Yes, we're home having arrived Thursday night about 11 PM after a 2-day drive from Seattle (15 hours of that on Thursday due to threats of a major winter storm along I-80 in Wyoming on Friday).
What an incredible trip this has been. But I get ahead of myself so let me finish the last 13 days. Our campsite at Fort Casey State Park on Whidbey Island was so pleasant that we stayed there for five nights pretty much just hanging out and hiking the coastal trail up to the Spanish American War batteries and light house. Our weather was perfect and the campsite directly on the shore of Puget Sound was one of the best we've had. Because the Washington State Ferry terminal was an easy walk from the campsite, one day we took the Ferry to Port Townsend, a very pleasant town on the Olympic Peninsula that reminds me very much of Boulder.
On the 30th, we hooked up YOW, drove to another Ferry terminal at the south end of Whidbey Island, took it across to Everett, Washington on the mainland then drove to A & Suzie Streich's home (Harley's cousins). What wonderful hospitality they provided including a place for YOW in their side yard. Lots of family activities as both of their "children" live nearby and have families of their own. While I made a quick trip to Chicago for a NAR International leadership meeting on the 2nd and 3rd, Harley made some repairs, washed YOW, picked 5-quaarts of blackberries, did errands and generally relaxed.
Over the weekend we met our good friends, Pili & Dave Meyer, for lunch and a tour of the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery in Woodinville, a suberb of Seattle. We then spent the night in Seattle, dined at the Icon, a great restaurant, and spent much of Sunday exploring Seattle's waterfront icluding the Pike Place Market which should be a model for all cities. Sunday evening we were at the Sea-Tac Doubletree where the Washington Association of REALTOR's Education Convention was held on the 6th and 7th. I was privileged to teach a class we'd designed,"Strategies for a Flattening World" (with Pili and PeggyAnn), and then the Transnational Referral Certificate course.
We returned to Al & Suzie's on the evening of the 7th just in time to watch the 2nd presidential debate. About 9:30 AM on Wednesday the 8th we began the 1,352.8 mile trip home to Yatahai. Harley drove the first 453.3 miles on Thursday, the remainding 899.5 miles on Thursday...what a driver! Our last campsite was at Farewell Bend State Park in SE Oregon on the Snake River...an appropriately named site on the Oregon Trail.
So what made this road trip so incredible? Adventure after adveture, health and happiness spread over 86 days, good times spent with friends both old and new, fabulous scenary and wild animals at home in the wildernesss that surrounds them. We couldn't have done it without YOW and Babe who've become members of the family.
Now a few statistics.... The total trip was 11,751.8 miles and that included two +/-1,000 mile side trips, one to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories by way of the Dempster Highway and one to Prudehoe Bay in Alaska by way of the Dalton/Haul Road Highway. Yes, the price of diesel was high but a total of $5,385.86 really doesn't seem that high especially given that works out to $0.458/mile! (No, I didn't convert Canadian $ into U.S.$ but it's close to par. I also don't know how many gallong we used sice I didn't convert Canadian liters into U.S.gallons.) And, no, I haven't calculated the money spent on campsite fees (average about $15/night but several were free) and the few nights we spent at B&Bs. I also haven't calculated what we've spent on groceries, wine and liquor..sometime I'll probably do all of that; if you're curious, let me know.
All and all it was a fabulous, incredible trip and we loved having you along in your armchaiars! For now, this blog is on hold until we take another trip...the ones we have planned are a cruise in November to Spain and the Mediterranean and several months at Yatahai Southwest in Tucson early in 2009. Do come along!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008: Whidbey Island, Washington
We've made it back to the lower 48...and now truly understand why Alaskans and north Canadians call it the "Outside". It's so very different and no where near as peaceful. In the North, yes, there were roads but on almost any road, to the left or the right, one could go for hundreds of miles and only be in more wilderness. It's a very special place that we'll never forget.
Since Prince George, B.C., our last blog, we've had many campsites. On the 21st we were at the municipal campground at a little town called 100 Mile House (yes, and there are towns called 70 Mile, 50 mile, etc...all stops along the gold rush trail). The site itself was pretty normal but a short trail led directly from it to a gorgeous waterfall.
From there we took BC 99 south toward Vancouver. At the very beginning, Harley got caught in a RCMP road block and caught for not wearing his seat belt...to the tune of $165. Needless to say he wasn't in a very good mood after that but the scenery was absolutely spectacular...wonderful mountains, the deep Fraser River Canyon, the tumbling Coyoos Creek and even some snow (a bit scary given the weight of YOW). We stayed in two Provincial Parks, Nairn Falls and Alice Lake. At Nairn our site overlooked the rushing Green River and we hiked to Nairn Falls, an important spiritual site of the Lil'wat Nation. The trail would through a mixed forest of huge Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock and Coastal Douglas Fir. At Alice Lake we'd come closer to the coast and the forest was wonderfully dark, green and dripping...a real rain forest. We took about a 4-mile hike called the Four Lakes...really special. Fortunately our campsite had power so when we got back from the hike we were welcomed by bright lights and electric heat resulting in dry clothes.
Alice Lake is only about 30 miles from Whistler and the drive from there to Vancouver was amazing...the Winter Olympics will be there in 2010 and the Canadians are building an incredible four lane highway through about 40 miles of solid rock, along the steep coast of Horseshoe Bay and all built by Peter Kiewit & Sons (a U.S. company)...hard to believe but we never had to stop during all that construction although the travel was a bit slow, 30-40 mph.
Yesterday we crossed over the border into Washington...the customs officer was amazed by my thick passport and asked what I did, especially since Harley's is so thin! We got on I-5, took it to exit 320 and then followed Washington 20 across Deception Pass and on to beautiful Whitbey Island. We'd searched out possible campgrounds and settled on Fort Casey State Park which is located on the grounds of one of the former naval batteries set up to protect Puget Sound. We're right on the water with great views, including snow covered Mt. Rainier. Not only that but we're walking distance to the Washington State Ferry and plan to walk on for a trip to Port Townsend sometime in the next three days as we plan to stay right where we are...it's such a perfect location!
Since Prince George, B.C., our last blog, we've had many campsites. On the 21st we were at the municipal campground at a little town called 100 Mile House (yes, and there are towns called 70 Mile, 50 mile, etc...all stops along the gold rush trail). The site itself was pretty normal but a short trail led directly from it to a gorgeous waterfall.
From there we took BC 99 south toward Vancouver. At the very beginning, Harley got caught in a RCMP road block and caught for not wearing his seat belt...to the tune of $165. Needless to say he wasn't in a very good mood after that but the scenery was absolutely spectacular...wonderful mountains, the deep Fraser River Canyon, the tumbling Coyoos Creek and even some snow (a bit scary given the weight of YOW). We stayed in two Provincial Parks, Nairn Falls and Alice Lake. At Nairn our site overlooked the rushing Green River and we hiked to Nairn Falls, an important spiritual site of the Lil'wat Nation. The trail would through a mixed forest of huge Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock and Coastal Douglas Fir. At Alice Lake we'd come closer to the coast and the forest was wonderfully dark, green and dripping...a real rain forest. We took about a 4-mile hike called the Four Lakes...really special. Fortunately our campsite had power so when we got back from the hike we were welcomed by bright lights and electric heat resulting in dry clothes.
Alice Lake is only about 30 miles from Whistler and the drive from there to Vancouver was amazing...the Winter Olympics will be there in 2010 and the Canadians are building an incredible four lane highway through about 40 miles of solid rock, along the steep coast of Horseshoe Bay and all built by Peter Kiewit & Sons (a U.S. company)...hard to believe but we never had to stop during all that construction although the travel was a bit slow, 30-40 mph.
Yesterday we crossed over the border into Washington...the customs officer was amazed by my thick passport and asked what I did, especially since Harley's is so thin! We got on I-5, took it to exit 320 and then followed Washington 20 across Deception Pass and on to beautiful Whitbey Island. We'd searched out possible campgrounds and settled on Fort Casey State Park which is located on the grounds of one of the former naval batteries set up to protect Puget Sound. We're right on the water with great views, including snow covered Mt. Rainier. Not only that but we're walking distance to the Washington State Ferry and plan to walk on for a trip to Port Townsend sometime in the next three days as we plan to stay right where we are...it's such a perfect location!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008 Prince George, British Columbia
Some of you may have thought we'd disappeared from the face of the north...not so, we just were totally out of cell range and therefore air card range for almost ten days!
Since Valdez, we've been so many places and driven so many miles...about 2,000. It's so difficult to even begin to describe all that we've seen and done since then excapt that it everything was awesome.
After Valdez, we spent two nights in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park...you may remember the Wrangell Mountains from one of John Denver's songs. Like Denali, it only has one road in, the McCarthy Road, that runs 90+ miles from the main highway. The road itself was about 2/3 horrible but the views great. and the little town of McCarthy at the end we had to reach by foot bridge over a torrent. Harley's decided that for his 75th birthday he wants Wrangell Air to take him from McCarthy somewhere into the wilderness for a week or so of fishing, tenting (you're right, I won't be going on this trip!) and hiking. That's about 3 years off so hopefully one of you will go with him!!
After that we were back at the Tok River Campground and then Wolf Creek Campground outside of Whitehorse, Yukon...wonderful sites. Then down to the tiny town of Atlin, B.C. where we stayed in the "penthouse" at Norseman Adventures RV Park, an incredible location out on a spit of land totally surrounded by gorgeous 90-mile Atlin Lake. It was great fun watching Atlin Air take off and land on the water... looked as though he was coming straight into our living room/cocktail lounge.
