6/26/12 VALDEZ, AK

The last 2 days have been heavy overcast, drizzly and in the mid 50’s.  Fog is so thick we can’t see those beautiful mountains all around us.  It looks like the next few days are a repeat.  Apparently the nice 70’s sunshine we had the first 3 days we were here are unusual this time of year.  I’m glad we had those days, they were spectacular.  One woman told us that we are a little early; their tourist season doesn’t really get going good until July.  We have noticed that the rv parks are not filling up.   There are a lot of tourists here in Valdez by seeing all the rv’s but don’t see many out and about.  They may be on fishing excursions or cruises.  We bundle up, put on rain gear and go walk around the harbor each evening to check out the fish people are bringing in. 

Yesterday we toured two museums in town that were very interesting.  In a nutshell the town of Valdez was located 4 miles away from here.  We drove out there the other day, not much left.  The town was destroyed by earthquake and tsunami in 1964. They now refer to it as Old Valdez.  The 800 mile Alaska pipeline ends here in Valdez.  We can see it across the bay from our campsite.  Oil flows at approximately 6 mph from North Alaska and they load it up here in barrels and directly onto a tanker.  We saw the tanker over there the other day when we went out on the cruise.  The captain pointed out how the tanker was lopsided at the time. He said that means they are still filling the tanker and it will level out once filled.  The next day the tanker was gone, just like he said it would be.  I remember doing a book report on the building of the Alaska pipeline in high school back in the 70’s.  Valdez was not a tourist town until the Exxon oil spill back in 1989. That caused an influx of people and became a tourist attraction ever since. 

I bet the older woman that checked us into this rv park has a story to tell.  She’s lived here over 40 years.  She is a tiny, weathered, feisty little woman.  She mentioned that she’s worked on fishing boats and was a pilot.  Yes, I would love to hear her story. 

6/27/12 VALDEZ, AK

Today is a repeat of yesterday’s heavy overcast skies but more rain and 48 degrees.  We leave out of here tomorrow and head for Palmer.  A couple we met back in Watson Lake extended us an invitation to camp at their house on our way through to Anchorage.  We took them up on the offer and do look forward to visiting with them again. They are a fun couple and we enjoyed them during the very short time we had at Watson Lake.  We’ll prowl around Palmer a day or 2 then move on to Anchorage where I’ll meet up with Diane, an old high school classmate that I’ve not seen or heard of since the 70’s.  Gotta love facebook for reuniting with long lost friends.  I can’t wait to hear about her life after high school.   

Yesterday we did laundry.  Today we made a run to the grocery store and filled up with gasoline.  Given the dreary weather we’re having here I’ll be ready to move on.  Although I don’t think the weather is much better where we are heading, or pretty much anywhere in south Alaska.  Just one of those things you got to push through.  I’m so grateful we had the beautiful 70’s sunshine weather we did the first few days we arrived.  Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to see these gorgeous views Valdez has to offer. 

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6/24/12 PICTURES ON PICASSA

I'm trying something new to me, posting pictures on Picassa. 
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6/23/12 VALDEZ, AK

 Today we went on a 9 hour cruise on the Stan Stephens Valdez Spirit Catamaran to see wildlife and glaciers.  We first cruised by the Columbia glacier but could not get very close due to the huge ice chunks.  Then we cruised over to Mears glacier which is very active.  We floated within ¼ mile of the glacier, it seemed like we were closer.  What a view of this beautiful wall of ice.  It was calving and we saw 2 or 3 big hunks of ice fall and several smaller ones.  It was a sight to see and the sound they make is even more amazing.  Sounds like thunder!  Maneuvering in amongst the chunks of ice was just as amazing.  I could never get tired of looking at this.  We saw a large hump back whale sleeping in among the ice.  The captain said you never see this; he was amazed the whale was sleeping in the ice since it has sharp edges.  On the return trip we entered into a big open area where there was a LOT of whales.  We witnessed one breach several times.  We were close to him.  I know I say “amazing” a lot, but that’s the only word that comes to mind when I see something like this.  It was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!  I feel so fortunate that we were able to see this.  We’ve been on whale watching cruises before and seen whales, but never breaching.  WOW!  DOUBLE WOW WITH SUGAR ON TOP!  We also saw sea otters, so cute just floating around on their back, relaxing.  We also saw sea lions sunning on a beach and several eagles, some floating on the ice chunks and porpoise swimming and jumping alongside the boat and a goat with baby perched on a mountain side.  I’m so glad we decided to go on this cruise.  I feel like we’ve seen it all now and could just go home.  Almost.   It’s supposed to be 105 degrees one day this week in Georgetown, Tx, so guess we’ll stick around here awhile. 

Although wifi here is fairly fast during the day, pictures take awhile to load.  That's why I don't post many.

6/22/12 VALDEZ, AK

A 9 hours cruise to Columbia glacier and Mears glacier $155 per person.

