Day Fourteen, Fairbanks, AK

 
 Our first stop today was at North Pole, Alaska.  And where else would we go but the Santa Clause Store.  Didn't buy much.

Next stop was St. Matthews Episcopal Church in downtown Fairbanks.  It's a beautiful church on the banks of the Chena River. 

We went on a three hour paddleboat cruise in the afternoon.  We watched a float plane take off and land; we saw the late Susan Butcher's sled dog kennels, a fish camp, and a First Nations' Indian village.  Connie bought a book written by Susan Butcher, Granite, and it was autographed by Susan's

 husband.  There was an antique snowmobile, a Polaris, on display.  The whole cruise was on the paddleboat, Discovery III.  The house is one of several high dollar homes along the Chena River.

We ended the evening with dinner with the Savereide family,  Jamie, Kerry and their sons Dillon (left) and Zach (right).  Jamie's a good friend of our sons Eric and Andy.  We visited them when we were here on our first trip in 1992 and in 1997.  They came over to the MH and we went to dinner at the Pumphouse on the Chena River.  A very enjoyable day and a very nice evening.  Tomorrow, Connie and I will take an Artic Circle Fly and Drive.

Day Thirteen Veldez to Fairbanks

Today we drove from Valdez to Fairbanks, 364 miles.  Because of road construction we had several delays.  We were on the Richardson Highway the entire distance and saw some new parts that Connie and I had not been on before.  The pipeline almost parallels the Richardson all the way to Fairbanks.  The photo to the left is of the pipeline above ground and below it shows the pipeline going underground.  Of the 800 miles, half is buried.  The pipeline pumps 1.5 million barrels of oil each day. 

We will be in Fairbanks for the next three days and will head to Denali on Friday.  

Day Twelve, Valdez and Prince William Sound

 The Whitney Museum was our first stop today.  Maxine Whitney came to Alaska in1947.  She later opened up a gift store in 1969 in Fairbanks and continued collecting, buying and selling Alaskan art and artifacts.  In 1998 she gifted her collection to the University of Alaska- Valdez.  She stills lives in Fairbanks.  This is a very nice museum to visit.

At 11:00, we check into our 7 1/2 hour cruise where we saw Puffins, Bald Eagles, Sea Otters, Harbor Seals, and  Dall Porpoises.  There wasn't a photo that came out sharp enough to publish;  after all we do have our standards. 

 On the left is a photo of the termination of the Alaskan Pipeline at Valdez.  The terminal can store 9-10 million barrels of oil.  16% of what the USA uses comes from the Valdez terminal.  All of the oil is shipped to the lower 48!  None is shipped to foreign countries. They fill 32
tankers per month from this terminal

                                                    
                                                     To the right is the Anderson Glacier

                                                     and the waterfalls.

All the rest of the photos are of the Columbia Glacier.  This is the second largest "Tidal" glacier in North America.  We were very lucky to get as close as we did to the face.  There are actually three different sections to this glacier.  The photos seem like they are in black and white, it was a very overcast day.  Tomorrow we are off to Fairbanks.

Day Eleven, Tok Cutoff and Valdez

On our way on the Tok Cutoff we took this picture of Fireweed with Mt. Wrangell in the background.  The trip today was 254 miles and it still took most of the day.

When we got on the Richardson Highway, one of the first stops was at the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  This is the largest National Park, 13.2 million acres.  It's bigger than Switzerland and the mountains are higher.  It's bigger than the state of Rhode Island.  It came into the National Park System in 1980.  That fact gives Jimmy Carter the record for adding land to the NPS.  The photo above is of the Visitor Center and below is of the ranger giving a talk.  We have the best national parks in the world!



We had lunch at the Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge which is very close to the Wrangell-St. Elias Visitor's Center.

Just before we got to Valdez, we had to climb (drive  up) Thompson Pass (2,771 ft.), a part of the Chugach Mountains.  Even though it doesn't seem that high, there are several glaciers in the area. 

The picture above is Connie in front of the Bridal Falls, one of many water falls coming off the mountains.

The photo to the right is the end of the Alaskan pipeline, the Valdez Marine Terminal.  This was as close as we could get.  Tomorrow we have a 7 1/2 hour boat tour of the area.

Day Ten Tok, Alaska

Today we entered back into the USA and ended the day in Tok.  We drove 395 miles and about half was under construction with lots of gravel and dust.  A gravel truck came at us as fast as he could go and threw a rock that broke the windshield; every trip to Alaska we lose a windshield.  First thing when we checked into the RV park, we washed the MH and toad.  They were a mess.

