Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Tuesday; Aug. 12, 2008; Day 71; Loche Le Hoche to Hope Valley Campgound, B.C.
The morning dawned nice and sunny with clouds to very high in the sky! We didn’t see any evidence of the meteor shower that was to have occurred last night however the skies of Loche Le Hoche were clouded over (and I was asleep at 2 a.m.).
We left Big Country RV early and immediately saw some cowboys that were out herding cattle, under a small opening over the highway (5 Cowboys on horses and one black herding pooch.) There were many old settlements or abandoned homesteads that we noticed and photographed along the way; makes one wonder and daydream about the many folks (and how they lived their lives) that ‘tamed’ this country.
The scenery along the Thompson and Fraser Rivers was stunning. The roads were ‘stunning’ too as they followed the natural curve of the river. Sooooo . . . Stephen encountered lots of hills with steep grades up AND down, windy, narrow and with much more summer traffic than either of us thought necessary. He did perform a wonderful piece of driving however and I mostly contented myself with the beauty of the scenery and snapping so many pictures that I wore out my newly charged camera battery!
Lessons Learned: Stephens’s suggestion to keep the spare charged up battery in the
camera case WITH me . . . well its necessary. J
We were delighted to note that the great Thompson River (a salmon river) was running clear and not dirty as it was when we drove up early June. The Fraser River however was running a jade green color but cloudy. Both rivers were rapid and boiling – and both sported rapids in some areas. The Fraser River also boasts a Hell’s Canyon, where a couple of aerial trams take the adventurous down into the canyon and to a restaurant on the opposite side of the river. Much of the topography of the Thompson River was high desert (including Grand Canyon type erosion) while the Fraser could definitely be described as alpine canyon. They were both spectacularly breathtaking.
We arrived in Hope, BC around 1400 hours and stopped at the Visitor Center . . . where I learned that Sly Stallone made his Rambo movie. Of course I persuaded Stephen to pose as Rambo for me outside the Museum – he’s such a good sport! We are back in the ‘train’ campground – but the sound is comforting as it brings us ever closer home. We filled up with fuel in Cache Creek late morning at $1.47 per liter. Miles travelled today were 260.
Aug. 13, 2008; Wednesday; Day 72 (Hope Valley CG the Everitts, Snohomish, WA)
We left early this morning, anxious to be on the road and headed into the good ole US of A! The weather is sunny and its going to be plenty warm. We were stunned by the beauty of the hills around Bridal Veil Falls Mountain but disappointed to not be able to see the falls themselves. We drove into the USA at 0900 hours which is when our particular entry destination opened. It was fun chatting with the border patrol and although the RV directly in front of us was pulled over for inspection, we sailed through.
One of the early ‘yahoo’s’ had to do with the price of fuel as diesel (no longer $6.80 but now $5.40 once we left Canada). The exchange rate had also changed from slightly in favor of the Canadian dollar to a direct advantage for the US dollar. We found that the GST numbers didn’t work for us since we’d not spent enough dollars on ‘included’ items to grant us a rebate. Food, fuel and lodging were all exempt from the rebates – drat.
We chatted with Katy who had researched some oil changing locations in Monroe for us that would not have height restrictions, enabling us to have the oil changed without downloading the camper! That task accomplished we caught up with the Everitts about 1400 hours. It was Sizzling Hot! The pups enjoyed the freedom of running in the back fenced yard while Kate, Stephen and I chatted on the deck. We had all kinds of catching up to do regarding the summer months with Chad, Kyle and Shelby. Stephen made his famous crab cakes for an appetizer and Chad barbequed shish kabobs. It was a perfect afternoon and evening – great way to spend our first day back in the USA!
August 14, 2008; Thursday; Day 72; The Everitts at Snohomish, WA
Today was busy, busy, getting Jesse a Vet appt. tomorrow upon our return to Spokane. She is having issues opening her mouth, her eye is swollen and she is yelping . . . not our normal ‘tough’ little dog. After a lazy morning, we went to my favorite store . . . Ben Franklin where I enjoyed the benefits of Shelby’s significant discount! Another delightful day of hot heat and sun with dinner out at a super Italian Restaurant. The owner spelt a piece of Chad/M.K.’s pizza on Stephen so that entrée was gratis. Regardless of that amusing incident the food was delicious and we had a ball.
August 15, 2008; Friday; Day 73; Snohomish to ‘Ruger’s Home’ – Colbert, WA.
We were on the road a few minutes before 0800, after a yummy baked pancake breakfast that Katie whipped up. Not sure how it’s possible but the heat today was 100 – and increased as we headed East. Our route took us on Hwy 2 through Steven’s Pass – a nice change of scenery but not so much when you are heavy and pulling a load. It was a beautiful drive and about an hour West of Davenport we connected with friends (Robert and Linda Gerlach – they were in their Freightliner and are whom we purchased our camper from) who were travelling west on Hwy 2. We met in Davenport and spent half an hour catching up before heading back in our rigs to our final destinations.
We arrived home just before 1600 hours . . . Ruger and Jesse were anxious to run around but more concerned about where we were and our location related to the truck. (They just don’t want to be ‘left’.) Jesse & I made the 1700 Vet Appt while the guys unloaded. It is 101F and we are ALL panting! It was a great summer adventure but it is nice to be home . . . and the King Size Bed sure feels good! J
Sidebars:
We found that rhubarb – a necessary item in our garden and part of our dessert venue . . . is $4.00+ a pound! We’ll wait until we’re home & harvest it in the backyard for free.
Page 10
Politics . . . Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is very well thought of in ‘the Last Frontier’ with an approval rating of over 80% well into her second year in office. Perhaps the rest of the states could learn something from her ethics, down home manner and realization that she works for the people of Alaska and not big oil or lobbyists . . . refreshing.
As we travelled south from the land of the midnight sun we discovered that we no longer needed to put the towels up over the block out shades to darken the camper so all four Russell’s (canine and human) could sleep.
Wondering about how the fuel prices were affecting different RV parks in Canada and Alaska, we asked the owners. Although we saw loads of RV vehicles of every description on the road, the Alaskan, Yukon and upper B.C. hosts all reported their sales were down about 17% over last year. The campgrounds/hosts in central and southern B.C. said they were as busy as ever but noticed that their USA clientele was off . . . rather Canadians were headed out camping and vacationing in their RV’s since it was too expensive to go to a non-RV resort.
We discovered that most of the Visitor Centers in the towns do have free wifi! (This of course we discover our next to the last day in Canada!).
British Columbia seems to be ‘home’ to many of the world’s ‘largest’ . . . .
Houston is home to the world’s largest fly rod.
100 Mile House is home to the world’s largest alpine skis.
Williams Lake is home to the world’s largest gold pan.
Medical Report:
Canada has many massage therapists, some chiropractors and usually a nurse or some other health official in most towns. The information centers in town can be helpful in locating these resources as you can’t rely on wifi at all.
Canadian pharmacy items. The rumor that you can buy most products over the counter is currently not true (may have been in the past). A Rx is required by a Canadian Doc so even if you have one from a USA Doc, you must still see a Canadian MD (for a fee) to have them rewrite the Rx so that you can fill it.
Alaska Hospitals and Emergency Rooms are first rate. We found it difficult to nonexistent to find any type of Same Day or Urgent Care Center. There are a full range of massage therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, physical therapists and pharmacies to fulfill medical needs.
Veterinarians are not difficult to locate in the larger towns and usually there is ‘someone’ in a local radius of the smaller locales that can assist in an emergency. Boarding pets, except in the larger cities wasn’t particularly wonderful.
Stephen. Well we found and utilized all of the above medical personnel and services that allowed us to make the trip. Traveling small mileage distances daily
was more a matter of stopping frequently to massage/stretch/etc him and keep the days manageable. There were a few times when he thought we might need to return but we were able to overcome those. Smelling the roses and seeing sights due to our slow and leisurely approach because of his medical issues ended up being quite a bonus in experiencing both Canada and Alaska.
We left Big Country RV early and immediately saw some cowboys that were out herding cattle, under a small opening over the highway (5 Cowboys on horses and one black herding pooch.) There were many old settlements or abandoned homesteads that we noticed and photographed along the way; makes one wonder and daydream about the many folks (and how they lived their lives) that ‘tamed’ this country.
The scenery along the Thompson and Fraser Rivers was stunning. The roads were ‘stunning’ too as they followed the natural curve of the river. Sooooo . . . Stephen encountered lots of hills with steep grades up AND down, windy, narrow and with much more summer traffic than either of us thought necessary. He did perform a wonderful piece of driving however and I mostly contented myself with the beauty of the scenery and snapping so many pictures that I wore out my newly charged camera battery!
Lessons Learned: Stephens’s suggestion to keep the spare charged up battery in the
camera case WITH me . . . well its necessary. J
We were delighted to note that the great Thompson River (a salmon river) was running clear and not dirty as it was when we drove up early June. The Fraser River however was running a jade green color but cloudy. Both rivers were rapid and boiling – and both sported rapids in some areas. The Fraser River also boasts a Hell’s Canyon, where a couple of aerial trams take the adventurous down into the canyon and to a restaurant on the opposite side of the river. Much of the topography of the Thompson River was high desert (including Grand Canyon type erosion) while the Fraser could definitely be described as alpine canyon. They were both spectacularly breathtaking.
We arrived in Hope, BC around 1400 hours and stopped at the Visitor Center . . . where I learned that Sly Stallone made his Rambo movie. Of course I persuaded Stephen to pose as Rambo for me outside the Museum – he’s such a good sport! We are back in the ‘train’ campground – but the sound is comforting as it brings us ever closer home. We filled up with fuel in Cache Creek late morning at $1.47 per liter. Miles travelled today were 260.
Aug. 13, 2008; Wednesday; Day 72 (Hope Valley CG the Everitts, Snohomish, WA)
We left early this morning, anxious to be on the road and headed into the good ole US of A! The weather is sunny and its going to be plenty warm. We were stunned by the beauty of the hills around Bridal Veil Falls Mountain but disappointed to not be able to see the falls themselves. We drove into the USA at 0900 hours which is when our particular entry destination opened. It was fun chatting with the border patrol and although the RV directly in front of us was pulled over for inspection, we sailed through.
