Summer Adventure 2018 Day 17 & 18

Monday was a no driving day!  We did go into town to a couple of museums and supper at Klondike Salmon and Ribs. YUM!

Tuesday is a bit sad...Don just couldn't wait any longer, he has been just like a kid at Christmas time, he had to go fishing. They pulled out this morning and made it to Tok. They say the roads were in good shape or at least no worse than Chicago or Oklahoma City.

The rest of us stayed another day and did a day trip to Skagway via a bus and the White Pass & Yukon Route. There was a stop in Carcross and it has really grown since we were last there in 2007. The cruise ships have been a great boon for both them and Skagway. Our bus driver, DJ, shared history of the area with us as she drove us to the train.

Wednesday we will move on to Dawson City, YT for a couple of days before crossing the border. It did feel good to be in the USA for a short time today! "There's no place like home."

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 16

Moving on toward Whitehorse, we stopped in Watson Lake to hang our signs at the Sign Post Forest. I'll post pictures when I have a better internet connection. With another 4-5 hours of driving ahead of us, we didn't hang around the Sign Post Forest long. It was quite cool and rained a few drops, another encouragement to get back on the road. The drive was beautiful. I watched for the "rock graffiti" along the way, most of it was hard to read. The road got rough and even worse after mile marker 710. A break for dinner in Teslin at the Yukon Motel & Restaurant. Then on to Whitehorse. It was a long and exhausting day.

Thank you Billy Hobbs for your work on our sign!

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 15

Would you believe me if I said we spent the day driving?  Believe it or not, we did. It was a  beautiful drive from Fort Nelson to Liard Hot Springs. The road varied from wide & smooth to narrow & winding.

I got a picture of a fox as he crossed the road. We stopped a few times to get photos, but stopping can be a little bit of a challenge to find a place large enough for three rigs along with other folks.

 Lunch was at place called Toad River, where there was a motel, restaurant and fuel. Lunch was a mixture of burger, homemade split-pea soup or beef stew with fresh baked bread. We noticed upon entering through the store there were caps completely covering the ceiling. I spotted one from West Kentucky Bank. The custom began when two men were there and when they left one of them tacked his cap to the ceiling. I think that was in 1942. Today there are 11,068 caps tacked to the ceiling. We also learned Toad River got its name because when the Alaska Highway was being built the cars had to be towed across the river. Across the road there is an airport. The runway is a strip of flat earth with blue lights along the sides. There is a big bright orange wind sock and a sign that says to keep off the runway. No horses, no ATV's. I will try to post a few pictures, but I may not have enough time here to get them uploaded now. I had to come sit in the restaurant to have wifi.

The next stop was Muncho Lake for some pictures. It was pretty cool and windy. We were too cold to stay long there, but the lake and mountains were beautiful. We saw several stone sheep, a few black bears and even a grizzly. There were several bison, even a herd with lots babies.

The big adventure for today was we missed our rv park and drove ten miles before finding a place we could turn around, make a u-turn. Don tried to swing wider than we did and he was on a soft shoulder and got stuck, truck and 5th wheel. Once again angels came along in just a matter of minutes. A young couple driving separately, one towing a new car, the other towing a U-haul trailer. They grabbed a shovel from the pickup truck, disconnected the trailer from the suv. There was a winch on the front of it. The rescue was quick and painless and we were headed for the campground.

This big guy came to visit at the campground.

I wish I had the time and space to share all the pictures I've taken. 

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 14

We had an hour delay this morning. Don's slide-out room wouldn't close. He found a broken bolt and had to go buy one. Our first day of  driving on the Alaskan Highway we saw several bears within a 15 mile stretch of the road just outside Fort Nelson. We took a short break at The Shepherd's Inn., a stop for fresh baked snacks and the bathroom. Our stop for tonight is Triple G Hideaway.

Summer Adventure 2018 Days 11 - 13

We are parked at Dawson Creek, British Columbia tonight. There is decent service for our hotspot again so I can catch up a bit.

We spent Tuesday driving from Calgary to Hinton, Alberta. We were on  Highway 1 to 16. It was a scenic drive and we had our first wildlife sightings.

I phoned the Hinton / Jasper KOA and spoke with Jim, he said to come on in. The campground was convenient and easy to get to. Jim and the staff at the KOA were very friendly and helpful, the campground was clean and well-kept. After getting setup we went into Hinton for fuel and stopped at Smitty's Family Restaurant.


