Rea of Sunshine

Off To The Races

2011-10-15T22:39:00.000-07:00

Another check off my bucket list......Hank & Lillie Corbitt, the friends, took me to a NHRA Drag Race in Phoenix today. They got an extra sponsor's ticket. What a way to get to attend my 1st drag race, a very unique perspective. I got to spend the day with the GEICO motorcycle racing team, seeing how they prepared the bike for the race, talking to Karen Stoffer (the rider or is that the driver) and her crew. AND I got to be in the sponsor's box at the starting line (50 feet from the line) for an entire round (top-fuel, funny cars, etc.) time trials. A really great day. Thank you Doug & Debbie Johnson, the owners.

Pic Top Right: Lillie, Karen Stoffer (rider) & Hank.

Left: View toward finish line
Right: One of John Force's funny cars

Left: Karen Stoffer making a run (far lane)

Right: Pro-stock burn out

Left: Karen signing autographs as Debbie (owner) chats with her.

Right: Greg changing out engine

Left: Not a poor fan's sport.

Mini Family Reunion

2011-09-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

The last time we were together was about 1964, about the time Ed enlisted into the Army. Dave is on vacation down from the Denver area and Ed is moving back to the Phoenix area, so our paths crossed this week. We had a great visit, remembering the not so good times of our childhood. Ed is the oldest (blue tee-shirt) three yrs older, then Dave a year older then me.

Dave's A Hero

2011-09-13T15:01:00.000-07:00

M, the wife, post this on Facebook, thought I would share.

I consider Dave Rea a hero.

I was very moved by my conversation with Dave Rea, Bob the husband’s, brother today. He took the time to discuss his 18 months in the Army in Viet Nam in the 60’s. He spoke of guns, ammunition, howitzers, which eventually made him deaf, the sound of bullets flying over his head, “Charlie”, bombs, weeks of cold food and no showers. Suffice to say that his tour was horrific and had left strong emotions and memories about the blood shed he experienced and his return home to a nation he felt...

By: Marlene R. Rea

When I first heard that Dave was part of a howitzer team, I assumed that they were behind our lines firing at enemy positions. That was not the case, the army dropped these big guns and their crews on some hill well behind enemy lines. He talked about being over-ran more then once. Very lucky to be alive.

A visit with one of my brothers

2011-09-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Do we look like brothers ? Dave and Ann came down from Colorado for a short visit. I think they wanted to experience the heat of AZ. They are in a hurry to get out of this state. Arizonnie is NOT the place to be.

Prostate Cancer

2011-09-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

Just before we left for the NW, I had a biopsy of my prostate. The results revealed cancer in my lower right quadrant. The plan was to go to the NW, return back to Casa Grande to have the prostate removed. We needed to wait at least 6 weeks to allow the biopsy wounds to heal. We returned the middle of August for the Aug 26th operation. My prostate removal operation was aborted due to a spike in my blood pressure (220/120) while on the table. I have an appointment with the radiation doc today (9/7), new plan is to have pinpoint external beam treatment. Peepee doc doesn't want to take a chance on putting me under again to reattempt the DiVinci procedure or to plant radioactive seeds in the prostate.

My youngest son (James) and youngest daughter (Jill) live

in the Bay area of CA. They would not forgiven us if we didn't stop for a day or two to see them on our way back to Casa Grande. We hadn't seen them for a couple of years (last year didn't leave CG for the summer due to a heart attack). James had us over for a nice BBQ, giving us a chance to see his family and Jill.

Son (James), Amelia and Julia

Jill with her niece Julia....she loves that kid.....

Just Another Place To Park The Rig For The Night

2011-08-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

Nick and Loretta asked us to stop by for a night or two while we were in the northwest. Nick is our neighbor Dennis's brother. Dennis said that Nick has a nice house and has plenty of room for our motor home. A considerable understatement. They have a fantastic home on 14 acres. I don't remember all the details, think its a 4700 sq. ft. worth in the neighborhood of $2.5 M

Nick has 2 out buildings (no, one of them is not an outhouse), a barn and a detached garage/workshop. There are a total of 11 garage doors on the property. Nick has lots of toys behind those doors including 2 corvettes and 3 motorcycles.

There was a problem parking our coach in their yard, we couldn't get our 12 foot tall coach down their tree lined driveway. We parked in their neighbor's driveway.

Busy Month in Bremerton WA

2011-08-06T22:45:00.000-07:00

We have been parked at the Bremerton Elks for almost a month, it has almost been none stop 'fun'. We arrived here while the Masons were having a picnic. M talked them into giving us a hamburger with all the trimmings, that was the start of our non-stop eating either at friend's homes or with friends at restaurants, with an occasional family meal (see previous post).

We joined Ron & Carol at The Boat Shed (right). We also shared a meal with Bert & Martha at my favorite restaurant, King's Wok. I've actually ate there 3 times so far, hope to make it four before we leave. We went to Anthony's Homeport to meet Jim & Irene. Ate with Tim & Dee at an Indian Casino in Shelton.(Little Creek).

Our 1st couple of weeks in WA was spent at Ocean Shores, M asked her daughter Cori and grand-daughter Gabbi to spend a night. They spent a lot of time at the beach.

Bremerton Elks put on an annual Antique Car Show, we were parked next to the field. This year the turnout was a little light, there was a drizzle in the morning (some don't like to get their shiny cars wet).

Look at the size of these blueberry bushes, they go back about 30 ft...good friends Ron & Carol have about 70 pickers a year help them remove the berries. We were the 1st to pick this year. 20 minutes we had more then our freezer would hold...eat your hearts out Rod and Jean.

One of the bridges going to east Bremerton is being replaced, its been there since 1948 (or something like that). Ron & Carol thought it would be 'fun' to walk it before it got torn down.

Weekend at Lake Cushman

2011-07-13T23:24:00.000-07:00

Tim and Dee are always excited (yah, right) to have us come up to their lot for a weekend. Its now part of our trip to the northwest, plan on a couple of weekends with the McIntyres. This year it was really special, Tim turned 70. He is officially OLD. A few days before our arrival, July 2nd, Tim had a gathering of about 35 to welcome in his 7th decade. Tim did a great job, set everything up for the crowd and provided all the food (ribs, salads and desert). A great birthday, don't have to bring anything. I saw folks I hadn't seen for 20/30 years.

Dinner at "The Girls Cafe" at Lake Cushman: Left to right - Carol, Dee, Tim, John, Ron & Bob. M is just out of the picture. This was a few days after the birthday party. Ron & Carol came to Lake Cushman for a few days of camping, still breaking in their "new" RV.

Dee, John, Tim and M making Smoores.

Girls and their dogs - Carol with Benny and M with Scout

.

Tim on his 70th Birthday with son's Shawn (left), Terry and wife Dee.

Part of the birthday crowd playing a game.

Meeting Leah in WA

2011-07-13T22:33:00.000-07:00

Our daughter Leah and family came to WA for some personal business this week. It was great that we were able to get to the northwest this year after all the health problems that I've had and even better that our paths crossed. We almost didn't make it due to prostate issues. Leah and David have done a great job raising their girls, you won't see better behaved ones. They truly love each other and their family.

David, Deniece and Ava enjoying our motor home.

Lunch at King's Wok...my favorite restaurant.

A great family...

M's Family Reunion - Succi Side

2011-04-06T23:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday we had the Succi (M's mother's side) Family Reunion. 25 members of the family came, many from the east coast. It was perfect weather, most sat outside getting reaquainted. Everyone seem to enjoy themselves, the food was great.

Top Right: Jan 1948

Left: Me, Alan, Paula; M

Left: Carlo, Nancy; Susan

Right: Its got to be something Nasty

Left: Joann

Left: Paula, Alan; Barbara

Right: Lisa; Janice - Below Right: Margaret, Nancy, Susan, Paula

Left: Carolyn, Joann, Carlo

Right: Eileen, Carolyn

Left: Paula, Barbara, Eileen, Rob

John & Margaret

Tour of Fan Grabber Sportswear

2011-04-06T22:34:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor Dan Moreno took Dennis Abel (another neighbor) and me on a tour of Fan Grabber Sportswear in Tempe. Dan conducted an excellent tour, he really knows the operation. Thanks Dan..... How come no free samples ?

Pic right: Dan on left, Dennis right

Bottom Left: Screen printing area

Middle Right: Embroidery area

Taliesin West in Scottsdale AZ

2011-03-11T18:49:00.000-08:00

M seems to think if she exposes me to places of culture she increase my level of class...yeah, right. Today we went to Taliesin West in Scottsdale for the insight tour, a living memorial to a great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. We rode with neighbors Barry & Roz. One of the places to see on Roz's bucket list.

Frank Lloyd Wright built Taliesin West in 1937 as his personal winter home, studio and architectural campus. The design and style was well ahead of its time. The FLW foundation offers several tours, we took the "Insights" tour (1 1/2 hrs). Tour prices start at $20, ours was $28. Roz and M really liked the tour, not sure about Barry. I'm cheap...$28 is a lot of money to look at a house.

Roz & Barry touring Taliesin West.

Renaissance Festival

2011-02-21T19:45:00.000-08:00

M, Dennis and Linda finally got me out of the house, they drug me to the Renaissance Festival in Apache Junction. The drive was a little over an hour, parking was a breeze. The hour wait in line wasn't so good. The weather was perfect, in the high 60's

No Linda, this is not a Starbucks. This was the 1st place that she saw, she had to have her latte.

We saw several performances: A guy that was pretty handy with a bull-whip; The Ancient Art of Falconry; a comedy routine (Tortuga Twins - Capt. Morgan's Pirates) and The Ded Bob Show.

The Slabs...Niland, CA

2011-01-22T19:46:00.000-08:00

The following is what I posted on Facebook.

M & Scout climbed Savation Mountain. The mtn is located at the entrance of the "Slabs" near Niland, CA, at the SE corner of the Salton Sea. The Slabs is an old military base that is open to the public for free camping. I think every Hippie from Southern CA comes here for the winter. It made for an interesting afternoon.

Ever wonder how the "campers" of The Slabs take a bath? They use the 'skinny dipping pond' just off the entrance road near Salvation Mountain. A lady was just getting out of the pond when I took this pic. Suits are optional, she wasn't wearing one. Notice how close the cars are in the background. She was about 50, we had a nice conversation with her friend/husband while she dressed.

