Today is cleanup day. We have packed our big box to ship home by UPS with the things that are heavy or might not make it through the possible pilferage of the airport handlers. We will take care of that in the morning before the time to turn in the RV. Most of our other stuff is packed or will be soon.
Our salmon tonight was augmented by the gift of some small red potatoes from some other GAH people who turned in their unit this morning. Have a new unit next to us today, which will be turning in tomorrow like us.
I went downtown today and shopped while Cliff stayed home. He hates to shop and constantly sighs while shopping. Got some souvenirs and enjoyed my shopping time. After the trip to the UPS store in the morning, we will finish packing and then turn in the beast. Then we will mess around until supper time when we will have our first restaurant meal since the one at the Minnesota airport on May 14th. No salmon for me. How can you top what we have eaten over the last few days?
After we get home, I’ll publish our favorite pictures and then sign off for this wonderful trip to Alaska.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Tuesday, June 01
Today is cleanup day. We have packed our big box to ship home by UPS with the things that are heavy or might not make it through the possible pilferage of the airport handlers. We will take care of that in the morning before the time to turn in the RV. Most of our other stuff is packed or will be soon.
Our salmon tonight was augmented by the gift of some small red potatoes from some other GAH people who turned in their unit this morning. Have a new unit next to us today which will be turning in tomorrow like us.
I went downtown today and shopped while Cliff stayed home. He hates to shop and constantly sighs while shopping with me. Got some souvenirs and enjoyed my alone time. After the trip to the UPS store in the morning, we will finish packing and then turn in the beast. Then we will mess around until supper time when we will have our first restaurant meal since the one at the Minnesota airport on May 14th. No salmon for me. How can you top what we have eaten over the last few days?
After we get home, I’ll publish our favorite pictures and then sign off for this wonderful trip to Alaska. Next trip to follow.
Our salmon tonight was augmented by the gift of some small red potatoes from some other GAH people who turned in their unit this morning. Have a new unit next to us today which will be turning in tomorrow like us.
I went downtown today and shopped while Cliff stayed home. He hates to shop and constantly sighs while shopping with me. Got some souvenirs and enjoyed my alone time. After the trip to the UPS store in the morning, we will finish packing and then turn in the beast. Then we will mess around until supper time when we will have our first restaurant meal since the one at the Minnesota airport on May 14th. No salmon for me. How can you top what we have eaten over the last few days?
After we get home, I’ll publish our favorite pictures and then sign off for this wonderful trip to Alaska. Next trip to follow.
Monday, May 31st
We didn’t have WiFi last night so I couldn’t post. We’re at the airport in Anchorage and I’m catching up in a parking lot while Cliff rents a car. We agreed that it was too much trouble to move around. Anchorage in the RV and anyway, we’ll need one on Wednesday after we turn in the RV at 11:45 a.m. Our flight isn’t until 9:15 p.m. and no sane person would willing sit at an airport for that long.
We had salmon again last night, will have salmon salad for lunch and more salmon tonight. It is so delicious. Because we didn’t count on having such an abundance of salmon, we’re going to have food left over. Poor planning perhaps, but that salmon cost a whole lot more than that can of Bush’s Baked Beans sitting the pantry – and tastes better, too. We have been told that any unopened food is donated to a food bank here in Anchorage. Me thinks they get a fair amount from GAH patrons.
Our RV park reservations are for tonight and tomorrow night, then like the turtle that went to the psychiatrist, we’re coming out of our shell. The Winnie, that is. Get it? Ha, ha.
I gave away some of the salmon tonight. It would be such a shame to waste her since she gave her life to me. We had a great wine with dinner tonight: Chateau Ste. Michelle Harvest Select Riesling, Columbia Valley, 2009. It would be way too sweet for you Roxanna and Bill, since it is on the sweet end of the harvest. Sweet people that we are, we loved every drop.
We have met several members of the group from Forest City, Iowa, some in the park where we are tonight. Seems we all have had similar problems and we decided that we are on a shakedown cruise for Great Alaskan Holidays so that they can identify any problems with the new units and fix them before renting them. The GAH people are very smart. Of the three couples we talked to this afternoon who are staying in our current RV park, there are numerous problems that need to be addressed before the company rents the units. We all had furnace problems, one TV fell off the wall on the Yukon end of the Alcan. I thought that ours was going to also but it held on for dear life.
Cliff went to a nearby liquor store to get ice for the fish and when he went to the counter to pay, they carded him. Of course, he asked why are you carding me since I buying ice and obviously older than 21? It seems anybody buying anything in a liquor stores gets carded by law. He thought it was funny.
We had salmon again last night, will have salmon salad for lunch and more salmon tonight. It is so delicious. Because we didn’t count on having such an abundance of salmon, we’re going to have food left over. Poor planning perhaps, but that salmon cost a whole lot more than that can of Bush’s Baked Beans sitting the pantry – and tastes better, too. We have been told that any unopened food is donated to a food bank here in Anchorage. Me thinks they get a fair amount from GAH patrons.
Our RV park reservations are for tonight and tomorrow night, then like the turtle that went to the psychiatrist, we’re coming out of our shell. The Winnie, that is. Get it? Ha, ha.
I gave away some of the salmon tonight. It would be such a shame to waste her since she gave her life to me. We had a great wine with dinner tonight: Chateau Ste. Michelle Harvest Select Riesling, Columbia Valley, 2009. It would be way too sweet for you Roxanna and Bill, since it is on the sweet end of the harvest. Sweet people that we are, we loved every drop.
We have met several members of the group from Forest City, Iowa, some in the park where we are tonight. Seems we all have had similar problems and we decided that we are on a shakedown cruise for Great Alaskan Holidays so that they can identify any problems with the new units and fix them before renting them. The GAH people are very smart. Of the three couples we talked to this afternoon who are staying in our current RV park, there are numerous problems that need to be addressed before the company rents the units. We all had furnace problems, one TV fell off the wall on the Yukon end of the Alcan. I thought that ours was going to also but it held on for dear life.
