Recorded August 1st, 2009
On Saturday the 25th I realized we probably had not thought through our planning for RV space. It is a weekend and we are coming upon the Columbia Gorge area, like Penticton, it’s a big vacation spot. I had better get it through my head that I am not in Alaska anymore!!! So as we are traveling with TomTom leading us by the nose, I am trying to get a reservation to no avail. I do make a reservation for 2 nights in Portland. Here we are after 3pm and zip. The problem is that along the Columbia Gorge you can’t just pull into a rest area as there are none. There are only public & state campgrounds and their reservation system is only open M-F. Real helpful for folks like us. You have to go to each park to see if space has become available as they do not even answer the phone. I am definitely out of the local loupe up here. We finally found a spot out in the hills at a Tucker County Park near the wonderful lavender fields that Linda had told us about. We dry camped. We had trouble getting into the park and it was hot but it all came out fine! It was not meant for rigs our size but there was one perfect shady spot for us. There was no camp host. You just put your $19 bucks in the box. We ended up with a wonderful evening, after it cooled down, right on a moving river that sung to us all night long. This rural camp ground was totally unlike what we are used to in this monster machine. It was full of families with little bitty kids. We had great fun watching the drama as they prepared to leave on Sunday morning.
We have never spent any time in the Columbia Gorge or Portland area but the approximate 3 days we spent there were pretty much a waste. It was so unbearably hot that we were out of the mood to do anything. Our drive from Hood River to Portland though only 60 miles, was hot and uncomfortable because of a problem with the dash air conditioner/heater. We only half way repaired it with a toggle switch that is now leaking so we can not use the AC at all. We would have made some stops along the way but we were anxious to get out of the heat. By noon it was 90 degrees & climbing. It was Sunday and the forecast was for a week long record heat wave.
On Sunday July 26th we pulled into a beautiful park a suburb of Portland near Jansen Beach & the Portland Yacht Club. I will always remember this location because you had to go through the most peculiar double cloverleaf off Interstate 5. When we arrived we melted in the 100 plus weather as the coach was unbearable inside. We survived it all and spent a couple of nights in Portland.
On Tuesday morning we began our maintenance by making our appointment at Peterbuilt-GMC to have our transmission serviced. By 1pm we were again anxious to get out of the heat for a while so we headed for Tillamook 80 miles west out at the coast. It was a record hot of 107 as we drove in our coach it was 100 degrees and we could not use the AC as the leaky valve has yet to be repaired. I worked at keeping Lindsey cool by taking soda cans out of the frig & putting them under her tummy.
By Wednesday the 29th we were cooling off and again feeling like we are on vacation. We took a delightful drive out to Oceanside for lunch at Rosanna’s Inn. It was great at about 60 degrees. We loved it! The weather was all overcast. So we could not see the wonderful rock formations out in the water, heck we couldn’t even see the water but our afternoon was perfect.
We spent one more day in Tillamook exploring and on Friday we headed about 60 miles north to Seaside & the Circle Creek RV Park for a few more days. This time at the beach was a great change of pace and scenery from the last few weeks. HAPPY DAYS!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Back to the lower 48
Recorded July 25, 2009
Upon leaving Twin Lakes on Friday July 24th Lindsey & I saw a good omen. We were taking our morning walk when we saw a deer, breakfasting on the hillside about 30’ away. She did not seem at all concerned that both of us were watching her. We stood for several minutes until she began to slowly work her way back into the bushes. I new it would be a very good day.
We were fueled & out by 10:30 and were at the boarder on Hwy 97 within about 30 minutes. I was told which fruit & vegetables the customs agents would look for so I put them in my computer bag. Call me a bad girl for 3 tomatoes & a handful of cherries; I left them some nasty lettuce & carrots. Three agents boarded our coach after asking us to step outside. In the 8 boarder crossings that we made on this adventure, this was the first time we got any attention at all. They soon left without my tomatoes and we were on our way.
An again very pretty but uneventful 6 or so hours later we were in Ellensburg, Washington. We rolled first through grape vineyards then lots of beautiful rolling hills of mostly agriculture. The landscape had definitely changed. It was much more arid, brown and dare I say familiar. There were lots of places to stop but my Billy would have no part of that. As we came closer yet to Ellensburg we passed through another forest. Ellensburg was just a one nighter. The weather remained hot (mid 90’s) so we were happy to have 50amp electric service to cool the coach down fast!
I went to bed that night absolutely sure that Bill would have the best nights sleep he had had in a very long time.
Upon leaving Twin Lakes on Friday July 24th Lindsey & I saw a good omen. We were taking our morning walk when we saw a deer, breakfasting on the hillside about 30’ away. She did not seem at all concerned that both of us were watching her. We stood for several minutes until she began to slowly work her way back into the bushes. I new it would be a very good day.
We were fueled & out by 10:30 and were at the boarder on Hwy 97 within about 30 minutes. I was told which fruit & vegetables the customs agents would look for so I put them in my computer bag. Call me a bad girl for 3 tomatoes & a handful of cherries; I left them some nasty lettuce & carrots. Three agents boarded our coach after asking us to step outside. In the 8 boarder crossings that we made on this adventure, this was the first time we got any attention at all. They soon left without my tomatoes and we were on our way.
An again very pretty but uneventful 6 or so hours later we were in Ellensburg, Washington. We rolled first through grape vineyards then lots of beautiful rolling hills of mostly agriculture. The landscape had definitely changed. It was much more arid, brown and dare I say familiar. There were lots of places to stop but my Billy would have no part of that. As we came closer yet to Ellensburg we passed through another forest. Ellensburg was just a one nighter. The weather remained hot (mid 90’s) so we were happy to have 50amp electric service to cool the coach down fast!
I went to bed that night absolutely sure that Bill would have the best nights sleep he had had in a very long time.
Beginning our long road home
Recorded July 21rd 2009
Our next tentative destination is Penticton, British Columbia (250 miles east of Vancouver); it is more then 1,000 miles away. We continue on east through BC on Wednesday the 15th from Hyder, Alaska. It was a full day of driving but the roads were good so all was well. Ever since Bill & Linda cracked their windshield, I had been marveling at the fact that we have, thus far, avoided any mechanical problems. This was to change. The Moorhead’s were, for the past few days, having problems with their engine overheating. In Hyder they added coolant and cleaned the radiator. But this was not helping. Each uphill grade was causing the thermostat needle to rise.
We took it nice and easy and stopped for the night in Burns Lake. It was lucky that we stopped when we did because when we had a look at our pick up that we were towing, we found the tread was completely gone from the right front tire. Being undetected as we traveled, the thrashing hunk of tread damaged the fender & side of the car. Before the end of that day we had a new pair of tires and were ready to go in the morning.
On Thursday the 16th we drove to Prince George. I was thrilled. This was the biggest city we had been to since Anchorage. I was also happy because being back in Canada meant I did not have to depend on Wi-Fi, I could again use my data card for internet & my cell phone for email. This was to be short lived.
Again the Moorhead’s were running hot so they made a decision to stay in Prince George to have their rig serviced. This meant waiting until Monday for an appointment. Bill & I stayed 3 nights in Prince George, as we had picked a very nice park after cruising through a sad looking park a mile or 2 away. Linda & I were commenting on how both parks looked about the same in the listing. We caught up on some chores & lived with a daily spill of rain. The dog got a terrible hair cut & I got my nails done. Plus we got some down time watching movies and playing games with Linda & Bill. Linda regularly beat us at most games but we seemed to have the most fun playing Mexican Train & Uno.
On Sunday the 19th we made our farewells and headed south on Hwy 97. We were very sorry to split up with Bill & Linda our buddies of nearly 2 months but we both new it would occur in a few days anyway as they were quickening their pace to return home to tend to their sick dog. Poor Lady, whom they left at home with their daughter, they just found out, has kidney disease. We had our tentative plans in Penticton with Len Avarbuch Bill’s longtime friend. We are trying to keep in touch to see how Bill & Linda’s mechanical issues work themselves out. We did learn that the service done in Prince George did not solve the problem but a day or so later they were able to get a proper diagnosis of a faulty fan. The shop rewired it as a temporary fix to get them on their way.
We got a late start on the 19th leaving at nearly noon. We stopped Cache Creek at a little off the grid campground that was very nice & friendly though the owner did not like the fact that Good Sam charges over $1,000 per year to post in their directory. His campground was packed & did not need good Sam!
Out the next morning Monday the 20th after talking to Len about the 3 fires in the area of Kawlona that had started on Saturday. All are arson & are causing road closures. Len sent us down the Trans-Canada Hwy #1 as the more desirable routes I5 to 97c either were closed or were in danger of closing. To Bill’s dismay this was a highway …yes but a m-o-u-n-t-a-i-n highway. This was a rough day of driving, lots of curves with up & down grades plus at least a half dozen tunnels. It was however really beautiful tracing the Frasier River nearly the entire way. There were interesting stopping points along the way like Hells Gate Air Tram and White Water rafting but in true Billy form we passed them by and went straight for our next stop. We stopped after about 180 miles in the town of Hope at yet another beautiful campground. Billy was beat and it was hot. The weather had changed in the 400 miles south & 2 days. It is now in the 90 degree range. Prince George & Hyder were in the 70’s. The locals, the vacationers from Vancouver & eastern Canada are sweltering. It is supposed to be 100 degrees! As well as the weather being annoying I was ticked at my computer. Instead of better internet service I found myself with no internet service. I am down to only my cell phone & email from my cell phone at this point. Don’t know when my next post will be!
Our next tentative destination is Penticton, British Columbia (250 miles east of Vancouver); it is more then 1,000 miles away. We continue on east through BC on Wednesday the 15th from Hyder, Alaska. It was a full day of driving but the roads were good so all was well. Ever since Bill & Linda cracked their windshield, I had been marveling at the fact that we have, thus far, avoided any mechanical problems. This was to change. The Moorhead’s were, for the past few days, having problems with their engine overheating. In Hyder they added coolant and cleaned the radiator. But this was not helping. Each uphill grade was causing the thermostat needle to rise.
We took it nice and easy and stopped for the night in Burns Lake. It was lucky that we stopped when we did because when we had a look at our pick up that we were towing, we found the tread was completely gone from the right front tire. Being undetected as we traveled, the thrashing hunk of tread damaged the fender & side of the car. Before the end of that day we had a new pair of tires and were ready to go in the morning.
On Thursday the 16th we drove to Prince George. I was thrilled. This was the biggest city we had been to since Anchorage. I was also happy because being back in Canada meant I did not have to depend on Wi-Fi, I could again use my data card for internet & my cell phone for email. This was to be short lived.
Again the Moorhead’s were running hot so they made a decision to stay in Prince George to have their rig serviced. This meant waiting until Monday for an appointment. Bill & I stayed 3 nights in Prince George, as we had picked a very nice park after cruising through a sad looking park a mile or 2 away. Linda & I were commenting on how both parks looked about the same in the listing. We caught up on some chores & lived with a daily spill of rain. The dog got a terrible hair cut & I got my nails done. Plus we got some down time watching movies and playing games with Linda & Bill. Linda regularly beat us at most games but we seemed to have the most fun playing Mexican Train & Uno.
On Sunday the 19th we made our farewells and headed south on Hwy 97. We were very sorry to split up with Bill & Linda our buddies of nearly 2 months but we both new it would occur in a few days anyway as they were quickening their pace to return home to tend to their sick dog. Poor Lady, whom they left at home with their daughter, they just found out, has kidney disease. We had our tentative plans in Penticton with Len Avarbuch Bill’s longtime friend. We are trying to keep in touch to see how Bill & Linda’s mechanical issues work themselves out. We did learn that the service done in Prince George did not solve the problem but a day or so later they were able to get a proper diagnosis of a faulty fan. The shop rewired it as a temporary fix to get them on their way.
We got a late start on the 19th leaving at nearly noon. We stopped Cache Creek at a little off the grid campground that was very nice & friendly though the owner did not like the fact that Good Sam charges over $1,000 per year to post in their directory. His campground was packed & did not need good Sam!
Out the next morning Monday the 20th after talking to Len about the 3 fires in the area of Kawlona that had started on Saturday. All are arson & are causing road closures. Len sent us down the Trans-Canada Hwy #1 as the more desirable routes I5 to 97c either were closed or were in danger of closing. To Bill’s dismay this was a highway …yes but a m-o-u-n-t-a-i-n highway. This was a rough day of driving, lots of curves with up & down grades plus at least a half dozen tunnels. It was however really beautiful tracing the Frasier River nearly the entire way. There were interesting stopping points along the way like Hells Gate Air Tram and White Water rafting but in true Billy form we passed them by and went straight for our next stop. We stopped after about 180 miles in the town of Hope at yet another beautiful campground. Billy was beat and it was hot. The weather had changed in the 400 miles south & 2 days. It is now in the 90 degree range. Prince George & Hyder were in the 70’s. The locals, the vacationers from Vancouver & eastern Canada are sweltering. It is supposed to be 100 degrees! As well as the weather being annoying I was ticked at my computer. Instead of better internet service I found myself with no internet service. I am down to only my cell phone & email from my cell phone at this point. Don’t know when my next post will be!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
This & That Along The Way
Here is a bit of Trivia
Alaska is the state that is the farthest north, farthest west and farthest east of the
International dateline of any state in the USA
Become an Alaskan fulltime and…
If you are willing to move to Alaska fulltime you will reap huge rewards. You will pay no state sales tax. You will pay no state income tax. In fact the state of Alaska paid its fulltime residents $3,200 in 2008 from its excess oil revenue. That is up from $1,200 the prior year. It will cost you $50 to register your car your property tax will be maybe 10% of your California property tax. Any Alaskan can become a subsistence fisherman and net fish up to 500 salmon per year for your own use. There are real benefits! I can not understand why Californians, especially, aren’t flocking to Alaska to live. Oh yes…”Fulltime” they really want you here 12 months a year at last the first year & they have very strict rules after that.
Flowers Everywhere
No matter where we have gone on this adventure in Canada & in Alaska, there have been flowers. Northerners love flowers! Baskets, they love hanging baskets and planter boxes or unconventional containers like tires, boots, car parts, hats or better yet mining equipment parts and old furniture. They do not do pots of flowers with saucers, oh no. Locally available materials are used. It does not matter if we are in a resort or driving down Main Street in Haines or even in a fish camp on the Kenai Peninsula, we would find an absolutely terrible looking abandon building in any town would have well maintained fresh summer flowers planted out front. It is quite beautiful with the long days it takes very little time to have overflowing bouquets of color all over the place.
Getting along with little Lindsey
From the very beginning of this trip our traveling companion Bill Moorhead has been trying to make friends with our dog Lindsey. It is the funniest thing to watch. If he would not try so darn hard it probably would not be a big deal but as everyone in our family knows Lindsey is a snob, a real princess. It took her 2 years to warm up to Billy and why do the kid’s call her “Princess Q-Tip” anyway? Well it has not worked for Bill M. It is driving him nuts because as he keeps saying “All animals love me!” Keep trying Bill. It is so fun to watch you grovel!
2009 is a VERRY GOOD YEAR for Alaskan Weather
As we traveled from the far north in Fairbanks to the city of Anchorage and down south in Haines, all comments agreed. This year, 2009 was the best summer in 3 or 4 years to come north. The weather for several summers has been cold, gloomy & rainy a shopkeeper in Anchorage told us that she saw only 4 days of sunshine last year.
One night from hell
We have had on going problems with mosquitoes during the trip. I mean it is summer and there is water everywhere so of course there are mosquitoes but this one night in Teslin was the night from hell. We could not figure out where they were coming from. We were up until 1am killing them with a dust buster & a fly swatter. We slept until 4am with the sheet over our heads we were awakened by that familiar buzzing in our ears. So we were up and at it again. We must have waked at least a couple hundred. Several of the morning fellows left bloody splats behind as we continued our effort that morning. Even Lindsey had a couple of bites on her tummy! They don’t bother me as much as Billy, but I ended up with just on my face, he gets big welts, poor guy. We think they may be getting in somehow through our bedroom slide, so we plan on sleeping with that slide in to test the difference. YUK!!!
Oil Tankers – Interesting facts we gleaned.
We learned a lot about oil and oil tankers while we were in Valdez. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was about 10 years ago and I was getting real tired of hearing about it until we visited the Alaskan Sealife Center in Seward. The Sealife Center is an aquarium that was built partly with the 900 million dollars paid by Exxon to preserve & rehabilitate wildlife in the area. The oil rescue & cleanup effort was centered out of Seward. What we learned was that, of the dozen or 2 species that were severely impacted by the oil spill, several have not returned to their pre-spill numbers and some are facing extinction.
The changes in tankers since Exxon Valdez has been dramatic. Today all tankers have escorts into Prince William Sound to Valdez. There is a new class of tanker called the Alaska class that holds only 1,000,000 gallons of crude unlike today’s mega tankers that are ¼ mile long that routinely carry several million gallons, and are not allowed into most ports. Today’s new tankers large & small have more safeguards. As of this year all tankers have to be double hulled to prevent spills. The old single hulls will soon be a thing of the past. There are strict restrictions on ballast water. Who new that they filled the tankers with sea water to keep them from being so buoyant as to tip over? They used to just fill the empty oil bay with sea water. No way! Not any more. The new tankers must maintain separate tanks for oil and for Ballast water. We humans are becoming so responsible. It’s about time! All that oily water must just have been dumped back in the ocean. It had to be several hundred maybe thousands of gallons of oil escaping every time they emptied a ¼ mile long tanker.
Alaskan locals work 24/7 in summer
Repeated mantras as locals are talking among themselves all over the state is that they work 24/7 in the summer tourist season and that there is not a lot to do in the winter unless you work running a show plow or in one of the very few white collar jobs. Artists create in the winter & sell in the summer.
Tourism is off 25% and business is not great so say the vendors.
Business owners in several places along our trail alluded to the fact that tourism was off. A few times the number 25% was used. We tended to try to talk to the locals and find out about them and how the make a living. I spoke to the Vietnamese nail salon owner (a man) who was trying to make it in a shopping mall in Fairbanks where Godshouk’s had just closed. The fishing charter industry in Seward and also along the Kenai Peninsula down to Homer, we were told is off 25% from last year. Folks we met that were from the various cruise ships also told us that there were fewer cruises. As we traveled inland to the huge Wrangell – St. Elias National Park the same was true of tour operators & bus drivers in McCarthy were all crying the blues.
Alaska is the state that is the farthest north, farthest west and farthest east of the
International dateline of any state in the USA
Become an Alaskan fulltime and…
If you are willing to move to Alaska fulltime you will reap huge rewards. You will pay no state sales tax. You will pay no state income tax. In fact the state of Alaska paid its fulltime residents $3,200 in 2008 from its excess oil revenue. That is up from $1,200 the prior year. It will cost you $50 to register your car your property tax will be maybe 10% of your California property tax. Any Alaskan can become a subsistence fisherman and net fish up to 500 salmon per year for your own use. There are real benefits! I can not understand why Californians, especially, aren’t flocking to Alaska to live. Oh yes…”Fulltime” they really want you here 12 months a year at last the first year & they have very strict rules after that.
Flowers Everywhere
No matter where we have gone on this adventure in Canada & in Alaska, there have been flowers. Northerners love flowers! Baskets, they love hanging baskets and planter boxes or unconventional containers like tires, boots, car parts, hats or better yet mining equipment parts and old furniture. They do not do pots of flowers with saucers, oh no. Locally available materials are used. It does not matter if we are in a resort or driving down Main Street in Haines or even in a fish camp on the Kenai Peninsula, we would find an absolutely terrible looking abandon building in any town would have well maintained fresh summer flowers planted out front. It is quite beautiful with the long days it takes very little time to have overflowing bouquets of color all over the place.
