August, 2002
Thursday, August 1 --
Day 82 (0 miles /
62 toad miles)
Took the RV to Gary 's
Marine and Truck Electric this a.m. After some testing we discovered the
engine batteries are weak and have a 1.5 amp drain, and that the alternator
is not charging the house batteries. Since we can't
get an appointment here to track down the root of the problem for over a
week, we called Anchorage and made a Monday a.m. appointment with the
Freightliner dealer. After returning the RV to the park, we drove to
Soldotna for some shopping and sightseeing. Lunch in Soldotna at Arby's,
then we drove a little further up the road and got Carol a walking stick at
the Diamond Willow store and a carved moose antler for the house at an
antler and horn store. After dinner in the RV, we walked down the bluff and
spent about an hour on the beach. Tonight there are no fisherman -- all we
can figure is that last night was the end of the dip net season.
Friday, August 2
-- Day 83
(172 miles / 10 toad miles)
Jump started the RV this morning, then drove to
Anchorage, where we are staying at a downtown RV park behind a strip mall
that houses, among other things, the Electronics store that operates the
park. After lunch at a Southern style restaurant in the Sears mall across
the street from the RV park, we spent some time, and some dollars, at the
Barnes & Noble book store and had the CRV serviced at an Express Lube.
Saturday, August 3
-- Day 84
(0 miles / 22 toad miles)
This morning we went to the downtown Saturday market,
then window shopped at the gift shop in the Alaska Native Hospital
--
a small shop that was overrated in the guidebooks. We had lunch at IHOP, a
car wash by a highly organized veterans group, and then went to the Dimond
Mall and saw "K-19, The Widowmaker" at the theater in the mall.
Sunday, August 4
-- Day 85
(0 miles / 12 toad miles)
Today we had a late lunch at Tony Roma 's
then saw "My
Big Fat Greek Wedding"
at one of the local movie houses. Also stopped a quilt store where Carol
made a couple of small purchases.
Monday, August 5
-- Day 86
(0 miles / 40 toad miles)
Up early this morning to jump-start the RV and take it to
Trailer Craft (the Freightliner dealer) to address the electrical problem.
While the RV was in the shop, we did the laundry, picked up some sodas at
Sam 's
Club, and window-shopped at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. We then picked
up the RV --
they replaced the engine batteries under warranty, said that there was no
current drain once the batteries were replaced, and said that we would need
to get the house battery charging issue addressed by Winnebago. Called the
Winnebago dealer who, of course, is booked up for two weeks. After a couple
of referrals, we got an appointment for tomorrow a.m. with Auto Electric.
Had lunch again at the Southern style restaurant in the Sears Mall, then
went to the movies to see "Signs"
-- a creepy Mel
Gibson movie.
Tuesday, August 6
-- Day 87
(0 miles / 35 toad miles)
Up this a.m. to take the RV to Auto Electric. While the
RV was in the shop we drove to see the west side of town, including a stop
at Earthquake Park which fronts on a bluff created when the 1963 Good Friday
earthquake caused 1200 feet of waterfront to fall into the sea. We had some
breakfast at Burger King, then went to Border 's
and spent another small fortune on books. We then drove downtown and spent a
couple of hours at the downtown mall, buying shoes for me and a sweater and
skirt outfit for Carol. Had lunch on the patio at a downtown restaurant and
hit an antique mall before picking up the RV. The problem was one of the
"charging
solenoids" .
Most of the bill was for labor for searching for the solenoid location. The
repair shop had called both Freightliner and Winnebago, and neither of them
could identify the location of the solenoid. We returned to the RV park,
where we changed spaces and were the first customers to hook up to some new
30 amp connections being installed by a work camper.
Wednesday, August 7
-- Day 88
(350 miles / 0 toad miles)
With the RV finally fixed (we hope), we left our
"unscheduled"
5-day stop in Anchorage and headed north to Delta Junction. There was a
light rain most of the day today and we stopped at Smith's
Green Acres RV park for the evening. This was an RV park with long
pull-thorough sites just north of Delta. Ate both lunch and dinner in the
RV.
