9/15/12 WACO, TX

We made it to Waco two days ago. We got our other RV out of storage and moved everything over yesterday, but it’s a big job and we’re still putting things away.  We dropped off our old RV at the shop to have some repairs done.  The slide started giving us trouble on the way home, then we had a tire blow out that did a lot of damage to the slide and rear of the rv.  We’ll get things buckled down here in Waco then move down to Belton for a while to see the kids and gkids.  I will post some statistics and final thoughts on our Alaska adventure soon for those that are interested in visiting Alaska. 

9/12/12 BOWIE, TX

We enjoyed touring Bishop’s castle and the state park in San Isabel National Park. It’s amazing that the castle was built by the hands of one man over the last 42 years.  And it is still a work in progress.  We left Colorado City and stayed the night in Amarillo, Texas last night in an RV park just off Interstate 40.  We are in Paradise RV park in Bowie, TX tonight and will make it on in to Waco tomorrow with only 150 miles to go. 

9/10/12 COLORADO CITY, CO

I woke up on my birthday camped in back of a Flying J.  There was a Denny’s restaurant across the street.  Norm treated me to breakfast.  They give you a free breakfast on your birthday.  That Norm really knows how to treat a lady.

We stayed in Cheyenne, Wyoming for 3 nights so we could get the truck’s 30,000 mile check and oil changed. Plus it’s within 50 miles of Norm’s sister Debbie and nephew Jordan.  While Norm took the truck in I stayed home and cleaned the RV.  The RV gets filthy inside and out after driving over those dusty gravel roads on the Alcan Highway.   I dusted, wiped down, vacuumed and moped.  Ahh, feels so good to get cleaned up.  The outside is more of a chore; we’ll wait until we get home to wash it.  Saturday we went to Laramie to spend the day with Deb & Jordan.  The weather turned out perfect.  Jordan made us a breakfast casserole and Deb had a nice table setting outside in the beautiful weather.  We sat outside for some time chatting and the day flew by way to soon.   We debated staying another day so we could all go do something either in Cheyenne or close by, but it seems everything closes up on Sundays.  So we decided to head on toward home.  We traveled about 260 miles yesterday and are now camped at a National Forest campsite near Colorado City.  It’s farther off the road for an overnight but we couldn’t resist the temptation of going up to almost 9,000 feet in elevation and the lake sounded nice.  It is nice up here, gets real cool at night.  Aspen and spruce trees up on a ledge that over look a small lake.  Bishop’s Castle is within a few miles of here.  We plan to check that out today.  The castle belongs to a private individual who started building it many years ago.  What started as a cabin turned into a castle and he allows anyone to come tour the place at no charge.  Because we love it here and want to go see the castle we’ll stay 2 nights.  Only thing is I find it hard to breathe at this altitude.  Just sitting doing nothing I feel out of breath.  

9/2/12 SHELBY, MT

I made an attempt to see the Northern Lights again last night. No such luck.  We left today around 11:00 with less than 200 miles to go today.  We crossed the border with little trouble.  Norm has grown a beard since we drove into Canada about 3 months ago.  When asked to see his passport or drivers license, where he has no beard, people question whether or not it is him.  The US border patrol looked at him a long time after inspecting his passport.  Then asked to see another form of ID with his picture.  After inspecting his driver’s license he asked Norm to put on his glasses.  After Norm put on his glasses the agent was satisfied, not 100%, but let him pass.  This is the 2^nd time someone has really questioned his identity because of his white beard.  Too funny!  We are now in Shelby, Montana at a City Park, Lake Soulette, or something like that.  The wind blows like crazy here to.  We made arrangement for our mail to be delivered here general delivery so hopefully we’ll get it tomorrow (Monday) and can move on.   

 9/4/12 SHELBY, MT

Oops, yesterday was a holiday, Labor Day.  We had dumped this morning, took on fresh water and drove to the post office to find it closed.  So back to the rv park for another day and night.  It’s windy as heck here and this morning looks like it will rain.  I don’t know how far we’ll go today, depends on Norm, we’re just freewheeling it.  If we keep driving everyday we’ll make it to Waco, Texas in 7 days.  We’re anxious to get home to see the kids and gkids and also get settled down for a time.  But if there are roses along the way I’m sure we’ll stop to enjoy them.
FYI - I saw very, very dim northern lights last night. 
 
Update:  Our mail didn’t make it here.  After verifying it was sent with our UPS Store we found out they sent it UPS Ground.  WHAT!!  Doesn’t everyone know post offices do not accept UPS packages????  I can’t believe it.  The good thing is we caught up with our package at the UPS main hub in Cut Bank which is 24 miles from here (the opposite way we would be traveling).  The bad news is they don’t open to customers until 4:00 pm.  We had to wait all day.  What a fiasco this turned out to be.  At this point I’m just glad we got it so we could be on our way.  We drove about 90 miles to Great Falls, Montana and are over nighting in a Flying J parking lot just off the highway.  Tomorrow we'll head to our next destination, Pueblo, Colorado.  It will take 4 days to get there.