Getting along with little Lindsey
From the very beginning of this trip our traveling companion Bill Moorhead has been trying to make friends with our dog Lindsey. It is the funniest thing to watch. If he would not try so darn hard it probably would not be a big deal but as everyone in our family knows Lindsey is a snob, a real princess. It took her 2 years to warm up to Billy and why do the kid’s call her “Princess Q-Tip” anyway? Well it has not worked for Bill M. It is driving him nuts because as he keeps saying “All animals love me!” Keep trying Bill. It is so fun to watch you grovel!
2009 is a VERRY GOOD YEAR for Alaskan Weather
As we traveled from the far north in Fairbanks to the city of Anchorage and down south in Haines, all comments agreed. This year, 2009 was the best summer in 3 or 4 years to come north. The weather for several summers has been cold, gloomy & rainy a shopkeeper in Anchorage told us that she saw only 4 days of sunshine last year.
One night from hell
We have had on going problems with mosquitoes during the trip. I mean it is summer and there is water everywhere so of course there are mosquitoes but this one night in Teslin was the night from hell. We could not figure out where they were coming from. We were up until 1am killing them with a dust buster & a fly swatter. We slept until 4am with the sheet over our heads we were awakened by that familiar buzzing in our ears. So we were up and at it again. We must have waked at least a couple hundred. Several of the morning fellows left bloody splats behind as we continued our effort that morning. Even Lindsey had a couple of bites on her tummy! They don’t bother me as much as Billy, but I ended up with just on my face, he gets big welts, poor guy. We think they may be getting in somehow through our bedroom slide, so we plan on sleeping with that slide in to test the difference. YUK!!!
Oil Tankers – Interesting facts we gleaned.
We learned a lot about oil and oil tankers while we were in Valdez. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was about 10 years ago and I was getting real tired of hearing about it until we visited the Alaskan Sealife Center in Seward. The Sealife Center is an aquarium that was built partly with the 900 million dollars paid by Exxon to preserve & rehabilitate wildlife in the area. The oil rescue & cleanup effort was centered out of Seward. What we learned was that, of the dozen or 2 species that were severely impacted by the oil spill, several have not returned to their pre-spill numbers and some are facing extinction.
The changes in tankers since Exxon Valdez has been dramatic. Today all tankers have escorts into Prince William Sound to Valdez. There is a new class of tanker called the Alaska class that holds only 1,000,000 gallons of crude unlike today’s mega tankers that are ¼ mile long that routinely carry several million gallons, and are not allowed into most ports. Today’s new tankers large & small have more safeguards. As of this year all tankers have to be double hulled to prevent spills. The old single hulls will soon be a thing of the past. There are strict restrictions on ballast water. Who new that they filled the tankers with sea water to keep them from being so buoyant as to tip over? They used to just fill the empty oil bay with sea water. No way! Not any more. The new tankers must maintain separate tanks for oil and for Ballast water. We humans are becoming so responsible. It’s about time! All that oily water must just have been dumped back in the ocean. It had to be several hundred maybe thousands of gallons of oil escaping every time they emptied a ¼ mile long tanker.
Alaskan locals work 24/7 in summer
Repeated mantras as locals are talking among themselves all over the state is that they work 24/7 in the summer tourist season and that there is not a lot to do in the winter unless you work running a show plow or in one of the very few white collar jobs. Artists create in the winter & sell in the summer.
Tourism is off 25% and business is not great so say the vendors.
Business owners in several places along our trail alluded to the fact that tourism was off. A few times the number 25% was used. We tended to try to talk to the locals and find out about them and how the make a living. I spoke to the Vietnamese nail salon owner (a man) who was trying to make it in a shopping mall in Fairbanks where Godshouk’s had just closed. The fishing charter industry in Seward and also along the Kenai Peninsula down to Homer, we were told is off 25% from last year. Folks we met that were from the various cruise ships also told us that there were fewer cruises. As we traveled inland to the huge Wrangell – St. Elias National Park the same was true of tour operators & bus drivers in McCarthy were all crying the blues.
Day Drive - The Casier Highway to Hyder
Recorded July 15, 2009
From Skagway, with our tummies full we actually drove 150 miles out to the Alaskan Hwy south and the small town of Teslin. This is the one starch of highway that we did drive coming the other way. We really are on our way back to the lower 48 but we keep hearing about the bears in Hyder. They are not supposed to arrive until mid July when the salmon run and until this past week the salmon had not made a showing. Now we keep getting info. That the salmon are arriving perhaps slowly but there are some. Thus our side trip to Hyder and by the way there are a couple more glaciers there as well.
Our one night in Teslin was awful. We did not sleep much due to the mosquitoes. On the 11th of July we were up & on the road by 8am. Another driving day with no side trips, this time to Dease Lake nearly half way down the 450 miles of the Casiar Highway. The Casiar has a horrible reputation but we figured it could not be any worse then the roads we have already managed. This proved to be true. The first 200 miles were not so hot with gravel breaks, dirt areas & pot holes. There were some frost heaves but nothing like the ones between Tok & the Canadian boarder on the Alaskan Hwy, they were the worst!
We made one stop to break the action at the little Jade seller where they demonstrate and explain the local jade mining operation at the Prince Jade Mine. It turns out that 90% of the worlds jade is produced right here in Casiar Mountain Range of British Columbia. Much of it is exported to China.
We continued on after our break and as we approach the split off to Hyder we are fairly sure we have made it through all the bad roads of our trip. We were pleasantly surprised, as not only did the roads improve but the 30 mile descent into the valley was really beautiful with Bear Glacier, unusual ice formations and many waterfalls with the landscape different from what we had seen prior.
To arrive in Hyder, Alaska USA population 100, you need to come though Stewart, British Columbia Canada population 600 and a boarder crossing. The 100 folk in Hyder choose to go by BC time (same as Ca. time) except the U.S. Federal Post Office which has to go by Alaska (1 hour earlier) time. Confused yet?
As we cruise through Stewart we think OK a little tiny bit of civic pride. Lots of flower baskets, a few brightly painted store fronts, very small and not much to it except for industry all around, like logging.
We continue the 2 or so miles across the boarder into Hyder. OH MY GOD! Well we read that Hyder prides itself in being “The Nations Only Living Ghost Town” and it became immediately apparent. Of the 30 or 40 buildings visible from the main dirt road, in town probably half of them were boarded up. All but about 5 or 10 look like they should be torn down, unworthy of even shack status. We continued on to our campground, the only one with electric hook-ups. It is named aptly Camp Run-A-Muck. Need I say more? As we pulled in a skinny elderly woman came running up to me and asked me if I wanted to see a bear. Bill was maneuvering the rig into position so I tentatively said yes only giving her half my attention. She then whirled around and pointed across the street where on the second floor and at the door of the garage apartment a black bear was being fed by the female occupant. The woman received a major tong lashing from the woman for sharing her secret as I think she was afraid we would come charging across with cameras in hand. I did not, but was tempted in theory. I watched while Mr. Bear ate his/her lunch and walked down the stairs and back into the woods.
Hyder, what can I say? We spent some time talking with the proprietors of the various businesses and found out that this is a town full of some odd ducks many of whom are from California. Big surprise! Most of the ones we talked to have lived here for many years and do not intend to leave. The grocery store sells a box of salt for over $4 and an everyday bag of bagels for $5.99. The cigar smoking proprietor of the general store/pond shop was full of information on why all Californians should move to Alaska. The owner of the Boarder Gallery was a most normal woman and very helpful with local historical and gave us precise answers to all our questions. As we found out later Hyder is the gateway to the most beautiful 20 mile drive to a majestic glacier of all the dozen or so glaciers we have seen on this trip.
We drove the 4 miles out to the bear viewing area at Fish Creek, an elaborate nearly 100 yard long wood walking structure designed to keep people & bears apart. We saw only beaver, eagle and salmon. We did see the butt end of one bear as he was leaving when we arrived. This was true of our return attempt that evening. No bear.
Of the 3 funky restaurants in Hyder “The Bus” was recommended but was closed. It is an old bus, with a few rough wood tables out front. The gal who owns the joint is said to be married to a fisherman and thus comes the freshest fish & chips in all Alaska. We ended up at the Glacier Inn which served a tasty meal of halibut bites. This place has two interesting thing in its favor. It first has been the backdrop for some movies like a 1991 forgettable “Leaving Normal” in which it was the Eternity Bar. Secondly, the Glacier Inn is a 1955 building wallpapered in CASH! There is a lot of wall area in this place and the walls are covered in, what is counted up to be $80,000 in ones, fives, tens, twenties even some fifties & hundreds! Now we have seen two other bars plastered in money on our trip, the Howling Dog Saloon in Fairbanks and the Salty Dog in Homer but the Glacier Inn has to be the original. One 40’ to 50’ wall had 3 layers of panels covering it with cash. The ones on the button were nearly black with age. Oh and by the way they all have felt pen notes on them and more then half are Canadian as well Canada is all around right.
Ok well day two in Hyder continues next….
Tuesday we decide to stay an extra day and give the bears another chance to meet us and also take a ride up the 20 dirt miles to Salmon Glacier just because Susie, the Run-A-Muck RV Park manager or owner, said it made the Bear Glacier that we saw as we drove into Hyder “look like a little ice cube.” Well we started out too early because we had a beautiful ride & did the driving tour but as we started to climb we were so deep into the clouds we were not going to see anything at all. We all had a good laugh because like the bear, the glacier did not want any part of us. In the afternoon Bill & Linda returned for another try with clear skis and came back with such excitement that first Bill said it beat Niagara Falls in spectacle and then they promptly insisted on lending their car to 4 motorcyclists to make the 20 dirt mile quest to see this spectacle. With encouragement from the Moorhead’s, Bill & I went to have a look. At 6:30pm we took off. This was the perfect time of the day the sun was low the shadows were dramatic & because we had been up there before we new the road and whereto stop. The Salmon Glacier was Majestic. It was also massive. No picture could possibly do it justice. You really do stand there in amazement at the beauty of it. This experience alone is worth enduring the unusual personalities of Hyder.
In the simply spoken words of my husband Bill Dickey as we crossed the boarder out of Hyder, Alaska for the final time this morning at 9:30 AM “That place was a dump!” I sit here enjoying the drive back up the beautiful 30 mile canyon out of Hyder. A question keeps bugging me, why do all the really beautiful places attract the screwballs & misfits?
From Skagway, with our tummies full we actually drove 150 miles out to the Alaskan Hwy south and the small town of Teslin. This is the one starch of highway that we did drive coming the other way. We really are on our way back to the lower 48 but we keep hearing about the bears in Hyder. They are not supposed to arrive until mid July when the salmon run and until this past week the salmon had not made a showing. Now we keep getting info. That the salmon are arriving perhaps slowly but there are some. Thus our side trip to Hyder and by the way there are a couple more glaciers there as well.
Our one night in Teslin was awful. We did not sleep much due to the mosquitoes. On the 11th of July we were up & on the road by 8am. Another driving day with no side trips, this time to Dease Lake nearly half way down the 450 miles of the Casiar Highway. The Casiar has a horrible reputation but we figured it could not be any worse then the roads we have already managed. This proved to be true. The first 200 miles were not so hot with gravel breaks, dirt areas & pot holes. There were some frost heaves but nothing like the ones between Tok & the Canadian boarder on the Alaskan Hwy, they were the worst!
We made one stop to break the action at the little Jade seller where they demonstrate and explain the local jade mining operation at the Prince Jade Mine. It turns out that 90% of the worlds jade is produced right here in Casiar Mountain Range of British Columbia. Much of it is exported to China.
We continued on after our break and as we approach the split off to Hyder we are fairly sure we have made it through all the bad roads of our trip. We were pleasantly surprised, as not only did the roads improve but the 30 mile descent into the valley was really beautiful with Bear Glacier, unusual ice formations and many waterfalls with the landscape different from what we had seen prior.
To arrive in Hyder, Alaska USA population 100, you need to come though Stewart, British Columbia Canada population 600 and a boarder crossing. The 100 folk in Hyder choose to go by BC time (same as Ca. time) except the U.S. Federal Post Office which has to go by Alaska (1 hour earlier) time. Confused yet?
As we cruise through Stewart we think OK a little tiny bit of civic pride. Lots of flower baskets, a few brightly painted store fronts, very small and not much to it except for industry all around, like logging.
We continue the 2 or so miles across the boarder into Hyder. OH MY GOD! Well we read that Hyder prides itself in being “The Nations Only Living Ghost Town” and it became immediately apparent. Of the 30 or 40 buildings visible from the main dirt road, in town probably half of them were boarded up. All but about 5 or 10 look like they should be torn down, unworthy of even shack status. We continued on to our campground, the only one with electric hook-ups. It is named aptly Camp Run-A-Muck. Need I say more? As we pulled in a skinny elderly woman came running up to me and asked me if I wanted to see a bear. Bill was maneuvering the rig into position so I tentatively said yes only giving her half my attention. She then whirled around and pointed across the street where on the second floor and at the door of the garage apartment a black bear was being fed by the female occupant. The woman received a major tong lashing from the woman for sharing her secret as I think she was afraid we would come charging across with cameras in hand. I did not, but was tempted in theory. I watched while Mr. Bear ate his/her lunch and walked down the stairs and back into the woods.
Hyder, what can I say? We spent some time talking with the proprietors of the various businesses and found out that this is a town full of some odd ducks many of whom are from California. Big surprise! Most of the ones we talked to have lived here for many years and do not intend to leave. The grocery store sells a box of salt for over $4 and an everyday bag of bagels for $5.99. The cigar smoking proprietor of the general store/pond shop was full of information on why all Californians should move to Alaska. The owner of the Boarder Gallery was a most normal woman and very helpful with local historical and gave us precise answers to all our questions. As we found out later Hyder is the gateway to the most beautiful 20 mile drive to a majestic glacier of all the dozen or so glaciers we have seen on this trip.
We drove the 4 miles out to the bear viewing area at Fish Creek, an elaborate nearly 100 yard long wood walking structure designed to keep people & bears apart. We saw only beaver, eagle and salmon. We did see the butt end of one bear as he was leaving when we arrived. This was true of our return attempt that evening. No bear.
Of the 3 funky restaurants in Hyder “The Bus” was recommended but was closed. It is an old bus, with a few rough wood tables out front. The gal who owns the joint is said to be married to a fisherman and thus comes the freshest fish & chips in all Alaska. We ended up at the Glacier Inn which served a tasty meal of halibut bites. This place has two interesting thing in its favor. It first has been the backdrop for some movies like a 1991 forgettable “Leaving Normal” in which it was the Eternity Bar. Secondly, the Glacier Inn is a 1955 building wallpapered in CASH! There is a lot of wall area in this place and the walls are covered in, what is counted up to be $80,000 in ones, fives, tens, twenties even some fifties & hundreds! Now we have seen two other bars plastered in money on our trip, the Howling Dog Saloon in Fairbanks and the Salty Dog in Homer but the Glacier Inn has to be the original. One 40’ to 50’ wall had 3 layers of panels covering it with cash. The ones on the button were nearly black with age. Oh and by the way they all have felt pen notes on them and more then half are Canadian as well Canada is all around right.
Ok well day two in Hyder continues next….
Tuesday we decide to stay an extra day and give the bears another chance to meet us and also take a ride up the 20 dirt miles to Salmon Glacier just because Susie, the Run-A-Muck RV Park manager or owner, said it made the Bear Glacier that we saw as we drove into Hyder “look like a little ice cube.” Well we started out too early because we had a beautiful ride & did the driving tour but as we started to climb we were so deep into the clouds we were not going to see anything at all. We all had a good laugh because like the bear, the glacier did not want any part of us. In the afternoon Bill & Linda returned for another try with clear skis and came back with such excitement that first Bill said it beat Niagara Falls in spectacle and then they promptly insisted on lending their car to 4 motorcyclists to make the 20 dirt mile quest to see this spectacle. With encouragement from the Moorhead’s, Bill & I went to have a look. At 6:30pm we took off. This was the perfect time of the day the sun was low the shadows were dramatic & because we had been up there before we new the road and whereto stop. The Salmon Glacier was Majestic. It was also massive. No picture could possibly do it justice. You really do stand there in amazement at the beauty of it. This experience alone is worth enduring the unusual personalities of Hyder.
In the simply spoken words of my husband Bill Dickey as we crossed the boarder out of Hyder, Alaska for the final time this morning at 9:30 AM “That place was a dump!” I sit here enjoying the drive back up the beautiful 30 mile canyon out of Hyder. A question keeps bugging me, why do all the really beautiful places attract the screwballs & misfits?
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Haines, Alaska for the 4th of July!
Recorded July 10th 2009
Upon our arriving in Haines Bill & I called it a day as it was after 5pm and we had been on the road since 8am. We were beat. True to the sightseer in them, however, Linda & Bill were out exploring after dinner. They were planning a ferry trip to Sitka & Juneau and wanted to get the details settled. The next day, Saturday, was the 4th of July so time was a wasting. After a visit to the ferry terminal their plan began to crystallize.
Bill & I were thrilled to have the rest of the week basically off. The coach was way overdue for a good interior scrubbing as was the dog and we both needed haircuts. On Monday The Moorhead’s were off to Sitka (4.5 hours by ferry) and then Juneau (12 more hours by ferry) to see pretty much everything else before we leave the 49th state in the 50th anniversary year of its statehood. But in the mean time we had one very important day to party it up!
On the 4th of July and this small town has all the small town stuff. First there was the Parade down Main Street then the bake sale & pie eating contest followed by MUD volleyball single elimination. There was a burger & hot dog picnic in the gorgeous park at Fort Seward that sits above the water inlet with of course mountains all around. There was the bazaar at the Senior Center and a fire hose competition plus the always popular nail hammering contest. Events were underway all day till the cannon sounded at 9pm but it is not dark at 9pm so fireworks were later at 11pm (It does get dark in southern Alaska.). We 4 gave in early and returned to our camp where Linda & Bill treated us to a Bar-B-Q Steak dinner. It was a 4th we won’t soon forget.
We took Bill & Linda to the ferry landing Sunday morning an immediately got to work. Bill & I spent the next 2 days in recoil mode. Between cleaning cars, dog, 2 hair cuts and a lot of reading we really never left the park. I caught up on my correspondents & the grocery shopping. By Tuesday the 7th we were ready to come out and meet the world again. So we did. We drove the town of Haines back & forth, up & down. We examined the neighborhoods & the country roads. We did not shop or sightsee as we new our buds would be ready for that when they returned and there really just was not that much to see really. We did gawk at the folks who had obviously come from the 2 cruise ships that came & went while we were there. It was in the mid 80’s and they were uncomfortable climbing around town. We continued on to Fort Seward, adjacent to and a part of Haines. It’s a really interesting former military installation from 1903. It is now all privately owned but is a historical landmark. Part of the 15 or so buildings is a hotel where we had a lovely dinner.
After the Moorhead’s returned from their sea going adventure we learned that they spent 2 nights on the ferry & 1 in a hot hotel room so we were not disappointed to have missed the trip. On Thursday the 9th of July the 4 of us did sightseeing & shopping around Haines. We finished off the evening with a Mexican dinner making plans for our Friday ferry ride to Skagway. Bill did not like the idea that Lindsey has to stay in the motorhome all by herself!
