Lava in the Crators park, there are a few volcanos here, but a lot of the lava just came up out of fissures in the ground. Shepherd, Cernan and another astronaut trained here in the 60s prior to their moon flight. This stuff is really sharp and can literally tear you shoes to pieces if you walk on it. Talked to a guy from WA near St Helens, he is an avid Packer fan, since he was six, also a Badger fan, loves our band.

Momma bear in only berry patch along the Hells Canyon drive, baby disappeared into the brush as Mom stood up on her hind legs.

Aug. 9th

Just a short note, we are at Arco ID, leaving tomorrow for Victor, ID. Went to Crators of the Moon today, then drove up over the mountains into the Salmon River Valley, down through Ketchum and then back around the horn to home base. Truly beautiful. Not to hot and very dry. Will add some pictures.
Tom and Betty

The view across the Columbia River near Entiat, WS

Dancers come out of the square at the top of the building and music plays every half hour.

Michael eat your heart out

Nampa, ID Aug 7th

Well since we split with Barb and Mike, we traveled down Hwy 97 to the most beautiful city park in Entiat, WA. Stayed 2 nights, went to Leavenworth WA for the day, it is a Bavarian themed town, created about 40 yrs ago when the town was dying. The townfolks decided to create a new image and chose the Bavarian theme. The thing was that all the businesses had to agree to follow the theme and any new ones could only come in as Bavarian. So imagine a McDonald's in Bavarian mode, gas stations, motels, etc. Had a great lunch, listened to a Bavarian music group in the town square and so forth. Will post some pics.
We then followed 97 down to Oregon and along the way saw Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adam and Mt. Hood all in the distance but spectacular. Have been here for yesterday and tonight then on to the area of Craters of the Moon for 2 nights. Today we went to Hells Canyon, it took all day but was worth it. Poor Kita thought she had been abandoned, didn't eat all day.
Most of the week will be in ID, then on to Yellowstone early next week, Sun or Mon. Then unfortunately we will really be heading east.
Tom and Betty

Finally someplace with WIFI!! We are in Helena, Montana which is very hazy right now due to all the wildfires around. There are 14 fires going in Western Montana right now, several of them fairly large.
After we left Quesnel, we continued down Hwy 97 to the border. There is an amazing transformation along that stretch of road. You go from a lush green North Woods to a true desert within about 50 miles. We camped one night on the Thompson River which runs thru this desert like land and creates an oasis, more or less. It was 101 degrees that day! And the hottest day we have had all summer prior to that is only about 75. Quite a change!! This section of the country is in the shadow of the Coastal Mountains who capture all the precipitation. Only about 6" a year on the east side.

Took Washington state hwy 20 across the NE corner of Washington. Beautiful road, quiet & scenic! Camped one night at a Washington Rec area campground called Skookum Creek, only about 12 campsites, but the amazing thins is that they are free. Washington does not charge anything to camp in their rec areas. Have to remember that!

Mike & I split from Betty and Tom after we entered Washington. Michael is starting to get anxious to get back to the cabin. I'm doing my best to slow him down, taking him along winding, scenic roads but I think I'm about out of those as we are just about out of the mountains. So I anticipate being back in Gordon by the end of this week. Briana reports the lake level at the cabin has dropped even further down so that the end of our pier is now at the edge of the water. We now have more beach than we have ever had!
Barb

View from Dragon Mt looking down on Dragon Lake and Quesnel. The main industry here is lumber, with about 10 processing plants. There is a pine beatle infestation going on that is killing millions and millions of acres of Lodgepole Pine trees. The government is encouraging the lumber companies to harvest the wood before it is unusable so they are very busy.

Barkersville Main Street. All the wooden sidewalks are elevated to avoid the mud when it rains.

We've spent a fair amount of time is this area of BC. Several days at Wells where we went to Barkersville. It was a very interesting historic site, well off the beaten path. A replica of a 1860 gold mining town with the entire staff dressed in period clothing. There are even children playing in the streets. It has all the stores and saloons, a stage coach, and gold mines. Since there were many Chinese who were here too, it even has a Chinatown. Then we drove about 75 miles to Quesnel and have spent 3 days here. But there are chores to do even when you're traveling. Oil changes, grocery shopping etc. and this is a very pleasant spot to do it. Quesnel is a very pretty city of about 11,000 people, many, many flowers all over the place. Gardens, hanging baskets, you name it. And Mike was able to get his bee venom shots here so he was quite relieved.

We went geocaching this morning, found two but failed on one more. One of our hunts took us to the top of Dragon Mt where there is a spectacular view of the countryside. The trip up there was hairpin gravel so I got Betty's gravel/dirt road for today. But it's a beautiful day so it was no problem.

