The seeds for this trip started in June/July 2003 when Carol and I flew to Alaska with our oldest grandson, Kyle Moore, to visit our son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Julie Lawler. Mike was a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force stationed at Elmendorf, AFB, near Anchorage Alaska. Our oldest grandchild, granddaughter Toni Newton had already arrived a couple days before us from her home in San Antonio. Mike and Julie had four guests in their house for the next 15 days - his parents and his oldest niece and nephew who were cousins. It was a great visit and our first time to see him since he departed for Korea in the summer of 2000. While there we did many of the touristy things and some of the residents' things like trout fishing and salmon fishing. But Alaska is so big and there was so much to see that we knew we had to return to see and do more - fifteen days just wasn't enough.

Mike and Julie had been in Alaska since August, 2001, when they arrived to serve a three-year tour. As "year-round residents" Mike and Julie knew where to go, how to avoid the tourists and still see the same things, so there was an obvious benefit of being there with him and Julie.

While Carol and I were visiting our son, besides the obvious talk about family, etc., much of the conversation between Mike and me centered on his drive up to Alaska - the Alaskan Highway - what was that like? He said the scenery was unbelievably beautiful - the road wasn't bad and everybody should make the trip once in their lifetime. His descriptions and tales convinced me - I had to do it.

While we were there in Alaska, Mike submitted paperwork to extend his tour for another 3 years - to August 2007. Shortly after our return to Florida, Mike called and said "his extension was approved. He would be in Alaska until August, 2007. If we could drive up there in 2007 we could spend their last summer in Alaska with them." That became our goal.

Although the seeds were planted in 2003, the plans for this trip didn't really start until mid 2004. In June 2004 I sold my "dream car" (a 1981 Mercedes 380 SL) and bought a new 2004 Dodge Ram, 3500 dually, 4X4, with a 5.9L Cummins Diesel engine and an automatic transmission. This would be our tow vehicle for the trip. It had all the bells and whistles to conquer any hill and still provide a safe, comfortable drive for the two of us. The same day we made an offer on a used 2002 Keystone Hornet 5th wheel trailer. The offer was accepted and we closed on both the truck and camper about five days later at the Credit Union.

Although Carol and I were experienced campers, all we knew and had done before this was "tent" camping. Using an 'RV' is a whole different ballgame. So... we joined an RV camping club that camped one weekend a month. The club was sponsored by our RV dealership, but it provided us with a place to go each month, some experienced campers to learn from and a great group of people we now call friends. Joining the camping club was probably one of the best decisions we ever made.

We only kept that first RV for six months. In November, 2004, we "upgraded" to a 2004 Coachmen Chaparral 5th wheel camper. We kept this trailer about two years and then in September 2006 we bought a "new" 2006 Coachmen Chaparral 5th wheel camper. I say "new" because the 2007 models were already out and for sale, but our dealer made us a deal we couldn't refuse. This was a new camper... we are the first owners and have all the warrantees, etc. Both of our "used" RVs came without a warrantee. The 2006 camper is the one we are pulling along behind us as we travel the road to Alaska.

Although we are on our third trailer, we are still pulling the trailer with the same 2004 Dodge Ram.

In early 2006 I retired from Northrop Grumman, my employer for the previous 16 years. We "retired" to do longer and longer trips with our RV, in preparation for our "big" trip in 2007. We did a nine-day trip to Mississippi to see our grandson Kyle play Baseball for his High School team, the Pisgah Dragons. It was so short (nine days) so we could rush home to be home for Easter and Sunrise Mass on the Beach. I had to wait until I retired, but then we had to rush home to be there before Easter.

We also completed a 21 day trip to St. Louis and Oklahoma City to visit family and to see our hometown team, the St. Louis Cardinals play a couple games and to visit our rental property in Midwest City, OK. On this trip we picked up Kyle as he had finished school and he joined us for our Cardinal games and the rest of the trip all the way back to our home in Florida.

Then on Tuesday, June 27, 2006, two days before we were to leave on our third and final "practice" trip - a seven week excursion up through the Carolinas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and then back home via Mississippi and Alabama, the unthinkable happened... our son died in an airplane crash in Alaska. Instead of going on a seven week journey across the Eastern U.S., we ended up going to Tallahassee (Julie's home town) to bury our son.

With Mike and Julie (and now Thomas, our then 16 month old grandson) no longer living in Alaska, there was no reason to go back up there. We were planning to spend Mike's last summer in Alaska with him and his family - We cancelled the trip to Alaska.

For those of you that didn't know Mike or how he died, he was an exceptional person - a giver. He gave his time, he gave his talent, he gave his money, and he gave whatever he had. That's who he was... He was super-involved with his parish youth group. The youth group was on a three-day hike in the Alaskan wilderness - hiking the "Resurrection Trail" on the Kenai Peninsula. Traditionally, on the second evening of the hike, a 'food drop' is scheduled. Hot KFC Chicken with all the trimmings were picked up at an outlet in Anchorage and 'airlifted' to the top of the mountain and dropped to the hikers. Mike volunteered to make the food drop. Not only did he have the proper license, he had access to an airplane, and the desire to help feed the hikers - as I said, he was a giver! He was making the second of three scheduled passes over the group when something happened. Witnesses say the plane trembled and then dove nose first to the ground. Mike gave his life to feed a group of hikers - teens from his parish and a few adult chaperones and advisors. His helper aboard the airplane, the one actually dropping the food, Matthew Medlock, survived, but spent over a month in intensive care in the hospital. Today, Matt is doing great and is soon getting married.

The only reason that last paragraph is part of this narrative is to explain how we came to be making this trip in 2008. At the one-year anniversary of Mike's death, the parish in Alaska (St. Patrick Parish in Anchorage) was going to have a memorial Mass for Mike. Julie and Thomas as well as her parents were going to attend. Carol and I decided to also go back to Alaska to attend this memorial. We flew all the way to Alaska and back whereas Julie's family flew to Vancouver, cruised up the Inside Passage and then returned to Florida by air.

The Mass was one of the most therapeutic services we have ever attended. It really put us at peace with accepting Mike's death. It also helped us realize that even if Mike wasn't there, he wanted us to experience the Alaska he and Julie knew and loved. He wanted us to make the drive up the Alaskan highway, to see the scenery, to visit the same campgrounds they camped in, and to fish the same fishing holes they fished. He wanted us to experience it all! He wanted us to enjoy Alaska to the fullest!

After returning to Florida, we made the decision to make the trip - to drive to Alaska and spend the summer there the following year - in 2008. However, another wrinkle... In February and March of 2008, fuel prices began a steep upward spiral that put a stop on our trip planning. What are we doing planning a trip that we have no idea how much it will cost? Once again, we cancelled the trip. However, we then reasoned that if we wait till fuel prices come down, we probably never will make the trip. We will either be too old or too infirm or possibly one of us won't be here to make the trip. We also firmly believe Mike wants us to make the trip. For the third time we started planning for the trip of a lifetime. I guess it's true, "the third time is a charm" because this time it stuck. To cover the high fuel costs, we decided to withdraw a few extra dollars from our 401(k)s and if need be, we'll run up a credit card or two, but we are going to make this trip for Mike. It's what he wanted us to do! It's what we want to do!

The Trip - Part 1, Florida to St. Louis

We began the trip on Wednesday, May 7. We had three intermediate stops on the way to our first multi-night stop - we spent the night of May 7 at Big Oak RV Park in Tallahassee, FL. Normally, we would visit Julie and Thomas (our daughter-in-law and grandson) who live nearby. However, they were visiting us in Satellite Beach when we departed. They were going to stay down there until Friday.

From Tallahassee we went to Goshen Springs Campground near Brandon, MS. That is close to where our daughter, Michelle and her family live. In Brandon is where we bought the cheapest fuel we expect to buy on this entire trip. We paid $3.989 and put just over 18 gallons in the truck and another 30 gallons in six 5-gallon jugs we have in bins in the bed of our truck. Everywhere else we expect to pay more than $4 per gallon. The visit with Michelle and John and Kyle (our oldest grandson) was nice, but short. We missed seeing their garden but had a nice visit none-the-less.

While we were in Brandon, we saw a 9-12 yr old girls softball team play ball. "Our" team lost, but it was a good game anyway. Michelle, John and Kyle are the coaches for this team. Kyle (our oldest grandson, just finishing his junior year of High School) wanted to "coach" the team as a way to obtain "Community Service" hours for his senior year. The only way for him to be a coach, an adult had to also sign on as a coach. All three are enjoying this team immensely, although none of them have a girl on the team - and all three of them work together as a team - for me that was great to see.

From Central Mississippi we were off to Sikeston, MO. It was a shorter drive than the previous two days, but we made several stops to extend the day. Sikeston is the home of Lamberts Restaurant, the home of the throwed rolls. We have eaten at Lamberts before and it is good food and the servings are large, but since they don't take credit cards, we opted to eat at the trailer. I got out our charcoal grill and bar-b-qued some chicken.

If Friday was an easy day, Saturday was even easier. Sikeston is only about 2 1/2 hours away from our first destination - St. Louis, MO. We had a 5 night stay planned for Cahokia RV Parque in Cahokia, IL - just on the eastern side of the Mississippi river from South St. Louis. We stay in Cahokia because it is close to our destinations in Missouri and costs quite a bit less than the campgrounds in Missouri.

St. Louis is where both Carol and I were born and we both still have relatives living here. For me, my mom still lives here in a nursing home plus I have four of my five remaining siblings in the St. Louis area. My other sister lives in Ohio. Carol has a brother and a sister living nearby - her other three siblings are spread out in Tennessee, Nevada and California. We also have another family we are close to, Jon and Ann Mueller and their kids. Although the girls are our nieces, we have a special relationship with the whole family.

One other calling card St. Louis has that brings us to town is the St. Louis Cardinals. For this trip we have tickets to a game on Tuesday, May 13. Jon and Dan Mueller were at the game with us. Unfortunately, the Cardinals lost the game in extra-innings.

But the real reason for our trip to pass thru St. Louis at this time is Mother's Day! We arrived on Saturday for a five day visit. We visited my mom five days in a row starting the day before Mother's Day and ending the third day following Mother's Day. She won't remember us being here - she won't realize it's Mother's Day, but we left notes in her visitor's book so others can remind her and I know I was here. Mom will be 87 in August - she's in pretty good health physically (needs more exercise though) but is suffering from a loss of memory - diagnosed with Alzheimers.

Also on Mothers Day - later in the day, we went out to Eureka, MO, to visit Carol's brother and his wife and two of their sons as well as a daughter-in-law and their grandson. Carol's sister from Warrenton, MO, was also there, so we got to see all her family that still live in the St. Louis area.

On the Monday after Mother's day, my two sisters and two brothers that live in St. Louis, as well as Ann Mueller and two nephews, met us for breakfast in South County. It was a great visit. Unfortunately, no one brought a camera to document the event.

The Trip - Part 2, St. Louis to Jamestown, North Dakota

By one mile, the trip from Cahokia, IL, to Onawa, IA, beat out the drive from Tallahassee, FL to Brandon, MS. However, that is slightly misleading. The miles are taken from my miles driven log for the miles logged per day. After uncoupling from my trailer at Goshen Springs Campground in Mississippi, I drove several miles to buy that "cheap" diesel. Also, after dinner we drove to the softball game. That trip added about 20 miles to my log. But, as far as I know now with our trip planned out - the drive to Onawa was the longest one-day drive planned - 525 miles - campground-to-campground.

The campground in Onawa, On-Ur-Wa RV Park was nice, and inexpensive. One of the cheapest "Private" campgrounds we have stayed in. It also had one of my favorite amenities, free WIFI.

The next day we drove out of Iowa, through South Dakota, into North Dakota and then back east into Minnesota to camp at Prairie Cove RV Park. In most campground directories, you will find it listed as Sundown Campground and RV Park. There are new owners, a new name and it needs new campers. The night we stayed - a Friday night, we were the only ones in the campground and it was nice weather - the warmest day in Minnesota this year according to the local weatherman. I would hate to see the new owners not be able to keep it open due to a lack of campers. Although the temperature was great, the winds - a constant cross wind did negatively affect our MPG for the day. That was mostly a 'Dakota' thing.

Although the campground in Onawa was really "on-our-way", the campground in Minnesota was a little off track. The only reason we went back east to Minnesota to camp was to add the state to our USA map on our camper. Some use the map to mark states they have driven through, we are more 'purists', and we only "color-in" the states we have actually camped in, in that particular camper. We had 17 states "colored-in" when we started this trip. There were also five states we have driven through on previous trips that we do not have colored in - South Carolina, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Tennessee. As I write this we've 'colored-in' Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota on this trip for a total of 21 states colored in. We still have four more states to camp in on this trip meaning we will have 25 after we have camped in Alaska - half of the 50 states.

Saturday morning we got an early start and we were at the Jamestown Campground in Jamestown, ND, before noon. Again, an almost constant headwind affected our MPG in North Dakota. Thank God we were there before noon because as the day wore on, the wind intensity got worse.

We came to North Dakota to visit with Fr. Joe Barrett, formerly a member of our parish in Florida, but now a fairly new priest (about three years) for the Diocese of Fargo, ND. Carol and I knew Joe before he started in the Seminary and saw him every time he came home to visit his family. He knew we were on our way and was excited some friends from Florida were coming to North Dakota to visit him.

Our visit with Fr. Joe was great. We started Saturday evening with dinner at the camper - grilled steaks, baked sweet potatoes and salad were on the menu. But the evening was made special by the conversation. Fr. Joe has found a home here in Jamestown, ND. His parishioners love him; he also has a special 'prison ministry' at the state prison and state hospital in Jamestown where he works three days a week. He is happy and content. If there was anything he could change, it would be the weather in February. He says he can handle most of the North Dakota winter, but February is always especially brutal.

On Sunday we attended the 8:30 am Mass, the morning Mass he was celebrating. Other than being singled out as visitors from Florida and being asked to stand for a North Dakota welcome, we thoroughly enjoyed the Mass and homily on Trinity Sunday... and that slight irritation was just that - a slight irritation.

After the 10:30 am Mass, we met Fr. Joe at the Parish and then spent the rest of the afternoon with him. We started out going to brunch with Fr. Joe and several of his North Dakota friends including one of the other priests from his parish. After brunch, Fr. Joe took us for a ride around town and then ended up in the tourist area where we saw the world's largest buffalo and an interesting museum - the National Buffalo Museum. What made this museum special, there is normally an entrance fee, however, the fee was waived for that day. We found out later it was National Museum Day, that's why admission was free. It was a pleasant surprise that we didn't have to pay. From there we drove out to the Jamestown Reservoir. After returning to the Church, 'the Basilica of St James' (formerly the Cathedral before the Diocese was moved to Fargo) Fr. Joe gave us an individual tour of the interior of the church and Carol took several photos.

In this first photo, that's the three of us standing under the worlds largest buffalo. Obviously, none of us took this photo; otherwise we would have zoomed in some. The stained glass windows shown here are in the Basilica of St. James.

Large Buffalo

A Real Buffalo

Stained Glass 1

Stained Glass 2

Seeing as how Fr. Joe had the 6:00 pm Mass and he also had to get ready to fly back to Florida to visit family on Monday and we are leaving North Dakota on Monday for the third part of our trip - South Dakota, we said our good-byes. Carol and I made a quick stop at Wal-Mart for some items and a fuel stop before going back to the camper for dinner and the rest of the evening.

The Trip - Part 3, South Dakota

Our drive from North Dakota to South Dakota was straight down US Hwy 281 - right into a 20 mph headwind. It seems every time I drive any significant distance in either Dakota, there is a wind affecting my MPG.

It's probably a wrong conclusion, but I am convinced the ranchers and other residents of the Dakotas are not very good hunters. Why you ask, did I come to this conclusion? In the approximately 230 miles down US Hwy 281 thru both Dakotas we saw literally hundreds of pheasants and most of them were adult males (the ones that are legal to hunt). The ones we saw were along the road within a hundred feet or so of the highway. Assuming some of the birds were lost during the winter because of the weather and scarcity of food, it appears to me every male pheasant that was eligible to be hunted last fall made it through hunting season just fine. They are now getting ready to father a new brood of young pheasants this spring.

Our first stop in South Dakota was at the American Creek Campground in Chamberlain, SD. The campground is on the bank of the Missouri river. We stopped in Chamberlain to visit St. Joseph Indian School. For several years this has been one of my charities that I support. I am not going to go into all the reasons - I'll just let it suffice to say I have a special bond with the Priests of the Sacred Heart. More than one of the charities I support are associated with the SCJ's (the letters used behind the names of the Priests of the Sacred Heart).

