There’s no place like home

TUESDAY, September 3, day 44

Our host at this Small Towne RV Park is quite the character.  The owner is a skinny middle age dude with a long scraggly beard.  The park is surrounded by collapsing buildings and there are only 8 or so sites on weedy gravel.  No bathrooms or showers.  Yet, I think he thought he was operating a five star operation.   He seemed truly offended when we declined the outside rug he offered - told us it came with the site, so we used it.  Each site had its own scented bag lined trash can.  When we exited the trailer in the morning we were greeted with a copy of the local newspaper on our doorstep.  Really, I can’t make this stuff up.

It was difficult and a shame to pass historic site and national park sign after sign, but we made each other put our blinders on.  We are on a mission.  I was amazed at the great number of oil rigs we saw as we sped through North Dakota.

WEDNESDAY, September 4, day 45

Today we traveled through South Dakota and Minnesota and finally called it a night at the Flying Goose RV Park in Palmer MN.  What a beautiful park on a private lake.  It would not have taken much to convince me to stay put and rest there for a few nights!

THURSDAY, September 5, day 46

On the road, listening to John Grisham’s book, The Racketeer (really, really good) - heading to Wisconsin to visit our friends Dennis and Kris.  It was so good to see them and catch up on each other’s lives over the best apple pie ever (every bit as good as the one she made the last time we visited!). Kris made killer brats, potato salad and beans for supper.  The perfect dinner for travel weary guests.  I pooped out halfway through the Packers game and we headed to bed.  The end game is in sight.

FRIDAY, September 6, day 47

One last visit over coffee and cinnamon rolls (I made Kris promised not to make breakfast) and we were on the road again.  Home.  We were so happy to make it to Hannibal, MO.  Only a few hours left.   The place looked really good to us.  Greg mowed the grass just the day before and it looked like a park along the road and pond.  We can’t thank him enough for taking care of things while we were gone.

A little bit about Sadie Jo.  She does not mess in the house ever.  Well, almost ever.  Unless she wants to get a point across.  You know, just let us know she is not pleased with us.  When we first embarked on this adventure she pooped on the trailer floor the first few nights.  Then when she felt she had gotten her point across, she never had another “accident”.  She was so excited to get home!  She happily ran around and around.  Then the moment we turned our backs, she pooped in the middle of the kitchen floor, then sat prettily next to it until we noticed.   Nice welcome home present Sadie.

Thanks for joining us on this adventure.  It is one we will never forget.  Dang it feels good to be home!  How many miles did we drive you ask?  Only 12,295...

THURSDAY, August 29, day 47

Today is a beautiful sunny day.  Temperatures are the usual 40 something.  The geese are heading South and so are we.

FRIDAY, August 30, day 40

We stayed at the Purdue Lake Provincial Park last night.  Primitive and sooooo cold.  We were on the road early this morning.  My copy of the Milepost that tells you mile by mile through Alaska is three years old (yes, that is how long I’ve been planning this trip).  We trusted it about where gas would be available… the gas station was out of business.  This has happened quite a few times, where business had closed since the book was published, but it never much mattered.  Except this time.  By the time we arrived at the next service station, our Toyota informed us that we had a 10 mile range left.   Way too close for comfort.

We may not have electricity, but we won’t go hungry....

Lesson learned:  Never pass up a gas station!

We skipped Prince George.  It is a large city needing more time to explore than we were willing to give.

Finally  the Iceland Parkway towards Jasper, Lake Louise, and  Banff.  As we entered Jasper, there was a herd of elk eating grass along the side of the road.

Here I will say, I was totally unprepared for this portion of the trip.  I had no idea that these places were very popular tourist towns with many shops, and tons of tours available to see the sights.  There was absolutely no place to park a trailer and no place to stay.  We saw some beautiful scenery along the way but quickly realized Jasper, Lake Louise, and Banff were destinations that had to be carefully planned, not someplace you could just drive in to  and enjoy.  I think Lake Louise was the most surprising.  I truly thought there would be a busy pullout where people would be checking out another gorgeous lake.  Wrong.  Lake Louise is a mountain town and ski resort.  Tourists reminded us a little bit of Branson, with the overflow parking for Lake Louise looking a bit like a SDC lot.  We high tailed it out of there.  We drove through Banff, mostly because we needed gas again.  It is a very old, very well preserved town, but not for driving around with a travel trailer in tow.

