Pioneer Park

We visited Pioneer Park in Fairbanks today.  Pioneer Park is maintained by the Pioneer Club of Fairbanks known as Igloo #4.  The Pioneer Club started around the turn of the century.  You had to have been in Alaska before 1888 to be a member.  The first club was in Nome.  It later admitted other Igloos.  I suppose to be a member today you must be able to prove your ancestors were pioneers in Alaska.

The Club has preserved many artifacts of local history and they are on display at the park.  We spent several hours touring the facility.  They have fully restored the Nenana.  It was the largest paddle wheel river boat to serve the Nenana and Yukon Rivers.  It was a vital link for the wilderness settlements along the rivers.

They also have displays and artifacts from the gold mining days in early Fairbanks.  Mining was a very difficult life.  Looking at old photos of miners, it is obvious that comfort of any kind was nonexistent.  Those gold seekers had to be more enthused about finding gold than I would have been.

Darlie saw this washer and now she wants a new one.

The park has a miniature golf course, railroad museum, airplane museum and a native art center.  Admission is free.  Donations are accepted at some of the displays.  The airplane museum has a fare of $3.00 for adults. They have reconstructed an old settlement that would resemble a mining town.  There are dance halls, churches and stores of various kinds.  Some of the buildings are actual buildings that have been brought to the site and reconstructed.  For those in campers, you can camp in the parking lot for a fee.  They also have a dump station but no other services.

Dog sled for freight 

We are camped in a state recreation area in the city tonight.  It is on the banks of the Chena River.  I walked down to the stream with my fish pole to pass some time casting a lure around.  The river has grayling in it.  You can only catch and release them.  That takes some of the thrill out of fishing.  I didn't catch anything but I did have a rather large fish follow my lure up to the bank.  They tell me in a couple more weeks the salmon will be running.  They tell me I should fill my freezer.  That won't take long because our freezer is just a bit larger than a pack of cigarettes.

This is a foot powered dentist drill.  You would have to be really liquored up to let the doctor work on you with this thing.

Buddy is shedding really bad.  Everything is covered with hair.  She is having a good time though.  We put up with it because we love her.  It rains about once an hour.  The ground is always muddy.  She tracks in all kinds of crap.  It is impossible to keep this place clean.  It is also very cool.  Our daily highs are only in the 50s.  We rarely see the sun.  When you do, it is only a quick flash and it is gone.  It feels warm though.  If it would clear off I think it would be 75 or 80.

A major ground cover here is the wild rose.  They were all in bloom a week ago.  Now the rose hips are turning a deep burgundy color.  Rose hips are used in jams, jellies, herbal tea and can be eaten whole.   They are high in vitamin C.  Some claim they have healing power for various aliments as they have antioxidants in them.

We many stick around here for another day.  Some people camped right across from us tonight are from a place in Florida called Cape Coral.  What a surprise it was for all of us to find out we are neighbors.  We have met several people from Florida but none who live so close to us.  They told us about a city of ice or something that we just have to go see.  We will get directions tomorrow and check it out.

Fairbanks, Alaska

We are in Fairbanks today.  It was a warm sunny day when we arrived here yesterday but it started raining during the night and turned cold and cloudy.  It was a perfect day to visit the University of Alaska museum in Fairbanks.

Don't you love that expression?

The museum is fabulous.  There are displays of native culture, art and craft.  The wildlife displays were excellent also.  They have several movies on topics such as aurora and life in Alaska in the winter.  They had interviews of locals talking about life here when it gets dark and cold.  They don't consider it to be bitter cold until it gets below - 50 degrees!

Ceremonial masks

Something else I didn't know is that most people don't have indoor plumbing.  It is just too cold for underground utitlities.  They said it is a bit uncomfortable to get out of bed at three in the morning and make a dash to the outhouse.  Outhouses are so much a part of life here it is the object of affectionate humor.  Some like to decorate them to make them more cheerful, I assume.

Darlie visiting an outhouse.

Another local says he has a well for his house but in the winter either the well or the sewer pipe leading out of the house freezes up.  You just learn to live with it.  Some told us their advice to us was for us to visit in the summer and go home before winter sets in.  They implied they like things the way they are. The harsh weather will prevent too many of us coming up here and staying.  But people are coming.  There is a magic about the frontier and the sense of freedom here.  There will always be those who will brave the elements to have that sense of being a pioneer.