8/30/12 BENZANSON, ALBERTA CANADA

We left Dawson Creek just after noon and drove about 160 miles toward Edmonton.  Norm wanted a short driving day today. After we drove through Grande Prairie we started looking for a hidey hole (boondocking spot).  Now that we’re getting into more populated areas this won’t be as easy to do.  The Mile Post does not cover anything south of Dawson Creek, so all we have for information now is the Atlas. I saw a little tent symbol in the Atlas (there are many).  One looked interesting, appears to be camping, probably primitive camping since it did not list a name of the camp site.  We turned down a paved road that soon turned into gravel.  After 5 miles it turned into larger gravel making it a bumpier drive.  We took it slow and went another couple of miles making a few turns here and there and here we are.  Our new secluded hidey hole.  This campground is located in the Old Bezanson  town site.  It makes a loop with about 20 back in sites.  When we left Dawson Creek we drove out of forest land.  We’re in flat farm land with few trees from here to the border.  We were surprised after we drove about 7 miles down this gravel road that this campground is in a grove of tall Aspens.  Very tall.  Not good for Aurora viewing but very nice.  The looped road around the campground is somewhat narrow with lot’s of trees and brush close to the road.  Not big rig friendly.  Our 25 foot was probably about the maximum size, along with our really long crew cab long bed truck.  Norm was instantly in love with this place.  It’s $10 a night, no hook ups, and no instructions as to where to pay.  It seems deserted out here but we can tell someone is keeping the place up.  LOTS of free firewood at each site.  Norm built a nice fire and we sat around it in a trance, not believing how beautiful this place is.  The wind blew at the tops of the Aspens, rustling the leaves.  Awww, this is nice.  Norm never wants to leave.  We did have a truck drive through last night. We thought it was someone coming to collect our rent.  Turned out to be a couple from Grande Prairie just out for a drive and decided to come check this place out.  They had heard of it but never been out.  They had a huge black dog named Max.  We had a good chat with them. I asked him about the Aurora and he said they do see it from this area.  He grew up in Yellowknife and talked about seeing the lights up there. I had heard that was as excellent area since it’s in the “Aurora Zone”.  Last night I got up a few times to check for the Aurora.  Not much visibility with the tall trees here, no lights to be seen.  I can’t believe how dark it is out here, and quiet.  If it weren’t for the full moon I wouldn’t have been able to see my hand in front of my face.  The moon was so bright and beautiful; I couldn’t get over how close it seems to earth.  And it shined so bright its light filtered through the Aspens making interesting shadows through the trees, very beautiful.  We’ll go exploring on foot today and stay one more night.  The weather is getting warmer, upper 60’s/low 70’s during the day.  The nights cool down, not sure what that temp is, but not real cold.  We dread getting into the hot weather the further south we go. 

 

8/31/12 SPRUCE GROVE, ALBERTA CN

Yesterday we hiked around our wonderful camp area on foot.  This is a historical site about the town of Bezanson.

There is a hiking trail that has few signs along the way about homes or businesses here in the old town site of Bezanson.  Unfortunately there are no remnants left behind.  Someone erected a monument about two pioneer women in this area.  The story goes they were sisters.   One died on Christmas day during childbirth.  The sister took a buggy in minus 30 degree weather to the nearest cow (to get milk for the baby, named Frank) quit some distance.  She and another woman raised baby Frank.  I can’t wait to research the history on this old town site.  We hiked a good while before returning to camp, started a fire and relaxed a bit before cooking dinner.  Another RV came in and camped on the other side of the campground.  We will surely miss this place, but will fondly remember forever. 

Today we got an early start (for us, 9:15a.m.) and drove a bit further than Norm likes in one day.  We checked out several campgrounds along the way but didn’t like any of them.  We are camped at Wal-Mart for the night.  There are about 6 RV’s here and it’s a busy, busy place. 

9/1/12 FT. MACLEOD, ALBERTA, CN

Our night at Wal-Mart last night turned out pretty good.  Traffic died down late at night and it was very quiet for sleeping.  This morning I did a little shopping in the store and we quickly got on the road.  Norm was up to driving further than he normally likes.  We ran into a lot of rain and some large hail south of Calgary and the wind picked up.  Just short of Lethbridge, Canada Norm was ready to look for a place to stay the night.  We found Buffalo Plain Rv park which was 7 miles off the highway. A bit further than we like for a quick overnight but they all seem to be at least that far.  We got here and are unimpressed.  But Norm is tired and doesn’t want to drive on so we took their last spot.  Only has 15 amp electric and water.  The water is so far away from our hook up we didn’t even hook that up.  The Electric was just as far but Norm used an extension cord.  It’s windy as hell here, rocking the trailer violently at times.  I hate it here.  I’d rather be in a Wal-Mart parking lot. 

8/28/12 DAWSON CREEK, BC

We got a little earlier start today so we could drive the 240 miles to Dawson City and see about a new tire.  Norm put our spare tire on yesterday which was new 2 years ago that we’ve never used.  Norm inspected the other tires and determined we should buy 3 more new ones.  We found a tire store in Dawson City with the trailer tires we needed and they were able to put them on right then.  I forgot to mention that we’ve been having some trouble with our slide out.  It has been groaning and acting like it doesn’t want to come back in.  It seems to be getting worse so a few days ago we decided we would not put it out anymore until we could have it looked at.  We’re afraid we’ll get stranded camping out in the boonies unable to pull the slide in.  We’ve rearranged the dining table to make a bit more room to pass through to the kitchen which makes it a little more livable.   Not ideal, but we can live with it for awhile.  We’d rather get it fixed back in the states at our leisure.  Our insurance may even cover it along with the trim damage done by the tire blow out we had yesterday.  I’m so glad we decided not to bring our newer 5^th wheel.  The roads up here can be pretty rough.  This old rv has seen better days.  We’re just hoping it makes it back in one piece.  It has done us well up until now but seems to be falling apart quickly now.  We’ll keep our fingers crossed and hold our breath.  We are staying at 0 Mile campground on the North side of Dawson Creek.  The long days of driving are wearing on Norm so we plan to slow down a bit the next few days. 