Friday the 10th was a very odd day. The ferry schedule was such that we needed to be at the dock at 7:30 in the evening. We were able to stay in the campground until 1pm so we had our 2 coaches 2 cars 4 people and 1 dog with no place to land for an entire afternoon. Haines is a tourist town really. We opted to drive out to the ferry dock, 5 miles north of town through the construction zone once we fueled up and just hang out there. We played Uno and watched a BC Harley Davidson Motorcycle Cub on a Yukon run as they arrived to join us on the ferry. It was an uneventful 16 mile ride but it saved us over 200 miles of driving. We arrived at our camp at nearly 11pm.
We have never pulled into a campground at 11pm before as we did the Friday night from the ferry, so our time in Skagway began on the morning of Saturday the 11th. With more then a 2 day drive ahead of us to Hyder, we decided to spend the morning seeing the town of Skagway and get some driving in later in the day. All 4 of us had been to Skagway before so we did not feel the need to do a tour or take the train at over $100! We had a nice lunch after marveling at all the jewelry & fur stores. Tanzanite is a biggie. They really do like those folks getting on & off the cruise ships. Skagway, we recalled is the main switching point from land to sea and visa versa for the cruise lines. They always have an overnight to spend money! I did really enjoy the art galleries as they were better then any we had been to on our entire trip. We finally bought Ulu’s, the Alaskan cutting tool and those bear paw salad tossers, that I like so much, all made in Anchorage of course. We were on our way out of town by 3pm-ish on Saturday.
Upon our arriving in Haines Bill & I called it a day as it was after 5pm and we had been on the road since 8am. We were beat. True to the sightseer in them, however, Linda & Bill were out exploring after dinner. They were planning a ferry trip to Sitka & Juneau and wanted to get the details settled. The next day, Saturday, was the 4th of July so time was a wasting. After a visit to the ferry terminal their plan began to crystallize.
Bill & I were thrilled to have the rest of the week basically off. The coach was way overdue for a good interior scrubbing as was the dog and we both needed haircuts. On Monday The Moorhead’s were off to Sitka (4.5 hours by ferry) and then Juneau (12 more hours by ferry) to see pretty much everything else before we leave the 49th state in the 50th anniversary year of its statehood. But in the mean time we had one very important day to party it up!
On the 4th of July and this small town has all the small town stuff. First there was the Parade down Main Street then the bake sale & pie eating contest followed by MUD volleyball single elimination. There was a burger & hot dog picnic in the gorgeous park at Fort Seward that sits above the water inlet with of course mountains all around. There was the bazaar at the Senior Center and a fire hose competition plus the always popular nail hammering contest. Events were underway all day till the cannon sounded at 9pm but it is not dark at 9pm so fireworks were later at 11pm (It does get dark in southern Alaska.). We 4 gave in early and returned to our camp where Linda & Bill treated us to a Bar-B-Q Steak dinner. It was a 4th we won’t soon forget.
We took Bill & Linda to the ferry landing Sunday morning an immediately got to work. Bill & I spent the next 2 days in recoil mode. Between cleaning cars, dog, 2 hair cuts and a lot of reading we really never left the park. I caught up on my correspondents & the grocery shopping. By Tuesday the 7th we were ready to come out and meet the world again. So we did. We drove the town of Haines back & forth, up & down. We examined the neighborhoods & the country roads. We did not shop or sightsee as we new our buds would be ready for that when they returned and there really just was not that much to see really. We did gawk at the folks who had obviously come from the 2 cruise ships that came & went while we were there. It was in the mid 80’s and they were uncomfortable climbing around town. We continued on to Fort Seward, adjacent to and a part of Haines. It’s a really interesting former military installation from 1903. It is now all privately owned but is a historical landmark. Part of the 15 or so buildings is a hotel where we had a lovely dinner.
After the Moorhead’s returned from their sea going adventure we learned that they spent 2 nights on the ferry & 1 in a hot hotel room so we were not disappointed to have missed the trip. On Thursday the 9th of July the 4 of us did sightseeing & shopping around Haines. We finished off the evening with a Mexican dinner making plans for our Friday ferry ride to Skagway. Bill did not like the idea that Lindsey has to stay in the motorhome all by herself!
Friday the 10th was a very odd day. The ferry schedule was such that we needed to be at the dock at 7:30 in the evening. We were able to stay in the campground until 1pm so we had our 2 coaches 2 cars 4 people and 1 dog with no place to land for an entire afternoon. Haines is a tourist town really. We opted to drive out to the ferry dock, 5 miles north of town through the construction zone once we fueled up and just hang out there. We played Uno and watched a BC Harley Davidson Motorcycle Cub on a Yukon run as they arrived to join us on the ferry. It was an uneventful 16 mile ride but it saved us over 200 miles of driving. We arrived at our camp at nearly 11pm.
We have never pulled into a campground at 11pm before as we did the Friday night from the ferry, so our time in Skagway began on the morning of Saturday the 11th. With more then a 2 day drive ahead of us to Hyder, we decided to spend the morning seeing the town of Skagway and get some driving in later in the day. All 4 of us had been to Skagway before so we did not feel the need to do a tour or take the train at over $100! We had a nice lunch after marveling at all the jewelry & fur stores. Tanzanite is a biggie. They really do like those folks getting on & off the cruise ships. Skagway, we recalled is the main switching point from land to sea and visa versa for the cruise lines. They always have an overnight to spend money! I did really enjoy the art galleries as they were better then any we had been to on our entire trip. We finally bought Ulu’s, the Alaskan cutting tool and those bear paw salad tossers, that I like so much, all made in Anchorage of course. We were on our way out of town by 3pm-ish on Saturday.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Haines in 2 days! (Some serious driving to do)
Recorded July 4, 2009
This was a driving day Friday the 2nd. The trip over the Tok cut included gravel stretches, killer frost heaves plus pot holes. All in all it was the worst stretch we have experienced but things can always get worse. Once we were able to rejoin the Alaskan Highway at Tok the road improved a little & only for a short time. The whole area is plagued by frost heaves because of the permafrost and the road department just can’t keep up. The ground is mush or at least too soft to adequately support the road in the summer and when the ground freezes in the winter the road rises up just like the ice in a tray thus frost heaves. We turned south on the Alaskan Highway and briefly entered Canada where we arrived with our grumpy husbands and spent the night in Beaver Creek in the Yukon Territory. The guys were really over the roads for one day.
In the morning we got an early start and did it all again. This time it was even a bit worse. The tiny southwestern corner of the Yukon Territory we were passing through was all frost heaves and gravel stretches. We passed through the famous Destruction Bay. The boys had their heads around the picture after the prior days growling, took it all in stride. By the time we got to Haines Junction, where we turn west, the road improved and we had a glorious 100 mile ride into Haines on the Haines Highway AKA the Dalton Trail as in Jack Dalton. It was picture perfect. We even saw 2 moose as we came close to town along side the road. It was nearly an 8 hour day of driving so we found the Haines Hitch-Up RV Park on the edge of town to settle into. It turns out to be one of the nicest parks we have been to since we left the lower 48, which is a good thing as we would be here for the next week. Yippee a week in one place!!!
What a beautiful little place to spend the 4th of July. We are really thrilled to still be in the USA for the 4th and not n Canada. After tomorrow Sunday the 4th of July, Linda & Bill will be off on the ferry to Sitka and Juneau for a few days but we will be holding down the fort here as we have the dog & are overdue for some R&R. They are real go getters!
This was a driving day Friday the 2nd. The trip over the Tok cut included gravel stretches, killer frost heaves plus pot holes. All in all it was the worst stretch we have experienced but things can always get worse. Once we were able to rejoin the Alaskan Highway at Tok the road improved a little & only for a short time. The whole area is plagued by frost heaves because of the permafrost and the road department just can’t keep up. The ground is mush or at least too soft to adequately support the road in the summer and when the ground freezes in the winter the road rises up just like the ice in a tray thus frost heaves. We turned south on the Alaskan Highway and briefly entered Canada where we arrived with our grumpy husbands and spent the night in Beaver Creek in the Yukon Territory. The guys were really over the roads for one day.
In the morning we got an early start and did it all again. This time it was even a bit worse. The tiny southwestern corner of the Yukon Territory we were passing through was all frost heaves and gravel stretches. We passed through the famous Destruction Bay. The boys had their heads around the picture after the prior days growling, took it all in stride. By the time we got to Haines Junction, where we turn west, the road improved and we had a glorious 100 mile ride into Haines on the Haines Highway AKA the Dalton Trail as in Jack Dalton. It was picture perfect. We even saw 2 moose as we came close to town along side the road. It was nearly an 8 hour day of driving so we found the Haines Hitch-Up RV Park on the edge of town to settle into. It turns out to be one of the nicest parks we have been to since we left the lower 48, which is a good thing as we would be here for the next week. Yippee a week in one place!!!
What a beautiful little place to spend the 4th of July. We are really thrilled to still be in the USA for the 4th and not n Canada. After tomorrow Sunday the 4th of July, Linda & Bill will be off on the ferry to Sitka and Juneau for a few days but we will be holding down the fort here as we have the dog & are overdue for some R&R. They are real go getters!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Return to Wrangell- St. Elias National Park
Recorded July Thursday July 2, 2009
We made our assent out of the Port of Valdez on Tuesday June the 30th to a whole new perspective on this wonderful landscape. It was morning so the lighting was different. The weather had remained cool with big puffy cloud formations. The entire drive appeared different and allowed us to appreciate it all over again!
Within a couple of hours we arrived at the Kenny Lake Mercantile & RV Park, though we never saw a lake. We had discussed this giant Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and how we may never have another opportunity to visit it so Linda, the research artist that she is designed our attach. It went this way:
On day one we drove to some 20+ miles ahead to investigate the subsistence Salmon fishing that takes place along the wide expanse of the Copper River. Alaska law states that any fulltime resident can ‘net’ fish up to 500 salmon per year. They can also get a permit to operate a fish wheel. It is a water driven gizmo that has a duel paddle style pair of baskets that turn with the current catching loads of fish. We talked to couple of the fishermen while we were out there who told us they pay nothing and it works like a co-op where they get a 3 day turn that they sign up for. This area of the Copper River was strum with these home made contraptions. These “subsistence fishermen” are not allowed to sell their catch. A discussion with another local resident revealed that she “gets sick of eating salmon” and “who could eat 500 a year anyway!” The fishermen told us they prefer the top dollar Copper River Salmon but also catch Kings which they are not allowed to through back. Now why would they consider doing that if it really is subsistence?
A tiny visitor’s center is adjacent to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in the 100+ year old town of Chetna population 20. We had already gathered data on the town of McCarthy 60+ miles deep in the park and the Kennecott Glacier & huge Kennecott Copper Mining operation of the early 1900’s. Logistics were the issue. We wanted to do the trip (60+ miles ON GRAVEL ROADS) but time/tours/dog were in question. We walked the near ghost town, that was once home to over 700 and were on our way back to camp with a plan for the next day.
I might add here that we have had few camp services recently. This time we have only 30amp electric. In Valdez we had 20amp & water & Wi-Fi that Linda could use but I could not. A few parks may have full hook-ups but not a lot. This has been very typical.
Wednesday was day two in Kenny Lake and we are off to the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. We are 4 humans plus 1 dog in 1 car. Not knowing how long the day would be we had to take Lindsey. It is nearly an hour to the gravel, then another 3 hours to the parking area. There are shuttles but we do not see one so now we walk. It’s about ¾ mile to the town of McCarthy which is said to be the place where from 1911 to 1938 the Kennecott Copper Miners, 2 miles away, would come for liquor, gambling & women. Our walk through the maybe a dozen buildings was very rustic but yielded the usual concessions. There were a couple of buildings that were obviously the original s & uninhabited.
We caught the shuttle to the Kennecott Mill where in 1980’s a Lodge was built/rebuilt in the style of the heyday of the mine. It is decorated with the lots of documents & advertisements of the day. We ate lunch and waited for our tour.
The tour of the mill itself was more of an event then we had imagined. The mill is 14 stories tall standing proudly against the mountain side. From the outside it looks like it could be blown away as its barn red painted wood exterior is in deep decay. We were surprised to even be able to enter but after seeing all the out buildings we hiked to the top nearly skeletal 14th floor. Didn’t I mention that this mill is half way up the side of a mountain? The mine itself is another 5 mile hike up the mountain. WHAT A VIEW. We are looking out through all this giant sized wood debris over the valley below and the Kennecott Glacier and 16,000 foot Mount Blackburn to our right. Oh My God! Breath taking is a real understatement. Proceeding down through the mill was interesting but repetitive after 14 floors. I was awestruck by the beauty contrasted with the nasty working conditions described to us. The men were well paid but the intense noise & cold would make this a job most would not keep for longer then the 6 month contract they signed on for.
As we retraced our way to the car we crossed 2 foot bridges, one of which offered a very good view of the Kennecott Glacier. I took pictures on the way up not knowing that the huge moraine (Moraine is the ground up earth a glacier leaves in its wake when it moves.) area in front of the glacier is unlike another glacier we have seen yet. It is several miles long and as we learned covers the toe of the glacier. Under it is several hundred feet of glacial ice.
We returned to camp having ventured more then half way through the largest national park in America at about 9:00 PM.
We made our assent out of the Port of Valdez on Tuesday June the 30th to a whole new perspective on this wonderful landscape. It was morning so the lighting was different. The weather had remained cool with big puffy cloud formations. The entire drive appeared different and allowed us to appreciate it all over again!
Within a couple of hours we arrived at the Kenny Lake Mercantile & RV Park, though we never saw a lake. We had discussed this giant Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and how we may never have another opportunity to visit it so Linda, the research artist that she is designed our attach. It went this way:
On day one we drove to some 20+ miles ahead to investigate the subsistence Salmon fishing that takes place along the wide expanse of the Copper River. Alaska law states that any fulltime resident can ‘net’ fish up to 500 salmon per year. They can also get a permit to operate a fish wheel. It is a water driven gizmo that has a duel paddle style pair of baskets that turn with the current catching loads of fish. We talked to couple of the fishermen while we were out there who told us they pay nothing and it works like a co-op where they get a 3 day turn that they sign up for. This area of the Copper River was strum with these home made contraptions. These “subsistence fishermen” are not allowed to sell their catch. A discussion with another local resident revealed that she “gets sick of eating salmon” and “who could eat 500 a year anyway!” The fishermen told us they prefer the top dollar Copper River Salmon but also catch Kings which they are not allowed to through back. Now why would they consider doing that if it really is subsistence?
A tiny visitor’s center is adjacent to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in the 100+ year old town of Chetna population 20. We had already gathered data on the town of McCarthy 60+ miles deep in the park and the Kennecott Glacier & huge Kennecott Copper Mining operation of the early 1900’s. Logistics were the issue. We wanted to do the trip (60+ miles ON GRAVEL ROADS) but time/tours/dog were in question. We walked the near ghost town, that was once home to over 700 and were on our way back to camp with a plan for the next day.
I might add here that we have had few camp services recently. This time we have only 30amp electric. In Valdez we had 20amp & water & Wi-Fi that Linda could use but I could not. A few parks may have full hook-ups but not a lot. This has been very typical.
Wednesday was day two in Kenny Lake and we are off to the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. We are 4 humans plus 1 dog in 1 car. Not knowing how long the day would be we had to take Lindsey. It is nearly an hour to the gravel, then another 3 hours to the parking area. There are shuttles but we do not see one so now we walk. It’s about ¾ mile to the town of McCarthy which is said to be the place where from 1911 to 1938 the Kennecott Copper Miners, 2 miles away, would come for liquor, gambling & women. Our walk through the maybe a dozen buildings was very rustic but yielded the usual concessions. There were a couple of buildings that were obviously the original s & uninhabited.
We caught the shuttle to the Kennecott Mill where in 1980’s a Lodge was built/rebuilt in the style of the heyday of the mine. It is decorated with the lots of documents & advertisements of the day. We ate lunch and waited for our tour.
The tour of the mill itself was more of an event then we had imagined. The mill is 14 stories tall standing proudly against the mountain side. From the outside it looks like it could be blown away as its barn red painted wood exterior is in deep decay. We were surprised to even be able to enter but after seeing all the out buildings we hiked to the top nearly skeletal 14th floor. Didn’t I mention that this mill is half way up the side of a mountain? The mine itself is another 5 mile hike up the mountain. WHAT A VIEW. We are looking out through all this giant sized wood debris over the valley below and the Kennecott Glacier and 16,000 foot Mount Blackburn to our right. Oh My God! Breath taking is a real understatement. Proceeding down through the mill was interesting but repetitive after 14 floors. I was awestruck by the beauty contrasted with the nasty working conditions described to us. The men were well paid but the intense noise & cold would make this a job most would not keep for longer then the 6 month contract they signed on for.
As we retraced our way to the car we crossed 2 foot bridges, one of which offered a very good view of the Kennecott Glacier. I took pictures on the way up not knowing that the huge moraine (Moraine is the ground up earth a glacier leaves in its wake when it moves.) area in front of the glacier is unlike another glacier we have seen yet. It is several miles long and as we learned covers the toe of the glacier. Under it is several hundred feet of glacial ice.
We returned to camp having ventured more then half way through the largest national park in America at about 9:00 PM.
Valdez held some surprises
Recorded July 2 2009
Arriving in Valdez was exciting but the town itself was not. We found out later that the entire town was wiped out in 1964 by the 9.2 Good Friday Earthquake that rocked Alaska continually for more then 4 minutes. The original Valdez was built on in a flat area deep in the bay which turned out to be the moraine of a nearby glacier. The entire town sank. Not a building survived.
We picked the Sea Otter RV Park because it was the closest to the water of Prince William Sound so we were on the waterfront for our stay. It was a delight. The sea birds, the light on the water, the mountains across the water and directly in front of us was the pipeline facility where tankers would quietly depart in the night. We did enjoy the solitude of this little place. The park was next to several fish canning companies that were in full production. We bought King & Copper River salmon and were later able to glean insight about the work at the cannery from a young woman that Lind met on our Lulu Bell Cruise. Tammy is a teacher who for 17 years has come to Valdez to work her summer in the cannery. They work 12 hour days 7 days a week during the salmon season. Lots of overtime!
The second day of our adventure include a trip on the Lulu Bell to cruise the Prince William Sound and Columbia Bay and beyond into the evening. We boarded at 2:00 PM and were first acquainted with Fred the Captain and for 20 some years, the owner/operator of the Lulu Bell about a 60’-70’ motor craft that carries 50 or so comfortably. Fred has a very nice ship, not new but a classic style to it with teak finishes & oriental rugs too. He employs 2 hands, young girls who work as crew & as galley maids. Off we went. We were schooled on all things Valdez, oil tanker, ballast water & the history there of with lots about the new duel hulled tankers plus the smaller ‘Alaskan Tanker’ designed for only 1 million gallons of crud. Fred nearly busted Lulu Bell’s bough as he drove her right into a cave so we all could see 2 horned puffins’s nesting overhead in the rocks. These are beautiful local birds we had seen while in the aquarium in Seward. Next it was sea lions, hundred’s of them, which Alaskan’s do not like because they eat too many salmon. We were lucky to see a commercial fishing boat that was hauling in its catch. The search for Whale was fruitless, which have not yet been spotted this season. We saw a couple porpoise bounding under the bough but the best was yet to come!
