Trip to Alaska 7/24 to August 21 2004
Odometer on Mallard motor home 72555 mi
temp 76 degrees weather partly cloudy time
1:07 PM date July 24 2004
we are finally leaving on our trip to Alaska. Mel's Dream. First we
stopped at Angel's then Carol Bell's - to leave her last
minute instructions she will take care of the house and 4 cats. Then
to country mkt. Then we are on our way.
WE stayed at the sinclair Lewis Camp ground in saulk center MN, price
$ 28.
7/25 2004
Woke up to sunshine today. Added power steering fluid (2 qts) and one
qt of motor oil, drove all day, stopped at KOA in
Minot ND. It seam like much of a KOA, no pool no fire rings but the
bathrooms were nice
7/26/2004
another nice day. At breakfast at McDonalds in Minot and I bought battery,s
for my camera. Went thru customs. It was not as bad as I thought.
Saskatchewan is flat and not many trees.Saskatchewan Land of the living
skies. The hyway meets the sky at all point of the horizon.We stayed at
city county park in Crach. It was a nice perceiver thing we needed. Temperature
in the lower 90.
Broke the A/c belt on the motor home engine ,no a/c the rest of the
trip.
7/27/2004
Happy Birthday Carol and Jeff .sorry we are not home to help you celebrate.
.There was a thunderstorm last night but I slept
through it, weather party cloudy and cooler. Rained all day not hard.
Ate breakfast at McDonalds. Another driving day. Stayed
at a city park Vegreville Alberta.Some parks in Alberta are service
or organization Parks.
This Particular park was Elks Sponsored.Vegreville is in the Ukrainian
Culture.
It has the distinction of having the largest Pysanka or Easter Egg
in the world.
Our campsite was next to the railroad track which did not bother us
a bit. Paul said he heard Coyotes during the night.
Tried to call Carol but she did not answer.
7/28/2004
A nice day again. Stop at Whitecourt Alberta to do some shopping- item
for possible car repair and groceries. Groceries are
much more expensive than in the US . The landscape is now forest and
instead of Deer crossing the warning signs say Moose
Crossing. We arrived at the be gaining of the Alaska Hyway- MILE
ZERO at Dawson Creek BC. Took a few pictures and
Paul bought a few things. We saw a man sleeping in a doorway. We stayed
at a campground connected with a gulf course.
7/29/2004
Woke up to sunshine again. Today we start our drive up the Alaskan
hyway, something Paul and Mel have wanted to do. We
have a 2 hour time difference now so we can get on the road early.
Our inner clocks have not changed. Lady wants to go to
bed between 7:30- 8:00 . local time. We ate breakfast at
McDonalds again. The Alaskan hyway is not too bad so far. A little
rough in some places. It has been blacktopped except where it
is being repaired. The scenery is beautiful. The road goes thru
the north portion of the Rocky Mountains. So far we have seen Stone
sheep and a female Moose. Muncho Lake was an
obstacle to the army as they were building the road, so they blasted
away the side of the cliff and the stuff that fell into the lake
made the roadbed along the lake There are so many rivers and mountains
that one can not take a picture of every one of them.
The trees are now lodge pole pine- tall and straight- they make good
telephone poles as we go further north we see aspen and
other deciduous trees. There are also flowers in bloom. We stayed
for the night at J&H wilderness RV park on Muncho Lake.
7/30/2004
It is cloudy today. Continuing our way "north to Alaska".
Saw a bear!!.another driving day, stopped at Watson Lake at the
visitor center and saw a movie about the Alaskan hyway. It is also
known for it's signpost collection that was began by a
homesick solder during the construction of the Alaskan hyway in 1942.
We stayed at an Rv park (high country) in Whitehorse.
7/31/2004
Cloudy again today. Ate breakfast at Mcdonalds, saw the Whitehorse
fishway- the longest wooden fish ladder in the world. It
enables Chinook Solomon and other fish to bypass the Whitehorse dam
and power plant during there 3000 km migration
between the Bearing sea and there spawning grounds in southern Yukon
. took pictures of the ss Klondike II on of the largest
stern wheelers on the Yukon river. We needed to replenish our larder-
whitehorse has a walmart
with groceries- I thought it would be pretty complete- I was mistaken-
no fresh fruits or vegetables, no bakery- the shelves
were not stocked- it was a terrible place to shop.(Klian Ckloo-Ahian)
National Park Mt Logan (Canada's highest peak 19545 Ft )located her.
