NORTH TO ALASKA!

JUNE 1-14, 2008

I spent June 1-6 preparing for the Alaska trip, cleaning out extra “stuff” from the coach and depositing it at Mom’s house in Hurley, SD. Then I reorganized what was left—hope I can find everything when I need it! Weather continued to be very unsettled with thunderstorms and tornado watches the norm all week. There is certainly a lot of water standing in the fields. My brothers will not be able to plant a lot of the land they farm and much of their bean and corn acreage is being flooded out.

I departed Hurley Saturday June 7th, headed north. I’d hoped to get north during a brief break in the weather and drove as far as Jamestown, ND—a 340 mile drive. The following day was a 447 mile drive to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan through lots of flat farm land interspersed with rolling hills. I saw a lot of waterfowl both days, including quite a few white pelicans which reminded me of winter in Fulton, TX. I wondered if they came from down there. The border crossing at Portal, ND was uneventful and swift. Soon after crossing I drove through a large area of surface coal mines near Estevan, SK. From the road, it didn't appear that they were digging very deep to mine. Weather was unsettled this day and I drove through rain. A tornado watch was in effect for the area of SK I traveled through and one touched down near Weyburn after I’d driven through there. I still haven’t escaped the bad weather! June 9th I drove 490 miles on back roads to Edmonton. It was a long day through flat farmland and rolling hills. Fields of grain were large and farms looked well cared for all along the way—no rundown buildings, etc. After driving through about 150 miles of rain, I finally arrived in Edmonton—after snaking my way through the confusing highway system on the south side of town. No kidding, using 4 maps plus the GPS, I still ended up in a residential area. Some new roads weren’t on the maps; others didn’t have route numbers on them, etc. All



--Coal Mining--


in all, the most confusing highway/street system of any town I’ve been in. I decided that the easiest way to get to this campground on the west side of town is to take the Yellowhead Highway—at least that is noted on all the maps!

I spent June 10-14 in Edmonton. It was quiet in the park and I was able to have the needed uninterrupted time to work on the coach and prepare for the caravan, in addition to doing some limited sightseeing. The first full day was supposed to be decent weather-wise, so I drove about 45 miles south to the Reynolds-Alberta Museum and the Canada Aviation Hall of Fame at Wetaskiwin. I spent most of the time there in the aviation museum and enjoyed seeing the display describing a sister Ninety-Nine, Rosella Bjornson’s career. She has had a very interesting career as a ground breaker in Canadian aviation and is enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Our early years were very similar in that our families were both involved in the Flying Farmers organization and we both soloed in a Cessna 170. (Rosella and her husband, Bill, came to the RV park a couple of days later and we had a nice visit.) By the time I finished the aviation museum, the weather was looking very threatening. I did a quick walk through of the other museum and headed back to the coach. The Reynolds-Alberta Museum really deserves a return visit. I heard on the drive back that tornado and thunderstorm watches had been issued for this whole area of Alberta and the weather really did look threatening. We had some heavy rain at the park and a tornado touched down about 20 miles west of here. I’m still not out of the severe weather!!!

The Tailenders for the caravan, Bob and Marilyn Beardsall from Ontario, arrived during the week and we spent some time making plans for the upcoming caravan. I also visited the West Edmonton Mall which is one of the largest malls in the world containing over 800 stores, over 100 eating establishments, and 9 major theme attractions. Since I’m not a shopper (Where are you going to put “stuff” in your permanent house on wheels?), I didn’t spend a great deal of time there. Many of the shops are the same that you see in the States, but the other attractions in the mall are something else.