We did see a couple of bears.  The one in the picture is pretty small, and I think it’s a Black bear.

Here’s a picture of us crossing the border.  The other picture is of the plaque talking of the relationship between the USA and Canada.

Tomorrow we're off to Valdez and it’s just 254 miles.

Anytime you want to view a larger image, right click on the image and then click "open link in a new tab."

Day Nine, Whitehorse, Yukon

I apologize because today I left the camera in the MH.  We stayed in Whitehorse today and visited a Canada Tire Store, the McBride Museum, an art gallery, had lunch downtown, saw the fish ladder on the Yukon, a transportation museum, and ended at the local farmer's market.  No green beans because their growing season is so short.  They had a frost on June 21st.  They did have lots of lettuce, radishes, kale, and green onions.  The first frost day in the fall is late August. 

I have gotten several emails that report that you people can't make a comment on the blog.  Sorry about that, I don't know of an answer.  If you want, just send us an email at darylsullivan@gmail.com
or connielsullivan@gmail.com

So far we have traveled 4,316 km.  That's 2,590 miles.  Staying here in Whitehorse has been very relaxing and we have been able to see a lot of the city.  Whitehorse's population is 26,000 and that is 60% of the population of the Yukon Territory. It's a very active town with lots of things going on.  Last weekend they hosted a fast pitch softball tournament with teams from around the world.  Japan beat the USA in the championship game 2 to 1.Since it stays light so late, they can play ball well into the evening without lights.  Yesterday the Snow Birds (Canadian Air Force pilots similar to our Blue Angels/Thunder Birds) visited and put on an air show. 

Tomorrow we are going to Tok, AK.  We are told it is slow going because of the frost heaves.  The roads up here don't last as long as roads in the lower 48.  The winters are far colder and that really has an effect on the roads.  Slow will be OK, but it will make the 373 mile trip seem at little longer.

Day Eight from Whitehorse, Yukon

Today we took a day trip to Skagway, AK.  There's only one way to get there - the Klondike Highway.  The first photo is of one of many lakes along the highway.  Note the reflection of the mountains in the lake, and you can see the White Pass railroad tracks in the lower left.

The population of Skagway is 968.  That number doubles in the summer because there are 900,000 visitors each year.  Many of the visitors come in on the cruise ships.  Today there were four cruise ships in the harbor, so the downtown was really busy.  We went to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Visitor's Center and watched a film about the gold rush. 
There is a famous photo that shows hundreds of prospectors trudging up the snow covered mountains, headed to Dawson (City) in hopes of gold.  That photo is of the Chilkoot Pass in the town of Dyea.  The town no longer esists, but the photo is famous.  The pass the prospectors took out of Skagway is the White Pass.  The gold rush only lasted a couple of years, 1897-1898.  Today Skagway is one of many stops for travelers.

The Red Onion is downtown Skagway.

 On our way back to Whitehorse, we stopped at Carcross (Caribou Crossing) where we visited with a couple from Decorah and a couple from Iowa City.  They were heading back home.

 Only a couple of miles from our RV Park is the Miles Canyon of the Yukon River.  This is upstream from Whitehorse so the steam ships did not have to navigate this narrow canyon.

We had a very enjoyable day.  The weather was great.  It started out the day in the low 50's and in the afternoon it was in the low 70's.  The average high temperature in Skagway in July is 56 F.
It stays light until about 11:30 p.m.,  it never feels like bedtime at 11:00!

Day Seven from Whitehorse, Yukon

Sunday we drove to Watson Lake, Yukon, home of the sign post park. There are thousands of signs from all over the world. We even found a sign from Cedar Falls. We then drove on to Strawberry Provincial Park on Muncho Lake, Yukon (350 miles for the day). It was a small park (16 sites) right on the shore of the second most beautiful lake in Canada, second to Lake Louise in Banff National Park. We had beautiful weather.   

I've got your back.

Here's a photo of a large herd of Bison that were grazing along the road near Watson Lake, YK. I don't remember seeing Bison on our last trip.  There were lots of caves.

Past Watson Lake, we stopped at Rancheria Falls.

Monday evening we stayed along the Swift Creek, exactly the same spot that we stayed at 5 years ago when we were traveling with Dave and Ruth Buck.  It hadn't changed a bit. We traveled 320 miles on Monday to get here.

