Home Again

We arrived home on Sunday, August 22, 2010 after:
* 12,109 miles of travel to and from Alaska using
* 1,865 gallons of gas
We were gone for:
* 88 days of which
* 53 were travel days on the road

It was a trip of a lifetime, our 50th wedding anniversary gift to each other. It was wonderful, but seems like a dream now. Thank goodness for my blog and over 300 pictures to remember it all by.

Thus ends my blog on our "Little Journey" to Alaska.

Marcia & Jerry Little

Yellowstone to Verona, NY

We stopped in at the WIT (Winnebago-Itasca Travelers) Visitor Center in Forest City, IA, on the way home. There is parking for rigs there with 30amp power, so we spent the night there in order to take the factory tour the next morning.

The tour began with a 20-minute video about Winnebago and how they go about engineering and building their motorhomes. Winnebago manufactures 80 percent of everything that goes into their motorhomes. After the video, we boarded a bus and began the factory tour.

The first building we went into was chassis development where the chassis frames were cut to lengthen their wheelbase and/or lengthened at their rear. In addition, this is where the framework was added for the width and to accommodate all of the underfloor workings and storage.

In the next building, all of the underfloor components were put in and the floor itself installed and floor coverings added.

The last building is where the sidewalls, interiors and roofs were manufactured and installed. In all three buildings, a lot of manufacturing was done on an upped level and dropped down into the units as they moved along the assembly line.

The final two stops for each motorhome is the paint shop and the quality control building where it is put through an extensive check.

Taking this tour confirmed everything we thought about the quality of Winnebago and Itasca motorhomes.

It took three travel days to reach the Winnebago factory in Forest City, IA, and then four more to get to Verona, NY, where we took a Rest Day and the weather has been beautiful all the way. One more travel day to go to reach home.

Extra - Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home. What more do you need? There's a roof overhead, a door and a window. A regular antenna for the local channels and a dish for satellite reception. An ATV and a boat.

This is just across the street from our campground. I have to assume that this guy is living within his means!

Yellowstone, the Second Time Around

Yellowstone…expansive and diverse. Grass covered plains and lush green pine covered mountains. Pristine lakes, bubbling mud pots and gushing geysers. This picture is Palette Spring at Mammoth Hot Springs, an ever evolving changing landscape. We had to some back to Yellowstone again as the two days we spent in early June were not enough to take it all in.

The first time through we pretty much covered the West side of the part, so this trip was to see the East side. On the drive down to Yellowstone Lake we got a good look at the area of the ’88 forest fire and happy to see all the new growth taking over from the ashes of the fire. There were herds of bison, one deer and a group of mountain sheep. At Sulphur Caldron puddles of mud boiled and bubbled.

For anyone heading out West, Yellowstone is a “must see”. Plan to spend a minimum of 4 to 5 days, more if you can.

Prince George, BC to Yellowstone, WY

The Alaska Caravan just a memory now, we’re on our way home. The picture was taken along I90 in Montana. If all goes as planned, we’ll arrive back home on August 24th.

8/05/10 Thursday: Our first travel day toward home, took us South on Canada 97 for a little over 5 hours, then West on Route 8 through some mountains to Merritt, BC. As we left Prince George, we began to smell smoke, and there was a smokey haze over the area. It wasn’t long before visibility dropped to a maximum of ½ mile. This continued for several hours before returning to just a light smokey haze. We were not surprised, as there were currently over 400 forest fires burning in BC.

8/06/10 Friday: Today we crossed the border back into the US. Going through Customs, our load was lightened by an Agriculture Customs Agent who came aboard and took our two tomatoes and two apples. We stopped at a wonderful campground just North of Spokane, WA…situated in a private golf community. There was still a light smokey haze even in WA.

8/07/10: Saturday: Today was a rest day. We drove to an RV Superstore, picked up a few things from their Parts Department and toured some 2010 Winnebagos. Other than that, we just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

8/08/10 Sunday: Today’s drive took us through 3 States, WA, ID and MT. It rained last night and that seemed to have cleared up the air. Northern Idaho is beautiful and Montana really lives up to its’ “Big Sky” name. We spent the night at a nice small campground in Garrison, MT.

8/09/10 Monday: Continued on in MT to Gardiner, MT, just a few blocks from the North Entrance to Yellowstone. We only spent 2-days in Yellowstone on our way to Alaska, and that was not enough, so we’re stopping by again for a few more days. Another nice day on the road, but right after arrival in the campground, we had some heavy thunder storms.

