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!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Got up early and made coffee....Jerry and Frank took dogs for long walk on sand bar b/c tide was real low at 6:40 this a.m. I grabbed my coffee and walked down to the beach also...had to walk way down from campsite to get to where I could get out on the exposed sand bar. It was really fun to watch the dogs run and chase the sea gulls on the beach. They still haven't quite figured out salt water yet.....and they eat their share of whatever they can find that is yucky. Kudzu really seems to like salty barnacles to munch on. Gabby is a bit scared of the waves, but otherwise loves the running. When they both realized I was out there, at one point I thought they were going to swim across the water that was between the sand bar and where I was, but when I got out onto the sandbar they really came running.....Got some neat pictures of the scenery, kelp on the beach, sand patterns, dogs, etc.
Got back to RV, had a bit of breakfast and then headed out about 9:30 towards Anchorage. Stopped at Fred Meyer in Soldotna (kind of like Wal Mart, Northwest style) and picked up a few essentials. At one point on Copper Creek, the fishermen were still almost shoulder to shoulder. There was a very low tide at Turnagain Arm and it was amazing how much land was exposed. Decided to go on into Anchorage tonite rather than stop only 48 miles out. We were able to get signed onto Elmendorf AFB thanks to Frank and Barb. As we were signing up for our site, the camp host came out with the full sign. However, they had some overflow spaces with no hookups and we jumped on those. Got spaces on a paved lot and set up camp. Had a must go dinner of leftovers.
Jerry took dogs for a walk and saw a moose and a bear, but did not have camera. Came back for it and we all went....Frank and Jerry walked down to where he had seen the bear, but some kids had been down that way on bikes and he was long gone.
Back to RV, cleaned up a bit and then bed. Plans for tomorrow are kind of maintenance plans...guys have theirs and we have ours. More later...no internet here......
Got back to RV, had a bit of breakfast and then headed out about 9:30 towards Anchorage. Stopped at Fred Meyer in Soldotna (kind of like Wal Mart, Northwest style) and picked up a few essentials. At one point on Copper Creek, the fishermen were still almost shoulder to shoulder. There was a very low tide at Turnagain Arm and it was amazing how much land was exposed. Decided to go on into Anchorage tonite rather than stop only 48 miles out. We were able to get signed onto Elmendorf AFB thanks to Frank and Barb. As we were signing up for our site, the camp host came out with the full sign. However, they had some overflow spaces with no hookups and we jumped on those. Got spaces on a paved lot and set up camp. Had a must go dinner of leftovers.
Jerry took dogs for a walk and saw a moose and a bear, but did not have camera. Came back for it and we all went....Frank and Jerry walked down to where he had seen the bear, but some kids had been down that way on bikes and he was long gone.
Back to RV, cleaned up a bit and then bed. Plans for tomorrow are kind of maintenance plans...guys have theirs and we have ours. More later...no internet here......
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Well, the guys had been so optimistic about going out on the fishing boat that yesterday they went and signed us up for another day here. However, it didn't happen. They were both disappointed and Barb and I were disappointed for them. They got up early just in case and took the dogs and cellphone for a walk on the beach, but it was not happening. When they came back, we had our breakfast and then decided to take a scenic drive in the hills above the city. At one point Jerry and Frank were mesmerized by watching float planes doing touch and goes through the binoculars (see pix). Then we passed a boatyard and there was a huge boat from Biloxi MS although I could not get a pix of it as I was on the wrong side of the car......we did kind of drive into it a bit.
Then on the spit highway, at one point there is a boat graveyard where there are all these derelict boats - a photographer's and painter's dream. They let me out so I could take some pictures and picked me up at the other end. The light was not fabulous - no long shadows, but I had a wonderful time down there. I could have spent hours and hours there. Wish I had time to paint or even sketch. Have only taken time to do a couple of sketches - we are either on the go of there is so much we want to see it is easier to take pictures and go on rather than take the time to paint....sigh.....can't do it all.
Also on our "must do" list for Homer was to go to the Salty Dawg Saloon and have drink. They opened at 11 and it was about noon when we got back so we parked the car at the RV park and walked down to the Salty Dawg. That may have been a mistake.....Of course we ordered the signature drinks...salty dogs (grapefruit juice and vodka with a salty rim) and found after the first one that they did not stint on the vodka!!! Feeling the buzz on a pretty empty stomach (no lunch yet) we had to get another round. The second round went down real easy and it seems we were loath to leave the place so Frank bought a third round. Barb and I were really happy when we finally left there......of course Frank and Jerry were too...however, I seemed to be the worst of the lot!!! We left there and went next door for a belated lunch - the restaurant was on the second floor so they had a better view of the water and I seemed to need a bit of assistance up the stairs. After lunch which helped tremendously, we went back to RV and I napped for the rest of the afternoon.
Woke up in time for a dinner of ribs, beans and salad that Barb had put in the crockpot this a.m. Then went for a walk on the beach with the dogs. Returned about 9:30 p.m. and sun still up of course. I read a bit and cleaned up around the RV and still wasn't sleepy so I decided to try my last internet coupon. We got these coupons for 1 hr. internet service and I used one at Ocean View and the other one here. Very limited access, but I did a bit of catching up on blog and the hour was over all too soon. I glanced out the window at the mountains across the inlet and they were bathed in a peachy glow know here as alpenglow. It happens shortly after sunset and the mountains and snow pick up the sunset colors. It was beautiful! Went outside a couple of times for pictures....there was also about a 2/3 moon hanging over the mountains as well. It was great.
Since I slept so much this afternoon I did not go to bed until about 2 a.m. Once internet hour used up, I went to bed and read my book. Was frustrating not to get to sleep, but serves me right for sleeping so long this afternoon. Ah well.....tomorrow is another day. Linda
Then on the spit highway, at one point there is a boat graveyard where there are all these derelict boats - a photographer's and painter's dream. They let me out so I could take some pictures and picked me up at the other end. The light was not fabulous - no long shadows, but I had a wonderful time down there. I could have spent hours and hours there. Wish I had time to paint or even sketch. Have only taken time to do a couple of sketches - we are either on the go of there is so much we want to see it is easier to take pictures and go on rather than take the time to paint....sigh.....can't do it all.
Also on our "must do" list for Homer was to go to the Salty Dawg Saloon and have drink. They opened at 11 and it was about noon when we got back so we parked the car at the RV park and walked down to the Salty Dawg. That may have been a mistake.....Of course we ordered the signature drinks...salty dogs (grapefruit juice and vodka with a salty rim) and found after the first one that they did not stint on the vodka!!! Feeling the buzz on a pretty empty stomach (no lunch yet) we had to get another round. The second round went down real easy and it seems we were loath to leave the place so Frank bought a third round. Barb and I were really happy when we finally left there......of course Frank and Jerry were too...however, I seemed to be the worst of the lot!!! We left there and went next door for a belated lunch - the restaurant was on the second floor so they had a better view of the water and I seemed to need a bit of assistance up the stairs. After lunch which helped tremendously, we went back to RV and I napped for the rest of the afternoon.
Woke up in time for a dinner of ribs, beans and salad that Barb had put in the crockpot this a.m. Then went for a walk on the beach with the dogs. Returned about 9:30 p.m. and sun still up of course. I read a bit and cleaned up around the RV and still wasn't sleepy so I decided to try my last internet coupon. We got these coupons for 1 hr. internet service and I used one at Ocean View and the other one here. Very limited access, but I did a bit of catching up on blog and the hour was over all too soon. I glanced out the window at the mountains across the inlet and they were bathed in a peachy glow know here as alpenglow. It happens shortly after sunset and the mountains and snow pick up the sunset colors. It was beautiful! Went outside a couple of times for pictures....there was also about a 2/3 moon hanging over the mountains as well. It was great.
Since I slept so much this afternoon I did not go to bed until about 2 a.m. Once internet hour used up, I went to bed and read my book. Was frustrating not to get to sleep, but serves me right for sleeping so long this afternoon. Ah well.....tomorrow is another day. Linda
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Got up and talked w/ Barb and Frank...had planned to stay here 2 nites, but we had been doing some reading and decided to drive down to the spit as there is a campground there and we wanted to check it out. It is right on the water. Went down on the beach here at low tide and it was great! Of course water too cold to swim, but the scenery is breathtaking. Across the water are snow covered mountains, etc. The dogs went nuts running on the beach, but couldn't quite understand why the water tasted so different! Gabby even got in the water up to her stomach and that is deep for her....She was chasing rocks and getting scared by waves...it was fun to watch.
Homer is a town at the end of the road on the Kenai Peninsula. There is a sand spit that goes out from the town into the water and it is maybe 20 ft. high....there is development on it (some condos at the very end, some restaurants and lots of tourist stuff and LOTS of fishing charters!!!!) Try finding it with Google Earth - type in Homer Spit, AK and see what comes up. If you see a campground towards the end of the spit that is where we are. Since it is right on the water, we decided to move down here for a night. The beach here is lots of small smooth rocks with some dark gray sand and it kind of alternates...tides will push up some gravel, then some sand, etc. There are some large tides here and when the tide is low, you have lots of beach to walk on. There are several sand bars that completely disappear at high tide.
We unhooked from OceanView and moved down to the spit about lunchtime. Only have electric hookups here so we are on our own for water and sewage. Barb and I got the car and went back into town and left the guys to finish getting set up and walking the dogs. We were on a quest - decided to get some fresh seafood for dinner...salmon or halibut whatever we could find. Had to get some staples at Safeway like bread and milk, etc. but then back to fish store. We got some salmon at the first store we tried, but it was frozen. Then we went to one that was actually right across the street from the RV park and got a halibut filet.
Could not find the guys when we got back to RV and then we saw them across the street. When they came back they took us over and we watched the commercial fishing boats come in with their catch. They are catching halibut, rockfish and rock cod. It was interesting to watch. There are buyers bidding on the catch - one boat came in with 35,000 lbs. of halibut. The fish are gutted and have ice thrown in the cavity as soon as they are brought on board and stowed in the hold on ice. The boats we saw had been out about 3 days. When they unload they use these huge nets that are on davits that they swing over and lower into the hold of the boats and the guys inside fill them up with fish. They bring them up and weigh them, then immediately put them in these large super insulated plastic boxes. They stack those up and then the forklifts come and pick them up and load them into refrigerated 18 wheeler trailers and they are on their way.
Jerry and Frank talked to one guy who has a commercial boat and he invited them to go out fishing with him in the morning. They are really pumped. After that, we walked the town. The guy's new best friend with the commercial fishing boat called and said there was a 300 lb. halibut on display in town. Unfortunately we did not ever see that one, but we did see a 247 lb. halibut that officially weighed in on the derby scales at 210 lbs. I got pictures of course. That was one big fish. Halibut are like flounder on steroids!!! Serious steroids!! They are bottom fish and have both eyes on top of their heads. They are also flat....unless you weigh 200 lbs! However, it is still pretty flat.
After all the fish excitement we wandered the shops poking in most of them, but did not buy anything. There were a couple of art galleries and I enjoyed looking in them and saw some lovely watercolors, but again, did not purchase anything today. Barb and I have big plans when the guys are gone tomorrow. The fish captain was supposed to call at 6 to let them know for sure if they could go. Six came and went and Jerry tried to call him at 7 but his voice mail was full.
Barb cooked the halibut - kind of skillet steamed it with lemon pepper and it was delicious! Had salad and sourdough bread with it. On the off chance that Alex (the boat captain) might call at 6 a.m. we decided on kind of an early night. Jerry and I took the dogs for a long walk on the beach around the end of the spit. Watched guys fishing from the bank by the ferry landing and watched it kind of clear up a bit. It really is a pretty spot. Back to the RV and bed. I did not get on internet tonite....so will do it tomorrow....
Homer is a town at the end of the road on the Kenai Peninsula. There is a sand spit that goes out from the town into the water and it is maybe 20 ft. high....there is development on it (some condos at the very end, some restaurants and lots of tourist stuff and LOTS of fishing charters!!!!) Try finding it with Google Earth - type in Homer Spit, AK and see what comes up. If you see a campground towards the end of the spit that is where we are. Since it is right on the water, we decided to move down here for a night. The beach here is lots of small smooth rocks with some dark gray sand and it kind of alternates...tides will push up some gravel, then some sand, etc. There are some large tides here and when the tide is low, you have lots of beach to walk on. There are several sand bars that completely disappear at high tide.
We unhooked from OceanView and moved down to the spit about lunchtime. Only have electric hookups here so we are on our own for water and sewage. Barb and I got the car and went back into town and left the guys to finish getting set up and walking the dogs. We were on a quest - decided to get some fresh seafood for dinner...salmon or halibut whatever we could find. Had to get some staples at Safeway like bread and milk, etc. but then back to fish store. We got some salmon at the first store we tried, but it was frozen. Then we went to one that was actually right across the street from the RV park and got a halibut filet.
Could not find the guys when we got back to RV and then we saw them across the street. When they came back they took us over and we watched the commercial fishing boats come in with their catch. They are catching halibut, rockfish and rock cod. It was interesting to watch. There are buyers bidding on the catch - one boat came in with 35,000 lbs. of halibut. The fish are gutted and have ice thrown in the cavity as soon as they are brought on board and stowed in the hold on ice. The boats we saw had been out about 3 days. When they unload they use these huge nets that are on davits that they swing over and lower into the hold of the boats and the guys inside fill them up with fish. They bring them up and weigh them, then immediately put them in these large super insulated plastic boxes. They stack those up and then the forklifts come and pick them up and load them into refrigerated 18 wheeler trailers and they are on their way.
Jerry and Frank talked to one guy who has a commercial boat and he invited them to go out fishing with him in the morning. They are really pumped. After that, we walked the town. The guy's new best friend with the commercial fishing boat called and said there was a 300 lb. halibut on display in town. Unfortunately we did not ever see that one, but we did see a 247 lb. halibut that officially weighed in on the derby scales at 210 lbs. I got pictures of course. That was one big fish. Halibut are like flounder on steroids!!! Serious steroids!! They are bottom fish and have both eyes on top of their heads. They are also flat....unless you weigh 200 lbs! However, it is still pretty flat.
After all the fish excitement we wandered the shops poking in most of them, but did not buy anything. There were a couple of art galleries and I enjoyed looking in them and saw some lovely watercolors, but again, did not purchase anything today. Barb and I have big plans when the guys are gone tomorrow. The fish captain was supposed to call at 6 to let them know for sure if they could go. Six came and went and Jerry tried to call him at 7 but his voice mail was full.
Barb cooked the halibut - kind of skillet steamed it with lemon pepper and it was delicious! Had salad and sourdough bread with it. On the off chance that Alex (the boat captain) might call at 6 a.m. we decided on kind of an early night. Jerry and I took the dogs for a long walk on the beach around the end of the spit. Watched guys fishing from the bank by the ferry landing and watched it kind of clear up a bit. It really is a pretty spot. Back to the RV and bed. I did not get on internet tonite....so will do it tomorrow....
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Up and a quick bit of breakfast, then we left in Grainger's car headed for Exit Glacier. It was really pretty.....a valley glacier. We walked about a half mile up to the toe of the glacier through the brush and woods on a very well maintained trail. There was a longer trail up to the ice fields above the glacier, but we said no to that one....It was interesting at the base of the glacier b/c you could really see all the ground up rocks and dirt that the glacier pushes up and then leaves behind.
On the way down the trail, Jerry and I walked out to the river side and he walked across one branch and got out on the gravel bars trying to get a good look at the glacier from the center of it, but all he could see was one little piece of it, so I decided not to wade across (my boots shorter than his and that water was cold!!) Back at the park headquarters we got a stamp for our National Parks Passport and had some fun with the moose horns on the bench...(see pix)!
Then we were back to campground, unhooked and headed for Homer - about 170 miles around the Kenai Peninsula.
On this side of the peninsula there is some serious fishing going on. We were following a river and at points there were fishermen lined up almost elbow to elbow fishing in the river. Jerry called it combat fishing! It did not look like fun to us!!! There were several towns along the way and LOTS of traffic, especially headed back. We think there were lots of Anchorage folks here for the weekend fishing. There are halibut derbys everywhere.
Stopped at the overlook and it was really pretty.....then got to our campground, Oceanview and got ourselves hooked up. It is on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Jerry took dogs for a walk and found the path down to the beach. Fixed some chicken soup for dinner w/ some salad & bread.
Have coupon for 1 hour of internet so I did some catching up on the blog and basically posted some pictures...it was pretty fast though...More tomorrow.
On the way down the trail, Jerry and I walked out to the river side and he walked across one branch and got out on the gravel bars trying to get a good look at the glacier from the center of it, but all he could see was one little piece of it, so I decided not to wade across (my boots shorter than his and that water was cold!!) Back at the park headquarters we got a stamp for our National Parks Passport and had some fun with the moose horns on the bench...(see pix)!
