Day 53- Medora, North Dakota

Our drive today was an easy one (Miles City to Medora). This morning we slept in and enjoyed the clear, blue skies. We also took the time to get a few groceries before we left Miles City. I can tell that my shopping has been very limited the past few weeks. It took me forever to get the few items on my list-too large of a store!
As we drove toward North Dakota we started to see the landscape change. It is amazing how different the land formations have been and the Badlands are as equally beautiful. It is very green here which is unusual for this time of the year. We read that part of the park is closed due to mud slides. The campground has many wet spots from a recent rain.
This evening we attended the Pitchfork Fondue which was excellent. I am amazed at how fast and efficient they feed 500 people with much waiting. The steak was excellent and a wonderful aged cut of beef. After dinner we walked the cemetery and drove around town getting our bearings. Also we checked in with the kids. We will be here until Tuesday morning.
Day 53

Day 52-Martindale to Miles City

After a good night sleep we had cinnamon rolls and coffee with our host. We got off around 9 Am and started our way to Billings and then Little Big Horn Battlefield. The day started out to be sunny and crisp. The temp was 40 degrees. This part of Montana is in high hills with mountains on all sides. So they have a short growing cycle (less than 90 days). So if they are to have a garden it would have to be in a hot house. But in Billings the climate is warmer and the growing cycle is longer- they can grow tomatoes and corn! We visited the Bighorn Battlefield and enjoyed it. We listened to a park ranger about the battle and took a tour. Mike really enjoyed he place (he understands military tactics more than I do). WE did learn that Ft. Carson troops come to this site and study the battle before they go to battle. It was very busy place this afternoon. After our visit we drove to Miles City for the night. Tomorrow we will head to Medora to spent the weekend.

Day 51 - Martindale,MT

We arrived at the Inderland’s after lunch today. It was very good to see Dick and Mary Jane. Dick was Mike’s boss in Coscom at Fort Bragg, NC from 1980 to 1982 when Dick retired and moved back to Montana and the family ranch. It was very good to see Dick and Mary Jane. We got a VIP tour of the ranch and all the streams running though the land. The berries were just getting ripe so we had a few snacks. In the past, they had beef cattle but now they only have 3 horses. Dick is trying to retire at the age of mid-70’s. He is in great shape and still ski in the winter months with his ski club. Mary Jane made us a wonderful halibut supper which was from their son’s cannery in Alaska. Greg buys fish from the fishing boats and process the fishing within 6 hours, flash freezes it and gets it on the airplane the next morning for Seattle and the fish market. We were joined by their daughter, Shannon, and her two boys for dessert. They have a camping day with Grandpa this weekend. Shannon babysat our kids at Bragg. Then we had to go 4-wheeling to see if we can find any animals. We saw couple of deer and rabbits but in our afternoon travels we saw elk and deer.

Day 50- Glacier to Great Falls

Day 50- Glacier to Great Falls, MT
We traveled from Glacier to Great Falls this morning. It was very narrow roads like the one on “Top of the World’ highway but was not as bumpy and full of holes. It was driving in the prairie with the mountains on the west side. It was semi-arid with lots of pasture, prairie grass, beef cattle and horses. As we got to interstate 15 large farms came into the picture. The barley was being combined as well. On the way to Great Falls, we hit the mark of 8,000 miles traveled in 50 days so far!
Once we got set up at the campgrounds, we went to the Lewis and Clark National and Historical Trail Interpretive Center which is located on the Missouri River. We spend over 3 ½ hours visiting the center and seeing all the exhibits. When we entered, our memory of the event was very poor but we walked out with a wow and understand the event in history. The center ran by the USDA Forest Service and has done a superior job telling their story. We saw to DVD’s and listened to a ranger talking about the people who were on the expedition. It was quite a feat in 1804-6. We are hoping to stop in Mandan, North Dakota to visit Fort Mandan where they spend the winter prior to coming to Montana.
The weather has been warm today which is a change for us! We have not had much summer weather on our trip. Once we got back to the camper, a storm is trying to brew. Hopefully we are done with the furnace coming on at night. The furnace has been coming on nightly since June 22. Just a different summer for us.
Tomorrow we are off to visit our military friends in Martindale. We are looking forward to seeing them. We have not seen them since 1984.

Day 49- Glacier National Park

We took a Red Bus tour of the park called “Crown of the Continent” today. It was wonderful and we enjoyed it very much. Our bus was a 1933 red bus made by the White Company and has a retractable roof. It holds 17 people plus the driver who is driver and tour guide. Our driver/guide was Eric and he was superior at his job. The tour was 7 hours long and never a dull moment. Eric’s background is interesting- this is his summer job and in the winter he drives for the scientists in Antarctica. He talked none stop all the 7 hours! Eric was full of information and facts about Glacier.
In our travels today we experiences the three seasons in the areas we visited. We saw the east side as semi-arid area that was very much like the Yukon Territory and the Denali area of Alaska. It great small amounts of rain and the plants are the same. Once you pass the Logan Pass, one travels to the Pacific Rainforest which is very green, lush and beautiful with colors. Logan Pass is the highest point that one can travel by car in the park and it is the permafrost area which means the trees are few and very short and the flowers were just starting to bloom. In this area there was still snow on the ground all over. We learned that the road, “Going over the Sun” was just opened on 13th of July this year because they got 200” of snow this year. We saw many waterfalls in our drive that is because of the all snow this year.
The weather was sunny until we started up to Logan Pass after lunch at the McDonald lodge. We had rain for 15 minutes and then it stopped. We really enjoyed our tour and were surprised at the beauty of Glacier and wondered why we never visited it before. So we have put it on our repeat to visit list. Today was a wonderful enjoying God’s creation!

Day 47 and 48 Calgary and Arrival to US

We started out our Sunday going to church in SW Calgary. Our new camping friends, Martin and Anne, suggested First Alliance Church and it was a great suggestion. We had a wonderful, spirit filled worship with an excellent message about unity with in Christian community. It was a message that we needed to hear and it comforted our souls. After church we visited the sights of Calgary. We walked around the Olympic Park and saw the bobsled and luge tracks. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors. After this we visited the Lougheed mansion and it was setting in the downtown area and very pretty. The residents were involved in the early 1900 development of Calgary. Lastly we visited the Calgary Tower which was the highest building. It was interesting to see the city from heights. We had a great tour guide who included the history of the town. Calgary has an interesting history with the cattle, oil and mineral business.
After our touring we went back to the campground and visited with our neighbors and had supper. It was a very relaxing time and a beautiful night.
This morning we said our farewells to Martin and Anne and drove south toward the US. We stopped at a gem- a carriage museum and it was extremely interesting with tons of carriages of all kinds in excellent shape. We enjoyed it and came out on overload with history of the uses of carriages. We arrived in the US around 2 PM this afternoon. We got our camp site and get anchor! Afterwards we went to the Visitor Center and watched couple of movies about the park. We came back to the campground to wash clothes. It is amazing how dirty one gets doing nothing! Now we are kicking back and relaxing!
Tomorrow we will be doing an all day tour of Glacier!

