Out of Yukon into Alaska

June 28, 2014

Miles:    231
Left Whitehorse, YT at 9:15 am
Arrived Lake Creek Provincial Campground 2:40 p
Diesel -    $7.13 a gallon

For our time in Whitehorse we stayed three days at Pioneer RV Campground.    This campground sure knows how to pack 'em in.   Lots of Caravans stay here.  Sure glad Len knows what he is doing.  Tight getting out our spot yesterday morning.

Around noon we stopped at a rest area to grab a sandwich and cool drink.   As we were leaving Len noticed that a side panel was hanging.   Upon inspection he found all three bolts had come off.   Would think that RV manufacturers would use washers also.  Nope.   So he got out his drill and toolbox and drilled more holes and installed heavier bolts (with washers).

Fixed!  Look closely and notice the dirt on the rig.   It's worse in the front.   We washed the truck while in Whitehorse.  Should have saved our time and money.

Last night we decided to dry camp at a Provincial Park.   We chose Lake Creek park.  Only $12.00 a night on the honor system.     Free for Yukon residents.     Our site:

Once we got set up, we both looked forward to a nice hot shower.  Was not to be.  We turned on the pump = no water.  Wait!  We just had water earlier in the day.  Len walked outside to see water had run on the ground.   Somewhere along the way the plug had broken off the hot water line under the chassis.  So cold water, no hot.

June 29, 2014
Miles:   158
Left Lake Creek at 8:00
Arrived Tok, Alaska 1:30 pm   (Acutally 6.5 hour drive as the time changes at the Alaska border)

What a ride those last miles in Yukon Territory  Frost heaves and washed out areas.   They place orange flags along the road for warnings.  But don't count on an orange flag for every pothole, etc.

Finally:

Not long into the state we stopped at Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge.   The work campers were so excited to see us.   They know all about NOMADS but never saw any come through that area.   They asked if we would mind having our pictures taken so they could put us on their Facebook page.   We had to sign a release.  Wow!

So here we are in Tok for the next 4 days.   While here we will take a drive up to Chicken, Alaska and see what else is around.  We are staying at

$42.25 a night and that is with the Good Sam discount.  Gail, back at the Wildlife Refuge, told us in Alaska you are permitted to overnight at any rest area or pullover.   We will take advantage of that.  It was not permitted in British Columbia or Yukon.

In the meantime, gotta get that hot water plug fixed.  Len was outside a while ago and I was thinking he was fixing it.  I went out to see him standing by the rig and the man from the motor home next to us was under  our home.   They could not get it fixed.  The man just went to town and said he will pick up what he can so they can get it done.  Len is in his recliner.  Do I hear a snore?

Back in USA for a few hours

Whitehorse,  Yukon Territories

First I want to show you pictures of what the local Walmart parking lot looked liked yesterday.

That is only a small sample.   The entire lot was mostly filled with RV's.   Most trailers did not have a truck or car hooked up to them.  So people were not shopping, they were off somewhere else.   We use Walmart, overnight but only when going from Point A to Point B and need a few hours of sleep.    Never as a campground.

Today we took a ride of about 105 miles each way to the town of Skagway, AK via the South Klondike Highway.

On the way we passed Rainbow Lake.  The different colors are due to the reflection of white sediment of decomposed shell mixed with clay.

A little further and we stopped at:

This is a complex of museum, gift shop and eatery.  We spent money at all three.   The museum costs $8.75 each but if you mention you saw their advertisement in the Milepost, you get half price.   I mentioned, we did.   One part of the museum told the story of the North West Mounted Police and Gold Miners.

Another was a display of native animals both from the current age and recreations of animals that are extinct.

This is said to be the largest polar bear found.

Outside were huskies being tended by their owners.

Two week old babies and mama.  Lunch time.

Three week old goat

And one born the night before:

After buying a few gifts, we went to the eatery for a cup of coffee and smelled the scent of fresh baked donuts.  Ah - hot coffee and hot donuts.  The eatery.

A little further up the road and we saw these Big Horn Sheep way up on the mountain.  Glad Len bought me a better camera last Christmas.

We continued on until we entered:

Skagway has found a way to lure in the tourists both by land and sea.   I could not believe there would be a Disney Cruise Line there.   But here it is.

Another wonder - just how many jewelry stores can be in one small town.   It seemed every other store was a jewelry store.

The main tourist street:

We had lunch in a building that at one time was a brothel.

I had salmon in puffed pastry.  Len had bison in puffed pastry.   Tasty but there could not have been more than a 1/2 ounce of salmon or bison in either.  It came with halibut chowder (really good) and a small salad.  

We are now back in Whitehorse but not without first spying this fellow only about 20 feet off the road on the ride back.

Tomorrow - excitement!   Laundry and truck wash.

To Alaska Days 15 and 16 and 17

Monday, June 23

Location:   Iskut, BC

Miles Driven:   359

Diesel:    $7.42 a gallon.  That's SEVEN DOLLARS AND FORTY TWO CENTS!!!!!!

We left Houston, BC this morning at 7:30 am. after our morning coffee and an egg, pork roll and cheese sandwich made in the RV.   Pork roll?  We take some with us.  We buy lots when in the NJ area.  Can't get it everywhere, you know.