Thursday, August 8
-- Day 89
(335 miles / 0 toad miles)
We stopped at the Visitor Center on the way out of town
to take our pictures in front of the
"End of the Alaska
Highway" sign.
Since we came up the Casseair and Top of the World highways, we got to
Alaska having traveled the Alaska Highway only between Watson Lake and
Whitehorse. Our return trip will take us the whole length of the highway
from Delta Junction to Dawson Creek. It alternately rained and sunshined all
day today. The road was in pretty good shape past the Canadian border,
though there are a lot of frost heaves. Went through three road construction
areas before arriving for the night at the Destruction Bay campground in
Destruction Bay. Learned that there are several more construction areas
between here and Haines Junction, where we will turn south tomorrow to head
to Haines for a couple of days. Ate both lunch and dinner in the RV again.
Friday, August 9
-- Day 90
(219 miles / 30 toad miles)
Drove today from Destruction Bay to Haines. The road to
Haines Junction had a lot of construction; from there to Haines the road was
wide and well maintained. Stopped on the Haines Highway for lunch and to
hike up a short trail onto a
"rock glacier." This
is a collection of small rocks that flowed down the mountain on top of a
river of ice. About 30 miles north of Haines we entered the Chilkoot Eagle
Preserve and walked a short interpretive trail. Beginning in late October
with a late salmon run, 3000-4000 bald eagles congregate here to bulk up for
the coming winter. Of course, we are too early in the season, so there are
no eagles in sight.
After setting up in the Haines Hook-Up RV Park we drove
to downtown to scope out the area. Then drove about 8 miles out past the
state ferry docks to Chilkoot State Park. Along the way we saw a handful of
eagles, so there are some in town now, just not in the preserve. On the way
back, we saw two brown bear siblings fishing along the side of the road. We
crossed a short bridge and watched them for about 15 minutes from the other
side of the river. Each caught and ate 2 salmon then caught a third and
carried it off into the woods. Their primary means of fishing was to grab
fish that had got trapped in the rip rap underneath the bridge approach. We
had dinner of halibut and chips at Grizzly 's
restaurant and pizzeria.
Saturday, August 10
-- Day 91
(0 miles / 48 toad miles)
We spent a good part of the day shopping for gifts for
the few remaining people on our list. Also took in the American Bald Eagle
Foundation museum and saw an hour-long video on eagles both here and in two
other preserves further south in Canada. Then went to the Sheldon Museum
which had displays of the town 's
early days and also of Tlingit culture, including a small collection of
blankets. We had chicken wraps for lunch at a local restaurant bar, and I
had a glass of Haines Amber, a little heavier than the Alaska Amber I have
been buying in bottles. We drove back to Chilkoot State Park in the evening
but neither bears nor eagles were out tonight. We then drove to the Chilkat
State Park on the other side of the peninsula. There were good views of a
hanging glacier, but no wildlife other than a roadside porcupine.
Sunday, August 11
-- Day 92
(0 miles / 5 toad miles)
Today is a resting day. Carol is doing some sewing; I am
working on the computer, including giving descriptive names to our
collection of 900 +/- photos. Went out for lunch to the Bamboo Room then had
a pizza dinner at Grizzley 's.
Monday, August 12
-- Day 93
(251 miles / 15 toad miles)
Today was a rainy drive from Haines to Whitehorse, where
we lodged at the Pioneer RV park. When we arrived, we washed the toad, which
had a lot of mud splashes, but did not wash the RV, which actually got
cleaned off some by the rain. Stopped for lunch in Haines Junction at a
local Frosty Freeze. In the evening we drove into Whitehorse to scope out
the town and pick up a few miscellaneous items at the local Wal-Mart. Most
Wal-Mart 's
allow RVs to overnight in their parking lot --
in Whitehorse, people carry it to an extreme, the parking lot looks more
like an RV park than a shopping center lot. Dinner in the RV.
