Alaska Trip Log, The Beginning

Day One (Spokane, WA) through Day Six (Dawson Creek, BC)

The Summer Adventures of Steve & Sharon ; Part 1

June 3, 2008, Tuesday; Day 1

Lots and lots done and we did make our get out of town in the a.m. time – barely. We left our home at 11:59 , then went to the Colbert Shell to check lotto tickets, fill the airbags and the tires and head north . . . to the post office box to pick up mail! Okay so FINALLY we are headed north and the Elk Chattaroy road to Hwy 395 is . . . closed due to construction! We are able to make the next AND LAST road to 395 and Deer Park at Riverside. A quick stop at the Mennonite Bakery for breakfast goodies for the next day and we are really on our way to Canada . . . making cell phone calls to loved ones as we go . . . and then run out of cell coverage!

We cross the border – really a nonevent except for the grilling by the Canadian guard threatening our loss of truck/camper/trailer if we were lying about having weapons or ammunition. Guess we were a safe bet as they wouldn’t even look at the pooch health certificates or our passports after that and we were waved through.

The next stop was the campground at Cascade Cove – okay but rustic and we did have pull-throughs. A spectacular waterfall was just around the corner although we weren’t able to see it from our vantage point. Lots of room for the pups to play, for us to walk and we had an enjoyable time meeting a couple of mates from B.C. and two German couples from Munich (Munchen), Germany.

Showers were a fee; the price for the campsite about $25 (after our Good Sam discount – we joined at that campsite); and the route into the campsite well marked but STEEP! We had a wonderful dinner, watched a movie and went to sleep to the sound of Lots of rain! Miles traveled – about 120.

Lessons learned: the very high topography and our load made it necessary to do the hills at 35 to 40 and in second gear. We DO love our diesel!

We found as we wound our way up and down the Canadian Mountains that we coined a new phrase, ‘Canada curves’ which are mostly hairpin at this juncture and quite hair raising. Great for a motorcycle or Porsche’. We see lots of brave cyclists chugging along the mountainous routes – presumably enjoying the spectacular scenery but doubtful as their heads are bowed down with the efforts of each pedal movement. One of today’s highlights came early and that was the many bronze bigger than life statues (the bronzes we viewed included Big Foot or Sasquatch, a mountain line, Big Horn Sheep, Moose, Deer, an Eagle, a Crow, Bear, Beaver and others). These were atop Anarchist Mountain (who dreams up these names?) prior to our plunging down the mountainside East of Osoyoos. Osoyoos straddles the Okanagan River and boosts several observatories in its hillsides.

We fueled up in Hope, BC at $1.40 per liter. Our campground . . . Hope Valley Campground (former KOA) was lovely and the free showers with cable TV, although a bit pricey at $36 per night – was just beautiful. We loved walking the pooches, our carved tree mascot and the caretakers. Our caretakers drove into town for errands and then purchased a rear camper taillight, installed it . . . it didn’t work . . . and wouldn’t take any dollars for their trouble. Guess we have a worse problem then we thought! Hot free showers (takes a while to warm up) and absolutely beautiful campsite. We traveled about 250 miles today and the weather was in the high 40’s and 50’s – lots of wind and rainy spells.

June 5, 2008, Thursday; Day 3

We rose at just before 0700 hours this morning to the promise of rain to come. We policed our area, did the dump thing and after breakfast rolled out at 0820 hours. We were under the impression that we were doing roughly 300 miles today in more mountainous terrain so were anxious to roll. A quick relook at the map after navigating the town of Hope and leaving Hwy 1 West to Hwy 1 East, showed a huge error. We were scheduled to stop for the night at Cache Creek which sits on the Thompson River (world renowned steelhead river). The actual scheduled mileage – about 119 miles. So we and the rain continued north on Hwy 97 out of Cache Creek and settled on the town of 100 Mile House.

The early part of the drive was more of the same stunning – and vertical – mountain climbs and descents. Add some road construction (pretty negligible actually), the rain, some wind

and we felt wonderful being inside our Dodge and not on some bicycle. An unusual sight was the 3 hitchhikes we saw all within an hour and in the Cache Creek area.

