Our 5th wheel adventure

A summary

2011-03-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

The time has come to say good-bye to a wonderful 14 month excursion. during this time we visited 38 States and 3 Provinces and two Territories, met some wonderful people and saw sites that are impossible to describe. Our travels covered 50,390 KM or 31,310.89 miles. Where possible we traveled on the two lane roads rather than the expressways. Afterall, the trip was to see the country (s) not the pavement.
Some of the highlights included the walk on the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska, the scenery and wildlife in Northern BC and Yukon. Charlestown S.C. and Savanaugh GA. were very beautiful having survived "the war" intact. The Top of The World Highway in Alaska and the Yukon, as well as the Cassier Highway in BC were spectacular. Our steepest road was entering Skagway AL. with a grade of 11% covering 11.5 miles. The fishing expedition out into the Gulf Alaska holds special memories as well. The people and facilities at Deer Run RV Park were great and we look forward to next year.
As usual there were a couple things that were not enjoyed as much as other experiences. The Winchester House was a disappointment and the road (?) between Whitehorse Yukon and Tok AL. was honestly not as good as a plowed field, with frost heaves across the road combined with splits in the road running the same direction as the traffic flow.
It would take volumnes to list everything we experiened, but suffice to say, it was FANTASTIC !!!!!
To show the difference 3 days can make...the top picture was taken in Troy Alabama on Feb 26 of a Pear tree beside the camper.......the last at Shelburne on March 1.

Pear Blossoms Troy 2-26-11

2011-02-26T13:01:00.000-08:00

Spring 2-21-11 Troy

2011-02-21T13:19:00.000-08:00

Last Post ( for a while)

2011-02-21T07:58:00.000-08:00

Yes, our on the road time is quickly coming to to an end. We'll be leaving Alabama on Sunday morning ( 27th ) early and hope to overnight at Cave City Ky.

This past week had us enjoy a campfire on Tuesday night and a visit to the property of friends on Wed. Thursday and every day since has been a bad time for my back...thank goodness for Advil and my massage cushion. The friends in the next trailer came over on Friday to see our "home movies". Sunday the church that Sue attends had a "thank you "day for all the Snowbirds and gave a very nice hand bag to the ladies and a cap or the guys ( all Alabama labels ). This coming Saturday there is a men only Swamp Supper in Laverne which a number of us will attend. Hopefully you will be able to see the menu below

A summary of our trip will be done sometime after we get home.

Menu Didn't work

Oh yaaaaaa

2011-02-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

Although hard to see, there are about 50 Robins in this picture, part of a flock of around 200-300.
We both had a hair cut this past week....that's not a big deal, but the barber that owns the shop, has been cutting hair for SEVENTY TWO ( 72) years.
The ads for that special gift for the female in your life at Valentine's are a little different in Montgomery.....how about a Tazer for the the little woman or a discreet hand gun for pocket or purse.
We aren't starving yet....had a Valentine's supper at the church Sue attends and another set for the campground tonight. We ate at an old school house (Mossey Grove) the other night. It's gonna take a long time to weened from this habit. Brandy had a trim this past week as well, which should make it more comfortable in the 70 F weather we are expecting this coming week. Last but not least.....Green Bay won the Super Bowl !!!!!!!!!!

Weekly update

2011-02-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

Well, Green Bay came through the way we had hoped, by winning the Super Bowl. A number of the guys went to the rec center and watched it on the 60" big screen .
Sue is finally over her lingering cold. It seems most of the women in our area of the park had it too.
Monday a number of the guys went over to see the private airplane collection of a local business owner. All of the 18 or so planes are maintained in flying condition, including a B25 bomber, P51 Mustang and 1943 DC3. There is also a 3/4 size Mustang, fitted with a V12 engine and cruises at 450MPH. It is for sale....asking price $1.3 million.
In less than 3 weeks we'll be home.....weather permitting. Speaking of which....it's been about the mid 50's this week and dry for the most part.

Early Spring ????????

2011-02-02T11:33:00.000-08:00

Well, the out of country health insurance and passports are both running out so we will start our final packing up shortly. The under trailer storage is a bit messy so once this rain lets up, I'll tackle that job.
We went to a Storytelling Festival this past Saturday. The full name is Pike Piddlers Storetelling Festival. Basically, it's four people telling humorous stories of their childhood or younger years. VERY funny. None of it is scripted although the foundation of the stories are in place. Three performances morning afternoon and evening and each one different plus one show the night before.
We are lucky here is missing the poor weather around the States and Canada. There was heavy wind and rain last night and it's overcast today and cooler at 40 or so. It was 70 at the end of last week

Drags etc

2011-01-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

Another week has come and gone....times goin' way too fast.
On Friday we went to see True Grit...new version. This followed seeing the original on TV a couple of weeks ago. The new show seemed to followed the first one fairly close, with a bit extra at the end. Good movie regardless.
Saturday had 3 of "us guys" travel up to Montgomery to the "Hangover Nationals" a drag race that was supposed to have happened on Jan 1 & 2, but were delayed because of poor weather. It was a good bracket race with
everything from a very fast V8 powered VW to rail style dragsters . They were only using the 1/8 mile strip but got up to 120MPH. Times were under 8 second area at times.
Sunday lunch, now.... a ritual, was out to It Don't Matter, again....great food in the middle of no where.
Sue has a date every Monday for quilting and usually another date on Wed. at a different place as well.
We were hungry again yesterday ( Tuesday ) and found a eating place none of group had tried before "Country Kitchen"...again a great place. A number of "famous people" have eaten there ( more than once).
The bottom picture is of two cars that are powered by a 2 cycle engines and driven by kids under 12 years old. The speed was still close to 80 MPH in the 1/8th.

Warmer !!!!

2011-01-19T14:15:00.000-08:00

The weather has finally decided to warm up a bit. We've had a couple of days in the low 60's. Sue's glued tooth is still in place !!!!!!
We went to a play at Troy University the other night. It was based on a book that Sue had read ( Life is so Good). The book was better than the play.
It was time to get Brandy groomed again, so it was off to Montgomery with friends. To put in the time until Brandy was ready, we ate at a great Italian Restraunt, then visited the Hank Williams Museum. Sunday is always a lunch out day and this past week it was Sister's again, a buffet style place...good too. Sue has accepted an invitation to lead a group to Papua Indonisia in July...I expect we'll be home by then :-) Yesterday a group of us men went to Luverne to see a fellows 'plane. He has it stored there while he finishes building it. I'll be going up in when the weather gets a bit warmer, to help bleed the brakes. That's about all the needs to be done in order to get it flying ( it also needs a bit of reassembly as it was taken apart to transport it to the hanger). Of course we stopped in to eat again at "It don't Matter" eatery.

Al's wrong !!!!!!!!

2011-01-12T10:49:00.000-08:00

There ain't no Global Warming. We've been cold here in AL., as has most of the South. Tonite ( Wed) they are calling for a low of 18 here. Heavy snow in Nashville, airports shut down in NYC. and Montgomery AL., Geeeeeeez !!!!!!!!
Last Wed., Sue had a tooth extracted. She had experienced quite a bit of pain for 2 weeks and finally paid the dentist a visit. She had badly infected gums on her lower front jaw causing a couple of teeth to become loose. One of them was taken out.
Friday we did a drive on some of the country roads in the area with friends from the park. We'd heard of a restaurant in one of these towns and paid it a visit. It's called "It don't Matter"....great place in the middle of nowhere. Sue had another tooth come out on it's own that night. It had been pinned and the top part came off.
Monday there was a ice storm warning out.....schools cancelled ( they actually cancelled them on Thursday in anticipation of a storm on Monday!!!!!). Things around here weren't too bad as most of the ice was North and East of here . That night we watched the Auburn/Oregon BCS on the tube....good game.
Yesterday we had heard of an old time ice parlor in old Troy....in we went with another couple only to discover it was no longer "old time" but we had milk shakes anyway.
Sue was into the dentist again this morning to have the tooth upper portion glued on to the pin. She was told it won't last and she will likely lose two more front teeth as well because of the damage caused by the infection. That will happen in Canada !!!!!!!

2011

2011-01-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

Has arrived with warmer weather. It is 63 F now at 5;00.
On New Year's Eve there was a camp fire and fireworks display overlooking the ponds. Although there was a light periodic drizzle, it didn't stop us from having a good time.
New Year's day had us drive into Waffle House for breakfast with our friends Dale and Ester. At noon there was a pot luck in the hall. As always, it turned out well.
There are a couple more of the "regulars" here now and some more coming shortly.
We haven't done much exploring of late, but will shortly, as we have picked up a local map showing some of the smaller towns in the area.
More to follow !!!!!

Over Due

2010-12-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

Oh yes, it has been a while. We were pleased that Kristine and family made the detour to Troy on their way to Fla. They are there for 2 weeks as part of the celebration of thir 20th wedding anniversary. The weather was about 70F and sunny, a nce hange for them from the Ontario weather. We had a gift whitch we had not planned on until March....nice surprise. The weather has been cool for a few days, but so has most of North America. There were actually snow flurries on Sunday. It is supposed to be up to 70 for Thursday.
On Christmas Day, the people that are here for an extended period, pooled their resources and had a great the dinner. Plans for bringing in the New Year are now underway and will no doubt include food.
The batteries in the truck had to be replaced yesterday ( Monday). They didn't seem to hold a charge very long.
I will update this blog on a more regular basis.

W/O 12-12-10

2010-12-14T10:51:00.000-08:00

Yup, that's our Christmas tree....all 32" of it and sitting on the picnic table at the side of the trailer.
In summary, last week had us receive a parcel from daughter Kristine containing their Christmas card and photo as well as Christmas COOKIES....they WERE delicious. We also found out that they will be coming in for a short visit on the way to Florida for a family cruise to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary.
We went to a Christmas concert in Montgomery presented and performed by Troy University. They have several campuses in different cities. This concert was done at the Davis Theatre which was built in 1930 and served as a vaudeville theatre before becoming a Paramount owned movie theatre ( one of the best in the South). The Montgomery Campus has about 3500 students, mainly people that have come back to University after being in the work force for a while and most are night students. The Troy Campus has about 7,000 students. This concert was the first time it had been performed with all performers together because of the various schedules of the students. It was very very good. Last Saturday ( 11th) had us go to Dothan, which is about an hour South of Troy, where we went to the large flea market there with a couple from the park. Yesterday, Monday, was the day to decorate the trailer with Christmas decorations.It turned out quite nice when you consider what we had to work with........most everything is in Shelburne

Then and now

2010-12-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

Yup, some things do change. Dec 4 was our 45th anniversary and it appears that I have gained facial hair, and misplaced that suit. This past week has been one of visiting some of the smaller towns in the area. The people at the camp had a coffee and cake together yesterday afternoon for us ,which was very nice. Supper last night was at Red's Country School House which was built in 1910 and was a school until the 1950's. Plans are in the works for a Christmas dinner for all those in the park with the meal supplied by those that attend.
The blog will only be updated once a week now I think, as we are not "out and about" as much as before. Sue was given a 1 1/2 hour massage from her wonderful hubby as a gift and performed by the campgrounnd owner who is a massage therapist. She took 1 hour yesterday ( Sat). The balance will be done in January.

Black Friday

2010-11-27T07:36:00.000-08:00

The Thanksgiving dinner worked out well, as most "pot luck" efforts seem too. It was well attended and enjoyed. It would appear the folks here are not accustomed to turnip, as that was the one item that had any amount left over.
The weather has been behaving it's self by keeping comfortable ( in the high 60's to low 70's.) It has been dry with the exception of Wed. when our accumulation was 7/10" in total. Last night was cool with the temp about 34....today will be 65.
Yesterday was Black Friday, which is in essence, similar to Canadian Boxing Day and signals the start of the Christmas Season down here. Most of the stores opened at 4:00 a.m. for the heavily discounted prices. Six of the ladies from the park left about 10:00 to do some shopping ( no flat screen tv came back with Sue).