WINTER IN TEXAS, THEN NORTH TO SOUTH DAKOTA

JANUARY THROUGH MAY, 2008

The first four months of 2008 found me in Texas where I was in the Fulton/Rockport area until mid-March. I was interested in checking out southern TX during a winter and found that the Gulf Coast area north of Corpus Christi was cloudier, wetter, and colder than I anticipated it would be. However, I enjoyed camping there and seeing the area with the 3 other “Winter Texan Winnies” (see our blog describing our trip across Texas and December doings at http://wintertexanwinnies.blogspot.com/). We all drive Winnebago motorhomes and enjoy seeing the country in them. Our experiences during the course of the winter were special and made for more than a few laughs. Other special times during the Fulton/Rockport stay included having my Mother, Betty, along from late December until mid-March. Her cat, Molly, came along for company for Zia; however, I’m not sure how much they really appreciate each other’s company. Carol Clarke, from Salt Lake City and Sandi Koch, from the Tacoma, WA area, each came for a week and Joyce McCollough, Livingston, TX, came for several days just before I left town. It was wonderful visiting with each of them and helped the cold wet days pass faster. My brother Steve and his wife Jan came for a week in March and took Mom and Molly home to SD. We had the best (of 4) bird watching boat ride while they were there—about 30 minutes were spent watching mating dances of 3 whooping cranes. This was awesome! Roberta’s Mother, Evelyn, arrived for a visit with Roberta just before Mom went north, so the four of us were able to have a short visit and renew friendships made in Alaskalast summer. Short visits were also enjoyed with other folks as they passed through the area. New friends and acquaintances were made at Driftwood RV Park in Fulton and I look forward to seeing them in the future. The park is quite small so a real sense of “community” is present.
Driftwood RV Haven Friends

Birding is big along the Gulf Coast and we weren’t disappointed as we watched large numbers of waterfowl daily. We enjoyed watching the pelicans dive into water for their food—actually they looked more like they were crashing into the water! Egrets, herons, ducks (many kinds), cormorants, roseate spoonbills—all were readily available to watch. However, the highlight for me was each time we went on the boat trip to watch the whooping cranes. They are such large, stately, beautiful birds with 7 ½ foot wingspans! Their winter range is just a few miles northeast of Fulton in the Aransas Nat’l Wildlife Refuge and the flock is increasing in size nicely after almost becoming extinct.

THOSE MAGNIFICENT WHOOPING CRANES!

Several short trips were taken from Fulton including one back to Goliad State Park, a drive to Port Lavaca, a day at the King Ranch and Kingsville, an overnight trip to South Padre Island and a drive inland along the Rio Grande cities in south Texas (does that country ever show signs of development!), trips to Padre Island National Seashore, a craft fair at Robstown where I met up with friends seen earlier at the fair in Fredricksburg during our November stop, trips to Aransas Nat’l Wildlife Refuge, and several trips down to Corpus Christi.

Roseatte Spoonbills (Left)Rookery with many types of birds (right)

.............................GREAT BLUE HERONS.............................

...................BROWN & WHITE PELICANS....................

I headed to Pharr, TX, the 3rd week of March where I was able to visit with Jim and Judy Peitz for a few days before they headed north to their “stick” home. We had a nice visit and they showed me the “lay of the land” in that part of the Valley. I thoroughly enjoyed the warmer temperatures and blue skies—in spite of some windy days. The Valley has really been promoting birding and there are incredible opportunities to see birds there that are seen no where else in the U.S. I definitely would like to return there for at least part of another winter to spend more time exploring the various bird refuges that have been established and which have wonderful guided tours.

GREEN JAYS

LEFT: HOODED ORIOLE

RIGHT: MOCKINGBIRD

.......GREAT EGRET & CRESTED CARACARA ......

From Pharr I headed north to Choke Canyon State Park near

Three Rivers, TX, about 85 miles southeast of San Antonio where I stayed a couple of weeks. This is a wonderful park with neat views, good fishing in the reservoir, and very good birding. Oh, yes, they also have alligators there! This is the farthest inland point the ‘gators come to in Texas—and I can vouch that they are there. Zia met her first armadillo while here--one came around our camp during several evenings. Clancey Maloney from NM was able to join me for a short visit here. All too soon, it was time to leave Choke Canyon (I hope to go back there!) and head for San Antonio where I was scheduled to host WIT (Winnebago-Itasca Travelers) Tours’ rally during that city’s Fiesta week. We had a wonderful rally—it was really a fun group to be with. The Fiesta celebrates the various cultures in Texas and highlights the remembrance of the heroes who fought in the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto which led to Texas’ independence from Mexico. Rally attendees participate in Fiesta activities in addition to seeing various interesting venues in the San Antonio area as well as having a day-trip to the “Hill Country” in the Fredricksburg area. While in San Antonio, I agreed to lead a caravan for WIT Tours to Alaska this summer. This was a last-minute change in plans for me as there were only a few weeks to wrap up the rally, finish a project for WIT Tours, get the coach serviced, and prepare for the trip. It would prove to be a very busy 6 weeks!