We continued on Rt 16 the Yellowstone Highway until we picked up Rt 37 the Cassiar Highway.   The Cassiar Hwy will connect us with Alaska Highway near Watson Lake.   This "highway" is a dreary 450 miles long.   We saw mountains in the distance, some lakes, lot of trees and 8 bears.  Very little traffic.  No shoulder and a severe drop off on each side.  We passed one car laying on its side.  Looks like it's been there a while.  And a Semi flipped over on it's side.   It was being pulled from its landing place.   

We have 196 miles to the end and our connection to the Alaska Highway.    Having been on the road for 7.5 hours we pulled into a small RV park, one of the few on this road.   $36.00 a night gets us 30 amp electric and water plus WIFI.  However, can only surf the Internet and Email.   No uploading/downloading pictures.  So will wait until I can to continue this blog.

Our view:

Tuesday,  June 24

Location:   Teslin,  Yukon
Miles Driven:   341

We left Iskut, BC at 8:05 and arrived in Teslin 5:50.    What a ride.   The remainder of Cassiar Highway was bumpy and torn up.    The highlight was

We found out that 90% of the world Jade comes from the Cassiar Mountain range.   Working on the Jade

Spending money works up an appetite so we went to the only business in town a restaurant down the street from the store.   We both had a bowl of turkey barley soup.  Then on the adive of my daughter Amy we shared a large plate of a Canadian favorite called Pouline.   OMG!   Crispy fried, gravy and cheese curds.

As we finally got to the end of Cassiar highway's 450 miles we crossed over into

 And got on the Alaska Highway.  

For a while the ride was not much better.  Several miles of the Alaska Highway was dug up.  They had watered the road making MUD.  Our rig and truck are looking really pathetic.  But, so are the rest of them in this area.

 We found the Yukon Motel and RV Park in Teslin and settled for the night.   Nice view out our side door.

Didn't see much wildlife on Tuesday.   Hard to tell but this is a mama and two cubs.

Wednesday,  June 25

Location:   Whitehorse, Yukon
Miles Driven:    91

Just a short ride this morning.   Got up, had breakfast at the restaurant of the motel and got on the road.
We are now parked at Pioneer RV Park in Whitehorse for the next three nights.  Tomorrow will probably drive down to Skagway.  

Can't be on computer too long or upload many pictures.  Limited allowance here.   Talk later.....

Banff to Houston - What Day is it? I forget

Houston,   BC

Diesel:     $5.77 gallon
Temperature: Low of 50 High of 64.

Friday,  June 20

We left Banff at 8:10 arriving at Robson Meadows Campground, a B.C. Provincial park at 2:30.  Total mileage 238 miles.

Our route at first was 93,  Icefields Parkway.  Getting on at Lake Louise and ending in Jasper.   While on the Parkway we entered:

 

HI RICK

Beautiful route.     Snow capped mountains.   Waterfalls.

One thing we found odd.   Twice we stopped at a rest area/gift shop/restaurant/service station.   As we travel we see lots of Asian people.   Well, at both stops we had people who appeared to be Japanese keep looking at our RV.   Both times they would walk around it and then take pictures.    These were two separate occasions.    Wondering -   Does CEDAR CREEK have a different meaning in Japan that we don't know about?   Something obscene?

Back to our day:   Lots of critters:

Speaking of critters.  Do you know what this is?

It is actually a bridge for the animals to cross from one side of the highway to the other.  Grass and trees are planted on top.  

At end to the Icefields Parkway is the town of Jasper.  There were RV's every where.  Needing a re-fill we pulled into a service station.  No diesel.   So we pulled into another one and waited a while a line.  A lady came up to the truck and asked if we knew that station also had no diesel.   There is only ONE station in town that sells diesel.  Anyone coming to that area has to fill up there.   Either direction and it is close to 100 miles to the next service station.   The one station with diesel also was a tight fit but we made it without incident.

A little further down the road and  we spent last night at Robson Meadows Provincial Park.  Beautiful location - $25.00 with no hook ups.   Overlooking the campground is Mount Robson, the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies.

Saturday, June 21

Miles:   368
Left campground at 7:10 am
Arrived Shady Rest RV Park  ( $63.00 for 2 nights)  3:45 pm

We had planned to stop in the town of McBride this morning, about 30 miles from where we over-nighted.  We are using the book Milepost as our Bible.  It referenced an old train station and an Information Center with a Cafe and art galley. It said they serve breakfast.   We got there at 8:10.  Does not open until 9. Who waits until 9 for breakfast?   Not another restaurant in the town.   So we moved on down the road.  And I mean DOWN THE ROAD.  The next town was Prince George.   More than 130 miles away.   Nothing in between.  NOTHING.  Only, we did see 3 bears.

Another tight town to get around in pulling a 39 foot trailer.   Walmart  has a McDonald's. We could park in their parking lot.     A Big Mac for Breakfast, anyone?   It was 11:30 by the time we got there.  Needing a few groceries, we did that too.