Stewart to Prince George, BC

Oh my! It’s over already. Time really flies when you are having fun. Prince George is the final stop in the 49-day caravan. From here, we all depart and go our own way home or on to other adventures. Traveling the Alaska Highway is an experience! Every time you think you’ve seen it all, you turn a corner and another “Wow” awaits you.

8/01/10 Sunday: Another beautiful day, we left Stewart to drive to Smithers, BC. Both the weather and roads were good. We are now getting far enough south the we’re into agriculture, mostly hay, recently cut and rolled. We had a bonus dinner, no included in the original schedule, for the group tonight at a nearby lodge.

8/02/10 Monday: Travel day 2 to Prince George, BC. Another nice day to our final destination of the caravan. On the way, we found a nice rest stop along side of a creek with salmon fighting their way upstream and enjoyed a picnic lunch there with another couple from the caravan. Shortly after arrival at the campground, a social was held with enough wonderful snacks from all to qualify as dinner.

8/03/10 Tuesday: Today was a Free Day, except for the Farewell Dinner. Having now passed 20,000 miles on the rig, it was time for servicing it. I found a Truck and Equipment place that could service me and headed down to it after lunch. In addition to the Norman grease and oil/oil filter change, I also had the air cleaner filter changes (we drove is a lot of dust during the trip) and the gas filter changed (went through a lot of no-name gas up in Alaska). The dogs were well past their normal grooming and we found a mobile groomer who would come to us tomorrow and do both dogs. Because of this, we stayed an extra day in Prince George.

As I said, tonight was our Farewell Dinner. We were bussed to a wonderful lodge overlooking a beautiful lake where we enjoyed the best buffet we’ve had on this trip. After dinner, our choral group of nine sang “We Will Miss Alaska”, sung to the tune of “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”…the words by one of our Tailgaters, Kathy Miller. Various members of our group shared their thoughts and memories of the caravan, then gifts were given to each couple by the Hosts and Tailgaters. It was a very special evening with our new caravan friends.

8/04/10 Wednesday: A continental breakfast was held from 7:00 – 8:30 a.m. which gave all a chance to give and get hugs from all a say our farewells to many of our new friends. Four other coaches besides us stayed on for another day. The dog groomer showed up at 7:30 a.m. and the two pups got their hair cuts. After they were done, Marcia and I did some grocery shopping, After lunch, Marcia did laundry and I, having almost forgotten what color our rig was there was so much dried mud on it, washed the rig. All five remaining couples went out to dinner together and had an enjoyable evening afterward sitting around the campground conversing before saying our final “good nights”. And so ends our wonderful 7-week long Alaska Caravan. Tomorrow we begin our trek home.

Iskut, BC to Stewart, BC

This picture was taken at our current campground in Stewart, BC. No picture can do justice to the majesty and beauty of BC, YT and AK. It’s like the Grand Canyon, you have to see it in person. The mountains up here are just spectacular.

7/30/10: We continued South on Cassiar Highway today to Stewart, BC. It was another beautiful day and an equally beautiful drive. We stopped for lunch at a nice lodge in Bell, BC, joined by fellow travelers from 5 other rigs. On the way down to Stewart, located at the head of the Portland Canal, a narrow saltwater fjord approximately 90 miles long, we passed many glaciers (see pictures of some of them attached to the email forwarding this blog). After dinner, we gathered into car pools to drive over to Hyder, AK, just a few miles away, to a bear watching area alongside a creek where salmon were starting to run. There were some salmon working their way up the creek, but, unfortunately, no bears. We were told that we were a few weeks too early. In a few weeks there would be more salmon and, of course, more bears.

7/31/10: Today was a Free Day. The first order of business was to get my car washed…I’m not even sure what color it is any more. We wandered around town in the morning…didn’t take long, it’s very small. At 5:00 p.m. this evening, the host held a Bash for all those that had birthdays or anniversaries during the caravan. Cake was served and gifts were given to all from the hosts, small comical gifts that meant something to each receiver. Throughout our caravan, Marcia has been looking for a USA Today newspaper. She finally realized that she wasn’t going to find one in the Canadian portion of our travels, but was really taken back when she found none in Alaska, which is a US State. She was given a USA Today, a week old, but a USA Today. The hosts had found it in Juneau.

Iskut, BC

Iskut, BC, population 12. Beautiful weather was enjoyed on this, a day off. A group of us decided to put together a quartet (ended up with 9 in our quartet, 3 leads, 2 tenors, 2 baritones and 2 basses), a work up an Alaskan parody to “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” for the Farewell Dinner Banquet in Prince George, BC, next week. We had our first rehearsal at 11:00 a.m.