Tuesday morning we went out to St. Joseph's and to the Atka Lakota Museum where we were to meet Fr. Steve, SCJ, the Director of the complex which includes the School and Museum. We knew about the school, but I had some questions about the Priests of the Sacred Heart to ask him. It was a great visit. However, we were surprised about the Museum. It is a treasure trove of Sioux history. We did not know of the museum before this trip. We thoroughly enjoyed the Museum. If anyone is traveling across South Dakota on Interstate 90 and you have an hour this is a 'must see'. Also, the price is right, it's free! They do have a nice Museum gift shop - we did buy some postcards and a book each to help support this Museum. Here are some photos from the School Chapel and outside the Museum. There were no photos allowed in the Museum... what can we say? It was free!

Museum

Stained Glass 3

Stained Glass 4

Our Lady of the Sioux 1

Our Lady of the Sioux 2

Our Lady of the Sioux 3

Tuesday afternoon we went into town and did some shopping at the local souvenir shop. We also took a couple of photos of a famous downtown intersection - the corner of Main and Lawler.

NE Corner

SW Corner

The book I purchased at the Museum bookstore is "The Wisdom of the Native Americans". It is interesting and I am amazed by the wisdom of the great Indian Chief's, especially the Plains Indians such as the Sioux. The Indians have several different names for their "God", but they are all similar to names we use for our "God". They have their "Maker", the "Great Spirit", and the "Great Mystery". Indians were also concerned with the "Balance of Nature" and "Mother Earth" long before Al Gore ever thought of global warming, even before he invented the Internet.

The only reason I mentioned the names of their Gods is because I am amused by the humor of the 'Great Mystery'. This is not a ridicule of the Native Americans, it just occurred to me as I made the drive to our next stop, Interior Badlands Campground and Motel in Interior, SD. On Tuesday, while we were in Chamberlain, SD, - we only put 12 miles on the truck all day in three separate trips away from the campground. We went out to St. Joseph Indian School, we later went to a laundromat in town to do the wash, and then still later into town for the souvenirs and to top off the fuel tank. Anyway, there was no wind all day. It's a 'great mystery' to me why there was no wind Tuesday - it was an absolutely beautiful day. Wednesday, the wind started before we got up and by the time we were on the road it seemed like it was 'gale force'. At least I know I was driving in one of the Dakotas. We've had strong winds everyday we've driven any considerable distance in the Dakotas. Even as I write this on Wednesday night while safely in our camper, we can hear the South Dakota wind howling outside our trailer. On Thursday we will tour the Badlands National Park and visit 'world-famous' Wall Drug Store. We won't put a lot of miles on the truck and we won't be pulling our trailer, so there will probably only be a 'light' wind.

On Thursday, after a night of strong winds that sounded like it was tearing our trailer apart, we went touring through the Badlands National Park. This is a Park we will have to come back to in the future, hopefully in a period of warmer weather and much less wind. We drove the full length of the Loop road from I-90 exit 131 to I-90 exit 110. Although that is only 21 miles on the Interstate, when you drive through the National Park it is 35 miles. We also took the loop extension, which added another 17 miles. We're glad we did because these last two pictures were taken along the extension. Here are some of our photos to document our trip through the Badlands of South Dakota.

Badlands 1

Badlands 2

Badlands 3

Badlands 4

Prairie Dog

Bison

Thursday night was another noisy night - the wind wasn't quite as bad, however, the wind we did have was accompanied by a heavy rain that was being driven by the wind. Friday morning we were glad to get on the way early. Although we saw evidence of flooding on the drive to the Black Hills, the roadway was dry except for the few squalls we hit along the way.

We arrived at our next campground Big Pine Campground in Custer, SD, about 9:00 am on Friday morning. (It was only a 118 mile drive.) Although the drive was so short, we saw every conceivable weather condition other than winter conditions (snow or ice). We had rain, wind (we were still in the Dakotas), sun, thick fog, cold, etc., etc.

Although we had reservations, we couldn't get into our site or the back-up site they gave us as the campers from the previous night were still there. We were able to move into a site to wait until one of the two sites became available. When we got into the temporary site, we found we had a flat tire on the trailer. So, first thing to do is call our Emergency Service number to get someone out to change the tire. When the wheel was off the trailer, I looked for the problem - I'll admit I was looking for a nail or screw in the tread or sidewall. I didn't see anything wrong. Later when I took it to a tire dealer to have it repaired, the technician found the problem immediately - the tread was actually separating from the body of the tire. Needless to say, I had to buy a new tire. That's not so bad... what's bad is... that was a new tire, about six months old. I do have road hazard insurance, but it is directly with my dealer Glenn's Tire in Melbourne, FL. I have to carry the old tire all the way back to Glenn's to collect on the insurance. They need to see it!

The rain, cold and flat put a damper on our Friday touring. We just stayed at the camper and enjoyed the WIFI. The two days we were in Interior we had no internet connectivity.

Saturday morning we went to see Mt. Rushmore early. I'm glad we did, as the day wore on the weather turned bad - overcast and rainy. However, because we went early we got some great pictures - postcard quality photos. Later we did some grocery shopping at the Wal-Mart in Rapid City. This was the first serious shopping we've done since we started our trip. We did some shopping in St. Louis, but not like today. In St. Louis we bought St. Louis items like Maull's Bar-B-Que Sauce - (we bought a whole case for our trip). In Rapid City we bought meats, vegetables, and some staples to replenish what we have used so far on this trip.

Sunday morning we attended Mass at St. John the Baptist Church in Custer, SD. After Church, we had breakfast in a small local cafe. Buffalo Polish Sausage was one of the choices for breakfast meats, so we both tried that - couldn't tell the difference from regular polish sausage. After breakfast we went back to the camper and changed into touring clothes - jeans and t-shirt. Then we were off to visit Custer State Park and drive the Needles Highway and then to visit the Crazy Horse Monument.

Custer State Park is probably the most popular State Park in the five-state area (North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana). It is as large, area wise, as some of our National Parks. And, it is a must see for any visitors. On Sunday we drove the Needles Highway, State Hwy 87, from US Hwy 16A on the south to State Hwy 89 on the north. The Highway is named the Needles Highway because of three tunnels along the route. They are single-lane one direction at a time. It's like threading a needle. I also want to refer you to the Background Section - to the part where my tow vehicle is a Dodge Ram 3500 Dually - a very wide truck. The second of the three tunnels is the narrowest of the three and is where I scratched my right-rear fender and lost my right side after market, add-on tow mirror. The tunnel was posted as 9' wide - I should be able to fit through with my mirrors tucked in - I knew I wouldn't have a lot of clearance, but if I "threaded the needle", I would make it. Well, I could see my side real well (the left side) and I guess I moved a little too far to the right. Anyway, I now only have the stock mirror on the right side and I have several new scratches on my right side rear fender. Oh well, the truck will be four years old next month and has over 81,000 miles on it. It is not the first scratch, and I am sure it won't be the last. If I can keep all the dents and scratches to only my truck, I'll be satisfied. I still have both mirrors on the driver's side - the stock mirror and the add-on towing mirror. I can tow with this configuration for awhile until I get another tow mirror for the right side. The Needles Highway traverses up and down mountains, through unusual rock formations and along creeks and lakes. It is a very scenic drive - and would be fun in a little sports car. Not so fun in a dually, but I don't regret it. I am glad we made the drive; I just wish I had stayed closer to the left side.

After this event the third tunnel, the widest of the three at 11-ft, 4-in, was a breeze. We stopped for lunch at Sylvan Lake - the snack bar there had Buffalo Burgers on the menu. We shared a Buffalo Cheeseburger. I had eaten Buffalo before, but the Buffalo Polish Sausage for breakfast was Carol's first experience with Buffalo meat. Ground Buffalo meat tastes almost identical to ground beef.

From Custer State Park, we drove over to the Crazy Horse Monument. For those of you that don't know about it, it's been under development for about 60 years. The original sculptor died several years ago and his family has taken over the project. It is a project more aggressive than Mt. Rushmore, but because it is being done privately without Government help, the pace is much slower. When complete, it will be a 3-D monument of Chief Crazy Horse and his pony. By 3-D, I mean you can view it from all directions. Mt. Rushmore is usually only viewed from the front. You can view it from the side, but from the rear you can't see anything, the faces all face the front - there is no rear on any of the heads. Crazy Horse will be in-the-round.

On Monday we went back to Mt. Rushmore. The entrance fee we paid on Saturday is good for a year. So we returned to get a couple more photos in different weather conditions. We did get one with the fog coming in.

From Mt. Rushmore we went back to Custer State Park - the entrance fee we paid on Sunday was good for seven days, until the 31st. We went in a different entrance and drove the Iron Mountain Hwy. A road similar to the Needles Highway in so far as it winds up and down mountains, has narrow tunnels, (but not as narrow) and has spectacular views. While on this road we came across a pack of wild burros. Later we hit US Hwy 16A again and drove west towards Custer. About two miles later we came to a road called Wildlife Loop. It is a lengthy loop, about 20 miles, but well worth the drive. We saw a couple herds of Buffalo, one quite large - more than a hundred animals, including many new-born calves (born this spring). We also saw many Pronghorn Antelope and several Deer. There is a herd of Elk in the Park and the Ranger told us others had seen them early in the morning, we didn't see any.

Here are some photos of the Black Hills National Forest, Mt. Rushmore National Monument, and Custer State Park. The first photo was taken on the drive on Friday morning - the next five were all taken on Saturday - the next six on Sunday and the last six on Monday.

Grasslands	Black Hills 1	Black Hills 2	Black Hills 3	Mt. Rushmore 1	Mt. Rushmore 2
Mountain Lake	Rocks 1	Rocks 2	Rocks 3	Tunnel	Crazy Horse
Mt. Rushmore - Fog	Burros	Pronghorn	Two Doe	Buffalo Herd 1	Buffalo Herd 2

Tuesday was a travel day - heading to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. We did rise early and had breakfast and I booted up the computer and checked the email - and I sent the email about Part 3. We had already emptied our holding tanks the night before, and the hoses were stored. All we had left to do was disconnect the water and electricity and put the slides in and raise the stabilizers- then hook up the truck and trailer. Since we were traveling we didn't open the shades or blinds, so imagine our surprise when I went outside to prepare for leaving. There was snow on the ground. We were all snug in our trailer with our heater and we were awake about an hour moving around the trailer before we knew this. Carol did take a few photos (it's very rare for us Floridians to see snow; it was something we needed to photograph). Here are the photos. Note: In the second photo you can see my new scratches from the Needles Highway. In photos five and six you can see our brand new tire.

Snow 1

Snow 2

Snow 3

Snow 4

Snow 5

Snow 6

The Trip - Part 4, Wyoming

When we left Custer, SD, there was snow on the ground. Heading west on US Hwy 16 we had to cross some minor hills on the way to Wyoming. The higher in altitude we climbed, the deeper the new snow on the ground became.

Highway 16 joins up with I-90 for about 95 miles, then heads west again towards Yellowstone National Park and Wapiti, WY, our next destination. Right after leaving I-90, we drove through Buffalo, WY. They must be proud of their diesel fuel, because they were charging an arm and a leg for it. Although we would need fuel before arriving in Wapiti, we chose not to buy in Buffalo. We reasoned we had 30 gallons in the bed of the truck if we needed it, and we knew there was a station in Wapiti that was reasonable. Later, out in the middle of nowhere, in a small town called "Tensleep", we found Diesel about 10 cents a gallon cheaper than the stations in Buffalo.

After leaving Buffalo, elevation 4,645 ft, we had to cross the Bighorn Mountains, a small range that is part of the Rockies. The Powder River Pass is 9,666 ft in elevation, an increase of more than 5,000 ft. While on this drive we saw snow falling for the first time in about 10 years. It was just as we remembered it - beautiful to look at, but dangerous to drive in.

I also was confirmed in my choice of tow vehicle. Big Red pulled itself and our 9,000 lb trailer right up and over that hill. The coolant temperature did rise to above 200 degrees (normal range is 190 - 195 degrees), but it stayed around 205 - 210 degrees. The engine is 'red-lined' at 245 degrees - so I was well within its operational range. We had no trouble on that hill in the snow and I don't expect we will encounter a hill that this truck can't conquer.

The remainder of the drive was uneventful other than the varied wildlife we saw as we traveled through Wyoming. We didn't get too many pictures on the drive, but once we got inside the National Parks, Carol was snapping pictures right and left.

Wapiti, WY, is about 32 miles from the East Entrance to Yellowstone. We chose to stay there as it was the closest Private campground with more amenities than the Campgrounds in the National Forest and National Parks. If I was to retrace my steps in a few years and visit this Park again, I would probably try to stay in the Park. All the campgrounds in Yellowstone National Park are co-located or within walking distance of the Ranger Station, Lodges, General Stores, Restaurants, Snack Bars and Gas Stations. None of them is off by itself in the woods. Diesel in Wapiti was about 33 cents a gallon cheaper than in the Park, but using 4+ gallons to drive in and out each day wiped out any savings we experienced from the fuel price difference.

We had reservations for three nights in Wapiti. We had planned to visit Yellowstone National Park on the first day in the area, visit the Grand Teton National Park the next day and drive into Yellowstone on the third day at the East Entrance and exit at the West Entrance, into West Yellowstone, Montana. I would recommend a similar schedule for anyone visiting the two Parks. Even if you have more days, spend more time in Yellowstone, it is a larger Park and there is definitly more to see there. However, if you have more than three days, you can spend more than one day in Grand Teton N.P. We drove most of the 'open' paved roads in the Park. We saw most of the highlights, but if we weren't on a schedule, we could easily have spent more time in either Park.

On the third day, we were pulling our trailer through the Park. It would be this day when we experienced more snow and a collection of ice and snow on the road just inside the East Entrance near Sylvan Pass (8,530 ft). Although this is a considerable altitude, the East Entrance is at 6,951 feet and on the other side, Lake Village is 7,784 feet. So it was only a thousand feet, or so, above the terrain. But at the top there was considerable snow coming down (the big wet flakes) and it was sticking to the road surface and building up quickly. The snow I had outside of Buffalo three days earlier was a good refresher for me to handle this winter driving condition. I'm not expecting snow in Canada or Alaska, but if we experience it, this Florida licensed diver is ready.

It was hard to choose which photo's to use with this narrative. Carol took over a hundred photos in Yellowstone on the first day alone. Then we had campground photos - what we saw as we looked around outside our camper and all the photos from Grand Teton and Yellowstone (day three) as well as the drive into and out of the Park each day. I don't have the web space to show every photo she took - I have to pare it down to a dozen or less for this part of the narrative. As it is, I may have to move this blog to another server if it continues to grow. If I do that, I will send a new link to everyone. For now, here are the photo's I chose to use.

Yellowstone 1	Yellowstone 2	Lady Elks	Waterfall 1	Waterfall 2	Old Faithful 1
Old Faithful 2	Grand Teton 1	Grand Teton 2	Grand Teton 3	Rafters	Snow on the Road

Here is a short video of 'Old Faithful' (3.77 MB) This short movie clip (about 26 seconds) was taken at the end of a three-minute-plus eruption. This is the waning seconds and the water wasn't shooting out with the same pressure it had at the beginning. Therefore, it doesn't look as impressive as it actually was. But this does give you a sense of what a geyser like 'Old Faithful' is like. The people you will hear talking are a group of Japanese tourists that were right behind us.

The Trip - Part 5, Idaho and Montana

About 99% of Yellowstone National Park is in Wyoming, however, when you exit Yellowstone Park at the West exit, you are in Montana. However, in just a couple of miles you are in Idaho. The Snake River RV Park in Idaho Falls was our destination for the night. This is another one of those short side trips to add another state to our USA map. This is our sixth state we have added this trip.

After leaving Idaho Falls it was into Montana for four nights. The first night was in Dillon, MT. We could have driven farther, but we had planned a half day of touring in Dillon. We only stopped there because "Dillon" is the family name of some of our friends back in Florida and Maine. Also, it is home to St. Rose of Lima Parish which has a 9:00 a.m. Mass. We knew the church would be close to the campground. After Mass, we went to breakfast at "Grandma's Kitchen", a nice, locally owned restaurant with large servings and reasonable prices.