Cliff went to a nearby liquor store to get ice for the fish and when he went to the counter to pay, they carded him. Of course, he asked why are you carding me since I buying ice and obviously older than 21? It seems anybody buying anything in a liquor stores gets carded by law. He thought it was funny.
Sunday, May 30th
We’re taking it easy this morning showering, sweeping the RV and “computering”. We need to be in Seward about 11:30 for the cruise. It has drizzled most of the night and continues now. Hope it’s not raining later since I’m prepared with two sets of batteries for the camera. : )
The five-hour cruise was very good. We saw a sea otter, many seabirds such as Kittiwakes, Arctic terns, two kinds of puffins, common muirs, cormorants, and herring gulls; saw several mature bald eagles including a nesting pair on the nest. We saw Stellar sealions and three Orcas; also saw mountain goats, one nanny and her kid perched on a tiny outcropping that didn’t look quite big enough to hold them. Bear Glacier was pretty far in the distance but that was as close as the boat could/would go.
There is an unusual tunnel to get to Whittier. It is two and a half miles long, carved out of solid basalt which is evident as you drive by the rough hewn walls. It is a single lane and also has railroad tracks. The traffic lines up at the entrance according to size and every 15 minutes one side gets to go through the tunnel, unless there’s a train scheduled. The east and west portals are alternated every thirty minutes. The picture of the RV with Cliff waving from the door shows us as first in line in the RV lane.
Here’s a picture of Bear Glacier and one of a mountain we decided looks like the RKO logo. The seals were numerous as they sunned themselves on the rocks. The picture of the rocks where the kittiwakes nest is too disgusting to add to the log, educational but ikky.
Whittier had what seemed hundreds of trucks and boat trailers parked in the public lots. It seems that a lot of Alaskans have boats and RVs. Since it was a long weekend, Seward was packed with them also.
We went back through the tunnel to a remote park for the night.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Saturday, May 29th
Since this is Memorial Day weekend, there is not a camping space available in Seward where we visited after the fishing trip. We wanted to go to the end of the road and we did. (We have been as far south as you can go in Texas, Hawaii, and now, Alaska.) At least half of the Alaskan population must be in Seward in RVs, popup tents, popup trailers, and all have their small children and their big, yellow dogs with them. Seward is right there on the great big Pacific Ocean. It’s kinda like Cedar Key with mountains. : )
We did indeed get up at 3:30 and now we are ready to eat and go to bed. Cliff is “resting his eyes” as he calls it right now. I call it take a nap.
Tomorrow we are taking a five-hour cruise to see the fiords, seals, otters, whales (I better see a whale), and the glaciers. We sail at noon on a catamaran with at least 100 people (they best not get in my way when I’m taking a picture or they may go overboard) and will be back in port at 5:00. And, because we find ourselves with a little extra time, after the cruise we are going to Whittier, which is on the Prince William Sound. We may make our way back to Anchorage tomorrow night and stay there through Tuesday night. There are some interesting museums I read about, and I want to “look” around. Translation: Shop!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, continuation
We made it through Anchorage on our way south toward our fishing guide’s location. There was more traffic there than we have seen since we were going to the Orlando airport.
We’re meeting the fishing guide at 4:30 a.m. Yes, that’s right….I have set my phone to wake us at 3:45. Oh, my goodness. Hope it works. It’s all about tides. I BETTER catch something BIG, that’s all I can say.
We had hamburgers for the second night in a row – we bought the meat someplace in our path and Cliff made and cooked all of the meat last night and froze the leftovers which were just as good tonight as last night. Hope we’ll have fresh fish tomorrow night.
Friday morning, May 28th
We spent yesterday in Denali National Park on a six-hour bus trip to the Toklat River and back. There were some great moments on the trip, the biggest of which was that we got to see the top of Mt. McKinley which at 20,320 feet high is the highest point in North America. I bought a t-shirt that declares that I’m in the 30 percent club of people lucky to have seen the top of the mountain. The top of the mountain is usually covered by clouds.
Today we are heading to Soltodna on the Kenai Peninsula. Cliff arranged for a fishing trip tomorrow on the Kasliof River. Hope we will catch some King Salmon. Yum. Sunday morning we plan to go to Seward and take a cruise to see whales, seals, sea otters and glaciers. Cliff saw whales when he and Bill took the cruise. I REALLY want to see a whale.
Time to get the clothes out of the dryer and get on the road.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Today should be entitled Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. The good condition of the Alcan came to a screeching halt today. The road was terrible! I couldn’t wait to be through with it. But we survived and made it back into the US of A intact if somewhat weary. Three other Great Alaskan RVs were in line ahead of us at customs.
The terrain today was different only in that the amazing Rockies were higher and bigger. Some were over 15,000 feet high. We had lunch at an incredible site at the end of Kluane Lake near Burwash Landing. I have beautiful pictures and I hope that I can get one on the blog. I also have a picture of the Alcan at its worst. Thanks, Roxanna, I finally found the image icon. All I need now is WiFi that is fast enough to upload them.
Wildlife was scarce today, but we did see a swan on an enormous nest in a pond near the road. Her husband was nearby watching out for intruders. We spied several more at a distance along the route.
In the morning we will be heading to Fairbanks, where we will restock our supplies, and then on to Denali for a couple of days
This is the notation from Cliff’s daily journal for the day: “Up at 5:45; packed up BBQ grill. Dumped tanks and filled H2O. Breakfast was SOS on one piece of toast with oj and milk. Drove until 5:30 AST (Alaska Standard Time). We ate lunch at a beautiful lake [Luane Lake]. I drove until stopping at Tundra RV Park ($32.00) in Tok, AK. Had to go sit in the RV park office to get online. I came back to RV at 8 p.m. and Wallie stayed to work on FaceBook, etc. I watched “Hunt for the Red October” on DVD. Fell asleep before the movie was over. Got up and went to bed at 11 p.m. It was still light outside! When does it get dark here?”
More tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 24th
We travelled 365 miles today which puts us a day ahead of schedule. I’m increasingly glad that we didn’t go to Portland and surrounds. Not only would I have felt shortchanged but we’d also be behind at least a day. It was a good decision not to go there.
Today we saw bears, buffalo and moose. No skuirell (Bull Winkle fans alert). The bears were several black bears and one grizzly which was huge, and the moose were all cows, no bull yet.
Tonight we had delicious ribeye steaks which Cliff grilled on a tiny grill that we bought in a town a few miles back. It was a delicious dinner.
I think we will be in Alaska late tomorrow afternoon where things not doubt will be expensive but not like Canada. That will be a relief. Everything along our route has been outrageously expensive. I wonder how folks can afford to live here. I also wonder how they know when to go to bed and when to get up since it’s daylight allllll the time.
We checked out a bunch of audio books from the library before we left and we’ve been enjoying them until today with the player quit. I diagnosed the problem as the player getting overheated because the heater was on. When it cooled, it played fine.
Cliff has such a way with French when he reads the labels on Canadian products which are bilingual here. It’s a little like the Adams Family with a Southern accent.
Laugh time: The people parked next to us have the most attractive, small RV. I Googled it and found out it gets 22.5 mpg, has a pull out section, two beds, etc. Here’s the laugh part: It’s made by Mercedez-Benz!
Good news – my camera is working again. It’s new name is Lazarus. Now I can stop taking pictures with my camera.
Today we saw bears, buffalo and moose. No skuirell (Bull Winkle fans alert). The bears were several black bears and one grizzly which was huge, and the moose were all cows, no bull yet.
Tonight we had delicious ribeye steaks which Cliff grilled on a tiny grill that we bought in a town a few miles back. It was a delicious dinner.
I think we will be in Alaska late tomorrow afternoon where things not doubt will be expensive but not like Canada. That will be a relief. Everything along our route has been outrageously expensive. I wonder how folks can afford to live here. I also wonder how they know when to go to bed and when to get up since it’s daylight allllll the time.
We checked out a bunch of audio books from the library before we left and we’ve been enjoying them until today with the player quit. I diagnosed the problem as the player getting overheated because the heater was on. When it cooled, it played fine.
Cliff has such a way with French when he reads the labels on Canadian products which are bilingual here. It’s a little like the Adams Family with a Southern accent.
Laugh time: The people parked next to us have the most attractive, small RV. I Googled it and found out it gets 22.5 mpg, has a pull out section, two beds, etc. Here’s the laugh part: It’s made by Mercedez-Benz!
Good news – my camera is working again. It’s new name is Lazarus. Now I can stop taking pictures with my camera.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Sunday, May 23rd
The owners of the great park we stayed in last night tried to get the TV operational for us, but they didn’t have any better luck than we have had. It’s not very important to us or we’d call the folks in Alaska. At least the furnace continues to function well. That’s a good thing since it’s cold as the dickens.
I’m composing this in Word as we travel. Looking outside, I see an occasional mule deer, lots of snow on the ground (probably a day or two old) and many, many dead pines. The trees are being harvested in some areas. Hope we are not selling all of them to Japan to be turned into flake board and sell back to us.
Back to solid ground and not typing as we travel. We are in the camp ground for the night: the Toad River RV Park. No kidding. The river is beautiful behind us and we have seen several kinds of ducks, a whistling swan, looooons, muskrats and a beaver. Across the river, there is a beautiful pasture with horses in it with two foals (maybe three to four days old) and a mare that will drop her foal at any minute. Thanks to our binoculars we can spy on them. They all look very happy. PETA would like this scene.
We have finally found some of the other 151 units in our march to Anchorage. There are four units in the park tonight. We just spent some time talking to a couple from SC. Sweet people.
It’s 9:00 p.m. and the sun is not even down yet. Guess what time it comes up……. Okay, about 4:00 a.m. This can’t be good country for night people! If I lived here, I’d have to wear a sleep mask. : )
Cliff figured out the rate of exchange on liters vs. gallons of gas tonight, and we are paying about $4.60 a gallon for petrol. This RV park has a restaurant and they are very proud of their hamburgers which ranged from $8.00 to $15.00. We ate in. Actually, we haven’t had a single meal outside the RV.
The Alcan was great – not much traffic, but a few rough in spots. The maps refer to it as the Alaska Highway. I drove some and found out it is, indeed, a chore to keep it going straight. Especially when a big truck passes in the opposite direction.
Saw bears today, and caribou, mule deer and a hoary marmot (per Cliff), and some very interesting birds, some of which we could not identify. We have decided that on the next trip we need to have our Birds of North American and Trees of North America books. May also have to have a wildflower book.
It looked like snow early in the day, and it was all around us, but we escaped. Some of our other travelling friends had lots of snow to the northeast of our path.
Sadly, I destroyed my wonderful new camera yesterday by removing it from the mother ship before disconnecting it the way to should be done. I know better but when I looked up and saw a mule deer right in front of the RV, I grabbed the camera and unplugged it while it still on. Very dumb. Hope it can be fixed in Alaska.
I’m composing this in Word as we travel. Looking outside, I see an occasional mule deer, lots of snow on the ground (probably a day or two old) and many, many dead pines. The trees are being harvested in some areas. Hope we are not selling all of them to Japan to be turned into flake board and sell back to us.
Back to solid ground and not typing as we travel. We are in the camp ground for the night: the Toad River RV Park. No kidding. The river is beautiful behind us and we have seen several kinds of ducks, a whistling swan, looooons, muskrats and a beaver. Across the river, there is a beautiful pasture with horses in it with two foals (maybe three to four days old) and a mare that will drop her foal at any minute. Thanks to our binoculars we can spy on them. They all look very happy. PETA would like this scene.
We have finally found some of the other 151 units in our march to Anchorage. There are four units in the park tonight. We just spent some time talking to a couple from SC. Sweet people.
