was a pole that had a Tupelo MS sign on the top and a Gulfport Ms sign on the bottom. I thought that was interesting. I was also fascinated by all the stuff that people have used to make their signs including a toilet seat, hard hat and toaster. We also looked in a couple of shops for Jerry's hat...he found one and got it, but not exactly what he wanted. I looked for some t-shirts as well.
Met a guy who was on his way to go salmon fishing....he was interesting to talk to. Had a pickup truck camper on a flatbed truck and the space underneath he had a freezer to put his fish in. He was planning on staying several weeks to fish in Soldotna. He comes up regularly for the fishing.
Back in RV and headed back down the road. We had heard lots of horror stories about the Cassiar Hwy. and how bad it is. It is pretty bad, but so is the Al-Can in places also. They said the worst part was the part we drove first. It was pretty bad - lots of dirt and gravel parts and LOTS of construction.
One of the major stops along this road is Jade City. Over 75% of the jade in the world is mined close to here. We caught up with the Graingers there and they had gotten some jewelry and other stuff. I picked up a couple of items, but that was it. I really liked the chunks of jade that were outside and I should have gotten one or two for bookends. They were very pretty. Frank and Barb drove on as they had been there a while and again we would catch up w/ them later.
As we drove on down the highway we were beginning to look for an RV place where they might have stopped and came upon Dease River Campground. What a GORGEOUS place! However, no Frank and Barb...they had gone on to Dease Lake campground which did not have the setting or ambience of the other place. However, the other place had no hook-ups at all so it was strictly dry camping.
Went to the store to pick up a couple of items and drove back down the road to check out a campground supposedly on the lake. It had no hook-ups either and only 15 sites and was not especially what it was advertised. Back to the RV park and bed.
Friday, July 6, 2007
After breakfast, Jerry and I hung around Whitehorse as he wanted to look for his Al-Can Highway hat so we kind of took our time this a.m. waiting for the shops to open. I actually passed on the shopping!!!!! But then I did go into an art gallery and was fascinated. I got a couple of pieces of pottery that I thought were very interesting. Also went to Canada Superstore and stocked up on fruit, veggies, and other groceries.
We went down to the S.S. Klondike ship (see earlier post) and had a sandwich at the picnic tables there. Met an interesting couple who were from the area and had bought a ghost town at one time. They were very interesting to talk to. After lunch we hit the road to catch up w/ Frank and Barb who had gone on this a.m. Destination today is the highway junction at Hwy. 37 which is the Cassiar Hwy. It is very close to Watson Lake where the sign post forest is.
We finally arrived and the campground looked like it was on its last legs. Did some laundry, etc. and discussed plans for tomorrow's drive to Dease Lake.
Jerry and Barb got into a discussion about the song "Green Door" which Barb just happened to have on her iPod. Neither could remember the words so when she found the song she played it and the picture is of Jerry singing and jiving to a blast from the past.
We went down to the S.S. Klondike ship (see earlier post) and had a sandwich at the picnic tables there. Met an interesting couple who were from the area and had bought a ghost town at one time. They were very interesting to talk to. After lunch we hit the road to catch up w/ Frank and Barb who had gone on this a.m. Destination today is the highway junction at Hwy. 37 which is the Cassiar Hwy. It is very close to Watson Lake where the sign post forest is.
We finally arrived and the campground looked like it was on its last legs. Did some laundry, etc. and discussed plans for tomorrow's drive to Dease Lake.
Jerry and Barb got into a discussion about the song "Green Door" which Barb just happened to have on her iPod. Neither could remember the words so when she found the song she played it and the picture is of Jerry singing and jiving to a blast from the past.
July 5, 2007
Up early and still fuming about Delta stuff.....had breakfast and left RV park to go back into town...thought of a few more gifts we needed to pick up. Spent the morning strolling the shops and looking at all sorts of stuff....mostly junk. The stuff that is not junk is really expensive! We loaded up on shirts, etc. Left town about 1 p.m. to go back to Whitehorse. Still cloudy and rainy.
Drive back was uneventful...On this drive you can see the White Pass and Yukon RR trains that bring up the tourists from town. The RR is on the opposite side of this gorge. We have done the train rides and it is great. We enjoyed watching the trains all the way back. They seem to leave about every hour or so. Lots of waterfalls and mountains....of course. That is main part of scenery around here. Will post several pix, but not much more to say about the drive. I think I have said a lot about mountains, waterfalls, canyons, gorges, glaciers, trees, etc. We have seen LOTS and LOTS of all that!!!
We drove along several LONG LONG lakes - I am talking miles long. The drive is gorgeous. Lots of alpine type scenery....lichen covered rocks, LOTS of little lakes, snow, almost dwarf trees - a surreal landscape. Then the closer we got to Carcross, there were lots and lots of LARGE lakes - I am talking MILES long. The main town along this route is Carcross and it is at the beginning of one of these lakes. A very small village with some quaint structures and close ties to the White Pass and Yukon RR. Just out of town we stopped at the Carcross Desert - the world's smallest desert at a mere 644 acres. The desert is what remains of a large glacial lake w/ a sandy bottom. When the glacier retreated, the sand was left and is constantly whipped by the wind so it only supports a minimum of plant life...a few lodgepole pines and kinnickinick (whatever that is).
We finally got back to Whitehorse around 4:30 I think and sweet Barb had dinner for us. We visited and planned the next few days' driving trying to get a feel of where we needed to be and when. It's hard to believe that this is coming to an end in a couple of weeks. All for now....
Frank and Barb waiting on us to get back...had dinner, planned day tomorrow and then bed.
Lousy internet connection.
Drive back was uneventful...On this drive you can see the White Pass and Yukon RR trains that bring up the tourists from town. The RR is on the opposite side of this gorge. We have done the train rides and it is great. We enjoyed watching the trains all the way back. They seem to leave about every hour or so. Lots of waterfalls and mountains....of course. That is main part of scenery around here. Will post several pix, but not much more to say about the drive. I think I have said a lot about mountains, waterfalls, canyons, gorges, glaciers, trees, etc. We have seen LOTS and LOTS of all that!!!
We drove along several LONG LONG lakes - I am talking miles long. The drive is gorgeous. Lots of alpine type scenery....lichen covered rocks, LOTS of little lakes, snow, almost dwarf trees - a surreal landscape. Then the closer we got to Carcross, there were lots and lots of LARGE lakes - I am talking MILES long. The main town along this route is Carcross and it is at the beginning of one of these lakes. A very small village with some quaint structures and close ties to the White Pass and Yukon RR. Just out of town we stopped at the Carcross Desert - the world's smallest desert at a mere 644 acres. The desert is what remains of a large glacial lake w/ a sandy bottom. When the glacier retreated, the sand was left and is constantly whipped by the wind so it only supports a minimum of plant life...a few lodgepole pines and kinnickinick (whatever that is).