Wednesday Don & Lora stayed at the campground to do some maintenance on their rig and would sight-seeing at nearby Jasper. The rest of us went out to the Columbia Icefields. We stopped at Athabasca Glacier and Athabasca Falls. There were more animal sightings and a late lunch at L&W Family Restaurant in Jasper.

Today we headed out for Dawson Creek, British Columbia where we are now on Pacific time. The drive started highway 40 to 43 with a stop at Grande Prairie for fuel and a few groceries. What a stop that turned into. We pulled into the gas station, I pointed out the pump that had the green handle. I went inside to pay, Ray began fueling. Bill & Pam pulled in at the next pump. Bill was ready to begin fueling when Pam asked why the diesel pump had 3 grades to choose from. They realized the green handled pumps were gasoline instead of diesel. Pam came to stop us but it was too late. Ray had already pumped 82 litres of gasoline, $124.00 worth, into our rig. YIKES!! We stopped the pump. Ray called Stan to find out just how bad this mistake was. It was pretty bad. We had to find someone to come drain the fuel tank. God provided an angel today, his name was Carl. Carl came to our rescue in about 30 minutes, it took him about an hour to get the tank drained and add a few litres of diesel fuel to the tank so the rig could be started and moved to the correct pump. I went inside again to pre-pay. The cashier joked that we would get it right this time. I explained that in the U.S. diesel pumps have the green handles and we just didn't pay attention. We will be more careful from now on.

About 40 miles west of Grande Prairie a semi flung a rock and yes you guessed it....the RV windshield will have to be replaced.

Dawson Creek is the beginning of the Alaskan Highway. Tomorrow we will be on our way and it will take several more days more days to travel 1387 miles. It is not likely that I will be able to post anything for a few days, maybe when we are in Whitehorse, YT.. Tomorrow we will stop at Ft. Nelson, then probably Laird River Hot Springs, Watson Lake and then Whitehorse.

Summer Adventure 2018

We have gone out beyond regular internet service. I will post again when we stop at a place with decent wifi service. It could be a few days.

Lake Louise Summer Adventure 2018 Day 10

Day 10 adventure took us to Lake Louise. The drive was about an hour and a half from our campground.We tried many times to get a campground in the area, but our timing was a little bit off. Today is Victoria Day, which is a federal holiday to honor Queen Victoria's birthday and a long holiday weekend.  It seemed that half the population was out today in Banff National Park. We had lunch at the hotel, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. After lunch Bill, Lora, Gina Bean and I hiked the path to the end of the lake a distance of about 2 kilometers; the others walked part way. The lake was still almost 90% ice covered and the path from the upper parking lot had been recently shoveled with the snow still piled to the side.

Nearly frozen Lake Louise

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

These last pictures were taken along the drive from Calgary to Lake Louise.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 9

The adventure for today began with Calgary Tower.

After overlooking the city, which sprawls out for miles in every direction and a quick photo while they stood on the clear floor panel,  we visited the street market and China Town.

 Lunch was a new adventure on its own at the Silver Dragon  where we were taken to our table just like any other restaurant.  As soon as we were all seated a very neatly dressed lady approached us with a cart of various covered bamboo bowls. As she lifted each cover she named the contents. If we acted interested she move the dish to our table.

Before she left she circled something on the ticket at our table and was gone. As quickly as she left us another lady appeared with another cart. Of course she had more dishes to leave with us. This repeated several times and as we emptied a bowl a young man would whisk it away. None of us had ever experienced a meal in that manner. We tried explaining that we didn't know how to order, but they kept bringing the carts of food. Everything we sampled was delicious and we enjoyed our lunch adventure.

  A stroll along the River Walk was the end of exploration. The last photos are of some of the sculptures we saw today.

For supper Don cooked burgers on the grill. The day was beautiful with a high temperature around 80.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 8

They let us into Canada about 10:00 this morning (local time)

We arrived at Calgary West Campground and the men went straight to work on each Rv immediately after getting the rigs setup. There were headlights and taillights to be replaced, an antenna to loose and lubricate and a step motor to replace. When the chores were done we we off to find a Best Buy and a Walmart. Luckily they were in the same shopping area. Then it was time for dinner at Moxie's Grill.