July 19, 2012 – Home, Troy, IL

Larry:

My bucket list trip is complete. We are home exactly 8 weeks after leaving on this adventure.

Some of the numbers (you got to have numbers).

Total time: 8 weeks (56 days) Left 25 May 2012, Returned 19 July
Total Miles: 11332
Towing Miles: 9858 Miles 87% of total milage
Gallons of Diesel: 1065
Avg MPG for Trip:10.64 MPG
Price/Gal: $3.49 to $7.56 (Avg in Canada was $4.50 with the $7.56 as the robbery out in the middle on no where)
Avg Cost For Night Camping: $36 Almost all had full hook-ups, cable TV, & Wi-Fi
Max Cost For Night Camping: $53 at Glacier St. Mary KOA
Canada (3 Provinces): Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon Territory
USA (13 States): IL, MO, IA, MN, ND, MT, AK, WA, OR, ID, UT, WY, NE
Crossed from US to Canada or Canada to US: 8 times
Low Temp: 39 degrees Destruction Bay, YT
High Temp: 100 degrees Nebraska City, NE
Damage from roads: Dirty Truck, Dirty 5th Wheel, Replaced 2 leaking valve stems
Wildlife: Black Bear, Grizzly Bear, Brown Bear, Moose, Elk, Caribou, Fox, Wolf, Humpback Whale, Orca, Harbor Seal, Sea Lion, Dolphin, Bald Eagle, Ravens, Bighorn sheep, Dall Sheep, white tail deer, mule deer, lynx, porcupine, plus many small ones I cannot remember.


Karen: This was a trip Larry had talked about taking for the last 5 or 6 years. I went along with his plans because I knew this was something we would regret not doing if we had put it off. I was afraid if we waited a few more years, either of us could have health issues and it would be too late. It was not as glamorous or luxurious as something like a cruise, but I’m not a glamorous or luxurious kind of person. The scenery was beautiful, gorgeous and amazing. It was at times dusty (it’s surprising how much dirt and grit sticks in Harry’s coat), more often it was wet, muddy and cold. But I’m glad we did it. One of the more beautiful campgrounds we stayed at was situated in a lovely basin between the mountains with a lake down a narrow trail. As I walked the dogs there that evening, the hymn, “How Great Thou Art” came to mind:

“When through the woods and forest glades I wander
and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
and hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.”


We did see God’s handiwork in the woods, the mountains, the rushing streams, on the plains and in the oceans. I am thankful for having the privilege to see all that. I am thankful for His protection throughout this trip. And most assuredly I can proclaim, “My God, how great thou art!”

July 18, 2012 – Victorian Acres RV Park & Campground, Nebraska City, NE

Larry: We did about another 485 miles again today. We drove longer then planned today for a couple of reasons. We were going to split the last legs up into 3 shorter segments. When we hit the Midwest heat, we saw 100 degrees today, we decided to drive longer rather then set in the camper waiting for it to finally cool down. With a 100 degree day outside, it will take hours for the camper to cool off. So with the extra mileage, it allows us to divide the last legs into 2 segments. We are both anxious to get home and we should be there by 5 tomorrow evening. The truck is cool while driving and we sent Lenny a note to go over and turn down our thermostat, so the house should be cool when we get home. I jokingly said we could drive straight through and get home by 2am. Setting and waiting for the RV to cool down, I am not sure of how much a joke that suggestion really was.

Karen: When we finally stopped after a long day of driving, the camper seemed like it would never cool down. At 98 degrees, it felt cooler outside. We were questioning whether the A/C was working or not. I suggested we might go check into a hotel. Larry nixed that idea – 1. Because of the dogs 2. He said he’d just drive home before he’d check into a hotel. Finally we decided to go get gas in the truck and at least be in the a/c that long and get some ice cream while we were out. We did that, when we came back to the camper it had cooled down some. At least now it is bearable. Tomorrow we will be home!