Today turned out gorgeous, a nice 70 degrees or so.  We went on some short hikes but you really don’t need to go anywhere to see beautiful scenery or waterfalls here.  You can be anywhere in Valdez and see picture post card views in any direction.  It doesn’t seem real.  Looks like a painting.  A chain of snow covered mountains all around and many glaciers.  We love to sit outside on the back side of our RV overlooking the harbor in the evening and watched the boats come in.  After dinner we walk around the harbor and see what the fishermen’s daily catch is.  Unfortunately we got off without our camera tonight and missed some great photo opportunities.  Someone caught a huge 100 pound halibut.  They hung it up and it was as big as the man that caught it.  Incredible!  The other great thing we missed; there is a large fish cleaning station where several men were cleaning fish, discarding the guts and carcasses on a ramp that angled down to the water.  Every once in a while they spray water on the ramp to flush all this stuff down.  When there are fish remains on the ramp a lot of sea birds fly down and have themselves a real good feast.  This particular night a large eagle came down to feast!!!!   It was an amazing sight, we couldn’t believe our eyes.  Just 12 feet from us this eagle came down right on top of a fish carcass, standing on it with his big claws and pecked at it for a long time.  By the way, when he arrived all the other sea birds moved out of his way!!  Quickly!!  At one point someone threw a large fish carcass on the ramp and scared the eagle off.   In a few minutes he returned to finish his meal then flew away again.  We were just sick we could not take a picture!!!!  We’ll most likely never be this close to an Eagle in the wild again. 

6/21/12 VALDEZ, AK

7 Nights stay at Bear Paws II RV Park in Valdez $280.

Today is our 32^nd anniversary.  Happy anniversary to us!
Last night’s roadside camping spot turned out great.  I was not bothered by traffic as it seemed to slow way down as it got late.  And the authorities didn’t run us off.  That makes 12 nights we’ve boondocked since we left Texas 6 ½ weeks ago.  Today we went into town and picked out a very nice spot that backs up to the harbor.  We were all set up by noon, then I cleaned up the rv pretty good, mopped floors, etc.  Norm washed the back windows so we can have a clear view of the harbor with the snow covered mountains all around.  After grocery shopping at Safeway we sat outside in the beautiful 70’s weather.  It’s so good to see blue sky and sunshine.  Our neighbor told us this is pretty unusual for Valdez.  I guess it’s normally cooler and rainy.  The forecast calls for rain in a few days so we’ll enjoy this while we can.  Valdez is a very small town, you can walk everywhere.  We walked down to the Best Western restaurant for our anniversary dinner.   This was recommended to us by the lady working the rv park reception desk.  The food was very good and the view overlooked the harbor.  Afterward we walked along the harbor and watched a few men haul in their fish and clean them at the fish cleaning stations located along the boat harbor.  Large halibut and rock fish. 

6/20/12 VALDEZ, AK

A bag of Nacho flavored Doritos chips $5.99.
Happy Birthday to my hubby!
This morning I visited the Info Center in Tok to pick up more information on Alaska.  Alaska does a great job of putting information out there.  This Info Center was the best and most organized I’ve ever seen.  I walked away with an armful of brochures and colorful magazines for every town we’ll visit.  Next door was the Bureau of Land Management where I picked up a map of BLM land camping.  Next was the grocery store to get water and a few essentials.  Norm finished up repairs to the trailer and we left for Valdez.  Since we got away late I thought we would stop short of Valdez to boondock then go on into Valdez tomorrow.  I like to get settled in early because the rv parks fill up quickly by late afternoon and the pickens are slim.  We want to stay a week in Valdez so I want to get a good spot.  For various reasons Norm wanted to keep going (you know he likes to smell the roses driving by at 60 mph right?).  So here we are, in Valdez.  It’s late, I’m tired, hungry and very cranky (you know I get really cranky when I’m hungry, right?).  We took on water at the Tesco station as you enter Valdez.  They are so nice there!  You can dump for free also, but we really didn’t need to do that. We quickly filled the holding tank and turned back to go out of Valdez to a couple of places we saw that might work for boondocking for the night.  We are in a good spot, although it is right by the highway with traffic going by.  If we don’t get run out of here I’m sure it will be fine. This will give us a chance to go into town early tomorrow to scope out our choices of rv sites.  Check out time is usually around 11:00 so we’ll see what opens up.  Because we’ll be here a week I want to get a good site in town near the harbor. 

The view from our RV

Boat Harbor

6/19/12 TOK, ALASKA!

The road we took today was the worst yet.  Most was okay, but some pretty rough, gravel and graded.  It was not bad if you took it slow.  You really have to watch for those orange flags they put up to warn you of a pot hole or rough patch in the road.  At one point about 60 miles this side of the US border we ran out of black top and hit gravel, hit it really hard.  There was no flag.  The transition from black top to gravel was terrible and shook the trailer violently.  Later when we stopped everything was thrown out of cabinets and all over the place.  I really thought we may have very serious damage, but most seems okay.  Norm had a few repairs to make to the back of the trailer.  The back end really bounces around, even when we don’t hit rough road. 

Once in Tok, Alaska we filled up with gas at the shell station.  They advertise that if you buy gas there they let you dry camp in the back of the store if you buy gas their gas.  That’s what we did and it turned out great.  We were the only ones there until another trailer came in some time after we went to bed.    

We made it to Alaska!

6/18/12 KLUANE LAKE, YUKON

$3.00 to wash laundry, $2.50 to dry (somewhat, damp so I hung them up in the rv).

We arrived at Cottonwood RV Park by 3:00 or so.  I had been looking forward to staying at this nice RV Park right on beautiful Kluane Lake with its emerald green waters.  Unfortunately we were not able to fit into one of the back in sites overlooking the water.  I was sooooo disappointed.  We tried and tried to get backed into the only site that may have been big enough, but had a heck of a time.  The very nice owner came out and offered us a pull through, we took it.   Our drive from Haines to Kluane Lake took us on some rough roads.  Not really bad, just parts that were graded.  We drove 20-30 mph in places and 55 in others.  This is where our rv and truck got really, really dirty.  Although it was a nice day, it rained off and on all day.  When we got to Tok it was blue sky and in the 50’s.  Nice.  We saw one beaver and a porcupine on the side of the road just outside of Haines. 

