Home again, home again, jiggity, jig jig!!

9/23/10


WE ARE HOME!



Well we finally made it home. Got here on Tuesday the 21st, and are just getting around to blogging for the last time on this blog. Things here were in good shape thanks to the Picketts, McKenzie, and Nudo. Horses are in great shape, but our cats have disappeared. Verina may have taken Sqirt home as she had threatened. Just joking! We have been washing the outside of the house, cleaning the inside, and trying to unload the trailer. We are trying to do this at the pace of our trip and it is still happening. I need to call the hot tub people and ask some questions and then FILL THE HOT TUB!! It will be so nice to soak!!

The Palace is in her barn!

We didn't have any more troubles so we are here safe and sound! All of our troubles we just "Speed bumps in the road of life".

Homeward bound!

9/21/10
Spent Sunday night at Circle 8 RV park for square dancers. Steve Edlund in Vancouver suggested we stop there on the way home. We called, got directions and pulled in late afternoon. It's a beautiful, quiet place in the country and we had it mostly to oursleves. Went into Cle Elum that evening for Pizza and by lucky happenstance it is owned and run by the Wagonmasters at Circle 8. Taj served us Pizza and we talked square dancing.
On Monday we packed up the trailer and headed down the road to Pendleton and the Wildhorse Casino's RV park. The gambling didn't work out well but it's a nice park and we had fun. It is nice to be back in the lower 48, as the Alaskans say, the price of everything is so much  more affordable.  Last leg of the journey ; we should be home today. Both of us are ready. But in the back of our minds is that tantalizing question "Where do we go next? ".

Vancouver farewell!

09/19/10

Skytram view from station

North Vancouver Quayside

Rode the Skyrail into Vancouver for the afternoon and evening. Found some nice folks to walk Jo for us while we were gone so we could stay and eat dinner out. Had an outstanding day! We rode the Seabus over to North Vancouver had an ice cream and got back on the Seabus and went back to Vancouver proper.


Gastown Steam Clock



Walked around Gastown and then through Chinatown, ending up back at Gastown at the Old Spagetti Factory for dinner. Bosco put in our name and they said it would be about 20 minutes. While we were sitting there waiting a lady come up to ask us about the wait etc. She put their name in and we talked a bit before they called our name. The hostess showed us to our table and it was a table for 4, so Bosco went back and asked them if they'd like to join us. They were on a cruise, and had a couple of days portside to see Vancouver. They agreed to come join us and the four of us had a great dinner. We sat and talked and talked. Turns out they are travelers also; having been to many of the same places as we have. It's a very small world.

George and Eleanor Douglas
Toronto, Ontario, CA
our dinner companions!

Vancouver, BC, CA

9/18/10

Vancouver background--Kathy and her yacht!

Got to Dogwood RV Park, in Surrey, on 9/16. Have been dancing the last two nights--plus! Thursday with the Chuckwagon 8's, and last night with the Royal Swingers. Had a ball with both clubs, and great dancing to two great callers. I don't get to dance much plus, so it made me think more than usual--stop laughing, I can think! Drove into Vancouver yesterday, about 20 miles, and wandered around until we were pretty much lost. Took out the GPS and found a Visitors Center. I've decided that this town is not user friendly! Maybe it is just that I'm not used to traffic--with a capital T--and construction EVERYWHERE!! Planning to take a drive to town again to look around some more, and then do a Skyrail trip this evening to see the town after dark.



Hells Gate Airtram



We headed down the Fraser River canyon after Cache Creek and stopped at Hells Gate Airtram. It is the narrowest place on the Fraser River--about 100 feet. While building the railroad they created a landslide the even made is narrower. They had to build fish ladders as the salmon could not navigate the narrows as the current is too strong. I thought this was bunk until I saw the swift water--and we were there during low water. Anyway, we went down to see and explore--but it wasn't free! Had a good time--or at least I had a good time. Kathy was just a little nervous about the ride.



I don't want to go!



We might be leaving tomorrow for home. I sure I'm ready, and I think Kathy is ready. We'll see what we get seen today and then decide.

Moving on.

9/15/10

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Lunch stop: Historical spot restored!

Agnes McVee's Post House:
She was a notorious serial killer and robber!

We left Prince George and are slowly making our way to Vancouver, BC. Slow being the operative word. We spent a night in Williams Lake, and last night in Cache Creek. The variety of landscapes we have seen on this trip is amazing. We're now in high country desert much like home; rolling hills, dotted with canyons and big "soft" mountains. The highway we're on is Highway 1 connecting Cache Creek with Hope; an alternative route from the main highway 5 going though Kamloops.