July 17, 2012 – Cheyenne KOA, Cheyenne, WY

We did about another 362 miles again today.  Looking at the map, we were expecting a drive through the mountains, but I guess we were in what they call the “high desert” since the elevation of Cheyenne is over 6,000 ft. and Laramie’s elevation was over 7,000 ft.   There were a couple of larger hills in the distance, noted as mountains on the map, reaching over 11,000 ft.  There were hills, but they were mostly rolling hills, really nothing very steep or rocky.  For the most part, the whole drive seemed fairly level with lots of sagebrush, row after row of large snow fences, several oil wells, a few oil refineries and an occasional antelope.

Rock piles and snow fence.

July 16, 2012 – Phillips RV Park, Evanston, WY

Today was another 400 mile day.   During the day we passed large feed lots, massive stacks of hay, vast potato fields being irrigated, and skirted a storm that may catch up with us tonight.  The storm seemed to be in front of us and then as we turned it passed to our left.  At one point the storm even had a square hole in the middle through which we could see the sky.   Not much else to say about today, the post is mostly to let people know where we are and information to remind us when we get home.

One of many potato fields.

Storm with the window.

July 15, 2012 – Ambassador RV Resort, Caldwell, ID

We were very appreciative of Ross and Kelli coming out to the area where we had the RV so that we could have breakfast together before leaving this morning.   After visiting over a great breakfast, we headed out for the trip home about 10:30am.  We/I (Larry) decided to make today a long driving day.  We got into the RV resort and set up about 7:30pm (mountain time) after about a 400 mile drive.  Coming out the Columbia River gorge we had a strong wind to our back and it showed in the gas mileage.   Not really too much to say about the trip.  We went from lush green to almost dried up prairie, back to lush green and then to farming land.  After the busy weekend activities, the dogs were down for the count during our drive today.

July 14, 2012 – Portland/Fairview RV Park, Fairview, Or

We spent another enjoyable day with Ross and Kelli on Saturday. We got a little later start because of me checking all of the tire pressures. But once we got there, we headed into the Portland Saturday Market. This is an area down on the river front that has hundreds of booths set up selling handcrafted items, imported items, food, and entertainment. We really like to go there and see all of the crafts and other items. This is one of our favorite things to do in Portland. After getting some lunch at some of the food booths, we came back and I helped Ross with a couple of projects around the house (another one of my favorite things). We all then took the three dogs for a walk through some of their diverse neighborhood.

Portland Saturday Market

Some of the entertainment.

Kelli had planned a fun evening by having a few of their friends over for supper and an evening of visiting. There were two couples, one had one little girl and the other had two little girls. Of course, they were part of the entertainment with their cute antics. After a delicious meal of grilled steaks, pasta salad and lots of veggies, we settled down to more visiting. Everyone had questions about our travels. Ross and Kelli hadn’t yet had a chance to see our photos, so they encouraged us to show them to everyone. We then spent an hour or so boring them with a slide show of the hundreds of pictures from our trip which we have not had a chance to clean up or sort.

July 13, 2012 – Portland/Fairview RV Park, Fairview, Or

Ross and Kelli took us, and the dogs, for a drive to the coast today. On the way we went past an aviation museum where the Spruce Goose is housed. They also have a water park attached which has an aircraft on top that the water slides go though. The drive through the pretty wine country, and then forest, took us to the town of Newport. At Newport we went down along the docks for a very good lunch of Halibut fish and chips.

Plane with water slide

Newport Harbor

After lunch we went to Agate Beach to look at a concrete dock that had washed up on the beach after its trip across the ocean from Japan. I think this is the first large object to come ashore in this area. It is amazing that it stayed afloat the whole way, and was as intact as it seemed.

Us with Ross and Duke by dock

Ross and Duke with Kelli on top of dock

We got back to their home about 6 and started a load of wash. Then we headed out for dinner at a food truck pod. This is an area where several food trucks are set up in a former parking lot and have tables set up outside also. You find a wide selection of different ethnic foods to choose from and the food is very good. We each found something different. Portland has several of these “food pods” in various areas of the city and they have been praised in various magazines as a good choice for eating out. We headed back to the house to finish the wash and visit before leaving for the night.

