We got to Cultus Lake around 2pm and we were on the pickelball court around 4.30 pm. The court's are over the road in a wonderful resort that once belonged to T.T but they sold it, but they let us go over and play. We are washing the RV's today, so much dust.
It is so nice to be in one place for a bit, and recharge "our" batteries.
Our new home in Spain
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
On our way to Thousand Trails....
Up 6-30am on the road to Cultus Lake BC. looking forward to 2 weeks rest & cleaning, we must have a ton of dust in the bays from Alaska. The RV will need a lot of TLC too.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
I'm so spoiled.....
This was one of my gifts from Jim for our 35 years of married life. He knows how much I love "Wolves", so he had the coin set and put on a chain. And as Jade is the gift for 35 years of marriage, he also got me a jade pendent from Jade City when we were there. THEN, when we were in Hyder I saw a great woolly jacket, and Jim liked it too, so I got that too. I think he liked the 3 t-shirts I got for him.
Ancient Rainforest BC
There's nothing like a walk in the woods, or rain forest in this case. Waterfalls, massive red cedar trees, some more than one thousand years old & 16 feet in diameter, all in a unique rain forest ecosystem.
This is the BIG one.... tree that is.
A lot of work has gone into making this a nice 90 min. walk.
This is the BIG one.... tree that is.
A lot of work has gone into making this a nice 90 min. walk.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
24th August 1974
I just love to put these on now and then, as I know my sisters and nieces hate it..LOL
Where have the years gone??????
Where have the years gone??????On the way to Smithers.
We made two stops on the way to Smithers yesterday. The first was at KSAN an historical village, it is a reconstructed Gitxsan village with traditional style buildings that house a museum.
Me outside Eagle House.
One of the many Totem Poles.
Mark & Jim
The second stop was at Moricetown Canyon where we saw the locals Fishing. Mark purchased 2 pink Salmon which he cooked tonight, for our anniversary. Jim and I walked up that aisle 34 years ago.
Husband and wife team.
This pole had a net on the end, but the water was running so fast.
You could see the fish jumping up the water fall.
Me outside Eagle House.
One of the many Totem Poles.
Mark & Jim
The second stop was at Moricetown Canyon where we saw the locals Fishing. Mark purchased 2 pink Salmon which he cooked tonight, for our anniversary. Jim and I walked up that aisle 34 years ago.
Husband and wife team.
This pole had a net on the end, but the water was running so fast.
You could see the fish jumping up the water fall.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Stewart BC & Hyder Alaska
Jane's turn to cook dinner, so I have been let loose to do the blog again. I will try not to make it another epic. !!!!!
Jane on the Yukon River walk
Whilst in Whitehorse, we all went for a walk along the Yukon River, starting just a short drive from the campground, in the direction of Whitehorse. We walked along the river bank for about 2 hours, before turning round and heading back to the car. It really was a pleasant walk, with some spectacular views of the Yukon River. When we returned to the motorhome, we were surprised to find we had received an e mail from cousin Glen, saying he was back home from Skagway. The weather had beaten him, and the wind and rain had sent him and little Rosie back home. Chris and Jane had made arrangements to meet up with Pat, for an afternoons "Girlie shopping", so Mark and I drove up to his house on picturesque Kookatsoon Lake. As usual he made us very welcome, with a home brewed beer served in his bar. He also showed us his wind powered generator he was in the middle of making, and his 1926 kerosene powered engine. Of course Jane had the camera with her, so I took no pictures, but Glen kindly sent us a couple.
Mark and I in "The Bar" at Glens house
With Glens wind powered generator
1926 3hp. McCormick Deering
Kerosene Engine
We said our goodbyes to Glen and made our way to Pat and Bobs house ( Marks sister in law) for a delicious supper, and to collect our bikes. We left them with Bob and Pat while we travelled to Alaska. We also helped celebrate Bill's 84th birthday. Bill is a dear friend of Pat and Bobs. More goodbyes, and back to the motorhome for a good nights sleep.