Probably a couple more days in BC, then back to the US. At least there I will get my phone service back.
Barb

Use your imagination, in the center of the picture is a black spot, it is a black bear doing whatever it is that bears do. If you blow the picture up you can see his ears and head. So I do occasionally see a bear. Betty

Main street, Anglican church

2 of the actors at Barkerville

Bear Glacier on the way into Stewart, what a drive

Provincial campground outside Stewart

Dirty rig after the Cassiar

Quesnel, BC

We have a really good wifi hook up for a change. Spent the last 2 nights at Wells out on the end of Hwy 26. The real end is in Barkerville, a restored 1860s gold rush town, with actors taking the part of actual people from back then. Didn't down load pics of there yet but will dig up a few new ones. Didn't intentionally try to get the actors to break character, but they just don't break. Any question you ask them is answered in terms of 1860s. It was a beautiful day. In the afternoon we drove to a ghost town, only an old store remains standing and it has recently be privately purchase and moved onto a sound foundation, the walls and windows are finished and the owner is working on the inside. Had to remove 100 years of rat droppings, yuck! Nice guy to talk to, but then everyone in BC is just incredibly nice and eager to talk and to answer questions.
We are at an absolutely beautiful campground for the next several days, even have cell service.
We continue to have good luck with the weather, any rain is after we get set up. There was a dog agility contest going on when we arrived, truly incredible dogs.
Did 5 loads of laundry here, groceries tomorrow and cleaning the rig. Chores are always there even when traveling.
Talked to Eric Fri. and the word is that Marshall passed his drivers test. Way to go Marshall, you'll have to take Grandma and Grandpa out for a spin next spring. Also it is once again raining in Texas, wish they would share a little with the home stomping ground, very dry there, but it will save us money on paying for mowing.
That's it for now, will head further south in a few days.
Tom and Betty

10 weeks on the road as of last Monday. Hard to believe. And Chris & Jim left us that day to head home so now it's down to Betty & Tom and Mike & I. We've been heading down the Cassiar Highway (#37) in BC. It's very interesting that up here all the highways have names. I guess it's because there are so few of them! Northern BC has been having a lot of rain in the past few weeks and some of the highway actually washed away and closed the road right before we got to it. Luckily they were able to get it fixed enough to allow vehicles thru by the time we got there. A lot of gravel and pot holes! Several washouts where it was down to one lane but everyone got thru just fine.

We are camped at a Provincial Park on Meziadin Lake outside to Stewart, BC. which is on the border with Hyder, AK. This is actually a small port on the Pacific ocean, connected by the Portland Fjord. That was a surprise to me. It looks too far inland to be a port. Hyder is virtually a ghost town, many boarded up buildings. It's only claim to fame is the bear watching during the salmon runs. But of course there were no bear when we went. The salmon are not quite there yet, just a few, thus not many bears. We are a week too early. That's been the story of this trip. A week too early.

Heading toward Prince George today. We need to find a place with electricity to recharge batteries.
Barb

A Hazy day in Haines

This picture was taken from our boat coming back from Juneau. It was drizzling but the sun was trying to be seen. Taken at 8pm.

Check older posts for my latest message.

The White Pass & Yukon RR

Narrow gauge railroad.

This is as close as you want to get to a bear.

Glacier on the way to Juneau

Looking back at Skagway.

Taken from the White Pass railroad. Note the cruise ships in the harbor.

Coming in to Skagway

On the road again

Well I have to start over as my message apparently was dumped somewhere in cyber space.
Anyway, we are sad as our little group is breaking up tomorrow, with Chris and Jim starting home and the rest of us heading down the Cassier Highway though central BC. There is still alot to see and do before heading east.
Had a great time in Skagway, took the train on a bright sunny day, lots of rain for the ferry to Haines, but yesterday the fast boat to Juneau started out with overcast and brightened as we went along, until lots of sun and warmth in Juneau. Saw lots of wild life both ways, humpbacks, orcas and porpoises, plus lots of eagles, especially in Juneau itself.
Had an easy drive out of Skagway, can't say the same for Mike and Barb. Again a beautiful sunny day, with the best roads yet to Teslin.
Will try to send some pictures tonight, don't know exactly when we will be on line again. Phone service will again be very iffy as we will be in the middle of nowhere.
The hunt for the whale is over, with no luck. Apparently they aren't in this year.
That's it for now.
Betty and Tom

Teslin, Yukon

We may not be able to blog for a while now. Heading down the Cassiar Hwy tomorrow & they may not have much internet availability. We'll see. Yesterday we took the fast ferry to Juneau. Great trip! The ferry is a catamoran that holds 50 people and they watch for wildlife along the way. Saw some more whales including some Orcas, first time for that. When we left Skagway at 8am, it was raining (so what else is new) but by the time we got to Juneau, 90 miles away, the sun was shining. According to one of our drivers, Juneau only has sun about once every 9 days! So I guess we lucked out. My sister, Bev, was in Juneau the same day on a 10 day vacation to Alaska. Unfortunately she had a boat tour scheduled so I guess we will have to wait to compare our pictures. I'm glad she had a good day for her trip.

Coming across the border this morning, we ran across a not so nice agent. I don't know why but he decided that we must be suspicious people. He pulled us over and searched our entire camper. Told us to stand outside in front of the truck and give him the keys. Then he went thru every cupboard and drawer, including opening up the computer and starting it. He must have asked us 4-5 times if we had any firearms! I know, it's Michael's beard! Makes him look like the redneck he is. Finally after about 1/2 hour, he disappointedly told us we could go. The strange thing is he never checked the truck and it looked like they were pulling over most of the RVs coming thru. It almost seems like they got word to check for something coming out of Skagway. Makes for an interesting story.