As we approached the Columbia Bay the first clue was one big old trailer sized ice berg goes floating by. Then there were a few then many in the distance. In a matter of about 15 minutes we were in a field of small then large ice bergs. Fred keeps going…and going…until first in an instant the temperature drops 15 degrees & we all race for an extra jacket & gloves. Then it’s not just little car sized bergs but big as a house. As he points out “That’s the part on top of the water!” Everyone is on deck peering over the side a Lulu Bell is gently shoving these monsters out of our way. Oh did I forget to mention that the reason for this push forward is to get a closer look at the largest glacier in the world. Well yes the Columbia glacier is ahead of us and though it is still off in the distance it is impressive. Fred called it a 400 mile fjord that extends over a mile down into the water. Well he got us as close as he could as the now giant ice bergs were then all stacked against earth but believe me no one was complaining. We were still a few miles from Columbia. It was 37 degrees, windy and electrifying. You got to see the pictures on Facebook!
On the 30th of June we left Valdez for our next big adventure into the largest national park in the USA! Wrangell- St. Elias here we come.
Arriving in Valdez was exciting but the town itself was not. We found out later that the entire town was wiped out in 1964 by the 9.2 Good Friday Earthquake that rocked Alaska continually for more then 4 minutes. The original Valdez was built on in a flat area deep in the bay which turned out to be the moraine of a nearby glacier. The entire town sank. Not a building survived.
We picked the Sea Otter RV Park because it was the closest to the water of Prince William Sound so we were on the waterfront for our stay. It was a delight. The sea birds, the light on the water, the mountains across the water and directly in front of us was the pipeline facility where tankers would quietly depart in the night. We did enjoy the solitude of this little place. The park was next to several fish canning companies that were in full production. We bought King & Copper River salmon and were later able to glean insight about the work at the cannery from a young woman that Lind met on our Lulu Bell Cruise. Tammy is a teacher who for 17 years has come to Valdez to work her summer in the cannery. They work 12 hour days 7 days a week during the salmon season. Lots of overtime!
The second day of our adventure include a trip on the Lulu Bell to cruise the Prince William Sound and Columbia Bay and beyond into the evening. We boarded at 2:00 PM and were first acquainted with Fred the Captain and for 20 some years, the owner/operator of the Lulu Bell about a 60’-70’ motor craft that carries 50 or so comfortably. Fred has a very nice ship, not new but a classic style to it with teak finishes & oriental rugs too. He employs 2 hands, young girls who work as crew & as galley maids. Off we went. We were schooled on all things Valdez, oil tanker, ballast water & the history there of with lots about the new duel hulled tankers plus the smaller ‘Alaskan Tanker’ designed for only 1 million gallons of crud. Fred nearly busted Lulu Bell’s bough as he drove her right into a cave so we all could see 2 horned puffins’s nesting overhead in the rocks. These are beautiful local birds we had seen while in the aquarium in Seward. Next it was sea lions, hundred’s of them, which Alaskan’s do not like because they eat too many salmon. We were lucky to see a commercial fishing boat that was hauling in its catch. The search for Whale was fruitless, which have not yet been spotted this season. We saw a couple porpoise bounding under the bough but the best was yet to come!
As we approached the Columbia Bay the first clue was one big old trailer sized ice berg goes floating by. Then there were a few then many in the distance. In a matter of about 15 minutes we were in a field of small then large ice bergs. Fred keeps going…and going…until first in an instant the temperature drops 15 degrees & we all race for an extra jacket & gloves. Then it’s not just little car sized bergs but big as a house. As he points out “That’s the part on top of the water!” Everyone is on deck peering over the side a Lulu Bell is gently shoving these monsters out of our way. Oh did I forget to mention that the reason for this push forward is to get a closer look at the largest glacier in the world. Well yes the Columbia glacier is ahead of us and though it is still off in the distance it is impressive. Fred called it a 400 mile fjord that extends over a mile down into the water. Well he got us as close as he could as the now giant ice bergs were then all stacked against earth but believe me no one was complaining. We were still a few miles from Columbia. It was 37 degrees, windy and electrifying. You got to see the pictures on Facebook!
On the 30th of June we left Valdez for our next big adventure into the largest national park in the USA! Wrangell- St. Elias here we come.
A spectacular trip to Valdez
Recorded 6-30-09
We spent the next three days get to Valdez but I think it will have been one of the highlights of our trip. Getting to Valdez had its surprises along the way.
As we retraced our path to Anchorage, this time we stopped at the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center which was rained out when we passed going the other way. Today Friday the 26th of June we have gorgeous weather so far. We find as we move a hundred miles or so in any direction we seem to pass into a whole new weather pattern.
The conservation center was fine. Most of the animals we have already seen in the wild, bear, elk, moose, buffalo, fox, caribou. But we had not seen a musk ox. So that was a treat. Musk ox fur, as we learned way back at the Banff Springs Hotel, Alberta is the warmest and lightest weight of all. Even cashmere can not match it as it is judged to be 8 times warmer then wool. They do not sheer it they just comb the animal and gather it as the animal sheds. We saw the most amazing (and most expensive) scarves & sweaters of musk ox at the Banff Springs Hotel.
Getting back on the road again. Now we are off to our next side trip, Portage Glacier. Portage Glacier is on the way to Whittier which is where a lot of Anchorage cruise ships dock to deliver their passengers to Anchorage. This is also true so Seward because the port at Anchorage is too shallow for the large cruise liners. We are on about our 4th or 5th glacier so we are not up for expensive land tours. We took our pictures and moved on.
We stopped for the night in Girdwood at the Alayeska Resort about 40 miles short of Anchorage. You can dry camp in the ski lift parking area for $10. So we spent our first night of dry camping. Not being a skier myself, I had not heard of Mount Alayeska and this resort. It is a world class ski resort and is working into the “Aspen” & “Telluride” international resort class. We ate dinner at the Two Musk Inn a top 10 rated restaurant according to Linda, my personal tour guide and source of a lot of the facts I have not gleaned on my own.
Up and out Saturday, through Anchorage after fueling and we are out the Glenn Highway toward Palmer. Palmer and the valley surrounding it is the area of Alaska known for the giant prize winning vegetables. It was a gorgeous lush valley. With the near 24 hour sun in summer they boast several hundred pound pumpkin & cabbage as big as a beach ball.
We spent the night in Glennellen (no great shakes) and made the turn south to Valdez a little over 100 miles away in the morning of the 29th. On our way we made a most awesome discovery a few miles down the Richardson Highway #4, Wrangell- St. Elias National Park. Our visit at the visitor’s center with a resident of the park clued us in on what an amazing and overlooked place we had come upon. He said that it is new; established in 1980, huge; the biggest of all the national parks, self navigating; unlike Denali, you do not need to get on a bus to see it and feeless; there is no gate or pass to buy. We thought about trying to visit the park but time was not on our side. This was a Denali sized event and would take some planning. It turns out that we return to Wrangell after Valdez because so many people we asked told us not to miss it. More later on Wrangell.
As we continue down the Richardson Highway we next stop at the Worthington Glacier. Here we had a glacier that was kind enough to be visible from a distance down the road, had no fee, great walking paths pus we saw people hiking all the way to the top of it. We really enjoyed visiting Worthington Glacier now that we have been to so many.
It is Sunday June 28th and excitement came in the last 40 miles. We were told the highway to Valdez was like the Switzerland of Alaska but you really have to see it to appreciate the mountain formations that you pass. They are truly breathtaking. It included a ridge line with snow and peaks that are so cragy and unusual yet symmetric that in a way they look unreal. Words really can’t describe coming around this one little hill to reveal the long expanse of this range.
A little further along we found ourselves tracing the Alaskan pipeline. It starts clear up in Prudhoe Bay at the top of Alaska and ends here where the crud boards tankers. We dropped down toward the Port of Valdez, both finding our destination.
We spent the next three days get to Valdez but I think it will have been one of the highlights of our trip. Getting to Valdez had its surprises along the way.
As we retraced our path to Anchorage, this time we stopped at the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center which was rained out when we passed going the other way. Today Friday the 26th of June we have gorgeous weather so far. We find as we move a hundred miles or so in any direction we seem to pass into a whole new weather pattern.
The conservation center was fine. Most of the animals we have already seen in the wild, bear, elk, moose, buffalo, fox, caribou. But we had not seen a musk ox. So that was a treat. Musk ox fur, as we learned way back at the Banff Springs Hotel, Alberta is the warmest and lightest weight of all. Even cashmere can not match it as it is judged to be 8 times warmer then wool. They do not sheer it they just comb the animal and gather it as the animal sheds. We saw the most amazing (and most expensive) scarves & sweaters of musk ox at the Banff Springs Hotel.
Getting back on the road again. Now we are off to our next side trip, Portage Glacier. Portage Glacier is on the way to Whittier which is where a lot of Anchorage cruise ships dock to deliver their passengers to Anchorage. This is also true so Seward because the port at Anchorage is too shallow for the large cruise liners. We are on about our 4th or 5th glacier so we are not up for expensive land tours. We took our pictures and moved on.
We stopped for the night in Girdwood at the Alayeska Resort about 40 miles short of Anchorage. You can dry camp in the ski lift parking area for $10. So we spent our first night of dry camping. Not being a skier myself, I had not heard of Mount Alayeska and this resort. It is a world class ski resort and is working into the “Aspen” & “Telluride” international resort class. We ate dinner at the Two Musk Inn a top 10 rated restaurant according to Linda, my personal tour guide and source of a lot of the facts I have not gleaned on my own.
Up and out Saturday, through Anchorage after fueling and we are out the Glenn Highway toward Palmer. Palmer and the valley surrounding it is the area of Alaska known for the giant prize winning vegetables. It was a gorgeous lush valley. With the near 24 hour sun in summer they boast several hundred pound pumpkin & cabbage as big as a beach ball.
We spent the night in Glennellen (no great shakes) and made the turn south to Valdez a little over 100 miles away in the morning of the 29th. On our way we made a most awesome discovery a few miles down the Richardson Highway #4, Wrangell- St. Elias National Park. Our visit at the visitor’s center with a resident of the park clued us in on what an amazing and overlooked place we had come upon. He said that it is new; established in 1980, huge; the biggest of all the national parks, self navigating; unlike Denali, you do not need to get on a bus to see it and feeless; there is no gate or pass to buy. We thought about trying to visit the park but time was not on our side. This was a Denali sized event and would take some planning. It turns out that we return to Wrangell after Valdez because so many people we asked told us not to miss it. More later on Wrangell.
As we continue down the Richardson Highway we next stop at the Worthington Glacier. Here we had a glacier that was kind enough to be visible from a distance down the road, had no fee, great walking paths pus we saw people hiking all the way to the top of it. We really enjoyed visiting Worthington Glacier now that we have been to so many.
It is Sunday June 28th and excitement came in the last 40 miles. We were told the highway to Valdez was like the Switzerland of Alaska but you really have to see it to appreciate the mountain formations that you pass. They are truly breathtaking. It included a ridge line with snow and peaks that are so cragy and unusual yet symmetric that in a way they look unreal. Words really can’t describe coming around this one little hill to reveal the long expanse of this range.
A little further along we found ourselves tracing the Alaskan pipeline. It starts clear up in Prudhoe Bay at the top of Alaska and ends here where the crud boards tankers. We dropped down toward the Port of Valdez, both finding our destination.
The Road To Homer & the “Spit”
Recorded June 26, 2009
It is about 220miles from Anchorage to Homer, Alaska and one of the big talking points prior to our trip was “Are you going all the way to Homer?” It seemed like a no brainier to us. Why would you drive over 4,000 and not see everything you can, within reason? The road to Homer is a ways out the Kenai Peninsula and is a cutoff about two thirds of the way to Seward so from Seward on Wednesday the 24th we retraced 40 miles to the turn and got a much better view of the mountains then two days prior. We hope the same will be true as we travel back again the balance of the way to Anchorage. I want to say here that the Sterling Highway #1 to Homer & Highway #9 to Seward are excellent two line picturesque roads. Along the way in my research & talking to people I somehow gathered that that was not the case. They are flat & are in the best condition of our trip.
The surprise came after we made the turn to Homer. Initially the highway followed the river deep in the mountains. We pass by areas where the fishermen are in their body boots, wading out up to their groins, fishing for salmon. They were thick, dozens & dozens of them out in that ice cold glacier water! The geography changed. We came out of the mountains to a flatter coastline of rolling hills. This continues nearly 150 miles with the ocean sometimes in view but always within a few miles. This detail seems important because it is the first time on our adventure that the terrain has been a surprise.
We picked a little town part way down the peninsula to camp. This area is fish fish fish!!! There are charters everywhere. The towns & the RV parks all sound like fishing too. In fact they are not really RV parks but fish camps. You should see some of the sorry heaps in these parks. These guys are some serious fishermen certainly not RVer’s. Our little Ninilchick fish camp (my words) was called Alaskan Angler campground. Bill & Linda Moorhead, our partners on this adventure were dying to go deep sea fishing. They went right from the campground at 4:00 AM the next morning. Catching their limit in Halibut.
Thursday June 25th -Now for Homer and the Homer Spit; we kept hearing about the “Spit”. But what do Californian’s know about such a geographical term. I guess I, again, am showing off my stupidity because I either Bar-B-Q on one or yell at Bill for launching one. A spit is an outcropping finger of land that has a larger land mass at the protruding end. Such is the case in Homer. Homer’s spit is also at the entrance of a massive body of water, the Kachemark Bay that looks to be willing to through some nasty weather around. What seemed unusual was the location. The businesses etc. have grown up here in the middle of this ice water with glaciers and the like all around!
Additionally I suspect, from my vast experience, that the Spit is “The Place” in the summer. Meaning it has some campgrounds, a marina and parks plus all the tourist stuff too. A raised boardwalk with wind beat clapboard buildings of all the usual bars & restaurants with the addition tours & fishing charters. My guess is that, to the young people in Anchorage and Alaska, since half the population of Alaska is in Anchorage, the Homer Spit is, Venus Beach or Palm Springs or Lake Havasue City or Time Square on New Years Eve. It looks like the kind of place that really parties hard. We really should have spent more time there. No one seemed to care that the wind was howling & it was freezing in the middle of summer.
Upon leaving our little Ninilchick fish camp (my words) campground, we retraced back up the Kenai Peninsula and on toward Anchorage again. We missed a couple of places but you can’t be everywhere. There is an artist colony a ferry ride away near here and we should have stopped at the town of Kenai. Sometimes we have to accommodate the guys when they want to go.
The next leg of our trip will ultimately take us to Valdez but we have a bunch of stops between now & then a few days from now.
It is about 220miles from Anchorage to Homer, Alaska and one of the big talking points prior to our trip was “Are you going all the way to Homer?” It seemed like a no brainier to us. Why would you drive over 4,000 and not see everything you can, within reason? The road to Homer is a ways out the Kenai Peninsula and is a cutoff about two thirds of the way to Seward so from Seward on Wednesday the 24th we retraced 40 miles to the turn and got a much better view of the mountains then two days prior. We hope the same will be true as we travel back again the balance of the way to Anchorage. I want to say here that the Sterling Highway #1 to Homer & Highway #9 to Seward are excellent two line picturesque roads. Along the way in my research & talking to people I somehow gathered that that was not the case. They are flat & are in the best condition of our trip.
The surprise came after we made the turn to Homer. Initially the highway followed the river deep in the mountains. We pass by areas where the fishermen are in their body boots, wading out up to their groins, fishing for salmon. They were thick, dozens & dozens of them out in that ice cold glacier water! The geography changed. We came out of the mountains to a flatter coastline of rolling hills. This continues nearly 150 miles with the ocean sometimes in view but always within a few miles. This detail seems important because it is the first time on our adventure that the terrain has been a surprise.
We picked a little town part way down the peninsula to camp. This area is fish fish fish!!! There are charters everywhere. The towns & the RV parks all sound like fishing too. In fact they are not really RV parks but fish camps. You should see some of the sorry heaps in these parks. These guys are some serious fishermen certainly not RVer’s. Our little Ninilchick fish camp (my words) was called Alaskan Angler campground. Bill & Linda Moorhead, our partners on this adventure were dying to go deep sea fishing. They went right from the campground at 4:00 AM the next morning. Catching their limit in Halibut.
Thursday June 25th -Now for Homer and the Homer Spit; we kept hearing about the “Spit”. But what do Californian’s know about such a geographical term. I guess I, again, am showing off my stupidity because I either Bar-B-Q on one or yell at Bill for launching one. A spit is an outcropping finger of land that has a larger land mass at the protruding end. Such is the case in Homer. Homer’s spit is also at the entrance of a massive body of water, the Kachemark Bay that looks to be willing to through some nasty weather around. What seemed unusual was the location. The businesses etc. have grown up here in the middle of this ice water with glaciers and the like all around!
Additionally I suspect, from my vast experience, that the Spit is “The Place” in the summer. Meaning it has some campgrounds, a marina and parks plus all the tourist stuff too. A raised boardwalk with wind beat clapboard buildings of all the usual bars & restaurants with the addition tours & fishing charters. My guess is that, to the young people in Anchorage and Alaska, since half the population of Alaska is in Anchorage, the Homer Spit is, Venus Beach or Palm Springs or Lake Havasue City or Time Square on New Years Eve. It looks like the kind of place that really parties hard. We really should have spent more time there. No one seemed to care that the wind was howling & it was freezing in the middle of summer.
Upon leaving our little Ninilchick fish camp (my words) campground, we retraced back up the Kenai Peninsula and on toward Anchorage again. We missed a couple of places but you can’t be everywhere. There is an artist colony a ferry ride away near here and we should have stopped at the town of Kenai. Sometimes we have to accommodate the guys when they want to go.
The next leg of our trip will ultimately take us to Valdez but we have a bunch of stops between now & then a few days from now.
Friday, June 26, 2009
White Dog Camping….and other forgotten notes.
Posted as I think of them....
Lindsey has been a dream dog on this trip. We have been on the road over a month. Never in one place over 4 nights. She is quite happy with our routine in fact I think she may like the traveling days best as she gets to spend most of her time on my lap. This is a far cry from a year ago when she was a nervous wreck and would get all sick. Today we are near Homer in the small town of Ninilchik. We are drying out from Seward our wettest destination so far so between her rain parka & her fowl weather mutlucks, she was set but she is not too crazy about either especially at the same time. Bathing and grooming is another issue. I bathed her after week 2 but white is not the best color for a road dog. Today she got her second bath. It was fairly warm, 55 degrees. The outside temps have been in the 40's so I took my best shot. It will be a while before I can get her groomed & clipped because in these little towns, if they even have a groomer they have never seen a Bichon Frize let alone clipped one. No great shakes. We will see what she looks like as a long hair. She may end up looking like a toy sheep dog! The best thing to happen to this dog was the addition of pumpkin to her daily diet. She gets 4 fingers full every morning before breakfast (that’s for an 11 lb. dog) and we have no more upset tummy! It really works. She gets a light breakfast and she is good till dinner even driving over the roughest roads. So much for those folks who say, “Don’t feed your dog before a car ride.” it’s just a bunch of horse feathers! Lindsey is a great traveler now at age 2 1/2 and is loving this trip with all the new sniffs at every stop.
In Canada both in Alberta & the Yukon they have a new way of keeping their grocery carts from wondering all over the parking lot. We first encountered this at a Safeway store after leaving the Jasper area and then again at a Wal-Mart farther up the Alaskan Hwy. There is a coin operated chain system that is on each cart and works this way; you insert a coin to release the shopping cart. Then when you leave the store you return the cart to the proper area and attaché it to the line of other carts with this chain that has a key on the end. They attach each to the next like the luggage carts at the airport. When you insert the key into the back of the device your coin is returned to you. Their shopping carts are corralled and you have spent no money. It is pretty smart. Safeway costs a quarter and at Wal-Mart you have to invest a “Lunie” AKA a dollar coin.
