Before lunch we stopped at the Liard Hot Springs PP and enjoyed a swim in the lower pool. The upper pool was closed because a female grizzly and two cubs were seen along the walk between the two pools. A grizzly killed a woman last year so the Rangers are being especially cautious. The water temperature varies between 42 and 49 deg C. (107 ½ to 120 deg F) I don’t think that it was that hot, but none of us ventured right to the hot end. We then had lunch in the picnic area before continuing along the Alaska Hwy. We decided to travel a little farther than originally planned because the afternoon was still young. 
The drive along Muncho Lake was the high light of the past week in terms of scenery. We were now traveling through some mountains and the beautiful jade color of the lake was amazing. We hope that our pictures show just how beautiful the water is. The mountains at Muncho Lake had white caps from the snow -fall of the past couple of days- burr! It is too soon to be seeing freshly fallen snow, even at the top of the mountains around us. We saw a small herd of goats right beside the road and Margaret was successful in capturing one of the male goats on a picture. We came upon the Toad River and it was a beautiful green- resulting from the river flour content of the water. We had seen this effect before, but it was result of the glacial flour content. We stopped at the Toad River Lodge CG that is named for the river. Our camp- site was right on the bank of a small, shallow lake that provided a most scenic location. There were a lot of birds and animals to watch: ducks, beaver, muskrat and moose were observed. There was a beautiful green field at the foot of the mountains- being from Indiana; we presume that the field is used to produce silage.The afternoon high only reached 58 deg F, but with the sun shinning it was pleasant enough to sit out side before dinner and to grill and then eat our dinner outside. It cooled off very quickly once the sun went behind the mountain that is across the lake from the CG.
Today we drove 210 miles and have traveled 8355 mi to date.
Aug 27. It was overcast and 41 deg F when we left the Toad River Lodge CG at 8:10. Within an hour we had encountered and taken pictures of several caribou right on and along the roadside. They take their time crossing the road and seem to know that we will wait for them. The temperature was slowly rising and it was 52 deg F at 10:00 when we arrived at the Indian Head Mountain viewpoint. The mountain crag resembles the classic Indian profile. We stopped for gas in Ft Nelson and began looking for a spot to have lunch. It turned out that this was not an easy feat because the places we picked were either not yet open for business or were out of business. We ended up having our sandwich in an old truck stop lot- not very pretty, but convenient. We experienced showers throughout the day, but really enjoyed the brief sunny periods when we got some really nice views of the snow topped Rocky Mountains from the east side. The snowfall was obviously recent and a beautiful and white dusting. The road was twisty and curvy as we drove SE from Ft Nelson, but the surface was generally good. Bud and Cheryl in the pickup and fifth wheel trailer experienced more of the bumps than we did. We stopped for coffee/tea and homemade pie at the Bucking Horse Lodge Café. The pie was excellent, but the lodge itself has seen better days- closed down and not maintained.
We had decided to go farther today than the original plan, but this became a problem in terms of finding a satisfactory CG. The Milepost book indicated campgrounds were present in locations that have closed down-some apparently several years ago! The few remaining ones weren’t where we wanted to stop or were small and already full. We ended up driving to the outskirts of Ft St John and stopped at a Rotary Club CG that is fairly nice, but expensive. We were ready to stop so we did. Upon the recommendation of one of the ladies checking us in we went to the restaurant next door for dinner. She said that it was the best restaurant in a 200- mile radius. The food was quite good, but the background music was loud and only to Bud’s liking. The afternoon high reached 56 deg F and it was beautiful and sunny for the remaining daylight hours. We met two couples from Kenora, ON that are heading to Alaska in two pickups and fifth wheels. They left Kenora on Friday after work and pulled into Ft St John this afternoon! They have covered a lot of territory in a few days and even had time to visit a sister in Edmonton for ½ a day on Sunday. They didn’t have much information on Alaska and didn’t have a rigid plan, but were going to slow down and enjoy the views from this point onward. They are fun-loving folks that have to cram as much as possible into their four weeks of vacation!
We drove 363 miles today and have traveled 8718 miles to date.
Aug 28. The morning started out foggy, but it was sunny and 51 deg F when we left the CG at 10:00. The late start was partly owing to Bud and Cheryl wanting to contact their RV dealer regarding a leak in the rear of the RV. He suggested that they go to a large RV dealer in Grande Prairie, AB. We then concentrated on getting to and visiting Dawson Creek- Mile Post 0 on the Alaska Highway. Most people probably start their journey to Alaska from Dawson Creek and progress up the highway, but we wanted to drive up the Stewart-Cassiar Highway so we drove the opposite direction. This made it a little more difficult to follow our route using the Mile Post book, but we managed with a team effort. It was a beautiful drive through the farms of the Peace River region of BC. The farms looked to be successful, like those of Iowa. Rod recalls Mr. Devlin in grade 5 and 6 talking about the great farms and the record production of the farms of the Peace River District. Rod credits Mr. Devlin with giving him a good grounding in Geography of Canada that still serves him as we travel.