06/15/12 HAINES, AK

 We left Whitehorse this morning for a good days drive to Haines. The scenery was beautiful, especially between Haines Junction and Haines.  We saw a bear and a beaver on the side of the road and a juvenile Moose walking down to a stream.  I wanted to stay at Oceanside RV Park which is right on the water.  It’s just a gravel parking lot but the view over the water is magnificent.  They did not have an available sight for the three nights we want to stay so we went to a bigger park just 6 blocks from the seashore, Haines Hitch Up RV Park.  It’s real nice and very well landscaped.  While backing our rig into a site we saw a large moose across the street.  It was amazing; he crossed the road and moved on.  I was able to grab my camera and get a couple pictures.  

They are having an annual bicycle event tomorrow where cyclists ride from Haines Junction to Haines.  They do have some cruise ships come in to port here, and also have a ferry system that carries pedestrians and vehicles including rv’s to and from Skagway.  Haines is a very small town and seems to have kept that small town coastal town charm.  I can’t wait to go prowling around tomorrow. 

6/16/12  HAINES, AK

The day started out heavily overcast and rainy so we stayed inside and enjoyed our coffee all morning.  We had arranged to have our mail forwarded to Haines Post Office while we were in Watson Lake about a week ago so went to pick that up.  I’m amazed at the reduction in mail since I signed up for paperless statements months ago.  We received our new replacement Tire pressure monitoring system.  The one we bought and used on the way up here burned up, literally after plugging it into the car for 45 minutes it shut off and was hot hot hot to touch.  I emailed the company and they sent us a new one.  So we’ll get that hooked up tomorrow and hope this one works better than the last.

We visited the information center and there really isn’t just a whole lot to do here in Haines.  They have the Bald Eagle Foundation that sounded interesting, with eagles, raptors and other birds.  But once we got there found out almost all the birds were on loan in Whitehorse.  They have a 2:30 Eagle feed, but wouldn’t you know it, Scottie their only eagle in the place today was fasting!  We didn’t feel like $10/ticket was worth it to see empty cages.   

Haines had their annual Salmon Bake in Dalton City tonight. Dalton City is the name of the southeast fair grounds located one block over from our RV park.  It’s set up like an old mining town, and some buildings actually had stores in them.  One was a brewery which we went into and sampled brews.  We walked over to enjoy the meal and were not disappointed.  The salmon was delicious, and free.  I am amazed at this little town. It is not over run with tourist like us.  It has retained it’s small town feel .  I LOVE THIS TOWN!  I can only imagine most tourist don’t want to make the extra trek down here as it is a ways out of the way.  I’m sooo glad we came here.  This is one of those “I could live here” places.  Although it is VERY far from any large town with shopping, etc.  I enjoyed people watching at the Salmon Bake, everyone knew everyone, it was a joy to see.  I observed the same thing at the post office, “Hi Sue, how’s Travis doing?”, “Did you go to that ….. up at the school the other night?”, “Thanks for sending Devon up to mow our lawn, he’s a great kid”.   What a sense of community!  We must have stood out like sore thumb tourist, people ask us where we’re from.  I had a nice conversation with a young man probably 30 years old or so. He has lived here 20+ years. Said this is a very hard town to live in, people are really struggling to survive.  I imagine so, there isn’t much here and tourism seems to be very low.  A live band played during the festivities.  Watching families, small children running around in their rubber boots, it was a sight to see.  After the Salmon Bake we walked the 6 blocks down to the dock and walked around.  There were almost NO cars, no people, it was absolutely amazing!  I’m sure this will be the most unpopulated town we’ll see from here on out.  It is a fantastic town.  When I did see the occasional person walking down the street they would wave at the car passing by. They really do know each other. 

6/17/12 HAINES, ALASKA

This morning started out drizzly so we stayed in and installed the vinyl tiles on the hallway floor.  Remember I removed the carpet a few weeks ago?  It turned out nice.  Now we just need to buy a little trim to finish it out and we’ll be done.  This is so much better than the carpet that was in there.  I like these kinds of projects.  After lunch we walked all over town.  Since our RV park is only 6 block to the dock we walked down there and checked out all the little nooks & crannies.  I still can’t get over how quiet this town is.  No traffic on this nice Sunday afternoon!  No tourist (except us).  Almost like a ghost town.  I LOVE IT!  I’m tempted to stay another day or two.  I love it that you can walk all over town.  We discovered a very small grave yard, just up a little hill across the street from the bay.  I saw huge trees and wondered what was on the other side.  It turned out to be a nice grassy park with picnic tables.  Upon further inspection I noticed a tall granite grave marker, then another, then another.  It was a fantastic find!  The old mossy grave stones were from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.  Incredible!  You would never know it was there unless you stumbled upon it. There was no mention of it in any literature I read about Haines.  I guess I just like that kind of stuff.   I LOVE THIS TOWN!       

Tomorrow we start heading toward Valdez via Kulane Lake, Delta Junction and the Richardson Highway.

We saw this moose as we were backing our RV into our site.

Hidden little graveyard overlooking the ocean.

See a leaning stone on the right and another taller one in the middle down the path.  There were probably a dozen stones that were visible.