After Atlin, we had our last night in the Yukon at Big Creek Campground and,yes, the Creek was large...we'd call it a river in the States. Then down BC 37 the Cassiar Highway with two beautiful lake side campsites. At the second, we unhitched Babe and drove the 40 miles to Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK...beautiful drive past glacier after glacier, many, many waterfalls, a roaring river that made its own steam, and finally to these two tiny towns that shared a location on the Portland Canal, a 90-mile fjord. At Hyder, we went out to Fish Creek in the Tongass National Forest but the salmon had stopped spawning so there weren't any bears to watch.
We now feel like we're headed home...nice campsites (two so far) but so much civilization. We're "decompressing" as our friend Phil Eherenman would say...what Harley calls being back to the Us and Rs (fences and rules)! Can't believe all the stoplights, shopping centers, fenced pastures with cows, etc., etc. But at least the roads are good so we can average 300+/- miles/day.
Except for my trip to Chicago October 2-3, teaching in Seattle on the 7th and heading home (1,400 miles) on the 8th, our calendar is indefinite. I'm sure we'll find some lovely places yet to see in British Columbia, will take a tour around the Olympic Peninsula and will do two days with the Meyers on the 4th and 5th but other than that, who knows. It'll be great fun whatever it is!
Since Valdez, we've been so many places and driven so many miles...about 2,000. It's so difficult to even begin to describe all that we've seen and done since then excapt that it everything was awesome.
After Valdez, we spent two nights in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park...you may remember the Wrangell Mountains from one of John Denver's songs. Like Denali, it only has one road in, the McCarthy Road, that runs 90+ miles from the main highway. The road itself was about 2/3 horrible but the views great. and the little town of McCarthy at the end we had to reach by foot bridge over a torrent. Harley's decided that for his 75th birthday he wants Wrangell Air to take him from McCarthy somewhere into the wilderness for a week or so of fishing, tenting (you're right, I won't be going on this trip!) and hiking. That's about 3 years off so hopefully one of you will go with him!!
After that we were back at the Tok River Campground and then Wolf Creek Campground outside of Whitehorse, Yukon...wonderful sites. Then down to the tiny town of Atlin, B.C. where we stayed in the "penthouse" at Norseman Adventures RV Park, an incredible location out on a spit of land totally surrounded by gorgeous 90-mile Atlin Lake. It was great fun watching Atlin Air take off and land on the water... looked as though he was coming straight into our living room/cocktail lounge.
After Atlin, we had our last night in the Yukon at Big Creek Campground and,yes, the Creek was large...we'd call it a river in the States. Then down BC 37 the Cassiar Highway with two beautiful lake side campsites. At the second, we unhitched Babe and drove the 40 miles to Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK...beautiful drive past glacier after glacier, many, many waterfalls, a roaring river that made its own steam, and finally to these two tiny towns that shared a location on the Portland Canal, a 90-mile fjord. At Hyder, we went out to Fish Creek in the Tongass National Forest but the salmon had stopped spawning so there weren't any bears to watch.
We now feel like we're headed home...nice campsites (two so far) but so much civilization. We're "decompressing" as our friend Phil Eherenman would say...what Harley calls being back to the Us and Rs (fences and rules)! Can't believe all the stoplights, shopping centers, fenced pastures with cows, etc., etc. But at least the roads are good so we can average 300+/- miles/day.
Except for my trip to Chicago October 2-3, teaching in Seattle on the 7th and heading home (1,400 miles) on the 8th, our calendar is indefinite. I'm sure we'll find some lovely places yet to see in British Columbia, will take a tour around the Olympic Peninsula and will do two days with the Meyers on the 4th and 5th but other than that, who knows. It'll be great fun whatever it is!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008 Valdez, Alaska continued
Most of you reading this know that I don't give up easily but, as you can see from the attempts that follow, I just can't get photos uploaded from Picasa2 to the blog so I'm going to stop trying. So, from now on the blogs will just be the written word and hopefully I can describe things well enough that you can imagine what we're actually seeing.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Sunday, Septeember 7, 2008 Valdez, Alaska
Well, darn...another lesson in nothing is free! I've been frustrating for better than two weeks because the 65+ photos I've uploaded from Picasa2 to the blog haven't been open-able. It's been absolutely maddening! But, this morning we think we have the answer...I've run out of "free" space. It would have been nice if a pop-up scree had issued a warning and offered an upgrade of more space for $X but they didn't. So, I'll be going back to old posts (beginning with "Harley picking blueberries") and deleting the photos hoping that frees up some space since I forgot to record my gmail username so am unable to buy more space. But, enough of that.
As you can see from the title, we're now in Valdez at the Sea Otter RV Park (and the office is closed so we're currently hooked up for "free" and facing right on to Prince William Sound). But we've seen a lot since Seward (no, it never stopped raining so we didn't see Exit Glacier.
From Seward, we drove about 100 miles to Williwaw campground (USFS) on the Portage Glacier Road, a large but very privately sited CG just 11 miles from Whittier. There'd been so much rain that the rivers and creeks were to flood stage but apparently that's not unusual as much of the trails were built on boardwalks and only a few of the sites had standing water.
Thursday it was still very overcast and occasionally raining but we decided to go to Whittier and a cruise anyhow. The 11-mile drive included a 2.5 mile, one-lane tunnel built by the U.S. Army during WWII since Whittier is a very deep,ice-free port. Not only vehicles but also the Alaska Railroad use the tunnel so it's on a strict schedule to accommodate all uses. It was no longer raining when we reached Whittier, just heavy overcast. We bought cruise tickets from Major Marine and walked around "town" while waiting for departure...Whittier consists of a wharf with a few tourist shops and a 5-story hotel like building that houses the 150+/- residents along with their grocery, etc. store and various entertainment choices.
We were so glad we'd decided to take the cruise. It never really rained and the captain and USFS Ranger were excellent in showing and explaining all that we saw: two glaciers up close, many others from a distance, rafts (= groups) of sea otters, a harbor seal lounging on a small iceberg, many eagles two black- legged kittiwake (a type of gull) rookeries and literally hundreds of waterfalls. Even if there'd been bright sunshine, it wouldn't have really made much difference.
Friday morning we had a wonderful 3 mile walk to Portage Lake and back...I remember the first time I saw Portage Lake about 20 years ago when the Lake was more like an iceberg filled pond at the base of Portage Glacier. So many of Alaska's glaciers are in retreat. The rest of the day we drove toward Valdez, most of it on the Glenn Highway. It's amazing, we keep saying we've already seen "the most beautiful" part of the state and then we see another that's even prettier. The Glenn goes through the Chugach Mountains with the Wrangell-St. Elias mountains to the east. The western part is along the broad, braided Matsanuka River until it reaches the Matasunaka Glacier. After that the land plateaus and is filled with innumerable lakes surrounded by deciduous trees in their fall (mostly yellow) glory and scattered dark spruce. Absolutely gorgeous!
We spent Friday night at a high pullout above the highway that was also used by some of the many moose hunters. We chose it because of the incredible, unobstructed view of snow-covered peaks. Another treat was a cup full of blueberries Harley picked for dessert.
Saturday we finished the drive to Valdez, this time on the Richardson Highway... another road that elicited one "ah" and "oh" after another, although the highway itself had lots of frost heaves and repairs. But now we're at Valdez and will spend the rest of the afternoon walking around town. Tomorrow we'll be off for the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
As you can see from the title, we're now in Valdez at the Sea Otter RV Park (and the office is closed so we're currently hooked up for "free" and facing right on to Prince William Sound). But we've seen a lot since Seward (no, it never stopped raining so we didn't see Exit Glacier.
From Seward, we drove about 100 miles to Williwaw campground (USFS) on the Portage Glacier Road, a large but very privately sited CG just 11 miles from Whittier. There'd been so much rain that the rivers and creeks were to flood stage but apparently that's not unusual as much of the trails were built on boardwalks and only a few of the sites had standing water.
Thursday it was still very overcast and occasionally raining but we decided to go to Whittier and a cruise anyhow. The 11-mile drive included a 2.5 mile, one-lane tunnel built by the U.S. Army during WWII since Whittier is a very deep,ice-free port. Not only vehicles but also the Alaska Railroad use the tunnel so it's on a strict schedule to accommodate all uses. It was no longer raining when we reached Whittier, just heavy overcast. We bought cruise tickets from Major Marine and walked around "town" while waiting for departure...Whittier consists of a wharf with a few tourist shops and a 5-story hotel like building that houses the 150+/- residents along with their grocery, etc. store and various entertainment choices.
We were so glad we'd decided to take the cruise. It never really rained and the captain and USFS Ranger were excellent in showing and explaining all that we saw: two glaciers up close, many others from a distance, rafts (= groups) of sea otters, a harbor seal lounging on a small iceberg, many eagles two black- legged kittiwake (a type of gull) rookeries and literally hundreds of waterfalls. Even if there'd been bright sunshine, it wouldn't have really made much difference.
Friday morning we had a wonderful 3 mile walk to Portage Lake and back...I remember the first time I saw Portage Lake about 20 years ago when the Lake was more like an iceberg filled pond at the base of Portage Glacier. So many of Alaska's glaciers are in retreat. The rest of the day we drove toward Valdez, most of it on the Glenn Highway. It's amazing, we keep saying we've already seen "the most beautiful" part of the state and then we see another that's even prettier. The Glenn goes through the Chugach Mountains with the Wrangell-St. Elias mountains to the east. The western part is along the broad, braided Matsanuka River until it reaches the Matasunaka Glacier. After that the land plateaus and is filled with innumerable lakes surrounded by deciduous trees in their fall (mostly yellow) glory and scattered dark spruce. Absolutely gorgeous!