On a great note. The truck is doing fine.  Whatever was done to it, we like.   We had been getting 9.5 mpg when towing.  We are now getting 10.7.    Gotta love every extra mile per gallon we get.   Especially with the high diesel costs.

We've finally arrived in Houston.   Not Houston, Tx, but Houston, BC.   We found a nice little RV park and decided to stay two nights.  We really need a day off from driving.

TO Alaska Day 11

Banff, Alberta

Miles:    322
Price of Diesel when converted:  I don't want to know!

We left Montana about 8:30 yesterday.   Only a short 30 miles or so and we were in:

Note:  I planned on posting several pictures.  However, won't be doing that.  We are currently in a Tim Horton's in Banff for the free WIFI.  It took 10 minutes to unload the above picture.

Our route took us through the city of Calgary and up to the Canadian Rockies.   We decided to stay two nights at a campground in the Banff National Park.  WHEW!  Can't afford this type of life.  The campground is $39 a night.   More than we usually pay but in addition there was a charge of $66.90 to visit the National Park for 4 days.  

Banff looks like a typical tourist town.   Most restaurants are in hotels, etc.  Even Chili's.   Last night we decided to eat at the Chili's.   For $32.00 we got one coke, one hamburger, one order of fries and one salad.    Okay - we eat in the rig for a while.

We took a drive around this morning and wishing I could upload pictures.  We saw a herd of young elk then driving up to a ski area there were two mountain goats in the road.  They were not about ready to move and if Len got any further to the right, we were off the side of the mountain.  

When looking for a place for WIFI I saw this Tim Hortons.   We sat in the parking lot for a couple of minutes.  While there a Japanese man came to the front of the truck and was checking out the Ranch Hand bumper.  Then he walked around the truck.   We came inside and was just watching him.   Wishing I had the camera with me instead of leaving it in the truck.  He waved his family over and they all were walking around the truck pointing at it and talking.   What the?????

We leave here tomorrow and head north to see what we can see.

To Alaska Day 10 - To the border

Shelby,  MT

Cost of Diesel:      $3.93
Miles traveled:      407
Route from Cody, Wy to Shelby MT:   120N....72N....I-90W......Rt 191.....MT 3......Rt 87.....I-15


Yesterday was a down time day.   We picked up the truck and took the rental car back.   Nothing could be found wrong with the truck.  In fact, it is running just fine and not having issues on the inclines.   Thinking we wasted some money.  This Ford dealer only charged us $95.00, the equivalent of one hour, for the time they took checking the truck out.    Our big cost was 3 days of rental cars.  Came to $444.00.  OUCH!

The only other thing I did yesterday was catch up on the laundry.   That is always a good thing.

So today we hit the road about 8:15.    It was an easy 407 miles through mostly farmland with a few small towns thrown in.   We stopped for lunch in Eddies Corner, MT.   Looks like Eddie is the whole town:   gas station, restaurant, bar, RV park, motel, gift shop.    We both got the special of the day.  Hamburger gravy (lots of ground meat in it) over mashed potatoes, corn, roll and pineapple upside down cake.   All for $8.75 each.

Our next stop was at the Walmart in Great Falls.  It was only 3:30 but the parking lot looked like an RV park but lots less organized.  Rigs were parked every which way.   We needed a few groceries and also insect repellent.  We are warned this is a necessity where we are headed.   While in Texas and gate guarding our large plastic weave mat took a beating.  It was full of sand and dirt and starting to shred in places.   We were going to heave it but the gate guards up the road two miles asked if they could have it.   Needing to replace it,  we picked up one at the Walmart.  Looking at our receipts I was reminded that Montana has no sales tax, not even on meals   WHOOPEE!   Glad we got that mat now.

Due to the early time and how crowded Walmart was, we decided not to stay there.   I subscribe to www.overnightrvparking.com so decided to check online to see what might be available further up the road.  I found a parking area along I-15 in Shelby.  That's where we are.  Nice wide area and just us.      We picked up a pizza at Walmart that we heated and devoured.    Len is exhausted so took a shower and already in bed.  It's just 7.

So tomorrow it's across the border.    Where will we be tomorrow night?   No clue.

To Alaska Day 8 - Yellowstone NP

Cody, WY

Yesterday was our day to drive, drive, drive, ride, ride, ride.   We took a quick trip to Yellowstone National Park.     Our entrance was at the east gate.  It was then we remembered hearing about the wild fires of a couple of years ago.   The destruction went on for miles and miles.

Eventually we saw those features of which this park is famous.

The mud volcanoes

The immense Yellowstone Lake

Waterfalls:

Grassy Plateaus

Even:

A bit of a disappointment

But most of all the animals:

The animals that were most in abundance were the buffaloes.  They were everywhere.

This one was laying within feet of a walkway around a mud volcano.

I guess he was not close enough for these two.  They slowly walked up to him. STUPID!  They were speaking French.  I guess the warning signs need to be in every language?  No common sense here.  STUPID!   As we walked away FAST we saw a Ranger headed in their direction.

Baby Buffalo

Mule Deer

Elk

Moose

And a little shot of the back end of a bear, so as our blogging friend Judy would say  "THE END"