Banff

View of evening walk in our primitive campground in Banff

Finding a place to stay was the biggest challenge.  We set our sight on a provincial park about in the middle between Banff and Lake Louise, hoping most people would be trying to stay closer to one town or the other.  We drove through the campground the first time and saw that all sites were reserved.  Just on the off chance we had missed a tag, we drove through again.  Just as we were about to give up, Jim noticed a green tag clipped on top of the red reserved tag.  It was available for one night only.  Thank you God (yes, I was once again praying).  I cannot tell you how many times I have said a prayer and it has been answered!  So we stayed at Rampart Provincial Park and watched car after car drive through hoping to snag that one last site that we had already taken.

SATURDAY, August 31st, day 41

We left our site in the rain once again.  We have not been unhooking the trailer during these one night stops, so getting going consists of securing the inside of the trailer.   Even though it has been raining, the beauty peeks out around every corner.  The mountains dodging in and out of the fog are especially fascinating, but impossible to capture on film.

Today we took off on the Trans Canadian Highway.  There were quite a number of animal crossing  tunnels over the road.  That was neat to see.  Tonight we stayed in a very full Bridgeview RV Park in Lethbridge.

SUNDAY, September 1, day 42

We are still on the Trans Canadian Hwy and After many weeks of Mountain View’s, our systems are being shocked by the wide open farm country we have just entered.  Oops.  We forgot to get gas. Again.  Thankfully we only had to backtrack 5 or so miles.  We were finally waved through our final border crossing at Coutts/Sweetgrass with the usual questions of how long have you been in Canada (which time and we can’t remember at this point), what have you bought (nothing, we can’t afford it) and do you have an Cannabas products on you (never got into that).

MONDAY, September 2, day 43

We spent last night in Lewistown, MT at Mountain Acres RV Park.  I must say clean bathrooms and a hot shower sure felt wonderful – especially since the showers were free, unlike in CA where they charge you to shower after you’ve already paid premium prices to camp there.  It felt strange to exit the camper this morning and not have to look around for bears, plus the temperatures are already in the 80’s.  What a change a few days can make.

Since we took a trip west through Montana, Utah and many western states just a few years ago, we are intent on making time with the goal of home.

Hello Montana!

The spaces are wide open with mountains in the distance and the grasses golden.  Very pretty.  It seems the little towns we are going through have a Casino in every storefront – in restaurants, bars, and miscellaneous stores.  I cannot imagine how much money people throw away every day hoping to get rich.

We are now sitting in a tiny RV park, appropriately name Small Towne RV Park, in Terry Mt,  where the guy insisted on helping us plug in our electric.  The plan is to make it to Wisconsin by Thursday, a quick visit with our dear friends Dennis & Kris, and then home by Sunday evening or Monday.  The end is near and we are very ready.  If you’ve read this much, more power to you!

Sadie Jo is still hanging in there with us.  She has found her favorite perches both in the trailer and the car.  What a trooper!

FRIDAY, August 23, Day 41

We are now on our way to Skagway.  We have already traveled portions of many of the roads we are now on again.   On the way to Whitehorse, again on the Alaska Highway, we were treated with the sight of wild horses along the roadside.  The mountains appeared black this morning and the waters below reflected that black color.  Amazing.  The pullout to a viewing of Moon Lake was incredibly busy and impossible to pull into.  That’s ok, we were certainly able to see it from the Highway.
We took the South Klondike Highway down, down, down, to Skagway, going through customs once again since Skagway is back in AK.

Skagway is a charming port town popular with cruise ships.  Once again we were lucky enough to get a very nice site - this time at the Pullen RV Park, just a short walk to town and to the port.  It has been too cold to lower our trailer deck and sit outside, but jackets were perfect for strolls around town.