6/14/12 WHITEHORSE / SKAGWAY EXCURSION

One ticket round trip bus/train combo $135.
We took the excursion to Skagway today.  Caught the bus here at the RV park in Whitehorse at 8:40 this morning.  Our bus driver was an older woman, probably 70 years old who has lived in this area 59 years.  She was a character and I enjoyed her thoroughly.  We stopped at Emerald Lake for a short time.  The copper content give this lake that emerald green color.   The bus then took us on up the South Klondike Highway to Carcross, a tiny little historic gold rush town with a general store and steam engine train.  We spent about 20 minutes here which was plenty to see this town.  We boarded the bus again and drove on to catch the train at Fraser, BC.  The train took us around high mountain cliffs overlooking many gorges, waterfalls and lots of pine forest.  The narrative about building the railroad and gold rush days was pretty good.   Skagway was a much smaller town than I expected.  Of course it’s very touristy, but the buildings were pretty neat, and huge cruise ships in port were pretty to look at.  All in all we enjoyed the scenery all the way to Skagway, that alone was worth it.  Fish & Chips at the Skagway Fish Company down by the pier was awesome as well.  The weather never warmed up today.  It was very cold, probably low 40’s and very windy.  We would have enjoyed the town of Skagway more it the sun had come out. 

When we were back in Watson Lake we met a very nice couple while hiking around Lucy Lake.   Turns out they were on the same excursion with us today.  Then we found out they are camped in a site just across from us.  We chatted for a bit, I sure hope we cross paths again.  They are touring Alaska also, but taking a different path than us.  It's funny how we are starting to recognize other rigs, some people, but mostly their rigs while we travel.  There not too many roads into Alaska so we are funnelling into the same areas about the same time I guess. 
Tomorrow we head to Haines. 

Emerald Lake

6/13/12 WHITEHORSE, YUKON CANADA

Two T-bone steaks $40 at the grocery store.

After a good night sleep I woke up in a new world, with a better attitude.  Today we went into town to shop, Walmart and the grocery store.  I realized that in the US we are very spoiled.  I make my grocery list then go to the store and get everything on my list.  Here in Canada, the shopping is not so good.  Stores don’t have much selection.  You have to take what you can get and I leave the store with only half of what is on my list.  Some stuff that they do have is so darn expensive I don’t want to pay that much, other stuff I just rub my neck and write the check, cuz we do have to eat. 

We drove to Mile Canyon and took a short hike along the rim of the canyon, maybe 1.5 miles or so.  It’s a very pretty area, I wish I had more energy today to hike more but for some reason today I feel very tired.  Probably too much sleep last night.

We bought tickets today for a combo bus/train trip to Skagway.  We hadn’t planned to go to Skagway but when we read about this day trip it sounded nice.  A bus picks us up tomorrow morning at 8:40 right here at the RV park.  Takes us about 40 miles or so then we get out to see Emerald Lake and board the train which takes us on into Skagway.  We have 2 hours to tour on our own then take a bus all the way back to Whitehorse, stopping a few places along the way (4 hours back).  We return at 5:00.  Because of this excursion we paid for another night here at the RV park.  Friday we head to Haines, our first Alaska town!  We only plan to stay one night there, but hey, we’re not on vacation, we’re on retirement time so we’ll see.

I got bored being stuck in Watson Lake so made us a sign to put in the sign forest.

 Mile Canyon, Whitehorse, Yukon

06/12/12 WHITEHORSE, YUKON CANADA

6/11/12 LAKE WATSON, YUKON

1 package of 4 drumstick ice cream cones $9.44.

2 Lt (1/2 gal) 1% milk $4.29
It's still light at midnight, at 1:00 a.m. it looks like 8:30 p.m. in summer time in Texas.
Partly cloudy today with 60% chance of rain, which it did off and on today.  Remember I took up some carpet in our RV a few weeks ago?  Well….being bored I decided to prime the stairs last night and let them dry over night.  This morning I installed the vinyl tiles we bought at Home Depot back in…..somewhere…can’t remember where.  Just completed the stairs then decided to remove the sheet vinyl in the hall, cleaned it and let it dry while we took a walk around Wry Lake.  It sprinkled on us off and on but was really a nice day.  Stopped at the grocery for milk and muffins and returned home.  We had to remove a piece of fiber board from the stairs and I decided to make us a sign out of it to put up in the sign forest here in Watson Lake.  After I finished the sign we walked over to the sign forest and Norm installed it on a post.  I took pictures which I’ll post when I get wifi that’s fast enough.  I primed the hall floor so it will be ready to install vinyl tiles next time the notion hits me.  Probably sooner rather than later since we found out that it will most likely be a few more days before the Alaska Highway  is repaired and they open the road.  I get so bored so fast!  I can’t stand having nothing to do.  Good thing I have this little home project to work on.  Wifi is extremely slow today, I guess because it’s gotten a bit cold and drizzly so more people are staying inside today. 

We met a very nice couple that is parked next to us last night.  We sat outside with them for while and thoroughly enjoyed chatting with them.  They are Gary and Jill from Baja California Sur, Mexico.   They have a house in Alaska where they have lived for some time until they moved to Mexico a few years ago.  They come up to Alaska in the summers because they still own a house in Palmer, which their son may take over soon.  They have a very interesting story and we enjoyed hearing about their home and experience in Mexico.  All I can say is WOW.  Bella, their dog is a very sweet rambunctious dog.  I love watching her, she has a great personality.