Tuesday, August 13
-- Day 94
(0 miles / 30 toad miles)
Today was a full day of sightseeing. We started in the
morning rain at the Beringia Interpretive Center, which gives the history of
the migration across the Bering land mass during the last glaciation. We
then went next door to the Yukon Transportation Museum and learned that
almost every bush plane in service from the 1920s forward crashed at some
point in its career. After lunch at Subway, we went downtown to the McBride
Museum, which had a collection of stuffed animals, a gold rush display, and
some outdoor exhibits. Window-shopping downtown finished the afternoon 's
activities. In the evening, we went to an gold rush era Vaudeville show
called the Frantic Follies. The two best acts were a piece of classical
music played on an oboe and three saws (with violin bows) and a multi-player
recitation/enactment of a Robert Service poem. While it's
hard to be sure, I think this is the best show that we saw in either Alaska
or the Yukon. After the show we went to McDonald's
for dinner.
Wednesday, August 14
-- Day 95
(0 miles / 26 toad miles)
Today was a combination errand/sightseeing day. During
the rainy a.m. we did laundry. As the sun began to peek out, we drove to
Miles Grant Canyon and walked across the suspension bridge over the Yukon
River. This area is now controlled by a downstream dam, but in the Gold Rush
days, the rapids in the section of the river were the most dangerous leg of
the trip from Lake Butler (north of Skagway) to Dawson City. After a quick
trip downtown for a disappointing Chinese buffet lunch, we went to the fish
ladder that enables Coho Salmon to get upstream past the dam on the Yukon
River. We saw a number of fish at the bottom of the ladder, and a couple at
the top, but none climbing while we were there. Grocery shopping rounded out
the day before dinner in the RV.
Thursday, August 15
-- Day 96
(269 miles / 0 toad miles)
Today was a travel day, from Whitehorse to Watson Lake,
where we stayed at the same RV park (the Downtown RV Park) that we had used
on the northbound trip. We had lunch in the RV and stopped at the George
Johnson Museum in Teslin. Johnson was an Tlinglit Indian who owned the first
car in Teslin --
when the only place to drive was on the frozen lake in pursuit of Caribou.
During the day we passed through an area where spruce gave way to pine
trees, though we were back in spruce country by the end of the day. Last
time we were in Watson Lake, we enjoyed a Greek pizza at one of the motel
restaurants, so we returned for another pizza this evening.
Friday, August 16
-- Day 97
(319 miles / 0 toad miles)
Today was another travel day, from Watson Lake to Fort
Nelson, where we stopped at the West End RV Park. The long pull-through site
was level in the front but had cable hook-ups in the back, so we did without
cable TV this evening. Saw more wildlife today than on any other single day
of the trip. In the morning, we past through a herd of about 40 bison who
were resting/grazing on both sides of the highway. Next was a group of three
stone sheep (like Dall sheep except darker) walking beside
the road. Then saw a caribou cow and calf by the side of the road and a
while later a mule deer doe. We then hit caribou country again, and saw a
number of caribou on or next to the road in various locations. Stopped at a
roadside pull-off for lunch in the RV, and had an Italian dinner in the RV
as well.
Saturday, August 17
-- Day 98
(290 miles / 0 toad miles)
Before leaving Fort Nelson this morning, we stopped at
the local museum, which featured a collection of local memorabilia plus a
hanger full of old cars. En route to the Northern Lights RV Park located
just west and south of Dawson Creek, we saw a deer and a fox. We had both
lunch and dinner in the RV, with barbequed hamburgers for the latter.
Sunday, August 18
-- Day 99
(266 miles / 0 toad miles)
This morning we took a picture of the
"Start
of the Alaska Highway"
sign, and also of the historic milepost zero, which is a couple of blocks
away in the middle of an intersection. We went to the local art museum,
which had a collection of watercolors and some photos of construction of the
Alaska Highway. Next door was the National Railway Museum, which included
the historic railway station/station master's
house and a collection of local memorabilia. The rest of the day was driving
to White Court, where we stayed at the Sagitawah RV Park. The drive was
mostly through "civilized"
country with farming in the plains and real towns. Had lunch at McDonald's
in Grand Prairie. After checking into the RV park but before hooking up, we
went downtown to have the RV and car washed. We returned for dinner in the
RV and an evening of watching TV until a severe thunderstorm caused an
electrical outage.