In winter time the sun only rises just above the horizon for about 3 hours.  It is like a 3 hour long sunset.  The many hours of darkness do lead to depression and other disorders.  For this reason, many Alaskans become involved in outdoor winter sports such as cross country skiing, dog sledding, and snow mobiling.

The aurora appears about 100 times during the winter.  People will stop their cars along the highway to watch the night display.

Raincoat made of seal gut.

The Museum of the North, as it is called, also has displays and historical items from the gold rush days.  There are fozzilized artifacts that were unearthed by the hydralic mining method that was used to wash gold bearing soil into sluice boxes.  We saw fozzelized remains of the mammoth and the lion that used to roam this area.

Beautiful beadwork.

We stopped at Walmart to stock up on things that can be difficult to find other places.  While there, I noticed the parking lot had pedestals with electrical outlets on them for each parking space.  Most Alaskan autos and trucks have an electric plug hanging out of the grill.  When you go shopping at Walmart, you plug in your car to keep the engine warm so it will start when you come back out.  I suppose that would be vital if the temperature was -50 as it often is in Fairbanks.

See the plug?

Quartz Lake

Tok is the only village one traveling up here must pass through twice unless you wimp out and go back on the ferry.  I had considered the wimp option myself dreading the trip back through the remote sections of Canada.   

The ferry is very expensive.  If you can’t get a cabin, you sleep in a lounge chair or on the floor.  The trip takes several days.  Our dog would have to stay in the MH alone most of the trip.  This is not an option for us.  I wish we had phone service on those very long lonely stretches through Canada.  You are at the mercy of passersby if you need help.  Help could be more than two hundred miles away.

Spending a few days around Tok visiting with locals I learned many people settled here because they broke down here.  They spent so long waiting for parts they ended up buying a place and staying.  I am serious.  There is a sense of freedom here you don’t get in the lower 48.  Many here live in a cabin back in the wilderness.  They fish and hunt to stock up for winter.  They are far from the bureaucrats that like to run the lives of others.

It gets cold here in the winter.  The record books say the coldest day on record was  -75.  A local said the record books are wrong.  A few years back they had -83 at his house.  In fact, it was so cold that year they had to close the school for a month.  They don’t close the school unless the temperature is -60 or below.  

Electricity is a luxury here.  At home we pay about nine cents a kilowatt.  On a normal month in the summer we may use 2100 kilowatts.  That figures out to about $189.00 per month not including taxes and assorted fees.  Here, 2100 kilowatts would cost me $1470.00!  Tok generates its own power.  It sells for seventy cents a kilowatt.  

Alaska has more hours of sunsets and rises than anywhere in the country.  I bet you didn't know that the sun rises in the north and sets in the north, did you?

We are camped at Quartz Lake State Recreation Area northwest of Delta Junction this weekend.  We have had a couple of pleasant days with highs near 80.  We have been bathed in brilliant sunshine.  Most of the people here are Alaskans.  They are out on the lake fishing and swimming.  We passed a river not far from here still covered with ice.  I don’t think that lake is warm enough for us Floridians.

Today it is raining again.  We have had steady rain five of the seven days we have been in Alaska.  I hope this doesn’t continue all summer.  The campground has cleared out this morning.  I think if the weather had continued, more would have stayed.  

I bought a fishing license.  If the weather gets more agreeable, I will go down to the lake  and try my luck.  The fishing is very good here.  Large catches of salmon and rainbow trout were brought in all weekend.  Shrimp seems to be the preferred bait.

Rain and Cold!

It has been raining ever since we got to Alaska.  The locals say it is unusual.  I wouldn't know it to watch them though.  They are out in it walking around like it is a sunny day.  They are very tolerant of crappy weather.  I suppose it feels like a nice warm summer rain to them but to us it is freezing.  The temperature is about 50 and the rain is steady.

There are more motorcycles on the road up here than you see in Florida.  Packs of them pass us by.   They don't seem to mind the rain and cold.  Then there are those people in spandex, riding bicycles with packs on the front forks and saddle bags on the back.  They have back packs, helmets and raincoats peddling away like it is really fun.  I can't imagine.   We talked to two guys on bikes who had ridden all the way up from Vancouver, BC.  They said it was over 2500 km or over 1500 miles to the rest of us.