We finally got back to Whitehorse around 4:30 I think and sweet Barb had dinner for us. We visited and planned the next few days' driving trying to get a feel of where we needed to be and when. It's hard to believe that this is coming to an end in a couple of weeks. All for now....
Frank and Barb waiting on us to get back...had dinner, planned day tomorrow and then bed.
Lousy internet connection.
July 4, 2007 Independence Day!!!!
Up early this a.m. for drive to Skagway. We heard it was a gorgeous drive and it was!!! Jerry and I have been to Skagway twice before on cruises, but this is first by land. Frank and Barb are making the drive by car and returning to Whitehorse today, but we are going to spend the night. We want to be in USA on 4th of July. We breezed through customs at AK border going into Skagway. In fact the customs agent was kind of surprised that we were Americans. We had been told and he confirmed that lots and lots of Germans rent Cruise America RVs. He kindly told us that we should be in time for the parade which was at 10. In fact, we could watch it twice and it went down the main street and then turned around and came back up.
Parked on the street and walked over to the main street and just happened to be at the parade start. It was a fun, fun parade -they threw candy (some good stuff too - like Snickers!) and there were lots of decorated pickups and trailers, fire engines, saloon girls, etc. I took lots of pictures. There was a Veteran's RV group that marched in the parade and a gal in her 80's on her bicycle advertising her photo shop. There was also a large contingent of dachshunds complete with costumes of buns w/ ketchup and mustard on their backs (see pix). They were led by a St. Bernard (also w/ hot dog bun costume!) It was a good time. Connected w/ Frank and Barb and after the parade we tried to have lunch in town at the saloon, but it was packed. Then walked down to seafood restaurant by the cruise ships and it was closed so walked back to town and found out that the restaurant we wanted was indeed open and just down from the one that was closed. Went there, stood in line about 30 min. and then got our lunch. Either fish and chips (halibut) or fish burgers (halibut or salmon). Jerry and I opted for the burgers - one of each and split them. Good, good.
After lunch we went back to town and shopped the stores a bit. Frank and Barb were ready to head back about 2 p.m. so Jerry and I then went to the head of the Chilkoot trail. This was the pass used during the Gold Rush that they had to bring at least one ton of supplies with them. Most of them made 40 - 50 trips up and down the pass to get all their stuff over. The Canadian police would not let them into the country unless they had that many supplies. These guys were headed to Dawson City 600 miles away! And this was the closest, most direct route to get there. Once over the pass, they were able to follow rivers, use boats, etc. for some of the trip, but we figured they were pretty tough folks!
We drove this very skinny winding road to get to the pass....it was a beautiful drive along this lake. When we got to the end of the lake we turned into a campground and took the dogs for a walk. The ranger told us there was a bear in the campground and she asked us to take the dogs in another direction so we did. Then drove to the head of the trail and got some pictures there. Walked up a bit and even the beginning was STEEP!!! We just walked up to the registration stand which was several hundred yards up the trail from the parking lot. We met a family from New Zealand that has 5 or 6 kids. The Dad and 4 of the kids had hiked back down after spending several days on this trail (they took 4 days hiking up and got to what is called the Golden Staircase - that is a real challenge). Mom and another child were still on the trail - she was a bit slower b/c she had hurt her foot or something. The dad had a blister on his foot so we gave him a ride back to the campground. The youngest kid we saw looked to be about 6 maybe and they all had VERY large backpacks which they had carried up the trail on their backs! Jerry and I were amazed. They are taking 1 year to tour the U.S. in a 35 ft. trailer pulled w/ a van. They are selling the van at the end of the trip b/c steering is on wrong side, but they are shipping the trailer back to New Zealand.
We saw lots of bear scat (poop) on the bit of trail we were on and in the parking lot so we had our eyes peeled. We never saw a bear there. We drove back into Skagway and made another run at the shops. The cruise ships were departing so most of the folks had returned to them. There were 5 BIG cruise ships in port today. The town was deserted so we decided to hit a couple more shops for some souvenirs. Then it started pouring!!! Jerry had to go get the RV and come back and pick me up. We drove to the docks and watched the last 3 cruise ships get ready to depart. It was raining and gray and bleak and it was kind of sad in a way - made me feel a bit melancholy to have all that excitement and then literally nothing! No fireworks tonite as they had them last nite....Since it is light almost all nite, they had fireworks just after midnite so they could say they had them on the 4th!
Back to RV park and then things went downhill fast. We checked our bills online and saw that Delta had charged us first class rates for our trip at Christmas when we thought we had been set up using Sky Miles. What a pain it is to deal w/ Delta....they are really going to get some bad press from us!!!! Jerry went to bed w/ headache - mostly frustation I think. I won't get into this on the blog, but it is a real mess. Finally got to bed - headed back to Whitehorse tomorrow but it is a short drive - 15o miles so should be an easy day. More tomorrow....
Parked on the street and walked over to the main street and just happened to be at the parade start. It was a fun, fun parade -they threw candy (some good stuff too - like Snickers!) and there were lots of decorated pickups and trailers, fire engines, saloon girls, etc. I took lots of pictures. There was a Veteran's RV group that marched in the parade and a gal in her 80's on her bicycle advertising her photo shop. There was also a large contingent of dachshunds complete with costumes of buns w/ ketchup and mustard on their backs (see pix). They were led by a St. Bernard (also w/ hot dog bun costume!) It was a good time. Connected w/ Frank and Barb and after the parade we tried to have lunch in town at the saloon, but it was packed. Then walked down to seafood restaurant by the cruise ships and it was closed so walked back to town and found out that the restaurant we wanted was indeed open and just down from the one that was closed. Went there, stood in line about 30 min. and then got our lunch. Either fish and chips (halibut) or fish burgers (halibut or salmon). Jerry and I opted for the burgers - one of each and split them. Good, good.
After lunch we went back to town and shopped the stores a bit. Frank and Barb were ready to head back about 2 p.m. so Jerry and I then went to the head of the Chilkoot trail. This was the pass used during the Gold Rush that they had to bring at least one ton of supplies with them. Most of them made 40 - 50 trips up and down the pass to get all their stuff over. The Canadian police would not let them into the country unless they had that many supplies. These guys were headed to Dawson City 600 miles away! And this was the closest, most direct route to get there. Once over the pass, they were able to follow rivers, use boats, etc. for some of the trip, but we figured they were pretty tough folks!