8/27/12 PROPHET RIVER, BC

We drove approximately 250 miles today, thank goodness it wasn’t the brutal 310 miles like yesterday.  About 50 miles short of our next camp spot we had a blow out on the highway just South of Ft. Nelson.   After a loud boom we pulled over to find our rear trailer tire was torn to shreds.  And with only 2-3 feet of shoulder to pull off on this 2 lane road.  We put out two orange traffic cones in the street to warn passersby that we were having a problem.  Of course it was a tire on the traffic side of the highway which made it more dangerous for Norm to change the tire.  The cones helped a bunch as people were able to see them at a good distance, slow down and get in the other lane.  In no time Norm had the tire changed and we were back on the road.  We made it to our camp spot for the night.  Another night of boondocking at a place we stayed at on the way up to Alaska.  An abandoned campground just outside the tiny town of Prophet River.  There was one other camper when we got there and a couple more came in later.  This is a very nice place just off the road back in some trees. 

8/26/12 LIARD RIVER HOTSPRINGS, BC

We traveled about 500 kilometers (310 miles?) which is farther than we really like to drive.  But our goal was to stay at a nice little wayside area across from a hotsprings.  Our eye was on soaking in this wonderful hotspring that we enjoyed on our way up to Alaska in June.  Back then we arrived late and stayed at the wayside area just across from the provincial park then moved into the park the next day and stayed two nights.  This time we stayed at the wayside area across the highway from the park.  But first we drove into the park to soak in their hotspring.  The park does not have any hook ups so we thought we’d save a few bucks and stay at the wayside with the same amenities (none) for free.   I had trouble sleeping again tonight so moved onto the couch with the window shades up so I could watch for those beautiful northern lights.  No lights again tonight but the clarity of all the stars in the clear sky continue to amaze me.  I don’t’ remember the Texas skies being so clear and bright.  I laid on the couch looking out the window with a perfect view of the big dipper.  It seemed so close.  So much closer than other places we’ve stayed.  When I got up to check out the front door I could see the milky way.  The universe is such an amazing mystery.  It inspires me to study up on astronomy. 

8/24/12 TESLIN, YUKON

Our camp spot on Kluane Lake last night turned out nice. But for some reason I’m having trouble going to sleep.  I got up twice last night to check for the Northern Lights.  A lot of clouds moved in.  It’s getting darker earlier now and the darkness is darker.  Meaning it never really got dark when we first arrived in Alaska in June, only twilight for a few hours before the sun came up again.  The wind picked up during the night and rocked the rv pretty good at times.  We woke to a light sprinkle and decided to push on.  We drove probably 250 miles today and are staying about 20 miles short of Teslin at an old gravel airstrip that’s tucked back into the woods a little ways, maybe .2 of a mile.  I don’t think the airstrip is in service anymore but we were able to park a good ways away from it just in case.  Some, maybe all of these little jewels we find have been due to the Milepost.  Many are not signed at the road. The Milepost gives you blow by blow what to expect at every mile marker, but only if there is actually something to write about.  Such as a rest area, pull out, gravel road down to a lake, etc.  That’s what we like to check out, those gravel roads that lead down to a lake or out of service airstrips.  We know our boondocking days are coming to an end as we head further south.  Soon it will be too hot to sleep without air conditioning so we’re taking advantage of it while we can.  

8/24/12 KLUANE LAKE, YUKON

Not being able to sleep last night I got up a few times during the night to check for the lights.  Strange how the clouds seem to clear at night and the beautiful stars shine.  No lights this night tho.   We left out of Border City Rv Park today and headed to Haines Junction.  I was hoping to get 250 miles up the road somewhere between Haines Junction and Whitehorse.  We crossed the Canadian border very quickly this time.  Only a few questions and we were on our way.  Ran into some road construction along with the bad roads and we lost a lot of time.  Sometimes only driving around 25 miles per hour.  I saw soooo many little ponds and lakes along the way.  I don’t remember seeing so many on the way up to Alaska.  The Milepost says to watch for Swans in the lakes on this portion of the drive.  I looked for miles and miles and finally did see about 5 or 6 in a lake but we were not able to stop, no shoulder of the road and I saw them a little too late to stop.   On up the road a ways I did see another pair of swans and asked Norm to stop.   There was a shoulder to pull off on and we took a few pictures.  They were not real close but I was in awe of these beautiful creatures.  Looked like Trumpeter Swans.  I wish we could have found a place alongside this little lake to spend the rest of the day and night just watching this graceful pair.  We traveled on and ran into road construction that slowed up down to 15-20 miles per hour for several miles.  The road seems like it’s in better shape than when we were on it a few months ago.  Still, we had to take it slow.  I was determined to find a secluded spot not far from the road near a creek, pond or lake.  It was apparent because of delays we would not make it as far as planned.   I read about a gravel road that leads down to Kluane Lake about 40 miles from Haines Junction.  When we reached it I asked Norm to pull off onto the shoulder of the road while I walked down to check it out. Not wanting to get the rv in a spot unable to turn around I walked a good ways.  I found a pretty good spot, level and able to turn around but visible from the road.  I continued on to see if there was a place that was not visible from the road.  After awhile I realized there might be bears in the area so turned around and went back around and waved Norm on to come on down with the rv toward the lake.  We decided to park the rv and continue walking down the road to see where it went.  Probably ½ mile down we found out it made a loop back to the main road and we found an excellent level spot with a beautiful view of the blue Kluane Lake to park for the night.  We quickly walked back to the rv and drove to the spot we picked out.  I got out of the truck and guided Norm into our site, watching for sharp rocks, concentrating on a level spot when suddenly I looked up and saw a bear come up the embankment from the lake about 30 feet away.  YIKES!  Scared me!  I quickly got into the truck.  We took pictures and watched this grizzly mosey on down the road coming within 20 feet of the truck.  He made his way down the path, toward our truck for a bit then went back down the embankment and down the shoreline, probably looking for fish. Boy, that was a rush. I wonder where he was when we walked down here to check out things just a little bit ago?  What would we have done if he came up that embankment when we were on foot checking out the place?  WOW.  We found a level spot out of view of the traffic and set up camp.  We got our chairs set up out looking toward this beautiful lake and laughed and talked about out encounter with this grizzly bear.  Then all of a sudden a wolf came up the same embankment about 50 feet from us.  At least I think it was a wolf.  Not sure, maybe a coyote?  To funny, so much wildlife in the Yukon.  How long will we stay here?  Dunno.