Then there is the Alaskan sense of humor.  They call tourist terrorists because we are so demanding.  We are spoiled in the lower 48 where we can get what we want now or quicker.  I have taken note of this and have tried to be extra patient when dealing with them.  I often think of the saying in the Caribbean, "Come soon." which translates, "I will be there when I am d--n good and ready."

I stopped into a Napa auto parts store.  Next to the counter was a huge sign that said,"We trapped the last shoplifter in 1998."  Below the sign was a huge bear trap with a boot and a leg bone caught in it.  Impressive.  I get the message.

The sun is actually supposed to come out tomorrow and we should have a high in the 70s.  It will be a wonderful thing.  The locals will probably be complaining about the heat wave.

We Made It

This is a father’s day I will never forget.  We made it to Alaska today.  We were both so excited to see that welcome sign as we crossed the international border.  A young man from Saul Palo Brazil was standing in front of the sign taking photos of himself.  He said it had taken him 50 days to drive on his motorcycle to Alaska.  He was very excited.

Cape Coral to Alaska in 27 Days

Saul Palo Brazil to Alaska in 50 Days

We took photos of each other by the sign and the international border.  You can’t appreciate our jubilation because you didn’t ride the last 100 miles of the highway in the Yukon.  It took us four hours from Haines Junction.  We couldn’t drive much over 25 to 30 MPH much of the way.  There were huge frost heaves, holes and other hazards I don’t know how to describe.  You can’t count on the little markers that are posted to point out frost heaves.  The biggest ones often had no marking at all.  I learned to spot them by watching the lines on the highway.  If they got wavy up ahead that meant there were heaves up ahead.

Notice the frost heave just ahead.  If you are going 50 mph here you are going to break something.

Some of the road was completely torn up, pavement and all.  Miles of it, in fact.  We came across a couple from Arcadia, Fl. stopped along the road just north of Beaver Creek.  They had just entered the hazardous zone from Alaska.  They didn’t drive this road coming up.  I think they took the ferry.  They hit a huge frost heave and broke the tow bar on their pickup truck and the tailgate dropped causing them to almost lose the motorcycle sitting in the back of the truck.  Their eyes were as large as saucers.  They were very shaken by what had just happened to them.  They almost lost the truck and the motorcycle.  He said the tow bar was holding by a thread when they stopped.  His wife was going to drive the truck to the nearest town in hopes of fixing the tow bar.

He asked me how much farther this type of driving went to the south.  I said 100 miles.  He looked at me in disbelief.  They had just entered the bad area and thought this must be the worst of it.  We thought it was pretty easy going at this point but didn’t tell them that.  We didn’t want them to collapse right there.

The road is bad but the view is beautiful.

We saw people driving way faster than they should the entire way.  We also saw the tow truck picking up one motor home and the guy that does welding in another place.   The road can fool you.  It looks good in many places.  The frost heaves are not really apparent unless you are looking for them.  The lady from Arcadia said she hit her head on the ceiling when they hit the heave that did them in.  We passed it a short distance later and I have no doubt it nearly catapulted her through the roof.  We had been driving slowly and we were bouncing around like the ladies in the cancan line at the Frantic Follies in Whitehorse.

We heard the story of another guy with a brand new motor home who hit a frost heave way too fast and ripped the cabinets right off the wall.  You can do some real damage on this section if you aren’t careful.

But let me say this.  The entire highway through Canada was in better shape than any of the interstates in the U.S..  They are very well maintained.  Except for the last one hundred miles the Alaska Highway is a pussy cat.  The reason the last bit is so bad is due to the type of terrain it traverses.  It is made up of gravel and glacial deposits that hold large quantities of water.  It freezes and thaws and that isn’t good for the road up on top.  Engineers and scientist have been trying to come up with a paving method that would hold up for many years but to date nothing they have tried has worked.  We saw one area that looked like another experiment.  They had dozen of pipes sticking up out of the ground like stacks possibly to ventilate the ground under the highway.  If it worked, it would be a very costly remedy.  It would take millions of these things to line the whole 100 miles.