We stopped for about 1 hour in Dawson Creek and went to the Visitor Center, walked to and took pictures of the Mile Post Zero and then had coffee/light lunch at Tim Horton’s. The drive to Grand Prairie took just over one hour and again we enjoyed some nice farmland. Bud and Cheryl got their trailer problem diagnosed and a temporary “fix” took about an hour. After shopping for groceries we decided to drive a little longer and finally stopped in Valley-view, AB at 6:00. This made another late day and everyone was tired. The afternoon high temperature reached 64 deg F, but with the sun shinning brightly, we actually ran the A/C for a short time. Today we drove 215 miles and have traveled 8933 miles to date.
Aug 29. It was sunny and 45 deg F when we left the CG at 8:05. We wanted to get past Edmonton today so that we would have a short drive tomorrow into Battleford, SK. It was nice to drive through the farm country of NW Alberta. Some of the crops are nearly ready to harvest- we are not expert on identifying the various crops. If it isn’t corn, soybeans, wheat, oats or sunflowers we have our problems identifying the crop. We were advised to watch for moose along much of the route, but we didn’t see a single one! We picked Whitecourt, AB for our morning Tim Horton coffee/tea stop. In order to avoid driving right though Edmonton on Hwy 16 we took hwy 37 east along the north side of the city. This proved to be a good decision and we saw some more beautiful farms- at close range. There were not picnic stops so we turned into a United Church parking lot and had our lunch. We stopped for gas east of Edmonton and paid $1.044 per liter. The afternoon high was 78 deg F and we spent it sitting outside and enjoying the sunshine. Rod went uptown and washed the RV and then went to Wal-Mart to get a couple of items.
We each prepared our own dinners and then ate together for the “last supper” before we each go our separate ways tomorrow. After dinner we walked around the campground and the Elks-Kinsmen city Park. It is a very nice park in the center of the community. It contains the Vegreville Pysanka-The World’s Largest Ukrainian Easter Egg. The egg is over 25 feet long and over 18 feet across and stands 31 feet above the ground. It was dedicated in 1977 and was visited by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip in 1978.Today we drove 292 miles and have traveled 9225 miles to date
Aug 30. It was another sunny and warm morning of 54 deg F when we left Vegreville at 8:10. We drove to Lloydminster before stopping for coffee/tea at 10:00. We then continued to Battleford where Cheryl and Bud are spending a few days visiting with Bud’s son, Ken and his wife Tracey and their two children-Taylor and Kieran. The drive through eastern Alberta and Central Saskatchewan was very nice with the farms looking generally quite good. Many crops are off already. We were pleased to see the farms of Saskatchewan looking good because when we drove through southern Saskatchewan in 2000 many of the farms were inactive and they looked generally run-down. Of course, everything in Alberta looks prosperous- they continue their boom.
After we left Bud and Cheryl we started towards Saskatoon and stopped in Radisson at a roadside rest area and had lunch. We arrived at the CG at 3:00 and while Rod gassed up at $1.129 per liter, Margaret did a huge laundry. The afternoon high temperature reached 79 deg F and the sun shone all day.
While finishing up this daily entry I heard a loud noise- bang and hiss sounds from the back of the unit. I hurried outside to hear the air escaping from the spare tire! This is the tire that I had switched off the left front while we were in Soldotna, AK because it had less tread than our spare tire and we were experiencing some shimmy-like motion in the steering wheel. Two thoughts come to mind- what if we hadn’t rotated the tire off and two what if it went down while we were away from the unit and were not aware that it was flat? The Lord continues to watch over us!
We drove 274 miles today and have traveled 9499 miles to date.
Aug 31. It was sunny morning when we left the CG at 8:10 (had to wait for the Cinnamon rolls to be delivered to the CG office). We then went downtown to find the Tire Repair Shop to have the valve stem replaced in our spare. They took care of us right away and we left the shop at 8:35 and wound our way through Saskatoon to find the entrance for Hwy 16 East (The Yellow Head Highway). We stopped at a little town called Lanigan and found Amy’s Bakery right in the first block of Main Street. Amy was a supper salesman (sales person) and in addition to coffee and tea she sold us a loaf of her bread plus some Oatmeal-raisin cookies. We stayed parked outside the bakery and enjoyed our drinks and the cinnamon roll that we bought at the CG-delicious.
We drove through very strong crosswinds and sometimes head winds most of the day. That accounted for the warm temperatures- southerly flow of air. There are very few RV’s traveling on the road today- not like it was on the Alaska Highway. We stopped for lunch in Yorkton, SK-a busy town. The farms that we saw today are mixed: some are very large fields that are either harvested or ready to be harvested. The main crop that we could identify was wheat.