However, staying a night at Countryside RV Park in Dillon did cause us to make an exception to our own personal travel rules for this trip. Before we started planning this trip, we decided we would not travel on Sunday. It would be a day of rest. Although we did allow sight-seeing on Sundays - we wouldn't be pulling the trailer. Back in April when we made the decision to stop in Dillon, we also made an exception for this one Sunday. We had already decided that Monday, June 2, would be a scheduled 'oil change' day. We then decided that Missoula, MT, would be a better place to get this done than in Dillon. So... after breakfast, we went back to the RV, changed clothes and got the trailer ready for hook-up. We got on the road about 11:40 a.m. The drive to Missoula was a short 200 miles - about 3-hr, 30-min, even with two Rest Area stops. It was all interstate driving.

Monday morning I left at 8:30 a.m. heading for Jiffy Lube and the Post Office. By 9:30 I was back - the oil was changed, and a package of Dillon, MT, material was on the way to our friends, the Dillon's, in Satellite Beach.

Monday's drive was another short one, we drove from Missoula to Hungry Horse, MT (you will find Hungry Horse on the west side of Glacier National Park, along US Hwy 2). The total miles for the day were only 173 and this included a short trip into the Park and around Hungry Horse after unhooking the trailer. It also includes my trip to Jiffy Lube and the Post Office in the morning.

The reason we made a "short trip into the Park" on Monday, most of the Park is still closed. The main road through the Park, The Road to the Sun from West Glacier to St. Mary's is closed with 20 feet of snow still on the road at the Pass. Some of the Ranger Stations/Visitor Centers around the Park are still closed - the Park doesn't really open till later in the month of June. This is another Park we will have to come back to see in warmer weather. July or August would be a better time to schedule a visit to Glacier National Park.

Two nights at Mountain Meadow RV Park in Hungry Horse are our last two in the U.S. until we get to Alaska. We have 12 nights scheduled in Canada. We could drive through Canada quicker, but we plan on doing some sight seeing there as we did in South Dakota, Wyoming and here in Montana.

Here are the photos from Glacier National Park. Most of these photos were taken from outside the Park looking in.

Entrance GNP	Eagle Falls	Trick Falls	Glacier Nat'l Park 1	Glacier Nat'l Park 2	Glacier Nat'l Park 3
Glacier Nat'l Park 4	Glacier Nat'l Park 5	Glacier Nat'l Park 6	Glacier Nat'l Park 7	Mountain Goats	Fuel Prices

On Wednesday we got up early and we hit the road at 7:05 am. We had a trip of approximately 275 miles scheduled. During the night our primary Propane tank went empty and the secondary switched over. So... We needed to stop along the way to get Propane. We also had to stop in Shelby, MT, to top off our Diesel tank before entering Canada and hit an ATM for some cash and to exchange some cash for Canadian Dollars. We also did not know how long it would take to get through the border into Canada.

About 25 minutes later - out in the middle of nowhere, the truck began to feel different as we were driving up and down hills. I pulled over and found out my right rear outside tire was flat. All the weight was being held up by the inside tire. Although we had two cell phones, we didn't have any signal. I began the process of changing the tire myself. After jacking-up the wheel, I found I couldn't remove the lug nuts. Carol suggested I check the Valve Stem Extender - that had been the problem about two years ago. Sure enough it was loose... again! We used our portable compressor and pumped it up to about 28 psi before the compressor stopped. About 15 miles later (while the compressor was recharging) I stopped to check it - the extender was loose again and the tire was down to 20 psi. I removed the extender and we were able to get it back up to above 30 psi before the compressor stopped again. We then continued to the next town - East Glacier, MT, where we were able to pump it all the way to 80 psi. Before we connected the stations compressor, I did check the tire again and it was holding just above 30 psi where it was last. For the rest of the day I monitored it, and it is holding good. However, this incident caused us to be stuck on the side of the road for about an hour when we first experienced the problem. That station where we got air also sold Propane, so we filled our empty tank there - it wasn't a total loss.

About 12:15 pm we got in line at the Canadian border. It took us about 15 minutes to get to the front of the line. After a few questions, we had to park our rig and go inside for further questioning. That took about another 30 minutes. We still don't know why we were singled out - but we weren't alone. It seems a certain percentage; maybe every 4th or 5th vehicle is selected. It wasn't scary, but it definitly was an annoyance. But, we didn't let on about that. We didn't want them to further annoy us by looking through our trailer or truck. Although we had nothing to hide... we were annoyed we were one of the vehicles selected for the further scrutiny.

The drive from the border to Fort Macleod was uneventful. The Alberta Provincial Welcome Center was nice, but they don't give away Provincial Maps, the way Stateside States give away State maps. In Alberta, if you want a Provincial map, you will need to be willing to give up $2 Canadian. I wasn't that willing, but I did sign their guest book anyway.

Our destination for the night was Daisy May Campground just outside Fort Macleod. It was a nice campground on the banks of Oldman River. No, not the Mississippi, the 'Oldman' River.

The Trip - Part 6, Canada - the National Parks

Thursday morning we were on the road early (aren't we always?). Our drive wasn't that far, but we were anxious to get to Banff National Park. Since we're in Canada, this is a Canadian National Park. Our drive was great - even though we got to Calgary during 'rush hour' which wasn't too great, but our GPS and the road signs kept us on the right track. However, I was tricked into a Shell Station to purchase fuel on the outskirts of Calgary. There were two stations at that exit. Only one claimed to have Diesel and I could see from the exit ramp, it was an 'easy in and easy out' back to Trans-Canada Route 1. The other station was not easy in - I didn't analyze the exit, since it wasn't easy in and there was no sign saying they had Diesel, it was eliminated from my mind as "unacceptable for refueling". However, the "easy in, easy out" station (Shell) wasn't telling anyone how much the diesel cost until you stopped at the pump and saw for yourself. It was $1.379 a liter which equates to $5.213 a gallon [ouch!]. Since I was already there, and had my engine shut-off, I went ahead and refueled there anyway.

We arrived at Banff National Park right around 11 a.m. and had to pay full-fare. In the U.S. National Parks, age 62 gets you a "Senior Pass". In Canada you have to be 65 to get the "senior discount". Our two-day stay cost us $39.80 for a two-day entrance fee to the National Park plus $76.40 for camping for two nights in Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court. This is our most expensive campground so far on this trip. But, the view is spectacular - and it is full hook-ups (E-W-S)!

Friday was a "tour" day. We toured Banff Park and accidentally, part of Yoho National Park. We intended to take the Icefields Parkway, but ended up taking the road to Fields, Canada. We were several km's past Fields, when it dawned on me we were going the wrong way. After turning around, we drove a couple km's further south past our intended route and turned around again so we could drive through the interchange again and see where we made our mistake. On Saturday we will need to drive through the same exit (interchange) but we will be pulling our trailer. It won't be as easy to turn around if we end up going the wrong way again. Now that we do know the way and what lanes go where, we should not have a problem - we will be in the correct lane to go on to the Icefields Parkway and to Jasper National Park.

We also bought fuel on Friday - topped off the tank before traveling to Jasper National Park on Saturday. This time we had to purchase it in Banff National Park. We knew it would be expensive, but we were surprised at how expensive - we had to pay $1.419 a liter or $5.364 a gallon. It's getting to be very painful to have to pull up to a fuel pump in Canada!

Banff 1	Lake Louise	Deer	Deer Bucks	Castle Mountain 1	Castle Mountain 2
Castle Mountain 3	Bull Elk 1	Bull Elk 2	Animal Crossing	Old Train 1	Old Train 2

The road from Banff to Jasper is only 173 miles, but it does go over a couple mountain passes. It was raining when we hooked up and started the drive. As we got closer to the first pass, Bow Pass (elev. 6,780 ft.) it was snowing. It was sticking to the ground and trees, but not the roadway. There is a small parking lot at the top and we pulled in for a few minutes. The parking lot had slush on it. I don't know why the roadway was so clear - yes, there was traffic, but not that much. By the time we got to the next pass, the rain had stopped and the clouds were thinning. The afternoon of walking around Jasper was nice (a little cold - but nice other than that).

We decided to go back to the camper around 4 p.m. to clean up and come back to town for Saturday evening Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church. This church only has one Mass on Sunday morning, and it is too late for our preferences. (The only Priest has a couple of Mission churches to take care of besides the Church in town). After Mass we were off to the Jasper Brewing Company, the "only Brew Pub in Canada's mountain parks" for dinner. The brewer makes good beer (he has six different brews), and the "chef" has a varied and "delicious" looking menu. We ended up eating the same thing only because they were out of what Carol originally ordered.

Sunday morning we went touring around Jasper National Park. Just a few miles outside of Jasper we saw our first bear of the trip - a Black Bear. He was walking along side of the road right next to the line of trees that indicates the edge of the right-of-way. We did get a picture to document the sighting. When I put up the photos for this part of our trip, I will certainly add this one.

Around noon we had another "tire" issue with our truck. I hit some rocks on the road that fell from the hillside the night before and my front left tire "blew out" - the tire had a 3-inch gash across the tread almost dead center on the tread. Again, we were off on a secondary road touring the park about 30 km from town. I was able to pull into a level place off the road and was able to change this tire myself. It took awhile, had to do all of it without power tools. But, we got it done and were able to "drive" back to town. Monday morning I will go into town to the Jasper Tire Co. and see if I can get a new tire. All six tires are getting near the end of their service life. I don't look forward to making a tire purchase in Canada. Everything costs more here than in the US. But, I am not going to start the Alaskan Highway without a spare.

Jasper Tire Co. opens at 8:30 a.m. I was there at 8:22 a.m. and was already third in line. It seems they are also the local repair shop - all kinds of repairs. They didn't have a tire my size - said they could order it and it would be there tomorrow afternoon - but tomorrow afternoon we plan on being in British Columbia on our way to Dawson Creek and Milepost 0 of the Alaskan Highway. He suggested I go into Hinton (about 45 miles east on the road to Edmonton). He said there were four tire shops in Hinton, and three of them would probably carry my size. We went to three tire shops before we found one with a tire in stock. Actually, the first place we stopped at didn't have a tire my size and suggested the second. The second shop actually started working on the truck before they found out they couldn't locate the tire the computer said they had. This tire shop called the third shop to ensure they had a tire and gave me directions. Although the second shop took the old tire off and kept it, the third shop charged me the "tire disposal" fee. It all works out... the second shop didn't charge me for any of the work they did, nor for the disposal... and they did call the third shop to ensure they had a tire and were ready for me. All four businesses I stopped at today were trying to help get me back on the road - recommending other businesses (competitors) that could get me going, etc.

I thought about replacing all six tires at once to keep them in a set, but when I was quoted a price of $264 a tire, I decided I only needed one tire. About three years ago I replaced all six for about $1,050 at Glenn's Tires in Melbourne, FL. But US tire dealers give a discount if you purchase a complete set and all prices are a little less in the States to begin with. I now have two "new" tires on the front (my old spare and the newly purchased one). I have the other "front" tire (the one that did not blow) as my spare and I have the same four tires on the rear.

Here are the photo's I've chosen to give you a little glimpse at Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.

Snow at the Pass	Slush in the Parking Lot	Icefields Parkway	Log Cabin?	Hockey	Athabasca Falls
Glacial Valley	Medicine Lake	Maligne Lake	Maligne River	Mama Elk & Baby	Black Bear

The Trip - Part 7, The Alaskan Highway

The Alaskan Highway is a 1,390 mile highway extending from Dawson Creek, British Columbia (Mile 0) to Delta Junction, Alaska (Mile 1,390). It goes through both British Columbia and Yukon Territory in Canada, and Alaska in the US. The highway was built in the early 1940's as a military road to move supplies and equipment to Alaska in a time of war. In 1948 the road was opened for civilian use. Today the road is traveled in both directions year-round. Occasionally a small section of the roadway may be closed due to weather conditions (snow or ice), but as soon as the plows have a chance to clear it, the highway is re-opened. During the late spring to late fall most services - Gas, Food and Lodging, etc. - and some automotive repairs are spaced about 50 to 100 miles apart. During winter these services may be approximately 300 miles (major cities along the highway) apart as many of the places along the route are seasonal. Even in summer, one can drive many miles without seeing another car/truck on the road. You do feel the remoteness, but it is not alarming, there is a sense of being one with nature as you drive along the road.

Starting the Drive	The Long Road	Scenery	Black Bear 2	Rock Sheep	Sign Post Forest
Kulane Icefields	Yukon Sign	Paint Job	Alaska Sign	S.S. Klondike	The Finish Marker

Our overnight stops are all scheduled for the major cities along the route. We have one night in Dawson Creek, one night in Fort Nelson (these are both in British Columbia), one night in Watson Lake, three nights in Whitehorse (these are both in Yukon Territory), one night in Border City and a night in Delta Junction (these are both in Alaska). Part of the three night stay in Whitehorse is a Saturday/Sunday thing (we promised ourselves we wouldn't travel on a Sunday - it would be a day of rest. The only exception to this rule was already explained back in Part 5). The other night was added so we could make a railroad trip to Skagway, Alaska. Many of you saw an email from me back in February when we announced we were going to drive to Alaska this summer - before we later cancelled our plans - and then reinstated them. Anyway, that email in February had a short movie clip about an old steam engine that runs from Whitehorse, YT, to Skagway, AK. We have reservations to make the trip on Saturday. We are looking forward to this excursion. We are staying another day to tour Whitehorse itself. It is the Capital City of the Yukon and has a couple interesting museums and several local pubs we would like to visit.

Mountains

W P & Y R

Carcross

Our Train 1

Our Train 2

Skagway, AK

Skagway is also a stop by the Cruise Ships traveling the Inside Passage to/from Alaska. The day we were there, only one ship was in port. It wasn't too crowded. Some days there may be as many as five cruise ships in port. It is really crowded in this small town when that happens.

Sunday, Fathers Day, we attended Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral - it was a small church (especially for a Cathedral) but the congregation assembled for the Mass was a small group - about 100 people including the visitors. After Mass, it was breakfast in a local restaurant - Rickey's All Day Grill. The food was great - the cook knows his business, but the service left a lot to be desired. There were only two servers working the whole restaurant and I didn't see a bus person at all during the time we were there. The waiter and waitress were just too overwhelmed by the number of customers all arriving close together - when the church services around town were letting out.

After breakfast it was a short visit to the local Visitor Center then a walk around town. We do have several photos of some interesting buildings and the SS Klondike (a stern-wheeler used to travel the Yukon River - bringing gold miners to the gold fields around Dawson City and bringing the gold ore out). This boat is now permanently docked at Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and is a Canadian National Historic Site.

By 3:30 p.m. I was topping off the tank and heading back to the camp ground for a short afternoon nap and a chance to catch up with this log and other paperwork - paying bills, etc. Monday morning we'll be back on the road and in Alaska sometime during the afternoon. We plan to be in Alaska until August 14 - almost two full months. The days of pulling in to a campground, setting up, then breaking down and leaving the next morning are coming to an end. Most of the campgrounds we'll be in while in Alaska will be three, four, or five-day stays. We do have a seven-day stay scheduled for July 8 to July 15 in Fairbanks, AK.

Monday morning we were on the road at 7:40 a.m. About eight and a half hours later we were in line at the US/Canadian border. The miles driven don't quite count for the time elapsed. We did stop for an hour at lunch time, but the road conditions accounted for a good part of the time spent. We drove about 60 miles (100 km) on gravel and dirt roads and my truck/camper look like I drove at least that far on dirt/gravel roads. I will put a picture in to show you.

Crossing back into the U.S. was a breeze compared to crossing into Canada about 12 days ago. We still have three nights of one-night camping. Tonight we're at Border City. Tomorrow we'll be in Delta Junction, the official end of the Alaskan Highway. From there we'll head towards Anchorage and a four-night stay - but we have one night in Glenallen on the way. Hopefully we'll have WIFI in our RV before we get to Anchorage. Tonight, it's available in the office, but I am not that "jittery" yet. I was on yesterday and caught up with email and bills, etc., so I probably won't walk in to the office just to log on to the internet. I still need to select pictures for this part of the narrative. I can do that task here in the RV.

We've completed the drive! We drove the Alaskan Highway from start to finish. Tomorrow we turn towards Anchorage and a rest from traveling. We'll re-supply and do other non-trip items. Then Monday we begin touring Alaska - and I'll start fishing for that elusive King Salmon.

We haven't determined our route home yet, but we are thinking about it. We discussed what campgrounds along the Alaskan Highway we will stay in on our way out - we will again stay in the same major cities - other than Delta Junction and Border City - the two stops in Alaska along the highway. We probably will change campgrounds in Whitehorse and Fort Nelson. We're also thinking of coming out of Alaska on the "Top of the World Highway" which is further north than the "Alaskan Highway" and visit the Gold Mining communities of Chicken, AK, and Dawson City, YT. From Dawson City we'll take the Klondike Highway south to Whitehorse and we'll rejoin the Alaskan Highway there for the three-day trip back to Dawson Creek, BC.