In that no one in our group had been able to attend GNR (Winnebago’s annual Grand National Rally attended each year by +/- 1,600 units), as we were all in Alaska at the time, our hosts decided to have our own GAR, Grand Alaska Rally. Started at 2:00 p.m., we began with games, Frisbee, Blongo Ball (Snake/Crazy Golf) and Jenga (a giant size version of). We stopped long enough to have a group picture taken then held a seminal where various of us shared tips about our rigs. The hosts then presented information on upcoming Rallies and Caravans. For dinner, we had a baked potato meal with all the fixins, including ice cream sundaes. The festivities ended with a sing-along.

Whitehorse, YT to Iskut, BC

Enroute to Iskut, we stopped in at Jade City, named for the jade deposits in the Princess Jade Mine, one of the largest jade deposits in the world. At the Mountain Jade Store and Gift Shop you could see raw jade, jade jewelry and carvings crafted from local Cassiar jade.

7/26/10: Travel Day 1 of 3 on our journey from Skagway, AK to Iskut, BC (see previous blog).

7/27/10: Travel Day 2 of our journey from Skagway, AK to Iskut, BC, saw some beautiful weather and good roads, but nothing special to report other than the usual beautiful scenery. We spent the night in a Watson Lake, YT campground that we had stayed in much earlier in our travels.

7/28/10: Travel Day 3 to Iskut, BC, a thriving city of 12. This was the first of several days travelling on the Cassiar Highway. Just a mile or two onto the highway, we smelled smoke…there was a forest fire somewhere East of us. We stopped at Jade City (see above) and then traveled on to our campground in Iskut. Once again, the weather was wonderful and the campground was beautiful. We’re finally back into shorts and tee shirts.

Note: We found out the next day that the fire had crossed the Cassiar Highway and that the highway was closed. We got through just in time. Also, a few days after we drove the Top of the World Highway, it got washed out and probably won’t reopen until at least next year, so we’ve lucked in twice now.

Skagway, AK to Whitehorse, YT

Today was Travel Day 1 of 3 from Skagway, AK to Iskut, BC. To start, we had to climb for 16 miles out of Skagway, Elevation 0, up and over White Pass, Elevation 3290. Once over the Pass, we had to go through Canadian Customs. For the next 15 or 20 miles, we were driving along the Summit Lakes. At one point, a bear walked out onto the road, then off and back on again. Marcia was finally able to get some pictures of a bear. Later, near Carcross, YT, a moose crossed the road in front of us, but, being a shy animal, disappeared into the woods before we could get a picture. We stopped at Crystal Lake for some pictures, a beautiful multicolored lake, then headed into Whitehorse, YT and did some grocery shopping before checking into the campground. Once set up, we did some laundry. The evening ended with a Steak BBQ Dinner provided by the campground.

Skagway, AK - Day 2

This morning we went on a White Pass Summit Excursion. We traveled up from Skagway, Elevation 0, to White Pass Summit, Elevation 2,865, and on to and back from Fraser, BC, aboard the WP&YR (White Pass and Yukon Route) aboard restored, replica coaches pulled by vintage diesel locomotives. White Pass is one of the two passes that the prospecters in the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 had to travel over from Skagway to get to Whitehorse, where they could then board boats down the Yukon River to the gold fields. Each person had to carry a ton of supplies up and over the Chilkoot Pass or the longer, less steep White Pass. The railroad was started in May of 1898 and was completed in two-years, two-months and two-days. Tens of thousands of men and 450 tons on explosives overcame harsh and challenging climate and geography to create the “Railway Built of Gold”. From Skagway to almost 3,000 feet at the summit, the train climbs steep grades of almost 3.9 percent, travels over some trestles and through 2 tunnels. The tight curves on the White Pass called for a narrow gauge railroad.

Skagway, AK - Day 1

While in Juneau today, we were bussed up to the Mendenhall Glacier, a tongue of ice stretching 12 miles from the Juneau Icefield to Mendenhall Lake. At its widest point, the glacier is more than 1.5 miles wide, with ice 100 to 1800 feet thick. The Juneau Icefield is the fifth largest icefield in North America, stretching across a 1,500 square mile area that straddles the boundary between Alaska and Canada. The Mendenhall Glacier is one of 39large and over 100 smaller valley glaciers in the Juneau Icefield.

Today was to be a very long 12 to 13 hour day, so Marcia stayed back to care for our and other caravaner’s dogs. The group boarded the Fjordland Express, a beautiful catamaran scenic cruise boat at 7:45 a.m. for Juneau. It was just short of a 4-hour cruise to Juneau, but with plenty to see along the way. We traveled the Lynn Canal to and from Juneau, a glacier created waterway with 5 to 7 thousand foot high mountains on either side. We saw many eagles, harbor seals, Stellar Sea Lions and humpback whales going and coming from Juneau. We arrived back at Skagway at 8:30 p.m.