On Tuesday we passed through Teslin, YT and went to the George Johnston Museum.  George was a First Nation from the Tlingit tribe.  George had the first automobile in Teslin even though there were no roads.  He hired some of his friends to help him build a road two miles long in Teslin.  He sold rides in his car for $2/person.  In the winter when the lake was covered with ice he could drive all the way to Whitehorse.  He also used the car for hunting and painted it white in the winter and black in the summer. 

On Tuesday we arrived in Whitehorse, YT by 1:00 (180 miles), checked in to the RV park, and went downtown to the Visitors Center.  We took a tour of the SS Klondike which carried freight and silver oar from Whitehorse to Dawson City.  The boat was built in Whitehorse in 1929 and made into a museum in the 60's.  Tomorrow we are off to Skagway for the day.

Day Four from Dawson Creek, BC

We have been without internet for the last few days.  On Day Two, we arrived in Moose Jaw, SK (435 miles) and on Day Three, we drove to Edmonton, AB (465 miles).  Most of Saskatchewan was as you see in the photo, Canola.  Canola is similar to our soybean and you see lots of it in the grocery store.  It's healthier than our soybean oil.

When we arrived in Edmonton, Rose and Bill had their friends come over for a visit.  They are Wally and Lorna Bendt, friends from South Texas. 







We drove to Dawson Creek, BC today (367 miles) and arrived at the beginning of the Alaskan Highway. The picture is of Connie and Rosemary at the ceremonial beginning of the ALCAN.  Here's the history of the highway.  It was built during WWII as a way of transporting war material to Alsaka.  Started on March 8, 1942, and completed on October 28th of the same year!  Originally 1,700 miles; that's remarkable.  Today, because of reconstruction and shotcuts, the highway is 1,387 miles.  It starts in Dawson Creek and ends in Delta Junction, AK.  At first it was a "military only" highway, but it was opened to the public in 1948.  During the first 50 years it was mostly a gravel road, and today it is all paved.

Mile marker "0" is above left and the sign is in the museum at Dawson Creek.  There are two parts of our Alaskan Adventure: the Alaskan Highway and Alaska.

Day Two of the Great Alaskan Adventure

First order of business is to introduce the players in this "adventure."  Connie and I are on the right and Connie's sister Rosemary and her husband Bill Hedlund are on the left.  This will be Rose and Bill's first trip to Alaska, and our fourth.

Day One was 543 miles ending up in Jamestown, ND.  We met with the Hedlund's good friends from Texas, Gary and Delores Moen.  We went out for dinner and visited for a while at the campground.

Day Two we traveled to Moose Jaw, SK.  That was about 470 miles.  Shorter distance, but about an hour more in drive time.  Slower because of road construction and crossing the border.  The border agent asked me if I had any pencils or guns.  I said, "Pencils?" and she said "No, pistols."  I guess maybe I should listen better or get some help.  We're in a nice RV park in Moose Jaw and stayed at the MH for dinner and a game of bridge.

Tomorrow will be an early day, and we'll end in Edmonton, AB.  Rose and Bill have some friends from Texas that will be coming over for a visit.

Weather has been good. The further north we travel, the more rains they have had.  Tonight, at the campground, the owner said it was OK to wash the bugs off the MH, but not to use a lot of water because the ground was so saturated.  What a difference from Iowa!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Just an announcement/warning that we will be starting the blog again on July 18th.  The 18th will be the first day of our 2012 Great Alaska adventure/trip.  We will be traveling in our 38' Itasca motor home and towing our Ford Escape/Toad.  This time we will be traveling with Connie's sister Rosemary and her husband Bill.  The Hedlunds have not been to Alsaka and we hope that the trip will be a memorable experience.  Also, they have not spent a lot of time traveling in a motorhome. That's why we call it an "adventure."  They will be with us for 26 days and then we will take them to the airport in Anchorage and they will fly back to Des Moines.

After the 12th of August Connie and I will be on our own.  There's one stop, Homer, that we couldn't make with Rose and Bill.  So we will be spending three days in Homer before we head to Washington.  We will spend some extra time on the Cassiar on our way south.  I'm looking forward to the bears at Stewart/ Hyder.

I am really ready for this trip. We have our 50th class reunion the weekend before we leave. On the Thursday night before the reunion we have 31+ classmates coming to our house for a BBQ. We have both been on the planning committee and have spent a lot of time getting ready for the reunion.

July 17th, the day before we leave is our 47th wedding anniversary. 

This "post" is a little early, but I just wanted to get back in the swing of bloging.  Our last blog was two years ago.