 6/12/12 WHITEHORSE, YUKON CANADA

They finally got Alaska Highway 1 repaired.  Because Watson Lake was so overrun with travelers they had to let people go by priority.  First priority was transporters (truckers) so they can get their goods to where they need to go, so the stores will be stocked when we get there.  Second priority was for people in need of medical attention and those sleeping in their cars (hotels have been full).  Third and last priority were the people in self contained vehicles (rv’s).  We got things ready last night so we could make a dash for it if possible this morning.  We were not real hopeful, many thought we would have to stay in Watson Lake another day.  Norm got up at 5:00 this morning!!!!!  This NEVER happens.  He was the pessimist that didn’t think we’d be able to go.  I did not want to wake up since I didn’t get to sleep until 2:00 a.m. or so.  So 5:00 was really early for me.  But I dragged myself out of bed because I thought it would be a disaster with everyone trying to leave town at the same time.  No problem though, we pulled out just before 6:00 a.m. and were the only one’s stirring around at that particular time.  By the looks of the trailer park we were not the first, many had left already, but many still remained.  All the truckers were gone from the roadsides, even a lot of rv’ers still camped on roadsides.  We made it to Whitehorse, Yukon around 1:00 p.m.  We’re staying at Pioneer RV Park just outside of town.  It’s turned off cold, in the 40’s today.  After getting camp set up we went into town to eat and Walmart shop.  It took me a LONG time to find a place to eat as I’m always looking for something with good atmosphere, food and good local beer.  So far I am not impressed with Whitehorse.  There seems to be dirty, seedy characters on every corner.  I was actually afraid for my personal well being.  We got a recommendation from the visitors center, Roadhouse Steakhouse.  When we got there it was a dirty run down building with a few locals inside drinking.  We waited some time for someone, anyone to take our order.  After awhile we (I) got PISSED off and stormed out, cursing all the way.   So far I really, REALLY HATE Whitehorse.  Tourist are the only ones keeping this little one horse town alive, and the people are rude.  Maybe it’s just me, I get cranky when I get hungry and my cranberry muffin at 6:00 this morning wore off hours ago!   We wound up at “Klondike Rib & Salmon”.  It didn’t look great but turned out really good.  The ribs and salmon were fantastic.  But heck, horse poo probably would-a tasted pretty good to me by now so what do I know.  Did I mention I get somewhat cranky when hungry?  Just keep me fed and I’m happy as a little lark.  Anyway, maybe tomorrow my attitude will change.  Norm certainly hopes so.

The World Famous Sign Post Forest is Watson Lake’s best known attraction. So famous, it is known - and mimicked - around the world.

The forest was started in 1942 by a homesick U.S. Army G.I., Carl K. Lindley of Danville, Il., Company D, 341st Engineers. While working on the Alaska Highway, he erected a sign here pointing the way and stating the mileage to his hometown. Others followed his lead and are still doing so to this day. On July 20, 1990, Olen and Anita Walker of Bryan, Ohio placed the 10,000th sign. Carl K. Lindley and his wife visited the site in 1992, 50 years after his first post was erected.

Today, the Town of Watson Lake maintains the site, erecting more posts as they are needed through the Adopt-A-Post Program.

Stranded folks along the streets of Watson Lake.

 Our rig at "Downtown RV Park", Watson Lake

MORE PICTURES

Bison near our camp site, Liard River, Canada

 Muncho Lake

 Athabasca Falls, Jasper National Park, Canadian Rockies

PICTURES

It's midnight, I can't sleep.  I was able to get pictures posted!

One of the "Valley of the Five Lakes" in Jasper National Park.  Georgeous colors.

 This black bear was on the Alaska Highway in the Yukon. It was so close!

 This mama grizzly and cubs were on the side of the Alaska Highway on our way to Watson Lake.

We watched them for the longest time, they were close.

 See how close they are to our rig on the side of the road.  They were incredible.

6/8/12 WATSON LAKE, YUKON

6/8/12  WATSON LAKE, YUKON
A 12 pack of bottled water $10.25 (ironically called Gold Water).
Miracle Whip (650 ml = that’s a large bottle) $5.99.
A load of laundry is $2.50 to wash and $2.50 to dry.
As we were packing up at Liard River HotSprings two bison came down the street in front of our camp site.  They are such majestic creatures.  It was amazing to see them go from site to site grazing.  I got plenty of pictures, but haven’t had fast enough wifi to post them on the blog.

Our trip to Watson Lake was incredible!  We saw Bison alongside the road, then bears.  Many bears.   First a couple of black bears but we passed to quickly to get a good look.  Then we came upon a mama grizzly and her two cubs!  They were amazing.  We pulled over and watched them for a good long while, taking many pictures.  The mama grazed on flowers while the young cubs played.   They were so stinking cute!  And right on the side of the road, very close to us.  They put on a show for us.  After a while they crossed the street on went  down the hill side.  On down the road we came upon a black bear on the side of the road.  We pulled over and took pictures.  At one point he was so close to my side of the truck I rolled up the window a bit, because I’m a scaredy cat like that.  This is a day I will never forget. 

We arrived in Watson Lake to find out Alaska Highway 1 has been washed out on up the road a little ways.  They have it closed off.  Another highway, the Campbell highway that heads more North is also washed out & closed.  And the only other road out of here is the one we came in on and guess what?  It washed out behind us and is now closed also.  I didn’t think we got that much rain, but apparently they did upstream, and along with the snow melt it was too much.  Looks like we’ll be Spending several days here in Watson Lake.  There is not much to do here. 