Juneau is the capital of Alaska, only reachable by either airplane or boat. It is very much a tourist town, supported by the many cruise ships that stop there. People who cruise must buy jewelry, because every other shop was a jeweler.

Fairbanks to Skagway, AK

This trip took three travel days, Fairbanks to Tok, Tok to Destruction Bay, Destruction Bay to Skagway. Day one saw some rain, but it had stopped by the time we reached Tok, so we set up an assembly line and washed our rigs. Day two saw more rain, and the road to Destruction Bay was horrible…lots of frost heaves and sunken spots. It did turn clear by the time we reached the campground and there the owner put on a wonderful BBQ dinner followed by some entertainment by him and his band, aptly called “Loose Gravel”. Day three started out beautiful, but about halfway between Whitehorse and Skagway, we hit rain again. Driving over White Pass, we hit the densest fog I have ever encountered. Apparently normal, both the Canadian and US Customs are below the summit by about ten miles each way. A 3,000 foot grade down to Skagway completed this part of our journey.

Fairbanks, AK - Day 3

7/20/10 – Tuesday: Today we boarded the Riverboat Discovery and cruised the Chena and Tanana Rivers. Along the way, in addition to oohing and aahing some of the beautiful homes along the river’s banks, we saw a bush pilot take off and land his float plane on the river, saw Susan Butcher’s Iditarod champion sled dogs in action, saw an authentic Native Gish Camp where we watched a salmon be filleted in a traditional manner. The only stop was at an authentic Athabascan Indian Village. Here we were shown how the lived for thousands of years as they moved along with the caribou, how they hunted and utilized every part of what they hunted and how they made their clothes from the animal skins. It was a beautiful sunny day and the trip was delightful. The day ended with a buffet dinner for the group.

Fairbanks, AK - Day 2

Marcia and I at the Alaska Pipeline. Half of the pipeline is underground and half is above ground. This point in the line is 450 miles from Prudhoe Bay, the starting point, and 350 miles from Valdez, the ending point, where it is transferred to ships.

7/19/10 – Monday: The morning was spent on a bus tour of Fairbanks. The highlight of the tour was time spent at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Museum where we learned more about Alaska’s natural history and many cultures in a resource rich environment. We also saw a video explaining the Northern Lights. After lunch, a buffet at the campground, we headed out to the Alaska Pipeline, then on to the El Dorado Mine. There we boarded a narrow gauge train and traveled to a working gold mine where mining techniques are demonstrated by local miners. We stopped in a permafrost tunnel where we were show historic drift mining methods. After a short course in panning, we all panned for gold. I panned $17.00 worth which I had put into a pendant for Marcia.

Fairbanks, AK - Day 1

Today, our first day in Fairbanks, AK, was a Free Day. We went to North Pole, AK...unfortunately, Santa was busy making toys, so we didn't get a chance to see him. The picture is of the North Pole Visitors Center. In town, all of the street light poles are red and white striped to look like candy canes. We did, of course, stop in at Santa Clause House and did a little shopping.

On the way back to the rig, we stopped in again at Pioneer Park where there was a wonderful quilt show. Back to the rig for lunch, then it was time to do some laundry. Found a wonderful local quilt shop and went grocery shopping to wind up our day.

Hello from Tatlanika, AK. Today we traveled to Fairbanks, AK. We stopped along the way at Tatlanika Trading Co., by far the best gift shop stop we’ve had to date. Not only were there many Alaska made gifts, reasonable priced, but also had on display just about every Alaskan animal, stuffed of course, including a polar bear. The next stop was at Nenanak, where we visited a Railroad Museum, then enjoyed lunch at a little local sandwich shop with 5 other couples from our group.

Shortly after getting settled in at our campground in Fairbanks, the skies opened up, delivering a torrential downpour, including hail. For dinner, the group went to an Alaska Salmon Bake held in Pioneer Park. You enter the part through an old mining tunnel, emerging into an old mining town where you can relive those Gold Rush Days of old, complete with actual relocated log cabins, shops, sluice boxes, gold dredge buckets. The dinner menu included an “all-you-can-eat-buffet” with grilled King Salmon, Halibut and Cod plus an alternate choice of Prime Rib. After dinner, we wandered around the park, stopping in a museum showcasing the history of Fairbanks. The evening wound up at “The Golden Heart Revue”, an authentic glimpse back in time to the “Last Frontier” and the colorful individuals who formed this State, its charm and its character.