We drove this very skinny winding road to get to the pass....it was a beautiful drive along this lake. When we got to the end of the lake we turned into a campground and took the dogs for a walk. The ranger told us there was a bear in the campground and she asked us to take the dogs in another direction so we did. Then drove to the head of the trail and got some pictures there. Walked up a bit and even the beginning was STEEP!!! We just walked up to the registration stand which was several hundred yards up the trail from the parking lot. We met a family from New Zealand that has 5 or 6 kids. The Dad and 4 of the kids had hiked back down after spending several days on this trail (they took 4 days hiking up and got to what is called the Golden Staircase - that is a real challenge). Mom and another child were still on the trail - she was a bit slower b/c she had hurt her foot or something. The dad had a blister on his foot so we gave him a ride back to the campground. The youngest kid we saw looked to be about 6 maybe and they all had VERY large backpacks which they had carried up the trail on their backs! Jerry and I were amazed. They are taking 1 year to tour the U.S. in a 35 ft. trailer pulled w/ a van. They are selling the van at the end of the trip b/c steering is on wrong side, but they are shipping the trailer back to New Zealand.
We saw lots of bear scat (poop) on the bit of trail we were on and in the parking lot so we had our eyes peeled. We never saw a bear there. We drove back into Skagway and made another run at the shops. The cruise ships were departing so most of the folks had returned to them. There were 5 BIG cruise ships in port today. The town was deserted so we decided to hit a couple more shops for some souvenirs. Then it started pouring!!! Jerry had to go get the RV and come back and pick me up. We drove to the docks and watched the last 3 cruise ships get ready to depart. It was raining and gray and bleak and it was kind of sad in a way - made me feel a bit melancholy to have all that excitement and then literally nothing! No fireworks tonite as they had them last nite....Since it is light almost all nite, they had fireworks just after midnite so they could say they had them on the 4th!
Back to RV park and then things went downhill fast. We checked our bills online and saw that Delta had charged us first class rates for our trip at Christmas when we thought we had been set up using Sky Miles. What a pain it is to deal w/ Delta....they are really going to get some bad press from us!!!! Jerry went to bed w/ headache - mostly frustation I think. I won't get into this on the blog, but it is a real mess. Finally got to bed - headed back to Whitehorse tomorrow but it is a short drive - 15o miles so should be an easy day. More tomorrow....
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Again, an early start - on the road by 6:30, but long way to go today. Frank and Barb have already done this section of highway once and not looking forward to return, but decided to do this one again rather than the Top of the World Highway. Jerry & I had not done this section as we took an alternate highway to go to Pelly Crossing on the way up. A large section of the road had frost heaves (where the ground under the pavement freezes and causes the pavement to buckle) in addition to potholes. The gravel parts were mostly washboard, but actually preferable to the paved sections. Filled up w/ gas in Tok as we will be entering the land of $5 + /gal for gas shortly. Tok is only 90 miles from Canada border. Also stopped off near border and topped off tanks...good thing, b/c Jerry did not get our tank completely full this a.m.
We stopped at the Tetlin National Wildlife Preserve and got a stamp for our NP passports. It was an interesting Visitor Center....lots of pelts of different animals hanging and we were amazed at how soft some of them were - especially some foxes and a weasel. Frank decided he was in the mood for pancakes and sausage, so we cooked breakfast right there in the parking lot. It was a challenge b/c their coach was not level and the griddle kept trying to slide off the cooktop. We almost landed pancakes on the floor a couple of times!! It turned out well and we thoroughly enjoyed them. We then continued on our way.
Crossed into Canada back into the Yukon where we have no cell phone coverage at all anywhere! No problems going through and we were on our way! The road certainly lived up to its name. There was some gorgeous scenery as usual....we were mostly traveling between mountain ranges in a large valley with lots and lots of lakes and streams and rivers. We stopped
at one lake and there was a female moose in the lake eating the grass off the bottom! Got a pix of her with her head completely under water and then coming up dripping! Still no Bullwinkle with big horns, but it was interesting to watch her eat. She was a pretty big moose too.
Later on I saw another moose in the water, but it was too far away to tell if it was male or female and to get a good pix of it. Besides, by the time I saw it, we had already passed by....BUT Jerry then said, "That's a bear!" and sure enough on the side of the road was a black bear turning over rocks and nudging at plants looking for something to eat. But that was only the beginning...we truly had an adventure today!
We stopped the RV and Jerry got out w/ the video camera and I got out on my side and walked along the RV to the back so I could photograph him. He was a good distance away and not paying any attention to us. I snapped several shots and Jerry had the video running. He started working his way in our direction which we thought was great! However, when he got fairly close (still about 30 yards away) we got back in the RV. Jerry rolled the window down and continued filming.....my camera battery chose that moment to die, so I fished out another one as the bear crossed the road and came right up the the RV. By the time I got the battery in the camera, Jerry had rolled up the window and was still filming. I couldn't see the bear b/c he was so close to the RV - the pix I took of him that close only shows his hind quarters, but he was licking the tire to the RV! After that, he looked up at us and then turned and ambled back across the road. He was pretty much a ham and I did get some good pix of him, but I was not able to get one of him licking the tires. However, it is on the video!!! At any rate, it was Yogi, up close and personal!!! (although is still is not a grizzly - we will certainly take it!).
After that, everything else was pretty anticlimactic! The drive was truly horrible! In places it was like a roller coaster with potholes and there was over 100 miles of it!!!! We were behind Frank and Barb and they were really rocking and rolling...not only was it up and down with potholes, some were back and forth at the same time! At one point we were in about 10 km of road construction with very heavy equipment. Had it not rained last nite, it would have been unbearable dusty! At least the rain settled the dust altho it was mud in places too. We quickly learned that when you could see water standing in places on the road...avoid if at all possible...that marked the deepest ruts, washboards and potholes.
We are back on Pacific Coast time when we crossed into Canada, but will be back on whatever time zone AK is on tomorrow when we go to Skagway. We arrived at the RV park about 4:30 and got our spots. We are up on the hill in the trees as there is a place for the dogs to run out behind the RV. Barb and Frank are down on the flats as they wanted the sewer hookups - they will be here 3 days.