Day 46- Travel from Lake Louise to Calgary

Our drive today was a short 100 miles and we saw changes in the scenery. We went from the mountains to the hills with lots of cattle, grain and industry. The traffic was heavy especially leaving Calgary. We ended up south of town before we got a campground. It is about 20 miles south on the high river. We have a river lot so it is very nice and relaxing. We meet our neighbors, a darling couple from Calgary. We had coffee with them and learned about them. He is a retired missionary with the alliance church. They even gave us a church for tomorrow.
We have had no internet since coming into Alberta so we will go into McDonalds tonight to post our blog. Tomorrow we will go to Calgary to sightsee.

DAy 45- Banff National Park

This is written from day 46 because we wore ourselves out yesterday. It was a wonderful day but busy and full of exercise! No couch potatoes today! We started out the day with a short drive to Johnston Canyon to look at the falls. Once there we learned that there were 6 falls and one needs to see them all. So off we went on a 2.7 KM walk up to the falls. Each one got more beautiful and powerful as we walked up. It was worth the sweat and pain to get it! We even experienced rain showers and sun as well. We were proud that we made it with any issues except it got more crowd as we came down.
We were off to have our picnic lunch at a roadside picnic area. We found a quiet one and shared it with ground squirrel. By now we were starving and ate anything that was not nailed down!! Off to Lake Minnewakia where we had cruise tickets. We missed the 1 PM cruise so we had to wait for the 2 PM. We enjoyed people watching and the lake. Our cruise was good and learned more about Banff area and how this lake got so big. It has three dams on it and is 500 feet at the deepest part. As we docked it started to rain so we ran to the truck.
We were off to Banff Gondola for our ride in the sky. We took our gondola to the top of Sulfur Mountain. Once we go to the top, we walked around the deck and decided to walk up to the weather station which was another 1 KM to the top. Many of you know of my fear of heights-twice in one day I was challenged! The decking was very well supported so off we went. It was a beautiful view at the station and warm. Of course we were at 14,000 feet and much closer to the sun. Our ride down was shared with a darling cowboy and his bride from southern Utah. We had a wonderful decision. He was a retired from the US forest service.
Our next adventure was to the hot springs which was next to the gondola. It was wonderful and we were able to soak our aches and tired muscles. We had a talk with a couple of Onterio and our travels. They were fun to talk to because last summer they traveled eastern Canada to the Atlantic Ocean. So we asked a lot of questions because this is on our list to do soon.
By now we are starving and wanted to eat. But Mike has one more waterfalls to visit before dinner. The bow falls was okay but right in town and below the Fairmount Hotel. We discovered a German-Swiss restaurant near the top of the hotel. So we hiked up the hill in the forest for dinner. What a surprise!! It was like being in Bavaria. Dinner was great!! I had German Beet salad and Halibut with a lemon sauce and Mike had a sampler plate of all kinds of wurst and hams. We took our full and tired bodies and drive back to Lake Louise. We fell into bed and slept till 8:30 PM. It was a great day!

Travel to Banff National Park

We go an early start to avoid crowds at the Columbia Icefields. It was cold this morning but the sky was crystal clear. The temperature was 39 degrees as we drove. But it turned out to be a beautiful day with temperatures in the 70’s. It was a treat!
Our trip to the Columbia Ice fields was super and fun. We took a bus out to the staging grounds and boarded a snow mobile bus and headed out to the ice. We went down a 32 degree grade in the machine and onto the ice. We were able to walk around the glacier and see it under our feet. It was really cool and interesting. We also had to taste the mountain clear water. Did you know that the glaciers are still growing? It just takes snowflakes for a formation of glaciers. It is the compressing of snow over the years and there is more none melting snow than melting to grow a glacier. The impurities in the snowflakes give the glaciers up close the dirty look.
After the glacier walking we drove to Lake Louise and checked into our campground. Once set up we went downtown to the visitor’s center and got a lesson on mountain formation. Then we drove to Lake Louise (the lake) and the Fairmount. We walked around the Lake and checked out the hotel. It was a beautiful and relaxing environment. This evening we are relaxing and trying to decide what to do tomorrow.

Day 43- Jasper National Park

We got up early and spent the day sighting the area. It started out as cloudy with a few rain drops but cleared up until the last stop. We started morning on the Jasper tram which took us to the top of the mountain for breakfast. We ate our breakfast on the top with a beautiful view of the valley and mountains. Could have started the morning any better! Before we left the campground we saw three elk eating the grass and enjoying life!
After breakfast, we drove our way to Maligne Lake with many stops at lakes and canyons. They were beautiful and very quiet. We enjoyed the scenery with the mountains and blue green lakes. On our way to Maligne Lake we came upon a herd of big horn sheep which was just lying on the roadside enjoying the attention from all the cameras. Also we have seen 8 elk on the way. Once we got to Maligne Lake, we took a 90 minute boat ride around the lake to see all the glaciers and their reflections into the lake. The sun did come out and it was beautiful.
Our last trip was to Athabasca Falls which was absolute beautiful and powerful. It is the most powerful falls in the area. We walked around it and enjoyed the scenery. It amazed us! Wow!!
Tomorrow we will travel to Banff National Park.

Day 42- Prince George to Jasper National Park

We drove from Prince George, BC to Jasper National Park, Alberta. Before we left this morning we received a jar of canned salmon from our Oregon friends in the campground. What a beautiful drive and we were able to see the changes in the landscape. It is amazing what God has created. We are constantly amazed with the beauty and majesty. We travel by an ancient forest that contained cedar trees over 1,000 years ago. They were very tall and huge in diameter. I am continued to be surprised at how many rivers are marked as salmon spawning grounds- we are about 1800 kilometers or 1000 miles from the Pacific Ocean! It is amazing how far they travel to spawn.
Couple of did you knows? Salmon turns red only when they are in fresh water a long time versus commonly thought it was because of spawning. The salmon cousin, sturgeon, live to 20 years plus and they spawn irregularly- about every 3-5 years and do not died afterwards like the salmon. The female lays up to 3 million eggs. This makes up for the irregular spawning. Of course, they grow to 200 plus lbs.
As we traveled to McBride and to Jasper, we saw the mountains to get larger and snow capped. We left the valley and farm land. The mountains were the Canadian Rockies and are very distinguished. They are very rugged and tree lines are only about half the way up. We had traveled over these mountains up north after we left Toad River, Yukon. We arrived at Jasper around 2 PM. After the second campground, we got a spot and set up camp.
We went downtown to the visitor center and got our information. We did go to Patricia Lake which is blue green water and it is so clear that it is reflecting the scenery. Also drive to Pyramid Lake which was a kilometer from Patricia. This lake is clear but no blue coloring. Did you know that the blue green color is caused by “rock flour”? Rock flour is the very fine glacial silt which reflects blue and green light. High levels of glacier runoff will increase the rock flour and the water is a grey color. In early spring and summer the waters is not blue. As the silt falls out, the water becomes blue green.
We also saw some wildlife on the way-black bear, moose, elk and deer.
As we approached the park, our total mileage of the trip clicked to 7,000 and we are not home yet!