The rivers continue to be high, blown out and chocolate milk colored. The Fraser River, which we picked up out of Hope, was boiling it was running so hard and fast. We stopped for a couple of pictures along the way to document its beauty. As we traveled north over the Gold Pan Scenic Trail of Hwy 1 East, the landscape changed from lush forested mountains to shale, rock, sagebrush and ragged mountain peaks. Some sadistic engineer did put together a very narrow and curvy set of roads leading down to the river that made the multiple hairpins look like a racetrack. White knuckled, we were delighted that Canadian roadways are not crowded! The roads turned ‘very’ nice after we left Cache Creek. Prior to that we felt quite at home with the potholed, patched roads of Spokane, I mean, British Columbia! The steep grades became rolling 4 laned highways which were a pleasure to navigate.

The 100 Mile House RV Park & Motel are convenient but very urban/bare/simplistic and not particularly noteworthy other than its walking distance to groceries (Safeway & Save On Foods), shops and the ‘downtown’ area. We did our shopping for bread & breakfast rolls, fueled up (the diesel was $1.40 a liter and they gave pooch snacks) and headed to our campsite. As we were set up by 2 p.m., this afternoon is a good catch-up day for computer logs and picture downloads.

The family walked to the Visitors Center mid-afternoon in a blustery drizzle. We found the World’s Largest Cross Country Ski’s to the side of the log structure and very helpful attendants. The Name of the town comes from the route that the pioneers and early good rush seekers took, starting from the town of Lillooet. 100 Mile House was merely a road house along the way, as were 70 miles house and 150 mile house – used to give the travelers something to look forward to on their journey to the hoped for Gold Fortune.

Stephen cooked dinner and we watched a movie as the rain came down and we were snug in our camper. Temperatures today are in the low 50’s with lots of overcast, wind and rain. Total miles traveled today – about 200 miles.

June 6, 2008, Friday; Day 4

The pups woke up earlier than usual . . . its lighter up here in BC and the further north we go reminded Stephen. So with a pillow over my head (it was only 0530) and a promise to put up blackout shades of some sort to keep the pooches sleeping longer, I tried to get a

few more winks. Stephen gave it up and got the morning activities rolling . . . which included his back progressively getting worse – sharp stabbing pains. After camp breakdown and a quickie walk for the pooches, we headed out in the rain/drizzle at 0838 hours. So long 100 Mile House, So long cranky RV Inn Keeper.

We continued to muse about the number of trains and frequency that they roll along the tracks in B.C. As logisticians we appreciate the efficiency and cost effectiveness of this type of transportation. Unfortunately as Stephen reminded me, US citizens want it all now so the intermodal transporters have become a way of life in the USA as demanded by the consumer. As fuel prices continue to rocket however, the US will have to deal with more cost efficient transporting means. The trains run seemingly through every town, frequently blowing their whistles; which makes everyone happy until nightfall. While perusing the Woodall’s RV Camp guide today we chuckled when we noticed that a couple of the B.C. advertisements specifically mentioned . . . ‘no trains!’.

Today’s scenery would have been more enjoyable had the sun been shining and Stephen’s drive less stressful than having to deal with the wet roads, curves and hills. The timber industry is huge in this area and as a side business, the manufacture of wood and log homes – which were in abundance along our drive. Plenty of old wooden homesteads, farms and rancher dotted the countryside in picturesque abundance.

We met up again with the Fraser River at Lake Williams. That town is quite large at about 50K residents and does commerce in both tourism and timber operations. The pooches snoozed through most of the countryside and I was able to grab a picture of the Dodge Potatoes in full sleep.

Our location for this evening is wonderful at Prince George. The city boasts about 75K residents, a college, and is a transportation hub. Our hosts are Blue Spruce Campground are wonderful. After stretching Stephen and putting him on the miracle ball, the pooches and I sat outside until Stephen could join us for a wonderful walk and play time. Showers are free, and nicely kept. Cable TV., a fairly leveled graveled pull through, grassy areas with trees and picnic table make this a Good Sam bargain at $28 a night.

Temperatures today in the low 60’s with overcast, the occasional sunburst, lots of on and off rain and light winds.

Distance traveled today is approximately 200 miles.