One of the early ‘yahoo’s’ had to do with the price of fuel as diesel (no longer $6.80 but now $5.40 once we left Canada). The exchange rate had also changed from slightly in favor of the Canadian dollar to a direct advantage for the US dollar. We found that the GST numbers didn’t work for us since we’d not spent enough dollars on ‘included’ items to grant us a rebate. Food, fuel and lodging were all exempt from the rebates – drat.
We chatted with Katy who had researched some oil changing locations in Monroe for us that would not have height restrictions, enabling us to have the oil changed without downloading the camper! That task accomplished we caught up with the Everitts about 1400 hours. It was Sizzling Hot! The pups enjoyed the freedom of running in the back fenced yard while Kate, Stephen and I chatted on the deck. We had all kinds of catching up to do regarding the summer months with Chad, Kyle and Shelby. Stephen made his famous crab cakes for an appetizer and Chad barbequed shish kabobs. It was a perfect afternoon and evening – great way to spend our first day back in the USA!
August 14, 2008; Thursday; Day 72; The Everitts at Snohomish, WA
Today was busy, busy, getting Jesse a Vet appt. tomorrow upon our return to Spokane. She is having issues opening her mouth, her eye is swollen and she is yelping . . . not our normal ‘tough’ little dog. After a lazy morning, we went to my favorite store . . . Ben Franklin where I enjoyed the benefits of Shelby’s significant discount! Another delightful day of hot heat and sun with dinner out at a super Italian Restaurant. The owner spelt a piece of Chad/M.K.’s pizza on Stephen so that entrée was gratis. Regardless of that amusing incident the food was delicious and we had a ball.
August 15, 2008; Friday; Day 73; Snohomish to ‘Ruger’s Home’ – Colbert, WA.
We were on the road a few minutes before 0800, after a yummy baked pancake breakfast that Katie whipped up. Not sure how it’s possible but the heat today was 100 – and increased as we headed East. Our route took us on Hwy 2 through Steven’s Pass – a nice change of scenery but not so much when you are heavy and pulling a load. It was a beautiful drive and about an hour West of Davenport we connected with friends (Robert and Linda Gerlach – they were in their Freightliner and are whom we purchased our camper from) who were travelling west on Hwy 2. We met in Davenport and spent half an hour catching up before heading back in our rigs to our final destinations.
We arrived home just before 1600 hours . . . Ruger and Jesse were anxious to run around but more concerned about where we were and our location related to the truck. (They just don’t want to be ‘left’.) Jesse & I made the 1700 Vet Appt while the guys unloaded. It is 101F and we are ALL panting! It was a great summer adventure but it is nice to be home . . . and the King Size Bed sure feels good! J
Sidebars:
We found that rhubarb – a necessary item in our garden and part of our dessert venue . . . is $4.00+ a pound! We’ll wait until we’re home & harvest it in the backyard for free.
Page 10
Politics . . . Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is very well thought of in ‘the Last Frontier’ with an approval rating of over 80% well into her second year in office. Perhaps the rest of the states could learn something from her ethics, down home manner and realization that she works for the people of Alaska and not big oil or lobbyists . . . refreshing.
As we travelled south from the land of the midnight sun we discovered that we no longer needed to put the towels up over the block out shades to darken the camper so all four Russell’s (canine and human) could sleep.
Wondering about how the fuel prices were affecting different RV parks in Canada and Alaska, we asked the owners. Although we saw loads of RV vehicles of every description on the road, the Alaskan, Yukon and upper B.C. hosts all reported their sales were down about 17% over last year. The campgrounds/hosts in central and southern B.C. said they were as busy as ever but noticed that their USA clientele was off . . . rather Canadians were headed out camping and vacationing in their RV’s since it was too expensive to go to a non-RV resort.
We discovered that most of the Visitor Centers in the towns do have free wifi! (This of course we discover our next to the last day in Canada!).
British Columbia seems to be ‘home’ to many of the world’s ‘largest’ . . . .
Houston is home to the world’s largest fly rod.
100 Mile House is home to the world’s largest alpine skis.
Williams Lake is home to the world’s largest gold pan.
Medical Report:
Canada has many massage therapists, some chiropractors and usually a nurse or some other health official in most towns. The information centers in town can be helpful in locating these resources as you can’t rely on wifi at all.
Canadian pharmacy items. The rumor that you can buy most products over the counter is currently not true (may have been in the past). A Rx is required by a Canadian Doc so even if you have one from a USA Doc, you must still see a Canadian MD (for a fee) to have them rewrite the Rx so that you can fill it.
Alaska Hospitals and Emergency Rooms are first rate. We found it difficult to nonexistent to find any type of Same Day or Urgent Care Center. There are a full range of massage therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, physical therapists and pharmacies to fulfill medical needs.
Veterinarians are not difficult to locate in the larger towns and usually there is ‘someone’ in a local radius of the smaller locales that can assist in an emergency. Boarding pets, except in the larger cities wasn’t particularly wonderful.
Stephen. Well we found and utilized all of the above medical personnel and services that allowed us to make the trip. Traveling small mileage distances daily
was more a matter of stopping frequently to massage/stretch/etc him and keep the days manageable. There were a few times when he thought we might need to return but we were able to overcome those. Smelling the roses and seeing sights due to our slow and leisurely approach because of his medical issues ended up being quite a bonus in experiencing both Canada and Alaska.
Monday; August 4, 2008 (Day 63); Homestead RV (Palmer) to SourDough RV (Tok)
Stephen keeps waking up at 0330 hours now to go fishing! And then he keeps the rest of us semi awake/semi asleep. So goes the early morning hours. We left Homestead RV just before 0700, had a quick stop at the Fred Meyers in Palmer (who knew?) and were really on the road headed East on the Glenn Hwy #1 by 0723.
Our road trip today found us in . . . road construction. We only had to sit for 20 minutes but fortunately missed the blasting since it takes 3 hours to clear the road of the rubble and stabilize the mountain once that’s been accomplished. The wildflowers and the scenery continue to astound us. We’ve not travelled this road before so are marveling at the newness and the sights. Have seen lots of great old vehicles from the 40’s and 50’s in the fields that brother Arnie would appreciate and tons of old Ford, John Deere, and other tractors that Dad would find amusing.
The roads were mostly okay although we ran into our fair share of perma frost heaves (and I experienced them first hand when I relieved Stephen of his driving duties late in the afternoon), potholes and gravel/rough road patches. Continuing in the transportation mode, we were amazed when we saw an Alaskan Rail train . . . with a caboose! We were so stunned that I failed to get my camera out in time to snap a historic shot.
One of the interesting things we noted on the trip up . . . and now back . . . are the numbers of folks that put their names in the hillsides of sand/dirt . . . using large rocks. Some leave messages, others just their names. No one knows how this started but it seems to be an interesting native/tourist innovation.
After a long driving day full of visual activities, we arrived at Tok . . . and the Sourdough RV Campground. This being our last evening on the cell we tried to make as many phone calls as possible, had dinner and then wandered down to the ‘Sourdough Soup Hut’ to listen to an ensemble of 3 who called themselves the ‘Leftovers’ (the other 2 primary members of their group were out of town for a funeral and to have chemo). They were an eclectic bunch from an ancient country fiddler/singer, a guitar playing 17 year old High School Senior (he likes Johnny Cash and John Denver) to a washboard tap dancing granny. It was a hoot and was followed up by the guests having to throw leftover pancakes (from the morning’s breakfast) into a bucket to vie for a free breakfast. Stephen was close on all 3 tries . . . I was all over the map. Bottom line – we’re paying for breakfast in the morning.
Weather was in the low 60’s, with lots of cloud cover, a bit of sun and then some rain sprinkles. Miles travelled today were 281.
August 5, 2008; Tuesday (Day 64), Sourdough Camp (Tok) to Cottonwood RV
We are really on the road home as the Canadian Border is a mere 90 miles away . . . a tortuous 90 miles away, but not nearly as bad as the road from Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory to our destination of Cottonwood RV Park just south of Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory. Just before our arrival at 1600 the following activities occurred . . . .
Breakfast was at the campground - $7.50 each for sourdough pancakes, fruit, biscuits and gravy and coffee. It was good to try this breakfast and the pancakes were great but now that is off our list of things to do and not repeat. Shortly after leaving Tok, Alaska (filling up at the Shell Station, $5.40 per gallon/diesel) we saw a black streak crossing the road . . . it was a long eared bunny!
The nitty gritty news was that the road construction was a piece of cake but the perma frost dips and ruts were reminiscent of a roller coaster . . . okay if anticipating it, not good at all if it surprises you. I finally figured out with Stephen’s help that Jesse’s panting had nothing to do with lack of water, rather motion sickness. Good thing we stopped often!
As we crossed the border, the time changed back to Pacific Standard Time. The other major change we noticed was the leaves on many of the plants beginning to change color. Think that Autumn is well on its way to the Yukon! One of the surprising foliage changes were the bloomed out dandelions – looking like cotton balls. The dandelions are in large patches, with no one to blow the white dandelion seeds, so they appear to be cotton in large masses. Absolutely unusual and very cool.
We were surprised when we arrived at our destination of Cottonwood RV Park, just south of Destruction Bay on the Kulane. The lakes water was an azure blue . . . and Stephen asked me just how far south we’d travelled this day as we thought we could well be in the Bahamas . . . and the sunny, breezy weather seemed to confirm that analysis. The weather today made a high of 70F in some of our travels, with rain sprinkles, loads of wind, cloud cover and then sun again. Miles travelled were 242.
Wednesday; August 6, 2008 (Day 65) – Cottonwood RV to White Horse, Yukon
Reluctantly we left Cottonwood RV just before 0900 after breakfasting on the picnic table overlooking our scenic lake. The weather was overcast but nice and as we travelled south we were less than 5 miles when . . . road construction. This particular project was in the Sheep’s Mountain area and the road work is being done in conjunction with the migration patterns of the Dall Sheep who reside there most of the year, and the Kluane Lake fish habitat. The project is current 24/7 as the sheep are summer grazing elsewhere and the fish just have to ‘bear’ it!
We stopped at Haines Junction Visitor Center to telephone doctors and found the center to be delightful. There were hands on exhibits – who knew that the long horn sheep never shed their antlers and there are rings that determine their age . . . and they are heavy! Another interesting tidbit was the overlook at a 1958 fire that burned and the forest is still long behind in its recovery. Scientists are puzzled at the slow growth, stating that the forest should have been rehabilitated fully by now.