In Canada they have “Lunies” that are a dollar and “Tunies” that are 2 dollars. Their folding money is big & thick. I call it ‘Pink Money.” Bill calls it “Play Money.”
Here is one for you……S.A.D. A clinical condition I had never heard of. It’s called Seasonal Affective Disorder. If you watch ‘Men in Trees’ you may have heard of it but up here it is apparently quite a common affliction that people get from not getting enough sunshine in the winter time. Yes, really! It’s like depression from not enough vitamin D sort of Cabin Fever treated with artificial sunlight, tanning booth (if they have them) sun lamps, vitamins etc.
We have noticed RV’s up here in Alaska as we move around the countryside and the differences are these;
Lindsey has been a dream dog on this trip. We have been on the road over a month. Never in one place over 4 nights. She is quite happy with our routine in fact I think she may like the traveling days best as she gets to spend most of her time on my lap. This is a far cry from a year ago when she was a nervous wreck and would get all sick. Today we are near Homer in the small town of Ninilchik. We are drying out from Seward our wettest destination so far so between her rain parka & her fowl weather mutlucks, she was set but she is not too crazy about either especially at the same time. Bathing and grooming is another issue. I bathed her after week 2 but white is not the best color for a road dog. Today she got her second bath. It was fairly warm, 55 degrees. The outside temps have been in the 40's so I took my best shot. It will be a while before I can get her groomed & clipped because in these little towns, if they even have a groomer they have never seen a Bichon Frize let alone clipped one. No great shakes. We will see what she looks like as a long hair. She may end up looking like a toy sheep dog! The best thing to happen to this dog was the addition of pumpkin to her daily diet. She gets 4 fingers full every morning before breakfast (that’s for an 11 lb. dog) and we have no more upset tummy! It really works. She gets a light breakfast and she is good till dinner even driving over the roughest roads. So much for those folks who say, “Don’t feed your dog before a car ride.” it’s just a bunch of horse feathers! Lindsey is a great traveler now at age 2 1/2 and is loving this trip with all the new sniffs at every stop.
In Canada both in Alberta & the Yukon they have a new way of keeping their grocery carts from wondering all over the parking lot. We first encountered this at a Safeway store after leaving the Jasper area and then again at a Wal-Mart farther up the Alaskan Hwy. There is a coin operated chain system that is on each cart and works this way; you insert a coin to release the shopping cart. Then when you leave the store you return the cart to the proper area and attaché it to the line of other carts with this chain that has a key on the end. They attach each to the next like the luggage carts at the airport. When you insert the key into the back of the device your coin is returned to you. Their shopping carts are corralled and you have spent no money. It is pretty smart. Safeway costs a quarter and at Wal-Mart you have to invest a “Lunie” AKA a dollar coin.
In Canada they have “Lunies” that are a dollar and “Tunies” that are 2 dollars. Their folding money is big & thick. I call it ‘Pink Money.” Bill calls it “Play Money.”
Here is one for you……S.A.D. A clinical condition I had never heard of. It’s called Seasonal Affective Disorder. If you watch ‘Men in Trees’ you may have heard of it but up here it is apparently quite a common affliction that people get from not getting enough sunshine in the winter time. Yes, really! It’s like depression from not enough vitamin D sort of Cabin Fever treated with artificial sunlight, tanning booth (if they have them) sun lamps, vitamins etc.
We have noticed RV’s up here in Alaska as we move around the countryside and the differences are these;
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Seward took it’s time coming out of the clouds!
Recorded June 24, 2009
It’s a short 130 miles from Anchorage to Seward. Plenty of Alaskans head out to Seward and Homer to vacation in the summer. When Linda asks the lady at the information center along the way if the forecast was for the current rain to continue, she said “the forecast is always for rain…it’s a Rain Forest.” And so went our visit to Seward, Alaska. It was real plain that the area was beautiful even with the storm but it must be magnificent on a clear day. The Rugged mountains were still painted with snow and hiding among the low clouds that seemed to just cling to them. The inlets with the rivers coming down to the ocean everywhere make the area a magnet for every kind of fisherman. Saltwater fishing from the banks, deep sea fishing, lake & stream fresh water fishing, you name it they are all here! This is one of the few roads on the trip that we will be retracing. We are hopeful that the weather will be clear on our next passage.
It was pouring when we arrived. That would have been sort of OK but it was also very cold. I’m such a Californian. I do not do cold well. We wanted to go to the Alaskan Sealife Center but opted to wait until the next day & maybe some sun.
In the morning it was sunny for a bit then intermittent clouds and rain but still really cold! I was able to get a few pictures that seem to capture the essence of the area. It is spectacular. At the Alaskan Sealife Center we learned the Seward is at the mouth of Resurrection Bay. Alaskan Sealife Center was built as a result of the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 with mostly funds from the settlement. It is a full aquarium & research facility plus an animal rescue & rehabilitation center. We spent most of our second day in town at the center. We would have loved to browse the town but for the chill.
On Wednesday we got our wish because it was warm… well warmer ….like 50 degrees instead of 40! When we got up it was beautiful. The lingering clouds were clinging to the mountain tops. We drove 9 miles to Exit Glacier and walked the half mile path to the look out point. It was not as cold as we expected.
We were able to see the marks of where the glacier had receded from the past 130 years.
From the glacier we did get to down town and by 2:00 PM we packed up our coaches and were on our way in the direction of Homer for the next few days.
It’s a short 130 miles from Anchorage to Seward. Plenty of Alaskans head out to Seward and Homer to vacation in the summer. When Linda asks the lady at the information center along the way if the forecast was for the current rain to continue, she said “the forecast is always for rain…it’s a Rain Forest.” And so went our visit to Seward, Alaska. It was real plain that the area was beautiful even with the storm but it must be magnificent on a clear day. The Rugged mountains were still painted with snow and hiding among the low clouds that seemed to just cling to them. The inlets with the rivers coming down to the ocean everywhere make the area a magnet for every kind of fisherman. Saltwater fishing from the banks, deep sea fishing, lake & stream fresh water fishing, you name it they are all here! This is one of the few roads on the trip that we will be retracing. We are hopeful that the weather will be clear on our next passage.
It was pouring when we arrived. That would have been sort of OK but it was also very cold. I’m such a Californian. I do not do cold well. We wanted to go to the Alaskan Sealife Center but opted to wait until the next day & maybe some sun.
In the morning it was sunny for a bit then intermittent clouds and rain but still really cold! I was able to get a few pictures that seem to capture the essence of the area. It is spectacular. At the Alaskan Sealife Center we learned the Seward is at the mouth of Resurrection Bay. Alaskan Sealife Center was built as a result of the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 with mostly funds from the settlement. It is a full aquarium & research facility plus an animal rescue & rehabilitation center. We spent most of our second day in town at the center. We would have loved to browse the town but for the chill.
On Wednesday we got our wish because it was warm… well warmer ….like 50 degrees instead of 40! When we got up it was beautiful. The lingering clouds were clinging to the mountain tops. We drove 9 miles to Exit Glacier and walked the half mile path to the look out point. It was not as cold as we expected.
We were able to see the marks of where the glacier had receded from the past 130 years.
From the glacier we did get to down town and by 2:00 PM we packed up our coaches and were on our way in the direction of Homer for the next few days.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Denali was a bust! On to Anchorage.
Recorded June 21, 2009
As expected the weather turner cool as we arrived in Denali Village on Wednesday afternoon the 17th. We did make one notable stop on the drive south on the Parks Hwy from Fairbanks. It was in Nenanan a tiny little town that is trying in a very big way to be a tourist town. It has exactly 2 things going for it….well 2+1/2 if you count the really old grocery store that’s supposed to be the oldest in the state or something but it had a real bad mildew problem so I do not think they should be sending folks there. Anyway Nenana is where in 1923 President Warren Harding drove the golden spike to complete the Alaskan Railroad. Nenana also has a very unique contest. It is a national guessing game where by every year since 1917 one can purchase a chance (today’s price $2.50) naming the date and time the Nenanan River ice will break up casting the town 15’ high Totem structure down into the depths of the river. Last year the prize was $300,000 split 3 ways. This little place has been trying to become important for over 90 years. Now they have a few historic buildings but I think they could use some marketing help.
The road trip was an easy one. Our Milepost makes every single sight along the way an easy talking point. The road was not too bad but just to keep us honest on nearly every highway there is a few hundred feet of gravel about 5 to 15 miles apart. These gravel patches come without much warning only a couple cones.
Once settled in our campsites in Denali Village which is a few miles from the park and in spite of the chill we made plans for the evening. ‘Cabin Night’ Dinner house theater is the local show in the village for all the tour folk. It's Fanny the roadhouse owner & her hubby's lite hearted history of the park and its first park manages. It’s all based in fact though little silly honk-e-tonk & a little slapstick but a fun down home night. Bill & I recognized the players from our last visit in 2006 so I guess they all have a regular gig.
Denali National Park was big on Linda & Bill’s to do list for Thursday. They left at 6:00 AM and did not return to the RV Park until 6:00 PM. Because it had been raining on & off all afternoon with dense low clouds and visibility of about 50’, they were disappointed. Bill & I had done the whole day bus trip into the park in 06’ so we choose to pass, knowing that it was cold, uncomfortable & we did not see many animals on the 2 X 80+ miles of gravel mountain roads in & out. They had no chance of seeing Mt. McKinley’s 20,320 proud feet either. We have seen so many animals so far on this trip that it was OK but it’s probably not something one would do twice.
I made a pot of stew for all of us to share as we planned our next days trek to Anchorage about 220 miles southwest.
We kept waking up all night the night of Thursday the 18th. It rained hard and it rained all night long. The guys were out in it hooking up the tow cars in the morning as it did not le up until around 11:00 AM. We were lucky because we were headed south and the storm was headed north so by the time we got to the little town of Talkeetna we had a beautiful day and even a lovely lunch outside. Takkeetna is a place that Bill says reminds him of Knott’s Berry Farm of about 30 years ago. It is really quaint with many historic buildings but its real claim to fame is many of the river float trips and Mt. McKinley Fly Tours originate there. It is located where three rivers merge together. Being 14 miles off the main highway we were very happy we stopped. Please see the pictures I continue to post on my Facebook page. You do not have to join Facebook to view the pictures, just look for Pam Dickey.
From Talkeetna it was 2 or so more hours to Anchorage. We were not really thinking ahead because we have made no reservations thus far on this voyage but we had spent 3 hours in Talkeetna. It was getting late. It was Friday night on Father’s Day Weekend & the Summer Solstice (A very Big Deal up here!). We had no reservation! I called ahead and got the last 2 big rig spots at the Golden Nugget RV Park. It was a so so park but come to find out ……They fed us dinner both Friday & Saturday so the $40+ per night was not so bad after all. Upon our arrival we find out that morning Bill Moorhead started to catch a cold. Well being the macho guy that would never admit to being (Talk to Linda!), he said he was fine and was happy to go and do what ever any of us wanted to do including sitting out in the 40 degree cold.
We spent 3 nights in Anchorage and on Saturday the 20th Billy & I were happy to be in a city and able to replenish our supplies at Wal-Mart, Costco & Fred Meyer, so that was our Saturday but Bill & Linda went off to visit some Iditarod Dogs. We did separately find time to do some sight seeing in downtown Anchorage at the open air market. It was wonderful. We had been to so many tourist events where they reinvent history for you that it was great to see how the real families, vendors & craftspeople spend their Saturday afternoon. We found every kind of carved birch item, Birch Syrup, Carved tusks & antlers, an unbelievable fur concession and lots of locally crafted jewelry. We even saw a woman who made area rugs, tots & purses plus sold her patterns out of trash bags & old cassette tapes! We had an amazing lunch of salmon Quesada’s. So YUMMIE we even got the recipe! This was a very good day.
On Sunday it got very cold all day, as cold as it ever gets in the desert in winter. It tried to rain on us but all it did was spoil our plans. We were headed up to Flat Top Mountain to get some pictures of the city but that was not to be. Instead we went downtown and took a trolley ride around the town. The driver had lived in the local area his whole life but from his jokes I gathered he has never been elsewhere. It was a nice tour but the best part was when he took us to the airport. It was unlike any airport you will ever see. Lakes, lakes and more lakes! Only a few planes were on the ground. We saw hundreds of floatplanes. We saw zero commercial airliners but he said it was the international airport but WOW. It was huge. It could have been one of his odd jokes. He did explain how dependant the entire state was on small planes as they have so few roads and the area is twice the state of Texas. As for learning something how about this; while talking with a shopkeeper we were told that last summer Anchorage only saw 3 or days of sunshine all summer long. I guess we should not complain. That would also explain why everyone seems to be in a party mood.
Well on we go it is Summer Solstice so we are out for the evening to a micro-brewery called Moose’s Tooth for Pizza. Linda say’s it is highly recommended. We would agree as we had a terrific pizza night!
Tomorrow June 22nd we again are on the road. This time it’s Seward only about 120 scenic miles south on the Keni peninsula.
As expected the weather turner cool as we arrived in Denali Village on Wednesday afternoon the 17th. We did make one notable stop on the drive south on the Parks Hwy from Fairbanks. It was in Nenanan a tiny little town that is trying in a very big way to be a tourist town. It has exactly 2 things going for it….well 2+1/2 if you count the really old grocery store that’s supposed to be the oldest in the state or something but it had a real bad mildew problem so I do not think they should be sending folks there. Anyway Nenana is where in 1923 President Warren Harding drove the golden spike to complete the Alaskan Railroad. Nenana also has a very unique contest. It is a national guessing game where by every year since 1917 one can purchase a chance (today’s price $2.50) naming the date and time the Nenanan River ice will break up casting the town 15’ high Totem structure down into the depths of the river. Last year the prize was $300,000 split 3 ways. This little place has been trying to become important for over 90 years. Now they have a few historic buildings but I think they could use some marketing help.
The road trip was an easy one. Our Milepost makes every single sight along the way an easy talking point. The road was not too bad but just to keep us honest on nearly every highway there is a few hundred feet of gravel about 5 to 15 miles apart. These gravel patches come without much warning only a couple cones.
Once settled in our campsites in Denali Village which is a few miles from the park and in spite of the chill we made plans for the evening. ‘Cabin Night’ Dinner house theater is the local show in the village for all the tour folk. It's Fanny the roadhouse owner & her hubby's lite hearted history of the park and its first park manages. It’s all based in fact though little silly honk-e-tonk & a little slapstick but a fun down home night. Bill & I recognized the players from our last visit in 2006 so I guess they all have a regular gig.
Denali National Park was big on Linda & Bill’s to do list for Thursday. They left at 6:00 AM and did not return to the RV Park until 6:00 PM. Because it had been raining on & off all afternoon with dense low clouds and visibility of about 50’, they were disappointed. Bill & I had done the whole day bus trip into the park in 06’ so we choose to pass, knowing that it was cold, uncomfortable & we did not see many animals on the 2 X 80+ miles of gravel mountain roads in & out. They had no chance of seeing Mt. McKinley’s 20,320 proud feet either. We have seen so many animals so far on this trip that it was OK but it’s probably not something one would do twice.
I made a pot of stew for all of us to share as we planned our next days trek to Anchorage about 220 miles southwest.
We kept waking up all night the night of Thursday the 18th. It rained hard and it rained all night long. The guys were out in it hooking up the tow cars in the morning as it did not le up until around 11:00 AM. We were lucky because we were headed south and the storm was headed north so by the time we got to the little town of Talkeetna we had a beautiful day and even a lovely lunch outside. Takkeetna is a place that Bill says reminds him of Knott’s Berry Farm of about 30 years ago. It is really quaint with many historic buildings but its real claim to fame is many of the river float trips and Mt. McKinley Fly Tours originate there. It is located where three rivers merge together. Being 14 miles off the main highway we were very happy we stopped. Please see the pictures I continue to post on my Facebook page. You do not have to join Facebook to view the pictures, just look for Pam Dickey.
From Talkeetna it was 2 or so more hours to Anchorage. We were not really thinking ahead because we have made no reservations thus far on this voyage but we had spent 3 hours in Talkeetna. It was getting late. It was Friday night on Father’s Day Weekend & the Summer Solstice (A very Big Deal up here!). We had no reservation! I called ahead and got the last 2 big rig spots at the Golden Nugget RV Park. It was a so so park but come to find out ……They fed us dinner both Friday & Saturday so the $40+ per night was not so bad after all. Upon our arrival we find out that morning Bill Moorhead started to catch a cold. Well being the macho guy that would never admit to being (Talk to Linda!), he said he was fine and was happy to go and do what ever any of us wanted to do including sitting out in the 40 degree cold.
We spent 3 nights in Anchorage and on Saturday the 20th Billy & I were happy to be in a city and able to replenish our supplies at Wal-Mart, Costco & Fred Meyer, so that was our Saturday but Bill & Linda went off to visit some Iditarod Dogs. We did separately find time to do some sight seeing in downtown Anchorage at the open air market. It was wonderful. We had been to so many tourist events where they reinvent history for you that it was great to see how the real families, vendors & craftspeople spend their Saturday afternoon. We found every kind of carved birch item, Birch Syrup, Carved tusks & antlers, an unbelievable fur concession and lots of locally crafted jewelry. We even saw a woman who made area rugs, tots & purses plus sold her patterns out of trash bags & old cassette tapes! We had an amazing lunch of salmon Quesada’s. So YUMMIE we even got the recipe! This was a very good day.
On Sunday it got very cold all day, as cold as it ever gets in the desert in winter. It tried to rain on us but all it did was spoil our plans. We were headed up to Flat Top Mountain to get some pictures of the city but that was not to be. Instead we went downtown and took a trolley ride around the town. The driver had lived in the local area his whole life but from his jokes I gathered he has never been elsewhere. It was a nice tour but the best part was when he took us to the airport. It was unlike any airport you will ever see. Lakes, lakes and more lakes! Only a few planes were on the ground. We saw hundreds of floatplanes. We saw zero commercial airliners but he said it was the international airport but WOW. It was huge. It could have been one of his odd jokes. He did explain how dependant the entire state was on small planes as they have so few roads and the area is twice the state of Texas. As for learning something how about this; while talking with a shopkeeper we were told that last summer Anchorage only saw 3 or days of sunshine all summer long. I guess we should not complain. That would also explain why everyone seems to be in a party mood.
Well on we go it is Summer Solstice so we are out for the evening to a micro-brewery called Moose’s Tooth for Pizza. Linda say’s it is highly recommended. We would agree as we had a terrific pizza night!
Tomorrow June 22nd we again are on the road. This time it’s Seward only about 120 scenic miles south on the Keni peninsula.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
North is Really Really North......Fairbanks
Recorded June 17th 2009
Well there I went and did it! Here it is nearly a week later and I’m just now making my next post. Boy I hope it has not all turned to mud in my head.
Here goes……
Waiting for mail in Tok cost us a couple of days. I guess ‘Second Day Mail’, in Tok means 4 days. It really did not matter because the weather turned south and as we waited for the rain to stop the mail finally arrived on Saturday. So without TV and with only intermittent internet service we were finally able to make use of some of the 60+ DVD’s Brad sent along in this “one horse town”.
Finally on Sunday the 14th with our mail biz taken care of and the weather clear we left for Fairbanks to catch up with the Moorhead’s who left the day before Saturday.