6/9/12  Saturday - We visited the information center today and watched an 18 minute film about the Klondike and construction of the Alaska Highway which was pretty interesting.  Then we visited the Northern Lights Center and watched a film in a domed theatre setting about the aurora borealis.  That was pretty neat and interesting as well.  This afternoon we went on a hike by Lucy Lake not far from town.  The weather today is in the 70’s, absolutely beautiful.  I need to do laundry as we have not done any since traveling, 6 weeks now?  Yikes, I may need to buy more undies if we keep this up.  I’m down to my dirty clothes and dirtier clothes.  I wanted to do laundry today but the laundry mat was full and I wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather.  The prediction is we’ll get one more day of this nice weather and then more rain.  I’ll wash do laundry on a rainy day and enjoy this sunshine while I can. 

There are so many rv’s and truckers stuck in this little town, it’s an awful sight.  Rv parks are full, people are parked all along the road, in every parking lot and pull out along the road.  This certainly is an unexpected delay.  Hopefully they’ll get the road fixed very soon and we’ll be on our way.  Luckily we don’t have anything pressing to get to, other than my brother Wes might fly into Anchorage the 2^nd weekend in July.  We initially planned to be in Anchorage a week before he arrives.  We have some time to play with but will certainly be there when he is if he does indeed make the trip.

This town has one grocery store and not much else.  A nice place to stay a night or two with full hook ups to top off the electrical system.  We are squeezed into our sites like sardines. There are no accommodations left in Watson Lake. Word has it the road from Muncho Lake has opened up one lane of traffic so more folks are funneling into Watson Lake and nowhere to go. 

6/10/12 Sunday – WATSON LAKE, YUKON

Diesel in Liard Hotsprings, Canada $7.49/gal.
We are all still stranded in Watson Lake, the word is they will have the road open in 48 hours, at least that long.  Today we took a drive out to Watson Lake’s small private airport. We heard there was an interesting museum and it is located by Lake (Watson Lake).  The museum actually is the airport.  It’s tiny but very interesting, photos on the walls with narratives next to them.  We drove out to the provincial camp ground just outside of town to check it out.  It was very nice, forested with lots of space between sites, but extremely buggy.  Mosquito’s swarmed our truck so bad we didn’t even want to get out.  The road into the campground was 1 ½ miles down a rough road.  I think we’ll stay in town where we are now.  Norm went to the office and extended our stay two more nights. The owner has a list of 42 people that want in here.  Boy, everyone is sure antsy to get out of here.  I’m sitting in the laundry room now washing my dirty and dirtier clothes.  Norm is doing maintenance on the truck and mopping the RV floors.  Geez, I wish they had a movie theatre here, or a restaurant, or anything! 

Wifi is to slow to post pictures.  "(

 

6/3/12 to 6/7/12 Dawson Creek-Liard Hot Springs

OUR FIRST BEAR SIGHTING! 
Posted from Downtown RV Park, Lake Watson, Yukon

6/3/12

 Left Jasper and intended to drive to Grande Prairie, but we got there earlier than expected so decided to go on to Dawson Creek.  We saw a couple elk along the way and also a coyote just before arriving at Dawson Creek.   Spent the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot.  There was 2 other RV’s there when we arrived and 3 more when we got up this morning. 

6/4/12 Monday – Dawson Creek.

24 bottles of water at Wal-Mart, Great Value brand $3.94. Large eggs $2.57.
Groceries seem more reasonably priced since we left the National Parks. 
 Dawson Creek is the start of the Alaska Highway.  We shopped Wal-Mart and Safeway then on to the Visitor information center at mile 0 and took photos in front of the “Mile 0” sign.  We talked to a couple from California for a bit, real nice folks headed to Alaska also.  Maybe we’ll meet up with them down the road.  Our most expensive gasoline purchase was today at $5.00/gallon.  We anticipated $6.00 or so at some point.  On the way to Ft. Nelson we saw a small black bear running from the road out into the forest!  It was the cutest thing!  Then about 80 miles south of Ft. Nelson we saw another larger bear right on the side of the road grazing.  We didn’t see it in time to pull over for pictures.  The two lane road does not have a shoulder so you can’t really pull over unless there is a pull out.  The drive today was very pretty, rolling, winding hills, not much traffic.  One of the guide books I was reading today mentioned an abandoned camp site.  We decided to check it out since it was only less than ½ mile off the road.  That’s where we are now.  It’s very nice and we are the only ones here.  There is no signage; you have to have the GPS coordinates to find it.  It was called Prophet River Provincial Park.  We hiked down to the river, just a short 1/2 mile or so.   I was VERY afraid of bears but it was a nice walk and a nice winding river.  No wildlife.  Campsites in Canada seem to be just under $40 a night for full hook ups (FHU).  Maybe $15 to $20 or so for no hook ups.  I like dry docking for free when we’re on the move.  FHU when we’re stationary.  It helps off- set those expensive camp fees. 

Mile 0 - Dawson Creek

6/5/12 Tuesday – Liard Hotsprings.  MOOSE & BISON SIGHTINGS!

Last nights camp site was a real find.  We did have a car with 3 young people pull in last night and put up a tent.  They were very quiet and provided us with a bit of entertainment as we watched them through our dining window put up the tent and cook outside.  I imagine they are on their way up to Alaska on a very tight budget.  Other than these youngsters, we were the only ones at this abandoned camp site.  It is well hidden ¼ mile from the highway.  You have to know it here.  I found out about it in a book written by Mike & Terri Church called “Alaskan Camping”.  A very good book to have along with the Milepost.  These two books are invaluable.  The good thing about Church’s book is that it gives GPS coordinates.  Otherwise I would not have found this campsite.