Our next stop was the Mud Pots, about 5 miles southwest of Niland. It amazes me that they such a wonderful place that isn't controlled by anyone or agency. These geo-thermal formations are very interesting and very touchable. You could drive you car next to them (we didn't), a group of 3 ATVs did. It was well worth the trip to see them. M wouldn't touch the mud pot..."Its dirty and smells".

Halloween Party at Mission Royale

2010-10-31T21:18:00.000-07:00

We attended the local Halloween Dinner/Dance. It was about what I expected; the potluck was good, the dance was so-so. We enjoyed the evening with our neighbors and friends, Barry & Roz (below center and right). Our neighbors Ray & Paula won the best couple, pictured below left.

Happy Birthday M

2010-10-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

Today is M's 60-something birthday. She has been celebrating for 2 days now and tomorrow we head to Hank and Lillie's to celebrate some more. Yesterday, Martha (long time friend from WA visiting for a week) made a Trifle which M wanted to share with some neighbors and friends. This evening we all went to Robson Ranch for her birthday dinner and tomorrow we are going to Hank & Lillie's to continue the celebration. Good thing we aren't celebrating 70-something, the party might not ever end.

Left: Dennis, Linda, Jean, Rod, Lillie, Hank & M.

Top Right: Same folks except add: Ray, Paula & Martha.

Lower Right: Martha, M & Scout.

Health Issues Continue

2010-08-31T17:48:00.000-07:00

The rest of the story on the Kidney Stone: The ER docs were wrong about the passing of the stone, it was still there. I went home from the ER, everything seemed fine for a day or so, I still had some pain but ER said it would go away soon. The pain was from the stone rolling down the tube, tearing as it went down. The pain increased as the weekend went on. I called pee-pee Doc Monday for an appoinment, saw him that day. Wednesday he went in and grabbed it, leaving a stent because of the damage to the tube. "How long will the stent be there, will it desolve on its own?"..NO, he will have to go back in to retrieve it. This is an office procedure, not a hospital procedure like taking out the stone (lots of good drugs). "What kind of drugs will you be giving me to take out the stent?" "What drugs do you have at home?" he asks. This isn't going to be fun. The stent is now out. That was a couple of weeks ago.

Friday, I had a scheduled echocardialgram to determine how much heart damage occured from the heart attack. The good news: NO Damage. The bad news: "How long have you had an irregular heartbeat?" News to me. Off I go to have an EKG. Yep, an irregular heartbeat. Heart Doc takes a look, says I may need to go the the hospital to shock it back into rhythm, he's going to try some drugs (Coumadin, Sotalol & Welchol) to see if these resolves the problem. The coumadin is a fairly dangerous drug that can cause uncontrolled bleeding, which needs to be monitored. Normally it requires a 2 day hospital stay to ensure that the proper dosage it prescribed. My doc is starting me on a low dosage which he will monitor every other day.

Our neighbors Dennis & Linda were back from North Dakota for 2 weeks, they brought down their Corvette. It was nice to see them again. We continued their teaching of Pegs & Jokers while they were here. We are baiting them for the $2/game. We keep telling them how well they are doing...smile.... Note M has her wrist cast, we are playing with a handicap.

I Hate Getting Old

2010-07-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the ER, I passed a kidney stone this morning. I woke up at 4:15 with a terrible pain on my lower right quadrant. I thought it was gas, would go away in a short while. It didn't. I thought maybe I was having an appendicitis. IT HURT LIKE HELL. I drove myself (yes, I did it again) to the ER. They did some blood work and had me pee in a bottle. I was passing a kidney stone. They gave me lots of good drugs to relieve the pain and did a CT. I told them about the CT I had a month ago, they took a look at the results and noted that a 2mm stone was in the kidney. They did a CT this morning, stone was gone. How come I didn't know that I had a stone waiting to pass. It sure would have been nice to have been told of this potential problem.

M had her hand operated on last week, she had a bone removed near the thumb. She is now in a cast, will be for 3 weeks. I am now HOUSEBOY. I don't do houseboy well.

No Cancer

2010-06-27T15:38:00.000-07:00

The CAT Scan was negative, no cancer. The jaundice is almost gone, still itch some.

M took more pictures of her interior paint job of our Easter Basket.

Casa Is Now An Easter Basket

2010-06-24T17:50:00.000-07:00

This is what it looks like to live in an Easter Basket.....The left wall is dark red and the archway is purple, hard to see in this picture. The 2nd pic; note the teal behind the TV. M wanted to add character to the house. More pics to come with the furniture in the right places.

I went to yet another Doc to find out what is going on with my jaundice. All 3 docs thinks it medically related, probably the Lipitor, whick I stopped taking about a month ago. This Doc sent me in for a CAT scan to rule out any cancer's. I'll find out the results Friday afternoon. All blood tests have been negative with the exception of high liver enzymes.

Today it was 112 this afternoon, warmest day so far. The inside was a cool 74 (which is too cold for me).

New Dining Room Set, Sorta

2010-06-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

M sold our dining room set this morning to some Mexicans, $950. Last week we received her new set, a 48" round table with 10" round extensions (increase the dia. to 68") and a buffet. We bought 6 used chairs (for now, expect that new leather ones will be a discussion point in the near future). I assembled the table this afternoon. We are ready for some Pegs & Jokers........

Left: old dining room set

Rea of Sunshine has turned Orange

2010-06-04T22:48:00.000-07:00

I got a complaint or two about not updating my blog. Nothing much has been going on in the last month with the exception of my health. Because of the heart attack, I started taking new meds., one being Lipitor. I reacted to the Lipitor, I had stomach pains and was nausea a couple of weeks after starting the drug. The pains were bad enough that I was checked for gallbladder problems. I was sent to get an ultrasound which was negative, they also checked my kidneys and liver which were also negative. They did some blood tests, everything negative. I stopped the Lipitor, all symptons went away. Last week I started breaking out in hives and iched like crazy and I turned jaundice. Back in for another blood test, liver enzymes sky high (this test was done 2 weeks ago, negative). Blood tests have ruled out Hepatitis B & C, but not all forms of hepatitis. More blood tests today (2 days later) to rule out other things. Some positive things about my health: I've been walking 2 1/2 miles each morning (78 miles for the month of May) and I've lost about 15#, now weigh 162.

M bought a new round dining room table and buffet. The buffet got to us damaged, we are trying to get it replaced. The table is cool, its about the right size to play pegs & jokers; it has 4 leaves that adds 20" to make it comfortable to sit 6 to 8 for dinner. Now all we have to do is make room for the 2 new items....anyone need a large dining room table and matching china hutch? She has listed them in the local paper and on Craig's list.

I Had A Heart Attack 2 Weeks Ago

2010-04-29T06:37:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I made a posting on my blog about my heart attack. I sort of buried it in the updates of our landscaping, so some of my friends and family didn't see it. I'm reposting this entry. My follow-up appointment went well, doc says to come back in 4 months. My diet has changed A LOT and I'm walking 2 1/2 miles every morning. Below is the original posting.

For those that don't use facebook or aren't one of my friends on facebook, I had a heart attack Sunday morning. I wasn't smart enough to know that it was a heart attack, thought it was heart burn from the new anti-biotic I was taking for a lump in my neck. I waited until Monday afternoon to go to the doc to see what the problem was. Half an hour later I was in emergency then off to ICU. There was some debate as to what the problem was, my EKG didn't show anything. I did have elevated blood pressure. A few hours later a heart doc examined me, thought I should have an angiplasty exam. Next morning I was shipped off to Chandler Regional to have the procedure. I arrived at 12:30 PM, was in the operating room at 1. An hour later, I was in my hospital bed. I needed one stint and 2 balloon jobs. 11:00 the next morning I was back home. All is well.....I think...... I have a doc appointment a week from Friday.

Front Courtyard 95% Complete

2010-04-23T22:44:00.000-07:00

An update on the front courtyard. We are very pleased with it. M is looking for patio furniture really in ernest now, too bad we're broke......like that's going to stop her.

A school friend of my on facebook published Miss Grant's class pic of 1959 from South Powellhurst in Portland Ore. I'm top row, 5th from left. As M tells everyone, I haven't changed the way I comb my hair since grade school. Grade 6.

Front Courtyard

2010-04-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

We started on the front this week. The contractor set the pillors and started the wall. The HOA doesn't like the type of bricks that we are using, will only accept a stucco wall. Work has stopped until we get this hashed out and form a new plan. Aren't HOAs great. Not really a big deal, we will get something in there that will be nice and approvable. Top 4 pics is the starting point.

Progress until stop order.

I had a heart attack

2010-04-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

For those that don't use facebook or aren't one of my friends on facebook, I had a heart attack Sunday morning. I wasn't smart enough to know that it was a heart attack, thought it was heart burn from the new anti-biotic I was taking for a lump in my neck. I waited until Monday afternoon to go to the doc to see what the problem was. Half an hour later I was in emergency then off to ICU. There was some debate as to what the problem was, my EKG didn't show anything. I did have elevated blood pressure. A few hours later a heart doc examined me, thought I should have an angiplasty exam. Next morning I was shipped off to Chandler Regional to have the procedure. I arrived at 12:30 PM, was in the operating room at 1. An hour later, I was in my hospital bed. I needed one stint and 2 balloon jobs. 11:00 the next morning I was back home. All is well.....I think...... I have a doc appointment a week from Friday.

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-04-08T23:13:00.000-07:00

We had a few friends over for my birthday. Both M and Roz made me a birthday cake. M's was a pineapple upside down cake and Roz's was a.....the other one. I believe she was the model. M made a great dinner, a good time was had by all.

Left: Roz, Barry, Dennis, Linda & Rod

Far Right: Rod & Jean

Left: Were you really the model?

More RV friends visiting

2010-03-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

Casa Grande AZ is located where I-8 & I-10 intersect. We figured when our RV friends are out west they would be driving right by and WANT to stop to see us. They haven't disappointed us. Yesterday Rick & Joanne Stone and John & Peggy Ebert paid us a visit. After happy hour all 10 of us went to Golden Corral for dinner. Starting left: John, Rod, Jean, Peggy, Joanne, M, Linda, Rick and Dennis. Dennis & Linda are our new next door neighbors that we started sucking up to, Dennis is a house builder (contractor) and knows lots of sh*t (stuff). Pics below was the Happy Hour prior to the non-home cooked meal outing.