Fixed some cream cheese and olives and a drink and went down to their coach for a while. Decided on our departure time in the morning, then we went back to our RV for dinner. Jerry had leftovers and I am not hungry (that is one for the record books!) so I decided to work on the blog and catch up. I don't think I will be able to post pictures again as I think this is a slow connection, but I will try. I am way behind on the pictures and as soon as I can, I will post them.
Getting close to bedtime now....leaving at 8 in morning. Only 100 miles to Skagway. Jerry and I have been there 2 times before on cruises, but never driving. Everyone says the drive is spectacular. We liked Skagway and we are looking forward to being able to spend a night there.
All for now.....More from Skagway I hope.....Linda
We stopped at the Tetlin National Wildlife Preserve and got a stamp for our NP passports. It was an interesting Visitor Center....lots of pelts of different animals hanging and we were amazed at how soft some of them were - especially some foxes and a weasel. Frank decided he was in the mood for pancakes and sausage, so we cooked breakfast right there in the parking lot. It was a challenge b/c their coach was not level and the griddle kept trying to slide off the cooktop. We almost landed pancakes on the floor a couple of times!! It turned out well and we thoroughly enjoyed them. We then continued on our way.
Crossed into Canada back into the Yukon where we have no cell phone coverage at all anywhere! No problems going through and we were on our way! The road certainly lived up to its name. There was some gorgeous scenery as usual....we were mostly traveling between mountain ranges in a large valley with lots and lots of lakes and streams and rivers. We stopped
at one lake and there was a female moose in the lake eating the grass off the bottom! Got a pix of her with her head completely under water and then coming up dripping! Still no Bullwinkle with big horns, but it was interesting to watch her eat. She was a pretty big moose too.
Later on I saw another moose in the water, but it was too far away to tell if it was male or female and to get a good pix of it. Besides, by the time I saw it, we had already passed by....BUT Jerry then said, "That's a bear!" and sure enough on the side of the road was a black bear turning over rocks and nudging at plants looking for something to eat. But that was only the beginning...we truly had an adventure today!
We stopped the RV and Jerry got out w/ the video camera and I got out on my side and walked along the RV to the back so I could photograph him. He was a good distance away and not paying any attention to us. I snapped several shots and Jerry had the video running. He started working his way in our direction which we thought was great! However, when he got fairly close (still about 30 yards away) we got back in the RV. Jerry rolled the window down and continued filming.....my camera battery chose that moment to die, so I fished out another one as the bear crossed the road and came right up the the RV. By the time I got the battery in the camera, Jerry had rolled up the window and was still filming. I couldn't see the bear b/c he was so close to the RV - the pix I took of him that close only shows his hind quarters, but he was licking the tire to the RV! After that, he looked up at us and then turned and ambled back across the road. He was pretty much a ham and I did get some good pix of him, but I was not able to get one of him licking the tires. However, it is on the video!!! At any rate, it was Yogi, up close and personal!!! (although is still is not a grizzly - we will certainly take it!).
After that, everything else was pretty anticlimactic! The drive was truly horrible! In places it was like a roller coaster with potholes and there was over 100 miles of it!!!! We were behind Frank and Barb and they were really rocking and rolling...not only was it up and down with potholes, some were back and forth at the same time! At one point we were in about 10 km of road construction with very heavy equipment. Had it not rained last nite, it would have been unbearable dusty! At least the rain settled the dust altho it was mud in places too. We quickly learned that when you could see water standing in places on the road...avoid if at all possible...that marked the deepest ruts, washboards and potholes.
We are back on Pacific Coast time when we crossed into Canada, but will be back on whatever time zone AK is on tomorrow when we go to Skagway. We arrived at the RV park about 4:30 and got our spots. We are up on the hill in the trees as there is a place for the dogs to run out behind the RV. Barb and Frank are down on the flats as they wanted the sewer hookups - they will be here 3 days.
Fixed some cream cheese and olives and a drink and went down to their coach for a while. Decided on our departure time in the morning, then we went back to our RV for dinner. Jerry had leftovers and I am not hungry (that is one for the record books!) so I decided to work on the blog and catch up. I don't think I will be able to post pictures again as I think this is a slow connection, but I will try. I am way behind on the pictures and as soon as I can, I will post them.
Getting close to bedtime now....leaving at 8 in morning. Only 100 miles to Skagway. Jerry and I have been there 2 times before on cruises, but never driving. Everyone says the drive is spectacular. We liked Skagway and we are looking forward to being able to spend a night there.
All for now.....More from Skagway I hope.....Linda
Monday, July 2, 2007
We had decided to get off to an early start this a.m. so AIS (Ass in Seat) at 6:30 ready to depart. Got a few gallons of gas to get us up the hill as gas kind of expensive in Valdez - only 1 station. We really enjoyed our stay at this RV park, they went out of their way to make us welcome and it seemed effortless. It was a big park too....over 400 spaces I think. The drive to Tok is about 215 miles through canyons and over a mountain pass by some glaciers.
The first spot is Keystone Canyon and it is just gorgeous! Very steep walls with a river at the bottom and waterfalls everywhere! Then we went up through Thompson Pass and on to Worthington Glacier. Cloudy and rainy of course...whenever we want to go to a glacier it seems to be cloudy and rainy. Of course at one point at Worthington, it was pouring. Jerry and I had our rainsuits on and we all walked to the viewpoint. Barb and Frank then went on and Jerry and I walked down some of the glacial moraine and the river up really close to the glacier. When we returned to the camper we decided to have breakfast with the glacier as our backdrop so we had a bowl of cereal. The beauty of the RV is that we can eat whenever we decide to. Sometimes I even get the stuff out while we are driving and make us a sandwich. I have gotten really good at making sandwiches while we are stopped for road construction waiting on the lead cars to come pick up our direction of traffic. We have had lots of lunches that way!
After Worthington, we stopped again at Klutina/Copper River area. There is a loop road and the salmon were running. We talked about getting a license and fishing in the river, but decided against it. They were catching some and we watched them at the cleaning tables for a while. Actually, salmon don't feed on their way to spawn. I think I already covered this in another blog entry. What they are essentially doing is snagging the salmon. The seagulls were having a feast as well b/c the fishermen would throw the carcasses and guts in the river and the seagulls were right there to snatch them up.
Met up with Frank and Barb at Glennallen. Too cloudy to see Wrangell peaks today so I am glad we saw them on the way down...they were pretty impressive. As we continued on towards Tok, we stopped at one point to watch a female moose standing in the middle of a shallow lake eating water plants from the bottom of the lake. I got pix of her w/ her head totally under water. That was interesting....still no Bullwinkle tho!