Day 41-Prince George, BC

Day 41- Prince George, BC
We spent a day in Prince George learning about their history. First thing this morning we visited the Railway and Forestry Museum and it was very interesting. We were able to climb in the engines and cars to see what it was like in the old days! Mike especially liked the mechanical part of the engines. We even got to see inside a caboose and they had a plaque explaining why they are not needed anymore on the railways. It is because things are all mechanical and electronic and don’t need people to do the jobs.
After lunch we visited the Fort George Park and the Exploration which was an on-hands learning museum for kids. They had a fantastic fossil exhibit with dinosaurs. It is one of the most complete exhibits we have seen. Also they had an animal’s exhibit from this area. We only wish we had the grandkids to see and experience it. Afterwards we walked along the river and enjoyed a very nice sunny day! Finally!
In the late afternoon we washed our clothes and visited with camper neighbors. They are from Oregon and have been in Alaska as well. They have two chest freezers in back of his truck full of fish from their trip. This is their fourth trip and have bought property there. SO we enjoyed listening to their tales about trying to build in Homer area.
It will be early to bed so we can get to Jasper early tomorrow since we have no reservations.

DAy 40- Prince George,BC

Today we had a slow start to the day! We are trying to slow down and smell the roses. We took time to rest and drink our coffee before we got loaded and did our drive for the day. It rained most of the night so it was dark and wet as we started our day.
Our drive was nice and beautiful today! We are continuing in our temperate rainforest so we experience alot of liquid sunshine even with the sun out. As we go got closer to Prince George, the land has started to be more agriculture and less timber. We have started to see more beef farms and even hay stacks.Of course the land still has mountains and rivers all over.
Once we got out camper set up we took off to Costco because we were afraid that it would be closed tomorrow since it was a holiday. We need to get some meat and vegtables for the week. We got our goodies 10 minutes before they closed. So we now have food until we get to Montana. It is good to see food prices cheaper than the past 5 weeks.
It is hard to believe that we have been on the road for 40 days!! Where has the time gone. We will be here another day and see the sights. Hoping that we will see the sun as well.This evening we spend time planning our Jasper/Banff locations. Have a good night!!

Day 39- Prince Rupert, BC July 30

We arrived at Prince Rupert at 6:00 Am this morning which was about 45 minutes late. It took us a while to get off the ship and go through customs. Our luck ran out and we had an officer wanted to check the camper and its contents. Once we got done, we were able to find a coffee shop and get breakfast. It was our plan to stay there and look at the sights. But it was raining cats and dogs and was not to stop today. So we decided to come inland and see if we can get out of the rain. Well, we stopped at Smithers for the day. It was lunch time and boy did the 200 miles go fast! We are amazed at it. I guess the roads were smooth with very few potholes so we made good time. We are camping in a river valley with a view of the mountains and a glacier from the dining table. The problem is that it is raining off and on. We had wanted to walk near the glacier and hoping the sun will stay out. This area is very much like Alaska with all the mountains, waterfalls and glaciers. It is what the geologists call temperate rainforest.
I am using the time to get caught up with the blog since I have not had internet service since Haines Junction. Tomorrow we will have a short drive to Prince George and will spent an extra day there. We called ahead for a campground till Tuesday since Monday is BC Day and all the BC people are off.

DAy 38- Ferry Ride- July 29

It was a slow and really weather day. It rained most of the day with dark clouds. We got up at 5 Am to watch the whales. It was really something else. We saw a lot of them and they gave us a show as we traveled to Petersburg. I would say that was the highlight of the day. All the ports except Wangell are a long way from town so we were encouraged to stay on the ship since we only had 45 minutes at each port. We went to bed early since we had a 3:30 AM wake up call. Next time we will make sure that we schedule a day’s visit to Petersburg, Juneau and maybe another city.

Day 37- Haines, AK (Ferry Day) July 28

We were able to sleep in and relax in the morning. We packed an overnight bag and got things packed up so we could take our ferry ride. We sat waiting for the ferry which was about 30 minutes late. To our surprise we were one of the first campers to be boarded. We were between couple of tour buses- one from Germany which was a rolling bunk house. We had booked a cabin so we were able to get our room keys and get settled. Once settled we explored the ship and found out where things are. We watched the final loading of people and cars waiting for the time we started our journey. Right on time we pushed off and started the trip. AS we started the sun came out and it was very nice. But that did not last long. We meet some interesting people- there were many educators on the ship. Also people were from New Zealand, Germany, Canada and all over the US. We sat in the front row of the observation deck and enjoyed the glaciers, waterfalls and all the mountains on both sides of the passage. It was our plan to get off the ship at Juneau but we canned that when we heard that the port was 14 miles from town and the cab ride was $35 one way. So we watched the skyline and went to bed at 10PM. Our ship left Juneau at 1:30 AM.

Day 36- Haines Junction, YT to Haines, AK

We traveled from Haines Junction to Haines, Alaska this morning. It was a short 150 mile trip but it was like many of our trips. The road in Yukon was fairly good but had it share of frost heaves. When we got into BC, the road was under construction and all gravel. We had to stop for construction as well couple of times. The scenery was like the rest of Yukon Territory- like a dry desert with few trees and lots of rocks. Once we crossed into the US, it was a total change of climate and scenery. It becomes a temperate rain forest with lots of trees, green grass and water. It was pretty riding in the rain as we came down to Haines. We did not see a lot of animals- just couple of bald eagles.
Haines is a port city which the tour and ferry boats stop. We were able to check into our campsite and have lunch. After lunch, we walked and drive around to get a preview of the town. We visited the American Bald Eagle Foundation which had the most incredible display of birds and animals. We watch a DVD on the returning of 4,000 bald eagles each fall to Haines. The reason is all the chum salmon coming up to spawn in October. They spent until February there raising their young. The creator of the foundation is from Minnesota- near Dawson and has been in Haines for 47 years. He and his wife came as teachers. We meet him and had a great talk about Minnesota. He also lectures about each animal “their box of life” which was very interesting. It is what each animal needs to survive.
While I was getting a hair cut on Main Street, Mike meet and talked to his wife who was walking home. Those Minnesota plates cause attention!!

Day 35- Travel from Tok to Haines Junction,YT

We had a rough drive but beautiful drive to Haines Junction, YT. The roads were 75 % gravel and full of bumps and dips. At times it was like riding a roller coaster! We traveled 287 miles in 6.5 hours. We experienced the three seasons- spring, summer and fall in all the driving. It was raining in Alaska until we drove into Yukon and it stopped. Then the sun came out as we traveled along Lake Kluane and its National Park. We have a beautiful view of mountains and clouds in front of our camper this evening. We only saw a few animals today. All our driving was between two mountain ridges.
We had grilled halibut from our fishing trip at Seward this evening. It was very good and delicious. I rubbed it with olive oil, herbs, lemon juice and rind. Mike grilled it on the skin side down for 15 minutes and then flipped it, cooking it for another 10 minutes. The flesh was nice and brown. Can’t wait till we the other halibut. Once the dishes were done, we went for a walk in the woods.
Tomorrow we will head for Haines.

Day 34- Travel to Tok

Today was moving day- Anchorage to Tok. It was a rainy drive but full of frost heaves and construction. It was about 25 long miles of construction and dirt roads. But even when you get on the pavement it was full of bumps. It was a long 318 miles for us.
We did see 2 beautiful glaciers and one was 4 miles long. There was not much between the two points.We did not see any animals near the road. We are 100 miles from the eastern Canada tonight. We stayed at this park on the way into Fairbanks and looking forward to the live entertainment and ice cream tonight. The entertainment is folk singers that are very good.