Right: Happy Hour entertainment

Ron & Carol's Annual Visit

2010-03-07T05:52:00.000-08:00

We love to see friends from back home (Bremerton, WA). I've known Ron for 30+ yrs, he's one of the few friends that has known ALL of my wives. Ron & Carol try to get here in early March to get out of the wet of the NW and enjoy some of this beautiful sun of AZ. This year they were just in time to see the completion of the backyard make-over.

Scout & Benny (Ron & Carol's Maltese) got along like they were brothers, looking at them you couldn't tell they weren't from the same litter. They chase each other all day long. I think Benny is gay, he spends a lot of time he'en & he'en with Scout when he should be he'en & she'en with the next door neighbor's dog Gracie.

The backyard make-over almost complete, only thing left is the 2nd coat of paint on the fence wall. The water feature is great, moss rock was added...heck the whole backyard is GREAT. We are really gonna enjoy it.

Twice a year the housing development has community yard sale. Last year we got some nice cabinets for the garage. This year we got some nice patio chairs. Pictured are Carol, Roz & M showing off some of their loot from the adventure.

Backyard 95% Complete

2010-02-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

Inquiring Minds Want To Know......Here is the latest update on the backyard: The wrought iron fence has been installed, cemented in place, still needs touchup paint on the welds; water feature is operational, the surrounding pavers will be reworked to give a smoother arc, moss rocks (no idea what those are) will be added to the bowl to add character, lighting needs to be installed; Patio fans, no progress, need to contact electrician.

Backyard Make-over

2010-02-21T09:03:00.000-08:00

I keep telling M that we can't take it with us, the money in our savings account. She finally listened. We are now in the process of making over the backyard. The completion date was suppose to have been yesterday. M always tells me that Mexican time is different then American time; time and dates mean nothing to them. I would expect that the project will get done by the end of this week. Just in time for Ron & Carol's annual visit. Shown below are some before and after pics.

Quartzsite Was A Bust

2010-01-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

We made our almost annual trip to Quartzsite to see our RV friends and see what is new in the big tent. In both cases it was a bust, most of our friends didn't show, the weather was bad and nothing new in the big tent. We parked in the same location as last year, about 7 miles from town. This location is very suitable; it isn't dusty and drains well when it rains. You can't beat the cost....its free.

Top left - some of the RV out in the desert, notice the lack of numbers.

Top right - Our little group.

M is always tell me to close the slider on the screen door. "Your going to let in the flies". When she leaves the door open she lets in hummingbirds.

Our parking spot at Indio last week

Indio, CA

2010-01-11T18:10:00.000-08:00

We attend rallies to see our RV friends. This week FMCA (Family Motorhome Coach Association) held its regional rally at the Indio fairgrounds. We didn't attend the rally but we were parked about 3 blocks from it. Why didn't we attending? The rally costs around $150 for 4 days of dry camping, parking at Indian Waters RV Resort costs $14 for 2 weeks of full hookups. You do the math. 5 couples of our RV friends are here at the park. Really no reason to pay the big $$ to attend the rally. We did buy a one day pass ($7 each) to see the coach display and the vendors. Several of us took our towbars to Roadmaster at the rally to get maintenance work done (free). In my case, free cost me $521 for a new towbar. I could have had it refurbished for $120 but decided that new might be better since I really abused it towing on the Top of the World Highway in Alaska...remember the paint job I needed on the coach and car as a result of the TOW Highway? The towbar saw a lot of those rocks.

We attended a gathering of 25 fellow RVers at a local pizza parlor near Palm Srpings. The pizza was pretty good, the met and greet part went better then I expected. We met some new friends that we will see at Quartzsite next week.

There is a cool flea market in Palm Desert at the College of the Desert. Its worth a couple of hours of browsing and a lunch of Chili Notchos. Of course M found something for Scout. Do you have a need for a new pair of sneakers? Only $145.

Something for someone hard to buy for?

On the way back to the RV park, we stopped at an open house of a fancy RV park, Desert Shores (what kind of name is that, what shores?...plenty of desert). It really was a upscale park, look at this place for only $675K. Who knows what the HOA fees are...don't want to know...if you got to ask, you can't afford them.

On The Road Again

2010-01-04T19:05:00.000-08:00

We live in a nice home and in a great location. Why would anyone want to leave it at this time of the year for anywhere outside of Arizona? Have you ever heard of Palm Springs? Well maybe there is somewhere one might go that is outside of AZ. We are headed to that area, 2 weeks in Indio. We are travelling with 2 other coaches, spending tonight in Ehrenburg AZ. Another beautiful AZ sunset.

Pic left: Rod & Jean in front of the Colorado.

Scout got his 1st haircut. I sure the first of many ($$). I think the puppy is attached to M's leg. Priscilla always was a step or two behind Marlene. I learned to wait that extra second when she passed, Priscilla would be right behind. Scout is closer, I'm SURE he is attached.

The coached sustained some rock damaged to the rear cap from my speedy driving on The Top Of The World Highway in Alaska. The paint job cost $8100, covered by insurance. Total cost to have both the car and coach painted was around $19,000. While the coach was at the repair shop, someone throw a rock at the coach and broke the drivers side window. Another hit on my insurance.

We enjoyed New Year's Eve with some of our RV friends. We had the usual drinks, good food and a few games of Pegs & Jokers. At the table is Jean, Jim, Peggy, Me and M. Rod was taking the picutre.

Halibut and Pegs & Jokers

2009-12-16T06:10:00.000-08:00

Last week, Rod & Jean wanted to share the halibut that Rod caught in Alaska this last summer. They invited our RV friends to our house (we have the most space), Jean baked the fish and presented an excellent meal. Of course, we had to play P & J after the meal. We paired off (luck of the draw), played at 2 tables. Clockwise: M, Peggy, Jim, Jean, Rod, Hank & Lillie.

Right: Jim is wondering if Lillie is cheating

Let The Parties Begin

2009-12-16T05:46:00.000-08:00

We attended the RV Club Christmas Party last night. It was a nice potluck attended by about 40 people. Ray & Paula Hatcher were the hosts (also the president of the club). This is the 1st party we attended this year. Last year there were a lot of local parties put on by the different neighbors. Not so much this year......or maybe we aren't being invited. We haven't put one on ourselves, maybe that's the reason. Pic right: Roz & Barry Graham.

Ray & Paula Hatcher, the hosts and president of the Club

Far left: Paula, Robert & Danelle Allen

We live with a tornado

2009-12-07T07:46:00.000-08:00

Scout is HIGH ENERGY and loves to tear up paper. He's worse then a 2 year old kid. M said to ignore him, he'll stop..that didn't work. His favorite toy is plastic container, chews on it for hours.

A Roadrunner got trapped in the garage overnight. He was very happy to get the garage door open. He ran out but not very far, 20 minutes later, he was still on our property.

Our community had a block party on Saturday. It was rather cool (by our standards, high 50's) and thus not a big turnout.

New Addition to Family - Scout

2009-11-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

M was just lost without a be-with dog. Knowing that she will never be able to replace Priscilla, she found another tag-along companion, Scout. He comes to us from Nebraska. M had been looking a dogs for a couple of weeks, found Scout thru the internet on Google (an online search engine). Now Nebraska is a bit of a distance for Casa Grande AZ. How are we going to get him here ? Wouldn't you know our dear friends Rod & Jean were in NW Iowa, only 180 miles away AND leaving for Casa Grande in 2 days. And they have a HUGE motorhome. How convinent. Maybe they will pickup the little guy...should we ask? How could they say NO. Scout was in M's loving arms in less then a week. He is exactly the kind of dog she wanted...be-with and smart. Thanks a bunch Rod & Jean.

November is a very special month for our friends Jim & Peggy Grich. Both Jim's and Peggy's birthdays needed to be celebrated, we were invited as well as Hank & Lillie. And wouldn't you know, they got married in November. This year was especially significant, their 25th Anniversary. Happy Everything.

We celebrated at Olive Garden, Jim passed the word to the staff.
......

Rod & Jean had a 2 night lay-over on their way to Yuma. They came to the house for another fine meal that M always serves. We had also invited Gary and Caroline Bown over for the evening. The initial intent was to play a little pegs & jokers but we never got to the game, had too much catching up to get done. AND M had the distraction of Scout, it was his 1st day in his new home.

Happy Birthday M...A Week Late

2009-10-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

Last week was M's Birthday. We didn't do much to celebrate other then going out to dinner. No cake, No card, just dinner. A week later, Hank & Lillie, saved my ass...they made a very cool Birthday Cake for her. Note that the decoration is a Pegs & Jokers board. VERY COOL. She loved it.

We have played Pegs & Jokers several evening since Hank & Lillie have arrived for the winter. The girls have been playing against the guys. Up til tonight its been pretty even, tonight Hank and I won 4 straight, we are now ahead by 3 games. Lillie couldn't stand it any more, she had to switch partners. She was finally on a winning team...mine. Its been great fun to have friends around us here in Casa Grande.

The Mission Royale community has 2 yard sales a year. It a great chance to get out and meet the neighbors. And to get some things for the house. This year we bought some cabinets for the garage and snowman. We now have a passenger for the golf cart.

We lost our air conditioner while we were in Alaska, it had sprung a leak, lost all its freon. The repair cost about $70, the adding of freon was another $640. M's candles didn't like the heat in the house.

Just before we bid our fairwells to The Boy and The Kid, we had to have one final picture of the 5 of us. As you can see Amelia looks pretty tired. It had been a very busy day and week with the family & friends Meet and Greet of Julia.

The Boy Introduces The Kid

2009-10-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, our 22nd granddaughter was introduced to the world at a family and friends 'Meet & Greet'. My youngest son, James (The Boy) and his wife, Amelia, celebrated the birth of Julia (The Kid) at Amelia's sister's house.

Left: The Meet & Greet
Right: Our granddaughter Alexis with her dad

Left: Grandpa with the boy
Right: Me with #2, daughter (Jill) and #4, son (James)

Right: Grandma getting her grandbaby fix

....

The Grandparents:
Far Right: Charlett (my ex-wife)
Near Right: Rita (Amelia's mother)

Can you buy 'class' ?