We spent Friday night at a high pullout above the highway that was also used by some of the many moose hunters. We chose it because of the incredible, unobstructed view of snow-covered peaks. Another treat was a cup full of blueberries Harley picked for dessert.
Saturday we finished the drive to Valdez, this time on the Richardson Highway... another road that elicited one "ah" and "oh" after another, although the highway itself had lots of frost heaves and repairs. But now we're at Valdez and will spend the rest of the afternoon walking around town. Tomorrow we'll be off for the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 Seward, Alaska
For the first time we've had more than two days of rain...but it's still beautiful. We're currently camped in a City of Seward lot facing directly on Resurrection Bay surrounded by mountains, glaciers and the cutest sea otters swimming on their backs...well, we're not exactly "surrounded" by sea otters but have seen one within about 20' of YOW! Hopefully the weather will lift before we leave for Whittier and we'll be able to hike to Exit Glacier.
The trip from Denali to here has been generally peaceful (with one exception which I'll describe later), beautiful and most enjoyable. We've camped at Byers Lake in Denali State Park, 3 nights at Eklutna Lake (an Alaska State Recreation Area about 25miles north of Anchorage), a night in a gas station parking lot (same story as above) and now 2 nights, or maybe more, here in Seward.
The most enjoyable thing we've done was visiting with our friends, Phil & Sandy Eherenman; Sandy is EO of the Alaska Association and Phil manages the Petroleum Club. Phil and Harley had gotten to know each other while at the NAR meetings in Las Vegas in November so this was a great opportunity to really expand the friendship. Friday they had us over for grilled salmon (yummy!) but most of all we just enjoyed talking and seeing their gorgeous landscaping (Sandy is a Master Gardner and it really shows). Saturday they took us for a drive over Hatcher Pass (just north of Wasilla and you all now know where that is!!) which was really gorgeous, then to the State Fair in Palmer then back to YOW for a campfire. What fun!!
After Anchorage we'd thought about going to Katmai National Park to see the bears fish for salmon...put decided against it for very practical reasons. The cost per person ranged from $589 to $3,100 and that was just to fly over and come back the same day!
Now for the "exception" to our perfect trip...Sunday as we were driving around the Turnagain Arm, we stopped for fuel...and managed to put in 17+ gallons of unleaded gas instead of diesel! That required taking out the gas tank, emptying it and reinstalling the gas tank. Harley found a small repair shop just 1/4 mile away that could do it on Monday but I called AAA and arranged for them to pick up Babe and do the work Sunday night (amazing given the holiday weekend). However, when we got to the shop in Anchorage that would do the work we both had serious questions...a real mess, very grubby and no lift. But, long story short, after about 4 hours and $270 (plus replacing all the fuel) the job was done and we returned in the rain to YOW,
From here we're planning to drive to Whittier, take a day cruise around Prince William Sound, hike and then return to Tok and on to the Wrangall-St. Elias Mountains.
The trip from Denali to here has been generally peaceful (with one exception which I'll describe later), beautiful and most enjoyable. We've camped at Byers Lake in Denali State Park, 3 nights at Eklutna Lake (an Alaska State Recreation Area about 25miles north of Anchorage), a night in a gas station parking lot (same story as above) and now 2 nights, or maybe more, here in Seward.
The most enjoyable thing we've done was visiting with our friends, Phil & Sandy Eherenman; Sandy is EO of the Alaska Association and Phil manages the Petroleum Club. Phil and Harley had gotten to know each other while at the NAR meetings in Las Vegas in November so this was a great opportunity to really expand the friendship. Friday they had us over for grilled salmon (yummy!) but most of all we just enjoyed talking and seeing their gorgeous landscaping (Sandy is a Master Gardner and it really shows). Saturday they took us for a drive over Hatcher Pass (just north of Wasilla and you all now know where that is!!) which was really gorgeous, then to the State Fair in Palmer then back to YOW for a campfire. What fun!!
After Anchorage we'd thought about going to Katmai National Park to see the bears fish for salmon...put decided against it for very practical reasons. The cost per person ranged from $589 to $3,100 and that was just to fly over and come back the same day!
Now for the "exception" to our perfect trip...Sunday as we were driving around the Turnagain Arm, we stopped for fuel...and managed to put in 17+ gallons of unleaded gas instead of diesel! That required taking out the gas tank, emptying it and reinstalling the gas tank. Harley found a small repair shop just 1/4 mile away that could do it on Monday but I called AAA and arranged for them to pick up Babe and do the work Sunday night (amazing given the holiday weekend). However, when we got to the shop in Anchorage that would do the work we both had serious questions...a real mess, very grubby and no lift. But, long story short, after about 4 hours and $270 (plus replacing all the fuel) the job was done and we returned in the rain to YOW,
From here we're planning to drive to Whittier, take a day cruise around Prince William Sound, hike and then return to Tok and on to the Wrangall-St. Elias Mountains.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Denali National Park
Because Denali is so awesome in every way, I'm going to start here then write just a bit at the end about our trip to Circle and from there to here.
On the way from Fairbanks to Denali, I called the reservation number for Alaskans and miracle of miracles, was able to make a reservation for the Teklanika River Campground...the reason that's such a big deal is that Park regulations allow private cars to drive only 15 miles into the Park and Teklanika is 29 miles in giving us the opportunity to stop when and where we wanted to. Part of that is good news because we saw a grizzly year old cub just on the side of the road digging up a root...what fun taking that photo was. Part of that is bad news: the weather was perfect and Denali was "out" so at one point I climbed up on top of YOW to get a better shot and coming back down missed the last step, fell on my tush then slammed my head on the pavement. Fortunately a gentleman was right there and strongly recommended an ice pack which we did as I already had a large bump developing. Long story short, I'm well past the 72 hour mark and have no symptoms so we think all is well.
On Sunday, we took a great bus trip to the end of the road, Kantishna, with many photo stops, beautiful rest stops and visitor centers along the way. The driver/guide, Kim, was outstanding in her knowledge about Denali and the wildlife. We saw grzzlies, Dall sheep, wolves, fox, ptarmigan as well as little critters. But most of all we saw the incredible, awesome beauty of Denali. We were most fortunate because Denali was with us all the way...a treat that only happens about 20% of the time! At 20,320' it rises as a huge, white (snow) massif from the valley below which is barely 3,000' so it's phenomenally huge. It's so large, so beautiful that the rest of the mountains seem quite ordinary while in other settings they too would be considered specially beautiful. Everywhere the mountains are set off by braided rivers, rushing streams and the fall colors. Without doubt, this is the most beauriful place we've ever seen, a place everyone should see at least once in his/her lifetime.
Monday we generally putzed in YOW and walked around the campground. One of the strange and wonderful things about Denali is that visitors are encouraged to walk everywhere and anywhere even without trails. We found some great "trails" (human or animal who knows) behind our campsite that led to the Teklanika River then along it to a high rock bluff that looked out on hundreds of miles of wilderness. That's not an exaggeration...Denali is larger than Massachusetts and has just one 90-mile long road! To the west of te Park boundary there's 600+ miles of wilderness before one reaches the Bering Sea! Today we've continued the putzing and are now camped at the Riley Creek Campground...huge but it has a laundry which we need!
So, back to leaving Olnes Pond and turning onto the Steece Highway that leads east from Fairbanks to Circle, a small native town on the Yukon River. We never made Circle as we had such a great campsite in the Upper Chatanika River State Recreation Site where we stayed two nights. This is another great campground that's "open" but charges no fee because there are no services...a budgetary problem. We did explore some 20 miles east of there...beautiful but a bit boring. I guess we're just spoiled!
The drive from Fairbanks towards Denali was so beautiful, most of it overlooking the Tenana River Valley that we'd seen on the drive from Moon Lake CG to Fairbanks. Since we didn't have reservations in Denali until Saturday, we spent Friday night at the Taklinika Trading Post RV Park along the Nenama River...a great camping site plus they ha a great shower and an organic CSA garden that was really outstanding. We'd stopped at the little river town of Nenama along the way for lunch and a walk through the historic river town (where the Nenama and Nanama Rivers join). Luckily we found the Old Saw Shop where George, the proprietor, knew exactly what was wrong with our chain saw...we'd kept it in a black plastic garbage bag which resulted in condensation that got into the engine. He cleaned and dried everything so now it's in gerat conditionn (we'd discovered it wasn't working when we tried to cut some firewood on our drive up the Steece Highway).
As a general comment: throughout the trip, we've had great weather, lots of sunshine, very few bugs (including mosquitoes), roads have been excellent, there aren't many competing campers so we've had great campsites. This is very different from what we'd heard.
On the way from Fairbanks to Denali, I called the reservation number for Alaskans and miracle of miracles, was able to make a reservation for the Teklanika River Campground...the reason that's such a big deal is that Park regulations allow private cars to drive only 15 miles into the Park and Teklanika is 29 miles in giving us the opportunity to stop when and where we wanted to. Part of that is good news because we saw a grizzly year old cub just on the side of the road digging up a root...what fun taking that photo was. Part of that is bad news: the weather was perfect and Denali was "out" so at one point I climbed up on top of YOW to get a better shot and coming back down missed the last step, fell on my tush then slammed my head on the pavement. Fortunately a gentleman was right there and strongly recommended an ice pack which we did as I already had a large bump developing. Long story short, I'm well past the 72 hour mark and have no symptoms so we think all is well.