Then there are many farms that have small, irregular shaped fields that are surrounded with trees and bushes. We saw very few farmhouses and farm buildings- possibly means that the farms are very large or the buildings are off the main road or the small- fallow fields are not even being farmed. We lost one hour today owing to the time change at the Manitoba border (Saskatchewan stays on slow time) so we didn’t get as far as we hoped. The afternoon temperature reached 78 deg F and the sun shone all day. The wind died down just about the time we reached our CG at 4:30.
We drove 398 miles today and have traveled 9897 miles to date.
Sep1. There was a flash of lightning when Rod walked over to the restroom, but no more followed and no rain came. It was hazy and 64 deg F when we left the CG at 7:30 and continued our travels via the Yellowhead Highway through Manitoba. I need to go on line and find out whether of not the Yellowhead Highway runs from Portage La Prairie to Prince Rupert, because the signage was confusing. We passed through Gladstone, MB and saw the town park with a large stone upon which was painted, Gladstone - “Happy Rock”, MB. Does everyone get it? We stopped in Portage La Prairie for coffee/tea (at Tim Horton’s of course). We stopped at the Ontario Welcome Center, obtained an Ontario map and had lunch. The wind has blown most of the day, but not quite as hard as yesterday. Our next stop was Kenora, ON and Margaret phoned Paula since Ian and Paula once lived in Kenora. They were happy to have a short visit via telephone. We then headed south towards the US border, but decided to stop at a CG that is right on the Lake of the Woods. It is a beautiful setting and Margaret went for a short swim in the lake that is right beside our site. The temperature is 91 deg F and the humidity has risen so we started the A/C at 4:45. We stopped at the Laughing Water CG and Marina. They rent house boats, but that will have to wait until another time. They don’t appear to be very busy considering it is Labor Day Weekend.
Since we stopped so early (2:30) we only drove 305 miles and have traveled 10,192 miles to date.
Sep2. What a beautiful setting this morning- the sun was rising and shinning across the Lake of the Woods Long Inlet that ran in front of our campsite. It was 62 deg F when we left the CG at 8:00 and headed south on OH 71 towards Fort Frances/International Falls. The drive for the first 30-40 miles took us past many lakes and inlets that were separated by little meadows and forests of mainly evergreens. The last half of the drive to Fort Frances was mainly forested with increasing numbers of deciduous trees that are changing color- yellow and some reds. When we reached Fort Frances we decided to have coffee/tea and then cross the border. There are pulp/paper mill(s) in this area and the aroma of a sulfite mill was evident and reminded Rod of the “old days” in Powell River (before the Kraft Mill was installed). The Rainy River separates Fort Frances and International Falls and there is a single bridge that is shared by automobile, truck and train traffic. This is complicated by there being the Canadian Customs on the north end of the bridge and the US Customs on the south end- each holding up their share of traffic and each having “holding pens” for any unsuspecting “victim” that the Custom Officer decides to “pull over”. We had an uneventful stop at the border crossing so we were through the process, including the wait in line, of only 5 minutes. The drive through northern Minnesota was not unlike that of the last half of the drive in the morning- treed and the deciduous trees turning color. We have noticed that the ferns on the road allowance are all turning brown already. We stopped for a break at the Kabetogama State Forest Visitor Center in Orr, MN and met another Roadtrek couple- Woody and Peggy Hoffman of Las Cruces, NM. They had been at the Kerrville, TX rally, but we didn’t meet them then. The have a 2006 210 Popular so we were able to discuss the differences and “improvements” that we have made. They traded down from a Class A to the Roadtrek. They had been full timing in the Class A for nine years. They have moved a lot over their married life- 42 times! We didn’t ask, but Rod thinks that they must have been career military. We visited for about one hour so had to make up some time. We did stop for lunch south of Eveleth, MN, the home of the US Hockey Hall of Fame (it was closed- we didn’t want to tour this time anyway). The rest stop where we stopped had a plaque that stated this is “The Three Way Continental Divide. From this point water flows north to Hudson’s Bay via the Red River, East to the North Atlantic via the Great Lakes and the St Lawrence River and west via the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. Just about 10 minutes from our lunch stop we passed through Shari’s home- town of Cotton, MN. We did notice two land marks- Skeeterz Cafe and the El Toro Restaurant. It does not have a large commercial district and in fact they did not post the population on the road sign! It does boast the Whiteface River.
We filled up with gasoline in Superior, WI at $3.099 per gallon. The afternoon high reached 80 deg F.
We have talked to “the three” since we returned to civilization – Karen, Tim, Nick and Zack are spending the long weekend at Puttin’ Bay, OH, Steve and Martha said that it was a beautiful day in Columbus today and they are going to friends for a cookout tonight after the guys play golf this afternoon. David and family are working around the house and spending time at the community pool. David said that their temperature today was in the mid 80’s, but it is to rise into the nineties over the next two days. They had record high temperatures over the past few weeks.