2009-09-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

Can you buy 'class' ? No. Trailer trash will always be trailer trash. M thinks that if she drags me to a community theatre, she can learn me 'culture'. Another couple invited us to the play "Seven Year Itch". I stayed awake through most of it. It had to be the worse play I've ever seen. If we hadn't rode with John & Peggy, we would have left at intermission. M agreed. M's hasn't done very well when it comes to dinners either. It seems that we almost always get poor meals at the nicest restaurants. I keep on telling her, I really like her cooking. She knows that I'm cheap, so she isn't really sure if I mean it. She's beginning to see the light, but she hasn't given up on going out. A couple of days ago, we went to the Boat Shed with Bert & Martha Johnson for yet another expensive meal. She warned me in advance to not complain about the prices. Now that's scary......$50+ later, the meal was pretty good, the company was better.

Tomorrow we start heading south for our home in Casa Grande. We've been in the Bremerton area for a little over a month. It's been great seeing our friends and M's daughter Cori & granddaughter Gabbi. Our next stop will be in the Bay area of CA to meet & greet our newest granddaughter Julia. We will also get to see her parents James & Amelia and my daughter Jill. And maybe my ex-wife Charlett.......

Another Week, Another Damaged Car

2009-09-17T09:03:00.000-07:00

Last night M had cat duty (taking care of a friends cat). On the way home she got rear-ended. Now we have to deal with a wrecked rental car. Our Honda HAS BEEN in the shop for 3 weeks (rock damage), we may never leave the Bremerton area. We got an estimate for repainting the rear cap of the coach, $4,758. Total rock damage from the Alaska trip is approaching $15K.

Its been another busy week eating out. This week Ron & Carol Darling took us out for a nice meal. M had given them both a haircut last week, they insisted on taking care of the bill, I didn't fight much (actually, not at all). Thanks Ron. We also met up with John & Peggy Ebert and Chuck & Mary Boros at my local favorite restaurant, King Wok. It is Chuck & Mary's 1st visit to the NW, they are full-time RVers we had met at an RV rally a couple of years ago.

Pegs & Jokers Report: Tim & Dee weren't cowards after all, they were secretly practicing (my story). They came over few nights ago. They set us up. They let us win the 1st game then won the next 6 games. They are now $2 ahead. Does the word HUSTLER come to mind?

A Really, Really Sad Day

2009-09-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

Most of you know Priscilla. Today we had to put her down. She had been suffering from pain in her back for several years. This last year the pain had greatly increased, making it very difficult for her to walk. She had became senitive to even the lightest touch. M decided yesterday it was time. A very, very hard decision. She had promised Priscilla that she would not allow her to suffer. This morning her suffering is over. She will truely be missed.

Slow Week in Bremerton

2009-09-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

Only one dinner out this week. We were invited to Dale & Pat Finholm's for HAPPY HOUR and dinner. Another great couple, M has known Dale forever and I have for almost 30 yrs. Maybe I've known Dale longer then she has. Dale has always made a great drink. As for dinner, he served everything I don't like. A fish soup (there is some fancy name for it) in a red sauce, a green salad and sourdough bread. M thought it was great, she's Italian, her kind of food. Hey, the dessert was good; ice cream. On a sad note: this year they lost 2 of their 3 dogs. They weren't that old, one got hit by a car and the other was found dead in the yard with no apparent injuries. They recently added another dog to the family to be company to Junie (the remaing dog). His name is Daubie.

We were invited to spend the Holiday weekend with Tim & Dee at Lake Cushman. As usual, Tim kept us well feed and provide enough power (30 amp) to keep my 'puter and telly operating.

Pegs & Jokers Report: We are now $8 ahead. Those cowards haven't wanted to play much lately. They claim to be busy, I'm not so sure......

Dinner With Friends - Bremerton

2009-09-05T23:44:00.000-07:00

It was a very busy 1st week back "home". It appears that everyone wants to either feed us or go out to dinner. The day we arrived, we met Tim & Dee McIntyre for dinner at a local casino (no pics). Next we went with John & Peggy Ebert at another local casino for fish and chips. A day or two later, Ron & Carol Darling invited us to their home for dinner and blueberry picking. The following day, Royce and Laura Fisher invited us to their home for a chicken and steak dinner. We also had a prime rib dinner at Bert & Martha Johnson's home (no pics). I recieved a couple of compliments that I had loss a few pounds since the last time they saw me, I wonder if they would say the same thing after this last week of dinner engagements.

.......

......

Pics: Top Left - John & Peggy; Top Right - Ron & Carol and Ron's sister JoAnn; Bottom Right - Royce & Laura

Cori and Gabbi (M's daugher and grandbaby) came over from Des Moines to take Gabbi to the local fair. Grandma really enjoyed the afternoon with them. She was really impressed how well behaved Gabbi was.

The Boy finally was able to bring The Kid home from the hospital, all is well with The Kid. The Boy was pretty good about sending pics of The Kid but posted a lot more on his Facebook page. M said if I want to see them, I had to join Facebook. I now have a Facebook account, I already have over 40 friends. If you want to be my friend on Facebook, let me know. The Boy did send me one picture, he is learning The Kid how to work Grandpa (read the bib). Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

.........

We have continued our playing of Pegs & Jokers with Tim & Dee. We are currently 1 game up on them, $2 ahead..smile...

$9300 + To Repair Car

2009-08-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

We took the car to the repair shop to get an estimate of repairs for the rock damage. The current estimate is $9320.87 plus the Air Conditioner radiator. The estimate is to repaint almost all paint surfaces, replace all windows except the rear, replace wheel rims and all molding. The Top of the World Highway (the Taylor Highway, Hwy 5) took its toll. Admittedly, I did drive too fast at times, in hindsight. Most of the time the speed was around 30 - 35 mph for approx. 60 miles. There was also road construction on the Cassiar, and repairs of the frost heeves. Pic on right: example of the amount of rocks that got thrown at the car. Note the sharpness of the corners.

...............
..........

I called my insurance company about the rock damage on the back of the coach. I have an appointment with Guaranty in Junction City OR on Sept 30th. I expect another $4K for that damage. Reminder: Click on picture to enlarge.

We are currently in Bremerton Wa, catching up with friends. Last night it, Bret & Martha Johnson had us over for a prime rib dinner. We have an invite for Monday from Ron & Carol Darling for HAPPY HOUR, blueberry picking and dinner.

CRS Affects Me Too - We are in Bremerton

2009-08-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

While out to dinner with Tim & Dee McIntyre, we discussed our adventures in Alaska. As the questions were asked and answered, it was noted that I had left out some things in the blog. This edition is to add some missing puzzle parts. For those who don't know CRS stands for Can't Remember Sh.. .... Stuff.

One of our major concerns was the road conditions of the Al-Can and Cassiar Highways. We were told they were awful, lots of gravel due to road repairs and lots of frost heeves. The roads aren't that bad, there were quite a few miles of frost heeves which for the most part were well marked. I would guess there were less then 50 miles of road repairs in the 6100 miles that we drove. The Cassiar was the worst of the road construction, see the pic on the right. We set the car up pretty good to protect against rock damage. Apparently not good enough. The passengers front window got shattered by a rock that apparently richocheted off the mirror, both side mirrors looked like they were sandblasted by rocks, the bottom half of the radiator took its share of hits and the back of the coach must have a 100 rock chips from all the rocks that richocheted off the rock guard. Note the upholstery fabric across the windshield, this didn't protect the windshield well enough, a rock managed to get below it causing a crack. Insurance premiums are going up.

Apr 5, 2009 we became great grandparents of Erin Elizabeth Reed, daughter of our granddaughter Christa (Schultz) and Dan Reed. Hopefully I will add pics of her when I get some larger ones, I substitute the parents.

The Boy Is A New Papa

2009-08-19T13:48:00.001-07:00

The Boy (James, my youngest son) and his wife Amelia are proud parents of The Kid (Julia Elizabeth). Julia is our 22nd grandchild. The current scoreboard: Grandchildren - 22, Great-Grandchildren - 1. I'm having a hard time remembering the names, I know most of them, this one will be 'The Kid'. I should be able to remember that, the daughter of The Boy. Now before you all get upset, I didn't tag that on her, a quote from The Boy: "(Amelia and I reference jokingly as “the Kid”)". I could give you all the details about weight, length, etc., but it should suffice to say it's a girl. She does have a couple of health issues thats being looked at, she's improving each day.

Why Aren't Those Kids In School ?

2009-08-17T16:43:00.007-07:00

We are now in Blaine, WA at the K/M Resort, Beachwood. We will be here for 2 weeks, found out we were lucky to get in on such short notice (we called one day before we wanted to get in). I was surprised to hear it could have been a problem until we got here. KIDS EVERYWHERE. I think this is where everyone vacations that has kids and an RV. And I see why. This resort has 3 pools, 2 for kids and 1 for adults only. The pools are jammed. They also have a large playfield and playground, tennis courts, volleyball and horseshoes. A lot of family campfires at night. Its also a popular place for the Canadians, less then 20 miles from the border. For those campground membership folks, you too can get into this park, via K/M, AOR, ROD, C2C or RPI.

Far Left: Our parking spot

Crossing into USA at Sumas WA

2009-08-13T12:01:00.003-07:00

Our border crossings have been non-events until we got to the Sumas crossing. Most of the crossings have taken less then a minute, normally asking 3 or 4 questions usually about alcohol and guns. Not this time. US customs flagged us for a search. 5 agents descended onto the coach and car; opening the bay doors, cabinets and refer. They also opened all doors of the car and looked under the hood. They didn't look in the engine compartment of the coach, nor in the genny area and didn't ask to have the slides extended for better access. For their efforts, we lost 2 apples and 1/2 hour of our time. We entered the crossing area about 2:45 pm, during a weekday. We waited for one car before it was our turn. George (one of our travelling companions during our Alaska adventure) had a similar experience crossing a couple of days later except a longer wait to get to the border.

Fraser Canyon - Hell's Gate

2009-08-11T22:57:00.013-07:00

Our final stop in our Alaska/Canada adventure is Hell's Gate, the narrowest point in the Fraser River Canyon. The river narrows to 110 ft. across and 130 ft. deep moving at 30 mph. Its a interesting tourist attraction: A tram ride drops you down to near the canyons bottom where you find a restaurant, gift shop, fudge factory, gold panning, 3 short films and the suspension bridge. You get all this for $17 each. Hey, we had to spend the remaining of our Canadian money somewhere.