Finally arrived at Sourdough RV park in Tok - got the last 2 spots when we called. Jerry and I went into town...he is looking for a hat and/or t shirts w/ Al-Can highway on it. We went to a couple of tourist shops and did get some shirts and stuff, but still not what he was looking for. Back to RV park for the evening.
Turned out to be pretty fun place. They have entertainment every nite along with a dinner. About 6:30 we heard bluegrass music coming from the pavillion. I had felt a bit nauseated earlier, but laid down for a bit and was fine. Couldn't find Jerry as he had gone to dump trash so I walked over and figured he would find me. The band tonite was Foxfire and they are a group of 3 young brothers who are really into bluegrass. They are originally from NM and were traveling to someplace in AK to teach at a music camp. We enjoyed their music and had reindeer chili for dinner with key lime cheesecake for dessert - all homemade and very good. The chili was served in sourdough bread bowls. They have some CD's out if anyone is interested, you can find them at foxfire.com. Frank and Barb had elected to just relax and stay in for the evening and we had already decided we needed to leave EARLY in the a.m. b/c tomorrow is a long driving day...about 370 miles to Whitehorse and really bad roads in places.
We had some heavy thunderstorms and rain as we got into town, but they kind of came and went...had gone by evening entertainment so that was nice. More tomorrow, Linda
The first spot is Keystone Canyon and it is just gorgeous! Very steep walls with a river at the bottom and waterfalls everywhere! Then we went up through Thompson Pass and on to Worthington Glacier. Cloudy and rainy of course...whenever we want to go to a glacier it seems to be cloudy and rainy. Of course at one point at Worthington, it was pouring. Jerry and I had our rainsuits on and we all walked to the viewpoint. Barb and Frank then went on and Jerry and I walked down some of the glacial moraine and the river up really close to the glacier. When we returned to the camper we decided to have breakfast with the glacier as our backdrop so we had a bowl of cereal. The beauty of the RV is that we can eat whenever we decide to. Sometimes I even get the stuff out while we are driving and make us a sandwich. I have gotten really good at making sandwiches while we are stopped for road construction waiting on the lead cars to come pick up our direction of traffic. We have had lots of lunches that way!
After Worthington, we stopped again at Klutina/Copper River area. There is a loop road and the salmon were running. We talked about getting a license and fishing in the river, but decided against it. They were catching some and we watched them at the cleaning tables for a while. Actually, salmon don't feed on their way to spawn. I think I already covered this in another blog entry. What they are essentially doing is snagging the salmon. The seagulls were having a feast as well b/c the fishermen would throw the carcasses and guts in the river and the seagulls were right there to snatch them up.
Met up with Frank and Barb at Glennallen. Too cloudy to see Wrangell peaks today so I am glad we saw them on the way down...they were pretty impressive. As we continued on towards Tok, we stopped at one point to watch a female moose standing in the middle of a shallow lake eating water plants from the bottom of the lake. I got pix of her w/ her head totally under water. That was interesting....still no Bullwinkle tho!
Finally arrived at Sourdough RV park in Tok - got the last 2 spots when we called. Jerry and I went into town...he is looking for a hat and/or t shirts w/ Al-Can highway on it. We went to a couple of tourist shops and did get some shirts and stuff, but still not what he was looking for. Back to RV park for the evening.
Turned out to be pretty fun place. They have entertainment every nite along with a dinner. About 6:30 we heard bluegrass music coming from the pavillion. I had felt a bit nauseated earlier, but laid down for a bit and was fine. Couldn't find Jerry as he had gone to dump trash so I walked over and figured he would find me. The band tonite was Foxfire and they are a group of 3 young brothers who are really into bluegrass. They are originally from NM and were traveling to someplace in AK to teach at a music camp. We enjoyed their music and had reindeer chili for dinner with key lime cheesecake for dessert - all homemade and very good. The chili was served in sourdough bread bowls. They have some CD's out if anyone is interested, you can find them at foxfire.com. Frank and Barb had elected to just relax and stay in for the evening and we had already decided we needed to leave EARLY in the a.m. b/c tomorrow is a long driving day...about 370 miles to Whitehorse and really bad roads in places.
We had some heavy thunderstorms and rain as we got into town, but they kind of came and went...had gone by evening entertainment so that was nice. More tomorrow, Linda
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Today dawned cloudy and rainy. We had no specific plans today - just to kick back and relax. Had a late breakfast then Jerry and Frank went to drive out to the terminus of the Ak Pipeline since we had been at the very beginning a couple of weeks ago. Since 9/11 you can't go past the gate, but they wanted to drive out there and then they just turned around and came back. They did drive past the old town of Valdez that kind of subsided in the big earthquake and they saw at least 25 eagles at one point on the drive.
Jerry wanted to hike a trail that left from the other end of town so he came home and got the dogs and Frank took him to the trailhead. He went for a ways and got down to the beach at one point, then headed back as he had told Frank he would return by 5. He encountered a bear along the way and said the bear stood up at one point on his hind legs and looked at him and he was fumbling for the camera and the bear just put his head back down and resumed eating. Jerry said he was making lots of noise and shouting to run him off. I think he should have fumbled for the bear spray! No pictures and all is safe....so no problems.
I spent most of the day on the computer making DVDs of all my pix. So far I have filled up (2) 4.7 gig DVD's and still don't have quite all of them on DVD. Have had lousy WIFI connections and have been unable to upload pictures. Most of these RV parks have WiFi, but is only for email and checking stuff on internet, not for loading pix and large files. One pix was trying to load for about 20 min. and I finally just cancelled it.
Have been 32 days in RV so far....and we are still speaking - sometimes a bit testy, but mostly having a good time. Having to constantly load and unload stuff in the RV for travel gets a bit old, but not too bad yet. Jerry takes care of outside stuff...hooking and unhooking water, electric and sewer and I batten down hatches inside - getting everything that can roll, fall or otherwise become a missile stowed away or in a sink. That part is getting a bit old, but not as bad as having to load and unload suitcases every night and eating out every night - that gets old as well.
I don't think I have told you how you have to take a shower in the RV. It is a bit of a multitasking job. We only have 6 gallons of hot water and believe me, you DON'T want to be in the shower when the hot water runs out. The water out of the taps here is really COLD! That has not happened to me yet and I am certainly not planning on that. Once you get the water to the temp you want it and get in, you wet your hair while you are washing your face and neck. Then you click the shut off valve to turn off the water and grab the shampoo and shampoo your hair. Click on the shut off valve to start the water running again, rinse the hair. Turn off the water, soap your body and turn on again to rinse. You are doing all this in a very small shower enclosure - maybe 2 ft wide by 3 ft. long. It does have a skylight - whoopee!