I can’t tell you the excitement to see our first 35 MPH speed limit sign.  After 6 days of reading everything in kilometers seeing that first sign of America was sweet.  Our next joy came at the first gas stop.  It was just $4.50 per gallon for cash.  That is more than a dollar a gallon less than what we had been paying.  

There is one long stretch from Ft. Nelson to Watson Lake where there are only little outpost gas stations.  We only hold 40 gallons so I set my driving limit at 200 miles to have a safety margin.  We can go between 280 and 320 miles depending on our fuel mileage at any given time.  The distance between these two places is right at my limit.  That meant I had to fuel up at an outpost in between to be safe.  It is a long walk through empty land with bears everywhere.  I wouldn’t want to be running out of gas.

I had to pay $192.9 for a liter of gas at the outpost.  That figures to be $7.33 Canadian per US gallon.  That doesn’t include the exchange rate which would make it more like $8.00 per gallon.  Most places we paid $5.50 to $.6.00 per gallon.  Americans whine about $3.85.  

Everything in Canada is expensive compared to the US.  We think it is bad at home because we don’t know what others are paying for the same goods and services.  Even taking away the disparity dollar, the cost in Canadian is high.  Our friend from Saul Palo agreed.  Canada was the most expensive place he traveled through.

I picked up a few, "I drove the Alaska Highway and Survived",  bumper stickers today.  I earned them believe me.  That last 80 miles was terrible.  Many people bust hitches, springs, axles and all kinds of things on that stretch.  Years ago the whole highway used to be that bad.   We are in for repairs ourselves.  We will probably be a couple of days at least.  They have to fly parts in to this area.  We are talking remote.

We met some nice folks along the way and we are still having fun.  This photo is an example of Alaskan lawn ornaments.  The sign reads, "Alaska Beautification".   Most people seem to have a large collection of junk vehicles to decorate their lawns.  

Teslin, Yukon

It’s raining.  It has been most of the night.  At least we slept well.  Darlie covered our bedroom windows with thick heavy blankets to keep the light out.  We were in bed at eight.  We were both worn out from lack of sleep.  I slept right through until seven.  How sweet it is.

The weather up here is very fickle.  As you travel along, you run through cold showers where the temperature drops dramatically.   Then in a few minutes you are in bright sunshine with temperatures in the 70s.  You can get sprinkles anytime.

The Sign Forest at Watson Lake

This RV park is supposed to have wifi but the signal is very weak.  It would probably work if I went up to the office.  I am not going to do that in the rain.  So far, the parks we have stopped at have had very good wifi.  This is the first where it has been unsatisfactory.  

We are in Teslin, Yukon.  The RV park is right on a lakeshore.  They have full service such as fuel, propane, laundry, restaurant, motel and even a museum on local history.  The campsites are nothing to write home about but they are adequate.

We were so exhausted when we got here yesterday, I decided to take Darlie out to dinner to avoid the chore of cooking and cleanup.  There wasn’t much on the menu other than an assortment of sandwiches and a variety of huge hamburgers ranging in price from $9.99 to $16.99.  On check in, the young woman told me they had a chicken dinner special beginning at five o’clock.  We opted for the chicken dinner special.  It came with one side; French fries, potato salad, garden salad or broccoli cheese soup.  Darlie took the soup and I took the fries.  

Our dinner arrived in short order.  I had a huge plate of home cut fries with three pieces of fried chicken perched on top.    The chicken was a scrawny little thing.  He was probably doing all he could to survive on the tundra when they came along and removed his head to feed a Yankee tourist.  I felt sorry for the little guy but gobbled him down with little guilt.

Darlie said the soup was delicious.  The chicken was a bit greasy but it sure tasted good after being on the road all day.  Besides, were we tired and this was not time to complain about the food.  You have to consider where you are in the world.  There are no supermarkets or big restaurant supply companies.  This is Mom and Pop country where they try to feed you and treat you with down home hospitality.  They were very gracious and friendly.  Though I may jest about the meal, I don’t mean to demean these people.  They offered us the best they have in this remote part of the world and we enjoyed it immensely.

It is time to get Darlie up.  We need to get on the road for Whitehorse and beyond today.  We have been five days since arriving in Canada and it looks like we have the better part of two more to make it to Alaska.  Some of the worst road is just ahead of us.  I don’t expect to make very good time once we hit the area of frost heaves and broken pavement.  The reports we are getting say it is very bad and we have to go very slowly.

