Summer Adventure 2018 Days 75 & 76

These last days have been spent just driving home. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary or really very interesting that we passed during the drive. I was happy to cross the bridge into Kentucky, the roads improved dramatically and "there's no place like home" even though we had another 70 miles to drive.

This was an awesome, summer adventure.  We traveled with 2 fantastic couples, even though the fisherman, Don, ditched us for the fishing. Bill, the explorer, kept us busy exploring something new everyday.

The Summer Adventure 2018 spanned 10,272 miles in the motor home, 76 days, 2 countries - USA and Canada, 3 provinces - Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon Territory and 11 states - Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho and Washington. I snapped more than 4,000 pictures while Ray shot over 200 gigabytes of video.

We loved our adventure and traveling friends. I hope you enjoyed reading of our escapades as we traveled this beautiful land.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 73 & 74

Before starting the daily drive, we had breakfast at Perkins Family Restaurant in Spearfish. Our next stop was 250 miles east on I-90 at the Chamberlain, SD rest area to get some pictures of new statue, Dignity. At our fuel stop in Mitchell, we also got our dinner at Marlin's Family Restaurant. We were just a short distance from our stop for the night a Camp America in Salem, SD. We found a gem there. The owner was a lovely woman, so friendly! Her campground is clean and well-kept. The lot was level. We wish this place was somewhere in Kentucky so we could just go camping there anytime. Bill and Pam are still visiting friends near Seattle while their motorhome is being repaired.

The drive today continued east on I-90 into Minnesota to I-35 near Albert Lea, then south into Iowa. Here we are again in Iowa. We are heading home. Our stop for tonight is at Newton KOA, another good place to stay. Friendly people, clean, well cared for campground. We learned the folks who arrived just ahead of us are also going home from a two-month trip to Alaska and we are here at the perfect time. Beginning tomorrow there will be 20,000 bicyclists here for a huge bike across Iowa rally and the campground is completely booked. Bill and Pam expected their motorhome repairs would be finished today, but that didn't happen, so they went sightseeing to Whidbey Island.

During the drive I took a few pictures of the sight I saw yesterday and today.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 72

Another day closer to home! We finished the drive through Montana, then across Wyoming before ending the day in Spearfish, SD.  Even though it's Sunday, there were very few sites available for us tonight. Gone are the days of driving until suppertime and pulling into the first campground for the night. I started calling the RV parks this morning just after checkout time to secure a site for tonight. Our first choice was booked, then I was able to book a suitable site at the KOA. We had dinner at Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant nearby, then picked up a few groceries.

Bill and Pam went to Seattle today to visit their friends. Don and Lora left Valdez, and went to Palmer / Wasilla area. Lora will fly home for her mother's birthday while some of the family flies in to go fishing with Don.

Summer Adventure 2018 Days 70 - 71

Day 70 was spent traveling from Oroville, Washington to Alberton, Montana. Our stop for the night was at River Edge RV Resort / Steakhouse. What luck! Ray's favorite. When I checked in I met the owner, who was very friendly and all the staff we talked to were just as friendly. She invited to come in for dinner at the steakhouse, use the wifi there and stay for the entertainment, a music duo. We did go for dinner and music. Surprise! Ray ordered fried chicken. The RV park was small, but there were lots of campers from tents to big rigs. We had a nice long pull-thru with full hook-ups in the shade looking toward the river.

Today we are still in Montana, stopping in Columbus at the only RV park with an available site in this part of the state, I called every one,  and we got the last one!  Whew, we just made it. I'm glad I have the RVParky app on my phone. Before sunset, a bit of a wind storm blew through here. We thought rain was coming too, but it never did. We watched from supper time up until dark as numerous rigs pulled in to find a place to park for the night and were disappointed. They may be parked at the truck stop just down the road.  We heard from Pam and Bill this morning, the service shop is getting the EGR valve, so they are going by car back to Canada today to Whistler, BC for the day.

When they returned from Whistler, they had been locked out of the service shop's lot. They lock up everything when they close on Saturday evening. They tried to get a hotel, but no rooms are available. There are some tournaments in town where they are. They are driving further south is search of a room.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 69

This morning we are going in different directions.We went toward home while Bill and Pam went toward Seattle. We've spent 62 days travelling together all the way from Alaska's smallest town, Chicken, to its largest city, Anchorage with all sorts of fun and interesting exploits all around the state and some of Canada, too. I imagine if you are reading this, you have already read about the things we've done on this adventure.

Our trip is south on 97, 97C, 5A and 97 again before reaching the US border crossing at Oroville. We were on the steepest descent we had during the entire trip, 10%. An interesting place we passed had the look of Destin Beach, white sand and beautiful water, but there were large pipes and heavy equipment nearby. Then we drove by a sign for Highland Valley Copper Mine and we don't know if it was natural or a by-product of the mining. Maybe I will do a little research.

At the border crossing one RV was pulling away and another was just ahead of us. Both of them pulled to the side and a border patrol officer boarded. We also had an officer come aboard and check our refrigerator for forbidden fruit. Both officers we spoke with were quite friendly and one even told us where to watch for the signs to the RV park we were headed. We may have missed it, not expecting it to be so near the border.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 68

The drive continues through British Columbia up one side of the mountain and down the other.  Our overnight stop was at Willow Springs Campground. Bill decided since the Service Engine light continues to glow and the coach seems to not be running at full power, they will go on to Mt. Vernon, WA to have the EGR valve replaced.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 67

An uneventful day of driving. The mountain views are giving way to farmland. We had a delicious dinner at Mr. Mike's Steakhouse Casual in Prince George, BC.

Summer Adventure 2018 Days 65 & 66

We left Stewart behind and were on our way to Telkwa and saw a mama bear with her two cubs and another bear along the way. The drive was another beautiful one.