8/23/12 BORDER CITY, AK

We’ve really enjoyed our little paradise on the Gerstle River.  We explored the area on foot a bit and collected wood for a campfire last night.  Cooked burgers on the grill and enjoyed our sunshine.  I got up around midnight to see if the northern lights were out and they were!  I woke up Norm and we watched for a few hours.  They were much better this night but only lasted about 30 minutes then faded to a white cloud like color.  The campfire was still smoldering so we got it started back up and sat next to it to keep warm.  We finally went back to bed around 2:30 or so and woke up about 10:30.  Then got on the road quickly and drove about 200 miles just 4 miles short of the Canadian border.  We’re staying at Border City Lodge and RV Park. It’s been cloudy all day so probably no chance of aurora lights tonight, although I’ll still check because this Alaska weather is very unpredictable.  I really hate leaving this beautiful state with it’s cool weather. 

8/21/12 Near Delta Junction, AK

As much as we wanted to stay at 48 mile pond we decided to press on to begin our long trek home.  This morning we were awoke by a helicopter flying low to the ground.  It was loud and soon our rv began to shake then the helicopter motor suddenly turned off.  I told Norm “I think it landed”.  We got up to see and sure enough, there was a helicopter just outside our rv.  Too funny.  A van pulled up with a logo on the side that said something like “mobile radio”.  A guy got out of the van, the helicopter pilot got out and they proceeded to load some boxes into the helicopter.  Then they both got in the helicopter and took off, only to return about 30 minutes later.  They walked around for about a half hour or so then took off again.  Shortly they returned then left in the van.  Hmmm…. Wonder what that was all about.  Anyway, today turned off cloudy and cold.  If it had been nice we probably would have stayed another day to soak up some sunshine.  But I couldn’t see staying and not being able to be outside, it was that cold.  We ate a big country breakfast and drove to Delta Junction.  We stopped to visit Rika’s Roadhouse, a historical site that the state took over years ago.  It was established in the early 1900’s as a hotel, restaurant for gold miners to stop and rest a spell.  A very interesting place on the bank of a river.  I love to imagine how life was back then.  There are a lot of roadhouses in Alaska due to the gold rush.  One every 15-20 miles or so. 

I had read in the milepost that the Delta Junction visitor center had a nice exhibit so we stopped quickly to check that out.  Then we drove another 30 miles out of town toward Tok to a free campground Norm found out about.  It’s located right off the road with restrooms and a few camping spaces in the trees.  We found a sandy road that led out beside the Gerstle River and that’s where we are camped.  The water is just 4 feet out our front door and running swiftly.  We opened the bedroom window so we can hear the soothing water all night long.  A good spot for aurora viewing.  I set my alarm for 1:00 a.m. since the clouds dissipated and the blue skies came out later in the afternoon.  It was hard trying to wake up out of a sound sleep, putting on layers to keep warm; I took my time getting outside.  I looked out the kitchen window, no lights.  As soon as I stepped out the front door I immediately saw the green lights to the North.  I hollered back inside to Norm “the lights are out”.  We watched them for probably ½ hour then they faded away not to be seen again.  They were low on the horizon and faded out this night.  We hope to see them high and vibrant like we did last week before we get out of the aurora zone, which will be about the time we cross the Canadian border to go into the lower 48 states.  We like this spot by the river so much we decided to stay another day and night.   Man, its tough leaving this amazing state.  We sure are dragging out feet.  Our home state of Texas pulls us home, but Alaska pulls us back.  

 