Pic near left: Looking down from the pay plaza.

Pic right: Note the tram decending.

.......
......

Pic Left: Railroad tunnels in the canyon walls.....M in her standard pose, she had to do it one last time.

Stewart, BC - Hyder, AK

2009-08-07T18:08:00.012-07:00

One of the really, really neat things about traveling in a motorhome is being able to park in some of the most beautiful places. We park for 2 nights in front of Bear Glacier. Its on the way to Stewart, BC/Hyder, AK. For the most part, all we could hear all night was the water rushing from under the glacier into the lake below our coach.

The drive to Stewart/Hyder was a beautiful 40 miles, down a canyon, following a couple of rivers. The canyon walls had glaciers and waterfalls. The towns, not so much. Stewart is one main street with a few business, maybe 3 blocks long. There were a few side streets with residential older houses (pop. 800). Hyder was even less impressive. The streets were dirt, less businesses and almost no housing (pop. 100). The claim to fame for Hyder is the bear viewing area of Fish Creek and the Salmon Glacier. FISH CREEK offers a unique opportunity to view and photograph Alaskan Brown (Grizzlies) and Black bears. The bears come here to feed on the chum and pink salmon which spawn in the creek. From July to September, the salmon run provides an extensive food supply for bears, gulls and bald eagles. SALMON GLACIER: The fifth largest glacier in North America. Looking down upon the Salmon Glacier and along the valley below you can see how the glacier is continually transforming the landscape and itself. The drive is above this spectacular glacier giving an unique view. Unfortunately the road was closed. Top left: Stewart -- Top right: Hyder (better then it really was).

Fish Creek viewing area

Skagway

2009-08-04T20:08:00.017-07:00

Skagway is a nice tourist town, catering to 2 or 3 cruise ships per day. For the most part, Skagway is a seven-block corridor along Broadway which features restored buildings, false fronts and wooden sidewalks. The ships bring 10,000 or more for a day of browsing or for an excursion on the White Pass Railroad.

The Arctic Brotherhood Hall, built in 1899, is hard to miss with 20,000 pieces of driftwood tacked to the front, making it one of the most distinctive buildings in Alaska. This day (Saturday) Broadway was pretty quiet. The Red Onion Saloon is now a restuarant, used to be a brothel, note the ladies upstairs in the windows.

The trains went by the front of the coach in the morning and afternoon, less then 50 ft away. We waved to the passengers. Centennial Park is a favorite fishing hole for kids of all ages. The Humpies were in and someone got lucky, actually he snagged it.

Road to Skagway & the Chilkoot Trail

2009-08-03T19:29:00.015-07:00

One of my 'Bucket List' items was to stand on the Chilkoot Trail, to stand in wonder of the accomplishment of the men who went over the Chilkoot Pass in 1897, to look at the 'Golden Staircase'. To do these things, one has to go to Skagway and 'milepost 0' of the Chilkoot Trail. The scenery to Skagway is amazing; moonscape type of terraine, waterfalls, emerald lakes and canyons. Like many areas of Alaska, glaciers retreating formed shallow lakes, valleys with waterfalls.

The Chilkoot Trail ends up being a disappointment, you can't see much of it unless you want to hike. And I mean hike. The 'Golden Staircase' is about 16 miles up the trail, there are no way to see it unless you want to hike to it. Well maybe you can take to the air and see it but won't be able to stand on it. We did see the beginning, near the ghost town of Dyea. Not much to see in either the ghost town or the beginning of the trail. The end of the trail (sorta) is at Bennet Lake. We spent the night at the north end of the lake, at Carcross. The trail continues to Dawson City with the final obstacle of 5 Fingers Rapids on the Yukon River.

Dawson - Sternwheeler Graveyard

2009-07-30T19:18:00.010-07:00

John Ebert recommended that we explore the sternwheeler graveyard, gave us directions to its location. Thanks John. The graveyard is located about 1/4 mile past a gov't Campground, an easy walk along the banks of the Yukon River. We found 3 boats and a barge, very hard to tell from the pile of rubble. I found an article, Yukon Archives Images Database, that names the sternwheelers as the Julia B, the Seattle #3 of St. Michael, the Schwatka of St. Michael and an unnamed barge. The Seattle was built by the Moran Bros. which later became Todd Pacific Shipyard, in May 1898 for Seattle - Yukon Transportation. It would appear from the picture in the article that it was also the final resting place for these boats, the location of the rubble appears to match up with the photo.

Pic Right: Hard to read, 'Seattle #3'
Pic Left: Ruines of Seattle #3

Kinda ironic, as I'm taking pictures of the ruines of a sternwheeler, a paddleboat passes. On the return trip she blows her horn, I think in tribute of the ladies of the past.

Dawson City, YT

2009-07-30T08:56:00.016-07:00

We spent the afternoon touring the city and the evening at the local gambling hall, Diamond Tooth Gerties. "In August of 1896, three Yukon "sourdoughs", George Carmack, Tagish Charlie, and Skookum Jim found gold in Rabbit Creek, now called Bonanza Creek, and changed the history of the World. Their discovery triggered what was arguably the world's greatest gold rush stampede as nearly 100,000 souls yearned to strike it rich in the Klondike gold fields." "By 1898, Dawson City was a modern city of nearly 40,000 and the largest city North of San Francisco and West of Winnipeg." The streets are still dirt/gravel, no fast food restaurants or franchised operations. Gold is still being mined and the main source of income for the city. Pic above right provided by George.

Diamond Tooth Gerties got its name from famous dance-hall queen, Gertie Lovejoy. She received her nickname from having a diamond inserted between her front two teeth, setting her apart from the the others.

Pics below: Inside Diamond Tooth Gerties; Rod trying his luck at '21'; one of the evening can-can shows

Both Poet Robert Service and author Jack London's cabins (replicas made from the original logs of London's cabin built 120 km south of Dawson) are located in Dawson. For Robert Service, it was a rented cabin, he stayed in until 1912.

Left: Robert Service Cabin

Right: Jack London Cabin

Dawson City - Dredge #4

2009-07-28T21:27:00.012-07:00

We continued our journey on the Top of the World Highway. We left Chicken about 6:15 AM (better known in M's language 'O Dark Thirty') to avoid any on-coming traffic, on this narrow, dusty, windy road. Our plan was to get to the border crossing before it opened at 8:00 AM, thus no traffic. It was a good plan, we saw none. The car got its share of damage, note the rocks collected at the bottom of the windshield. We took a hit on the exposed area, causing a crack that is working its way up. The side mirrors look like they have been "rock" blasted (like sand blasting but with rocks like those you see on the windshield). The towbar also has taken a lot of rock abuse. Dust is everywhere, all my lower bay compartments have a deep layer of fine powder. The border crossing was easier this time then it was when we crossed into Canada a couple of months ago. 3 questions, 45 seconds later we were in Canada.

To enter Dawson City, you must cross the Yukon River on a ferry. I think its strange to provide a free ferry in lieu of building a bridge. The ferry runs 24/7. I'm sure there is a reason.

Today we toured Dredge No.4. "After 1898, the influx of miners into the Klondike subsided and mining corporations began to buy up individual claims. The consolidated claims were worked with large equipment such as gold dredges. Dredge No.4, which mined the Klondike Valley and later Bonanza Creek, was the largest dredge of its kind in North America." This is one large machine. The Dredge basically extracts rock using a series of buckets (like a ditch digger except a lot larger) digging to depths of 70 feet, reaching in all directions. The Dredge is really a boat, floating on a pond that it creates as it digs out the rock and is filled with water that is used in the sluicing process. The Dredge does the whole processing operation, separating the gold from the rock, depositing the dirt and gravel behind. Its about 90% efficient in extracting the gold.

Left: M, Geri & George appear to be losing interest

Right: Rod found something more interesting

We Drove the Alcan

2009-07-27T20:05:00.014-07:00

A month or so ago, we were in Dawson Creek, standing at Milepost 0. Today we are in Delta Junction, standing at Milepost 1422, the end of the Alcan Highway. We still have about 100 miles yet to travel on it to complete the complete length, we will do that today are we return to Tok. At the beginning of our adventure in Alaska, we turned south to head for Valdez when we got to Tok. We are now coming back in from the west, thus completing the drive on the Alcan.

Chicken at the Top of the World. Well not exactly the top of the world, its on The Top Of The World Highway. Its actually a real small town, population 21, on a very narrow, dusty, bumpy road about 1/2 way between Tok, AK and Dawson City, Yukon Territory. Its no place you want to go to or even want to pass through. The town consists of a Post Office, a couple of RV parks and a couple of tourist shops. Oh, it has a saloon, this one had business cards and hats hanging for everywhere verses dollar bills like at the Salty Dawg in Homer. No electricity (they use generators) or running water or sewer system in this town. Property taxes must be pretty low, no PUD, no cops or fire dept., no school district.....

Top Right: Overlooking Chicken

Left: One of the main business districts

Right: Chicken has a country club, note the green patch on the other side of the white pole.

On the way to Chicken and Delta Junction, we found this great little shop, The Knotty Shop. There is a very nice display of "yard art". Its amazing what one can do with some talent and imagination. I haven't looked it up, but for some reason a lot of burl wood can be found in Alaska. An artist can do wonders with these "Knotty" pieces.

Gold In Them There Hills

2009-07-25T13:50:00.016-07:00

The El Dorado is a historic mine in the district where the rush started in 1902. Over the years, the mine exchanged hands several times, 1990 the mine was converted to a tourist destination by the Binkley family, the same family to operates the Riverboat Discovery Tour (see previous post). The mine tour is a 2 hr. consists of a train ride with stops to learn modern mining methods and demonstrate the sluice box operation. After a short course in gold panning, visitors get their own bucket filled with pay dirt right out of a sluice box and try their hand at panning for gold. Everyone is guaranteed to find some. It was an enjoyable tour, we learned about gold mining and how to use a gold pan. The tour cost $34.50 (we had yet another 2 for 1 coupon), our gold assayed out at $18. We had 6 grains, maybe 20 flakes of gold. That's only $16.50 for 2 hrs of entertainment for the 2 of us if we sell the gold. Do you want to buy some gold? Kinda makes you want to go out, buy a gold pan and try your luck.

