Midnight Photo Opportunity

After visiting with a local photographer, she convinced us that going to the top of Dome Mtn. and taking pictures at sunset would give us the best photos of this area. Well, sunset is now at 12:45 AM!! Sunrise is about 3:30AM! Neither one of us can stay up that late so what did we do? We went back to Diamond Gerties to watch the show again which was surprisingly a different show. Then we went to Bombay Peggy's bar and had martinis. As you might imagine none of this helped us to stay up late so we went up on the Dome at midnight, as late as we could go and still keep our eyes open, and took some really pretty neat photos. It actually wasn't the best night for it since there were still lots of clouds from the evening rain, but we think they came out pretty well. We date stamped them to prove we were up at midnight and the sun had not set! The river is the Yukon and the town of Dawson City.

Today was a lazy day, sleeping late, wandering around town and packing for our next adventure which is a Jeep drive north on the Dempster Highway. We will go past the Arctic Circle, thru the continental divide(again), and to the farthest north town of Canada called Inuvik. In all over 400 miles of gravel road.

Gold Rush Fever

Dawson City was the center of the Klondike Gold Rush starting out as a muddy, bogged down tent city in 1889. But, amazingly, by 1902, as the gold rush moved on to other parts of the country, Dawson City was well established with many new well built homes and businesses and an economy that was not reliant on gold.

Last night we bar hopped between the Sourdough Saloon, home of the SourToe Cocktail and Diamond Tooth Gerties (a not for profit casino with a floor show circa 1910). At the Sourdough Saloon there was a lot of commotion at the back of the room that we later found out was caused by people drinking a shot of Yukon Jack with a mummified toe in it. Maybe we'll go back tonight to try it ourselves. If you do so an pay the appropriate fee you get a certificate.

Today we got information on traveling the Dempster Highway up to Inuvik and walking tours of historic places in town. We went into one shop and met a fantastic photographer who owns a nice shop of clothing and souvenirs. She has made her photographs into note cards and the pictures evoked a wonderful discussion of animals we might see on the Dempster or elsewhere in the Yukon. Just down the street we saw a shop about wine making so we went in and met the "wine sitter" as he called himself. In this shop, he sells the wine making kits, you add the yeast to your juice, then he 'wine sits' it for you until it ready to be bottled. He showed us the whole operation and then gave us a bottle of wine that he had made. Can't wait to try it.

After lunch we drove out of town to see Dredge No. 4 National Historic Site, a gold digging machine of mammoth proportions that represents corporate industrial mining. It is located on Bonanza Creek and is the largest of all dredges found in North America. This huge machine was built on a barge placed in its own 'pond' and dug the earth around it and in front of it, panning for gold from 1905 to 1966.

Klondike Highway

As we were driving away from Whitehorse, we saw a grizzly bear near the edge of the road. It looked like he was thinking of crossing the road but thought better of it when we neared so he took off running back into the woods. He was beautiful! The rest of the drive was uneventful as far as wildlife goes - meaning we didn't see any! We did get to see some awesome scenery. We walked down 260 steps and hiked 1 KM to see the 5 Finger Rapids on the Yukon River. This was a perilous point on the Yukon River for riverboats. The mountains and forests seemed endless and there were always large streams, fast running rivers and clear blue lakes in theirs midst.

We are meeting some interesting people. At one stop for "World Famous" Cinnamon rolls the cook was paunchy with a long white beard and uncommunicative. But the truck driver having breakfast was a character. We also visited with some Canadians.

We thought seriously about stopping for the night in a primitive campground and even circled by the site we wanted 3 times before trying to set up camp. But in the short time that we had the RV door open to try and level the coach, we admitted 20 huge mosquitos and John was bitten 3 times! I couldn't leave fast enough! So we pulled off in a rest area for supper and then drove on to Dawson City.

Mountain Biking

We decided to stay one more day in Whitehorse and do a bike ride along the Yukon and around the lake. We got a late start so packed a picnic lunch. Whitehorse was built along the Yukon River but to get to it from the Alaska Hwy. (and where we are camped) one has to go down a LONG hill and to get home, back UP that hill.