Then we were back to campground, unhooked and headed for Homer - about 170 miles around the Kenai Peninsula.
On this side of the peninsula there is some serious fishing going on. We were following a river and at points there were fishermen lined up almost elbow to elbow fishing in the river. Jerry called it combat fishing! It did not look like fun to us!!! There were several towns along the way and LOTS of traffic, especially headed back. We think there were lots of Anchorage folks here for the weekend fishing. There are halibut derbys everywhere.
Stopped at the overlook and it was really pretty.....then got to our campground, Oceanview and got ourselves hooked up. It is on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Jerry took dogs for a walk and found the path down to the beach. Fixed some chicken soup for dinner w/ some salad & bread.
Have coupon for 1 hour of internet so I did some catching up on the blog and basically posted some pictures...it was pretty fast though...More tomorrow.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Today is our scheduled boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park. It is a 7 1/2 hour tour and of course it is raining!!! Weather is cold and miserable. We called about getting a refund, but they don't do that. We spent the early part of the morning just relaxing around the RV as our cruise was not until 11:00 or so. Drove into Seward and got our boarding passes and headed out for the boat. The boat held about 140 people.
Because of the weather, the pilot changed course a bit. The clouds were low on the mountains and sometimes we could not see across the fjord and we got no high views of the Holgate Glacier. We were supposed to go to another glacier, but the seas were a bit rough so we did the alternate route. We saw a humpback whale and spent some time watching him. The good thing about these cruises is that the pilot can go where there are sightings of whales, etc. and spend a bit of time watching them. We also saw harbor seals, sea lions, puffins and other birds. Saw a couple of Dall's porpoises also, but they are very speedy and could not get pictures of them. Did get a couple of the whale's tail.
When we got to the glacier it was very quiet. We did hear some creaking and groaning and saw one small chunk of ice fall in the water, but it was a quiet day. A few very small pieces fell in also and I think I got a pix of that - I missed our one larger chunk but I have pictures of glaciers calving from our AK cruise a few years ago.
They served and all you can eat lunch of prime rib and baked salmon w/ salad and rice pilaf. It was very good food. After the glacier viewing and on the way back they had the desserts set up..We had a good time with Frank and Barb, but were very disappointed in what we saw. It was also very cold and it really felt good inside the cabin of the boat.
Needless to say after that long in the RV the dogs were very glad to see us and get out of the RV for a while. Jerry took them for a walk and we all went out after a few minutes b/c an eagle had landed in a tree right at the campground. We got some pictures of him, but he was in a leafy tree and was a bit hard to see. We did see one swoop down across the river and grab a piece of salmon that had been left on the shore by the folks who lived there.
After that we headed for bed. Hope weather better tomorrow.....
Because of the weather, the pilot changed course a bit. The clouds were low on the mountains and sometimes we could not see across the fjord and we got no high views of the Holgate Glacier. We were supposed to go to another glacier, but the seas were a bit rough so we did the alternate route. We saw a humpback whale and spent some time watching him. The good thing about these cruises is that the pilot can go where there are sightings of whales, etc. and spend a bit of time watching them. We also saw harbor seals, sea lions, puffins and other birds. Saw a couple of Dall's porpoises also, but they are very speedy and could not get pictures of them. Did get a couple of the whale's tail.
When we got to the glacier it was very quiet. We did hear some creaking and groaning and saw one small chunk of ice fall in the water, but it was a quiet day. A few very small pieces fell in also and I think I got a pix of that - I missed our one larger chunk but I have pictures of glaciers calving from our AK cruise a few years ago.
They served and all you can eat lunch of prime rib and baked salmon w/ salad and rice pilaf. It was very good food. After the glacier viewing and on the way back they had the desserts set up..We had a good time with Frank and Barb, but were very disappointed in what we saw. It was also very cold and it really felt good inside the cabin of the boat.
Needless to say after that long in the RV the dogs were very glad to see us and get out of the RV for a while. Jerry took them for a walk and we all went out after a few minutes b/c an eagle had landed in a tree right at the campground. We got some pictures of him, but he was in a leafy tree and was a bit hard to see. We did see one swoop down across the river and grab a piece of salmon that had been left on the shore by the folks who lived there.
After that we headed for bed. Hope weather better tomorrow.....
Friday, June 22, 2007
FRiday, June 22, 2007
Left this a.m. in our RV headed to Portage Glacier - the visitor center just a couple of miles down the road from RV park. Graingers left theirs at the park. Jerry and I had been to the visitor center at least 15 years ago when we were here on our first Alaska cruise and he had a convention here. It is a neat center....I remember when we were here before that the glacier was fairly close to the center. In fact, you go in and watch the movie, then the screen raises to reveal windows that looked out on the glacier. Well, the glacier has disappeared behind a mountain altho it still calves into the lake and there is another glacier coming out of another valley as well altho it is very far away. A very large piece had fallen off yesterday and they towed it to just outside the visitor center. It was really pretty as it reflected the blue colors unique to glaciers. But now to see the Portage Glacier you have to take a boat. We declined that.
After the visitor center, we decided to drive the highway tunnel into Whittier. That was new since we had been here. The tunnel is over 2 miles long and only one lane so they only let traffic through at certain times depending on which way you are going. It is also shared by the railroad. It was a great side trip. Whittier is a fishing town and there were lots of boats in the harbor. It was misting a bit. We got out and went to forestry yurt in town to see if we could get a passport stamp, but they didn't have any. We did get some restaurant recommendations so we walked along the waterfront and found a restaurant where we got clam chowder and halibut fish and chips. It was great! Cold here also as it was misting. Temps in low 50's which I think is wonderful! Got back to RV to make our entry into the tunnel at 1 p.m. altho it was delayed a bit b/c the train was in and it got to go first!
Dropped Frank and Barb off at their RV and headed towards Seward. Only drove 94 miles today...a VERY short driving day. Seward is really a fishing town...lots and lots of charters and a cruise ship had docked this a.m. It will sail again tonite about 10 p.m. on the southbound leg of Inside Passage. We have a glacier viewing cruise scheduled for tomorrow and we are looking forward to that as well.
We went to the visitor center and got our stamps and then walked along the boardwalk between the shops and the harbor. We watched them cleaning halibut and rock cod. That was interesting! Lots and lots of halibut...some were very big. The biggest so far this year in the halibut derby is 185.2 lbs. We had some recommendations for dinner places and we got to eat out tonite. At at a place called Chinook's and had great views of harbor and the fish cleaning place...saw lots of fish that had been caught. We also saw our first sea otter floating around in the harbor. We should see lots more tomorrow. Barb and I want pictures of them.
Had good dinner of fresh salmon, etc. Was good, but not great - mostly good b/c we did not have to make plans for dinner tonite. Tomorrow the cruise includes an all you can eat salmon/prime rib buffet. We are looking forward to that. High tomorrow supposed to be in low 50's w/ light rain.
After dinner we walked around and Jerry wanted some ice cream so we found a place to get a cone then walked back to the car and back to our home on wheels. There are 2 eagles that soar around the camp here and they are pretty to watch, but I am keeping close eye on Kudzu....Barb saw a photo somewhere of an eagle attacking a young wolf and I read that they have been known to go for baby caribou and sheep. The campground tonite is on the banks of a river, but is all gravel w/ no trees and sites are stacked side by side altho not too close together. It has internet which is great for us. All for now...must take shower and get ready for tomorrow.....Love to you all, Linda
After the visitor center, we decided to drive the highway tunnel into Whittier. That was new since we had been here. The tunnel is over 2 miles long and only one lane so they only let traffic through at certain times depending on which way you are going. It is also shared by the railroad. It was a great side trip. Whittier is a fishing town and there were lots of boats in the harbor. It was misting a bit. We got out and went to forestry yurt in town to see if we could get a passport stamp, but they didn't have any. We did get some restaurant recommendations so we walked along the waterfront and found a restaurant where we got clam chowder and halibut fish and chips. It was great! Cold here also as it was misting. Temps in low 50's which I think is wonderful! Got back to RV to make our entry into the tunnel at 1 p.m. altho it was delayed a bit b/c the train was in and it got to go first!
Dropped Frank and Barb off at their RV and headed towards Seward. Only drove 94 miles today...a VERY short driving day. Seward is really a fishing town...lots and lots of charters and a cruise ship had docked this a.m. It will sail again tonite about 10 p.m. on the southbound leg of Inside Passage. We have a glacier viewing cruise scheduled for tomorrow and we are looking forward to that as well.
We went to the visitor center and got our stamps and then walked along the boardwalk between the shops and the harbor. We watched them cleaning halibut and rock cod. That was interesting! Lots and lots of halibut...some were very big. The biggest so far this year in the halibut derby is 185.2 lbs. We had some recommendations for dinner places and we got to eat out tonite. At at a place called Chinook's and had great views of harbor and the fish cleaning place...saw lots of fish that had been caught. We also saw our first sea otter floating around in the harbor. We should see lots more tomorrow. Barb and I want pictures of them.
Had good dinner of fresh salmon, etc. Was good, but not great - mostly good b/c we did not have to make plans for dinner tonite. Tomorrow the cruise includes an all you can eat salmon/prime rib buffet. We are looking forward to that. High tomorrow supposed to be in low 50's w/ light rain.
After dinner we walked around and Jerry wanted some ice cream so we found a place to get a cone then walked back to the car and back to our home on wheels. There are 2 eagles that soar around the camp here and they are pretty to watch, but I am keeping close eye on Kudzu....Barb saw a photo somewhere of an eagle attacking a young wolf and I read that they have been known to go for baby caribou and sheep. The campground tonite is on the banks of a river, but is all gravel w/ no trees and sites are stacked side by side altho not too close together. It has internet which is great for us. All for now...must take shower and get ready for tomorrow.....Love to you all, Linda
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Today is summer solstice - the longest day of the year. It is a big deal up here and the locals throw solstice parties, etc. We have no solstice plans, but we do have flying plans.
There were thunderstorms last nite and Barb is frustrated b/c she can no longer get online to update her blog. The wi-fi at the park got fried in the power outage so it is useless!
Our flight is at 10:15 so we headed over about 9:45. Barb and Frank going to wait on us when they check out of park. There were film crews there and a crowd and we found out why. A kid had succeeded in climbing Mt. McKinley -but what is special about him is that he had been diagnosed w/ Hodgkin's disease and given 6 months to live, then got some other infection and was given 2 weeks to live. He managed to survive both and has book out called "Keep Climbing" which is all about his chemo, etc. The first thing he did when he finished his chemo was to spend 7 months training to climb mountains and his first climb was Mt. Everest! He has climbed 7 peaks so far. This was his second attempt at McKinley - the first they were stranded for 20 days on the mountain because of weather and having to ration food, etc. He re-stocked and tried again 3 weeks later and was successful. We met his parents and his dad was telling us a bit about his story. I think the special they are doing on him will air July 1. We don't have access to a TV, but I think it will be on ESPN. We had seen the group come down...the air service we had our flite on had flown them out. After all the interviews, filming, etc, he was walking by us barefoot and his feet were a mess! He had blisters and his little toe was bloody, the bottoms of his feet were white and I don't know how he did it. It is a wonderful story and I will certainly get the book when we get back home, although the climb to McKinley won't be in it.
After all that excitement our names were called and it was our turn to fly. There were 6 of us plus the pilot and I was lucky enough to get the back seat. The pilot said that was the seat preferred by photographers so I jumped at that chance. It was a tight fit! Jerry sat behind the pilot and off we went! We flew up over glaciers and through the mountains surrounding McKinley. It was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the very best things about the trip so far!!!! We have tried to do a glacier flight on each of our cruises, but were unable to because of weather. The weather today was perfect except for some smoke from the forest fires. We were flying in and out of canyons and at the highest point we were at 11,200 feet. At one point I was beginning to get a bit short of breath, but it passed quickly as I concentrated on taking pictures.
We flew over the base camp for the climbers and then flew between these rock faces that were covered in snow on one side and sheer rock on the other. We flew into what is called the amphitheater at the 5500' level at the base of McKinley and landed right on Ruth Glacier. It is a 25 mile long glacier. We got out of the plane and spent about 30-45 minutes walking around on the glacier. Off to one side was a hill w/ footprints going up and on top was an outhouse as well as a cabin. You could rent the cabin and stay the night up there. I think that would be awesome to do!!! It was just beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!
I could go on and on - I will post several pictures but the pictures don't capture the immensity of the place. At one point there were 7 planes up there! Our pilot said the busiest he has ever seen it was 12 planes there at once! We got back on the plane to fly out and I gave up my back seat to another passenger from Louisiana....LSU folks! The flight back was pretty much straight back to the airport, but there was some spectacular scenery too. The color of the glaciers is incredible and the pools of water on top were the deepest turquoise color I have ever seen!
We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the trip!!! Would do it again in a NY minute!!!
When we got down the dogs were glad to see us and we met up w/ Frank and Barb and drove on through Anchorage to Portage Glacier. Kind of took scenic route thru Anchorage as we missed our highway, but that's ok....drove along Turnagain Arm and the tide was way out. Saw some beluga whales we think, but the wind was horrendous!!!! It was a spectacular drive. Continued on to Portage Valley RV park where we spent the nite. Got in about 5:30 or so. It was a neat place as it was in this valley surrounded by peaks that still had snow in places. We saw an eagle, but still no Bullwinkle or Yogi! This place had a covered area where you could BBQ or build a campfire. It is much colder here and the wind is still blowing very hard. After dinner, we went over to the campfire area and talked to some folks staying here. some from Anchorage and others just passing thru. To bed about 11. Great day!!! HAPPY SOLSTICE!!! Linda
There were thunderstorms last nite and Barb is frustrated b/c she can no longer get online to update her blog. The wi-fi at the park got fried in the power outage so it is useless!
Our flight is at 10:15 so we headed over about 9:45. Barb and Frank going to wait on us when they check out of park. There were film crews there and a crowd and we found out why. A kid had succeeded in climbing Mt. McKinley -but what is special about him is that he had been diagnosed w/ Hodgkin's disease and given 6 months to live, then got some other infection and was given 2 weeks to live. He managed to survive both and has book out called "Keep Climbing" which is all about his chemo, etc. The first thing he did when he finished his chemo was to spend 7 months training to climb mountains and his first climb was Mt. Everest! He has climbed 7 peaks so far. This was his second attempt at McKinley - the first they were stranded for 20 days on the mountain because of weather and having to ration food, etc. He re-stocked and tried again 3 weeks later and was successful. We met his parents and his dad was telling us a bit about his story. I think the special they are doing on him will air July 1. We don't have access to a TV, but I think it will be on ESPN. We had seen the group come down...the air service we had our flite on had flown them out. After all the interviews, filming, etc, he was walking by us barefoot and his feet were a mess! He had blisters and his little toe was bloody, the bottoms of his feet were white and I don't know how he did it. It is a wonderful story and I will certainly get the book when we get back home, although the climb to McKinley won't be in it.
After all that excitement our names were called and it was our turn to fly. There were 6 of us plus the pilot and I was lucky enough to get the back seat. The pilot said that was the seat preferred by photographers so I jumped at that chance. It was a tight fit! Jerry sat behind the pilot and off we went! We flew up over glaciers and through the mountains surrounding McKinley. It was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the very best things about the trip so far!!!! We have tried to do a glacier flight on each of our cruises, but were unable to because of weather. The weather today was perfect except for some smoke from the forest fires. We were flying in and out of canyons and at the highest point we were at 11,200 feet. At one point I was beginning to get a bit short of breath, but it passed quickly as I concentrated on taking pictures.
We flew over the base camp for the climbers and then flew between these rock faces that were covered in snow on one side and sheer rock on the other. We flew into what is called the amphitheater at the 5500' level at the base of McKinley and landed right on Ruth Glacier. It is a 25 mile long glacier. We got out of the plane and spent about 30-45 minutes walking around on the glacier. Off to one side was a hill w/ footprints going up and on top was an outhouse as well as a cabin. You could rent the cabin and stay the night up there. I think that would be awesome to do!!! It was just beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!
I could go on and on - I will post several pictures but the pictures don't capture the immensity of the place. At one point there were 7 planes up there! Our pilot said the busiest he has ever seen it was 12 planes there at once! We got back on the plane to fly out and I gave up my back seat to another passenger from Louisiana....LSU folks! The flight back was pretty much straight back to the airport, but there was some spectacular scenery too. The color of the glaciers is incredible and the pools of water on top were the deepest turquoise color I have ever seen!
We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the trip!!! Would do it again in a NY minute!!!