We have a double sink, but it is only about a foot square - maybe 15" and a miniature dish drainer especially for RV's. To wash dishes I mostly heat a pan of water on the stove so I don't have to heat the whole 6 gallons and rinse in cold water. We use lots of paper plates - but occasionally we do use the dishes. It is definitely a one person job. I have a cutting board I bought especially to put on top of the cooktop so I have some counterspace. I learned the hard way not to put anything on top of it. I also learned that you need to put some of that rubberized mesh shelf liner underneath it so it does not become a missile while you are driving down the road. I have learned all kinds of trivial stuff like that....and most of it the hard way! I pad all the metal pans, etc with paper towels or dish towels when we are driving so they don't rattle so much! Ah, the tricks of the trade!
Well, not much else going on today....it did quit raining and by evening the sun was shining. We went for a drive up to a waterfall and that was a really pretty trip - we went in Frank and Barb's car. Valdez is absolutely gorgeous and we would come back here again if we ever get back this way. They get over 300" of snow in winter. There is still some on the peaks and glaciers in a few places and there was even a pile of snow still left in town where they had plowed it and it was slowly melting. After the drive, Jerry and I walked down to the harbor and took some more pictures b/c the sun on the mountains was really pretty. Each peak kind of made it's own clouds and they were hanging over each mountain top in some really unusual formations that we found fascinating. Leaving tomorrow for Tok. All for now....Linda
Jerry wanted to hike a trail that left from the other end of town so he came home and got the dogs and Frank took him to the trailhead. He went for a ways and got down to the beach at one point, then headed back as he had told Frank he would return by 5. He encountered a bear along the way and said the bear stood up at one point on his hind legs and looked at him and he was fumbling for the camera and the bear just put his head back down and resumed eating. Jerry said he was making lots of noise and shouting to run him off. I think he should have fumbled for the bear spray! No pictures and all is safe....so no problems.
I spent most of the day on the computer making DVDs of all my pix. So far I have filled up (2) 4.7 gig DVD's and still don't have quite all of them on DVD. Have had lousy WIFI connections and have been unable to upload pictures. Most of these RV parks have WiFi, but is only for email and checking stuff on internet, not for loading pix and large files. One pix was trying to load for about 20 min. and I finally just cancelled it.
Have been 32 days in RV so far....and we are still speaking - sometimes a bit testy, but mostly having a good time. Having to constantly load and unload stuff in the RV for travel gets a bit old, but not too bad yet. Jerry takes care of outside stuff...hooking and unhooking water, electric and sewer and I batten down hatches inside - getting everything that can roll, fall or otherwise become a missile stowed away or in a sink. That part is getting a bit old, but not as bad as having to load and unload suitcases every night and eating out every night - that gets old as well.
I don't think I have told you how you have to take a shower in the RV. It is a bit of a multitasking job. We only have 6 gallons of hot water and believe me, you DON'T want to be in the shower when the hot water runs out. The water out of the taps here is really COLD! That has not happened to me yet and I am certainly not planning on that. Once you get the water to the temp you want it and get in, you wet your hair while you are washing your face and neck. Then you click the shut off valve to turn off the water and grab the shampoo and shampoo your hair. Click on the shut off valve to start the water running again, rinse the hair. Turn off the water, soap your body and turn on again to rinse. You are doing all this in a very small shower enclosure - maybe 2 ft wide by 3 ft. long. It does have a skylight - whoopee!
We have a double sink, but it is only about a foot square - maybe 15" and a miniature dish drainer especially for RV's. To wash dishes I mostly heat a pan of water on the stove so I don't have to heat the whole 6 gallons and rinse in cold water. We use lots of paper plates - but occasionally we do use the dishes. It is definitely a one person job. I have a cutting board I bought especially to put on top of the cooktop so I have some counterspace. I learned the hard way not to put anything on top of it. I also learned that you need to put some of that rubberized mesh shelf liner underneath it so it does not become a missile while you are driving down the road. I have learned all kinds of trivial stuff like that....and most of it the hard way! I pad all the metal pans, etc with paper towels or dish towels when we are driving so they don't rattle so much! Ah, the tricks of the trade!
Well, not much else going on today....it did quit raining and by evening the sun was shining. We went for a drive up to a waterfall and that was a really pretty trip - we went in Frank and Barb's car. Valdez is absolutely gorgeous and we would come back here again if we ever get back this way. They get over 300" of snow in winter. There is still some on the peaks and glaciers in a few places and there was even a pile of snow still left in town where they had plowed it and it was slowly melting. After the drive, Jerry and I walked down to the harbor and took some more pictures b/c the sun on the mountains was really pretty. Each peak kind of made it's own clouds and they were hanging over each mountain top in some really unusual formations that we found fascinating. Leaving tomorrow for Tok. All for now....Linda
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Had to get up and get breakfast, then get stuff ready for cruise. Expecting rain again...Of course! we are going on a cruise! But not quite as socked in as it was in Seward. Caught the bus for the short ride over to marina. Boat pulled out about 10 a.m. It was some kind of open fishing day for seining for salmon and we stopped close to several boats at different stages of the procedure. It was really interesting. These kinds of nets are called purse seines. They have about 1200 ft. of net with floats on top and they are about 60 ft. deep with a rope through the bottom of the net. A small boat takes the net out in a horseshoe shape and then closes the circle as it returns to the big boat where they pass off the ends of then net. As they start hauling the net in, they draw up the rope on the bottom of the net and they bring it in in sections. They haul the net up to the side, open the hold, then pull a section of the net up and dump the fish in the hold. There is a guy at the stern of the boat that takes the net and floats and kind of folds them onto the deck at the stern. The other crew are the ones who haul the fish. It was very very fascinating to watch and I got some really good pictures, but then I screwed up the card again...so I lost those....oh well, I will get some copies from Barb. She takes lots of pictures also.
Right across from the city of Valdez is the terminus of the Alaska Pipeline - there are huge storage tanks and huge docks where they load the tankers. That would be interesting to see, but there are no tours there b/c of security reasons. We cruised through some beautiful shoreline then stopped for a while to watch a pod of 6 orca whales cruising the waters. Then on to Columbia Glacier. Turns out we could not see the glacier. The terminus of this glacier is closed off by huge ice bergs. We had to break our way through "brash ice" which is large areas of small chunks of ice floating on top of the water and got as close as we could to the glacier. All the ice we saw was just ice bergs. The glacier was behind them and as it was cloudy and raining a bit, we could not see it. However, the icebergs were very impressive. Seems the Columbia Glacier is melting at a very rapid rate and no one seem to know why...melting faster than others. Getting there, we went through several miles of ice berg filled water....small, medium and large. Very small icebergs (up to 15 ft) are called "Bergie Bits" and larger than 15 ft. are icebergs. There were seals and otters on some of the ice bergs.