I had looked at the map with John, but evidently didn't read it correctly so led us down the wrong road so we added 2 extra miles to our trip. The trail follows a road up 3 hills to the top of Miles Canyon where we crossed a foot bridge and then came back down along the north side of the river -- sometimes the trail was right along the river and sometimes it curved back into the woods. This part was strictly rough dirt path, with short stretches of single track bike trails. I fell once but after that figured out how to do the hill or just got off and walked! John, on the other hand, handled the short, steep hills like a pro! It was a beautiful day so we got to enjoy all of nature without the distractions of rain or cold.

When we got back to town, we took a break at a coffee shop, then wondered around town a bit before heading back up that LONG hill. That was a killer! We rode a total of 18.6 miles and averaged about 7mph even with almost half the ride being on a dirt trail. Not bad for some old folks.

Whitehorse, Yukon

Got the windshield fixed and groceries bought then went sightseeing. Before 1959 a hydroelectric dam was built across the Yukon in Whitehorse cutting off the route the salmon took to spawn up-stream from the dam. So the longest wooden fish ladder in the world was built to provide the access the chinook (king) salmon needed. The salmon have started their run from the Pacific Ocean but won't reach this part of the river until late July -- a distance of over 1800 miles. They will lay their eggs in the lake and die. The fry will stay in the lake for about 2 years before they head back down the river to the ocean where they will live for 3-6 years and then start the process over again. There are weirs and nets that guide the fish to the ladder which rises 60 feet from the river to the lake. They also have a fish hatchery here to raise salmon fry to add to the population.

We also toured the SS Klondike Sternwheeler Steamship. It used to ply the waters between here and Dawson City carrying supplies, mail, people and, on its return, silver and gold which was then hauled by train to Skagway on the coast. It was pretty amazing piece of equipment. Especially when you consider that it could only run from late April to mid-October when the river wasn't frozen. The Yukon is fast running and shallow with its fair share of sand bars and rapids. The ship was built in 1937 and retired in 1955 when roads and trains took over its job. I visited a log church build in 1900.

Then we stopped at the Yukon Brewery and sampled the local beer. Pretty good! We watched them fill up glass jugs for customers that look to hold about 2 liters. They are referred to as "Growlers". Don't know why.

OH NO! Crack!

Yes, that's right -- our windshield has a long crack! The highway is under repair in places and that means lots of gravel. The semis throw it up pretty bad so we try to avoid them if we can but our crack came from a pick-up truck! It didn't grow until we got to Watson Lake car wash! We've been told that there is a good window repair guy in Whitehorse.

Today was a travel day. On our way to the Continental Divide we crossed or paralleled the Rancheria and Liard rivers that eventually flow east into the MacKenzie River watershed which flows northward and empties into the Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean). From the divide westward all the rivers flow into the Yukon River which makes a 2,300 mile journey across Alaska to empty into the Bering Sea (Pacific Ocean). The Yukon is the 4th or 5th (depending on the source) longest river in North America.

We stopped at a few places along our route to look at the scenery or to get food. Specifically, world famous cinnamon rolls. Enough for breakfast for the next few days (they are that big!).

We arrived in Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon Provence, early afternoon so spent some time driving thru the town, checking out the grocery stores, attractions and restaurants. We had supper at the local hot-spot of Klondike Rib and Salmon BBQ -- pretty good food.

Sign Post Forest

We made it to Watson Lake, Yukon today. The Alaska Highway will cross the BC - Yukon border 6 times before we are officially in Yukon tomorrow near Morley Lake which is about the halfway point to Whitehorse from here. Watson Lake is right on the border.

This is the location of the Sign Post Forest. When the AK Highway was being built, a lonely soldier posted a small sign with the distance to his hometown on the corned sign post and that was the beginning. Today there are over 72,000 signs on posts here (they actually count them every year) with the oldest there since 1956. We spotted ones from Bolivar, Centralia, Zell, Lee's Summit and Donophon to name a few from MO. (Who can tell me where Zell is??)

