6/21/02
(Hope, British Columbia)

We were up and out fairly early this morning. We drove the ten miles to the ferry that would take us from Port Townsend to Wigby Island, from which we could pick up I-5 to the Canadian border. While the ferry cost us $43.75, it saved us some 150 miles of driving. If we had not taken the ferry we would have had to drive all the down the west side of the Puget Sound to Tacoma, then back up the east side, through Seattle, etc. The ferry was a good deal.

Besides, while waiting for the ferry in Port Townsend we got to walk around the waterfront area and enjoy the beautiful weather, coastal scenery, etc. The ferry ride was only about 30 minutes, during which time Sharyn got to relax, enjoy the sun and the breeze, and look for interesting real estate offerings.

Leaving the ferry we continued on as far as Bellingham (taking in more scenery as we went) where we did some grocery shopping. Before continuing on to the border crossing we topped off the gas tank at $1.37 per gallon (much cheaper than we'd ever find in Canada). At the border, customs took away the apples that Sharyn had just bought because they had not been inspected for importation into Canada. From the border we continued on for about another 50 miles to Hope BC. We were going to stay at a campground in Hope, but just south of town we pulled into a park-like rest area for a brief stop. There were several other RVs already there that looked as if they were going to stay for the night. After speaking to the couple in front of us (he's an ex-gun dealer from Vancouver and they were spending the night) we decided we'd spend the night also.

Since we never seem to eat until dark, and it doesn't get dark until almost ten o'clock, we never get to bed much before midnight. I asked Sharyn what kind of time frame are we going to operate in when we get to Alaska and it stays daylight all night long?

If full-time RVing is an adventure, which it is, then RVing to Alaska is an adventure within an adventure, and today was our first day of that experience.

Odometer reading = 38,718
Miles for day = 151

 

6/22/02
(Lac La Hache BC)

When I got up at 7:15 the couple in front of us had already left, although there were still several RVs and a tractor trailer rig still there. We had coffee made in the French press (no electric coffee pot this morning) and soon were on our way.

For a large portion of the day the road ran through the Frasier River Canyon, as did the railroad tracks and, of course, the river. There is lots of train traffic up and down the canyon (tracks run on both sides of the river).

We eventually stopped at a campground on a lake in Lac La Hache, and for the first time in a long time one of the kayaks went into the water.

By the way, just so you should know, from where we entered Canada, north of Seattle, to the Alaskan border is just over 2,000 miles. Distances in this part of North America are vast!

Odometer reading = 38,941
Miles for day = 223

 

6/23/02
(Prince George BC)

This morning I didn't wake up until 9 o'clock, and when I did I found Sharyn sitting in the living room drinking her coffee. That's a major turnaround from the way it normally starts in the morning.

It was a beautiful morning so we moved outside to our chairs for coffee and conversation as we looked out towards the lake. However, Sharyn disapproves. She says it's "sterile" and "not real." This was Sharyn's view.

Anyway, we finally got started. We stopped once for "breakfast," which we do every day after traveling for one or two hours, and a second time for lunch, which we also do every day. Some days we also stop for our 2 o'clock coffee which can happen most anytime. Our third stop today was at a Wal-Mart where bought the some Mobil-1 oil to change the motorhome oil (and filter), a halogen reading lamp to put behind the couch, a small table lamp to put on the dashboard when we're stopped, and a few miscellaneous grocery items.

We're now at a campground just south of Prince George where we intend to spend two nights. Tomorrow we have to find a place to ship Jordan's birthday present (her 25th), and also to see about a tire problem on the front left. I'm hoping that it's just way out of balance, although there has been substantial wear in the last 1,000 miles or so.

Odometer reading = 39,116
Miles for day = 175

 

6/24/02
(McLeod Lake BC)

For the last week or so we've been detecting a shimmy in the front end, and yesterday it became quite pronounced. The campground owners where we stopped last night recommended Hewlett's Tire Centre in Prince George so that's where we went this morning. It turned out that while the alignment was not too bad, it had in fact worsened in the last 1,000 miles. Rotating the front tires to the inside rear on both sides, plus a front end check and alignment, delayed our departure until 3 o'clock this afternoon. The difference is dramatic. Whereas our speed used to tend to "settle in" at 55-60 mph, it now seems to settle in at just over 65 mph. I suspect that comfort level and fatigue factors will be improved as well.

Anyway, we're now only 70 miles from Prince George at a wide rest area on the Crooked River. As we approached the rest area we saw two 5th wheels parked with their slides out and I suggested to Sharyn that it looked as if they were going to spend the night there. We pulled in and asked them if they were. They're traveling together from Tyler, Texas to Alaska and said that they were spending the night and they too believed "there is safety in numbers." It now looks as if there's still another RV here.

We have taken note of the numerous signs warning of moose on the roadway, and several dead moose along the roadside. The thought of hitting a moose (1800 pounds?) at 60 mph is somewhat disconcerting.

By the way, our neighbors last night were a couple from Kamloops BC, about 300 miles from Prince George. They had just left home yesterday morning on their way to Alaska. The went to Alaska in 1993 and loved it so much that they have returned every year since. This is their tenth trip there. They are originally from Germany and have traveled all over the world including China, Egypt, Africa, etc., (he says they've been everywhere except Australia) and that they've never seen anything that can compare to Alaska.

Odometer reading = 39,192
Miles for day = 76

 

6/25/02
(Fort St. John BC)

I was up at 5:30 this morning and figured that I'd just leave Sharyn sleeping while I got us moving down the road, but she woke up before I got started. In any event we were on the road by 7 o'clock!

Twenty-six miles down the road we stopped for gas, taking on 274.47 liters (72.51 gal) for $202.83 Canadian (approx $131.84 US). That's $1.822 per gallon. Since we only have a 75 gallon tank, and had just under a quarter tank when we pulled in, I'm not sure about that meter. There was no government "certification" sticker on the pump.

Of course as we continued on we had to stop and take a picture. This was the view from the side of the road where we stopped for lunch.

This was about two miles before we entered Dawson Creek, where we ate at the Hotel Alaska Cafe, walked around town, and bought some groceries. The Alaska Highway (once called the Alcan Highway) begins in Dawson Creek at the "0" mile marker and then goes on to end at mile marker 1422 at Delta Junction, Alaska, 98 miles short of Fairbanks.

Leaving Dawson Creek we did not go too far until we diverted to a section of the "old" Alaska, or Alcan, Highway to drive over the historic Kiskatinaw River Bridge. This 531 foot, curved wooden bridge is the only original timber bridge built along the Alaska Highway that is still in use today. Approaching the bridge a sign warns only one truck or RV to be on the bridge at one time.

At one point a moose ran across the road a few cars in front of us. Sharyn got this quick picture through the window.

Eventually we pulled off for the evening at Sourdough Pete's RV Park in Fort St. John.

Odometer reading = 39,419
Miles for day = 227

 

6/26/02
(Alaska Highway at 349.3 km Milepost)

Again we had considered staying in one place for a day, but decided that we'd go on anyway, but not travel as far as we otherwise would. We both feel that we are on some kind of a marathon and that we have to change that.

Shortly after stopping for lunch we came to a point where the road had just been reoiled and a layer of gravel put down. The signs warned to go slow and keep your headlights on due to "extreme dust." This went on for about 30 miles (at 20-30 mph) and I began feeling bad for the new air filter I put in about 1,000 miles ago. By the way, that photograph reminds me that I was once told that the biggest migration in Alaska is the summer migration of RVs to the state. Right now, most of the traffic on the Alaska Highway consists of RVs heading north -- it's almost an endless caravan

Meanwhile, in The Milepost (the Alaska Highway traveler's bible) Sharyn found an old Provincial Campground that was no longer in official use, but that was sort of open for anyone who cared to stop there. The directions said to turn west at milemarker 349.3 (you have to estimate the .3) and take the gravel road for half a mile, crossing an old airstrip that had had been an emergency landing field during the Alcan Highway construction during WW II.

Following those directions we found the old campground and parked the motorhome. Sharyn looked around and was clearly uncomfortable. We were really out in the wilderness, with nothing or no one anywhere near. To try to put it into context, this whole area is part of the Muskwa-Kechika Wilderness Area, at 10.9 million acres it is one of the largest undeveloped wilderness areas south of the 60th parallel, and one of North America's most significant "large mammal predator-prey systems." On top of that, on the way in there was an old sign warning of bears. With respect to the "predator-prey" part, Sharyn knows she's not one of the predators.

Anyway, I told Sharyn that if no one else came in within the next hour or so we'd leave (actually it's too isolated and remote for me too). Well, within ten minutes two more units pulled in (I think we were all glad to see each other). There're either six or seven units here now, plus two guys sleeping in a tent!

With respect to that milemarker number, that means we're 349.3 km (272.2 miles) from Dawson Creek, and 1887.4 km (1172.8 miles) from Delta Junction, the official end of the Alaska Highway.

Odometer reading = 39,591
Miles for day = 172

 

6/27/02
(Muncho Lake BC)

Not only is it not dark until after 10 o'clock, but I got up to go to the bathroom at 3:55 this morning and it was broad daylight.

That having been said, we were on the road at 8:30 this morning and had only gone 13 miles when Sharyn saw a light colored bear, not unlike the color of a golden retriever. It had a dark snout and a "pretty face." As we traveled on we saw two more bears, both of which were black, and not as large or "bulky" as the first one. While black bears can be brown in color, I don't think they are as light as what Sharyn saw. It may have been a grizzly. They are in the area, but we are told there are about 25 black bears for each grizzly.

There are signs everywhere to watch out for elk, caribou, moose, and goats. We did come across a bunch of "stone goats" grazing at the edge of the road and they did not seem to be overly concerned about passing traffic. Later this afternoon we passed a Rocky Mountain Bighorn ram standing between the pavement and the vertical stone wall behind him. I wished we had a picture of him. Each of his curved horns was larger than his head and, unlike the ugly stone goats, this animal was standing with his head held high, like a monarch, looking straight at us as we approached. This was a magnificent animal, and he looked like he knew it!

Sharyn also saw a big brown owl with a white face sitting in a tree next to the road. She sees a lot more than I do. I must spend too much time looking at the road.

With respect to the road, the Alaska Highway sure has changed in the last 200 or so miles. It has gone from a 2, 3, or 4 lane highway with wide shoulders and excellent surface, to a narrow, winding, country road, frequented with gravel patches, and crumbling edges with no shoulders. This transition seems to have occurred as we've entered the "Northern Rockies." If the road has declined, the scenery certainly has not.

Late this afternoon we pulled into Strawberry Flats, a Provincial campground on Muncho Lake. While there are no hookups, our campsite is right on the edge of the water with the mountains on the other side of the lake.

Odometer reading = 39,810
Miles for day = 219

 

6/28/02
(Alaska Highway at Mile 626.2 [1023 km] )

First things first -- Happy 25th Birthday to Jordan! We miss her!

This morning we had our coffee and conversation sitting at the edge of Lake Moncho, enjoying (in addition to coffee, conversation, and each other) the morning sunshine, cool breeze, and the mountains across the lake. It was probably 11 o'clock before we finally decided that we should get started to leave.

About 5 miles down the road we stopped at a lakeside inn to call Jordan and wish her a happy, if long distance, birthday. In this part of the world we have found that there is no cellular phone signal, no AM radio, no FM radio, and the Dish Network TV satellite is always below the horizon.

We actually did not go too far before we stopped to eat. Partially because I was hungry (Sharyn never is) and partly because the pull-off by the river was too inviting to pass it by. When we got back on the road we soon became part of the North to Alaska RV migration.

.

We soon came across a very accommodating black bear who continued eating his dandelions and clover while we stopped and took pictures. By the way, we have talked to several people about the light colored bear we described several days ago and, based on Sharyn's description, they all seem to confirm that it was a grizzly.

We also came upon another section of highway under repair/construction that went in a well spaced out single lane for about 13 miles. This is what it was like waiting for the "pilot car" to lead us.

Eventually we got to Watson Lake where we stopped and walked through the famous "sign forest." As of September 2001 there were are over 42,000 signs. The first sign was put up in 1942 by a soldier of the 341 Engineers from Danville Illinois. Visitors are invited to put up their own sign, and obviously many do.

We are now about 14 miles past Watson Lake in the dirt parking lot at Junction 37, a complex of several businesses, including a restaurant with "home cooking" where we each had a hamburger for dinner. We asked the waitress if we could spend the night in the lot and she said we could. Sharyn felt better when two Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman (RCMP) assured her that it was safe to do so. The campground ranger lady (an attractive and friendly redhead) also told Sharyn that it was safe to spend nights in the pull-offs or rest areas along the highway. That she'd have more concern about the animals than about other people.

Odometer reading = 39,996
Miles for day = 186

 

6/29/02
(Whitehorse, Yukon Territory)
Milepost 891.1

When we woke up this morning we ran the generator to run the heat pump and the coffee pot. It incidentally gave us hot water. This is perhaps only the second time we've run the generator for heat, and the first time for coffee. We usually will use the LP furnace for heat and make coffee in the French press (assuming we are not connected to 120 volts).

One of the police officers that Sharyn spoke with last night told her about a pull-off about 100kms up the road that overlooked a small lake and usually had a couple of moose in it. We pulled off at the location and sure enough there were two moose down below, wading in the wooded pond, apparently eating aquatic plants. There were a good number of RVs and RVers there also. Sharyn indicated the location of the moose to several late arrivals. Instead of looking down at the moose, if you looked straight ahead, this is what you'd see!

As we drove on further we were going down a steep hill in second gear when a baby bear ran across the road in front of us. Lucky for him he was not too close, plus he ran pretty fast. He appeared to be about half grown and was probably last years cub.

As we were proceeding we decided to stop at Mukluk Annie's Salmon Bake and RV Park which offered free camping, RV wash, and other good stuff with the baked salmon. We pulled into her place, checked it out (it sure smelled good), but decided to continue on to Whitehorse in the Yukon.

Later in the afternoon we stopped at Johnson's Crossing for coffee. It turned out that they are also known as the "home of world famous cinnamon buns" (to go with coffee, of course). From the rear porch we could watch the vehicles heading to Alaska as they crossed over the Teslin River bridge.

At one point during the day (I can't put it in proper sequence) Sharyn saw a black fox on the slopped side of the highway. We've never heard of a black fox before, but this one was black.

We are now in Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon Territory. We plan to stay here tomorrow and check out the town. The next day we plan to drive down to Skagway, Alaska, about 110 miles south of here. We're debating whether to take the motorhome or just make it a day trip. We were told to make it a day trip, but it seems to me that if we take the motorhome we preserve all our options.

By the way, I keep forgetting to mention that neither of us has ever been anywhere that had mosquitoes as thick and numerous as we are finding in British Columbia and the Yukon. I suspect Alaska will be the same. I would estimate about five pounds of mosquitoes for every person.

Odometer reading = 40,260
Miles for day = 264

 

6/30/02
(Whitehorse, Yukon Territory)
Milepost 891.1

We got up this morning to find that our electric had gone out during the night. Since the coffee pot had been set up last night and it was nine o'clock when we got up, I figured it was late enough to start the generator, which I did. While the coffee was perking I got dressed and went and found the campground circuit breaker box and reset our breaker. Twenty amp service is pretty wimpy; and totally inadequate.

Anyway, after coffee and conversation we took the car into downtown Whitehorse to see what it was all about. For the largest city in Yukon Territory, and the Yukon capital, it's not very big. Downtown is about five blocks wide and perhaps a mile long. We checked out a number of stores on Main Street, including a bookstore, a camping and outdoor equipment store, and a jewelry store that primarily sells handcrafted gold jewelry, including lots of gold nugget stuff.

We talked with the lady in the store about the 200 mile, eight day, canoe or (in our case) kayak trip from Whitehorse, down the Yukon River, to Carmacks (or continue on to Dawson City, 460 miles for 16 days). The shorter trip sounds like a great adventure , but Sharyn is not interested in becoming some bear's dinner, and truthfully, it's too adventurist for me too. The lady said that bears were a real concern as the river really runs through untamed, uninhabited, wilderness. We both thought maybe if we were 30 years old, and in 30 year old type condition . . . !

We then went to a cafe in the hotel building where we had coffee and Black Forest cake (we shared one piece) and talked with the waitress about driving the 110 miles to Skagway -- should we make it a day trip with the car, or should we take the motorhome? Since Skagway, which is in Alaska, is at the end of a 110 mile dead end road, we have to come back through Whitehorse anyway.

From there we went to Wal-Mart (which has more RVs staying in the parking lot than does the campground) where our big purchase was a plain old percolator so we can make good old fashioned coffee by perking it on the stove (no electric needed). Besides, the aroma from a perking coffee pot is a beautiful way to start any day!

From Wal-Mart we went to a building supply store, like a farm country building supply, where we bought some hardware cloth to make some kind of protection devices for the headlight lenses on both the motorhome and the car, as well as a radiator/cooler protector for the motorhome. It won't be as effective as the protection stuff you can buy, but the total cost of materials was about $10 US, plus we won't have to worry about what do we do with it when we get back to the lower 48. I did the car head lights, but then it started raining as I was starting on the motorhome. I'll do that tomorrow.

Odometer reading = 40,260
Miles for day = 0

 

7/1/02
(Skagway AK)

First thing this morning I finished doing the headlight protectors, and then we were on the road headed to Skagway, Alaska. As we were leaving Whitehorse we passed a DC-3 mounted on a pivot in front of the airport. They call it "the world's largest weather vane" but I have my doubts as to whether a 10 mph wind will cause it to turn.

Anyway, we were about half way to Skagway when we pulled into a small village market/diner for a cup of coffee. Today is Canada Day, a national holiday, and while we were there the local Canada Day parade came down the highway, complete with police car escort. From beginning to end it must have stretched out for all of 200 yards. This was the opening contingent.

From there (after the parade went home) we continued on in a southerly direction towards Skagway. Again, the scenery is impressive. Here we are only a few miles from the US/Canadian border.

When stopped at an RV park a half dozen blocks from the main part of town. The "main part" is that section that is within walking distance form the docks where the cruise ships and ferries come in (you can't see the mountain because of the cloud). As I told Sharyn, everyone on the street is a tourist. It's like no one lives here. Even the waitress where we had lunch (I had a musk ox burger) was just here for the summer. She lives in Minneapolis. I'm not being negative. That's just the way it is. It is, however, a neat and interesting place.

Odometer reading = 40,374
Miles for day = 113

 

7/2/02
(Whitehorse, Yukon)

It started raining last night and continued raining the entire rest of the time we were in Skagway. We checked out of the campground late morning and left the motorhome parked on the street while we took the car into the main part of town (several blocks away) where we went to the the Nation Park Service Visitor Center to watch the 30 minute film about Skagway's part in the Klondike gold rush of 1897-98. After that we went to the post office to mail some post cards and had lunch at the Sweet Tooth Saloon.