Our camp spot on Gerstle River



8/19/12 CHENA HOTSPRINGS, AK

We left North Pole and traveled 60 miles to Chena Hot Springs.  This is a resort that advertises they have a prime aurora viewing spot in the mountains, a hot spring to soak in and an ice museum.   The ice museum is what I’m here for. I had seen it on tv several years ago and just had to come up here to see it for myself.  You can park your rv there for $20 a night with no hookups.  On the way up we checked out a few dry camping possibilities I read about just off the main road in case we didn’t want to stay at the resort.  As it turned out the resort was not that great, not what I expected.  I did however enjoy touring the ice museum. They used to call it the “Ice Hotel” but had to change that because they were not legal in many ways to run a hotel (no fire sprinklers, etc.).  The ice museum is completely carved out of ice with a double wall of material around it and chilling system that blows cold air in between those 2 walls to keep it frozen.  Everything inside is carved from ice by two local artist.  They actually have a few bedrooms in there that you can rent.  Of course the bed is carved from ice as well.  There is a small chapel, a bar in which we had an apple martini and many, many beautiful sculptures of ice.  Some actually were painted from the inside different colors, some had colored lights behind them to illuminate them.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  We walked the resort grounds.  They have beautiful landscaping here with colorful flowers everywhere.  We thought we would enjoy the hot springs but after checking it out we didn’t like the looks of it either.  It’s amazing what photography can do. These springs looked really neat on paper, but not what we expected.  We decided to pass. We didn’t like the area for RV’s either so passed on that as well and back tracked 8 miles to an area we saw earlier.  This pull off is called “48 mile pond”. It’s owned and maintained by the state recreation department.  It’s only 1 tenth of a mile off the main road, has two ponds that are beautiful and several informal camping areas and no fee to use this area.  The first night there were two other rv’s and a few tent campers back in the woods.  We found a nice level spot with the beautiful mirror like pond for our front yard.  The pond is like glass reflecting the trees and mountain behind it.  This is an amazing spot, we love it here.

 8/20/12 CHENA HOTSPRINGS, AK

We drove up the road 1 mile to take Angel Rock hike.  It is a pretty strenuous 3.5 miles up a mountain with beautiful views and   giant granite rocks.  The hike takes you around the granite rocks and back around to the parking area.  We made it in around 3+ hours.  No wildlife sightings here but it was a nice day and a good hike.  We were hoping our rv spot would still be available when we got back and it was.  The only other campers tonight were an older couple that parked up close by the road.  We had the whole place to ourselves.  This is a jewel that you don’t come across often.  We may just stay a while longer.  After cooking up some steaks on the grill we were inside reading when Norm looked out the window and saw a cow moose and yearling standing in the pond.  It was an amazing sight that we enjoyed for a long time before they made their way across the road in front of us, over to the other pond and out of sight behind the trees. 

Fall is approaching Alaska.  The trees are starting to turn yellow with some red here and there.  It should be a burst of fall colors in a few short weeks.  We feel the need to go home but sure do want to stay.  We had planned to leave tomorrow but now Norm’s talking about staying a bit longer.  This spot we are in is as close to heaven as you can get. 

Our amazing camp spot at 48 mile Pond near Chena Hotsprings

 

Beautiful Pond mirrors the forest and mountains

 

 

Angel Rock Trailhead

 

Apple Martini's at the Ice Hotel/Museum

 

 

8/17/12 NORTH POLE, AK

We paid for three nights here at River View RV Park and extended it another three nights yesterday.  It’s taking us longer to see what we want in the Fairbanks area because we seem to be running out of steam. We like our leisurely mornings that seem to run into noon.  Although we have been going at a very slow pace I think we are about ready to go home.  We left Texas May 6^th so it’s been a long time since we’ve seen the kids. 

We went into Fairbanks the other day to see Pioneer Park.  This theme park is set up to look like an old gold mining town with historical Alaska exhibits.  It’s pretty much a tourist trap but we enjoyed seeing some of the old cabins that were moved onto the property as well as an old steam engine riverboat and an old railroad car. 

Next we visited Creamers Field.  This Migratory Waterfowl Refuge comprises about 2000 acres.  The fields, woods, and wetlands are managed for the benefit of wildlife by the Alaska State Department of Fish and Game.
In 1977, the farmhouse, barns, and surrounding 12 acres were listed in the National Register of Historic Places of the National Park Service.  This used to be a privately owned dairy farm back in the day.  I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the old farmhouse, huge barns and expansive fields surrounding the area.  It’s neat to think of how life on this farm used to be.  As soon as you go up the road to the property you pass a large pond with sandhill cranes and Canadian geese.  The birds are pretty close to the observation deck and don’t seem to be bothered by humans.  We took a trail around the back of the property that goes back into the boreal forest. 

Yesterday we visited the town of North Pole.  The Santa Claus House is a privately owned property that houses a large gift shop full of everything Christmas.  Lot’s of Christmas trees and Santa is available to talk with kids and adults.  We got our picture with him.  He talks a lot, very nice man.  He talked a lot about fishing in different areas of Texas.  He seemed to know a lot about Texas.  When I asked him where he is originally from he said “well from the North Pole of course, Santa is always from the North Pole”.   They have reindeer outside with huge antlers.  Madi and Holden would love to visit this place.  The town of North Pole is larger than I expected.  It’s decorated like Christmas time all the time with candy cane street lights, etc.  The street names are Christmas themed (mistletoe lane, St. Nicholas street, snowman lane). 

I have been getting up a lot every night/morning to check for the aurora lights.  I haven’t seen them again since the display a few nights ago.  I want to see them one more time and try to get some good pictures since I’ve adjusted my camera.  Unfortunately it is pretty cloudy at night and the forecast looks like it will be that way for some time. It has to be a pretty clear night to see the lights.  I want to visit the University of Alaska museum in Fairbanks then move on up to Chena Hotsprings about 60 miles north of here.  This sounds like a good spot to view the northern lights and there is an ice museum I want to see there.  If we don’t see the lights soon we’ll start our trek back home and watch for them while traveling through Canada.  It will take about 2 weeks to make it back home.  A drive I’m dreading.  It didn’t seem so bad coming up to Alaska because we had places to stop and see along the way.  Not so much on the way back home. 