We spotted several wild Buffalo grazing along the road between Liard Hot Springs and Watson Lake. We even spotted another black bear. When we took off to explore Watson Lake on our bicycles, we were advised to make noise so we didn't startle any bears. They are waking up and hungry!

Liard River Hot Springs

Just a short trip down the road from Muncho Lake is Liard Hot Springs. Along the way we spotted a small black bear chomping on dandelions and later 2 bison in the culvert butting heads.

We stopped at the Liard Lodge for coffee and wifi and then found a camp spot at the Springs. The park filled up as we were eating lunch since it is a very popular stop along the Alaska Highway. Supposedly we will see moose, geese, ducks, and lots of other birds. So far we haven't seen anything like that. We walked down to the springs with a couple of gentlemen from Wales and they got really excited to see a robin!

We were all set to go biking when the almost daily mid afternoon rain hit. After the rain storm we took a dip in the really hot springs. Maybe we will get the bikes out after supper.

Hiking and Fishing

After a leisurely breakfast we headed out on a hike. At first we were looking for a trail, then we looked for animals then we just walked along a mountain stream running thru a HUGE gravel berm. This sounds like it would be easy walking but the gravel is big rocks that the snows have pushed down off the mountain and piled up in the valley and then the melted snow has carved a small creek or river bed thru it. John was determined to cross the creek but it was about 5 feet wide most of the way with 1 to 2 feet of really fast moving water. He finally saw a spot that he thought he could jump but WHOOPS! Into the water he went! Luckily it was just his shoes that got wet.

After lunch John got the kayak ready for fishing and went down the lake about a mile or so. He didn't catch anything but I enjoyed the time by myself writing postcards and reading. As I was preparing supper, the Conservation Agent stopped by our site looking for someone in a silver SUV who had been seen fishing off the bridges and along the lake. After some gentle questioning John volunteered that he had been fishing without a license! He had tried to buy one at the lodge down the road but it had to be done on the internet and their generator was not working. John only got a warning.

It did not rain all day and at one point I actually put on shorts for about an hour! The first time on this trip! We built a fire and enjoyed a nice evening with the sun shining and a fire crackling. Sunset is way after we go to bed!

Muncho Lake

I forgot to mention that we saw a large black bear grazing along the highway yesterday. Some of the place names along our route are interesting -- Pink Mountain, Prophet River, Tetsa Lake, Indian Head Rock, and Steamboat River (near a mountain shaped like a steamboat). We are hoping to see more wildlife today - especially moose. John is obsessed with seeing moose!

It was a short drive from Summit Lake to Muncho Lake but about a 2000 ft drop in elevation. We are hoping it will be warmer! It is a beautiful drive thru the mountains and alongside big rivers. The sun is shining but it is not really warm. Just past Toad River Lodge (they have over 7000 baseball hats tacked to their ceilings!) we stopped along with another tourist to watch a Stone Sheep and its mate on the hillside. Then past Northern Rockies Lodge we finally saw our first moose and he was a beauty! He had a fairly full rack of antlers, was very dark in color and paused from eating on the roadside to pose for our picture! Then as we were nearing Muncho lake we spotted another moose in the parking lot of a road maintenance building. He posed for us too!

We are camped in the MacDonald Campground on Muncho Lake which is a beautiful aqua blue and surrounded by high, snow capped mountains. The campground host told us that a moose was wading in the water at the dock but we were busy setting up camp so did not see him. John took a short drive to see about getting a fishing license and saw a herd of sheep on the highway. These sheep are called Stone Sheep and are similar to big horn sheep but smaller and darker in color.

It rained just as we were getting ready for supper -- I hope this is the last of it!!!