We then drove the 10 miles, most of it dirt road, to where the town of Dyea once stood [See NOTE]. The town is no longer there, and what 100 years ago was open grass land is now a temperate rain forest. The land, once having been glaciated, has been rising steadily since the glacier melted, and what was low lying land in 1897-98 has risen eight feet (raising about 3/4" per year) and supports this spruce forest. We walked through the area where Dyea had stood and could see numerous remnants of the past; rusted iron braces, part of an old wagon, the remains of a 50x100' warehouse, etc. It is also bear country so we didn't go too far or stay too long -- besides it was raining.

Leaving Dyea we drove back along the now slick dirt road to Skagway where hooked up to the motorhome and headed back up the mountain to the same lakes where those gold seekers built their boats and began their trip down the Yukon River. As we were climbing up on one side of the canyon, on the other side we saw the narrow gauge White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad heading towards Skagway. It was this railroad built between 1898 and 1900 connecting Skagway with Whitehorse that that speeded abandonment of the two trails -- but by then then rush was over. As the road continued to climb higher (20 mph in second gear) the clouds that had hid the top of the mountain now hid everything. We had climbed into the clouds and didn't emerge for some 20 miles or so.

When we got back to Whitehorse we stayed in the Wal-Mart parking lot with what must have been over 75 RVs! There is probably no corporate business in America that supports RVers more than Wal-Mart does. Their company policy is that RVers are welcome to spend the night in their parking lots. RVers do, and reciprocate by being good and loyal customers.

[NOTE} To get from Skagway (where the ships came in) to the gold fields near Dawson, men had to first get across the coastal mountains to the interior lakes that are the headwaters for the Yukon River that then flows (sometimes violently) 550 miles to Dawson and the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers (and the gold fields). There were basically two ways to get across the mountains; either the 33 mile Chilkoot Trail from Dyea (that at one point climbs 1,000 within a quarter of a mile) or the White Pass route, ten miles longer but less steep, and with a summit 600 feet lower than the Chilkoot Trail. The White Pass became know as the Dead Horse Trail during the winter of 1897-98 when 3,000 horses died trying to get their packs to the summit.

Odometer reading = 40,485
Miles for day = 111

 

7/3/02
(Alaska Highway Milepost 1118.8)

Well once again we're in the middle of the woods, many miles from anywhere. Out here Mileposts make a lot of sense. Actually we're about 50 miles southeast of Beaver Creek, Yukon (population 112). Since we left Whitehorse this morning the only town we've been through that's bigger than Beaver Creel was Haines Junction and that was 130 miles ago.

Also, soon after passing through Haines Junction, the quality of the roadbed in the Alaska Highway changed dramatically. There is two-way traffic on this section. Today we've probably traveled over 75 miles of unpaved and/or gravel roadway. For the most part it appears that these "gravel roads" are actually oil and stone, where the "gravel" is put down over the fresh oil. Cars, trucks, and RVs, passing in either direction throw up pieces of this gravel that then get your windshield or headlights (not to mention the dust that cuts your vision to near zero). Today we got three of those star shaped dings in the car windshield, but since we've already got a crack running from one side to the other those additional dings really don't matter. Actually they may have been caused by gravel thrown up by our motorhome (even though we have one of those big rubber flaps on the back of motorhome), except that they're all on the left side. The side where the passing and oncoming traffic would most likely get it. So far no headlight damage to either vehicle.

Most of these "under construction" stretches are where the roadbed is either being widened or relocated, so the in the long run it's all for the good. Maintenance and repair are ongoing forever. Most of these area are so remote that the government sets up work camps off the side of the road that provide temporary housing for the highway workers. One thing we've noticed that's different from what we've seen in the States is that in the States, when you come to a section of the roadway that's under construction or repair, the person holding the "stop" or "slow" sign may very well be a girl, but it's men you'll see operating the heavy equipment (and making the big bucks). Here, I'd estimate that 25% of the heavy construction equipment is being operated by women -- and they're mostly young and attractive.

The campground we are in is a Yukon Provincial campground, no hookups, but very nice and well maintained. After we got all set up and had dinner, the mosquitoes and I changed the oil and filter. (It's environmentally okay. I have a system that works well and I rarely ever get a drop on the ground). This is our campsite at 10:40 pm. The sun is still shinning!

By the way, there's a new addition to Interesting or Unusual Signs We've Seen.

Odometer reading = 40,713
Miles for day = 228

 

7/4/02
(Tok, Alaska)

It began raining last night and continued for most of today's travel. It was still raining and muddy when we stopped at Buckshot Betty's in Beaver Creek for a cup of coffee (having already finished a pot full before we got on the road). Unfortunately, Buckshot Betty also had cinnamon rolls big enough to be called cinnamon cakes anywhere else. We shared one, so it was only half as bad as it could have been. In the last several weeks since we've been stopping for coffee (and whatever), instead of making our 2 o'clock coffee in the motorhome, and doing some "eating out," I've gained three pounds. That could be the beginning of a bad trend.

Anyway, by the time we got to Tok it was no longer raining. We drove the length of town, about a mile, and then doubled back to Gateway Salmon Bake. It's a salmon bake eating place with a RV park in the back. If you have the salmon bake you get free camping. Since we passed up a salmon bake several days back, we decided to go for this one. Basically it's a piece of salmon cooked on a big outdoor wood pit and served on paper plates with salad, beans, and dessert. Maybe everyone who comes to Alaska should experience it, but I think it got kind of dried out in the cooking process. Sharyn opted for halibut instead of the salmon and hers was very dry. Anyway, the camping (no hookups) is free.

After getting setup in the campground we took the car to a do-it-yourself high pressure car wash (car wash is free if you fill up the gas tank) where we cleaned off the bulk of the sand, dirt, and gravel that had accumulated all over the car. We need better protection for the paint on all the forward facing surfaces on the car. The gravel is ruining the paint.

Two couples that we met several weeks back (June 26) in an old provincial campground, we ran into again this afternoon when they pulled into this place. There are a number of people that we have met and keep running into from time to time. It's really quite interesting.

This time we're traveling through Tok from east to west, heading to Fairbanks. We'll be back through here again in several weeks heading from south to north as we again pass through Tok on our way from Valdez to Dawson City. Again, that's sort of an anticipated plan, subject to change.

By the way, Sharyn has been unhappy with her hair getting in her face all the time, so last night she took all that hair and "cut it off." It really looks good.

Odometer reading = 40,875
Miles for day = 162

 

7/5/02
(North Pole, Alaska)

When we woke up this morning we had an 80% flat tire on the Honda. It looked as if it might be able to be driven a mile or so to a tire repair place, so while I was dumping the holding tanks, Sharyn started slowly down the road with the car. It turned out that we had a small nail in the tire. The guy fixed it and charged us $24 -- kind of steep!

We then hooked up the car and drove out of Tok, heading for Fairbanks. Twenty miles out of Tok the inside rear tire came apart. The thread totally separated from the side walls, leaving the side walls on the rim, while the thread remained in one complete circular piece, except for a two inch strip that wrapped itself around the axle and brake line. It probably took us over an hour to get it changed, but we back on the road at the end of that time, once again heading west towards Fairbanks.

At Delta Junction we came to Milepost 1422 and the official end of the Alaska Highway. It was ten days ago on June 26 that we passed through Dawson Creek and Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. From Delta Junction we picked up the Richardson Highway (basically a continuation of the Alaska Highway) which continues on to Fairbanks. We stopped, however, at Eielson AFB FamCamp, just outside of North Pole, and about 25 miles from Fairbanks.

This was ten minutes ago as I diligently work on these creative pages.

Odometer reading = 41,058
Miles for day = 183

 

7/6/02
(North Pole, Alaska)

When I got up I discovered that it was almost 9:30. I had been sleeping lightly for some time and was aware that it was getting near time to get up. The problem is that since it's always daylight, the degree of brightness is no clue as to whether or not it's time to get up -- or for that matter, time to go to bed. Several days ago Sharyn woke up, feeling well rested after a good night sleep, and came out to put the coffee on, only to discover that the clock said it was 12:30 am. She had only slept for a little more than an hour. Because of this we are not too quick to jump out of bed as soon as our eyes open. It may be the middle of the night.

In an attempt to make the bedroom dark, over a year ago we lined one of the windows with a padded aluminum foil material. You don't see this from inside because we put it behind the blind. The other bedroom window has a mirror slide that slides across the window at night assuring both privacy and darkness. Now, with never ending daylight, we also close the bedroom door at night. All of this, however, does not render the bedroom totally dark, but it does make it sleepable.

Query: How do nocturnal animals deal with this "it never gets dark" stuff?

Today we checked out the BX and commissary and Sharyn did a giant pile of laundry -- pretty much everything we have. Except for the laundry it was pretty much of a do nothing day. The first such day we've had in quite a while.

Tomorrow we plan on going to North Pole and Fairbanks to check them both out. We'll probably move the motorhome to an Army FamCamp right in Fairbanks but we want to see what it's like first. Our experience has been the the army campgrounds are pretty rough compared with the Air Force. We even found that to be true at West Point, which really surprised us. Since we want to spend some time in Fairbanks the army location would be super convenient.

Odometer reading = 41,058
Miles for day = 0

 

7/7/02
(North Pole, Alaska)

This morning while I was having my coffee I saw a moose walk past the back of the motorhome. I went outside to get a better look but he had gone into the woods. While I didn't see him again, I sure could hear him walking through the woods. Actually, since I did not see his head it could possibly be an elk or a caribou, but moose seems more likely.

After Sharyn got up and we had our coffee and conversation we drove to North Pole to check out Santa Clause and all his stuff. His place is pretty nice. I took this picture of Sharyn standing in front of one of his buildings. We were kind of disappointed with the appearance of his reindeer who are presently shedding their winter coats and look kind of mangy. As we were getting ready to leave we saw Santa who had apparently stopped by on his day off. It's the first time I ever saw Santa without his red suit. We spoke with him briefly -- he certainly is a nice man.

From North Pole we drove into Fairbanks where we first checked out the FamCamp at Fort Wainwright. We paid for two days starting tomorrow. From there we'll play it by ear.

Going out the main gate of the fort puts you right at the eastern edge of town, which is pretty convenient. We drove around Fairbanks locating three supermarkets, Sam's Club, the Museum of Natural History at the University of Alaska, Alaskaland, and several other place that we will check out over the next several days. The girl at the Army FamCamp also recommended a big discount tire warehouse for us to check on a new tire for the motorhome.

Odometer reading = 41,058
Miles for day = 0

 

7/8/02
(Fairbanks, AK)

This morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day. Before moving over to the FamCamp at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks we washed the motorhome and the car. Since it wasn't raining today, and we'll be staying in Fairbanks for several days, it made particular sense to wash the motorhome that had 2.000 miles worth of accumulated dirt, crud, and dust.

The campsite we have here at Ft. Wainwright may well be the nicest site we've ever had anywhere. It's a paved site, big enough for three motorhomes, and has nice location (which has a lot to do with why we picked it yesterday and paid in advance to reserve it). Strangely, it does not have a sewer connection, but it has 50 amps, water, cable, and telephone. They even gave us a telephone to use while we're here! We like it so much, and because we plan to see a number of things in and around Fairbanks, we paid for another three days on top of the two we paid for yesterday.

We're about 200 miles from the Arctic Circle and if tomorrow is as nice as today was we plan to drive up with the car.

There are four kids with their bikes and a dog in the site behind us. That even adds to the overall enjoyment of this place.

Odometer reading = 41,083
Miles for day = 25

 

7/9/02
(Fairbanks AK)

Today we first went to see about getting a new tire for the motorhome. Then we walked around the old Downtown Fairbanks before going to Alaskaland, a theme park with authentic stuff including the Pullman railroad car that President McKinley rode in on his trip to Alaska to put the gold spike in the tracks celebrating the completion of the railroad to Fairbanks, a large stern wheeler riverboat, a narrow gauge train the takes you around the perimeter of the park, a museum, etc. One of the things at Alaskaland is an array of old buildings and cabins that have been removed from their original sites and relocated to create an old gold town look. Each building has a sign on the front describing its history and original location. They are now operated as small shops that I would think cannot be making any money -- there are no customers!

By the way, this was Sharyn reading her book and getting a suntan at 11:30 last night.

Odometer reading = 41,083
Miles for day = 0

 

7/10/02
(Fairbanks AK)

Mid-morning we took off with the car for the Arctic Circle some 200 miles north of Fairbanks via the Elliott and Dalton Highways.. Only about 50 of the 200 miles are paved. Our first stop was about 60 miles north of Fairbanks at the Arctic Circle Trading Post in Joy, Alaska. Joy is populated by one family, the Carlsons, who, with their 24 kids (18 of whom are adopted) own and run the trading post. They usually have free coffee for travelers, but when we got there the pot (a big pot) was empty. We did, however, use the facilities which consisted of several outhouses. The sign on the front of one of them read "Imagine this when it's 40 below zero." I can't believe that I didn't take a picture of that for our Interesting Signs page.

The Dalton Highway provides access to the oil fields at Prudoe Bay and was used to haul men, equipment, and materials during the construction of the Alaskan pipe line that now runs 800 miles from Prudoe Bay to Valdez (the overhead "bridge" is to prevent any vehicle that would hit the pipe from getting that far -- this is a private oil line maintenance/security road) . By and large the pipeline parallels the highway.

Our next stop was the Hotspot Cafe where we bought gas on the way up ("the cheapest gas on the Highway") foe $2.50 per gallon, and coffee and ice cream and the way back.

Here Sharyn checks out a rock on the arctic tundra. These black spruce are about 100 years old. They are growing in a shallow layer of organic, peat-like material that lays on top of the permafrost. There is no drainage through the permafrost (soil that remains frozen 365 days a year) so in the summer the surface is soft and boggy. Tree growth is incredibly slow.

The Arctic Circle is actually the N 66 degrees 33 minutes latitude line. North of this line, the sun does not set on the summer solstice (usually June 21), and it not not rise on the winter solstice (usually December 21). Approximately 1/3 of Alaska lies within, or above, the Arctic Circle. Anyway, we got there!

Along the way we saw a wolf a few miles from the Hotspot Cafe. When we stopped there we mentioned the wolf to the owner. She had four little Yorkshire Terriers running around the place and said that last year she had lost one to a wolf. We also saw a porcupine and a arctic ground squirrel, who may have been a professional panhandler. We also cam upon a moose and her calf on the edge of the highway. They each went to the opposite sides of the car and we got this picture of the mother crossing behind the car to get back with her calf.

On all of these highways up here there are these big trucks that fly by sending windshield cracking gravel in all directions. Depending on the conditions at the time and place he passes you, the resulting dust leaves you driving blind for perhaps as much as 10-15 seconds. In this picture I had pulled off the road as I saw his dust coming so that I could get this picture. Notice the amount of roadway he's left for us!

On our way back to Fairbanks, at 10:35 pm, we took this picture of a field of wildflowers, almost iridescent in the sunshine.

Finally, we arrived back at the motorhome in Fairbanks at 2 o'clock in the morning, some 15 hours (and 400 miles) after we had left. It was worth it!

Odometer reading = 41,083
Miles for day = 0

 

7/11/02
(Fairbanks AK)

We didn't get up until after 10 o'clock. Had our coffee and conversation, went to the BX and commissary. I picked up the motorhome tire that we'd had mounted on our wheel, took the motorhome across the road to the dump station and dumped our holding tanks, and I got a haircut. Sharyn thinks it's too short and too "army."

Odometer reading = 41,083
Miles for day = 1/2

 

7/12/02
(Fairbanks AK)

Today was not too active, but to the extent we did anything, Sharyn cleaned the inside of the motorhome and I changed the oil and filter in the Honda. I also washed it to remove all the calcium chloride and mud from the drive up the Dalton Highway to the arctic circle. They apply calcium chloride to the road surface in an ttempt to keep down the dust, but it's very corrosive to the car.

Odometer reading = 41,083
Miles for day = 0

 

7/13/02
(Fairbanks AK)

We spent the morning in coffee and conversation, then went to the museum at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks this afternoon. We had read a great deal about the museum, and what a great place it was. When we got there we were surprised that it wasn't a larger building and half way expected to be disappointed with what we'd find inside. That certainly wasn't the case. It's amazing how much they have in such a relatively small area without being at all crowded. An expansion project is underway that will double the size. The opening of the new wing is scheduled for 2005.

Alaska's largest gold display is the centerpiece of the Fairbank's gold rush display. Some of the larger nuggets are rather flat in shape, about the size and texture of large homemade oatmeal cookies (pushing 4" across). There is a great deal of archeological and native artifacts on display, as well as mounted specimens of native mammals, fish, and birds.

One display that I found particularly interesting was Blue Babe, a 36,000 year old mummified steppe bison uncovered during a gold mining operation. It's pretty impressive what they can tell about this animal after all this time. It was a 6-8 year old male that was killed and partially eaten by an American lion (an african lion sized cat that is now extinct) in the fall or early winter. The name "Blue Babe" was given to him because of the blue color of his skin, the result of the chemical reaction between the skin and the mineral content of the soil which entombed the corpse.

Then of course there was this 425 pound quartz crystal (note the relative size of Sharyn's hand). Also several sets of skulls and tusks of ancient mastodons and woolly mammoths.

After we left the museum we stopped by the local farmer's market. From there we returned to the motorhome where I'm doing this web site while Sharyn is doing the laundry.

Odometer reading = 41,083
Miles for day = 0

 

7/14/02
(15 miles south of Denali National Park)

This morning we were up and on the road, heading south towards Anchorage. As we approached Mt. McKinnley and Denali National Park we were hoping to be able to see Mt. McKinnley but we couldn't. We turned into the entrance and went to the visitor's center at the park where we picked up some literature and watched a 20 minute film about Denali. All of the park's campgrounds were filled for the next three days so we got back on the road heading south. We'd gone about 15 miles when we spotted several RVs parked along the Nenana River in a paved pullout. Figuring that they were probably there for the night, we pulled in and joined them. The two units in front of us were traveling together and were on their way from Anchorage to Fairbanks, the opposite of our direction of travel. We talked with them for awhile, together with a fourth couple that stopped by, until it got kind of cool and we all all returned to our RVs for dinner, etc.

For free camping it was really a prime site. This was our view through the windshield, while this was looking back up the river. Sharyn spent some time sitting outside looking across the river hoping to see a bear or a moose (telling me to open the door quick if a bear came) but we had no visitors.

Odometer reading = 41,228
Miles for day = 145

 

7/15/02
(Anchorage AK)

Since when we dry camp (no hookups) we set the temperature for the bedroom at about 67 degrees with the LP furnace as the heat source (as opposed to the heat pump when we have electric) and keep the bedroom door closed (which we do here in Alaska anyway to keep the light out). Since we do not turn any heat on up front, when we get up in the morning the front of the motorhome can be rather cool -- as it was this morning. Nighttime temperatures have been running in the 50's or high 40's. Anyway, while waiting for the coffee to perk I turned on the generator to run the heat pumps for a rapid warm up.

Heading south again, we were still following the Nenana River for a short while. We stopped once for lunch, and once for coffee, before arriving at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage where we are staying at the FamCamp. We made a quick trip to the commissary for milk, bread, and a few other things we were short on before returning to the motorhome to have dinner and read some of the literature we've picked up on Anchorage and the surrounding area. Tomorrow we'll start checking it all out.

