Playing Catchup - Now in Fairbanks Alaska!

The Alaska Highway - what a journey!  Many times we would see more wildlife than vehicles in an hour of driving.  I could not believe how you could drive for miles and miles and see no one.  And when you did come to a "town", it might have 75  people that live there.  Plenty of bear, moose, snowshoe hares, ravens, buffalo, stone sheep.  Had to make sure we got fuel at every chance.  Even though it took us 4 days after the IceFields Parkway and many steady hours of driving to traverse the Alaska highway, it went quickly with many surprising views just around the turn.  I thought it would get long and tiresome, but with everything completely new to see - the lakes, tundra, mountains, permafrost, and quaint little villages - and my favorite, the wildlife - it went very quickly.  The panoramic views from the motor home couldn't be beat.  To keep that view however, we had to clean the front of the RV every evening, with all the buildup of bug goo.  Mosquitos truly are the state bird in Canada and Alaska.  And I think dandelions are the state flower.

Lest you think it was all a walk in the park though, I could talk about the terrible last day of roads in the Yukon.  The frost heaves could take out the best of vehicles in no time, if you weren't careful. It was very slow going, with the roads having been taken up in parts by the construction crews and all you had was wet mucky gravel to drive on.  Actually it was better when it was wet and mucky, because when it was dry, the dust was terrible.  We perservered, but our tow car, Sage, had sure had better days.  We couldn't even see out the windows when we arrived in Fairbanks and had to go to pressure washer ASAP.  And our motorhome, Dragonfly, got the same pressure washing.  Neither vehicle will ever be quite the same.  But, when you think of it, how many RVs just dry rot in driveways and miss all the adventure.  

We enjoyed the places we stopped along the way for a break.. At Toad River Lodge they had a collection of hats that numbered over 6000 hanging in the store/restaurant.  We left one apiece to add to their collection.  And in Watson Lake they have a "sign forest" and we added to that collection as well.  Along the highway near Teslin, there was also rock signage where people made their presence known by leaving their names or messages with rock formations on the side of the road.

We will be in Fairbanks area for the next week.  We are going to be closing on the sale of our land in Franklin, NC and also getting a mail shipment sent.  It is so good not to have to worry about a house and pretty soon our land will be sold.  We are regrouping to rest up and plan some adventure now that we have arrived.  Had to clean inches of mud off of our poor bicycles so we can ride them around town and get some exercise.  I am sure we'll be taking many side trips in our car and hopfully do some hiking as well.  Weather is great.

One hard part though is knowing when to end the day.  When the sun rises at 330 am and sets after 1100 pm, it is hard to know when to sleep.  I was giving the car a second wash this evening and !cleaning up the bikes.  Next thing I know, it is 10:00 pm !

Bears, moose, deer, and more bears..

We decided to do our best to make to to Dawson Creek today, so we could start the Alaska highway tomorrow.  And so we started out at McBride, British Columbia about 7am Pacific time.  I always keep my eye out for wildlife and to my sheer delight, we sure found it.  But 10 am we had spotted 2 moose (momma and calf), 2 brown bears (momma & cub), 2 deer (one jumped right in the path of our RV and Marv was able to miss it) and 2 black bears.  By noon, we had seen 3 more black bear, a brown grizzly scratching his head on the railway, and 2 more moose.  You just have to take my work for it.  Those critters move fast and I was unable to get pics.

Tomorrow we will start our 2800 miles to Fairbanks Alaska.  We are very excited about it.  Milepost in one hand and camera in the other.

Sunday morning worship at the best place ever - See photos

This is how our Sunday morning was spent - in awe of God's handiwork - no matter how we believe it was accomplished.

Sunday morning connection

Spent Sunday morning driving thru the Canadian Rockies on the Icefields ParkWay.  Couldn't help but be in awe about how large is our world and how we are connected.  Just a few pics to give a glimpse of the area.  Old railroad bridges, avalanche tunnels, and just the awesome mountains and glaciers.  No regrets on taking this route.

Day off?

We kinda took a day off from travel today.  We  only traveled in the car for about 110 miles.(that is a short trip).  We went to Canada's Glacier National forest. Saw glaciers and  glacier tunnels.. Never knew they put tunnels across the highway to prevent snow from crashing down on your car.
Also,  snow was  melting into waterfalls  right before our eyes, as it go up in the 80's today.  No bear sightings, however, even though the park has a high population of black and grizzly bears.  We saw more cute prarie dogs, however.

The "day off" included grocery shopping, laundry, housekeeping and cleaning the bugs off the windshield and front of the RV,  We even cleaned the radiator.  It will become a daily ritual I am sure.

The park had wifi, so we were able to catch up on email.  Now that we are in Canada, phone costs are very high and  using our hot spot cost-prohibitive.  We are traveling two more Canada national parks tomorrow that are skirting the mountains and have glaciers all along side the roads.  In fact the road is called "icefields parkway, highwy 93 in Alberta, CA.  The drive is reputed to be the most scenic in Canada. We will spend the day doing that trip.  Come Monday, we are going to drive some miles each day, trying to make it to Fairbanks by June 4th so we can close on our land sale.  Should be challenging.

Speaking of a challenge, we read that there are a couple of spot on the Icefields Parkway that have 9 and 11 percent grades.  Apparently many rvs travel it every year, but we will be watching out for those spots.  Hope Marv is driving!     Linda

If you love the daylight, come to the north as summer nears.  It stays light for a very long time, right up to my bedtime.  I swear my eyes are tired from it all.  I need to find a sleep mask soon.  But, oh the sights!  The snow-capped Rockies, the blue-green rivers, ...that's probably why my eyes are so tired.  It's those eye-poppin' views that take my breath away.  Saw a village of prarie dogs at a rest stop today.  So--o-oo cute!