It’s 9:00 p.m. and the sun is not even down yet. Guess what time it comes up……. Okay, about 4:00 a.m. This can’t be good country for night people! If I lived here, I’d have to wear a sleep mask. : )
Cliff figured out the rate of exchange on liters vs. gallons of gas tonight, and we are paying about $4.60 a gallon for petrol. This RV park has a restaurant and they are very proud of their hamburgers which ranged from $8.00 to $15.00. We ate in. Actually, we haven’t had a single meal outside the RV.
The Alcan was great – not much traffic, but a few rough in spots. The maps refer to it as the Alaska Highway. I drove some and found out it is, indeed, a chore to keep it going straight. Especially when a big truck passes in the opposite direction.
Saw bears today, and caribou, mule deer and a hoary marmot (per Cliff), and some very interesting birds, some of which we could not identify. We have decided that on the next trip we need to have our Birds of North American and Trees of North America books. May also have to have a wildflower book.
It looked like snow early in the day, and it was all around us, but we escaped. Some of our other travelling friends had lots of snow to the northeast of our path.
Sadly, I destroyed my wonderful new camera yesterday by removing it from the mother ship before disconnecting it the way to should be done. I know better but when I looked up and saw a mule deer right in front of the RV, I grabbed the camera and unplugged it while it still on. Very dumb. Hope it can be fixed in Alaska.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Saturday, Mary 22, 2010
As we were getting ready to leave the park this morning, Cliff spotted a Mountain Bluebird in front of us. What a beautiful sight. This was my first sighting of this species. We left the park at 8:00 o’clock after having showers at the park facilities and then breakfast in the RV.
We have gone through areas that were covered with new snow to having it hitting the windshield and wondering how long it would be before we had the genuine product hitting us. It got better the farther north we went.
We discovered that the Canadian health system is partially paid for by a sin tax on liquor. Gas for your car is cheaper but who’d want to drink it?
After my meltdown yesterday, Cliff has prepared a critical path method for us for the next five or six days with RV parks with WiFi. I love him for taking care of that.
We saw two bears at different places along the roadway. They both looked at us like we were tourists and waited for the flash of the blubs.
I looked up from the computer a few minutes ago and saw a mule deer walking down the path in front of the RV in the park. I would have engaged her in conversation but she seemed shy. More so than the cat last night.
We are in a very nice park In Hudson’s Hope. and the owner/operators are so helpful. You have to love Canadians even if they are on the extremely mysterious metric system.
While we were at the gas station a few miles back, there was a guy who got out of his car in front of me who had on an FSU sweatshirt. I resisted the urge to yell out of the window, “Go, Noles.” Okay, not really.
We still haven’t figured out how to convert liters of gas to gallons per mile. I don’t know how you can live under these trying mathematical circumstances. It’s just too much for me to think about….
We have gone through areas that were covered with new snow to having it hitting the windshield and wondering how long it would be before we had the genuine product hitting us. It got better the farther north we went.
We discovered that the Canadian health system is partially paid for by a sin tax on liquor. Gas for your car is cheaper but who’d want to drink it?
After my meltdown yesterday, Cliff has prepared a critical path method for us for the next five or six days with RV parks with WiFi. I love him for taking care of that.
We saw two bears at different places along the roadway. They both looked at us like we were tourists and waited for the flash of the blubs.
I looked up from the computer a few minutes ago and saw a mule deer walking down the path in front of the RV in the park. I would have engaged her in conversation but she seemed shy. More so than the cat last night.
We are in a very nice park In Hudson’s Hope. and the owner/operators are so helpful. You have to love Canadians even if they are on the extremely mysterious metric system.
While we were at the gas station a few miles back, there was a guy who got out of his car in front of me who had on an FSU sweatshirt. I resisted the urge to yell out of the window, “Go, Noles.” Okay, not really.
We still haven’t figured out how to convert liters of gas to gallons per mile. I don’t know how you can live under these trying mathematical circumstances. It’s just too much for me to think about….
Friday, May 21, 2010
The furnace functioned as we would expect and we were not cold last night. Oh, happy day. And, we finally got a good night’s sleep. We agreed that it was partly due to adjusting to our surroundings, but probably due more to exhaustion from all the miles we did yesterday. Cliff fixed creamed-chipped beef on toast for breakfast. We got on the road at about eight as usual.
After the congestion of Seattle and the surrounding ‘burbs’, we followed the Fraser River north through the Canadian Rockies, which are definitely the biggest things on the face of the earth. They make the Smokies look like mere hills. We travelled for many, many miles in the valley with the mountains on either side (we crossed over to the other side twice) and once we got past these incredible mountains, the valleys were very picturesque, like something out of a painting by Albert Bierstad, one of the painters who immortalized the West. I photographed a mountain at some point today that looked like part of one of his paintings. This is a very beautiful part of our country.
I had a meltdown this afternoon due to road stuff and trying in vain to find a place to spend the night. So we stopped at a rest area and Cliff (who was more familiar with the Canada info) found a likely camp ground with WIFI. Okay, I didn’t know there was a cat. She’s a working cat so I couldn’t pet her, but she followed us on our walk. We had hotdogs for supper, watched a DVD of the Ninth Symphony, computered and went to bed.
Stuff: The blooming trees and flowers, including dogwood and rhododendron, were beautiful.
We lunched by the Fraser River on fresh fruit, raw veggies, and cheeses. Had no wine.
We crossed Spuzzum Creek.
To change a kilometer to a mile, multiply by .6, 100 kilometers per hour is 60 mph.
Cliff used algebra today.
Pine beetles have killed vast amounts of trees in the northwest. It’s sad to see.