Full circle Troy to Troy

2010-11-22T08:40:00.000-08:00

Our final campsite in Georgia was the Georgia War Veterans Memorial State Park and it was a very nice surprise. Some of the State Parks are quite primative, this one however, was on the edge of a lake, with a definate warning posted ( see picture #1 ). It turns out the warning was primarly for the back waters and rivers of the lake, so we were FAIRLY safe. Leaving there on Sunday morning got us into Troy Alabama, our "home" for the next 3 months at about 1:00. The whole area between Georgia and Troy is Pecan trees and cotton fields. The bottom pic is of a truck with cotton bales aboard. These are about 8 feet in diameter and baled with a machine much the same as a hay or straw baler, but rolled off the side rather than the rear. We're getting settled in so to speak and had supper at Santa Fe's last night with two other of "the group". A Thanksgiving Dinner is planned in the rec hall for Thursday ( ladies please provide side dishes and desserts).
The weather at the moment ( 10:45 CST) is sunny and 73F :-)

Very nice city

2010-11-19T15:01:00.000-08:00

As it turned out, we spent two days here in Savannah when only one had been planned. That allowed time to take a trolley tour with some "old folks" ( the oldest of whom was 104 !!!!!! ). The city was laid out by an English fellow, General Overthorp before he had even seen the site. It is basically planned around squares. Everyone of the original 24 squares ( 21 remain) had to have at least one church and civil building facing the square. The historic area includes many Live Oak and Cyprus trees along with Palms. We went to the Pirates' House for lunch. Construction of the first part of this building started in 1734 as The Herb House which was part of the Trustees Garden. This experimental garden was started to see what would grow in this area. In 1753 the House opened as an inn for seafarers. It retains most of it's original structure, including dowel joined beams in the Captain's Room ( which is where we ate). The Herb House is incorporated inside the main structure.
The top pic shows some of the wrought iron work which is very common in the Historic Section. Number two, is the smallest house in all Savannah at 530 sft. It is for sale.......$250,000.00+. The bottom photo is the exterior of the Pirates' House...not much to look at outside ( it's 257 years old ) but the inside has "patina".

A change of plans

2010-11-17T12:54:00.000-08:00

The beautiful State of South Carolina will be behind us tomorrow as we leave for Georgia and an overnight in Savannah. While here, we took a drive to Edisto Beach yesterday ( Tuesday ). This was an area of miles of fine sand and big beach houses. As the top picture hows, it was void of people. Mind you it was 9:30 on a weekday morning and there weren't too many people looking for shells and sharks teeth. Today the drive had us in Charlestown. What a great old city it is. The historical society has done a great job of preserving the structure of these old building, some of which go back to the early 1700's. We did a self guided walking tour of the old section of Charlestown. The middle photo is of the City Hall, while the bottom is of one of the houses on the Battery. It is still a single family house as are many of the original houses.
One more bit of news. We are not returning home until the beginning of March. This should reduce the amount of snow and cold we will have to tolerate this year

Myrtle Beach SC

2010-11-14T15:59:00.000-08:00

This certainly is a beautiful place. The temps are moderate, the sand is white and fine and the water is about 65F. We did a walk along the beach Saturday and then drove through the main beach area. That night, it was off to a seafood buffet
(www.seafarerestruant.com) which is, as most buffet are, an all you can eat affair, which the focus on seafood and prime rib beef. This includes crab which apparently is unusual to have them included at the same price. Today, Sunday, was a hang around the park day. It's a great resort (www.briarcliffervesort.com) which backs onto the inter coastal waterway. We road our bikes around the complex.....geez there are some nice RV out there. One week today we'll be in Troy Alabama for the start of a 6 week stay before heading back home. Tomorrow it's Charleston SC for a couple of days.
The top pic is pier 14 at the beach, the second is just the waves rollin' in.

South Carolina

2010-11-12T11:59:00.000-08:00

It seems that everything you hear about Myrtle Beach is true...tons of golfing and one price seafood buffets. We don't golf.....so I guess we gotta eat...........mmmmmm. We have no more than just arrived here, but are staying until Monday morning. The camp resort is FANTASTIC although perhaps the sites are a bit tight getting into. The RV of choice here are the large class A types.
We have advanced our arrival at Troy Alabama to Nov 21st, where it is 73F now compared to 64 F here. Tomorrow will be our day of discovery of Myrtle Beach.

Big Bang

2010-11-10T15:40:00.000-08:00

We did our tour of the Wisconsin battleship on Tuesday....man what a ship 800 + feet in length, 9, 16 inch guns and several smaller 5 inch guns. There was a shell on display of a 16".....it's a lotta steel comin' at ya . It served in 3 wars, WWII, Korea, and the first Gulf war. She was decommissioned after each event and recommissioned and retrofitted again when required. She is now in permanent moorage. Because of the time spent on this tour, we were too late to do the tour of the Naval Yards as there is only one per day this time of year. Today ( Wed) had us enter "The South". We know this because of the Spanish Moss and the harvesting of cotton. It's also warmer ( 63F at 6:30 PM ) We will be here near Jacksonville NC for two nights, then on to Myrtle Beach for 2-3 nights.

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

Three State Day

2010-11-08T16:04:00.000-08:00

Yup, we once again travelled through 3 states. We left Maryland, travelled through Delaware and into Virginia, where we are tonight and tomorrow night too. We crossed the Chesapeake Bay bridge/tunnel combination. This structure is made up of 2 miles of tunnels under the bay ( in three different sections), so the ships can pass over and 16.5 miles of bridge ( so the vehicles can pass over
:-) ). I imagine it could be a trying experience when the hurricanes pass through. We passed through Virginia Beach VA. We are in Newport News and tomorrow it's Norfolk VA to the Navy yards to see the fleet and do a tour of the Wisconsin, a retired battleship.

26,850 Miles so far

2010-11-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

We are movin' along. Wed. we visited the daughter of friends who lives in PA. ,near Scranton. Had a nice visit and dinner with them. She is expecting in about 5 weeks. Thursday was a crappy day with rain and very hilly and narrow roads...we hit a 12% grade at one point...not nice with a big rig. This was on secondary roads, which we prefer normally, but Thursday really was not a nice day to be doing that. Friday the 5th ,had us take Brandy for her monthly ( haircut), while Sue and I sorta drove around. We drove into the train station today ( we're staying in NJ ) and took the PATCO (Port Authority Transportation Company) train into Philly. The Liberty Bell saw me for the second time, as I'd been here a few years ago with a friend to see a football game. It was a first for Sue and she seemed to enjoy, it in spite of the lengthy lineup. We visited some of the buildings in Independence Square and tried to visit the mint, but they must be a union shop and are only open Monday to Friday. After the visitor centre, we took a city bus up to the Mutter Museum. This place generally displays medical oddities and instruments from "days gone by". It's amazing how well preserved body parts are after many years in formaldehyde. It is part of the College of Physicians. The first photo is the Liberty Bell, the second a reflection of the modern buildings downtown.
Tomorrow ( Sunday), Maryland is the destination.

www.collegeofphyscicians.org

Horses & Clocks

2010-11-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

Mass. and Rhode Island are now behind us as we are in Conn. near Plymouth. We found Mass. to be a very pretty place with the cedar shake sided homes mixed with the older style of Colonial homes. Last Sat.and Sunday were spent in Rhode Island. We didn't do any site seeing while there, but Sue did attend an interesting church in North Scituate. It was 175 years old ( Baptist ) and had box pews, where in days past, you had your own pew each week. She says it is a much more formal Church than what is the norm today. Yesterday ( Monday) we did a couple more museum visits. These were both in Bristol CT. The first was the Carousel Museum. This place has a very large number of vintage "merry-go-round" animals, primarily horses. The museum contains a restoration shop, which restores their own as well as other privatly owned animals. Many of the displayed horses date from the early 1900's. A very interesting place indeed. Our next stop was the Watch and Clock Museum. The oldest piece here is a single hand wall clock ( as they all were originally) dated 1680. The rooms of this converted 1801 house, each hold a different syle of time piece. One room may have all grandfather or tall clocks, while another will have all wall clock. There is a display case of nothing but hour glass style time pieces. All of the working time pieces strike on the quarter and full hour ( thankfully, they are not all exactly the right time). Tomorrow it's into Pennsulvania to visit a friend and her husband and baby ( with another on the way).

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

The Cape

2010-10-29T09:45:00.000-07:00

As mentioned earlier, we enjoyed the visit to Salem and the drive to West Glouster was okay, too even though we took the expressway most of the way. Somehow we managed to miss the Mayflower at Plimouth ( Plymouth), however, we will get it when we leave here. Today ( Friday ) we took a drive up the Cape to Highland Light at North Truro MA. This light was built in 1856. In 1996 they had to move the light a bit further inland because of the erosion. The sand is very fine here and the wind seems to blow non-stop. We also wanted to visit Provincetown, but the road was so very narrow and the parking space was so hard to find, we ended up driving VERY slowly through it ( with the truck mirrors folded in. It would be a great place for bicycles ( ours were at the trailer). Again, a very pretty part of North America.
Tomorrow should find us in Rhode Island.
Top pic...raspberries in late Oct.....last two, the beach at North Truro

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

Not all witches

2010-10-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

The visit to Salem was interesting. This is such an old part of North America, there seems to be something older at each turn. We had breakfast at "the place" to do that "Red's Sandwich Shop" In 1698, this was the London Coffee House and the meeting place of the Patriots, before the American Revolution.( www.redssandwichshop.com )
Following that delight, we boarded the city tour bus for a drive around the "famous" places in Salem. It's NOT all about witches. The only man convited (?) of being a witch was pressed to death by placing stones on his chest until he died....it took 3 days. It was really a catch 22...if you did not confess, you lost all your propery, if you did confess, you lost all your proprty and your life. He did not confess. The details given by the tour guide, gave a very good insite to the history of the town. We did a tour of the House of Seven Gables from which a book by the same name was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1851. Quite a place with narrow staircases behind chimneys etc. The afternoon had us take a drive around Cape Ann which is a coastal drive showing some of the coves in the area. The top photo is the Friendship a pirate ship re-creation. The middle is of the House of The Seven Gables and the last pic is one of the coves on Cape Ann. As I enter this part of the blog, Sue is out picking raspberries at the side of the trailer....in late October. Tomorrow it's off to Cape Cod

Tea and Witches

2010-10-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

The drive to Boston was again very pleasant. It is still like early fall here as we are a little further south. Most of the leaves are still in full colour.
We did a walking tour of Boston today ( Tuesday) at least the historic parts. The ol' legs ain't what they used to be ( neither's rest of the body). The first item to see was the frigate Constitution ( 1797 ). This is the oldest ACTIVE commissioned ship in the world. There is a ship in England which is older but in permanent dry dock. They have a neat idea here, you follow a thing called the Freedom Trail, which is a red brick line in the pavement that takes to all the historical buildings and areas etc. It also led past an Irish Pub that had real good beer ( Goody Glover's) It's named after a woman that was the first Catholic Martyr in Massachusetts The church that Paul Revere sounded the alarm of the British coming was as interesting visit as well. We visited the old cemetary called Copps Hill. The markers here date from 1660
Sue was able to purchase a box of tea that is made by the company that had their teas thrown overboard, that started the War of Independance. This act was know as the Boston Tea Party
Tomorrow it's drive to a witch hunt, as we head to Salem from this campground .