Marlene doing her thing and the results.

Getting on the train back to the enterance

An interesting thing about gold mining in Alaska: They dig in the frozen soil in the winter, pile their dirt for "clean-up" in the spring when water is available for the sluice boxes and panning.

On the way back to the campground, we had another opportunity to view the pipeline.

Merry Christmas From North Pole

2009-07-24T23:49:00.011-07:00

North Pole Alaska, that is. About 11 miles from Fairbanks is North Pole, Alaska. Its Christmas here 365 days a year at the Santa Claus House. And Yes, Santa is here, collecting all the Christmas Wish Lists. He did find time to allow us to have our picture taken with him. He's in his work clothes, the suit is save for Christmas.

Merry Christmas.......

Fairbanks - Pioneer Park & Farmers Market

2009-07-24T10:31:00.011-07:00

Always nice to go to the local farmers' market to get a flavour of the local crafts and produce. Fairbanks has theirs on Wednesdays & Saturday. They had a nice layout making it a nice stroll to the different vendors. Then on to Pioneer Park.

Pioneer Park is a historic theme park featuring 29 restored and relocated buildings that form a re-created town from the gold rush era where you can ride a train, cruise the river, visit three museums, play miniature golf, have a picnic, etc. The restored building all had placards describing when it was build and who lived or used it which made the walk very interesting as the were the shops inside the buildings. Thanks Rod for the write-up. Admission is free as is the parking. How can that be ? There are activities that you need to pay for, usually a couple of bucks; the musuems, train ride or you can get into a freezer to feel what its like to be -40 deg for $5. The park is pretty large, a real bargain.

While we were on the Discovery III (see earlier post), M spotted a restaurant call The Pump House, a national historic site, converted into the restaurant on the banks of the Chena River. The Pump House recreates a 1890's Gold Rush motif and atmosphere. The Pump House is very popular with the tourist and locals, a bit pricey for my taste at about $25 a plate. I'm not allowed to complain since I don't take M out that much to a nice restaurant, so forget I wrote the last sentence....... Pic right: Left to right; Jean & Rod Bahnson, George & Geri (aka What's-Her-Name) Cederholm, and M.

As we left the restaurant we noticed the smoke cloud decending on the city from the forest fires 27 miles south of Fairbanks.

Fairbanks - Riverboat Discovery III

2009-07-24T00:01:00.014-07:00

The Riverboat Discovery III is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Fairbanks, and perhaps even the state. For only $54.95 you too can ride this sternwheeler down the Chena River. You will be joined with, up to 900, other tourist on one of its 4 decks either opened to the sun or heated enclosed with glass. The tour is 4 hrs. On the way down the Chena River, passengers see a Bush pilot perform a short-field takeoff and landing from the river. Further along, there's a lively lecture and demonstration from Jessie Royer, protégé of the late Susan Butcher (four-time Iditarod champion) or David Monson (Susan’s widower) and the senior members of Trail Breaker Kennels, Susan’s kennels. We heard from David. On the return trip up the river, you visit a Native Village where native guides give an hour tour of their village. The replica is quite accurate giving you a hands-on experience of their culture. You see many nice homes on both sides of the river. The most expensive houses usually don't run over $700K, if they are listed for much more, they don't sell. The medium age of the residents of Alaska is 27 or was that for the Fairbanks area ? Some were really nice houses, doubt that they would go for under S700K but what do I know.....The tour was okay, not worth $55 but maybe the $27.50 we paid (another 2 for 1 coupon).

Denali Nat'l Park

2009-07-18T20:40:00.010-07:00

Mt. McKinley, aka Denali, is located toward the southern end of Denali Nat'l Park and Preserve. I was a little surprised that the only road leading into Denali Nat'l Park is about 70 miles north of Mt. McKinley. The focus of the park is more toward the Preserve part. The only road taking the public into the park is 90 miles long, ending at the old gold mining area of Kantishna. The public can drive the 1st 17 miles but must use a shuttle bus beyond that. The buses run every half hour at a cost from $24 to $46 depending how far into the park you want to go. We chose to go to Toklat River, 53 miles, a 6.5 hr. tour. Rod & George went to Eielson Visitor Center (66 miles) for a better picture of McKinley and a better chance to see wildlife. Our closest distance to the mountain was about 50 miles, they were about 35 miles. We saw Caribou, Dall Sheep, Grizzly Bears with cubs and Moose. George also saw a wolf on his extended trip. We had about 3 stops that the mountain was in sight. We were very lucky, it was a clear day, she was out. Note in the pic of us that McKinley is in the background. Remember that you can click on a picture to enlarge it. If you want to see some nice pictures of McKinley, take a look at George Cederholm's blog. You might have to wait a day or two, he doesn't update as often as I do.

A Flight to Mt. McKinley from Talkeetna

2009-07-16T08:56:00.016-07:00

Check another item off my bucket list. Yesterday, we flew to the summit of Mt. McKinley. We were almost at eyeball level with the summit, we at 19,000 ft., McKinley is at 20,320 ft. We were in a twin engine Piper (I think) could have easily flown to that level but we would have been in some haze, better viewing at 19k. We had a coupon, 2 for 1, $295 for the 2 of us, IT WAS ON SALE....as M would say. We LOVED it. The flight was very smooth. The plane was very fast, we flew between 150 & 200 mph to and from the mountain. The pilot would bank to plane both left and right to let everyone get an unobstructed view. The plane was in the air for 1 1/2 hrs., took about 1/2 hr. to get to the mountain, making many turns to show off the mountain to us as we approached. We spent about 45 min. at Mt. McKinley; looking at Denali (McKinley's native name), the sister mountains and the glaciers, then a quick flight back to the airport. McKinley is about 70 miles from Talkeetna, at 200 mph, it doesn't take long to get back. Another cool thing, I got to steer the plane....not really but I did get to ride in the co-pilot seat for the flight. Thats George & Geri Cederholm with us before the flight.

Family in Anchorage

2009-07-15T23:59:00.007-07:00

Yes, I have a mother and yes she does claim I'm her son, most of the time. Sometimes she thinks I must have been adopted, I don't always tell her what she wants to hear. I'm sure she turns her hearing aid off, so I won't hurt her feelings. But she still loves me and I her. Mom has lived in Alaska for the last 30 years or so. And one of my sisters, Betty, does also. And they both live in Anchorage. How convenient for me, two family members, one visit. Mom is 80-something (not suppose to ask a ladies age) and doing great. She still has most of her own body parts except one new knee replaced a little over a month ago. She's coming along great, walks pretty well with it, going to PT a couple of times a week. She still lives alone, without assistance. She swears she's going to live another 20 yrs. Sister Betty isn't doing so good, has had some medical problems, is recovering from cancer and has some heart issues. A couple of years ago, she lost her husband, a heart attack. So life has thrown so pretty wild pitches her way.

Sharing Homer in Pictures

2009-07-13T09:24:00.012-07:00

The main feature of Homer is the 4 1/2 mile spit that jets into Kachemak Bay. On the east side, as you get onto the spit, some industrious soul has built himself a home out of an old schooner.

Here is one example of Norman Lowell's painting that he is "very proud of"..it's about 24 X 20"

We took the scenic drive along both Skyline Drive and East End Road to find some great views of Kachemak Bay and surrounding areas. There are 5 glaciers to the south of the bay. The spit is half covered with fog

3 of the 4 of us are wine drinkers. A stop of the local Bear Creek Winery was in order. While the 3 were tasting the local flavour, I got a tour of the winery by the owner. The outside grounds was well decorated, I tried my hand at photoing a flower.

Anchor Point & Homer

2009-07-12T07:56:00.014-07:00

One of those "must" photo ops is going to the furthest west point by road in North America and have your pic taken next to the sign. Check, done that...

....

......

....

One of those strange things that you only see in Alaska (probably not true, see it other places) is launching boats using tractors. Thses guys charge $55 to get your boat into the water. You do have the choice of launching in Homer, some 20 miles away.

.....

.......

Norman Lowell is a well known artist in Alaska. He has his studio & gallery just outside of Anchor point. The gallery is approximately 10,000 square feet and also contains sculptures and artifacts. Many paintings are large. The Spirit of the North, the largest in the collection, measures 7 feet by 14 feet. Seventy-five percent of the gallery's works are in the permanent collection and include the more recent works. Twenty five percent are in the sales gallery. The prices for his originals run from $750 to over $35,000. And this is for relatively small paintings, not the big honkers.

Dumpster Diving Eagle at Home(r)

2009-07-10T15:29:00.030-07:00

Hey Rick, if you liked the pics from the last post of an eagle, your gonna really want to "steal" these......We are now parked on the spit in Homer, the coach is facing northeast, only about 25 ft from high tide waterline. The RV park is next to "the hole", a local salmon fishing "hole" where salmon are trapped during low tide. A fish cleaning station is at the south end of the "hole". This eagle checks the station out regularily, there is a carcass dumpster next to the cleaning station that he really likes.

We only about 1/2 mile from all the spit activities; gift shops, charter offices, reataurants and the Salty Dawg Saloon. Yesterday we explored the spit, dropped into the Salty Dawg for fish & chips. Another disappointment, it has the word "Saloon" for a reason, its a bar, say dah. We did have a nice meal across the street (Captain Patties), be it a little pricey. Isn't everything these days. It only cost me $50 for lunch, that included beer for M (Moose Dung or Breath, something like that), a grilled seafood platter (for M of course, me eating grilled seafood, say dah again) and rockfish fish & chips which really was pretty good (better then cod or halibut). And that also included the tip. In the same "strip mall" was a gift shop of the TV fame, The Time Bandit, from the show The Deadliest Catch. Toward the end of the spit is the Seafarer's Memorial.

Right: Salty Dawg and its interior

Left: A great lunch to had there.

Homer AK - End of the Road

2009-07-08T22:46:00.009-07:00

We are now in Homer, the furtherest from home that we will get, 3902 miles. I wanted to share these photos of an eagle we saw this evening on a light post next to the Homer Elks. As you can see, we are parked facing Cook Inlet, about 100 yds from the water. Tomorrow we will be moving to the spit to be right on the water.

Soldotna, AK

2009-07-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

Les Anderson caught world record 97 lbs, 4 oz. King Salmon in the waters near Soldotna. M is standing next to it. There is a wood carving next to the information center of Les, we had to have our pictures taken there. The Kenai River is one of the better places in Alaska for you to catch a really big King salmon.

