Home sweet Home

Days 46, 47, and 48 driving home 1569 miles homeward bound

Day 46
As I was driving on Canadian Hwy 1 in SK which is like an interstate but it has crossroads not exit ramps, which are mostly dirt roads. There she was a mother duck walking her ducklings across the highway. As I approached and saw them I was going 60mph nin the right lane, by the time I saw them they were in the left lane, mother flew up and over while the ducklings ran as fast as I had ever seen a tiny duckling move. It was like in warp speed that they ran. I am happy to report that they all made it. I don't know how. Now some of you from Craig High School know how important it was for me to have this work out just fine.!
Also as I stopped at a rest area along this road (not like our rest areas--dirt road, turn around and come back out if you have enough room to turn around that is--and of course I was happy to have a toliet--just bushes there) well as I entered back onto the highway the other 2 westbound lanes seemed to have disappeared. Where did they go? Was I too tired? Something wrong with my brain? I check the lines on the road--there was a white broken line for the 2 lanes and the yellow solid line was on the left. Good! Now where is the road? I kept driving. On the left of me now was a cattle ranch and even a fence around the area. I kept driving. About 5 miles down the road I finally saw some traffic going the other way. Well I guess someone didn't want to sell their land or it is just the way they do it, but actually the median turned out to be a fenced in cattle ranch. I believe at times the other side of the road was a mile away.

Day 47
Today I crossed the border.
I was at customs for an hour. They not only x-rayed my camper but first one guy came through the camper and then another. They even checked in my bathroom. They said they were looking for extra people. One woman in a camper must not fit the right profile. They took my tomatoes and wanted my oranges which had USA stickers on them but they said they probably came in contact with Canadian produce. I had 8 big oranges--he said it is bad to bring them in--bugs could be on the skin. I told him I will then peel them. So I proceeded to do so while he waited. The tomatoes had a Mexico sticker on them. Funny thing after I crossed back into the USA only 10 miles down the road there were the Mexican tomatoes on sale again.
Even more funny today I went to our store in town and they were selling tomatoes from Canada. No lie--I've never seen tomatoes from Canada in Wisconsin--the story continues. Maybe they stopped me because when I came through I had another person in the camper and now I had sun shields covering the windows. What do you think? I didn't make it to my destination that I wanted but I stayed 40 miles outside of Fargo. I called ahead and I was even late getting in there. I wanted to sanitize the water system because of the creek water.

Day 48
Almost home. A little more than 500 to go. Got up and moving by 8:30. Stopped after an hour because I had some bleach water in the tank yet and this gave it time to move around. No need to carry it all the way home. At the rest area I let the remaining water out from the tank and water heater. A trucker then came banging on my door yelling at me--saying I was polluting the ground. I told him it was clean water. He was having a fit. I'm sure he thought it was gray water. I left with the water dripping out. I could have had more words for him but I was just glad to get away from him. I wonder if he screams like that when it rains!!!! My water was even better than rain water!!! Welcome back to the US.
The day gets better. Not! Well now I'm in a traffic jam near Minneapolis. Backed up sitting on intersate 94. I wish I was back with the cattle on the highway--no traffic. So I sat, then I decided to get off. Got some gas, and took some back roads. I didn't know if it would work, but I followed a truck for ab out 20 miles. Got back on the interstate and now the other side was backed up for 6 miles as I drove east. Luck shot for me. After being on roads in Alaska and Canada and not seeing a car or truck for sometimes 50 miles--it is really hard to sit on an interstate and wait.
Morgan and Jen were waiting for me at home. Great to see them. Morgan's hug was really needed!! They helped me get things out of the camper.

I HAD A WONDERFUL TRIP AND THE MEMORIES WILL LAST A LIFETIME IT WAS BY FAR THE BEST VACATION EVER

Alberta Beef on the Menu !

Day 40
Woke up to no electric or water. Who cares--we were heading up to Salmon Glacier. A 20 mile trek out of Hyder. Road started out ok but then got stressful. Soft shoulders, continuous climb, no guardrails, and a landslide. Of course, it was a gravel road with potholes. Why do you think we were there. Was it worth it? Absolutely! Waterfalls, kodak moments galore, and to be at the top of a glacier was a life changing moment. I will never forget the beauty of this area.
Back at camp 5 hours later still no electric or water--moved on to Mziadin PP which was on a beautiful lake. Met 2 young me fishing by my camper. I already had lost my new $10 lure on the rocks. They were 2 teachers from NY going to Anchorage to work at a camp for blind students.

