August 25 We're Back !!!

Well we got home, (Surrey) a week ago Friday (August 14), not feeling very well. We had left Stewart Tuesday and made a quick dash for home. We were both down with good head colds and not feeling like doing much of anything. As it turned out, as we couldn't shake the cold, we both went to the doctor on Saturday and found out we had bronchitis. Today we are feeling better and I thought I had better finish off the blog for our holidays up north.

On leaving Stewart, we traveled to Burns Lake, BC and spend the night in the city park. A very nice idea, to have RV sites right in the park. ( I heard Herbies family had a lot to do with this idea, so that when friends and family came to visit, they would have a place to stay, without taking up all the back yard and street parking, at the Conet house). Well the trip wouldn't be complete unless we had something else go wrong. We woke up Thursday morning and had another soft tire on the trailer. Off to the Tire shop we went and sure enough, a nail in the tire. If one needs tire service in Burns Lake, BC, go to Tirecraft, right on the main highway in town. The people there are very professional, friendly and don't want to charge you a arm and leg, just to fix a flat.

After the flat was fixed we were on the road, stopped in Prince George and had lunch with Herb and family and back heading south by 2pm. Stayed the night in a little RV Park, just north of McClease Lake. Up, had breakfast, and on the road, stopped in Boston Bar for pie, to which they had none. we made it to Hope early. We stayed in Hope as I wanted to give the trailer a good bath before we put the trailer in the RV Park. We got into Surrey by mid afternoon, set up the trailer, put the slides out and went to bed. We stayed there for the better of the week and finally got out today.

Where will our next adventure be, only time will tell, but for now, got to get the RV all fixed up, so it looks pretty when we leave again.

Brad and Dar

August 10/09 Hyder, AK

We are in Stewart/Hyder today, got into town yesterday afternoon. How correct the travel books are, it does feel like one is stepping back in time. After dinner we went to the "Sealaska  Inn" and met up with Robin, a friend of a friend of ours from Burnaby.  We will be doing the town tour later today, we can't go up to the "Salmon Glacier" as the road up to it has been washed out. We can't send any pictures from here, as the Internet is only dial-up and way to slow, so will add pic's at a later date. The drive down  Hwy #37 from Watson Lake to Meziatin Junction is one of the more scenic drives in BC. Some rough spots, but generally pretty good.

A couple of days ago we were in Carcross YK, spend the night there and the next day we walked around the very interesting little town, at one time, the terminus of the White Pass & Yukon railroad. From there you would go by Paddle-wheeler to Whitehorse.   

August 5/09 Beaver Creek, Yukon

Were back in Canada, entered this afternoon. We are at BeaverCreek, Yukon, stopped for Dar to have dinner and me, I just wanted some pie. We are going to try and make some more miles tonight.
We have had a very good week (since last blog), stayed last night at Glennallen, AK in State Park. For the past few days we have been Kenai Peninsula We took just the truck and left the RV at the Grizzly Bear RV Park, where had stayed while in Anchorage.
The Kenai is absolutely beautiful. Dar did all the driving while I did the gawking. We spent and night in Seward and a night in Homer. We also went to Whittier, what a peaceful little town. To drive there one must go through the train tunnel. It is only one way, as you run on the railway bed and share it with the train, each taking their turns. In Seward, there is a number of cruise ships dock in town and therefor it is very touristy. We also went to Hope, Cooper Landing, Kenai City, and a number of other small towns. In Homer we stayed at a Best Western, the same where ever you go and the neatest little cabin (out in the bushes) in Seward. While in Homer, I got to go visit with one of Mike's (my son) friends. Had a good morning visit. After that, we left Homer and drove a hard 5 1/5 hours back to Anchorage. Picked up the RV and headed for Glennallen