Goodbye Maine

2010-10-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

Our tour of Portland Maine started with a visit to the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's home. This was built in the late 1700's by the poets grandfather and was lived in by the family until 1902. It was then given to the Maine Historical Society. Unfortunately, the house does not allow photos. Too bad as 90% of the contents are original. It is the oldest house in Portland because it is made of brick from Pennsylvania. This fact saved it from the major fire that devastated Portland in 1800's. From this stop, we were off to the Portland Head Light at Port Elizabeth. Quite an imposing structure. It has been used as a fort up to 1940 as a potential defence against enemies that never arrived. Our last stop was the Marine Narrow Gauge Railway. This was a short ride along part of the Portland waterfront in coaches dating to the late 1800's. The locomotive was a 1949 model with a new engine....1961 Cummins. Tomorrow, Monday, we head off to Boston in the hope we can find a campground that is open.

Baa Habaa and area

2010-10-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Oct 20 saw us take a drive up Cadillac Mountain, which is part of the Acadia National Park. This 1530 ft high mountain gives you a great view for 360* of the ocean. There was a cruise ship in from Germany and you could really appreciate how high up you were looking down on it. We also did a drive through of Bar Harbor. Because of the number of people off the ship, we decided a return visit Thursday would be better for getting around. Today ( Thursday) had us take both of the circle routes around the Bar Harbor area. This whole area including Bar Harbor are in the Acadia National Park. There is normally a $20.00 fee that covers 7 days of visit, but because it's off season, that did not apply. Most of these two drives keep very you close to the ocean, so it was quite pleasant even with the overcast sky. We made it back to Bar Harbor in time for lunch ( imagine that) at ate at Stewman's on The Warf, where Sue had Scallops and I just had a Lobster Roll.....both were great. Tomorrow it is expected Portland will be the destination for likely 3 nights.

Turning the corner.....South

2010-10-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are...Tuesday already. We did in fact, spend two days in Bethel ME. Saturday was the arrival and "setup" day. Sunday, after Sue's return from church, we took a drive in the country, visiting a covered bridge from 1876 ( no longer in use for traffic ) and drove up the near by ski hills. Monday it was time to leave yet again, heading for Bangor ME. The Hwy 2 which stretches from Vermont to Bangor Maine is a fantastic road for scenery ( Model A kinda road). We will be sorry to see the end of this byway. Today, Tuesday took us on a day trip into Bangor where we took a tour of the Galen Cole Maine Transportation Museum. This place is a private endeavor featuring various modes of transportation that has been either manufactured or used in Maine. Over 200 pieces of equipment are in this 1 acre building covering everything from sleighs to diesel locomotives. Tomorrow we pack up and head to Bar Harbor ( Baa Habaa) for a two night stay.

Rain delay

2010-10-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Yup, yesterday was an unscheduled extra day in Stowe 'cause it POURED. As can be seen, Brandy had the right idea. There was talk of Smuggler's Notch not being open because of the threat of snow, but that didn't happen, however, Lake Placid received 2". We had a great breakfast at the Gables in Stowe yesterday ( we felt we needed that ). Today (Sat) had us on the road driving through New Hampshire and into Maine on some fantastic roads....lots of scenery and gentle hills. It is however, very windy and cool. It'll likely be a two nighter here in Bethel Maine.

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950a

Stowe

2010-10-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

The day today was spent in and around Stowe VT. It certainly is a great time of year to tour these roads!!! We went up to see the Trapp Family Lodge, which we'd seen in the past but it sure is nice to see. The top picture is of the road going through Smuggler's Notch. The one side of the mountain is so much more rugged than the other. Last time here, it was winter and the pass was closed. The middle pic is of the main lodge as is the bottom one. While we were early or late (lunch/breakfast) we did eat at the brewery/deli part way down the hill. The scenery was fantastic ( so was the beer). We started off on the patio, but near the end of the meal, moved inside because of the cool wind. It is supposed to rain this evening and wet SNOW is possible about 1800 ft. Tomorrow it's off to Maine via New Hampshire.

In a fine State

2010-10-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

Our departure from Lake Placid this morning was in very cool ( 30F) weather accompanied by the heaviest frost yet. The roads are made for Model A Fords ( if you take away the hills). They tend to be curvy and narrow and not too busy.
We came across Lake Champlain, which separates New York State from Vermont. The bridge is being replaced and in the interim, they offer ferry service. The fall colours are a bit stronger here than in the Lake Placid area. On the way we stopped in and did a tour of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory...also got to sample some. Neat place.
Upon arrival in Stowe, we decided to take the afternoon off and do our exploring tomorrow ( Thursday). We have been given the names of a few eating establishments and may investigate them or at least some of them. Two new albums have been added to the picture gallery.

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950a

Lake Placid

2010-10-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

Our drive to Lake Placid was very colourful although it would appear the leaves have pasted their best. We went to the Olympic ski hill and took the chair lift to the top of the hill THEN took the elevator another 120 metres to the top of the jump. These jumpers must be lacking common sense. During the off season, they jump off a smaller version and land in a large pool. The freestyle skiers were practicing today....see bottom pic. We had a great dinner at a little place overlooking Lake Placid called Jimmy's 21. Tomorrow it's off to Stowe VT for a couple of days. The weather has been cool but dry.

USA

2010-10-11T12:48:00.001-07:00

Well, we are now back in the USA, after a wonderful visit with "the family" in Kingston at Thanksgiving. Marg, one of my sisters, was not able to join us due to hubby Dick having had a major operation the previous week. As we understand it, he is recovering well and will be home sooner than estimated.
Our departure from Canada was rather iffy, due to the fact we had already been in the US for 184 days. Your maximum stay is supposed to be 181 in any calendar year. However, I guess they needed our tourist $$ and here we are. Tonight, home is Malone NY. We hope to head over to the Lake Placid area, perhaps staying for a few days before going to Stowe VT. We will go down the Eastern seaboard for a while. The blog will be kept a little more up to date from now on, now we have a better idea where we are headed. The uncertainty of our getting back into the US had prevented us from making any firm plans for a while. The colours along hwy 37 on the south side of the St. Lawrence River are just as vivid as on the Canadian side........GREAT weather eh?

Still goin'

2010-10-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been a while, however there was a valid reason for our silence, read on. We came back into Canada September 14th and spent one night in Goderich before driving to Owen Sound, staying in Harrison Park while I paid a visit to the skin specialist to get a rash on my leg looked at. After check-out, it was a trip up the Bruce, to spend several days with friends ( Mr. & Mrs A) in Barrow Bay. Leaving their home on the 20th, we came "home" to Shelburne staying at Primrose Park for two weeks. That was a strange feeling to be in town, but not at our own house. A big "thank you "is in order for the friends that visited us and we invited us to visit and those that fed us. A visit to Brampton, to have a pleasant visit with daughter Kristine and her family was great. Now the reason for the silence......a Model A Tour was planned for a drive to Stratford. We committed to go on this with the President and Tour Directors some time ago and booked a room at the Swan Motel. We were trying to keep partition in this as a surprise, however, a club member is having an auction sale of his car collection and related parts and we decided to offer our assistance....secret exposed!!!!. The tour took place this weekend, leaving Mono Mills on Friday Oct 1 and returning to day the 3rd. The colours were just right on the trees and the roads co-operated as well. It should be explained that Sue and I drove our "modern iron" as our car is on blocks. The visits to various points of interest, including the Kilbride Castle in Baden coming home was very neat, as was the tour of the past presidents uncles' former gravel operation and the collection of Model "A's" there. Having been involved in some tour planning in the past, we certainly can appreciate the work Glenn and Mo put into this tour. I'm certain all attendees enjoyed themselves in spite of the rain on Saturday. We leave Shelburne tomorrow ( Monday) for Kingston and Thanksgiving with my family.

24,000

2010-09-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

miles is the current mileage attained since Dec 28, 2009. No real major problems to speak of....just the odd annoyance. We, at the moment, are wandering aimlessly, with no particular plan for the next couple of weeks. We will be heading to the New England area eventually....if we can get back in to the USA. Our last encounter was iffffffffy. Apparently, you are only permitted 6 months in the States in any calendar year, otherwise they consider you are living there ( why would ANYONE want to do that). Our intent after leaving Quebec and N.B. is to cross at a smaller border point in the hope their system is not as up to date as Sault Ste. Marie etc. WE have no special points of interest to bring up. WE are just enjoying (?) the leaves as they put on their fall colours.

65 !!!!!!

2010-09-14T06:58:00.000-07:00

Yup...the ol' girl turned 65 yesterday !!!! We are in Minden ( City) Mich at friends that we had met in Troy Alabama. They are also the organisers of the camping get together we were at last week. Prior to arriving here yesterday, we were at a camp ground in Oscoda, that was set in a oak and pine forest....very pretty being on the river and all. On Sunday afternoon we took a paddle wheel river boat cruise for two hours and relaxed ( we seem to be able to do that quite well thank you). The trip will continue today, however I'm not too sure what Internet we will have so the blog may lapse for a while.

Michian camping

2010-09-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

Here it is Thursday Sept 9 and we are in Hale Michigan where we arrived on Tuesday fro a get together with the Michigan group that go to Troy Alabama for the winter. It has been very windy and considerably cooler during this stay. There is a supper called a milk can supper which uses a farm milk can filled with corn on the cob, potatoes, sausage, carrots and onions, then placed on a fire to cook. Good stuff I'll tell you. Last night it was a pot luck of sorts with spareribs as the main entree. We'll be here until tomorrow ( Friday) then head off to parts unknown ( at this moment) The cooler weather has been a welcome relief after some of the heat. It looks as if home is about the same weather wise.

Labor...labour Day

2010-09-04T13:02:00.001-07:00

Michigan has seen our arrival. Thursday night....nite, we were in Illinois, last night it was Warsaw Indiana ( a great town full of community spirit ) and tonight it's Ionia Michigan, at the State Park. We'll be here until Monday, then head a little closer to Hale Mich., where the get together is, starting Tuesday. Warsaw has an event the first Friday of each month called First Friday ( imagine that) that is like a farmers Market and Cruise night all combined. On the way here we passed through a town called Shipshewana Indiana, which is the heart of Mennonite/Amish country. The town is very much St. Jacobs and every bit as crowded. The weather has really changed. It is now (4:15) 66F and I see Shelburne is about 59F. It was very windy last night and today has been overcast.

Wow !!!!!!!

2010-09-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

We finally found a Dunkin' Donuts. Daughter Kristine gave us Tim Horton's and Dunkin' Donuts pre-loaded cards when we left for this trip. It didn't take too long to empty the Timmy's card, however it took 8 months and one day to find a Dunkin' store.
We are about 50 miles south of Chicago tonight and tomorrow night should be about 30 miles west of Fort Wayne Indiana. We took this longer approach to avoid Chicago....it's no fun in the summer, as we have found out in past trips around the lake. Then we start heading north towards Mich. The weather continues to be hot, although not as bad as home judging by the computer. It rained yesterday and again today off and on. Tonight is supposed to be rain again, then turn cooler ( 72 for a high Friday). I'll try to post pics later but the reception has been poor of late ( sun spot activity??).

Long Drive

2010-08-31T16:59:00.001-07:00

Well, the 1,000 mile (return)drive was certainly worth it. We came back to Wisconsin to see The House on the Rock, as suggested by my cousin and his wife in Sault Ste. Marie Ont. This place was started by a Mr. Alex Jordan Sr. in the 40's. It essentially is a house built on a rock pinnacle. His son Alex Jr. completed it in 1959. The house has very low ceilings by any standards, but the builder was 6'4" tall. It has a definite Oriental theme to the house itself and has a very diverse collection(s) of items. For example, it has the world's largest carousel with 239 animal creations, 182 chandeliers, 20,000 light bulbs and no horse heads. There are also two large doll carousels, one is the largest of it's kind. There a large doll displays, doll houses, gun displays along with armour. This doesn't take into account the Oriental pieces throughout the complex. If ever in the area of Madison or more specifically Spring Green Wisc. it's worth the visit. Tomorrow, it's back to the north east direction again for our get together with friends in Mich.
www.thehouseontherock.com

Sunday Aug 29

2010-08-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

Nothin' much to write about. We are not too far from Green Bay Wisc. Tomorrow night will see us close to our destination The House on the Rock and more details will follow after that visit. As we understand it, it's a house built into a solid rock and houses some interesting collections. The weather has been hot...in the high 80's. It is 8:30 pm now and it's 83 F., with more promised for tomorrow.