The Teslin area is beautiful.  The Teslin River is very large passing right through town.  The surrounding landscape is dotted with lakes of various sizes.  All are reported to have a large variety of fish for the catching.

I was visiting with a local Tlingit native this morning.  He said the best time of year to see wildlife near the highway is in May.  Last month the caribou were standing in the road like cattle.  This time of year they have moved on up into the mountains where they will birth their young.  We visited for sometime about his youth and various jobs he has held up here.  He told me of running his trap lines in the winter months and how game seems to be scare this year.  As we were parting ways, he turned to me and wished me a happy father’s day.  I had forgotten what day it was let alone that it was father’s day.

We are in Whitehorse right now.  Darlie is in the drugstore looking for something.  Whitehorse is a historic village and capital of the Yukon.  Dawson City had held that honor until so many people moved away from there.  Whitehorse is home to the SS Klondike, one of the old riverboats used in the gold rush days.  You also can be entertained by the Frantic Follies.  Both of which we have done when we were here in 2003.  If you are traveling up this way, be sure to put Whitehorse on your list of places to stop.  The Alaska Highway bypasses downtown so be sure to go through town.  

SS Klondike

It Has Been Difficult To Sleep

I am up early again.  It doesn't get dark until after midnight.  It is full daylight again at about 4:30 AM.  I guess this is God's way of giving this land enough light for things to grow fast up here because the season is so short.

The beavers must have been working most of the night.  When I went to bed at eleven, they were still out there buzzing around doing their business.  I was up at five and they were still working hard.  There must be a half dozen or more in this one lodge.

There is a duck sitting right outside the window that is motionless on the still water.  He looks like a decoy. He must still be sound to sleep.  This was such an unusual sight, I decided to take a closer look.  It turns out my duck is really a stump sticking up out of the water.  I sure looks like a duck though.  I think I need new glasses.  What made me suspicious were the two wood ducks scooting around not far from "my" duck.  Surely they would disturb it.  (When I told Darlie this later this morning, she admitted to me that she took a picture of "my" duck last night.  She too, upon closer examination made the same discovery I did.)

The area where the moose come out to feed is directly behind the motor home.  I would have to disturb Darlie to raise the shade and look out the back window or go outside to see if they are there.  I am not feeling like doing either.

Buddy seems a bit annoyed that I am up so early.  She gave me an evil eye then slid down off the sofa and retreated to the hallway where it is darker to continue her snooze.  She spends all day up front with us looking out the window.  She spots a deer, bear or a raven along the highway and she gets all excited.  We try to get her to go lie down but, like a kid, she is afraid she will miss something.  If she does lie down for a minute, when I have to slow a little for something she bounds right back to her position to see what is going on.  All of this activity is cutting into her normal twenty hours of sleep each day.  I love having her along.  Darlie, not so much.  It is like having to deal with a kid for her.

The Toad River Lodge and RV Park have been in business along the highway since 1950.  It has all the traveler needs in one stop.  They bake fresh goods daily, there is a restaurant, fuel, repair and a souvenir shop.  The ceiling has over 6800 hats tacked to it that people from all over the world have left here.  Toad River is also home to a famous artist, Trish Croal.  How do I know all these little facts?  I find them in my Milepost mile by mile Alaska travel planner.

The Milepost makes the trip much more enjoyable plus it has very vital information for finding services, warning of hazardous road areas, where certain points of interest are located and where  you are most likely to see certain types of wildlife.

I like to read through the area we are expected to travel each day.  It gives me a heads up of what to expect and I learn a bit of local history also.  Some of the people we visited with last night are headed up the road about seventy miles to a place called Laird River Hotsprings.  I guess people like to stop there and soak in the hot spring.  They have a campground there.  The fee includes the right to soak in the spring.  You can also pay for day use if you can't get a campsite.  The place fills up early I am told.
I think it is interesting that in the Milepost right under the write up on the hot spring, in red letters, it says,  watch for bears!  There is nothing like a hot boiled dinner.