The Trip - Part 8, Touring Alaska

Anchorage was a scheduled 'rest- and re-stocking-stop' for our trip. Besides a Military Exchange and Commissary, there are grocery stores, Wal-Marts, Sears, etc. All the things you would find in any large city in the US can be found in Anchorage. We were there four days and did not do any touring - we had toured Anchorage extensively during our previous two trips to Alaska. We did eat out several times - two dinners, one lunch and a breakfast. We washed the camper a second time to clean "all" the mud off. First time through we thought we had it cleaned, until it dried and we saw the places we missed.

Re-stocking also means servicing my truck and RV. On the trailer the two right-side tires are showing a disturbing wear pattern. Both (front and back axel) tires are wearing on the outside edges. I have been monitoring these since Wyoming when I noticed it. Well, after riding on the gravel roadway off and on for the 100 KM's or so in Canada and Alaska, the steel belts are starting to be visible on the outside edge. So, before parking our RV in Anchorage for four nights, I let my GPS find a tire store for me and we bought two new tires for the right side. We also got a quote for the four tires on the rear axel of the truck. Remember, I wrote earlier they were getting towards the end of their service life.

The next morning (Friday) I returned to buy the truck tires and was thrown a curve. They would only sell me a full set of six tires - something about my truck being a 4-wheel drive vehicle. Since both front tires were basically brand new - only on the vehicle for less than two weeks and fewer than 2,000 miles on them I refused to buy six tires. I really think this was a ploy to get the tourist to shell out more money - but I wasn't buying it. Now I had to find a place to buy four tires. I went to the Base Exchange Service center first. They do not have the tires, but if I paid for them in advance, they could get them that afternoon from a distributor downtown and install them the next morning. They also suggested I could try Sears first, so I drove to Sears. They did not have my size and wanted to sell me a different size. I wasn't about to try that configuration (one size on the front axel, another size on the rear axel), so I went looking for another tire dealer as I returned to the Air Force Base to buy my tires there. The price was a little higher - about a hundred dollars - than the previous quote from the tire dealer, however, I did get road hazard insurance for the tires that will be honored at any AAFES Automotive Center - the lower quote did not include Road Hazard.

Getting the tires installed on Saturday was a trying experience. First, we spent a lot more time on Friday trying to get the tires worked out. I should have been able to buy the four tires I received the quote on and be on my way an hour later. As it was it took about 4 hours to be rejected, drive to the exchange, go downtown to Sears and finally get back to the Exchange to purchase the tires. Then on Saturday, we dropped our truck at the AAFES Automotive Center and walked over to the Exchange and Commissary. About two hours later I hadn't received a call saying the truck was ready, so I walked back. They hadn't started yet. It seems the shop compressor was down - it broke during the night. None of their power tools would work. They had dispatched a truck downtown to get the part but until he returned with the part and they got the compressor running, they couldn't install my tires. Finally at 12:30 p.m., they finished and I was able to leave. Counting the time on Thursday when my GPS found a tire shop and I just drove up with my trailer, time on Friday and the time on Saturday, we spent well over 8 hours of our 'rest' time buying new tires. But, I now have six new (or almost new) tires on the truck and three on the trailer (2 right-side tires and the spare) - and the trailer's left-side tires still look good. We should be good to go for the return trip in a couple months. However, I do need to find out why the right-side trailer wheels wore down on the outside edge. Right now, the trailer has less than 50 miles with the new tires and I can't see any abnormality yet.

On Monday, after seeing the hikers from St. Patrick's off on the annual 3-day hike of the Resurrection Trail and making a presentation to the Youth Group, we broke camp and moved about 40 miles north to Wasilla, AK. Our campground Alaskan Trails RV Park and Campground is at Mile 48.2 of the Parks Highway (Alaska Route 3) just north of the City of Wasilla.

While here we plan to tour the Willow, Palmer, Wasilla area of the Mat-Su Valley. We had visited some of these areas before back in 2003, but did not spend much time here the last time we were in Alaska (last year) - just a couple hours and an hour of that was in a restaurant/brew-pub.

When we were here in 2003 with Mike and Julie we concentrated on the areas of Anchorage and points north. We only went south on the Seward Highway once and then did not go past Portage Glacier. So last year that is where we concentrated our touring - Portage Glacier and south on the Kenai Peninsula - Seward, Kenai and Homer. We did this in four separate day-trips from our home-base in Anchorage.

This year in late July we plan to go south to the Kenai Peninsula and we'll stay on the Peninsula for a full two weeks without leaving. But right now we are on our "North" loop. Other stops on this loop include Montana Creek (two 4-night stays), Cantwell, Fairbanks, Delta Junction, Glenallen, and back to Anchorage for another "rest and re-supply" stop. Places we plan to visit besides the Mat-Su valley include Denali National Park, and a day-trip with 'Big Red' north on the Dalton highway out of Fairbanks to north of the Arctic Circle. We also have six days of salmon fishing at Montana Creek scheduled. Fishing for king-salmon is only open on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays from now until it closes completely on July 8th. I have plans to fish the next two weekends - all three days each weekend. Later the Silver- and Red-Salmon will begin their runs, but we'll be back south by then. Maybe they will be running down on the Kenai Peninsula when we are there. I'll find time to do some fishing there too if the fish are running.

Photos from the touring sections will be inserted with the text as we go - here are the first six:

Camping in Alaska

A Three Tier Waterfall

Ice Floes

Bullwinkle?

Checking-it-out

Little Su River (Susitna)

The Trip - Part 9, More Touring Alaska

It's been about a week since I added anything to this narrative. We have not been sitting around - no, we've been on the go and busy doing things.

Saturday, June 28, while fishing at the mouth of Montana Creek in the Susitna River, I got to yell: "fish on" as I had hooked a salmon. However, it was short-lived. The fish got off my hook about 20 seconds after I yelled "fish-on" and I had to say: "fish-off". When fishing in close quarters, as a courtesy, when a fisher-person yells "fish-on" the others in close proximity pull their lines in so they don't get tangled with the line with the 'fighting fish' which will be going both left and right, up stream and down stream, deep and shallow, etc., trying to get off the hook. Although I did fish more that day and on Sunday and Monday, that was the only fish I "caught" - and it got away.

On Tuesday, July 1st we were supposed to move up to Cantwell for our visit to Denali. All I'll say is we had a problem getting out of our site and instead of going north, we ended up going south to Wasilla and then further south to Anchorage. We had damage to our trailer and we needed to get it repaired ASAP - the trailer was "unusable" for camping. I'm not saying we were prepared for this, but I am saying it wasn't totally unexpected. Any RV'er will tell you that you need to "be prepared". Although we didn't foresee this exact problem, we were ready to deal with it. The lady at the campground was an immense help and tried her darndest to get it repaired locally, but she ended up giving us directions to the repair shop in Wasilla.

As I stated earlier, we eventually ended up in Anchorage where we did get it fixed and we got as far north as Wasilla where we spent the night. We went back to Alaskan Trails RV Park and Campground in Wasilla and to the Great Bear Brew-Pub for a beer and dinner. I needed a beer after the day we just had.

We called Cantwell RV Park and explained our problem and where we had to go for repairs and they gave us a refund for one of our "pre-paid" nights of camping. We did get in two of our scheduled three nights at Cantwell and we were able to secure a bus tour of Denali National Park for our one "full day" at Cantwell. On our day at Denali National Park, we took the bus into the park as far as Wonder Lake (mile 86). It was an 11 hour round trip bus tour. Besides being a perfect day for seeing the mountain (Mt. McKinley) we saw a varied range of wild life (moose, snow-shoe hares, grizzly bears, fox, caribou, ground squirrels, and several species of birds including golden eagles, loons, and falcons). Some of the many photos will be up after a few more paragraphs.

On Friday the 4th of July we moved from Cantwell back to Montana Creek for my second weekend of fishing. Our campsite was still occupied when we arrived about 11:00 a.m. Checkout is 2:00 p.m, so rather than wait, we asked the campground to let us drop the trailer and let us get on to Anchorage (almost a hundred miles away). The campground manager was very accommodating - he found a suitable place out of the way and even parked a campground truck next to our trailer so nobody could "hook-up" and drive away.

We had plans in Anchorage for the 4th. Besides mail we needed to pick up at a friends house (including some needed medicines), we were to meet Charley Justice and his family for a 4th of July Bar-B-Que. Charley is an acquaintance of ours who is also the brother-in-law to my late brother, Larry. (Charley and Larry's widow, Suzie are brother and sister). Charley normally lives in Anchorage, but has been in Ketchikan, AK, working since January. He came home for the holiday - this was our only chance to get together with him this trip. We also got to meet one of my brother's nieces, Charley's daughter, Jessica. It was interesting to reflect on how we are all inter-related - here was a young college student home for the summer - she had an Uncle Larry who just happened to be my younger brother - the one I grew up with, the sibling closest to my age (20 months younger than me).

As I wrote earlier, this weekend, July 4, 5, 6, and 7, we are back at Montana Creek (fishing is only on 5, 6, and 7). On Saturday, July 5th, I got to yell: "fish-on" again. This time I was able to land a nice size King Salmon - my first King after many tries in both northern California in the mid-1970s and here in Alaska in 2003, 2007 and three days last weekend. My fishing day is over until tomorrow (officially until tonight at midnight). It's a good feeling to have "limited-out" even if the limit is only one fish. Of course, we have pictures - there's one of me holding it up and another one of me cleaning the fish along side of the creek, the Alaskan way. (You clean it at the stream and throw the unwanted parts into the stream to feed the other fish and birds and to let the stream carry away the "bear magnets". This way there are no fish parts in the trash cans to attract bears to the campground. Its nature's way to "recycle").

Mt. McKinley	Bullwinkle - for sure!	Our first Grizzly	Sow with 2 cubs	New-born and mother	A Fox
The fox's lunch?	Bull Caribou	Weather Info	Combat Fishing in Alaska	My 1st King Salmon	Cleaning the fish

The Trip - Part 10, Still Touring Alaska

As previously mentioned, Saturday I caught my 1st King (Chinook) Salmon. Sunday afternoon I went fishing again and had several strikes and even got to yell "fish on" a couple times. But, I couldn't land either one. They got off the hook somehow. Monday, the last day of the Salmon season in the Susitna River valley, the Kings were finally in Montana Creek. This is where I wanted to fish all along, but the fish weren't here. Even on Monday, there were only a few fish in the creek - but some of those got caught, just not by me. I fished Montana Creek in the morning and saw 30+ salmon pass right by where I was standing. However, later in the day there were no fish that far up the creek, so I ended up going down to the "combat fishing zone" down on the Susitna River at the mouth of Montana Creek. Although there were more fish being caught, most were "snagged" or "illegally hooked" and had to be released. I was not so lucky and did not get to call "fish-on" at all on Monday.

On Tuesday morning we hooked up and pulled out of our site without incident. Before actually leaving the campground we did say "good-bye" to the campground hosts. The hosts were great for both of our 4-day weekends at this campground. Also, we made one more trip to the creek to see the fish. Imagine my surprise when I saw the creek filled with salmon. It's like they (the fish) knew... the fishing season is over - it's safe to continue up the stream to our date with destiny. Why couldn't they have been there in these numbers the day before? It's another one of those mysteries that confound and intrigue me.

After we did get started, we were off to Fairbanks and a seven day stay at River's Edge RV Park. It was a nice drive which included lunch in Nenana, AK. After parking the trailer and setting up camp it was off to Eielson AFB, near North Pole, AK, and the BX and the ATM Machine.

The trip to Eielson brought back memories of my Air Force days. At one time in 1981, I had orders to Eielson, AFB. I wasn't looking forward to that at all. However, the person I was to replace decided to extend his assignment and I was released from this assignment. The same day I was released - knowing I was at the top of the overseas list, I volunteered for Germany and soon had orders to Geilenkirchen, Germany, and the newly formed NATO AWACS unit. The NATO assignment was more appropriate for my training and background as an AWACS Airborne Radar Technician and I was able to capitalize on this by being promoted to Chief Master Sergeant (Chief) while at Geilenkirchen. I was much happier back in 1981 with the assignment to Germany - even though it was to a NATO Base, not a USAF Base and there was limited US support - no BX, no Commissary, no housing, etc. We lived on the economy and bought food and clothes in German stores, etc. It was a good assignment for my family and we all said it was our best assignment in my 26+ years in the Air Force. However, in retrospect, an assignment to Alaska may have been just as nice. My son loved Alaska (he arrived here 20 years later - almost to the day that I was notified of my assignment to Eielson AFB, AK). I am sure I would have loved the assignment too had I actually reported here. I know I love to Vacation here - and I'll probably be back again in a few years, or less.

Wednesday was an idle day - a trip to Wal-Mart and a day for doing the laundry and catching up with Email, etc. We didn't do too much that day.

Thursday was a touring day, and did we go touring... We drove some 200 miles north of Fairbanks on the Dalton Highway to a point that crosses the Arctic Circle. The road parallels the Alaskan Pipeline most of the way to the oil-fields on the North Slope so we got to see much of the Pipeline on this trip. The road wasn't the best - most of the way was gravel and mud, but there were sections that were paved - including the section at the Arctic Circle. (In one of the photos you will see our truck (Big Red) at the Arctic Circle sign and it is not paved... that is because the sign is actually at a Rest Area, the road is just west of the sign - the road is paved, the Rest Area is gravel).

On our return from the Arctic Circle we stopped in Fox (a suburb of Fairbanks) and the home of Silver Gulch Brewing and Bottling Co., America's most northern brewery. We enjoyed a great meal at the brewery's restaurant and I tried two of the brewery's more popular brews - Copper Creek Amber Ale and Fairbanks Lager. The Amber Ale was my favorite.

Big Red at Arctic Circle

At the Arctic Circle

A pair of Moose

Distances to...

Finger Rock

Pipeline

After a 400+ mile trip to the Arctic Circle and back Friday should be a lazy day, but we were up early and on our way to the North Pole. It follows naturally, one day you drive to the Arctic Circle, the next day you continue on to the North Pole. We did go to North Pole, but not 'the' North Pole. We went to the city of North Pole, Alaska. There is a booming tourist business built around the story of Santa Clause and his Reindeers and Christmas and the fact that Santa lives at the North Pole. Santa receives visitors year-round - mostly old retirees in their RVs, but occasionally a young visitor too. The stores sell Christmas items year round too - that's all they sell... Christmas items. You can buy a letter (a choice of about a dozen already pre-printed) and address it to a youngster and they will mail it in December with the North Pole postmark. Carol sat on Santa's lap and was promised a nice Christmas - Santa was disappointed with me... all I did was take the picture. I wouldn't get in the picture. He was mumbling something about me being a Scrooge. I was thinking how they have distorted the true meaning of Christmas to make a few bucks off of the name "North Pole" and the fictional story of Santa and reindeer, etc., and he has the gall to call me a Scrooge.

After the stop in North Pole, we went back to Eielson AFB, and did some grocery shopping at the Commissary and re-visited the BX for some Alaskan souvenirs. Later in the day we drove to Fort Wainright, an active Army Post and visited the PX. Ft. Wainright is closer to Fairbanks than Eielson and beer is cheaper. We should have gone there before the visit earlier in the day to Eielson AFB.

Saturday was a beautiful day. The temperature was in the high 70's, the sun was out all day - it was a day just made for our planned activity - Pioneer Park. Pioneer Park is jointly run by the City of Fairbanks and the Fairbanks North Star Borough (similar to a county government). These government entities own the land and most of the buildings (most over a hundred years old - moved to the Park from elsewhere in the city or surrounding area (Borough)). These are leased out to businesses or non-profits and are now museums, gift shops, restaurants, theaters, etc., etc. There is an area of the park where rides are available for youngsters or adults. Entrance to most of the areas of the Park is free. Obviously, most of the shows and some of the attractions do cost, but it is an interesting Park and one can learn a lot about Fairbanks and the Gold Rush that got this city growing. In one room we got to experience an Arctic Winter. The Temperature was advertised at -40 degrees F (or C since that is the one point on the scale where the temperature is the same). Actually, we were there at about noon, and the thermometer inside read -38 deg F (-39 deg C). But that was cold enough for us. We got to see hot water freeze instantaneously when thrown out of a cup. We were both blinded when we returned to the outside because our glasses fogged up from being so cold and then being exposed to the warm air. The day was interesting and fun and other than souvenirs purchased in the gift shops, relatively inexpensive.