Bird's eye view of Dawson

Dawson City from the top of a nearby dome. The large river is the Yukon. In the lower left the Klondike River is joining it. If you look just above the city, there is a dark line running on the lower edge of the Yukon. That is the Klondike. It's water is clear whereas the Yukon is silty and it takes a while for the waters to mingle.

Dawson City

Dawson City with the dirt roads and wooden sidewalks. And it was this way all over town, not just in the old section.

Carcross Desert

This is the Carcross Desert, the smallest desert in the world, on the road to Skagway.

Skagway

Friday in Skagway. Had a beautiful sunny day yesterday for our railroad trip up the White Pass. It's a narrow gauge track that literally hugs the edge of the mountain. In places when you look down, there is nothing but emptiness beneath you. I guess my fear of heights is getting better, those things are bothering me less and less. The highway down to Skagway is pretty amazing, There is an 11% drop from the summit of the pass to Skagway over about 15 miles. I don't remember the elevation drop but it's at least 2500 to 3000 ft. Quite a ride!! Now, we have to go back up that hill; at least there are plenty of spots to stop & rest the truck.

Today we are heading to Haines, a small town across the fiord, on a small ferry. In the rain. But a little rain is not going to stop us. And tomorrow we take another fast ferry down to Juneau.

Frantic Follies - Whitehorse

Last one of the cat

Skagway July 18th

First to answer Rich's questions, yes Kita is hanging on with her R front leg, when facing the other direction she hangs on with her L. She isn't so dumb, although we have now had to catch her three times and she hit her head on the mirror in mid jump once.
As for the permafrost in the picture of the cabin, the windows are at ground level and should be at least 3 feet above ground as they are on the other side of the house.
The hunt for the whale is not going well. A lady here knew exactly what we were looking for and did indeed sell them several years ago but they are no longer available. She is an oldtimer here and knows what everybody is selling. Will look in Haines tomorrow and in Juneau on Sat.
We take the train ride today on what looks to be a beautiful sunny day.
Will try for more pictures today, have a really cute one of the cat if you all can stand one more, probably the last for the trip.
More later
Tom and Betty

Permafrost damage at old Chicken

Kita on the bumpy road to Dawson City

Lulu Belle

Moving on 7/17/07

We're back at Whitehorse today. Will go to the Follies tonight then on to Skagway and the fast ferry and the train to White Pass. Had easy trip from Dawson City to Carmacks and on to Whitehorse today. The weather was beautiful leaving yesterday then the rain descended for set up. Today was sunny and warm, in the 60's. No cell phone service here. Went to the grocery store and loaded up for the next week. That's it for now, will try to send pics as.
Tom and Betty

Dawson City

We arrived in Dawson last evening. Stayed at a small federal campground just south of Chicken which was very nice & quiet. There was one other couple in there from California who we then played hop-scotch with all the next day. The Top of the World highway is something else! It is paved from Tok Ak up to Chicken and then it's gravel or a combination of gravel & mud, mostly mud. When the rest of the crew came across it was a sunny beautiful day but we weren't that lucky. About the time we hit Chicken it started raining and that mud turned pretty slick. We had to go into 4-wheel drive several times to keep from sliding and this road is narrow and hugs the sides of the mountains in places. No guard rails of course. Very interesting trip! The number of RV's & trucks that use this "highway" is amazing. It took us about 5 hours to go 100 miles. Our camping buddies from Calif had car trouble, dropped an exhaust pipe, on a curve on the highway. Luckily someone was able to help them wire it up. Not a good place for car trouble!

Today we are going to explore Dawson, it looks to be an interesting town.
Barb

30 foot whale

Dawson City July 14

We got to Dawson City yesterday without any trouble. We are glad we put 2 new tires on the front of the truck in Glenallen 2 days ago. Enjoyed Chicken - only electric, cooked hotdogs over a fire in the rain. Ate under the awning. Took a walking tour of old Chicken during the gold mining days. What a mess permafrost can make of buildings over time. Will post a picture later as the pics are still in the camera. Had breakfast at the Chicken Cafe one of only 3 businesses in the town other than campgrounds. The blueberry pancakes were 10-12 inches in diameter, I could only eat a third of my single cake. The other baked goods were truly sinful, had to get a cinnamon roll - big enough for us both. Seems like everything else in Alaska, comes in only Top of the World Highway lives up to its billing you are on top of the mountains a fair amount of time. The views were beautiful, more than a camera can capture.
The road was okay, talked to a couple truckers on the CB to thank them for stopping for us. The first one let the second one know we were coming and that we were nice so the second guy stopped for us. Other wise they have been known to race by you without even slowing down and damage your vehicles. A little politeness goes a long way.
The ferry ride across the Yukon River at Dawson was a hoot. Only 2 rigs at a time if your lucky. Some times the wait can be hours. There were at least 10 rigs lined up to go west this morning or is it north. Directions are difficult up here with no dawn and no sunset.
We are staying in Dawson until Mon. morning so Barb and Mike can catch up with us. They cut off back to Fairbanks to spend another day with Bill.
Dawson is an old fashioned mining city, dirt streets and wood side walks. You can drive to the top of a Dome over looking the city which is awesome, did that last night while the sun was shining. Going to Diamond Tooth Gertie's tonight for the show. Farmers Market this morning - 3 vendors, good veggies.
Guess that is it for now, have to take advantage of the good wifi when we can. Will do some pics from Valdez
Betty