Travel Day

We left Dawson Creek mid-morning and headed toward our stop for the night in the Canadian Rockies. Along the way we drove thru Taylor, Fort St. John and then Fort Nelson. Most of the towns along this part of the Alaska Highway were established by the Hudson Bay Company before the highway was built and today their economies are based on oil, gas, lumber and pulp.

The original "Mile Zero" was as Fort Nelson where the army started building the Alaska Highway. Up to there a road had already been built even though it was a very rough,primitive gravel route. Today Fort Nelson is a major transportation hub for the area with air service, railroad and the Alaska Hwy. And "Mile Zero" is in Dawson Creek.

We camped at Summit Lake on Stone Mountain in the Canadian Rockies which is the highest point on the Alaskan Highway. Arrival was after 7 pm so we had a late supper. But having been cooped up in the RV all day, we decided to take a 'short' hike. It turned into a 90 minute trek! We walked up a gravel road about 1.5 km through some patches of snow. Then a path thru the woods and back down to Summit Lake for another 1.7 km. You have to remember we are in the mountains and the ground is beginning to thaw from the long cold winter so it was very wet and marsh-like, especially along the lake. So 30 minutes up and 60 minutes to come back down and around to the campground. And all of this was done with the sun shining from 8 -9:30 pm! Right now the sun is setting around 9:50 pm and rising about 5:00 am.

Dam!

We took a loop route out of Dawson Creek to Hudson's Hope which is near the W.A.C. Bennett Dam on the Peace River. This dam created British Columbia's largest lake as well as suppling electrical power for BC. Williston Lake has over 1100 miles of shoreline and is the 8th largest in North America. We had hoped to tour the inside of the dam but they were having electrical difficulties and could not let us take the tour based on safety issues.

Just below the Bennett Dam is Peace Canyon Dam. A small hydro-electric dam that reuses water that has generated electricity at the Bennett Dam. It's lake is Dinosaur Lake, named that because of all the dinosaur tracks that were discovered when they were building the dam.

Along the way, we also drove across the Historic Kiskatinaw Bridge which is the only original Alaska Highway bridge still in use. It has wood trestles and wood decking. We were quite impressed. Another town along the route is Chetwynd where the International Chainsaw Carving contest is held every year. They then place the completed carving all over their town.

We drove over 200 miles today and didn't go a

Snow in June???

When we pulled into the rest area outside of Valley View, AB, it was 61° and when we awoke this morning it was 34° and SNOWING!! Great big white flakes! John was heard to exclaim "It's snowing and I'm going to Alaska when I could be playing golf! I must be insane!" (he had a few &#!%#s included in that statement).

We drove in to Dawson Creek in snow, walked around down town in snow, had a beer while it snowed and took in a museum while it snowed! And everyone in town said this was very unusual weather -- YOU THINK?

There are several things we have noticed about Canada that have surprised us. One is that Canadians love RVs. As we were driving into Grand Prairie we passed 4 huge RV sales lots in the space of one mile. And every town seems to have as least one RV sales lot if not more. Two is that Canadians love golf! We have never seen so many signs for golf courses or golf resorts. The smaller ones have campgrounds as well as 9 or 18 holes. And again, they are in every town and I'm not really exaggerating. Three is that it is still spring time here. The lilacs and tulips are in full bloom as well as the apple and crab apple trees. Gardens are all started in greenhouses as the ground is still too cold for anything to grow. Four is the absolute lushness of this area. There is field after field of grains such as oat, wheat, rye and canola. It is so pretty.

Dawsonn Creek is "Mile 0" for the Alaska Highway. This is not actually where they started building it in 1943 but it became the designated start when it was completed in 1947.

Cars and an Oil Well

Two starred attractions in the AAA Tour book were Reynolds-Alberta Museum and Le Duc #1 Energy Discovery Center in Wetaskiwin and Devon.

The Reynolds-Albert Museum is a transportation center showing vintage cars, tractors, motorcycles, and airplanes. They even had some restored road graders, combines and steam engines. It also the home of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. One room had an observation area where we could watch restorations in progress and one area had an actual drive-in movie!