Santa's Lap

Santa's Reindeer

Gold-Rush Cabin

Husband Parking Area

Jim at minus 38 deg F

Carol on ice

Sunday was a day of rest. Mass at 7:30 a.m. in the Church of the Immaculate Conception - a church built in the 1890's and later the first Cathedral for the Diocese of Fairbanks. Then on to breakfast at a local diner and back to the RV for a change of clothes and out again for a little shopping and a little touring. In the early afternoon we returned to the RV for a nap and work on this blog. Tomorrow we'll go downtown to the center of Fairbanks and then back to the RV to get ready to leave on Tuesday. We do have plans for dinner and a show at Pioneer Park in the evening. Then on Tuesday morning it's off to Delta Junction for an extended visit - not an overnight like the last time we were there - at the end of the Alaskan Highway.

The Trip - Part 11, Yes, We're Still Touring Alaska

At the end of the last Part, I mentioned we had plans for dinner and a show at Pioneer Park on Monday evening. I want to say now this was one of our best evenings on this trip. We had a great meal at the Alaskan Salmon Bake, an all-you-can-eat Salmon and Halibut seafood dinner - Prime Rib and Cod as well as a well-stocked salad bar and baked beans were also included as well as soft drinks and desert. The show was a five-person (including the piano player who also sang) Vaudeville-type show that included story telling, singing, dancing and acting. It was all about the beginning of Fairbanks... back in 1896 when the Gold Rush moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, from Dawson, in the Yukon Territory. All-in-all it was a great evening - one I would heartily recommend to anyone who comes to Fairbanks. Most tours do include this as one of the evenings, for those of us on our own, you have to do it on your own - you have to make the decision to do it.

But, a word of advice for all the "military" people reading this - most of the "tourist" places in Fairbanks do give a military discount and they include retirees, which a lot of places in the lower 48 don't. But, you have to ask. The -40 deg room had a sign, "$8.50, ($5.00 for military)". I asked about the military discount - the answer was "anybody with a military I.D. got the discount". When we made reservations for the show, Carol asked if they had any discounts such as a military discount. "Yes, a $3 discount if you have an I.D." So, when we went to the dinner, I asked if they had a military discount. Again, "yes, do you have an I.D.?" and when I showed my I.D. they took $3.00 off each meal. At both the dinner and show, there was no sign saying they offered a military discount, but if you asked, and had the I.D., you got the discount. Just in Pioneer Park alone we saved $9.50 each ($19.00) because of my "Retired Military" status.

A Scenic view

Salmon Bake 1

Salmon Bake 2

Salmon Bake 3

Show 1

Show 2

On Tuesday we moved about a hundred miles down the road - from Fairbanks to Delta Junction. When we were here at the end of the Alaskan Highway, we were still doing the one-night camping although we did disconnect from the trailer and we left the campground. Why I didn't adjust the schedule then - I don't know. This town can be seen in a day, easily. Why we are here for three nights is a mystery. But that is what my schedule says. We must have thought there would be more to see... Other than fuel, it is cheaper here than Anchorage, but I would rather be in Anchorage than here now that I have seen this whole town. Oh well, in a few days we will be in Anchorage for a couple days of rest before heading down to the Kenai Peninsula for a couple of weeks.

Wednesday was another touring day. First, we started out at the 'Farmer's Market'. It was a really small version of a Farmer's Market - only four booths and only one of them had vegetables for sale. Then it was on to two former Alaskan Roadhouses which have been turned into museums - the Sullivan Roadhouse in Delta Junction, the older of the two and Rika's Roadhouse in Big Delta which still sits where it was built and served the public.

The Sullivan Roadhouse has been moved twice in it's history once by the original owners, John E. (Jack) Sullivan and his wife Florence, and once by the U.S. Army. When the Sullivans first opened their Roadhouse, they built it on the Valdez to Fairbanks trail in 1905. About two years later, the Alaskan Road Commission moved the trail about two miles to the west to shorten the route and to move it away from a steep hill that was difficult for both horse drawn carriages and dog sleds. The Sullivans dismantled their 'Roadhouse' and moved the logs by horse to a new site and rebuilt the roadhouse. In 1921 it was closed as the new Richardson Highway was completed and automobile/truck traffic was transporting goods from the Port of Valdez to the interior city of Fairbanks and the trail was no longer needed. Later the land where it sat became part of Fort Greely and it sat in an Artillary Range - although it was never damaged. In the 1990s the Army numbered all the logs, dismantled the roadhouse and moved it to it's present location where it was rebuilt again near where the Alaskan Highway and the Richardson Highways meet. It is now a 'Free' Museum owned and operated by the Delta Chamber of Commerce.

The Rika Roadhouse was along the Richardson Highway where it crosses the Tanana River. It is now part of an Alaskan State Park (Big Delta State Park). It was operated by a woman named Rika - hence the name, who catered to the truck/automobile traffic from the 1920s into the early 1940s. She was a very industrious and resourceful roadhouse operator. She raised farm animals and fowl for eggs and some meat. She fed the animals during the winter from hay harvested during the summer. She had sturdy animals that could live through the winter with just a minimum amount of heat in the barn. She used oxen and horses as work animals on the farm. She had a large garden which supplied her with vegetables - including root vegetables which she could use year-round. When work needed to be done, she used miners and other guests as labourers - giving them food and a bed in exchange for their work. All-in-all, she was successful - that's why her Roadhouse is now a Gift Shop at the State Park.

Both roadhouses served the travelling public year round and were a needed rest stop for people especially during winter storms. They both are free and worth a visit.

Sullivan Kitchen Area

Rika's Roadhouse

Farm Tools

Hay Rake

Sod Roof Cabin

River Crossing

As I write this, our two-month stay in Alaska is past the half-way point and winding down. Where has the time gone? It has been so much fun and it surely doesn't seem like this has been longer than our two previous visits combined. But, it has! And, we only have four weeks left until we return to Canada and eventually, the lower 48. I think we're going to have to come back again. Maybe in the 2010 - 2012 time frame. And... maybe we can get another couple or two or three to join us - we could lead a small group - we know where to go - what to see and do. And, we would still have fun enjoying this beautiful State.

On Thursday I had planned to try my luck with a little lake fishing - in a lake that is stocked with Rainbow Trout and Arctic Char. However, as I write this the wind is blowing, it's raining and the drops are pelting our camper and the temperature dropped about 20 to 30 degrees from yesterday. If it stops raining I may go fishing anyway. If it continues to rain, I'm going to stay inside and work on this blog. I have a lot of pictures to sort through from Monday night and our drive here.

The Trip - Part 12, Even More Touring Alaska

Although we didn't plan to do much touring while we are in Anchorage, we did drive up to Hatcher Pass on Monday. We tried driving over the Pass back in June when we were staying in Wasilla since the Pass is on a road from Palmer to Willow - both a Mat-Su Valley origination and destination - even if it is up and over a mountain pass. However, the Pass was still covered with snow and the road was closed. But, we were told by someone back then that if the snow doesn't melt soon, the Highway Department will plow the road so that on the 4th of July weekend it will be open for traffic. In less than three months it will be closed again due to snow and won't open till next June or July. It is a very scenic drive and there are many cars using the road during the three months of the year it is open even though about half of the 30+ miles is unpaved.

Tuesday we went to two Alaskan Fish Hatcheries. Both are on Military Bases, but the one on the Air Force Base is outside the gate, so can be accessed by anyone. Unfortunately, it is not too visitor friendly. There are a couple signs to read, and you can see the adult fish in the creek - it's basically a closed off hatchery. The one on the Army base on the otherhand is very visitor friendly and you can see the whole process of raising the young fish to an age where they are released in streams to swim out to the ocean. At this hatchery they also raise Rainbow Trout for stocking many Alaskan lakes and streams. This is a very educational fish hatchery... but you can only visit the Hatchery by gaining access to Fort Richardson and a Military I.D. is needed for that. Both Fish Hatcheries are run by the Alaskan Department of Fish and Game.

Stellar Jay 1

Stellar Jay 2

Beaver Dam

Marmot

Ship Creek Dam

Ship Creek Salmon

On Wednesday morning (July 23) we departed Anchorage for our Kenai (rhymes with deny) Peninsula part of the trip. We have reservations in four campgrounds in various areas on the Peninsula. Our first five nights are in Seward at the Air Force Recreation Services Campground in the southeast corner of the Peninsula, near the Kenai Fjords National Park. Active duty military members as well as retirees may use the facility and it is about half the cost of the commercial campgrounds with the same amenities. Because of the low price and a 10% discount given to Air Force club members, this is one of the cheapest campgrounds we have stayed in on this trip - $15.30/night.

Seward is either the start or end point of all cruises sailing the "Inside Passage" from/to Seattle, or more commonly today, Vancouver. It's also the start of the Alaskan Railroad which travels north to Anchorage and on to Fairbanks with many stops along the way. It also has more busses arriving and leaving here than any other Alaskan city except Anchorage. Because of all this transportation, the entire city is geared to tourism. There are gift shops, hotels, restaurants, museums and thousands of day-trips to sight-see, climb, hike, boat, kayak, raft, fish, hunt, fly, etc., etc. - if tourists do it anywhere, you can do it here in Seward. Just bring your $$$ or credit card.

The city was named after the U.S. Secretary of State who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia. If you remember your history lessons, Alaska was once refered to as "Seward's Folly". Well, I don't know anyone today who thinks it was a mistake to purchase Alaska. It was a great decision - not only for the land and mineral resources, but militarily, to keep Russian bases off the North American continent. All Alaskans - native as well as newcomers are proud of their U.S. citizenship and they are gearing up for their 50th anniversary of statehood next July. A year-long celebration started earlier this month at the beginning of the 50th year of statehood.

Thursday (July 24) was a day to re-acquaint ourselves with Seward and to figure out what we want to do for our remaining time in Seward. Friday we will go out to Exit Glacier, Saturday will be the expensive day with a Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise - a six-hour cruise through Resurrection Bay and Aialik Bay. Although there is no guarantee to see any wildlife, other tours have seen Humpback whales, Stellar sea lions, Dall's porpoise, harbor porpoise, Orca (killer whales), harbor seals, bald eagles, and puffins. We are both looking forward to this cruise and to the wildlife we hope to see. Of course, any neat photos will be available for your viewing pleasure. On Sunday after Mass and breakfast we'll visit the Alaskan Sea Life Center - an aquarium type exhibit with some of the smaller animals from the previous list. Then, on Monday we will move over to the northwest side of the Peninsula to the town of Kenai.

The name for Exit Glacier came from the early explorers of the Harding Ice Field. The glacier to the northeast was a safe way down off the ice - hence the name 'Exit Glacier'. Exit Glacier has been in steady retreat for over a hundred years. The current parking lot where we parked 'Big Red' was under the glacier as recent as 1910 - now it is a 0.7 mile hike to get to the glacier - we went in on the scenic trail (about 0.9 mile) and returned via the shorter trail - we also took a trail up the hill to get along side of the glacier. I would estimate we walked close to 2.5 miles round-trip and climbed and descended about a hundred feet in the process. Although we didn't get close enough to touch the glacier, we did get some great photos - not only of the glacier, but also of a family of Ptarmigan we met on the pathway. We also saw a couple of Voles, but they wouldn't stay put long enough for us to get a photo. Voles are a small rodent - look a lot like a miniature hamster - although they are cute, their main purpose for existence is to be food for predators such as owls, coyotes, foxes, etc.

Seward

Exit Glacier 1

Exit Glacier 2

The Climb

The Size

Ptarmigan

Dinner on Friday night was in keeping with our 'Exit Glacier' touring. We went to Exit Glacier Salmon Bake where we had an excellent meal. Carol ordered the Broiled Salmon and I ordered the Broiled Halibut and we both had some of each. Both were excellent! I think the cooks here were the best of the three 'Salmon Bake' restaurants we have eaten at on this trip, but the all-you-can-eat one in Fairbanks is still my favorite - it's hard to beat an all-you-can-eat. For dessert we shared a 'Moose Snort' - an interesting concoction of cake, icecream, syrup and whipped cream. However, it was the slogan of the restaurant that intrigued both Carol and me - "Cheap Beer & Lousy Food". The beer was moderately priced ($4.50 to $4.75 a pint for Alaskan crafted brews), but the food was excellent - a far extreme from "lousy". We just had to buy the "T-shirts" - Now we can have "Cheap Beer & Lousy Food" blazened across our backs as we walk around in our "Salmon Bake, Seward AK" T-shirts.

Saturday (July 26) was a perfect day to tour the Kenai Fjords National Park. The park has only one road - the road to Exit Glacier - and we went there on Friday. The best way to see the other parts of this Park is by taking a marine tour. Three commercial boat companies provide tours of Ressurection Bay and Aialik Bay. Three-, six-, and eight-hour tours are available and are priced accordingly. We opted for the six-hour tour by Renown Tours - a tour that went all the way to Aialik Glacier at the head of Aialik Bay. We think we made a great choice. We saw a variety of wildlife - some we would not have seen on the three-hour tour as it does not enter Aialik Bay where we saw both Orca (Killer whales) and Humpback whales as well as two different species of Puffins. We also saw Stellar Sea Lions and Harbor Seals. Others on our tour saw Dall's porpoise playing among the Orca, but we weren't able to see those. We did get to see small pieces of ice breaking (calving) off of Aialik Glacier - although this was very sporadic and we don't have any photos. We even got to see a mountain goat up on one of the hills between Resurrection Bay and Aialik Bay. All-in-all, it was a great tour, and a beautiful day for the tour.

New Islands

Aialik Glacier 1

Aialik Glacier 2

Hanging Out

Mountain Goat

A seal of interest

We didn't get any pictures of the whales - they come up, breathe, and go down so quick it is impossible to catch them up - but we have a video - here, see for yourself: Killer Whales (5.26 MB) In this short movie clip (about 28 seconds) seven whales surface to breathe. The talking you will hear are other passengers seated nearby or Ranger Doug of the National Park Service who was our 'tour guide'. You will know the difference - Ranger Doug is speaking English.

On Sunday morning (July 27) we attended Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Seward. After Mass, it was breakfast at The Marina Diner and a visit to the Alaskan Sea Life Center - an exhibit of various sea life living in the Bering Sea. It was interesting, educational and fun. Other than the largest of the animals living in the Sea, i.e., the whales, etc., they had living displays of most of the sea life including all the food we humans eat that come from the eco-system known as the Bering Sea.

Five Salmon

Octopus

King Crab

Spot Shrimp 1

Spot Shrimp 2

Harbor Seals

The Trip - Part 13, Starting to Wind Down the Touring

On Monday (July 28) morning we moved over to the northwest corner of the Kenai Peninsula, to the city of Kenai and the Beluga Lookout RV Park. From our cheapest campground to the most expensive ($45.00/night - and that is with the 10% Good Sam's discount).

In Kenai one can still see a lot of the Russian heritage. As mentioned in the last Part, Alaska was purchased from Russia which had several settlements in Alaska - Kenay was one of the settlements. I don't know when the spelling changed from Kenay to Kenai, but at the time of the Russian settlement it was Kenay and one of the first U.S. Army Forts in Alaska was Fort Kenay near the Russian settlement of Kenay (now the city of Kenai).

The campground is near the old settlement of Kenay and a walking tour is available for those interested - on Tuesday (July 29) we toured the old town of Kenay. It includes, suprising to me, the oldest building on the Kanai Peninsula and it was built with finished boards, not a log cabin - although there are plenty of log cabins that are over 100 years old. Also, suprisingly, the oldest building is still in use for the purpose it was originally built and has been in use continuously for 127 years. It was built as a Rectory to house the Russian Orthodox Priest who serves as pastor of Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church. There are several active Russian Orthodox churches in Alaska a remnant of the missionary activity of the Russian Church when this was a Russian Territory. The church of the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary is open for touring and we did pay a visit. While we were there visiting the current Pastor came in to visit with the volunteer tour guide. He was dressed in the traditional black cassock and a unique berretta that identified him as clergy in the Russian Orthodox Church. It reminded me of the pre-Vatican II era in the Catholic Church when all the clergy wore cassocks and a berretta - although the clergy of the catholic church had a different style berretta than the clergy from the Orthodox churches.