Day 41
Started my day by making pancakes for Matt and Justin. They had been living on Capri Suns and Twinkes since they left NY. Drove towards Prince George, BC. Stopped at Smithers, BC for the night. Had the oil changed on the camper. Best shower at this campground--no fee and no shower head--lots of water. Made homemade bread for the gang.

Day 42
Still driving east. Today is Canada Day July 1 equivalent to July 4th for us. Karen rode with me today. A wolf crossed in front of the camper. Very long legs. After checking into campground just east of Prince George we learned that the water came from a creek and the electric came from a generator. They forgot to say that the water had a 3-minute boil advisory. Talk about being in a rural setting. Of course the electric went out for awhile, and now my water system would have to be sanitized . But it did have an awesome view and clear lake.

Day 43
Arrived at Jasper National Park. On the drive we saw another moose, but the highlight was a mother black bear and her baby cub along the road. The cub was very tiny, it must have been born this spring. No picture--they were too fast getting back into the woods.
Busy weekend because of Canada Day and 4th of July. Got some of the last spots at the Jasper overflow. They told us we better make reservations for going south to Lake Louise and Banff. I stood at the pay phone on line for an hour to secure reservations. Patience is a virtue!!!
Later we went into Jasper to look around. Very busy town.a

Day 44
Drove down HY 93 to Lake Louise. Only 142 miles but it took us 8 hours. No! No gravel just beauty all over the place. Many stops along the way. Athabasca Falls, Sunwapta Falls, lakes, mountains, overlooks and even Stanley Falls. After getting camp site we took a ride to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. Finally got some purple rocks. Took shower, dropped towel on wet dirty floor--walked back dripping wet--now don't go too far with that image--I did have a gown on???
Trains blasting horns all night! Not a good place for a beautiful campground.

Day45
Short drive to Banff NP. Tried to see Bow Falls from the top road. Steep area--Gary lost footing but still continued down. We then drove down to the falls through town. Better way to see it--or else we would all be in the hospital with broken bones. We also shopped in Banff. Gang wanted to go out to Bumper's Alberta beef. Shirley wanted to get rid of her Canadian money. thank you Shirley. What a great idea. Fantastic meal. PRIME RIB.

NANCY and her SNOW!

Just had to post this pic as Nancy misses winters while south in the winter and now she has finally come up with a nice cloud of white stuff.At least it is all in one place and not scattered across the road for her to PLOUGH through

Watch out for that BEAR!!

Day 36 June 25 Drove 210 miles to Watson Lake, Gary got a flat 20 miles out of town. I was going to skip the Cassiar Hwy trip because of road conditions and drive home by myself. I decided to go while Gary's tire was being repaired. We would do the 450 mile trip in short doses. Seeing that we had already driven 210 the first spot to stop (53 more miles) was Boya Provincial Park. What a gem. Crystal clear emerald green lake. Camped right on the shore..
Warnings all over "watch for bears". Ring a ding ding went my bear bell?? We awoke to fresh snow on the mountains across the lake.'
Road gravel mixed with pavement--not anywhere near the terrible Tok road. Now we only have 450 miles more to go on it. Warned about a mud slide ahead.

Day 37 June 26 Rained all night in Boya but then Karen showed me how to find a 4-leaf clover. Separate extra blurb on that. Drove 150 miles to next stop Tatogga Lake Resort--not too much up there except wilderness.. We did come across the mud slide. They were rebuilding the road. The road was closed for 5 days last week. We would have been stuck. We did stop at Jade City. Jade is found in the mountains of BC. Got a great necklace for myself. Fished the lake.. Gary got a rainbow trout. Gary and I ate it after I cooked it..