July 12, 2012 – Portland/Fairview RV Park, Fairview, Or

It was another short drive of 65 miles today.  After setting up, we headed to Camping World to get the water inlet plug I needed and then to Wal-Mart to stock up for the trip home.   About 5:00 we went to Ross and Kelli’s.   They had planned a picnic at a farm concert which is held every Thursday.  The concert was at the Kruger’s Farm Market and we spent the evening there listening to music, eating some of the delicious food Kelli had made, and visiting.   They charge $10 a car for admission and there were 100s of families attending.   As well as the market where they sell all kinds of produce, they have hay rides, pick your own fruit, lots of space for kids to run around, booths for food and drink if you did not bring your own, and just a very fun atmosphere.  We had a great time and got back to the RV about 9:30 to be met by a lady complaining that the dogs and been barking too much and disturbing everyone.  So, we will take the dogs with us tomorrow and see how that goes.

Kruger's Farm Market Concert

Kelli, Ross, Larry, Karen

Croud at concert

July 11, 2012 – Longview North/Mt. St. Helens KOA, Castel Rock, Wa

We decided to make a campground close to Mt. St. Helens the destination for today so that we could visit and see how the mountains have recovered since we last were here (about 8 years ago). It was a short 135 mile drive, but we had to contend with Seattle traffic for the first part. But, we had an uneventful trip and got to the campground about 12:30. This is another very nice campground. It is about 2 miles east of the interstate and the sites are terraced so that each has a view looking back down the valley toward the interstate. This park even has a fenced dog run, so the dogs were finally able to be free and off leash. We had so many campgrounds in Canada and Alaska that were basically gravel parking lots that Harry wants to roll in the grass every time he sees nice grass.

Later in the afternoon we headed east to Mt. St. Helens. It is about 48 miles from our campground where the road ends by Mt. St. Helens. You start seeing the remains of the eruption when you are very close to the Johnson Ridge Observatory. Maybe it is my memory, but it seems that the destruction was noticeable at a greater distance 8 years ago. Even as close as the Observatory is, you now see flowers blooming and much of the trees that were knocked down are gone (probably from the passage of time). The change seems amazing, but then you think that it has now been 32 years since the eruption.

Mt. St. Helens as we drove in today.

Mt. St. Helens from Johnson Ridge Observatory

Downed tree and flowers by Johnson Ridge Observatory

Hillside with remains of the downed trees.

Think of the force required to sheer a tree off like this one.

July 10, 2012 – Lake Pleasant RV Park, Bothell, Wa

We were tired yesterday and didn’t say much about the drive. There was a definite change in the terrain. We drove mostly through a valley between through a mountain range. As we came out of the mountain range, we were in a farming area. For the first time since we had left the Midwest, we saw a few corn fields, the corn was still small, and it may have been sweet corn. There were lots of hay fields, produce type farms, pick-it-yourself type places and nursery growers.
85 miles today – I know, not very far. But, we were looking for a place that we could stay and go down to Pikes Market in Seattle. Campgrounds are very few close to Seattle, and nice campgrounds are rare. This one is about 18 miles from downtown and we are backed up to a lake that is a dedicated wildlife habitat. The have 118 paved RV spots and they surround two lakes. We were very lucky to get in here, our second choice was described by some reviewers as a gravel parking lot (seen enough of those in Alaska). Because of the short drive, we got here about 11 and they at first said they were full, but then said they did have a back-in spot large enough for us for one night only. PERFECT!

We got set up and headed into Seattle for a look around the Pike’s Market area. They are known of course for their huge fish market where they throw the fish to one another across 15 or 20 feet. They actually have anything and everything for sale. Beautiful flower bouquets, fresh fruits and vegetables, restaurants, cheese shops, meat markets, ice cream, yogurt, coffee, clothing, etc. You name it! All we bought was a basket of fish and chips, which we shared, and some peaches. We did find the mushrooms, as from the mushroom buyers we wrote about seeing a few days ago. They were very valuable too, as you can see from the photo.

Karen checking out the fruit at Pike's Market

Fish at Pike's Market

$39.99 Mushrooms??

Downtown Apartment - What do you think it cost???

Water Front with Ferry leaving.