 

8/18/12 NORTH POLE, AK

WE SAW THE AURORA BOREALIS LAST NIGHT AND THEY WERE FANTASTIC!
Fortunately it was not cloudy last night like the forecast predicted.  I woke up at midnight after maybe 2 hours sleep and dragged myself outside to take a look at the sky.  No lights but the sky was clear and many stars visible.  The aurora forecast was rated a 3 for tonight which is pretty good.  I kept watch for over an hour then went back inside the rv to warm up. It’s was colder this night and I had to keep going inside for a bit to warm up even though I was layered up with clothing.  Since I hadn’t seen the light the last several nights I thought about going back to bed.  I was so tired from getting up every night and not getting a full night’s sleep in awhile.  I kept looking outside and decided since it was such a clear night I should push through the fatigue and stand vigil.  If I was going to see the lights again I needed to keep watch.  I went on the internet to check the ABN (Aurora Borealis Notification) to see if anyone was reporting the lights in the area.  Nothing.  I got up to get some water and casually looked out the little window by the front door.  THE LIGHTS WERE OUT!!!  And they were bright lime green, lots of them right overhead.  I woke Norm, grabbed the camera and tripod and hurried outside.   The lights were fantastic.  I can’t believe how good they were and they lasted a long time,  probably 1 ½ to 2 hours.   At one point they went out and we thought that might be the end of the light show.  After awhile they came back right overhead, large and bright with red/magenta color around the edges of the bright lime green.  It was as if someone was painting the sky with a wide paint brush.  The lights would stretch clear across the sky, grow wide, and slim down to a thin line, swirl, all sorts of shapes and sizes.  They would stop for a while then come back.  The sun started coming up around 3:40 and the lights went out.  That’s when Norm went back to bed.  I stayed up and half hour or so watching from inside the rv with the space heater on (it was cold and my feet were freezing). 

Unfortunately our cameras did not take good pictures, even after all the adjustments we made.  Norm made a few more adjustments to his camera and got little better pictures but they sure don’t do it justice.  I am completely hooked on these lights.  WOW, Double WOW with ice cream on top!

Yesterday we went into Fairbanks to visit the University of Alaska Museum.  They have a very nice, large collection of artifacts on display.  We spent several hours there and watched two short films in their theatre.  One about the aurora borealis, the other about winter in Alaska.  The second level of the museum is a large gallery of art.  Tomorrow we move on up to Chena HotSprings.  We’ll be dry camping for a few days then start making our way back home. 

For more pictures go to my picassa pictures.  https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos

Unfortunately they are not very good but there is one I borrowed from someone else here in North Pole that was taken last night as well. 

We just could not get a good picture of the aurora.  

8/14/12 NORTH POLE, AK

I found out about an aurora (northern lights) notification system and signed up to get a text when the lights are out.  Two nights ago while camped in Denali around 1:30 a.m. I got a text saying the aurora was being seen over Fairbanks.  I went outside and did not see them right away, but soon I began seeing them to the north towards Fairbanks.  Although faint in the sky they looked like green clouds.  I woke Norm to come see.  We stood outside for some time watching.  It was pretty cool, I couldn’t wait to get to Fairbanks in hopes of seeing them better/brighter.  The next day (yesterday) we hitched up after being in Denali 11 days and headed to Fairbanks.  We are staying at River View RV Park in North Pole which is 10 miles outside of Fairbanks.  I chose this park because it is out of town, away from the light pollution of Fairbanks.  It has proven to be a perfect spot for aurora viewing.  Last night I got up at 12:15 to check on the lights.  None at that time.  At 1:15 I got a text saying they were being seen in Fairbanks but none at North Pole.  I went outside and watched for 20 minutes or so and they began to appear.  I woke Norm to come see.  As soon as he came out the lights got brighter and bigger.  It was AMAZING!  Large wide bands of beautiful vibrant green across the starry sky.  Sometimes large bands, then looking more like clouds or green smoke.  This went on for probably an hour.  It was a beautiful night, no wind, very still, a bit cold but tolerable.  After awhile they subsided for a half hour or so then reappeared for a short time.  Norm went to bed about 2:30.  I stayed up til 3:30 or so.  We took pictures of the lights but they turned out blurry.  I did some computer research for taking pictures of the aurora borealis and adjusted my camera then took pictures of the crescent moon (the lights were not out).  After some practice pictures and setting up the tripod I think I’ll be able to take some pretty good pictures if we see the lights again.  I’ll be ready.  The aurora forecast is looking pretty good again tonight, providing it doesn’t cloud up.  I’m so excited about seeing those lights! 

I hope to get a better picture of the aurora borealis.

8/11/12 DENALI, AK

We were not prepared food wise for staying out in the middle of nowhere this long.  There is not a half descent grocery store anywhere to be found.  I didn’t think we would be here this long.  There are a few convenience stores in the area but groceries are pitiful, not to mention expensive.  There is a subway, thank goodness.  We like subway sandwiches and have purchased many for picnics in the park.  What usually cost $5 or $6 back in Texas’s subways cost $9 here.  But still not bad considering the prices of other places here.  We still have a lot of halibut in the freezer which we’ve been having 2 to 3 times a week.  Groceries are getting pretty slim.  Somehow I don’t think we’ll starve to death. 