When we got down the dogs were glad to see us and we met up w/ Frank and Barb and drove on through Anchorage to Portage Glacier. Kind of took scenic route thru Anchorage as we missed our highway, but that's ok....drove along Turnagain Arm and the tide was way out. Saw some beluga whales we think, but the wind was horrendous!!!! It was a spectacular drive. Continued on to Portage Valley RV park where we spent the nite. Got in about 5:30 or so. It was a neat place as it was in this valley surrounded by peaks that still had snow in places. We saw an eagle, but still no Bullwinkle or Yogi! This place had a covered area where you could BBQ or build a campfire. It is much colder here and the wind is still blowing very hard. After dinner, we went over to the campfire area and talked to some folks staying here. some from Anchorage and others just passing thru. To bed about 11. Great day!!! HAPPY SOLSTICE!!! Linda
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Said good bye to North Pole - left @ 6:45 a.m. headed for Denali National Park. We got there around 10:30 a.m. and went to visitor's center for our park stamp and then decided to drive in as far as we could which is about 15 miles. We had taked the 40 mile bus trip before when we were here, but Barb and Frank had not done this before. It was a great drive although we did not see any wildlife except lots and lots of rabbits! No caribou, bears, sheep, etc. We did get a peek at the mountain (it is usually covered in clouds) as it was only partially covered today. We stopped at a turnout and made lunch in the RV with the view of the mtn. out the window. We took our RV into the park and then picked up theirs on the way out.
We had not planned on a long drive today - our final destination is Talkeetna and that is where Jerry and I have our glacier flight scheduled for tomorrow. The drive took us from the north face of Mt. McKinley (which was in the park) around the east and south sides as well. The views from those sides were even more fabulous as the clouds were not as dense on those sides. In fact we were able to see the summit and the whole of the range at a few points. I wish we had stopped more often for pictures but we were usually past the turnouts before we realized what great views could be had from these points.
The rest of the day's drive was rather boring after all that impressive stuff, but we finally arrived at Talkeetna. We drove over 300 miles today which was farther than we thought and we were glad to get to campground. Talkeetna is a rather small town, but has lots of McKinley flightseeing tours. Had a light dinner and used time to catch up on blog as we had internet access. I spent time loading some pictures and I am still not quite caught up with that, but getting closer. More tomorrow....Linda
We had not planned on a long drive today - our final destination is Talkeetna and that is where Jerry and I have our glacier flight scheduled for tomorrow. The drive took us from the north face of Mt. McKinley (which was in the park) around the east and south sides as well. The views from those sides were even more fabulous as the clouds were not as dense on those sides. In fact we were able to see the summit and the whole of the range at a few points. I wish we had stopped more often for pictures but we were usually past the turnouts before we realized what great views could be had from these points.
The rest of the day's drive was rather boring after all that impressive stuff, but we finally arrived at Talkeetna. We drove over 300 miles today which was farther than we thought and we were glad to get to campground. Talkeetna is a rather small town, but has lots of McKinley flightseeing tours. Had a light dinner and used time to catch up on blog as we had internet access. I spent time loading some pictures and I am still not quite caught up with that, but getting closer. More tomorrow....Linda
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Slept in a bit late this a.m. Not up till 7:45. Could have slept later too. Today is rest and recovery day. I made coffee then went to take shower and do more laundry as everything we took on the trip was dusty and gritty. I was working on blog and checking email when Loren and Lola drove up. They were outside talking w/ Frank and Barb when there was a knock on the RV and I went outside and there was Santa Claus! Really!!! He had come over from Santa Claus House next door and was supposed to visit some folks in RV park, but he had wrong site #. Anyway, he was quite taken w/ Gabby & Kudzu so I got their picture with him. Then we all had our pictures made with him, except for Jerry as he was over taking a shower. It was kind of cheesy fun. I didn't know Santa made house calls in the middle of summer. I will say he had no pack of presents on his back!
We visited w/ Lola and Lorne for a while. They brought us some Tim Horton coffee - it is a big deal in Canada- supposed to be really good coffee. They also brought Jerry a new John Deere hat - their son is partner in several John Deere dealerships in Canada so he was excited to get that.
After that, Frank, Barb and I went to Eilson AFB to do some shopping. Picked up a few groceries, more liquor and mix and got our tickets for glacier cruise. They dropped me off at RV park so I could separate groceries and they headed on into Fairbanks to pick up their mail which their son had sent from WA. Worked on blog, ate a sandwich and when they returned we went for a walk along this creek that runs behind the campground. It was a nice walk.
THEN Jerry has been planning this picture for days....At Santa Claus House there is a HUGE plywood cutout of Santa with a red sleigh at the foot. Jerry got the leashes for the dogs, a couple of sticks, the tripod, camera and marched the 3 of us over to the sleigh. When the crowd cleared a bit, Barb and I got in Santa's sleigh, he put one end of the leashes in our hands and he and Frank took the other. They were our "reindeer"! Talk about cheesy!!!! But we were all laughing so hard we were in tears. Of course he could not do this after the place closed at 8 p.m. and no one was around...he waited till there was a tour bus there and people were lined up to take pictures in the sleigh with the wooden Santa.....He also got Barb and I sticks so we could prod our "deer"! It has been a long time since I have laughed that hard. We were really silly and it felt good!.
Took another walk this afternoon down to the "Welcome to the North Pole sign". You will eventually be seeing all these pictures when I can load pix again. I know y'all can't wait! LOL Jerry keeps saying I am putting way too much info in blog, but this is serving as my travel journal as well so I try to put in anything I think I might want to remember.
Spent time this afternoon on the blog and visiting with Frank and Barb. We have such a good time together. Kind of had a thrown together supper, but ate outside tonite. Actually the mosquitoes were gone but there were plenty of gnats and a few bees. After dinner we just kind of took it easy. We took our RV and dumped tonite so we would not have to do that in a.m. We are planning an early start and heading to Denali tomorrow. It's time for bed, so will sign off...we have internet tomorrow nite and I will spend time on pictures I hope! All for now...Linda
We visited w/ Lola and Lorne for a while. They brought us some Tim Horton coffee - it is a big deal in Canada- supposed to be really good coffee. They also brought Jerry a new John Deere hat - their son is partner in several John Deere dealerships in Canada so he was excited to get that.
After that, Frank, Barb and I went to Eilson AFB to do some shopping. Picked up a few groceries, more liquor and mix and got our tickets for glacier cruise. They dropped me off at RV park so I could separate groceries and they headed on into Fairbanks to pick up their mail which their son had sent from WA. Worked on blog, ate a sandwich and when they returned we went for a walk along this creek that runs behind the campground. It was a nice walk.
THEN Jerry has been planning this picture for days....At Santa Claus House there is a HUGE plywood cutout of Santa with a red sleigh at the foot. Jerry got the leashes for the dogs, a couple of sticks, the tripod, camera and marched the 3 of us over to the sleigh. When the crowd cleared a bit, Barb and I got in Santa's sleigh, he put one end of the leashes in our hands and he and Frank took the other. They were our "reindeer"! Talk about cheesy!!!! But we were all laughing so hard we were in tears. Of course he could not do this after the place closed at 8 p.m. and no one was around...he waited till there was a tour bus there and people were lined up to take pictures in the sleigh with the wooden Santa.....He also got Barb and I sticks so we could prod our "deer"! It has been a long time since I have laughed that hard. We were really silly and it felt good!.
Took another walk this afternoon down to the "Welcome to the North Pole sign". You will eventually be seeing all these pictures when I can load pix again. I know y'all can't wait! LOL Jerry keeps saying I am putting way too much info in blog, but this is serving as my travel journal as well so I try to put in anything I think I might want to remember.
Spent time this afternoon on the blog and visiting with Frank and Barb. We have such a good time together. Kind of had a thrown together supper, but ate outside tonite. Actually the mosquitoes were gone but there were plenty of gnats and a few bees. After dinner we just kind of took it easy. We took our RV and dumped tonite so we would not have to do that in a.m. We are planning an early start and heading to Denali tomorrow. It's time for bed, so will sign off...we have internet tomorrow nite and I will spend time on pictures I hope! All for now...Linda
Monday, June 18, 2007
Up early - slept w/ window open again, but again very warm in room, altho very pleasant outside. %$#$$ dogs were howling, barking and yipping all nite! Hard to sleep....The sun did not set, but it did go behind a mountain at some point during the nite.
After breakfast, we left at 8:30 to backtrack a bit to the settlement of Wiseman - population 13. Our tour included a stop for a visit w/ Jack Reakoff, a long time resident of the town who lives a subsistence lifestyle - he never buys meat - he kills moose for his meat. For income, he works for the tour co. hosting tours and giving them a glimpse into his style of life and also traps fox, marten, lynx, wolves etc. and sells the fur. It was a very interesting morning and the man is incredibly knowledgeable. His home was interesting also....We were invited in...you can imagine with no trash pickup the kind of stuff they have laying around. Of course it is a log cabin with outhouses in back. He does have electricity and has an internet connection that perks along at the speed of 14.4 which is half the speed of old fashioned dial up....
There is a log cabin museum in the settlement with lots of pictures, etc. We listened to Jack tell us about gold mining and the lifestyles in this area. I took lots of pictures there - everything was so different and fascinating.....around the base of a tree he was drying moose legs - from the knees down. I don't know what he was going to use them for but there were several skirting this one tree. He had beautiful fox, lynx, and marten pelts and told us how he has to pack meat out when he kills a moose for food. He has a special subsistence hunting permit and he cannot use a snow machine or 4 wheeler to help him pack out his meat. He has to carry it out on his back and it can take up to 6-7 trips to pack out the meat on an 1800 lb. moose. He grows his own vegetables and keeps meticulous records of temps, pressure, sunlight, etc. each day.
If anyone is interested in this kind of stuff he has a website - I think it is www.wisemanwolf.com and if that does not work, Google Jack Reakoff and see what pops up. It was a very interesting morning.
After leaving Jack's we made a quick stop back at Coldfoot and then on down the road. We stopped briefly at Gobbler's Knob for our last look at the Brooks Mtn. Range but the big stop was at the Arctic Circle sign. We had gotten some bubbly which we had iced down that morning and when we were there, we popped the cork and we all toasted our Arctic adventures. It was really good fun. Rob, our guide, rolled out the red carpet for us in front of the sign so we could stand on it and have our pix made. It would have been a good place to stop for lunch except the bugs - mosquitoes and black flies- were pretty bad there. Besides the cruise ship tour bus w/ LOTS of people on it were already there. We had been following them yesterday and today and kept bumping into them.
After the Arctic Circle we passed the Kanuti River and Kanuti wildlife refuge. Still no bear sign and we were also hoping for a peek at Bullwinkle. We have seen mama moose, but we wanted to see one with big antlers! We were running a bit later than anticipated so we broke out our lunches and ate on the bus.
Our next stop was Finger Mountain..named for a very unusual rock formation that looks just like a finger. It was a different landscape as all this granite was jumbled up on the surface of the ground. It was very interesting but we were getting a bit antsy by that time.
I have not said too much about the road we were on. the 422 miles of the Dawson Highway that runs from outside Fairbanks to Deadhorse is 98% gravel and/or dirt. In places it is rough. The paved sections are very prone to potholes and asphalt deterioration b/c of snow and ice so we were usually glad to get back on the gravel roads. Except for one area of construction where the gravel had not been compacted and was unusually large and rough, most of the gravel road was OK. At one point they were grading the road and the road was nothing more than this black (and I do mean black) muck. We met a motorcycle coming the other way through that....does not sound like fun to me. The highway is maintained year round and was closed for a severe fores fire a couple of years ago but that is rare. We bumped and bumped along forever it seemed.
Our next stop was at the Yukon River Camp - again trailers. This one is right on the banks of the Yukon River. We went in and got some ice cream and took a break from the bumping and shaking. The bridge over the river actually had wooden decking that is replaced every year. They use wood b/c of the shrinking/swelling caused by ice. Most all the bridges had plank decking. We also stopped at Joy, AK which had a small store and the bathroom facilities were literally outhouse style. But these were stylish outhouses...the one I used actually had a painting in it on the wall as well as an old tin pitcher with flowers in it. First time I have used a decorated outhouse! Jerry got a t-shirt there. We did stop on the road for pictures of the beginning of the Dawson Highway. We still had about 22 miles to go, but it was real highway the rest of the way.
After leaving at 8:30 a.m., we arrived back at the airport parking lot at about 8:30 p.m. We had made some new friends and had a wonderful time as shared experiences like that tend to create bonds. Lola and Loren from Canada are coming by the campsite in the morning to share some stuff with us and pick up a couple of pictures.
When we got back to camp, Jerry and Frank went to get the dogs while Barb and I unpacked and had a drink! We needed it! Then we snacked a bit but no one was really hungry. Jerry and Frank were planning our timetable so we could get our tickets for the glacier cruise. Frank and Barb are going to get those on base tomorrow. Barb and I were busy downloading pix and she was printing some for Lola and Loren. I made them a DVD of all the pix I took on this side trip as they were having trouble with their camera. He is a farmer in Ontario.
Back to our camper. Boy the dogs were really glad to be back! I went back on computer and Jerry went to bed. I thought I was really tired, but could not sleep and up till 1:30 on computer and then trying to sleep. oh well...what else is new! Good Night!!! Linda
After breakfast, we left at 8:30 to backtrack a bit to the settlement of Wiseman - population 13. Our tour included a stop for a visit w/ Jack Reakoff, a long time resident of the town who lives a subsistence lifestyle - he never buys meat - he kills moose for his meat. For income, he works for the tour co. hosting tours and giving them a glimpse into his style of life and also traps fox, marten, lynx, wolves etc. and sells the fur. It was a very interesting morning and the man is incredibly knowledgeable. His home was interesting also....We were invited in...you can imagine with no trash pickup the kind of stuff they have laying around. Of course it is a log cabin with outhouses in back. He does have electricity and has an internet connection that perks along at the speed of 14.4 which is half the speed of old fashioned dial up....
There is a log cabin museum in the settlement with lots of pictures, etc. We listened to Jack tell us about gold mining and the lifestyles in this area. I took lots of pictures there - everything was so different and fascinating.....around the base of a tree he was drying moose legs - from the knees down. I don't know what he was going to use them for but there were several skirting this one tree. He had beautiful fox, lynx, and marten pelts and told us how he has to pack meat out when he kills a moose for food. He has a special subsistence hunting permit and he cannot use a snow machine or 4 wheeler to help him pack out his meat. He has to carry it out on his back and it can take up to 6-7 trips to pack out the meat on an 1800 lb. moose. He grows his own vegetables and keeps meticulous records of temps, pressure, sunlight, etc. each day.
If anyone is interested in this kind of stuff he has a website - I think it is www.wisemanwolf.com and if that does not work, Google Jack Reakoff and see what pops up. It was a very interesting morning.
After leaving Jack's we made a quick stop back at Coldfoot and then on down the road. We stopped briefly at Gobbler's Knob for our last look at the Brooks Mtn. Range but the big stop was at the Arctic Circle sign. We had gotten some bubbly which we had iced down that morning and when we were there, we popped the cork and we all toasted our Arctic adventures. It was really good fun. Rob, our guide, rolled out the red carpet for us in front of the sign so we could stand on it and have our pix made. It would have been a good place to stop for lunch except the bugs - mosquitoes and black flies- were pretty bad there. Besides the cruise ship tour bus w/ LOTS of people on it were already there. We had been following them yesterday and today and kept bumping into them.
After the Arctic Circle we passed the Kanuti River and Kanuti wildlife refuge. Still no bear sign and we were also hoping for a peek at Bullwinkle. We have seen mama moose, but we wanted to see one with big antlers! We were running a bit later than anticipated so we broke out our lunches and ate on the bus.
Our next stop was Finger Mountain..named for a very unusual rock formation that looks just like a finger. It was a different landscape as all this granite was jumbled up on the surface of the ground. It was very interesting but we were getting a bit antsy by that time.
I have not said too much about the road we were on. the 422 miles of the Dawson Highway that runs from outside Fairbanks to Deadhorse is 98% gravel and/or dirt. In places it is rough. The paved sections are very prone to potholes and asphalt deterioration b/c of snow and ice so we were usually glad to get back on the gravel roads. Except for one area of construction where the gravel had not been compacted and was unusually large and rough, most of the gravel road was OK. At one point they were grading the road and the road was nothing more than this black (and I do mean black) muck. We met a motorcycle coming the other way through that....does not sound like fun to me. The highway is maintained year round and was closed for a severe fores fire a couple of years ago but that is rare. We bumped and bumped along forever it seemed.