After we left there, we headed on to Meares Glacier. Stopped to watch a couple of humpback whales (none breached) and had lunch. Going into Meares Glacier, we saw lots of sea otters (see pix) and got some good pictures of them - also harbor seals and a few pups. On the way back we again watched orcas and humpbacks....While we were watching the orcas, off in the distance I saw a humpback breach about 3 times, but it was way too far to get a picture. We were kind of on overload with marine mammals to watch at that time. There were also some humpbacks in this area too. Then he took us by a haul out place for stellar sea lions whose numbers are dropping rather drastically and they are frantically trying to find out why. Lots of those guys were up on the beach. There were also some Dall's porpoise on the way back....we saw a couple on our other cruise, but they were too fast to get a picture of...this time there were about 6 of them I think...they love to come up to the boats and surf in the wake or catch the water as it is pushed off the prow. They swim at about 35 mph and look like miniature orcas b/c they have black and white markings as well. In one pix you can see one just under the water and the splash made by the wake they leave behind as they surface. They were really fun to watch.
We finally got back to the boat dock around 7:30 and we opted to walk back to the RV park. We walked along the harbor and saw lots of fish still being cleaned and just enjoyed looking at the boats. Had a snack when we got back and then I got on computer, but no luck loading pictures so I finally gave up and went to bed about 11:30. Planning on sleeping in tomorrow a.m. Good night all....
Right across from the city of Valdez is the terminus of the Alaska Pipeline - there are huge storage tanks and huge docks where they load the tankers. That would be interesting to see, but there are no tours there b/c of security reasons. We cruised through some beautiful shoreline then stopped for a while to watch a pod of 6 orca whales cruising the waters. Then on to Columbia Glacier. Turns out we could not see the glacier. The terminus of this glacier is closed off by huge ice bergs. We had to break our way through "brash ice" which is large areas of small chunks of ice floating on top of the water and got as close as we could to the glacier. All the ice we saw was just ice bergs. The glacier was behind them and as it was cloudy and raining a bit, we could not see it. However, the icebergs were very impressive. Seems the Columbia Glacier is melting at a very rapid rate and no one seem to know why...melting faster than others. Getting there, we went through several miles of ice berg filled water....small, medium and large. Very small icebergs (up to 15 ft) are called "Bergie Bits" and larger than 15 ft. are icebergs. There were seals and otters on some of the ice bergs.
After we left there, we headed on to Meares Glacier. Stopped to watch a couple of humpback whales (none breached) and had lunch. Going into Meares Glacier, we saw lots of sea otters (see pix) and got some good pictures of them - also harbor seals and a few pups. On the way back we again watched orcas and humpbacks....While we were watching the orcas, off in the distance I saw a humpback breach about 3 times, but it was way too far to get a picture. We were kind of on overload with marine mammals to watch at that time. There were also some humpbacks in this area too. Then he took us by a haul out place for stellar sea lions whose numbers are dropping rather drastically and they are frantically trying to find out why. Lots of those guys were up on the beach. There were also some Dall's porpoise on the way back....we saw a couple on our other cruise, but they were too fast to get a picture of...this time there were about 6 of them I think...they love to come up to the boats and surf in the wake or catch the water as it is pushed off the prow. They swim at about 35 mph and look like miniature orcas b/c they have black and white markings as well. In one pix you can see one just under the water and the splash made by the wake they leave behind as they surface. They were really fun to watch.
We finally got back to the boat dock around 7:30 and we opted to walk back to the RV park. We walked along the harbor and saw lots of fish still being cleaned and just enjoyed looking at the boats. Had a snack when we got back and then I got on computer, but no luck loading pictures so I finally gave up and went to bed about 11:30. Planning on sleeping in tomorrow a.m. Good night all....
Friday, June 29, 2007
Up early for this early start...Jerry walked dogs and came back and said there was a moose that walked across the road about 3 campsites down from us. I walked over to laundry to look for lost sock and saw the moose lying down in the trees between campsites. Went back and got Barb and we took car to go take pix while guys drove over to gas station on base. Turns out it was a mama and baby and when we got over there, she was up and grazing along with baby. We pulled up and stopped and took lots of pictures. It was really interesting. At one point baby wanted some of mama's milk and I couldn't believe how hard he had to pull on mama to get milk! They were between campers and at one point it looked like she was looking into the camper's rear view mirror! After our pix we met the guys at the gas station. STILL no Bullwinkle or Yogi! We want to see a big bull moose and a grizzly (we are not particular about sex of bear as none of us want to get that close!)
We are facing a 300 mile drive today as we head to Valdez. The drive itself was really pretty. We drove by the Matanuska Glacier which Jerry, his brother Jim and I had walked on when we were here back in 91. Boy has it changed! It has really retreated a lot! Our drive took us along a lot of open land through the town of Glenallen. We were seeing these very high snow covered peaks in the distance and they turned out to be the peaks in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. We stopped at the park headquarters to get pictures of those mountains and a stamp for our NP passports. There is not much access to this park and it is very rough. We wanted to go to Kennecott in the park, but it was about a 4 1/2 hour drive over very rough roads just to get there and then we had to come back - so we said no to that!
The really pretty part of the drive was down Hwy. 4 to Valdez. We stopped at Copper Cente which is a historical village to scope out RV parks for the return. Jerry and I would love to do some fishing, but it seems that fishing here is not what we pictured. There are very very complicated rules about fishing...only between mile x and mile y on such and such river between such and such dates, etc.....really hard to figure out. We kind of got the picture about where these places to fish are b/c that is where all the fishermen are lined up elbow to elbow tryhing to snag salmon. Salmon do not eat when they are returning to spawn - b/c Alaska says you have to fish with some type of lure or bait, they put colored yarn on hooks and kind of drag them through the water hoping to snag a salmon. This area was the first white settlement in this part of Alaska. It is located on the Klutina River which is supposed to be excellent fishing. Still undecided about trying to fish here.