Here we are again !! 8-26-10

2010-08-26T13:57:00.001-07:00

Yup, we're still alive a kickin (?) ! Back on the 22nd we were in Oshkosh and from there travelled up to Rapid River Mich. and stayed in a small but pretty private campground. The 24th had us arrive back in Canada ( insurance politics) and stayed in a nicely wooded campsite in Sault Ste. Marie. The rain came and the temperature dropped yesterday (25th) to about 43 overnight . Yesterday we had a great visit first with my aunt. She is the last living member of my dad's siblings. At soon to be 92, she can still hold her own being a very determined lady. After enjoying lunch with her ( Wendy's at her request), we went back to the campground to be joined later in the afternoon by her son Rick and his wife Mary. Our visit with them lasted 'til supper time, so it was off to Swiss Chalet to complete the visit. By the way....the leaves are changing colour up in the Soo. We are now back in the USA, back tracking to Wisconsin to see an attraction we missed on the way through. Nothing in the tour books about this House on the Rocks, but Mary and Rick mentioned it. As we have 12 days to put time in with before the get together with the Troy Alabama group we thought we'd do the trip.

Oshkosh by gosh

2010-08-22T14:39:00.000-07:00

We crossed the Mississippi about 15 minutes after leaving the campground in Iowa this morning, thus entering Wisconsin. It didn't take long for the landscape to change from essentially flat, to more rolling hills. About 1/2 way to Oshkosh, we came upon these two Model A trucks driving along Hwy 151 at a pretty fair rate of speed.....nice to see 'em out. Speaking of which, we have found a 1929 Sport Coupe, the same colour and general condition of the one we parted with ( under sad conditions ). Before it can be purchased, ours must be sold. Anyone with a fast and firm 10K can be the proud owner of a 1930 Fordor. Please buy it and make Sue happy
again with the Sport Coupe. We are camping tonight outside Oshkosh, on the shore of Lake Winnebago

Corn and beans

2010-08-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

Yup, if weren't for corn and soybeans, Iowa would just be dirt. We are enjoying our second day/night at a State Park outside Dubuque, which is the border between Iowa and Wisconsin, which is where we'll be tomorrow ( Sunday ) night. The trip int town allowed us to visit the Shot Tower which is the only such structure West of the Mississippi. These were used to produce steel shot in the late 1800's for use as bullets as well as industrial use. We also took a ride up and down the Fenlon Place 4th Street Elevator. This is a funicular railway that is claimed to be the world's shortest and steepest such device. It is 296 feet in length and raises you up ( or down ) 189 feet from Fourth Street to Fenelon Place. We also went into a park overlooking the Mississippi River where two guys were fishing...a black and a white...very Southern looking in the Mid-West.

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

Oh yes

2010-08-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

We are movin' right along. Last posting had us leaving S.D., which we did and moved into Nebraska. We have rain today in Iowa ( after saying we hadn't had any for a long time) They've had too much here. A number of corn fields are flooded and we saw one road closed today because of flooding. We spent last night ( Monday ) at the Ponca State Park in Nebraska. A very nice place indeed. We are now in Jewell Iowa at a community park at the edge of a lake ( hope the rain stops). I'll try to post pics later, although the reception on the air card is weak here...again. The map on the side of the trailer is getting full. After Mich., we hope to hit the East Coast, New Hampshire, Maine etc., then head South along the coast ending up in Alabama sometime likely in November or early December. We'll likely leave the trailer there for the month of January and drive back to Ontario, then return to Alabama for the month of February.

Very interesting

2010-08-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

Our two days/nights in Mitchell SD have been really neat. There really isn't too much to see, other than the Corn Palace. This building is used for concerts etc. but what makes it unique is the exterior covering. It is all corn or corn by products (stalk etc). Even more amazing is the fact they change it every year at an annual cost of over $100,000.00 and each year is a different design.
We move on tomorrow to Nebraska for one night then into Iowa. The weather of late has been warm, with two days of 100 + temps and the past couple of days more moderate at 75-80. We have not experienced rain for well over a month although SD has been soaked before we arrived.

August 13, 2010

2010-08-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

We stayed in Interior SD last night ( Thur) which is just outside Badlands National Park. On the way to the Park, we stopped off at a 1909 Homestead which consisted of a sod house, cave ( which was actually a cold or root cellar built into the side of a hill )and a barn and shed. These are all original and except for maintenance are as they were in 1909. After setting up we did a tour of part of the Badlands. Quite an unusual place. To us it looked much like Scarborough Bluffs would appear from the water.
That evening we met the people next site over, from Florida and they introduced us to a card/board game called Sequence....kinda neat.
Tonite we changed time zones and now on central time, an hour behind Ontario. We are in a State Park just outside Platte SD. Tomorrow and the following night we will be in Mitchell SD, the home of the Corn Palace ( Google it ).

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

104

2010-08-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

This is the 3rd attempt !!!!! We are in Wall SD after a few great days in the Black Hills at Custer, enjoying the Monuments of Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore. The scenery and roads are spectacular and the 35 MPH speed limit allows you to fully enjoy all there is to see. The 5,000 + motorcycles in the immediate Custer area are less than 1% of the bikes in Sturgis but still a sight hard to comprehend. The several tunnels carved out of solid granite are amazing and VERY narrow. We didn't retract our truck mirrors and managed to lightly scrape one on a tunnel wall. We are in Wall which is famous for handing out ice water during the western migration in the depression....people would stop or couldn't afford water so Walls gave it away as a ploy to get people to stop. Today it is really just a large ( 76,000 sft) store. At 2:00 this afternoon, it was 104F and the same is forecast for tomorrow.

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

for picture updates

South Dakota

2010-08-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

The drive from Ten Sleep Wy to GILLette ( not "jill ette") was very scenic through the Big Horn Mountains, actually most of Montana and Wyoming have been. The scenery changes almost at every bend in the road. The campground in Gillette was sorta iffy, but it was only for one night. The number of Harley's on the road, both coming away from and going to Sturgis is ever increasing.....what a site They really feel 500,000+ bikes are there. We arrived in Custer, South Dakota around noon. After lunch we started off on the Wildlife Loop through Custer State Park. In order to do so, it was necessary to drive through Custer and an estimated 1,000 bikes in town plus about that many in the park roads. We shared the road with them through the park and enjoyed feeding the "wild" donkeys. We also viewed deer (actually Pronghorns) and Buffalo. The campground today and tomorrow is wonderful , set in a pine woods. Here again we have about 75-100 bikes camping out......I must say, they are very friendly and try to keep the noise level down. Tomorrow it's off to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monuments.

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

Up but not away

2010-08-08T07:22:00.000-07:00

Well, as mentioned earlier, we went to the gunfight and guess what....the good guys won again, Pretty head to beat Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday and Buffalo Bill. We had also intended to watch the hot air balloons but the weather stopped that idea. We have found the afternoons in Montana and Wyoming bring very sudden weather changes. In 15 minutes it will go from sunny and warm to very high winds a drop in tempature and hard rain. This is what happened again Fri night. Saturday moring at 6:00 we up and out to the field in an effort to watch the moring launch of the balloons......they get one inflated but the wind came up and the balloon came down. We are now in Ten Sleep Wy. named by the natives way back. They used to determine days travelled by the number of "sleeps" while on their migrations. This was ten sleeps. There were a large number of Harley's here last night as we are not too far from Sturgis SD. They are expecting between 500,000 and 750,000 people there this coming week....most on bikes. A good place NOT to be. Several of the riders were coming Back from there, havin just passed through. The campgrounds are charging by the person at each tent site at a rate of over $100.00 for 1 up to 4 nights and that rate increased the closer the rally date approached. Today we head off to Gillette Wy.

2010-08-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

The drive from Yellowstone RV Park to Cody was a beautiful 20 mile drive. We toured the Buffalo Bill Dam, completed in 1910, only after two of the original contractors went out of business. At the time, it was the highest dam in the USA at 310 feet....taller than the Capital Building in Washington. It is a concrete dam that uses no re-enforcing steel. There is a layer of concrete then a layer of rock and so on. After checking into the campground, we did a walk about in town which is a tourist town , but a nice one. At night, we went to a rodeo...they hold one each night of the week during June, July and August. It was an excellent show. They had a kids portion as well, where kids as young as 6 were taking part...boy those kids can ride. Today ( Friday ) we took trolley tour of the area and tonight we are off to a gun fight, then out of town to a hot air balloon festival.

Montana or Wyoming ????

2010-08-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

As Yellowstone crosses both state lines, it is sometimes difficult to know where ya are......that isn't restricted to Yellowstone for us. We got an early start, as hoped, in an effort to beat some of the heavy traffic encountered yesterday...it worked. We were able to stop and enjoy many of the side venues mentioned in the tour books. It is truly amazing how many steam vents, geysers and mud pools there are here. Yellowstone is actually a cauldron of a volcano, which is generally agreed, will erupt some day. In the meantime it bubbles away, very close to the surface. One of the Rangers mentioned today that an Elk went off one of the animal trails and fell through the strata. In less than a week it was just bones because of the heat and minerals in the "soil". It took about 6 hours to travel the 150 or so miles ( almost as slow as a Model A ) because of all the natural displays we stopped to see. Old Faithful lived up to her name and blew right on schedule...very dramatic. When we left the park we drove through Shoshone National Forest which was a sight on it's own with the sandstone cliffs eroded by the weather. We are now in Wyoming about 18 miles from Cody where we will be tomorrow for 2 nights.....how about that 18 miles and it takes two days to recover. We were going to go to Sturgis SD for the Harley Rally, but alas no camping available....they book a year in advance, so it'll be on to Custer after Cody.

Hot Stuff

2010-08-03T18:02:00.000-07:00

Yes siree Bob, this place is HOT. We have driven from Mammoth Hot Springs to West Yellowstone where we are in a private campground, just outside the park. What a drive it was. The first pic was taken at a place called Norris Geyser Basin which is full of steam vents like this. The second was at a place right on the side of the road. The crowds on the roads are quite heavy. As a result, tomorrow we will be mobile by 7:30 to head towards Old Faithful.....that's gonna hurt.

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

has updated pictures of day 2.

Yellowstone day 1

2010-08-02T16:49:00.000-07:00

After a early start ( for us) we arrived at the Mammoth Spring Campground inside Yellowstone Park. We were here at about 10:30 and they figured the campground would be full within the hour......it was. Once setup and lunch was out of the way, we were off on one of the circle tours they recommend ( about 65 miles). What a diverse landscape. Everything from 9,000 ft mountain passes to sulphur springs and waterfalls. This is a "dry campground, which means no hookups. We can run the generator until 8:00 tonight. Our fridge doesn't work on anything but 110V. It will run on propane, but needs 110V to do so......go figure. Tomorrow we move to another campground just outside the park and close to another entrance. This place is huge, not as big as Algonquin, but big none the less. We have internet which was a surprise. The air card works out here.