We were up and on our way by 9am, after filling the motorhomes with diesel fuel, @.96 a litre, heading for Jade City on the Cassiar Hwy. Apart from some awful road surfaces at the start of the Cassiar, not much to report. The Alaska Hwy was almost in perfect condition, and quite a pleasing drive. We arrived in Jade City in plenty of time to do some Jade shopping. The store allows its customers, and we soon became customers, to stay in their parking lot overnight. We moved our motorhomes onto the parking lot, and I began to level the coach. Except nothing happened. Following a quick investigation, I found a wire had come free from the main power feed to the hydraulics. I needed a new terminal connector, which neither I or Mark had, so we had to do without for the night. Not too much of a problem, as the parking lot was fairly level.
The Parking lot at Jade City. Our view from the
front window.
Following another great meal from Chris, the girls really do us proud when it comes to cooking supper, Mark and I resumed normal procedure, at last, by thrashing the girls at Canasta.
Next day we were on the road pretty early, although Jane had to make one last visit to the jade store. A bit of trivia here, the Jade from this area of BC, supplies 95% of the worlds Jade.
Mark led us off on quite an unremarkable drive, the scenery was pretty good and the road, apart from about 30km which was "crap" was not bad. We refueled at Dease lake, and then the road became great. We made quite good time up to the turn off for Stewart, when we slowed down to take in the great views, in particular those of Bear Glacier.
Our Home at the foot of Bear Glacier
This bear came into the car park right next
to us, then went down the bank and into the
river.
to us, then went down the bank and into the
river.
This huge Grizzly, catching a fish.
The following photographs are of our 23
mile, one way, trip up the mountain, to
Salmon Glacier.
The views, despite the weather, are superb.
I'm not saying the roads are bad.
BUT saw this on the side of the road.
A few blow outs........
One of the large drain pipes to take the water under the road.
Jane made hot chocolate for us all.
"WOW" Views to die for
I thought this photo of Jim looked so calming.
Jane just had to climb the glacier.
______________________________________
The following 2 are of Hyder, Alaska.
No Immigration Officers at the
border crossing into USA ??????
One very dirty car
Monday, August 17, 2009
Up-date at last. To Tok, Haines, Skagway and Whitehorse.
We have been unable to update the blog for a few days now, as we have had no Internet access. So here is a brief description of our travels from Valdez to Whitehorse.
We left Valdez on Wednesday August 12th, it was a grey drizzly morning, although not too wet and grey to stop the girls making one last trip to the shops before leaving. On our arrival into Valdez we passed a pull out with a view to die for, down some 2500ft into the valley. We didn't stop, saying we would do so on the way out. The weather on that day was gorgeous, perfect for taking photographs. The weather when we returned, cloudy, rainy with no views at all. We didn't bother to stop on the way out. !!! The weather did improve as we went further inland, and we had some great views of snow capped mountains, and several glaciers. Not much else on our first leg, other than we were getting low on diesel, I was sure we could make it to Tok, but Mark wasn't so sure, so we stopped about 40 miles short of Tok, and he put just enough fuel in to make sure. It was very expensive, though I don't have the price to hand as I write this.
On arriving at Tok, we went to the Chevron gas station, where diesel was $3.74 a gallon, quite high, but needs must. We bought 57.25 gal, for a total of $214. ouch. Good news is we got 9.7mpg. The garage allows its RV customers to park at the rear overnight for free, so that's what we did. We were later joined by 3 other motor homes. We had dinner out, again feasting at Fast Eddies, before allowing the girls to beat us at canasta. 'Nuff said.
Next day, the girls needed another visit to some stores before leaving, so it was 10am before we hit the road, destination for an overnight stop, Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada. The road in parts, was in my best description, pretty crap, with huge frost heaves, gravel breaks with a washboard surface, which when travelling even as slow as 3-5mph, still rattled your bones. How anything stayed attached to the walls in the motor home is a mystery to me. It has to have been one of the worst roads we have been on to date, even rivaling the Top of the World Highway at times. We crossed the border into Canada, uneventfully, although the crossing itself is a little unusual, in that immigration control is some 20km into Canada. We arrived at Haines Junction at around 7pm Pacific time, we lost an hour, filled up again with fuel, at $1.13 a litres. Extortionate. $4.31CAN a gallon. The most we have EVER paid for diesel. Fortunately we needed only 128 litres, but our mpg dropped a little to 8.8, as a result of the stop/go drive here. We camped again for free, I like free, on the car park of the visitors centre. Jane did a great pasta dinner for us all, and then she and Chris promptly gave us another thrashing at canasta. What the hell has gone wrong.... twice in a row????