On Sunday, we took a great bus trip to the end of the road, Kantishna, with many photo stops, beautiful rest stops and visitor centers along the way. The driver/guide, Kim, was outstanding in her knowledge about Denali and the wildlife. We saw grzzlies, Dall sheep, wolves, fox, ptarmigan as well as little critters. But most of all we saw the incredible, awesome beauty of Denali. We were most fortunate because Denali was with us all the way...a treat that only happens about 20% of the time! At 20,320' it rises as a huge, white (snow) massif from the valley below which is barely 3,000' so it's phenomenally huge. It's so large, so beautiful that the rest of the mountains seem quite ordinary while in other settings they too would be considered specially beautiful. Everywhere the mountains are set off by braided rivers, rushing streams and the fall colors. Without doubt, this is the most beauriful place we've ever seen, a place everyone should see at least once in his/her lifetime.
Monday we generally putzed in YOW and walked around the campground. One of the strange and wonderful things about Denali is that visitors are encouraged to walk everywhere and anywhere even without trails. We found some great "trails" (human or animal who knows) behind our campsite that led to the Teklanika River then along it to a high rock bluff that looked out on hundreds of miles of wilderness. That's not an exaggeration...Denali is larger than Massachusetts and has just one 90-mile long road! To the west of te Park boundary there's 600+ miles of wilderness before one reaches the Bering Sea! Today we've continued the putzing and are now camped at the Riley Creek Campground...huge but it has a laundry which we need!
So, back to leaving Olnes Pond and turning onto the Steece Highway that leads east from Fairbanks to Circle, a small native town on the Yukon River. We never made Circle as we had such a great campsite in the Upper Chatanika River State Recreation Site where we stayed two nights. This is another great campground that's "open" but charges no fee because there are no services...a budgetary problem. We did explore some 20 miles east of there...beautiful but a bit boring. I guess we're just spoiled!
The drive from Fairbanks towards Denali was so beautiful, most of it overlooking the Tenana River Valley that we'd seen on the drive from Moon Lake CG to Fairbanks. Since we didn't have reservations in Denali until Saturday, we spent Friday night at the Taklinika Trading Post RV Park along the Nenama River...a great camping site plus they ha a great shower and an organic CSA garden that was really outstanding. We'd stopped at the little river town of Nenama along the way for lunch and a walk through the historic river town (where the Nenama and Nanama Rivers join). Luckily we found the Old Saw Shop where George, the proprietor, knew exactly what was wrong with our chain saw...we'd kept it in a black plastic garbage bag which resulted in condensation that got into the engine. He cleaned and dried everything so now it's in gerat conditionn (we'd discovered it wasn't working when we tried to cut some firewood on our drive up the Steece Highway).
As a general comment: throughout the trip, we've had great weather, lots of sunshine, very few bugs (including mosquitoes), roads have been excellent, there aren't many competing campers so we've had great campsites. This is very different from what we'd heard.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008-Fairbanks, Alaska
We returned last night from another adventure...a 900 mile round trip to Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse on the Dalton Highway, also known as the "Haul Road" due to the heavy truck useage supplying the oil fields. We left Saturday morning, spent the night in the old mining town of Weisman, stayed Sunday night at the Arctic Caribou Inn in Deadhorse then drove all the way back to YOW at the Olnes Pond campground.
But let me start with Olnes Pond. Sharon, our friend from the Milepost had ssuggested it given our pecuniary nature...we didn't want to spend any more money than necessary in campground fees! Olnes Pond used to be a state campground but has been closed for some reason and is therefore free! About 20 miles north of Fairbanks, our site is right on the Pond and absolutely gorgeous.
The Dalton Highway is similar to the Dempster...a combination of both paved and dirt. We much prefer the dirt as the paved is subject to frost heaves which makes it very wavy whereas the dirt only has occasional pot holes. There's nothing flat about the Dalton...it's either uphill or downhill so thank heavens for the pac brake.
There's only one gas station along the Dalton at a place called Coldfoot Camp...the price? $5.89. Also in the Coldfoot area is the outstanding Arctic Interpretative Center, designed by a combination of the National Parks Service, BLM and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The displays are excellent backed up by lots of resosurces.
The Boreal Lodge in tiny Weisman, our home for Saturday night, consisted of a 4 bedroom lodge with two bathrooms (meaning we had to go outside to use it and shared them with 5 other people) and a shared kitchen. Weisman is totally off the grid so the Boreal Lodge is as well...supplied by a combination of solar panels, wind turbine, 2 diesel generators and a paddlewheel generator. But it was perfect for what we needed. We walked around town for about an hour...beautiful and totally charming. Most of the few homes are log, most dating back to the very early 1900s. The Koyukuk River runs along side the town...ice-y cold and a wonderful source of fish.
The North Slope is a vast area of gently rolling hills in wonderful fall colors of gold and red, braided rivers, and many bow hunters. We only saw a few caribou and the area is so wide open we have no idea how a hunter could sneak up on a caribou! Besides, we saw no antlers in any of the trucks so I don't think they did!
At the end of the North Slope and 3 miles from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields is the supply town of Deadhorse. Very industrial in character, the hotels are lodging for the workers in the oil fields and, originally, the builders of the Dalton. Nothing fancy here...just the basics of two twin beds, a dresser, two small tables and a bathroom...private! I'm glad we brought our own foam pillows and down comforters! The restaurant was also basic but decent.
We signed up for the Prudhoe Bay tour which was fascinating. Lots of facts to share: 1) the oil fields provide 20% of the U.S. oil needs, 2) the fields are 40 miles x 15 miles in size, 3) the operation runs 24/7/365 in 12 hour shifts with workers working 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. 4) salaries range from $50K-$200K, 5) there's a zero tolerance for both alcohol and drugs...and they mean zero, 6) once workers get themselves to Anchorage, everything is paid for...jet transportation, food, housing, clothing and equipment.
The following may surprise some of you. In terms of the environment, the area is clean and very wildlife friendly (the original pipelines were built quite close to the ground which interrupted caribou migration but they've been raised and there's no problem...in fact the caribou herd has increased 7 times since the highway and fields started to a current population of 30,000). All construction is done in the winter when ice roads can be used: buildings and wells are set on special pads to protect the tundra and permafrost. When the oil fields are depleted (estimated at about 50 years), everything man made will be removed and all sites will be re-seeded with native grasses and shrubs. Based on all we've seen, we both still strongly believe that the future must focus on development of alternative energy but that all North Slope oil, currently 17 fields, should be harvested and that includes ANWR.
Our long drive back (11 hours) began in cloudy, misty cold and we were afraid we'd never see the Brooks Range. But as we crested Atigun Pass, the clouds and mist were replaced by glorious sun and blue skies. Spectacular views were everywhere, the mountains above timberline enveloped in the reds of bear berry along golden ground cover. Below timberline, we found deep green spruce and bright gold aspens framed by sparkling rivers and streams. This is definitely an area we'd like to return to with some sort of camper (the road is definitely not YOW friendly!).
In the next few days, we plan to travel back to the Yukon, this time at Circle, a native village. After that we'll be exploring the Denali area.
But let me start with Olnes Pond. Sharon, our friend from the Milepost had ssuggested it given our pecuniary nature...we didn't want to spend any more money than necessary in campground fees! Olnes Pond used to be a state campground but has been closed for some reason and is therefore free! About 20 miles north of Fairbanks, our site is right on the Pond and absolutely gorgeous.
The Dalton Highway is similar to the Dempster...a combination of both paved and dirt. We much prefer the dirt as the paved is subject to frost heaves which makes it very wavy whereas the dirt only has occasional pot holes. There's nothing flat about the Dalton...it's either uphill or downhill so thank heavens for the pac brake.
There's only one gas station along the Dalton at a place called Coldfoot Camp...the price? $5.89. Also in the Coldfoot area is the outstanding Arctic Interpretative Center, designed by a combination of the National Parks Service, BLM and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The displays are excellent backed up by lots of resosurces.
The Boreal Lodge in tiny Weisman, our home for Saturday night, consisted of a 4 bedroom lodge with two bathrooms (meaning we had to go outside to use it and shared them with 5 other people) and a shared kitchen. Weisman is totally off the grid so the Boreal Lodge is as well...supplied by a combination of solar panels, wind turbine, 2 diesel generators and a paddlewheel generator. But it was perfect for what we needed. We walked around town for about an hour...beautiful and totally charming. Most of the few homes are log, most dating back to the very early 1900s. The Koyukuk River runs along side the town...ice-y cold and a wonderful source of fish.
The North Slope is a vast area of gently rolling hills in wonderful fall colors of gold and red, braided rivers, and many bow hunters. We only saw a few caribou and the area is so wide open we have no idea how a hunter could sneak up on a caribou! Besides, we saw no antlers in any of the trucks so I don't think they did!
At the end of the North Slope and 3 miles from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields is the supply town of Deadhorse. Very industrial in character, the hotels are lodging for the workers in the oil fields and, originally, the builders of the Dalton. Nothing fancy here...just the basics of two twin beds, a dresser, two small tables and a bathroom...private! I'm glad we brought our own foam pillows and down comforters! The restaurant was also basic but decent.
We signed up for the Prudhoe Bay tour which was fascinating. Lots of facts to share: 1) the oil fields provide 20% of the U.S. oil needs, 2) the fields are 40 miles x 15 miles in size, 3) the operation runs 24/7/365 in 12 hour shifts with workers working 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. 4) salaries range from $50K-$200K, 5) there's a zero tolerance for both alcohol and drugs...and they mean zero, 6) once workers get themselves to Anchorage, everything is paid for...jet transportation, food, housing, clothing and equipment.