With the rally a wrap, I headed north to Wichita where I parked for a couple of weeks. The main reason for the stop, in addition to seeing my brother, Dick, and his family was to attend niece Rachel’s graduation from high school. Queena and her girls came down early from SD, and Heather was over early from Kansas City. Mom, Jan, and Nicki also came down from SD for the graduation. Although it was a smaller than planned family gathering because my SD brothers were busy planting corn in between rain storms, a good time was had by all. The time here gave me valuable time to wrap up rally reports and work on other “stuff” to prepare for the upcoming Alaska trip.

I departed Wichita in mid-May with Mom and her cat, Molly, on board the motorhome. We headed to Des Moines, IA, where I had an appointment at the Freightliner dealer for an inspection of the chassis. One day’s work turned into 2 days and at 9:00 p.m. the second night we departed for Forest City, IA, where I had an appointment for service with Winnebago. We did manage to tour the IA capitol building while in Des Moines—it is an impressive building with 29 types of marble used in it’s construction—and watched a couple of horse races at the race park adjoining Adventureland where we camped. What I thought might be 3 days work at Winnebago turned into a longer stay that was interrupted by the long Memorial Day weekend. I worked with folks at the WIT Tours office on a project during part of this time and Mom and I traveled to Mason City one evening to see her brother, Bill, and his wife Phyllis. This was a bittersweet visit as Bill was in very poor health and passed away a couple of weeks later. Mom and I took the car and went to Hurley the Saturday before Memorial Day so we could decorate graves, etc. They had been having a lot of rain in SD, and that, coupled with cool weather, resulted in few flowers available for the decorations. I returned to IA on Memorial Day afternoon as work on the coach was to continue through the week. It was finally finished on May 30th and I drove back to Hurley on the 31st.

AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 19: DEASE LAKE, BC TO ALBUQUERQUE, NM

CASSIAR HIGHWAY: DEASE LAKE TO STEWART-HYDER
August 27th saw us driving about 250 miles down the Cassiar Highway and taking a cutoff to Stewart, BC, where we set up camp. We had a lot of gravel going south out of Dease Lake with road construction going on where the land slides had occurred earlier in the summer. We encountered one sizeable stretch of gravel road that was unmarked, had no shoulders, and dropped straight down off the side for a considerable distance. Eventually, we got on good paved roads. This was a beautiful drive through the coastal range with lots of green vegetation as we got into the hemlock/cedar forest area. Continuing southward, the mountains became covered with vegetation to the tops and the trees became much taller—not many bald mountains in this area of the trip. Some of the taller mountains still had patches of snow which provided a wonderful contrast to all the greenery. As my notes from this day said, it was an incredibly beautiful drive. The spur road into Stewart was in a narrow canyon with lots of vegetation, hanging glaciers up in the mountains and one large glacier (Bear Glacier) that terminated in the valley. We set up camp and drove to Hyder, AK, which adjoins Stewart located at the head of the Portland Canal (think “fjord” when you read “canal”). The towns are very different—Stewart has paved streets, numerous businesses and places to stay while Hyder, aka “The Friendliest Little Ghost Town in Alaska”, has dirt streets, is much smaller, and doesn’t have much in the way of businesses. Hyder is at the end of the Alaska and has a definite “outback” feel to it. We drove to the famous bear-viewing area outside Hyder where we were treated to quite a show put on by three grizzly cubs and a sow. We watched the bears for probably 1 ½ hours and also saw bald eagles in the area.