Denali - Day 2

Today, the group went on an 8-hour narrated bus tour into Denali National Park. Unlike most US National Parks which strive to protect the visitors from the animals, Denali exists to protect the animals from the visitors. There is only one road into Denali (same road back out), and access is strictly controlled. Our day turned out to be a double bonus day. It is considered a “clean-sweep” when you see the 5 major animal groups in the park. We saw many more, making it a “grand-slam”. Our other bonus was seeing all on Mt. McKinley. Only 30% of the people visiting Denali see any of the mountain, less than half of them see the peak. As you can see from the picture, we saw it all, including the peak.

I saw the following animals:
* Grizzly Bears: 5 plus 2 cubs
* Dall Sheep: 4 herds
* Moose: 1
* Gray Wolf: A pack with 5 adults and 7 pups
* Caribou: 3 male, 3 female and 2 calves
* Golden Eagle: 3
* Arctic Ground Squirrels
* Marmots
* Red Squirrels

The park is vast and wild: six million acres with few established trails. It is a national treasure because it is a place where visitors may still see large animals at home in the wild. The bus program, which emerged in 1972 as an alternative to private car traffic in the park, minimizes visitor impacts, allowing many to experience a park that belongs to all of us without destroying it.

Palmer to Denali, AK

We've Gone to the Dogs. Our first day in Denali was a Free Day until late afternoon when our group went to Husky Homestead, the kennel of four[time Iditarod winner Jeff King and his wife, well known wildlife artist, Donna Gates King. We met champion sled dogs, held puppies (as you can see from the picture) and saw summer training in action during our 1-1/2 hour narrated kennel tour. We were able to see the wonderful enthusiasm of the Alaskan Huskies and the relationship between musher and dog. We were shown Artic survival gear, sleds and racing equipment. We heard 30 years of mushing stories from freight hauling on Denali to crossing the finish line in Nome with a champion Iditarod team. Jeff King is recognized as the "Winningest Musher in the World". His victories include not only the 1160 mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race in 1993, 1996, 1998 and 2006, but also two-dozen first place finishes in races all across Alaska. His wife, Donna, is a well known artist whose art portrays her intimate involvement with mushing and her love and respect of nature. Their kennel houses over 60 friendly, energetic, Alaskan Huskies. For more information go to, "www.huskeyhomestesd.com"

7/14/10 Wednesday: Cloudy, overcast and drizzle was the weather for our drive from Palmer to Denali. The first half of the drive was pretty boring, but the views improved significantly as we neared Denali. In the evening, the group boarded a bus for transport to McKinley Chalet Resort for an evening of rip-roaring entertainment and a family-style, all-you-can-eat dinner of Alaska salmon...barbecue ribs...salad...baked beans...corn...sourdough rolls...and homemake blueberry cobbler. Following dinner, Fannie Quigley and her crew of unforgettable characters showed us old Alaska in its early days with great songs, tall tales and foot-stomping music.

7/15/10 Thursday: A Free Day until 3:00 p.m. The drizzle and showers continued, so all we did in the morning was visit the many shops in town. Lunch in the rig followed by a nap, a we were ready to head out to the Husky Homestead, covered above.

Palmer - Musk Ox Farm

Musk Ox almost became extinct in that they don't run when faced with danger...the males form a circle facing out surrounding the females and calves, therefore easy to shoot and kill. They were totally wiped out in Alaska and nearly wiped out in Canada. The musk ox reintroduced in Alaska came from Greenland and now number around 3,000. The musk ox has four stomachs and eats only 1/6th of what cattle require. They are well suited for the Alaska climate in that they have an under-wool that is eight times warmer that sheep's wool.

The Musk Ox Farm is a private non-profit organization dedicated to the development and domestication of the musk ox, for the purpose of providing additional subsistence income opportunities for Alaska's first people. The soft under-wool of the musk ox, qiviut, is harvested once a year and delivered to the Oomingmak, an Alaskan native knitter's co-operative (www.qiviut,com). By the way, qiviut, no "u" after the "q", is a great scrabble word. Why qiviut? It is eight times warmer than sheep's wool, will not shrink in any temperature water, is gathered without harm to the musk ox and its ash brown color compliments any ensemble. Each tribe has their own knitting pattern and knit caps and scarves which sell for $150-$250 each. A qiviut blanket was being raffled off valued at $10,000.

Kenai to Palmer, AK

This is the Church of 1,000 Logs in Palmer, built by the "Matanuska Colonists" who settled in Palmer in 1935. A government program created over 100 colonies late in the depression era, most of them in the US South. This settlement in Palmer was the only one in Alaska and the colonists all came from Northern MN, MI and WI (mostly Scandanavian, the government thought that they were best suited for the Alaska climate). Each was given 40 acres of land, a house and some out-buildings. They were to farm the land to see if would support agriculture and eventually pay back the government $3,000.

