Wasilla-Palmer, AK 6-30-11

Greetings from Wasilla-Palmer, AK. We are about 35 miles north of Anchorage. Gas her today is $3.97 gallon. Cant believe we are happy to find gas at almost $4. In the afternoon we took in a visit at a Musk Ox farm. The fiber from the musk ox, qiviut, is given to the ladies in the remote village in upper Alaska which they then covert to a yarn which the make scarfs, hats, vests, etc. Very expensive but very beautiful. These garments they make helps to supplement there otherwise meager income. We then drove up to Indepent Mine State Park. In the 40's this was a working gold mine. A huge operation and set in the most beautiful setting with a 360 degree view of mountains and valleys. A very enjoyable afternoon. Sara Palin and her husband invited us to dinner but we had to decline as we did not think we could get our tour in. Asked for and received a rain check.

June 28-29,2011-Denali National Park

Arrived at Denali National Park Tuesday afternoon with a light to heavy rain most of the day. Took in a dog sled demo. The dogs got really excited when they knew it was time to harness up. Got photos of a mother moose and her calf right inside the park entrance. Will include it in our pictures for the day. Wednesday we did a bus tour into the Park, about a 7 hour trip along with about 35 other folks. Saw moose, lynx, dall sheep, grizzly bear and caribou. Weather was pleasant today with overcast skies off and on. Temp for day was middle 60's and will be low 40's tonight. Will leave for Anchorage area tomorrow. Have not been able to see Mt. McKinley yet beacuse of cloud cover which is a disappointment. Were told by locals that mountain is only visable about 50-55 days a year.

Tuesday-June 28th, Day 15

Good morning from rainy Fairbanks, AK. We remembered that some have asked about the weather so wanted to update you.  We have experienced wonderful mild weather so far on our trip.  It has rained here the majority of the night and continues, but temp is about 52 and is expected to get to 72 today.
The mornings are cool and pleasant and the afernoons get warm and sunny, usually some humidity in the afternoons.  They jokingly say their state bird is the mosquito.  We have noticed that they are big and
plentiful.  Mosquito repellent is a big seller.  Off to Denali today-more later.

Monday, June 27,2011 Fairbanks, AK

Went to North Pole, AK today. Disappointed that Santa was not there, he was busy in his shop making toys for the good children. Said he would be in late afternoon but we had other plans so missed him. Took a really fun train ride at an operating gold mine and yes we actually panned gold. They told us that we had about $21 worth. Combined our two amounts and Judy had the flakes done into a pair of earrings. Then went to downtown Fairbanks and just kind of wandered around. Finished day at "Wally World" doing some  grocery shopping. Will take walk down by the  river here at the RV park after dinner. Will be leaving in the morning for Denali National Park. Hope we will able to down load some pictures tonight for you. Pans of dirt is really "stock" Judy and I were given to wash for our gold. The old guy is one of the miners at the mine where we were.

Sunday-June 26, 2011 Alaska

Alaska we are here!!! Crossed over the border slightly after noon, Albuq time, 10AM here. Most of the morning was a really rough drive as road was under construction from all the winter damage. Lots of huge pot holes, heaves from the winter freeze. Much of the 100 miles was at speed of 25-30 mph. Finally crossed border and road immediately improved. We are in Fairbanks and will probably be here 2-3 days.  Actually the address here is in North Pole Alaska.  It is 6 miles south of Fairbanks, so greetings from Santa Claus!  Not much action from a wildlife standpoint today. Think we only saw one black bear. Including a few pictures from past couple of days. First one is Lake Kluane. Campground we stayed at Saturday was on this lake.  The last photo of the end of the Alaka Highway is at milepost 1422 in Delta Junction.  At the visitors center we got a certificate congratulating us on surviving the trek across this highway.  And with only a few dings in the Jeep and a broken windshield.  A once in a lifetime adventure!  Sure are glad we are here!

Saturday, June 25,2011

Day 12 of our adventure. We are at Destruction Pass in the Yukon tonight. At a remote campsite with very slow wifi service so will be brief.  Left Whitehorse, Yukon this morning. Missed our turn in Haines Junction so went all the way to the Southern border of Canada before we realized our mistake. The total miles for our mistake was 225, ugh!! Area we are in tonight is on a gigantic lake. The owner of the RV park said the road we are on follows the lake for 48 miles.  Beautiful sight with snow capped mountains all around. Saw a huge grizzly today but went back into woods too fast for us to get a picture. Also saw a couple of black bears during the afternoon. Will send pictures when we have a better connection. Tomorrow's drive we are told will be rather difficult as there is lots of construction and road is really rough. Been told to just drive slow, about 35-40 for 150 miles. Will be somewhere in Alaska, hopefully, tomorrow night. A couple of you have asked about commenting on the blog and seem reluctant to sign up with google, which is no charge. You can just send us an email if you wish. We will reply. Till next time - Happy Trails from the Yukon!!

Friday June 25-2011

Well, it is Friday eve and we have had a couple of days without wifi.  We really feel out
of touch, no e-mail, no cell phones. Wednesday we left Dawson Creek(not city) and we drove
to Muncho Lake, Canada(British Columbia).  We stayed in a "Provential Park."  What we
would call a State Park. No facilities or hook ups but a site right on the lake.  Very pretty
Saw some beautiful scenery and some wildlife.  We saw a Moose with a baby but were not
able to take a photo.  No place to pull over and too much traffic. We were very disappointed.
Sorry, Keely. We also saw some carriboo and some mountain goats along the side of the road.