The following may surprise some of you. In terms of the environment, the area is clean and very wildlife friendly (the original pipelines were built quite close to the ground which interrupted caribou migration but they've been raised and there's no problem...in fact the caribou herd has increased 7 times since the highway and fields started to a current population of 30,000). All construction is done in the winter when ice roads can be used: buildings and wells are set on special pads to protect the tundra and permafrost. When the oil fields are depleted (estimated at about 50 years), everything man made will be removed and all sites will be re-seeded with native grasses and shrubs. Based on all we've seen, we both still strongly believe that the future must focus on development of alternative energy but that all North Slope oil, currently 17 fields, should be harvested and that includes ANWR.
Our long drive back (11 hours) began in cloudy, misty cold and we were afraid we'd never see the Brooks Range. But as we crested Atigun Pass, the clouds and mist were replaced by glorious sun and blue skies. Spectacular views were everywhere, the mountains above timberline enveloped in the reds of bear berry along golden ground cover. Below timberline, we found deep green spruce and bright gold aspens framed by sparkling rivers and streams. This is definitely an area we'd like to return to with some sort of camper (the road is definitely not YOW friendly!).
In the next few days, we plan to travel back to the Yukon, this time at Circle, a native village. After that we'll be exploring the Denali area.
Friday, August 15, 2008
August 15, 2008Fairbanks, Alaska
Leaving Dawson City, Yukon, in a slight mist, we took a photo from the hill as we began the drive over the Top of the World Highway, a 60+ mile drive. In a couple of hours, we reached the border crossing and easily passed through customs, especially after Harley showed off the side boxes on Babe (our truck)to the young customs officer! Our goal for Saturday night was Eagle, Alaska. The dirt road there was misty and cloudy but the sun appeared as we reached Eagle.
A small towm, Eagle developed as a "port" for the paddlewheel steamers traveling back and forth from Dawson City. The Yukon here is incredibly beautiful, wide calm, inviting exploration further and further to the west. We stayed at the very basic but clean Riverside Motel and ate at its even more basic Cafe. Walking around served as a pleasant hike.
Sunday morning we reluctantly left Eagle and retrieved YOW (we didn't take her as the Eagle road was often quite narrow and winding) at a wide spot in thte road at which many caribou campers had set up camp. While hooking up, we talked with a hunter from Texas who was bragging about all the blueberries he'd picked while waiting for his buddies to bring back a caribou. With no hesitation, he showed us where to find the berries and soon we had over a quart.
Fortified with dreams of yummy blueberry creations, we drove on south on the Taylor Highway to the Walker Fork BLM Campground and captured the only site right on the Fork, a 90'-100' wide stream. It was a short trip so there was plenty of time to walk around, pick another quart+ of blueberries and explore the nearby First Nation memorial to an unknown relative whose grave had been desecrated by earlier white men. The memorial was a small fenced in area at the top of a cliff.
While at Walker Fort, we met a couple from Hanover, Germany and enjoyed conversation and the nightly cocktail hour with them...what fun. Of course, we got into U.S. politics...Gerd expressed absolute amazement that Bush had been elected a second time and was looking forward to the outcome of November's election. After we finished dinner, Gerd came over with a gift of marvelous dark, heavy German bread and we gave him a frozen salmon steak.
Monday, we drove a short 35 miles to West Fork BLM Campground which had been recommended to us by a couple who'd driven into Walker Fork just as we were parking and strongly suggested we move on because West Fork was so lovely. I wouldn't give up our creek location but, of course, we had to check out West Fork. It couldn't have been better...when we drove in, we were the only campers and had first choice of sites. Other than the fact that the only hiking was around the campground and up a nearby hunter's track, this is probably the best site we've ever had: surrounded by tall evergreens, a large area behind YOW for the campfire and a bench overlooking a small lake surrunded by thick grasses and and thousands of acres of wilderness.
Shortly after we arrived, Harley noticed some splashing...soon we saw the head and large ears of a moose! For another hour+ we watched her move ever closer to our site, munching and submerging to find the tastiest greens. She was a two year old weighing about 1,200 pounds according the Denny White, the friendly campground host. What an incredibly treat that was!
We stayed for two nights, soaking in the peace and beauty of the location. Miss Moose never returned but we were so privileged to see as much as we did. Monday afternoon, a camper drove in sporting a Milepost sign on its door (if you're not familiar with it, The Milepost is the Bible for travelers to the North with detailed, mile by mile descriptions of what you see, where to stay, eat, what to avoid. We soon got to know Sharon Nault, Field Editor for The Milepost, enjoyed her company and queried her for suggestions for our trips to come. Wonderful resource! With Sharon, we shared the last of our blueberries, celebrating with blueberry pancakes, bacon, fried eggs and orange juice toddies. What a fine way to begin the next part of our trip.
Wednesday we picked up the Alaska Highway at Tok (along with diesel, propane, water and a wash job for both YOW and Babe...did they need it!. About 40 miles further on we stopped for the night at Moon Lake...lovely...and were greeted by loons and a strange, moaning animal sound from the far shore we never identified. It rained that night but was clear when we left on Thursday for the 165 mile drive to Fairbanks. Along the way we saw the snow capped peaks of the imposing Alaska Range, several moose and incredibly broad, braided rivers. YOW is now at Olnes Pond about 20 miles north of Fairbanks and we're in town doing errands.
Tomorrow, we're off for a three day trip to Prudhoe Bay...another adventure (YOW will stay behind as the Dalton/Haul Road is said to be quite rough). After that, it'll be Denali, then Anchorage, the Kenai, etc., etc. We've got another two months so who knows where we'll be and what we'll see!
A small towm, Eagle developed as a "port" for the paddlewheel steamers traveling back and forth from Dawson City. The Yukon here is incredibly beautiful, wide calm, inviting exploration further and further to the west. We stayed at the very basic but clean Riverside Motel and ate at its even more basic Cafe. Walking around served as a pleasant hike.
Sunday morning we reluctantly left Eagle and retrieved YOW (we didn't take her as the Eagle road was often quite narrow and winding) at a wide spot in thte road at which many caribou campers had set up camp. While hooking up, we talked with a hunter from Texas who was bragging about all the blueberries he'd picked while waiting for his buddies to bring back a caribou. With no hesitation, he showed us where to find the berries and soon we had over a quart.
Fortified with dreams of yummy blueberry creations, we drove on south on the Taylor Highway to the Walker Fork BLM Campground and captured the only site right on the Fork, a 90'-100' wide stream. It was a short trip so there was plenty of time to walk around, pick another quart+ of blueberries and explore the nearby First Nation memorial to an unknown relative whose grave had been desecrated by earlier white men. The memorial was a small fenced in area at the top of a cliff.
While at Walker Fort, we met a couple from Hanover, Germany and enjoyed conversation and the nightly cocktail hour with them...what fun. Of course, we got into U.S. politics...Gerd expressed absolute amazement that Bush had been elected a second time and was looking forward to the outcome of November's election. After we finished dinner, Gerd came over with a gift of marvelous dark, heavy German bread and we gave him a frozen salmon steak.
Monday, we drove a short 35 miles to West Fork BLM Campground which had been recommended to us by a couple who'd driven into Walker Fork just as we were parking and strongly suggested we move on because West Fork was so lovely. I wouldn't give up our creek location but, of course, we had to check out West Fork. It couldn't have been better...when we drove in, we were the only campers and had first choice of sites. Other than the fact that the only hiking was around the campground and up a nearby hunter's track, this is probably the best site we've ever had: surrounded by tall evergreens, a large area behind YOW for the campfire and a bench overlooking a small lake surrunded by thick grasses and and thousands of acres of wilderness.
Shortly after we arrived, Harley noticed some splashing...soon we saw the head and large ears of a moose! For another hour+ we watched her move ever closer to our site, munching and submerging to find the tastiest greens. She was a two year old weighing about 1,200 pounds according the Denny White, the friendly campground host. What an incredibly treat that was!
We stayed for two nights, soaking in the peace and beauty of the location. Miss Moose never returned but we were so privileged to see as much as we did. Monday afternoon, a camper drove in sporting a Milepost sign on its door (if you're not familiar with it, The Milepost is the Bible for travelers to the North with detailed, mile by mile descriptions of what you see, where to stay, eat, what to avoid. We soon got to know Sharon Nault, Field Editor for The Milepost, enjoyed her company and queried her for suggestions for our trips to come. Wonderful resource! With Sharon, we shared the last of our blueberries, celebrating with blueberry pancakes, bacon, fried eggs and orange juice toddies. What a fine way to begin the next part of our trip.
Wednesday we picked up the Alaska Highway at Tok (along with diesel, propane, water and a wash job for both YOW and Babe...did they need it!. About 40 miles further on we stopped for the night at Moon Lake...lovely...and were greeted by loons and a strange, moaning animal sound from the far shore we never identified. It rained that night but was clear when we left on Thursday for the 165 mile drive to Fairbanks. Along the way we saw the snow capped peaks of the imposing Alaska Range, several moose and incredibly broad, braided rivers. YOW is now at Olnes Pond about 20 miles north of Fairbanks and we're in town doing errands.
Tomorrow, we're off for a three day trip to Prudhoe Bay...another adventure (YOW will stay behind as the Dalton/Haul Road is said to be quite rough). After that, it'll be Denali, then Anchorage, the Kenai, etc., etc. We've got another two months so who knows where we'll be and what we'll see!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008 Dawson City
Hopefully no one was really trying to track us based on the last blog...we haven't gone there yet! Instead, we took a 950 mile detour north along the Dempster Highway to Inuvit, Northwest Territories...the end of the road and far above the Arctic Circle!! YOW didn't get to go because the road, except for 5 miles in the beginning and 6 miles at the end is all dirt & gravel and when it rains, which it did, gets pretty slick.