After the congestion of Seattle and the surrounding ‘burbs’, we followed the Fraser River north through the Canadian Rockies, which are definitely the biggest things on the face of the earth. They make the Smokies look like mere hills. We travelled for many, many miles in the valley with the mountains on either side (we crossed over to the other side twice) and once we got past these incredible mountains, the valleys were very picturesque, like something out of a painting by Albert Bierstad, one of the painters who immortalized the West. I photographed a mountain at some point today that looked like part of one of his paintings. This is a very beautiful part of our country.
I had a meltdown this afternoon due to road stuff and trying in vain to find a place to spend the night. So we stopped at a rest area and Cliff (who was more familiar with the Canada info) found a likely camp ground with WIFI. Okay, I didn’t know there was a cat. She’s a working cat so I couldn’t pet her, but she followed us on our walk. We had hotdogs for supper, watched a DVD of the Ninth Symphony, computered and went to bed.
Stuff: The blooming trees and flowers, including dogwood and rhododendron, were beautiful.
We lunched by the Fraser River on fresh fruit, raw veggies, and cheeses. Had no wine.
We crossed Spuzzum Creek.
To change a kilometer to a mile, multiply by .6, 100 kilometers per hour is 60 mph.
Cliff used algebra today.
Pine beetles have killed vast amounts of trees in the northwest. It’s sad to see.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20th
We woke up to WIND and rain. Cliff keeps having to hook us up and disconnect us in the rain. Guess that’s because we’re in the northwest where it rains a lot/all the time. We travelled 551 miles to the Seattle area looking for a place to stay for the night. By the way, we decided to change our plans and to forego the trip to the Portland area and have decided to go there on our next adventure. The time constraints were such that it would have been frustrating and disappointing for me, not to mention that now we have more time to spend in Alaska. We WILL do this beautiful part of the country in the future.
As we drove north on I-5, we encountered several instances of sleet and snow flurries, just as we have over the last few days. What are Floridians doing in this weather madness? It did not impede our progress though. What’s a little cold rain? The landscapes around us were beautiful and I took lots more windshield pictures. Thank goodness for digital cameras and not having to take film to Walgreens to be developed. Sorry, Kodak.
We found a Wal-Mart where we restocked needed items such as bread and milk. The evil empire is not all that bad when you are needy. We also picked up some healthy munchies: raw carrots, celery and the like. I keep getting the munchies (reformed smoker that I am) and need something else to eat other than chips and Dove chocolate.
When it came time to find a spot to land for the night we encountered a problem when it came to the Internet (which I have trouble living without). The first three RV parks we tried did not have wifi, but luckily, number four was a winner. We have high standards. It was so slow, but so are a lot of other things in the left lane ahead of you.
As we drove north on I-5, we encountered several instances of sleet and snow flurries, just as we have over the last few days. What are Floridians doing in this weather madness? It did not impede our progress though. What’s a little cold rain? The landscapes around us were beautiful and I took lots more windshield pictures. Thank goodness for digital cameras and not having to take film to Walgreens to be developed. Sorry, Kodak.
We found a Wal-Mart where we restocked needed items such as bread and milk. The evil empire is not all that bad when you are needy. We also picked up some healthy munchies: raw carrots, celery and the like. I keep getting the munchies (reformed smoker that I am) and need something else to eat other than chips and Dove chocolate.
When it came time to find a spot to land for the night we encountered a problem when it came to the Internet (which I have trouble living without). The first three RV parks we tried did not have wifi, but luckily, number four was a winner. We have high standards. It was so slow, but so are a lot of other things in the left lane ahead of you.
Wednesday, May 19th
Today was one filled with adventures.
First adventure was that the furnace would not work so we spent a very cold, rainy night which got down to 40 degrees outside and not much better inside.
We left the Fishing Bridge camp site at about 7:30. It was overcast and it was impossible to see any sunshine at all. We returned to the Canyon which we gave up on it yesterday afternoon because of the weather. We were the ONLY people at all of the sites we visited. That was a nice reward for getting up so early. I learned why the area is called Yellowstone – this whole canyon is made up of yellow rocks and cliffs. Duh! Cliff told me this important fact that should have been self-evident. The only thing left on our agenda was visiting the Mammoth Hot Springs. Not much lives there in the flows from these vents.
While leaving the park, we were on a narrow road with cars on the driver’s side and rocks on the passenger’s side. There came a time when Cliff had to decide to hit or be hit by a car on his side of the RV or take his chances with the rocks. Rocks one, RV zero. We discovered down the road that the exhaust pipe was slightly bent and the rear tire had a gaping hole in its side. We found a rest area that was sort of flat (just like the tire), parked and called AAA. After much diplomacy on my part and the perseverance of a Montana AAA employee, we successfully added RV coverage to our membership. Cliff said it was like breaking your leg and then applying for health insurance to pay for it. The Triple A charge for the coverage was just $45.00. The new tire was $215.00!
We had a lot of down time but still didn’t get too far off of our schedule. We spent the night in a privately owned pretty RV park where I had a lengthy conversation with the owner about his efforts to grow fruit trees in an area where only cotton woods grow. The master gardener in me came out. Just couldn’t help myself.
First adventure was that the furnace would not work so we spent a very cold, rainy night which got down to 40 degrees outside and not much better inside.
We left the Fishing Bridge camp site at about 7:30. It was overcast and it was impossible to see any sunshine at all. We returned to the Canyon which we gave up on it yesterday afternoon because of the weather. We were the ONLY people at all of the sites we visited. That was a nice reward for getting up so early. I learned why the area is called Yellowstone – this whole canyon is made up of yellow rocks and cliffs. Duh! Cliff told me this important fact that should have been self-evident. The only thing left on our agenda was visiting the Mammoth Hot Springs. Not much lives there in the flows from these vents.
While leaving the park, we were on a narrow road with cars on the driver’s side and rocks on the passenger’s side. There came a time when Cliff had to decide to hit or be hit by a car on his side of the RV or take his chances with the rocks. Rocks one, RV zero. We discovered down the road that the exhaust pipe was slightly bent and the rear tire had a gaping hole in its side. We found a rest area that was sort of flat (just like the tire), parked and called AAA. After much diplomacy on my part and the perseverance of a Montana AAA employee, we successfully added RV coverage to our membership. Cliff said it was like breaking your leg and then applying for health insurance to pay for it. The Triple A charge for the coverage was just $45.00. The new tire was $215.00!