Some of you may remember (I'm sure you all do) the entry I made here on February 14, 2002 when I mentioned the retired Air Force couple camped next to us in Perry FL who were also on they way to Alaska. I said then, "We may well meet any or all of these people in Alaska this summer." Well, while we were in the commissary, Sharyn, who never, ever forgot a person she'd ever met, recognized them and we talked for a brief time about where we've been and what we've done since February -- including their brief encounter with a grizzly bear in Denali back in May.

On another track, the size and geographic location of Alaska is something I can't help but take note of. For instance, sitting here in Anchorage we are closer to Honolulu than we are to Chicago. We are closer to Tokyo than we are to Washington DC!

Odometer reading = 41,447
Miles for day = 219

 

7/16/02
(Anchorage AK)

Between sleeping late (we stay up late) and an extended coffee and conversation, we didn't leave the motorhome until almost noon. We went to the "downtown" section of Anchorage where we spend considerable time at the Federal Building which seems to function as a visitor's center and Alaska museum combination. We had reindeer sausage for lunch which we ate on the bench in front of the Federal Building.

After lunch we walked around the downtown area, eventually finding Cyrano's Book Store & Cafe. It's a tiny shop that one of the "patrons" (who turned out to be one of the directors of the theater group) we shared a table with described as unable to decide whether it wants to be a book store, a restaurant, or a theater. They are also home to a local theater group that puts on a different play each month. The atmosphere was distinctly different, but relaxed and quite pleasant. Sharyn told the lady there that if we lived here she'd like to be part of their group -- which she would.

Around the corner from Cyrano's is this sculpture marking the start of the Iditarod, the annual 1,000 mile dog sled race to Nome, and the Fur Rendezvous World Championship.

During the course of the day we picked up new literature about Anchorage and its surroundings. We have to do better on absorbing more of what's in all the literature we do pick up so we can get more organized in our "seeing what's here."

Odometer reading = 41,447
Miles for day = 0

 

7/17/02
(Anchorage AK)

Not too much activity today. We left the FamCamp on base and moved to the parking lot at Sam's Club. Obviously the parking lot is open, airy, and sunny. The campground was kind of "rough cut" into a wooded area on base and did not have any neatness or niceness about it. They are working there getting it cleaned up, etc. Hopefully next time we come to Alaska it'll be a nicer campground.

I've been unable to find any place to get on line with my computer. There are online computers on base that I can use, but that doesn't enable me to upload to this website. I even went back to Cyrano's to see if I could plug into their phone for "six to eight minutes" but they told me they only had the one business line and they could not accommodate me.

Odometer reading = 41,455
Miles for day = 8

 

7/18/02
(Portage AK)

When we woke up this morning it was raining, as it had been for most of the night. It seems that there should be a great deal to see and do in a city as large as Anchorage (pop 250,000) but we don't find that to be the case. Lots of shopping -- great shopping, if you're into shopping -- but not too much for us. We seem to enjoy "No-where's-ville" better than the larger cities. Anyway, we decided to leave Anchorage and head south for Seward on the east coast of the Kenai Peninsula.

The 127 mile long Seward Highway is recognized as one of the most scenic highways in the country. It was designated a National Forest Scenic Byway in 1998, and an All-American Road in 2000, one of only 15 roads in the United States recognized for outstanding scenic, natural, historic, cultural, archaeological, and recreational qualities. I don't think we'd take issue with any of that!

We stopped at Bird Point Scenic Overlook at milepost 96.5 where Sharyn spotted a bald eagle just over the two spruce trees at the edge of the water.

Later on we got off of the highway to go check out the Crow Creek Mine, an old gold mine that is presently run as a tourist attraction. We followed this road for about 5 miles to get here. Now for the dumb part. Whatever we were expecting, this wasn't it. Out of sight in this picture are a number of somewhat unsavory looking camping facilities, so we left. That was dumb! We may stop there again on our way back (we have to travel back up the Seward Highway to get off the Kenai Peninsula).

Continuing along the highway we made another stop (we make lots of stops). Sharyn was trying to decide if the movement at the base of the Kenai Mountains on the other shore was a bear. The water that the highway is following in this section is the Turnagain Arm, a narrow body of water that runs off of Cook Inlet between the Kenai and what I guess would be called the Alaskan mainland. When the tide is out extensive mud flats become exposed in many areas. There are warnings not to walk out on these flats because a little water covering the wet glacial silt can create quicksand and trap the unwary; plus the tide comes in with what is said to be a six foot tidal bore (a 6' wall of water), although I get the impression that a bore of that height only occurs when conditions for it are perfect -- that typically it's much less.

We're spending the night at a gravel area between the highway and the railroad track at the old Alaska Railroad Whittier vehicle shuttle loading area (before completion of the road to Whittier in 2000, the only means of transportation for people and vehicles was the railroad). Once again we met up with the two couples from Tyler, Texas who we originally met at a rest area back in British Columbia and who are also spending the night here. This is about the fourth time our paths have crossed.

We are only a few hundred yards from where the hamlet of Portage (pop 72) once stood. As a result of the earthquake on Good Friday, 1964, five residents were killed, and the ground under Portage dropped 6-12 feet. The high tides now came in and the land become a semi-tidal marsh. The buildings have all collapsed and/or sunken into the soft ground. The dead spruce trees in the background died because they now stand in a salt marsh. Thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of such dead trees still stand on this sunken land.

Odometer reading = 41,519
Miles for day = 64

 

7/19/02
(Seward AK)

This morning we woke up early, happy to see that the sun was shinning and it was a beautiful day. We talked a little with, and then said good-bye to, our friends from Tyler, Texas. They are working their way back to the lower 48 states.

We had a rather non-eventful trip to Seward, except for the scenery which continued to be absolutely outstanding. As I've said in the past, photographs just don't convey the experience. I've even told Sharyn that I'm not going to photograph scenic vistas anymore since when I look at them later I ask, "why did I take this picture?" It's like being totally emerged in a wonderland and then taking a picture of that wonderland through a keyhole. It just doesn't work. All that having been said, and in spite of what I told Sharyn, here's another failed attempt.

We are in a Seward City Campground. No hookups, but almost all sites allow you to pull the front of your unit right up to the edge of Resurrection Bay, the body of water that Seward is located on. Resurrection Bay runs into the Gulf of Alaska, basically the Pacific Ocean. The sunshine from this morning did not last. It's cold and rainy and has been since we got here. This picture, taken through the windshield from our campsite, is one of the Kenai Fjords tour boats returning from one of the tours of glaciers and marine wildlife in Kenai National Park. We plan to take one of these 7 hours tours while we're here. Hopefully it won't rain on our parade.

One more picture. Last night after I had completed yesterday's entry, an Alaska Railroad train went past our "campsite."

Odometer reading = 41,598
Miles for day = 79

 

7/20/02
(Seward AK)

Today we decided to go to see the Exit Glacier, part of the Kenai Fjords National Park. It's about 12 miles from here and it's a glacier that you can walk up to. As we were following the paved walkway that takes you part way to the glacier there were two small bear cubs climbing some birch trees just off of the path. I got a picture of one of them, and as I was trying to get a picture of the other one there was a snort behind me and I rapidly moved away to let the mother bear cross the walkway to her cubs. (This bear is not very big and there was some speculation that it was a yearling, or last year's cub. This is not too likely, in my opinion, since female bears do not breed again until her cubs are gone -- usually during their second summer. Comments from a "bear expert" would be appreciated). The cubs were paying no attention whatsoever to the people on the walkway, and the mother did not seem to be too upset either. An hour or two later we could see a mother and two cubs climbing way up high on the mountain and assumed it was them.

After the bears we continued on up the trail to the edge of the glacier. The water, which looks like a river, is the runoff from the ice melting from the bottom of the glacier. The water is a cloudy gray color, attributed to the "rock flour," or ground rock suspended in the water as a result of the glacier sliding across the ground and grinding up everything beneath it. You can't tell from the picture, but the leading edge of the ice is probably somewhere between 50 and 100 feet thick. Sharyn took this picture of me standing at the side of the glacier. Check the blue color of the ice!

By the way, near the glacier we saw this guy eating berries. He's about the size of a small beaver but don't have any idea what he is.

Back at the campground Sharyn walked the beach looking for more rocks.

Odometer reading = 41,598
Miles for day = 0

 

7/21/02 and 7/22/02
(Seward AK)

These two days have basically been spent replacing the hard drive in my computer (a Dell Inspiron 7500) and trying to save and/or recover all or most of my stuff. There is also the question of getting everything back to the way you had it (mostly preferences that you forgot how you had them, but you know you liked it that way). Surprisingly, here in Seward, Alaska there is a small computer place, Grant Electronics, that was very helpful and knowledgeable -- particularly Bryan, the young tech.

The bummer is that in this process you get all the aggravation and disruption that you get when you have to move all your stuff to a new computer (that's a more organized process), but when it's all over, not only are you not back where you started, but you didn't even get a new computer out of it.

The whole deal stinks!

Odometer reading = 41,598
Miles for day = 0

 

7/23/02
(Seward AK)

This morning I finally got my computer to where I can get on line through my own ISP in Charlottesville, Virginia, got Quicken to connect to our bank, and am probably 90% back to where I was before this hard drive situation arose. There are a thousand little things that, over time, I had tweaked to do things exactly as I wanted, and of course it's no longer like that. Also, I'm back to Photoshop 5.5, but life should not be perfect or we'd all be spoiled!

Anyway, enough of that stuff. Today is overcast, cold (mid-50's), and rainy. We have to run the generator for an hour or so several times a day, both to run the heat pumps and to recharge the batteries so they can run the furnace fans during the night. I don't believe we've seen the sun since we've been in Seward. It was also like this when we went to Skagway which leads us to believe that the southern coastal towns may (almost) never get put from under the clouds that form there. You'll remember that from Skagway we drove to Dyea, a town that no longer exists, but was a thriving "jumping off place" during the gold rush days, and now it's a beautiful, quiet, and peaceful temperate rain forest. Both Skagway and Dyea are on the southern coast. I also saw a sign here about a temperate rain forest somewhere in this vicinity.

In any event we've signed up for a 110 mile, six hour boat tour through Kenai Fjords National Park. We had decided not to do this tour, but to do one in Valdez instead, until our next door neighbor went yesterday and convinced us that we should do too.

The weather forecast is not good, but maybe they're wrong.

Odometer reading = 41,598
Miles for day =0

 

7/24/02
(Lower Summit Lake)

Lower Summit Lake is just a lake -- not a town, or even a hamlet.

This morning it was raining, just as it had been for most of the night As we were having our coffee and conversation we had three harbor seals slowly swim right past the front of our motorhome, no more than 25 feet from the beach. Having initially grabbed the binoculars to identify what was in the water, I stayed with the binoculars and forgot to take any pictures. With the binoculars you could count their whiskers!

Having already paid for the boat tour yesterday we got dressed in multi layers of clothing and went down to the dock for Kenai Fjords Tours. It was cold and rainy all day, with perhaps a few short interludes. In spite of the weather the tour was worth it.

Just pick and choose from the following:

A sea otter lounges lazily on his back (still in the harbor).

A five photo composite of Aialik Glacier (Scroll the picture horozontally!). It's difficult to appreciate the scale of some things from a picture, but the vertical height of this glacier at the forward edge is between 700-800 feet (that's more than half the height of the World Trade Center). Further back up the mountain the glacier is over 3,000 feet thick! This view from several miles away may help to appreciate its immensity. As impressive as its size may be, the noise is awesome. As the glacier slowly slides down the mountainside towards the water the giant ice mass cracks/compresses as its shape changes to match the contour of the mountain's surface. It sounds as if there was an artillery battle battle going on before your eyes (you wonder why you can't see the cannons); commingled with sounds like strings of loud thunderclaps -- you can feel the thunderous cracks and booms moving through the air. If you want to feel that, in nature's scheme of things, you don't much matter, get close, and listen to the sounds of the glacier! We watched chunks of ice break off and fall hundreds of feet to the water. While the biggest piece we saw fall was probably the size of a small house, sometimes they are apartment house size. Because of the wave this can create we remained a quarter mile from the face of the ice.

Harbor Seals on ice floes in front of the glacier.

In this picture I just caught the plume of the exhaled breath of a Northern Pacific Humpback Whale as it dove. The flukes are visible to the right of the plume. This was actually a mother and calf, but I can't remember which one I got in this shot. We also saw a 60 foot fin whale, first spotted by Sharyn, but the pictures aren't any good.

Steller Sea Lions basking on a rock. There are probably three times as many just over the crest of the rock, and I've got better close-ups of the sea lions, but this is a prettier picture of the island. (Here's a close-up anyway).

The sun and clouds over the mountains as we return to Seward.

Since we had now done everything we planned to do in Seward, and since it was still raining and our particular campsite was low and gathered runoff from a rather large area, we decided to start back up the Seward Highway towards Anchorage (getting off the Kenai Peninsula requires going back up through Anchorage). Since it was already getting late we didn't go too far before deciding to spend the night in this pull off. We'd had a full day!

Odometer reading = 41,645
Miles for day = 47

 

7/25/02
(Portage AK)

The conversation, in coffee and conversation, centered around whether or not we should divert to Hope for some gold panning. Hope is a small place with a population of less than 50 people at the end of a narrow 17 mile dead end road. We decided to go.

Arriving at the end of the paved road we came to this sign, which pointed here.

Sharyn gets instruction on how to do it properly. For $7 this guy gives you a bucket of dirt and shows you how to pan it to separate out the gold particles. Two years ago we bought two pans for $6 each and have yet to recover our $12. We figured that some formal instruction might be a worthwhile additional investment. Besides, look at this fellow; does he know gold panning, or what?

We each got about four pans of dirt from our buckets. This was Sharyn's "take" from one pan, or approximately one fourth of the gold she got from her bucket. It's worth somewhere between five and ten cents. I did just about as well as Sharyn did. Now we'll have to put our newly improved skills to use.

On the way out of Hope I took this picture the Hope Civic Center.

From Hope we went to Chugach National Forest visitor's center at Portage Glacier Lake, and then to the same railroad siding where we stayed a week or so ago on our way down here. It's still raining.

Odometer reading = 41,730
Miles for day =85

 

7/26/02
(Anchorage AK)

Once again it was raining when we got up. As we were having our coffee and conversation we talked about all the mountains surrounding the Portage area, and the dark clouds that partially encompassed the snow swept mountain tops. Looking up and across at the hostile environment that must exist up among those peaks made us think that it was almost as if we were witness to some small part of what it must have been like at the time the earth was forming. We think about that a lot up here. Nature and the earth itself are the predominant elements in Alaska. Not just nature like songbirds, cottontails, and falling leaves, but major, sometimes catastrophic, happenings like where the 1964 earthquake caused an entire town and its surrounding area to drop below sea-level and turn the whole area into a marsh land; like listening to sheets of ice more than a half mile thick carving the shape of the earth's surface; a high profile nature of a magnitude that overwhelms everything else. You thread carefully, for this is like no other place you've ever been. Neither of us would like to live here, but we both agree that everyone should experience Alaska.

Anyway, the time did come when we got back on the road heading towards Anchorage. Perhaps ten miles south of Anchorage Sharyn spotted a bull moose as we passed by a low lying pasture area.

It turned out that across the highway from where the moose was there was a small visitor's center based in an old railroad car. In front of the railroad car was a rail mounted snow blower that had been used to clear the tracks of snow up until 1985. This blower, which was pushed along by two or three locomotives, could clear the tracks of snow 15 feet deep, and would throw the snow 300 feet. There was a film that showed the blower in operation. It's quite a machine! The "pitch" of the blades was adjustable and in the picture the blades are flat, not the way they would be positioned when the blower was in operation. The blower turned out to be a freebie that came with the moose.

We're now back in Anchorage, staying at the FamCamp at Fort Richardson. This is a much nicer FamCamp than the one at the air base. That's a change from what we've found in the past where the Air Force FamCamps have been better, cleaner, and neater than the Army's. That's definitely not the case here.

Odometer reading = 41,790
Miles for day = 60

 

7/27/02
(Anchorage AK)

When we came in yesterday there were no sites left with hookups so we were assigned to a dry camp site (which only cost $5). This morning the host came over and told us he had a full hook up site available. We were glad to get it because we've been dry camped for over a week.

We didn't do too much today, except for a trip to the commissary and a big load of laundry that Sharyn did. The laundry here is free, which is a nice extra that we've only run into 3 or 4 times, and only at FamCamps.

While Sharyn was doing the laundry I backed up most all of the data on my computer to zip disks. I think the only thing I did not back up were several thousand photographs that are not being used on the website. It would take 4 more zip disks to hold them, but Grant Electronics in Seward has those photos, plus most of my other data on his server. I'm going to have all that stuff put on a CD for $12 and have him send me the CD. I'll still have to get more zip disks, but that should take care of the immediate need for backup. This computer is still not right but I'm not sure what to do about it. I'd like to find a Dell place to look at it since I'm still on warranty until December.

While I was sitting at the table doing my back up stuff something caught my eye out the window. It was a big cow moose trotting around the motorhome with two calves following here. I thought it was a good thing Sharyn was not sitting outside reading, as she frequently is, because I suspect her heart rate would have tripled. Even a cow moose is considerably larger than a horse, and they're much taller due to their very long legs. I suspect Sharyn would have been intimidated. There is a well worn path where they came out of the woods, and that well worn path continues on the other side of the motorhome. We may very well get to see them again.

We have no particular plans for the next several days, but may just spend some relaxed time at this FamCamp. When we do leave here we'll be on our way to Valdez.

Odometer reading = 41,790
Miles for day = 0

 

7/28/02 to 7/30/02
(Anchorage AK)

I thought I had not made an entry here for two days, but I see it's been three. We really haven't done much. I was finally able to get on line with my own computer so I was able to update this site. We dropped the old hard drive off at Airborne Express with Dell's return shipping label. We got Sharyn a rock hammer so she wouldn't have to use my short handled sledge hammer to break open her rocks. I washed the car and the motorhome. That's about all I can remember that we've done. It's been quite relaxing for these several days -- not that we're living stressful lives.

By the way, it was sunny and beautiful today with the temperature in the mid-70's. It's been a long time since we've seen this kind of weather! It was probably more than six weeks ago that we arrived at the Canadian border all suntanned from having spent the winter in the south and southwestern United States. Now we're in the middle of the summer and have no remaining vestiges of any tan. Oh well, winter will return again!

Tomorrow we were going to start heading for Valdez, but Sharyn wants to return to Hope to do some gold panning in Resurrection Creek so tomorrow we're going to go back down there with the car and see what we can find.

Odometer reading = 41,790
Miles for day = 0

 

7/31/02
(Anchorage AK)

Shortly after ten o'clock we were in the car and on our way back to Hope. Somewhere along the Seward Highway we pulled over and took this picture looking east along Turnagain Arm. The Kenai Peninsula (and Hope) is on the other side of the water. About 60 miles out of Anchorage along the Seward Highway you'll come to Portage and the end of Turnagain Arm. At that point the road makes a sweeping U-turn to the right and you're on the Kenai Peninsula

While our purpose and destination is to do some gold panning at Resurrection Creek about three miles upstream from Hope, we first stopped at Canyon Creek as Sharyn thought is looked like a promising spot.

