Monday, August 27, 2012 Minter Gardens Chilliwack, BC

Today we visited Minter Gardens, 60 miles east of Vancouver, in Chilliwack, BC.  This display garden is 32 acres and theme gardens.  The Minters discovered the site in 1977, set out on a massive planting program, and opened to the public in 1980.  There are two restaurants on the property and it has banquet, wedding, and reception facilities.  If you see any plants you like, you can buy them at their garden centre (18 acres).  The first photo is of me helping this fellow trim the tree.

Oh, if you don't like flowers, skip this post.  I can't help it; I took lots of pictures.

The rose garden was fantastic.  I don't think there was a spent bloom anywhere.  There were thousands of flowers, and you could see thousands of new blossoms too.  To get that level of blooms, you have to do all the right things daily/hourly.

What a beautiful colored rose!

Connie loved the ride on this turtle.

Planning a wedding?  What a setting!  The grass was just about perfect.  In 32 acres I saw a couple small patches of clover.  I wish I could say that about our lawn back home.

There were lots of water, ponds, and bridges.

We arrived at 9:30 A.M. and didn't leave until 2:00 P.M..  Did I mention a restaurant?  Connie said it was a great wrap and I had the fish and chips.

Every garden has a section on Asian gardening.  Here's a sample of some bonsai.

There were thousands of dahlias throughout the garden.  The climate here is cold enough that all the  dahlias/tubors have to be dug and stored during the winter.



Here's a floral peacock.

This photo shows a drift of hydrangias  moving up the hillside.  We struggle with hydrangias, and they seem to grow so effortlesslly here.

The photo above is a water wall  in one area in the garden.  To the right is a photo of the woodland garden. 

 

Connie is standing by this beautiful little cottage with an operating water wheel.

Everything smells great.  The roses were the best and this hanging basket had a great scent too.

Tomorrow we are going to cross the border back into the USA.  Tomorrow we will have cell phone service again, we hope.

Sunday, August 26, 2012 Vanderhoff to Chilliwack

Saturday was a short day of driving from Vanderhoff to 100 Mile House, 248 miles.  We stopped at the Visitor’s Center in Williams Lake, a beautiful log building.  We are camping in the community campground in 100 Mile House, $10/night.  Met a very interesting couple from Vancouver, BC, Gordon and Pat McCabe.  She’s an artist and gave us a greeting card of one the totem poles she has painted.  It's obvious that when you meet people in campgrounds you already have one thing in common, RVing.  From that common point it’s not hard to find more interesting things. The McCabes are from Vancouver and gave us some tips on traveling in the area.  We exchange business cards and will give them a call on our next trip to BC.

Just a five minute walk from the campsite was this little water falls.   

On Sunday, we drove to Chilliwack (60 miles from Vancouver) via the Frazer River valley.  In some areas I would call it a pass.  It has steep mountains on both sides, a narrow road, 6-7% grades, and many tunnels. That describes about 80 miles of highway.

The photo to the right shows the tunnels for the railroad. It appears that rock slides have forced the building of tunnels.  

There are lots of rapids on the river too.  We saw many rafters that were taking advantage of the fast water.

The tunnel in the photo is 2,500 feet long, one of the longest in Canada.

Tomorrow we're going to Minter Gardens, the number 2 public garden in BC.

Friday, August 24, 2012 Stewart/Hyder & Vanderhoff

On Wednesday we drove to Stewart, BC/Hyder, AK. Both are on the spur highway off the Cassiar 39 miles. The attractions are the beautiful drive, bears, glaciers and food.  To the right is Bear Glacier on the drive to Stewart, BC.  Hyder, AK is 2 miles from Stewart.  Both are on the Portland Canal, 90 miles long, leading to the Pacific Ocean.  Improvements are being made to the harbor so that ferry service can return to the area.

Here's a view of the Fish Creek bear viewing area, part of Tongass National Forest.  There is 3 blocks of elevated walkway next to the stream and you can watch the bears feeding on the salmon that are spawning.  We made several trips to see bear.  We saw one at the viewing area and three on our way to the area.  We also saw one on the Cassiar spur.

This is the Grizzly that we saw at Fish Creek,  Notice the tags in her right ear.  She is a seven year old. She might be one of the three cubs that we saw here five years ago.
Two different species of salmon spawn here and give the bears plenty of food to help them fatten up for the winter hibernation.

Here's where we had dinner on Wednesday night.  It's just called "The Bus."  Same gal (the owner) was here five years ago.  Same good food. You can order Halibut or shrimp, fish chowder, and fries.  You order at the bus and eat off picnic tables in the building behind the bus. We went back on Thursday and bought some smoked and fresh salmon from their fish market next door.  Her husband is one of the few commercial fishermen in the area.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at Iskut, BC

Tuesday at Mt. Meadows RV it was quiet.  We were the only people to stay for an extra night.  Until late afternoon we had the park to ourselves.  The park is up for sale.  450 acres, about 35 RV sites, on the Cassiar Hwy, all for $1.2 million.  it's a beautiful stop but the business is not what it used to be.  We did drive into town, but there wasn't much to look at.  We stopped by the lake and talked with a couple fishermen from Montana.  Tomorrow we go see bears!