We made a couple of stops along the 220 mile drive to the northern most destination of our trip. The first stop was at a local meat & sausage plant who packages up smoked elk, buffalo, yak and reindeer. We tried all the samples and made our purchases then were on our way. They really good! The first half of the road was very good compared to our last travel day. We have seen no animals since the Yukon Territory. The road was only OK on the second half but the vistas were beautiful. We were definitely in the permafrost zone as all the pine trees were short little things and as we learned in our prior trip these trees are very old but their route systems can only penetrate 3 feet before they hit the permafrost
Our next stop was also a tour bus spot & and a reminder of our Holland America tour of 2006. Rika’s Roadhouse is a National Historical Site today from the late 1800’s that was run 12 months a year by a woman who lived into her 90’s. It is located midway between Tok & Fairbanks on Hwy 2. The site grew into a major travel stop & river/ferry crossing during the first half of the 20th century. Today the highway crosses on a major bridge & pipeline. Dozens of documents are displayed in the original sod roof cabin. Many out building cover several acres along the river in a picturesque location. The main house was built in the 20’s. The whole stopover was a pleasant step back in time.
As we approached Fairbanks we blew right through the town of the North Pole without stopping. Because I promised Garrett that I would put in a good word for him when we got to the North Pole, I decided that a txt would do the trick. It did the trick as I got a response that they got my message!
We arrived in Fairbanks, in the early afternoon to the sunshine and a few clouds. Fairbanks is a completely different climate then (200 mi south) Tok or (400+ mi west) Anchorage. The summer temps are in the 70’s & even into the 90’s which is a good 20 degrees warmer in the summer then its neighbors. However, the winter temps are in the -20 to -40 average! They say that Fairbanks can have a 100 degree temperature range..
Our RV Park, The River’s Edge, was the nicest one yet. No dust, right on the river, beautiful trees, nestled in a nice location. If it were not for the mosquitoes, it would have been perfect. But there have been mosquitoes in EVERY cubic foot of air space so far …..So they can not count…..except to make Billy nuts.
We met up with Bill & Linda Moorhead and were treated to a wonderful home made spaghetti dinner. Linda went to a lot of trouble and Bill took all the credit, as usual. We made big plans for the local attractions the next day. I can’t say enough about the Moorhead’s as traveling companions. They are so good to put up with up.
On Monday June the15, we took off for the El Dorado Gold Mine Tour where we toured the mine, learned all about a large mining operation and got a feel for how many zillion dollars were mined out of Alaska in about 20 years. Oh yes the highlight…We panned for gold…. Like in 2006 we took home a few dollars worth. It was a lot more fun then you would think. There really is a technique to it. You really grow to understand the whole gold fever thing.
After a quick stop to let the dog out & sneak a snack we were off to the Discovery Sternwheeler Tour. Boy are we tourists today! Seriously ……This was a really good tour the 4 decker sternwheeler tour co. is owned by the Beasley family, the same family that operated it during the early 20th Century. They have become great concessionaires as they also own the El Dorado Gold Mine Tour and are refurbishing Gold Dredge #8 which Bill & I visited 3 years ago.
The Sternwheeler Tour included lots of events not just a boat ride. I particularly enjoy the homes on the river & I took lot of pictures. They had a bush pilot demonstration, take off & land. We watched a complete demonstration of sled dog operation. It was operated by Susan Boutcher and her husband Dave Monson before her death from leukemia 3 years ago at age 56. Dave gave us a complete run down on their training method including the puppies. He concluded with the dogs pulling him on his ATV around the dirt track. Those dogs really love to run and at 20 to 25 mph! Their reward was to take a dip in the ice cold river upon their return.
The Sternwheeler continued up the Chena River greeting famous locals along the banks. The views on all sides were really breathtaking for this Californian! The main stop was at an authentic Athabascan Fish Camp. We were taken through the history of the Athabascan Indians who populated this region for thousands of years. We were guided by several young Athabascan women who are working to preserve their heritage.
This was not the end of our day oh no, no, no! Linda, our in house tour director has the research ability of god. More history and dinner was in store for us. The Pump House Restaurant was just that, in the early 1900’s it pumped the river water 400’ up the hill forcing the gold rich earth out of the mine where the miners could get to it. Most all the original equipment is still there. It was w beautiful interesting building and we had a delicious meal.
This is a nuts place! It’s really hard to get over. After dinner in a typical evening at 8:00 PM it’s bright & sunny like 4:00 in the afternoon. You may get involved in some project and the next thing you know it is 11:00 PM. Kids are still boating/jet skiing on the river & folks are dog walking. On the Summer Soloists, next week, June 21st Fairbanks has a midnight baseball game. It starts at 10:30 PM under natural light!
Our last day, all 23 plus hours of daylight, in Fairbanks anyway, is starting at the University of Alaska Museum. As Linda discovered it is top rated nationally. It is becoming quite clear that we will arrive home knowing much more about all things Alaskan then anything in the lower 48 never mind California. This was an amazing museum. To think that the Indians and everything there survived thousands of these below zero winters is truly beyond me. I have never experienced zero degrees. I look around at these sweet people I just can not imagine. The most memorable were the two films first was The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), second was the Winter. The Northern Lights are very famous but are only visible in the winter. The movie explained the tremendous electrical charge that develops creating the vibrant waves of color. The Winter film really helped diagram /explain the long days & nights.
From the University Museum which set high on a hill where on a clear day over 200 miles away 20,000 foot high Mt. McKinley (Denali) is said to be visible, we left for the The Howling Dog Saloon. We had to check out this local hangout. It can only be described by a So. Californian girl as an Alaskan equivalent to Cook’s Corker in south Orange County. It had bras hanging from a chandelier and dollar bills with notes on them stapled all over the ceiling. It was definitely a tough bar wa’na’be. They say you might meet people from any walk of life there. The part we liked best was the life sized cardboard image of Hillary with an unflattering stash and several notations posted on her body. They also are having a Summer Soloists event called Foodstock. It’s a jam session for bands with the price of admission being canned goods. We have stopped at several of this style bar along the way most seem to favor baseball caps on the ceiling. I think I like this one the best, at least so far.
We ended this our final Fairbanks day at Pioneer Park where they have lots of old town buildings & park grounds but they also due up a huge all you can eat halibut fish fry + salmon bake + prime rib night…every night of the week!
Tomorrow will take us to Denali.
Well there I went and did it! Here it is nearly a week later and I’m just now making my next post. Boy I hope it has not all turned to mud in my head.
Here goes……
Waiting for mail in Tok cost us a couple of days. I guess ‘Second Day Mail’, in Tok means 4 days. It really did not matter because the weather turned south and as we waited for the rain to stop the mail finally arrived on Saturday. So without TV and with only intermittent internet service we were finally able to make use of some of the 60+ DVD’s Brad sent along in this “one horse town”.
Finally on Sunday the 14th with our mail biz taken care of and the weather clear we left for Fairbanks to catch up with the Moorhead’s who left the day before Saturday.
We made a couple of stops along the 220 mile drive to the northern most destination of our trip. The first stop was at a local meat & sausage plant who packages up smoked elk, buffalo, yak and reindeer. We tried all the samples and made our purchases then were on our way. They really good! The first half of the road was very good compared to our last travel day. We have seen no animals since the Yukon Territory. The road was only OK on the second half but the vistas were beautiful. We were definitely in the permafrost zone as all the pine trees were short little things and as we learned in our prior trip these trees are very old but their route systems can only penetrate 3 feet before they hit the permafrost
Our next stop was also a tour bus spot & and a reminder of our Holland America tour of 2006. Rika’s Roadhouse is a National Historical Site today from the late 1800’s that was run 12 months a year by a woman who lived into her 90’s. It is located midway between Tok & Fairbanks on Hwy 2. The site grew into a major travel stop & river/ferry crossing during the first half of the 20th century. Today the highway crosses on a major bridge & pipeline. Dozens of documents are displayed in the original sod roof cabin. Many out building cover several acres along the river in a picturesque location. The main house was built in the 20’s. The whole stopover was a pleasant step back in time.
As we approached Fairbanks we blew right through the town of the North Pole without stopping. Because I promised Garrett that I would put in a good word for him when we got to the North Pole, I decided that a txt would do the trick. It did the trick as I got a response that they got my message!
We arrived in Fairbanks, in the early afternoon to the sunshine and a few clouds. Fairbanks is a completely different climate then (200 mi south) Tok or (400+ mi west) Anchorage. The summer temps are in the 70’s & even into the 90’s which is a good 20 degrees warmer in the summer then its neighbors. However, the winter temps are in the -20 to -40 average! They say that Fairbanks can have a 100 degree temperature range..
Our RV Park, The River’s Edge, was the nicest one yet. No dust, right on the river, beautiful trees, nestled in a nice location. If it were not for the mosquitoes, it would have been perfect. But there have been mosquitoes in EVERY cubic foot of air space so far …..So they can not count…..except to make Billy nuts.
We met up with Bill & Linda Moorhead and were treated to a wonderful home made spaghetti dinner. Linda went to a lot of trouble and Bill took all the credit, as usual. We made big plans for the local attractions the next day. I can’t say enough about the Moorhead’s as traveling companions. They are so good to put up with up.
On Monday June the15, we took off for the El Dorado Gold Mine Tour where we toured the mine, learned all about a large mining operation and got a feel for how many zillion dollars were mined out of Alaska in about 20 years. Oh yes the highlight…We panned for gold…. Like in 2006 we took home a few dollars worth. It was a lot more fun then you would think. There really is a technique to it. You really grow to understand the whole gold fever thing.
After a quick stop to let the dog out & sneak a snack we were off to the Discovery Sternwheeler Tour. Boy are we tourists today! Seriously ……This was a really good tour the 4 decker sternwheeler tour co. is owned by the Beasley family, the same family that operated it during the early 20th Century. They have become great concessionaires as they also own the El Dorado Gold Mine Tour and are refurbishing Gold Dredge #8 which Bill & I visited 3 years ago.
The Sternwheeler Tour included lots of events not just a boat ride. I particularly enjoy the homes on the river & I took lot of pictures. They had a bush pilot demonstration, take off & land. We watched a complete demonstration of sled dog operation. It was operated by Susan Boutcher and her husband Dave Monson before her death from leukemia 3 years ago at age 56. Dave gave us a complete run down on their training method including the puppies. He concluded with the dogs pulling him on his ATV around the dirt track. Those dogs really love to run and at 20 to 25 mph! Their reward was to take a dip in the ice cold river upon their return.
The Sternwheeler continued up the Chena River greeting famous locals along the banks. The views on all sides were really breathtaking for this Californian! The main stop was at an authentic Athabascan Fish Camp. We were taken through the history of the Athabascan Indians who populated this region for thousands of years. We were guided by several young Athabascan women who are working to preserve their heritage.
This was not the end of our day oh no, no, no! Linda, our in house tour director has the research ability of god. More history and dinner was in store for us. The Pump House Restaurant was just that, in the early 1900’s it pumped the river water 400’ up the hill forcing the gold rich earth out of the mine where the miners could get to it. Most all the original equipment is still there. It was w beautiful interesting building and we had a delicious meal.
This is a nuts place! It’s really hard to get over. After dinner in a typical evening at 8:00 PM it’s bright & sunny like 4:00 in the afternoon. You may get involved in some project and the next thing you know it is 11:00 PM. Kids are still boating/jet skiing on the river & folks are dog walking. On the Summer Soloists, next week, June 21st Fairbanks has a midnight baseball game. It starts at 10:30 PM under natural light!
Our last day, all 23 plus hours of daylight, in Fairbanks anyway, is starting at the University of Alaska Museum. As Linda discovered it is top rated nationally. It is becoming quite clear that we will arrive home knowing much more about all things Alaskan then anything in the lower 48 never mind California. This was an amazing museum. To think that the Indians and everything there survived thousands of these below zero winters is truly beyond me. I have never experienced zero degrees. I look around at these sweet people I just can not imagine. The most memorable were the two films first was The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), second was the Winter. The Northern Lights are very famous but are only visible in the winter. The movie explained the tremendous electrical charge that develops creating the vibrant waves of color. The Winter film really helped diagram /explain the long days & nights.
From the University Museum which set high on a hill where on a clear day over 200 miles away 20,000 foot high Mt. McKinley (Denali) is said to be visible, we left for the The Howling Dog Saloon. We had to check out this local hangout. It can only be described by a So. Californian girl as an Alaskan equivalent to Cook’s Corker in south Orange County. It had bras hanging from a chandelier and dollar bills with notes on them stapled all over the ceiling. It was definitely a tough bar wa’na’be. They say you might meet people from any walk of life there. The part we liked best was the life sized cardboard image of Hillary with an unflattering stash and several notations posted on her body. They also are having a Summer Soloists event called Foodstock. It’s a jam session for bands with the price of admission being canned goods. We have stopped at several of this style bar along the way most seem to favor baseball caps on the ceiling. I think I like this one the best, at least so far.
We ended this our final Fairbanks day at Pioneer Park where they have lots of old town buildings & park grounds but they also due up a huge all you can eat halibut fish fry + salmon bake + prime rib night…every night of the week!
Tomorrow will take us to Denali.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Top of the World Highway to Tok, Alaska
9 Top of the World Highway to Tok, Alaska Recorded Thursday June 11th 2009
Recorded Thursday June 11th 2009
On Tuesday June the 9th we had a significant day for several reasons. It ended our 3rd week on this road trip and began our first day in Alaska. It was a couple of other firsts as well. It was the most hair raising and dirtiest to date as well!
Our original route north was to stay on the Alaskan Hwy to Tok, some 1,500 plus miles northwest to Fairbanks. We were going to avoid the longer more difficult route via Dawson City as we had been there 3 years earlier but after arriving at Whitehorse and having 2 days to rest Bill decided he was up for the Klondike Hwy to Dawson City and therefore the Top of the World (Taylor) Hwy to Tok. This is a much more scenic, interesting route as well as unpaved roads, washboards, heaves, potholes, a ferry across the Yukon and a general pain in the but. Billy said OK. I had my doubts but off we went. He lived to regret his choice! It was a rough day of driving and an hour wait for the tiny little ferry to cross the Yukon River in Dawson City but he somehow survived it in spite of his disagreeable nature, I somehow survived too!
As the ferry landed on the western side of the Yukon River a fox sat there to greet us as we drove off. He is known in the area as word had gotten around about his presence. Bill M. gave him ham which he ate out of his hand. As we bounced along the next 100 or so mostly unpaved miles I realized why they called this highway ‘The Top of The World”. It was quite amazing. Most of the time we were on the ridge line looking out on both sides. We could see for many miles in all directions the mountain ranges, hills and valleys. This went on and on. Poor Billy was stuck swerving and making the switchbacks while avoiding all the junk in the road but I was awestruck. There were some white knucklers with scary drop-offs and of course there were zero guard rails! He can be a real grouch!
About only 105 miles later we arrived in Chicken whose 21 summer residents operate all the concessions in this odd little place. With little water and generators for electricity, this community has gold rush history too. The original 1880’s town is still here (all 15 buildings) open for tours daily. The old dredge is here too. The marketing for a town in the middle of nowhere with the name Chicken is way over the top, as you can imagine, plus all the tour busses stop here. If you wonder how it might have gotten the name ‘CHICKEN’, well it seems that the founding fathers could not spell the name of the local bird the Ptarmigan so they named it Chicken. They love outhouses, lots of them. You can play tin can golf at the Chicken Creek Country Club and nearly every building looks like it should be torn down! It’s all for fun and exists at a perfect point 80 miles from Tok and 105 miles from Dawson City on the worst road we have ever traveled.
The journey from Chicken to Tok was only some better. While the road was about 2/3rds paved, the pavement was in need of repair with heaves and pot holes. We were experts at lousy roads by the time we got to Tok.
We were very excited to arrive in Tok. It is three weeks and we will get mail! Not that we expect anything of meaning but after traveling this far we are feeling a bit disconnected.
Tok is basically a crossroads on the map at the intersection of the Highway to Anchorage and the highway to Fairbanks. The absolute first thing we did was wash the coaches and tow cars. All were brown from the journey inside & out.
Tok has one of all the essential things except campgrounds; they have 6 and nail salons they have zero. There are lots of other things they do not have in Tok, like anything to do. I did not ask about dog groomers as we have not gotten to that yet. Necessities are expensive & scares. One gallon of bottled water was $2.05. The campground is great. It’s called Sourdough which is used a lot up here. It means native as opposed to Chichaco which is a newcomer or someone who has never spent a winter in Alaska. They do a pancake toss for a free breakfast. They make dinner, Reindeer chili, at night. It’s cool but throwing a little reindeer sausage should not make it Reindeer Chili. We tried to see the sights but there really aren’t any so we settled for a free lunch at the local power company at their customer appreciation day. We were served burgers, dogs, sides plus Ice cream cones & cake. We struck it rich in Tok with a free lunch! Bill M. was extra happy because there was a full demo of the Tok Volunteer Fire department so he got to spend yet another hour talking shop. It turns out that these volunteer folks are the only first responders for 100 miles in any direction. When an emergency happens they are on their own for up to 3 hours. Now I feel like we are really out there!
We will get our mail & be off to Fairbanks where there is a bit more civilization.
Recorded Thursday June 11th 2009
On Tuesday June the 9th we had a significant day for several reasons. It ended our 3rd week on this road trip and began our first day in Alaska. It was a couple of other firsts as well. It was the most hair raising and dirtiest to date as well!
Our original route north was to stay on the Alaskan Hwy to Tok, some 1,500 plus miles northwest to Fairbanks. We were going to avoid the longer more difficult route via Dawson City as we had been there 3 years earlier but after arriving at Whitehorse and having 2 days to rest Bill decided he was up for the Klondike Hwy to Dawson City and therefore the Top of the World (Taylor) Hwy to Tok. This is a much more scenic, interesting route as well as unpaved roads, washboards, heaves, potholes, a ferry across the Yukon and a general pain in the but. Billy said OK. I had my doubts but off we went. He lived to regret his choice! It was a rough day of driving and an hour wait for the tiny little ferry to cross the Yukon River in Dawson City but he somehow survived it in spite of his disagreeable nature, I somehow survived too!
As the ferry landed on the western side of the Yukon River a fox sat there to greet us as we drove off. He is known in the area as word had gotten around about his presence. Bill M. gave him ham which he ate out of his hand. As we bounced along the next 100 or so mostly unpaved miles I realized why they called this highway ‘The Top of The World”. It was quite amazing. Most of the time we were on the ridge line looking out on both sides. We could see for many miles in all directions the mountain ranges, hills and valleys. This went on and on. Poor Billy was stuck swerving and making the switchbacks while avoiding all the junk in the road but I was awestruck. There were some white knucklers with scary drop-offs and of course there were zero guard rails! He can be a real grouch!
About only 105 miles later we arrived in Chicken whose 21 summer residents operate all the concessions in this odd little place. With little water and generators for electricity, this community has gold rush history too. The original 1880’s town is still here (all 15 buildings) open for tours daily. The old dredge is here too. The marketing for a town in the middle of nowhere with the name Chicken is way over the top, as you can imagine, plus all the tour busses stop here. If you wonder how it might have gotten the name ‘CHICKEN’, well it seems that the founding fathers could not spell the name of the local bird the Ptarmigan so they named it Chicken. They love outhouses, lots of them. You can play tin can golf at the Chicken Creek Country Club and nearly every building looks like it should be torn down! It’s all for fun and exists at a perfect point 80 miles from Tok and 105 miles from Dawson City on the worst road we have ever traveled.
The journey from Chicken to Tok was only some better. While the road was about 2/3rds paved, the pavement was in need of repair with heaves and pot holes. We were experts at lousy roads by the time we got to Tok.
We were very excited to arrive in Tok. It is three weeks and we will get mail! Not that we expect anything of meaning but after traveling this far we are feeling a bit disconnected.