Here are the photos from Kenai:

The Zoo Down Below

Assumption 1

Assumption 2

Assumption 3

Assumption 4

Ninilchick CG

Wednesday (July 30) we moved about 40 miles down the west side of the Kenai Peninsula to the town of Ninilchik. Our stop here was planned to do some fishing for Halibut. I had a fishing charter planned on Thursday morning (Jul 31). The charter on Thursday was interesting in so far as I received two discounts just for asking. First, the campground I was staying at also ran fishing charters - the name of the campground is D&M Fishing Charters and RV Park. When I called last week to schedule a trip on Thursday, I found out they were booked solid. However, since we had RV reservations in the campground, she knew our schedule and knew Thursday was probably the only day I could go on a fishing trip, so she gave me the name and phone number of another company. I immediately called the other company to insure I could get on with them. Their price was $15 more than the price the campground charged, but when I mentioned this and that the campground recommended them, they said they would match the campground price. In the meantime, I found out from an ad that the company I was going out with was owned by a retired USAF LtCol. So when I got there on Wednesday afternoon the day before the trip, I told the lady: "I know you already gave me a discount to match the RV Park, but since the owner is retired Air Force, does he give a military discount and would that be better?" She asked if I had an ID card that would allow me into the BX and Commissary, I said yes and showed her. She checked with the owner, and I got an additional $5 off the price. Even with a $20 discount, this was still an expensive fishing charter. I did catch two small Halibut - about 20-lbs each, but I also lost a pair of tri-focal eye-glasses overboard. I am currently using a pair of bi-focal sunglasses to see.

Friday morning (Aug 1) before we moved down the road to Anchor Point, AK, we went into Ninilchik and shipped a box of frozen, vacuum-packed Salmon and Halibut to our home address. Someone from our daughters family will get it and put it into our freezer for us. We did have grilled Halibut for dinner on Thursday - and it was great! We still have one package of Salmon and one package of Halibut in the freezer of our camper for our trip home.

Friday afternoon I was fishing for Silver Salmon in the Anchor River near Anchor Point. Although it was fun to be fishing for salmon again, I didn't have any strikes so came home empty-handed. There are Silvers in the river, I saw some and heard others splash. I was using spinners - same as I used for the Kings up at Montana Creek. However, I was later told: "everybody catching Silvers are using salmon roe". Bait is not allowed for Kings - only artificial lures, but with Silvers bait is OK and apparently, preferred by the fish.

Saturday (Aug 2) we went into Homer - about 10 miles from our campground at Anchor Point. While walking around Homer Spit, we came across a Halibut Charter that was less than half the price of the charter I had in Ninilckik (even with the $20 discount). Of course that was the advertised "Senior" Price. The full-fare adults had to pay slightly more than half price. Anyway, that sounded like a good deal, so I signed up to take a tour on Sunday afternoon. We thought this would allow us time to attend Mass and make the fishing trip. However, when we got back to the camper and checked Mass times, the only Sunday Mass was at 11:30 a.m. There is no way I could attend Mass on Sunday and still make the charter, so we opted for the Saturday Vigil Mass, however, the Mass in Homer had already started before we checked the schedule. So, with the help of our computer we found a 7:30 p.m. Vigil Mass in Ninilchik - about 20 miles north. We had time to eat, clean-up, change clothes and drive back to Ninilchik for Mass so I would be able to make a 12:30 p.m. fishing charter in Homer on Sunday. The boat out of Homer was quite a bit larger than the boat I was on in Ninilchik. The boat on Sunday had 24 paying fisher-persons. In the time allotted, 18 of us caught our limit of two Halibut each, but six only caught one - or only kept one. At the end of the day we brought home 42 fish. I was one of the lucky ones with two fish although one of mine was a smaller fish - about 10 to 12 lbs. As Halibut go, this is quite small, but that's what we were catching that day - small fish. My other fish was over 20 lbs, but that is still a small halibut. My daughter-in-law, Julie, caught a 103 pounder back in 2002. That same day our son caught two that totaled about 70 lbs. It took me two days of fishing to catch about 70 lbs of Halibut. And, that only netted us about 30 lbs of fish in the freezer - most of that is already in our freezer in Florida.

Monday (Aug 4) morning we broke camp and left the Kenai Peninsula. It was difficult... the fishing there was great, most campgrounds were reasonable... we would have liked to stay longer, but we had to be in Anchorage. First, we had a luncheon date on Tuesday with Fr. Scott Medlock, the Pastor at Mike and Julie's Parish in Anchorage. Second, Anchorage is my best chance to get new glasses to replace the ones I lost in Cook Inlet. So, about 10:00 a.m. I picked up our package of Halibut from the campgound freezer chest and put the fish into our camper's small freezer and we soon were on the road towards Anchorage. We have a couple other places to see and we have reservations to keep. When we leave Anchorage, we still have to visit Valdez and Tok with confirmed reservations. We also are going to add one additional night in Chicken, AK. According to other RV campers we have talked with, Chicken is a "must-see". It's close to Tok, we could make it a day trip, but we have decided to leave Alaska via the "Top-of-the-World" Highway. This road goes through Chicken. We might as well stay an additional night and enjoy the town of Chicken and partake in the "infamous" night-life of Chicken on our last night in Alaska, 2008.

The Trip - Part 14, Starting Back East

After leaving Anchor Point on Monday, Aug 4, each campground we stay in will be farther east than the previous campground. It will be this way for at least a month as we begin our trip home - it may be this way all the way back to Florida, but, since we will also be going south, we may travel a little west or north as we wind our way back home. For example, Valdez may or may not be farther north than Anchorage, it's hard to tell. But, Anchorage is farther north than Anchor Point, Tok is farther north than Valdez, Chicken is farther north than Tok. But, our overall direction will be to the south and east. Currently, it is more east and to the north. We still have four campgrounds and 10 nights in Alaska after leaving Anchor Point before we arrive at the border to re-enter Canada. We have four nights at Golden Nugget Campground in Anchorage; three nights at Bear Paw Campground in Valdez; two nights in Sourdough Campground and Breakfast Cafe in Tok; and, one night at Chicken Creek RV Park in Chicken. We are slowly easing in to our "travel" mode where we will camp one night, break camp, travel 250 or more miles in a day and set up camp again for another one-night stay.

Our four days in Anchorage were busy with last minute details. We kept our lunch date with Fr. Scott on Tuesday and had some great conversation with him. He was concerned with how we are doing and how Julie and Thomas are doing. He also told us a little about himself and his journey to the Priesthood. It was a great visit and great lunch, but the service was a little slow and Fr. was a little late getting back for a Parish Staff meeting. Since he is the Pastor, he wasn't late, everybody else was early.

After lunch it was off to Lenscrafters for new glasses. Actually we went to a different Lenscrafters the previous evening - almost the first thing we did after parking the trailer. However, Alaskan law required me to see an Optometrist and get a new prescription. I was hoping to get them to read the prescription from my sunglasses and duplicate those. No luck - so I made an appointment for the next day after lunch and before dinner I was wearing tri-focals again. The one hour service to make new lenses is great. After getting new glasses, I could finally relax and think about other things we needed to do. We spent almost all the rest of the visit shopping for souvenirs. We did visit the Fish Hatchey on the Air Force Base to see if the Silver Salmon had arrived there yet - they hadn't but there were a few late-arriving Kings in the water - not near as many as we saw about two to three weeks earlier.

On Friday (Aug 8) morning we pulled out of Anchorage for the last time on this journey - destination... Valdez, AK, and the Bear Paw campground. As we left town we could see fresh snow on some of the mountains east of town. As we drove through Palmer and further east we saw more evidence of new snow and have some photos. There will be one in the photo's from this Part. Keep in mind, this new snow fell on Aug 7 - that's early, even for Alaska.

Friday evening after dinner we went for a short ride to a spot we had seen on our way into town. We didn't stop then because we were pulling our trailer, although there was ample parking. It was a spawning area for salmon. Pink and Chum salmon were both in the creek spawning. Although the Ranger Station was closed for the evening, the parking lot and viewing area were still open for visitors. We watched the spectacle for several minutes. Saturday morning we returned as the night before we saw a sign announcing that this was being filmed live with an underwater camera and is on a video monitor in the Ranger Station. We wanted to see this "underwater" view. The ranger told us of another similar spot - no camera, but sometimes a bear or two will be feeding. Although we did not see any bears, we did see a true example of the circle-of-life. We have a video, but the link for the video will be on one of the photo slides for this Part.

After seeing the circle of life in living reality we drove about 26 miles back up the Richardson highway to Worthington Glacier. We could see the glacier on our way into Valdez, but again didn't want to stop because we were towing the trailer. We were able to get much closer to this glacier than we did to Exit Glacier down on the Kenai Peninsula. We have several photos from Worthington Glacier to share with you.

Valdez is an interesting town. Most people know that Valdez is at the end of the Alaskan Pipeline and is on Prince William Sound. They also know the oil is loaded aboard super tankers and shipped to the refineries in the lower 48 and also to Korea and Japan. What they may not know is that Valdez is also home to a booming commercial fishing industry that is just now getting over the disaster caused by the Exxon Valdez tanker back in the 70's.

To support the tourist industry there are several motels/hotels and RV Campgrounds as well as many restaurants. There are also several different glacier and wildlife cruises to choose from. Since that is basically what we did in Seward and they are expensive tours, we opted not to take one of those tours here. They also have many fishing charter boats - you can fish for Salmon, Halibut and other bottom fish, or Sharks. I have no desire to catch a shark, but salmon or halibut - yes, I'm interested!

I signed up for a Salmon Charter for Sunday morning (Aug 10). Weather was great on Saturday morning when I signed up, but later Saturday afternoon it started raining and continued to rain until the chater boat was almost back in Port on Sunday afternoon. The boat had six paying customers and our only job was to reel in the fish. The Captain baited the hooks (lures) and dropped them to different depths and set up a "down-rigger" (a contraption that basically sets the hook once a fish takes the bait). He set up four of these rigs - one at each corner of the aft deck. These rigs basically caught the fish automatically, then someone was supposed to reel the fish in. So that everyone got a fish, we were to go in order. I got the first fish and was supposed to wait until the other five caught a fish before I would be 'up' again. Problem is, the fish weren't biting and only three others caught a fish. Another problem with this way to fish is guys who want to play the fish - to have more fun reeling them in. Person No. 4 had three fish get away before he was able to land a fish and I am confident if he had not tried to 'play'em' he could have landed any one of the other three fish. Maybe he thought they were too small and intentionally let them get away - I don't know. I do know that this basically knocked persons five and six out of getting a fish and knocked me out of getting a second fish as we didn't have time to stay. The boat had an afternoon charter to take out. My fish was one of the smaller ones - not the smallest, but weighed in at just over 8 lbs. The largest of the four our boat caught was over 12 lbs. and was the fish finally landed by person No. 4. Although mine was small, it was great tasting! We had grilled salmon steaks for dinner on Monday evening after arriving in Tok.

Because of the fishing charter on Sunday morning, we went to the Saturday Vigil at St. Francis Xavier church in Valdez. It so happens this is one of five parishes in the Archdiocese of Anchorage without a resident pastor. As such, the priest only comes to town for Mass every-other weekend. So we celebrated the Liturgy of the Word and then right into Communion. This service was conducted by a Religious Sister (a nun) who serves as the administrator of the Parish. This was our first time ever attending a Liturgy of the Word and Eucharist in lieu of Mass on a Sunday. We have attended these services on weekdays before - but never on a Sunday. All I can say is - it was a strange feeling... but this accentuates the need for more priests. Sister did a good job as the leader - even did a great job with the homily - but I would have much rather had a priest celebrating Mass. When the shortened service was over and we were dismissed, the skys opened up and just poured down rain for a few minutes.

Here are the pictures for this part. I am adding 12 photos and a video. Clik on the thumbnail for "Spawning Salmon" and you will see the link for the video as part of the 'caption'.

Worthington Glacier 1	Claiming Victory	Worthington Glacier 2	Standing on Glacier	Bridal Veil Falls	Horsetail Falls
Train Tunnel	Fishing Allison Pt	Coho Salmon	Spawning Salmon	Lawnmower	New Snow

Monday (Aug 11) morning we broke camp and left Valdez for the town of Tok, AK. We were in Tok back in June. We just passed through on our way to Delta Junction and the end of the Alaskan Highway. Tok is the first real Alaskan city you come to when driving the Alaskan Highway. It is 90 miles from the border.

I would love to stay here until later in the month of August. The trees are just beginning to turn colors and the fishing is getting better. In mid to late August you can catch Silver (Coho) Salmon in Prince William Sound by standing on the shore near Allison Point - don't need to take a charter. Silvers are slightly smaller than the Kings, but put up a similar fight and taste just as good, especially if you catch them while they are still in salt water - once salmon hit the fresh water streams, they begin changing colors and start the process of dying. The limit in Prince William Sound is six per day. It's almost worth staying a while longer just to fish for Silvers. But, we had already decided we were going to leave Alaska on Thursday, August 14, to ensure us a safe trip home with (hopefully) no snow on the mountain passes in Canada. Snow has already dusted the peaks in Alaska. We need to get going.

On Wednesday we made the much anticipated trip to Chicken, AK. We have a site in Chicken Creek RV Park also known as the Gold Panner RV Park. The Park has a Golf Course - Chicken Creek Country Club (one of the northern most golf courses in North America) which is free to campers. Also, there is free WI-FI, but I have very limited capability in my rig (the pull-through sites with 30-amp service are the farthest sites from the office). For RV'ers who like to dry camp, there is a dry camp area that is free with a fuel purchase. Carol and I are accustomed to electricity so we got a reduced rate, but we are too far away for the WI-FI. One other thing the RV Park has is a nice gift shop - but we have almost all the items we are going to buy this trip already stored away in the RV or truck. In downtown Chicken (about a quarter-mile away) there are four businesses all owned by the same owner - not the same owner as our RV Park. There is an Mercantile Emporium (a fancy name for a gift shop), a Liquor Store, a Saloon and a Cafe. All of these have the name Chicken Creek in front of them.

There is an interesting story about how 'Chicken' was named. At a town meeting of local prospectors and miners, they decided to name the town "Ptarmigan" after a local bird that was in abundance in the area and was hunted by these same men for food. However, they couldn't agree on how to spell "Ptarmigan", so they all agreed to name their community "Chicken" because the local Ptarmigan resembled a chicken and "Chicken" was often used euphemistically by these prospectors when referring to Ptarmigan.

After dinner at the camper (grilled chicken - what else would you eat in Chicken, AK?) we had desert at the Chicken Creek Cafe then we went to the Chicken Creek Saloon for some beers. Carol had a root beer while I had some of the real stuff. 'Everybody' comes into the saloon in the evening. The nite we were there, there were hunters, other RV'ers, a couple of local prospectors and a couple of workers from around town. A very interesting gathering of people. Over a month ago we were informed "you have to go to 'Chicken'. You can't travel as much in Alaska as you guys are doing and not go to 'Chicken'". This sentiment was echoed by several we met at various RV Parks throughout Alaska. So, we added Chicken to our itinerary. The road from Tok to Chicken is not the best, but is significantly better than the road from Chicken to the U.S./Canadian border. That is the worst road we've travelled on this trip, but the views are spectacular - we may have to travel this way again. Here are pictures of Chicken, AK, and also some of the views from the roadway into or out of Chicken along the Top of the World Highway.

Chicken Creek Cafe	Chicken Creek Mercantile	Chicken Creek Saloon	Chicken Creek Outhouse	Two Chicks	Starter Shack
Welcome to Alaska	Autumn	Top of the World 1	Top of the World 2	Top of the World 3	Top of the World 4>

I am already planning our next trip to Alaska in my mind. We'll come back in two or three years at about the same time - maybe a few days earlier, not much earlier, but we'll stay longer and not go straight to Anchorage after arriving. We did that this year to make a presentation to the youth group at St. Patrick's. If we do a presentation to the youth group next time, we'll do it whenever we get to Anchorage, not necessarily on the morning the youth group is leaving to hike the Resurection Pass Trail. We'll also plan to stay until about the 25th of August and then we'll go straight home - not take the scenic route over the "Top of the World Highway". Since one of the goals of this trip was to drive the Alaskan Highway end-to-end and we have done that, maybe we could come into Alaska on the Top of the World Highway or maybe not even drive on the Top of the World Highway next time and we will probably go to Fairbanks for our first "rest and resupply" stop in Alaska. Fairbanks has a Wal-Mart, and two military bases nearby with a Commissary and AAFES (BX or PX), plus it is also a large city with many stores, restaurants, banks, etc. Fairbanks will work just fine as a rest and re-supply stop. This would allow me more fishing time when the fish are running in the Mat-Su valley and Kenai Peninsula and in Prince William Sound. Also, by being here longer we could stay longer at some RV Parks - ones we really liked and skip or change some others we didn't care for. All of this would help cut down on the miles driven within Alaska and save fuel expenses. We would still want to see most of Alaska, but not necessarily do everything we did this year. We don't need to make a 400 mile round trip to the Arctic Circle - we've done that - you only need to do it once. Tours within the National Parks we would do again... and fishing. Definitely more fishing next time.