90...90..90..90 F every day

2010-07-31T13:13:00.000-07:00

We have now left Great Falls MT behind us after a great boat tour on the Missouri River on Thursday. This must ave been a daunting sight for Lewis and Clarke in 1805-06. The Limestone walls rise several hundred feet above the water ( although they estimated the height at over 1000). It was 105 minutes in length and well worth the $16.00 pp charge. Friday ( yesterday) took us to Fort Benton which was the first recognised town in Montana. It was quite important as a shipping hub for rail, river and road traffic. Today it is a small sleepy place but with a great ice cream parlor. Great Falls is at an elevation of 3000 + feet and is classed as a high plain. Today we left the plain and river valley behind and entered into mountains once again. One pass was at 7300 feet. It is quite arid in this part of Montana, but snow capped mountains are just a few miles away. We are in White Sulphur Springs where we'll stay for two nights, then it's into Yellowstone National Park for a few days. The photo one the left is the entrance to Gate of the Mountains. If you look closely near the lower left side, you can see the small finger of water. That is the entry. More pics an be viewed at

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

It happened during breakfast

2010-07-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Well, if there was a convoy coming to meet us in Fort Benton we ain't gonna be there. The State fair is here in Great Falls this weekend and we have decided to stay for it. We will make a day trip to the fort tomorrow and on Friday take a river cruise at The Gateway to the Mountains. This is a river canyon that Lewis and Clarke travelled back in 1805. Stay tuned for continuing developments.

And on we go

2010-07-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

We have found that the prairies really are flat but far from boring . There are 1000's of acres of various crops...hay, wheat etc. Some of the grain crops have been harvested already as shown by the top picture ( if it will post). We visited a couple of antique places on Monday which were somewhat different than some we've seen...a lot of old rifles and pistols along with saddles and bridles. Yesterday ( Tuesday) we took in the Lewis and Clarke centre, boy those guys really faced some challenges back in 1805. Around here there are 5 waterfalls they had to portage around...the largest being what is now Great Falls where we have been staying. Today we head off to Fort Benton for a night. The bottom picture is a hydro corridor across some of the farmland we passed on the way to the falls.....and I had trouble getting fence posts lined up.

Good-bye

2010-07-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

to Alberta and to Canada for a month or so. As mentioned in the last post, there was a problem at the practice for the Alberta Airshow in Lethbridge on Friday. The CF-18 crashed and was destroyed. The pilot ejected and was taken to hospital with minor injuries. The show itself was good with a mix of WW11 aircraft and modern iron. Throw in a few guys jumping from really good airplanes with a nylon device on their back and aerobatic planes and you have a good afternoon of entertainment. We are now in Selby Montana for the night and tomorrow drive the 80 miles or less to Great Falls for a couple of nights. The weather has warmed up to the mid 80's and sun. That is expected to continue for most of the week.
I seem to have problem posting pictures with the blog, so if interested, go to the album pages.

Surprise....we ain't in Banff !!!!!!

2010-07-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, we did leave Calgary and the next stop for two nights was Fort MacLeod. The tour of the original fort was very informative and the NWMP musical ride was good as well. It is performed by students, most of whom had not ridden before this year. Prior to going into town,we had done a tour of Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump. This is a location where the native people drove herds of buffalo off a cliff in order to obtain meat for their winter. It was a very complex procedure as in the beginning, they didn't have horses and relied on stealth to get in behind the herd and get it to the cliff.
Your map will show you we did not go to Banff etc as mentioned in the previous post........way too expensive and we had seen it on an earlier trip. We are in Lethbridge for tonight ( Friday ) and Saturday. We bought tickets to the airshow here tomorrow, however as CF-18 Canadian Forces plane crashed there this afternoon, just after we checked in at the campground. The pilot managed to eject safely, although we has bruised up. We are now waiting to hear if the show will go on or not. The plane came down nose first.....nothing left.
After leaving Lethbridge, we will be USA bound again, with the first stop planned to be Shelby Montana.
Check for photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

Calgary Summary

2010-07-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

Well, the Stampede is over for another year. I must say the first day ( Sat ) for us , was a bit uncertain. We were fortunate that we had a guide, in the person of Elizabeth Dube, Denise's mother-in-law. Not only did she save us from the frustration of the Calgary transportation system, she was excellent in getting us through the first day of the Stampede. We toured some of the buildings and grounds. The midway and concession booths make up a lot of the outside space. There is also a lot of free activities to partake in. After a day of walking the grounds, we went back to Yvan and Elizabeth's for a BBQ supper. We also left Brandy behind, after their generous offer to look after her while we "did" the second day at the Stampede on Sunday.
On Sunday, we got a little later start, as we had tickets for the finals of the Chuck wagon races at night. Upon arrival ( by C Train ) the Indian Village was the first place to see. It was a display of Native Teepee's, and various item of their lifestyle, both from the past and present. We also had a great show put on at one of the buildings, of skating by Elvis Stoyko, and a pair that won at the Olympics as well as many other great performers. Also, there was, in another building, a interesting display of horsemanship. The horses and riders were controlling cattle by not allowing them to escape out of a confined area. We also enjoyed a Bluegrass show. Later that night, was the Chuck wagon competition finals.....very... very exciting. This was followed by a great stage show of dancers, motorcycle riders and Aeriel performances. The ending was a dramatic fireworks display. During the night, a total of 3,300 pyrotechnic devices were set off.
Monday it was time for a "haircut" for Brandy after picking her up from the Dube's. We came back to the trailer for a bit of R&R until it was time to pick her up. Later in the afternoon we visited a friend from Shelburne, Kathy Marshall ( Mersereau ) and her dad Jim. After leaving Jim ( he is in a nursing home) it was off to Montana's for supper with Kathy and her youngest son Tyler.
Today ( Tuesday) is a getting ready day, for continuing the trip. The truck got an oil and filter change and a general going over. We head towards Banff next.

Yee Haw !!!!

2010-07-16T14:04:00.000-07:00

Finally, we have Internet once again.
The last post indicated a BBQ was planned...well it happened and two of my brother's kids and some of their families joined as well. On the way to his place, we stopped off at city hall to watch some street performers, some of whom were very good. Monday we took in the Fort Edmonton Park, which is a museum of sorts showing the growth of Edmonton from the 1700's to the 1920's. They do this by having streets set up with shops and houses, as they would have appeared in the time period represented. The fort itself shows life from the very earliest times of the Northwest and then Hudson Bay Trading companies. We were able to sample bannock here, which is similar to a tea biscuit but un-risen as they prepare it in a skillet. Getting to the Fort from the entrance is via a early 1900's steam train. The ride back to the entrance can be either the train or as we did, a 1930s street car. Later that evening, my brother came to the trailer for dinner.
Tuesday it was off to the Reynolds-Alberta Museum. For those not familiar with this facility, it is a transportation museum, started after the WWII by Stan Reynolds. It is now operated by the Alberta Gov't. Only part of the afternoon was spent here as we were intending to return on Wed. Not only are there a terrific number of cars, trucks and airplanes displayed, but there is also several storage facilities that are not open on to the public. We were fortunate to meet "Dennis", a volunteer at the museum. He liked our charming faces and wonderful personalities and he took us into the warehouse (s), where we spent several fantastic hours being shown the future projects and some of the rare vehicles not on display in the galleries. These displays included a fully size mock-up of the Avro Arrow. Yesterday , Thursday had us arrive in Dumheller and take a visit to the Tyrell Dinosaur display. While it was interesting, I found it not to be as informative as Dinosaur Provincial Park. We also took a 43 km circle route called the dinosaur trail. As well as a 12% grade there was also one of 5 remaining cable ferries, in Alberta. Sorta neat and very slow. This morning we headed off to and arrived in Calgary. Tonight it's a supper at the campground and tomorrow the first of two days at the Stampede. A tornado warning has been issued for an area some distance from here. It's sunny and 70F now after a heavy rain an hour ago.
There may be pics posted later, although we have a restriction on the number of MB we can use.

Big Cities

2010-07-10T14:38:00.001-07:00

From Dawson Creek to Grande Prairie, we both commented on how "normal" the trip was....no mountains etc. We saw mainly Canola fields and rolling hills. The wildlife sightings are also getting fewer. There were 2 Mule Deer ( big ears) and one fox. Also seen was a 3,000 lb. Beaver that was 18 feet high and about 20 ft long. In G.P. we had the chance to visit with Derek and Nancy, friends from Shelburne, that now call G.P. home. From there we stayed in White Court for the night at a very nice campground. Then it was Edmonton as our destination,
getting here on Friday the 9th. After settling in, we paid a visit to my brother's place and went to Boston Pizza for supper with him. Today ( Sat) was spent at the mall ...West Edmonton to be exact. It is as large as the last time we visited. They now have a hotel on site which makes a lot of sense as the place is immense. Tomorrow evening it will be a visit with my brother and his family for a BBQ at his house. Pictures to follow on the web album shortly.

Good-bye

2010-07-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

to the Northwest. We are in Dawson Creek BC, where we checked in on Sunday July 4. On the 2nd, when we were in Fort Nelson, we visited a great little museum called Fort Nelson Heritage Museum. It covered all the "normal" stuff pioneer museums have, as well as a great car collection. This collection was started by and is still maintained by a gentleman called Marl Brown. He is also the founder of the museum and the curator. I had a very enjoyable 1 hour visit with him enjoying the oral history of many of the cars. He owns 13 of them and knows the history of the rest. We also enjoyed a film on the making of the Alaska Highway containing original footage taken at the time. The next day it was off to spend the night at Pink Mountain, bear in mind it was "gay pride day". Sunday the 4th we arrived at the Mile 0 campground in Dawson Creek. This will be our last stop in BC as tomorrow we will be in Alberta. On the way to Dawson Creek, we took a very short detour and drove part of the original Alaska Highway crossing the only remaining wooden timber bridge on the highway...it's called Kiskatinaw and is 531' long and curved.. Today a visit was made to "downtown" and a viewing of the mile zero milepost as well as the various murals painted on some of the downtown buildings. Before driving down there, we walked next door to the Pioneer Museum...funny how many things don't seem that old anymore

Bin bizzy

2010-07-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

It should be noted that "up North" things are very different from down there. Virtually all lodges/roadhouses and most individuals rely on generators for power as well as TV and Internet. Telephones are few and far between and cell 'phones don't work. As a result, getting Internet service is a treat and is provided by satellite. On the 26th of June we left Whitehorse and headed to Teslin for the night. The 27th saw us get to Watson Lake YK, which has a sign post forest of city and town names from around the world. This all started when the Alaska Highway was being built and a soldier wanted to show how far it was to his home. There are now more than 63,000 signs including one we put up from Shelburne. We used a Frisbee from Fines Home Hardware and used felt marker to put our names on it. Check the photo album http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A. June 28 was the 6 month anniversary of this trip and we entered back into BC and dry camped at Liard Hot Springs, as the main campground was full. En route we spot 5 Bison, 2 black bear and 1 grizzly. The morning of the 29th had Sue put on er bathing suit and go into the hot springs. These are sulphur springs, so the smell ( weak) of sulphur was noticed. The temp of the water is from about 180F and up, depending were you are in the water. After getting out fully relaxed, it was off to Toad River for the night. gin, wild life was everywhere. 60 Bison (+/-), 1 black bear, 3 Stone Sheep including one young one. At the campground, there was a white swan and a moose.
For interest sake, there has been a Harley Davidson bike race going on. 1,000 bikes started from Fort Lauderdale FL. heading to Homer AK. There is one prize....., $500,000 in gold !!! There are check point along the way, where the riders are giver the next portion of the map. You must also sleep with your bike...no motels etc. One problem arose... the route was done on MapQuest...and NOBODY RODE THE ROUTE to prove it.
The last day of June was time to head north once again, this time to the NWT. On the way to Fort Liard again all orts of critters on or near the roadway. 4 Stone Sheep, 4 Caribou, 1 Bull Moose 1 Ptarmigan. We went through the highest pass on the Alaska Hwy. Summit Pass at 4,250 ft. We also traversed the longest Bailey Bridge in the world. We are now members of the North of 60 Club. The main residents up there are the Acho Dene tribe. We awoke this morning July 1st) to rain. The road from Fort Liard to Hwy 97 in BC is 113 miles long. On that trip down today, we saw 1 vehicle in the first 50 miles....not too busy. Oh yes, the view of wildlife today was limited to one bull bison 200 yds from the campground gate. The night is being spent in Fort Nelson BC