Tok is basically a crossroads on the map at the intersection of the Highway to Anchorage and the highway to Fairbanks. The absolute first thing we did was wash the coaches and tow cars. All were brown from the journey inside & out.
Tok has one of all the essential things except campgrounds; they have 6 and nail salons they have zero. There are lots of other things they do not have in Tok, like anything to do. I did not ask about dog groomers as we have not gotten to that yet. Necessities are expensive & scares. One gallon of bottled water was $2.05. The campground is great. It’s called Sourdough which is used a lot up here. It means native as opposed to Chichaco which is a newcomer or someone who has never spent a winter in Alaska. They do a pancake toss for a free breakfast. They make dinner, Reindeer chili, at night. It’s cool but throwing a little reindeer sausage should not make it Reindeer Chili. We tried to see the sights but there really aren’t any so we settled for a free lunch at the local power company at their customer appreciation day. We were served burgers, dogs, sides plus Ice cream cones & cake. We struck it rich in Tok with a free lunch! Bill M. was extra happy because there was a full demo of the Tok Volunteer Fire department so he got to spend yet another hour talking shop. It turns out that these volunteer folks are the only first responders for 100 miles in any direction. When an emergency happens they are on their own for up to 3 hours. Now I feel like we are really out there!
We will get our mail & be off to Fairbanks where there is a bit more civilization.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
The Alaskan Hwy - Part 2 - The Yukon Territory
The weather has been in the high 80’s but a change is coming. The folks on the news say the heat is causing a water shortage. It sounds like home! On June the 3rd we entered The Yukon Territory continuing on the Alaskan Highway. We stopped after leaving the “Rip-Off” Lake to have breakfast because the ad in our Milepost said that “A thousand truckers can’t be wrong!” It was a quaint and homey spot. We got acquainted with several of those truckers. A good morning.
Trees, trees and more trees plus some rolling hills, pine trees and many more lakes. This is just a magnificent trip. We headed to Watson Lake for the night. It is a tiny town near the junction of the 37 highway south which will be our route back to the USA in a few thousand miles & a couple months. Watson Lake does not even have a fast food restaurant but they do have what the call the Sign Forest. It seems that there is a tradition of bringing your hometown sign or street sign or license plate or whatever sigh and post it in this acre or two area of town. It is a fascinating little place.
We pulled into the High Country RV Park. It’s the nicest place we have seen in a week. Bill & I are doing without TV most of the time, so a little Television was welcome. We got to see what our president was saying about our country in Egypt. (We have only been gone 17 days!)
After completing mile 3,400 and seeing 10 …yes … ten BLACK BEARS in one day along the side of the road in 5 different sightings on Thursday June 4th we arrived in Whitehorse the capital of the Yukon Territory. We were very lucky to be there because there was a forest fire threatening the highway. It was closed the day before and we were escorted through the danger are where we saw flames bursting out on the trees as we drove by. We heard later that the highway was again closed by the end of that day.
On Friday Billy was in need of a day of rest. The Moorhead’s are used to a quicker pace then we are. So the guy’s played golf and the gal’s caught up on what ever. Everything grows like crazy up here, even the grass. Bill said the golf course was like a pasture. The growing season is short being only 4 months without snow, but there is nearly 24 hours a day of sun. This is another interesting thing we are trying to get used to. Every single night we look at the clock and its 9 or 10 or 11 PM and it looks like 5:00 in the afternoon! It does not get dark this far north. It’s the first week of June and it’s twilight all night long. It's hard to go to sleep!
Dinner out Friday night included Musk Ox Stroganoff & Bison Steak on the menu. I had Halibut! Welcome to Whitehorse 37,000 population and that is 60% of the entire Yukon Territory!
Saturday brought us fewer mosquitoes because the wind came up a little. Oh I forgot to mention mosquitoes? Yes there are lots of mosquitoes everywhere we stop. You get to where you really just ignore them. I can not believe I’m saying that. I HATE MOSQUITOES!!! We spray all the stuff. But we all have the bites.
We visited the Klondike flat bottom paddlewheel boat, or Sternwheeler, as they were called from the 1920's. We enjoyed a wonderful historical tour of how gold & silver ore plus all goods and people too moved along the rivers.
About a third of the RV Parks so far have Wi-Fi but you only sometimes get it in your coach. So I find myself communing with nature at a picnic table and a few mosquitoes. I must be the lucky one because I only have three bites so far.
Today, Sunday the 6th of June, we left the Alaskan Hwy and head north on Highway 2/The Klondike Hwy to Dawson City. Now a few days rest!
There are so many folks up here just like us! When we leave here it's the top of the world Hwy to Chicken. These are places we have seen on our Holland Am.Tour 3 years ago but what a blast!
Alaska here we come.......Maybe 2 or 3 more days to Tok our first Alaskan stop!
Trees, trees and more trees plus some rolling hills, pine trees and many more lakes. This is just a magnificent trip. We headed to Watson Lake for the night. It is a tiny town near the junction of the 37 highway south which will be our route back to the USA in a few thousand miles & a couple months. Watson Lake does not even have a fast food restaurant but they do have what the call the Sign Forest. It seems that there is a tradition of bringing your hometown sign or street sign or license plate or whatever sigh and post it in this acre or two area of town. It is a fascinating little place.
We pulled into the High Country RV Park. It’s the nicest place we have seen in a week. Bill & I are doing without TV most of the time, so a little Television was welcome. We got to see what our president was saying about our country in Egypt. (We have only been gone 17 days!)
After completing mile 3,400 and seeing 10 …yes … ten BLACK BEARS in one day along the side of the road in 5 different sightings on Thursday June 4th we arrived in Whitehorse the capital of the Yukon Territory. We were very lucky to be there because there was a forest fire threatening the highway. It was closed the day before and we were escorted through the danger are where we saw flames bursting out on the trees as we drove by. We heard later that the highway was again closed by the end of that day.
On Friday Billy was in need of a day of rest. The Moorhead’s are used to a quicker pace then we are. So the guy’s played golf and the gal’s caught up on what ever. Everything grows like crazy up here, even the grass. Bill said the golf course was like a pasture. The growing season is short being only 4 months without snow, but there is nearly 24 hours a day of sun. This is another interesting thing we are trying to get used to. Every single night we look at the clock and its 9 or 10 or 11 PM and it looks like 5:00 in the afternoon! It does not get dark this far north. It’s the first week of June and it’s twilight all night long. It's hard to go to sleep!
Dinner out Friday night included Musk Ox Stroganoff & Bison Steak on the menu. I had Halibut! Welcome to Whitehorse 37,000 population and that is 60% of the entire Yukon Territory!
Saturday brought us fewer mosquitoes because the wind came up a little. Oh I forgot to mention mosquitoes? Yes there are lots of mosquitoes everywhere we stop. You get to where you really just ignore them. I can not believe I’m saying that. I HATE MOSQUITOES!!! We spray all the stuff. But we all have the bites.
We visited the Klondike flat bottom paddlewheel boat, or Sternwheeler, as they were called from the 1920's. We enjoyed a wonderful historical tour of how gold & silver ore plus all goods and people too moved along the rivers.
About a third of the RV Parks so far have Wi-Fi but you only sometimes get it in your coach. So I find myself communing with nature at a picnic table and a few mosquitoes. I must be the lucky one because I only have three bites so far.
Today, Sunday the 6th of June, we left the Alaskan Hwy and head north on Highway 2/The Klondike Hwy to Dawson City. Now a few days rest!
There are so many folks up here just like us! When we leave here it's the top of the world Hwy to Chicken. These are places we have seen on our Holland Am.Tour 3 years ago but what a blast!
Alaska here we come.......Maybe 2 or 3 more days to Tok our first Alaskan stop!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The Alaskan Highway…….Part 1
Recorded June 2, 2009
We left Dawson Creek by mid day on Monday June 1st headed for a fuel stop at the Shepard’s Inn who boasts the best bakery items around. We bought the fuel & passed on the baked goods then were on our way. We paid $.82 per ltr this time which was about average for our trip so far. In Calgary it was $.90 and we have paid as little as $.73. Oh yes this calculates to $2.81 to $3.46 per gallon of diesel. As far as the exchange rate from U S Dollars to Canadian Dollars, well we are loosing. Before we left the exchange was 1.29 American to 1.00 Canadian. Now it is getting closer to even again.
Having the high part of our day over, or so we though, we settled in for some driving. The big decision was where to spend the night. We went for economy this time and were pleasantly surprised with the Sikinni River Campground. There was not much there but they took our 425 cash and just like their ad said Bill & Linda got a nock on their door and their $25 back! You see if the have more then 15 campers for any one night, they have a drawing for a full refund. The Moorhead’s were the big winners!
That was not the best part. The weather had returned to shirtsleeve perfect and remember, the days are getting longer & longer. It stays light now until about 11:00 PM, so we made a cook out! The Sikinni River Campground, though not much to it, sits at the bottom of a long 6% to 9% grade on both sides. It is a picture perfect little spot. We were next to a raised area where we made a fire and cooked smoked sausage over it & sumoue’s. An end to one of our best days yet!
Highway 97 better known to us now as the Alaska Highway continues northwest through really glorious country where there are very few people & towns or even outposts and most of the ones that do crop up over the years, fail. Tuesday brought us a difficult day for a few reasons. First the driving was tough the road was patchy most of the way. There were no real stops to break up the day for the guys and our destination for the night ended up being the story for the day.
We stop at about 4:00 PM on June 2nd and in need of fuel. The Northern Rockies Lodge fit the bill and it sits right on the most beautiful lake in the world ….so they say. The bad news started when we fueled up. The $1.69 per liter came out to $6.50 per gallon. Highway robbery! It set a bad flavor for the rest of the day. The lodge was great, with floatplane fly-in fishing etc. just extremely expensive. They definitely do not want to become a statistic.
It ended up being a lovely warm day so Lindsey & I took an extra long evening & morning walk. Muncho Lake really was beautiful & we were lucky to see the ice break up. The evening we arrived it was icy and the next morning the ice was gone. The floatplane folks whipped around in their speed boat to help it along however.
Next stop Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory.
We left Dawson Creek by mid day on Monday June 1st headed for a fuel stop at the Shepard’s Inn who boasts the best bakery items around. We bought the fuel & passed on the baked goods then were on our way. We paid $.82 per ltr this time which was about average for our trip so far. In Calgary it was $.90 and we have paid as little as $.73. Oh yes this calculates to $2.81 to $3.46 per gallon of diesel. As far as the exchange rate from U S Dollars to Canadian Dollars, well we are loosing. Before we left the exchange was 1.29 American to 1.00 Canadian. Now it is getting closer to even again.
Having the high part of our day over, or so we though, we settled in for some driving. The big decision was where to spend the night. We went for economy this time and were pleasantly surprised with the Sikinni River Campground. There was not much there but they took our 425 cash and just like their ad said Bill & Linda got a nock on their door and their $25 back! You see if the have more then 15 campers for any one night, they have a drawing for a full refund. The Moorhead’s were the big winners!
That was not the best part. The weather had returned to shirtsleeve perfect and remember, the days are getting longer & longer. It stays light now until about 11:00 PM, so we made a cook out! The Sikinni River Campground, though not much to it, sits at the bottom of a long 6% to 9% grade on both sides. It is a picture perfect little spot. We were next to a raised area where we made a fire and cooked smoked sausage over it & sumoue’s. An end to one of our best days yet!
Highway 97 better known to us now as the Alaska Highway continues northwest through really glorious country where there are very few people & towns or even outposts and most of the ones that do crop up over the years, fail. Tuesday brought us a difficult day for a few reasons. First the driving was tough the road was patchy most of the way. There were no real stops to break up the day for the guys and our destination for the night ended up being the story for the day.
We stop at about 4:00 PM on June 2nd and in need of fuel. The Northern Rockies Lodge fit the bill and it sits right on the most beautiful lake in the world ….so they say. The bad news started when we fueled up. The $1.69 per liter came out to $6.50 per gallon. Highway robbery! It set a bad flavor for the rest of the day. The lodge was great, with floatplane fly-in fishing etc. just extremely expensive. They definitely do not want to become a statistic.
It ended up being a lovely warm day so Lindsey & I took an extra long evening & morning walk. Muncho Lake really was beautiful & we were lucky to see the ice break up. The evening we arrived it was icy and the next morning the ice was gone. The floatplane folks whipped around in their speed boat to help it along however.
Next stop Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Entering the Canadian Rockies
Recorded May 30th 2009
Onto Banff National Park on Thursday May 28, 2009. This was probably the most exciting day of our trip so far. As we leave the flat land and enter the forest, it all starts to come back to me. You know when you have memories that you did not know you remembered. As I am gazing up at the Canadian Rocky Mountains with all of their immense beauty, it was as if Mother Nature took this huge 250 mile long range and carved a big old trench right down the center just for the Trans-Canada Highway.
I begin to pick up bits and pieces of memories of that first camping experience in the summer of 1990. Brad was barely 13 years old and we flew to Calgary, rented a class ‘C’ motorhome. We spent about 2 weeks in this area we are about to pass through. I guess we must have liked the experience because twenty years and 3 RV’s later and here we are again.
We choose a National Park Campground in Lake Louise this time for no particular reason. But we decided to stay two nights to see as much as possible. Immediately upon setting up our home base, we backtracked about 30+ miles to Banff to have lunch see the resort town and visit the nearly 100 year old Banff Springs Hotel now owned by Fairmont. The original, built in 1886 burnt down in 1924. The story of how the hotels of that time were built along the railroad line to attract the wealthy easterners to summer in the wilderness and enjoy the beauty of this place has to be true when you see the magnificence of this and the others like the Chateau Lake Louise that are scattered along the rail lines. To walk through them is to loose yourself inside a great novel of the period.
Upon returning to our camp we notice that the campground, that was completely empty when we arrived, was nearly full. This was a shock. Then I began to notice what became so very apparent to Bill & I on that first adventure so many years before. Our campground was about 80% full of those class ‘C’ rental RV’s. There was El Monte RV, Cruise America, Canadream and others. Wow we felt like we started a trend! So…. the reason the park was empty in the morning was, just as we had learned, if you don’t have a tow vehicle, you have to break camp every morning to do anything at all. We met several of these folks and found that they were from Europe, Australia, and the US. Quit an interesting bunch.
On Friday we continued our hotel exploration in Lake Louise at The Chateau Lake Louise. Set right on the lake the view from the hotel is truly breathtaking.
This is postcard stuff! The architecture is magnificent and has been remodeled & updated since our visit nearly 20 years ago.
No time to waste we are off to our next adventure. The gondolas on the ski slopes are open in the summer in Lake Louise. It leaves from the Ten Peak Lodge and tops out near the interpretative center. We got some great pictures all the way up and plus we saw two grizzly bears on the way down.
I sit in our camp at night and listen to a train pass. I try to imagine what life was like for the turn of the century elite or the movers & shakers of the roaring twenties as they boarded the train to head west to vacation in the Rickie Mountains in 1900 or 1920. It makes me wish I were a writer imagining the changes these wonderful old buildings have been through.
Onto Banff National Park on Thursday May 28, 2009. This was probably the most exciting day of our trip so far. As we leave the flat land and enter the forest, it all starts to come back to me. You know when you have memories that you did not know you remembered. As I am gazing up at the Canadian Rocky Mountains with all of their immense beauty, it was as if Mother Nature took this huge 250 mile long range and carved a big old trench right down the center just for the Trans-Canada Highway.
I begin to pick up bits and pieces of memories of that first camping experience in the summer of 1990. Brad was barely 13 years old and we flew to Calgary, rented a class ‘C’ motorhome. We spent about 2 weeks in this area we are about to pass through. I guess we must have liked the experience because twenty years and 3 RV’s later and here we are again.
We choose a National Park Campground in Lake Louise this time for no particular reason. But we decided to stay two nights to see as much as possible. Immediately upon setting up our home base, we backtracked about 30+ miles to Banff to have lunch see the resort town and visit the nearly 100 year old Banff Springs Hotel now owned by Fairmont. The original, built in 1886 burnt down in 1924. The story of how the hotels of that time were built along the railroad line to attract the wealthy easterners to summer in the wilderness and enjoy the beauty of this place has to be true when you see the magnificence of this and the others like the Chateau Lake Louise that are scattered along the rail lines. To walk through them is to loose yourself inside a great novel of the period.
Upon returning to our camp we notice that the campground, that was completely empty when we arrived, was nearly full. This was a shock. Then I began to notice what became so very apparent to Bill & I on that first adventure so many years before. Our campground was about 80% full of those class ‘C’ rental RV’s. There was El Monte RV, Cruise America, Canadream and others. Wow we felt like we started a trend! So…. the reason the park was empty in the morning was, just as we had learned, if you don’t have a tow vehicle, you have to break camp every morning to do anything at all. We met several of these folks and found that they were from Europe, Australia, and the US. Quit an interesting bunch.
On Friday we continued our hotel exploration in Lake Louise at The Chateau Lake Louise. Set right on the lake the view from the hotel is truly breathtaking.
This is postcard stuff! The architecture is magnificent and has been remodeled & updated since our visit nearly 20 years ago.
No time to waste we are off to our next adventure. The gondolas on the ski slopes are open in the summer in Lake Louise. It leaves from the Ten Peak Lodge and tops out near the interpretative center. We got some great pictures all the way up and plus we saw two grizzly bears on the way down.
I sit in our camp at night and listen to a train pass. I try to imagine what life was like for the turn of the century elite or the movers & shakers of the roaring twenties as they boarded the train to head west to vacation in the Rickie Mountains in 1900 or 1920. It makes me wish I were a writer imagining the changes these wonderful old buildings have been through.
Keep on Truckin!
Recorded May 28th
We pushed through Montana over 370 miles on Memorial Day May 25th. And ended up just short of USA- Canadian boarder in a quiet town called Sunburst. The tiny Lewis & Clark RV park was run by a couple from Louisiana and it seemed most of the folks in the park were from Louisiana because ever one we spoke to had the same southern down home accent. On the morning of the 26th, Billy’s Birthday, we left Montana for what we thought would be a quick 90 miles to Lightbridge, Alberta plus a side trip then on to Calgary for the night. Boy was we wrong!
Our boarder crossing at Coutts was rather uneventful, thank goodness and we were in Alberta by 11:00 AM. Our side trip to the Fort & Museum of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police turned into a royal fiasco. As we browsed around we were told by a pert older woman that at 2:00 PM they would begin a short movie on the history and accomplishments of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police followed by a play. “A play?” We thought as we were the only people in the place, what ever. Well the movie was an average documentary that went on for 30 minutes. Bill slept through half of it. We would have made an escape but the pert older woman accosted us with pleasantries and announced that the play was starting! It was sadly awful! It just went on and on with the sorriest bunch of players you will ever see. By the time we left we were in the middle of rush hour traffic & we did not get to our campground destination until after 5:00 PM. It was Bills Birthday and I put together the chili dinner I had planned for the 4 of us by about 7:00 PM. Linda was so sweet that she made him cupcakes. All the kids called to wish him happy birthday so the day was saved!
On the 27th of May we all did some sight seeing around Calgary. We started out at the Calgary Tower where we were able to get some terrific pictures of the city. It stands as tall as all the other down town high-rises. We could see the Rocky’ Mountain Range in the distance where we would be headed the next day. It has a glass bottom area which was a bit weird walking out onto.
Our next stop was Heritage Park which has grown exponentially since Bill & I were there in the early 90”s with Brad. There are at least twice as many restored buildings & they have added a Fun Zone. But the best addition is the newly opened Gasoline Ally. Just open one month it houses dozens of restored cars, trucks, fire engines, filling station & drive-in movie memorabilia plus gobs more…even a 1959 travel trailer! You could spend a whole day there!