There is a general store just inside the park road near a campground.  We discovered they serve ice cream.  Now if you know me very well at all then you know I LOVE ice cream.  They don’t have many selections but one is called “Moose tracks” and it is delicious!  One scoop is a bowl full and only $3.  The best buy I’ve found anywhere.  We stopped for the 2nd night in a row last night (being obsessed with ice cream) to get another scoop of Moose Tracks.  I was soooo disappointed they were out.  So I settle for the “Caribou Carmel” which turned out pretty good.  We took it home and put it (most of it) in the freezer to have at a later time. Our dinner of halibut and rice didn’t’ leave room for ice cream.  Imagine that, I can usually put it away regardless.  But I didn’t want Norm to think bad of me J.   My mom use to say “you always have room for ice cream; it just melts around the food in your stomach and just fills in the empty places”.   Well….we all know mother knows best.

I forgot to mention in the previous post that the weather has been very nice these last few days.  No rain to speak of, a lot of sun with clouds coming & going.  Kinda cold still with temps in the upper 50’s and lower 60’s.  But any day it doesn’t rain is a nice day.  I’ve been getting up in the middle of the night to look for the northern lights.  None yet, it’s usually pretty cloudy so probably won’t be able to see them until we have a clear night.  I’ve heard they have seen them in Fairbanks on a clear night high in the sky.  They should be visible where we are, at least low on the horizon.  Since I heard this I’ve been getting up in the night to check.   This is a bucket list thing for me so hopefully will get to check that off my list.

8/12/12 DENALI, AK

We went on a 4.5 mile STRENUOUS hike up Mt. Healy.  The first half is pretty easy but once you actually get to the base of the mountain the incline makes it much more strenuous.  A lot of rock and gravel as we made our way slowly up the mountain.  The weather turned off sunny and very warm (70’s?).  It felt like upper 80’s.  The sun was intense.  I thought my lungs would explode going up and my knees would blow out on the way back down.  It took about 3 hours to make it to the top and about 2 hours back down.  Many times I didn’t think I would make it.  Our conversation on the way up went something like this:

Pam:  Just let me know if you want to turn back.
Norm:  Do you want to turn back?
Pam:  No, but if you do I’ll certainly understand.
Norm:  No, I want to continue on.
Pam:  Norm, there’s no shame is admitting defeat.  If you want to turn back it’s okay.
Norm:  No, I’m okay.

We stopped often to catch our breath.  With probably a half mile or so from the top we stopped in a shady spot to have lunch and cool down.  After sandwiches and admiring the beautiful views of the Alaskan range we continued on.  I got so hot and short of breath I thought I’d vomit. 

Norm:  You want to sit here while I continue?
Pam:  NO, do you want to sit while I continue?  Do you call Uncle yet?

As you can tell we are pretty competitive.  We knew if one of us admitted defeat we’d never hear the end of it from the other, lol.  Going up the mountain in the spruce trees we only got an occasional breeze.  Boy was it hot.  Finally we made it to the top!  It was nice, cool and windy on top of the mountain. We had to put our jackets on.  After admiring the views of the canyons and the town below we headed back down the mountain.  Only 20 feet or so down we were out of the cool wind and taking off our jackets.  You have to be part billy goat to make it through some of the steep, rocky sections.  With 1,700 feet of elevation change and up to 25% grade, a mile of switchbacks and another 1,200 feet to the overlook, this wasn’t the longest hike we’ve done but certainly is the hardest.  Five hours and 4.5 miles round trip.  I’m glad we persevered and made it but I wouldn’t do it againJ 

Caribou

The black acrosss the bottom of this bear picture is the bus window frame. Gives perspective on how close this bear is. 

We made it to the top of Mt. Healy!

View of the canyon below includes a river and Denali park roads.

8/6/12-8/10/12 DENALI, AK

12 Hour bus ride to Kantishna.  This is the farthest the road goes into the park. Our bus was like an old school bus with little seats for little kids and not much cushion.  What a lousy bus for such a long ride!  But what a fantastic day we had.  Our bus driver was very good.  They are not required to give a narrative (that’s a different more expensive bus ride).  But she also does the more expensive tour bus that does give the narrative and she just does the same for both bus tours.  We learned interesting facts about the park and saw fantastic wildlife; bears, caribou, dall sheep, arctic ground squirrels, a bull moose and cow moose running along the tundra.   

The next few days we went on several hikes:

Horse Shoe Lake hike – Rated moderate this 1.5 mile hike goes up a canyon ridge then down around a horse shoe shaped lake.  There is a beautiful view from atop the ridge down to the lake below.  Beaver dams in the lake but no beavers were seen today. 

Mountain Loop Vista hike – And easy hike just a little over ½ mile.  Nice views of the mountains surrounding the area including Mt. McKinley when it’s not covered by clouds.  This day it was behind clouds so we were not able to see any of it. 

Savage River – This hike is mostly easy with moderate climbs at times.  One mile down one side of the river, cross over a bridge and another mile back along the other side.  Nice views of the Alaska Range, rocky slopes and interesting geological formations. 