Our next stop was at the Yukon River Camp - again trailers. This one is right on the banks of the Yukon River. We went in and got some ice cream and took a break from the bumping and shaking. The bridge over the river actually had wooden decking that is replaced every year. They use wood b/c of the shrinking/swelling caused by ice. Most all the bridges had plank decking. We also stopped at Joy, AK which had a small store and the bathroom facilities were literally outhouse style. But these were stylish outhouses...the one I used actually had a painting in it on the wall as well as an old tin pitcher with flowers in it. First time I have used a decorated outhouse! Jerry got a t-shirt there. We did stop on the road for pictures of the beginning of the Dawson Highway. We still had about 22 miles to go, but it was real highway the rest of the way.
After leaving at 8:30 a.m., we arrived back at the airport parking lot at about 8:30 p.m. We had made some new friends and had a wonderful time as shared experiences like that tend to create bonds. Lola and Loren from Canada are coming by the campsite in the morning to share some stuff with us and pick up a couple of pictures.
When we got back to camp, Jerry and Frank went to get the dogs while Barb and I unpacked and had a drink! We needed it! Then we snacked a bit but no one was really hungry. Jerry and Frank were planning our timetable so we could get our tickets for the glacier cruise. Frank and Barb are going to get those on base tomorrow. Barb and I were busy downloading pix and she was printing some for Lola and Loren. I made them a DVD of all the pix I took on this side trip as they were having trouble with their camera. He is a farmer in Ontario.
Back to our camper. Boy the dogs were really glad to be back! I went back on computer and Jerry went to bed. I thought I was really tired, but could not sleep and up till 1:30 on computer and then trying to sleep. oh well...what else is new! Good Night!!! Linda
Sunday, June 17, 2007 - Father's Day
Just want everyone to know that we spent the night in the Arctic Circle and had to sleep w/ our windows open b/c it was so warm....the hotel kept the inside way too warm but it was also warm outside - at least for Arctic....like about 50+! Up early and down for breakfast in cafeteria. They had eggs Benedict and then had sandwich stuff out so we could make our lunches for the road. We start back to Fairbanks today - about a 500 mile drive that will take us 2 days. Left hotel about 8 a.m. We wrote and mailed some postcards before we left so hopefully if you get one, you will notice the postmark. Bet you haven't gotten many from inside the Arctic Circle!
Our drive took us out past the airport and across the tundra. You could see oil rig stuff forever on the horizon. We were adjacent to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge but distances are very vast and deceiving! We could not see it from here! On the way back down we saw an Arctic fox right away - still in his white fur. He was acting a bit erratic and guide said rabies is rampant here among foxes and wolves. We were able to pull off and watch him for a while. Saw lots and lots of caribou, some tundra swans and other birds, also saw some Dall sheep on the cliffs etc. and they were amazing to watch climb around on the rocks. At one point we saw a herd of over 40 sheep on the slopes far away, but then saw some up close later right by the side of the road. Saw an arctic ptarmigan as well...
The road followed the pipeline and the Sagavanirktok River, also known as the Sag river. The scenery is beautiful!!!! Flat tundra then rolling hills...permafrost up to 2000 ft. thick with an insulating layer of peat. We had long vistas of the pipeline snaking its way up and down hills and then going underground in places. The oil flowing in the pipeline is traveling at a temp of 100 degrees and at a surprising rate of speed. There are pumping stations along the way where they monitor flow, temp, etc. It was very interesting!!!
There was a place called Happy Valley that was a stop for truckers and rig workers - very rustic place to say the least! We stopped for lunch at Galbraith Lake and walked down the gravel riverbed and we all sat on large rocks to eat our lunch. There was ice and snow still banked up across the river. That kind of snow and ice is called aufeis (pronounced "off ice") and is very dense like you would find in glaciers. There is even a distinctive blue color to it underneath the edges. It was a beautiful place nestled in the mountains. It was great!
We also stopped where they were digging gravel along a river and we were able to walk out on the aufeis. There was a little feeder stream that ran under the ice and had hollowed out in places. That was a neat place and very pretty! Can't wait to get to a place where I can upload the pictures from the last week or so!
We went over Atigun Pass which is the place where the highway crossed the Continental Divide at elevation 4,739'. Rivers south flow either into Pacific or Bering Sea and rivers north flow into Arctic Ocean. We saw a small group of Dall sheep up close and personal just over the pass.
We then had great views of the Chandalar Shelf which is the headwaters of the river of that name. After Galbraith Lake when we began climbing up to the pass, we were in the Brooks Mtn. Range. The views were spectacular and we had awesome weather!
We passed Sukakpak Mountain which was this huge open rock face on our side and we were there when the sun was shining on it and it was very spectacular!!! We arrived at our overnite stop at Coldfoot about 6:30 or so and we all headed straight for the bar to get a beer or glass of wine. I even drank a beer which is rare for me...it tasted great! Got checked into our rooms and boy was that an eye opener. These rooms boasted private baths - HA! It was another hotel that was connected trailers with dorm room type accommodations...twin beds - one to a side. The bathroom actually made the one in the RV look roomy! It was a space inside the room that was sectioned off with chipboard - toilet and shower inside the enclosure, sink outside in the room. The closet was the equivalent of a school locker, only it was plywood. Now our room boasted a library as someone had left a book on top of the blanket in the room. We were told that this hotel had been built in 1971 but had been updated. They had put in new carpet and new beds....I think the remodel must have been in 1975!!! It was also very warm inside so we opened the window - there was a cabin not too far away and they had some sled dogs. The dogs barked and growled and howled all nite long! Of course it was never night!
There is a wonderful visitor center and we went there for a program after dinner. The program was an OK presentation, the young ranger who put it together tried really hard, but there were lots of political questions asked and he was stumped as well as being between a rock and a hard place! We enjoyed looking at the displays and we got an Arctic Circle certificate as well. Then it was back to the bar where the whole group met and we polished off the nite with several beers and wine. A good nite's sleep was not to be had! More tomorrow....Linda
Our drive took us out past the airport and across the tundra. You could see oil rig stuff forever on the horizon. We were adjacent to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge but distances are very vast and deceiving! We could not see it from here! On the way back down we saw an Arctic fox right away - still in his white fur. He was acting a bit erratic and guide said rabies is rampant here among foxes and wolves. We were able to pull off and watch him for a while. Saw lots and lots of caribou, some tundra swans and other birds, also saw some Dall sheep on the cliffs etc. and they were amazing to watch climb around on the rocks. At one point we saw a herd of over 40 sheep on the slopes far away, but then saw some up close later right by the side of the road. Saw an arctic ptarmigan as well...
The road followed the pipeline and the Sagavanirktok River, also known as the Sag river. The scenery is beautiful!!!! Flat tundra then rolling hills...permafrost up to 2000 ft. thick with an insulating layer of peat. We had long vistas of the pipeline snaking its way up and down hills and then going underground in places. The oil flowing in the pipeline is traveling at a temp of 100 degrees and at a surprising rate of speed. There are pumping stations along the way where they monitor flow, temp, etc. It was very interesting!!!
There was a place called Happy Valley that was a stop for truckers and rig workers - very rustic place to say the least! We stopped for lunch at Galbraith Lake and walked down the gravel riverbed and we all sat on large rocks to eat our lunch. There was ice and snow still banked up across the river. That kind of snow and ice is called aufeis (pronounced "off ice") and is very dense like you would find in glaciers. There is even a distinctive blue color to it underneath the edges. It was a beautiful place nestled in the mountains. It was great!
We also stopped where they were digging gravel along a river and we were able to walk out on the aufeis. There was a little feeder stream that ran under the ice and had hollowed out in places. That was a neat place and very pretty! Can't wait to get to a place where I can upload the pictures from the last week or so!
We went over Atigun Pass which is the place where the highway crossed the Continental Divide at elevation 4,739'. Rivers south flow either into Pacific or Bering Sea and rivers north flow into Arctic Ocean. We saw a small group of Dall sheep up close and personal just over the pass.
We then had great views of the Chandalar Shelf which is the headwaters of the river of that name. After Galbraith Lake when we began climbing up to the pass, we were in the Brooks Mtn. Range. The views were spectacular and we had awesome weather!
We passed Sukakpak Mountain which was this huge open rock face on our side and we were there when the sun was shining on it and it was very spectacular!!! We arrived at our overnite stop at Coldfoot about 6:30 or so and we all headed straight for the bar to get a beer or glass of wine. I even drank a beer which is rare for me...it tasted great! Got checked into our rooms and boy was that an eye opener. These rooms boasted private baths - HA! It was another hotel that was connected trailers with dorm room type accommodations...twin beds - one to a side. The bathroom actually made the one in the RV look roomy! It was a space inside the room that was sectioned off with chipboard - toilet and shower inside the enclosure, sink outside in the room. The closet was the equivalent of a school locker, only it was plywood. Now our room boasted a library as someone had left a book on top of the blanket in the room. We were told that this hotel had been built in 1971 but had been updated. They had put in new carpet and new beds....I think the remodel must have been in 1975!!! It was also very warm inside so we opened the window - there was a cabin not too far away and they had some sled dogs. The dogs barked and growled and howled all nite long! Of course it was never night!
There is a wonderful visitor center and we went there for a program after dinner. The program was an OK presentation, the young ranger who put it together tried really hard, but there were lots of political questions asked and he was stumped as well as being between a rock and a hard place! We enjoyed looking at the displays and we got an Arctic Circle certificate as well. Then it was back to the bar where the whole group met and we polished off the nite with several beers and wine. A good nite's sleep was not to be had! More tomorrow....Linda
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Left the campground around 6:30 and stopped at McDonald's for a bite of breakfast then drove on to airport. Glad we took the trial run yesterday so we could get lost this morning. We missed our turn, but it was easy to correct and we were there in plenty of time.
We got briefing instructions and met the pilot - Pete - an older guy with a big round belly. Got some pictures (of course) and boarded the plane. There were 2 other people on our flite with our group - a nice couple from Pennsylvania. Frank got to sit up front with in the co-pilot's seat so I felt better about the trip! After all, he did teach both of us how to fly while we were in Hawaii. It was a beautiful flight although we did go through some rain storms. We flew over mountains and lots of lakes and rivers and there was snow and it was beautiful! It was about a 2 1/2 hour flite and when we landed in Deadhorse it was rather a surreal scene.
It is absolutely flat for miles with mountains in the distance and the Arctic Ocean on the other side. We were met by our tour guide in a totally dust and dirt encrusted 12 passenger van. The roads are gravel and it is very very dusty. There are clouds of dust whenever vehicles pass.
There were 2 other people from Canada who were joining our tour group and coming up on another flite which had been delayed. We were able to get checked in to the hotel - more on that later and got some lunch. For security reasons, all tours to the oil fields must be escorted so our tour was not until 5 p.m. Our guide drove us around town and explained some of the arctic geologic features that we were seeing. Stopped at the general store and I got some sweat pants and a long sleeved t-shirt. It is a really rough place as it is oil workers and truckers and supply folks who live up there. There is really nothing much for them to do either.
We went to the other hotel at 5 p.m. and got video briefing of oil fields and part of the engineering marvel that has become the Alaska pipeline. It is very very interesting, but I am glad I have not scheduled an extended stay here! There were 2 busloads of us taking the tour and we boarded the bus and headed for the oil fields and the Arctic Ocean. Our tour guide was able to explain lots of the technicalities of drilling to us and I was amazed at the number of oil rigs and all the supply stuff that it takes. There are TONS of companies up there drilling and even MORE tons of companies that supply the fields. There is all kinds of slurry and specialized mud mixes that they use in the older wells that extract more oil. It truly is amazing! Some of the inventions and devices that they have come up with to work on the ice and not melt the permafrost are mind boggling. They have these vehicles that are HUGE that roll not on tires, but on specialized air bags to distribute the weight of the vehicle so it doesn't break down the roads. There are miles and miles of pipe for drilling that are stacked everywhere. Everything is color coded according to company....metal buildings are painted those colors. It is unbelievable and we only saw a very small part of it. Amongst all that we saw a moose, lots of ducks, birds and waterfowl.
Then we went to the Arctic Ocean for our dip! Neither Jerry nor I are official members of the Polar Bear Club as we only waded, but about 5 folks from the other bus dove right in - clothes and all. The winter ice had only melted about 100 feet from shore and the water temp. was 34 degrees! Jerry did take off his jeans, wrap in a blanket and wade in up to his knees....he looked kind of funny with his bare legs exposed and holding up the blanket. I had told the kids I would call them from the Arctic Ocean so that is what I was doing while I was wading. The water was very very cold and it did not take but a minute or so before I thought my feet looked a bit blue, but it was hard to tell because they were so numb! We went in 3 or 4 times while we were getting pictures - video, digital and film and then we took pix of our friends as well. It was a great experience!!!!
Got back to the hotel about 7 or 7:30 and went for dinner. Food was good and plentiful. Everything was served buffet style and the cafeteria was open all nite I think, although the buffet was shut down around 10 or so. There were plenty of coolers with fruit, yogurt, snacks, cookies, drinks etc. so you could even get a midnite snack. Oil field workers and truckers were in and out at all hours.
Now a bit about the hotel.....what is there to say??? It was rather like a dorm only it was trailer style. They can't build heated buildings on the permafrost so everything has to be elevated, all waste hauled out. The heater worked really really well in our building! There were long wings of rooms. C-wing had the ladies restroom and shower and B wing had the men's. Luckily for me (but not for Jerry) our rooms were on the C wing. It has been lots of years since I have had to trek down the hall of the hotel for the bathroom!!! The rooms were very very basic...just like a dorm room - 2 twin beds - one on each side of the room and there was a small closet - shelves above the beds, a shelf at the foot of the bed not quite so high and a plywood countertop shelf between the 2 beds. That was it.
They have 82 days of 24 hour sunlight in Deadhorse. We were there within a few days of the solstice and we were determined to see the sun at all hours. We decided to set the alarm every three hours so we could get up, get dressed, go outside and take pictures. It was amazing! WE were kind of primed for it as the sun sets in Fairbanks well after midnite, but at 3 a.m. it was just as light as it was at noon. We were very fortunate in that there was no fog or clouds. You can see from the pix (if I ever get a chance to load them) what the sun was like at midnite, and 3 a.m. It just circled the sky!!
It was hard to get to sleep and even harder to get back to sleep after getting up , but we were not going to miss this opportunity. We figured we would only do this once. I kind of wished that I had gone swimming in the Arctic, but it was cold enough just to wade. I just couldn't see riding back to the hotel in cold soaking wet clothes. The night was short on sleep but long on light. More later...Bye from the Arctic! By the way, the air temperature was warm - about 68-70 degrees! We were all warm or hot, especially when we were in the hotel which they kept very very warm! Too warm for me...we slept w/ window open and I finally had to take off pj's and do away w/ blanket b/c it was so hot!
We got briefing instructions and met the pilot - Pete - an older guy with a big round belly. Got some pictures (of course) and boarded the plane. There were 2 other people on our flite with our group - a nice couple from Pennsylvania. Frank got to sit up front with in the co-pilot's seat so I felt better about the trip! After all, he did teach both of us how to fly while we were in Hawaii. It was a beautiful flight although we did go through some rain storms. We flew over mountains and lots of lakes and rivers and there was snow and it was beautiful! It was about a 2 1/2 hour flite and when we landed in Deadhorse it was rather a surreal scene.
It is absolutely flat for miles with mountains in the distance and the Arctic Ocean on the other side. We were met by our tour guide in a totally dust and dirt encrusted 12 passenger van. The roads are gravel and it is very very dusty. There are clouds of dust whenever vehicles pass.
There were 2 other people from Canada who were joining our tour group and coming up on another flite which had been delayed. We were able to get checked in to the hotel - more on that later and got some lunch. For security reasons, all tours to the oil fields must be escorted so our tour was not until 5 p.m. Our guide drove us around town and explained some of the arctic geologic features that we were seeing. Stopped at the general store and I got some sweat pants and a long sleeved t-shirt. It is a really rough place as it is oil workers and truckers and supply folks who live up there. There is really nothing much for them to do either.
We went to the other hotel at 5 p.m. and got video briefing of oil fields and part of the engineering marvel that has become the Alaska pipeline. It is very very interesting, but I am glad I have not scheduled an extended stay here! There were 2 busloads of us taking the tour and we boarded the bus and headed for the oil fields and the Arctic Ocean. Our tour guide was able to explain lots of the technicalities of drilling to us and I was amazed at the number of oil rigs and all the supply stuff that it takes. There are TONS of companies up there drilling and even MORE tons of companies that supply the fields. There is all kinds of slurry and specialized mud mixes that they use in the older wells that extract more oil. It truly is amazing! Some of the inventions and devices that they have come up with to work on the ice and not melt the permafrost are mind boggling. They have these vehicles that are HUGE that roll not on tires, but on specialized air bags to distribute the weight of the vehicle so it doesn't break down the roads. There are miles and miles of pipe for drilling that are stacked everywhere. Everything is color coded according to company....metal buildings are painted those colors. It is unbelievable and we only saw a very small part of it. Amongst all that we saw a moose, lots of ducks, birds and waterfowl.