We were delighted to once again notice bicyclist’s on the road . . . a riding club with better than 50 cyclists were in a road race, complete with a chase car. Shortly after passing all of the small clusters we saw a sign for the Old Alaska Highway Historical Mile 942 and of course snapped a picture. We arrived in White Horse early afternoon taking the time to obtain some fresh veggies and bread, fuel up and pull into High Country RV for the second time.
Lessons Learned: The microwave convection oven is a great item in the camper. Baking cookies however is a nonstarter so the chocolate chip cookie dough went into the freezer after 2 trial baking batches. (We were full hookups so power source wasn’t an issue.) After an initial cloudy day, punctuated by early morning rains, the sun did make an afternoon appearance, along with the wind. The high temps were 68F. Miles travelled today were 152.
Thurs; Aug 7, 2008 (Day 66); Hi-Country RV (White Horse) to BeaverDam, B.C.
We are headed for the Cassiar Highway – long rumored to be doom and gloom as far as travel is concerned. Whitehorse behind us, we have a day that starts out sunny, has spurts of rain in the morning, the bugs find us in droves at out lunch stop at Morley River and subside a bit(just a bit) at Beaver Dam B.C. where we stopped for the night.
It’s interesting that we’ve not seen any large animals on the roadside as we did on our journey up, until we realize that they are still in the high country and their summer hiatus, no matter that it’s started to turn autumn already. We’ve crossed the Yukon and Teslin rivers – beautiful and big. At Johnson Crossing (a Milepost member since its inception in 1949 – folks were traveling up here then?????); historical mile 836, we stopped for cinnamon rolls for tomorrows breakfast and a small guide on Alaska Sourdough. There is a nice RV part right there on the river but we did notice the bug population starting to grow (but then how spoiled have we been this summer with the cooler temp’s?).
Teslin Tlingit Heritage Center was our next stop where we visited with a nationally ranked artist whom carves totem poles, and paints the large kayaks. While nationally ranked he is also internationally known, was working on a couple of projects and generously gave of his time to educate us to the history of the kayak (up to 60 warriors would paddle these boats and then battle) as it was used by the Tlingit peoples.
Morley River Day Park is a great local for fishing . . . and insect population. The bugs drove Sharon and the pups early from lunch to the truck . . . not without Stephen snapping a picture of all three in front of a beautiful fireweed bush (Sharon looks & is ‘bugged’). We made Junction 37 and our fuel stop just before 1500 hours. We decided to press on for a few more minutes to get started on the Cassiar Highway before bedding down for the evening. The first 10 miles were pretty grueling but not as bad as we’d fantasized. The real news is that there are no shoulders, lots of perma frost heaves, gravel and blind corners. The scenery is even more stunning than most of what we’ve seen. After 46 miles & over an hour of travel we found Beaverdam Rest Area our perfect stop.
The weather was mostly sunny and hot in the afternoon, some breeze with a high of 82F. Miles travelled were 309.
Fri; 08/08/08; (Day 67); Beaverdam B.C. to Bell II Lodge/RV on Bell River
The secret to avoiding the insects are to get all chores done and be on the road prior to 0830, which is when the insects seem to become active. We were on the road from Beaverdam prior to that after giving the pups a good ‘play time’ workout. The lack of traffic in Canada and Alaska is noteworthy but becomes severely less on the Cassiar Stewart Highway! The scenery is stupendous so it’s no wonder it’s a Scenic Byway. The roads are narrow with lots of gentle curves a few grades but its generally a very pleasant driving experience.
This morning Stephen saw a grey fox walking along the highway – it promptly headed out of photo range when the brakes were applied. We were disappointed to find that the ghost town of Laketon, situated on Dease Lake across the highway, is accessible only by boat. The lake is so wide that pictures weren’t possible even with the telephoto lens. The wildlife, aside from noted fox, are the large amounts of chipmunks busy scurrying across the roads with their hands full of nuts – readying themselves for the winter.
Rabid Bear Rest stop seemed a ‘must do’ stop. While no bears or scat were noted, the pups had a good run, we stretched and Ruger even found a large stick with which to fetch. Our next stop was in Dease Lake to fill up our diesel tanks since fuel on this highway is not abundant. I smelled the unmistakable aroma of fried chicken and soon we were back in our rig with a fried chicken snack and our tanks topped off. (Canadian Petrol & General Store, chicken is up at 1100 hours!).
Gnats Pass Summit (no idea about the origin of the name & were reluctant to test the theory of massive gnat waves by rolling down the windows!) is the highest on the Cassiar Stewart Highway at 4102 feet. Kind of a no big deal after some of the summits we’ve been through on this trip! The town of Izkut, a small Tahltan native community, brought an interesting stop, literally. Several horses were on the road, unwilling to move, until Sharon stepped out of the vehicle clapping her hands and calling out to them. After we and two other vehicles passed through, they resumed their stance on the highway!
Eddontenajon Lake – reportedly great rainbow trout fishing in July & August - was as still as a mirror and gin clear. The picture opportunities with the mountains in the background were stunning; can’t imagine the fishing was good this day as the trout could clearly see everything and one trying to catch them! Stephen was a champion flower spotter for me, stopping the truck again several times so I could take close up photos of the various wildflowers we are seeing.
Having enough of the scenic but winding roads (2 patches of gravel/dirt, each about 12 miles in length) and we were ready to call it a day at Bell II Lodge on the Bell-Irving River. It’s a nice resort facility complete with sauna/hot tub, exercise room, TV and pool
room – all amenities available to the RV guests for the full hook-up (15 amps only) price of $31.50. The 10 sites are pull-throughs, there’s a great restaurant, activities, coffee shop and petrol. Sounds wonderful no? Well it is . . . if you can get through the biting flies that have descended on this lovely spot. Apparently this isn’t a ‘normal’ thing but the pups were frustrated by them and spent as little time outside as possible (not normal for them) to avoid the flies! Think we’ll wait for another trip to enjoy the amenities!
The weather was mostly sunny with some spots of overcast. Light breezes, fair amount of insects everywhere and highs of 72F. Miles travelled today were 251.
Saturday, Aug. 09, 2008; Day 68; Bell River, BC to Glacier View RV, Smithers, BC
The biting flies weren’t out early this morning but the mosquitos sure were! We left our pretty but ‘buggy’ locale at 0830 this morning traveling in early morning sun which an hour later gave way to rain the rest of the morning and early afternoon.
The mornings highlight (other than the gorgeous scenes played out for us with the wildflowers and the drama of the mountains), were the sightings of three different bears within a 2 hour time span. The first and third bears were small black bears but the middle one was a huge Black Bear. We had no ability/time to take pictures of the first two but the third one we did capture a mediocre photo … look close through the windshield reflections and you’ll see him! Quite exciting.
We stopped at a native village just before leaving the Cassiar Highway to head east on the Yellowhead Highway to see authentic and historic totem poles. The town also boasted an old church whose original bell tower and bell from the 1800’s are located beside the church. Stephen was excited to see the great steel heading river, Skeena, and of course we stopped to see and photograph it.
As we travelled the Flora and Flauna Express (Stephen’s name for the highways we see in Alaska and Canada) we stopped to see a historic river falls. Some of the natives were netting the salmon as they travelled up the falls – pretty amazing as the positions of the netters were pretty precarious. Soon we found our stop for the night at Glacier RV just west of Smithers. We decided to do some sightseeing in this tourist town and found the parks along the Bulkley River (the city owns a nice RV park on the river with many full hookups) and exercised the pups.
A stop at the Harley Davidson Shop in Smithers (celebrating 105 years) then led us back to our ‘home’ for the night. Glacier RV does have a front seat view of Hudson Glacier, has WIFI and is a nice small campground to overnight. Mid afternoon was very pleasant with a light breeze, temps topping out at 72F, & few if any bugs. Miles travelled = 230.
Sunday, August 10, 2008, Day 69; Smithers to Blue Spruce RV (Prince George, BC)
Pitter patter, pitter patter, the night rains sounded great . . . until they turned into full rainstorms lasting all day. As we left Smithers and amongst others on the upgrade out of
town soon found ourselves dodging a lost dog that was obviously looking for its home. There were lots of screeches – ours being one of them. Fortunately when last seen the pooch was okay; and folks were on the phone dialing 911! After that experience we had a good one when we spotted Elk just off the highway, eating away at the pasture.
We soon made a stop in Houston, which houses the Worlds largest fly rod; took pictures and after the German tour bus left the Visitors Center, purchased a book on the Northwest Mountain Flowers. Stephen thought this prudent as although we could look online for the flowers in question, internet was intermittent and you really need a guide NOW when seeing the flora!
The topography has turned to lots of farmland, mostly hay producing although some cattle ranches . . . mining and lumber products are key to the economics in this area. Our next torrential rain stop was Vanderhof – a historic town with rustic buildings. We arrived finally once again at Blue Spruce RV in Prince George – me calling, ‘ Honey, we’re home!’ to the owner. He’s a Kiwi and just howled! J The rain strengthened and we hunkered down – even watching a DVD movie! The temperatures were a high of 50F. Miles travelled were 246.
Mon, August 11, 2008; Day 70; Prince George to Big Country RV, Loche Le Hoche
We left early morning from our rainy overnight – it had cleared and the ground still soggy was not marshy – thank heavens from a pooch standpoint! The morning was intermittent sun but cloudy and dry. We paralleled the Fraser River once again & found it not much clearer (muddy still) then when we were through the first week of June.
We found that as we travel closer to the USA, the traffic has increased . . . and significantly since leaving Prince George. The topography is lots of curves and hills, not very well marked until you are on top of them and wishing you had a Jake Brake! We did see a lot of white turkeys at one farm – I’d never heard of such a thing but Stephen assured me that on the east coast they are fairly common! The other common farm critters were cattle, Tennessee Walking Horses, Llama’s and Bison.
As we descended into our final destination, 2 miles shy of Big Country RV at Loche Le Hoche, we finally were double teamed by rocks from a logging truck . . . and yes, the windshield was hit. Hope that we can arrive home before the crack makes it difficult to see. Can always get it fixed prior but who wants to deal with that on the road?
The afternoon was spent doing a major cleaning of the camper, making apple crisp and Ro’s chutney cole slaw. I’d like to impress upon everyone that I’m cleaning out the refrig as we wind down this trip but the results are so good that I’d doubt anyone would believe me . . . okay, brag, brag, brag! I’m tired . . . and its time for Apple Crisp, a good book and bed! The highway noise (becoming immune to the sound during the day) did die down after 2200 hours. Miles travelled today were 240.