We came back to the camper early as the dogs seem to have separation anxiety – Harry especially. We had a complaint from a neighbor yesterday about the barking. I, Karen, seem to be coming down with the sore throat and cold that Larry had a few days ago. Hopefully it will go away by morning.

July 8 &9, 2012

Jul 8 we spent in Clinton, BC - Jul 9 we are at Nor’West RV Park in Ferndale, WA.   Both days were driving days.  As we headed west today on 1 in Canada, they showed 4 boarder crossings and the wait times.  We picked the first which showed a 20 minute wait and spent 45 minutes getting through customs into the US, no problem just a lot of traffic.  Our plan was to stay at Bellingham, but mistakes sometimes work out for the good.  I did not write the exit down for the one I had picked and wound up going 2 miles further north to Ferndale.  This park turned out to be a deal at $25 for full hookups, cable, and Wi-Fi.  It also has grass for the dogs.   Now that we are back in the lower 48, it was time to go grocery shopping and to Walgreens to get prescriptions refilled.  Both were within a couple miles of the RV park.  Grilled supper and now we are going to relax for what is left of the evening.

July 7, 2012 – Dave’s RV Park, Vanderhoof, BC, Canada

368 miles today – Started out in the rain today.  So the glaciers that stood out in the sun on the way in yesterday, and we said we’d take pictures of today on the way out, were now under a overcast sky with light rain.   Not much to say for the drive, we saw our one bear for today crossing the road (that’s not counting the one we saw that had been hit by a car) and more pretty scenery.  Today about half the drive was in a valley through ranching and farming land.  We are out of the frost heaves and the further we came we started seeing more homes and towns.  We even saw, and ate at, a McDonalds.  Where we originally planned to stop seemed way to early when we got there, so we decided to go about an hour and a half further to a municipal campground.  We were thinking of the municipal campground we stayed at in Seward.  Well this one was nothing more than a dirt road in a circle the size of a cul-de-sac.  On we came for another hour and a half to Dave’s RV Park.  We were blessed for the mistake, this is one of the prettiest RV parks we have stayed at on the trip.  It’s about a mile out of town and than a half mile off the highway.  Like most parks we have stayed at, it has Wi-Fi, Cable TV, and full hook-ups.  But, the sites are nicely spaced with grass in between.  The grounds are immaculate and they have a miniature golf course that is planted with the prettiest flower beds.

The overcast/rainy Bear Glacier

Dave's RV Park grounds

Some of the flowers

July 6, 2012 – Bear River RV Park, Stewart, BC, Canada

The short day’s drive to Stewart brought us down the Cassiar Highway and then we turned onto the Glacier Highway, so named because of the proximity of nearly 20 glaciers near the highway. The town was started because of the gold and silver mines in this area. According to the brochure, the area had a population of nearly 10,000 in the early 1900’s. Now Stewart’s population is only about 700. The brochure boasts this as being Canada’s most northern ice free port which is on the Portland Canal.

Shortly after leaving this morning, Bears have the right of way!

Going from Stewart, British Columbia, into Hyder, Alaska, there is no customs stop. There is only a sign saying you are entering the USA. Hyder is popular with tourists because of the large number of bears which come to Fish Creek in the Tongass National Forest down a rough gravel road. As you cross into Hyder, population about 200, the pavement ends and becomes a rough gravel road. The town seems to be really run down. They had a post office and a couple of bars, but those seemed to be the only businesses still open. There was a sign saying to slow for a school, but the only place it looked like there could be a school was a community building. Coming back to Stewart, there is a Canadian customs stop. I’m not sure why they bother. Obviously, we did drive to Hyder and to Fish Creek, but the salmon haven’t started running yet, so there were no bears either. The park ranger said they had only had a couple of bears so far this year.

Hyder Alaska Main Street

On the way here, we were delayed at a few areas where some crews were clearing out along the road, cutting trees and logging. In a few places logs were stacked up to be loaded for use. Other places they were stacked up, teepee style, to be burned. They seemed to be fairly close to the forest so at first we couldn’t imagine they would be burned. We talked to a flagman and he said they would be burned later in the fall. We presume that will be when there is snow cover on everything.