The Trip - Part 15, Back in Canada

As mentioned in the last Part, the Top of the World Highway, like the Alaskan Highway goes through both Alaska and the Yukon. We drove the full length from Jack Wade Junction in Alaska where the Top of the World Highway is a spur road off of the Taylor Highway to Dawson. From the junction, near the top of Jack Wade Mountain, the road goes mostly east across the U.S/Canadian border to Dawson City. The highway started as a supply route to get supplies to the miners in eastern Alaska near Eagle and Chicken. Later it was improved to support automobiles and trucks and was called the "Ridge Road". In the late 1940's the Alaskan Road Commission built the Taylor Highway to connect the towns of Eagle and Chicken to Tok and the Alaskan Highway and to connect to the Ridge Road. This opened the entire gold mining area to the outside world. After the Taylor Highway was completed, the Ridge Road was renamed the 'Top of the World Highway'.

Although the highway goes to Dawson, to get into Dawson you need to cross the Yukon River and there are no bridges. This means a ferry ride is the only option available to cross the Yukon. In the dead of winter, auto's and trucks may be able to drive across the frozen Yukon, but I don't think I would attempt that - even after seeing others do it safely - and there are always some that will do just that - drive across the Yukon on the ice. The Ferry is run by the Yukon Government and is considered an extension of the road, thus is free. During the summer the ferry runs 24 hours a day with three half-hour periods about eight hours apart when it stops for a crew change and refueling. It also shuts down for two hours every Wednesday and four hours on Saturday morning for scheduled maintenance. If the ferry is on one side of the river, and there are no cars/people on board and a car pulls up on the opposite shore, the crew will cross the river empty to bring that car across. In busy times, there could be a lengthy wait, but usually it can take all the waiting cars/trucks/RVs at one time. When we crossed at about 2:00 p.m., there was our rig, one other SUV and two walk-ons. After dropping us in Dawson, it returned to the other side with one walk-on and one car. When the Top of the World Highway is closed after the first significant snowfall, the ferry stops running.

Friday, Aug 15, is a Holy Day in the U.S. - the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Although, not a Holy Day in Canada, they do still celebrate the same Solemnity. I think the Priest was pleasantly surprised when nine Americans showed up for Mass at St. Mary's Church in Dawson Friday morning. He apparently does not get very many to attend daily Mass on a regular basis. Us nine visitors comprised his entire congregation for this Mass. Carol and I were the first two to arrive, and he asked if one of us would like to read. Since I am a Lector in my home parish, I volunteered to read. The church building is multi-purpose with the 'church' upstairs, and an old school (now a museum and meeting rooms) downstairs. We do have pictures of the church and will include one with the photos.

Later on Friday we toured Dawson City and stopped by the homes of two writers who specialized in writing about the North and the Gold era - Jack London and Robert Service. Both lived and wrote some of their famous works in Dawson, YT. Most Americans know about Jack London because his book, The Call of the Wild was mandatory reading for most High School Freshman English courses. But only a few have heard of Robert Service although he is still a best selling author (also a poet) in the Yukon and Northwest Territories in Canada and in Alaska. They both had log cabins on Eighth Street in Dawson at the foot of the hillside about a half block apart. I did not check the dates they lived there. I am not sure they were ever neighbors although they probably were and probably discussed their various writing projects with each other over a drink or two.

St. Mary's Church 1

St. Mary's Church 2

St. Mary's Church 3

Robert Service Cabin

Jack London Cabin 1

Jack London Cabin 2

Saturday (Aug 16) morning we were back on the road heading for Whitehorse, YT. This time we were driving the Klondike highway. About 15 miles outside of Dawson there is a detour - they direct all traffic onto a newly created dirt(mud)/gravel road up and over a large hill. As 'big red' was fully loaded with fuel (63+ gallons on board) and a large cooler plus some firewood in the bed and the trailer is loaded with fish and souvenirs and probably close to the max weight, anyway... we got a Transmission Overheat indication just as we crested the long hill. As soon as I could I pulled over to stop and let it cool off. The radiator was also heated allowing steam to escape. It's what I would call a 'killer hill'. This is the first time I was concerned about 'big red'. We added fluid to the coolant "overflow" tank and once we got going again, it did draw fluid out of the tank into the radiator. At our next stop I filled it again and it stayed full the rest of the day. In the meantime, about 10 minutes after pulling over and stopping, I turned the key "on" and the light was still lit. About two minutes later I decided to go ahead and start the engine and let it idle in 'Park'. I figured the engine running would cause the transmission fluid to circulate and that has to be better for the transmission. However, when I turned the key 'on', the light went out - it had cooled to an acceptable temperature. So... I started the engine and put it in 'Drive' and started out slowly going down hill. We were able to make it all the way to Whitehorse, about 320 miles from where the Detour was without further incident.

Even though we arrived in Whitehorse without further incident, we decided we should take the truck in for a check-up. There is a Dodge/Jeep dealer in town and we have a couple small items that should be looked at. I think we have an intermittent water pump leak and we have a brake light out and it's not the bulb and there is a problem with the 'Cruise Control' - but that has been there for about a year now. We also had this overheat condition on Saturday - although this may be a problem with the road more than with big red, I want it looked at - we still have more mountains to cross on our way home. Anyway, we found out that Monday is a Holiday in the Yukon (it's Discovery Day - the anniversary of when Gold was discovered in Dawson - the whole Territory celebrates with a three-day weekend) so we will have to wait until Tuesday to get it in and we are not sure we can get it looked at and any required repairs completed all on Tuesday - we don't have an appointment. As a result we are going to have a minimum of a four night stay. But, this (or possibly Dawson) is the place to be if we have to be stuck somewhere along our route in Canada. Campgrounds are nice, reasonably priced and there is ample stuff to do in town - of course, if I don't have a truck, getting back and forth to town may be a challenge.

On Sunday after Mass we went to breakfast at McDonalds. I think this was the first time we did a breakfast there this whole trip - and we only had lunch there once - in Alaska. After breakfast there was a quick trip to Wal-Mart and two 'Dollar Stores' Carol found as we drove through town both last time we were here and again on Saturday as we were looking for the Dodge dealer and a station with cheap Diesel. After a little shopping it was back to the campground for some work on this blog and we washed the truck. I also started looking at maps and began considering a new route home.

When we do get back to the lower 48, we'll travel east through the northern tier of states. We don't have any campground reservations and probably won't make any until a day before, if at all. Probably because of the price of fuel, but the number of RV's in Alaska this summer was estimated at 25 to 40 percent lower than the number last year. Only three of the campgrounds we were in were booked solid while we were there and all three are favorite campgrounds of Caravans (groups of RVs travelling together - with a professional guide planning the trip and social activities. These usually have anywhere from 10 to 30 rigs all moving around together, but not necessarily in a convoy. These groups see all the highlights and have a party doing it, but they don't make the same side trips we did. They do, however, go to most of the tourist attractions.) Anyway, right now, we don't feel we need reservations - and then we don't have to cancel or change reservations if something like 'needing' repairs happens again.

Monday, Aug 18, Discovery Day here in the Yukon was another beautiful day. We have truly been blessed with good weather on this trip. Yes, we have had some cold and wet, but that's expected, we're in the North. However, when talking to Alaskans and fellow RV'ers, they all talk about how cold this summer has been. We have not experienced the same summer others have. We have been dragging good weather around with us. Remember, we were at the Arctic Circle wearing shorts. I'm not saying it has all been great - in Delta Junction I gave up a day of fishing for 'Rainbows' because of the rain, wind and drastic drop in temperatures. But, overall, this has been a good summer where we were. Anyway, on Discovery Day we went to the MacBride Museum of Yukon History in Whitehorse. This was an interesting museum - well worth the $6 admission fee ($7 normal admission - we got the senior disount). We even got to pan for gold. Some others did find gold in their pan, we found some Iron Pyrite (fools gold) and Crystal Quartz in our pan.

We also stopped by the 'old log church', an old Protestant Church with a history that parallels the hisory of Whitehorse, Dawson and the Yukon. We didn't go in as this would incur another entrance fee, and I have a problem with paying a fee to enter a church - even one that is now a museum. Carol did take a photo before leaving. In the Kenai, we toured the Russian Orthodox church for free - they had a collection box for donations, I put in $5. This old log church charged $2.00 to enter - I wasn't going to pay. I probably would have put $5 in a donation box - more than the combined entrance fee for the two of us, but as I said, I wasn't about to pay a fee to enter.

Forest Fire

Decorations

Sacred Heart Cathedral 1

Sacred Heart Cathedral 2

Gold Panner

Old Log Church

On Tuesday morning (Aug 19) we were at the Dodge Dealer at about 7:30 a.m. even though we knew they don't open until 8:00 a.m. However, the Service Writer was there already and the door was open. I went in and was asked if I had an appointment. When I said "no", she said they are already kind of busy today with appointments and then she asked what was wrong. I explained our problems and she said if I could come back at 1:00 p.m., she thinks she can fit me in. I asked her if it would be better if I came back tomorrow, so they could finish it in one day. She assured me it would be done before they close at 5:30 p.m. today.

It is now about 5:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, and I am already back at the campground with my truck running like new (well, as new as any vehicle with 92,000 miles on it runs). We will go to town for one dinner in a restaurant in Whitehorse before we leave and then we will prepare for our departure tomorrow morning.

After sending out the email about Part 15 being ready, we did go to Earl's for dinner. This restaurant does not advertise in the travel publications, so is not known by too many RV'ers. However, this is a much nicer restaurant than the Klondike Rib and Salmon Bake place most all RV'ers go to if they are going to eat out in Whitehorse - since the Klondike Rib and Salmon Bake does advertise in the travel guides, etc., they get most of the tourist trade. Earl's gets mostly locals and an occaisional traveler looking for something different - but we were impressed with the service, cleanliness and the more varied menu - and more choices for beer. We'll keep this in mind for when we return to Alaska with our RV in a couple years.

On Wednesday morning (Aug 20) three things happened all within about a half-hour. I checked email before readying the camper for travelling, the TV station we were watching the morning news on, broadcast a travel advisory for the Province of British Columbia, then when I did go outside to prepare the trailer, me and one of the other campers who was also getting ready to leave discussed our travel plans. First, the email asked me to reconsider driving the Cassair Highway. He had driven this route a year before and it was super slow and not that great of a route. The news station said there was a storm system and as this old radar tech looked at the TV and saw the Wx Radar, I could see a storm that looked like a tropical storm (strong winds, much rain and circular wind pattern) - it was off the coast of British Columbia heading to the north-east - right into our expected route. Then, the other RV'er was from California and was going to drive down I-5 back home after spending a few days visiting a son in Seattle. His plans included driving the Alaskan Highway all the way to Dawson Creek, then go to Prince George on Route 97 and continue on towards Vancouver. He was going the long way around to avoid the Cassair Highway. It was like the Lord was trying to get my attention - he didn't want me to go that way. I told Carol we were going to go back to our original plans and not go down the Cassair Highway. She agreed to the change even though this would mean more days in Canada. But, it also means - when we do arrive in the lower 48, we will be a couple days closer to our planned stops on our way home.

So...., on Wednesday we started out from Whitehorse with Watson Lake, YT, as our destination. At Watson Lake we didn't unhook. We had fuel, and we wanted a quick start the next morning. On Thursday, we had a long drive - not that the miles were so long, we did have two mountain passes to climb and a few construction zones. We saw more wildlife on Thursday than we did on all the days since we left Anchor Point heading to Anchorage. We also saw the carcass of a Moose and a Buffalo along the road - about a hundred miles apart. Both had been hit by a car or truck and died from the injuries. The vehicles must have had some damage also, but neither vehicle was near the scene of the accident. We did arrive in Fort Nelson fairly early and got a choice spot at the Westend RV Park, close to the office where the WIFI would work in my camper.

Friday (Aug 22), was our last day on the Alaskan Highway. We originally had planned to stay in Dawson Creek for the weekend, but as we were driving the route, we discussed a couple of other options. One option was to stay in Dawson Creek as planned, but that would mean more days in Canada - it's a minimum of two days driving from Dawson Creek to the U.S. border. Another option was to travel on Sunday after Mass, but we decided we weren't going to do that. We had a valid reason to do that back in June - wanting to get back to the lower 48 ASAP was not a valid reason, in our minds. Another option was to just spend the night in Dawson Creek and leave out on Saturday (not stay the weekend) and go to Edmonton, AB, for the weekend (Saturday evening and Sunday), and then go from there all the way to Shelby, MT, (about 420 miles) on Monday. This is what we chose to do. As I write this on Sunday afternoon we are just taking it easy in the camper, we are listening to the Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves on our XM radio on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Earlier this morning we attended Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Spruce Grove, AB, a suburb of Edmonton, AB. After Mass we tried the breakfast at the campground restaurant. Food was good and not too high-priced, especially since Carol got her meal for free. She ordered her eggs "over-medium" and ordered "ham" as her meat. The waitress wrote "OM - ham", the cook interpreted this as a "ham omelet". Since they were busy, Carol said she would take the omelet, so the waitress comp'ed it. Later, after the game I will top-off the fuel tank and will grill some of our Halibut. We'll do as much as we can tonight to get ready to leave so we can get on the road early Monday morning. We have 420 miles to go and we have to allow time to cross the border back into the U.S.

Monday morning (Aug 25) we did get an early start - we pulled out at 7:20 a.m. At 2:50 p.m. we were in line at the U.S. border and less than 15 minutes later we were on our way into Montana. We arrived at Lewis & Clark RV Park in Shelby, MT, about 3:30 p.m. We will spend three nights here - tomorrow will be a day for rest and to get some routine maintenance on Big Red - oil change, etc. Then on Wednesday we will again attempt to drive the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. If you remember, when we were here in early June the road was still closed with several feet of snow on the road at the Pass. We will make this attempt as a day-trip from Shelby without the trailer in tow. Then on Thursday we'll be on the road again - towards Billings, MT.

The Trip - Part 16, Back in the Lower 48

Our first stop back in the lower 48 was at Shelby, MT. We planned a three-night stay. First night was a night to just relax. The next morning I was off to get an oil change and a Transmission Fluid change. There was no "Jiffy Lube" in town, but there was a Penzoil Speedy Lube, so that is where I went. I am totally satisfied by the oil change, but disappointed by the Transmission Fluid change - although I did get a new filter and some new fluid. Previously, I told you about my Transmission Overheat Light. Well, by now I know something is wrong. The Dodge Dealer in Whitehorse didn't look at it - the service writer said: "if the light went out on it's own, you're probably OK". She never wrote it on the ticket, so the tech never looked at it. The fluid smells like it has been cooked. I'm hoping the change of fluid will fix my problem - 2nd Gear is slipping. At Jiffy Lube they have a machine that exchanges all the fluid in the system. Speedy Lube doesn't have one of these machines. Their idea of a transmission fluid change is to drop the pan, empty the fluid and clean the pan, change the filter and then add fluid till it's full again. However, the system holds about 12 quarts, the pan only holds about four quarts - so that is all the fluid that got changed - about one-third of the fluid. The mixture of new and old fluid still smells like it's been cooked.

The next day (Wednesday, Aug 27), Carol and I drove back to Glacier National Park for another attempt at driving "the Road to the Sun." Wouldn't you know it, the road was closed - there was both a thick fog and snow on the road. The road was too dangerous to drive according to the Park Rangers. The Campground owner told us the route to go on and suggested some activities to make the trip special, but they included driving the "Road to the Sun" both ways. He was surprised the road was closed when he found out we didn't get to drive over the pass. But his suggested route to the Park was both scenic and a nice drive. And the restaurant he suggested was just as nice as he promised. Although we were disappointed at not being able to drive over the pass, we did have a great day and we still enjoyed it and had a good time.

On Thursday morning (Aug 28) we were off towards our next multi-night stay - but we had one night in Billings, MT, on the way. Billings is home to the very first KOA campground and that is where we spent the night. However, it wasn't too far down the road from Shelby when I found out that my truck still had a problem with the Transmission. On Wednesday, the day we went back to Glacier National Park, the truck worked great, but I wasn't pulling the trailer. Thursday, I had our trailer in tow and I was having trouble on the hills, especially after stopping at a traffic signal, and starting up hill. It was brutal! Once it was able to shift into 3rd, it was great! But until then... But, we did make it to Billings, and from there onto Rapid City, SD.