The Le Duc #1 Energy Discovery Center was the site of the first oil strike in Canada and changed Canada's dependency from purchased oil to becoming self-sufficent in oil, gas and coal. The museum had one unique display that made you feel as if you were descending into the earth's core on top of a drill bit while learning about how each stratta was formed. The main room was all about the oil rigs, drills, bits and rock testing. It was very technical and we are still not sure how an oil well works.

We spent the night in a rest area in Valley View after having dinner at a Casino.

Rocky Mountain House

We tried really hard to get going by 8:30 this morning but didn't make it -- we move too slowly. We drove up a provincial road as apposed to the interstate to arrive at Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site which is north of Calgary and west of Red Deer.

This location was chosen by the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company as a good place to set us trade posts. Both companys were in competition with each other to trade with the aboriginal groups for furs and other skins. They each built forts or houses. NWC tried 3 times to keep a fort in operations and HBC built one. They both arrived in the area in 1799 and by 1875 they had both moved on.

It was a hard life and the Indians weren't real cooperative. The Blackfoot prevented the trappers from crossing the Rocky Mountains to trade with the Kootenai Indians on the west side because they didn't want them to have guns with which to wage war with other Indian tribes. Of course, winters were harsh and summers unproductive because not much trapping happened then. Travel to and from the forts with the trade goods was even worse. Most traveled up and down the rivers -- the HBC used flat-bottomed York boats and the NWC used birch bark canoes. They even tried horse or oxen drawn wagons.

One good thing came out of these camps and that was the mapping of Alberta's Rocky Mountian area. Cartographer David Thompson used Rocky Mountain House as a base camp for exploring the mountains, he being the first European to cross Hauser Pass.

After lunch we drove to Wetaskiwin where we camped in a Lion's Club campground.

How the West was Once

Today we strolled through Canada as it might have been in the late 1800's to early 1900's. The Heritage Park Historical Village contained homes, businesses, farms and farm equipment, horses and carriages, churches, schools, trains and train stations and much, much more. There were over 100 buildings and most of them were authentic having been moved to this location, some were reproductions based on historical documents and pictures but all were from the past. Each location was manned by an interpreter in period clothing, most speaking the King's English. They covered railroad history, agricultural history, settlements and village life. We watched a "preacher" steal a ledger from the bank, felt the excitement of drilling for oil, listened to a pump organ in a church, learned a lesson in etiquette from a school teacher and ate homemade cinnamon rolls from the baker. I was excited to see a working linotype (my dad used to operate one) and the blacksmith shop was lit using electricity from glass jar batteries. They even had an old amusement park with swings, merry-go-rounds and ferris wheels run by steam engines.

To end the day we went thru Gasoline Alley Museum. A gentleman who was a avid collector and restorer of old cars and anything to do with gas stations, donated his whole collection to the Heritage Park. He must have found hundred's of gas station signs and the really old gas pumps. There were numerous rare and antique cars and trucks in mint condition. It was truly awesome and I'm not that big of a car buff (but John is!).

Bow River Bike Trail

We decided that the best way to explore a city is to ride a bike. After inquiring at the park office about bike trails we loaded up the Jeep, found a car wash and then the bike trail head. The Bow River Bike Trail follows the Bow River (duh!) which is really full right now. They had huge snowfalls in the mountains this winter and it is now melting off with the help of large amounts of rain. (I'm thinking this is happening all across the mid-west.) I found it interesting that the other river that runs through Calgary is called The Elbow River. The city of Calgary is very outdoors orientated. We saw many people on the pathway jogging, walking, biking, & roller blading. It appears that this trail is more than 300 miles long and there were many side trails leading into different parts of the city.

Olympic Village - 1988 Winter Games

We rode about 11 miles to downtown Calgary and arrived right at lunch time. The lunch hour jogging fest was in full swing! After parking the bikes we started our search for lunch. As we were waiting at a stop light, John asked the lady next to us if she could recommend a place. She not only told us all about the downtown area and some places to eat, she walked us to her favorite place. Due to the extremely cold winters, there are elevated walkways all over the city and it is on these levels that most of the cafes, restaurants and fast food joints are located.