Monday, August 20, 2012 Teslin YT to Iskut, BC

Today, Monday, we drove 346 miles from Teslin, Yukon to Iskut, BC. We had lunch at the same pull-off that we stopped at five years ago. Two years ago they had a forest fire here and it burned thousands of acres. Today, as we were driving, we saw huge clouds of smoke from another fire that had been burning since the 8th of August.

On our way down the Cassiar one of the first places you pass is Jade City.  This is a highway community made up of jade businesses.  There are several major jade mines in the area. The mines produce about one million pounds of jade each year and half is exported.  We only looked because it is very expensive.

We are staying at Mt. Meadows, a very nice RV park near Iskut.  Iskut is a very small town of 283 souls. A small town with expensive fuel, expensive groceries, and a short tourist season.

The mountains in the background are the Skeena and Cassiar Mountains. A very nice view from our dining room window. Our dining room is 6'x4' across from our kitchen.

We have good wifi and we are going to sit here for a couple of days and just relax.  It turns out the wifi is OK, but it's hard to upload pictures, so this post is a little late.


Sunday, August 19, 2012 Anchorage & Tok, AK Teslin, YT

On Thursday night we went to Kati and Dan Rogness' for dinner.  We had a great time.  We graduated high school with Kati and got to know Dan while they were both going to Iowa. Kati and Connie have been friends for 62 years! Kati was the encouragement we needed to make our first trip to Alaska in 1992.  On Friday we had lunch with them, toured the city, and had them over to our MH for dinner.  Great friends and always a joy to spend time with them. 

On Sunday we strarted our trip to Washington.  We drove to near the US/CA boarder today via the Glenn Hwy, the Tok Cutoff, and back on the Alcan; that’s about 385 miles.  We are dry camping tonight.  The road today was pretty good.  There were a couple small stretches that had some serious frost heaves.  There are lots of places to pull off the road and many of those have some beautiful views.

This is Matanuska Glacier on the Glenn Hwy between Palmer and Tok. This Glacier is in the Chugach Mts. and is 27 miles long and is between 2 and 4 miles wide.  At one time, 10,000 years ago, it covered the town of Palmer which is many, many miles away.  

To the right is Mt. Drum which is part of the Wrangle mountains. 

Left is the view we had for lunch today.  This is Kluane Lake, near Destruction Bay.  What a beautiful view.  We ended the day in Teslin, YT, 437 miles down the road.

Thursday, August 16, 2012 - Homer to Anchorage

Let's make today a "catch up" day for things I have forgotten to mention and photos i want to share.

Last Sunday we took Rosemary and Bill to the Airport so  they could fly to Seattle, then to Denver and end up in Des Moines..  After 25 sleeps in the MH, they look like they are happy to leave us.  We had a great time and now they are back home and today we are back in Anchorage.  We have a 4:00 with Kati and Dan Rogness for dinner and conversation.

A photo of Hope valley on the Seward Hwy.  The shot below is a gal from Hope that comes up to the pull-out by the Hope exit.  Industrious young lady.  I had to buy some coffee.

There are some beautiful view on the Sterling Hwy.  This is west of Soldotna and looking across the Bay of Alaskla at Readout mountain, still and active volcano.

I also forgot to tell you about the encounter that Rose and Connie had with a bear at Exit Glacier.  As they were walking back to the Visitor's Center on the trail, Connie heard a rustling in the woods.  They kept on walking, but a small bear walked across the trail and onto the other side right behind them.  At least the bear kept right on walking and completely ignored everyone on the trail!!  Whew!!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012 Homer, AK

I was up early today for a half day halibut fishing trip.  Check in was 6:30 A.M. and we left at 7:00.  There were fifteen fishermen and a crew of three.  We rode for 1.5 hours, fished for 1.5 hours, and rode back while the crew cleaned the fish.  We were fishing in 240 feet of water and using a two pound weight to get the bait (herring) down to the bottom.  Once you get a bite, the job begins.  Getting the fish up from the bottom is like reeling up a door; it’s really a chore.  I was lucky to catch two average size fish in the first half hour, so I became an advisory for the duration.  The weights of the halibut are smaller this year we’re told.  The two average size fish I caught were about 12 pounds.  I had the fish packaged and frozen and now they are in our freezer.  We are already looking forward to our next halibut dinner.

While I was fishing, Connie was quilting.  We both enjoyed our morning.  We had lunch in town at a cool restaurant, Cosmic something. In the afternoon I had a chance to wash the toad (tow vehicle) and the MH.  Wouldn’t you know it, as soon as I finished, it started to rain.  It looks like rain for the next couple of days.

We drove out to the “Spit” to do some more looking and have some ice cream.