Monday, August 19
-- Day 100
(105 miles / 14 toad miles)
Today was a short drive from White Court to Edmonton,
where we checked into the Glowing Embers RV Park, a large RV park just off
the expressway west of town. Edmonton is the home of the largest mall in
North America, with over 800 stores, a water park with wave pool and water
slides, a mini golf course, a small amusement park, a couple of other
attractions, and three multi-screen movie theaters. We spent the afternoon
seeing the main (lower) level of the mall, having lunch at Taco Time in the
food court. We had chuck wagon casserole in the RV for dinner.
Tuesday, August 20
-- Day 101
(0 miles / 30 toad miles)
It was raining lightly when we got up this morning, so we
decided to see the science museum. This was a real hands-on place with
exhibits on the senses, micro-surgery, the space program, and crime scene
investigation. We also saw an IMAX movie on Jane Goodall 's
chimpanzees. After the museum, we had lunch at Boston Pizza then went to the
West Edmonton mall for haircuts and a movie --
"XXX"
staring Vin Diesel. After the movie, we stayed at the mall and window
shopped throughout the upper level. Back to the RV for a light dinner and
television.
Wednesday, August 21
-- Day 102
(0 miles / 54 toad miles)
This morning we called Proctor Honda to order a CRV for
Carol for delivery when we return in early October. We then went to Fort
Edmonton Park, a historical park. The park begins with a reconstruction of
the mid-1800 Fort Edmonton built and operated by the Hudson Bay Company.
There are then a series of streets representing the town in 1885, 1905 and
1920. We had lunch at the Jasper Hotel restaurant in the 1885 version of the
town. Leaving the park in the late afternoon, we drove to nearby Devon for
grocery shopping, then returned to the RV for a dinner of KFC.
Thursday, August 22
-- Day 103
(213 miles / 9 toad miles)
Drove today from Edmonton to Calgary where we stopped at
the Pine Creek RV Park. We parked on a bluff overlooking the highway. The
trip was mostly through farmland, some flat and some with rolling hills. We
stopped en route for lunch at a Dairy Queen. It was hot, high this afternoon
in the low 80s. After arriving in Calgary, we went shopping at a nearby
series of strip malls. I bought a Microsoft photo editing program to try to
improve some of our trip photos. We had dinner at the Red Devil Barbeque and
Grill which had just about everything on the menu except barbeque.
Friday, August 23
-- Day 104
(0 miles / 199 toad miles)
Today we drove about 90 miles to Banff for a day of
window shopping. Most of the drive was through high (4,000 foot) flatlands
--
we entered the Canadian Rockies just short of Banff. Banff is a lot like an
upscale, architecturally-controlled Gatlinburg. We did find a nice wooden
bowl to use as a wedding gift for Carol's
brother Myron. Had lasagna for lunch at a local pizzeria before the return
to Calgary. There are two noticeable things about Calgary
-- its crowded roads
and its crowded hillsides. There is a lot of new residential development on
the hills overlooking the town. On the trip to and from Banff we passed by,
but did not stop at, the Olympic Park, where the 1988 Winter Olympics were
held. From the road one can see the ski jumps and a number of other
facilities. Dinner this evening in the RV.
Saturday, August 24
-- Day 105
(0 miles / 11 toad miles)
Today we went to Calgary 's
Heritage Park, which is a collection of (mostly) restored and (a few)
replica buildings representing Calgary from about 1900 to 1920. Many of the
doors had inflated paper bags hung outside which we learned were to keep
wasps away --
wasps are territorial and the bags look to them like a competing nest. We
rode a replica sternwheeler on the park's
lake -- the
boat is approved for sailing no further than 150 meters from shore and in
water no more than 1.5 meters deep. I guess the life preservers were
primarily for show. Ate lunch at the reconstructed Jasper Hotel and had
dinner in the RV.