Then we went to the Arctic Ocean for our dip! Neither Jerry nor I are official members of the Polar Bear Club as we only waded, but about 5 folks from the other bus dove right in - clothes and all. The winter ice had only melted about 100 feet from shore and the water temp. was 34 degrees! Jerry did take off his jeans, wrap in a blanket and wade in up to his knees....he looked kind of funny with his bare legs exposed and holding up the blanket. I had told the kids I would call them from the Arctic Ocean so that is what I was doing while I was wading. The water was very very cold and it did not take but a minute or so before I thought my feet looked a bit blue, but it was hard to tell because they were so numb! We went in 3 or 4 times while we were getting pictures - video, digital and film and then we took pix of our friends as well. It was a great experience!!!!
Got back to the hotel about 7 or 7:30 and went for dinner. Food was good and plentiful. Everything was served buffet style and the cafeteria was open all nite I think, although the buffet was shut down around 10 or so. There were plenty of coolers with fruit, yogurt, snacks, cookies, drinks etc. so you could even get a midnite snack. Oil field workers and truckers were in and out at all hours.
Now a bit about the hotel.....what is there to say??? It was rather like a dorm only it was trailer style. They can't build heated buildings on the permafrost so everything has to be elevated, all waste hauled out. The heater worked really really well in our building! There were long wings of rooms. C-wing had the ladies restroom and shower and B wing had the men's. Luckily for me (but not for Jerry) our rooms were on the C wing. It has been lots of years since I have had to trek down the hall of the hotel for the bathroom!!! The rooms were very very basic...just like a dorm room - 2 twin beds - one on each side of the room and there was a small closet - shelves above the beds, a shelf at the foot of the bed not quite so high and a plywood countertop shelf between the 2 beds. That was it.
They have 82 days of 24 hour sunlight in Deadhorse. We were there within a few days of the solstice and we were determined to see the sun at all hours. We decided to set the alarm every three hours so we could get up, get dressed, go outside and take pictures. It was amazing! WE were kind of primed for it as the sun sets in Fairbanks well after midnite, but at 3 a.m. it was just as light as it was at noon. We were very fortunate in that there was no fog or clouds. You can see from the pix (if I ever get a chance to load them) what the sun was like at midnite, and 3 a.m. It just circled the sky!!
It was hard to get to sleep and even harder to get back to sleep after getting up , but we were not going to miss this opportunity. We figured we would only do this once. I kind of wished that I had gone swimming in the Arctic, but it was cold enough just to wade. I just couldn't see riding back to the hotel in cold soaking wet clothes. The night was short on sleep but long on light. More later...Bye from the Arctic! By the way, the air temperature was warm - about 68-70 degrees! We were all warm or hot, especially when we were in the hotel which they kept very very warm! Too warm for me...we slept w/ window open and I finally had to take off pj's and do away w/ blanket b/c it was so hot!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Well today is a rest and recovery and catch up day. Only did 5 loads of laundry (they are fairly small machines...but still) nice to have clean underwear and socks! We hadn't quite reached the point of recycling yet, but it was close!
Barb and I went back to the base....went to BX and I got a new pair of jeans since the new pair I got before I left had zipper problems and one of the older pair I brought gave up the ghost and began separating at the back pocket. Then went to commissary and stocked up on groceries and on to shopette for booze, beer and mixers...the important stuff!
Put groceries away, then laundry and then we made a trial run to Fairbanks so we could be sure to find the airport and the charter company we needed. Frank and Jerry went in and talked to them as Frank thought he might know some of the pilots. Many of the pilots he taught and flew with in Hawaii have since come to Alaska but they were not at this company.
We got our information, etc. The only bummer was that we had to turn in our weights so they could balance the plane (this is a small 10 passenger plane) or so they said.....I thought it was a bit personal myself!! Then they told us we could only have 10 lbs of luggage each.
Went back to RV park and had a bit of dinner, did a little trip planning, then packed and got stuff ready for the trip. Jerry and Frank took the dogs to be boarded and that was hard. To bed relatively early for an early start in the morning.
Took only a couple of pictures today - mainly of the penned up reindeer here at the RV park so I will try and post a few other pix that might be of interest. That's all for today....love, Linda
Barb and I went back to the base....went to BX and I got a new pair of jeans since the new pair I got before I left had zipper problems and one of the older pair I brought gave up the ghost and began separating at the back pocket. Then went to commissary and stocked up on groceries and on to shopette for booze, beer and mixers...the important stuff!
Put groceries away, then laundry and then we made a trial run to Fairbanks so we could be sure to find the airport and the charter company we needed. Frank and Jerry went in and talked to them as Frank thought he might know some of the pilots. Many of the pilots he taught and flew with in Hawaii have since come to Alaska but they were not at this company.
We got our information, etc. The only bummer was that we had to turn in our weights so they could balance the plane (this is a small 10 passenger plane) or so they said.....I thought it was a bit personal myself!! Then they told us we could only have 10 lbs of luggage each.
Went back to RV park and had a bit of dinner, did a little trip planning, then packed and got stuff ready for the trip. Jerry and Frank took the dogs to be boarded and that was hard. To bed relatively early for an early start in the morning.
Took only a couple of pictures today - mainly of the penned up reindeer here at the RV park so I will try and post a few other pix that might be of interest. That's all for today....love, Linda
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Up and away from Tok about 8:30 a.m. heading to Fairbanks. We made a stop at Delta Junction which is the official end of the Al-Can Highway (the road actually continues on to Fairbanks, but this was the end of the part constructed during the war). Made our pictures there and got our certificates saying we had completed the Al-Can Highway drive. The mile marker post said 1422 miles from Dawson Creek where we started this part of the trip on June 7.
We talked w/ a young couple from Talkeetna who were bicycling all the way to Newfoundland! They have until Oct. to complete this....young fools! LOL
Tried to stay on Eilson AFB with Graingers for the nite, but the RV park had yucky water and no sewer. Since Barb and I both had to do laundry we decided not to wash clothes in rusty water and so we drove on to North Pole and settled in at Santa Land RV park - right next to Santa Claus House! Believe me, they take every opportunity to play it up. Our site is on one of the reindeer lanes and the hookups have snowmen decorations. In fact our sites are right next to the reindeer pen that is part of Santa Claus House. The gravel company even has huge candy canes as part of their entrance gate!
Santa is at Santa Claus House year round.....I did find an ornament for Santa Land RV park that is very cheesy but very appropriate - has an RV on it. Going to stay several days here as we are taking our 3 day Arctic tour from here. North Pole is only about 11 miles from Fairbanks. We will finally have a bit of downtime.
We made arrangements to board the dogs while we are on our trip and took care of some business and travel plans. Having trouble posting pictures from here - I have a lot of pictures to post, but decided to go on and post the diary part of the blogs so I wouldn't be so very far behind. I will post pix as I can. It took over 10 min. to try and get one picture up and it was still trying to load so I cancelled that part. Sooner or later I will get there with them.....
I think I am going to get a new Snapfish account and download lots of pictures to that site. If anyone wants to see more of what we are doing then they can go to that site. I will keep you posted on when I do that.
Not a real happening day......some pretty scenery, but we are looking forward to the Arctic trip now.....leave Sat. a.m. for 3 day adventure! More later....Linda
We talked w/ a young couple from Talkeetna who were bicycling all the way to Newfoundland! They have until Oct. to complete this....young fools! LOL
Tried to stay on Eilson AFB with Graingers for the nite, but the RV park had yucky water and no sewer. Since Barb and I both had to do laundry we decided not to wash clothes in rusty water and so we drove on to North Pole and settled in at Santa Land RV park - right next to Santa Claus House! Believe me, they take every opportunity to play it up. Our site is on one of the reindeer lanes and the hookups have snowmen decorations. In fact our sites are right next to the reindeer pen that is part of Santa Claus House. The gravel company even has huge candy canes as part of their entrance gate!
Santa is at Santa Claus House year round.....I did find an ornament for Santa Land RV park that is very cheesy but very appropriate - has an RV on it. Going to stay several days here as we are taking our 3 day Arctic tour from here. North Pole is only about 11 miles from Fairbanks. We will finally have a bit of downtime.
We made arrangements to board the dogs while we are on our trip and took care of some business and travel plans. Having trouble posting pictures from here - I have a lot of pictures to post, but decided to go on and post the diary part of the blogs so I wouldn't be so very far behind. I will post pix as I can. It took over 10 min. to try and get one picture up and it was still trying to load so I cancelled that part. Sooner or later I will get there with them.....
I think I am going to get a new Snapfish account and download lots of pictures to that site. If anyone wants to see more of what we are doing then they can go to that site. I will keep you posted on when I do that.
Not a real happening day......some pretty scenery, but we are looking forward to the Arctic trip now.....leave Sat. a.m. for 3 day adventure! More later....Linda
Friday, June 15, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Well our plan to get up early and get to the ferry went well...for a bit anyway. We left campground about 6:10 and only 2 blocks to ferry. However at least 7 other folks had beat us to the ferry so we waited...can't do anything else. Ferry closed for maintenance Wed. a.m. from 5 - 7 so we had planned at least an hour's wait while we were first in line! HA! I had fixed coffee and we ate breakfast while waiting. The ferry did start running before 7 but the first rig on had problems getting on. Just when he got the RV on, his tow hitch got stuck between the ramp of the ferry and the ground. Took them about 45 min. to fix that. Meantime buses were arriving to cross as well. You know that 2 hour wait I mentioned yesterday...we waited 2 hrs 15 min. But we were finally on and across!
Leaving the ferry on the other side of the river, the highway climbs up a hill and there is overlook where you can get great view of city. We stopped for pix and then continued. We were ON TOP OF THE WORLD!!! Let me tell you what the top of the world is like....the highway is dirt/gravel and potholes for 110 miles to just past town of Chicken AK. It is called Top of the World Highway because it follows the mountaintops. It was a spectacular drive for scenery, but by the time we got back onto asphalt highway I think I had a mouthful of loose teeth. Everything was rattling and we were bouncing a lot! A LONG day but not a fun drive.
We crossed the border into AK at the northernmost border crossing in U.S. - Poker Creek - population 2. The border guard and his wife (I assume it's his wife) have a log cabin at the checkpoint. In fact the "town" sign is on their front porch. It was a beautiful day and his wife was sitting on the front porch as we went thru. No problems thank goodness.
Shortly after border was Boundary - a stopping place, only I think the whole place is for sale. There is a run down log house w/ sod roof in front that has for sale sign on it, but the building in back has store, coffee shop, etc. No one was there. There was even airstrip.
Continued on to town of Chicken - population 21. Stopped at a store by a Chicken Creek called the Goldpanner. They offer free gold panning and even provide a gold pan. They had brought in a few loads of gravel/rock/sand from a river bottom and you filled your pan with some of that (be sure to get some with the black sand stuff) and then go sit by the creek side and begin winnowing thru the stuff in your pan. First you scrub all the big pieces clean in your pan in case any flakes are clinging to them, then you shake your pan to get gravel out letting the creek current do the work which means you have to keep your pan under water. THE WATER IS COLD!!!! At least that is how it is supposed to work. Jerry tried his hand first. We both got our rubber boots on so we could put our feet in the river and use the current better. He found a very tiny flake of gold which he picked out with his knife and put in a container the girl had given him. Then I tried. I found 2 flakes....very small, but bigger than Jerry's....however, not enough to show up in a ring or necklace! It was fun and a nice break from the bumpy road but time to press on.
The rest of the drive to Tok was uneventful and we got there about 3 p.m. We had a time change so it was really only 2 p.m. local time, but felt like 9 p.m. to me. I had a bit of a headache. The good news is that we can use our cell phones now. It really sucked trying to use them in Canada, especially Yukon b/c we could get service nowhere. I think I already said how there was a monoply on phone service there...yucky Yukon in that respect!
On the way into town we heard a beeping that we didn't recongize at first. It was Jerry's cell phone message beep! We both grabbed for it - it was a foreign sound and music to our ears! By the time we were ready to retrieve the messages, there was no service as we were still several miles out of town. But when we got to town we made up for lost time...we had both cell phones out and working while driving into the RV park! It really feels good to be in touch again!
Did not choose to get internet here tonite (fee for use) because I was just too tired to put much time and effort into it. So I just wrote down the day's doings in my word pad and will enter it tomorrow or so.
all for now, Love Linda
Leaving the ferry on the other side of the river, the highway climbs up a hill and there is overlook where you can get great view of city. We stopped for pix and then continued. We were ON TOP OF THE WORLD!!! Let me tell you what the top of the world is like....the highway is dirt/gravel and potholes for 110 miles to just past town of Chicken AK. It is called Top of the World Highway because it follows the mountaintops. It was a spectacular drive for scenery, but by the time we got back onto asphalt highway I think I had a mouthful of loose teeth. Everything was rattling and we were bouncing a lot! A LONG day but not a fun drive.
We crossed the border into AK at the northernmost border crossing in U.S. - Poker Creek - population 2. The border guard and his wife (I assume it's his wife) have a log cabin at the checkpoint. In fact the "town" sign is on their front porch. It was a beautiful day and his wife was sitting on the front porch as we went thru. No problems thank goodness.
Shortly after border was Boundary - a stopping place, only I think the whole place is for sale. There is a run down log house w/ sod roof in front that has for sale sign on it, but the building in back has store, coffee shop, etc. No one was there. There was even airstrip.
Continued on to town of Chicken - population 21. Stopped at a store by a Chicken Creek called the Goldpanner. They offer free gold panning and even provide a gold pan. They had brought in a few loads of gravel/rock/sand from a river bottom and you filled your pan with some of that (be sure to get some with the black sand stuff) and then go sit by the creek side and begin winnowing thru the stuff in your pan. First you scrub all the big pieces clean in your pan in case any flakes are clinging to them, then you shake your pan to get gravel out letting the creek current do the work which means you have to keep your pan under water. THE WATER IS COLD!!!! At least that is how it is supposed to work. Jerry tried his hand first. We both got our rubber boots on so we could put our feet in the river and use the current better. He found a very tiny flake of gold which he picked out with his knife and put in a container the girl had given him. Then I tried. I found 2 flakes....very small, but bigger than Jerry's....however, not enough to show up in a ring or necklace! It was fun and a nice break from the bumpy road but time to press on.
The rest of the drive to Tok was uneventful and we got there about 3 p.m. We had a time change so it was really only 2 p.m. local time, but felt like 9 p.m. to me. I had a bit of a headache. The good news is that we can use our cell phones now. It really sucked trying to use them in Canada, especially Yukon b/c we could get service nowhere. I think I already said how there was a monoply on phone service there...yucky Yukon in that respect!
On the way into town we heard a beeping that we didn't recongize at first. It was Jerry's cell phone message beep! We both grabbed for it - it was a foreign sound and music to our ears! By the time we were ready to retrieve the messages, there was no service as we were still several miles out of town. But when we got to town we made up for lost time...we had both cell phones out and working while driving into the RV park! It really feels good to be in touch again!
Did not choose to get internet here tonite (fee for use) because I was just too tired to put much time and effort into it. So I just wrote down the day's doings in my word pad and will enter it tomorrow or so.
all for now, Love Linda
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Expecting Graingers to drive over today and maybe spend the nite with us. Up at 7:45 - Jerry took dogs for a walk and I fixed breakfast (we have been having continental style breakfasts - hard rolls, fruit, yogurt, coffee, etc.) I waited and waited on him for breakfast, but he didn't come back so I finally ate by myself. Then I was getting a bit worried. FINALLY they came back and had had an adventure. They rode the ferry across the river and back. The only way to get from Dawson City to Tok AK without going all the way back the way we had just come is to use the free ferry. Jerry and dogs were able to just walk on as pedestrian passengers.
After breakfast we all walked back down to the ferry and rode it again. It was about 9 a.m. and we were expecting the Graingers about then, but we just rode over and back. Went back to RV and I spent some time working on the blog again while Jerry went walking around town. He returned about 11 and we had just given up on Graingers coming when the walkie talkie crackled and Barb said they were on the ferry. It had taken them 5 hours to make the drive!
The weather was not promising at all. We walked a block to Klondike Kate's and had lunch and talked for a while - had a great laugh over laundry stories. It started raining while we were at lunch and that kind of scotched our plans to walk around the town and take pictures....so we got in their car and drove. We saw the Robert Service cabin (he was a famous Canadian writer and poet) as well as the Jack London cabin...London wrote "The Call of the Wild". I remember being enthralled with that book as a kid. I recommend it highly. The movie White Fang was also set in Dawson City.