Our road trip today found us in . . . road construction. We only had to sit for 20 minutes but fortunately missed the blasting since it takes 3 hours to clear the road of the rubble and stabilize the mountain once that’s been accomplished. The wildflowers and the scenery continue to astound us. We’ve not travelled this road before so are marveling at the newness and the sights. Have seen lots of great old vehicles from the 40’s and 50’s in the fields that brother Arnie would appreciate and tons of old Ford, John Deere, and other tractors that Dad would find amusing.
The roads were mostly okay although we ran into our fair share of perma frost heaves (and I experienced them first hand when I relieved Stephen of his driving duties late in the afternoon), potholes and gravel/rough road patches. Continuing in the transportation mode, we were amazed when we saw an Alaskan Rail train . . . with a caboose! We were so stunned that I failed to get my camera out in time to snap a historic shot.
One of the interesting things we noted on the trip up . . . and now back . . . are the numbers of folks that put their names in the hillsides of sand/dirt . . . using large rocks. Some leave messages, others just their names. No one knows how this started but it seems to be an interesting native/tourist innovation.
After a long driving day full of visual activities, we arrived at Tok . . . and the Sourdough RV Campground. This being our last evening on the cell we tried to make as many phone calls as possible, had dinner and then wandered down to the ‘Sourdough Soup Hut’ to listen to an ensemble of 3 who called themselves the ‘Leftovers’ (the other 2 primary members of their group were out of town for a funeral and to have chemo). They were an eclectic bunch from an ancient country fiddler/singer, a guitar playing 17 year old High School Senior (he likes Johnny Cash and John Denver) to a washboard tap dancing granny. It was a hoot and was followed up by the guests having to throw leftover pancakes (from the morning’s breakfast) into a bucket to vie for a free breakfast. Stephen was close on all 3 tries . . . I was all over the map. Bottom line – we’re paying for breakfast in the morning.
Weather was in the low 60’s, with lots of cloud cover, a bit of sun and then some rain sprinkles. Miles travelled today were 281.
August 5, 2008; Tuesday (Day 64), Sourdough Camp (Tok) to Cottonwood RV
We are really on the road home as the Canadian Border is a mere 90 miles away . . . a tortuous 90 miles away, but not nearly as bad as the road from Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory to our destination of Cottonwood RV Park just south of Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory. Just before our arrival at 1600 the following activities occurred . . . .
Breakfast was at the campground - $7.50 each for sourdough pancakes, fruit, biscuits and gravy and coffee. It was good to try this breakfast and the pancakes were great but now that is off our list of things to do and not repeat. Shortly after leaving Tok, Alaska (filling up at the Shell Station, $5.40 per gallon/diesel) we saw a black streak crossing the road . . . it was a long eared bunny!
The nitty gritty news was that the road construction was a piece of cake but the perma frost dips and ruts were reminiscent of a roller coaster . . . okay if anticipating it, not good at all if it surprises you. I finally figured out with Stephen’s help that Jesse’s panting had nothing to do with lack of water, rather motion sickness. Good thing we stopped often!
As we crossed the border, the time changed back to Pacific Standard Time. The other major change we noticed was the leaves on many of the plants beginning to change color. Think that Autumn is well on its way to the Yukon! One of the surprising foliage changes were the bloomed out dandelions – looking like cotton balls. The dandelions are in large patches, with no one to blow the white dandelion seeds, so they appear to be cotton in large masses. Absolutely unusual and very cool.
We were surprised when we arrived at our destination of Cottonwood RV Park, just south of Destruction Bay on the Kulane. The lakes water was an azure blue . . . and Stephen asked me just how far south we’d travelled this day as we thought we could well be in the Bahamas . . . and the sunny, breezy weather seemed to confirm that analysis. The weather today made a high of 70F in some of our travels, with rain sprinkles, loads of wind, cloud cover and then sun again. Miles travelled were 242.
Wednesday; August 6, 2008 (Day 65) – Cottonwood RV to White Horse, Yukon
Reluctantly we left Cottonwood RV just before 0900 after breakfasting on the picnic table overlooking our scenic lake. The weather was overcast but nice and as we travelled south we were less than 5 miles when . . . road construction. This particular project was in the Sheep’s Mountain area and the road work is being done in conjunction with the migration patterns of the Dall Sheep who reside there most of the year, and the Kluane Lake fish habitat. The project is current 24/7 as the sheep are summer grazing elsewhere and the fish just have to ‘bear’ it!
We stopped at Haines Junction Visitor Center to telephone doctors and found the center to be delightful. There were hands on exhibits – who knew that the long horn sheep never shed their antlers and there are rings that determine their age . . . and they are heavy! Another interesting tidbit was the overlook at a 1958 fire that burned and the forest is still long behind in its recovery. Scientists are puzzled at the slow growth, stating that the forest should have been rehabilitated fully by now.
We were delighted to once again notice bicyclist’s on the road . . . a riding club with better than 50 cyclists were in a road race, complete with a chase car. Shortly after passing all of the small clusters we saw a sign for the Old Alaska Highway Historical Mile 942 and of course snapped a picture. We arrived in White Horse early afternoon taking the time to obtain some fresh veggies and bread, fuel up and pull into High Country RV for the second time.
Lessons Learned: The microwave convection oven is a great item in the camper. Baking cookies however is a nonstarter so the chocolate chip cookie dough went into the freezer after 2 trial baking batches. (We were full hookups so power source wasn’t an issue.) After an initial cloudy day, punctuated by early morning rains, the sun did make an afternoon appearance, along with the wind. The high temps were 68F. Miles travelled today were 152.
Thurs; Aug 7, 2008 (Day 66); Hi-Country RV (White Horse) to BeaverDam, B.C.
We are headed for the Cassiar Highway – long rumored to be doom and gloom as far as travel is concerned. Whitehorse behind us, we have a day that starts out sunny, has spurts of rain in the morning, the bugs find us in droves at out lunch stop at Morley River and subside a bit(just a bit) at Beaver Dam B.C. where we stopped for the night.
It’s interesting that we’ve not seen any large animals on the roadside as we did on our journey up, until we realize that they are still in the high country and their summer hiatus, no matter that it’s started to turn autumn already. We’ve crossed the Yukon and Teslin rivers – beautiful and big. At Johnson Crossing (a Milepost member since its inception in 1949 – folks were traveling up here then?????); historical mile 836, we stopped for cinnamon rolls for tomorrows breakfast and a small guide on Alaska Sourdough. There is a nice RV part right there on the river but we did notice the bug population starting to grow (but then how spoiled have we been this summer with the cooler temp’s?).
Teslin Tlingit Heritage Center was our next stop where we visited with a nationally ranked artist whom carves totem poles, and paints the large kayaks. While nationally ranked he is also internationally known, was working on a couple of projects and generously gave of his time to educate us to the history of the kayak (up to 60 warriors would paddle these boats and then battle) as it was used by the Tlingit peoples.
Morley River Day Park is a great local for fishing . . . and insect population. The bugs drove Sharon and the pups early from lunch to the truck . . . not without Stephen snapping a picture of all three in front of a beautiful fireweed bush (Sharon looks & is ‘bugged’). We made Junction 37 and our fuel stop just before 1500 hours. We decided to press on for a few more minutes to get started on the Cassiar Highway before bedding down for the evening. The first 10 miles were pretty grueling but not as bad as we’d fantasized. The real news is that there are no shoulders, lots of perma frost heaves, gravel and blind corners. The scenery is even more stunning than most of what we’ve seen. After 46 miles & over an hour of travel we found Beaverdam Rest Area our perfect stop.
The weather was mostly sunny and hot in the afternoon, some breeze with a high of 82F. Miles travelled were 309.
Fri; 08/08/08; (Day 67); Beaverdam B.C. to Bell II Lodge/RV on Bell River
The secret to avoiding the insects are to get all chores done and be on the road prior to 0830, which is when the insects seem to become active. We were on the road from Beaverdam prior to that after giving the pups a good ‘play time’ workout. The lack of traffic in Canada and Alaska is noteworthy but becomes severely less on the Cassiar Stewart Highway! The scenery is stupendous so it’s no wonder it’s a Scenic Byway. The roads are narrow with lots of gentle curves a few grades but its generally a very pleasant driving experience.
This morning Stephen saw a grey fox walking along the highway – it promptly headed out of photo range when the brakes were applied. We were disappointed to find that the ghost town of Laketon, situated on Dease Lake across the highway, is accessible only by boat. The lake is so wide that pictures weren’t possible even with the telephoto lens. The wildlife, aside from noted fox, are the large amounts of chipmunks busy scurrying across the roads with their hands full of nuts – readying themselves for the winter.
Rabid Bear Rest stop seemed a ‘must do’ stop. While no bears or scat were noted, the pups had a good run, we stretched and Ruger even found a large stick with which to fetch. Our next stop was in Dease Lake to fill up our diesel tanks since fuel on this highway is not abundant. I smelled the unmistakable aroma of fried chicken and soon we were back in our rig with a fried chicken snack and our tanks topped off. (Canadian Petrol & General Store, chicken is up at 1100 hours!).
Gnats Pass Summit (no idea about the origin of the name & were reluctant to test the theory of massive gnat waves by rolling down the windows!) is the highest on the Cassiar Stewart Highway at 4102 feet. Kind of a no big deal after some of the summits we’ve been through on this trip! The town of Izkut, a small Tahltan native community, brought an interesting stop, literally. Several horses were on the road, unwilling to move, until Sharon stepped out of the vehicle clapping her hands and calling out to them. After we and two other vehicles passed through, they resumed their stance on the highway!
Eddontenajon Lake – reportedly great rainbow trout fishing in July & August - was as still as a mirror and gin clear. The picture opportunities with the mountains in the background were stunning; can’t imagine the fishing was good this day as the trout could clearly see everything and one trying to catch them! Stephen was a champion flower spotter for me, stopping the truck again several times so I could take close up photos of the various wildflowers we are seeing.
Having enough of the scenic but winding roads (2 patches of gravel/dirt, each about 12 miles in length) and we were ready to call it a day at Bell II Lodge on the Bell-Irving River. It’s a nice resort facility complete with sauna/hot tub, exercise room, TV and pool
room – all amenities available to the RV guests for the full hook-up (15 amps only) price of $31.50. The 10 sites are pull-throughs, there’s a great restaurant, activities, coffee shop and petrol. Sounds wonderful no? Well it is . . . if you can get through the biting flies that have descended on this lovely spot. Apparently this isn’t a ‘normal’ thing but the pups were frustrated by them and spent as little time outside as possible (not normal for them) to avoid the flies! Think we’ll wait for another trip to enjoy the amenities!