Today we drove 387 miles and have traveled 10.579 miles to date.
Sep 3. Another sunny morning and it was 53 deg F when we left the CG at 7:45. The drive along M 28 was somewhat lonely for the first couple of hours and then we started to have traffic meeting us. It was a good road for the most part and we made better time than was expected. Rod made a quick stop at Bruce Crossing for a cup of coffee. It was a Motel/Restaurant and the lady asked, “Are you staying in the motel”? I said no and she said, “you should have said yes”. Our first real break was at the Wal-Mart in Marquette. The time was 10:20 and we had covered 135 miles. While Rod was getting gasoline, Margaret went next door to a restaurant/bakery and bought meat and vegetable Pasties for lunch. We drove about 3 miles to a rest area on the outskirts of Naubinway. The plaque states that this is the most northerly point of Lake Michigan and that it was significant in history because in 1805 Congress used this point to define the western boundary of Michigan. Later, in 1818 they extended the western boundary to the Mississippi River! Later they changed the boundary to the present one and created all of Wisconsin and portion of Minnesota from the western part of Michigan. We moved along very well until we came close (within ½ mile of the approach to the Mackinaw Bridge) when we came to a halt. We inched our way along for 40 minutes to cover the ½ mile to the toll plaza. It then took us another 23 minutes to cross the approximate 5- mile long bridge. Obvious cause- the Michiganders returning home from the long Labor Day Week end. The real cause- a planned “Walk across the bridge”!!! There were three buses (?) and several soldiers and multi policemen on the bridge to keep the walk orderly. By this time, about 3:20 PM, there were only a few walkers left on the bridge. They were over ½ way across and they included two elderly women, one with a cane and one with a walker! Why would they have a walk across the bridge at this time? When we got across the bridge there was a 2- ½ mile long wait two lanes wide that had to merge into one lane since the walkers were using one lane of the north-bound side. The afternoon high temperature (not counting inside the waiting automobiles and trucks) was 84 deg F.
We drove 406 miles today and have traveled 10,985 miles to date.
Sep 4. We awoke to a very light shower, but it soon cleared up and we had great conditions for our drive down through Michigan. The traffic was much lighter than yesterday and, in fact, it was typical – fast, but good Michigander drivers.
The afternoon high temperature reached 85 deg F.
We drove 270 miles today and have traveled 11,255 miles total. This does not include the 608 Km that Bud drove us while we were sight seeing together. If you convert that to miles and add it to our total then the grand total becomes 11,255 + 377 = 11,632 miles.
We really had a great trip with almost perfect weather the whole time. Traveling with two units made it more “fun”, but we all had to make adjustments and compromises from time to time. With Cheryl having made the trip in 2000, she was a great resource in terms of what to see and what we could defer. Cheryl is our own “Queen of the Museums” and remembered a lot about those that she had visited in 2000. Cheryl noticed a lot of changes since 2000- more campgrounds, better roads, more local traffic and more housing and commercial developments.
Next time we will allow more time to visit museums, the towns, points of interest, etc. We did not allow enough time to do Alaska right. Everyone should do the Stewart-Cassiar Highway and the Top of the World Highway ONCE, but next time we will avoid them and spend more time in Alaska with a quick side trip to Whitehorse and possibly Dawson City (you can’t make the drive to Dawson City a quick side trip).
We had NO problem with mosquitoes or flies. In fact I only applied bug spray once in anticipation of needing it. The head nets are still in their original packaging. Rod only wore his rain jacket one time, in anticipation of needing it on the glacier boat ride but it wasn’t needed.
The people of Alaska and the Yukon have a great deal of pride in their “frontier” and wouldn’t trade places with anyone. We really have an admiration for them and wonder how they can survive the long winter nights. Those that are dependent upon the tourists have to make their living over 2-3 months and we appreciated this fact and didn’t object to the slightly higher prices that most things cost.
The campgrounds were quite acceptable and generally the rest rooms were clean. The campgrounds were not landscaped like we usually see down here, but the sites were level, adequately serviced and tidy. We were surprised at how many times we were able to get free Wifi so it was easier to communicate by e-mail than cell phone. The highest price we paid for gas in Alaska was $3.429 and when we got home to Auburn today it is $3.159, a difference of less than 10%. Yes Alaska produces crude oil, but we didn’t see any refineries.
We are happy that we went and plan to go again. As Margaret has said to many folks, “it is just too hard to describe Alaska and it’s scenery – you have to see it for yourself”. We took over 1000 pictures while we were up there and while we have some super shots, they don’t do justice to the scene because the panorama effect isn’t available in a still picture. There were many locations where we could stand and turn 360 deg and see beautiful sights in every direction!
That’s all folks!
Rod
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