The trip was great and quite an adventure...all mountains (including three passes each way), two ferries each way (no way to bridge these enormous rivers) and so many rivers we couldn't count them. In a small way it reminded us of going across the top of Trail Ridge but ever so much more expansive. We crossed the Arctic Circle about halfway. As we were out two nights (went up in two days and all the way back in one day), we stayed overnight first at the Eagle Plains Lodge, which was a glorified truck stop, and then at a cabin just outside Inuvik, the Arctic Chalet. The Chalet was charming...log cabins on a small lake and 30 pure white husky sled dogs!
Inuvik is a newer (built in the 1970s) of about 3,400 people, mostly First Nation (formerly called Eskimo but now they use their original name which I can neither spell or pronounce). Like most native towns, it has a Catholic church but this one is shaped like a huge igloo with a blue cross on top. We'd asked for a recommendation for dinner at the Chalet and was told the dining room at the Eskimo Inn..."poor rooms but great food" and that it was.
Much to our amazement, when we came out the passenger side door was ajar and a native woman was asleep inside! I tried to wake her and get her out but with no success. Harley went to find the Royal Canadian Mounted Police while I chatted with an older native woman...very pleasant but strongly recommended that we do nothing until a officer arrived. We didn't and he did with nothing harmed...and, yes, we thought we'd locked the truck.
On the trip back, the weather improved greatly and, best of all, we saw herds of caribou. They're the most amazing looking animals...the bucks (and most of the groups were bucks) have absolutely huge racks that look like arms raised above their heads with fingers at the top. They were a bit skittish when we stopped but we did manage to get quite close to many.
We drove straight through on the way back because neither of us wanted to spend another night eating and sleeping at the Eagle Plains Lodge...Harley is an amazing driver. So far on the entire trip I've only driven twice, once each on two separate days and for about an hour each time.
Tomorrow we really do plan to go over the Top of the World highway, cross the border, drop off YOW and drive up to Eagle. Hope all is going well at home.
The trip was great and quite an adventure...all mountains (including three passes each way), two ferries each way (no way to bridge these enormous rivers) and so many rivers we couldn't count them. In a small way it reminded us of going across the top of Trail Ridge but ever so much more expansive. We crossed the Arctic Circle about halfway. As we were out two nights (went up in two days and all the way back in one day), we stayed overnight first at the Eagle Plains Lodge, which was a glorified truck stop, and then at a cabin just outside Inuvik, the Arctic Chalet. The Chalet was charming...log cabins on a small lake and 30 pure white husky sled dogs!
Inuvik is a newer (built in the 1970s) of about 3,400 people, mostly First Nation (formerly called Eskimo but now they use their original name which I can neither spell or pronounce). Like most native towns, it has a Catholic church but this one is shaped like a huge igloo with a blue cross on top. We'd asked for a recommendation for dinner at the Chalet and was told the dining room at the Eskimo Inn..."poor rooms but great food" and that it was.
Much to our amazement, when we came out the passenger side door was ajar and a native woman was asleep inside! I tried to wake her and get her out but with no success. Harley went to find the Royal Canadian Mounted Police while I chatted with an older native woman...very pleasant but strongly recommended that we do nothing until a officer arrived. We didn't and he did with nothing harmed...and, yes, we thought we'd locked the truck.
On the trip back, the weather improved greatly and, best of all, we saw herds of caribou. They're the most amazing looking animals...the bucks (and most of the groups were bucks) have absolutely huge racks that look like arms raised above their heads with fingers at the top. They were a bit skittish when we stopped but we did manage to get quite close to many.
We drove straight through on the way back because neither of us wanted to spend another night eating and sleeping at the Eagle Plains Lodge...Harley is an amazing driver. So far on the entire trip I've only driven twice, once each on two separate days and for about an hour each time.
Tomorrow we really do plan to go over the Top of the World highway, cross the border, drop off YOW and drive up to Eagle. Hope all is going well at home.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008 Dawson City, Yukon Territory
Would you believe it? We're 165 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Dawson City, location of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897-98. DC is along the huge, broad Yukon River, 4th longest river in the world. During the gold rush, paddle wheelers were used to transport men and supplies. All came from the south and many via the White Pass Yukon Route narrow guage that ran from Skagway to Whitehorse. We're really learning a lot of history as well as thoroughly enjoying the trip.
While in DC we're camped in the Yukon River government campground...great site (#34) right on the river with a short path leading down to it. Wide mud flats and pebble beach on this side and brown stone cliffs inhabited by peregrine falcons on the other. During the late afternoon the river has many small power boats as well as the Keno paddle wheeler running up and down. Really fun watching the Keno...going downstream toward Eagle, Alaska and eventually the Bering Sea seemed easy; coming back going against the current it barely moved the current was so strong.
Between Juneau and DC, we camped at our Wolf Creek site just east of Whitehorse for another two nights...wanted to do some shopping and more hiking along the Creek. The forests here are so fabulous, the ground coated with lichens and moss, the trees tall and a mixture of aspen and spruce/lodgepole with glorious light filtering through. Strange though, we see very few animals and birds (although a met a raven close up yesterday here in DC along Front Street!). After Wolf Creek, we drove the Klondike Highway (a north turn just west of Whitehorse off the Alaska Highway) about 138 miles to DC with a camp at Tatchun (a native fish camp) Creek campground...and, yes, we were on the creek, of course!
We've really gotten into the swing of road triping...sleeping well, eating well and everything feels so natural. Tomorrow we'll be driving over the "Top of the World" highway then parking YOW at a rest stop and driving up to Eagle, Alaska which is also on te Yukon River. Harley read about Eagle in one of the books Linda gave him for his birthday and is fascinated to see the last stop before the bush.
While in DC we're camped in the Yukon River government campground...great site (#34) right on the river with a short path leading down to it. Wide mud flats and pebble beach on this side and brown stone cliffs inhabited by peregrine falcons on the other. During the late afternoon the river has many small power boats as well as the Keno paddle wheeler running up and down. Really fun watching the Keno...going downstream toward Eagle, Alaska and eventually the Bering Sea seemed easy; coming back going against the current it barely moved the current was so strong.
Between Juneau and DC, we camped at our Wolf Creek site just east of Whitehorse for another two nights...wanted to do some shopping and more hiking along the Creek. The forests here are so fabulous, the ground coated with lichens and moss, the trees tall and a mixture of aspen and spruce/lodgepole with glorious light filtering through. Strange though, we see very few animals and birds (although a met a raven close up yesterday here in DC along Front Street!). After Wolf Creek, we drove the Klondike Highway (a north turn just west of Whitehorse off the Alaska Highway) about 138 miles to DC with a camp at Tatchun (a native fish camp) Creek campground...and, yes, we were on the creek, of course!
We've really gotten into the swing of road triping...sleeping well, eating well and everything feels so natural. Tomorrow we'll be driving over the "Top of the World" highway then parking YOW at a rest stop and driving up to Eagle, Alaska which is also on te Yukon River. Harley read about Eagle in one of the books Linda gave him for his birthday and is fascinated to see the last stop before the bush.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
July 30, Juneau, Alaska
What a phenomenal trip we've had since our last post: Muncho Lake to Whitehorse to Skagway to Juneau, part on the Alaskan Highway (which is still a great highway), part by the White Pass Yukon Route (WPYR) narrow guage train and part on the Alaska Marine Ferry.
About 100 miles from Muncho Lake, British Columbia (BC), we entered the Yukon Territory (YK). I'm not sure what I was expecting but the Yukon is wonderful...high mountains, huge rivers, great campgrounds (large beautiful sites, $12 fees, free fire wood) and great people. We're currently at the Wolf Creek Campground just east of Whitehorse, YK; we arrived Saturday afternoon when most sites were occupied but found this great pull through site right on the Creek and across from the trail to the Yukon River (which we'll hike when we get back). The family in the neighboring site are long time Whitehorse residents who are avid campers...complete with a huge tarp that creates an outdoor living room with a homemade wood stove at the outboard end. Very nice people and he's agreed to watch over YOW while we take our side excursion to Juneau...as a "thank you", we gave him one of our Alaskan salmon steaks that we buy in Juneau and have shipped home.
Sunday morning we said good-by to YOW and drove south to Carcross (short for caribou crossing)and the WPYR train station. Carcross is a tiny town at the north end of Lake Bennett, a 30 +/- mile long lake whose shoreline the tracks follow until the midway point, the ghost town of Bennett. Views were spectacular and we spent most of the time on the rear platform. Inside, our guide, Ken, rivaled the scenery as he's a native of Carcross and his father, grandfather and great grandfather were the station masters; Ken's stories, as you can imagine, were fascinating and gave a real feeling of the gold rush history of the WPYR which was built to carry Klondike gold miners from Skagway to Whitehorse. At the Bennett station we were served a "miner's stew" and given another 90 minutes to explore the beautiful area which included the only other standing building, a wooden church that also served as the community center, and a portion of the Chilkoot Trail which we'd someday love to hike. From Bennett on, the tracks led above timberline, crossed high trestles then down through the rain forest to the coast and Skagway.