We aren't into soaking in springs with a bunch of other people so we will pass this by.  The Milepost does point out some interestinig encounters we may have with wildlife today though.  One area warns of stone sheep and caribou on the highway.  Another note warns, "Extreme caution:  Watch for bison on the road next 73 miles.  Hitting a buffalo would sure put a dent in the motor home as well as our travel plans.

A report from another traveler tells us that the road gets very bad the other side of Watson Lake.  I guess we will hit that area today.  There is heavy road work going on.  Summer is the only time they can fix things here, so it is not uncommon to hit construction along the highway.  I was told that one elderly couple hit the construction at this area and turned back for the US.  They said it was just too bad to continue.  I won't turn back after driving all this way if I have to load this thing on my back and carry it.  Our odometer is about ready to turn over 5000 miles since leaving home.

It is 7:00 AM.  I have heard a few of the early birds pulling out.  They told me last night they want to get to the hot spring early so they can wait for someone to leave so they can grab the campsite.  That sounds too much like waiting in line to go bow to the mouse.  (Florida term for visiting Disney World)

It's time to go wake Darlie.  It takes her a couple of hours to get her eyes open.  If we want to be on the road by nine, I have to wake her now.  There is a plus side to leaving later though.  Most of the wildlife has moved from the pavement to the shoulder having been shoved off by the early birds.  Later.

A Most Fantastic Day

Photos to follow later.

We a fantastic day on the road.  We traveled through some areas that reminded us of the Great Smokey Mountains in the eastern US.  There was that smokey mist hanging over the peaks.  One big difference though is there are no signs of human habitation for a hundred miles.  You are really out in the boonies here.

You see the same people and the same RVs all day long.  They pass you when you stop and you pass them when they stop.  Somehow we all ended up at the same place tonight.  We have been getting to know each other while watching the moose and beaver in the pond behind our campsite at Toad River Rv Park located between Fort Nelson, BC and Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.

We saw 6 bears right next to us on the highway.  They have both sides of the road clear cut back for about one hundred feet so you can spot wildlife before they get in the road.  The wide green space seems to draw the wildlife to munch on the green grass and dandelions.  Dandelions make a yellow carpet along much of the road.

We saw one baby cub bear that was not as big as Buddy walking along the edge of the clearing next to the wood line.  Momma bear had to be nearby in the trees.  Darlie didn't have time to snap a photo before it went back into the woods.

Further on we came upon two bears right on the shoulder of the road.  We stopped ten or fifteen feet from them.  Darlie got some good photos of them.  Buddy saw them also and began to growl.   One of the bears heard her growl and growled back.  We figured that was a good time to move on.

This RV park is a must stop because of its unique location on the beaver pond.  It attracts so much wildlife.  There are ducks of all description, the beavers and the moose. The parks is full tonight and for good reason.  Some people tell us they put this place on their list of places to stop each year they come up here.

After 10:30 PM at the beaver pond.

Tomorrow we continue on north through Watson Lake, Yukon and on to Whitehorse.  Soon we will be in  Alaska.  We plan to spend some time at Chicken on the Taylor Highway.  We visited Chicken years ago on a cruise tour.  It is a gold mine area.  There is a campground there that has much to offer from kayaking to gold panning.  We may even make a trip over the Top of the World Highway to Dawson City, Yukon.  We have visited there also but the highway is an experience we have not had.

A Dog's Life

We cooked some pork chops on the grill tonight and ate at our picnic table overlooking the beaver activity.  You just can't find anything more pleasant to do on a friday night than this.

The Alaska Highway

It rained very hard all night.  It felt good snuggled down in a deep pile of blankets listening to it beat on the roof.  We awoke to still more rain and fog.  When I went to put our doormat away, I found a large group of earthworms had taken up residence there during the night.  They were promptly evicted.  Darlie thought I should put some in some coffee grounds in case I wanted to go fishing somewhere.  Try explaining that to US Customs when we enter Alaska.  Oh, That's just our worm farm.

Visibility was only a few feet at times as we made our way through the mountains on Rt 40.  I have found Canadian roads to be very good and well marked.  I also like the fact they make frequent use of guardrails.  Something not found very often in the lower Rockies in the States.

Not a great photo but you get the idea.

This whole area is moose habitat.  We tried to keep an eye out for them as they cross the road frequently in this area.  Hitting a moose would put an end to our trip.  We saw a dead cow and a young bull moose along the road but no live ones showed themselves.