7/12/10 Monday. Travel day two of two from Kenai to Palmer was again a beautiful day. All of the highways we traveled today had been previously traveled (Kenai Spur, Seward and Glenn), so we made no stops on the way except along side of the Turnagain Bay, just South of Anchorage, were we stopped for lunch. Dinner was stone soup served by the hosts (every person provided a can of their favorite beans to the host who prepared the soup), followed by peach cobbler cooked in dutch ovens. After dinner, the owner of the campground gave a one-hour presentation of the "Matanuska Colonists" who settled Palmer in 1935. Palmer sits in a valley surrounded by two mountain ranges, averaging only 20-30 inches of snow each winter. Summer temperatures average in the 60's and winter in the 20's.

7/13/10 Tuesday: Today we took a bus tour, driving through some of the farm area where the Matanuska Colonists settled. We saw several of the original homes that the government built for the settlers and the type and extent of the agriculture in the area. We then went to the Visitors Center which included a beautiful flower garden with many different kinds of flowers. The reason crops and flowers do so well here is the length of the summer daylight hours (18 hours/day in the summer). We then went to the Colony House Museum, one of the actual original dwellings in the settlement. Following, we were then given a wonderful lunch at the Inn Cafe. Next, we walked over to the United Protestant Church, built in 1937 by the settlers (pictured above...the Church of 1,000 Logs, more pictures to follow in the email). Finally we went to The Musk Ox Farm which will be covered in another blog. Dinner was on our own and the evening ended with a campfire and smores.

Homer to Kenai, AK

Dipnetting, fishing like you've never seen it before. This scene is just below our campground where hundreds of Alaskans are dipnetting in the Kenai River where it flows into Cook Inlet. It is a popular way for Alaskans to fill their freezers with fresh salmon for the winter. To dipnet, anglers stand waist deep in the water holding large nets with long handles. Each Alaskan family is allowed to catch 25 salmon. Some additional pictures will be with the email.

Today was travel day one of two to Palmer, AK. In that is was a short travel day, only covering 92 miles, a pancake breakfast was held before we left Homer. The day was sunny and beautiful. Once in Kenai, we went to the Visitors Center, the City Dock on the Kenai River and North Beach, which is where the dipnetters were.

Seward to Homer, AK

Welcome to Homer, the Halibut Fishing Capital of the World. You will see in the first attached picture Homer Spit, a several mile long, narrow, piece of land that separates Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay. This is where our campground is.

7/9/10 Friday: It was a beautiful sunny day for traveling to Homer. On the way, just outside of Soldotna, we stopped at a Large Animal Carving location and took in all the magnificent carvings (pictures attached to this email). We also stopped at a scenic overlook about 10 miles out of Homer, overlooking Homer, and across Cook Inlet at what's called The Ring of Fire, mountains and volcanos that ring the Pacific from Asia down through the West Coast of the US. After a brief travel meeting for our trip to Kenai, the day after tomorrow, then the whole group headed out to Captain Pattie's Fish House for a wonderful dinner.

7/10/10 Saturday: Today was a free day and we spent the morning at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Visitors Center, another place with many wonderful exhibits dealing with Alaska nature. We then went to the Pratt Museum where we explored the art, science and culture of Kachemak Bay. The afternoon was taken up doing 3-loads of laundry.

Anchorage to Seward, AK

This is the view from our RV, parked in Seward on the edge of Resurrection Bay. As always, there is still plenty of snow in the mountains across from us.

7/7/10, Wednesday: Left Anchorage for Seward in beautiful sunshine, but ran into rain on the way which stayed with us for the rest of the day. We made a stop at the Portage Glacier National Park on the way which had wonderful exhibits and a 20-minute video of glaciers and their effects on nature. There were two cruise ships docked in Seward while we were there, most likely for passengers who wanted to go fishing. There were many charter boats in the harbor.

On Thursday, a free day for us, we went to the Alaska Sealife Center, which is dedicated to the study and preservation of Alaska's marine wildlife and birds. It is the first cold-water research center in the Western Hemisphere. We took a one-hour back-of-the-house tour and then spent two more hours wandering through the many exhibits of Alaska's marine wildlife and birds. We saw harbor seals, Stellar sea lions, sea otters, puffins and other sea birds, as well as many other species of sea life around Alaska.

Valdez, AK to Anchorage, AK

Anchorage in July. I know that many of my family and friends back on the east coast have been suffering through a heat-wave. The weather here has been wonderful up here, upper 60’s during the day and down to 50 at night. Note the snow capped mountains around Anchorage.