Rapid City, SD, was our next destination and our second multi-night stay since arriving back in the lower 48. We stayed at the Happy Holiday Campground in the Black Hills just south of Rapid City. In the Black Hills is where my truck started manifesting the problem without the trailer. With just the truck (trailer in the campground) it was 'slipping' when in 2nd gear. We struggled with what to do. Do I try to get it repaired so far from home? Do we try to limp home? We had already planned out our trip and it would be about a month before we arrived home. Will the truck hold up?

We had a long stay in Rapid City this would have been the place to get it fixed - however, it was Friday evening of Labor Day Weekend when we arrived. There was no chance of getting anyone to even look at it until Tuesday. So we kept our driving to a minimum. We did go to Mount Rushmore for another visit. The fee we paid in May was good for the remainder of 2008. We also went to Dinner on Sunday evening in Keystone, SD. Saturday afternoon we went to a "Gathering of the Clans" - a Celtic Festival. Being of Irish descent, I wanted to see what that was like. We also went to Mass on Sunday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Rapid City on Sunday morning. When driving into Rapid City for these events we did have some hills, but the grade was not too steep and we didn't really have too much of a problem. Only in the Black Hills near Keystone and Mount Rushmore where the traffic is heavy and slow and the hills are steep. That's where we felt the problem without the trailer behind us.

We departed Rapid City as scheduled on Monday (Labor Day - Sep 1). Destination was Mitchell, SD, and a two night stay. But first, we were going to drive through the Badlands National Park on our way. This extended the drive by about 14 miles and also added a couple of hills to be climbed at a slow speed with the trailer behind us. Probably should have reconsidered this, but we both wanted to re-visit this National Park. It was still quite cold when we were here in May - so much so, we Floridians did not completely enjoy that visit. We saw a lot and have no complaints about that, but we only took a couple of the informative trails back in May. We really enjoy those and usually do take the trails if they are short (less than a mile, or so). We passed on several trails because of the weather (cold and rain). This time through we didn't take too many because we were too pre-occupied thinking about the truck.

One of the reasons for this stop in Mitchell was to meet a member, SDCardsFan, on the Cards Clubhouse, an online community of baseball fans, especially fans of the St. Louis Cardinals. We did meet SDCardsFan (aka Mark) and had a good discussion about 'our' team, the website (Cards Clubhouse.com), and our impressions of some of the other members of this community. Besides many of my family and friends, several members of the Cards Clubhouse community are also reading this blog and posting about it in the 'Anything Goes' Forum under the topic 'Chief Redbird's Vacation'. SDCardsFan had written when we left South Dakota back in May that he didn't see any photos from Mitchell, SD. Well, we thought we would stop by Mitchell on the way home so we can add a photo or two from Mitchell, SD, and we would try to connect with this member while we are there. All-in-all it was a great visit and I am glad we did stop. I just wish we could have enjoyed watching a game together. He did give us the name of a Sports-bar, the Scoreboard, where we could watch the games (we saw two while in Mitchell). Besides meeting SDCardsFan and watching the Cardinals' games, we visited the World Famous Corn Palace and the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village, an active archeological site and museum of a Mandan Indian village that was lived in about a thousand years ago. The Mandans were the forefathers of the modern 'Crow' tribe of Native Americans and this site and the museum are helping modern man learn more about the life of the Plains Indians in the year 1000 AD - about 500 years before Columbus.

We also asked SDCardsFan for a recommendation for a Transmission Shop in town. He recommended Dale's Transmissions. On Wednesday morning we took our truck to Dale's and we were not surprised when we were told that 2nd gear is totally gone and our transmission needs to be rebuilt. We sort of knew this already. Thursday afternoon our truck was ready and Friday morning we were on our way. Two extra days in Mitchell, but one of the extra days is my fault because I didn't take our truck in on Tuesday like I should have. Now, the truck does work like new - and I have a nationwide warranty on the Transmission for the next 24,000 miles. Three days later as I write this we have already put 850 miles on our rebuilt tranny and I have noticed better fuel efficiency (MPG) when towing and our engine is running cooler - especially on hills, although we haven't had any really bad hills since leaving the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Here are 12 photos from South Dakota. We spent a whole week (seven nights) in South Dakota on the way home - we had to show some of the photos. There are six new photos from Mount Rushmore and six from Mitchell, SD.

Mount Rushmore 4	Mount Rushmore 5	Mount Rushmore 6	Mount Rushmore 7	Mount Rushmore 8	Mount Rushmore 9
Corn Palace 1	Corn Palace 2	Corn Palace 3	Corn Palace 4	Lawler St	Archeology

The Trip - Part 17, Returning Back Home

After getting the Transmission fixed we had a couple stops in states we had not camped in before - Wisconsin and Michigan. Wisconsin was an overnight stay and we did not disconnect the trailer. The campground in Michigan was going to be a two-night stay - Saturday and Sunday. We asked the campground operators for information about churches and Mass times. She said there is a Church in town (Niles, MI), but it is easier to attend Mass at Christ the King Parish in South Bend, IN. After Mass we filled up the fuel tank while in Indiana as the Diesel Price was about 20 cents a gallon cheaper than the stations in Michigan. We did return to Michigan to eat breakfast at a local restuarant that is a favorite of all the Notre Dame fans who were in town for the game on the previous afternoon. Niles, Michigan may be in Michigan, but the community of South Bend, Indiana, has a large influence on the town. For all intents and purposes it should probably be called North South Bend.

Monday (Sep 8) we got up early for a short ride to our next stop - Sauder Village Campground in Archbold, OH. My youngest sister, Becky, and her husband, Jeff, live in Archbold. We have been to this campground before and know it is a nice campground and we also knew Sauder Village is an interesting historical park with the intent of telling the story of the settlement of Northwest Ohio. The Park is closed on Mondays and the last time we were here we could not visit the park, we arrived on Sunday evening and left on Tuesday morning - this time we had a three night stay planned and both Tuesday and Wednesday were available for us to visit the park. We opted to visit the park on Wednesday.

However, before we were able to leave on Monday we needed some repairs. The motor/gear assemply that operates the landing gear that raises and lowers the front end of the trailer stopped working. We could not raise the trailer high enough to connect it to the truck. The manual 'hand-crank' would not work because of the "way" or maybe the "why" the motor stopped working. The gearbox was frozen (not cold) but unable to move. Motor would turn, gears wouldn't budge. Same with the handcrank, I could turn it, it was difficult, but it had no effect. First call was to our own dealer and the service department for some advice. They gave us the name of a dealer in Elkhart, IN. This dealer doesn't do service calls, but gave me the name of two independent service techs who may be able to help me. One of these gave me the name of a couple others. Eventually, I got a place that would come out and look. The tech analyzed the problem as a sheared pin on the output shaft of the motor and that the gear assembly was being affected by the sheared pin. We were able to get it high enough if I approached the king-pin from an angle rather than straight back. Although we were able to get the trailer hooked up, we wouldn't be able to unhook unless we got a new motor/gear assembly and a new leg on the left side. So... we followed the tech back to his shop in Elkhart, IN.

Many of todays RVs are built in Elkhart - it is the RV Manufacturing Capitol of the USA. Because of this, getting parts is easy, you drive over to the manufacturer and pick it up. But to make sure you have the right part, you take the old one with you. I thought this would be the thing that stopped them from fixing our trailer. They had a lot of problems removing the old parts. Apparently during the manufacturing process, (first, during manufacture they have more room - the trailer isn't fully assembled yet). But also, they bolt the item in and then weld it in place. To remove the parts, they not only had to remove the bolts, but they had to 'cut' the welds. I was sure the manufacturers' parts sales would be closed when they started out to get the parts - it was already after 5:00 p.m. But, right around 6:15 the lady was back with all the needed parts. It took another two hours to complete the job and paperwork and run my credit card. The shop owner did try getting Coachmen to pay some of the expense under the waranty, but Coachmen said this part was only a one-year warranty. I'm beginning to wonder what does have the two-year waranty that the sales department was touting when we bought this trailer?

It was after 9:00 p.m. (closer to 10 p.m.) when we arrived and checked into Sauder Village Campground. But we remembered to call my sister to let her know we finally made it... Unfortunately, we probably woke them up - sorry Becky and Jeff. But, on Tuesday morning she came over and we visited some before going to Waseon and the Wal-Mart for some items for our pantry and hers. While we were there, I also refueled at the Murphy USA.

Wednesday (Sep 10) was our tour day. My sister and Jeff have annual passes for Sauder Village and as a fringe benefit get some one day passes to bring friends or relatives. As a result, we were able to get in for free and to ride the train for free. We only had to pay for our food and any items from one of the gift stores, but even this was discounted because of Becky's annual pass. I wish the theme parks in Central Florida used some of these ideas. I might attend more often. Erie Sauder started the Sauder Village after he turned over the business of Sauder Woodworks to the next generation of Sauders. The park is a museum and history lesson all rolled into one. Many of the buildings are from the area and had an important part of the community. For example, the Doctors home doubled as his office where he saw patients, handed out medicines, performed out patient surgery and provided emergency care. This building was donated to Sauder Village by the descendents of the Dr. It looks today the same as it did almost 100 years ago when it was in use. The same goes for the Barber Shop, Blacksmith Shop the Cabinet Maker, etc., etc. You can see the tools and instruments available in the era and some of the products made with the simple tools. All-in-all it was a great day. The weather cooperated and we had a great time seeing and learning all about how the Black Swamp was drained and the land claimed as fertile farmland and now is part of northwest Ohio.

Here are the photos from Sauder Village:

Sauder Village

Woodwork Shop

Basket Shop

Dr. Office

Trading Post

Indian Village

Thursday and Friday (Sep 11 and 12) were travel days. Our next destination was Hampton, VA. To get from north Ohio to the Tidewater area of Virginia, one needs to deal with West Virginia and hills. You can go around, but you will still have hills and that makes for a longer trip. We chose to go right through - for two reasons - one, it is the most direct route, and two, we need to 'color' in West Virginia on our "See the USA Map". We spent Thursday night in a campground near Beckly, WV.

Friday afternoon we arrived at Hampton, VA and the Langley AFB, FamCamp for a five-day visit. Langley AFB is where we spent my last three years in the Air Force - at what was then known as Hq TAC. Our oldest daughter is now stationed at Langley AFB. She is a Master Sergeant (MSgt) and a First Sergeant for one of the Maintenance Squadrons of the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing. Although she likes her job as a 1st Sgt, she is leaving that special duty to return to her original AFSC as a computer programmer and will be relocating to Scott AFB, near St. Louis, MO, early next year. We had a great visit with our daughter, Cyndee, two of our grand-daughters, Nalani and Jessica, and our great-grand-daughter, Loralei. We didn't do too much touring while here. We had toured the area extensively while we were stationed here but we did make a trip to Williamsburg Winery and did a tour and a taste tour. Williamsburg Winery was not here when we were almost 20 years ago, but in the years since it has opened it has been making quality prize-winning wines. It's definetly worth a visit.

Photos from Virginia including our great-grand-daughter who is 16 months old already. Another 'mystery' that confounds me and intrigues me. Why is it that each succeeding generation grows up so much faster than the previous generation? I just threw that question out there so you will have something to think about. Here are the photos:

Loralei 1

Loralei 2

Loralei 3

Loralei 4

Mom and Daughter

Four Generations

Wednesday and Thursday (Sep 17 and 18) were travel days. Our next destination was Warner-Robins, GA. Our goal was to be there in time to set up the camper and leave for 'Trivia' on Thursday evening at Buffalo's in Centerville, GA - very close to Warner-Robins. We had to drive through South Carolina and although we had been through South Carolina several times to visit with Cyndee over the past three years, we have never camped there. This time we stopped near Camden, SC. We now have added four states on our way home - Wisconsin, Michigan, West Virginia and South Carolina. This gives us 29 of the 49 North American States. We also have three Canadian Provinces/Territories, however, we do not have a Canadian Map on our trailer.

Although central Georgia was our destination when we started out on Thursday morning. There was a problem with the trailer and we changed our mind and headed for home. It was an easy drive - all Interstate Highways and through South Carolina, Georgia and Florida - almost no hills to speak of. About 4:30 p.m. we were only 12 miles from the house (only 4 miles from our RV dealer) and we had a blow-out. The left rear tire on the trailer just 'blew'. When I was able to pull over and take a look, I could see that the rear axel on the trailer had shifted a half-inch or so to the right. This allowed the left tire to rub against the trailer until it finally blew out. Now I am stuck. I have a spare tire, but even if I could put it on, I couldn't drive with it like that or I would soon have another blow-out. I called our dealer and the service manager decided he needed to see this before I even explained the whole problem to him. He said he had never ever heard of this much less, he's never seen anything like this in all the trailers he's seen over the years.

When the AAA tow vehicle arrived, the first solution to move the trailer was to remove the rear wheels and to chain the axel up and have me tow the trailer to our Dealer. When he removed the two wheels, the axel dropped and he couldn't get it raised back into place to chain it up. So, he completely removed the axel and brought that on his tow truck as I towed the trailer to the dealer going very slowly down US-1 the 4 miles to the dealer's. Friday morning we returned to the dealer to empty the trailer, but the one axel and two wheels were already stressed past their limits - there is no way we were going to enter the trailer and put more weight on the axel. The dealer put the trailer up on blocks for us so we could enter and begin the process of emptying it out.

It was 8:30ish when we finally left the trailer at the dealer's on Thursday evening. We hadn't had dinner so we went to Coaster's one of my favorite 'watering holes' for dinner, a beer (I needed it), and to watch the Cardinals. We had been gone all Summer and missed a lot of the baseball season - but we caught a Cardinals win on Thursday night and again on Friday afternoon. Before we left on this journey we bought an 'XM Radio' for our truck and a kit to use it in our trailer too, just so we could listen to the Cardinals' games. It worked great in the lower 48 and in most of Canada, but it didn't work at all in Alaska. We were in Alaska for two months and we didn't see or hear a game the whole time. I think it was probably because we were too far West to receive the satellite signal.

Summary

Overall, this was truly the 'trip of a lifetime'. The return home wasn't near as pleasant as the trip to Alaska and around Alaska, but even with all the problems we had coming home, we had a great time and are still planning an encore trip in three or four years. Can we be better prepared? Maybe - we were pretty well prepared, but we know a lot more now about our truck, our RV, and ourselves. Can we make another trip of this duration and distance with this truck and trailer? I think so. I have time to consider this before I'll have to commit!

We put over 20,000 miles on the truck - closer to 21,000. We probably put more than 15,000 miles on the trailer - we don't know for sure - there is no odometer on the trailer. On the entire trip we paid an average of $4.743 per gallon for Diesel. The highest price was $6.199 in Chicken, AK, followed closely by $6.179 in Dawson City, Yukon Territory - this was actually higher at the time, but due to the strength of the US dollar vs. the Canadian dollar, when my credit card was charged, the price per gallon was reduced to reflect the actual charge to my card. The cheapest fuel was on our way home in Skippers, VA, just north of the North Carolina line along I-95 (VA Exit 4). The Loves truck stop was selling Diesel for $3.819 on Wednesday. When we started this trip we topped off the tank at $4.099 in Melbourne, FL. When we returned home we again topped off in Melbourne, FL for $3.999 a gallon. In between these two 'top-offs' we drove 20,746 miles.

We're glad to be home! We're sorry we missed our last two stops - Warner-Robins, GA, and Tallahassee, FL. We missed seeing our grandson, Thomas, for the entire time we were gone. But he was there to 'see us off' the evening before we left. He's three years old and growing like a weed. Like his dad was, he's tall for his age. But, we will get up to Tallahassee soon for a short visit. We don't necessarily need to take our trailer up there. I'm sure Julie and Thomas would open their home for us. I don't know when we will get to Warner-Robins, GA.

We're home, we're safe, and we're broke! No, not really. But, the trip did cost more than we had planned - But, we're really glad we made this trip - we enjoyed it immensly. We have no second-guessing there. And, we have a ton of great memories and over 3,300 photos and videos to help us remember this 'trip of a lifetime'! This is the end of this Blog. We hope you enjoyed it. We have enjoyed bringing it to you.

To conclude, here are 18 more photos from our trip to Alaska. Although the slides will have 'forward' and 'back' buttons just like all the slides previously, I picked the final photos to tell a story. It is designed to be viewed from 1 to 18. Probably won't make sense if you look at it backwards. Some of these may look familiar, but I am putting them here as a final remembrance of our 'trip of a lifetime' ~ North to Alaska during the summer of 2008.

Mt. McKinley	Landscape	Moose	ferns	Orchids	Snow Peaks
Sunset	New Sport	Carvings 1	Carvings 2	Food	Light House
Westerly	Rika Roadhouse	First Family	Tonight	Hurricane	Mt. McKinley

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