The weather was mostly sunny with some spots of overcast. Light breezes, fair amount of insects everywhere and highs of 72F. Miles travelled today were 251.
Saturday, Aug. 09, 2008; Day 68; Bell River, BC to Glacier View RV, Smithers, BC
The biting flies weren’t out early this morning but the mosquitos sure were! We left our pretty but ‘buggy’ locale at 0830 this morning traveling in early morning sun which an hour later gave way to rain the rest of the morning and early afternoon.
The mornings highlight (other than the gorgeous scenes played out for us with the wildflowers and the drama of the mountains), were the sightings of three different bears within a 2 hour time span. The first and third bears were small black bears but the middle one was a huge Black Bear. We had no ability/time to take pictures of the first two but the third one we did capture a mediocre photo … look close through the windshield reflections and you’ll see him! Quite exciting.
We stopped at a native village just before leaving the Cassiar Highway to head east on the Yellowhead Highway to see authentic and historic totem poles. The town also boasted an old church whose original bell tower and bell from the 1800’s are located beside the church. Stephen was excited to see the great steel heading river, Skeena, and of course we stopped to see and photograph it.
As we travelled the Flora and Flauna Express (Stephen’s name for the highways we see in Alaska and Canada) we stopped to see a historic river falls. Some of the natives were netting the salmon as they travelled up the falls – pretty amazing as the positions of the netters were pretty precarious. Soon we found our stop for the night at Glacier RV just west of Smithers. We decided to do some sightseeing in this tourist town and found the parks along the Bulkley River (the city owns a nice RV park on the river with many full hookups) and exercised the pups.
A stop at the Harley Davidson Shop in Smithers (celebrating 105 years) then led us back to our ‘home’ for the night. Glacier RV does have a front seat view of Hudson Glacier, has WIFI and is a nice small campground to overnight. Mid afternoon was very pleasant with a light breeze, temps topping out at 72F, & few if any bugs. Miles travelled = 230.
Sunday, August 10, 2008, Day 69; Smithers to Blue Spruce RV (Prince George, BC)
Pitter patter, pitter patter, the night rains sounded great . . . until they turned into full rainstorms lasting all day. As we left Smithers and amongst others on the upgrade out of
town soon found ourselves dodging a lost dog that was obviously looking for its home. There were lots of screeches – ours being one of them. Fortunately when last seen the pooch was okay; and folks were on the phone dialing 911! After that experience we had a good one when we spotted Elk just off the highway, eating away at the pasture.
We soon made a stop in Houston, which houses the Worlds largest fly rod; took pictures and after the German tour bus left the Visitors Center, purchased a book on the Northwest Mountain Flowers. Stephen thought this prudent as although we could look online for the flowers in question, internet was intermittent and you really need a guide NOW when seeing the flora!
The topography has turned to lots of farmland, mostly hay producing although some cattle ranches . . . mining and lumber products are key to the economics in this area. Our next torrential rain stop was Vanderhof – a historic town with rustic buildings. We arrived finally once again at Blue Spruce RV in Prince George – me calling, ‘ Honey, we’re home!’ to the owner. He’s a Kiwi and just howled! J The rain strengthened and we hunkered down – even watching a DVD movie! The temperatures were a high of 50F. Miles travelled were 246.
Mon, August 11, 2008; Day 70; Prince George to Big Country RV, Loche Le Hoche
We left early morning from our rainy overnight – it had cleared and the ground still soggy was not marshy – thank heavens from a pooch standpoint! The morning was intermittent sun but cloudy and dry. We paralleled the Fraser River once again & found it not much clearer (muddy still) then when we were through the first week of June.
We found that as we travel closer to the USA, the traffic has increased . . . and significantly since leaving Prince George. The topography is lots of curves and hills, not very well marked until you are on top of them and wishing you had a Jake Brake! We did see a lot of white turkeys at one farm – I’d never heard of such a thing but Stephen assured me that on the east coast they are fairly common! The other common farm critters were cattle, Tennessee Walking Horses, Llama’s and Bison.
As we descended into our final destination, 2 miles shy of Big Country RV at Loche Le Hoche, we finally were double teamed by rocks from a logging truck . . . and yes, the windshield was hit. Hope that we can arrive home before the crack makes it difficult to see. Can always get it fixed prior but who wants to deal with that on the road?
The afternoon was spent doing a major cleaning of the camper, making apple crisp and Ro’s chutney cole slaw. I’d like to impress upon everyone that I’m cleaning out the refrig as we wind down this trip but the results are so good that I’d doubt anyone would believe me . . . okay, brag, brag, brag! I’m tired . . . and its time for Apple Crisp, a good book and bed! The highway noise (becoming immune to the sound during the day) did die down after 2200 hours. Miles travelled today were 240.
Sunday; Aug 3, 2008
(Day 63); Homestead RV (Palmer) to SourDough RV (Tok)
On the Road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again, da da da da da da, just can’t wait to get on the road again! We are hugging our new friends, saying goodbye and then out of the campsite at 0745 hours. Our first stop . . . The Moose is Loose Bakery. The baked goods are expensive (but what isn’t in Alaska with the extra transportation costs) and they have a wonderful gift shop. Stephen found PJ bottoms that are forest green with Moose’s, OF COURSE, and said that I needed those. They came with us. As did lots of bakery goods. We dropped the rent a wreck, put air in the tires then were headed north
On the Road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again, da da da da da da, just can’t wait to get on the road again! We are hugging our new friends, saying goodbye and then out of the campsite at 0745 hours. Our first stop . . . The Moose is Loose Bakery. The baked goods are expensive (but what isn’t in Alaska with the extra transportation costs) and they have a wonderful gift shop. Stephen found PJ bottoms that are forest green with Moose’s, OF COURSE, and said that I needed those. They came with us. As did lots of bakery goods. We dropped the rent a wreck, put air in the tires then were headed north
The scenery on Turnagain Arm was beautiful and though the sun wasn’t shining this time either, at least it wasn’t raining. We stopped to take pictures a couple of times of the wildflowers, the train tracks and then the Alaskan Rail, small waterfalls, majestic mountains, and just fun silly stuff. We had intermittent phone calls with family and friends but the mountains, hills, weather, made the phone commo pretty inconsistent.
After a stop in Anchorage for fuel and to make lunch, we were northbound and down . . . to Palmer on the Glenn Highway. We arrived at 1430 hours, found a nice spot at Homestead RV (all pull throughs) and after situated, took pictures, showers, had dinner and performed what may be our last WIFI experience. We are beat. So are the pups. The scenery & wildflowers continue to be awesome, the people just so very very nice and this is an experience we’ll repeat.
Alaska Canada Trip Log, Part 7: The Road HOME!!!
Soldotna, AK (Day 61) to Ruger’s Home (Day 73)
Saturday; August , 2008 (Day 61); Friends of Troy – Soldotna, AK
It’s the last morning for the 0330 wake up call for us to get Stephen out the door. Thank heavens. While he’s out on the Kenai River, the pooches and I are busy doing the rest of the fine line breakdown of camp. We’ve had a marvelous time but Jay’s upcoming hospital ‘dye’ job is upper most in our minds. So this is how the day went:
Stephen didn’t bring salmon to the net on his last fishing day. He did bring a 32 inch Rainbow to the net but had to let it go . . . and dang it!, none of the women were in the area to take pictures but he did have lots of witnesses. Stephen had several salmon takes, but they were headed to the big water once hooked, so it was a fruitless to the freezer day but a satisfying end of the fishing on the Kenai, regardless of the take or no take.
The afternoon was spent with Stephen finishing camp chores and I doing laundry and the rest of the ‘mobile’ chores. That included taking the ‘rent a wreck’ back, receiving a trade for another ‘rent a wreck’ and a $60 credit. After provisioning and other tasks I was ‘home’ at 1730 hours, had time to make a quick hors de oeuvres and we were out the door to Rick and Joyce’s for our farewell cocktail party. The wind had kicked up (and the temperatures dipped) so we were indoor at their motor home for this fun gig. We headed home, did final camp and put a way chores, and went to bed!
Saturday; August , 2008 (Day 61); Friends of Troy – Soldotna, AK
It’s the last morning for the 0330 wake up call for us to get Stephen out the door. Thank heavens. While he’s out on the Kenai River, the pooches and I are busy doing the rest of the fine line breakdown of camp. We’ve had a marvelous time but Jay’s upcoming hospital ‘dye’ job is upper most in our minds. So this is how the day went:
Stephen didn’t bring salmon to the net on his last fishing day. He did bring a 32 inch Rainbow to the net but had to let it go . . . and dang it!, none of the women were in the area to take pictures but he did have lots of witnesses. Stephen had several salmon takes, but they were headed to the big water once hooked, so it was a fruitless to the freezer day but a satisfying end of the fishing on the Kenai, regardless of the take or no take.
The afternoon was spent with Stephen finishing camp chores and I doing laundry and the rest of the ‘mobile’ chores. That included taking the ‘rent a wreck’ back, receiving a trade for another ‘rent a wreck’ and a $60 credit. After provisioning and other tasks I was ‘home’ at 1730 hours, had time to make a quick hors de oeuvres and we were out the door to Rick and Joyce’s for our farewell cocktail party. The wind had kicked up (and the temperatures dipped) so we were indoor at their motor home for this fun gig. We headed home, did final camp and put a way chores, and went to bed!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Churches
Church in Ashcroft BC
Abandoned Church and Homestead
Abandoned Church and Homestead
Our Lady Of Grace
Quonset Hut Church
Beaver Creek, Yukon
Small church with original 1890's bell tower..........................
Catholic Church at Dawson City, Yukon
Quonset Hut Church
Beaver Creek, Yukon
Small church with original 1890's bell tower..........................
Catholic Church at Dawson City, Yukon
Friday, August 8, 2008
Alask Canada Trip Log- FISH ON!
Day 44 (Kenai River, Alaska) thru Day 60 (Kenai River, Alaska)The Summer Adventures of Steve & Sharon Russell; Part 6
July 16, 2008; Wed.(Day 44) – The Red’s are here the Red’s are HERE!
