June 29, 2009

6/29- Left Destruction bay for Delta Junction, ALASKA. Arrived the Great State of Alaska at 12:58 PM on June 29, 2009. No animal sitings today. This was the trip from hell. The Alaskan Highway from Whitehorse to the Alaskan border is terrible. . The frost heaves and rips it apart to no end. Rocking and rolling so bad I had to almost stop. I drove about 30mph or less for about 4 hours or my springs would have been broke like the Bighorn at Jakes yesterday. Arrived at Smith’s Green Acres rv park. Nice place with everything even a place to wash the truck and trailer tomorrow. They are covered with mud from the Canadian side. They fix 6 or 7 miles at a time and we have to drive right through it. It’s either mud or “Extremely dusty” That’s off the sign.
Tomorrow we drive only 100 miles to Fairbanks. We’re going to try to get into Eielson AFB rv park. There is also a park in Fairbanks that is on a long narrow lake and the float planes come and go right in front of the park. Might try that one for a day or so.

June 28, 2009 Continental Divide to Destruction Bay

/28- Left Swift River Continental divide rv park going to Cottonwood rv park in Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory.
On the way we stopped for fuel at Jakes Corner. Well Jake insisted on filling my external tank which distracted me because when I do it myself I have a routine. Anyway, I opened the tail gate to get something and forgot to shut it. 10 qts of transmission fluid $6.50 each, that were in a milk crate, and half a case of bottled water were gone when we stopped at Whitehorse for lunch. It’s all Jack’s fault.
While at Jakes in the parking lot,(dirt) was a Bighorn 5th wheel all jacked up on all four corners with people working on the axels and springs. I ask Jake what happened. He said the man broke 3 springs and bent the fourth. Now I know why--- The Alaskan Highway from Whitehorse to the Alaskan border is terrible. The frost heaves and rips it apart to no end. I drove about 30mph or less for about 4 hours or my springs would have been broke too.
Cottonwood is one the most beautiful parks anywhere. It’s on the shores of Kluane lake and the lake is surrounded by mountains. We met Donna and Dick from Howell and sat by the fire until the sun was just down—11:30pm. It stopped getting dark back by Toad river but now it just gets morning right away as soon as the sun goes down.

June 27, 2009

6/27 – Traveled from Toad Rive BC to Swift River, Yukon, Continental Divide Lodge & RV Park. Beside the beautiful scenery, on this trip we saw LOTS of animals. We saw 5 black bears and 2 brown bears, possibly grizzles; 2 moose, and so many bison we were unable to count. There was a 73 mile area that the bison roamed free. We took a picture of a mountain that looked like it was folded over onto itself. We later found out that the name of the mountain is Folded Mountain. Later in the evening after unhooking at the camp, Burr took a small hike to Rancheria Falls. He said it was a beautiful scenic walk.

June 26, 2009

6/26 – Traveled from Hudson’s Hope BC to Toad River BC. The Alaskan Highway is very rough. Our closet collapsed with all the bouncing – not to mention the excess weight from unnecessary clothes. On the way we saw another black bear and a herd of bison. At the campground we saw 6 moose feeding in the river – beautiful site.

June 25, 2009

6/25 – Traveled from Prince George to Hudson’s Hope British Columbia – in the rain. On the ride we saw a deer, an eagle, and 2 black bears.

June 24, 2009 Prince George

6/24 – Spent the day here in Prince George catching up on chores, like cleaning the RV, doing the laundry, washing the truck, grocery shopping.

June 23, 2009

6/23 – Today we are headed to Prince George. Hopefully we will get internet and be able to update our website. The trip here today was very long because of road construction all along the route. We saw two black bears, three deer, and one moose. It was good to be out of the mountains.

June 21, 2009 Jasper

6/21 – Still at Jasper, we went for a hike on the Medicine Trail Walk. This was a guided tour and our guide was a native aboriginal (Indian). She told us all about the various plants in the forest and what the natives used them for. It was very interesting. Afterwards we went on a hike to a glacier – in the rain! It was about a mile hike right up to three glaciers. Wonderful site! On our ride home we saw a large momma Grizzly and her three cubs.

June 20, 2009 Banff to Jasper

6/20 – This morning we left Banff and headed for Jasper National Park. The drive from Banff to Jasper was through the Columbia Icefields Parkway. We stopped at the Columbia Icefields Glacier – a huge glacier that they actually take you out and drive on. We stayed at the Whistlers Park. We saw female Elk with their calves all over the campground. We witnessed a momma and her baby just shortly after giving birth. The baby was so new it couldn’t even stand and the momma was cleaning it up. We also saw a black bear on one of our drives.