August 28th and 29th were spent in Stewart-Hyder. We went to the bear viewing area and watched grizzlies and black bears eat salmon and low bushes again. They were fascinating to watch up close and didn’t seem to mind the observers on the viewing stand. We also went to a neat museum in Stewart and to Hyder’s Glacier Inn where we didn’t get “Hyderized”, which consists of drinking straight everclear, but we did enjoy a drink to celebrate our time and experiences in this neat, out-of-the-way part of Alaska. This area is a definite “must-see” for anyone traveling the Cassiar. One note concerning weather here: it is very changeable so if you see an opportunity to take pictures or observe a landmark, take advantage of it at the time because the opportunity may be gone in a few minutes and may not present itself again for days.

SMITHERS AND PRINCE GEORGE, BC
August 30th found us back on the road headed south. We stopped at Gitanyow a small Indian Village with one of the largest concentrations of standing totem poles in northwestern B.C. The totems are really works of art; however, I didn’t learn much about interpreting them on this trip. Services were very limited here near the end of the Cassiar Highway. The Cassiar Highway ended west of Smithers, BC, and we were on the Yellowhead Highway into the Smithers area for the night. I unhooked my car to use for local travel and found, much to my chagrin, that I had a very bad vibration. I wasn’t sure what was causing it and I hadn’t had it when I hooked up after the drive to Telegraph Creek; however, it was the kind of vibration that loosens your tooth fillings! Since Labor Day weekend was coming up, I had all kinds of thoughts about being stranded in Smithers for several days. Fortunately, I was able to find a garage early Friday morning, the 31st, and they were able to cure the problem. I had a LOT of mud impacted in and around the wheels. Taking off all the wheels, cleaning and rebalancing them, cured the problem. (Note: I was still cleaning mud from that trip packed under the car weeks later after getting into the Lower 48!) We departed Smithers after my “problem” was solved and stayed in Prince George, BC over the Labor Day weekend. Terrain became much more rolling as we drove south on the 31st. Lodge pole pine in this part of BC had been infested with a bark beetle causing significant loss of timber and a lot of dead trees for miles. We also saw thousands of acres of fir trees devastated by the beetles.

CLINTON, BC
September 1 and 2 were down days spent in Prince George doing laundry, cleaning the inside and outside of the rigs, etc. Monday, September 3rd (Labor Day in Canada and the U.S.), we headed south on the Caribou Connector (Hwy 97). This was our last full day for Roberta and me to be traveling together as we headed toward Clinton, BC. We were in the Fraser River Valley much of the time and it was a beautiful drive through rolling countryside with more farming and pasture land evident than we had seen for some time. I picked up some fresh sweet corn from a roadside stand for dinner—it sure tasted good! Trees were turning—lots of yellow and gold evident. We noticed the drivers in this part of BC pretty much ignored yellow no-passing lines on the road. If they wanted to get ahead of us, they passed whether or not there was a yellow line present! Also, the Caribou Connector didn’t have any kilometer markers so we relied on my GPS for location information along this stretch. We checked into the campground at Clinton in the early afternoon and had some time to get things sorted out before going our separate ways. Weather was nice so we grilled steaks and had sweet corn and ice cream for our last dinner together on this trip. The evening was spent reminiscing about the fantastic 4 ½ months we had just had. I was able to use my Verizon card for an internet connection here—Roberta had been told by Verizon before we left that she could use the card any place she had service and that it wouldn’t cost extra. I decided to give it a try and successfully logged on, keeping the session short so if there would be any “hidden” charges they wouldn’t be too steep. Well, when I finally got my bill for that session, I found that I had been charged an “international roaming” charge—and it wasn’t cheap. Lesson learned…

BACK INTO THE U.S. (Oroville, WA, to Albuquerque, NM)
Tuesday, September 4th, found us headed south once again and we parted company at Cache Creek after 7374 miles driven on the journey since our departure from NM on May 7th. Roberta headed towards the Seattle area and I went towards the Wenatchee, WA, area. I had a beautiful drive through the Kamloops area and along long narrow lakes, including Okanagan Lake, before crossing back into the U.S. at Oroville, WA. There were several long climbs and descents on this stretch—6% climb for 15 miles in one area. One of my first stops after crossing the border was at a fruit stand to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables which I really missed this summer. The night was spent at a very nice state park on the shore of the Columbia River near Wenatchee. I took two-lane roads south through central WA, following the Columbia River much of the way. Stayed overnight near Quincy, WA, on the 5th. The drive the past two days was very pretty through WA—I was struck by the large number of vineyards along here. I knew winemaking was getting strong in WA, but I was really surprised at the large number of acres that have been planted to grapes. September 6th I continued on country roads until getting on I-84 near the WA/OR border, and then continued on to Boise, ID, where I found a Wal-Mart to park in for the night. The 7th found me up early and headed for Salt Lake City, UT. I stopped at Burley, ID, for a nice visit with friends Marilyn Sidwell and John Jones. We all travel in motorhomes but I thought I’d take a chance to see if they were in the area. They were and it was really nice to meet up with them for a short visit.