Also we did our laundry this afternoon and was able to do our blog. The internet is good here and hardly anyone is here today so we have little competition!
We have a long drive tomorrow as well.
The kids called and stated that they are home to a hot house. Miss the kids but will talk to them soon!!

Day 33- Anchorage

Today was a day to hang loose and relax. We slept in late which were easy due to the clouds and slow rain all day and night. We did a Costco run and started to think about what we need to get ready to head home. The groceries are expensive in Alaska but Costco has made the prices bearable. So the freezer has food and fish- all we need till the USA! But it is still 2+weeks away.
After Melissa and Louis packed, we took a trip to downtown and visited a street fair and a few shops. Melissa wanted to find some gifts. The kids had fun looking at all the different treasures and food. Of course they settled for a hot dog and hamburger while the guys settled for reindeer brats! That’s kids.
I must say that Sal ordered crab legs and ate clam chowder on the trip. He is more daring than Gracie. We took them to the airport after a salmon dinner which was great. It was our salmon from Saturday’s trip. Boy was the camper quiet the rest of the evening!! We will miss the giggles waking us up in the morning and all the hugs!

Day 32- Kenali

Our morning started out early so we could learn to salmon fishing Alaskan way! We were to meet our fishing guide, Jessie, at 8 AM. We had an adventure trying to learn how to fish when the salmon are not interested. The only thing on their mind is getting back to their home spawning grounds. Since they swim with their mouths open, the goal is to get the hook into their mouths! Sounds easy! Ha!! One uses a fly rod and throw it in the water ahead of the fish like a jump rope. You hold the rod to the right side of your body and keep the tip near the water’s edge. Yes it is opposite of traditional fishing- keeping the rod tip high. One walks with the salmon with the rod to the side as you work it to the net. Mike and Louis got a salmon each- nice 6-8 lbs. Melissa and I was just getting the hang of it when our 4 hours were up. It was fun and nice to get out on the water.
After our fishing trip and lunch, we drove back to Anchorage for the night. We got a pizza (the first of the trip) and hang out to relax. Once we finished fishing, it started to rain and rained all evening.

Day 31- Homer,AK

Today we traveled to Homer, a fishing village south of our campgrounds about 50 miles. It was a beautiful day- few clouds, lots of sunshine and no bugs. We stopped and viewed the volcanoes on the other coast. Also we made a walk in the woods to look at the river.
Once we got to Homer, we visited the Homer Split. We walked it and took in the sights. We mainly saw numerous fishing guide services and gift shops. We had lunch on the deck at a grill. Sal had crab legs and loved it. Mike and I had fish tacos which were good. The best part was eating outside.
After lunch we visited a winery which makes fruit and grape wines. They had some very good wines. We had found out about them at Seward military camp. Bear Creek Winery makes a fruit wine for the military which is called “Red, white and blue”. We could not get any of that and need to order it from the Seward camp.
On the way back to the camper we stopped by the river and watched the people fishing for salmon. It is more like netting them than fishing. Lou calls it “combat fishing” since they are standing in the water 5-10 feet apart and casting in the river.
After supper we took the kids on a hike in the woods and saw couple of bald eagles. It was a beautiful day to enjoy. Tomorrow is the salmon fishing on the way back to Anchorage.

Day 30- Kenai

Today we left Seward and traveled to Kenai about 108 miles away . We stopped at the Exit Glacier which we were able to walk to the glacier. It was an interesting walk and we saw two black bears on the way. It is 3 mile long and about 300 feet deep. The glacier has been melting but will make more ice if they have enough snow in the winters. That is the key to glaciers- snow.
We are camping at Diamond M ranch which has a ranch of animals for the kids to see and visit. It is like a western town and sits on the Kenai River. It is time for river salmon fishing- the red salmon are running up stream to spawn. This is more netting fish than fishing. We are hearing that people will take home 100+ of fish. So the campground is over flow tonight.
Tomorrow we are off to Homer for the day.

Day 28 and 29 Seward

On Tuesday we traveled from Anchorage to Seward and we had a great day. Our travels took us though the turnagain arm and it was beautiful. It was low tide so the whales were not in the bay. We stopped at the Portage Glacier and did a boat ride to the glacier. It was beautiful and very interesting. Did you know that the glaciers are blue because they all light except the ultraviolet light? Also that the run off contains silt which gives the water a blue-grey color.
We camped at the Seward military campground which is one of the Army’s secret. We had great facilities to include a bar and grill. They had 2 large fish houses as well. On Wednesday the boys to include Sal when Halibut fishing. They had a ball and got their limits- 2 halibut each and 6 salmon. We shipped 44# of fish home. Sal was treated like a king- got to ride with the captain and hit the fish with a club when landed! The girls went to the Sealife center and shopping. We were able to see some sea animals and Gracie liked that.
Last night for supper we had salmon fresh from the boat. It was excellent thanks to our guys. They slept well last night since they had tons of sun and fresh air.

Day 27 Moving Day to Anchorage

We were slow moving today with the long day on Sunday. We drove in the rain and mist until we got to Wasilla and then the sun came out.By the time we got to Anchorage it was sunny and short sleeve weather. Once we got our camper set up, we went downtown to check out the tours and events at the visitor’s center. We ended on taking a tolley tour of the city which gave us a good background of the city and a wonderful way to spend an nice afternoon. Also visited the Alaskan natural resource center and saw a short movie on the bears returning to the Cook Island yearly. The kids loved it. We may have to go back there this weekend.

Day 26 July 17 Denali National Park

I am sorry that I am off schedule in writing my blog. Our trip through Denali was great, interesting but long. The kids were great and loved all the animals we saw as we rode the 92.4 miles into interior of the park. We saw moose, caribou, dall sheep, brown bears and lots of small animals. The roads as we went into the park got narrow and winding around the mountains. It was a nice day except for a few clouds but we able to see the peaks of Mt. McKinley. Our tour/driver was great and she was originally from Madison, WS. She was able to connect plants and animals to the web of life. Our trip lasted 13 hours.
Did you know that Denali Park is 6 million acres in size? It is the largest national park in the US. The trip was worth the time and money.

Day 24- Anchorage

We spend most of the day on the road driving from Fairbanks to Denali and set up the camper. Once that was down, we went to Denali National Park and got our tickets for our Sunday trip. Then we head to Anchorage to pick up the kids. We were able to see Mt McKinley from the highway. They clouds were dancing around it but we saw it.
Did you know that Mt. McKinley is growing ¾ of an inch per year? It is growing because of the fiction and rubbing of the two faults- northern fault and the pacific fault. The pacific fault is the heaviest and does the pushing.
So we are waiting for the kids and their plane is late due to a rainstorm in Minnesota.
Tomorrow we will travel back to Denali and stay there for two days.