Saying Goodby to an Old Friend

9/12/10

Our Maggie

Well, we are in Prince George, BC, CA, at Southpark RV Park. It is south of town 4 miles. As we said, Maggie was not doing well when we got here, so we immediately took her to a great vet clinic--that was on Friday. Staff and docs were knowledgeable and courteous. We left her with them to IV some fluids to hydrate and do blood work. That afternoon, they informed us that her kidneys weren't working well at all--possibly from dehydration. After watching her and checking blood, it was decided that her kidneys were shutting down--a side effect of heart failure. Yesterday we had Maggie put to sleep about 2 pm, and then buried her at the RV park. The people here have dogs and a beautiful place to walk dogs in the woods and grasslands. It is their place and they were happy to let us have a place to bury her.

Maggie was a faithful and loving dog and part of the family. She will be missed greatly! We might have managed to get her home, but it would have been abusive to her just for our benefit--and she deserved better!

Lunch stop in Yukon, June

Sorry about the downer on the blog, but it is what is happening here. We are staying here one more night, and then on towards Vancouver, BC.

Yukon River Bridge--Trip to Arctic Circle in August

On a hike in June

News from Houston, BC that is!

9/09/10

Destruction Bay Camp on Kluane Lake

Mountain top in fog

Go back to Refrigerator Woes and look at the video I finally got uploaded--it's cool!
We've landed here at the Shady Rest RV park in Houston, BC, CA. Quite a nice little town and a great RV park. Our journey south has been pretty uneventful, and steady. We drove from Delta Junction to Tok, AK to pick up our mail, send off Bosco's handgun and do laundry all in preparation for our trek home. We drove in stages to Beaver Creek, to a sand bar near Destruction Bay, to Whitehorse, and then Carcross. At Carcross we parked the RV in the AM and drove to Skagway, AK. The drive was absolutely beautiful and that was in the rain. On the drive back to Carcross, in the rain, this mountain top just appeared out to the fog--it was really weird looking!! From Carcross we drove to Baby Nugget RV Park by the junction of Alaska Highway and the Cassiar Highway.

Fjord out of Skagway

We drove the Cassiar highway from the Alaska highway near Watson Lake south 450 miles to the Yellowhead highway, BC highway 16. We've had beautiful weather lately but the report is that clouds and rain are on their way. We had to spend a night in Dease Lake, BC because they closed the Cassiar due to a fatal accident. We spent last night at Cassiar RV park in Kitwanga, BC, CA. Before we left we took a walk down to a fish enumeration station and spoke with one of the workers and he explained their work. The work is fascinating and our guide was very knowledgeable and helpful.

Maggie is feeling bad today and we've been watching her pretty closely. Even our phones haven't been working due to lack of signal. Our goal tomorrow is Prince George and then from there on toward Vancouver on highway 97.

Leaving Alaska

9/2/10
I'm sure some of you have wondered about the end of our last post. Well, we have tried 3 times to upload a short video of sled dogs pulling a water skier on the Chena River in Fairbanks. The upload doesn't look like it is going to happen. Maybe when we get into the lower 48 we can do it.
Today we head into Canada, so our internet will be limited. This means that we will not post as often. Going down the Cassiar Hwy toward Vancouver as we have never been there.

Refrigerator woes :(

9/1/10

Birch Lake in Autumn
Richardson Highway between Fairbanks and Delta Junction

Wow, the first of September! Well, the refrigerator news is not good....it's toast. We drove to Fairbanks Monday and found Alaska RV Repair. They were quite busy and told us with the preliminary work Bosco had done that the only simple fix was that the circut board. They gave us a new one and Bosco installed it and their mechanic inspected his work and all was right except it didn't work. They even told us to wait over night as often it can take up to 8 hours to kick in. It didn't. Our choices then were limited; replace the coil, replace the refrigerator or use ice chests. Shop rates in Alaska $100/ an hour; replacing the coil a 4 hour job, the coil costing about $1000 mostly because of the shipping. So we headed to Fred Meyer and bought a plastic tub that will fit on the shelf in our refrigerator and made it a cool box for salad dressings, ketchup and the like and a ice chest for the items that must be kept really cold. Thank heaven for the freezer. So we spent another night in Fairbanks, made our purchases and came back to Delta Junction for the night and we're headed to Tok today.

As we set up camp in Fairbanks, same site as before right next to the river, we saw Alaskans enteraining themselves as only they can do!

Fall is here!

8/28/10

Glacier made lakes, Denali Hwy

Rainy day today. Bosco checked the weather forecast for the area and it looks like rain for the next 5 days. Again?! We were just getting dried out and thinking life is good without all that rain. Did a little shopping earlier today and then we took a drive that one of the fellows Bosco met suggested. Drove the Richardson Highway to Paxton and then the Denali Highway almost to Tangle Lakes. What beautiful country!