We spent the night in Skagway at St.Preston's Lodge before boarding the 7:00 AM Monday ferry for Juneau. After 6.5 hours of cruising through snow capped mountains and distant humpbacks, we arrived and were met by PeggyAnn (PA) McConnochie, a good friend I've gotten to know through my NAR activities. She took us on a great tour of Juneau, the capitol of Alaska that can only be reached by ferry or airplane. It's an old gold mining town that now has an economy based on government, salmon and cruise ships. After the tour, we went to their fabulous home which overlooks the city and its port...when John (who owns CycleAlaska, a bicycle tour business that caters to the cruise industry) arrived home, we had a truly gourmet dinner of halibut stuffed with crab, shrimp and brie.
Tuesday, after a great breakfast of individual omelettes, double smoked thick sliced bacon and juicy melon, we hiked a trail across from their home that leads about 2 miles through the rain forest. In the afternoon, we drove to the Mendenhall Glacier, just a few minutes from Juneau, and hiked the 3.5 mile East Glacier Loop. I have no idea how much elevation gain there was but it was a lot and all though the green, green, green rain forest of tall trees hung with ornaments of pale green moss and an understory of skunk cabbage and Devil's claw.
After our hike, we met PA and visited the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery, a non-profit company that produces enough salmon fry to stock Alaska's streams in an amount sufficient to allow Alaska to legislatively outlaw farmed fish...every salmon from Alaska is wild! It was really incredible to watch the large sockeye salmon struggle up the fish ladder crowding in to chutes where the eggs and sperm are harvested. The eggs are fertilized, incubated until the tiny fry can be nurtured to a size large enough to stock many of Alaska's streams. Coincidentally we had succulent barbecued sockeye salmon for dinner.
This morning, Wednesday, John took us down to the Norwegian Sun to meet two of his guides and a passenger from the ship. After driving up the to Juneau ski area, we boarded cycles for the 9-mile Ski to Sea tour. Somehow I thought this would be easy but it's been a very long time since I rode my 3-speed bicycle and this was a 27-speed cycle! With a very wobbly start, I finally got control and we were off for a good ride and lots of exercise. PA met us back at the Sun and we were off to visit the Glacier Gardens, a fabulous botanic garden that incorporates both the rain forest and a greenhouse filled with baskets of petunias, fucias and begonias. For dinner tonight, it was the Island Pub...great!
Tonight, actually tomorrow, we leave on the 1:15 ferry (yes we have a cabin) for Skagway arriving at 8:15 AM, then the bus (departing at 8:45 AM) to Carcross then home to YOW. We'll probably stay Thursday and Friday nights at Wolf Creek then we're off to Dawson Creek, Eagle, across the Top of the World, into Chicken, Tok ad then Fairbanks. We've come about 3,000 miles in 16 days and have about 3,500 miles to go to Seattle and 66 days to do it in...that means lots of adventure and side trips...stay tuned!
About 100 miles from Muncho Lake, British Columbia (BC), we entered the Yukon Territory (YK). I'm not sure what I was expecting but the Yukon is wonderful...high mountains, huge rivers, great campgrounds (large beautiful sites, $12 fees, free fire wood) and great people. We're currently at the Wolf Creek Campground just east of Whitehorse, YK; we arrived Saturday afternoon when most sites were occupied but found this great pull through site right on the Creek and across from the trail to the Yukon River (which we'll hike when we get back). The family in the neighboring site are long time Whitehorse residents who are avid campers...complete with a huge tarp that creates an outdoor living room with a homemade wood stove at the outboard end. Very nice people and he's agreed to watch over YOW while we take our side excursion to Juneau...as a "thank you", we gave him one of our Alaskan salmon steaks that we buy in Juneau and have shipped home.
Sunday morning we said good-by to YOW and drove south to Carcross (short for caribou crossing)and the WPYR train station. Carcross is a tiny town at the north end of Lake Bennett, a 30 +/- mile long lake whose shoreline the tracks follow until the midway point, the ghost town of Bennett. Views were spectacular and we spent most of the time on the rear platform. Inside, our guide, Ken, rivaled the scenery as he's a native of Carcross and his father, grandfather and great grandfather were the station masters; Ken's stories, as you can imagine, were fascinating and gave a real feeling of the gold rush history of the WPYR which was built to carry Klondike gold miners from Skagway to Whitehorse. At the Bennett station we were served a "miner's stew" and given another 90 minutes to explore the beautiful area which included the only other standing building, a wooden church that also served as the community center, and a portion of the Chilkoot Trail which we'd someday love to hike. From Bennett on, the tracks led above timberline, crossed high trestles then down through the rain forest to the coast and Skagway.
We spent the night in Skagway at St.Preston's Lodge before boarding the 7:00 AM Monday ferry for Juneau. After 6.5 hours of cruising through snow capped mountains and distant humpbacks, we arrived and were met by PeggyAnn (PA) McConnochie, a good friend I've gotten to know through my NAR activities. She took us on a great tour of Juneau, the capitol of Alaska that can only be reached by ferry or airplane. It's an old gold mining town that now has an economy based on government, salmon and cruise ships. After the tour, we went to their fabulous home which overlooks the city and its port...when John (who owns CycleAlaska, a bicycle tour business that caters to the cruise industry) arrived home, we had a truly gourmet dinner of halibut stuffed with crab, shrimp and brie.
Tuesday, after a great breakfast of individual omelettes, double smoked thick sliced bacon and juicy melon, we hiked a trail across from their home that leads about 2 miles through the rain forest. In the afternoon, we drove to the Mendenhall Glacier, just a few minutes from Juneau, and hiked the 3.5 mile East Glacier Loop. I have no idea how much elevation gain there was but it was a lot and all though the green, green, green rain forest of tall trees hung with ornaments of pale green moss and an understory of skunk cabbage and Devil's claw.
After our hike, we met PA and visited the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery, a non-profit company that produces enough salmon fry to stock Alaska's streams in an amount sufficient to allow Alaska to legislatively outlaw farmed fish...every salmon from Alaska is wild! It was really incredible to watch the large sockeye salmon struggle up the fish ladder crowding in to chutes where the eggs and sperm are harvested. The eggs are fertilized, incubated until the tiny fry can be nurtured to a size large enough to stock many of Alaska's streams. Coincidentally we had succulent barbecued sockeye salmon for dinner.
This morning, Wednesday, John took us down to the Norwegian Sun to meet two of his guides and a passenger from the ship. After driving up the to Juneau ski area, we boarded cycles for the 9-mile Ski to Sea tour. Somehow I thought this would be easy but it's been a very long time since I rode my 3-speed bicycle and this was a 27-speed cycle! With a very wobbly start, I finally got control and we were off for a good ride and lots of exercise. PA met us back at the Sun and we were off to visit the Glacier Gardens, a fabulous botanic garden that incorporates both the rain forest and a greenhouse filled with baskets of petunias, fucias and begonias. For dinner tonight, it was the Island Pub...great!
Tonight, actually tomorrow, we leave on the 1:15 ferry (yes we have a cabin) for Skagway arriving at 8:15 AM, then the bus (departing at 8:45 AM) to Carcross then home to YOW. We'll probably stay Thursday and Friday nights at Wolf Creek then we're off to Dawson Creek, Eagle, across the Top of the World, into Chicken, Tok ad then Fairbanks. We've come about 3,000 miles in 16 days and have about 3,500 miles to go to Seattle and 66 days to do it in...that means lots of adventure and side trips...stay tuned!
July 30, Juneau, Alaska
The trip gets better and better (except, of course, for the incredibly limited access
Map from Edmonton to Juneau and then to Dawson City, Yukon
View Larger Map
Above is an approximate map of our travels from Edmonton to Juneau...the only portion that's "off" is that we went north from Edmonton to Lesser Slave Lake (large body of water north of Edmonton) and then west to the British Columbia border which is Dawson Creek. From there the map is essentially correct.
View Larger Map
This second map is from Skagway which we reached from Juneau by taking the ferry and then on to Dawson City, Yukon Territory.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Friday, July 25...Watson Lake, Yukon Territory
Amazing...we're now in the Yukon Territory...absolutely beautiful, huge rivers, forested (spruce and aspen) mountains but to get the Internet we need to stay in a not so beautiful RV park. Oh, well.
But since Dawson Creek, we've stayed in three perfect Provincial Parks...Buckinghorse River, Stone Mountain and Muncho Lake. Every single site was right on the water with gorgeous views everywhere. While at Stone Mountain we took our first "real" hike...about 7+ miles up to Flower Springs Lake above treeline, nestled at the bottom of three large mountains. The most incredible part is that we saw no one else!
The roads have really been good and the traffic almost nil...not at all what we expected. We make pretty good time, about 250 miles/day. We've seen a couple of grizzly cubs, a black bear, several moose, lots of stone sheep and several caribou. Pretty easy to spot along the road because they trim back the forest for several hundred feet on each side.
But since Dawson Creek, we've stayed in three perfect Provincial Parks...Buckinghorse River, Stone Mountain and Muncho Lake. Every single site was right on the water with gorgeous views everywhere. While at Stone Mountain we took our first "real" hike...about 7+ miles up to Flower Springs Lake above treeline, nestled at the bottom of three large mountains. The most incredible part is that we saw no one else!
The roads have really been good and the traffic almost nil...not at all what we expected. We make pretty good time, about 250 miles/day. We've seen a couple of grizzly cubs, a black bear, several moose, lots of stone sheep and several caribou. Pretty easy to spot along the road because they trim back the forest for several hundred feet on each side.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Monday, July 21, Dawson Creek, British Columbbia
We've made it to Mile 0 on the Alaskan Highway! and will be off in a few minutes.
But the trip getting here has been wonderful. After leaving Drumheller, we made a long drive up to the northwoods of Lesser Slave Lake and camped for two nights in one of Alberta's great provincial parks set in the boreal forest on the shore of an absolutely huge lake...about 74 miles long. Mostly families and fishermen in the other sites but lots of space in betwee. For the first time we really felt like we were on vacation complete with campfires morning and night. Of course, night doesn't really start until about 10 PM!