Thursday was one of the best days we have had.  The lakes, rivers, waterfalls were awesome
and we saw lots of wildlife including a number of bison,
 some with babies. Got one good photo of mommie nursing her baby.  We saw a total of 10 bear throughout the day.  Mostly black bear but some brown also.  Some mothers with cubs.  Most of them were just grazing along the highway. We stopped for the night at Whitehorse, Canada in the Yukon.  A very nice RV Park.Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon with about 37,000 population.  We realized there was a lot to see here so reserved two nights.  It is nice to have a break from driving and riding.  We had a disturbing thing happen.  A huge semi flew by us going too fast and too close to the
center line.  He blasted us with a lot of gravel and broke the windshield of the motorhome.  It
sounded like someone had shot at us and the windshield looks that way also.  We took a photo
of an old WWII military truck at our campground.  We thought this is the way we will probably
look before we get home. HaHa  The roads are for the most part good but then you have stretches of
gravel and we understand that there is constuction ahead of us before we get to Alaska that is
going to be bad.  Some guys told us that it took them all day to go 150 miles.  Not excited about that.  We should come to that on Saturday.

Friday we were tourists in Whitehorse.  Of course our first stop had to be Starbucks for coffee.
Tried to post to blog there but never could get on line.  Our second stop was Walmart for
groceries.  Prices were still about twice what they are a home but that, we have found is good.
One gas station we stopped at yesterday we paid $5.35/gal for gas and they wanted $10.50 for a
12 pack of bottled water. We would have to be awfully thirsty to pay that!  We got a 24 pack at
Wallyworld for $5.99.  Sounds like a bargain, right.

Tuesday-June 21

Not much to report from today. Left Jasper, Alberta Canada this morning and had a rather ho hum day. Scenry still pretty, but not spectacular like past few days. Are spending the night in Dawson City, British Columbia tonight. This is the starting point of the Alaska highway. Not sure where we will be tomorrow night as distances between towns gets to be a long way now. Have attached a few pictures of our time in Banff and Jasper National Parks.

Monday June 20

Poor connection today so will be brief. Traveled thru Banff and Jasper National Parks today. Beautiful places. Saw lots of elk. Lake Louise was a part of Banff. What a beautiful place!! The water was a turquoise color. Staying the night in Hinton, Alberta, Canada. Will cross over into British Columbia today. Think my travel partner is getting "motorcoach fever", ie..cabin fever. Still long way to Alaska and I know she will hang in there. Paid our first $4+ gas today. This area is a beautiful, beautiful place.

Sunday-June 19

Happy Fathers Day to all you Dads!! We got off to a late start on Friday when we left Great Falls, Montana. As a result we got to our campground in time to have a nice dinner and a relaxing evening. Saturday morning we entered Glacier National Park from the west side, a cool, very wet morning. It felt like we were in a cloud, very misty. We still enjoyed some spectacular scenery. Unfortunately the photos don't convey the beautiful lakes, waterfalls and forests that we saw. We hiked into Avalanche Lake, a 6 mile round trip, mostly uphill but when we arrived at the lake it was well worth the hard hike. We both were amazed at how clear the water is everywhere in the park, crystal clear!! We ended our day with a gourmet dinner at McDonald's in Kalispell, Montana. Yes Mike C. it is a cute town. Sunday found us leaving our camp ground and driving to Calgary, Alberta Canada where we are camped tonight. We head out for Banff National Park and Jaspar National Park tomorrow. We will be back in touch as soon as we access to network.

Day 3:  We left Casper, WY early this morning and crossed into "Big Sky Country" (Montana) about

mid morning.  It certainly lives up to its name. Miles and miles of green valleys and rolling hills.  Cities are few but beautiful snow capped mountains in view all afternoon and a rushing creek accompanied us.  Weather was cool, often overcast, very pleasant. Not much wild life today but did see  some antelope, a couple of deer and a fox.  We called it a day in Great Falls Montana and enjoyed some wonderful smoked ribs complements of our friendGeorge Norwood. Yum!  Our plan is to be in Glacier National Park tomorrow afternoon.  See posted photos if we can figure out how to load them.

The first day of our adventure began with a few delays.  We had only gotten about a 1/2 mile away and had an electrical cable disconnect. We then filled up with gas, and then had to take the long way around to Denver due to I-25 being closed from Raton to the border because of a fire.  But, we eventually reached Parker, CO, and had a fun first night at the home of dear friends.  The whole Watson clan came out to see us and wish us well on our trip.  It was great to spend one more night in a real bed.
Day 2 began with breakfast out with our friends and we got away about 10.  We ended our day in Casper, Wyoming.  Along the way today we saw lots of antelope, a few deer and a group of 8-10 elk.
The weather has been beautiful, but had some strong wind this afternoon and very warm.  We made reservations at a RV Park in Glacier, Montana and were told it is cold and rainy there.  We might enjoy seeing a little rain-not sure we remember what that looks like.  We expect to have some great photo ops tomorrow and hope to have some pictures to post tomorrow night.

Getting Ready to head out

Lewis and I are packing up and heading out on Tuesday June 14th!!!  YEAH!!!