0645 hours & Stephen is out the door with friend Harold Howell to hit the Kenai River. The activity had slowed dramatically from the previous evening & Harold & wife Ruthann reluctantly left Troy’s Campground late morning with a promise to visit and steelhead with us in September.
25,000 Reds were noted coming through the sonic point last night which means they’ll be hitting the Kenai tonight. Excitement abounds in the campground in spite of the really awfully rainy & cold weather – low 50’s. (It almost feels as if its going to snow however know that’s not possible). I found 4 GREAT salmon & halibut recipes today so carefully typed them into the computer and look forward to trying the recipes on fresh salmon.
Minnesota Steve & my Stephen went fishing around 1700 hours as I was making dinner. They called & said they were catching so the pups and I walked down to the river. We watched Stephen catch his 3rd Red and then walk over to wait in line at the fish fillet station. Meanwhile Minnesota Steve finally caught his first Red, needed a net person, & I went in . . . wet wading in 48F water to help him for the next two hours land fish and re-tackle. He didn’t realize that I wasn’t wearing hip waders until he’d caught his last fish and was flabbergasted . . . and very appreciative. Tired; pups, Stephen & I walked back to the campsite toting his 30 pounds of fillets. What a great way to begin the Kenai River Red Run! Weather was mostly cloudy with intermittent rain showers all day long & cold/damp @ 52F.
July 17, 2008; Thursday (Day 45); Sharon’s Catches Her Limit!
It poured all night long – hard! And most of the day as well. The morning was spent shopping w/friends and buying hip waders so no more wet wading for me! The guys headed off to fish shortly after noon while the pups and I did phone work, and then hiked down to the river about 1530 hours.
Navy Ron had his limit, Stephen had 2 so Ron handed me his rod & volunteered to watch the pooches. I had just 3 casts when I caught a huge female! Minnesota Steve netted for me, Stephen caught his 3rd, filleted his 3 and my 1; then pooches & Steve’s x 2 drove back to the campsite. I immediately caught a 2nd Red; a huge male. Stephen fortunately came back within an hour after squaring away the pooches, cleaned my 2nd Red & as he was ready to call me off the river, I caught my 3rd! Sooooo, the next 1 ½ hours was spent prepping and sealing the 12 packages of monster fillets! What an outstanding day (in spite of the cold rainy 50F weather)!
July 18, 2008; Friday (Day 46)
This morning for about an hour we were able to see clear skies over Mt. Redoubt – which clouded in before I could capture it on camera. The weather in general is cold & rainy but not as torrentially raining as it was yesterday. I rode my bike into town today for email purposes.
Lessons Learned: When emailing at a wifi site and your outgoing doesn’t send, the reason is usually not because you’ve sent an individual email to too many folks but because the broadband on the wifi site isn’t sufficient.
Stephen & Steve meanwhile headed to the Kenai around 1400 hours. They quit fishing at 1930 hours with Stephen having caught his limit and Steve catching 2. I made 3 trips back & forth to the river so this was definitely an exercise day for me! The pups made one of these trips – it’s their favorite place and so many folks get a kick out of their intentness in watching the fisherpersons . . . and wanting to participate. The weather was rainy and cold most of the day – finally clearing up again in the evening. The high for the day was 58F. Glad I have warm clothes with me!
July 19, 2008; Saturday (Day 47)
Relaxation is the order of the day – no fishing. The netters were out so that has kept the Red’s from getting into the River. Stephen helped new neighbor Giorgio (from Italy) learn to rig & fish & fillet. Against all odds this newcomer got his limit so in return for all the hours of instruction & assist, he & Cindy are making dinner for all of us tomorrow. I rode my bike into town twice, to buy a couple of ‘fishing’ items. After dinner the Russell family walked down to the River where we met several folks from Spokane and watched the fishing (no catching). The sun had finally come out late afternoon and the sun felt great! Mt. Redoubt was basking in the evening sun – picture opportunity! Scattered showers, bright sun, and high of 58.
July 20, 2008; Sunday (Day 48)
Phoned home & talked to Shari who has 4 wisdom teeth removed, a new boyfriend AND made the Univ. of Idaho Deans List! The sun is out but so is the wind. The 2 Steve’s have gone to purchase a smoker & then it’s off to fish. Unfortunately the dip netters (Alaskan Residents) are effectively keeping the Reds from moving upstream. They are catching lots! The weather continues to be rainy, cold, and cloudy with sun spots in the afternoon. Our high point was a wonderful dinner with hule hule (Hawaiian marinade – thanks Cindy!) used to fry fresh salmon. The 8 of us (Steve & Bonnie, Giorgio & Cindy & the Russells4) posed for pictures and howdied for hours. Great end to another fishless day.
July 21, 2008; Monday (Day 49)
Rain, rain, go away . . . come again some other day! Guess we could be the weatherfolks this summer in Alaska. Each day is the same, rain, clouds, cold, wind, mid 50’s for the high. Sigh. The net dippers are back working at their careers however the commercial fishermen are now throwing out their nets. The Red’s are running again but it wasn’t until late evening that Stephen & Steve began to catch anything. Not for lack of trying however since they went out 2 other times during the day. Finally struggling in at 0100 they each had 2 monster fish. AND I discovered that it actually became dark for a few minutes before the midnight sun rose again amidst the cloud cover.
July 22, 2008; Tuesday (Day 50)
Lots of camp chores were accomplished to include setting up the screened room. We decided to freeze the previous night’s salmon rather than begin the smoking & canning process. It was a major bicycling day for me again. I went to the University of Alaska Extension office to gather info on canning salmon and then went shopping. The entire afternoon I worried that I return back to camp prior to the imminent rain storm. I barely made it!
After warm soup for dinner (yes it raining buckets again), the 2 Steve’s headed to the Kenai River. As they both joked, it seems they are always catching their Red’s in the rain! And once again they did! Stephen phoned to let me know he’d limited at 3 & was helping others with the nets. Pups & I hunkered down, made salmon brine and then chatted up Stephen from 2300 to 0100 hours which is when he returned soaking & tired, but happy.
July 23, 2008; Wednesday; (Day 51)
Something new & different – continued buckets of rain. Our dinner group became a breakfast group this morning chowing down at Sal’s Café. The funny item is the history of this Klondike Cafés owner, Sally (whom hails from Lewiston, ID) and her Manager (whom transplanted from Walla Walla, WA) . . . so hometown folks continue to be found in this ‘Last Frontier’.
A purchase of a pressure canner required another trip to the Univ. of Alaska Extension office to calibrate the gauge & gather information on our new purchase as well as the nuances of salmon canning. Great, helpful folks. Stephen pulled the ‘Y’ bones from our 6 monster fillets & then it was to the refrigerator to marinate in the brine.
Lessons Learned: Using a good quality facial tweezers to pull the ‘Y’ bones
is effective & easier than using needle nose pliers.
The guys resolutely braved the rain once again at 1730 to head out and fish. I meanwhile chatted with a Texan gent who’d canned over 500 pints of fish in the last couple of weeks to gain some ‘local’ knowledge on the process! Bonnie, pups and I walked down to the river at 2100 to oversee the fishing. As the guys were calling it quits due to slow catching, Stephen caught a nice male. So at 2300 hours we were seal-a-mealing Red’s!
July 24, 2008; Thursday; (Day 52)
Stephen keeps asking if we got the number of the truck that hit him and today I really feel the same! The huge amount of rain continues unabated and for the 2nd day, the pups and I have had limited or no exercise. Sigh. We have however had a lot of activity! We smoked our fish with lots of adult supervision from EVERYONE since nothing besides rain was going on in the campground except the Russell’s smoking fish!
The huge winds soon came up and we decided there was no way we could keep a flame going for the pressure canner so that task would be relegated to the next day. We then had to dance around the screened room placing rocks, rolling up its netted sides, and finally deciding it needed to come down. We were rescued by Bonnie & Steve, heading off to town to eat at Fozzio’s (Greek/Italian/Mexican) and afterwards doing some other housekeeping chores. “Loretta” our server, is one of the fisherpersons we’ve seen on the river so that made the experience special as we also chatted about the fishing conditions in addition to eating a great meal.
The rain still coming down we got Stephen into his fishing gear and he and Jack headed to the River. Minnesota Steve and Bonnie meanwhile are stowing gear as they leave in the morning. Stephen brought home one and into the freezer it went.
July 25, 2008; Friday; (Day 53)
Canning is the order of the morning! We did our first ever canning of salmon today and it was quite an experience. Thank heavens for the Univ of Alaska Extension Office and the help of our campmate friends! We reluctantly said goodbye to our new good friends . . . Minnesota Steve & wife Bonnie (Michel) of Walker, MN. at noon today. With promises to see each other in MN we waved them goodbye as they & their 5th Wheel headed south.
We heard from Jay & Mary. They saw Stephen’s Doc (Tom Fairchild) – now Jay’s as well – and are scheduled for a procedure at Deaconess Med. Ctr. on Aug 20th. We have recalculated our time here and will leave on or about Aug 5th in order to be home a couple of days prior to the procedure.
The good news weather-wise was the SUN! We are so tired of the rain, wind and cold. The temperatures actually struggled up to the low 60’s with the ever present rain clouds hovering. The late afternoon/evening fishing yielded nothing in the net although Stephen had a couple on and then off. The fish numbers are down so only 10K coming to the river mouth . . . and of course hitting all those dip netters, so not many Reds make it this far.
July 26, 2008; Saturday (Day 54)
This town really needs to have a conversation with Public Works and turn off all the water! It was parade day in Soldotna – very homey & sweet and held in the rain. I rode my bike into the Laundromat to do Stephen’s fishing clothes (he’d taken a tumble just before leaving the River the night before) & scored some Scott Guard for the hats. The back pack he purchased for me has been a great score for shopping/chores while bicycling. I’m glad that I was able to clean house yesterday and clear out the rocks/gravel since we’re back to rain buckets again. Our rain jackets have been a much used piece of clothing on this trip.
I walked Stephen up to the River for another non productive fish day. It should be comforting that no one else is catching either but its not. We’d rather have lots of folks catching fish. Stephen walked home early, disgusted with the low fish counts. The pillow talk is good however!