I left Burley and traveled on down to Salt Lake City where I stayed on the 7th and 8th. While there, I had a nice visit with Frank and Shirley Robles and with Carol Clarke. Wow! Has that area changed! It is one big city from near Brigham City to Spanish Fork, UT. September 9th saw me driving on towards Grand Junction, CO, to visit an aunt and uncle, Harve and Peg Huffer, and cousin Dave and his family. I had a wonderful short visit (and a tremendous lunch, too) with Rick and Ardith Keppler in Price while enroute to Grand Junction. After one night in Grand Junction, I was up early and headed for Bennett, CO, where I parked at nephew Paul’s off and on for the next week. It was good to see Paul, Jenn, Lexi, and Conner and I appreciated, once again, their hospitality and their RV parking setup. During this period I moved the coach to Boulder where I parked in a hotel’s parking lot for five nights while attending the Ninety-Nines’ annual meeting. These conferences are always enjoyable as women pilots from around the world gather for several days to do the business of the organization, attend seminars, and catch up on what has happened in our lives over the last year. Soon everything was done in CO, so it was on to NM. I stayed in Santa Fe on the 18th and had an enjoyable evening of catching up with friends Judy Waite and Nancy Evey. I arrived in Albuquerque on September 19th, 4 ½ months and 9735 miles (on the coach) since leaving there on May 7th.

WHAT A TRIP!
What a trip this was! Would I do it again? You bet—I’d do it in a heartbeat! Was it too long? No way. Four months is just right—we were able to see just about everything we wanted to see, we weren’t on a schedule, and we had ample “down time”. Where would I like to spend more time (besides in Alaska)? In the Yukon—people there were sooo nice and sooo proud of their part of the country. Would I advise others to take the drive? Absolutely! Driving yourself is the only way to really see the north country, plus you get to explore areas and see things that aren’t on a cruise ship’s or bus company’s set itinerary. Roads are better than adequate, although you do need to slow down in some areas, and fuel is readily available. Just plan to drive on the top half of the tank. One of the real bonuses of this trip was meeting old friends along the way, both in and out of the motorhome community, and making new friends in the far-flung places. I look forward to seeing all these friends in the north country again in the not-too-distant future.

Two guides that were indispensable on the trip were The Milepost and Traveler’s Guide To Alaskan Camping by Mike and Terri Church. RVing Alaska By Land And Sea by Bill and Jan Moeller was also helpful. However, the most help we received came from friends and acquaintances that have made the trip, some of them numerous times. You all know who you are so I won’t list names here. I just want to extend a Heartfelt THANK YOU! Your willingness to share added immeasurably to the success of this trip and I cannot thank you enough. I hope that I can return the favor by helping others who are thinking about making their dream trip as much as you helped me with mine.

August 21-26, 2007: Destruction Bay, YT to Dease Lake, BC

August 21st saw us on the road again as we departed Destruction Bay for Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. We continued our drive along Kluane Lake and Kluane National Park. Wild, wonderful, beautiful, country! The day was clear so we had good views of the ice fields in Kluane N. P. Towards the southwest corner of Kluane Lake we drove on a portion of the original Alaska Highway which will likely be closed at the end of this construction season since the road is being re-routed at that location. We had been told that this stretch is the last of the original Alcan that is still in use, so we were among the last to drive on the original roadbed as part of the Alaska Highway route. The foliage was definitely turning to the fall colors as we drove southward on the 20th and 21st.