From Heritage Park we went looking for pizza with no luck. Bill & Linda M. continued on to the Olympic Park, home to the 1988 Olympic Games. The Canadian Olympic team is in training there now. Bill was disappointed not to be able to ride the Luge. Billy & I returned home to tend to our lonely little Lindsey who by the way is having a great trip and become quite accustomed of the nearly daily driving by curling up on my lap for most of the trip. No more carsick doggie!
We pushed through Montana over 370 miles on Memorial Day May 25th. And ended up just short of USA- Canadian boarder in a quiet town called Sunburst. The tiny Lewis & Clark RV park was run by a couple from Louisiana and it seemed most of the folks in the park were from Louisiana because ever one we spoke to had the same southern down home accent. On the morning of the 26th, Billy’s Birthday, we left Montana for what we thought would be a quick 90 miles to Lightbridge, Alberta plus a side trip then on to Calgary for the night. Boy was we wrong!
Our boarder crossing at Coutts was rather uneventful, thank goodness and we were in Alberta by 11:00 AM. Our side trip to the Fort & Museum of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police turned into a royal fiasco. As we browsed around we were told by a pert older woman that at 2:00 PM they would begin a short movie on the history and accomplishments of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police followed by a play. “A play?” We thought as we were the only people in the place, what ever. Well the movie was an average documentary that went on for 30 minutes. Bill slept through half of it. We would have made an escape but the pert older woman accosted us with pleasantries and announced that the play was starting! It was sadly awful! It just went on and on with the sorriest bunch of players you will ever see. By the time we left we were in the middle of rush hour traffic & we did not get to our campground destination until after 5:00 PM. It was Bills Birthday and I put together the chili dinner I had planned for the 4 of us by about 7:00 PM. Linda was so sweet that she made him cupcakes. All the kids called to wish him happy birthday so the day was saved!
On the 27th of May we all did some sight seeing around Calgary. We started out at the Calgary Tower where we were able to get some terrific pictures of the city. It stands as tall as all the other down town high-rises. We could see the Rocky’ Mountain Range in the distance where we would be headed the next day. It has a glass bottom area which was a bit weird walking out onto.
Our next stop was Heritage Park which has grown exponentially since Bill & I were there in the early 90”s with Brad. There are at least twice as many restored buildings & they have added a Fun Zone. But the best addition is the newly opened Gasoline Ally. Just open one month it houses dozens of restored cars, trucks, fire engines, filling station & drive-in movie memorabilia plus gobs more…even a 1959 travel trailer! You could spend a whole day there!
From Heritage Park we went looking for pizza with no luck. Bill & Linda M. continued on to the Olympic Park, home to the 1988 Olympic Games. The Canadian Olympic team is in training there now. Bill was disappointed not to be able to ride the Luge. Billy & I returned home to tend to our lonely little Lindsey who by the way is having a great trip and become quite accustomed of the nearly daily driving by curling up on my lap for most of the trip. No more carsick doggie!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Memorial Weekend in Yellowstone National Park
Summer 2009 Post # 2 5-24-09
The Weekend in Yellowstone National Park began at the Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone. A beautiful park in a delightful forested setting at the western entrance. Our drive into the higher elevations was clear and sunny with patchy snow on the ground. We were told that the park had 3 feet of snow on the ground last year at this time.
We did the entire south loop on Saturday and again the Moorhead’s were our tour guides as they have been here 7 times! They made sure we stopped at the BEST sights. We got the best pictures. I have been uploading pictures on Facebook because it’s easy. The traffic was tough because of the Memorial holiday but the animals were worth it. We saw buffalo up close and personal plus elk, deer, eagle but no bear.
On day two things went a little weird. We entered the park intending to north to the Mammoth area but about 20 min. into our drive we hit a road block due to a traffic accident. The traffic was stopped in all 4 directions for over 2 hours while they brought in 2 helicopters (the 1st wasn't just right) to pick up 2 motorcycle riders who collided into the rear of a van. A colossal traffic jam in all direction that really messed up our plans, not to mention the cyclists, so we went back to town and went to the museum and shopped a little. About then it started to rain and it has continued pretty much the rest of the day and night. Bummer!
We are about 380 miles short of the Canadian boarder so we will be one more night in the old USA before leaving for a couple of months.
That’s it for now.
The Weekend in Yellowstone National Park began at the Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone. A beautiful park in a delightful forested setting at the western entrance. Our drive into the higher elevations was clear and sunny with patchy snow on the ground. We were told that the park had 3 feet of snow on the ground last year at this time.
We did the entire south loop on Saturday and again the Moorhead’s were our tour guides as they have been here 7 times! They made sure we stopped at the BEST sights. We got the best pictures. I have been uploading pictures on Facebook because it’s easy. The traffic was tough because of the Memorial holiday but the animals were worth it. We saw buffalo up close and personal plus elk, deer, eagle but no bear.
On day two things went a little weird. We entered the park intending to north to the Mammoth area but about 20 min. into our drive we hit a road block due to a traffic accident. The traffic was stopped in all 4 directions for over 2 hours while they brought in 2 helicopters (the 1st wasn't just right) to pick up 2 motorcycle riders who collided into the rear of a van. A colossal traffic jam in all direction that really messed up our plans, not to mention the cyclists, so we went back to town and went to the museum and shopped a little. About then it started to rain and it has continued pretty much the rest of the day and night. Bummer!
We are about 380 miles short of the Canadian boarder so we will be one more night in the old USA before leaving for a couple of months.
That’s it for now.
NORTH TO ALASKA - Wednesday May 20th 2009
We made it to West Yellowstone in 3 days and are looking forward to Memorial Day Weekend in Yellowstone National Park.
We managed to leave Palm Desert, by 10 AM Wednesday which was not bad as we have never left home for 4 months before. The list of to do’s was endless and all the planning that went into this trip was well also endless. Ever since we were invited to accompany our friends Bill & Linda Moorhead on their Alaskan adventure we have been a bit preoccupied. It was pretty much split down the middle, those who said we were crazy & those who said they were jealous.
The Moorhead’s had several false starts, leaving Murrieta, but surprisingly they pulled into the Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas right behind us around 3:30 pm. It was hot but not as hot as at home! We cruised the strip to see what had changed in the 10 plus years since we had been there. It would seam that we officially live under some rock if LV is how the rest of you vacation! Wow! So since we are such big gamblers & partiers we ate a tiny bit of a giant buffet and went home to our puppy to watch the finals of American Idol. How boring are we?
By Cedar City, Utah, Thursday it was about 80 degrees! Finally cooler weather.
We made Provo area for night #2!
Now after 350 miles today we are done driving for the holiday weekend at about 1,100 miles total. I think Lindsey has had it too. She has not eaten since yesterday afternoon & has refused ice cream & steak.
The Moorheads are the best traveling companions. Linda is a retired elementary principal and is like having a researcher, planner, navigator, tour guide & concierge all in one. And she does it effortlessly! Her husband Bill is a retired LA Fire Captain & paramedic. He is also a big jokester, always fooling around, he & Bill get on famously constantly trading stories.
Hope you have a Happy Holiday weekend!
Catch you in a few!
We managed to leave Palm Desert, by 10 AM Wednesday which was not bad as we have never left home for 4 months before. The list of to do’s was endless and all the planning that went into this trip was well also endless. Ever since we were invited to accompany our friends Bill & Linda Moorhead on their Alaskan adventure we have been a bit preoccupied. It was pretty much split down the middle, those who said we were crazy & those who said they were jealous.
The Moorhead’s had several false starts, leaving Murrieta, but surprisingly they pulled into the Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas right behind us around 3:30 pm. It was hot but not as hot as at home! We cruised the strip to see what had changed in the 10 plus years since we had been there. It would seam that we officially live under some rock if LV is how the rest of you vacation! Wow! So since we are such big gamblers & partiers we ate a tiny bit of a giant buffet and went home to our puppy to watch the finals of American Idol. How boring are we?
By Cedar City, Utah, Thursday it was about 80 degrees! Finally cooler weather.
We made Provo area for night #2!
Now after 350 miles today we are done driving for the holiday weekend at about 1,100 miles total. I think Lindsey has had it too. She has not eaten since yesterday afternoon & has refused ice cream & steak.
The Moorheads are the best traveling companions. Linda is a retired elementary principal and is like having a researcher, planner, navigator, tour guide & concierge all in one. And she does it effortlessly! Her husband Bill is a retired LA Fire Captain & paramedic. He is also a big jokester, always fooling around, he & Bill get on famously constantly trading stories.
Hope you have a Happy Holiday weekend!
Catch you in a few!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Puerto Pinasco, Mexico 2009
May, 2009
Sixty miles south of the Arizona boarder Puerto Pinasco sits at the top of the Sea of Cortez. As our 3rd year on this adventure this trip was probably the best yet for two reasons, first because we went in May and it was warm in the 80’s and second we had the place to ourselves.
The first time we joined this adventurous group mostly, it was late March 2007 & fairly cool. There were 12 rigs & we tried to go out to eat a lot. This year we have evolved. We went out only the last night to the Point high up on the hill. The rest of the time we planned meals to share each night together. There was way too much food and laughs on the beach to go around! We will fine tune even more next year.
The warm weather made all the difference! Everyone swam & sunbathed plus the dogs entertained us romping in the water. They (all 8) completely forgot about their lives on a leash. There were 22 of us this year and our ramrod’s Don & Janice Fox have developed a great routine where we spend a night in Ajo, Az., buy our Mexican insurance and drive into Puerto Pinasco, The Reef RV Park in less then 2 hours arriving before lunch.
The bad press about the banditos & the swine flu plus the economy has taken their toll. All construction projects are stopped. The half built Esmeralda looks the same as it did when we were here last year and the Marriott has pulled out altogether with only rusty rebar columns coming out of a foundation. The people do not have food to feed their dogs so there are many more skinny hungry creatures combing the city streets. The RV Park was just about empty except for us as we made sure we are a couple weeks past the spring break crowd.
Our motorhomes are parked right ON the beach and we soon melted into the relaxation. The 80 degree weather made for delightful nights & campfires on the beach but it also made for more flies. Next year we will bring our 12’ x 20’ screen room for the food.
We made our usual caravan to Choallo Bay for lunch at the cantina overlooking the bay plus several shopping excursions. Some even had dental work & upholstery work while in P.P.. We made our annual donation to the beach vendors & ate wonderful fresh tamales & chili reillanos for breakfast each morning. Barbara Killough tried to single handedly keep all the jewelry stores in business. Larry Bodle was the fixit man. Dick Bathard designated himself Mr. Helpful as he was the clean up crew & right there when ever anyone needed anything including Mary’s search for the right purse. The pilgrimage is highlighted by the annual fish fry. Don Fox prepares his famous fried shrimp, Ed Conklin makes a giant pot of steamed clams and Ruth Jenkins fries up oysters, all of this fresh & purchased locally. What a feast!
Another next year memo was to take a dinner boat cruise. The Sea of Cortez is very quite, at least this time it costs about $25 per person & in May on a balmy evening it would be a delight.
I collected a little sea glass and bill got a little sick. It was a wonderful trip. Everyone present said they would like to return next year for longer then a week perhaps even 2 weeks!
Sixty miles south of the Arizona boarder Puerto Pinasco sits at the top of the Sea of Cortez. As our 3rd year on this adventure this trip was probably the best yet for two reasons, first because we went in May and it was warm in the 80’s and second we had the place to ourselves.
The first time we joined this adventurous group mostly, it was late March 2007 & fairly cool. There were 12 rigs & we tried to go out to eat a lot. This year we have evolved. We went out only the last night to the Point high up on the hill. The rest of the time we planned meals to share each night together. There was way too much food and laughs on the beach to go around! We will fine tune even more next year.
The warm weather made all the difference! Everyone swam & sunbathed plus the dogs entertained us romping in the water. They (all 8) completely forgot about their lives on a leash. There were 22 of us this year and our ramrod’s Don & Janice Fox have developed a great routine where we spend a night in Ajo, Az., buy our Mexican insurance and drive into Puerto Pinasco, The Reef RV Park in less then 2 hours arriving before lunch.
The bad press about the banditos & the swine flu plus the economy has taken their toll. All construction projects are stopped. The half built Esmeralda looks the same as it did when we were here last year and the Marriott has pulled out altogether with only rusty rebar columns coming out of a foundation. The people do not have food to feed their dogs so there are many more skinny hungry creatures combing the city streets. The RV Park was just about empty except for us as we made sure we are a couple weeks past the spring break crowd.
Our motorhomes are parked right ON the beach and we soon melted into the relaxation. The 80 degree weather made for delightful nights & campfires on the beach but it also made for more flies. Next year we will bring our 12’ x 20’ screen room for the food.
We made our usual caravan to Choallo Bay for lunch at the cantina overlooking the bay plus several shopping excursions. Some even had dental work & upholstery work while in P.P.. We made our annual donation to the beach vendors & ate wonderful fresh tamales & chili reillanos for breakfast each morning. Barbara Killough tried to single handedly keep all the jewelry stores in business. Larry Bodle was the fixit man. Dick Bathard designated himself Mr. Helpful as he was the clean up crew & right there when ever anyone needed anything including Mary’s search for the right purse. The pilgrimage is highlighted by the annual fish fry. Don Fox prepares his famous fried shrimp, Ed Conklin makes a giant pot of steamed clams and Ruth Jenkins fries up oysters, all of this fresh & purchased locally. What a feast!
Another next year memo was to take a dinner boat cruise. The Sea of Cortez is very quite, at least this time it costs about $25 per person & in May on a balmy evening it would be a delight.
I collected a little sea glass and bill got a little sick. It was a wonderful trip. Everyone present said they would like to return next year for longer then a week perhaps even 2 weeks!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Favorite Beachside Doin's
Five weeks & I am still blasting off. (I have not even figured out how to upload pictures yet.) We are preparing for a week in Mexico, Puerto Pinasco to be exact 60 miles south of the Arizona boarder on the Sea of Cortez.
But heck we just got home…….
We made it through a wonderful week Newport Dunes with 37 of our closest friends.
Newport Dunes in Newport Beach, Ca. I have always said is a 5 star hotel without wall. Yes their prices hover at $90 but if you have 10 or more coaches (we took 20) they have amazing group rates! (Try $34) We had a blast!
There was no cooking & no cleaning though there was lots of eating and sightseeing going on. I think we were successful at giving everyone a compressed 3 day taste of a Newport Beach Resort Experience.
There was some serious male bonding as the guys tried out 2 of the local Breakfast spots. No thanks to Don Fox who seemed set on redirecting the caravan elsewhere in spite of all my maps.
Many of the Girls Shopped Fashion Island & South Coast Plaza & would have kept going if time would have let them.
We took a ride across the bay on the famous Balboa Ferry to the even more famous Newport Beach Pavilion. Where we ate GREAT Calamari Appetizers & enjoyed the bay view at Happy Hour before continuing to The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner.
We felt like those Hollywood tour bus folks as we all boarded the Harbor Tour Boat and viewed all the Celebrity Waterfront Estates.
Vana White, Nicholas Cage, Steven King, to name just a few plus lots of other mega- money business names like Motts, Mrs. Field’s, Appleby’s & Yahoo…….. You get drift.
At $6 million just for the dirt those waterfront homes start to get a little pricey! We also saw plenty of sea loins on boats & booies. As the little tour boat headed south along Corona Del Mar Beach, we looked up on the hill to see Cobe Bryant’s Estate that was several times larger then all the others!
Some of us found time to walk around Balboa Island or visit the word famous Rogers Gardens and bicycle or walk Newport’s Back Bay.
Most of us chose to come 2 days early and for the effort were treated to a couple of additional events. We arranged a breakfast at the brand new billion …yes BILLION …dollar Resort at Pelican Hill on the Newport Coast. We were all ah struck by the huge round infinity pool flanked by the ‘Coliseum’ where we ate all overlooking the Golf Course & Pacific Ocean .. It was enchanting
We even took a coastal drive to Laguna Beach and had a Polynesian dinner at the Royal Hawaiian.
By the end of the week most of our buddies were long gone but Barb & Frank Killough & I went to my favorite spot………Well the Orange County Market Place of course AKA the best SWAP MEET around!
All in all since we got no complaints, I would have to say that this rally was a SUCCESS!
My next entry will have a Spanish accent & pictures!
Promise………………Pam
But heck we just got home…….
We made it through a wonderful week Newport Dunes with 37 of our closest friends.
Newport Dunes in Newport Beach, Ca. I have always said is a 5 star hotel without wall. Yes their prices hover at $90 but if you have 10 or more coaches (we took 20) they have amazing group rates! (Try $34) We had a blast!
There was no cooking & no cleaning though there was lots of eating and sightseeing going on. I think we were successful at giving everyone a compressed 3 day taste of a Newport Beach Resort Experience.
There was some serious male bonding as the guys tried out 2 of the local Breakfast spots. No thanks to Don Fox who seemed set on redirecting the caravan elsewhere in spite of all my maps.
Many of the Girls Shopped Fashion Island & South Coast Plaza & would have kept going if time would have let them.
We took a ride across the bay on the famous Balboa Ferry to the even more famous Newport Beach Pavilion. Where we ate GREAT Calamari Appetizers & enjoyed the bay view at Happy Hour before continuing to The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner.
We felt like those Hollywood tour bus folks as we all boarded the Harbor Tour Boat and viewed all the Celebrity Waterfront Estates.
Vana White, Nicholas Cage, Steven King, to name just a few plus lots of other mega- money business names like Motts, Mrs. Field’s, Appleby’s & Yahoo…….. You get drift.
At $6 million just for the dirt those waterfront homes start to get a little pricey! We also saw plenty of sea loins on boats & booies. As the little tour boat headed south along Corona Del Mar Beach, we looked up on the hill to see Cobe Bryant’s Estate that was several times larger then all the others!
Some of us found time to walk around Balboa Island or visit the word famous Rogers Gardens and bicycle or walk Newport’s Back Bay.
Most of us chose to come 2 days early and for the effort were treated to a couple of additional events. We arranged a breakfast at the brand new billion …yes BILLION …dollar Resort at Pelican Hill on the Newport Coast. We were all ah struck by the huge round infinity pool flanked by the ‘Coliseum’ where we ate all overlooking the Golf Course & Pacific Ocean .. It was enchanting
We even took a coastal drive to Laguna Beach and had a Polynesian dinner at the Royal Hawaiian.
By the end of the week most of our buddies were long gone but Barb & Frank Killough & I went to my favorite spot………Well the Orange County Market Place of course AKA the best SWAP MEET around!
All in all since we got no complaints, I would have to say that this rally was a SUCCESS!
My next entry will have a Spanish accent & pictures!
Promise………………Pam
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The purpose of this blog is for you to keep track of us as we RV all over creation, if you want to that is. I may or may not keep this thing up as we are so darn busy, that remains to be seen, but my intent is true!
Yesterday we returned from one RV Club rally and in 2 days we leave with another. It is March 20th and we have this trip to Borrego Springs Monday then we are hosting an RV adventure to Newport Beach the end of April for a week. The first of May we are off to Puerto Pinasco, Mexico and then we start our quest to Alaska by the end of May.
Lots coming up so stay tuned!
Yesterday we returned from one RV Club rally and in 2 days we leave with another. It is March 20th and we have this trip to Borrego Springs Monday then we are hosting an RV adventure to Newport Beach the end of April for a week. The first of May we are off to Puerto Pinasco, Mexico and then we start our quest to Alaska by the end of May.
Lots coming up so stay tuned!
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