We had heard that you can dry camp at the local Fred Meyer store in Soldotna, we stayed for 2 nights. Soldotna is on the Kenai River, a world famous king salmon fishing river. The city of Kenai is only 10 miles downstream, located at the mouth. Soldotna has several fish walks in the city, where anglers try their luck at catch a big one. I was a little disappointed, didn't see any action from the fish walk near the info center. I did see a couple of guys on the other side of the river, didn't see them hook into anything. On our journey to Kenai City, I saw a half dozen boats fishing on the Kenai. I had envisioned guys standing shoulder to shoulder trying to catch that big one.

While in Kenai City, we took a driving/walking tour of old town. Moose Horn Club/Tomrdle House,a hand-hewed log structure was completed in 1902, now a private residence, it once housed the first social club in Kenai as well as a candy store, theatre and church (Pic on right). The main reason for the tour was to see the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church constructed in 1894 some fifty years after the first missionaries came to the Kenai peninsula with its rounded turrets rather than steeples. Weekly services are still held for about two dozen worshiper. Thanks Rod for the write-up.

Exit Glacier at Seward AK

2009-07-07T08:28:00.012-07:00

Exit Glacier is the only part of Kenai Fjords National Park that can be reached by road. This is the same park that we saw from the tour boat. The Exit Glacier is receding at a pretty quick rate, just in 2 yrs there is a very notiable difference. There are 2 accessible veiwing areas, the toe and an overlook. I took the mile plus hike to the overlook, M walked to the toe. I was surprised she did the walk which was about 3/4 mile, not a long hike but a wet one, she had to walk thru several streams (glacier runoff). I wanted to but I DON'T DO WET. Unfortunately M didn't have a camera to document the event. I have asked Rod if he could Photoshop her head on his body since he also did the hike.

Pics on right: Compare the position of the toe in the two pics taken 2 yrs apart

Pic near left: M might be one of those on Exit Creek

Pic on right: We saw a wolf (?) running across the road
Left: Had to HAPPY HOUR the spotting of the wolf.

Glacier Boat Tour, Seward AK

2009-07-05T09:10:00.007-07:00

One of my "bucket list" items was to do Glacier Bay. More accurate is to say I wanted to boat tour a glacier. I can now check that off my list. We took the Kenai Fjords National Park cruise narrated by a Chugach Forest Ranger, Ranger Dan. This was a 7 1/2 hour, 120-mile tour throughout the National Park. Our destination was Aialik Glacier, passing Bear (the largest in the park) and Holgate Glaciers. The cruise stop plenty of times to look at bald eagles, sea lion colonies, whales and large bird rookies.

The tour was expensive at $136 each plus $19 if you wanted the Alaska Salmon & Prime Rib Feast (of course, we must have that, M insisted). In the signing up process we asked if they would take a competitors coupon. They would. I did the math,off I went to buy the 2009 Great alaskan Tour Saver, a 2 for 1 coupon book for $99 at the local Safeway store. Our tickets cost $184 + 99 = $283 vs $136 + 19 = $155 X 2 = $310 + tax. As M would say, the tickets were "ON SALE". The tour also offered a "Glacieretta", a margeritta made with glacier ice. Of course, we had to have one of them. We had a great day as did Rod & Jean.

Seward, AK

2009-07-04T23:18:00.013-07:00

Seward is a small port town existing on tourism. The port area is about a mile from town. The town is basically one main street with shops, nothing to really attract you to the area outside of the port activity. The port will accommodate one cruise ship, we saw 3 in the 4 days that we have been here. The marina is rather large with a fleet of charter fishing boats and glacier tour boats. The marina area is well developed, with many opportunities to purchase tickets to do either fishing or touring. There are also several restaurants ($25-30 per entree, add a bottle of wine and some crab, the bill can be over $100, ask one of our travelling companions) and nice hardware store. And of course the gift shops. This weekend is July 4th. Wouldn't you know, this is the place to be, per the locals. They have convinced most of Anchorage of this, think half of all the RVs in Anchorage are here for this weekend activities. We were very lucky to find a place to park. And we got here around noon on Wednesday. We ended up about 50 yards from where they launch the fireworks and have a pretty fair view of the bay. There is a walkway 15 feet in front of the MH, makes for interesting people watching. The bay is about 100 feet in front of us, get to watch the boats come an go.

Left: The Halibut weighed 74 lbs, imagine how big a 274 lbs is....

Left: The lineup of coaches along the shore here at Seward

Right: That's our windshield just right of the guy in the white shirt.

Whittier, AK

2009-07-04T22:36:00.008-07:00

A mile or so from the Portage visitors center is the enterence to the 2 1/2 mile tunnel that leads you into Whittier. The fee to use the tunnel is $12 for a car, $35 for a motorhome, $125 for a semi-truck. I have no idea why the price differences other then "they can". The tunnel is open for one way traffic every half hour. The town isn't much; a ferry terminal, a few gift shops, restaurants, marina (lots of boats), large hotel or condo, railroad yard and a few other buidings. And a reindeer that a lady takes home every night after using her to attract attention at the gift shop during the day. Other then getting on or off the ferry, not much reason to go to Whittier.

Pic left: M says lady wasn't very friendly, maybe cause M didn't buy anything.

Pic right: Looking east, standing near ferry dock

Iditarod

2009-07-03T08:48:00.010-07:00

The Iditarod is a big deal in this part of Alaska. You see signs of it everywhere. Wasilla is the official starting point for the 1049 mile race. We drove through the town, really wasn't much, at least what we saw of it, mostly a long strip mall along the George Parks Hwy. We went to the headquarters of the Iditarod Trail Race, found a gift shop, misc. displays of racers & teams and watched a short version of the 2009 race. On the grounds was a team of dogs attached to a "sled" (a cart on wheels) anxiously waiting to pull it. The dogs would be resting (trained to do that when not pulling a sled), spring to their feet if anyone so much as touched the sled. There was a pen of puppies, of course M couldn't wait to hold one. She also walked around petting as many of the dogs as she could.

After a long day at the Iditarod, you need to stop at the local expresso stand with the appropriate name.

Portage Glacier

2009-07-02T23:39:00.006-07:00

We are on our way to Seward but 1st a stop at the Portage Glacier then through a 2 1/2 mile tunnel to Whittier. The visitors center ($8 million) sitting on Portage Lake is 5 miles from the main highway from Anchorage to Seward. In less than 70 years the glacier has receded over 2 miles. A tour boat ($29) is available to get up close to the glacier, within 300 yards. You can get a partial view of Portage from the northwest end of the lake. A really cool thing about going to Portage Glacier Lake is the icebergs, we saw about 1/2 dozen.

Skiing Alaskan Style

2009-06-28T08:42:00.005-07:00

I think you will only see a float plane towing a skier in Alaska. We are parked at the Palmer Elks which is on Fingers Lake, a really nice piece of property. The Elks has about 30 spaces for RVs with 30 amp service, no sewer, for $15 per night. I checked on two RV parks in Anchorage; one is $25 per night for dry camping and the other was $45 per night with full hookups. We decided to stay at Palmer for 4 nights. Its about 60 miles from Anchorage and 40 miles from Mom's.

Kennecott Copper Mine

2009-06-27T22:29:00.015-07:00

From the Copper River, we drove 58 miles up a dirt, wash-board, pot-holed road lies the Kennecott Copper Mine. Where the dirt road ends, a foot swing bridge takes you over the Kennicott (note the spelling difference) Glacier River and into the town of McCarthy. The town is privately owned which means they can do most anything to rape you from your money. In this case, they charge you $5 to ride in a van 4.5 miles to the Kennecott Mine. You then get the privilige of paying $25 to take a 2 1/2 tour of the mill and surrounding grounds (which was well worth the $$). Then you get to pay another $5 to get back to McCarthy. You do have the option of walking to and from the mine, no charge.

The mine was in operation from 1908-1938. The year was 1900. Jack Smith and Clarence Warner, two prospectors, spotted a large green spot on the mountainside between the Kennicott Glacier and McCarthy Creek. What looked like a patch of green grass turned out to be one of the richest deposits of copper ore ever found! It took several years to find financial backing. A 196 mile private railroad had to be built to transport the ore from the mine to Cordova. The mine has 80 miles of tunnels. The mill is 14 stories tall and was ran by only 25 workers per shift.

Below: The town of McCarthy

An interesting thing about the Kennicott Glacier is it has collected centuries of moraine, which covers the lower eight or so miles of the ice, including the part that slides past Kennicott itself. At first glance, there appears to be piles and piles of tailings (mine ore leftovers after the copper has been removed) from the mining operation. The tailings were actually used to build the roads in the town. There was a partial view of the glacier from the top of the mill.

Touched the Pipeline

2009-06-27T01:06:00.005-07:00

Couldn't come to Alaska without touching the pipeline.

Copper River Salmon

2009-06-27T00:05:00.008-07:00

Do you know where the Copper River is ? You do know that very expensive salmon come from this river, like $16/lb at your local Safeway store. Copper River is about 100 miles from Valdez . We parked our MHs on the river banks for 2 nights and watched the fishermen catch the salmon using fish wheels. I had heard of fish wheels but had never seen one. Its cool how they work; the force of the water turns the wheel that has 2 "wire nets" attached, scooping up the fish as they swim upstream. The wheel drops the fish into a holding pen. We saw one wheel had about 20 fish trapped in the holding pen from a night of turn in the river. I actually saw one fish get scooped up. M walked Priscilla down to one of the wheels, started a conversation with a couple of brothers that tended one of the wheels. She sweet-talked them into giving her a fish, filleted. Geri (George's wife, our travelling companion) had went down to them earilier, asked if they would either sell her one or trade for a whole pork sirloin. They wouldn't do it but they talked a lot about M and her dog, how nice she was........It sure was good. Picture above right: The fish that Dan (one of the brothers) is carrying is the "one".

Isn't it a great place to park for a couple of nights ? The pic on the far left: you can barely see our MHs in the center. Here is a close-up.

Fish Wheels. Pic on far right: the wheel that M's fish came from.

Valdez AK

2009-06-23T23:39:00.021-07:00

13 miles from Valdez are 2 beautiful waterfalls, Bridal Veil & Horsetail Falls. Well worth a stop for some pictures. The 1st set are of Bridal Veil, Horsetail follows below.