We saw gorgeous waterfalls, streams and lakes as well as the Worthington Glacier which we will try to walk up to on our return trip as there is a trail up there. We crossed the mountains at Thompson Pass, not particularly high (2,678 ft), but very beautiful. Still lots of snow in mountains. Frank and Barb had gone on into Valdez and checked in...we had reservations for 2 nites here at Eagle Rest RV Park. We arrived about 3:30 and got hooked up. The campground was having a fish fry for all the RV'ers - compliments of the campground. Everyone was supposed to bring something to share and they cooked blackened salmon. It was a good time and our first experience with something like this. We were most impressed with this campground...everyone is very very friendly and they seem to be really well organized (which is not really the case at most of the campgrounds we have chosen). This is a BIG RV park!!! I think they have over 400 spaces so that was a lot of fish and it was all you could eat.
We booked another glacier cruise for tomorrow- going to Columbia and Meares Glaciers. It is a 9 1/2 hour cruise so we made arrangements for a dog sitter to come and walk the dogs at least once while we were gone. After dinner, back to RV and I worked on blog while Jerry went for a walk about town. I had trouble loading pictures so I guess I should have gone for a walk with Jerry...oh well....that is why I am a bit behind on the picture bit.
Off to bed as cruise picks us up here at RV park at 9 a.m. More tomorrow....Linda
We are facing a 300 mile drive today as we head to Valdez. The drive itself was really pretty. We drove by the Matanuska Glacier which Jerry, his brother Jim and I had walked on when we were here back in 91. Boy has it changed! It has really retreated a lot! Our drive took us along a lot of open land through the town of Glenallen. We were seeing these very high snow covered peaks in the distance and they turned out to be the peaks in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. We stopped at the park headquarters to get pictures of those mountains and a stamp for our NP passports. There is not much access to this park and it is very rough. We wanted to go to Kennecott in the park, but it was about a 4 1/2 hour drive over very rough roads just to get there and then we had to come back - so we said no to that!
The really pretty part of the drive was down Hwy. 4 to Valdez. We stopped at Copper Cente which is a historical village to scope out RV parks for the return. Jerry and I would love to do some fishing, but it seems that fishing here is not what we pictured. There are very very complicated rules about fishing...only between mile x and mile y on such and such river between such and such dates, etc.....really hard to figure out. We kind of got the picture about where these places to fish are b/c that is where all the fishermen are lined up elbow to elbow tryhing to snag salmon. Salmon do not eat when they are returning to spawn - b/c Alaska says you have to fish with some type of lure or bait, they put colored yarn on hooks and kind of drag them through the water hoping to snag a salmon. This area was the first white settlement in this part of Alaska. It is located on the Klutina River which is supposed to be excellent fishing. Still undecided about trying to fish here.
We saw gorgeous waterfalls, streams and lakes as well as the Worthington Glacier which we will try to walk up to on our return trip as there is a trail up there. We crossed the mountains at Thompson Pass, not particularly high (2,678 ft), but very beautiful. Still lots of snow in mountains. Frank and Barb had gone on into Valdez and checked in...we had reservations for 2 nites here at Eagle Rest RV Park. We arrived about 3:30 and got hooked up. The campground was having a fish fry for all the RV'ers - compliments of the campground. Everyone was supposed to bring something to share and they cooked blackened salmon. It was a good time and our first experience with something like this. We were most impressed with this campground...everyone is very very friendly and they seem to be really well organized (which is not really the case at most of the campgrounds we have chosen). This is a BIG RV park!!! I think they have over 400 spaces so that was a lot of fish and it was all you could eat.
We booked another glacier cruise for tomorrow- going to Columbia and Meares Glaciers. It is a 9 1/2 hour cruise so we made arrangements for a dog sitter to come and walk the dogs at least once while we were gone. After dinner, back to RV and I worked on blog while Jerry went for a walk about town. I had trouble loading pictures so I guess I should have gone for a walk with Jerry...oh well....that is why I am a bit behind on the picture bit.
Off to bed as cruise picks us up here at RV park at 9 a.m. More tomorrow....Linda
Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Up early and Jerry went to shower at camp shower. I had just gotten my coffee poured when Frank came by and said Barb was over washing clothes (our chore for the day). So, I got the laundry together and took it over in the car and began washing. The guys had gotten appointments for oil changes for the RV's so they left us at the laundry w/ the car. I couldn't even get my second cup of coffee. I did grab my book, my purse and my grocery list. Spent the next couple of hours w/ Barb in laundry. Then had talked to guys and they were not even close to being done so we decided to go on to PX and BX for groceries and other stuff.
We loaded the car w/ groceries that we had to put on top of the laundry in the back seat. Then went to BX for some souvenir stuff, lint roller for dog hair, etc. Guys finally on the way back...it is now about 1:30 p.m. Barb and I also had gone to the shoppette for some amaretto for Jerry's coffee and some Amber Bock beer. We arrived back at the campground about the same time and they had found two spaces w/ hook-ups across from each other.
Had some down time this afternoon and then we went out to eat at Outback Steakhouse! Yummy. It was a nice evening. When Jerry took the dogs for their evening walk, he took the camera and headed towards where he had seen the bear, but since he was prepared tonite, of course he did not see him. We are still trying to see Yogi and Bullwinkle....have seen cow moose several times, but no bull moose. We have also seen a couple of bears, but only Barb was fortunate to get pix of one.....we are still looking for grizzlies.
We spent some time going over maps and mileage as we are headed to Valdez tomorrow. Decided to get up early and be on the road by 6:45 a.m. I must have been afraid we would oversleep b/c I did not get back to sleep after I got up at 2 a.m., so I read my book some. Bummer!
We loaded the car w/ groceries that we had to put on top of the laundry in the back seat. Then went to BX for some souvenir stuff, lint roller for dog hair, etc. Guys finally on the way back...it is now about 1:30 p.m. Barb and I also had gone to the shoppette for some amaretto for Jerry's coffee and some Amber Bock beer. We arrived back at the campground about the same time and they had found two spaces w/ hook-ups across from each other.
Had some down time this afternoon and then we went out to eat at Outback Steakhouse! Yummy. It was a nice evening. When Jerry took the dogs for their evening walk, he took the camera and headed towards where he had seen the bear, but since he was prepared tonite, of course he did not see him. We are still trying to see Yogi and Bullwinkle....have seen cow moose several times, but no bull moose. We have also seen a couple of bears, but only Barb was fortunate to get pix of one.....we are still looking for grizzlies.
We spent some time going over maps and mileage as we are headed to Valdez tomorrow. Decided to get up early and be on the road by 6:45 a.m. I must have been afraid we would oversleep b/c I did not get back to sleep after I got up at 2 a.m., so I read my book some. Bummer!
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