Gas prices in Alberta are the lowest in Canada.  We have been  paying $112.9 to $121.9.  That translates to approximately $4.29 to $4.63 in Canadian dollars per US gallon.  With the exchange rate it will be a bit more in US dollars.

In British Columbia we have paid $125.9 to $131.9.  That translates to approximately $4.78 to $5.01 Canadian per US gallon.  We are told we will be paying as high as 150.9 per litter further up the road.  That translates to $5.78 Canadian per US gallon.  We Americans complain too much about fuel costs.  Our prices are bargains to Canadians.  Their economy seems to be buzzing along just fine even with the higher gas prices.  I think we are fed too much poop from Washington.

When we got to Dawson Creek, BC today, we wanted to stop at the marker for the beginning of the Alaskan Highway for a photo op.  A nice young lady jumped out of her car and came over to volunteer to take our photo for us.  She has been living in Alaska for sometime and is now moving back to the lower 48.  She had several kids in the car.  We sensed she had some marital problems which were her reason for leaving Alaska.  She was headed back to family.  We will remember her and her family in our prayers tonight.

Now only another 1500 miles or so and we will be in Alaska

While visiting with her she gave us a road report.  She said the road is horrible up around Haines Junction towards Delta Junction in Alaska.  She said we would have to go very slowly with the motor home.  There are big holes and mud everywhere.

Learning to live with mud is part of the experience in driving to Alaska.  It rains a lot up here this time of year.  Someone told us to pack all our old towels, blankets and bedspreads for the trip.  They would come in handy to cover everything when we got into the muddy areas.  This has proven to be very good advice.  We have everything covered with old towels and sheets to catch as much of the goo as possible.  We have towels on the floor over the carpets.  They are easily changed daily and washed with the laundry later.  Buddy is getting used to having her feet wiped before she comes in.  At first she didn't like it much but she has learned it is going to be the routine.

We are camped in Fort St John at a Rotary Club campground on Lake Charles.  It is a very neat well kept campground.   But for those who are interested, there is a Walmart in about every town of any size all along the way.  It is just like back home.

It stays light up here nearly all night.  We are getting close to the longest day of the year.  I will have to take a photo at 3:00 AM to show you how light it is.  Darlie puts blankets over the windows so she can sleep.

Jasper National Park

Today we continued our drive through Banff and Jasper Parks.  We stopped at Lake Louise.  It is heralded as one of the most scenic areas in the park.  It did not disappoint.  The beautiful emerald green water stretched to the base of a mountain blanketed in heavy white snow.  Hundreds gathered along the shoreline for group photos.  Others just stood looking in awe.

Lake Louise

Shortly after leaving Lake Louise, we turned on to Rt 93 for the trip up through Jasper National Park.  Jasper has a whole different feel than Banff.  It is wild and remote.  Little traffic is on the highway.  We saw moose, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and a black bear ran across the road right in front of us.  We saw more wildlife here in a few hours than we did in Yellowstone in two days.

This is a spectacular park.  You can only take so many photos of stunning snow capped peaks, mountain streams and emerald colored lakes.  Around every bend in the road is a new vista more stunning than before.  Small glaciers hang from many peaks.

Crow's Foot Glacier

  

We stopped at the Columbia Icefields.  There you can walk right up to the base of the Athabasca Glacier.  Words cannot describe this experience.  Our Glacier National Park has a few of the small glaciers like you see on many of the peaks here but it does not have what I would call a real glacier.  Athabasca fits the description perfectly.  

Athabasca Glacier

We continued on through Jasper the rest of the day.  After leaving the park in late afternoon we turned on to Rt 40 to Grand Prairie, Alberta.  The road is very good most of the way.  You are in remote woodlands.  Logging is the major industry in the area.  Little signs of habitation are evident from the highway.  You really feel alone in the world.

We stopped to watch a cow moose with her calf munching grass along a stream.  Darlie got some good close up video.  

Jasper Highway View

We made our camp in a municipal campground in Grande Cache, Alberta.  This small town was the site where the trappers in the early 1800s would store their beaver pelts until they could transport them out for sale.  They build stilt structures to store the pelts in.  They were called caches in French meaning a storage place.  It is raining tonight.  We feel cozy and warm in the old bread truck while listening to the rain on the roof.