We tried a different path on the return trip and cut off some time, hills and distance for a total of 21 miles. It was a really nice afternoon, sunshine and 58°. We will probably be sore tomorrow.

Our Alaska Adventure Officially Starts

We awoke to Sunshine! But it was only 44°! Oh, well!

We found a car wash and quickly sprayed off some of the accumulated mud and dirt and then headed to the Canadian border where we crossed without incident. They didn't even ask if we had any wine! So all 3 cases are still with us.

Our first stop was in Lethbridge where we walked to the Fort Whoop-Up Historic Site, viewed the High Level Bridge and explored the Galt Museum. This bridge is the highest & longest of it's type in North America. Lethbridge was first established as a trading center with the local Indians, then coal was discovered and mining became the main industry, especially after the 1909 trestle train bridge was built, making it easier to move the coal.

Just outside of Fort Macleod we explored the "Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump" Interpretive Center, World Heritage Site. For 6000 years the Plains Indians would herd buffalo over cliffs to their deaths. This site is the oldest, best preserved buffalo jump site. The site's name came from a young brave who decided to stand under the cliff as the buffalo fell past him. Unfortunately, the herd was so large that they piled up around him and smashed his head into the cliff wall.

We didn't get to the West Calgary Campground in Calgary until almost 7 PM so it was a mad scramble to get set up and cook supper. We intend to stay at least 3 days.

Slow start

We did not get away from Sedalia until after 1 PM on Thursday and then we had to make a stop in Kansas City before heading north. We drove thru Iowa to Sioux Falls, SD where we spent the night in a Walmart parking lot. On the road by 8 AM, we headed across SD towards Rapid City where we turned north again. As long as we were driving by SD's major attractions it was necessary to stop for a look at the Corn Palace and the Wall Drug Store.

At Rapid City our route took us north thru a corner of Wyoming and up to Billings where we spent the night at a Cabella's parking lot. John spent 30 minutes this morning visiting with our neighbor who had a system installed in his coach that purifies his black water into potable water. He said it is the same system used by NASA in the space program. Of course, we had to shop at Cabella's before we could leave town. That put us on the road late so we only got as far as Shelby, MT which is about 80 miles north of Great Falls, MT and 40 miles south of the Canadian border.

The weather has been TERRIBLE! No warmer than 62 and as cold as 42 with rain and wind most of the days. We even had to ford a river on the highway twice. If is snows on us, we are coming home!

We Are Off To Alaska!

We are leaving today for our Alaska adventure. Due back around August 25th, or sooner if the grand-baby is early.

If you saw in the news where Sedalia (our home town) was hit by a tornado don't worry. We are OK. The tornado was about 3 miles from our house. Our son incurred some minor roof damage but was really lucky as his house is less than a mile from the area of major destruction. We are so very thankful that all our family and friends here is Sedalia were spared from this storm. There has been so much destruction the last few weeks it makes one pause to consider our good fortunes.

Home!!

I'm sorry I haven't finished this sooner, but we were so excited to be home that I just didn't get it done.

We enjoyed a great convention in Austin where the weather was nice and warm. We played golf two days, dined on good food every night, and reveled in being around our son and daughter-in-law who were also at the convention.

We left Austin on Saturday morning and drove to Norman OK to stay near our daughter and her family. We celebrated our youngest grandson's first birthday (March 22) on Sunday, stayed home with the oldest grandson on Monday and with the 1-year old on Tuesday. Monday evening we also celebrated the oldest grandson's 5th birthday which is on April 3 and our daughter's which is on April 2..

Wednesday morning, March 30, we drove home, unloaded the RV and settled in to read mail and watch TV. It was a great trip and we have loved sharing it with all of our friends thru this blog.

Stay tuned for the next adventure when we will be going to Alaska starting in late May.