Whitehorse Again

2010-06-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

Once again we have wifi !!!!! Dawson CITY not Creek as mentioned before is a nice town...however, the streets ( other than Front St) are not paved and the sidewalks are wooden boards...very unique. We did the standard touring of the town on the 22nd, visiting the Fireman's Museum and the sternwheeler graveyard. There were 3 sternwheels that we saw, and found out later, there were 5 more deeper in the bush. Brandy managed to have a swim in the Yukon River which she seemed to enjoy. We also went into the Grande Theatre with it's dining room style chairs and barrel stoves. The evening of the 22nd saw us take in the show at Diamond Tooth Gerdie's....sorta neat. At midnight, we drove up to The Dome to view the midnight sun......the pics here show how light is really is at that time. After what seemed to be a very short night, we headed off to find our fortune at panning for gold....we got some!!!!!! it is now in the form of a necklace for Sue. The next stop was the Dredge #4, which was the largest wooden dredge in North America. On the way back to the campground, we visited the old cemeteries of the town, going back to the late 1800's. Following that we visited the original cabins of Robert Service and Jack London. The childhood home of Pierre Berton is also there, back not open the the public as it is reserved for writers. Last night ( Thursday the 24th) had us staying at a Territorial Park Campground. It is for places like that we purchased a generator. Coming back to Whitehorse passed a large area where there was a layer of white material in the ground. This is volcanic ash from a volcano that, the feeling is, now buried beneath a glacier. At one time 1/3 of South Yukon was covered by this ash. We will leave Whitehorse tomorrow and head towards Watson Lake. We are going to go into the NWT, which is something that was not on our original agenda. I expect Internet service will be scarce again shortly.

Hello Canada...again

2010-06-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

We bid Tok farewell on Sunday to head for Chicken Alaska. We met two Model A's at the camp from Kentucky...way to go folks. The original name of Chicken, was to have been Ptarmegan, but people couldn't spell it. As a result...Chicken was born , so to speak. It is a thriving metropolis of 21 people. They do not have electricity ( everyone has a generator), cell 'phones do not work and there is no sewer system ( ah, the good ol' shack out back). The Taylor Highway is closed in the winter and mail arrives twice a week via plane. We had great BBQ chicken ( what else). Sue made a valiant effort at panning for gold...alas, no luck. Bill also tried a little ( sore back), with the same result. Today ( Monday) saw us head for the Top Of The World Highway.We faced this trip with mixed feelings as some had said it was the road from Hades, others, including bikers, said "no problem". Well, it had rained for a day and a half sooooo, it was muddy...really muddy. On the US side of the border, no pavement was to be found and the road was slow going. The Canadian side was much better with areas of pavement and the graders had made the going much better. Our hope was to view the solstice tonight, but it is overcast, so we'll miss that event, but still go to the Dome A big hill with a view of the Ogilvie Mountains, tomorrow night, weather permitting. We do not have a sunset here... it is still light enough to read by at 3:00 in the morning. We are here for the next 3 nights and plan to do touring of the town of Dawson Creek and area.

Back in Tok

2010-06-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

While in Fairbanks, on Wed., we went to a farmer's market as well as the Fountainhead Antique Museum which was an excellant display of a car collection owned by one person. Several of the cars were the last one surviving. Back at the trailer some needed repairs were finished off. That evening we went to a cruise night at the Pioneer Park which featured some of the museum cars as well as many vintage vehicles. Thursday we put on the maps of the USA and Canada and filled in those places which we have visited. Off again we went to Pioneer park, this time to see the various buildings......Sue bought me a diamond willow walking stick (in the rough) which I stripped when returning to the trailer. The Quest West race dog building was also interesting...it's similar to the Iditarod but on a differnt course. They also have sled dogs rescued from shelters which they rehabilitate. The Northern most Southern BBQ is a place called Big Daddy's.....good grub !!! Brenda and Frank G, friends from Troy AL. arrived from Valdez. Frank went Halibut fishing and is the leader in the derby with a catch of 180#. Tomorrow, 20th,will determine if he wins the first round, which is two tickets or anywhere Air Alaska flies. Friday the four of us took off to to tour the #8 Dredge and were surprised to find the admission fee also included a sourdough lunch. From there it was to North Pole where amongst other things, we sat on Santa's knee....whatta treat. On the way to Tok today ( Saturday), we passed a point where the pipeline is suspended acrosss a river...neat. We also stopped at a farm and sampled some elk, yak and reindeer sausages...ended up buying an elk summer sauage. The wildfire that was buring 3 weeks ago when we were here, was finally put out about 4 days ago....a lot of damage to the trees.

Time is rollin' along

2010-06-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

After our blowout on Saturday outside Anchorage, we spent a couple more nights at a campground, which we had stayed at before, in Palmer. Sunday they had an ice cream social which we went to and that was about it for Sunday. The decision was made to replace all four tires on the trailer, which we did on Monday. These 10 ply's should hold up better ( we hope). After the tire change, it was off to Denali, where the night was spent about 6 miles from the town. Tuesday morning we had hoped to see a demonstration of what Rangers do at the park, HOWEVER, the slide on the bedroom would not retract into the trailer and by the time we did that manually, we missed the demonstration. We went to the Visitor Center in the park and watched a great movie presentation on the park . The park itself actually turned out to be a bit of a disappointment after all the hype we had heard. There is much more scenery, which we enjoyed elsewhere, than we found there. The drive to the Denali area itself was very scenic and the town itself looked like a version of Collingwood with all the tour buses. We picked up a replacement roll or split pin to fix the broken one on the slide and fixed it last night ( Tuesday) after our arrival here are Fairbanks AK. We will have 21 hrs and 45 min of sun today. The sun sets at :45 am and rises at 3:00 am. We have driven just over 14,000 miles since we began.

Westerly Road

2010-06-13T17:56:00.001-07:00

As mentioned in the previous post, we were outside Homer. We drove there and went to the Most Westerly Road in North America. From there, you can see the Pacific Ring of Fire which is a line of Volcanoes reaching as far as Asia. Of the four we could see, three are still active, the most recent erupting in 2005. Homer itself is a slender piece of land ( spit) reaching out into the ocean. There are a large number of fishing charter companies there as well as the ever present souvenir shops. We had supper at Capt'n Paddies, a place that had been recommended by someone at a previous campground. Excellent. Sue enjoyed grilled salmon and I had Halibut and chips. Yesterday was our on the move day again. It was to be a short drive.....however instead of an hour drive, it ended up being over 3 because of a blowout on Alaska Hwy 1 just outside Anchorage. Because of the dangerous location, we called AAA and it took them 2 hours to respond. During the time it took the guy to change the tire there was a four car fender bender. One of the drivers attempted to put the blame on the tow driver saying the emergency triangles were not out far enough.....not true. If the drivers couldn't see a 3 ton wrecker with all the flashing lights, they sure weren't gonna see the red triangles. Today, Sunday, we went back to the Ididirod Museum to have a ride on a cart pulled by a team of 8 sled dogs.....man they are fast!!!!! at about 15mph. With a full team (16 dogs) on snow, they typically run at 25 mph ALL THE TIME.
http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A for the photo album

Finally an update

2010-06-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

On the 6th ( Sunday) Sue went to a Cowboy Church...apparently it was "different") We tried Geocaching with no luck. The Monday was the day we left for Stewart on the Kenai Pennisula.Our camp site was right on Resurrection Bay...nice spot. Took a hike to the Exit Glacier and saw it from a distance. On the way back we saw a Cow Moose and at one point it was about 10 feet away and moving slowly....we retreated. Tuesday we went fishing with Captain Andrerw aboard the Lucky Lady. He was targeting rock fish and found them. We caught a couple of Flwnder which we sent back to the deep and also a couple of Black Bass that were too small. W#e did keep 4 larger ones and two Yellow Eye Rock fish of which you are only allowed one each. To do this we had to purchase a fising license each> we fished in Resurrection Bay and out as far as the Gulf of Alaska. We were lucky enough to see two Minke Whales, Sea Lions, Dall Porpoises, Sea Otters and Dall Sheep. We enjoyed some of the fish for supper....fresh. Wed we drove to Kenai to the Diamond M Ranch...got the last spot as there is a large Harley Davidson Rally there this weekend and registration started today ( Thursday) They are expecting 450 bikes. On the way to the "ranch" we visited the Sondotna Museum which is made up of log cabins of the original homesteaders in the area...dating from 1947. One of the tour guides was one the original homesteaders. We are just outside Homer tonight and this will likely be our last update for a few nights.

Misc

2010-06-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days have been spent takin' it easy for the most part. On the way to Anchorage from Palmer yesterday, saw us stop in at the Iditarod Museum at Wasilla. This place has the history of the dog sled race that takes place each year covering some 1000+ miles in Alaska. The film showed how dedicated these dogs really are. They are also very expensive, costing a minimum of $1,000.00 each and there are 16 dogs per team. You have the opportunity to ride in a sled ( with wheels) being pulled by team, however it was raining, which was appreciated by everyone here because of the wildfires, so we passed on that. The next stop was the Transport Museum, obviously about transportation in the North As with so many museums of this nature, they have more projects than volunteers and a lot of exhibits are suffering neglect. Those that have been attended to are very nice to see and read about. Today ( Satuday June 5th...Happy Birthday Denise) was spent at a market in Anchorage that sold everything from local crafts to food....quite enjoyable. Tonight there is a supper put on by the campround...all "we" have to supply is the dessert or side dish.

A rare day

2010-06-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

indeed. We took a walk of about 2 miles each way, to the Matanuska Glacier. This chunk of ice is about 2 miles wide at the narrowist spot and 27 miles long. It was quite a feeling standing on something that old. We now know where the term ice blue comes from. This glacier is the one, that is the closest you can drive too in the USA ( it is still quite a hike to the face). Walking on the ice was different than walking on "regular" ice. There is absolutly no give to it....it is just plain hard. After that trek, we drove to a Musk Ox farm, where they raise about 60 animals. They are a member of the goat and sheep family...hard to imagine this 900# animal being related to them. The largest wild herds are found in Canada's far north. A very interesting creature indeed. Keep checking the web album as I try to update it with more pictures each time I do this blog.
http://picasaweb.oogle.com/192950A

Nothin's flat here 'cept the tire

2010-06-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

May 29 had us stay at a campground owned by a couple from Russia. There are quite a number of Russian folks in that area. While the camp itself was ok, the experience of eating real Russian food was fantastic !!!! We also saw 4 extinct volcanoes one of which was over 16,000 ft. The 30th had us attempt to walk on a glacier ( Worthington), however, deep wet snow prevented us from getting to the face. On the way to Valdez, we passed through Thompson Pass at 2,678 ft, then begin a desent of 7 miles through spectacular snow covered mountains....this is what Alaska is supposed to look like. There were 3 pretty waterfalls, 2 at Bridal and one at Horsetail.. The camp called Eagles Nest in Valdez, could not have been better, surrounded on 3 sides by mountains and the harbour on the 4th side. The small craft basin had 100's of boats in it ranging from pleasure boats to charter and fishing boats. The daylight now is 18 hours....11:30 pm setting and 4:30 am rising. On Monday the 1st, we toured a couple of the local museums. In 1964 there was a 9.7 earthquake which caused the harbour in the original town to sink into the sea. There was a ship, the Chena, which brouht supplies etc to the town. It was tied at the dock and people always came to greet it. When the quake hit a, 4,000' X 600 ' part of the harbour disappeared taking with it the complete dock system and the 32 people on it. The tidal wave that followed, had the Chena hit the ocean flooras the sea retreated, rebound on the incoming wave, rode into town on it and returned to the sea. All this while, a sailor filmed the event on an 8mm movie camera. Followinfg this disaster, a number of the homes that survived the quake and tidal wave ( 40 ft high), were moved 4 miles to the current town site. Those that were too badly damaged were burned. It is now a major shipping port, mainly for oil from the Alaska pipeline. Today ( Tuesday June 1st) had us start the trip towards Archorage. WE are staying at mile 108 of the Glenn Hwy. All highways here have names and distances are always refered to by the mile number. EWe experienced a flat tire of the trailer, caused by a piece of steel by the looks of it. The tire could not be repaired, so another was bought. It happened at the "right" spot, as there was a turnoff that allowed us to get off the road. It was a short drive to Glenallen ( after unhooking the trailer) to get the tire replaced....the spare was also flat ( must remember to check that more often).