We didn't know how to get to the upstream spot on Resurrection Creek so we went into the town to get directions. This is the what the mouth of the creek looked like with the pink salmon running. The creek runs into Turnagain Arm and, while not visible in the photo, the Seward Highway is right at the edge of the water on the far side, and at that point is only about 25 miles from Anchorage. I had suggested to Sharyn (in a non-serious manner) that we should have put the kayaks in the water at that point and paddled across to Hope rather than drive the 100 miles around the end of the Arm.

When we got to where we wanted to be on Resurrection Creek we found this fellow already there so we moved a short way downstream and tried our luck. We didn't do to well, and looking closer didn't help.

We're now driving east, back along the south shore of Turnagain Arm towards the Seward Highway so that we can get to and cut around the end of the Arm. This is another picture showing some of the land around Portage that ended up below sea-level when the 1964 earthquake hit Alaska. Again, those dead trees are the remnants of a spruce forest that died when the root systems became permanently inundated with salt water. Also, this picture was taken on the south side of the Arm, across from where Portage used to stand. The entire sunken area, just judging from the spruce trees, seems to be in the neighbor of 30 square miles!

Just before we left the Peninsula we stopped at a small river and watched several families fishing for salmon with fairly good results. I think we're going to have to buy a couple of cheap fishing poles while we're in the middle of all this salmon activity.

As we rounded the end of the Arm we tried panning in the Placer River but that also failed to produce anything.. The only thing we got all day was one tiny piece (a speck) of gold that Sharyn got at Canyon Creek. We do have a bucket of creek bottom that we brought back from there which may yield some results.

In this final picture we were back on the north side of the Arm and heading west towards Anchorage when we came upon the group of sheep grazing on the side of the mountain. You can't tell from the picture, but they're up on the mountain, high above the highway.

Total car miles for the day were just over 200.

Odometer reading = 41,790
Miles for day = 0

 

8/1/02
(Anchorage AK)

In preparation for leaving here tomorrow Sharyn did washing and ironing while I went to the base library, returning a book on bears that I borrowed the other day, and played with their computers. Later on I rewaxed the front of the motorhome so that bugs would be easier to remove.

Our plan, until an hour ago, was to leave here in the morning and head for Valdez, probably taking 2 or 3 days to get there. However, there is a four day bluegrass festival that started today in Talkeetna, about 100 miles north of here. There is a $30 admission fee for the entire four days, which includes dry camping, but "seniors and children under 12 are free."

So, tomorrow morning we're off to Talkeetna. We still want to be in Valdez August 7-11 for Gold Rush Days, an annual celebration featuring cancan girls, parades, a town fish fry, game night, and other good stuff.

Odometer reading = 41,790
Miles for day = 0

 

8/2/02
(Talkeetna AK)

While I took the motorhome to fill the gas and propane tanks here on base, Sharyn took the car to the commissary to get whatever we needed in the form of groceries. I then met her in the commissary parking lot where we hooked up the car and headed for the blue grass festival at Talkeetna. Although it was only a hundred miles away, we probably took three hours to get there. Because we were both over 55 we both got in for free -- this was the first time Sharyn ever received a "Senior" discount.

The big disappointment is that it wasn't bluegrass at all. It was loud music, and lots of it (until 2:am), but while it was not bluegrass, some of it was rock and roll that was familiar to us -- we did enjoy the music. We also walked around looking at the wide assortment of people who were there, and checking out the stuff that was being sold in the different booths. If you were a smoker, of almost any substance, there was an amazing assortment of stuff for you to buy. Most jurisdictions would label it "drug paraphernalia" but perhaps Alaska is somewhat looser in that regard; although the State Police did circle the area with their helicopters on a somewhat regular basis. While we would say there were strange people and strange smells, the fact is that we were the misfits. There were clean cut looking girls who looked too young to be there, 65 year old leftover hippies, and everything in between. It was interesting for both of us, but particularly for Sharyn who is a real "people watcher."

On the way to Talkeetna we were heading back up the Parks Highway towards Denali (Mt. McKinley) which had been ensconced in clouds when we were there several weeks ago. We had never seen it! Today, as we drove north, there was Denali, well over a hundred miles away, but very beautiful. Since I had not been able to take any pictures the last time, after our initial checking out of what was going on, I told Sharyn that I was going to go back out to the highway and take some photos. Well, in looking for the best view from the highway I kept driving north for over 30 miles until I got some shots that I thought were not bad. I was still 100 miles from the mountain! While it's not too clear in this reduced file size format (24K rather than 542K) you can still see the snow being blown off the mountain top at the peak by the high winds.

After dinner we walked back up the hill to the festival where Sharyn took this picture of Blue Shadow performing as we listened to the music and watched the people for an hour or so before returning to the motorhome.

Odometer reading = 41,896
Miles for day = 106

 

8/3/02
(Anchorage AK)

This morning I took a walk around the area to see what was happening. Most of the people it seems were either still sleeping or just getting up, although a few were beginning to enter the gate. Anyway, we decided that this wasn't what we had thought it was going to be so we left.

Last nigh we spoke with Jordan on the telephone and it looks as if she's going to rejoin us here in Alaska. Since flying into Alaska pretty much means flying into either Anchorage or Fairbanks, we headed back to the Fort Richardson/Elmendorf AFB complex, and the army FamCamp.

The music festival was just past the turnoff to the town of Talkeetna, so as we came past the turnoff we decided to go check out the town itself. It's a tiny town that describes itself as having a population of "about 450 people and half as many dogs." This is Main Street. We spent about an hour there, checking out every store and shop and buying two large ice creams.

We then continued on back to Anchorage where we are again at the Black Spruce campground at Fort Richardson. We found this to be a very comfortable place to stay.

Odometer reading = 42,024
Miles for day = 127

 

8/4/02
(Anchorage AK)

Today we got up late, bought the Sunday paper and sat outside enjoying the sunshine while we read the paper.

Odometer reading = 42,024
Miles for day = 0

 

8/5/02
(Anchorage AK)

Jordan will be flying into Anchorage on Tuesday the 13th. Until that time we won't be doing any traveling, except perhaps for some daytrips, so there won't be much to write about. Until such time as I come up with something interesting to say, or until we start to travel again, there probably won't be any new entry on this page. See you next week!

Odometer reading = 42,024
Miles for day = 0

 

8/12/02
(Anchorage AK)

It's been a week since I last wrote anything here, and as expected not much has happened in that time. It's rained just about every day. Daytime temperatures are in the low to mid 60's while at night the temperature drops down around 50. I think Sharyn and I will remember 2002 as the year we missed summer. The near constant rain is probably to be expected since August is Alaska's rainiest month. Also, it seems that anytime we are on or near the coast is has been rainy, even in July. I suspect that when we leave Valdez and head north to Tok and Dawson City, and away from the coast, that we will find less rain, even in August.

Yesterday's (Sunday's) The Anchorage Times contained the following somewhat interesting story:

"A man in the fertilized egg business had several hundred young layers, called pullets, and eight or ten roosters whose job it was to fertilize the eggs. He kept records and any rooster or pullet that didn't perform went into the pot and was replaced. This took an awful lot of time. So he got a set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. He could then sit on his porch and fill out an efficiency report by listening to the bells. His favorite rooster was old Brewster. A fine specimen he was, but his bell had not rung all morning. The man went to investigate. Several roosters were chasing pullets, bells aringing. Brewster had his bell in his mouth so it wouldn't ring. This way he'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and go on to the next one. The man was so proud of Brewster he entered him in the county fair. Brewster was an overnight sensation. The judges not only awarded him the No Bell Prize, but also the Pullet Surprise."

Odometer reading = 42,024
Miles for day = 0

 

8/13/02 to 8/16/02
(Glen Highway, 119 miles east of Anchorage)

Jordan arrived at the Anchorage Airport just after midnight on the 14th. We stayed up talking until the wee hours of the morning, slept late, and didn't do too much all day. On the 15th we went into town where Jordan got to see downtown Anchorage. We then spent several hours at Barnes & Noble (Jordan's favorite place in any town) before returning to the motorhome.

Finally, this morning, we were back on the road again. As we drove north towards Palmer and then east towards Glennallen, Sharyn noted that the trees are already beginning to develop their fall color. This road is known as the Glenn Highway and has some marvelous scenery (in spite of the haze from forest fires burning some 300 miles to the northwest). This old log cabin on the side of a river was not the only one we saw, but it was probably the most picturesque.

When we came to a pull-off with a particularly nice view overlooking a wide valley and the mountains on the other side, we decided to spend the night, even though it was still a bit early. We hadn't been there five minutes until Sharyn had gone into the bedroom saying she was going to take a "nap," Jordan was asleep on the couch, and I was sleeping in the chair! Eventually we all got back up, had dinner and, around midnight, went back to bed. This was the view to the southeast shortly after 10:pm.

Odometer reading = 42,143
Miles for day = 119

 

8/17/02
(Valdez AK)

In spite of the fact that we slept on the side of the road last night, we still didn't get started today until just before noon. I guess some people are better starters than others. We're in the slow group!

We continued on in an easterly direction as far as Glennallen where we turned and headed south towards Valdez. We stopped for lunch at a roadside pull-off with quite a nice view. As we got to within about 50 miles of Valdez and the coast of Prince William Sound, we began to see some rather dramatic cloud effects that further enhanced the scenery. Here's another.

About ten miles north of Valdez we stopped here to take a picture of this waterfall.

Earlier in the day we took a picture of this guy. He's about the size of a woodchuck. What is it?

Five miles outside of Valdez we came to a place where four other RVs were camped on the side of the road. Since it was getting late, we decided that instead of paying $25 for a campsite when it was time to have dinner and go to bed, we'd spend the night with these people and then go to a campground in the morning. It turned out that they were where they were because all the campgrounds in town were full.

After getting set up, Sharyn and I took the car into town to check it out. It looks as if 25% of Valdez consists of RV parks and right now they are all fish camps. We may just stay where we are.

Odometer reading = 42,324
Miles for day = 181

 

8/18/02
(Valdez AK)

This morning's coffee and conversation went on for hours and it was very enjoyable. This included a lengthy telephone conversation with our son Phil and granddaughter Katlin.

It was well after noon when we drove into town where we checked out several stores including The Prospector, "Alaska's finest outfitters." They have some very nice stuff, including a lot of special purpose clothing and other things to help keep you warm that you would not find in the lower 48. While we were there I looked at a DMT diamond whetstone knife sharpening set for $42 that I really liked. I'd been looking for such a set for several months but hadn't found one. Actually I found a number of sales people who didn't have any idea as to what I was talking about. Shortly after we left the store Sharyn suggested that I go back and get it as a Christmas present to myself, so I did. (She's a neat wife!) It's actually a nicer set than I was thinking about since I had never given any thought to diamond stones. (By the way, whenever I mention a place, business, etc., that has a website I will frequently provide a link to the site. Usually, as in this case, I haven't seen the site -- I hope that they are worth the link.)

Anyway, from there we went to a place that advertises itself as "Valdez's largest gift store" (a little bit like a kid bragging that he's the smartest one in the "dumb row"). Definitely not worth a link!

We then went to the Valdez Museum which was small but nice. They had a good number of displays about Valdez in the early 1900's, it's Native Culture, the Valdez Exxon oil spill, and of course the 1964 earthquake. The Valdez that existed prior to the earthquake no longer exists. Today's Valdez is the one that was rebuilt after the quake, about four miles from the site of the original. This American Bald Eagle is in the museum lobby.

We then went to the only grocery store in town for some milk and bread before returning to the motorhome. As we left the grocery store and walked across the parking lot Jordan commented that the mountains surrounding Valdez make it seem like we're in Peru or some other distant rain forest like wilderness.

Several weeks ago we had our mail forwarded from Texas to the Valdez post office so tomorrow we'll go pick up several months worth of mail. We may also take a tour boat cruise of Prince William Sound.

As I'm writing this, Sharyn is sitting at the table and Jordan is preparing dinner (with some very sharp knives).

(fade out) . . . (fade in)

It's now after dinner and as I was getting ready to wash the dishes Jordan was outside in the rain taking pictures of the cloud encompassed mountains that surround Valdez.

By the way, that unknown animal from yesterday was a Hoary Marmot.

Odometer reading = 42,324
Miles for day = 0

 

8/19/02
(Gakona AK)

Last night was our third consecutive night of dry camping, and with nighttime temperatures near 50 degrees the furnace has been running quite a bit. While the furnace is LP gas, the circulating fan runs on DC, and last our batteries went down so low that the refrigerator started beeping a warning that there was no 12 volt current to the circuit board. The beeping woke me up, and eventually I got up at 5:15, having decided that I wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep. I sat and drank my coffee while listening to Morning Edition on Public Radio, waiting for 7:am, at which time I felt it was okay to start the generator to both start charging the batteries and run the heat pumps.

Eventually we were all up, dressed, and warm. Outside it was cold and raining and forecasted to continue at least until Thursday (today is Monday). We had planned to take the glacier cruise on Prince William Sound, but in view of the weather we decided not go. Instead we took the motorhome into town, filled our water tanks at one of the campgrounds, used their phone line to get on line and update this site for the first time in a week, and took off heading north towards Dawson City in the Yukon. Today we got just a little past Glennallen and we're now parked on the side of the road about 100 miles from Tok (where we had our two flat tires on July 5th).

Odometer reading = 42,484
Miles for day = 160

 

8/20/02
(Chicken AK)

It was raining when we went to bed last night, raining when we got up this morning, and it's still raining now. Like they say, August is the rainiest month here in Alaska.

Anyway, this morning we pulled out onto the highway shortly before 11 o'clock heading for Tok. When we got there we pulled into the visitor's center parking lot to eat lunch and decide upon a plan. After Jordan and I checked out the visitor's center we all went across the street to a rather large gift store that turned out to have pretty nice stuff. I told Sharyn and Jordan that Tok kind of strikes me as the jumping off spot to the wilderness; the edge of the frontier so to speak. And this holds true whether you're just coming into Alaska from Canada or leaving Alaska for Canada.

Since it was still raining we decided to continue on to Chicken, about another 77 miles. The road to Chicken is a good but narrow road that winds its way through the hills and is closed in the winter. The pavement ends a mile or so before Chicken.

Chicken is somewhat of a novelty stop for people taking the Taylor and Top of the World Highways to Dawson City. Actually it was suppossed to be called Ptarmigan but no one knew how to spell it so they decided to just call it Chicken instead. It's smaller than probably any other place anywhere. This is all there is of downtown Chicken which has no telephones, no electric (each business has its own electric generator), and recieves no radio stations or TV channels. . A hundred yards beyond Chicken is a small, family owned and operated gold mine where the owners have just opened an adjacent campground and gift shop. We're at the campground right next to the gold mining operation. Tomorrow we'll check out Chicken in greater detail.

There is a sign on the front of one of the stores that answers most of the questions people have about Chicken. It reads . . .

Odometer reading = 42,661
Miles for day = 177

 

8/21/02
(Chicken AK)

It was still raining this morning, but not so hard that we couldn't try our luck at panning some of the dirt from the gold mine operation. It didn't take too long until Jordan got the fever. After several hours Jordan and I were cold enough and wet enough that we quit. Sharyn continued panning all day. At the end of the day our combined efforts resulted in this!

Odometer reading = 42,661
Miles for day = 0

 

8/22/02
((Dawson City, Yukon)

This morning we started out for Dawson City in the Yukon Territory via the "Top of the World Highway." This is a narrow, winding, mostly unpaved road that runs through the unsettled wilderness between Chicken and Dawson City. We stopped just short of the US-Canadian border where the elevation is over 4,000 feet. From our vantage point we looked down on the mountains to the north and the clouds that partially covered them. This panoramic view will scroll horizontally.

This was the scene as we approached Dawson City from about ten miles out. This is looking down on parts of Dawson City before we began our descent to the Yukon River and the free ferry that would take us across.

Just so you should know, I use less than 10% of the pictures that we take. Sharyn has just looked at all the pictures from the last several days and says that I should put up all the pictures and forget about all the stuff I write.

Odometer reading = 42,772
Miles for day = 111

 

8/23/02
(Dawson City, Yukon)

Dawson City is neat -- the streets are still unpaved and you walk on wooden sidewalks. If you took away the cars and trucks the town would not be too different from the way it looked 100 years ago (except that there were a lot more people then).

Sharyn and Jordan checked out a number of stores, and while I went with them, I preferred different stores.

Today was the first day in several weeks that we saw sunshine for several hours. The lady in one store said they've been marking the days on the calendar and that it's rained for the last 19 days!

Anyway, we came across Klondike Kate's eating establishment around lunchtime so we decided to eat there. Sharyn and Jordan cross the street to go in. The really nice thing about Dawson City is that unlike Mystic Seaport or Williamsburg, Virginia, this is not a restoration. It's just that it hasn't really changed. Klondike Kate's has always been right where it is today.

We took note of the contrast between the very old on the right and the very new on the left.

Later this afternoon it started to rain again, but by that time we had pretty much finished. We returned to the motorhome where I did this web page, Sharyn took all the stuff to the laundry room, and Jordan made curried tuna salad with apples for dinner.

This is an add-on paragraph since when Sharyn came back from the laundry room she wanted to go to Diamond Tooth Gerties, Gambling Hall & Can Can Show. We got there just as the floor show was beginning. It was pretty good, and while I'm sure it was less rowdy than it was when the original Diamond Tooth Gertie was there, it was probably otherwise pretty much the same, right down to the honky tonk piano music. It's too bad I hadn't brought my camera because they do allow noncommercial, still picture, photography. Oh well, the show was good and Sharyn lost at the slot machines.

Odometer reading = 42,772
Miles for day = 0

 

8/24/02
(Dawson City, Yukon)

This afternoon I washed the motorhome to remove all the accumulated mud. Sharyn and I drove to town (approx 2 miles) and bought some needed groceries. Prices are quite high, but I guess that's understandably so.

Sharyn also put a hammer to some of her recently colleected rocks to see what the insides might reveal. While she was doing that I peeled the bark from the diamond willow sapling I had cut down to make a walking stick. They sell these walking sticks in many of the stores, but I decided to cut and do my own. I'm not sure why, since I don't use a walking anyway -- it's just something you have to carry.

Odometer reading = 42,772
Miles for day = 0

 

8/25/02
(Whitehorse, Yukon)

Since we stayed up watching a late movie on TV last night, we didn't wake up until 10:30. We had our coffee and conversation and got ready to leave. When we pulled out of the campground it was one o'clock -- a late start even for us!

At this point, leaving Dawson City, we are (the tendency is to say) working our way home. The plan was to drive the Klondike Loop towards Whitehorse, approximately 300 miles, but probably stop at Carmack which was only about 200 miles.

Leaving Dawson City on the south end of town you drive through an area not far from Bonanza Creek where the original Klondike gold was discovered. It wasn't too many years later that mining companies had big dredges working the land in their quest for gold. The results of this unregulated surface mining can still be seen along the highway.