Today we made our way to Liard Hotsprings. We spent a good amount of time in Ft. Nelson filling up with gas and having lunch.  We found a municipal dump and water station across from the visitors center.  We took on a lot of water since we will most likely need it whether we stay in a park or dry camp along the way.  It seems most RV parks in the area don’t have hook ups.  They do have water available in areas but not at each campsite.  We spent time looking for a pay phone but never found one. I can’t believe they don’t have very many pay phones in Canada.  We need to make arrangements to have our mail forwarded to us as it’s been almost a month since we got it last (at Debbie’s in Laramie).  One place I had read about and was really looking forward to seeing today was Muncho Lake.  It has beautiful blue and green waters and I contemplated staying the night here.  But I guess it was not to be, it was heavily overcast and drizzly all day.  When we got to Muncho Lake it was so overcast we could not see the colorful huges of the water.  I also had to look fast as Norm barely slowed down to 60mph!  Dam it!  I was so looking forward to seeing this beautiful lake, it was a “must do” on my itinerary.  What a disappointment.  After Norm and I had a “discussion”, he pulled over so I could at least get a picture of the lake, even though it was sprinkling and you just couldn’t get a good picture.  Now I have to say that last night Norm was telling me that I was in too big of a hurry and that we should slow down to “smell the roses”.  Now who’s in a hurry?  As we smell the roses going 60 mph! 

On a good note; we saw several moose along the way!  What magnificent creatures they are!  They like marshy areas and I think the overcast, drizzly weather brought them out.  As we got closer to Liard River we saw Bison grazing along side the road.  We pulled over to watch them and they never even looked up.  We are camped across the street from Liard Hotsprings Provincial Park.  The camp is full tonight as I suspected they would be this late in the day.  I had read about this gravel lot across the street from them and knew we’d probably spend the night here then see if they had any sites open up tomorrow.  There is a large toyhauler RV, 3 vans and an 18 wheeler here also.  We’ll stay two more nights in the park and enjoy the hotsprings. Norm really loves those hotsprings. They are located inside this park. You can pay to use the hotsprings even if you don’t stay in the park.  They are free for campers staying in the park.  If the sun comes out in the next few days we will back track to Muncho Lake, about 30 miles or so. 

My thoughts on RV Camping:

Although we have been living in an RV for some time, 9 months now, we’ve spent most of that time stationary.  We closed on our home sale August 31^st and moved into our RV that we had set up in an RV park nearby.  We lived there with full hookups until I finished my job in April.  We left Georgetown, TX about 6 weeks ago so we haven’t been traveling very long.  So far I love the life style.  It’s amazing to me that you can travel and live in the comfort of your own home!!!  We travel far & wide and just pull over at anytime, anywhere, to do whatever we want.  Take a hike, bathroom break, lunch break, dinner break, sleep for the night, enjoy the scenery, etc.  We have all the comforts of home no matter how far off the beaten path we get.  It also amazes me that even when we are out in the boonies “roughing it”, without hookups, we can still cook on our stove top, bake in the oven (propane), keep our refrigerator going (propane), take showers (propane and electric hot water heater), turn on the heater when it gets to cold (propane).  And if we have a cell phone signal we often have wifi that we tether from our smart phone (not in Canada).  I continue to be amazed by all this.  We do have a generator that we must run every few days to recharge the RV batteries.  And really it’s best if we have electric hookups at least every 5 days or so since the generator doesn’t fully charge the batteries.  Solar panels would solve that problem; maybe someday we’ll spring for those.  I love to dry camp in out of the way places, not so much in RV parks.  I’m surprised that Norm does not like that.  He prefers parks, mostly for the security.  Sometimes I think about our house we sold back in Georgetown and miss the space, the kitchen, the living room I decorated just like I liked it…….but no regrets.  If we buy another house sometime I’ll enjoy fixing it up. For now I don’t want to be tied down to a house.  It’s so easy to pull up stakes and move anywhere we please.  

6/6/12  Liard Hotsprings –
Our free gravel lot worked out great for us last night.  I would stay there again, probably 2 nights and just walk over to enjoy the springs paying the daily entrance fee.  We moved into the Liard Hot springs Provincial Park today for 2 nights.  (Provincial Parks in Canada are like State Parks in the US).  It’s heavily overcast and drizzling again today.  Not a bit of blue sky anywhere.  It’s light jacket weather, no wind.  This is a very nice wooded park, no hookups.  No need to unhitch the truck since there really isn’t much to go and do in this area.  The hot springs is the only thing this place has going for it.  We walked the half mile down the nice boardwalk to the hot springs and soaked for 1 ½ to 2 hours.  They have changing rooms right there by the hotsprings.  One for the boys, one for the girls.  Boy, you never saw so many wrinkly boobs & butts in your life, haha.   Norm is already talking about staying here longer because he just LOVES that hot water.  It is the best hotsprings I’ve ever been to.  Very natural setting, different temperatures, not a lot of sulfur smell.   It was very refreshing, even in the sprinkling rain.  We’re back at camp, showered, in my comfy jamies, enjoying a Canadian beer and will cook some dogs out on the grill soon. 