Next day. we left at around 09.15, on some of the best paved roads ever. Mostly brand new surfaces, although we did meet a little construction, the road surface was still great, with great views of many lakes and rivers. It was only 156 miles into Haines, and we decided that if we arrived in time, we would try and exchange our ferry tickets for Friday nights sailing instead of Saturdays. That would give us all of the afternoon in Haines, and we wouldn't have to look for anywhere to stay. We had another uneventful border crossing back into Alaska, although Mark was asked if he had a scar on his face, (he doesn't), following which the immigration officer disappeared into his office with their passports for several minutes, before returning and wishing them a pleasant trip. Of course he is NOT now known as "Scar Face Jones". We changed our tickets on arrival at the ferry terminal, for a modest $10. We then took a drive into Haines, about 4 miles from the ferry terminal, parked the car and did a tour on foot. It didn't take long, and we were glad we were not spending another full day there. We had a great lunch of halibut and chips, returned to the car, and had a bit of a drive round the town.
Back to the ferry terminal, time for a little snooze before embarking at about 7.30pm. This was done without too much trouble, and it was not long before we all met up again on deck. (all four vehicles were driven on separately, and not in order, so we all got separated). It was just an hour to Skagway, and a very picturesque hours cruise it was. Following disembarking, Jane asked permission to park overnight in the terminal car park, which was given, so we drove to a quiet spot, and settled down for the night.
Next day we did the tour of Skagway on foot. Its a lot bigger than Haines, although a little too touristy for my liking, still a nice port town. Spoiled a little by the weather, the wind was blowing fairly hard, and made it feel quite cold. There were a couple of big cruise ships in port, so it was very busy. We also visited the Reid Falls, very picturesque, and the Gold Rush Cemetery. People died at so young an age in the first half of the last century, most were in their 20's or 30's. Very sad.
We called cousin Glenn in the afternoon, to get the name of his boat, and ask where it was moored, so we could take a peek. Surprise surprise, he arrived in Skagway the same night as us, and is on the boat now. We all walk down to the small boat dock, and there he is walking towards us. After welcoming us aboard, we spent about a half hour talking and catching up on the news and gossip, before saying our farewells. Back to the motor homes, and another great dinner, this time courtesy of Chris. There followed yet another even greater thrashing by the girls......at canasta. I'm thinking maybe we should buy some new cards, 4 games in a row, this last one we never even got a look in.......
Next morning, Sunday, we got up to still very windy conditions, and spots of rain. Jane went off to post some cards, while I hooked the car onto the motor home. We got underway at just after 9am. Its quite a climb out of Skagway, with the road following the river on one side and the train tracks on the other. Had we been able to see anything the views I am sure would have been incredible. As it was they weren't bad, and we stopped a few times for a closer look and some picture taking. Its only 110 miles to Whitehorse, so there was no rush. Jane had made reservations at Pioneer Campground, where we stayed on our way through last time, so we knew exactly where we were going. Quite novel for us......There was the little matter of crossing the border back into Canada, again there was about an 11 mile distance between the two immigration/customs offices, very strange. The crossing went without a hitch, and even "Scar Face Jones" managed to re-enter Canada without any further questioning.
We stopped at the little town of Carcross. Another gold rush town built at the turn of the 19th century, and still surviving, mainly on the strength of tourism. Mark and Chris bought us all a delicious ice cream each, on account that I had left my wallet in the RV.
After spending an hour or so there, we once again hit the road, to stop just a couple of miles further on at the smallest desert in the world. Quite an amazing sight, you suddenly come upon a large area of sand dunes on both sides of the road. All's it needed was a few cactus.
We carried on again, finally arriving at the campground at about 2.30pm, Pacific Time.
We had a quick shopping trip into town, and settled down to another superb meal, this time courtesy of Jane, who had the slow cooker doing its thing during the drive here. We were all too tired for canasta, thank goodness, couldn't stand another thrashing so close to the last one, so we said goodnight to Mark and Chris, and we settled down to some TV. Then there was a knock on the door, and who should be standing there, but Marlene, Glens wife. She was on her way home from work at the Whitehorse Correctional Facility, and stopped to say "Hi". We were so surprised and pleased to see her, we forgot to take any pictures. Are we empty headed or what?. Anyway it was really great to see her, as we thought we would never get the chance on this trip. So thanks Marlene.