After traveling for awhile we came to a point from which you could look out over what is the largest geological fault line in North America. The Tintina Trench extends for hundreds of miles across Alaska and The Yukon. Over millions of years the two plates slid over 300 miles so that two people standing facing each other across the trench back then would now find the other guy some 300 miles off to his left. Of course the "trench" (the valley-like depression) itself resulted from this movement.

It was probably 200 miles later when we came upon what remains of the Montague Roadhouse, a typical early-day roadhouse which offered lodging and meals on the stagecoach route between Dawson City and Whitehorse. In the January 16, 1901 edition of the Whitehorse Star, the Montague Roadhouse was listed as being at Mile 99, and one of 52 places offering overnight accommodations along the Whitehorse-Dawson Overland Trail. Meals were served on the first floor and the bedrooms were on the second floor.

This is the view from in front of the roadhouse looking towards Whitehorse. This is what we saw as we got closer to Whitehorse and the sun was starting to set over on of the lakes.

Anyway, having driven a lot further than originally planned, we're now in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Whitehorse.

Odometer reading = 43,100
Miles for day = 328

 

8/26/02
(Whitehorse, Yukon)

Since we are staying in Wal-Mart's parking lot, after coffee and conversation we went into the store to buy some groceries. We always patronize Wal-Mart, particularly when staying in their parking lot. Their corporate policy is to welcome RVers to spent the night in their parking lots. This Wal-Mart, however, is not a "Supercenter" and only had a limited amount of groceries.

We then drove into the old downtown area where we walked around a bit, had lunch, and walked around a little more. On the way back to the motorhome we stopped at a small mall where Jordan, who has been looking for a nice camera bag since January finally found one.

We then returned to the motorhome, and while I read the newspaper Sharyn went back to a supermarket a short distance down the road.

Later in the evening (it still doesn't get dark until somewhere around ten o'clock) we talked to a number of other RVers in the parking lot about where we've all bee,' what we've seen, and where we're going (and why we're going there). Sharyn talked with the people in the two units behind us and when she came back they had convinced her that we should return via the Cassiar Highway which we had decided not to do. They were very emphatic that we should take that route and be sure to stop at Steward BC and Hyder AK. Reading about that area we've decided to go there.

We have been doing quite a bit of boondocking, or dry camping, and find that we could use greater battery storage capacity and probably some solar panels to keep the battery bank charged. We'll probably look into such equipment at Quartzite in January. From what we understand, Quartzite (the world's largest flea market) has lots of vendors selling solar equipment in a very competitive environment.

Odometer reading = 43,100
Miles for day = 328

 

8/27/02
(Teslin YK)

We got a late start this morning when the ABS warning light came on on the dash. We were on our way out of town but turned around and went back to the Ford dealer, figuring if we were going to have to deal with a problem it would be better to do so in a real town rather than 100 miles into the wilderness. The two compartment brake fluid reservoir took an entire can of fluid, but it seems that low fluid had nothing to do with the ABS warning light. What happened to the low fluid warning? Who knows. Ford could not look at our problem for three days, but they did give me a piece of thin rubber tubing that I attached to a large 60cc syringe so that I could get the fluid into the reservoir which has less than 2" vertical clearance over the caps.

We left Whitehorse with the ABS system presumably not working, although after stopping for lunch, I released the parking brake to start moving again and the ABS light went out. Later it came back on again.

Anyway, we're now camped at Mukluk Annie's Salmon Bake and RV Park. Mukluk Annie offers free dry camping, water, and RV dump. If you want hookups you have to pay. If you have the salmon bake ($18.95 Canadian) you also can use the RV and car wash stations. Since it's raining (what else?) the wash has no appeal, but we did the salmon bake anyway. While we were eating the electric went out so there were no lights, Jordan's BLT was not on toast, etc. Of course when we came back to the motorhome we were unaffected by the "external" power outage.

Odometer reading = 43,206
Miles for day = 106

 

8/28/02
(Watson Lake YK)

Surprisingly we woke up this morning to a beautiful, sunny day. A very pleasant experience.

After coffee and conversation, and morning (vs evening ) showers, we were on our way. As I started doing this entry I asked, "so what did we do today?" Jordan's immediate answer was, "drive, drive, drive," which is pretty accurate. When we got to the intersection of the Cassiar Highway with the Alaska Highway we pulled into Junction 37, the same place we pulled into on June 28, exactly two months ago, while heading towards Alaska.

We unhooked the car and drove the 13 miles into Watson Lake to get a few groceries (I found a wild blueberry pie) and let Jordan see the sign forest. Upon our return to the motorhome we went to the same cafe we ate in last time, and, after eating, again asked if we could spend the night in their parking area.

By the way, this was Jordan on the way to the cafe.

Odometer reading = 43,361
Miles for day = 155

 

8/29/02
(Dease River Crossing BC -- on Cassiar Highway 104.5 miles south of Alaska Highway)

We did well this morning, being on the road by 8:30. Our first stop was a wide spot in the road where Sharyn checked out some neighborhood rocks and I took this picture of the road ahead, the Cassiar Highway heading south. Eventually we got to Jade City, the home of two competing businesses that deal in jade. As one of them says, you can buy it by the ounce or by the ton. Here's a smaller but nicer piece in front of his competitor's store.

Once again we headed south until we came down a long hill and saw this campground off to our left. We pulled off the road to decide if we wanted to spend the day at this campground even though it was only two o'clock and we had figured on another 100 miles or so. The setting was just too nice to pass by. After we got set up and got Sharyn's fire started it started raining and it wasn't too long until the fire had to be abandoned. Some time later the sun came out and the entire world lit up. How nice can it get?

This is what our campsite looked like from the kayak, in the middle of the lake.

Anyway, we're talking to the owners about doing a website for them. If we do it we'll be staying here another day. If not we'll be on our way once again to Steward and Hyder.

Odometer reading = 43,465
Miles for day = 104

 

8/30/02
(Iskut BC)

We're not going to do a web site for Dease River Crossing. It turns out that today is the last day for them to change their ad in Woodall's Campground Directory (to include their URL) and to do so they'd have to drive to Dease, about 45 miles south of here to get to a telephone. We didn't realize that, with few exceptions, the small communities or businesses along the Cassiar Highway do not have electricity or telephone service. Everyone that has power has his own generator. We knew that was the case in Chicken, Alaska, but it's not as unique as we thought. The exceptions seem to be Indian Villages that, as "First Nation" communities have electric generating facilities provided by the government.

As we were getting ready to leave I noticed that one of the hangers that support the dinning room slide had broken again. The campground owner, a retired dairy farmer from Wisconsin, did a professional welding repair for us. Not only did we get a beautiful lakeside campsite for $10, but we also got a welding repair worth more than twice that. Dease River Crossing RV Park will always be a "must stop" place for us. The owners are good, hardworking, super nice people.

Eventually we were on our way and had an uneventful trip to Iskut. We're all in agreement that this trip, Alaska, and Canada's western provinces are all great and worthwhile experiences, but we are also ready to get back to the non-wilderness and paved highways of the Lower 48.

We checked in to Willow Ridge Campground here in Iskut, looking forward to the full hookups; 30 amps, water and sewer. The campground generates its own electric, but doesn't get much over 100 volts -- somewhat limiting with respect to what we can use. Either the heat pump and nothing else, or no heat pump but whatever else we want.

Odometer reading = 43,591
Miles for day = 126

 

8/31/02
(Steward BC)

It rained all night, all day, and it's still raining now. In spite of the rain we got to Steward without any problems, even though Sharyn was a nervous wreck about the Cassiar Highway. The owner at Dease River told us about an 18 wheeler that pulled over last week to make room for an oncoming vehicle and had his wheels sink into the rain soaked shoulder flipping him over. I appreciated the information, but Sharyn certainly didn't have to hear the story.

From the point where you turn off of the Cassiar Highway it's about 40 miles to Steward. The drive in, and the mountains surrounding Steward, are super impressive. We'll take pictures tomorrow when hopefully it won't be raining so hard. For now I'm going to the office where I'll be able to get on line for the first time in quite a while.

Odometer reading = 43,750
Miles for day = 159

 

9/1/02
(Steward BC)

As I typed today's date I realized that today would be my father's 100th birthday. Happy Birthday Pop!

We started the day today by driving across the border into Hyder, Alaska and along the Salmon River to the bear viewing area. On the way there we stopped along the river and watched the salmon working their way up the river to spawn. The river was loaded with them. We must have been looking out over several hundred pounds of salmon filet.

After a short while we continued on to the bear viewing area (actually Sharyn and I went there last night but didn't get out of the car because it was pouring down rain) to see what we'd see. We only stayed there for about 30 minutes, but we saw one bear that made a half-hearted attempt to pick up a fish and didn't seem to care when he missed. Before we left the area Sharyn searched for bald eagles.

On the way back towards Hyder we again stopped at the same spot in the river to grab some of that filet (which no one thought I could do). Unfortunately, after I got two a guy came by and said that by the time they got that far upstream they were no good to eat, that the flesh was turning white and getting soft. He may have been right, but even if he was wrong I no longer was interested in those filet.

A little further along the river bank we came to a spot where some bears had been spotted fishing on the other side. A number of rather serious, but hobby oriented, photographers were attracted to the site -- much as the bears were attracted to the river.

I find it interesting that the United States doesn't feel that a customs station is warranted at the border crossing between Steward BC and Hyder AK, but the Canadian authorities have one. Since the road into Hyder is pretty much a dead end road it doesn't seem to me that a border checkpoint is necessary on either side. People in Hyder came through Canada to get there. The Canadian Customs Inspector said that someone could get into Hyder by boat or airplane and they would not have gone through Canada. I guess he's right, but I'm still not sure it's warranted. The inspector asks us a lot more questions here than at other Canadian check points. We asked him how come. He said, "Because we've got lots of time here."

Anyway, after passing back through Canadian customs we stopped at the ice cream store in Steward.

By the time we got back to the motorhome it was past seven o'clock. Sharyn and Jordan stayed home while I drove part way back down the road that comes in to Steward from the Cassiar Highway to take some pictures. While I was taking these pictures (#1 #2 #3) a 65-70 year old lady drove up in her SUV. She had taken a wrong turn off of the Cassiar Highway and was lost. She was on her way to Calgary, from where she was returning home to San Antonio Texas; camping as she went. She said that this was the most beautiful wrong turn she had ever made!

Odometer reading = 43,750
Miles for day = 0

 

9/2/01
(Smithers BC)

Within an hour after we got up this morning the sun was shinning and it was beautiful. I thought, "what a bummer, now that we're leaving it's going to be bright and sunny and I could really get some nice pictures." Well, no reason to feel bad. By the time we were five miles up the road it was raining again. It rained all the way to Smithers, and as we sit here in the Safeway parking lot, it's still raining.

We got to the end of the Cassiar Highway without incident, and as I told Sharyn, for the rest of her life she will be able to say that she survived the entire length of the highway. We all felt good to now be be traveling the Yellowhead Highway which runs from Prince Rubert on the Pacific, all the way to Edmonton. What's nice about it is that we're in the land of paved roads, electricity, telephones, and all those other amenities that we always assumed were everywhere in the US and Canada. Also, we are now driving through farmland. Green pastures, hay fields, round bales, barns, neatly kept farmhouses, etc. Familiar kind of stuff!

Here in Smithers all the businesses and shopping places that have large parking facilities have signs welcoming RVs to park overnight. We took Safeway up on their offer, and in exchange we bought $194 (CA) worth of groceries. Tomorrow we may just go ten miles to a campground that seems like it might be a good place to spend a day. It offers laundry facilities, on line access, and free high pressure RV wash, as well as full hookups with 30 amps, all of which we need and/or want at this time.

Odometer reading = 43,953
Miles for day = 203

 

9/3/02
(Telkwa BC)

When we woke up this morning we found our corner of the parking lot to be quite crowded with RVs. In fact, there was one couple with a 5th wheel who were trying, but unable, to get out. They were kind of blocked in. We probably spent an hour or so with coffee and conversation before pulling into the gas station next door and filling the tank. The price of gas dropped about 30 cents after we go off the Cassiar Highway. We then searched out a place to buy The Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper somewhat like USA Today. We then stopped at Canadian Tire (a place I describe it as a cross between Southern States and Wal-Mart) to buy a small butane soldering torch that was on sale for $6 US. Since the motorhome is due for an oil change I also bought seven quarts of Mobil-1 and an oil filter.

We then drove to Telkwa where we checked into Ft. Telkwa RV Park. On the way to our campsite we used the high pressure RV and car wash machine to remove the bulk of the mud and dirt. While Sharyn did a giant amount of accumulated laundry I emptied two of the basement compartments. When we stopped we saw that one of the compartments had over an inch of water in the bottom. This was the second time in the last several weeks. It turned out that there was a small opening at the top rear of the second compartment where the water being thrown forward off the top of the rear tires entered the storage area. Once the source of the leak was found the repair was simple.

In spite of the nature of today's activities, and the fact that it rained off and on all day, we all found it a enjoyable day and have decided to remain here another day.

Odometer reading = 43,965
Miles for day = 12

 

9/4/02
(Telkwa BC)

We did some general house cleaning and another load of wash. Discovered the source of the leak that was getting the carpet wet on Sharyn's side of the bed and made a duct tape repair that should take care of the problem ubtil we get back to the factory in Alabama, probably some time in March. Other than that we just sort of relaxed and took it easy.

Odometer reading = 43,965
Miles for day = 0

 

9/5/02
(Prince George BC)

I didn't write this on 9/5 and the only thing we can remember is that we passed a black wolf that was trying to cross the road, and after we passed, completed his crossing behind us. He appeared rather thin and was trotting with a moderately severe limp. We wondered if a wolf with that degree of disability could survive the winter and suspect that he probably could not.

Odometer reading = 44,189
Miles for day = 224

 

9/6/02
(Jasper AB)

While disconnecting the water and electric lines this morning in preparation for leaving, I realized how nice it was, and some of what made it nice. The motorhome was parked on a clean gravel pad surrounded by grass. I was standing on the grass and the hose and electric line were also on the grass. Not mud, not dirt, not talcum-like dust. The sun was shinning. The air was cool, but not cold. It was a nice day.

Anyway, we were soon on our way, again heading east on the Yellowhead Highway, also known as Trans-Canada Highway Route 16. This section of Route 16 travels through some beautiful country. I know it gets repetitious, but there's no other way to say it. Some of the mountain views are awesome.

I think that there is probably as much wilderness land today in Northwestern Canada and Alaska as there was in the lower 48 states during that area's great western migration of the 1800's. Not only that, but much of it is probably more hospitable to human habitation than the dry desert country of America's southwest. Unquestionably cold in the winter, but otherwise quite suitable, and very beautiful, for wilderness living. But not for wimps!

At Jasper we turned and headed south on Route 93 into Jasper National Park. We only went about 20 miles from Jasper when we pulled off onto a scenic overlook area to spend the night. Sharyn was preparing dinner when she noticed a lady taking pictures of something right next to the motorhome This was the quick picture I got through the side window. This giant bull elk slowly moved along the edge of the wood, grazing as he went. When another car pulled off the highway he raised his head and gave me the opportunity for this picture. If Sharyn hadn't seen that lady taking pictures we never would have know this elk was there.

Odometer reading = 44,446
Miles for day = 257

 

9/7/02
(Calgary AB)

We woke up this morning to find it 30 degrees outside. It looks as if winter might be moving south faster than we are. We were on the road by 8 o'clock, and as the morning progressed the sun rose from behind the mountains and it was a bright and sunny morning.

As the day progressed the sun became less pronounced and by lunch time the sky had pretty much clouded over. We stopped for lunch at an off the road spot where a small creek ran into a large lake. The surroundings were so pretty that we decided to have lunch outside, even if we got cold. Sharyn has the gold fever and was speculating as to whether or not there would be any gold in the creek. (Just as an aside, this weed was growing nearby).

When we were back on the road again, a mountain peak off to our right began to get lost in dense black clouds. It looked like some kind of a paranormal happening. Sharyn said that it looked as if the Greek Gods of War were all gathered together up there getting ready to release their wrath on the enemy below. Within ten minutes it started to snow! At that point we were approaching Bow Pass at an elevation of 6,785 feet. As we went down the other side of the summit the snow turned back to rain which we eventually outran and got back into the sunshine. The rest of the trip to Calgary was uneventful, but the traffic after we got there was terrible. Calgary has a population of just over 750,000 and all of the were on the road, and in a hurry.

Anyway, we're at a campground just south of town, on Route 2. Tomorrow we plan to do the final 150 miles to the Montana border.

Odometer reading = 44,699
Miles for day = 253

 

9/8/02
(St. Mary MT)

It was a beautifully sunny day and we enjoyed every bit of it, starting when we stepped out of the motorhome this morning. We were on the road by midmorning, and after an hour or so of driving south on the flat and level four lane highway I said to Sharyn that it was a pretty uneventful drive. She said that it was and that she was enjoying it very much.

As we were driving along after lunch the wind caught the awning and it started to unroll. We immediately pulled over and got it put back together. The lever that controls the ratchet assembly no longer "clicks" into position so, so it was able to move from the "roll up" to the "roll down" position, at which point it began to do just that. The prairie wind blowing out of the west (broadside to the motorhome) made getting it all rolled back up again somewhat difficult -- it took the three of us to finally get it done. Several applications of duct tape should keep it all intact until we can get the ratchet assembly repaired or replaced.

We were all pleased to arrive back at the US border. It's nice to be back in America after 11 weeks traveling in Canada and Alaska (I know, Alaska's part of America). From the time we entered Canada on June 21 until we crossed back into the US today we covered 6,289 miles. Hopefully within the next week or so I'll post a map of Western Canada and Alaska showing the route we traveled.

We're now in Chewing on Black Bone Campground, about 20 miles south of the Canadian border. The sign said "open" so we pulled in, but the no one was around and the office was locked. Anyway, we picked a campsite near the lake and figured that someone would show up. The lady who runs it eventually did come by and we paid her. We were still the only people here until quite a bit later when another couple came in with a 5th wheel.

For now the plan is that tomorrow we'll go to Browning, about 30-40 miles from here where I want to visit the Museum of the American Plains Indian.

Odometer reading = 44,856
Miles for day = 157

 

9/9/02
(Browning MT)

The drive to Browning was very easy and relaxed for several reasons. We knew we didn't have far to go so we were not at all hurried. Also, a big portion of the distance was either up or down steep grades with extensive curves so 2nd and 3rd gears were in use quite a bit. At 20 and 30 miles per hour, with no big hurry to arrive, we enjoyed the scenery and the sunshine.

As we approached Browning we could see it from several miles out and it was quite a small place. We were concerned that the museum might not be what we expected. We've been to a few "museums" that were not much more than an old wood frame building would some old stuff on display. An attempt, usually by some small out of the way place, to have a tourist attraction. That 's not the case in Browning. While the displays are not extensive, they are top quality and done very nicely.