We've found Canadians to be very generous and so pleasant...two stories: 1) yesterday we were looking for diesel, one station was closed due to a power shortage so we drove into UFA which turns out to be commercial and members only! Two guys were there to fill up, noticed that we looked a bit "lost" and offered to put our gas on their card. It came to 63 liters at $1.15/liter (a deep discount for commercial members) so they said "make ist 50 l and we'll call it even!" 2) last night I was doing laundry at the Mile 0 RV park, talked with a woman who'd noticed our "Just Married" sign and as I was walking back to YOW, she stopped me to give me a bottle of wine for celebration!
Well, time to run down to the grocery store to load up on fresh veggies and hopefully some dry ice to keep our store of fish and meat frozen. We've discovered that dry ice is a very uncommon commodity!
But the trip getting here has been wonderful. After leaving Drumheller, we made a long drive up to the northwoods of Lesser Slave Lake and camped for two nights in one of Alberta's great provincial parks set in the boreal forest on the shore of an absolutely huge lake...about 74 miles long. Mostly families and fishermen in the other sites but lots of space in betwee. For the first time we really felt like we were on vacation complete with campfires morning and night. Of course, night doesn't really start until about 10 PM!
We've found Canadians to be very generous and so pleasant...two stories: 1) yesterday we were looking for diesel, one station was closed due to a power shortage so we drove into UFA which turns out to be commercial and members only! Two guys were there to fill up, noticed that we looked a bit "lost" and offered to put our gas on their card. It came to 63 liters at $1.15/liter (a deep discount for commercial members) so they said "make ist 50 l and we'll call it even!" 2) last night I was doing laundry at the Mile 0 RV park, talked with a woman who'd noticed our "Just Married" sign and as I was walking back to YOW, she stopped me to give me a bottle of wine for celebration!
Well, time to run down to the grocery store to load up on fresh veggies and hopefully some dry ice to keep our store of fish and meat frozen. We've discovered that dry ice is a very uncommon commodity!
Friday, July 18, 2008
July 18, 2008, 7:15 AM...Drumheller, Alberta (NE of Calgary)
We're 1,332.9 miles north and slightly west of Yatahai in the little town of Drumheller, known for its incredible dinosaurs...models of dinosaurs are everywhere including one that's 80'+ standing astride the Chamber of Commerce building. But we didn't come here for the dinosaurs, we came for the well-treed RV park built along the Red Deer river that has Internet access. We've discovered that Internet access is challenging, sporadic at best and therefore frustrating! That's a long way of saying our blogs will also be sporadic!!
Our second camp was along Canyon Ferry Lake, a huge (30+/- miles long) reservoir created by daming the Missouri River just east and a bit south of Helena, Montana. With our own private beach, a stack of driftwood and a roaring fire, it was perfect...exept for the voracious mosquitoes! Listerine was a wimp and only Cutters and our mosquito head nets would do...so I gave you bad advice last time.
Wednesday we made it across the Canadian border (1,015 miles from home) without incident, stopped at the Milk River (a town) visitor center and discovered there was a Provincial Park just a half hour east. Luckily, we got one of the last sites in Writing-On-Stone PP, really private, nestled on the banks of the Milk Rive and complete with a young buck. Writing-On-Stone has been a very spiritual place for the First Nations (most recently Blackfoot) for thousands of years. The stones are mainly soft sandstone that has been eroded over time into fanciful "hoodoos". Because the stone is soft, it was also used to create pictografs and petroglyphs...the largest collection in all of the northern plains.
Thursday our "route" (quotation marks because we definitely don't have a pre-planned route!) took us though southern Alberta. Incredible dryland farms of alternating fields of wheat (now a soft green) and yellow sweet clover spread to the horizon, occasionally dotted with farm houses and buildings surrounded by private forests of pines...almost no fences and definitely no trash along the roadside. Our guess is that being a legume, the clover fixes nitrogen into the soil making crop rotation very beneficial.
Today, we'll probably get west of Edmonton on our way to Dawson Creek, a town just across the border into British Columbia and mile 0 of the Al-Can Highway!
Our second camp was along Canyon Ferry Lake, a huge (30+/- miles long) reservoir created by daming the Missouri River just east and a bit south of Helena, Montana. With our own private beach, a stack of driftwood and a roaring fire, it was perfect...exept for the voracious mosquitoes! Listerine was a wimp and only Cutters and our mosquito head nets would do...so I gave you bad advice last time.
Wednesday we made it across the Canadian border (1,015 miles from home) without incident, stopped at the Milk River (a town) visitor center and discovered there was a Provincial Park just a half hour east. Luckily, we got one of the last sites in Writing-On-Stone PP, really private, nestled on the banks of the Milk Rive and complete with a young buck. Writing-On-Stone has been a very spiritual place for the First Nations (most recently Blackfoot) for thousands of years. The stones are mainly soft sandstone that has been eroded over time into fanciful "hoodoos". Because the stone is soft, it was also used to create pictografs and petroglyphs...the largest collection in all of the northern plains.
Thursday our "route" (quotation marks because we definitely don't have a pre-planned route!) took us though southern Alberta. Incredible dryland farms of alternating fields of wheat (now a soft green) and yellow sweet clover spread to the horizon, occasionally dotted with farm houses and buildings surrounded by private forests of pines...almost no fences and definitely no trash along the roadside. Our guess is that being a legume, the clover fixes nitrogen into the soil making crop rotation very beneficial.
Today, we'll probably get west of Edmonton on our way to Dawson Creek, a town just across the border into British Columbia and mile 0 of the Al-Can Highway!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
July 15....west of Billings, Montana
I've just learned that trying to find a hot spot can be frustrating, i.e. these blogs may be few and far between. Right now we're in a Wal-Mart parking lot and Harley's off to find a tuna Subway.
When I was climbing into YOW at 7:53 AM on the 14th, I was greeted with a large sign Harley had taped to the back: "Just Married...July 1973...headed for Alaska!" We've had lots of honks and waves along the way...great fun!
Yesterday was a beautiful drive through northern Colorado and on up to Buffalo, Wyoming just south of the Montana border. We camped (yes, even with a 31' fifth wheel) at the Bud Love Wildlife Habitat Management Area...7,800 acres tucked in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains. The setting was gently rolling hills coverred with grass upto my knees and dotted with white mariposa lilies, yellow sweet clover and occasional blue hare bells. It really looked like the Microsoft screen saver.
After a short hike into Bud Love, we set up YOW, rolled out the woven mat and the awning and enjoyed a cold tonic, some walnuts and the beautiful peaceful view. Then after a nap, we popped the champagne, dined and then went back out to celebrate with a sparkler. BTW, there were a few mosquitoes so we tried out a perimeter spray of Listerine and it worked perfectly!
When I was climbing into YOW at 7:53 AM on the 14th, I was greeted with a large sign Harley had taped to the back: "Just Married...July 1973...headed for Alaska!" We've had lots of honks and waves along the way...great fun!
Yesterday was a beautiful drive through northern Colorado and on up to Buffalo, Wyoming just south of the Montana border. We camped (yes, even with a 31' fifth wheel) at the Bud Love Wildlife Habitat Management Area...7,800 acres tucked in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains. The setting was gently rolling hills coverred with grass upto my knees and dotted with white mariposa lilies, yellow sweet clover and occasional blue hare bells. It really looked like the Microsoft screen saver.
After a short hike into Bud Love, we set up YOW, rolled out the woven mat and the awning and enjoyed a cold tonic, some walnuts and the beautiful peaceful view. Then after a nap, we popped the champagne, dined and then went back out to celebrate with a sparkler. BTW, there were a few mosquitoes so we tried out a perimeter spray of Listerine and it worked perfectly!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Greetings, Friends & Family!
We'll be taking off in YOW (Yatahai On Wheels, our 31' fifth-wheel RV which is towed by our 2003 Dodge 3/4 ton truck) early (6 AMish) on July 14, 2008 (believe it or not, our 35th wedding anniversary!). More or less daily, we'll be adding posts to let you know where we are, what we're seeing and what we're doing (well, at least most of what we're doing!). This will be a 10,000 +/- mile trip with no agenda other than to wander through Alberta, British Columbia (norther parts), the Yukon Territory and Alaska, plus some northern states necessary to get there and back.
With any luck/persistence, I'll even figure out how to transfer digital photos from my camera to this blog!
We do look forward to sharing our adventure with you.
P.S. Should you want to communicate directly, we'll have our cell phones (303-619-1455 Gail, 303-877-2786 Harley) and my laptop (Gail@Boulder-RealEstate.com) with us. However, I suspect that there will be may areas where we won't have reception.
With any luck/persistence, I'll even figure out how to transfer digital photos from my camera to this blog!
We do look forward to sharing our adventure with you.
P.S. Should you want to communicate directly, we'll have our cell phones (303-619-1455 Gail, 303-877-2786 Harley) and my laptop (Gail@Boulder-RealEstate.com) with us. However, I suspect that there will be may areas where we won't have reception.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Tucson
After almost a year, we've completed a total remodel of our winter home here in Tucson. And total means total....knocking down and rebuilding walls, taking down the popcorn ceiling building an Arizona room, tiling all the floors except the bedrooms and installation of lots of very colorful Mexican tile, especially in the kitchen and baths. Whenever I figure out how to add photos in a slide show, I'll do it but don't count on that anytime soon as we're off camping in the Chirachaua Mountains on Sunday.
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