Summer flowers and Fall foliage!

Kept our eyes peeled for wildlife but didn't seen any. Ate a late lunch at Paxton Lodge, Restaurant and Saloon--population 9. Round trip total mileage 188 miles, and got 27 miles to the gallon. The downside news is that our refrigerator in the trailer is not working. When we packed up this am there was standing water in the freezer.
We cleaned it up and fiddled with it changing it from auto back to gas as it had worked well at Quartz Lake. Don't really know who we can get to look into it out here in the middle of nowhere.

Fall in Alaska-- Follow the yellow lined road!

Quartz Lake

8/27/10

Quartz Lake

Quartz Lake is a small lake somewhere south of Harding Lake and a mite north of Delta Junction, AK. We stayed there for 4 nights. This is a State of Alaska campground with no hookups of any kind, so we had to run the generator periodically to keep the freezer cold and the trailer warm. The price was right though at $10 a night. The temp during the day 50's and 60's and down to the high 40's at night. The weather was wonderful; a scatter of rain some nights and the last day but sunshine a lot.

Bosco on the Quartz Lake hike

Lunch break on the Quartz Lake hike

We hiked the trails; making a 3 1/2 mile loop one day, along the lake, up a hill and along side Little Lost Lake and Lost Lake campground and back to Quartz Lake campground. We took the big dog but not Maggie, her long hike days are done.

We got to fish! Quartz lake has landlocked Silver salmon. The first day that we fished we didn't keep any. We really didn't have the hang of it but the second day we did, winding up with 9 Silvers. A very kind lady gave us bait to use and it was terrific. The little Sea Eagle boat worked well except in the wind and it is so light the wind took us for a ride, drifting us off our fishing hole. As we didn't bring an anchor with us, Bosco improvised by using the stinger off the truck and it worked superbly.

Bosco's fishing buddy!!!!
Who is this woman??????

Leaving Fairbanks

8/21/10
Left Fairbanks, sad to leave our site at River's Edge, headed sort of south, to the grand town of North Pole, AK. We stopped a bit to say hi to the old guy and get some bells and then headed down the road to Harding Lake State Recreation Area. We're in campsite 74, although we have no hookups, we are nestled in the woods and it is quiet and peaceful here.  We are staying 2 nights and then down the road a piece to find a fishing lake.

Here we are at Santa's House in North Pole, AK

Artic Circle or bust

8/18/10, 8/19/10 & 8/20/10

   On the 18th we made a trip to Chena Hot Springs. We had heard of the hot springs and an ice hotel; missing our hot tub we decided to drive there and look around. On the way we saw moose  by the side of the road. The hot springs was outstanding! The water is 165* before they cool it to put it in the outside pool. It is hot and all those aches and pains drift away. Problem is you still have to drive home. We had a great lunch there and headed home. We stopped at a gravel pit (again) with a small lake to let the dogs run a bit and happened on another moose.

grazing in the pond

Yukon river bridge

   On the 19th we made a trip of a different kind. A marathon drive to the Artic Circle : loaded up the dogs, packed a lunch and set off. It was a trip of 425 miles over a road that was a bit of everything from smooth pavement to greasy mud. We wanted to see the tundra and to be able to say we made it. WE MADE IT! Along the way we stopped at a visitor center at the Yukon River bridge; quite and engineering feat. It was built to carry traffic and the pipeline over the river in less than ideal conditions. Lunch was at Hot Spot just down the road and then off to the Circle.

Pipeline stretching into the distance

Pond in the perma-frost

Artic Circle! We made it!

The trip to the Artic Circle was hard on us so we decided to spend another day in Fairbanks recovering and doing chores like the laundry (again). Bosco had the oil changed in the truck; but first he had to wash it as it was covered in mud. People looked at the truck and said "been to the Artic Circle; have you?". He had quite a job finding a place to get the oil changed as with our oil and filter some places wanted $100 to change the oil. He found various prices like $45 but finally at a friendly Chevron station they charged $25 and he had it done. When our chores were done we decided to take a little bike ride; riding the Farmer's loop road trail. Wow!, 18.5 miles door to door. Over dinner later Bosco said "Gee, if we'd just gone a mile and a half more we'd have made another 20 miles!". Time to leave Fairbanks, we know our way around here too well. Which translates we found the ice cream store, Hot Licks. Ice cream is expensive here. Headed to find a little lake to do some fishing for grayling and Northern Pike.

Fairbanks; the golden heart of Alaska!