June 7, 2008; Saturday; Day 5

Sun was shining when we woke and winds were calm. I walked the pooches while Stephen stretched and then headed out at 0838 hours. We had a nice view of the City of Prince George, leaving the Fraser River and heading out over the Salmon River. Colonel

Inpainalotamus is having a very bad day again so we are stopping every hour or so he can stretch. Saw lots of waterfalls along the way as well as blankets of yellow dandelions which looked so beautiful in the mountainside and the roadside. At one stop, Stephen picked some greens for me to taste – not bad at all with just a slight bitterness at the end.

We left Prince George and the sun and were once again greeted by drizzle and wind. We actually had a tail wind for some of the drive which helped out the mgp! We figure we are spending 50 cents a mile to do this trip. The roads narrowed quite a bit to a two lane with no shoulders and very windy. We saw a dead moose on the roadside shortly after leaving Prince George and somewhere north of Biloxi Cascade Falls we saw a female Moose chomping on fresh greens along the road.

We found that we transferred into Mountain Time south of Chetywind but we apparently didn’t actually have to change clocks. We found Northern Lights RV Campground quite easily and were busy making arrangements for the Zortmans when we heard a loud, “Is there a Colonel Russell in the joint?” We were gleeful to see CSM Bob Zortman with a scruffy face grinning back at us! We settled into our slot at 57, and then joined Pat and Bob along with Bob’s sister Janice and her hubby Arnie for drinks, dinner and catching up.

We did a quick grocery run (where we discovered you have to pay a Loonie (one dollar) to use a shopping cart!). The pooches are glad to be settled for the evening and sat out with us at the Zortman 5^th Wheel home. Lights out after catching up on the news (after viewing what we believe to be Canada’s version of Saturday Night Live) was about 2230 hours. Temperatures today were mid 50’s to low 60’s with wind, sun, rain. Distance traveled today was 258 miles.

June 8, 2008, Sunday; Day 6

Not sure what the time was (I thought we had gained an hour) we found ourselves up at 0800 hours and it was actually 0700 hours. After getting back on the correct time zone the pooches and I went for a walk (while Stephen stretched) where we came upon Bob, Janice & Arnie returning from their walk. We made plans to eat breakfast together and had a great feast of thick almost ham bacon and blueberry pancakes.

Doing some chores prior to heading to the Lutheran Church for Sunday Services, we found that our trailer is packed beautifully to keep things balanced and from shifting. Trying to find the container with the French Vanilla Coffeemate for Stephen’s coffee and the ‘opened’ bag of dog food however proved more daunting. May well have to reconfigure that puppy before we head out tomorrow on Mile One of the Alaska Highway!

Sharon is excited because we have wifi internet access today (well periodically) so it’s a good opportunity for us to check in with family members! Will do some housekeeping chores this afternoon to include getting ready to roll early tomorrow on the next part of this summer’s adventure. The pictures are being downloaded and stored in the computer so we know what pictures belong to the appropriate events!

Lessons Learned: We finally got around to using the whirling hose in the toilet today as part of the pump out process this afternoon. Amazing, the black holding tank finally showed as empty since we had the sensor cleaned. J

After walking the pooches again, we were finally ready to meet our friends again for heavy hors de oeuvres as dinner. We had delicious marinated and grilled venison strips wrapped around jalapeños peppers. Also had our famous pepper jelly and cream cheese with crackers and celery sticks. Was a great evening and the weather was very nice all day with the exception of the intense winds. Miles traveled today . . . none.

SideBars

1. Spokane is well known as the Lilac City. We were amazed at how many lilac bushes we saw along the way used as hedges and just ornamentals in lower B.C. They didn't have the variety of color but were mostly teh traditional dark purple lilac. The bushes themselves however were very large and full.

2. The old large satellite dishes are often used as signage... a good way to utilize those antiquated pieces of equipment since today's versions are tiny in comparison.

3.Friend Randy Goehring's Back Chair Insert that he lent Stephen has been a godsend, along with Buddy Teresa Jackson's loan of a strap on velcro ice pack for the driving.

4. One night after falling exhaustedly asleep, we were rudely awakened by the screech of what turned out to be the LP gas alarm. After a few minutes we found that Jesse had been sitting on the intake... fluffing...and her gas triggered the alarm!