6/7/12 Still overcast & rainy in Liard River.
I heard a light rain off and on all night.  At some point in the night I heard what sounded like rapid gun fire and dogs barking.  We heard it yesterday while out walking.  I have resolved that it is noise the park rangers make to scare away wildlife, bears most likely.  I was wide awake by 6:00 this morning.  The best time to see wildlife is early morning or evening.  I got dressed and went for a walk.  I imagine the swampy board walk area is a great place for Moose.  I asked Norm to come with me but he rolled over in bed and muttered something about someone being crazy.  The only wildlife I saw was Canadian Geese.  They are very pretty. They make a loud honking noise, almost sounds like a dog barking.  I had a very nice walk in the sprinkling rain, peaceful, I only saw 2 other people outside.   I like to see all the different rig configurations in the park.  Some very nice big motorhomes, some very old vintage motorhomes, cab over campers, class C’s, some tent campers, a few traveling by motorcycle.  Several pulling boats, some pulling another camper behind it.  I don’t know if there are any caravans here but there are people traveling together, following each other on their way to Alaska.  It looks like another heavy overcast day with more drizzly rain.  We’ll go for a hike today and soak in the hotsprings.  Yep, I’ll be ready to move on tomorrow.  Hopefully out of this dreary weather.

5/30/12 JASPER, CANADA

5/30 Wed – Left Banff today. We stopped at Lake Louise and thought we’d spend the night here but it’s very cold, windy and snowing a bit.  I was disappointed to find the Lake frozen over, just starting to break up.  When not frozen this lake is a beautiful turquoise.  On to the Columbia Ice fields we toured the exhibits at the visitor center.  Very nice.  We took the tour of the ice field.  The Glacier is over 1,000 feet deep, enough to cover the Eiffel Tower.  They take you out to the Glacier in a bus then you board a huge 6 wheel drive all terrain vehicle called Ice Explorer.  The tires are 5 feet tall, it was really something.  You can see the Glacier from the visitor center and it is amazing.  You get a better view from there as opposed to driving out onto the Glacier.  When we were done with the tour we contemplated staying the night in the nearby campground, no hookups, but it was very cold (10 degrees!) and windy.  I just wanted to trudge on to Jasper.  It was 5:00 or so but it doesn’t get dark until 10:00 or so.  Even then it’s not real dark until maybe 2:00 a.m. or so.  We are now in the Whistler Campground for 4 nights.  Nice place with FHU, lot’s of pine trees, no satellite.

Lake Louise

Scenic Pull out

Out on the Glacier (10 degrees!)

Monster Truck - Holden would LOVE this!

5/31 Thur – Went to the visitors center to get info and a hiking guide book.  I asked the Canada Park employee to suggest a few hikes for us .  One being the Maligne Canyon.   Shortly after we started this hike it started to sprinkle.  Since it was 60% chance of rain I thought we were in for another wet day of hiking.  But soon the sun was out and it couldn’t have been a nicer day.  Lot’s of nice waterfalls along this gorge.   There is a cave system that carries water underground and gushes water into this canyon. It’s very interesting to see.  There are 5 bridges that cross the canyon located at various points all the way up.  Once on top the views are incredible.  Rushing water falls, blue sky, snow capped mountains, pine trees, heavily moss covered rock cliffs, frozen snow on the sides of the canyon in places the sun don’t shine.  All over the Canadian Rockies there are warning of bear and elk.  The bears are a concern for me.  I’m glad to see other people along the way, it helps alert the bears.  I’d like to see bears but from the safety and comfort of our truck.  They have several areas closed due to bears and/or elk.  It’s calving season for elk and they are very protective of their calves.  The bears are down in the valleys in search of berries and other food.  The campgrounds are very strict about campers leaving anything out.  Put up your BBQ grill, ice chest, trash, etc. or they’ll confiscate these things for you and kick you out. 

After dinner last night we drove out to Athabasca Falls.  WOW, this place is amazing.  The falls are located near the parking area so not much walking.  There’s a bridge that goes across the falls so you get up close.  The amount of water rushing down these falls is amazing.  It’s interesting to see how the water has carved the rock.

6/1/12 Fri – A 12 pack of Bud-Lite $24!  One gallon of drinking water $5.00 (.79 cents in Texas).

We hiked 3.5 miles around Valley of the 5 lakes.  Beautiful turquoise lakes.  More of a hike than I wanted given my sore knee from previous hikes. This turned out to be moderate in places due to the steep grades up and down.  Another perfect weather day even though 50% chance of rain, which never came.  We did not see any wildlife until we got back to camp.  While sitting outside enjoying the previously mentioned bud-lite an elk calf & her momma walked right by us down the dirt road that goes around the camp ground.  They were soon accosted by paparazzi then moved on. 

6/2/12 Sat – It doesn’t get dark until ……well I’m not sure when.  I do know it’s still light at 10:00 p.m.  And it’s dark at 2:30 a.m. and sunrise is around 4:30 a.m.  It’s messing with my internal clock, I get very sleepy but toss & turn for hours even though it’s pitch dark in the bedroom with our blackout curtains.  We saw the two elk again this morning galloping right by our RV.  Apparently this is their daily routine.   It’s raining off & on this morning, our last day here.  I’m ready to move on, glad we didn’t plan to stay any longer.  I did some house cleaning this morning and fixed French toast for breakfast.  We’ll go into the town of Jasper today, do some window shopping and look for a place to enjoy a good pizza & beer later.  Our next destination is Dawson Creek then on up to Muncho Lake then Watson Lake.