Starting a pile of trees to burn.

Since we could not stop, this is the best we could do to give you and idea of the size of the finished piles of trees to burn.

July 5 2012 – Mountain Shadow RV Park & Campground, Iskut, BC Canada

Larry developed a cold and sore throat yesterday and had a miserable night. I thought he might need to stay put today and rest up, but he thought he could drive and feel as well as he would just sitting around. There are very few roads in this area, so we turned on Rt. 37 which is the only one going south from the Watson Lake area other than the ALCAN. It is somewhat of a secondary road, paved but no center line and very few signs. We had only gone about 10 or 15 miles when we saw a bear by the road. We did get a picture of it, but the internet connection here is not strong enough to post pictures. We spotted three moose – no pictures – and two more bears romping around together, also no pictures.

There were hardly any towns along this whole stretch of road (about 200 miles). The one little town where we got gas had a population of 400. That was the big town for the day. They had a gas station, a little grocery store (by our standards) and a “hospital”. Another town had a school, but the only store was more like a convenience store. At one stretch, we probably drove for 10 or 15 miles without meeting another single vehicle. We are definitely out in the wilderness.

In one area we saw several small tents somewhat together, then a few more, then we saw a larger tent with some tarps strung up beside it with an “open” sign, then a few older campers and tents somewhat close together. We couldn’t figure out what that was all about. They weren’t by a stream or lake, they were by a burned out forest. Was it some kind of limited hunting or trapping season? Then we saw another larger tent with a sign that said “Mushroom Buying Headquarters”. We kept seeing several other clusters of campers and tents, then again one that said “Mushroom Buyer”. A few miles beyond that, we were stopped by a flagger for some mowers and brush cutters, so I asked the flagger what that was all about. She said they were hunting morrell mushrooms. She said the morrells grow where there has been a forest fire. The buyers then sell them commercially.

The campground we are at is at the base of some mountains. It is a beautiful setting. It is off the road about a quarter of a mile, down a winding narrow little road, but when you get back here it is just gorgeous, trees, mountains, a lake and more trees.

July 4, 2012 - Nugget City Campground, west of Watson Lake, Yukon Ter. Canada

We left the Alaska and the USA this morning and we’re back in Canada, essentially on our way home, although it will be by way of Seattle and Portland. We heard the fireworks last night from about 11:00 thru midnight. We were already in bed and didn’t get up to see if we could see them. I guess there won’t be any here tonight. ;-) We’re back at the same campground where we spent 4 nights while the road was washed out.

Abandoned Silver Mine on road out of Skagway

I had been looking forward to seeing the fireweed flowers in Alaska. They had been so beautiful when we were here in 2000. This year they have had cooler weather and the fireweed has been a little late in blooming. We saw it just very occasionally, always along the road where we were traveling too fast to get stopped to even snap a picture. Today I started seeing it on the road a little more frequently, finally we saw some and could stop to get a picture, but it wasn’t bloomed out very much. When we drove into the campground here, it was blooming all over the place. So finally I have some pictures of it.

Fireweed

Fireweed at RV Park

The next few days will be mostly just driving. We’ll try to post if we have any pictures of wildlife or anything unusual.

July 3, 2012 - Garden City RV Park, Skagway, Alaska

After the long and busy day yesterday, we had a slow and relaxed day today. High temp for today has been 56 degrees, and the wind has been steady. We went into town to look at some of the shops this morning. Since four cruise ships were docked this morning, every store was open and the streets had a good number of people wondering in and out of the shops. Buses were busy taking people from town to different attractions, horse and buggy tours were operating, and we saw some older style small tour buses taking people on town tours. With the wind and the weather, it was not the most comfortable to walk around. Most people were dressed for a winter day, but you still saw a few in t-shirts and shorts. We did manage to find a quilt shop, so the trip in was a success.

Hanging from window to attract attention for a show.

Older tour bus

Karen found what she wanted.

After walking around for a while and finding a burger for lunch, we headed back to the RV. The afternoon provided time to play on the internet, take a nap, read a book, and for Karen to sew on a baby quilt she had brought along. We will head out of Skagway tomorrow and it will be a fairly long driving day as we make our way back toward Watson Lake.