Travel Day 1 of 2 from Valdez to Anchorage began backtracking out of Valdez along the Richardson Highway to Glennallen, where we turned off onto the Glen Highway to Mendeltna, AK. On the way we stopped in Copper Center and the Wrangell-St Elias National Park. In Mendeltna, we were served at the Lodge home-made pizza (which was to die for), along with a salad bar for dinner. We then enjoyed a sing-along and some games…I played Mexican Train.

Travel Day 2, Independence Day, took us to Anchorage. Took a brief stop at the Matanuska Glacier and stopped short of Anchorage in Eagle River to fuel up with gas and propane. The caravan host provided grilled chicken and garlic bread for dinner and all brought side-dishes and desserts to share. We retired to the rig after dinner where we watched the fireworks from DC, NY (Macy’s) and Boston.

Our first full day in Anchorage was spent being bussed around, starting out with a tour of downtown Anchorage. We were then dropped off at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art for two hours. The primary exhibit was the Alaska History Gallery covering the history of Alaska’s people from pre-contact times to present, including artifacts from the many distinct Alaska Native cultures (10 indigenous communities that occupied the land for 12,000 years). This displays from each of the 10 communities were divided into three parts; Community & Family, Ceremonial, and Sea, Land & River. Another level housed changing exhibitions, currently showing art, photography, sculptures, quilts, etc. from a recent competition. There was also an Art Gallery and an Imaginarium Discovery Gallery with many hands-on exhibits. After a wonderful lunch at ORSO’s, Caesar Salad and Chicken Parm on a bed of spinach and pasta plus yummy desserts, we were taken to Alaska Wild Berry Products, the centerpiece there being a 22 foot tall waterfall of chocolate. Beside the candy factory and gift shop, they also had live reindeer, tame enough that you could pet them and feel their furry antlers.

Today, our second day in Anchorage, was a free day. We headed downtown where we did some gift shopping. We found a wonderful quilt shop, The Quilt Tree, where I purchased a pattern and fabrics to make an Alaska quilt. In the afternoon we did some grocery shopping at a Fred Meyers store…a Wal-Mart Superstore on steroids. Finding an Applebee’s nearby the campground, our favorite restaurant (none in or near our current hometown), we did dinner there.

Valdez, AK

This is the view from the front window of our rig. The Port of Valdez is the most northern port in Alaska that never freezes over. The end of the 800-mile Alaska Pipeline is across the port from us.

Our first day started out with a Valdez City tour. It included Old Valdez, the original city that was decimated by the 9.2 scale earthquake on Good Friday, 1964. Next stop was the Oil Terminal, the end of the 800 mile Alaska Pipeline, where the oil is transferred to ships for transport to Seattle or Long Beach. We then toured the new Valdez, it stores, shops, museums, etc. After the tour, Marcia and I enjoyed some fabulous hamburgers and home-made curly fries at Old Town Burgers. We then did some grocery shopping and stopped in at the only quilt shop in town. Marcia made some potato salad and I grilled some chicken for dinner.

Our second day in Valdez saw us doing laundry in the morning. In the afternoon we went to the Visitor Center; saw a video on the building of the pipeline and another on the earthquake of ’64. We then headed over to the oil terminal area where we saw eagles, otters and sea lions. The day ended with an Ice Cream Social for the whole group.

The 3rd day was the Glacier and Wild Life Cruise. It was aboard the Stan Stevens, a large 2-level catamaran. We departed at 9:30 a.m. and cruised Prince William Sound going first to the Columbia Glacier. Due to icebergs and a large ice field from the glacier, we were only able to get about 12 miles from the face of the glacier. This glacier is around 100 feet thick and receding at approx. 50 feet per day. Most of the other glaciers, at least a dozen around the Sound, are still advancing. Next we went to the Meares Glacier were we were able to get within a quarter-mile of the face of the glacier. The ice is brown and dirty where it has pushed through the earth and a beautiful blue and white where it is just frozen ice. The snow up in the mountains around the Sound get 100-200 feet of snow each winter. It’s the weight of all this snow creates the glaciers. The edge is quite noisy as the ice is constantly cracking and when a piece lets go, it sounds like a cannon going off. Between the two glaciers, we were served and wonderful lunch, chicken on a bed of rice with a nice thick white gravy, mixed vegetables and some cookies for dessert. On the return trip, we were served clam chowder. Along the way, I saw the following birds; Black-Legged Kittiwakes, Pigeon Gillemots (puffin family), Bald Eagles, Cormorants, Tufted Puffins and Great Blue Herons. I also saw the following mammals; Stellar Sea Lions, Humpback Wales, Black Bears, Deer, Sea Otters, Dall’s Porpoises and Harbor Seals. We returned to Valdez around 7:30 p.m. It was a wonderful day.