We had a lot of down time but still didn’t get too far off of our schedule. We spent the night in a privately owned pretty RV park where I had a lengthy conversation with the owner about his efforts to grow fruit trees in an area where only cotton woods grow. The master gardener in me came out. Just couldn’t help myself.
Tuesday, May 18th
We started the day at about 5:30 after spending the night in a KOA camp ground in Cody, Wyoming. That’s a.m. Breakfast was English muffins, sausage patties, oj and milk. Then we started our trek to Yellowstone, which was about 85 miles away. As soon as we arrived, we registered at the camp ground at Fishing Bridge, a “town” that consists of a (very) few stores that qualify as genuine tourist traps.
After that, we began our tour of the park. The first stop was the West Thumb Paint Pots.
I never in my wildest dreams expected to witness the phenomenon of Old Faithful, but we got lucky to arrive just minutes before it blew. I got a great picture of the geyser and the hundreds of people gathered to watch it. Maybe I’ll be able to figure out how to post a picture before the trip is over. Cliff says that there should be a geyser in the park dedicated to senior citizens. It would be called the Geezer Geyser. No guffawing now. He’s serious.
From there. we stopped at several geysers. That stuff bubbling up to the surface is coming from close to the Earth’s core. Makes you think twice about standing around in Yellowstone which is a super volcano. The next eruption is overdue by several thousand years. We agreed that we would rather be at the site of the eruption than someplace afar.
We saw a number of elk and large herds of Bison, or as the Sioux called them, tatanka. Actually, a few of the big guys decided to take a walk-about down the highway. After all, it’s their land and they’re entitled to go wherever they choose. I think they looked kind of smug at all of us tourists taking pictures of them on the highway.
We hoped to see the Canyon today but the weather was against us. It not only rained on us in late afternoon but at one point we had wet snow falling to add to the already existing several feet on the ground. Good grief! What are Floridians to do?! And, as I write this much later in the evening, it continues raining and has been for a couple of hours. We are counting on fair weather tomorrow.
This afternoon we encountered road construction that caused a considerable delay and the park service person who explained the situation to each of us in line commented that we must be among the 151 other RVs she had found out about. We continue encountering other participants as we progress through the tourist sites.
After we have breakfast and Cliff does the obligatory filling and dumping, we will visit a couple more spots in the park before moving on to Spokane, WA, our next way point.
After that, we began our tour of the park. The first stop was the West Thumb Paint Pots.
I never in my wildest dreams expected to witness the phenomenon of Old Faithful, but we got lucky to arrive just minutes before it blew. I got a great picture of the geyser and the hundreds of people gathered to watch it. Maybe I’ll be able to figure out how to post a picture before the trip is over. Cliff says that there should be a geyser in the park dedicated to senior citizens. It would be called the Geezer Geyser. No guffawing now. He’s serious.
From there. we stopped at several geysers. That stuff bubbling up to the surface is coming from close to the Earth’s core. Makes you think twice about standing around in Yellowstone which is a super volcano. The next eruption is overdue by several thousand years. We agreed that we would rather be at the site of the eruption than someplace afar.
We saw a number of elk and large herds of Bison, or as the Sioux called them, tatanka. Actually, a few of the big guys decided to take a walk-about down the highway. After all, it’s their land and they’re entitled to go wherever they choose. I think they looked kind of smug at all of us tourists taking pictures of them on the highway.
We hoped to see the Canyon today but the weather was against us. It not only rained on us in late afternoon but at one point we had wet snow falling to add to the already existing several feet on the ground. Good grief! What are Floridians to do?! And, as I write this much later in the evening, it continues raining and has been for a couple of hours. We are counting on fair weather tomorrow.
This afternoon we encountered road construction that caused a considerable delay and the park service person who explained the situation to each of us in line commented that we must be among the 151 other RVs she had found out about. We continue encountering other participants as we progress through the tourist sites.
After we have breakfast and Cliff does the obligatory filling and dumping, we will visit a couple more spots in the park before moving on to Spokane, WA, our next way point.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 17th
We visited Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial today, both remarkable. Just shows what humans are capable of doing given enough granite, talent, dedication and dynamite. But the most remarkable sight was one we had not planned to visit but added in. We visited Devil’s Tower fashioned in mashed potatoes by Richard Dreyfuss in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Devils Tower was where everybody congregated at the climax of the movie. This is one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen. It’s considered a sacred site to some American Indians and it’s easy to see why. It’s literally “awe inspiring”.
To get to the road that would take us to Cody, WY, and Yellowstone, we left Crazy Horse and took a southerly route around the Big Horn Mountain Range. The highest mountain in the range, Cloud Peak, is 13,167 feet, and I could not stop taking windshield pictures of the passing scenery. We made it to Cody after travelling 464 miles today and found the KOA park where we had planned to spend the night but the paid staff was already gone for the evening. Not to worry, we parked anyway and plugged into the power. We’ll pay them in the morning.
Footnote: We were told that last Wednesday there was a six-inch snow fall in the area where we were today. Have pictures to prove it. Saw a big lake that was still frozen and lots of roads that had been plowed or not plowed and big fields where the snowmobilers have obviously had great fun.
Another beautiful place we saw late this afternoon was the Ten Sleep Canyon. I wish I could shrink it down to my size because it was too big to put into words and to describe. Hope my pictures will do it justice. I’ll be uploading pictures tonight if I have Internet.
We plan to have breakfast here at the KOA park in the morning and head to Yellowstone, spend the night in a campsite nearby and spent a second day there. Two days in Yellowstone is like spending about an hour in the French Quarter. Can’t do either justice.