Downtown Skagway looking towards the harbor

SATURDAY, August 24, Day 42

Today was rainy and lazy.  We were going to take a ferry to Haines or Juneau but it was cost prohibitive.  Everybody is grumbling about the Government cut backs on their ferry system.  The earliest we could get a ferry to Juneau was Tuesday at 11:something pm with a return time just as crazy.  We checked into fast ferry’s to Haines and that seemed possible but since we had not scheduled with a tour, there was no easy way to get around Haines once we got there.  This became a time to cut our losses and save a little money.  We really enjoyed and needed the down time.

We found a great old porcelain coffee pot at this antique shop as a souvenir

This shop had the most gorgeous Alaskan themed material.  I may have drooled a bit.

SUNDAY, August 25, Day 43

We woke to fog this morning, which we have come to expect.  Today are taking the White Pass Railroad through the mountain pass.  So glad we scheduled a 1:00 tour.  The morning mist was perfect for browsing through shops and checking out the many cruise ships.  By mid morning the mist had lifted and the sun was peaking out.  What a perfect afternoon for sight seeing!  Our tour guide told me she had some mighty unhappy guests at 8:00 this morning.  Visibility was zero.

After enjoying beautiful scenery and hearing many stories and tales of the mountain pass, it was time to do a little more walking and call it a day.

White Pass bridge

Our White pass Railroad Train

An interesting fact that I’ve discovered while reading the many brochures that are provided along the way is that President Donald Trump’s  grandfather was very much a part of the AK gold rush during the late 1800’s and very early 1900’s.  But he wasn’t panning for gold, he was providing top notch restaurants, liquor, and every comfort a man might wish for.  As the speculation for gold would move, so would his “hotels” and restaurants.  What is it that they say about the apple not following far from the tree……

MONDAY, August 26th, Day 44

Travel day with a lot of backtracking over roads we had already traveled.  Back through customs and back into CA

TUESDAY, August 27th, Day 45

The plan was to take Junction 37, the Cassiar Highway.  The turn-off to Cassiar was like any county roads you might find in Missouri.  We came very close to missing it and once we took it were questioning if we had made a mistake.  As we drove we saw mile after mile, thousands of acres of devastation from forest fires, apparently from a long time ago.

Finally the scenery opened up to a tree lined highway that reminded us a bit of the Natches Tres minus the cudzu.  There was very little traffic, so we were able to drive slow and appreciated the beauty – just because we could.  The vastness of the wilderness was almost overwhelming.

The tourist trap on the Cassiar Hwy is the Jade Store, advertised to have the largest selection of Canadian jade and affordable prices.  The claim about the huge selection was absolutely true.  Jade was everywhere, huge blocks along the side of the road, waiting to be worked up and smaller pieces everywhere.  But the prices were definitely not cheap.  As we entered the store we passed a sign that a film company was filming a TV series on the Jade shop and if we entered, we were agreeing to be filmed.  No cameras were rolling and we are still trying to figure out how they could get enough content for a TV series at the Jade Shop.

Raw had was everywhere

It softly rained off and on all day, making for a fairly easy drive.  Our plan was to stay at a Lodge at the Junction of Cassiar Hwy and 37A, the Glacier Highway.  The park was full so we took our chances with the RV park at the end of Glacier Highway.  What a treat!  The name of the highway held true to the views.  Glaciers were visible all along the highway.  The road wound down through Bear Creek Canyon to Steward, CA.  A very tiny town with a few shops and a very welcome site of an RV Park.  Steward is on the Pacific Ocean.  The US owns a very small strip of land on the other side of Steward, the town of Hyder.

WEDNESDAY, August 28th, day 46

Glorious sunshine!  We drove into Hyder, AK before getting back on the road.  What a sad little town.  Buildings are mostly boarded up, and those occupied probably should not have been.  At the end of town the US Park Service (I think) had built a viewing platform for tourists to see bear getting salmon.  We had thought of trying to see that, but the water was out and the ranger was nice enough to tell us that only one bear had been seen in several days.  The crazy thing is to get back to Steward….. you guessed it.  We had to go back through customs.

We are pretty seriously headed for home at this point.  Glacier Highway, back up to Cassiar Hwy and then back on the Yellowhead Highway heading for Prince George, Icefield Parkway, Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff then home.