We then headed up to Dome Mountain for a truly spectacular view of the city and river and surrounding areas. This is the place where locals celebrate the solstice. The sun just goes in a circle and never sets. The sun even cooperated and came out for a bit. I got a few pictures of the gravel maze of tailings from up there as well.
Graingers watching the time as they declined to spend the nite in our little RV and had to head back over 110 miles of dirt/gravel road known as the Top of the World Highway. They left around 2:30 after getting some gas.
When they had gone we unhooked the RV and went sightseeing on our own. Went out to the #4 dredge that literally ate its way up streams and rivers sucking up the gravel and rock bottoms, sifting it and filtering out the gold. It was huge...a 7 story building. We declined to take the tour as there was more we wanted to see, but we did walk around the outside and saw graphics on how the dredge operated. We followed this creek a couple more miles and saw signs posted for various gold mining claims. One spot was a public place where you could pan for gold.
Then we went back into town where I walked around taking pictures and wandering in shops while Jerry sat on the levee with the dogs and watched the river go by. Went back to RV park and re connected everything and had a light dinner of leftovers. Need to get to bed early as we want to be first in line for the ferry in a.m. There can be up to a 2 hour wait and we don't want that! Spent a bit more time on blog, then to bed about 11.
After breakfast we all walked back down to the ferry and rode it again. It was about 9 a.m. and we were expecting the Graingers about then, but we just rode over and back. Went back to RV and I spent some time working on the blog again while Jerry went walking around town. He returned about 11 and we had just given up on Graingers coming when the walkie talkie crackled and Barb said they were on the ferry. It had taken them 5 hours to make the drive!
The weather was not promising at all. We walked a block to Klondike Kate's and had lunch and talked for a while - had a great laugh over laundry stories. It started raining while we were at lunch and that kind of scotched our plans to walk around the town and take pictures....so we got in their car and drove. We saw the Robert Service cabin (he was a famous Canadian writer and poet) as well as the Jack London cabin...London wrote "The Call of the Wild". I remember being enthralled with that book as a kid. I recommend it highly. The movie White Fang was also set in Dawson City.
We then headed up to Dome Mountain for a truly spectacular view of the city and river and surrounding areas. This is the place where locals celebrate the solstice. The sun just goes in a circle and never sets. The sun even cooperated and came out for a bit. I got a few pictures of the gravel maze of tailings from up there as well.
Graingers watching the time as they declined to spend the nite in our little RV and had to head back over 110 miles of dirt/gravel road known as the Top of the World Highway. They left around 2:30 after getting some gas.
When they had gone we unhooked the RV and went sightseeing on our own. Went out to the #4 dredge that literally ate its way up streams and rivers sucking up the gravel and rock bottoms, sifting it and filtering out the gold. It was huge...a 7 story building. We declined to take the tour as there was more we wanted to see, but we did walk around the outside and saw graphics on how the dredge operated. We followed this creek a couple more miles and saw signs posted for various gold mining claims. One spot was a public place where you could pan for gold.
Then we went back into town where I walked around taking pictures and wandering in shops while Jerry sat on the levee with the dogs and watched the river go by. Went back to RV park and re connected everything and had a light dinner of leftovers. Need to get to bed early as we want to be first in line for the ferry in a.m. There can be up to a 2 hour wait and we don't want that! Spent a bit more time on blog, then to bed about 11.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Certainly in no rush to leave here today. Having breakfast watching the namesake river go by. Of course we had to take a few more pictures, then we got in RV and went across the street to the general store and the museum. As I said, not much to town, but this was our chance to do a bit of name dropping - LOL! We went into the museum and I got a picture of Jerry signing the guest register...of course he wrote PELLY in capital letters! We were hoping for a key to the city, but the name failed to impress anyone. :((( Of course we are used to that reaction! I guess if you have to have a place named for you, it would be better to have a name like Trump or some such.
The museum is in a log cabin called Big Jonathan House and is a tribal heritage/historical museum. There were several photos and displays of tribal stuff. When Jerry asked the two gals at the museum how the place got its name, they were clueless. He informed them that it was named for a governor or director of the Hudson Bay Company. They still weren't impressed.
Then we went over to the General Store to see if we could find some Pelly Crossing t-shirts or other paraphanalia. We did find some of last year's stuff that was on sale but the new stuff had not come in yet. Slim pickings but we managed to find sweatshirts and/or t-shirts for a few folks back home. I think we made a total of 3 trips into that store...THEY really liked us, but it had nothing to do with OUR name.....they like the American Express name better! We got an ice cream and then had to get some post cards. Sat in RV and wrote postcards to be mailed from Pelly Crossing. Post Office was a drop box inside the tribal administration/government center so I don't know if they will have Pelly Crossing postmark or not. But we tried.
We felt a need to drive through town so we did that twice in less than 5 minutes! In spite of the town being so small we managed to spend quite a bit of time there! This is the Pelly Pilgrimage after all! We went back to the campground so we could have access to the river again because we wanted some river rocks from the Pelly River. Since it is a very silty river, rocks were a bit hard to come by, but we got what we needed.
The river itself is fairly large and fast flowing and we wanted pictures of the Pelly River sign on the bridge. HOWEVER - there wasn't one. So we drove across the bridge and there wasn't one on that side either! We were able to park on the other side and we then walked across the bridge over "OUR" river. Jerry did his "ka-boom rock" for Malia in the middle of the river and then we went back to the RV. We said our farewells to the town of Pelly Crossing and Pelly River. Thus endeth the Pelly Pilgirmage part of the trip.
As we headed to Dawson City, we noticed that virtually EVERY other river, creek, dry streambed and ditch was named and had signs posted going both ways! Maybe they know something we don't know....but still no pix of Pelly River sign. sigh......
The drive was fairly scenic altho some parts not so pretty.....we finally picked up on the Klondike River and the highway followed that into Dawson City. The Klondike is a very historic river because of the Gold Rush that happened there in 1899. It is a clear river which is mostly not the case up here as glacier melt is very milky and rivers not clear. As we got closer to Dawson City we began seeing piles and piles of river rock that were the tailings or leftovers from placer gold mining. In placer mining, they dredge up river bottom and sift it to look for gold. In fact one aerial photo showed a labyrinth of these gravel/rock piles that snaked along in an unbelievable way. Some are now being levelled and houses being built on them. There is still a lot of mining going on today. The spaces between these gravel levees have filled up w/ water and become small lakes or ponds.
We arrived in Dawson City about 5:30 p.m. and our RV park was right in town. I was a bit leery of that, but it turned out to be a great place to stay. We were in walking distance to most everything in town....not a large town by any means - population - 1800 or so. Very quaint and rustic in places...streets are gravel/dirt except for the highway and that is questionable in some spots. This is a gold rush town and they try to preserve that image. There are boardwalks and buildings with false fronts, log cabins and shacks.
After dinner it had quit raining so we decided to take a walk. Local folk said we could follow the road behind the campground up the mountain for a way to a lookout on the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike Rivers. It truly was uphill all the way! We had hoped for a view of the city as well, but too many trees and bushes. It was an OK walk when we got to the top, but we were both huffing and puffing. Decided later it was not really worth the effort, but we were out and about. Jerry had bear spray with him, but did not need it thank goodness!
When we got back to the RV I decided to do some serious catching up on the blog. I was up until 1 a.m. working on that. About 1:40 a.m I noticed a strange orange light on an RV across the way and thought they really had some strange colored glass on their RV. Then I realized it was the sky color. Sure enough I turned around and the sky was a beautiful color of deep orange and a beautiful sunset! That's right...the sunset this evening was at 12:40 a.m! I wish I could have gotten a picture of it, but as we were in town there were too many trees and buildings in the way. As we are approaching the summer solstice the days are still getting longer.
It takes a LONG time to download pictures to blog and playing catch up is not all that easy. But I am trying.....slowly but surely....
I am getting sleepy, so off to bed....
The museum is in a log cabin called Big Jonathan House and is a tribal heritage/historical museum. There were several photos and displays of tribal stuff. When Jerry asked the two gals at the museum how the place got its name, they were clueless. He informed them that it was named for a governor or director of the Hudson Bay Company. They still weren't impressed.
Then we went over to the General Store to see if we could find some Pelly Crossing t-shirts or other paraphanalia. We did find some of last year's stuff that was on sale but the new stuff had not come in yet. Slim pickings but we managed to find sweatshirts and/or t-shirts for a few folks back home. I think we made a total of 3 trips into that store...THEY really liked us, but it had nothing to do with OUR name.....they like the American Express name better! We got an ice cream and then had to get some post cards. Sat in RV and wrote postcards to be mailed from Pelly Crossing. Post Office was a drop box inside the tribal administration/government center so I don't know if they will have Pelly Crossing postmark or not. But we tried.
We felt a need to drive through town so we did that twice in less than 5 minutes! In spite of the town being so small we managed to spend quite a bit of time there! This is the Pelly Pilgrimage after all! We went back to the campground so we could have access to the river again because we wanted some river rocks from the Pelly River. Since it is a very silty river, rocks were a bit hard to come by, but we got what we needed.
The river itself is fairly large and fast flowing and we wanted pictures of the Pelly River sign on the bridge. HOWEVER - there wasn't one. So we drove across the bridge and there wasn't one on that side either! We were able to park on the other side and we then walked across the bridge over "OUR" river. Jerry did his "ka-boom rock" for Malia in the middle of the river and then we went back to the RV. We said our farewells to the town of Pelly Crossing and Pelly River. Thus endeth the Pelly Pilgirmage part of the trip.
As we headed to Dawson City, we noticed that virtually EVERY other river, creek, dry streambed and ditch was named and had signs posted going both ways! Maybe they know something we don't know....but still no pix of Pelly River sign. sigh......
The drive was fairly scenic altho some parts not so pretty.....we finally picked up on the Klondike River and the highway followed that into Dawson City. The Klondike is a very historic river because of the Gold Rush that happened there in 1899. It is a clear river which is mostly not the case up here as glacier melt is very milky and rivers not clear. As we got closer to Dawson City we began seeing piles and piles of river rock that were the tailings or leftovers from placer gold mining. In placer mining, they dredge up river bottom and sift it to look for gold. In fact one aerial photo showed a labyrinth of these gravel/rock piles that snaked along in an unbelievable way. Some are now being levelled and houses being built on them. There is still a lot of mining going on today. The spaces between these gravel levees have filled up w/ water and become small lakes or ponds.
We arrived in Dawson City about 5:30 p.m. and our RV park was right in town. I was a bit leery of that, but it turned out to be a great place to stay. We were in walking distance to most everything in town....not a large town by any means - population - 1800 or so. Very quaint and rustic in places...streets are gravel/dirt except for the highway and that is questionable in some spots. This is a gold rush town and they try to preserve that image. There are boardwalks and buildings with false fronts, log cabins and shacks.
After dinner it had quit raining so we decided to take a walk. Local folk said we could follow the road behind the campground up the mountain for a way to a lookout on the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike Rivers. It truly was uphill all the way! We had hoped for a view of the city as well, but too many trees and bushes. It was an OK walk when we got to the top, but we were both huffing and puffing. Decided later it was not really worth the effort, but we were out and about. Jerry had bear spray with him, but did not need it thank goodness!
When we got back to the RV I decided to do some serious catching up on the blog. I was up until 1 a.m. working on that. About 1:40 a.m I noticed a strange orange light on an RV across the way and thought they really had some strange colored glass on their RV. Then I realized it was the sky color. Sure enough I turned around and the sky was a beautiful color of deep orange and a beautiful sunset! That's right...the sunset this evening was at 12:40 a.m! I wish I could have gotten a picture of it, but as we were in town there were too many trees and buildings in the way. As we are approaching the summer solstice the days are still getting longer.
It takes a LONG time to download pictures to blog and playing catch up is not all that easy. But I am trying.....slowly but surely....
I am getting sleepy, so off to bed....
Sunday June 10, 2007
Not in a huge hurry to get away today as we don't have too many miles to travel. Got camper squared away and headed into town to eat breakfast at a place called Doc's. Had a yummy breakfast sandwich w/ toasted ciabatta bread, crisp bacon, fried egg, cheese and slice of fresh tomato. Town was deserted on a Sunday morning at 9 a.m.
Whitehorse is kind of a neat town. It is right along the banks of the Yukon River and there is a walking trail along the river all the way through town. It is a good sized town w/ a population of about 22,000 people. There is a lovely canyon - Miles Canyon that is very close to town. We drove out there and it was really gorgeous! I do have some pictures from there, but the ones I wanted to come out were lost. There is a swinging suspension bridge for pedestrians across the river. It does sway! The dogs were not too happy about going across it, but they managed and we followed the trail on the other side of the river. The canyon itself is maybe a couple hundred feet deep on one side, not quite as deep on the other. The trail was great and the dogs liked the freedom to be off the leash for a bit. There is a rock outcropping there that we had to scramble down to get over to to climb up on, but it was great. A wonderful morning.
As we went back into town we stopped for a couple of pictures along the river b/c there was still snow on the river in places. Then we parked and walked a ways on the river trail in town. There is an old paddle wheel steamboat, the S.S. Klondike that is a museum and you can take tours on. We declined the tour, but enjoyed walking around it and Jerry tried to turn the paddle wheel as you can see!
We needed to restock some groceries so we went to the Super Store - Canada's answer to Super Wal-Mart. They had good prices, but they also had a shortage of help and they were really busy by the time we got there. Jerry very frustrated by the lines and they were slow moving, but we finally got stuff put away and headed up the road.
I spent the first hour or so on the computer trying to recover the pictures from the SD card - to no avail. I gave up and decided to enjoy the ride. We are headed to Pelly Crossing where we will spend the nite. It was a very nice drive with several lakes along the way. We stopped at a place called Five Finger Rapids. It is a place on the river where there are several rock outcroppings in the middle of the river. The parking lot is high above them and we could see them from there, but decided to take the hike down.....231 steps down to the trail and then about a half mile through the woods to the viewing platform. It was worth the hike to get close to the rocks although we couldn't get down to the river b/c we were still maybe 75-100 feet above the river. Steamboats actually came through at one point - in fact they dynamited some of the rock face on the bank to widen the gap. It didn't look wide enough to me even then. There were seagulls nesting out on the rocks in the middle of the river. It was great, especially when I reached that 231st step on the way back up!!!
Our next stop was a view of the Yukon as it meandered through this valley....there were about a dozen islands and gravel bars in the middle of the river and the river itself had about a dozen channels through them.
We had to stop for pictures at mile marker signs for Pelly Crossing - after all this is the Pelly Pilgrimage! I am sure people thought we were nuts, but since we don' t know them, that is OK...of course anyone who knows us knows we are nuts anyway so who cares? See pix of Jerry!!
We missed seeing the Pelly Mountains because they were behind the ones we could see (there are LOTS of mountains up here!) In fact the highway that goes by them is washed out in places due to flooding. We finally turned away from the Yukon River - next stop - Pelly Crossing!
Our campsite tonite is right on the Pelly River - in fact I am watching it right out the windshield as I sit here at the table. It is a sizable river but very silty so the water color is gray. We are dry camping as there is no electric, no water and no sewage here at the campground. In fact, there was no registration and camping here is free! We can dry camp for a few nites if we are careful not to fill up the holding tanks.
It is 10:45 p.m. and the sun is still up! Amazing! The town itself it not much - population about 350 according to the book but that metropolitan area may encompass half the Yukon! Jerry has not gotten a chance to see anyone to let them know we have come to claim the homestead by virtue of the name, but there is always tomorrow!
He was determined to get his feet wet in the Pelly River so he did just that. His toes were turning blue by the time we got all the pictures made of that....we had to use all the cameras of course! I took his word that the water was cold and declined the baptism of the toes.
Well, getting late and this is becoming a long post so I will close for now. 11 p.m. and going outside to take a pix of sun over the river. Love to all, Linda
Whitehorse is kind of a neat town. It is right along the banks of the Yukon River and there is a walking trail along the river all the way through town. It is a good sized town w/ a population of about 22,000 people. There is a lovely canyon - Miles Canyon that is very close to town. We drove out there and it was really gorgeous! I do have some pictures from there, but the ones I wanted to come out were lost. There is a swinging suspension bridge for pedestrians across the river. It does sway! The dogs were not too happy about going across it, but they managed and we followed the trail on the other side of the river. The canyon itself is maybe a couple hundred feet deep on one side, not quite as deep on the other. The trail was great and the dogs liked the freedom to be off the leash for a bit. There is a rock outcropping there that we had to scramble down to get over to to climb up on, but it was great. A wonderful morning.
As we went back into town we stopped for a couple of pictures along the river b/c there was still snow on the river in places. Then we parked and walked a ways on the river trail in town. There is an old paddle wheel steamboat, the S.S. Klondike that is a museum and you can take tours on. We declined the tour, but enjoyed walking around it and Jerry tried to turn the paddle wheel as you can see!