We have been having fun encounters with others from this organized transport of RVs to Alaska. The total number of RVs leaving Iowa and headed to Anchorage was 151 units. We’re everywhere. Literally. We get questions from toll takers and people at attractions that happen to notice all these Winnebagos with Alaska tags.
The RV is great. We’re enjoying the whole concept of having your home-away-from-home with us all of the time.
To get to the road that would take us to Cody, WY, and Yellowstone, we left Crazy Horse and took a southerly route around the Big Horn Mountain Range. The highest mountain in the range, Cloud Peak, is 13,167 feet, and I could not stop taking windshield pictures of the passing scenery. We made it to Cody after travelling 464 miles today and found the KOA park where we had planned to spend the night but the paid staff was already gone for the evening. Not to worry, we parked anyway and plugged into the power. We’ll pay them in the morning.
Footnote: We were told that last Wednesday there was a six-inch snow fall in the area where we were today. Have pictures to prove it. Saw a big lake that was still frozen and lots of roads that had been plowed or not plowed and big fields where the snowmobilers have obviously had great fun.
Another beautiful place we saw late this afternoon was the Ten Sleep Canyon. I wish I could shrink it down to my size because it was too big to put into words and to describe. Hope my pictures will do it justice. I’ll be uploading pictures tonight if I have Internet.
We plan to have breakfast here at the KOA park in the morning and head to Yellowstone, spend the night in a campsite nearby and spent a second day there. Two days in Yellowstone is like spending about an hour in the French Quarter. Can’t do either justice.
We have been having fun encounters with others from this organized transport of RVs to Alaska. The total number of RVs leaving Iowa and headed to Anchorage was 151 units. We’re everywhere. Literally. We get questions from toll takers and people at attractions that happen to notice all these Winnebagos with Alaska tags.
The RV is great. We’re enjoying the whole concept of having your home-away-from-home with us all of the time.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Saturday, May 15th
Hurry up and wait. Here we sit, waiting for orientation so we can hit the road. Sigh. Sigh again. We’ve eaten our fill of sweet things that have been provided and we are now waiting for the sugar crash.
Guess I was too smart for my own good when I laughed at the folks who had their heaters on. The low last night was about 51 degrees and we both woke up freezing. Turned on the heater and added another blanket.
We’ve talked to some nice people who gathered here from all over the country. One came here from Seattle. Seems counterproductive, right?
This is the real day one of our journey, as it counts toward our 18-day vacation and the highlights were retrieving our box of goodies and going to Wal-Mart to stock up on things that we will need so that we don’t have to go into survival mode. Paper products, cleaning supplies, and food.
Guess I was too smart for my own good when I laughed at the folks who had their heaters on. The low last night was about 51 degrees and we both woke up freezing. Turned on the heater and added another blanket.
We’ve talked to some nice people who gathered here from all over the country. One came here from Seattle. Seems counterproductive, right?
This is the real day one of our journey, as it counts toward our 18-day vacation and the highlights were retrieving our box of goodies and going to Wal-Mart to stock up on things that we will need so that we don’t have to go into survival mode. Paper products, cleaning supplies, and food.
Friday, May 14th
Lift off – trip to the Orlando airport and arrival in Minneapolis airport.
The day started early -- really early for Wallie. Our driver, Doug, picked us up promptly at 9:30 as arranged. Unlike Wallie, Doug did not get lost going to the airport in mystifying Orlando. He did entertain us with lots of stories of little consequence. Good news: He was born and raised in Miami, even though he talked like a yankee.
The plane was on time leaving Orlando and we arrived in Minneapolis/St. Paul about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. We suffered through horrible airport sandwiches at Chic-Fillet -- my very first and very last experience at this ubiquitous establishment. Through the good graces and help of the folks in the information kiosks, we found the loading area for the bus which would take us and a whole bunch of other people to Forest City, Iowa, to the Winnebago manufacturing plant. Unbelievably, there were two motor coaches full, approximately 50 people per bus, and some of these people were repeat offenders (we discovered that one couple was on their 13th trip). I can see it now: Eighty-five year old Cliff and almost eighty-five year old Wallie hobbling off the bus to get to their Winnebago to take it to the folks in Alaska. Oh, my, what an image.
Fast forward: Most of our “stuff” (remember George Carlin?) has been stowed and Cliff is in his upper berth over the power module (i.e., where you drive and/or navigate) fast asleep. He said the bed is quite comfortable – and we both hope he doesn’t roll over and fall on the obstacles below. : (
Funniest thing – I just heard a furnace come on near us. The inside temp right now is 68 degrees. Panty waists. Ha! Feels good to me. When I finish this, I’ll go back and crawl under a blanket which is something I haven’t done in a while.
Tomorrow we have a continental breakfast and indoctrination/orientation. We found out tonight that we are not scheduled until 11:15 which means that we will be hard pressed to make it to the FedEx office in Sioux Falls by 5:00 to pick up our HUGE (80 pounds) box of essentials. Laugh, laugh. We are now trying to figure out just exactly where we are going to PUT this “stuff” that we were pretty sure we were going to need. Oh, well, it’s our maiden voyage and I’m sure that by the time we are 85-ish, we will have perfected it.
The day started early -- really early for Wallie. Our driver, Doug, picked us up promptly at 9:30 as arranged. Unlike Wallie, Doug did not get lost going to the airport in mystifying Orlando. He did entertain us with lots of stories of little consequence. Good news: He was born and raised in Miami, even though he talked like a yankee.
The plane was on time leaving Orlando and we arrived in Minneapolis/St. Paul about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. We suffered through horrible airport sandwiches at Chic-Fillet -- my very first and very last experience at this ubiquitous establishment. Through the good graces and help of the folks in the information kiosks, we found the loading area for the bus which would take us and a whole bunch of other people to Forest City, Iowa, to the Winnebago manufacturing plant. Unbelievably, there were two motor coaches full, approximately 50 people per bus, and some of these people were repeat offenders (we discovered that one couple was on their 13th trip). I can see it now: Eighty-five year old Cliff and almost eighty-five year old Wallie hobbling off the bus to get to their Winnebago to take it to the folks in Alaska. Oh, my, what an image.