For the most part the displays are of clothes, weapons, pipes, household items, children's toys, and items of personal adornment, shown behind glass partitions, well lighted, and with full explanation and descriptions of all the items. There are no reproductions although some of the items are in such "like new" condition that they appear to be of contemporary vintage. These lady's boots for instance. There are a number of displays such as this showing different types of clothing worn for different occasions, with a complete description of each item . I liked these two necklaces. The one on the left is made from grizzly bear claws, while the one on the right is made of grizzly bear teeth.

Anyway, after going through the museum we left their parking lot and went down the road a half mile to Sleeping Wolf Campground where we're spending the night.

Odometer reading = 44,895
Miles for day = 39

 

9/10/02
(Great Falls MT)

On the way out of Browning this morning we stopped by the museum one more time. One of the items on display was this scalp that I failed to photograph yesterday. It is believed to be a Sioux scalp.

Anyway, after taking the picture and talking with two of the Indians there about the operation of the reservation with respect to property ownership, law enforcement, etc., we were on our way to Great Falls. Several hours later we arrived at the Malmstrom AFB FamCamp in Great Falls. The daytime temperatures here are running in the high 70's and we plan to remain here for several days.

This evening I called Dish Network to have our satellite TV, which we had suspended while too far north to see the satellite, turned back on. They said our service could not be restored because of FCC regulations. We had never filed for an RV waiver to make us eligible, etc., etc. To make a long story short I handed the phone to Sharyn who demanded to speak to a supervisor. A half hour later, and ten minutes after she got off the phone with the supervisor, our system was up and running. I told Sharyn that from now on she's in charge of all problems -- I'm retired! Besides, she gets better results!

Odometer reading = 45,028
Miles for day = 133

 

9/11/02 to 9/13/02
(Great Falls MT)

These several days have been rather low key, "enjoy the weather" kind of days. Maybe even a "fall asleep in a chair" kind of day. We've also done the usual things like the BX, commissary, and Barnes and Noble. Yesterday the FamCamp had a barbecue with hot dogs, giant hamburgers, soft drinks, peach and apple cobbler, and ice cream -- all in unlimited quantities, and all courtesy of the FamCamp.

Today we went to Charles M. Russell Museum which contains the largest collection of his paintings, including this one of Sitting Bull, and other works of art. I had the feeling that Jordan may have been ready to leave the museum before I was. His home and studio are adjacent to the museum. I particularly liked his studio which he had constructed out of used telephone poles.

Odometer reading = 45,028
Miles for day = 0

 

9/14/02 to 9/16/02
(Great Falls MT)

We've just been hanging out and enjoying the nice weather and relaxed atmosphere of the FamCamp and Great Falls itself. We had originally planned to stay here for four days, but since that time have been extending on a day-to-day basis. I guess we like it here. Anyway, tomorrow we leave for real. Sharyn is afraid the winter snows are going to catch up to us.

The other day as we were riding around we saw these two guys in Kayaks trying to paddle up this section of the Missouri River. Although they got flipped over and washed back downstream numerous times, they never got past this point. It looks as if they were just practicing and playing.

And how is this view of the late afternoon sky as seen from our campsite?

Odometer reading = 45,028
Miles for day = 0

 

9/17/02
(Billings MT)

Well we finally left Great Falls. The timing was good because last night it started raining and it's still raining now. To my mind, rainy days are good for travel days because your activities (sitting and/or driving in the motorhome) are pretty much unaffected by the fact that it's wet and rainy outside.

Anyway, it was a pretty, but uneventful, drive that further confirmed our feeling that we like Montana. We felt the same way when we drove through several years ago. Too bad the winters are so severe.

The FamCamp at Malmstrom AFB is just outside the main gate. We needed both gasoline and propane, so before leaving this morning we took the motorhome on base to fill up those tanks. While I was tending to that Sharyn and Jordan made a quick visit to the commissary for more milk, etc. As a result of these last minute activities we didn't actually get on the road until noon. By four o'clock we had already stopped for lunch, but now a cup of coffee seemed like a good idea. We pulled off the road at a small complex of retail service establishments in the middle of no place (actually it was a cross road called Roundup, Montana, which is exactly no place) to make a pot of coffee. What do you think was in the middle of the dirt parking area? Would you believe an Espresso hut? Sharyn and I split a large Cowboy Power Coffee while Jordan had a Spiced Walnut Latte. I asked the very nice lady how many customers she has in a day; she said not too many. Even without too many customers she was a very nice lady with a pretty extensive coffee menu. She even gave us a card that she stamped twice: eight more stamps and we get a free coffee!

From there we continued on as far as Billings, which was further than we intended to go, where we now sit in a Wal-Mart parking lot, digesting our dinner as we watch the rain come down on all the glistening cars and black asphalt. Actually it's me looking out the window as I type. Sharyn is reading and Jordan is doing her nails.

Odometer reading = 45,254
Miles for day = 226

 

9/18/02
(Broadus MT)

The first thing we did this morning was go into Wal-Mart and pick up a few grocery items and a new door mat to replace the one we left at Mukluk Annie's in Alaska. We then drove the 40 or so miles to Hardin MT where we picked up our mail that we'd had forwarded c/o General Delivery. Hardin is only about 10 miles from the Little Bighorn Battlefield that I had wanted to return to. This is a view of a small portion of the 10-15 square mile actual battlefield site (most of which is outside the National Battlefield Property) taken from the hilltop where Custer and 200+ men of his immediate command were killed, looking to the south towards where approximately 10,000 Indians had been camped on the banks of the Little Bighorn River. The markers show the location of where the soldiers died and were originally buried. The black faced monument is Custer's. All of the bodies were subsequently exhumed and reburied in a mass grave at the top of the hill. Custer was eventually buried at West Point as the result of great efforts by his wife.

We then headed east on US-212 which will take us out the southeast corner of Montana, through the northeast corner of Wyoming, and get us pretty close to Rapid City SD which is our next general destination. There's not much on US-212. In fact we had trouble even finding a wide spot on the shoulder to pull off for lunch. Anyway we went as far as Broadus where we are now the only ones in a small campground that costs $12 for full hookups.

Odometer reading = 45,427
Miles for day = 173

 

9/19/02
(Rapid City SD)

We woke up this morning to see a number of antelope in the field across the road. Yesterday we must have seen between 50 and 100 grazing along the side of the roadway. As Jordan reminded us, this is the land where the deer and the antelope play.

Anyway, we got underway and had gone about 60 miles when passing near a place called Alzata, Montana, we passed the Stoneville Saloon. Since we had to turn around and go back to get the picture I suggested that we have lunch there, but Sharyn and Jordan both declined. Incidentally, the saloon's highway sign has been added to our "Interesting or Unusual Signs" page.

Since no one wanted to eat at the Stoneville Saloon (probably had to do with the "lousy food" warning) we continued on over the state line into Wyoming where we had lunch on the side of the road with quite a nice view at no extra charge (horizontal scroll).

We eventually ended up at the FamCamp at Ellsworth AFB just outside of Rapid City SD. We plan to stay here for a week as this is a good operating base from which to take day trips to Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse memorial, and other places in the Black Hills. Besides, both Sharyn and Jordan like this base/FamCamp a lot.

Odometer reading = 45,587
Miles for day = 160

 

9/20/02
(Rapid City SD)

For our first full day here Sharyn and Jordan wanted to go to the mall we passed about 10 miles back on I-90. For reasons not too clear to me, they wanted me to go with them. I brought the newspaper with me, and while they were doing the mall I sat and read my paper. They didn't buy much of anything, but Sharyn got her hair cut (no picture allowed -- she said).

For dinner Sharyn and I went to the mess hall. Dinner for the two of us cost $4.20 until we went back for dessert. Our desserts were an additional 25 cents each. When we retire-retire maybe we should live near a base and eat in the mess hall. We can't have two dinners at home for $4.

Odometer reading = 45,587
Miles for day = 0

 

9/21/02 to 9/23/02
(Rapid City SD)

Until today we haven't been doing too much, but today we went to Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial.

Even though Sharyn and I were there in 1970 and again in 2000, Mt. Rushmore is still pretty impressive. We probably spent about an hour there before leaving and driving the 17 miles to the Crazy Horse Memorial.

Crazy Horse is a work in progress and we lucked out in that while we were there they announced that in 15 minutes they were going to detonate a charge that would remove 770 tons of rock. To put it all in perspective, his unfinished arm is almost 200 feet long.

One thing that Crazy Horse has which is very nice is a large display hall which is a combination museum and artifact display area. There are also a number of areas where Indians have booths set up to sell their artwork.

One of the photographs on display was taken at the Pine Ridge Reservation on December 25, 1890. The writing on the photograph, which was written at the time the photo was taken, says the Indians are doing a "War Dance." That's wrong, and is now known to have been wrong. It was that mistaken belief, that the Indians were getting all worked up and would soon raise up against the white people, that lead to the Wounded Knee Massacre four days after the picture was taken, when the army slaughtered almost 300 Indians with rifle and cannon fire as the Indians stood surrounded in the snow (having surrendered to the army the day before). The Indians in the photograph were engaged in the Ghost Dance that was then catching on with most of the plains Indians and had the government so concerned that "trouble was brewing." Sitting Bull had been assassinated on December 15, only ten days before this picture was taken, because it was believed that he was fermenting the unrest as demonstrated by these dances.

In fact, the Ghost Dance was a religious dance, associated with the Indians belief that their messiah was coming, and that upon his arrival all the Indians that had died or been killed would return, as would all the buffalo and other game. Also, all the white people would disappear from the Indian's land and it would be as it had been before the white man came. It was believed that the harder they danced the sooner the messiah would come. Far from being a prelude to battle, the dance was more of a celebration of their impending freedom from the white man's oppression (it was believed that the coming of the messiah, and all the events that would accompany him, would happen by the coming spring). It is thought by some that the only reason the Indians didn't take up arms when Sitting Bull was killed was because of their belief that he and all the other dead Indians were about to return with the messiah.

Anyway, on the way back out of the Black Hills we saw a mountain goat grazing at the side of the roadway. When we approached on foot to get some pictures he was totally unconcerned and not too interested.

Odometer reading = 45,587
Miles for day = 0

 

9/24/02 and 9/25/02
(Rapid City SD)

Didn't do very much, but tomorrow we're going to head for Wounded Knee and Pine Ridge.

Odometer reading = 45,587
Miles for day = 0

 

9/26/02
(Chadron, Nebraska)

After picking up some last minute groceries at the commissary we were on our way to Wounded Knee. On the way there we passed through a place called Scenic, SD which is pretty much a ghost town. I felt compelled to stop in town and take a picture of this section of the "business district." I did not photograph the dead cat in the roadway that Sharyn told me to watch out for.

There isn't very much at Wounded Knee except for a sign, put up and maintained by the Sioux Nation, at the spot where the Indians were killed (see 9/23/02). On a hilltop several hundred yards away there is a mass grave where many of the Indians were subsequently buried. It is the same hilltop from which the army fired cannon into the massed Indians. This photo was taken from the hilltop, looking east. The Indians were killed at the bottom of the hill in the area of the motorhome. Some managed to escape to the creek behind and to the right of the field.

While there certainly wasn't a crowd, I was pleased to see a steady stream of people stopping and walking the area. It seems that the Federal Government should construct a facility at Wounded Knee comparable to what it did at Little Big Horn.

Anyway, from Wounded Knee we drove through Pine Ridge and then south into Nebraska. We're now at a campground in Chadron. As we were setting up the guy across the road came over. We met them this past winter at the Sumter Oaks Escapee Park in Bushnell FL and then again in Perry FL where there were three motorhomes all next to each other, and all on our way to Alaska for the summer. We also ran into the other couple when we were in Anchorage.

By the way, we now get to put Nebraska on our stick-on map of the US.

Odometer reading = 45,753
Miles for day = 166

 

9/27/02
(Paxton, Nebraska)

Since we are on our way to a Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) rally that starts 10/1/02 in Hutchinson KS, about 40 miles northwest of Wichita, we are moving more rapidly then we otherwise would. Today we traveled through more than 200 miles of Nebraska countryside, stopping several times for gas, lunch, or coffee.

When we wanted to stop for lunch we could not find any place to pull off the road until we came to a small town on a narrow road came in from the left. I made the left turn and saw a place to pull over in front of an empty building on the other side of the street. Since it was too narrow to make a U-turn right there I figured I'd turn around further down. Well, there were only 4-5 buildings before the road turned, and beyond the turn we were back out in the country on a road so narrow I don't think I could have gotten the motorhome turned around even if we had unhooked the car. With fenced pasture on both sides of the road, we continued on for several miles until, luckily, we came to a opening in the fence that had a cattle grate instead of a gate. We drove the motorhome out into the pasture, made a wide U-turn, and headed back for main highway. We really lucked out since we could have had to follow that road for 20-30 miles!

By the way, the freight trains in this part of the country seemed to be quite long. At one point today we passed on that was stopped on the tracks (the tracks were running parallel to the road for miles) and we measured its length with the odometer. From one end to the other that train was 1.2 miles long, and only had two locomotives. We've seen trains with as many as five locomotives.

Tonight we're in a small campground on the edge of a pretty pond, all of which is part of the Days Inn motel on the other side of the campground.

Odometer reading = 45,967
Miles for day = 214

 

9/28/02
(Hayes KS)

We would have covered a good number of miles today if we hadn't been distracted as much as we were. As we were heading east on I-80 we came to a sign saying that there was an old pony express station at the next exit, so we got off to check it out. I didn't know that the pony express only lasted for about 18 months, put out of business by advanced technology -- the telegraph. Also, while only one pony express rider was killed, a good number of station personnel was killed by raiding Indians. The Indian ponies were no match for the much faster, pony express horses, who also had much greater stamina. You can draw conclusions about the rider's working conditions by this poster that was used for recruitment.

As we left the pony express station and headed back towards the Interstate we came upon a replica of an old sod house. Next to the sod house was an Indian on a pony, and a buffalo, both made from barbed wire fencing. If I remember correctly the buffalo took four miles of wire.

Perhaps 50 or so miles later we came upon the Prairie Museum which we also stopped to check out. It wasn't a neat as we thought it would be, but I kind of liked this 1915 steam tractor that produced 35 horsepower and was bought new for $2400. To give a better idea of size, the rear drive wheels are 72" in diameter.

Tonight we spent the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Also, Sharyn got to add the Kansas sticker to our map!

Odometer reading = 46,208
Miles for day = 241

 

9/29/02 and 9/30/02
(Hutchinson KS)

We arrived in Hutchinson mid-afternoon on Sunday, the 29th, for the FMCA's 68th Premier International Motorhome Extravaganza, taking place at the Kansas State Fairgrounds October 1 through 3. This town is braced for the influx of some 10,000 people and 3,000 motorhomes. Because these things begin booking a year in advance, and we only decided to be here a few weeks ago, as we expected there are no available campsites anywhere with any kind of hookups, never mind anything at the fairgrounds (where they were prepared to provide electrical hookups for over 2,000 motorhomes). We are dry camped at Melody Acres, a very friendly campground, about three miles from the fairgrounds. Everyone here, mostly vendors, are here for FMCA, and they all have hookups. Lack of hookups would not be any problem at all if we were not having a series of hot 95 degree days. With the non-stop wind, and the shade of all the trees, it's not at all uncomfortable during the day. Sleeping, however, is kind of rough. While the temperature drops down to around 70 degrees by morning, the night time increase in the humidity more than off sets the lower temperatures.

Anyway, we've been enjoying the daytime weather, did a little driving around town, checked out the location of the fairgrounds, etc. Other than that we've been reading and relaxing.

Odometer reading = 46,338
Miles for day = 130

 

10/1/02
(Hutchinson KS)

Today was the first day of the FMCA show and getting into the fairgrounds was a bit of a challenge. Because we were not pre-registered we had no prior information about just where to go, where to park, etc. Eventually, after going to some wrong places, partially because of wrong information we received yesterday, we drove several miles out to the mall at the edge of town where we parked and were picked up by a shuttle bus running back and forth from the mall parking lot to the fairgrounds.

Sharyn wanted to look at the motorhome displays so that's where we started. Sharyn and Jordan looked at lots and lots of motorhomes, while I probably accompanied them to half of what they looked at. Sharyn and I both wanted to look at the Allegro Bus, a line of diesel pushers. We looked at a 38' Allegro Bus with triple slideouts. It is only the second motorhome I've seen that I like better than what we've got (the other one was a Mountain Air we looked at in Gillette, Wyoming in July of 2000), but we're very happy with what we have. The cost of trading up cannot be justified by what we'd gain. Actually, we probably made a mistake by not buying a diesel to start with. If we had a diesel we would not even be looking at other units. I have to acknowledge that Sharyn wanted to buy a diesel when we bought this one. As time goes on it's clear that she is making a habit of being right about more and more things.

One of the units we looked into (stuck our heads into) was a Prevost, probably about 45' in length, that was just a shell with an unfinished plywood floor. That's because when you get up into the million dollar range they ask you how you'd like it, and that's how they do it. They didn't ask us. I guess they didn't think we were serious.

Anyway, from the motorhome displays we went to the inside display booths where anything you've ever seen, read about, or heard about, that's related to RV's will be on display with pretty knowledgeable people to answer any question, and if push comes to shove, they'll even sell you one. I like trade shows. Catalogs and magazine articles are fine, but you can't beat picking up, feeling, and questioning the manufacturer's rep.

As they began closing down the displays at the end of the day we had not even finished two of the five buildings containing the display booths. All we bought was an oil filter and a fuel filter for the generator.

Odometer reading = 46,338
Miles for day = 0

 

10/2/02
(Tonkawa OK)

This morning it was pouring down rain as we were getting ready to leave. Our first stop was at the mall parking lot where I took the shuttle bus back to the fairgrounds to quickly run through the displays I didn't get to see yesterday. When I returned to the motorhome several hours later I found Sharyn and Jordan patiently reading their books and sipping their tea.

From the parking lot we headed east, on our way to Fort Smith, Arkansas to visit Bill and Cheryl, a couple we met and had fun with at the first Great North American RV Rally in Gillette, Wyoming several years ago. We plan to take three days to get there.

South of Wichita, as we approached the Kansas/Oklahoma border, our weather radio started beeping every ten minutes warning of severe thunderstorms, 60 mph winds, and hailstones the size of "nickels," all heading our way from the west. We had seen the system coming before the radio started popping and we didn't go too much further before stopping for the night, even though it was not yet 3 o'clock. There's some pretty exciting weather moving through the area, although, except for some pretty heavy rain and brief power outages, we haven't had any bad consequences.

Odometer reading = 46,479
Miles for day = 141

 

10/3/02
(Broken Arrow OK)

Later last night, the electric went out again and stayed out for several hours. We and other customers in the campground, in our self contained RVs, were basically unaffected by the outage. On the other hand, the campground owners, in their house, sat in the dark.

Anyway, it rained all night and was still raining when we got up this morning. We were in no hurry to get going, but eventually we were on the road again.

We ended up at Bluff Landing, a COE (Army Corps of Engineers) campground east of Tulsa. It's been awhile since we've stayed at a COE campground, but this one, like most of the ones we've stayed in, is very nice, and great value for the money. Because COE campgrounds are usually related to dam projects, lakes, rivers, or other water oriented places, most of the campgrounds are on some kind of water -- this one is no exception. While we're only here for one night, this would be a nice place to spend several days. This is part of our campsite as seen from the motorhome.