As Betty said, we had a great trip on the Lu-Lu Belle. It's quite a boat. Holds about 40-50 people, mahogany wood thru-out and oriental carpets. Capt Fred makes you wipe your feet before you board! My camera didn't quite die, so I'll post some pictures of the animals we were able to see. Did not get a good whale picture though. Mike was invited to go Halibut fishing with the owner of the rv camp on Monday. They were out for about 13 hours and about 70 miles out into the Sound. Caught 2 halibut, 70 lb and 40 lb, but not by him. He threw one back, too small, but had a good time. They are out in the pouring rain right now checking out the salmon. There are now so many salmon they have removed any limits.

Valdez is a great town with very friendly people and not too touristy. I really like it here except for the amount of clouds & rain you get but perhaps we are at a bad time. Will have to come back & check it out again. The owners of this park are from Hudson, WI in the winter and up here all summer.

Tomorrow we head for Fairbanks to see Bill one more time before we leave. I can hardly believe that we are "heading home"! Not quite yet though, still going over the Top of the World Highway and to Skagway and Juneau and then down thru BC. But our time in Alaska is winding down and it makes me sad. The rest of the crew is heading for Tok and on to Chicken & Dawson where we will probably catch up with them.
Barb

PS - If you can see them, there are people at the bottom of the Falls.

Still In Valdez
Well what can you say about the Lulu Belle Tour. Captain Fred talks during the whole trip, his 2 mates are great. One is going to be a senior in high school in Provo and the other will be a senior at BYU. Both young ladies who really know their way around the boat, even steering it.
Have some fabulous pictures of humpback whales, hope I can down load a couple today for the blog. He takes the boat into caves where you can touch the rock without even leaning out. Don't know why the boat doesn't scrape the walls. We followed at least 7-8 whales for the longest time to get pictures of them flipping their tails. On did in right in front of the boat, almost splashed those of us in the prow of the boat. I thing I got a picture just as the tail was coming down. Wouldn't you know it is on the 35mm camera, the digital battery died. Also got great shots of the ice at the Columbia Glacier. What a blue. The face of the glacier was 7 miles away and that is as close as you can get now days.
Went up to the Worthington Glacier, just the 2 of us and I climbed up to the face and had my picture taken with my hand on the ice. It was surprising crystaline in texture, sort of like our snow is after it melts and refreezes. Thought it would be smooth. It was a beautiful sunny day up there and we returned to clouds and rain ever since.
Tom has had no luck with the fishing, but Jim has gotten 8 so far. Last try today as we leave to head north to Tok in the morning

Well we have been at Valdez since Wed. I could really live here, very laid back, the people are the best. The scenery is top notch. The guys have done some fishing, Jim got a nice salmon and Tom got a small one he gave back to the bay. Will be staying until Tues. some Mike can go fishing with the campground owner and the others can do more salmon fishing the pinks are running now. We are sitting at the small boat harbor the best place to connect with the internet. The park's wifi isn't very good - no surprise. Finally were able to pay the Cingular bill - had to register since they have changed to AT&T. What a pain.
No luck on the whale search so far. Took Kita to the vet yesterday with Snuffy to renew their papers to cross into Canada. They were surprisingly well behaved. They seem to have declared a truce lately, no hissing or barking. Who'd have thought!
We go out on the Lulu Belle boat tour this afternoon, about 6-7 hours the weather looks to be improving with blue sky beginning to appear.
Today is the 7th day of the 7th month of 2007. Cool date.
Tom and Betty

Bday girl and the glacier

Salmon at Bear Creek

Seward

Considering my partner of 40 yrs forgot my birthday it was a pretty good day. Went to Exit Glacier and I walked up the trail to within 30 ft of the glacier, really beautiful even had a woman take my picture up there. The trail was too steep for Tom to take, he took a shorter one instead. Had lunch at a local restaurant recommended by the campground, very good caribou burger plus cherry pie alamode. Then we drove out as far as we could on the west side of Reserection Bay, came back and went to the Alaska Sealife Center. Awesome displays, information, sea animals and birds. Then we drove up to the base of Marathon Mountain where the crazy race is held on the 4th. Then we drove around the east side of the bay and back past the campground to the necessary dirt road. At that point Eric called to wish a happy birthday. On the way back we stopped and watched the salmon at the creek again.
We leave for Palmer tomorrow and then on to Valdez for 5 days. Maybe the guys will go fishing again.
Betty

Seward

Drove up from Homer yesterday, mostly in the rain & clouds, and took a gravel road loop down around Lake Skilac. Very pretty even in the mist. Seward, pop ~2,000, is expecting 40-50,000 people here for the 4th. They have a race up one of the mountains here called Marathon Mountain, very steep and very high! Coming down is worse than going up, so they say, there are injuries every year. We saw a few people scoping out the trail, at least I think those moving dots were people!