And extreme network of glaciers and ice field that date from the Ice age
constitute the largest none polar glacier system in the world.We stayed
at a campground in the middle of no were. they used a gasolene generator
for generating electricity. It interfered with our electrical things
so we could not use our clock or watch a movie.
8/1/2004
woke up to clouds- we drove in and out of rain most of the day- crossed
into Alaska today. We are now 3 hours ahead of
local winona time. I haven been able to stay up until it gets
dark. I tried it one night but it was after 10 and it still was not dark.
Dove to the end of the Alaskan hyway at Delta Junction. There was
a nice gift shop there, so I did some shopping. The food
is very expensive here- for example a dozen eggs are $2- Stayed at
North Pole Alaska in a very nice RV park. Woke up 4
AM already light.
8/2/2004
very foggy this AM , but it soon lifted. Ate at Mcdonalds, went to
santa clause house- bought a couple of things saw two
Reindeer. there is a campground next to it lanes are named after
santa,s reindeer. picnic tables are red and green site post
have snowmen on them- very cute- Drove on father to Denali national
park. took a bus ride for 15 mi into the park saw a
caribou, bull cow and baby moose . it was too cloudy to see mt Mc Kinley
We stayed at Denali Grizzly bear campground. It
was a nice park- in the woods There was a motor home caravan
there for the night --they were on a tour.
8/3/2004
Woke up to a beautiful day. Made pancakes in the motor home,
started south to anchorage. Mt Mckinly was just beautiful
. not a cloud around it. I probably took half a roll of film. most
of the time the mountain is obscured by clouds. we were lucky
it was such a clear day. Saw mountains more rugged that what we saw
in Canada, also glaciers- in fact glacial rivers flowing
between the mountains. Hyway No 1 was pretty by much worse than
the Alaskan Hyway
8/4/2004
Another beautiful day. getting warmer.- breakfast, pancakes in our
motor home. On our way to veldeez. saw trans Alaska pipe line- worthington
glacier state park- very interesting could actually get "up close" to the
glacier. Bridal Vail valley horsetail
falls--historic trans Alaska military and wagon road 1899. Valdez
was nothing as far as we were concerned- good if you like
to fish. there were Rv Parked in almost every available spot and the
units were pack as close as the could get. we were going
to stay there but decide not to but stayed at Gakona Alaska Rv Park.
the road trip to veldez was worth the trip down and back but the town itself
was a disappointment.
8/5/2004
Another nice morning, going to dawson city YK via Chicken AK. we saw
forest fires still burning
and some that were put out in the past month and some that were
years old the fist 30 miles was blacktop then for the next 60
mi it was gravel and terrible. it seemed to shake the motor home all
up .Stayed the night in dawson city.
8/6/2004
In the morning we discoverd the propane tank seemed to be hanging down.
it could have happened on the chicken road
or it could have been that way for a long time. we fixed the Lp tank.
I did laundry at the same time and we stayed another
night in Dawson city.
8/7/2004
Another nice day. Propane tank fixed, laundry done & were on our
way. next stop will be Whitehorse. we drove all day--
stayed at Whitehorse again at high country Rv Park. this time I bought
groceries at a different store It was OK prices still too high
8/8/2004
Another nice day. Mostly a driving Day but we did stop to see
a portion of the old Alaskan hiway & laird hot springs. Stayed
at J&H wilderness RV park on Muncho Lake again.
8/9/2004
Sunshine again. Its getting warmer. this will be a driving day again.
we are back on the Alaskan hyway again as we were
yesterday wildlife on the road, sheep male deer, Baby or yearling Moose,
Black Bear. Drove on the old Alaskan hiway near
Dawson Creek. saw one of the original bridges that crossed the Kishtaw
River. We did not want to drive the motor home on it
but we were going to walk on it.. there were 2 men who were drunk and
the best of valor was to leave. we then stayed at the
campground on a gulf course we stayed at on the way up Farmington Fairway.