On to Valdez

2010-05-29T16:06:00.000-07:00

Well, today is Saturday and it's been 5 months and one day since this odyssey started. The wildfire is still burning west of Tok, after it started 5:00 pm Wednesday. The cause was apparently dry lightning. The area covered by it is over 2,000 acres. The water bombers have pretty well worked non stop, as well as the ground crews. It jumped the highway again yesterday. There are 67 wildfires in the state now affecting 74,000 acres. The top pic is smoke that drifted 10 miles from the fire, to the campground yesterday morning ( Friday). We are now on the way to Valdez, the site of the oil spill from the wrecked ocean tanker Exxon Valdez back in the 80's. We may go fishing on a charter there if there are fishing running. The second photo is on Mt. Sanford at 14,000+ feet. The last is of more boring mountainous landscape.

Smallish fire

2010-05-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

We have internet again ...sorta. Things really are different in the North. The things you take as being "normal" down South are often a luxury here....internet being one of them. The trip to Tok, one current location was MUCH smoother, road wise, once we cross into Alaska. The rebuilt a large portion of the highway from the border to Tok in the last 2 years. Our stay here will be for 3 nights which started last night, Wednesday. There is a forest fire going on at the moment, about 10-12 mile west of here. The evacuated a village last night as a safety precaution. It covers about 2,000 acres and jumped the highway to burn another 20 . It is still burning at 2:00 Alaska time, which is 4:00 Shelburne time, but under control. We took a drive over there and that is what the pics are of. I will try to copy and paste an email which was sent to some for pre..vious updates.

Back again

2010-05-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

We were without Internet service for a couple of days while in Skagway Alaska. We actually were in two different Provinces or Territories (BC & Yukon) and two countries (USA + Canada) in the space of 50 miles. On the way to Skagway, we had actually planned to camp at Carcross, but they really weren't open for business yet, so we carried on to Skagway. On the way we had to climb ( with the truck) White Pass. No problem for the Dodge handling the 11.5 mile climb with a 11% grade....WOW. The elevation at the top.....3292 ft...Skagway.....0 ft ( sea level). The population of Skagway, during non tourist season is 865, but they will get 893,000 visitors, mainly from the cruise ships, during the season, which this year started May 5th. We did a walking tour of the downtown area on the 20th noting the large number of crafts made of silver, gold . Most of these are done by the Tlingit people that are native to the area. In the evening we attended a free ( for the residents of the town) live theatre show called The Soapy Smith '98 Review. This is production highlighting the life of a real con-artist of the area. Great show. Prior to that evening show, we visited Dyea a ghost town that in 1898 had 10,000 people living there...5 years later it was deserted. The Chilkoot trail also started at Dyer. This is the trail is the one that shows an endless line of men going up a trail loaded with cargo on their backs, in heavy snow. Each person was required to take 2000 lbs of provisions up this trail. It took up to 30 trips to do this. We walked about 200 yds, in the summer, and called it quites. After leaving Skagway on the 21st, we headed towards Whitehorse. On the way we stopped at Emerald or Rainbow Lake for lunch. This is a lake that has many bright colours caused by the minerals in the lake. We also saw the smallest desert in the world. Quite a contrast with the mountains in the background. Yesterday, Saturday, saw us take a tour around Whitehorse, after meeting the sons of friends from Shelburne, for breakfast. One of them is an RCMP officer which seemed strange to be sitting beside in an eating place. We saw the Klondike, a stern wheeled river boat that is now a museum. Also visited was a log church which again is a musum showing the hard life these early preachers had. The Transportation Museum was also of interest as it showed the various modes of transport in the early north ( including a '29 AA Ford). There is also a full size airplane out front which is the world's largest weather vane. An unusal site was the 3 story log structure which is now an apartment building from the look of it. We will leave Whitehorse tomorrow and I will try to post pictures to the album today. We are on dial-up here so things are S L O W .

YUKON

2010-05-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

After leaving Iskut BC, we continued on the Cassiar Hwy (#37) towards the Yukon border. The road became more and more rough as we travelled, mainly in the areas that had been gravel and now have a single layer of tar/asphalt. The night was spent at Nugget City which for the most part was closed. As it turns out, we are early for the tourist season in spite of what the tourism books say. We ended up staying there,but with out water and electric coming from the store located there. There was no sewer hookup which isn't a problem, as our two holding tanks ( black and grey water) each hold about 40 gallons. We stopped at a Jade store on the way. About 90% of the world's JAde comes from BC but the carving of it is shipped off shore because of the labour costs.We had enterd Yukon at about 3:30 yesterday (Monday) Today the mountains were left behind for a while as we entered the Yukon Plateu, however the Cassiar Range soon reappeared. There was a waterfall to visit on the way to Teslin which after a 1/3 mile walk, turned out not to be too spectacular, but nice to see anyway. On picture #3, we took the top option and headed towards Whitehorse. Tonight we are in Teslin YK. Each little place with a name is pretty well self-contained with an eating place, fuel, motel and camping, although as mentioned before, we are too early for some of the services.

Gettin' there

2010-05-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

It was an easy drive today up the Stewart-Cassiar Hwy (Hwy 37) from Meziadin Lake to Isakut where we are spending tonight. The only wildlife spotted were 3 black and 1 grizzly bear. It was a great drive through the Coastal Mountains. The bush has changeded from mainly pine and cedar to Aspen and lodge pole pine and balsam and spruce. As the pictures show, the campground ain't too bad !!!!

No Border Patrol !!!

2010-05-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

A side trip was taken today, from our second day at the Meziadin Lake Prov Park, to Hyden AK, where there was NO American customs Office. This hamlet is direct across from Stewart BC with it's population of 350 ( and a Canada Customs office). The population of 71 in Hyden and no where to go once you where there likely explains that. Hyden is the most Southerly point in Alaska accessible by road. The intent was to drive to the Salmon Glacier about 20 miles from Hyden, but a combination of very rough gravel roads and snow blocked roads two miles from the glacier made the decision to turn around after about 3 miles. Where we turned, offered an elevated walk-way to view the bears feeding on Salmon, however they must have been full as there where no bears or Salmon to be seen. The top pic is of the Bear Glacier which feeds into Bear Lake which in turn produces Bear River. The bottom picture is of the remains of an avalanche. This particular area is prone to avalanches all year round.

Surprise !!!!

2010-05-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

There is but one Provincial Park in all of BC that has internet service AND WE FOUND IT. There aren't any services, so the newly purchased generator is getting it's first test. The drive to Meziadian Lake Prov Park from Smithers was beauitful. We are now heading north on the Cassiar Hwy # 37. We are going to Alaska tomorrow to a place called Hyder AK which is about 2 miles from Stewart BC. The top picture here was taken a 10:00 last night from the campground in Smithers. The bottom is our campsite tonight (Friday). Wild life report!!!!! 1 bear, 1 fox, 1 bald eagle. There is a mother black bear and two cubs that come into this park, so Brandy is confined to a lead.

Smithers

2010-05-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

Today may be the last posting for a while, as we are getting into territory that is lacking in telecommunication signals.
We went to see a Provincial Park today called Driftwood, which has a large fossil exibit made up mainy of ferns flowers etc. This was once a sea bed....hard to believe today. However, we could only get as far as the walking path to a cliff face where some loose shale was located. The reason for the lack of progress was the road blocked with snow drifts !!!!!! This didn't deter us from going to our next stop, the Twin Falls. Here we WALKED 1/2 mile to the falls, again snow was on the ground,,,but not too much, Brandy loved it. The view was nice. Although the falls lacked volume, they certainly had height....about 500 ft. These two falls are fed by glacial runoff. I neglected to mention our wild life viewing of yeterday, one moose, three deer and two bear. Today...nothing !!!

2010-05-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well the Interior Plateau is now behind us as we head back into the mountains. The drive today took us from Vanderhoof, which is the geographical center of BC, to Telkwa about 7 miles from Smithers. It appears we are far enough North now, that we have to check ahead to ensure campgrounds, Provincial Parks and various attractions are open, before striking off. Some do not open until the end of May. The first picture is of Eagle Peak. The second is Hudson Bay Mountain at Smithers. We hope to get to it tomorrow ( Thursday) and check out the Glaciers and also to a Provincial Park to see some fossils

9-3

2010-05-10T18:40:00.000-07:00

Our last day at Quesnel had us take a drive to a once booming gold town called Bakerville. The drive there was not dull. First, we climbed from 2200ft. to 4500' at Bakerville. Then we saw a total of 8 bears consisting of 2 mothers with two cubs each (black bears). These were about 5 miles apart. Next came a Grizzly all alone, then one more black. In between there were three seperate sightings of deer. Stay with me, I know that's 8 bear and 3 deer. The town itself was great. It is the single largest attended historic site in BC. Most of the building are restored originals and the balance are built to photographs or original sketches. Because of the altitude snow was still around, but not nearly as much as this time last year when one of the cabins was coverd in 8' of snow on May 10th. The Chineese had there own section of town that while close to the mining town was a little further up hill. This fact spared the China Town from fire in the mid 1860's. It was a full day which was really enjoyable. Oh ya, bear number 9 was spotted on the way back to Quesnel. Please see the web album for 25 more pictures.
http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Finds us still enjoying Quesnel BC. It really is a pretty area. One thing that has been noted is the increasing lenghth of the days as we get further North. The sun is up well before 6:00 pm and at 10:00 pm the sky is still not dark. We've been driving around looking at the town and surrounding area. we've"done" an antique mall, garage sales and farmer's market. Checked out what it takes to buy waterfront property ($300,00.00 and up) and stayed "home" and read. Monday will take us to Barkerville, which at one time was the largest place North of San Franciso and West of Chicago. It was also felt that Vancouver and Victoria would never do well because they were too far from Barkerville....it is now a restored ghost town.

Plans change

2010-05-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

We had intended to stay at Williams Lake tonight, however, the campground we went to, was under,construction. As a result, up the road we went to Quesnel and a beautiful place on the lake with large open sites. We booked in for a week, as we wish to go to Barkerville and see the old gold town. It doesn't open, or at least the attractions don't, until the 1oth. It'll give us a chance to recharge a bit. The weather has been cool, but considering where we are, it isn't too bad.