Horsetail Falls:

Valdez originally was located 4 miles from its present location. The 1964 earthquack (9.4) badly shook but did not destroyed the city. The city had been built on unstable glacial silt, some of the shoreline slipped into the sea. The population is around 5,000, its a rather small town. Other then the terminal for the pipeline, the main industry seems to be tourism; halibut fishing and glacial boat rides. The town is at a base of the mountains, look across the bay for the shoreline of the city. Below: some waterfalls near the city.

Valdez is the terminal for the 800 mile Alaskan Pipeline which begins at Prudhoe Bay. The pipeline is capable to deliver 2.1 million barrels per day. I hope to touch the pipeline tomorrow, Rod did, I don't want to be outdone.

Welcome to Alaska

2009-06-23T09:48:00.018-07:00

Kinda fitting, we got into Alaska on the longest day of the year, June 21st. Land of the Midnight Sun. Sun sets around 11:45 pm. I was up around 3:45 am to let out Priscilla, it was still pretty bright, don't think it ever got dark. Our trip through the Yukon wasn't as rough as I thought it would be, there was only about 30 miles of road construction and the frost heaves were moderate, keeping our speed down to around 40. We have averaged 49 for the trip through Canada. It took us 3 weeks to make it from Calgary to the Alaskan border, about 1800 miles. Add another 1500 miles to get from Casa Grande, AZ to Calgary. We left Casa Grande May 8th.

....

After a brief stop on Tok to fuel up and wash the mud off the car (a mistake, rained later in the day, mud came back ), we head toward Valdez. It was a beautiful drive, with mountains, waterfalls, rivers and ponds. We took it slowly, not because of the scenery but because of the frost heaves, the worst we have encountered. We must have averaged 35 for the 120 miles from Tok to Glennallen. The road from Glennallen to Valdez was pretty good. The highlight for this part of the trip. I GOT TO TOUCH A GLACIER!!!!!!! The Worthington Glacier. Very Cool. Did you know that glacier ice is cold and very hard...say dah....

.....

....

From the observation area, you are allowed to hike up to the glacier, at your own risk. It was an easy hike, maybe 1/4 of a mile. Mark that off my "bucket list".

Whitehorse YT

2009-06-23T07:47:00.029-07:00

I really liked Whitehorse, its a very nice, clean tourist town, population about 20,000, largest in the Yukon. We spent 2 nights in a campground about7 miles from town ($26/night) to catchup with laundry and general maintainence then one night at the local Wal-Mart along with 40+ rigs. I'm surprised that there was any room left for the Wal-Mart customers to park. The city has an interesting layout; the airport is on a plateau above, sort of looks like an aircraft carrier flight deck.

Lots of things to see. I spent a couple of hours in the MacBride Musuem ($7 senior), Covering half a city block, this log-cabin museum is crammed with relics from the gold-rush era and has a large display of Yukon wildlife and minerals. Within the museum compound you'll find Sam McGee's Cabin (Robert Service's poem on the cremation of Sam McGee) and the old Whitehorse Telegraph Office. The MacBride has four galleries, open-air exhibits, and a gift shop. A little note here: M waited 2 hours in the car for my return, we had separated, she wanted to go thru some shops, I wanted to walk thru town at my own pace. I told her that I would meet her back at the coach. She didn't hear me, waited at the car. She finally gave up, walked back to the coach also, mile and a half. I think the car is still parked in Whitehorse, 3rd & Steele.

We toured the S.S. Klondike ($6.05 each). The Klondike carried mail, supplies and lead zinc ore from 1937 up until 1952, at which time it was turned into a tourist boat until 1955; when it was retired and that ended sternwheelers on the Yukon river. The Klondike made about 15 trips each season which ran from May to September. Although primarily a cargo ship, the first class accommodations were very luxurious for the times. (Thanks Rod for the writeup).

Had to take a picture of the "World's Largest" weather vane. A real DC-3 mounted on a pedestal, pivoting on its mount, pointing into a 5 or more knot wind. The weather vane is in front of the Whitehorse airport. Speaking of the "World's Largest", we also passed the world's largest gold pan at Burwash Landing as we neared the Alaskan border.

We spent the night in a gravel pit along side a nice pond about 2 hours from the border.

Mukluk Annie's

2009-06-18T21:23:00.007-07:00

Mukluk Annie's is CLOSED, not to reopen again. The owners retired, the family did not want to continue its operation. The place was a popular stop for adventurers head to and from Alaska, located on Lake Teslin. It was not used much by the locals, thus probably no interest for the family to continue the business. A son operates a musuem in Teslin, plans on continuing the Salmon Bake there. The property still looks in good shape, the building looks ready to reopen.

.........

Sign Post Forest - Watson Lake, YT

2009-06-16T21:14:00.012-07:00

One of the "must" photo-ops is taking a picture of the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake. We did it, here are the pictures.....Rod brought one of his old license plates for Iowa to add to the collection.

For my friends in the Silverdale, WA area. I found this sign for Shelton. I didn't look very hard, 61,000 (Rod's #, not sure if its accurate, saw 42,000 on an internet webpage) is a lot of signs, closest I could find from our area after a quick glance at a few.

"The forest was started in 1942 by a homesick U.S. Army G.I., Carl K. Lindley of Danville, Il., Company D, 341st Engineers. While working on the Alaska Highway, he erected a sign here pointing the way and stating the mileage to his hometown. Others followed his lead and are still doing so to this day. On July 20, 1990, Olen and Anita Walker of Bryan, Ohio placed the 10,000th sign."

North to Alaska - Up the AL-Can Hwy

2009-06-16T19:04:00.015-07:00

We are officially on THE ROAD to Alaska, we started our journey up the Alaska Hwy. We left our friendly Wal-Mart in Dawson Creek, filled up with fuel ($.869/litre), dump the holding tanks, filled up with fresh water and hit THE ROAD. We had the wheels rolling up the Al-Can by 10:00 (we had to wait for some a-hole to dump and fill that took 45 min to do a 10 min job). We hadn't gone very far (20 miles, 28 km), pulled off onto a loop road to cross the historic curved wooden Kiskatinaw River Bridge, the only original timber bridge built along the Alaskan Hwy that is still in use today.

We already seen a variety of wildlife: black bear with cubs, elk, stone sheep, moose, deer & basin (or are they buffalo?). About the only thing we haven't seen are mile-posts. Every place along the Alaska Hwy is reference by mile-post, we have the Mile-Post book which lists turn-outs, fuel stops, restaurants, etc. but you don't see any mile-post markers. Go figure.....now that we are in the Yukon, we are seeing mile-posts in kilo-meters.

Our next stop was Liard Hot Springs, very much anticipated by 4 of the 6 of us. There is a couple of us that "Don't do Wet". The same four that went into the last hot springs in Jasper Nat'l Park enjoy this one more. It was a much nicer setting and a lot less people. I was expecting to see "summer" at the pools, all I saw was "autum" or "early winter". In some cases, "late winter" if you know what I mean. Then again, I'm not a spring chicken myself. They enjoyed the pools. We spent the night across the street from the enterance. The one negative was it was a 500 meter walk to the pools but it was on a boardwalk and flat terrain.

Left: A typical roadside overnight parking spot.

Right: Pricilla had a tough day on the road.

Kinuseo Falls, Dawson Creek

2009-06-12T23:15:00.016-07:00

Rod loves to tour once he gets into an area. He usually finds some great places to go. Lately he has been looking for the "Largest in the World" anything. A couple of days ago we found the "Largest" Beaver in Beaverlodge, AB. Today it wasn't the "Largest" he was after, he wanted to see a very "Large" waterfall, Kinuseo Falls, near Tumbler Ridge. This was a long ways from the Wal-Mart in Dawson Creek, our current "home". 60 miles to Tumbler Ridge, then 30 miles of rough gravel road. Its pretty remote, not a lot of visitors. We were the only folks there for a while, before we left, another 3 cars arrived. The falls was well worth the drive. Kinuseo Falls is slightly higher then Niagara Falls, at 197 ft. but a lot less volume of water flows over the falls, 34 cubic metres per second vs 6,366 (200 times more). I've now been to both, Niagara is better and a whole lot easier to get to.

Right: Is this a Canadian "redneck" guardrail?

Right: I wasn't standing close enough but believe Jean was asking if maybe Rod had gone too far in his search for the "World's Largest".

Milepost 0 - Dawson Creek

2009-06-11T19:26:00.006-07:00

We are at the official Milepost 0, the beginning of the Alcan Highway, total length 1390 miles. We had to take the proof of "been there, done that" pictures. So here they are.

Don't Do Dirty, Again

2009-06-11T17:27:00.001-07:00

I keep saying that I don't do dirty. Well, I'm at it again. This time its changing the oil in the generator. I made a 45 min. to into a 2 hr. job. Par for the course for me. It always takes longer then I think it should. Our last stop in Jasper Nat'l Park was Miette Hot Springs. While Rod, Jean, Geri & M went to the hot springs, I took the opportunity to change my oil. I don't do water. George apparently doesn't do water either, he supervised.

We had to find the source of the hot springs. After M & Rod got back from the hot pools, we hiked up to the head waters of the spring. Miette Hot Springs Spa was originally opened in 1938, but was build on unstable rocks of surrounding slopes, closed in 1984, also closed do to over-crowding and poor access. It was rebuilt about a 1/4 mile from that location. The origin of the hot springs is another couple of hundred yards up the valley.

Note: The visit to the hot springs happened a couple of days before we arrived in Dawson Creek.

Waterfalls - Jasper Nat'l Park

2009-06-09T22:40:00.025-07:00

Waterfalls is the word of the day. We saw 2 nice ones and one along the side of the road. The falls on the side of the road was Bridal Veil Falls.

The 1st falls of the day as we travelled toward Jasper (the town) was Sunwapta Falls. The falls have a drop of about 18.5 metres. Sunwapta is a native word that means turbulent water.

The final stop was at the Athabasca Falls, just 23 metres high. However, it is not known for its height. Instead it is known for the force of the falling water due to the quantity of water flowing. One of the amazing things about the Canada Nat'l Parks is how well maintained and developed. We saw this through both Banff and Jasper.

Rod & Jean..George & Geri...M & Bob