Seward has a sealife center here that is very interesting. There is oceanic research and wildlife rehab done there. They have displays of harbor seals and stellar sea lions and many ocean birds. Puffiins are very interesting birds. They are divers and use their wings to "fly" underwater. One of their seals just gave birth to a son, difficult to do in captivity.

Red (Sockeye) Salmon are now running. We have a creek right next to our campground and we are watching them. Sorry, no fishing!
Barb

Skyline Drive

Took one of our cross country drives yesterday, as usual we found a dirt road at the end of the pavement, took it as far as we could and had to turn around. Then took Ohlson Mountain road, another dirt road to the end, if we had continued we would have ended up in someones yard. On the way back down we went to the Winn Nature Center and took one of their trails. We are sitting on a bench overlooking a quiet stream and what happens the phone rings. We aren't safe anywhere. It was Cyn with some important news.
After that we went up to Anchor Point where we reached the end of the farthest paved road in North America. I think we were west of Hawaii. watched them load and unload boats from Cooks Inlet with these very high wheeled tractors. Pictures are on the 35mm. Came home exhausted again and slept well.
Will leave for Seward tomorrow for a couple days and then on the Valdez.
Tom and Betty

Halibut!!

What a day we had. We left the dock at about 6:30AM with an outgoing tide and about 15mph wind coming in the opposite direction. That doesn't sound like much but the combination makes for some pretty high waves and swells. In fact our charter captain, Capt Joe, said he was almost going to come back to dock. Fortunately we found a couple of spots to fish in more protected areas of the bay instead of going to his favorite spots further out. The boat rocked and rolled and we often had a hard time keeping our balance. Thankfully no one went overboard or got sick but at the end of the day most everyone admitted to feeling a certain amount of queasiness!! When the tide turned about 10am, things got much better and we were able to move to better areas. Our limit was 2 fish per person and we filled it. Nothing huge, the largest one was 29 lbs, but all very good eating fish. We had our halibut fish fry last night, it was yummmmmy.

Today we had a very cool find. We went to another Russian village called Nikolaevsk and stopped at a cafe run by a woman named Nina. She is a very entertaining woman, was an Electrical Engineer in Russian before she came to Alaska about 10 years ago. The proceeds from the sale of her gift items goes to children back in Russia. As part of your visit with her, she will dress you up in traditional clothes and take your picture. We were the only customers at that time she had her full attention. What a hoot!

Barb

The Kenai

Where to start. The scenery is absolutely mindboggling. Have to select what to take pictures of and more of them are on the 35mm then on the digital so will have to share when we get home.
We are in a park that is ramped down toward the Kechemak Bay, the Kenai Mountain range is across the water with snow and glaciers above the tree line. Eagles are flying.
Drove up to the East End Road today as far as a Russian cemetary, then chickened out as the road took a deep dive down {dirt road} that would have required 4 wheel drive to come back up. There is an Old Russian village there where Russian is spoken. The children don't learn English until they start school. Old Russian clothing is worn and no pictures without permission.
The gang is going fishing tomorrow for halibut, I was going to take a ferry to a nearby town but the ferry is out on a week long trip to the Aluetians and won't be back until next Tues. So I will tool around town, dog sit and may be spend a little money. Most of the Christmas shopping is done. Am still waiting to hear from Barb E. about the measurements of her whale carving and where she got it.
We are moving to Seward on Sun. for 2 nights and then move on to Valdez.
Tom and Betty

Bill thinks we are a jinx on his car. When we were in Fairbanks, and I was driving of course!, the timing belt broke, which bent one of his pistons. Two weeks later and several thousand later, he got it back and immediately hit the road for Homer to join us on the fishing trip tomorrow. He made it but went thru about a guart of oil every 100 miles. We found a loose oil filter this morning but it may have hurt the engine in the process. He thinks he can make it back to Fairbanks (600 mi) and back to the repair shop. I hope so. We are prepared to go to the rescue if necessary.

Will report on the fishing trip later. (Sorry you aren't here Jeanna!!)
Barb

Monday June 25

I think it's Monday and maybe the 25th but I have to check the newspaper to be sure! We spent 4 days in Anchorage at a city campground called Centennial Park. Very interesting! One of our neighbors was a Native from a small village called Norvik which is above the Arctic Circle. Her family was camped there while they shopped & tried to put their daughter on a plane to go to school at another small village. For some reason the airline couldn't find the reservation. She said this happens quite frequently! Another neighbor was on her way outside (down to the lower 48) because she had been shot in the leg and she wanted to get out of Alaska and start over where no one knew her. It did not sound like it was an accident either. We decided we didn't care to know anymore about that situation. Since Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska with about 1/2 of the state's population, it has many of the big city problems, lots of traffic with narrow streets, lots of homeless? or at least very poor people on the streets begging, drugs and gangs.