Day 38 June 27 Moving along 37 (Cassiar) drove almost 100 miles to Bell 2 Resort. Best place we have stayed at. BUT they even have to have bear dogs to keep the bears away from campers and cabins. The dogs keep busy. More warnings given as we check in. Now we want to fish again. The owner tells us of a way to get down to the lake. Just 2km or 1.5 miles down the road. We walk down and climb down a hill to get to the lake. Gary and I fish Karen takes our picture. BUT we notice many piles of scat. BIG PILES. NO MOUSE LEFT THAT OR EVEN 1000 MICE. I SHAKE MY BELL, KAREN SINGS. It started to rain and we left. I think God was watching over us. Ate supper and decided we would go back to the scene of the scat and watch to see if the bear comes. No bear! How about we go look down the road by the campground by the river? There is a gravel pit and we drive in there to sit and watch. No bear, we start to backup and I see the grizzly. GAAAARRRRRY! There he is! We pull forward, the bear goes over the hill. Gary says, "if I was a bear I would go up on that ridge." We watched. Nothing. We start to leave--GAAAARRRY I say there he is again. Remember we are driving where we really shouldn't be. Black gravel, rocks and sinking paths. There he was walking right on the top of the ridge. Picture and scat sent separate. Now Gary drives up a path (really a narrow, rocky, soft logging road) to see if the bear will come over the mountain ridge. Now I've heard that before. "The bear went over the mountain". Now we sit where we should not be again. Gary asked me do you see anything? GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRy he is right outside maybe 20 ft away from my window looking at us. It's now time for us to leave. It was thrilling. What a night. It is so nice to have a bathroom inside the camper for places like BC and their bears.

Day 39 June 28 On our way again. Drove 97 miles to get to Hyder Alaska. No passport needed nothing there. Except us and about 50 people. It is a friendly Ghost Town Just outside of Hyder is where the bears come to feed on salmon. Mid July to September. It is a beautiful area. All the way down 37A a branch off 37 there are numerous waterfalls and just the perfect kodak moment after another. The best is yet to come. Tomorrow we will drive up 22 miles up the mountains to overlook Salmon Glacier. Tonight though we went looking for bear again. How smart or dumb are we. We saw some lonesome roads and took them. One lead us down to Clement Lake. Getting there was worse than being there. Remember we are in rain forest area. Was a great opportunity though. Heard the story about Joe who worked in Hyder as a cook. There was this grizzly that would always sit by the woods and watch. They called him Stalker. Well one day Joe and his girlfriend had a fight and she didn't wait for him. The story goes that Joe drank a lot that night after cooking at the restaurant. He passed out. He never came home. They found some of the body buried. So they shot Stalker and low and behold 31 pounds of Joe was in Stalker. True Story! One should always make sure they don't smell like supper when they hit the ground from too much drinking--especially in bear country.

Wayward Wonderers

Day 29 June 18, 2009 drove 286 miles forget it--it was not a good day. The road from Tok to Haines Junction was the worst road I have ever traveled on the road was a roller coaster, bumps, dips, gravel, and rocks. Oh I forgot the washboard effect it had. Believe it or not the Top of the World Highway was better than this part. Also after just having my windshield fixed in Tok, I got 3 new holes now on the driver's side windshield and numerous chips in the paint when a log truck flew by on the other side of the construction area. They say they try to fix it every year but it does no good. Funny thing it is in Canada and once you get to Destruction Bay which is a popular attraction on the road the road is quite nice to travel on. All of a sudden the perma frost ends.?????

Day 30, 31 I stayed in Haines Junction, I needed a rest from driving. I had been on a cruise and I already had done that area--but most of all I wanted to rest. The gang went to Haines, Juneau, and then came back from Skagway. I stayed at the campground that we all stayed at on Day 29. I walked to town, about 1 mile. I was warned to stay on the highway because they have a lot of grizzly bears around, and to take a bell with me. I got to watch a little TV. I had a dream about my mother walking in the woods with me trying to find her. Then I took a bus to 54th and Villard. Too much junk food before I went to bed.

Day 32 June 21 (father's day) Sunday--Found a church in Haines Junction.. Quonset Hut was now a church. Only 15 small pews. The Bishop was there to give First Communion to 2 children. 12 kids were in church and 15 adults. I was the only foreigner. They knew it. The bishop was there with his miter and staff. I then drove only 100 miles to Whitehorse. Did some grocery shopping and relaxed again. I thought the gang would be back soon and meet me in Whitehorse. They got stuck in Juneau.

Day 33 June 22 Whitehorse, YT Started to clean and wax the camper. Hi Country RV a very nice place. I did have some internet and got to talking with a lot of nice people. Met a nice couple from Switzerland.. Roy and Corinne. We even played cards that night. They were on their honeymoon. I saw a light in a camper that the eyes of the wolf would follow you. The wife gave me a e-mail address. Talked with some friends on the magic jack line.