McKinley Station Trail – We took the ranger led hike that leaves the visitor center and takes you 1.6 miles one way, then we took the bus back to our truck.  The ranger talked a lot about the different plants including many different berries and encouraging everyone to taste them.  There are so many berries in the park they tell you to pick as many as you like.  It’s the only thing they will let you take out of the park.  He took a leaf off of a tree, folding it on one end, blew into the other and it made a whistle sound.  The kids in our group really like that.  They were cute trying it.  One mom said something about taking a leaf and trying it later.  The ranger told her she could not take it out of the park.  Funny, you can pick the leaves, kill it, but you have to leave it.  Hmmm…

Thursday we went on another long bus ride into the park.  This bus was a bit better than the last, It had more comfortable seating.  They have another visitor center way into the park, I’m guessing about 45 miles or so.  It’s new and very nice. Seems strange to have it so far into the park, I think they built it there because it has a fantastic view of Mt. McKinley.  You cannot see the mountain from the highway.  You get your first view of it 10 miles or so into the park.  Then the park road winds around with views of Mt. McKinley every so often.  This bus ride was 8 hours round trip.  Nice thing about these buses is you can ask to get off at ANY part along the road then take off hiking.  Later, just stand on the road side & wave down a bus.  We got off at the farthest point, the new Visitors Center then took a couple of hikes.  One up a mountain, very strenuous and another ranger led easy stroll around the visitor center. This park is different than any park I’ve been to.  Like most parks they are real big on preserving the park, plant life and wildlife.  The first 15 miles is accessible by vehicle, paved road and has many manmade trails.  The rest of the road is dirt and only accessible by the parks buses.  There are no trails.  They don’t want trails, they encourage you to hike anywhere in the park you like.  If you see a wildlife trail they don’t want you to use it.  By letting the people hike where they want it keeps the plant life from being beat down.  They also encourage you to eat on the bus, do not eat outside of the bus and don’t take your trash off the bus.  Boy, this is really different.  Usually your asked NOT to eat on the bus.  When wildlife is spotted they stop the bus, turn off the engine and everyone MUST remain quiet.  You cannot get off the bus during a wildlife sighting.  You can put your window down but no hanging out the window, not even an arm.  They don’t want the wildlife to get used to human voices, or associate food with humans.  They don’t help the wildlife out with any food or shelter during the harsh winters.   They let nature take its course.  Really cool. 

This day on the bus we saw bears, cubs (close to the road), caribou, moose at a distance and a wolf that came right up to the road and crossed in front of our bus.  According to the bus driver this is a rare sighting.  There are only approximately 70 wolves in this whole park.  It’s only the 4^th wolf he’s seen all summer.  We got so fortunate the Mt. McKinley was out and perfectly clear without any clouds for a long time.  We were thinking we would not see the mountain, it rarely makes an appearance and when it does, it will cloud up and not stay visible very long.  Not only did we get beautiful views of the mountain, at one bear sighting the bear crossed the road in front of us, went to the other side and we got a picture of the bear with Mt. McKinley in the background!  AMAZING!  Wow, how often does that happen? 

Dog Sled Demonstration – We attended one of their daily dog sled demonstrations.  They still use dog mushing to patrol the park in winter.  You can pet the dogs (the puppies are so cute).  The ranger did a good job giving us history on dog mushing in the park.  Then he hitched up the dogs and ran them around for us to see. 

We planned to stay here one week but extended another 4 days.  We love it here! 

I posted some photos in Picassa dated August 10:

https://picasaweb.google.com/home?hl=en&tab=mq

8/2/12 DENALI PARK, AK

When we arrived at this State Park just south of Denali yesterday it was cold and drizzly.  We woke up this morning to constant rain.  Norm was itching to move on since we don’t have any hook ups and we can’t get outside to do anything.  He’s thinking cable tv.  So even tho we paid for two nights we’ll move on toward Denali to an RV park with cable TV.  Something to keep us entertained through this rain.  We have been reading a lot but you can only read so much.  With only 100 miles or so we arrived at Denali Rainbow Village RV Park around 2:30.  This park is within 1 mile of the entrance to Denali National Park.  We drove out of the rain on the way here but it’s heavy overcast, windy and pretty cold.  Temps tonight are forecasted to be 36 degrees!  We have full hook ups and cable.  It’s funny, normally I’m the one who wants everything planned out, reservations made, etc.  Norm was wanting to make reservations for this park a few days ago when we were in Talkeetna.  I didn’t think it necessary.  I’m trying to be more like him and go with the flow.  I guess he’s trying to be more like me, haha J    Anyway, we didn’t have a problem getting a camp site.  Good deal.  We paid for 7 nights (they have a weekly rate).  The sun is supposed to come out Monday through Wednesday next week.  We’ll do Denali National Park then.  In the meantime we will check out this little community we’re in and drive out to the visitor’s center in the Park to see what there is to do and make plans so we can make good use of our time.  

8/5/12 DENALI, AK

The last few days have been overcast, cold and drizzly.  The high lately has been upper 40’s!  Geez, I’m tired of wearing long johns and coats, in August!  Yesterday we got out for a bit to check out the Denali Visitors Center and buy a bus ticket into the Park for Monday.  The visitor’s center has an excellent exhibit and film about the Park.  It’s supposed to be partly cloudy Monday so hopefully it will warm up to near 60 degrees.  You can drive 15 miles into Denali National Park.  Any further and you have to take a bus.  The ticket price depends on how far into the park you want to go.  We bought tickets to take us to the farthest point.  It is a 12 hour round trip bus ride.  You bring your own food and they stop for breaks every so often and stop when wildlife is spotted.  Yesterday we saw a bull moose grazing about 50 yards from the road.  What amazing creatures they are.  He didn’t seem to mind all the people stopping to watch him.  Because it was overcast Mt. McKinley was not visible.  The mountain stands at 20,000 in elevation and often is not visible.  Hopefully it will come out before we leave.   We went out to eat last night at Prospectors Pizza.  Within walking distance of our campsite, a real happening place, nice atmosphere and pretty good pizza.  We spoke to our kids today.  We miss Bonnie and Cole so much!  I get more homesick every day.  We’ve never been apart from them for this long.