The "Smallest Desert" in the world.
Had to be done, Jane and Chris.
Outside the now defunct RCMP office in Carcross
We had a rainy day today. one of only very few.
Jim and Glen with Glens boat, "Miss Informed"
Mark Jim and Glen on board "Miss Informed"
Chris and Jane at Reid Falls, Skagway.
Reid Falls Skagway
Mark Chris Jim and Jane, Reid Falls, Skagway.
Looking ahead towards Skagway, on board
Jim driving our Motor Home onto the
Fish Wheel on the road into Haines.
Doing our bit for Ken (Kenlar sweatshirts/hoodies)
Up in the clouds
Our home and car, at Horsetail Falls
We left Valdez on Wednesday August 12th, it was a grey drizzly morning, although not too wet and grey to stop the girls making one last trip to the shops before leaving. On our arrival into Valdez we passed a pull out with a view to die for, down some 2500ft into the valley. We didn't stop, saying we would do so on the way out. The weather on that day was gorgeous, perfect for taking photographs. The weather when we returned, cloudy, rainy with no views at all. We didn't bother to stop on the way out. !!! The weather did improve as we went further inland, and we had some great views of snow capped mountains, and several glaciers. Not much else on our first leg, other than we were getting low on diesel, I was sure we could make it to Tok, but Mark wasn't so sure, so we stopped about 40 miles short of Tok, and he put just enough fuel in to make sure. It was very expensive, though I don't have the price to hand as I write this.
On arriving at Tok, we went to the Chevron gas station, where diesel was $3.74 a gallon, quite high, but needs must. We bought 57.25 gal, for a total of $214. ouch. Good news is we got 9.7mpg. The garage allows its RV customers to park at the rear overnight for free, so that's what we did. We were later joined by 3 other motor homes. We had dinner out, again feasting at Fast Eddies, before allowing the girls to beat us at canasta. 'Nuff said.
Next day, the girls needed another visit to some stores before leaving, so it was 10am before we hit the road, destination for an overnight stop, Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada. The road in parts, was in my best description, pretty crap, with huge frost heaves, gravel breaks with a washboard surface, which when travelling even as slow as 3-5mph, still rattled your bones. How anything stayed attached to the walls in the motor home is a mystery to me. It has to have been one of the worst roads we have been on to date, even rivaling the Top of the World Highway at times. We crossed the border into Canada, uneventfully, although the crossing itself is a little unusual, in that immigration control is some 20km into Canada. We arrived at Haines Junction at around 7pm Pacific time, we lost an hour, filled up again with fuel, at $1.13 a litres. Extortionate. $4.31CAN a gallon. The most we have EVER paid for diesel. Fortunately we needed only 128 litres, but our mpg dropped a little to 8.8, as a result of the stop/go drive here. We camped again for free, I like free, on the car park of the visitors centre. Jane did a great pasta dinner for us all, and then she and Chris promptly gave us another thrashing at canasta. What the hell has gone wrong.... twice in a row????
Next day. we left at around 09.15, on some of the best paved roads ever. Mostly brand new surfaces, although we did meet a little construction, the road surface was still great, with great views of many lakes and rivers. It was only 156 miles into Haines, and we decided that if we arrived in time, we would try and exchange our ferry tickets for Friday nights sailing instead of Saturdays. That would give us all of the afternoon in Haines, and we wouldn't have to look for anywhere to stay. We had another uneventful border crossing back into Alaska, although Mark was asked if he had a scar on his face, (he doesn't), following which the immigration officer disappeared into his office with their passports for several minutes, before returning and wishing them a pleasant trip. Of course he is NOT now known as "Scar Face Jones". We changed our tickets on arrival at the ferry terminal, for a modest $10. We then took a drive into Haines, about 4 miles from the ferry terminal, parked the car and did a tour on foot. It didn't take long, and we were glad we were not spending another full day there. We had a great lunch of halibut and chips, returned to the car, and had a bit of a drive round the town.
Back to the ferry terminal, time for a little snooze before embarking at about 7.30pm. This was done without too much trouble, and it was not long before we all met up again on deck. (all four vehicles were driven on separately, and not in order, so we all got separated). It was just an hour to Skagway, and a very picturesque hours cruise it was. Following disembarking, Jane asked permission to park overnight in the terminal car park, which was given, so we drove to a quiet spot, and settled down for the night.