No insects

2010-05-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

We once again have Internet service!!!!!! Just to catch up, April 26 saw us in Merritt BC. The 27th took us into town (which is the country music capital of Canada ...yeee haw). There are murals on many of the buildings of music satrs, both modern and classic country. They also have many "stars "on various buildings with hand prints inbedded in concrete and hung there. There is an overlook of the town from about 1000' which we enjoyed. We also purchased a 3500 watt generator. It was a good price, new, and we felt it would allow us a bit more in campground selection where there isn't electricity. May 28th was our drive to Sorrento on Shushrop Lake and the beginning of a four night stay with friends of ours, the Cowan's, at their new home which they have been building for the past 2 years. For pics of the house and other pictures go to the album page at http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A. On the way to Sorrento, we walked into a water fall at Chase BC, which we all ( Sue, Bill and Brandy) enjoyed. The 29th was dedicated to doing zero...a full day of loafing. We took a trip into Salmon Arm on the 30th and drove around the town, took ANOTHER walk to Margret Falls and on the way home toured some modular homes....curious, just curious. Bill & Sue Cowan still own their log house at Louis Creek and Bill C and myself drove over there on May 1st to use his saw mill to cut some timbers for the new house. On the way, I just had to take a picture of the '31 AA sitting at the side of the road....not to bad a condition either. We said our good'byes on the 2nd ( yesterday) and continued on to spend the night at Little Fort BC. A nice little campground/motel/restaurant combo. Tonight camp is at Lac la Hache which is north of 100 mile House on Hwy 97. We aren't going to dwell on the fact we had snow at 4300 feet today. This was after a 14 km 8% upgrade hill. The good (?) news is there aren't any insects !!!!
Picture #1 is of Margrets Falls, #2 is the AA and #3 is of Adam's Lake near Sorrento

Headin' Nord

2010-04-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

We have now left Vancouver ( this morning) after a few very enjoyable few days visiting Sue's cousin Margret, who gave us a great walking tour of the Olympic Village area in Vancouver and of False Creek, which is a boat basin there. We also went to the market on Grenville Island where we had a great lunch at one of the food kiosks. I also had a chance to a couple of days with a good friend John and his wife Silvana. I have known John since public school days. We are Merritt, which is near Kamloops. The drive up the Coquihalla Highway was very nice. It took us through the Fraser Valley and ran adjacent to the Fraser River. We climbed from sea level in Vancouver to 4,000 feet at one point.....the Dodge performed the task with NO problems. We weigh over 9 tons, so you sometimes wonder.

Mainland again

2010-04-22T19:01:00.000-07:00

These pics were taken in Chemainus, on Vancouver Island. It was one of the towns we visited on Tuesday, along with Duncan which is known as the City of Totems with 30 some odd around town. Ladysmith was another of the towns, which is supposed to be one of the prettiest small towns on the island. We found that to be true. Wednesday was the journey to Victoria and all it's Victorian splendor. There was a castle to be visited (not as big as Castle Loma, but impresssive none the less.) Also visited the beach and the waterfront and saw some very neat floating houses.....I could get used to them. The highlight of the day was "high tea" at the Empress Hotel. VERY $$$$$$ but a once in a lifetime ( at least for us) adventure. Today we caight the ferry to the mainland. We found the campground to be a bit further south than we thought but it's a beauty. We are only about a mile from the US border.
Try www.vopenhouse.ca/video/5124_ef7038 and www.vopenhouse.ca/video/4616_louie

for an idea of what living on the water is like.

Happy Birthday

2010-04-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

Brandy, yes the wonder dog is one year old today !!!!!
After four nights at Qualicum Beach, we came south yesterday ( Monday) to Chemainus for three nights, prior to the departure to the mainland on Thursday.... Ontario, we saw Trilliums here at the campground, so if yours are not yet out, check the photo albums at http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A, there you can also see the Bald Eagle that was drinking at the pond begind the trailer in Qualicum Beach. Today we expect to drive to some of the small tons in the area and Wed "do" Victoria. It appears the temp in our home area are about the same as here, but we have a bit of rain today.

At our site in Qualicum Beach BC

2010-04-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

So there were, Sue was getting ready to take the dog for a walk, when she came back in and said "look at this". This pond is right behind the camper and there was the Bald Eagle having a drink. This after we had returned from a drive up the East Coast of the island to Campbell River, just on a sight-seeing trip. Campbell River is the Salmon capital of Canada. On the wa, we also passed a place called Fanny Bay, which catches 8.5 million pounds of oysters per year.

Canada eh?

2010-04-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

Yes siree, we're back on Canadian soil having arrived on Vancouver Island yesterday ( Thursday) morning after an early start from Sequim WA. The 100 mile trip up the island to Qualicum Beach (about 40 miles north of Nanaimo) was pleasant other than the drive through downtown Victoria with 9 tons of vehicle. Today we did a day trip around the area visiting several beaches and a very high lookout. Until I get my butt in gear with blog pictures, please check the Picasa albums at
www.picasaweb.google.com/192950A

We're BACK !!!!!!!!

2010-04-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, here we are again. There were several days when there was no WiFi available nor service with the aircard.
Here is a brief rundown of our activities for the last while.
Fri April 9 we did a tour of the USS Blueback submarine. Boy, ya sure wanna ensure your fellow submariners had good hygiene. It really wasn't as small as what we thought it might be at 219 feet long, but not too large in diameter, maybe 20-25 feet. From there it was off to the Rhododendrom Gardens...yup spring is in full swing here in the Northwest.
Sat we took part in a tour of the underground city of Portland. This "city" was in it's heyday from the late 1800's until about 1917. It is a series of linked passages under the upper city where Shanghaiers would force men into cells and then sell them to captains of ships. Women were also forced into being ladies of the night in the same manner. We also drove over to Pioneer square. This is sunken plaza ( think sunken living room). A troop from Circe De Soliel were performing.
Sunday the 11th say drive to Seattle. On the way we stopped in to the LeMay Car museum. This is the largest collection of cars that is privatly owned....some 2100 cars and trucks. There are ONLY about in the varrious buildings at any one time due to space limitations. There is a fund drive on now to build a new venue where more than double that amount can be shown. Mt. Rainier in the distance at over 14,000 ft was great to see.
Monday we were visiting the ship canal at Lake Washington and the Hiram Chittenden Locks which are the largest ( longest?) in the USA. It was then off to see the wooden sail and power boats at the Centre for Wooden Boats. Some real nice craft and craftsmanship ( craftpersonship )?? there. The end of the day saw us visit Pike Place Market, sort of like St. Lawrence market, but different. Bought some EXPENSIVE salmon that was smoked, peppered and garlicked.....mmmmmm, good.
Yesterday, the 13th saw our good luck end as far as vehicle problems are concerned. The trailer required a new backing plate, and brake shoes on the rear left wheel and the truck needed a new U joint on the front of the rear drive shaft ( it has a hanger bearing) and a two part drive shaft.
Today we headed off to Sequim WA, stopping off at the Naval Underwater Museum at Keyport. It had everything from deep submersibles, torpedoes and dive gear.
We catch the ferry tomorrow morning at 8:20 for Vancouver Island where we will spend about a week.

Reader's Digest trip report

2010-04-08T18:10:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are 3+ months into "the trip". As of today, Thursday April 8th, we have had no truck or trailer problems ( knock on wood) after travelling some 8,231 miles. We purchased membership in one of the many RV clubs before we left home. There was a certain amount of apprehension doing this, but as it has turned out, the $50.00 was well spent. This Passport America club, offers 50% off the regular price of over 1,500 campgrounds across North America. Our lowest net cost per night has been $10.00 and the most expensive about $18.00. So when we cannot locate a Passport campground and have to pay the published price of $30.00 -$45.00 it make us appeciate the cost savings. So far, we have managed to stay about 1/2 our nights at Passport. Brandy has been excellant and requires a "hair or fur cut" about every 4-6 weeks, tomorrow being the next. We've had a chance to see and enjoy the Pacific Coast and the huge redwoods of California, as well as the barren landscape of the deserts of Texas,New Mexico and
Arizona. We arrive back in Canada on April 15th, arriving on Vancouver Island from Port Angeles WA.,for about a week before visiting with friends and family in Vancouver.

swap meet !!!!!!!!!

2010-04-08T15:02:00.000-07:00

Thursday April 8 2010. We have just arrived in Portland OR., after an easy drive of about 170 miles from Sutherlin OR. There we spent a couple of lazy days doing some browsing of antique shops and sightseeing. The campground we were in, Hi-Way RV resort, was formally a drive-in theatre. We both agree it is one of the top 3 places we have stayed on this trip. They show movies a couple of times a week, on the screen that is still there. Last night was John Wayne . We also drove through a covered bridge, of which there are quite a few in Oregon. About 4 feet outside the trailer, there's a sandpiper sitting on a nest. She sure is vigilant and not much keeps her from performing her task. Upon signing in here this afternoon, a fellow asked if I was here for the swap meet. As it turns out, Portland has the largest auto swap meet in the Northwest and it's THIS WEEK-END. I hope to be able to visit at least a few of the 4,500 vendors....oh my!!!!

Headin' North

2010-04-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 3rd of April had us returning to the Cookhouse for breakfast (orange juice, French toast, sausage, biscuits and gravy, coffee and scrambled eggs....and you could go back for more!!!!. After rolling into the truck, we headed up the coastal highway, also known as the Redwood Highway, stopping at many of the beaches along the way. Great Model A roads. Sunday the 4th had Sue at a United Methodist Church for Easter Service. In the afternoon we got in a cable car and went 700+ feet up a mountain to view the Trees of Mystery...quite a sight from the top and the trip up & back. We also tried to drive through a Redwood tree ( $5.00 please) but the truck was too wide. Today (5th) had us leave CA on Hwy 101 where we bid farewell tothe ocean views we have truly enjoyed. Heading inland on 199 aw us eventually get of I5 to our overnight here in Suthlin OR. It was a VERY twisty and hilly road after we left the ocean views but the Dodge handled to challange. If the pics I've tried to post don't transfer, check the albums at http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A.

Too HOT Ontario?????

2010-04-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

Our departure from Nice CA. was much better than our arrival, as the damp weather had ceased. The drive from there to Eureka took us along Hwy 101. We did a small 32 mile detour onto the Avenue of the Giants highway, which runs beside 101. This is the road that goes through several large groves of Redwoods. These trees are HUGE. The one picture here ( if it transfers over) shows a "house" made from one log. We spent the night last night in Eureka and will be here again tonight (Friday). Last night, we had supper at a place called Samoa Cookhouse (www.samoacookhouse.net). This place has been a cookhouse since the late 1800's when it served as an eating place for loggers. It is family style, where they bring the veggies, spuds and meat on plates and ya help yer self. There is no choice of menu. Each day is different fare. Yesterday was pot roast, ribs, carrots, potatoes, bread, tea or coffee and cake....all home made, and yes.... you got everything listed in ample quantities, all for $15.99. Today we are going over the maps to decide what we are going to do as far as a route in concerned. We had no plans to be where we are, so some direction is needed.

YIKES

2010-03-31T17:23:00.000-07:00

Yup, that's snow and yup again....it's California. Placerville was the place. We have changed our route a bit. Rather than go into Nevada, we have headed back towards the coast. The passes between CA and Nev. were requiring chains on your vehicle, which we don't have. We will now go into Oregon. We are in Nice CA. tonight after a visit to Folsom State Prison........actually the museum there. A very interesting place. We are right on the water here as the picture shows...a little cool and damp, but no snow

1888

2010-03-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

The night of Mar 29th was spent in Placerville CA. which is a former mining town, dating from 1888, in Northen CA.. Today ( Tuesday) saw us take a tour of the Gold Bug Mine, which is now operated by the State of CA., as a tourist attraction. It was quite interesting seeing the hardships these folks endured. We will spend tonight here as well and perhaps tomorrow too because either of the roads we want to take from here to Nevada (State Hwy 50 or I80) are requiring chains on tires because of SNOW in the passes. It should be noted that we are at about 1130 ft above sea level here in Placerville, while the area of the Sierra's we will be driving through are between 7 and 8,000 ft. Snow has been falling above the 5,000 ft. line for a while now. The challanges continue !!!!!!!!