Yesterday we drove down to the Kenai (Kee ni) and are presently camped at Sterling which is just east of Soldatna for those of you who are using a map. This is a heavy fishing area on both the Kenai River and the Salmon River so the guys are going to try their luck again. Tuesday we will head for Homer at the bottom of the peninsula. There is a big fire going on just to the northeast of Homer, called the Caribou Hills Fire. So far it's burned over 20,000 acres, started by someone sharpening his shovel. Hopefully that won't hamper us too much. Thursday we have a Halibut charter scheduled!!
Barb

Heritage Center

June 20th - Anchorage

What a beautiful day, bright sun, and 78 deg. Spent most of the day at the Native Heritage Center which was built entirely by the natives. 26 acres, beautiful building with indoor presentations of native sports, songs and dances, storytelling, native crafts on display and for sale. Talked to a number of artists about their lives and art. Out side they have recreated 5 different housing sites depicting the 5 different groups native to Alaska. Lots of information and pleasant people. Had lunch in the cafe - caribou stew 16-18 oz for 4.50 what a deal. Will be staying 2 more nights here and then move down to the Kenai and down to Homer for ocean fishing. Hope to camp on the beach a couple nights. Cloudy today - smoke coming up from a fire on the Kenai. Maybe rain the next 2 days.
Betty and Tom

Wednesday June 20

We are now in Wasilla which is a large city (for Alaska) just north of Anchorage. We have been meandering down the Parks Hwy since leaving Fairbanks. Spent several days at Denali, then several more at a salmon fishing camp on Willow Creek. It was a small state campground but entirely filled with fishermen, non-gender, there were lots of women and children there too. Everyone is fishing for King Salmon right now, saw a 12 yr old girl pull in her first fish, about a 40 lb King. Was she excited!! It's very different fishing than we are used to, people line up on the bank about 2 ft apart & when someone catches a fish everyone else has to stop casting until the fish is landed. You are only allowed 1 King a day, and right now only on Sat, Sun & Monday, must be to allow the other days for the salmon to get to their spawning grounds uninterupted. Did anyone in our party get a King? NO!! But it was fun watching everyone else land them. I'm waiting for the fishing charters for halibut!!

Wasilla is the official starting point for the Iditerod dog sled race, which, BTW, is the state sport of Alaska. Yesterday we went to Knik where the trail comes right next to the road and walked on part of it. I was surprised to see that there was a fence outlining it, but that must be just in more populated communities. We have seen a lot of mushers and their dogs. Surprisingly, the racing dogs are quite small and the Alaskan Husky is not bred for appearance but for endurance. They can look totally different from each other. Bill's dog, Newt, is an example except Newt doesn't want to pull. Bill tried to get her to pull him on skis when she was younger, wanted nothing to do with it! Smart dog!!

On to Anchorage today. Jim is having problems with his generator & will get that fixed. I probably shouldn't say this as now I'll jinx it, but we have had no problems. No flat tires, no cracked windshields, no bad encounters with animals, four legged or two legged. So sorry Carol, maybe later.
Barb

Just a cute house in Nome

Earp's hotel, the Brewster

Flying into Nome

Nome

Well where to start. The plane was an 18 seat Cessna, had to stoop over to go down the aisle. Twin prop, they supplied foam ear plugs and you needed them. The flight was smooth, the crew was great, got a chance to talk to them while waiting on the flight back.
Nome is really the end of the world as we know it. There are only 3 dirt roads out to smaller towns. Nome has 5000 residents which include miners, construction people and the usual support residents, i.e. shop keepers, gas stations, post office etc workers. Very friendly.. We were the only tourists in town, but apparently they do get cruise ships in during the summer. Gold is still found in the area and a new gold mine opened a yr and a half ago just out of town in the middle of berry country which of course means lots of bears.
We walked around town, there are 2 cabs and for $5.00 they will take you anywhere in town except the hospital and the high school. Don't know why the exception. There is a minimum security prison with 130 beds of which 112 are filled.
Nome is the 3rd largest city in Alaska, and had a judicial district #2 covering the entire coast. The people are very friendly, willing to talk about where they are from and why they stay there including all winter when the only way out is by plane.
The best thing about the trip was on the way back, Mt. McKinley loamed up out of the clouds to the south and we could see over 2/3s of it for over 30 min.
All in all worth the expense just in talking to people.
One more thing did you know that Wyatt Earp came to know and with a partner built a hotel? It burned down in the fire of 1937, but was rebuilt in a slightly different spot in order to widen the main st. - Front St. Will try to send a picture
Betty

Friday, June 15 Denali

Lots has happened in the last few days. Michael and I didn't get to fly to Eagle, it seems they had some paying customers so we got bumped. Oh well. The rest of the crew flew to Nome on Wednesday for the day (no room for us) but I'll let Betty report on that. So instead of flying around the countryside, we spent two days wall boarding a cathedral ceiling and starting the taping and mudding. Lots of fun! But I'm sure Bill appreciated the extra hands.

Left Fairbanks yesterday and come down to Denali. Today we took a bus tour of the park which is the only way you can get into the interior of the park. One gravel road that goes about 90 miles inside. We went to mile 62 and it took about 8 hours but we had a glorious day. Our driver and guide said our tour was a Grand Slam Plus. We were able to see 4-5 moose, caribou herds, fox, Dahl Sheep, Golden Eagles, Grizzlies and The Mountain. That made it a Grand Slam. The Plus was a wolf! Beautiful!! He loped along right next to the bus. Bad picture but better than nothing.