It’s nice to have some easy days and quiet time. 

Monday, August 14, 2012

Today I quit numbering the days of the blog.  When we were with Rose and Bill it was a way of keeping track of the trip.  They are home by now and Connie and I are on our own.

Today we drove from Anchorage to Homer, 220 miles, some on the Seward Hwy and most of the trip on the Sterling Hwy.  We drove through the Kenai area.  The season is on for Silver Salmon and there were hundreds of fishermen fishing off the shore and in boats.  The Kenai area is really beautiful.  It also looks to be prosperous.  We didn’t see any abandoned businesses and every town/city looked very well kept.  The fishing probably has a lot to do with the prosperity.  Princess has a nice lodge on the Kenai River. 

We stopped  at the Fred Meyer store in Soldotna for a few groceries.  What a zoo!  Trying to find a place to park the rig (56’) in a crowded parking lot isn’t quick and easy.  Finally got a spot, got some groceries, and had lunch in the MH. 

We got to Homer by midafternoon, got parked, and went out to the “Spit.”  The spit is a 2 mile man-made gravel bar that extends out into the bay.  In most areas it’s a quarter of a mile wide.  There are several RV parks; tons of shops and restaurants; and shops selling fishing charters, flightseeing, and cruises.  We managed to look in a couple of shops, found some nice soap stone carved bears and native people, and now we’re going to think about what we can’t live without.

This is the Salty Dawg Saloon on the spit.  It's rustic, to say the least, and people have thumb tacked dollar bills over the entire ceiling. 

If you squint you can see the spit.  This is overlooking the bay on our way into Homer.

Day Twenty Six, Anchorage & Farewell to Rose and Bill

Today we found an Episcopal church, St. Mary’s, and attended their 10:00 service.  This is our last day with Rose and Bill.  It's been 26 day and 25 sleeps.   For Bill that means 25 times of blowing up the air matress and 25 times to deflate it and stow it away.  It's all been fun, some days more than others.  We had many high-mileage days getting to the Alaskan Highway and many hours of driving through road construction.  I guess nothing comes easy; it's the price you pay to see this beautiful state of Alsaska.  There are things we would have done differently, but we didn't think about it until it was over.

Their flight leaves at 1:00 A.M. Monday, so we needed to get them to the airport by 11:00.  After church, we spent most of the day at the MH packing and relaxing.  We did sneak in a couple of games of cards, had dinner, and drove by the float plane airport on the way to the big airport.  There are hundreds of float planes and hundreds of regular planes at the small airport.  The planes with rubber tires taxi on the streets in this area, and they do have the right-of-way.  One in sixty Alaskans own airplanes.  The population of Anchorage is over 200,000 and that means a lot of airplanes.  Not too far from our RV park is Merrill Field that is for small airplanes only.

No photos today.

Day Twenty Five Homer and Whittier

Day 25 was Saturday, August 11th.  The story is a bit mixed-up, out of order.  Some day I will learn how to manage the photos and text, but for now I just want to get this posted.  The photo to the right is of the harbor at Whittier and the small boat ramp which was busy all the time we were there.  The facts are that Alaska has one airplane for every sixty residents.  I don't know the number but they have to have lots more than one boat for sixty residents.  There were lots of boats on the road today and many ended up here in Whittier.



We got to Whittier in time for lunch. Surprise!  Connie and I had a cod sandwich and shared a cup of clam chowder, $36.00.  It's crazy what you have to pay for food in Alaska.  Problem is that they are trying to make a year's wages in 3-4 months.  Somebody has to pay the extra.

Here's a sign from Whittier.  Would you take this literally?  We had already parked the car so I felt pretty comfortable.

The photos below are one of the reasons we visited Whittier.  It's the tunnel, it's 2.5 miles long, and it's the longest tunnel in the USA.  It was originally dug for the railroad and then later opened for vehicle traffic.  It was built for a single train and therefore won't accommodate two-way traffic so the eastbound traffic travels on the half hour and the westbound travels on the hour.  The train travels whenever it wants and traffic is stopped when the train passes.

On Friday night we went on a four hour dinner cruise on Resurrection Bay at Seward.  The photo to the right is of the coal loading station in the Seward harbor.  The only coal in Alaska comes from Healey and is shipped by rail to Seward and loaded on to large ships and sent to Asia.
We saw our first Hump Back Whale.  Only got a shot of the tail.  We also saw Stellar Seals, Dolphins, Sea Otters, Mountain Sheep, Puffins, and Glaciers

On the left is a photo of Abe the NPS Ranger we had met on Thursday at Exit Glacier.  He was shadowing another park ranger that was narrating the cruise.  He will be the ranger on several of the cruises later in the season.

This has been the most difficult post to put on the blog.  Between RV parks and restaurants that claim to have wifi and several attempts to add text and
then find out I couldn't save or post, it's been frustrating.  I'm only going to post on days we have a proven wifi connection.