July 27, 2008; Sunday (Day 55)
Rain all day, low 50’s, wet, soggy, grey/gray, damp, cold, web feet, puddles, mud, depressing, cold, cloudy . . . well, you get the idea. And the fishing? Bah. . . Humbug! I really feel bad for the pooches as this directly affects the amount of exercise we’re willing to give them. Who wants to deal with hugely wet & muddy dog fur!!! So they live in hibernation mode until we get a few minutes between rain clouds which is when we dash outside for a quick walk. It’s then the ‘towel’ for a brisk dry & wipe before allowing them back into the camper.
We decided to ‘break camp’ so that we could so some things only possible with the camper . . . massive water intake, dumping, etc etc. While at the Fred Meyers (the RV Mecca in Soldotna) we ran into Bill & Vicki whom had left the Friends of Troy campsite earlier in the week. We reconnected with them and their visitors . . . so an hour or two of chores turned into 4 with all of our visiting!
Stephen & Jack decided to go fishing later in the evening . . . mostly expecting to practice fishing aerobics . . . and Stephen brought one home! This in spite of the VERY low numbers coming through!
July 28, 2008; Monday (Day 56)
Oh, something new and different . . . a rainy morning . . . and THEN the sun came out! We were very happy as we were smoking and canning fish today so the weather cooperating was a plus! I picked up a ‘rent a wreck’ . . . which I’d waited almost a week to get (the major companies were out until the 3rd week of August & at a cost of 2x the rent a wreck folks!). Stephen really needs to NOT be walking and I was tired of bicycling in the rain.
The other major event was our smoking and canning of salmon. Today we had enough salmon to do 16 pints . . . and in spite of me not putting enough water in the canner (causing a hurried trip to the Extension Office for guidance), all of the cans came out well. We then found that we were double booked for cocktails but fortunately not for dinner . . . dining with the military crowd. We took the pups in the ‘wreck’ and looked at the River . . . crowded with no one catching.
July 29, 2008; Tuesday (Day 57)
Don’t you love Ambien (a sleep aid)! I took one the night before and slept right through Stephen calling to me at 0430 “I love you Bear” and heading out the door to fish! What a good call on his part . . . as by 0800 he was calling to report that he had caught his limit of 3 and was waiting in line for the fillet table! Did I mention that the sun finally came out? And stayed!!
The pups and I got things going with another salmon batch in the smoker. This was followed by our canning stint with Stephen ‘on watch’ as the official keeper of the canner. Its amazing but this is a full time and critical job as one must ensure that the weight ‘jiggles’ the appropriate amount of times in a minute and the pressure doesn’t fall below 10 or rise about 15! Talk about watching a pot boil! Oh yes, the sun is STILL out!
I did have to make an ER run to the Extension Office as ‘we’; Stephen actually, discovered by deductive reasoning that I’d only put in 3 quarts of water vice 4 in the pressure cooker and we were half way through the cooking process! Fortunately I discovered that the real tragedy in lack of sufficient water would be to ruin your pressure canner and your product. We (I) lucked out! All 16 of our pints were fine AND sealed so it was a nice productive batch of smoked salmon for the larder! Hmmm, the sun is out and it’s in the low 60’s!!!! Did I mention the sun . . . .
July 30 2008; Wednesday (Day 58)
0330 hours comes awfully early . . . however the pups and I don’t miss a beat, other than to kiss Stephen goodbye and turn over and snooze for a couple or 3 more hours! Stephen caught his limit early and we were soon (along with Rick and Joyce) headed to Buckets for breakfast. This is the place that makes the wicked good French fries and halibut sandwiches for lunch. Breakfast is every bit, if not, more delicious!
Returning to camp brought once again the days activities of smoking and canning salmon. We seem to be coming quite ‘learned’ about this entire experience and folks are now coming to us for guidance! I managed to get in a bicycle ride while Stephen was doing his duty ‘watching the pot boil’, and even managed to have a paramedic from the Soldotna Fire Department help me wash some of the dirt and grime off of my Cannondale dirt bike! “Just happy to proved the service, Ma’am!”
The big news of the day is that this is the 2nd day in a row with sunshine, light breezes & mid-60 degree temperatures. I think I’m getting a sunburn!
July 31, 2008; Thursday (Day 59)
The sun came . . . and stayed all day long! Stephen once again caught his limit however he had to work a lot longer at it. Pretty tough when you’ve been up since 0330 hours! He rolled in at 1000 hours while I was smoking salmon. We taught Rick to smoke using our ‘Big Chief’ after our salmon came off the smoker. Another 8 pints completed today. Stephen is whipped and needs to sleep but so much activity during the day keeps his rests/naps to a minimum.
Jesse & I ran errands in the rent’a’wreck this afternoon, she feeling every bit the princess since it was girls afternoon out. The guys meanwhile, watched the salmon pot boil! I did some research on Medicare – guess my sweetie is eligible because of all the things ‘wrong’ with him. Just trying to make a good decision whether to switch from Tri-Care to Medicare early.
We are winding down our trip a bit early and I’m anxious to get home. We are both worried about the kids and Jay’s upcoming procedure. The entire camp knows of his medical issue & keeps the Russell family in prayer & thoughts which is comforting. Still wish we were home but will be soon.
August 1, 2008; Friday (Day 60)
Yahoo! Our last day of smoking and canning! We canned 16 pints so have just a smidgen over 6 cases! The sun cooperated and the wind was a bit of a challenge but our tarped/blanketed/tented canning area keeps the wind from burning out the flame on the propane burner and we can nicely. Stephen did catch his limit of fish this morning in the bright sunshine.
Pat Zortman & I ran some errands in the afternoon. Stephen and I did an initial teardown of the campsite after the canning/smoking was completed. The highlight was our blowout cocktail party that we threw at the last minute. We had 14 over with lots of hors’de’ouvres – an eclectic crowd but all had something or other in common so the party lasted 2 hours instead of the standard one hour. Dinner was at Zortman’s and we said goodbye as they pull out in the morning heading back to Anchor Point and their newly purchased property. We’ll leave Saturday or Sunday. We’re tired, anxious and ready to head home, although we’ve had a grand time.
Sidebars:
The Cottonwood trees are once again in full molt. Lots of allergies on the Kenai River! The clover flowers are very long stemmed and instead of being the traditional white – there are many that are a reddish/pink/purple. The wildflowers in general are stunning.
It’s certain to rain buckets every single Wednesday in the summer as that’s the designated day of Soldotna’s weekly Farmer’s/Flea Market.
Soldotna Watering Holes for RV’s.
1. Fred Meyers. Overnight for 3 days N/C; dump, potable water, trash.
2. Tesoro Gas Station. Potable water & trash.
3. Holiday Gas Station. Potable water, trash, dump station and car was with one oversize for RV’s.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Good NEW Friends!
This is a fun picture because it’s of two couples that we met and really like. Giorgio (from Sicily but now an American citizen) and his significant other Cindy (from Hawaii); Minnesota Steve & his wife Bonnie and of course us and the pooches. The fun part of this picture is that they (Giorgio & Cindy) were sent to us from another couple we met (who we’ll take steel heading in WA in September) to teach them how to fish for the Reds. Stephen spent a lot of time with Giorgio (whom is very gregarious – of COURSE he is! He’s Italiano!), teaching him what type of line/leader/weights/tackle to buy and tie and then how to fish. The first evening out Giorgio caught the limit – 3 Red’s – and then Stephen & Mn. Steve taught him to fillet so we told him that he & Cindy had to fix dinner as repayment. They did a wonderful Red salmon dinner, with salad & rice, The Michel’s brought another salad (so I skipped the rice) and I brought key lime pie. We all had a ball so went to breakfast 3 mornings later; and have just been having good fun.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Hanging Loose:Day 30 (Russian River, Alaska) thru Day 43 (Kenai River, Alaska)
July 2, 2008; Wednesday; Day 30
It was another long alternating sleep/awake night for us. Either one or the other of us was snoring and of course BOTH the pups were! Pain for both was another reason for waking so we were reluctantly relieved to get up this morning . . . however sorry that there was to be no fishing.
Stephen’s foot – heretofore unreported – was worrisome enough that we decided that this morning would be a venture to the Doc’s in Soldotna – which ended up meaning the ER at their hospital. The facility is really nice and we were pleased with the treatment and the Doc. Are concerned about the diagnosis at this point which has Stephen on antibiotics as well as some topical creams and powders . . . love those tropical military assignments that manifest medical conditions later in life.
Since in Soldotna we took the opportunity to visit the local library to download emails, shop, and fill up on diesel! The skies were so clear we were able to see a Mountain known as
We touched based with Naomi and Ron, the camp hosts at Hidden Lake Campsite and did some prep in case Stephen is able to fish in the a.m. Dinner was basic appetizers. The weather today was sunny, highs in the low, low 70’s with light breezes.
July 3, 2008; Thursday, Day 31 (Summer is HERE!)
A killing spree was the first order of the morning . . . attacking and killing what seemed to be at least 100 mosquitoes that had found their way into our camper and were waiting to gorge on us. Stephen then did a great cleaning job on the wall to wall removable carpet, brushed the dogs and we then set down outside to our breakfast of grits. His feet doctored, he has begun the regimen of the antibiotics. There will be no fishing again today, sigh.
A special mid morning show soon followed with a combat helicopter (a 60 gunship) loaded with weapons providing an aerial show low over the campsite – much to the delight of waving, clapping and shouting campers. He faded over the treetops and then we heard the sounds of freedom as he did a low level ‘gun run’ about 150 yards over the treetops. There was lots of excitement in the camp, not to mention goose bumps. We believe it was either the Nat’l Guard or the guys from
Early this afternoon we headed to mile mark 2.0 where there is cell coverage on Skilek road and ‘phoned home’. FINALLY I was able to talk to Mom & get caught up on the 3-Cities news. Talked to the Zortman’s voicemail, as well as several other’s to hear news of the home front. Randy Goerhing was particularly clever in his wonderment of what type of fishing bait Stephen was using . . . was it real worms or sugar coated corn or gumballs, etc etc.
We met some great folks – a retired disabled Vet @ 52 years of age and his wife & 2 daughters. Their oldest black Lab is named Shadow and is 16 . . . and looks VERY much like our dearly departed Britt. We were a bit shocked at her Britt-like demeanor, body build, ailments and appearance . . . and of course took a picture(s) of her.
The weather started out sunny and mosquito laden, and then turned cloudy, windy, cool, and not so mosquito infested – yahoo! Still managed to reach the low 70’s and was a relaxing and satisfying day.
July 4, 2008, Friday, Day 32; Independence Day!!!!