The first stop of the day was at the Smithers Visitor Centre where Bill got information on things for us to do. A tour of the Bulkley Valley Museum was a quick stop, but we learned the inventor of the egg carton, Joseph Coyle, was a newspaper editor want to settle an ongoing dispute between a local farmer and hotel manager over the farmer's eggs often being broken.

A stroll along Main Street was like being in an Alpine village with the gorgeous mountains for a backdrop. The town is refreshingly charming, clean and beautifully landscaped. The shopkeepers were very friendly.

At Driftwood Canyon a short walk led us to a fossil bed. We didn't stay long in the woods with the mosquitoes. After lunch we found another canyon view from high above the river, then moved on to Moricetown Canyon and ended our exploration with a hike at Twin Falls.

The twin fall was not full flowing as this one.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 64

Another day of exploration led us to Clements Lake, a beautiful place where we met a couple that was camping there. They were from Wyoming and we visited with them for a short time. The pictures there were beautiful and then we went to get pictures of the waterfalls, walked the boardwalk at the tidal flats and ate lunch at King Edward Inn in Stewart.  Then one last check on the salmon out at the Wildlife Viewing area. Still no salmon or bears. We talked for quite awhile with the ranger and learned a grizzly had come to the stream the night before about 8:30. I guess he was disappointed, too. The ranger showed me pictures on his camera he has taken and I was a bit green with envy. I would like to hangout with him to learn more. Of course he had the bigger telephoto lens, we looked at before this trip. It was heavier and I was worried I wouldn't be able to carry it around very well. I did get his email, he said he would be happy to send me some pictures when the bears arrive.

We returned to the rv park and while I was downloading the pictures I had taken, our adventurer, Bill, went out. I thought to wash his car before putting the travel cover on it. But I was wrong! He had gone to find the helicopter tour. He returned with all the information and invited us to go with them to fly over the icefield. Ray said, "no thanks" , but I jumped up and went. It was a great tour, Pam asked right away when we arrived at the office if we would land. They don't usually land on the tour, but if the pilot could find a suitable spot, perhaps we could.


Pam and Bill let me sit in the front to be able to take pictures and I brought Ray's video camera as well. Our pilot found the perfect place to land the helicopter and we spent several minutes on the mountain top taking pictures. We flew over the icefield which was massive and so beautiful. On the other side of the mountain we flew into a canyon to see a couple of awesome waterfalls. During the flight we also saw two mining camps and some mountain goats. Thanks to Stephanie, our pilot, we had a fabulous time.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 63

The road improved as we continued to Stewart. We saw three bears on the way and we stopped at Bear Glacier for pictures. The lady who checked us in at Bear River RV Park was very friendly and assigned us to the perfect sites. She gave us maps of Stewart & Hyder and marked places of interest.  There was a photo of the The Bus in Hyder, where the flag girl said we should eat.

After getting setup we took off to explore a bit and find something to eat. We saw the sights of Stewart then crossed the border to Hyder where we found The Bus and had fish & chips for dinner. The proprietor's husband and sons are commercial fishermen and catch the fish she prepares in The Bus! There are a couple of tables and bus seats arranged like booths out front under an awning. They were taken so we went inside the building beside the bus where more picnic tables were arranged. We told owner the flag girl sent us and she told us the day before was the flag girls birthday..

After our meal we visited the  Wildlife Viewing Area at Tongass National Forest. It is a very nice boardwalk out to where we had a great view of the stream where the salmon come to spawn and the bears come to catch them. We had just one slight problem, the salmon were still a few miles downstream so the bears weren't there either. After chatting with the rangers for a few minutes, Bill was ready to explore some more. We were off in search of the places of interest in the self-guided auto tour and ultimately Salmon Glacier.

The paved road gave way to gravel when we left the viewing area and the further we traveled up the mountain the more an more potholes we encountered. The drive was very much like Mr.Toad's Wild Ride, swerving to avoid the potholes, but not missing all of them on the very narrow road at the edge of the incredibly steep mountain. Pam was a bit unnerved by it all and with every turn asked Bill to turn around. He continued the trek and we reached the spot where we could view the toe of Salmon Glacier. The final stop on the tour was at the summit of the mountain to overlook the glacier, so off we went. Pam still protested and the ride was still like being at an amusement park. We reached the summit and got some great pictures of Salmon Glacier.

I traded seats with Pam for the drive down the hill, so she wouldn't be close to the edge of the road. The ride down was a bit better, Pam was delighted that we arrived at the base of the mountain in 45 minutes. Now to get back across the border into British Columbia.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 62

The adventure takes a new turn today, Highway 37, the Cassiar Highway to Stewart, BC / Hyder, AK. We have never been this way before, in the Yukon with no cell phone reception and limited wifi service since we left Whitehorse.

There was a short stop at Jade City where I used a pay phone to call the next place to stay overnight. I miss the ease and convenience of my cell phone; phone calls, Google, RVParky and Facebook.

The Cassiar Highway is good road, more narrow with no center line for many miles. We came upon road construction where we sat for about 20 minutes. The flag girl talked to us for awhile and recommended we go to The Bus in Hyder to have fish and chips and be sure to tell them she sent us.

It was a pretty long day on the narrow winding road, but it was in good condition and we spotted a fox with something it had caught running  into the weeds along the roadside and also a bear. Our stop for the night is Tatogga Lake Lodge. Restaurant is nice and has good food. Pork chops or spaghetti was the daily special so we ate there. Another RV park I wouldn't recommend, even though the  motel and restaurant were good. The wifi is only at the restaurant and the RV park is over-grown and neglected. At least it wasn't over-priced and the gentlemen who run the place were congenial.