Fast forward: Most of our “stuff” (remember George Carlin?) has been stowed and Cliff is in his upper berth over the power module (i.e., where you drive and/or navigate) fast asleep. He said the bed is quite comfortable – and we both hope he doesn’t roll over and fall on the obstacles below. : (
Funniest thing – I just heard a furnace come on near us. The inside temp right now is 68 degrees. Panty waists. Ha! Feels good to me. When I finish this, I’ll go back and crawl under a blanket which is something I haven’t done in a while.
Tomorrow we have a continental breakfast and indoctrination/orientation. We found out tonight that we are not scheduled until 11:15 which means that we will be hard pressed to make it to the FedEx office in Sioux Falls by 5:00 to pick up our HUGE (80 pounds) box of essentials. Laugh, laugh. We are now trying to figure out just exactly where we are going to PUT this “stuff” that we were pretty sure we were going to need. Oh, well, it’s our maiden voyage and I’m sure that by the time we are 85-ish, we will have perfected it.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Tonight we went to the installation of board members for the Key Training Center. This is the organization where Cliff’s sister, Suzanne, lived for four of the happiest years of her life, Sadly she succumbed to esophageal cancer at the end of 2007. The facility serves a little over 300 developmentally disabled adults, giving them a chance to achieve their personal goals, which may be as simple as combing their own hair or to keeping their own checkbook. Cliff is a new member of the BOD and the corresponding secretary for the board. Dinner was provided (which was very good, especially the red velvet cake) and the ceremonies were inspiring.
Tomorrow I have to shorten a couple of pairs of new Levis for Cliff and also have to do laundry in preparation for packing the clothes I wear most often and, therefore, want to take on the trip. That would be the ones that fit this week. lol
Bed time. Have to get up early to go get my bi-annual blood test to see what I have to give up next. Our friend, Paula, is coming by tomorrow after work to get instructions on the care and feeding of the cats, orchids, tomatoes and pool. We are soooo lucky that she has offered to take care of things while we’re gone. Not sure that I would have gone otherwise. Love you, Paula.Watched a Netflix movie when we got home which was called Ironweed. Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson starred in it, which was the only reason we got beyond the first five minutes. After it was over, I told Cliff that I would rather watch “Death of a Salesman” twice rather than watch this one again. Can you guess that it and the cast were “nominated” and the screenplay won a Pulitzer? Gag a maggot. Sorry, but it was a real stinker.
Tomorrow I have to shorten a couple of pairs of new Levis for Cliff and also have to do laundry in preparation for packing the clothes I wear most often and, therefore, want to take on the trip. That would be the ones that fit this week. lol
Bed time. Have to get up early to go get my bi-annual blood test to see what I have to give up next. Our friend, Paula, is coming by tomorrow after work to get instructions on the care and feeding of the cats, orchids, tomatoes and pool. We are soooo lucky that she has offered to take care of things while we’re gone. Not sure that I would have gone otherwise. Love you, Paula.Watched a Netflix movie when we got home which was called Ironweed. Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson starred in it, which was the only reason we got beyond the first five minutes. After it was over, I told Cliff that I would rather watch “Death of a Salesman” twice rather than watch this one again. Can you guess that it and the cast were “nominated” and the screenplay won a Pulitzer? Gag a maggot. Sorry, but it was a real stinker.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Initial post -- maiden flight -- trip to Alaska
Cliff and I are preparing for a very long road trip and I hope to chronicle our adventures as we progress. On Friday, May 14, we are flying to Minniapolis/St. Paul and taking a motor coach with others to the Winnebago plant in Iowa. We will then be assigned a motorhome (RV) that we will be living in for however long it takes us to get to Anchorage, Alaska. There is a company there that rents RVs to tourists and this is the method they use to acquire their new fleet for the coming year. Cliff was on their mailing list because he and his hunting buddy from Arizona rented on an RV in 2004 and spent three weeks touring Alaska. This year, Cliff decided to take them on their offer of reduced rent and free miles to deliver the new RV to Anchorage. We plan to tour Alaska for an additional seven days. What the heck, we'll be there, why not?
Right now we are in the packing stage and making the last of the lists (Cliff has made several lists and this is the first one I've really been involved in), and this one is designed to allow me to stay asleep at night instead of staring at the ceiling in an anxious fret. My obsessive personality is finally kicking in. EEEECK.
We (Cliff) shipped a BIG box to Souix Falls, SD, yesterday with things that we deemed essential but too bulky or dangerous (or surely would be stollen from checked luggage). Included were things like the flyrod and reel, hachet for cutting wood and self defense, ice chest, heavy coats (yes, we still have them even though we don't need them in our Florida winters), and a whole bunch of other "stuff". George Carlin was right about "stuff". You have some here and you have some there, and then you split that up into other "stuff" which you transport to some other place.
So, this is the first of what I hope will be many informative blogs to keep everyone abreast of where we are and what we're doing.
Progress report tomorrow.
Right now we are in the packing stage and making the last of the lists (Cliff has made several lists and this is the first one I've really been involved in), and this one is designed to allow me to stay asleep at night instead of staring at the ceiling in an anxious fret. My obsessive personality is finally kicking in. EEEECK.
We (Cliff) shipped a BIG box to Souix Falls, SD, yesterday with things that we deemed essential but too bulky or dangerous (or surely would be stollen from checked luggage). Included were things like the flyrod and reel, hachet for cutting wood and self defense, ice chest, heavy coats (yes, we still have them even though we don't need them in our Florida winters), and a whole bunch of other "stuff". George Carlin was right about "stuff". You have some here and you have some there, and then you split that up into other "stuff" which you transport to some other place.
So, this is the first of what I hope will be many informative blogs to keep everyone abreast of where we are and what we're doing.
Progress report tomorrow.
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