DAy 23- Fairbanks,Ak

Day 23- Fairbanks
Today was a slow day for us. We used it as a catch up day and to get ready for the kids. This morning we got up early to visit a working gold mine north of the town. We also went by the oil pipeline and it was very interesting. We were able to get under it and check out the line. Did you know that there is 800 miles of pipeline which is 400 miles above and 400 miles under the ground? Also the line is zigzags to allow movement. The oil comes out of ground at 180 degrees and flows in the pipeline in Fairbanks at 100 degrees.
The gold mine was a fun experience and we learned about gold mining. It was very on hands and helps me understand the process. We learned to pan for gold and Mike and I had about $32.00 in gold dust. Of course they did not give us the cash. So we have the dust!
This afternoon we worked on laundry and the truck had an oil change. We needed to pick up things and get ready for leaving tomorrow. We will be going to Healy and drop off the camper. Then we will go to the airport and pick up Melissa, Lou and the kids. It will be good to see the kids. Grandma needs a kid fix!

Day 22- Trip to Barrow, AK

What a day and adventure! We flew to Barrow, pop 5000, the most northern point in the US. We left the tree lined streets and lots of green grass for the frozen tundra. We arrived in the rain which made the streets full of mud and puddles. It was in the 30’s with a strong wind off the ocean. Yes it was cold! It was like traveling to another world. Everything is wet, damp, grey and very little color including the houses and buildings. They have no trees so all the wood around is used over and over. Since Alaska has no zoning laws, they can build a new house next to one that is fall down. The natives-Eskimo’s, still fish, hunt and whaling for their meat. Each has an ice cellar down in the permafrost to keep their whale meat and blubber from spoiling. This community is totally self supporting with schools to include college, hospital and a few stores. The community gets royality money from the oil wells. They have their own natural gas wells which heats the town’s homes. The only way to the community is by air. In the winter they can go to village to village by snowmobiles.
We spend time visiting the cultural center where we learned about whaling and hunting. The display shows the process thorough time and how it is changing. We had local artists share their crafts with us as well we had 14 school age children dance for us. We joined a tour that was an interesting bus ride around the villages that make up Barrow. The roads were gravel and full of potholes. Barrow’s only paved road was the airport runway! Pavement does not hold up with all the frost. In fact the houses in Barrow are build on posts off the ground because of the permafrost.
Life is expensive in Barrow. We visited a grocery store and saw milk for $11.85 for a gallon of milk, red delicious apples for $5.85 per pound and Bing cherries for $10.85. It was interesting to see that they had a good variety but they were restocking after the winter. The food is either flown in or comes on a barge when the ocean is open. We did see ice at the most northern tip. According to the tour guide, ice went off the ocean 5 days ago. Yes it was cold with the wind off the ocean.
Did you know that the whale meat is shared with the community? They have 40 whaling teams/crews and they each have 20 members. They hunt whales twice a year in Barrow- Spring and fall.
Did you know that a good size whale will have 18 inches of blubber? A whale will eat several tons of krill a day.
Did you know that they have active polar bear watch in the community? But we did not see one.
The local high school has a football team and they play on blue astro- turf. They have to fly to away games. Last fall they lost in the semi-final playoff game.

Day 20 and 21- Fairbanks, Ak

We had an easy drive to Fairbanks today compared to the roads the past few days. We had some construction and frost heaves to deal with but overall it was a great road. The drive is only 4 hours from Tok. After I posted the blog last night, we went for a walk and ran into a caravan of retired military people from all over the US. We had a chat with them and learned about an organization that was formed by retired military who RVing all over (SMART). We had a nice talk with them and will have to check out the group. The campgrounds had live entertainment which was super. They were a bluegrass group that comprised of a retired vet and three teenagers. They were funny and talked about what it is like to live in Alaska during the weather. The campground also sold ice cream at the concert. I had huckleberry and Mike had mint chip ice cream. It was the first real ice cream we have had on the trip. It was out of this world!!
On our way into Fairbanks we made a side trip to North Pole. There we visited Santa’s home and gift shop. Of course Santa was working with the elves in his workshop and we were not able to have our pictures taken with him. We did see his reindeer and they were resting and eating! The entire town is decorated with candy canes and Christmas lights. The post office is where the Christmas letters come and go out which are delivered to Santa’s house.
Our campground is nice and our site is next to the river. So we are enjoying sitting in our chairs and watching the river float by! Tomorrow we have a King Salmon fishing trip planned.
PS for Tuesday- We went fishing and had no luck! The river was too muddy and fast. It was a good time on the water despite the clouds and scattered showers. We will have to try again. After the fishing we hit the commissary to buy groceries.
Tomorrow we are off to Barrow via airplane.

Day 19- Top of the World Drive

Wow, wow! What a drive! We are glad that drive is over and one can say,” Did that once and it is enough”. We started the drive in the fog and was on the ferry by 7:40 Am. The ferry goes across the Yukon River and takes about 7 minutes. Then we climbed 4000 feet the next 5 miles and stayed there at that altitude tell we got to Chicken, Alaska. The view was beautiful and it seems like you can touch the clouds we were so high. Also we were above the tree line. The Yukon side was fair road with potholes but nothing like the US side. Mike describes the US side as a dirt road that has not seen a grader since it was built! The US road was very narrow since we passed a flag car guiding up a Holland America tour bus up the road! It was an adventure! It makes the fish camp road or the old Mexican road to John’s like a super highway! We are thankful that we were able to take our time and go slow. It took us 6 hours to go 180 miles! Mike did a great job driving! Thanks you Lord for safety.
Our stop in Chicken was like being back in the 1880’s except it has gas pumps and generators! The outdoor toilets were called Chicken Poop’s! It was the first sign of life in 130 miles. There is still some gold mining in the Chicken area today.
We are in Tok tonight at very nice campgrounds. In fact, we have entertainment tonight. The person singing tonight is the last songs of the frontier. Tomorrow we are heading to Fairbanks with a stop at North Pole to check out Santa for the grandkids. We will have to put in a good word for them at Santa’s workshop!

Day 18- Dawson City, YT

We got up to fog rain but went to town to check out the sights. Today we visited the Native American Cultural museum, SS Keno (steamship), Dawson City museum and the Dredge number 4. They were good but my favorite was the Native American museum. The tour was lead by a native lady who freely shared her way of life and struggles as a native. She is the great-great granddaughter of Chief Isaac who was the first chief of the natives at the time of the gold rush. She explained how they tan hides, dried salmon and even beaded their garments. Mike liked the dredge but it was way too mechanical for me! There was a lot to learn about the history of the gold rush. It is hard to believe that the town just about became a ghost town. It has been on the incline since the 196o’s. Tourism is there major employer but mining for other minerals is happening.
Did you know that they recently found gold in Dawson City again? It is in the exploration stage.
Did you know that to get to “The Top of World Road” once has to take a ferry ran by the Yukon government? Yes, we will do that tomorrow morning and go to Tok, Alaska.

Day 17- Drive to Dawson City, YT

It was an interesting drive from Whitehorse to Dawson City. It was a very rough road with many, many dips, potholes and gravel. It was slow but a pretty drive. Of course it was dry and very few animals. There was some lakes and/or rivers but not near the road. Towns were far apart and very few. We did stop at Braeburn for a large cinnamon bun that they had advertised in the Milepost. It was huge and we had enough for breakfast. This bun was $9.00! Well it happens only once! As we got closer to Dawson City the trees were more plentiful and everything was green. But there are rocks everywhere from all the dredging from the gold mines.
Once we got set up we went downtown to the visitors center to get the latest scoop and watched three 15 minutes about the Dawson City and the Gold Rush. They gave us a good understanding of the events and what we wanted to see. After supper we drove up to midnight dome and had a beautiful view for miles. We were fortunate that the clouds had gone away so we could see the mountains on the Alaskan side.
Internet service is not very good so we will post these later went we are back in more populated areas.
Yes we are in the wilderness!!!