Odometer reading = 46,620
Miles for day = 141

 

10/4/02 through 10/6/02
(Witcherville AR)

We arrived here at Bill and Cheryl's the afternoon of the 4th and have just been hanging out, talking, eating out, and enjoying their company since our arrival. They have a gravel pad next to their house with water and electric hookups where they keep their motorhome. Since they knew we were coming they had moved it so we could put our motorhome there, which we did. Yesterday, Bill and I upgraded the 30 amp service to 50 amps. I told him if it gets any better we may never leave. We're about 20 miles south of Fort Smith and the area is quite nice (as is eastern Oklahoma, across the river).

We'll be here for several more days, but I may not make any more entries until we move on.

By the way, about 50-60 miles back into Oklahoma I stopped and took a picture of another sign to add to our "Unusual Signs" page. Jordan could not believe why I had stopped the motorhome and was walking back down the highway.

Odometer reading = 46,764
Miles for day = 144

 

10/7/02 through 10/9/02
(Witcherville AR)

Our visit with Bill and Cheryl is coming to an end as we're leaving here in the morning. Sharyn, Cheryl, and Jordan left here this morning and spent the entire day shopping in Fort Smith and surrounding communities. They certainly seem to have had a good time.

Bill and I had been checking out the local gun dealers looking for the best deal on a SIG-229 in .40S&W. He bought one the other day and we shot today, comparing the .40 with the .357 Sig.

The other night Sharyn woke me up because she thought something was after the horses. I heard nothing and immediately went back to sleep. It turned out that a pack of coyotes had been on the other side of the house and had awakened Bill and Cheryl as well as Sharyn. The next night (last night) we were in bed reading and this time I heard the coyotes yipping as they came through the property. Bill says they live in the woods down behind the barn. Several months ago Cheryl was out after dark doing something with the horses in the open barn when a pack of coyotes began moving in towards her. She was afraid to leave the lighted area of the barn to get back to the house. She managed to get Bill's attention at the house and he came out with a gun and started shooting at the pack which then ran away. While there have not been any local incidents of coyotes attacking people it does seem that they are getting bolder and people have been warned to be cautious about being out away from buildings alone after dark.

As an add on, one night last fall they heard a coyote pack feeding. The next morning the investigated the location and found the skeleton of a fresh killed ten point buck that had been totally stripped of all soft tissue. The ten point rack is now on the front of the barn.

Odometer reading = 46,764
Miles for day = 0

 

10/10/02 to 10/14/02
(Broken Arrow OK)

Having planned to spend 2 or 3 days with Bill and Cheryl we ended up staying with them for an entire week. We all enjoyed the company and plan to get together down on the Gulf coast when we head back east next spring.

On the morning of the 10th we headed west, back into Oklahoma, on our way to Sacramento, from which we'll then go south to Yuma for the early winter. We again stopped at the Corps of Engineers (COE) campground just outside of Broken Arrow. It's a very nice campground and it only costs us $7.50 per day ($15 without a Golden Age or Golden Access Passport). Being right on the river, it's a great place for kids and/or fishermen.

Upon our arrival we went to dump our holding tank, only to learn that the dump station (hookups here only consist of 30 amp electric + water) had not been working for several days because it needed to be pumped out and "the money was not available." It's kind of scary that the US government and the Army Corps of Engineers don't have $100. The nearest dump station was at another COE campground 23 miles away, so while Sharyn and Jordan did whatever they did, I went and dumped the tanks.

While in Broken Arrow Jordan flew out of Tulsa International, 25 miles from the campground, and went to visit Phil and Kim in Virginia while we stayed on here for another day or so.

Odometer reading = 46,937
Miles for day = 173

 

10/15/02 and 10/16/02
(Canton OK)

Having left Broken Arrow we came as far as another COE campground at Canton Lake, which actually has three COE campgrounds at various points along the lake front. There are a good number of campers here, most all of them fisherman, but the campsites are large and spread out so there's no crowding at all. Also, the fact that the campground has lots of big trees, but is not wooded, allows for a clean and neat appearence with lots of well maintained grassy areas. We like it!

Actually it was because it's so nice here that we decided to stay the second day, even though our main project on day #2 was to visit the laundromat in town.

Odometer reading = 47,120
Miles for day = 183

 

10/17/02 and 10/18/02
(Fort Supply OK)

As we left Canton we stopped at a used car place and asked if there was a phone line that I could plug my computer into. The only two people on the premises, a man and a young girl, shooting pool, showed me a phone jack that I could use. When I had finished the man and I talked for awhile about RVs. He and his wife are looking to buy a 5th wheel and had just come back from an RV show this past weekend. They're going to another one in Tulsa this weekend.

By the time we actually started moving down the highway it was 1:30pm. That's a late start even for us. Bill and Cheryl thought it was funny that the day we arrived at their house, having only traveled 140 miles, we didn't arrive until almost 5 o'clock. That's easy to explain; we start late, drive slow, and stop frequently. Some people, they for instance, will cover 300-500 miles in a single day almost as a matter of routine. Maybe that's why we're full-time -- it takes us that long to get somewhere!

Anyway, we're now at another Corps of Engineers (COE) campground at Fort Supply Lake. This time the motorhome is backed up right to the edge of the water, and again the grounds are very pretty and well maintained. As real estate goes, these COE parks get the prime locations. I don't recall ever being at one that was not on the water.

Last night Sharyn had gone outside for a cigarette. It was quite dark outside and she came back in less than two minutes. It seems that some unidentified animal was down by the water (as was Sharyn). Also, there was the thing about some leaves by the picnic table rustling in the wind when she realized that there were no leaves. A rattlesnake seemed more likely.

We had hoped for a bright and sunny day today, but unfortunately it was a gray and overcast repeat of yesterday.

Tonight it seems that it was my turn to make dinner, so we had sautéed/stir fried vegetables. "It tastes good and it's good for you too." (For those who can't place that quote, it's from Little Orphan Annie and a 1940's advertisement for Ovaltine).

Odometer reading = 47,194
Miles for day = 73

 

10/19/02
(Dodge City KS)

Query: How does one set out on an 80 mile trip from point A to point B, travel 70 miles, and then still have 110 miles to go?

Answer: Look at the map two days before trip and then start out for point B thinking you still remember how to get there.

DUMB! DUMB! DUMB!

Anyway, we finally got to point B a/k/a Dodge City, Kansas.

Dodge City has an interesting history. It was originally established in 1872 on the Santa Fe Trail, just west of Fort Dodge. Within a few years a long row of wooden store front buildings appeared. The town burned down in 1885, and was rebuilt with brick buildings, including the Long Branch Saloon, the Lone Star Saloon, and about 17 other drinking establishments. The streets were patrolled by such as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp. The history that those old brick buildings witnessed . . . !

Then, in 1969, as part of an urban renewal project, Dodge City knocked down the five blocks of its original history and replaced them with these empty lots. The picture was taken from the bottom of boot hill, which is now home to these "replica" facades.

My thought is that Dodge City, as a historic place, is a fraud.

Odometer reading = 47,405
Miles for day = 211

 

10/20/02
(Hasty CO)

As we were traveling west on US-50 through western Kansas we came upon a "Scenic Overlook" sign that indicated an area that seemed to overlook a cattle feed lot. We thought that was a funny place to put a scenic overlook. Later we came upon another such sign and pull off area that also overlooked a feed lot. We don't know if it's a joke or if people really want to look out over such a facility. Perhaps the olfactory experience is exciting to some people -- it is quite an experience!

Since I was going to mention these overlooks on this site, I thought an accompanying photograph was necessary and decided to stop at the next "Scenic Overlook" to get the picture. The only problem was there were no other such overlooks, just feeding lots like this one. You can't tell from the picture but this lot is probably over a mile long and and a quarter mile deep. Cattle extending to the horizon.

This is what we see from the front of the motorhome as the sun went down behind the woods.

Odometer reading = 47,580
Miles for day = 175

 

10/21/02
(Pueblo CO)

On our way out of Hasty this morning we passed a house on the side of the road where the owner apparently used to have problems with trespassers. His sign has been added to our Interesting Signs page.

We've decided that, at least with respect to the eastern part of the state, Colorado is the land of cattle and flies!

Odometer reading = 47,714
Miles for day = 134

 

10/22/02
(Montrose CO)

Sharyn said that last night the coyotes were just outside of the motorhome yipping and yelping like crazy. I never heard anything.

In spite of the coyotes, we got an early start as we're trying to get over the continental divide and back down to a lower elevation before a weather system headed this way from the west meets up with us.

We stopped for lunch along the Arkansas River at a point about 80 miles from the headwaters. It seems that we've been following the Arkansas River ever since we left Fort Smith. We must have crossed and recrossed the river a dozen times since then. At this end the river is narrow and clear. By the time it gets to Fort Smith it's wide and muddy.

The summit is at an elevation of 11,312 feet, more than two miles above sea level. We were still 20 miles from the summit when we were reduced to second gear, except for the final six miles which we did in first gear at 15 mph. The density of air at that elevation is 35% less than it is at sea level and it sure shows in the reduced pulling power of our engine. Later, going down the other side of the divide we discovered that the braking power of the engine was reduced just as much as its pulling power.

While at the summit I did a small amount of walking around to take some pictures of signs and the motorhome. When I got back into the motorhome I was breathing moderately heavy -- and I hadn't done anything.

Anyway, we made it to Montrose with only a small amount of rain for the last few miles, and no snow at all.

Odometer reading = 47,940
Miles for day = 226

 

10/23/02
(Green River UT)

It was a pretty morning and we poked around for quite awhile before actually getting on the road at noontime. At Grand Junction, Colorado, US-50 merged into I-70, so for the last 100 miles we've been on the Interstate. This is pretty desolate territory, sometimes dramatic, but mostly sparse and not too interesting. We'll continue following I-70 for about another 100 miles to where US-50 again goes off on its own.

For now we're at a small campground in a place called Green River. It's nothing outstanding, but it's one of those that just feels comfortable. The brilliant yellow foliage and the late afternoon sunshine probably contribute to the overall niceness.

We picked this campground because it's a Passport America member which means we get 50% off.

Odometer reading = 48,102
Miles for day = 162

 

10/24/02
(Green River UT)

It was a beautiful morning, and since we have no need to be anywhere at any particular time, we decided to stay here for another day. We didn't do anything worth writing about (laundry, house cleaning, walk to post office, etc.) but it was a nice day, even if our activities don't appear to support that.

Odometer reading = 48,102
Miles for day = 0

 

10/25/02
(Delta UT)

Leaving Green River, we again headed west on I-70. In some places the scenery is really worth photographing, including the rest area where we stopped for lunch.

After a little over a hundred miles where I-70 took on a southerly direction we exited to continue on US-50 which we will continue on all the way to its western terminus at Sacramento.

Odometer reading = 48,287
Miles for day = 185

 

10/26/02
(Ely NV)

This morning, for reasons we can't figure out, the Honda had a dead battery and wouldn't turn over. Since we have to run the transmission through all its gears before towing, we had to unhook the Honda and push it up towards the front of the motorhome where our jumper cables would reach from the motorhome battery to the Honda battery. It started immediately, so we hooked it up again and got back on the road.

US-50 is a more interesting drive than I-70, if for no other reason than that on a narrow two lane road you're closer to all that you see. When I stopped to take this picture Sharyn used the opportunity to look for more rocks.

After 150 miles of travel we came to Ely, the first town since Delta, where we had planned to stay at the Prospector RV Park. It turns out that this is part of the Prospector Casino where the first night is free (full hookups with 50 amps), plus for two dollars they give Sharyn three dollars worth of nickels. All in all, not a bad place to stay.

Odometer reading = 48,438
Miles for day = 151

 

 

10/27/02 to 10/29/02
(Fallon NV)

We considered spending another day at the Prospector Casino but Sharyn still has concerned about getting caught in the snow so we decided to move on to the FamCamp at the Fallon Naval Air Station, even though that entails traveling further than we usually do in one day.

US-50, particularly through Nevada, is referred to as "the loneliest road in America," with distances of 50 to 100 miles with absolutely nothing not being uncommon. While some sections go through mountainous areas, others cross rather featureless tracts of desert. While this photo is typical of much of the desert area, between Ely and Fallon we crossed over nine mountain passes at elevations ranging up to 7600 feet (lots of 25 mph climbs). The desert floor itself is frequently at 4,000 - 5,000 feet.

Anyway we finally got to the FamCamp at Fallon NAS. This was the sunset as viewed from the motorhome on our second day.

Odometer reading = 48,712
Miles for day = 274

 

10/30/02
(Sacramento CA)

This morning we again headed west on US-50 towards Sacramento and the western end of that great highway. As the highway worked its way down and around the southern end of Lake Tahoe we managed to get this picture through the tree tops.

The roller assembly of our awning has not been working properly for quite some time, but we have wanted to have it fixed at a Camping World so if there was a subsequent problem with the repair we could have recourse at any Camping World (rather than having to backtrack 1000 miles to Joe's RV Repair). Since we'd be passing through Sacramento we figured we'd stop at the Camping World there and set up an appointment before continuing on towards Sharyn's sister in Oroville, about 70 miles north of Sacramento. Much to our surprise they said they could fix the awning tomorrow -- we had expected sometime next week.

We spent the night in their parking lot. It's the first Camping World we've spent the night at that didn't have electric outlets in the parking lot for overnighting customers, but while electricity is very convenient, it's not at all necessary for a single night. We ran the generator for a few hours so we could watch the news and Sharyn would not miss West Wing.

Odometer reading = 48,911
Miles for day = 198

 

10/31/02
(Marysville CA)

By lunch time today our awning was fixed and we were on our way to the FamCamp at Beale AFB halfway between Sacramento and Oroville.

The FamCamp is quite nice with full hookups (50 amps), campground lounge, laundry room, and of course all the amenities that always come with a military facility. One thing that we usually find with FamCamps is that space is usually not a problem which lends itself to an open and uncrowded surrounding. For what might be the first time ever, we paid for a week in advance ($84).

Odometer reading = 48,948
Miles for day = 38

 

11/1/02 through 11/4/02
(Marysville CA)

Yesterday we drove up to Oroville to visit Sharyn's sister. During our stay here I'm sure we'll be making additional visits to Oroville, probably drive down to Sacramento, and engage in sundry other activities, all of which would make for rather uninteresting reading. Accordingly, unless there is something worth writing about I'll make no further entries until we move on from Beale AFB.

Odometer reading = 48,948
Miles for day = 0

 

11/5/02 through 11/10/02
(Marysville CA)

In addition to serving as a website for anyone who may be interested, this travelog also serves as a journal or history of our travels so that we can go back and see just when we were at a particular place, how long we stayed where, etc. Therefore while I often will not make any entries for several days, there has to be an entry every day we move, otherwise the dates and places may not coincide. Since we're leaving here tomorrow, this entry documents 11/10/02 as our last day at Beale AFB in Marysville.

While the sun has been out for the last two days, prior to that we had 4-5 days of wind and rain and not very nice weather. Marysville being in the Sacramento Valley at an elevation of approximately 50 feet, the temperatures have pretty much stayed in the 50's and 60's. At the higher surrounding elevations they have had snow and blizzard-like conditions. Sharyn's very glad we left Fallon when we did!

We're all familiar with the non-events that make headlines on a slow news day. Well along the same lines, we've had a toaster that would intermittently not work too well. The other day it wouldn't work at all so we threw it away. Several days later we realized that the kitchen outlet that it had been plugged into was dead because the GFI in the bathroom outlet (to which the kitchen outlet is wired) had opened the circuit. Oh well, it was a crummy toaster anyway.

We would have left here several days ago except that I had ordered more memory (256MB) for my computer from Dell and it did not come until this afternoon.

Odometer reading = 48,948
Miles for day = 0

 

11/12/02
(Oroville CA)

Midday today we moved the motorhome to Sandy's yard, where after some maneuvering we got it through the gate and into position. The prior owner had installed an electrical outlet on a post where he had kept his RV. We're plugged into the outlet -- 20amps? -- and so far it's working fine. Sharyn will enjoy being able to just walk out the door and visit with her sister. It's good for both of them.

Odometer reading = 48,989
Miles for day = 40

 

11/13/02 to 11/19/02
(Oroville CA)

Having been here in Sandy's yard for a week it's time to move on. It was a good opportunity for Sharyn and Sandy to have extended time with each other.

Today, our last day here, Sharyn went rock hunting with Sandy, Kelly, and Ashley (Kelly is the ultimate rockhound). These are just two of the pieces they found.

Odometer reading = 48,989
Miles for day = 0

 

11/20/02
(Marysville CA)

This morning we left Sandy's and came back to Beale AFB where we'll stay for a few days while we buy some groceries, get a haircut, do some minor maintenance on the motorhome, etc.

In the meanwhile Sharyn relaxes with a cup of tea as we watch the six o'clock Fox News at 3 o'clock in the afternoon (with our East Coast satellite feed).

When we got here last week I thought the planes flying out of here looked like U-2s that I thought had been out of service for many years. Well they are U-2s, just like this one on display. Remember Gary Francis Powers who was shot down over Russia during the Eisenhower administration? He was flying one of these.

Note: It's public and published information that U-2s are flying out of Beale AFB.

Odometer reading = 49,038
Miles for day = 49

 

11/21/02 to 11/24/02
(Marysville CA)

Well I got my haircut and did a few minor things that needed doing on the motorhome. One day we drove the car down towards Sacramento and the big mall complex not too far from Camping World. We did a lot of walking around and a little bit of Christmas shopping. After a while Sharyn dropped me off at Barnes and Noble where I could just sit and read while she continued on her quest to conquer the entire mall. It turned out that it was too big to conquer.

One thing I did take note of was that all the stores were full of very nice looking, well groomed, well dressed, shoppers. I think that reflects well on the area.

On the road between the base and town there was a sign that caught my attention and got posted to our Interesting Signs page.

Odometer reading = 49,038
Miles for day = 0

 

11/25/02
(Sacramento CA)

We left Beale AFB this morning and returned to Camping World to have a glitch in the awning repair they did several weeks ago straightened out. We then left the motorhome in their parking lot while we drove back to the shopping mall so that Sharyn could return some stuff. This time I only walked with her for a short time before asking her to drop me at Barnes and Noble again.

Several hours later she came back and got me and we headed back to the motorhome. On the way we stopped at Subway and had dinner for two for six dollars!

We're now back at the motorhome, and while it's only 6:30 it's pitch black dark (except for the lights in the parking lot of course). In a few minutes we'll start the generator so we can watch CSI on TV. Then I suspect we'll go to bed early, read for a bit, and then get an earlier than usual start in the morning.