The nights are getting longer and cooler.
8/10/2004
More sunshine this morning. Ate breakfast at Mcdonalds in dawson creek.
Got a certificate that says we drove the entire
length of the Alaskan hyway. On our way to jasper and Banff National
Park, Bijoux Falls Provincial Park. Stayed at
Beaverview Campsite McBride BC. They had nice open sites, good
facilities, nicely groomed grounds. The owner played in a country
Dance band many years ago & got 4 former members get together annually
at his campground. We happened to be
there during their visit so they had a campfire and the guests at the
campgrounds were invited. The band played and sang and
the quests sang with them-- if they knew the songs and some even danced.
It was a fun evening.
8/11/2004
Happy Birthday Mary We will celebrate when we get home.. Another day
of sunshine. We are on our way to Jasper and
Banff National Parks. even tho we are in the mountain there are farms
in the valleys. Stop at Mt Robson Provitial Park the
highest point in the Canadian Rockies also saw Mt Cinnamon. Drove
the ice field parkway thru Banff and Jasper Stayed at
Tunnel Mountain Travel Park in Banff national Park.
8/12/2004
Another day with sunshine. Stopped in Banff before heading East.
Drove all Day, Bought Groceries in Madison Hat Alberta.
Stayed at Eagle valley Park Campground, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan,
nice campground big sites.
8/13/2004
Sunshine again. Continuing East, Saskatchewan is much different than
what we left yesterday. you can seen for miles. Stayed
at Grefell Saskatchewan at city park- nothing fancy but it had everything
we needed. Talked to carol, things are going fine, she is going camping
this weekend.
8/14/2004
More sunshine. still driving east ,saw fields of flax, canola, wheat,
oats took pictures of the fields. Stayed at city park in Alton
Manitoba.
8/15/2004
Cloudy today. went thru customs, Stopped at the duty free store to
get some Canadian shirts, they were more expensive and at gas stations.
Went to another chicken road trying to get to Minnesota. Made it to Itaska
State Park. They had sites left, signed
up for 2 nights. skies cleared in the evening.
8/16/2004
Sunshine this morning. went to Bimidgi to get some things then back
to Itaska SP to stay the night again. They have some new
bathrooms and showers that are state of the art. Lady and I did a lot
of walking.
8/17/2004
Another nice day. Paul and I did some shopping. Paul was able to take
a movie of a loon on the lake. Dad and I heard the
loons this morning. going to scenic state park. arrived at park
early afternoon. Took a walk through the park and saw and
heard loons.
8/18/2004
Rained early morning very windy but no rain, saw a couple of loons
and Mary and lady took a hike to chase point. Mel rented a canoe and toured
the lake. stayed at park again.
8/19/2004
Nice day today had a breakfast in the camper -Pancakes. Stopped
at ely MN for supplies. stayed at northern exposure
campground at silver bay MN. Rained at night. OK campground on the
shore of Lake Superior. very windy.
8/20/2004
Sunny and cool. Stopped at gooseberry state park to check out gift
shop- came out empty handed. Paul did buy something.
took Lady to Lake Superior and through sticks inj the water. she would
retrieve the m if it Was not too deep. She has not
learned to swim yet. Stayed at Adventurland Campground in Gorden
WI. Nice Park took Lady walking on ATV trails
Heard loons.
8/21/2004
our vacation we had planned so long has come to an end. It is
another sunny Day. We have had a wonderful Vacation and a
good time
motor home odometer 80801 3:30 PM 8/21/2004
Things we noticed about alaska
1: Gas stations are few and far apart
2: Prices seem to be higher and selections of items not as numerous
3: Much is unsettled, Wild, Pristine
4: Events are relatively recent
5: I did feel I was in the frontier
6: There are only a few roads that lead anywhere
7: Rv Parks are used like motels not campgrounds. People come
for the knight and leave the next day.
there is not a lot of emphasis on lot size, grassy sites, etc.
they are set up for a full hookup, showers, Dump stations, and water.
we did find at some with there own generators and satellite telephone
systems. there is no connection to civilization