Day 15 and 16- Skagway and Whitehorse, YT

Sorry about the delay but we have had an interesting two days. On Wednesday we drive to Skagway for a day trip which we did a train ride to the White Pass. It was a beautiful day and full of sun. We were able to see things that one normally can’t because of the fog and/or clouds. The train had 9 full cars so one can say it was full of boat people. There were 4 big cruise ships in the dock of Skagway. So people were everywhere! We left after our ride and started back to Whitehorse. We got to Carcross (1/2 way back) when we were stop by a blockade. We had to detour about 100 kilometers because of a car accident. So off we went with plans to have a salmon dinner in town. Well the side trip took about 1-1/2 hours and it was late dinner for us. So we decided to go back to the camper and have leftovers! Well, we got back and found out that we had no electricity to run the microwave for the Lasagna! Off to town we went. After finding a place to eat, we found out that the town had no electricity so salad and dessert was only served! We had Caesar salad and bumble berry pie. Bumble berry is a combination of apples, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. It was great. We ended up until 11:30 PM and the sun was just starting to set!
This morning we woke to no electricity which was no problem except for the coffee issue. When we just sat down to breakfast, the electricity came on just enough time to make coffee. It remained off most of the day but we were in town. We visited the world longest fish ladder which was very interesting. Did you know that the Chinook salmon travel 2000+ miles to spawn and die. They also return within a meter of where they were born! Then we went to the Old Log Church and learned about the sacrifices of the first missionaries and they trip to the Arctic Ocean. Also visited the history museum and the transportation museum. They were good but some repeat for us.
This evening we washed clothes and getting ready for our trip to Dawson City which is our last stop in Yukon Territory. We head north tomorrow morning. We have enjoyed learning about the YT and have a very interesting history.
Sorry about the delay but we have had an interesting two days. On Wednesday we drive to Skagway for a day trip which we did a train ride to the White Pass. It was a beautiful day and full of sun. We were able to see things that one normally can’t because of the fog and/or clouds. The train had 9 full cars so one can say it was full of boat people. There were 4 big cruise ships in the dock of Skagway. So people were everywhere! We left after our ride and started back to Whitehorse. We got to Carcross (1/2 way back) when we were stop by a blockade. We had to detour about 100 kilometers because of a car accident. So off we went with plans to have a salmon dinner in town. Well the side trip took about 1-1/2 hours and it was late dinner for us. So we decided to go back to the camper and have leftovers! Well, we got back and found out that we had no electricity to run the microwave for the Lasagna! Off to town we went. After finding a place to eat, we found out that the town had no electricity so salad and dessert was only served! We had Caesar salad and bumble berry pie. Bumble berry is a combination of apples, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. It was great. We ended up until 11:30 PM and the sun was just starting to set!
This morning we woke to no electricity which was no problem except for the coffee issue. When we just sat down to breakfast, the electricity came on just enough time to make coffee. It remained off most of the day but we were in town. We visited the world longest fish ladder which was very interesting. Did you know that the Chinook salmon travel 2000+ miles to spawn and die. They also return within a meter of where they were born! Then we went to the Old Log Church and learned about the sacrifices of the first missionaries and they trip to the Arctic Ocean. Also visited the history museum and the transportation museum. They were good but some repeat for us.
This evening we washed clothes and getting ready for our trip to Dawson City which is our last stop in Yukon Territory. We head north tomorrow morning. We have enjoyed learning about the YT and have a very interesting history.

Day 14- Whitehorse,YT

It was a day was spend driving and riding ! We made it to Whitehorse in 51/2 hours today. We also had a time change as well. It is nor Pacific time zone until we get to Alaska and they have their own time zone. The drive was good and we enjoyed the scenery. But the only animal we saw was a lone rabbit!
We did a side trip and walked to a small waterfall. It good to get out and stretch our legs. Once we got the camper set up we went into town. There we visited the visitors center and got a personal tour of the government (legislative) area of the capital. They are only 18 representatives in the legislature in Yukon for 38,000 people. Whitehorse is the largest city with population of 30,000. They have the same government structure like all the other provinces. They also have a surplus of money due to gold and mineral resources. After our tour we walked around town to get our bearings. We will see the museums on Thursday.
Our walk around the campgrounds, tell us that there are a lot of Americans going to Alaska and most of us are gray!! SO it is fun talking others about their adventures.
Tomorrow we will be going to Skagway, Alaska for a ride on the White Pass Yukon Route Railway.
It was a day was spend driving and riding ! We made it to Whitehorse in 51/2 hours today. We also had a time change as well. It is nor Pacific time zone until we get to Alaska and they have their own time zone. The drive was good and we enjoyed the scenery. But the only animal we saw was a lone rabbit!
We did a side trip and walked to a small waterfall. It good to get out and stretch our legs. Once we got the camper set up we went into town. There we visited the visitors center and got a personal tour of the government (legislative) area of the capital. They are only 18 representatives in the legislature in Yukon for 38,000 people. Whitehorse is the largest city with population of 30,000. They have the same government structure like all the other provinces. They also have a surplus of money due to gold and mineral resources. After our tour we walked around town to get our bearings. We will see the museums on Thursday.
Our walk around the campgrounds, tell us that there are a lot of Americans going to Alaska and most of us are gray!! SO it is fun talking others about their adventures.
Tomorrow we will be going to Skagway, Alaska for a ride on the White Pass Yukon Route Railway.
It was a day was spend driving and riding ! We made it to Whitehorse in 51/2 hours today. We also had a time change as well. It is nor Pacific time zone until we get to Alaska and they have their own time zone. The drive was good and we enjoyed the scenery. But the only animal we saw was a lone rabbit!
We did a side trip and walked to a small waterfall. It good to get out and stretch our legs. Once we got the camper set up we went into town. There we visited the visitors center and got a personal tour of the government (legislative) area of the capital. They are only 18 representatives in the legislature in Yukon for 38,000 people. Whitehorse is the largest city with population of 30,000. They have the same government structure like all the other provinces. They also have a surplus of money due to gold and mineral resources. After our tour we walked around town to get our bearings. We will see the museums on Thursday.
Our walk around the campgrounds, tell us that there are a lot of Americans going to Alaska and most of us are gray!! SO it is fun talking others about their adventures.
Tomorrow we will be going to Skagway, Alaska for a ride on the White Pass Yukon Route Railway.
It was a day was spend driving and riding ! We made it to Whitehorse in 51/2 hours today. We also had a time change as well. It is nor Pacific time zone until we get to Alaska and they have their own time zone. The drive was good and we enjoyed the scenery. But the only animal we saw was a lone rabbit!
We did a side trip and walked to a small waterfall. It good to get out and stretch our legs. Once we got the camper set up we went into town. There we visited the visitors center and got a personal tour of the government (legislative) area of the capital. They are only 18 representatives in the legislature in Yukon for 38,000 people. Whitehorse is the largest city with population of 30,000. They have the same government structure like all the other provinces. They also have a surplus of money due to gold and mineral resources. After our tour we walked around town to get our bearings. We will see the museums on Thursday.
Our walk around the campgrounds, tell us that there are a lot of Americans going to Alaska and most of us are gray!! SO it is fun talking others about their adventures.
Tomorrow we will be going to Skagway, Alaska for a ride on the White Pass Yukon Route Railway.