August 22nd was spent in Whitehorse doing odd jobs around the rig, but we took time off to visit Miles Canyon. This was an area of the Yukon River that presented some serious challenges to the Klondike Gold Rush men and women traveling through here.

August 23rd we drove a toad to Skagway. The day was clear so we enjoyed the scenery (and the bear) along the road. This is a beautiful drive and we met a friend of Roberta’s, Nancy Elkins, who is working as a guide there this summer. Nancy is a full-timer and we were fortunate to be assigned to her tour in the afternoon. We went up the White Pass & Yukon Route (WP&YR) railroad to the top of White Pass. This route was scouted as a longer, but less steep, trail for the Klondike Gold Rush to serve as an alternative to the steeper, but shorter, Chilkoot Trail. The first engine went into service over the first four miles of track in July 1898, two months after construction of the railway began. Builders of the railroad faced immense challenges which were recognized in 1994 when the WP&YR was designated an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark—one of only 36 civil engineering landmarks in the world to receive this designation. The trip on the railroad was very interesting, not only from the perspective of the engineering involved in climbing 3,000 feet in 20 miles, but the scenery we saw as we snaked along the canyon walls was beautiful. Nancy met the tour group at the top and drove us back to Skagway providing a running narrative of the sites and history along the way. Thanks, Nancy, for a great ride!

Skagway is a cruise ship town—5 were there when we arrived. The town is full of tourists and the WP&YR even takes its trains across the city streets and down to the various docks to pick up and drop off the cruise passengers. The town has 33 jewelry stores, and is getting two more next year! “Moes”, reportedly the oldest saloon in AK, is closing this year and will be one of the new jewelry stores next year. We thought we would get a drink in this historic watering hole but it was so noisy that we went down the street. Other than a bunch of T-shirt shops and other tourist traps, plus a few eating places and unique buildings, the town didn’t show me much. Too many people!!! The National Park Service does have an interesting Visitor Center and interpretive tour of the historical district.

We stayed overnight in Skagway returning to Whitehorse on the 24th. On the way we stopped in Carcross which played a large role in the late 1890s and early 1900s. We also stopped at the Carcross Desert which is billed as the world’s smallest desert and, in fact, is an International Biophysical Programme site for ecological studies. The sand dunes do not cover much area and lie between 2 kilometer markers on the highway.

Saturday, August 25, we headed towards Watson Lake. We stopped at Johnson’s Crossing for a final cinnamon roll test at the places that are well known along the way. The rolls didn’t rank high on our list. We both agreed that Testa River Lodge has THE BEST cinnamon rolls along the Alaska Highway! (The business is for sale—I hope the recipes go with the property for the sake of future travelers in that part of the world.) The foliage was really turning as we drove east. We camped at the intersection of the Alaska Highway and the Cassiar Highway this evening, thus bidding a good-bye to the Alcan and to some of the folks on caravans that we had been meeting along the way.

We began our drive down the Cassiar Highway on the 26th. The highway generally goes south along the Coast Mountains in western British Columbia and is known for its scenic beauty. Most of the road was pretty decent until we neared Dease Lake where potholes prevailed and some spots were pretty muddy from recent rains and washouts earlier this summer. We drove through light rain as we drove through the Cassiar Mountains and many mountains were obscured by clouds. We stopped at Dease Lake for the day and took my car out to Telegraph Creek—a 70 mile dirt, make that mud, road each way. The scenery was beautiful as we drove over and around mountains, through a First Nation village along a river, along the Grand Canyon of the Stikine River, and up and down grades as steep as 20%. We were treated to great views of a lynx that stood on a bank alongside the road long enough for me to get some quick pictures. A rainbow greeted us as we neared camp in the evening. The car—well that is another story! It was absolutely covered with mud—you couldn’t get in or out without getting mud on your clothes. I pressure washed it when I returned to camp; however, as I was to find out later, I didn’t get all the mud off and out of it. Telegraph Creek was formerly the head of navigation on the Stikine River and an estimated 5,000 stampeders set off from there to attempt the Stikine-Teslin Trail to the goldfields in Atlin and the Klondike. Although rigorous, the drive to Telegraph Creek was as beautiful as the native of British Columbia who recommended it to me at a campground in AK had said it would be.