Anchorage -August 1/09

We got to Wasilla AK (just outside of Anchorage) Thursday morning, after another flat tire (rim). That's three now that have gone on the RV, so I've changed it out, and decided to put the last rim away. We now have four steel rims on the trailer. The aluminum rims just don't hold up worth a damn.  We  to decided to stay on the outskirts of Anchorage and found Big Bear RV Park, as it allowed us to roam the area without being right in town.  On Thursday we stayed close to the trailer and explored around the area of Wasilla. Not to big of a day, as I was not in a very good mood, after all the trailer problems.  I said to myself, quite your whining, and enjoy the scenery, Alaska is a beautiful State.   Friday, we spent the day in Anchorage, filled up the food locker and did some site seeing. The town is quite nice, as it is the largest city in Alaska and, therefor the "hub" of everything. We spent the early part of the afternoon at the "Reindeer" Park. Everyday you learn something new. What is the difference between a "Reindeer" and a "Caribou." The answer is nothing, all Reindeer came from Russia, brought over to N. America by the Russians, when they came here in the 1700's. The Eskimo translated the word to Caribou, now known as North American Caribou. Today we have Caribou, that live in the wild and Reindeer that are domesticated, and are farm animals. (mostly for their meat) 

Caribou Reindeer

In the afternoon, I went to the "Gold Exhibit, the History Of", at the Anchorage Museum. It is an Exhibit that is in Anchorage this year and it all about the history of gold, from 750 BC to present day.  I found it very interesting.  Later we both went to the Sydney Lawrence Theater and saw "The AurorA Collection" - Alaska's Great Northern Lights, by Dave Parkhurst. It was a photographic presentation of his works. Dave Parkhurst is a world re-known photographer on Aurora Borealis. You view some of his pictures at www.TheAlaskaCollection.com

 

We finished the evening off with a great meal at the Club Paris Restaurant.

Today we went for a Bike ride out through the "National Scenic Byway" section of the Glenn Highway, out to Palmer, Sutton and Chickaloon. Very scenic and a great bike riding area. We then went up a secondary road to the old Mine site of Independence and Hatcher Pass area. What a way to spend your day.

Denali Park - July 28/09

What a Park, it is absolutely beautiful, if you ever come to Alaska you must go to Denali National Park. It is a natural habitat preserve for Grizzly Bear, Caribou, Wolf, Moose, Elk, Red Fox and scores of smaller animals. It also supports more than 650 species of trees, shrubs, herbs and flowering plants. It also is home of Mt McKinley (Denali), the highest mountain in North America. It was named, in 1896, by a prospector, William Dickey for presidential nominee William McKinley.Early Russian explorers and traders called the peak "Bolshaia Gora" or "Big Mountain". The Athabascan Indians of the region called it Denali, "the High One". 

I will not try and say everything we saw in the Park, but we were one of the few that got to se

e "Denali" at its best. The mountain only show its full self only twenty percent of the time. It requires a clear day, good winds and the right moment. We were there, the right day and the right time. What a picture. Words can not explain it all. We also got to see plenty of the animals in the park. This "Park" is defiantly in the top 10. What a wonderful day.  

Fairbanks AK- July 28/09

Last night the smoke, from the forest fires around Fairbanks, got very thick and around our camp site the smoke and ash caused us to stay inside the RV. This morning, the truck and bike were covered in the stuff.  So we left Fairbanks and started down the "Parks Highway" towards Anchorage. Once we got out of the valley, past the little hamlet of Nenana and started climbing a bit, the smoke cleared away and the drive into the "Alaskan Range" of mountains the drive and scenery became quite picturesque. Driving through the Nenana Canyon was beyond

 pictures, it was so beautiful.

It wasn't long and before we new it we into Danali National Park & Preserve. We pulled into the tourist information centre and had a look around. We found out that you can't drive into the park, but you can take bus tours all the way up valley. We decided to take a tour, but it is a day event. We found the nearest RV Park, as Denali Campsites were completely full. Got to Grizzly Bear RV Park, checked in and that when my problems started. I won't go into details, but got the truck stuck, slide off the road(when I tried to back out) and spent the next 3 1/2 hours tring to get myself unstuck. With a lot of help, a come-a-long and a long timber, we finally got the RV into a site. So much for RVing, fun but some times a lot of work. Nothing that a few beer couldn't fix, and all was well. Had a late dinner and off to bed, must get our sleep to have a good day tomorrow.