DAy 13- Watson Lake, YT.

We are a nice drive today with many sightings of wild animals- bison, black bears, porcupine and moose. It was a beautiful drive with moderate hills and rivers. We were able to make it to Watson Lake by 1 and were able to spend the afternoon sighting seeing the area. We visited the visitor center and saw exhibits if the building of the Alaskan highway and an 18 minute movie. Then we walked around the sign post forest where there are a few thousands of signs posted a poles from all over the world. We were amazed at the number of German signs present.
We visited the Northern Lights show and exhibit to learn about the northern lights. It was good but we were looking forward to the reason for these lights. They never really answered them except it could be a reaction between electromagnetic forces and the atmosphere. The colors can be green with a combination of red and purple.
Then we drove out to the Watson Lake airport to see the exhibit about the use and building of the airstrip and its role played in WWII in the ferrying of aircraft to Russia. More than 8,000 airplanes were taken the northern route that started at Great Falls, Mt., Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Watson Lake, Whitehorse and Fairbanks. There was an airport before they had a road to town! Many of these planes were flown by WASP’s (women). They had great photos of the missions.
Tomorrow we are off to Whitehorse and will hang there for three days.

DAy 12- Toad River

It has been an eventful day since we have been driving and sitting for 8 hours. It has been slow going today with the two lane roads up and down the mountains. We have traveled 366 miles and the average speed was about 40 miles per hour. We are in no man’s land where towns are far apart. This also meets gas stations. We came into Fort Nelson on a wing and tons of prayers! Mike fiqured that we had 2 liters of gas as we pulled into the gas station. Gas has gone up and up as we left Alberta. We are paying about $5.00 per gallon! The fuel taxes are high in BC. Toad River is half way between Ft. Nelson and Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. It is in the valley and very insolated but pretty.
The scenery is beautiful and we are now in the Canadian Rookies. We started to see animals (live on the road) once we left Fort Nelson. We have seen Stone Sheep, moose and deer. The stone sheep were in the middle of the road and looked at us. Then they climbed the rock wall on my side. We had a moose eating from the bottom of the stream in our campgrounds couple of hours ago. Sorry Sal- no bear yet!
The days are getting longer but we are tried tonight with the long drive so we will sleep. Last night we had a great visit with people from Fort St. John- the Christiansen’s. It was great to be able to talk about our differences in countries (especially our governments) but we are fellow citizens of this world.
Tomorrow we will head for Yukon. Our last province before Alaska.
We will put in photos tomorrow when the internet is stronger!

Day 11- Dawson Creek and Ft.St. John

Day 11- Fort St. John, BC

We have made it to Fort St John, BC this afternoon. We had an interesting stop at Dawson Creek where the Alaskan Highway begins. We saw the exhibits of building the highway and a DVD of the building of the road. It is amazing that they did it in 8 months despite all the hardships and weather. We walked around the main streets and saw murals of the building of the highway. The town was closed down due to Canada day yesterday.

We motored to Ft. St. John with a side trip to the old highway and saw a wooden bridge at Kiskatinaw overlooking the Peace River. This is a total wooden bridge and is curved over the river span. It was really neat. There we meet a couple from Grace City, North Dakota. So we had a chat with them.

Ft. St John is in the Peace River valley which has farming, mining, oil and gas as their resources. It was also a fort for the RCMP in the late 1880’s. Our campgrounds are on Charlie Lake at the edge of town.

Tomorrow we will be going to Toad River which is a challenging part of the road. Over the years they have taken the curves out of the road but it is still road without guard rails and many animals are on it.

I am sure that the speed limits are 70 kilometers or less. It will be a long day. Please pray for our safety as we drive these roads. So far we have seen little wildlife- a dead moose and deer and one live deer!

Day 10- Grande Prairie

Day 10- Grande Prairie

We arrived in Grande Prairie around 3 this afternoon. The drive was not the easy and was meant to get us in practice for the next few days. We took a walk before and after supper. We have spent time planning for tomorrow since we have a short driving day to Fort St. John but will stop at Dawson Creek to visit and tour. It is the beginning of the Alaskan Highway. They have a museum and video on the building of the highway. I am looking forward to it.

The scenery today was rolling prairie with hills between. It is amazing how we are in farm and cattle land then the next 10 miles is high hills and rocks.  The roads were straight and one could see for miles down the road.

Not much else happened today. A lazy day for us!

Day 9- Edmonton

Day 9 June 30

We went back to the legislative building to take pictures this morning. It was interesting to talk to the security people about the mall and how it has changed. It seems like they are always comparing to the Mega mall. As they run out of money for their projects, the owners come to the government and try to get money to build more. They are experiencing financial problems since they are lacking major store anchors- no Nordstrom’s, Macy’s or Bloomingdale’s.

After our photos we went out to Fort Edmonton Park which has the original fort from the 1860’s with their buildings. It was interesting how these soldiers and their families lived back then. It makes our post housing look like the ritz! Also visited villages of the 1895, 1905 and 1920. Each of the buildings were full of old furniture, cooking ware, clothing, stoves, and sewing machines. We saw some neat butter makers, washing machines and ice boxes. We also had a train ride with a stream engine.

After we  got back we washed clothes at the laundermat. It was good to get things clean again. We are off to Grande Prairie tomorrow.  In the laundermat we talked with a lady from Michigan who is traveling with her brother on their way to Alaska and will be gone 5 months! They will traveling most of the western states as well. We think 60 days is long!

Day 7 and Day 8- Edmonton

Day 7 and 8 (June 28 and 29)

After arriving in Edmonton, we set up camp and had dinner. We are at the Glowing Embers campground which is a 300 camper place. It is in the country and tends to be very quiet despite the size.  We meet our neighbor next door who is a Viet Nam vet that married a Canadian. He has lived and works in Canada. He is a bite “crusty” and a talker. He claims to have worked on the Alaskan Highway rebuilt in the 1990’s and was able to give us some ideas of what we need to visit. My plans were good according to him. He was a character and fun to talk to. He works down here in the summer and goes north to the oil fields in the winter. We waited for the sun to set but went to bed with it still up at 11 AM.

Wednesday- It is our 43^rd wedding anniversary. We spend the day visiting the Muttart Conservatory which has four climate pyramids for the four climates. It was very interesting but the cactus selection at the Peace garden is better! Also visited the Legislative Building and had a great tour. This capitol is similar but different. It has 5 palm trees growing up in the rotunda! We have never seen that! The grounds and fountains were beautiful in the nice warm weather we had today. In fact, all the high school seniors were there for their formal pictures and the fountains were full of small kids swimming.