The guys are getting all excited because we are getting into Salmon country. The locals say the Kings are running really good right now. We will be here for another day and head toward Anchorage on Sunday. Should be some good fishing spots down there.

Rivercruise

Went on a 3+ hr riverboat cruise on the Chena River yesterday. Again a beautiful day, We are going to the UAF animal research farm today and a ways up towards the Artic Cirle, but won't make it all the way. Wednesday, Tom and I with Chris and Jim are flying to Nome, could only get 4 seats. Hope the weather is good so we can see alot and also it is only a 18 person plane so the fewer bumps the better.
Tom and Betty

Saturday June 9

I guess it's been a few days! We've been staying here in Fairbanks and will be here until next Thursday. The first 3 days it did nothing but rain but I guess after such good weather all along the road, that's to be expected. The Chena River which flows thru the city has risen quite a bit and picked up a lot of driftwood. We've taken several rides out in the country, losing ourselves on the back roads, mostly gravel if you're lucky, otherwise mud. That's where a GPS and 4 wheel drive comes in handy! Saw a red fox but no other critters yet. Bill's place is really coming along. He has some beautiful land, full of birch trees. He is now in the process of wallboarding the interior. Our caribou burgers were great! Very rich, you certainly didn't want more than one.

Tuesday we may be able to join the mail run to Eagle, Ak which is on the border of Alaska and the Yukon. I hope it works out, that would be a fun plane trip. And on Wednesday, Tom & Betty and Chris and Jim are flying to Nome for the day. Unfortunately they got the last seats in the plane so we will find something else to do. Michael is thinking of driving up the Dalton Hwy to the Arctic Circle. It's about 200 miles from here and would be an all day trip, mostly gravel roads. But we would be in the tundra and that would be nice to see.

BTW, sunset is 11:30 and sunrise is at 3:15 today. However during that time, it never gets dark, just dusk. Bill says you get used to it.

Catching up

Spent the night in Tok at the Sourdough campground. What a great place. Ken Albright is the owner, in the evening he played the guitar and sang for the crowd. His own lyrics to Willie Nelson music, then we played the sourdough pancake toss, luckily there were some 10 winners who got a free breakfast and the rest of us didn't get our picture on the wall of shame. We did have breakfast in the morning great pancakes, lots of fruit and drinks.
Left Tok yesterday for Fairbanks, saw moose, lots of snow and ice. Will attach picture of the ice on the Robertson River. Made a bad choice in campgrounds last night, moved to a better place today and will be here at least a week. Will have supper at Bill's tonight, caribou burgers on the grill and a tour of his cabin in the wilderness. Will add pictures of the cabin later.

Saturday June 2

Change of plans. Per the advice of a number of locals, we are taking the Southern route into Alaska and will try for the Top of the World highway coming home. That's the one that goes thru Dawson City. So now we are in Destruction Bay on the Kluane Lake. The lake is the largest in the Yukon and is almost ice free. The road skirts the very edge of the lake and against mountain clifts on the other side in many places. There is a lot of road contstruction going on but they say it will get worse as the season progresses. Mike & Jim went fishing again this afternoon with much better success! We had fresh Lake Trout for dinner tonight!! I don't have enough power to get the picture on tonight, hopefully tomorrow.

Into Alaska tomorrow!!
Barb

Whitehorse

Well we now know our way around town, saw the longest wooden fish ladder, saw the first salmon fingerlings of the season going down stream, all of 2 inches long. Did a few museums, drove around, did some shopping yesterday, got some neat stuff, some for Christmas. Can't say more than that. Will leave for Dawson City tomorrow and then the Over the Top Highway and finally into Alaska!
Betty

Whitehorse, Yukon May 31, 2007

Dropping anchor here for a couple of days. Whitehorse is on the Yukon River which still has a bit of snow around the edges. The Yukon, Jack London's The Call of the Wild, Sargent Preston of the Yukon (for those of you old enough to vaguely remember!). It always seemed that was at the end of the world, well...maybe it is! Whitehorse is in the middle of developing it's downtown riverside area with a riverwalk & parks. When it's finished it should be very nice. Went out for pizza last night. 12" pizza & 2 beers = $35.00 (Canadian)! But Canadian & US are almost on a par. When we get back to the States, Alaska, it will seem cheap. Mike & Jim decided to spring for a fishing license today & spend the day trying to catch our supper. Chris & I will have better luck at the grocery store!
Barb

On the Alaskan Highway 97 to 1

The hot springs was great last night, hated to get out but the mosquitos threatened to carry us away. Beautiful provincial park. Tonight 120 miles south of Whitehorse, overlooking a lake with some ice still on it and snow covered mountain p;eaks in the distance. The weather remains sunny and pleasant for the most part. Had to yield the road to a caribou today, bison along the side of the road. The cat keeps getting better and better as a traveler, although she got out after a couple cowbirds this morning, no trouble catching her. Saw a black bear but too far for a picture. Will be spending the next few days in Whitehorse hopefully with Wifi service.