July 2, 2012 - Garden City RV Park, Skagway, Alaska

Yesterday we had arranged to go on the Fjord Express boat tour, on the Fjordland, to Juneau for today. We left the campground this morning about 7:30 and went to the harbor to meet the boat, which was scheduled to leave at 8:00. It was there and loading. It was a fairly new catamaran which held about 60 passengers. We had both taken some Dramamine earlier because when we gone on a boat tour up here in 2000, we had all been sick. This ride today was really smooth. I guess it may have been because we were in a “fjord” or inlet rather than on the open sea. Our boat owner and captain, Glen, and his teen-age daughter, Anna, were very hospitable, entertaining and gave lots of information about the area and the sea animals. We saw several bald eagles, whales (individual and pods), porpoises, sea otters, sea lions, harbor seals and orcas (even he was surprised at the orcas). Glen was very expert at spotting the sea-life; he would then slow down, stop or even circle back to let us get a good look and photos. There were probably 25 people who departed with us from Skagway this morning, then we stopped at Haines to pick up additional 12. Haines is 14 miles by water from Skagway, by road it is 360 miles away. It was then about another 2 hours to Juneau. It actually took us longer than that because we spent so much time stopped watching whales. It was the fishing opener (opening day) for commercial fishing today. It was like running an obstacle course for Glen to pilot the boat between all the nets that extended behind the boats as went into Juneau.

Eagle in flight

Sea Lions

Humpback whale as it surfaces during lunge feeding.

Commercial Fishermen retreiving their net.

Orca Whale

When we arrived at Juneau, we were met at the dock by Glen’s brother, Gary, with a Gray Lines bus to take us downtown. He also kept us entertained with his running commentary about things as we passed them. Juneau is the capital of Alaska, but is situated on this section of land that is reached only by water or air. It is very landlocked by the sea and the mountains. The downtown seemed to be very tightly squeezed into just a very few blocks. After leaving us on our own in the downtown for a couple of hours, Gary picked us up and took us to see the Mendenhall Glacier which is overseen by the National Parks Dept. We had about 1 ½ hours there and then he picked us up to take us to meet Glen with the boat. The water was a little rougher on the way back than it had been this morning, but still it wasn’t too bad – nothing like we had previously experienced on the open sea.

Mendenhall Glacier in background

There had been three cruise ships in the Skagway harbor this morning when we left, this evening when we got back at 8:30, one was already gone and the other two were preparing to leave. While in Juneau, there were four cruise ships docked there. Three were pulled up to the dock, the fourth, a Celebrity cruise ship was anchored out in the bay and they were shuttling people in on small boats so they didn’t have to pay the docking fee. We were told there will be more ships in here at Skagway by morning so it should be busy in town tomorrow.

July 1, 2012 – Garden City RV Park, Skagway, Alaska

We had a short 100 mile drive today from Whitehorse to Skagway. You can also find Skagway spelled Skaguay. When the post office entered the city name, the ‘u’ was mistaken for a ‘w’ and that is the way it has since been spelled. The ride today was again through very beautiful country. It is interesting that neither the US or Canada have the boarder stations at the border. The border is actually in a pass at the top of the mountain. The road from that point into Skagway is advertised as an 11 mile, 11% grade, down into the town. About 8 miles in each direction from the actual boarder are the respective stations. On the way in we stopped at a turnout just before the boarder and a Mountie policeman pulled up also. He got out of his vehicle and proceeded to stop all vehicles coming into Canada and ask them something before letting them proceed. We have no idea what it was, but we may find out when we leave on Wednesday.

Beutiful green lake we saw on the ride.

Mountie checking??

Once we set up, we drove around town, up to an overlook, to a Gold Rush cemetery, and then hiked back to a water fall. We had heard that many shops are not open if a cruse ship is not docked and we think that is a true statement. Even though it was early afternoon, many stores were closed. We understand that a ship will be here on Tuesday and the place should be hopping.

One of the buildings on the main street.

Gold Rush Cemetery

Skagway from a town overlook.

Karen at Reid Falls