We spend all afternoon at the Royal Albert Museum visiting there exhibits- under the sea, nature in Alberta and the Native Indians exhibit. We enjoy it but were a bit overwhelming. This evening we went to the Mall and had supper. This mall is the largest in the worlds with a hockey arena, Water Park, amusement park and stores. It is not a nice as our mega mall and the signage is terrible. We had a nice dinner and they quality of places are not but to ours.

I forgot my camera in the camper so no pictures today! I will get some tomorrow.

Did you know that reindeer is actually a caribou?

Did you know that they are volcanic eruptions on the ocean floor?

Day 5 and 6 Saskatoon

After arriving in Saskatoon in the rain, we set up the camper and headed into town. We spend the afternoon at the Ukrainian Museum which turned out to be a gem. We learned about the 4 ways of migration of the Ukrainian people. They bought beautiful handwork along with them. We were at awe with the fine needlework that was gone. As we were cooking supper on the grill, we meet our neighbors who were BC farmers and Shorthorn cattle breeders. They had just come from a Shorthorn Breeders meeting in Regina and were on their way home but stopping at other breeders along their way. There were interested in the fact that 40 years ago I raised Shorthorns as a 4-H project.

Did you know? That Ukrainians were the largest group of foreigners in 1900.

Monday we got up and spend the morning at the Wanuskewin Heritage Center which was interesting about the Indian way of life on the prairie. We walked the trails and enjoyed the birds, gophers, wild flowers, the river and sunshine. It was very peaceful and reminded us of North Dakota prairies. We had lunch there with eating native foods- bison sandwiches and chili. It was delicious.

Did you know? Bison have tunnel vision and would run off a cliff because of it. The Indians used the Bison strengths and weakness to hunt them.

From there we drive to the Western Development Museum which was a 1910 Boomtown. It was very interesting and full of exhibits on the development of the prairie. We liked the old stream engines and all the old cars. Also experienced a sod house. For our afternoon snack, we had Saskatoon berry pie. It was delicious.

Did you know? A Saskatoon berry is like a blueberry but is red and firmer. They grow on the shores of the streams and lakes. They are ready to pick in August.

The most interesting thing we saw today was the LED Energy House. We toured it and it is a house that uses zero energy. That means that it uses solar energy to produce it needs. Mike enjoyed learning about this.

Off to pack and leave tomorrow for Edmonton.

Day 4-Regina

The day started with the clouds and a bit on the cold side. We went to visit the Royal Saskatchewan Museum which was great and very interesting. On the lower level the geological formation of the earth here in Saskatchewan was shown. It has many interactive exhibits and showed all about the plants and animals as well. The First Nation (Indians) exhibit was super. The detail was outstanding. The upper levels dealt with biological sciences. It was good and couple of few interesting points learned:

Latin for northern pike fish is “Wolf Warrior”.

Some of Saskatchewan song birds migrant to Costa Rica yearly. They spend less than 3 months here.
After lunch we went to the legislative building (Capitol building). It was 100 years old and has 34 different types of granite. The legislative branch met from September to end of May. They only have one body in the legislature. Cabinet members are voted members of the legislature and have duel jobs. They are appointment in their jobs and can be removed without notice.  We probably caused our tour guide some anxiety with all our questions. We have visited many capitol buildings and enjoy the history within those walls. Cheryl would be proud of us!!

Came back to meet our neighbors- an oil contractor from Edmonton and retired couple who live in their camper. They winter in Arizona and do not have another place.

At dinner time the sun has appeared. Off to Saskatoon tomorrow. Time to pack and organize for the trip.

Day 3- Regina

We had a wonderful at the RCMP Academy and the Governor’s home. We were able to see the interpretive center, the grounds and as well as the Sgt Mayor’s Parade. Mike enjoyed it and felt like he was back in the military! RCMP is a mix of our military and police. They have a rich history.

We also learned a lot about the government in Canada and how it operates. The Queen is the head with appointment heads (represents her) of governor general and each province has a lt. governor. The people elect a premier for each province and the country elects a prime minister. They all work together and the people seem happy with the arrangement.

The weather was great today- sunny and 78 degrees.

Day 2- Devils Lake to Regina, Sas

After a breakfast with coffee with grounds in it- due to the lack of coffee filters and horrible tasting water, we set off to Rugby to visit with my other aunt-Elsie. The roads continued to be full of potholes! We had a great visit with Elsie – she gave us coffee and apple pie. It was great. It was good to see her again and wish her an early 90^th birthday! Wow she is still living on her own but does have vision issues. May I be so lucky to live that old!

We traveled north to the Peace Gardens and had a great visit there. But with the wet conditions, we saw few flowers. But the 911 and Cactus exhibit was very good.

After crossing the border, we decided to go all the way to Regina. The roads were full of potholes and we had a 100 mile detour due to the flooding. We drove though the Souris Valley which was the cause of the flooding in Minot. There was water everywhere! They got 7 inches of rain last weekend which was following on soaked land. The crops are poor and I don’t think they will have much of a crop.

We arrived at Regina at 7:30 PM and as we were setting up the camper the mosquitoes visited us.

Day 1-Perham to Devils Lake

Our trip from Perham was uneventful except we had rain from Crookston to the late evening in Devils Lake. We were able to make our stops and get what we needed down. We arrived in Devils Lake with all the rain and wet conditions. Water and mud everywhere. We set up camp at Woodlake Resort where the dikes are holding back the lake! One cannot believe the amount of water there is present in that area. The roads were full of potholes!

We were to meet my sister, Mary, Aunt Phyllis and her daughter for supper at the Ranch. We were looking forward to the fellowship. Phyllis and Connie never showed up and we learned that Connie had found Phyllis dead in her bed. What a way to died but what a shock! So we went to Phyllis house and spend time with Connie and Terry. What a time of remembrance! She dead just like her Mom- Grandma Emma. I will miss her because she was my last relative on Dad’s side and I was named after her. We always had a special relationship.

What a day!

Last day before push off!

It is hard to believe that the time is just about here for the big adventure. Since rain was forcasted all day today, we packed the camper last night except for the last minute things. So we are ready to roll tomorrow morning as we head to Devils Lake to visit relatives. Mike informed me that we will be going by Crookston to check out the farm land, stop at Caleba's in East Grand and stop at the airbase!
I finished work today and am ready to roll.
Hopefully we will  be able to sleep tonight.
Just a few things to do-like laundry and clean out the refigerator.
Have a good day and look forward to having you on the trip with us.
Love,
Mike and Gloriann

5 days and counting

Where has all the time gone! We are down to 5 days and then the trip begins. We are trying to get things ready- just about done! Mike is gardening and trying get rid of the weeds. I am sure that he will be back to then in August!
Kids went home on Wednesday and boy it is quite. We will miss them. Got to see all the grandchildren and go to the zoo with them. A fun time!
Our last weekend here before we take off.
The list is getting smaller.

10 days and counting till we are off to Alaska. Mike is preparing the camper for the trip.
All we need to do is to get clothes, groceries and last minute things in the camper and we are ready to roll north. It is exciting times and looking forward to seeing some of this beautiful world created by a wonderful creator.
I just finished work and have couple of hours left and will be free to go. Sal is helping Grandpa building a ladder for the bunk beds. I don't know who is more excited! The Caramucci's will be joining us for a few days in mid-July.
Off to workon the to-do list.

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