Odometer reading = 49,087
Miles for day = 49

 

11/26/02
(Fresno CA)

We're on our way to the FamCamp at Edwards AFB about 90 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

During the last several weeks we'd had three occasions when it was difficult to get the motorhome to start in the morning. It has to do with the computerized system that starts the cold engine with a richer fuel mixture and a high idle speed. Intermittently, that stuff just doesn't happen. It's like trying to start a cold carbureted engine with no choke. The main Ford warranty is 3 years or 36,000 miles. Since we're pushing 50,000 miles that warranty is long gone, but there is another 5 year or 50,000 mile warranty on emissions control aspects of the engine and fuel system. I think this problem comes under that category so we're trying to get it taken care of pretty much right now before we hit the 50,000 mile mark.

About a hundred miles back up the road in Modesto we spotted a Ford dealer so we stopped there. He only serviced cars at that facility so he sent us to his truck service facility several miles away. They didn't do motorhomes, so they sent us to the motorhome facility of the truck facility of the Ford dealer! They said they could look at us after lunch which they did. However, when I said that part of the immediacy of the problem was that I was running out of time on the warranty, they seemed to be somewhat less interested in doing anything about it. We had to wait in the "lounge," so we couldn't see what they did, but he came back in a little while and said he couldn't read any codes on his computer, but maybe his machine was broken. I asked him for some kind of a service report to show that I had been there with this problem with under 50,000 miles. He said without having done the job he couldn't do that. He did give me a short note on a business card. Big deal!

Anyway, we're now parked at the end of a dead end street in an industrial area of Fresno in front of another Ford truck dealership/service facility. They say they can "look at us" in the morning, but we can't stay on their lot because it's fenced and locked and "in an emergency" we would not be able to get out. We won't mention warranty until they've done whatever it is that they think needs doing.

In the meanwhile Sharyn doesn't like it where we are one little bit. I just found that out when she said she's going to sleep in her clothes. Actually from a security point of view (her concern) it really isn't bad at all.

At this point our only requirement is that we get to Edwards by tomorrow night so that we're not traveling on Thanksgiving.

Odometer reading = 49,284
Miles for day = 198

 

11/27/02
(Rosamond CA)

It worked out really well at the Ford dealer. When they told us to bring the motorhome into the shop it didn't want to start. That was perhaps a stroke of good luck because the technician (they're no longer mechanics) brought his hand held computer out to the motorhome and got an immediate code reading that told him precisely what the problem was and what part was defective.

While traveling in Alaska this past summer the ABS warning light on the dash came on. A Ford dealer there said that probably a sensor unit at the rear wheels had been been damaged by flying gravel but that he did not have time to look at it (he also said it did not affect the operation of the brakes, just the anti-skid function). This technician saw the ABS light was on and said "let me see what the problem is while I'm hooked up." Again he got an immediate readout that the rear wheel sensor was bad. To make a long story shorter, the cold start problem was fixed on warranty and the ABS unit was replaced for $58.

All of that and we were on the road by 9:30 am; earlier than usual. Also, in spite of Sharyn's concerns last night, she did sleep in her pajamas, and slept soundly through the night -- as did I.

As we climbed out of what I guess was the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley approaching Mojave, the ridge line ahead of us was topped with electricity generating windmills. There must have been a thousand of them stretched out for several miles along the mountain ridge. Those windmills represent a multi-million dollar capital investment by someone, and they must be producing a substantial amount of electricity (there are high wind warning signs along that section of the highway). In light of the amount of money spent there, I think that whoever did it is missing the boat by not having some kind of exhibit or information place where people could stop and find out about the project. I say "missing the boat" because it certainly is a pro renewable energy project/experiment, and probably a great advertisement for that environmental agenda. A large audience drives by every day, but no one is taking advantage that opportunity.

Anyway, soon thereafter we arrived at the FamCamp at Edwards AFB. We've had our mail sent to us here so we will be here until it arrives.

Odometer reading = 49,557
Miles for day = 272

 

11/28/02 (Thanksgiving)
(Rosamond CA)

We woke up this morning to Jordan's "Happy Thanksgiving" phone call.

Sharyn then made a cheese omelet for breakfast which we enjoyed on this beautiful sunny morning. As the day progressed Sharyn cleaned up the motorhome while I updated this webpage (through yesterday). Later on we sat outside reading and enjoying the beautiful day until the sky began to cloud over and the temperature drop.

Late afternoon we went to the Joshua Tree Inn (the "mess hall") for Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, sweet potatoes, and the whole deal, with pecan pie and ice cream for dessert for both of us came to almost seven dollars. Here Sharyn is finishing up her final coffee at our table in the "mess hall."

Approaching the main gate of Edwards AFB is a series of signs that we thought merited posting to our Interesting Signs page.

Odometer reading = 49,557
Miles for day = 0

 

11/29/02 through 12/3/02
(Rosamond CA)

Here at Edwards we've managed to pretty much finish our Christmas shopping and ship a small truck load of packages through the UPS pickup station here on base. Several days ago I told Sharyn that we couldn't leave here until we shipped all the stuff because it was taking up so much room in the motorhome that we couldn't bring in the slide. Now the place is pretty much back to looking normal again (except for rolls of Christmas wrapping paper on the dashboard).

For the last several days the weather has been quite nice, at least during the day, with temperatures in the low 70's. At nighttime the temperature drops down into the low 40's or 30's. There's no mistaking the change when the sun goes down.

We plan on leaving here tomorrow and heading south to the Escapees park at Aguanga, California, about 180 miles from here. We had planned on leaving today, but we were told that having spent six days here the seventh day was free. Since leaving today was an arbitrary departure date tomorrow works just as well.

Odometer reading = 49,557
Miles for day = 0

 

12/4/02
(Aguanga CA)

This morning we left Edwards AFB and came on down to Jojoba Hills RV Resort, the Escapee park about 18 miles west of Temecula. Several weeks ago one of our neighbors at Beale AFB told us what a great place Jojoba Hills was and that if we were heading this way we should stop here.

This is a very nice place and we look forward to spending the next week here. This is the view of the clubhouse as seen from our campsite. The heated pool at the clubhouse, and the view from the pool, are not what we would have anticipated. In addition to tennis and Bocce, there are also saunas and a spa. We will check out some of these amenities during our stay.

Also, I should mention that this is the first time we've been in T-shirt and shorts weather in quite some time!

Odometer reading = 49,711
Miles for day = 154

 

12/5/02 to 12/10/02
(Aguanga CA)

We've been here almost a week and it's been a pleasant and relaxing time. The weather could not be any nicer with sunny daytime temperatures in the 70's, dropping into the 40's at night, and almost no humidity.

At the clubhouse we've been to a trim-the-tree party, a pot luck dinner, two ice cream socials, and Sharyn goes to line dancing Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We've also taken both books and videos out of the library and used the laundry facilities.

They are looking for a couple of workampers for January and February and we were going to do it. This morning, however, we were told that as workampers we'd have to move the motorhome down by the office at the park entrance. That would sort of remove us from the "community" which is a big part of the appeal that this place has for us. We'd still be able to use all the facilities and attend all the functions, but somehow it wouldn't be the same. That's kind of too bad because we were looking forward to being here for the New Years Eve party, etc. As it now stands we're paid up through December 26 and will be leaving on the 27th.

There are several shopping malls in Temecula that we have been to a number of times. According to Sharyn they have some very good stores there. More often than not, when I do go with Sharyn, I stay at Barnes and Noble and use it as a comfortable library.

Several months back, while in Alaska, I was having some problem with my computer and the tech guy at Dell (via telephone) told me I needed a new hard drive, which Dell sent to me. After going through the truly crummy experience of swapping hard drives, re-installing all my applications and data files (and loosing some stuff that was scattered around in various folders and overlooked at the time), it turned out that the replacement drive they sent me was mechanically defective (it had a loud bearing noise), plus there was nothing wrong with the original drive.

Anyway, several weeks ago Dell sent me another drive to replace the defective one they had sent me, and finally, several days ago I decided that the time had come to install this second replacement. I used eight Zip disks to back up all (I hope) my data. When I was finished, the first time I tried to get on line I couldn't connect with my ISP. The second time I tried I could not receive e-mail messages or connect to my bank with Quicken. At this point, two days later, I still can't download my e-mail messages, but I access them at the server and read them on-line. I'll work on that tomorrow.

One major improvement, computer wise, is that we found out today that we can plug the motorhome into a phone line that is part of the park's internal phone system. While we can't receive incoming calls and can only call out to 800 numbers, that does allow me to get on-line without going down to the office, plus we can use our calling card for outgoing calls. Out here in the hills our cell phone doesn't work.

Odometer reading = 49,711
Miles for day = 0

 

12/11/01 and 12/12/02
(Aguanga CA)

Everything seems to be back to working normal on the computer, so I guess the installation of the replacement drive is complete. Amen for that.

Yesterday and today I pretty much just played around with the camera, starting by taking close-ups of some flowers lining the roadside where I walk in the morning. Just as I snapped this one the bee that was supposed to be part of the picture decided to leave the scene, but it worked out even better than I had planned as I caught him in mid air with his shadow being projected on the face of the flower. I thought this was another neat and interesting flower.

This was just to see how good of a close-up I could get of this penny. I took note that with all the pennies I've ever seen I had never really noticed the shape of the numbers showing the date.

I also put up a linked photo of the line dancing on the 12/10/02 entry (above).

Odometer reading = 49,711
Miles for day = 0

 

12/13/02 to 12/20/02
(Aguanga CA)

Having finished our Christmas shopping and gotten everything shipped back east to kids and grandchildren, this past week we've been engaged in doing pretty much routine things.

The other day Sharyn came back from wherever she'd been and said the car was making a funny noise. When I didn't show the level of interest she thought was appropriate she took the situation into her own hands.

The weather we had been so much enjoying has changed rather dramatically. While we've not had the 80 mph winds or heavy snow fall that has engulfed much of northern and central California, we've had plenty of wind and rain the the daytime highs have been running about 20 degrees cooler than a week ago. As crummy as it has been, judging from what we see on TV, most of the country is having it a lot worse than we are. Actually, this afternoon the sun came back out again and the temperature moved back up into the 60s.

Unless something occurs that would make more interesting reading I probably won't make another entry here until after Christmas.

In the meanwhile, have a super Merry Christmas!

Odometer reading = 49,711
Miles for day = 0

 

12/21/02 to 12/25/02
(Aguanga CA)

The weather has turned back to the pleasant sunny days that we had been having upon our initial arrival here. The temperatures are a little cooler with 60's during the day and down into the 30's at night, but the bright sunny days make it all just fine.

As we got into Christmas week the scheduled activities at the clubhouse changed somewhat as preparations were going on getting ready for the Christmas and New Years celebration events. The only change to effect us was that Sharyn's line dancing was not taking place.

Yesterday afternoon, Christmas Eve Day, we had a gift exchange and party. Today we had Christmas dinner where someone volunteered to host each table of 10-12 people. The host couple provided the table decorations and the entrée. Everyone else at the table then brought the dish that they had indicated on the sign-up sheet for that particular table. We thoroughly enjoyed the dinner, our hosts, and everyone else at the table. This is certainly a friendly and happy community of (mostly) full-time RVers.

We began our Christmas morning by opening our presents (what else)! As has been the case for many years, neither of us really needs anything, yet we continue to get a lot. We certainly have much to be thankful for.

We'll stay here tomorrow and leave the morning of the 27th. Tentatively (very tentatively) our plans are that from here we'll go to "Slab City" perhaps a hundred miles from here. That's a place out in the desert where the navy built an air station during WWII. Subsequently everything was torn down so that all that's left are the concrete slabs that the buildings had been on. During the winter months there are as many as 500 RVers who spend anywhere from from several days to several months there. These are all "boonedockers" or dry campers as there are no hookups, water, electric, etc. Sharyn's not so excited about going there, but I want to see it, and see how these rigs are set up to provide the ability to dry camp for such extended periods of time. We'll only be there for one or possibly two nights.

From there we'll go south about 35 miles to El Centro, just north of the Mexican border, where there is a Naval Air Station FamCamp. We'll stay there for a few days before moving on (eastward) to Yuma and another FamCamp. From Yuma we'll go to Gila Bend in Arizona where there is to be a 4 day gathering of RVers who access the Internet via satellite. Satellite could certainly be the answer for our getting reliable Internet access without having to hunt done a phone jack to plug the laptop into. The only problem is the high cost of the initial hardware, plus, I was just reading about some concerns that since the failure of the merger between Hughes Electronics (the parent company of DirectWay) and Echostar that Hughes wants out of the satellite Internet business where it says it's loosing money.

Anyway, from Gila Bend we'll continue easterly through Arizona and New Mexico, then down through the Texas Big Bend country and the Gulf coast. Somehow we'd like to hit both central Florida and northern Alabama (the Allegro factory and a granddaughter) before arriving in Virginia in sometime in May. From Virginia we plan to be at the Great North American RV Rally in Lexington, Kentucky in mid-June. If that's our plan for the next six months, we'll start off by seeing what we do tomorrow.

Odometer reading = 49,711
Miles for day = 0

 

12/26/02
(Aguanga CA)

Today we tied up all our loose ends; returned/exchanged some Christmas gifts, had some warranty work done on the Honda, did the laundry and some grocery shopping, and we're ready to pull out of here in the morning.

We've both been kind of itchy for the last week or so -- we'll be happy to be back on the road!

Odometer reading = 49,711
Miles for day = 0

 

12/27/02
(Salton Sea CA)

On the way out of Jojoba Hills this morning we stopped to say good-bye to several really nice people that we met during our time there. We then started out for Slab City. The first 25-30 miles was all climbing a narrow, winding, two lane road where we were a constant obstruction to all the traffic that invariably pilled up behind us.

Eventually we came to a point where we began descending into the city of Psalm Desert via a series of switch backs that when viewed from the top looked like a Matchbox Car racetrack. Psalm Desert is a beautiful city -- an island of green -- with flowering gardens, manicured lawns, tennis courts and golf courses surrounded by what is basically dry desert. With the looming critical water shortage in the western states, particularly Southern California, the people of Psalm Desert will be hard pressed to justify their, per capita, daily water consumption. It certainly makes for beautiful landscaping, but I suspect that landscaping will soon have to give way to water uses of higher priority.

Anyway, by the time we got to within about 25 miles of Slab City we thought a cup of coffee would hit the spot so we began looking for a place to pull off the road a make a pot. We came to a state park (actually the Salton Sea State Recreation Area at North Shore CA) that we thought would work well, but when we pulled into the entrance we saw that it was a "fee area." We told the girl at the gate why we had pulled in, but that seeing it was a fee area we'd just turn around and leave. She told us that we could go to the parking lot and spend an hour at the visitor's center, have our coffee, take a walk on the beach and leave with no charge. That sounded pretty good so we decided to go for it.

While at the beach we saw that there were about a dozen RV sites with full hookups. We had our coffee at this picnic table on the beach (from which I took this picture), checked out the visitors center, and decided this was a nice place to stay.

The Salton Sea is an inland salt water lake that's 228 feet below sea level, 35 miles long and 15 miles across with twice the surface area of Lake Tahoe.

Here's another picture that helps show why we decided to stay (because it's a really nice place).

Odometer reading = 49,795
Miles for day = 84

 

12/28/02
(Slab City CA)

We started this morning with coffee on the beach, watching this white pelican slowly swim by. After a while we went back to the motorhome for more coffee, after which I went to the visitors center to see the video about the Salton Sea.

By noon we were back on the road once again heading for Slab City, which turned out to be pretty much what we understood it to be. Lots of RVs, most with multiple solar panels on the roof, randomly spread out through a square mile of desert brush (aerial photo by AP).

The most prominent feature at Slab City is the three story high Salvation Mountain, which is also the first thing you'll see as you approach what used to be Camp Dunlop, a World War II marine training camp, now know as Slab City." Some time ago Leonard Knight, a retired worker from Vermont, was passing through. He decided that while he was there he'd build a monument to God. He envisioned it to be eight feet high and planned on taking a week to do it. That was eighteen years ago and he's still building. He uses adobe mud mixed with straw for the structure itself, then paints everything with words and prayers to God. As he described the ongoing project to me, I'd say he's less than half way finished, but he doesn't see himself ever doing anything but continuing to enlarge and build upon "Salvation Mountain." The section now being worked on consists of a large museum chamber, plus a number of meditation rooms such as this one.

Another interesting fellow was Mike Gohl, a social worker from Oregon, who got fed up with budgetary cutbacks in the mid-80's, bought a surplus bus from the City of Eugene and took off. Thus far he's logged over 500,000 miles on that bus. Today he's the primary source of all the solar equipment seen on the RVs at Slab City. When I spoke to him about his installations he told me he's "closed" on Sundays and Mondays, and this week being New Years he's also closed Tuesday and Wednesday. His website, if I remember correctly, is http://www.thesunworks.com.

Another interesting resident, one whom I did not meet, is Linda Barnette, a retired x-ray technician whose been at Slab City for over ten years. She runs the local "radio station" whereby at 6:pm Monday through Friday she broadcasts the local news and events over CB channel 23.

For those who either don't have a shower in their RV, or just prefer an alternate facility, there is a warm water spring that runs into a 5x5 concrete cistern which has been set up with a ladder for easy ingress and egress. The procedure is that you go there with at least one other person so one can "stand guard" to warn other would-be bathers that there's a naked person in the cistern so that they don't inadvertently interrupt and/or embarrass the bather. When I got there to check it out and take my pictures I had to wait for a mother and her two kids whose husband was "standing guard." These tire steps lead to the shower (which is about eight feet deep).

Getting back to us, we had our place in the desert where we could not help but take notice at how quiet it was. No one was making noise. There were no loud radios, TVs, or yelling. Even as it got dark and lights were turned on, no one was running a generator. Everyone was using the electric power stored in their batteries by their solar panels during the day. All in all, Slab City is a place that all RVers should get to check out at some point in time. Even if you think you don't like chocolate you should try it at least once.

Odometer reading = 49,832
Miles for day = 38

 

12/29/02 to 12/31/02
(El Centro CA)

From Slab City to the FamCamp at El Centro Naval Air Facility was only an hours drive so we arrived at the FamCamp around noon. We paid for a week and got settled into our site.

Since that time we've checked out the Exchange (Navy's version of BX), commissary, and the library. This is a very small installation so the the facilities are also on a small scale. While there are a number of computer terminals at the library, there does not appear to be any place on base where I can plug the computer into a phone line to update this site.

We each took a book out of the library on our first visit there. Sharyn finished hers in one day, but I'm still reading mine.

The satellite TV box won't come on so we basically have no TV. Dish Network is shipping us a new one which should get here on Thursday, the 2nd. Most of the channels we get with the antenna are either Spanish speaking from the US, or they're from Mexico (still Spanish speaking). Most of the radio stations are also broadcasting in Spanish, and we cannot get Public Radio which means that we can't listen to Morning Edition or All Things Considered. It seems that our only line to the outside world is the San Diego News-Tribune.

Today, the 31st, we went into El Centro to go to Wal-Mart to see about a tire for the Honda. It's probably the worst Wal-Mart we've ever been in. Most of the registered were closed, while the lines were backed up so far that the people on line were blocking access for other customers trying to move around that part of the store. If the home office ever checked this store they'd either put in new management or close it down. We still need a tire.

Odometer reading = 49,881
Miles for day = 49

 

 

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