8/18/10

Plaza at old visitor center

Biked to the Fairbanks Visitors Center

We're in sunny Fairbanks, although yesterday was overcast and a walloping rainstorm started as we were getting ready to go square dancing. It's overcast and drizzling today. BUT we had 4 glorious days of sun shine. They set a record high for one of those days hitting 91*. We've been biking; trips of 10, 6 and 4.5 miles, went to a Vaudeville show at Pioneer Park, danced with the Santa Squares (mainstream), and the Prospector Squares (plus), rode the Riverboat Discovery III up the Chena river to the confluence with the Tanana River.

Palace theater, Pioneer Park

The talented crew at the Palace

• Bush pilot landing on Chena River

Hanna modeling traditional Athabascan
winter parka with sunshine hood

Athabaskcan cabin, traditional dress

Chena Village stop Riverboat Trip

Kantishna Experience

8/12/10

Polychrome mountain

Smallest bull moose--best picture

This was our big trip to the end of the paved road in Denali. It was to be a 12 hour day and we'd had a mite of trouble getting the dogs taken care of. We finally talked to Carl, a worker at the RV park and he said he would do it himself with his wife's help or find someone to do it. So we handed him a key and a list of instructions, put the dogs in their big kennels and set out at 06:45 to board our bus. We had to meet up at the Wilderness Access center; where we found Joe and his big green bus, or rather he found us. Each seat had a sack with our snack portions of our meal and seat belts which were required. So we set off to see the park and it's critters. We did very well in that department: a sow grizzley and her 3 cubs, 3 bull moose and 2 cows and 3 calves, numerous wolves including pups, Dall sheep in large numbers and Caribou both bulls and cows with some amazing racks. At one time we saw a couple of wolf pups playing with a walking stick someone had forgotten. It was a game of keep away and lots of fun to watch.


The Moose and the Griz walk where they want with no regard to buses of people in their way.The park is huge with wide vistas; rivers that they call braided as they run in the flat bottoms where they will, and dizzying heights. We felt very fortunate as we had seen the mountain, Denali, and on this bus trip we never saw the whole mountain, just tantilizing glimpses.

Visitor center views at Eielson

The last visitor center in the park is Eielson.

Near the end of the road, at Wonder Lake Ranger Station, we picked up a Park Ranger, Jamie, who told us about the history of the people who came to Kantishna hunting for gold and then stayed on.We stopped at Wonder Lake first before heading to the end of the road and Kantishna. She related the story of one woman in particular, Fannie Quiqley. We visited her last home, and saw the place on the mountain where she and her husband worked their mine.

The ride out was much more relaxed--people slept and it rained. We saw animals and Joe talked about the park and other things. We saw wolves and moose again, but the Dall sheep were dots on the hillsides.
We got back to the trailer about 8:00 pm, and the dogs were very happy to see us. John ended up taking care of the dogs and they were in good shape. We traveled 12 miles south to get some great pizza as we did not want to cook after a long day on a bus!

The Boslers at Wonder Lake

Beaver! Dams and harvesting

8/12/10

Walking the shops at Rainbow Village

We decided to look through the shops where we were staying. Mostly local crafts and arts. We bought a print from a gentleman, and local fudge. Hey, we're helping the local economy if not our waist lines!
We saved the afternoon to take a hike to Horseshoe lake. They told us at the Visitor Center that there were beaver ponds and that the hike was a nice one. There aren't a lot of formal trails in Denali, you can actually walk anywhere,but there are a few, Horseshoe Lake being one of them. So we loaded the dogs into the truck and headed for Denali and the Horseshoe loop. Dogs aren't allowed on the formal trails but they stay in the truck; sometimes in the back and sometimes we leave them inside. This trail starts at the train tracks. So we got to see the Alaska train headed to Fairbanks as we started.

Bosco at the start of the trail.

Kathy at the lake!

We didn't realize the trail was such a drastic change in elevation. It moved steadily down hill until we reached the lake. What a beautiful place. The beavers had obviously been working hard. Saw one swimming in the lake; also spotted a Merlin, a falcon, working the area. We sat by the lake in a couple of places and then started back up the hill. I walked in the lead; our hill climbing techniques are vastly different. I speed up then stop to rest while Bosco hits low gear and keeps on trudging. As I topped one rise I saw the most astounding sight, so I froze and told Bosco to get his camera out and come on up. Coming down the trail ahead of me was the biggest beaver I've ever seen with an Aspen branch in his mouth. He seem to think I was just an obstacle in his way. His body must have measured 3 feet not counting the tail, this per Bosco. He was at least 250 yards uphill from the lake and he had slide trails down the hill that he used. We decided he had a pregant wife who only could eat hillside Aspen. This wasn't his first trip down the hill as his slide area had been used before.

Horseshoe Lake

The determined beaver