Swat! Slap! Gotcha! So begins the morning once again . . . and we discover the entry point of the critters – our bedroom hatch! It seems latched but apparently is not tight enough. We drug out more ‘stuff’ since we are here until Monday morning. Stephen made a huge breakfast outside on the portable propane griddle. Afterwards we put up the screened room and spent an enjoyable afternoon relatively mosquito free!
I made an apple pie in the convection oven – thank heavens for the gift of the Pyrex pie plate from Betty Wright in Fairbanks – it has come in handy so
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many times already! The pups and I on our afternoon walk saw a Macgregor Sailboat (23 foot) trailered in to be launched and sailed for the holiday weekend. The family of four lives midway between Homer and Kenai and stated that there are a number of small sails in the area. It was fun to talk to them and they appreciated hearing about our S/V Indian Summer.
We had a nice campfire late afternoon since it seemed that rain was imminent but the breeze came up & the sun back out. Our celebratory meal was Brats, homemade Cole Slaw, Campfire Grilled Corn on the Cob and an adult beverage. It tasted wonderful! Later in the evening Michelle & Rafael and their daughters came by for pie and ‘girl’ desserts. My plastic wine glasses came in handy for the girls’ soda pops and made them feel ‘special’. We soon noticed it was almost 2300 hours so we said goodnight, put out the fire and headed to bed. (Jesse was already in the camper snoring!).
Saturday; July 5, 2008 (Day 33)
Pitter, patter, splash! What a wonderful sound to waken to . . . until you realize that the pups need to go out for their constitutional. We walked down to the lake and found a few brave fishermen were pulling their boats into the water to start their day of fishing.
Stephen’s foot continues to slowly improve so at this point we don’t have to return to the Doctor. We, along with most of the campers spent the morning in the camper, reading. Around 1100 hours the rain stopped and we took the opportunity to reorganize and consolidate the utility trailer. We think we are happier with this load but time will tell.
We took a long afternoon walk (partly sunny) with the pooches and then back to do a Dutch Oven Dinner . . . roast whole chicken with vegetables. The Wildlife Trainee’s do a campfire program on Fridays and Saturdays so we attended the one on the life cycle of the salmon at the Amphitheatre with a beautiful lakeside view of Hidden Lakes. Then it was off to see Michelle and Rafael and the girls. Mikayla and Sierra begged for a ‘hike’ so we ‘hiked’ to our campsite, picked up the pooches (they’ve nicknamed Jesse . . . Angel), & completed our evening activities – falling into bed at 2330 hours!
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July 6, 2008; Sunday (Day 34)
Who is calling at 0420 hours?!?!?! Oh, it’s the alarm clock. The pooches can’t believe we are getting up so early but open the camper door & they’re ready to GO! We drove to the Russian River (spotting a Big Male Moose enroute), arriving at 0510 hours, got Stephen ready to fish & while he was waiting for the ferry to open, the pooches & I crawled back into bed!
Upon awaking a couple or so hours later, we found Stephen ready to return after having ‘stung’ a couple of fish around 0700 hours. He said that the fishing had slowed dramatically and the fish he saw caught were turning red as they prepare to spawn. It was enjoyable fishing as not only did he sting a couple but there was at least 100 feet or more between fishermen! He indicated that keeping an eye out for bear was a top priority, especially if he heard anyone at all yelling! The signage all around the parking/camping lot every 20 feet cautioning all to beware of bears just emphasized this point. Soooo, the next run of fish are due about mid July here on the
The afternoon flew by and it was soon dinner with friends and then farewells with another family. The weather began sunny but soon clouded up so we are back to a bit of ‘spitting’ rain and light breezes. We ended up with a semi sunny early evening and 62F.
July 7, 2008; Monday (Day 35)
The sounds of a summer rain storm raged all night long. When we stepped outside this morning we realized that the wind must have been involved as well since our screened room was a shambles and everything once inside the room was continuing to be drenched in the morning rain. So much for leaving today . . . we need to dry out when the rain stops! Meanwhile our outside breakfast with friends was a ‘cozy’ inside affair. The rain did eventually stop around 1100 hours and we began the dry out process. And did generator maintenance . . . and general housekeeping . . . and finally a campfire at 1530 hours! We’ll try this moving on again tomorrow as we are now dried out and fairly well packed!
Weather was morning hard rain, sunny in the afternoon, light winds with a high of low 60’s and then evening rain.
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July 8, 2008; Tuesday (Day 36)
Hidden Lakes Campground was in our review mirror by 1100 hours as we headed for Soldotna. We visited the Soldotna Moose & Antler Shop where the owner Tom (whom carves beautiful scenes into antler pieces), gave us a tour of his facility. Our next stop was the local furrier where
Weather was mostly breezy, cold and overcast. Light rain in the morning with a high of 57 degrees. Miles traveled today was approximately 45.
July 9, 2008; Wednesday (Day 37)
My ear ache & head pain from yesterday has eased due to doctoring from Stephen. We washed the truck/camper this morning & howdied with several fellow travelers. The Zortman’s are in the process of purchasing 2 acres of land in the Anchor Pt. area to stow their 5th wheel – we’ll catch up with them in a week or so when the second run of reds begins on the
We took a long walk this afternoon with the final destination being the post office. We picked up a wool Pendleton vest for Stephen (one of the ‘forgotten’ items was the Carthart jacket lent to us by John) so my sweetie could remain warm. Weather was breezy and cold with occasional sun and highs of 54F. We remain a second night at the Fred Meyers RV Parking.
July 10, 2008; Thursday (Day 38)
Ready, set, move! We rolled out of the lot after doing all the necessary camper chores around 1100 hours. We set off to look at the ‘Friends of Troy’ parking area . . . met up with a couple of retired military (one a Navy EOD - Ron & Dee - and the other an Army Combat Engineer – Carl & Darlene Gehring) and decided that this looked like a good area to settle. We are right on the
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“
We heard from Jay-Bird regarding the cyst on his kidney directly after his ultrasound. The cyst is about 1/3 the size of the kidney and now we wait for his Doc to see what the next course of action will be. We spoke to a German couple visiting from
July 11, 2008; Friday (Day 39)
And now the wait begins . . . for the next run of Reds (the big one) and news of what procedure is needed to ‘fix’ Jay-Bird. Meanwhile another retired Army couple (Aviation – Ed & Barb O’Brien) just pulled in from Tennesee in their big motor coach. They had been live-a-boards on their 38 foot Morgan Sailboat for 10 years so was fun to talk to them.
We hiked down to the Kenai which is about ¾ miles from our camp site. No catching but a fair amount of fishing going on, particularly on the opposite side of the river. I made a peach/blueberry pie and broccoli salad (we are having a get together with the military crowd this evening for dinner) so that effectively wiped out the afternoon. The weather was mostly cloudy, breezy with a dampness which made it bone chilling. The sun came out about 1500 and left at 1800. The bug population is definitely down (probably because I purchased mosquito coils!).
July 12, 2008; Saturday (Day 40)
It seems a bit warmer this morning but then it could be that we just came off our morning constitutional! Stephen removed the hot water thermostat as its ‘kaput’ - we ended up in Sterling (16 miles east of Soldotna) for the replacement & then did some shopping. I had a nice large pot of chili
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bubbling on the stove when I heard, “
One of the big coaches (Harold & Ruth Ann Howell) had a cocktail hour. Afterwards Ruth Ann and I re-attacked the problematic TV (now that we located the TV antennae - under the satellite dish - and finally navigated through the Samsung TV Monitor menu’s enough to receive 4 television stations!). Unfortunately most are cartoons . . . so much for a news fix! Typical weather day, cloudy & cool in the a.m.; sunny at 1500 hours and the high temp of the day – mid 50’s, then cloudy & rainy all night!
July 13, 2008; Sunday (Day 41)
Gloomy, cold, rainy . . . guess we really did have summer on July 3 & 4 as the natives are now stating! The only good news about this weather is that the mosquitoes are in hiding! Stephen has joined the afternoon fishing aerobics group with Ron, Carl, and Steve – they are usually gone for 1 ½ to 2 hours – the right amount of time since the Red’s aren’t yet here! Weather was the typical rainy in the a.m., cool, warming up mid afternoon then bam! Cold! It was a great day for reading, cooking and doing crossword puzzles!
July 14, 2008; Monday (Day 42)
What an exercise day this turned out to be – and the weather cooperated so how nice was that! I took the pups on 3 walks, rode my bike into town to make a chiropractic appt for Stephen and then dinked around a bit (at the furrier – my new favorite place). The morning started out cloudy and not breezy but morphed into sunshine with a light breeze and afternoon hint of rain . . . which didn’t materialize . . . but the sun came out with a vengeance!
The guys did fishing aerobics (they go to the river and spend an hour to an hour and a half practicing their casts). We BBQ’d dinner and then read waiting for the night to darken . . . it never did as the sun was strong all night long and we were once again sleeping in the land of the midnight sun!
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July 15, 2008; Tuesday (Day 43) The Reds are Coming! Reds Coming!
FISH ON! A few more of the Red’s have wandered upstream and Stephen caught one this evening, and had a couple of other strikes. This baby was an
8 pound Hen and was huge. Stephen had a ball fishing in the late evening with some of the local folks. All were ‘Johnny on the spot’ to handle nets for getting the caught fish to shore. I have lots of ‘dirt’ on my fly fisher husband whom now owns a pair of hip boots, a large salmon fishing net and other bait casting accoutrements! Ruger & I walked down to the river at 2200 hours to watch the fishing show & walk Stephen back home at midnight. Jesse meanwhile snored in the camper.
The other two significant day’s events had to do with helping Jay and Mary locate a Nephrologists/Urologist – Stephen’s own kidney Doc - along with assistance standing by from the Milsow’s. So that wait continues but at least we are making progress. Stephen made it to his first chiropractic visit here in Soldotna with a return visit scheduled tomorrow. Weather was mostly cloudy with intermittent light showers – highs mid-50’s.
Sidebars:
- The Alaskan residents state that this year the mosquito population is down due to a late spring (May) snowstorm that effectively decimated the population. Don’t want to imagine a worse mosquito infestation.
- ATV’s (4-wheelers) are a popular mode of travel here. In fact there are many trails alongside the highways between ‘bergs’ for the ATV’s to travel.
- There are no snakes in
- The lupines (I mistakenly called them wild hyacinths) are a deeper purple and more of a hyacinth look here in
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