We needed to restock some groceries so we went to the Super Store - Canada's answer to Super Wal-Mart. They had good prices, but they also had a shortage of help and they were really busy by the time we got there. Jerry very frustrated by the lines and they were slow moving, but we finally got stuff put away and headed up the road.
I spent the first hour or so on the computer trying to recover the pictures from the SD card - to no avail. I gave up and decided to enjoy the ride. We are headed to Pelly Crossing where we will spend the nite. It was a very nice drive with several lakes along the way. We stopped at a place called Five Finger Rapids. It is a place on the river where there are several rock outcroppings in the middle of the river. The parking lot is high above them and we could see them from there, but decided to take the hike down.....231 steps down to the trail and then about a half mile through the woods to the viewing platform. It was worth the hike to get close to the rocks although we couldn't get down to the river b/c we were still maybe 75-100 feet above the river. Steamboats actually came through at one point - in fact they dynamited some of the rock face on the bank to widen the gap. It didn't look wide enough to me even then. There were seagulls nesting out on the rocks in the middle of the river. It was great, especially when I reached that 231st step on the way back up!!!
Our next stop was a view of the Yukon as it meandered through this valley....there were about a dozen islands and gravel bars in the middle of the river and the river itself had about a dozen channels through them.
We had to stop for pictures at mile marker signs for Pelly Crossing - after all this is the Pelly Pilgrimage! I am sure people thought we were nuts, but since we don' t know them, that is OK...of course anyone who knows us knows we are nuts anyway so who cares? See pix of Jerry!!
We missed seeing the Pelly Mountains because they were behind the ones we could see (there are LOTS of mountains up here!) In fact the highway that goes by them is washed out in places due to flooding. We finally turned away from the Yukon River - next stop - Pelly Crossing!
Our campsite tonite is right on the Pelly River - in fact I am watching it right out the windshield as I sit here at the table. It is a sizable river but very silty so the water color is gray. We are dry camping as there is no electric, no water and no sewage here at the campground. In fact, there was no registration and camping here is free! We can dry camp for a few nites if we are careful not to fill up the holding tanks.
It is 10:45 p.m. and the sun is still up! Amazing! The town itself it not much - population about 350 according to the book but that metropolitan area may encompass half the Yukon! Jerry has not gotten a chance to see anyone to let them know we have come to claim the homestead by virtue of the name, but there is always tomorrow!
He was determined to get his feet wet in the Pelly River so he did just that. His toes were turning blue by the time we got all the pictures made of that....we had to use all the cameras of course! I took his word that the water was cold and declined the baptism of the toes.
Well, getting late and this is becoming a long post so I will close for now. 11 p.m. and going outside to take a pix of sun over the river. Love to all, Linda
Saturday June 9, 2007
After breakfast we went by the Signpost Forest again on our way out of town. We added our names and the dog's names and the date to the sign. Then we were off to Whitehorse.
Stopped at Rancheria Falls and it was very pretty and then just outside of Whitehorse we stopped at a bridge and dam on the Yukon River. There was a trail along the river and a road down to the dam so we let the dogs run and were having a great time. On the way back, we heard someone calling our names and the Graingers had found us. They had gone on to the RV park and gotten a space, but they could only hold our space until 3 p.m. Since it was then 2:15 and we were a few miles out of town we gathered up the dogs and went on our way. Some poor guy in the gravel/sand parking lot that had a big rig w/ a tow vehicle behind it had tried to back up and really messed up his tow apparatus. We saw them later at the campground and there was no way that tow arm would work again....that would bum up a vacation! We have seen and heard lots of hard luck stories about mishaps and things that go wrong.....it happens all the time, only when you are on a vacation somehow it is a bit more challenging to get fixed.
It has been kind of a slow picture day. We had dinner with the Graingers and made our plans for the next few days as we are going our separate ways for a couple of days. We are taking the Klondike Highway so we can go to Pelly Crossing and they are taking the Kluane Highway up to Tok. We will spend 2 nights in Dawson City and they will drive over for one day. Then we will go on to Tok. But more on that later.
ADDENDUM: GRRRRRR!!!! Everything electronic has a Linda jinx on it I think! I had some trouble with the camera and lost some pictures. The ones I really cared about were the ones of us nailing up our sign at Signpost Forest. Somehow the SD card became corrupted. Oh well, I guess I will not miss most of the pictures, but.....still.....so a slow picture day and on top of that I don't have any to post anyway. So in lieu of timely pictures, I will post a few of some of the wildlife we have seen and some of the miscellaneous shots I have taken along the way. Hope you enjoy them! Tomorrow begins the Pelly Pilgrimage part of the journey!
Stopped at Rancheria Falls and it was very pretty and then just outside of Whitehorse we stopped at a bridge and dam on the Yukon River. There was a trail along the river and a road down to the dam so we let the dogs run and were having a great time. On the way back, we heard someone calling our names and the Graingers had found us. They had gone on to the RV park and gotten a space, but they could only hold our space until 3 p.m. Since it was then 2:15 and we were a few miles out of town we gathered up the dogs and went on our way. Some poor guy in the gravel/sand parking lot that had a big rig w/ a tow vehicle behind it had tried to back up and really messed up his tow apparatus. We saw them later at the campground and there was no way that tow arm would work again....that would bum up a vacation! We have seen and heard lots of hard luck stories about mishaps and things that go wrong.....it happens all the time, only when you are on a vacation somehow it is a bit more challenging to get fixed.
It has been kind of a slow picture day. We had dinner with the Graingers and made our plans for the next few days as we are going our separate ways for a couple of days. We are taking the Klondike Highway so we can go to Pelly Crossing and they are taking the Kluane Highway up to Tok. We will spend 2 nights in Dawson City and they will drive over for one day. Then we will go on to Tok. But more on that later.
ADDENDUM: GRRRRRR!!!! Everything electronic has a Linda jinx on it I think! I had some trouble with the camera and lost some pictures. The ones I really cared about were the ones of us nailing up our sign at Signpost Forest. Somehow the SD card became corrupted. Oh well, I guess I will not miss most of the pictures, but.....still.....so a slow picture day and on top of that I don't have any to post anyway. So in lieu of timely pictures, I will post a few of some of the wildlife we have seen and some of the miscellaneous shots I have taken along the way. Hope you enjoy them! Tomorrow begins the Pelly Pilgrimage part of the journey!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
Up at 6, trying to leave by 7. Fixed coffee and breakfast, then I got in front seat and got my sketch pad out and sketched a bit. The Graingers went ahead and left and we will catch up to them later on. We left around 8:30 or so and drove on to Liard Hot Springs. We caught up w/ Graingers there altho they had already been in the Hot Springs. They walked out with me (Jerry gone on ahead) and we saw a mama moose in the bog. We were on a boardwalk and as we stood there talking and watching her, she crossed the boardwalk right in front of us and went on into the woods.
I had my bathing suit and some shorts for Jerry in case he wanted to take a dip, but he declined so I went in. That really felt good! The water was great! There was one pool that was the "cool" pool, the middle pool was nice and warm and there was a third pool there as well that was really hot - in fact it was bubbling. I didn't try that one - let the lobsters have it! Graingers left ahead of us, but we weren't far behind.
Saw a bear on the side of the road and driving too fast to get a pix and could not find a place to turn around. Frank and Barb were able to stop and the bear stayed right where he was and I think he must have been a ham b/c he kind of posed for her...she got some great shots of him which she is going to send to me and I will post later.
Some poor guy in an Airstream blew a tire and took out another tire which turned his trailer on its side...what a way to ruin a day! We went across Smith River and found a place to get down to water's edge so we could let the dogs out for a bit. Ate a quick bite and heard something tromping around in the brush while I was outside taking pictures! Needless to say I finished real quick and was back inside the RV.
Headed on toward Watson Lake. That is where the Signpost Forest is! Got to campground, Barb and I had pina coladas and began dinner while Jerry and Frank went to town for information. Had pork tenderloin, broccoli and baked sweet potatoes - yummy! They went to bed, but Jerry and I took their car and went to town.
Stopped at the Signpost Forest and that is amazing place! I was fascinated. Back in early 1940,the Al-Can highway was being built by American troops in a very speedy way because of WWII and they needed a way to get supplies to bases in Alaska. One homesick soldier made a sign with his hometown and the number of miles away from home and that was the beginning of the Signpost Forest! People just keep adding signs on everything from boards to toilet seats and frying pans! They post them on these poles that are put up in this park. When they run out of space, they put up new poles. They keep a count every year of the number of signs - as of 2006, there were 62,000! I can't tell you how many posts there are with paths all through them.
We went to a show on the Northern Lights at a planetarium type place. Jerry had a nice expensive nap through the shows, but I enjoyed it. We made our sign from a board Jerry found - message says "Ross Barnett Rez - Jackson, MS, Y'all come!" Finally found a spot to nail it up.
Decided to return in a.m. to add our names and date to it. A really fascinating place!
Back to RV around 10 p.m or later and sun still up! About 10:30 now and still daylight!
More tomorrow....Linda
I had my bathing suit and some shorts for Jerry in case he wanted to take a dip, but he declined so I went in. That really felt good! The water was great! There was one pool that was the "cool" pool, the middle pool was nice and warm and there was a third pool there as well that was really hot - in fact it was bubbling. I didn't try that one - let the lobsters have it! Graingers left ahead of us, but we weren't far behind.
Saw a bear on the side of the road and driving too fast to get a pix and could not find a place to turn around. Frank and Barb were able to stop and the bear stayed right where he was and I think he must have been a ham b/c he kind of posed for her...she got some great shots of him which she is going to send to me and I will post later.
Some poor guy in an Airstream blew a tire and took out another tire which turned his trailer on its side...what a way to ruin a day! We went across Smith River and found a place to get down to water's edge so we could let the dogs out for a bit. Ate a quick bite and heard something tromping around in the brush while I was outside taking pictures! Needless to say I finished real quick and was back inside the RV.
Headed on toward Watson Lake. That is where the Signpost Forest is! Got to campground, Barb and I had pina coladas and began dinner while Jerry and Frank went to town for information. Had pork tenderloin, broccoli and baked sweet potatoes - yummy! They went to bed, but Jerry and I took their car and went to town.
Stopped at the Signpost Forest and that is amazing place! I was fascinated. Back in early 1940,the Al-Can highway was being built by American troops in a very speedy way because of WWII and they needed a way to get supplies to bases in Alaska. One homesick soldier made a sign with his hometown and the number of miles away from home and that was the beginning of the Signpost Forest! People just keep adding signs on everything from boards to toilet seats and frying pans! They post them on these poles that are put up in this park. When they run out of space, they put up new poles. They keep a count every year of the number of signs - as of 2006, there were 62,000! I can't tell you how many posts there are with paths all through them.
We went to a show on the Northern Lights at a planetarium type place. Jerry had a nice expensive nap through the shows, but I enjoyed it. We made our sign from a board Jerry found - message says "Ross Barnett Rez - Jackson, MS, Y'all come!" Finally found a spot to nail it up.
Decided to return in a.m. to add our names and date to it. A really fascinating place!
Back to RV around 10 p.m or later and sun still up! About 10:30 now and still daylight!
More tomorrow....Linda
Thursday, June 7, 2007
First real day on Al-Can Highway. Left the campground around 6:15 a.m. heading for Ft. Nelson or possibly Muncho Lake. Drove through rolling hills w/ lots of trees. Got to Ft. Nelson around noon but not much to do there so we decided to push on to Muncho Lake. Arrived about 3 p.m.
A gorgeous lake w/ beautiful color in the water. The last two hours of driving were really pretty - rivers, with some snow in places and Muncho Lake is a beautiful mix of green and turquoise water from copper and minerals leaching into the water. We had a site on the water and it was really pretty. There were a couple of floating docks and there was a float plane there as well for either some fly in fishing to some remote lakes or some flightseeing. Frank, being the flight instructor he is, really wanted to get checked out in a float plane, but....he is not doing that anymore....:(((.
Had a drink on the lodge deck (Northern Rockies Lodge if you want to look it up on internet). We took a short walk along the shoreline. There was still sunshine on the mountaintops across the lake at 9:30 p.m.! Since we had the view, we all ate in our RV tonite. All for now....Linda
A gorgeous lake w/ beautiful color in the water. The last two hours of driving were really pretty - rivers, with some snow in places and Muncho Lake is a beautiful mix of green and turquoise water from copper and minerals leaching into the water. We had a site on the water and it was really pretty. There were a couple of floating docks and there was a float plane there as well for either some fly in fishing to some remote lakes or some flightseeing. Frank, being the flight instructor he is, really wanted to get checked out in a float plane, but....he is not doing that anymore....:(((.
Had a drink on the lodge deck (Northern Rockies Lodge if you want to look it up on internet). We took a short walk along the shoreline. There was still sunshine on the mountaintops across the lake at 9:30 p.m.! Since we had the view, we all ate in our RV tonite. All for now....Linda
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Fixed oatmeal for breakfast and the day went downhill from there. The visitor center in town around the Mile 0 marker has free wi-fi for tourists so we took our RV and Barb and I were anxious to get connected as we had both been without for a while. My computer not acting right. Unable to get Bellsouth email already for some goofy reason....BUT I could not access my Google accounts either! This machine has alway just automatically logged me on, but not today! After several tries, I sent out the email via Barb's computer that I was having trouble....OH darn!!!
After all that trouble, we went and took pictures at Mile Marker 0. It is a bit confusing about which marker is the official one...but the one with the stone cairn where the dogs are standing on the top is the original one altho they had to move it from the traffic circle b/c drunks and bad drivers kept running into it. So they moved it to the corner and that is where we had the picture made. HOWEVER, that said, I think the marker in town (the white one) is what the original actually looked like and they moved it into downtown to get more folks to go into town. So we covered our bases and took pix of both and even one on the mural!
We did a walking tour of the town - not much here...they paint lots of murals on building walls here depicting the building of the Al-Can and other local history. Went to an art gallery which was kind of interesting. Took LOTS of pix of Mile 0 marker. Jerry's day was made when some young cute chick wanted his picture by the marker b/c he was wearing his John Deere shirt and hat! Go figure!!!! So guys, if you want the chicks.....get a John Deere???? Needless to say he was beaming for the rest of the day! I should have taken the picture of her taking the picture....oh well....
Back to campground for a sandwich then I tried all afternoon to work w/ computer...no luck. There are several things that are not working exactly right, but I worry most about being able to send and receive email.
Dinner was bruschetta and spaghetti in the Grainger's RV. We visited a while then to bed kind of early for an early start in a.m.
After all that trouble, we went and took pictures at Mile Marker 0. It is a bit confusing about which marker is the official one...but the one with the stone cairn where the dogs are standing on the top is the original one altho they had to move it from the traffic circle b/c drunks and bad drivers kept running into it. So they moved it to the corner and that is where we had the picture made. HOWEVER, that said, I think the marker in town (the white one) is what the original actually looked like and they moved it into downtown to get more folks to go into town. So we covered our bases and took pix of both and even one on the mural!
We did a walking tour of the town - not much here...they paint lots of murals on building walls here depicting the building of the Al-Can and other local history. Went to an art gallery which was kind of interesting. Took LOTS of pix of Mile 0 marker. Jerry's day was made when some young cute chick wanted his picture by the marker b/c he was wearing his John Deere shirt and hat! Go figure!!!! So guys, if you want the chicks.....get a John Deere???? Needless to say he was beaming for the rest of the day! I should have taken the picture of her taking the picture....oh well....
Back to campground for a sandwich then I tried all afternoon to work w/ computer...no luck. There are several things that are not working exactly right, but I worry most about being able to send and receive email.
Dinner was bruschetta and spaghetti in the Grainger's RV. We visited a while then to bed kind of early for an early start in a.m.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Slow day today...not much distance to cover to get to Dawson Creek. Arrived around 2 p.m. at Tubby's campground (not a great place) but adequate and we met our traveling companions there. We took it easy, caught up on what we had been doing and fixed a casserole for dinner. Not many pictures today. more tomorrow
Monday, June 4, 2007
Well, this was warmest night yet...finally cooled off about 3 a.m and I had to use blanket then, but only sheet until then. It was comfortably cool, but not what we have become accustomed to. After a bowl of cereal, it was a snap to break camp b/c we had nothing to unhook. Headed to Maligne Canyon which was a REALLY narrow chute (like a narrow slot canyon w/ water rushing through it). In some places it was only 2-3 feet across the top of the canyon while underneath it had been hollowed out by water and rocks. etc. It was really impressive. (I feel like I am beginning to use the same adjectives over and over!!!) Also noisy. The canyon itself was about 150 ft. deep. At one point a boulder had gotten wedged between the sides of the canyon and was moss covered and had a tree growing out of it, but it made kind of a natural bridge.