Next day we did the tour of Skagway on foot. Its a lot bigger than Haines, although a little too touristy for my liking, still a nice port town. Spoiled a little by the weather, the wind was blowing fairly hard, and made it feel quite cold. There were a couple of big cruise ships in port, so it was very busy. We also visited the Reid Falls, very picturesque, and the Gold Rush Cemetery. People died at so young an age in the first half of the last century, most were in their 20's or 30's. Very sad.
We called cousin Glenn in the afternoon, to get the name of his boat, and ask where it was moored, so we could take a peek. Surprise surprise, he arrived in Skagway the same night as us, and is on the boat now. We all walk down to the small boat dock, and there he is walking towards us. After welcoming us aboard, we spent about a half hour talking and catching up on the news and gossip, before saying our farewells. Back to the motor homes, and another great dinner, this time courtesy of Chris. There followed yet another even greater thrashing by the girls......at canasta. I'm thinking maybe we should buy some new cards, 4 games in a row, this last one we never even got a look in.......
Next morning, Sunday, we got up to still very windy conditions, and spots of rain. Jane went off to post some cards, while I hooked the car onto the motor home. We got underway at just after 9am. Its quite a climb out of Skagway, with the road following the river on one side and the train tracks on the other. Had we been able to see anything the views I am sure would have been incredible. As it was they weren't bad, and we stopped a few times for a closer look and some picture taking. Its only 110 miles to Whitehorse, so there was no rush. Jane had made reservations at Pioneer Campground, where we stayed on our way through last time, so we knew exactly where we were going. Quite novel for us......There was the little matter of crossing the border back into Canada, again there was about an 11 mile distance between the two immigration/customs offices, very strange. The crossing went without a hitch, and even "Scar Face Jones" managed to re-enter Canada without any further questioning.
We stopped at the little town of Carcross. Another gold rush town built at the turn of the 19th century, and still surviving, mainly on the strength of tourism. Mark and Chris bought us all a delicious ice cream each, on account that I had left my wallet in the RV.
After spending an hour or so there, we once again hit the road, to stop just a couple of miles further on at the smallest desert in the world. Quite an amazing sight, you suddenly come upon a large area of sand dunes on both sides of the road. All's it needed was a few cactus.
We carried on again, finally arriving at the campground at about 2.30pm, Pacific Time.
We had a quick shopping trip into town, and settled down to another superb meal, this time courtesy of Jane, who had the slow cooker doing its thing during the drive here. We were all too tired for canasta, thank goodness, couldn't stand another thrashing so close to the last one, so we said goodnight to Mark and Chris, and we settled down to some TV. Then there was a knock on the door, and who should be standing there, but Marlene, Glens wife. She was on her way home from work at the Whitehorse Correctional Facility, and stopped to say "Hi". We were so surprised and pleased to see her, we forgot to take any pictures. Are we empty headed or what?. Anyway it was really great to see her, as we thought we would never get the chance on this trip. So thanks Marlene.
The "Smallest Desert" in the world.
Had to be done, Jane and Chris.
Outside the now defunct RCMP office in Carcross
We had a rainy day today. one of only very few.
Jim and Glen with Glens boat, "Miss Informed"
Mark Jim and Glen on board "Miss Informed"
Chris and Jane at Reid Falls, Skagway.
Reid Falls Skagway
Mark Chris Jim and Jane, Reid Falls, Skagway.
The Gold Rush Cemetery, Skagway.
Click on above to read all about the cemetery
This carriage was put on the front of the steam
locomotives, to clear the tracks of snow, on the
Skagway to Whitehorse line. It would blow and cut
into the hard cement-like snow drifts, as the open
fan blades spun round.
Maybe we should get one in Birmingham to get the
Maybe we should get one in Birmingham to get the
leaves off the track.
Looking ahead towards Skagway, on board
the ferry, Malaspina.
Jim driving our Motor Home onto the
M.V Malaspina.
Fish Wheel on the road into Haines.
Doing our bit for Ken (Kenlar sweatshirts/hoodies)
Snow capped mountains and glacier in the background
en route to Haines Junction.
Up in the clouds
Our home and car, at Horsetail Falls
Richardson Highway, 13.5 miles out of
Valdez.
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