June 19, 2009 Banff

6/19 – Banff is a REALLLLLY nice tourist town. Our campsite was very big – over 600 campsites. All were pull thru. We road our bikes all around the campground. From here we visited Lake Louise where we sat and had tea and scones inside the beautiful Hotel and enjoyed the scenery. Back at the campsite we saw a very large male Elk.

June 18, 2009 Glacier Park to Banff National Park in Alberta Canada

6/18 – Leaving for Banff Natl Park in Alberta Canada this morning.

Our first mishap. On the road out of Calgary on the way to Banff we had a blowout. We were able to pull off the road and change the tire, but Burr was concerned with the other tires, so we drove back to Calgary and bought four new tires. Several hours and a few dollars later, we were back on the road again.

At the campsite we saw a very large Elk.

June 17, 2009 Day two at Many Glacier Campground in Glacier National Park

6/17 – Today we went on a two mile hike –1 mile one way and 700 feet up – to see a waterfall.

It was a very hard climb, but well worth it.

Afterwards, we went for a drive on the Road to the Sun. We saw a grizzly bear cross the road in front of us and climb into the forest. We got some good pictures of him. Further down the road we saw the Jackson Glacier at the end where the road was closed off. The road is normally opened to the West of the Park, but there was damage from an avalanche last winter and they are trying to clear 40 feet of snow down by the half way point at Logan Pass. The road was open about 12-15 miles from each end and was supposed to be open on the 19th of June. Not even close. It'll be another week or so.

In the evening we attended a talk at the Many Glacier hotel. Every night there is a different presentation by a park interpreter. They talked about what happens to the animals and plant life during the winter months.

June 16, 2009 Glacier National Park---Many glaciers campground

6/16 – The drive from Shelby was nice because we finally started to see the mountains with snow still on them. On the way we passed a wind farm about 5 miles away on top the foothills. They were still assembling some of the 80 or so windmills.

Arrived this afternoon at Glacier National Park. We are staying at Many Glaciers Park. We were going to stay at Two Medicine but it looked like it was too far off our route. When we leave we can go straight up to Calgary on 89. The campsite is a pull through with no hookups– very easy access. It is in a valley and the mountains are up on both sides of the campground. With the binoculars and the spotting scope we can usually find mountain goats and bighorn sheep.

We went on a guided hike in the afternoon with a park ranger. She pointed out plant life and animal tracks. It was about a one mile easy hike.

In the evening we attended a talk at the Many Glacier Hotel on the plants and animals in the park. Speaking of the park hotel, the Many Glacier Hotel is a great place to stay if you want to experience the park without camping. They have a huge open lobby with a center fireplace and open porch overlooking a mountain and lake. They say a lot of the wild animals come down from the mountain – moose, mountain goat, and big horn, and can be seen while sitting on the porch. I never saw a hotel lobby with so much activity. It looked like great fun to stay there.

Shelby Montana June 15, 2009

We stopped in Shelby Montana, about 80 miles from Glacier National Park, to stock up on food and use the internet. We've been driving through flat wheat fields for 3 days and I can't wait to see something. Just got on the internet for a while but may be some time until we get on again.

June 13-14, 2009 Fort Peck Corp of Engineers Campground in Montana

– We stayed at Ft. Peck MT – 2 nights. The park was very nice, but we had no phone service, no internet, and there was no place to purchase food within 35 miles. It is a Corp of Engineers campground at the Fort Peck dam.

We went on a tour of the powerhouse at the dam. Later we went to the visitors center where they have the dinosaur bones that were found when they built the dam. The lake behind the dam is loaded with big walley and northern pike. The camper next to us brought an 11 pound northern back to his trailer from that days fishing. Just about everyone here has a boat they tow with their 5th wheel. Rode the bikes a lot on the trails around the campground.

June 12, 2009 Overnight in Leeds, ND

Stayed one night in Leeds North Dakota. Just a hay field with a plug and faucet.

Wednesday June 10, 2009 Lakehead Marina/RV Park Duluth

We got started early today from Munising. We saw a big black Bear cross the road just after we left the cabin. Diesel was $2.47 in town. Good trip through Marquette and on to Duluth. Some road construction around Lake Michigame. They are putting 2 lanes for a long way and straightening out some of the bad curves. Lots of blasting.

We got into Duluth about 3pm CST and found the marina. Lakehead boat basin. They have some rv parking spaces during the summer where they parked the boats for winter storage. It's all blacktop. Electric and water--$29. I'm suprised how much I like being parked at a marina. We are right on the edge of the bay where the freighters come and go through the lift bridge. Good view of the city across the bay. We can walk to town a few blocks to food, and attractions. Nice for a couple of nights.