Sunday, August 25
-- Day 106
(0 miles / 202 toad miles)
Our expected FedEx package did not arrive yesterday, so
we extended our stay in Calgary for two days. Today we drove south to the
Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump and interpretive center. This is a UNESCO site
where the plains Indians would stampede the buffalo over a cliff. It is not
named, as you would expect, for smashed-in buffalo heads. It is named
instead after a young brave who wanted to get a better view of the jump and
stood on a ledge below the cliff until the buffalo piled up so high
that they smashed in his head. After the buffalo jump, we had lunch at
Subway then went a few miles further south to Fort McLeod. This is a former
NWMP post. (The NWMP became the RNWMP after the Boer War and the RCMP in the
1930s when a federal police force was organized.) The highlight of the fort
was an equestrian exhibition by eight riders dressed in NWMP uniforms. The
fort also had a number of exhibits, one of which was a wall of Indian
photos, including one of
"Bad Dried Meat."
We returned to the RV for a chili dinner.
Monday, August 26
-- Day 107
(0 miles / 91 toad miles)
This morning we drove to Nanton, a community about 40
miles south which has a couple of blocks of antique stores. We ate lunch
there in the Main Street Café before returning to the RV park to do a couple
of weeks '
worth of laundry. The FedEx package with prescriptions arrived today, so we
are now free to continue toward home. The rest of the afternoon was spent
grocery shopping and hanging around the RV. Carol called her sister Janice
so we could coordinate our travel to their brother Myron's
wedding the end of September. Dinner was ham steaks, mac and cheese, etc. in
the RV.
Tuesday, August 27
-- Day 108
(423 miles / 0 toad miles)
We left Calgary this morning for a long day 's
drive to Moose Jaw, where we stayed at the Prairie Oasis RV Park adjacent to
a motel. The drive started in flat plains and ended in countryside with some
dimpled hills. A lot of goods move by train through western Canada and we
passed half a dozen or more long trains today. When we hooked up this
evening, there was a leak from the hot water heater. Fortunately, there is
an RV service center across the highway, so we should be able to get it
fixed in the morning.
Wednesday, August 28
-- Day 109
(187 miles / 6 toad miles)
We started this morning at the RV service center, where
it took the mechanic less than 15 minutes to replace a bad pressure relief
valve. We drove the RV and car to the Western Development Museum, which had
displays of cars, trains, airplanes, and antique toys from a local
farmstead. Left the RV in the spacious museum parking lot while we drove
downtown to see the "tunnels"
. We took two separate tours --
the first of the tunnels that housed Chinese laborers and the second of
tunnels that reportedly housed a Capone-run bootlegging operation. Between
the tours, we had lunch at a small local café, walked through an antique
store, and went into a (disappointing) store billed as the largest craft
mall in the west. After finishing in Moose Jaw in mid-afternoon, we drove
for a few hours to Moosomin, where we stayed at the Fieldstone RV Park. The
land was still fairly flat today, but we are beginning to see more and
taller trees.
Thursday, August 29
-- Day 110
(239 miles / 0 toad miles)
We drove today from Moosomin to Winnipeg, where we stayed
southeast of town at a huge Travelers RV Park. Most of the trip was through
more prairie and farmland. We ate both meals today in the RV.
Friday, August 30
-- Day 111
(344 miles / 10 toad miles)
Today we drove from Winnipeg to Upsala. This part of
southern Ontario is lake country
-- a lot of pretty
lakes surrounded by spruce along both sides of the road. Took a wrong turn
in one town along the way and had to unhook the toad to get out of a
dead-end parking lot. Only the second time that has happened on this trip.
We had lunch at a Subway and dinner in the RV at the Upsala Can-Op (gas
station) and campground. It was a pretty site with a nearby lake, and the
campground was fairly deserted. This part of Ontario apparently does not get
much late season traffic.
Saturday, August 31
-- Day 112
(260 miles / 0 toad miles)
Drove today through more lake country, and along the
north shore of Lake Superior, to our campground at the Neys Provincial Park.
Today there were a lot more hills, and the road in several places was cut
through some rocky hills. We had lunch at a truck stop restaurant and dinner
in the RV. The campground was on the north shore of Lake Superior. We took
about an hour walk along the breezy beach hosting a lot of large driftwood,
and watched a brilliant orange sunset. Tried to get photos of the sunset,
but cannot tell yet how the colors turned out.
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2002
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2002 ► |
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