Monday May 28

Fort Nelson, BC. Getting there, only 1400 miles to Fairbanks! Running into fewer and fewer places to get on the internet. We are really getting into the wilderness now, there are signs on the highways letting you know how far to the next gas stations. Roads are good and not heavily traveled. We have seen lots of wildlife. First ever grizzly bear along with her two cubs, got some very nice pictures, from the car of course. Starting seeing Moose yesterday and Black Bear all along since leaving the Banff area.

We drove hwy 93 from Banff to Jasper which goes right thru the heart of the Canadian Rockies. It is labeled as the most scenic highway in North America and I can believe it. You are right in the middle of the mountains with peaks rising all around you. the passes were about 6800'. Unfortunately the pictures just don't do it justice. We stopped at the Columbia Ice Fields and took an ice explorer ride to the glacier where we could walk on it. The Athabasca Glacier. It was a perfect day, sunny and about 50, the ice and snow just glistened.

Going on to the Laird River Hot Springs Prov. Park tonight for a warm dip.
Barb

Thurs. May 24,2007

Well the price of diesel was .97 per liter today, can't complain. What a day - took the picturesque route to Lake Louise, saw a very large bull elk (is that the right term?) in full velvet, were about 20 feet away. Later saw a grizzly sow with 2 cubs, we were very far away from it. Yesterday we saw a black bear and 2 cubs got pics, but very hard to see them, maybe we can blow them up. Did you all know that Lake Louise is still frozen this time of year. What a surprise. We had 1-2 inches of snow last night, made the already beautiful mountains even better today.
On to Jasper tomorrow and then just plain north from there. Hope you are all doing well, especially the new 16 year old in the family. Way to go Marshall.
Betty

may 23, 2007

Just to make you all feel better about your gas cost/mileage. Gas here is $1.24/liter which translates into just under $5.00/gal! And don't ask about out mpg, sufice to say it is NOT double digits!! Barb

Canadian Rockies

Arrived in Canmore south of Banff today. Bright sun. Some rain yesterday. Will stay here for 3 days, then head further north. 2 mule deer right outside the rig this morning, elk along the road as well a big horn sheep today. More pics to follow. Met up with Buswells today, will be together for a while at least. Later
Betty and Tom
Tues. May 22

May 22 - Canmore, Alberta

The Canadian Rockies are quite breathtaking. Most of them are still snow covered on the peaks and shining against the blue sky. Since I just took the pictures this morning, I'll post some the next time I manage to find an Internet hot spot. They may get fewer as we go North. While we were leaving Radium Hot Springs this morning, a herd of Big Horn Sheep, about 10-12, walked down the road, totalling stopping traffic. The attendant at the gas station said that was pretty common and the sheep think they own the town! We are going to spend a few days here and check out the sights at Banff and Jasper. There is a gondola ride up the mountain that sounds like fun. Barb

May 20,2007

In Glacier today driving & hiking around the Lake McDonald area. Stopped at the old Lodge but it wasn't open yet. The spring run off has made all the small creeks into roaring rivers with lots of rapids and waterfalls. Just gorgeous! Off to Canada tomorrow on the way to Banff. BTW, if anyone wants a great campsite here, check out Mountain Meadow Campgrounds. Heavily wooded, terraced sites but with all the amenities! Barb

Glacier

Spent last evening and today tooling around the west end of the park. Beautiful. Will have to come back later to cross over the road to the sky. Hey Jess, I asked Barb to email me a picture of the damaged whale so I can see what to look for. The weather has been great, just sprinkles last night for a short while and it is raining now. Will cross the border tomorrow and then be using the first hot springs just southwest of Banff. Will rejoin with the Buswells on Tues. in Banff. Have seen elk, mountain goats, deer, and other fauna, lots of spring flowers. As for the comments from the east coast very funny, the border folks won't bother us. Will see if we can add any pictures from my files for this edition.

May 17, 2007

I don't know about the teaching, I'm learning as we go too! Have visited several Lewis & Clark camps, they wintered over at Ft Maden on the Missouri River in a very small triangular fort. It held about 50 people and our guide said the rooms, which had 2 beds, housed about 8-9 men. Two got the beds and the rest slept in an upstairs small loft and then they rotated for the beds. And of course, they didn't wash during that entire time! Must have been very pleasant!!

We also found an old train trestle today that incorporated a lift bridge over the Yellowstone River, very similar to the one in Duluth. The trestle is fenced so you can walk over it and at the end is the only train tunnel in ND, built in 1913. Once the lift was built, it was raised once to test it and it was never used again even thou the bridge was in use until 1986. Prior to building a car bridge in 1955, this trestle also was used for cars with an attendant on duty to make sure the cars & trains didn't hit each other.

May 17,2007

Will be leaving ND tomorrow into Montana. Have had a slight change of plans, will not be going to Washington until the way back. So far great weather, in the 80s today. Lots of Lewis and Clark history and pictures. The next lesson on the blog will be to do pictures, Barb is an excellent teacher. Later, Betty/Mom/Grandma.

Day 1 - Gordon,Wi - Grand Forks, ND

Finally on the road!! Smoke from the Ham Lake Fire in the air over Superior/
Duluth area. We are driving Hwy 2 over to Washington, then up thru BC but in no rush to get anywhere. Rain & cool to start, then sun & warm and now clouds & cool again. For the next couple of days we will explore ND! Mike & Barb