Purple Vetch

I have to say at this point, driving to Alaska is the greatest RV adventure of all time.  This can’t be beaten anywhere in the world. The northern Rocky Mountains are beautiful beyond description.  I can only imagine what the next few weeks hold for us as we explore the great north country of Canada and Alaska.

My Relief Driver

Shelby, MT to Banff National Park

We were up and on the road to Canada early.  I threw away the onions and potatoes because the guide says the Canadians don’t let in vegetables.  We have a freezer full of stuff we hope they don’t want us to jettison.

We arrived at the border crossing at about 9 AM.  The young customs agent asked for our passports.  Then asked us where we were going, did we have any firearms and if we were carrying more than $10,000 in cash.  She then said we could go ahead.  I said ahead to where, as I had noticed the vehicles ahead of us had to turn into a lot for further inspection.  She smiled brightly and said, “Anywhere you want to go in Canada.”
Wow!  That was easy.

When we made our first gas stop, there was a supermarket nearby.  We decided to pick up some fresh veggies and some potatoes.  I thought the gas prices were going to be what gave me sticker shock up here but it wasn’t.  The groceries are very expensive compared to the states.  We don’t know how well off we are.  Our gas is a dollar or more less and we get a gallon of milk for what a half gallon costs here.  (We later discovered prices are pretty much the same as the states.  The place we stopped was a ripoff.  They even charged us 15 cents apiece for the bags.  Every town of any size has a Walmart and other popular food stores where prices are normal.)

We passed through Calgary at midday.  It is a beautiful city.  We passed by some of the Olympic ski jumps and the main arena where they held the ice skating.  We thought for a city of such size traffic was very light.  Drivers are courteous and seem to drive just under the speed limits.  The reverse seems to be the rule back home.

Banff National Park along with Jasper National Park were on our list of places to visit while in Canada.  Some people compare these parks to Glacier in Montana.  Each has the high rugged peaks.  They are real eye candy no matter where they are found.  There are some major differences.  Not necessary negatives just differences.

For instance, Banff is much more developed than Glacier.  Glacier is a wild experience with little development in the park.  The only real center of commerce around Glacier is the small community of West Glacier that shuts down completely in the winter.  The Going to the Sun Highway, to me, is one of the most spectacular and scenic highways in North America.   That is a must do for anyone who travels.

Banff has much more commercial development.  You lose a sense of the wild here, but the commercial side has its positives.  The park service campgrounds here are some of the finest I have seen anywhere.  They are highly developed with paved sites, full hook ups and are placed with scenic vistas all around.  They are reasonably priced when considering the amenities.

View Behind Us

View Out The Door.  Do You See The Old Trapper's Face In The Mountain?

We have visited more than twenty-five US national parks and stayed in the campgrounds of most of those.  The campgrounds were built in the 1940s and 50s.  Most will not hold a large RV.  They offer no services just a dirt space to park, a dump station and central water spigot.  Yes, they are cheap especially for us old geezers with a senior pass but I would rather pay more to have what I see here.  This campground has over three hundred sites and they are nearly full now before season.  I wish our park system at home was better managed.  All we hear is how they have to cut services or access.  This place is a money maker for the country.  Our parks could be also.

Buddy and Darlie continue to battle over the passenger area.  Darlie always wins.  Buddy loves to look out the window so she has to stand on top of the engine cover too see what is ahead.  When her legs get tired she curls up on the floor as near to us as she can get.  She is enjoying the cooler weather.  She has seen some snow on the mountains but she hasn’t gotten her feet in any yet.  We will remedy that soon enough.

Tomorrow we will turn four thousand miles for the trip so far.  We still have eighteen hundred forty-five miles to Tok, AK.  It is a long, long way up here.  I told Darlie we might want to look for a buyer for the MH in Alaska and fly home.  That is a possibility.  We will have to see if I am as excited about driving back as I have been about driving up.

As with everyday, our thoughts and prayers are for family in New York State who have lost a loved one.  We have received some of the news coverage of events surrounding Devin’s homecoming.  It has been an awesome display of love and patriotism.  Please pray for her immediate family in particular.  It is a very difficult time.  We cannot imagine what they are going through.