I think we're going to rest tomorrow.  But maybe a short drive to Glacier National Park here in Canada.  We need a break from the driving.  But when the park is just 40 min away, it is so hard not to go.  But then, how many miles will it take to see the park?  We only have about 3380 to go to get to Alaska.  (and that is without any side trips)...

We'll just have to wait to see how we are tomorrow....One thing I have noticed about campgrounds lately.  Many are right next to the railroad...  for now, goodnight.   Linda

From Hayden to Canada

We camped in Hayden, ID, just north of Coeur D'Alene (Core dah Lane,) our last day for awhile in the USA, Canada today.  Linda spent last night saying goodbyes to family, as we enter the wilds of Canada!

Linda is having a hard time with the long days and short nights already.  As we get further north, the sun rises earlier and sets later.  It takes getting used to, even Arlo seems to think it's later or earlier than it is.  We've already crossed 3 time zones in days and it can get confusing.  Wait until we get to Fairbanks and the sun sets and than rises so fast they play midnight baseball without lights!  We were up starting at 4:30 this morning because it was so bright out (well Linda was, than Arlo, and reluctantly, me.)  It looks to be a beautiful day to drive into Canada. We checked our supply of Canadian money, we have $7.89 CA to start with (3 loonies, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies.)  Golden, Canada is where we'll spend the night.  Marv

Arriving in Idaho today, just about 120 miles from the Canadian border.  Ready to do the deal tomorrow and head to Golden, in British Columbia.  Going to leave these beautiful United States of America for about 7-10 days and see what beauty is in Canada.  I know we have sure enjoyed driving through western Iowa, northeast Wyoming, Montana, and northern Idaho.  The panoramic views from the motorhome are wonderful.  I feel so blessed to live in America!  And lucky to be traveling.
The first thing I did when we arrived at campground this afternoon was to get all the bugs off the windshield.  Don't want a bunch of bugs messing up our view!    Linda

It has been beautiful travel across the northeast corner of Wyoming and the southern half of Montana. We traveled about 650-700 miles the past 2 days, but it has been very pleasurable.  I-90 has been mostly smooth sailing; and the absence of heavy traffic has made driving very relaxing.  We arrive in Butte Montana this evening and have enjoyed the white snow-covered peaks on the mountains in the distance.  We are moving on to Idaho tomorrow; but we will spend a lot more time here on our return trip.

Photos do not begin to do justice to these snow capped mountains in the distance

Saying goodbye to South Dakota

Today, we are heading to Wyoming.  Marv has been there, but I have not.  Always exciting  to enter new territory.  We have enjoyed South Dakota but want to move on.

Yesterday was a full day and too many hours in the car.  But the highlights were driving thru the Badlands and the Black Hills, viewing wildlife in Custer state park and seeing Mt Rushmore.

We did find a hidden gem in Custer City that Marv had seen on his previous travels.  It was a museum of woodcarvings that were done mostly in the 1940s-50s by Dr NiBlack.  The carvings were phenomenal, humorous, and showed his genius creativity.  I had never heard of him, but was very impressed.  In fact, I enjoyed his work more than Mt Rushmore.  But that's just a personal note.  I have always shown partiality to woods over other artforms.

Linda

Drove only about 230  miles today to arrive at Wall, SD.  This small town is home of the Wall Drug, a major tourist attraction that began as a humble pharmacy in the 1930's.  A devout Catholic couple picked the town because the church was only about 20 min away.  They could attend Mass daily and so decided to make it their home.  Poor beginnings in a poor town.  So, after time and a  no-go business, they decided to offer free ice water and placed signs on the nearby highway for travelers who had just traveled thru the Badlands.  Well, from the gitgo, people responded to their handmade signs, and , of course brought other business to their store.  Their business began to thrive; and well, you just have to come see it today.  It takes up a full city block and is teeming with visitors today, in spite of the fact that it is still very early in the season.  And, coffee is 5 cents a cup -- and very good!  Just google Wall Drug to read their story....America- land of opportunity!

Corn palace in Mitchell, SD

The corn palace in Mitchell is pretty amazingly creative.  All of the murals, inside and out, made of half ears of colored corn.  And the global structures atop constructed of other plant materials.  Just a few pics to remember it by:

Hunkering Down Mitchell, SD

Weather report puts us in the middle of a zone of severe weather running from Texas to the Canadian border.  Woke up around 4 AM to the sound of sustained thunder and rain on the roof.  The storm moved on and we went back to bed for a while around 8 AM.  Phone got us up later and we started our day a bit late.  More severe weather expected through the whole weekend.  We'll stay here until it passes and than move on.

We celebrated becoming houseless last night.  Us old folks celebrate moderately, so we're OK this morning.  What a relief to finally  be rid of the place.  Enjoyed it while we lived there, enjoying it more now that its gone.

Corn Palace is under construction again, what has been redone looks great.  This is the country where many of the old western movies were set, it seemed so far away when we were in Florida.  We'll be in the Badlands and Black Hills next week, It's great having someone like my wife  to share these places with.

Windy state - Iowa

The two memories I will take with me of our travel thru Iowa are Wind and Farms  and windfarms.  It was all we could do to hold the rig on the road.  Exhausting travel.  But, oh what a sense of blessing as we traveled past all those farms.  America - the land of plenty.  So easy to take for granted.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

After 2 very windy days of travel, we arrived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  We drove downtown to Falls Park.  It is a beautiful park where this Big Sioux River goes thru the downtown area.

Eve of travel:  Spent Mother's Day at Jude & Amy's, all gassed up and ready to go.  Wonderful last day in Indiana before starting our trek to Alaska.  Wonderful food, company, and spent our last Indiana night in Jude's driveway.