Day 34 Still at Hi Country. Roy brought over some leftovers bottles of oil and papers because they were flying back to Vancover in the morning.
Watched a movie and waxed again. It takes a long time--it is a big camper. Saw Roy and Corinne again tonight. We laughed and told stories.

Day 35 Johnson's Crossing, YT I drove only 83 miles today. Before I left I went back into Whitehorse because there was to be a canoe race to Dawson City. I missed the start by 3 minutes.
Finally met back up with the gang. Good to see them again. They had some strange stories to tell.I made supper for the group. We then had an uninvited guest. A fox. It just stood at the window looking up. It could smell the garlic. I also drained the noodles onto the ground and it found a few noodles. It would keep coming back to the camper. Got some great pictures. It also took a shoe from in front of another camper.
We then got back into our routine and played cards,

I'm looking over a four leafed clover......

My dad used to always find 4 leaf clovers. I never could. I used to fake it and add one but I always got caught. Yesterday Karen, one of my companions was finding them and giving them to me. Here story is that as a little girl her mother would send her out to play. She and her friend would sit for hours looking for 4-leaf clovers. She has a keen eye for them now.

This morning I wanted to find one. I didn't. She said she would find one tell me the area and then I could find it. I did it--three times with the help of Gary pushing my head down on one of them. Now those of you who really know me--know that I would have to find one on my own. As the others waited to leave Boya Lake this morning--I wasn't giving up! I DID IT--I FOUND MY FIRST 4-LEAF CLOVER

As I got into the camper I then put on my Dad's song to me. FUNNY FACE BY DONNA FARGO

It brought back many memories for me of my father. As I'm typing this it has brought tears to my eyes--but I had to share this special moment of my trip.

Serenading Nature

Day 25
Drove from Homer to Palmer just east of Anchorage. 257 miles
Stopped to help some people whose camper the ignition wouldn't work--called for help for them once we got into a telephone area. They didn't get help for 8 hours. We saw some more moose along the road, but we have stopped counting. I guess we now think of them as almost rabbits.
Palmer campground not too clean but a place to sleep. Lots of bugs. good night

Day 26
Drove 259 miles to Valdez. What a view all the way. The most beautiful drive so far. Thompson Pass, and Keystone Canyon great. On the drive we had to stop for 20 minutes for road construction and we all stood on the highway. Met a lady that was heading up to Chicken. She was an author of a supplement book to "Tisha" about a Chicken teacher. Tisha was her husband's grandmother. I bought the book on the highway.

We also spelled out my name on the hillside with rocks. They do that up here. Karen started it--she started mine instead of her's because Gary didn't want her to do it. With my name it was harder for him to stop her. Passed beautiful falls and glaciers going down to Valdez. Settled into the campground right on the bay across from the pipeline terminal. What a view. In town we saw many eagles flying trying to get food from some people. Got some great photos. It is illegal to feed them. But, I'm glad they did it until someone called them on it. Found a great fish shop and had wonderful cod.

Day 27
Stayed put for another day. Gary took us out on a rough road to a falls. Talk about holes in the road--but again beautiful. Drove to pipeline but it is closed to people. Gary thought he saw a huge eagle, but it truned out to be a worker with a white hardhat on. We had a great laugh. Gary didn't laugh as hard as we did. The Valdez mountains almost look like green velvet. They get over 300" of snow a year. Like a rain forest.

In the afternoon we went to 2 museums and saw 3 films about the area. Long busy days. Went back for more fish. Valdez is my favorite place so far. I should say one of 2 because I fell in love with Denali.

Day 28
Drove 251 miles from Valdez to Tok--basically on the way home now but with stops to make. At the 5000 mile mark. Before we left Valdez we went to old city Valdez that was destroyed from the 64' earthquake. As we are at the water's edge Gary saw a black bear. It was between us and the vehicle. With Shirley being by the truck. We got some pictures. Then I sang to scare it off. It ran very fast. Gary wasn't happy because he wanted to get a closer shot, but his camera was in the truck.

Just outside of Valdez in Worthington Glacier. We stopped and got some shots and rocks. We arrived in Tok at 5 pm. Got my window fixed. Damage from a flying rock on the way up. Went to a singing program at the campground and finally got some rain.