Once we left Jasper we were pretty much out of the snow covered rugged peaks although there are still some around - just not as close together and big. Today's scenery consisted mostly of lots and lots of trees (white and black spruce - looks like gnome world in places). There were wide vistas, valleys and lots of lakes and streams. The mosquitoes are very bad in places and sometimes I think they are lined up to get in the RV when the door opens! We saw a herd of bighorn sheep.
We drove into town of Hinton and they boasted a Wal Mart, but certainly not like Wal Marts at home. We did pick up a few things for the RV and then went on to Safeway for some groceries. We made reservations at a campground in Grand Prairie (not Texas) Alberta so at least we were guaranteed full hookups. They also have internet, but have to go to office to use it. AT LAST!!!
We did run into rain today and still stormy. Thunder and lightning, but so far no rain altho I think it is just a matter of time. After we ate and had waited on the weather a bit I loaded up laptop and headed for the office to use internet, but it was locked! Bummer! After rain today and tonite it is supposed to cool off and become more seasonable. Temps have been in low to mid 80's and that is warm for up here, especially this early. It does cool off at nite.
On the way into Grand Prairie, we saw a grizzly bear beside the road, but he was headed for the trees and I did not get a picture....Wildlife we have seen so far....bison, antelope, coyotes, bears, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, elk, deer, eagle, and a slew of smaller animals...rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, prairie dogs, ground squirrels, etc.
It was good to get to camp tonite...had meal of stir fried chicken, aspargus and corn on the cob. Jerry gets KP duty as I cooked. All for now...tomorrow we go to Dawson City and the start of the Al-Can Highway. That is where the mile zero marker is located. More tomorrow...love, Linda
Once we left Jasper we were pretty much out of the snow covered rugged peaks although there are still some around - just not as close together and big. Today's scenery consisted mostly of lots and lots of trees (white and black spruce - looks like gnome world in places). There were wide vistas, valleys and lots of lakes and streams. The mosquitoes are very bad in places and sometimes I think they are lined up to get in the RV when the door opens! We saw a herd of bighorn sheep.
We drove into town of Hinton and they boasted a Wal Mart, but certainly not like Wal Marts at home. We did pick up a few things for the RV and then went on to Safeway for some groceries. We made reservations at a campground in Grand Prairie (not Texas) Alberta so at least we were guaranteed full hookups. They also have internet, but have to go to office to use it. AT LAST!!!
We did run into rain today and still stormy. Thunder and lightning, but so far no rain altho I think it is just a matter of time. After we ate and had waited on the weather a bit I loaded up laptop and headed for the office to use internet, but it was locked! Bummer! After rain today and tonite it is supposed to cool off and become more seasonable. Temps have been in low to mid 80's and that is warm for up here, especially this early. It does cool off at nite.
On the way into Grand Prairie, we saw a grizzly bear beside the road, but he was headed for the trees and I did not get a picture....Wildlife we have seen so far....bison, antelope, coyotes, bears, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, elk, deer, eagle, and a slew of smaller animals...rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, prairie dogs, ground squirrels, etc.
It was good to get to camp tonite...had meal of stir fried chicken, aspargus and corn on the cob. Jerry gets KP duty as I cooked. All for now...tomorrow we go to Dawson City and the start of the Al-Can Highway. That is where the mile zero marker is located. More tomorrow...love, Linda
Monday, June 11, 2007
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Felt so good just to huddle under the covers this a.m. Got up to quickly put on pot of coffee and while it was boiling (can't use electric coffee pot) got back under the down comforter...mmmm cozy!
Went to breakfast at a place close to the campground here. One thing we have noticed is that everything is really expensive. Comes close to gouging in our book....used to have 4 day passes for Canadian Nat'l Parks, now only 1 day pass and they mean 24 hour period! Can either get 1 day pass or a year pass - $115 for year pass, $15/day pass. Bought a bottle of water at Lake Louise (16 oz. bottle only) and it was $3.15 - which makes it more expensive than gas! Which, by the way is $1.20 per liter or about $5 gallon! Eggs, sausage and toast this a.m. was $10.15! The exchange rate is just about equal now...think we come out about 7 cents ahead. At any rate, I guess that is what has surprised us the most!
Got away around 10 I think and day's driving took us down the Icefields Highway!!! WHAT A SPECTACULAR DRIVE!!! Every bend in the road took your breath away! Glaciers, snow, huge mountain peaks! Pristine lakes, rivers and waterfalls. The road starts out following the Sunwapta River and then the Athabasca River. Stopped at Sunwapta Falls...Gorgeous! Then to the Athabasca Glacier. Had decided to take snow coach tour out to glacier, but first wanted to go to the toe of the glacier so drove over there. After we had walked up to the base of the glacier we were more than satisfied with what we had done and decided to forego the snow coach tour to higher up on the glacier. Our hike was uphill all the way and in one place through quite a lengthy patch of snow, but well worth it when we got there. Took the dogs and when we came back down, Gabby went nuts playing in the snow.
Further down the road was the weeping wall....a rock face which has about 10-12 waterfalls! That was also a wow! Some were skinny and misty and others were wider and had some force to them. Then went on to Athabasca Falls and that was awesome as well. All this water thundering down this skinny chute that could not have been more than 20 feet wide in some spots. There was also a 90 degree turn at the bottom of the falls. Really neat!
Drove on into Jasper and found the only campground w/ hookups - 781 spaces, 100 w/ full hook ups, several more w/ water and electric only. The full hookup sites were all taken and as we got to the window they closed the water/electric sites b/c they were full...That meant we were dry camping which is not really a problem as we have water tanks in the RV and holding tanks for waste water. Lights run on battery and the stove is propane so we could cook...but no electricity meant no microwave, no recharging batteries, no hairdryer, etc. We could get potable water at the campground, just not at our campsite. It was not a problem. Refrigerator also can run on propane OR electric....switches back and forth with what is available. So we are set up for the night. Jerry is planning the roads we will be taking tomorrow as we head for Dawson Creek to meet our friends and traveling companions, the Graingers. Then we will be heading up through British Columbia and the Yukon and on into Alaska.
I have loaded pictures from today onto the laptop (thank goodness for batteries) and have entered travel information into computer as well so that IF and WHEN we EVER get internet again, I can continue to keep in touch. Love to you all, Linda
Went to breakfast at a place close to the campground here. One thing we have noticed is that everything is really expensive. Comes close to gouging in our book....used to have 4 day passes for Canadian Nat'l Parks, now only 1 day pass and they mean 24 hour period! Can either get 1 day pass or a year pass - $115 for year pass, $15/day pass. Bought a bottle of water at Lake Louise (16 oz. bottle only) and it was $3.15 - which makes it more expensive than gas! Which, by the way is $1.20 per liter or about $5 gallon! Eggs, sausage and toast this a.m. was $10.15! The exchange rate is just about equal now...think we come out about 7 cents ahead. At any rate, I guess that is what has surprised us the most!
Got away around 10 I think and day's driving took us down the Icefields Highway!!! WHAT A SPECTACULAR DRIVE!!! Every bend in the road took your breath away! Glaciers, snow, huge mountain peaks! Pristine lakes, rivers and waterfalls. The road starts out following the Sunwapta River and then the Athabasca River. Stopped at Sunwapta Falls...Gorgeous! Then to the Athabasca Glacier. Had decided to take snow coach tour out to glacier, but first wanted to go to the toe of the glacier so drove over there. After we had walked up to the base of the glacier we were more than satisfied with what we had done and decided to forego the snow coach tour to higher up on the glacier. Our hike was uphill all the way and in one place through quite a lengthy patch of snow, but well worth it when we got there. Took the dogs and when we came back down, Gabby went nuts playing in the snow.
Further down the road was the weeping wall....a rock face which has about 10-12 waterfalls! That was also a wow! Some were skinny and misty and others were wider and had some force to them. Then went on to Athabasca Falls and that was awesome as well. All this water thundering down this skinny chute that could not have been more than 20 feet wide in some spots. There was also a 90 degree turn at the bottom of the falls. Really neat!
Drove on into Jasper and found the only campground w/ hookups - 781 spaces, 100 w/ full hook ups, several more w/ water and electric only. The full hookup sites were all taken and as we got to the window they closed the water/electric sites b/c they were full...That meant we were dry camping which is not really a problem as we have water tanks in the RV and holding tanks for waste water. Lights run on battery and the stove is propane so we could cook...but no electricity meant no microwave, no recharging batteries, no hairdryer, etc. We could get potable water at the campground, just not at our campsite. It was not a problem. Refrigerator also can run on propane OR electric....switches back and forth with what is available. So we are set up for the night. Jerry is planning the roads we will be taking tomorrow as we head for Dawson Creek to meet our friends and traveling companions, the Graingers. Then we will be heading up through British Columbia and the Yukon and on into Alaska.
I have loaded pictures from today onto the laptop (thank goodness for batteries) and have entered travel information into computer as well so that IF and WHEN we EVER get internet again, I can continue to keep in touch. Love to you all, Linda
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Played lazy this a.m. and laid around till almost 8....I got up at 4:30 a.m. only it wasn't totally dark - more like twilight. Finally got going around 10:30 and went to visitor center for maps, etc. Decided to go to hoodoos - limestone rock formations (like Bryce Canyon in U.S.). It was a nice short walk along the ridge overlooking the Bow River and back to the Banff Springs hotel. The hoodoos weren't spectacular, but enjoyable.
We left Banff after that and headed for Johnston Canyon, but the parking lot was packed!!!!!! Jerry and I both had headaches so we decided to pass on that canyon and headed on to Lake Louise via the Bow Valley Parkway. A beautiful drive. Saw bighorn sheep and a caribou. The lake itself is as gorgeous as all the pictures. I took lots of pictures there as every bend was another postcard. Jerry and I and the dogs walked the trail to the end of the lake. About a mile or so and pretty level. It was a great walk and much better than renting canoes @ $40/hour! Towards the end of the trail we began seeing lots and lots of climbers. Evidently it is a popular spot for climbing and we enjoyed watching them. The end of the trail brought us to a glacier fed stream which feeds the lake. It was awesome. The peaks surrounding the lake still had snow and we could see glaciers as well. Very pretty.
After getting a campsite at Lake Louise Campground we took the RV and drove up to Lake Moraine....a higher lake than Louise and surrounded by 10 mountain peaks...the lake itself still had ice on it and in fact was low, but one of the locals told us that was because not enough snow had melted yet to fill the lake. We walked out on the lake bed which was black gravel and rock and then went over to the trail and walked it. Lots and lots of glaciers visible here. Spectacular! Tried to go to the lodge for a drink on their deck, but they required everyone to order an entree. Since neither of us was very hungry we went back to the campsite and had a light dinner.
I am in withdrawal b/c no internet for 2 days now....Canada's National Park campgrounds don't have internet access so I am doing w/out. Getting behind on the blog....spent the evening working on pictures - sorting and labeling them. We have only been on the road a week and a half and already the first part of the trip seems ages ago. As soon as I get internet, I will catch you up....all for now....Linda
We left Banff after that and headed for Johnston Canyon, but the parking lot was packed!!!!!! Jerry and I both had headaches so we decided to pass on that canyon and headed on to Lake Louise via the Bow Valley Parkway. A beautiful drive. Saw bighorn sheep and a caribou. The lake itself is as gorgeous as all the pictures. I took lots of pictures there as every bend was another postcard. Jerry and I and the dogs walked the trail to the end of the lake. About a mile or so and pretty level. It was a great walk and much better than renting canoes @ $40/hour! Towards the end of the trail we began seeing lots and lots of climbers. Evidently it is a popular spot for climbing and we enjoyed watching them. The end of the trail brought us to a glacier fed stream which feeds the lake. It was awesome. The peaks surrounding the lake still had snow and we could see glaciers as well. Very pretty.
After getting a campsite at Lake Louise Campground we took the RV and drove up to Lake Moraine....a higher lake than Louise and surrounded by 10 mountain peaks...the lake itself still had ice on it and in fact was low, but one of the locals told us that was because not enough snow had melted yet to fill the lake. We walked out on the lake bed which was black gravel and rock and then went over to the trail and walked it. Lots and lots of glaciers visible here. Spectacular! Tried to go to the lodge for a drink on their deck, but they required everyone to order an entree. Since neither of us was very hungry we went back to the campsite and had a light dinner.
I am in withdrawal b/c no internet for 2 days now....Canada's National Park campgrounds don't have internet access so I am doing w/out. Getting behind on the blog....spent the evening working on pictures - sorting and labeling them. We have only been on the road a week and a half and already the first part of the trip seems ages ago. As soon as I get internet, I will catch you up....all for now....Linda
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Friday, June 1,, 2007
Left the campground around 7:30 to meet friends for breakfast. I had not seen Bob and Jill Bosworth since the early 80's at a forestry meeting so it was good to reconnect.
After breakfast we took Hwy 95 up to Canadian border. After showing passports, dog papers and answering a few questions they let us cross. We were still following the Kootenai River and there was some beautiful scenery along the way. Our route took us by Columbia Lake, the source of the Columbia River and it was breathtaking!
Within 2 miles of entering Banff NP we saw mountain goats, bighorn sheep and a black bear. Got pictures of the first 2, but the bear ran off when we slowed to take pix...didn't figure I needed a pix of a "bear butt".
The highway follows the Canadian Rockies and they are truly spectacular!!!! Some of the most gorgeous scenery I have ever seen. We made several stops along the way and finally arrived in the town of Banff around 4:30. Got an RV spot at Tunnel Mountain RV park. Banff is surrounded by snow covered mountains and it is really pretty....except for the main street which is all torn up...they are replacing utility lines, sewer and re-paving. Since they can only work in summers it is going to be a mess this tourist season.
We walked the streets in town and I enjoyed looking at all the different art forms. Then we drove up to the Banff Springs hotel which looks like a castle and it was really pretty. We talked about going in for drinks, but we were both tired and hungry so the RV was more appealing. We went back and had dinner and turned in. I did write a log of the day on the computer, but since there is no internet service at the campground I will have to wait to post it.
More tomorrow......
After breakfast we took Hwy 95 up to Canadian border. After showing passports, dog papers and answering a few questions they let us cross. We were still following the Kootenai River and there was some beautiful scenery along the way. Our route took us by Columbia Lake, the source of the Columbia River and it was breathtaking!
Within 2 miles of entering Banff NP we saw mountain goats, bighorn sheep and a black bear. Got pictures of the first 2, but the bear ran off when we slowed to take pix...didn't figure I needed a pix of a "bear butt".
The highway follows the Canadian Rockies and they are truly spectacular!!!! Some of the most gorgeous scenery I have ever seen. We made several stops along the way and finally arrived in the town of Banff around 4:30. Got an RV spot at Tunnel Mountain RV park. Banff is surrounded by snow covered mountains and it is really pretty....except for the main street which is all torn up...they are replacing utility lines, sewer and re-paving. Since they can only work in summers it is going to be a mess this tourist season.
We walked the streets in town and I enjoyed looking at all the different art forms. Then we drove up to the Banff Springs hotel which looks like a castle and it was really pretty. We talked about going in for drinks, but we were both tired and hungry so the RV was more appealing. We went back and had dinner and turned in. I did write a log of the day on the computer, but since there is no internet service at the campground I will have to wait to post it.
More tomorrow......
THURSDAY, MAY 31 Spokane to Bonner's Ferry ID
Well, got RV about 10, had to view video and go thru all sorts of stuff then do walk thru and around etc. FINALLY got to shovel stuff from truck to RV to be sorted out later. Made another Wal Mart run for perishables and then we were finally on our way about 2 p.m. Drove up thru Idaho and stopped for nite at Twin Rivers Resort - a short distance out of Bonner's Ferry. Beautiful place!!! At the confluence of 2 rivers - the Moyie and Kootenai Rivers. Spent time putting stuff away and sorting thru stuff etc. If we ever find it again, it will be a miracle...we figure about the time we remember where we put stuff, the trip will be over!
Sandwiches for dinner. Has been pretty warm here....mid to upper 80's, but cool at nite...like down to 50 so that is nice.
Jerry has a friend here who is retired from Forest Service and he called him from the campground so we will have breakfast with them in the a.m. in Bonner's Ferry. That will be nice. Then it will be on to Canada
Not too many pictures today as we were busy getting stuff ready and hitting the road....but will post a few.
Love to all, Linda
Sandwiches for dinner. Has been pretty warm here....mid to upper 80's, but cool at nite...like down to 50 so that is nice.
Jerry has a friend here who is retired from Forest Service and he called him from the campground so we will have breakfast with them in the a.m. in Bonner's Ferry. That will be nice. Then it will be on to Canada
Not too many pictures today as we were busy getting stuff ready and hitting the road....but will post a few.
Love to all, Linda
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