Chicken, AK to Valdez, AK

5,095 miles into our journey, we're now in Valdez, AK. Old Valdez was decimated on March 27, 1964 (Good Friday) by a 9.2 earthquake lasting over 4 minutes. The quake triggered an underwater landslide creating tremendous waves that washed away the Valdez waterfront, drowning 30 people on the dock. 3-years later, the town was condemned when it was discovered it was built on unstable ground. The town was relocated to its present site, moving 52 of the original buildings there. In 1973, Congress approved the plans for the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline with it's Southern terminus at Valdez. The town's population soared. 25-years after the earthquake, again on Good Friday, the tanker Exxon Valdez struck Bligh reef, approx. 25 miles outside of Valdez causing the largest oil spill in North American history (until the current Gulf Oil disaster, of course).

We left Chicken, AK in the rain, but luckily, the muddy road turned to a paved road about 2 miles out. A short travel day, only covering 78 miles to Tok. It rained all day and all we did in Tok was grocery shopping.

Tok to Valdez was beautiful. The trip was mostly winding around mountains, beautiful and lush green for the first half on the Tok Cutoff Hwy. Then we turned onto the Richardson Hwy., and the mountains stood taller and still had snow on them. Just prior to Palmer Pass, elevation 2,678, 26-miles out of Valdez, we stopped at the Worthington Glacier. After the pass, you head down to Valdez, and I mean down...to sea level. One the way there are many waterfalls from the melting snows, Bridal Veil and Horseshoe being the most spectacular (pictures attached). We're here in Valdez for 3 days, one of which will be a Columbia Glacier Cruise where we will hopefully also see a lot of wildlife along with the glaciers.

Finally, Alaska

Finally, at about 4,920 miles into our journey, we've made it into Alaska. Today's trip was only a total of 110 miles from Dawson City, YT to Chicken, AK, but it took us 7-1/2 hours. There is no bridge across the Yukon River from Dawson City to the Top of the World Highway, only a small ferry. Our 15 coaches were in line for the ferry shortly after 7:00 a.m., but unfortunately, there was already a long line ahead of us. It was 4 hours before my coach made the trip across the river.

For the next hour or so, we climbed up to the Top of the World Highway. Even though it is a gravel road for 66 miles to the US Customs Station, Canada does a great job on their gravel roads. We were able to cruise along at 40-45 miles an hours fairly smoothly. Once past customs, into the US (Alaska), it was a different story. For the next 44 miles, it was a maximum of 20 miles per hour, all the while being shaken, rattled and rolled. A heavy downpour for a while didn't help either, turning the gravel road into mud. After driving for hours on the narrow, pot holed, gravel road, through the muck, with sheer drop-offs to the side at times, Marcia was ready to jump out of the rig and kiss the ground upon arrival at the campground in Chicken, AK.

Dawson City, YT

A bonus on this afternoon's trip to Dredge No. 4 was the sighting of a moose and her two calves in a pond adjacent to the dredge.

After lunch today, along with two other couples, I went up to Discovery Mine, the 1st gold find that started the Gold Rush, then on to Dredge No. 4 National Historic Site. Dredge No. 4 is the largest wooden hulled, bucket line dredge in North America. For 60 years these huge machines dug up the ground of the Klondike region to extract gold. Dredge No. 4 ceased operating in 1960 when it sunk into the silt and mud of Bonanza Creek. During its operation, it mined over $1B of gold. Park Canada undertook a project in the early 1990's to recover and restore the dredge. The tour of the dredge took a little over an hour and was followed by a movie showing it in operation. See pictures attached to the email forwarding this blog.

Whitehorse, YT to Dawson City, YT

The picture is Dawson City, YT taken from the Top of the Midnight Dome which overlooks Dawson City at the junction of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers. The Klondike River is coming in from the left and is the darker water. The Yukon River is the lighter water.

We turned off the Alaska Highway just 12 miles out of Whitehorse, onto the Klondike Highway. The trip from Whitehorse, YT to Dawson City, YT, was a bit too long for a one day trip, so we we stopped midway at Telly Crossing where we circled the wagons and dry camped for one night. We help a pot luck dinner so all can get rid of some of the food items you can't take into the US (Alaska).

In Dawson City Friday evening, the group had a wonderful dinner at the Aurora Inn. Marcia had salmon and I had cranberry stuffed chicken. After dinner, the whole group went to Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall for a show. After the show, many of us went up to the Top of the Midnight Dome where, especially around the Summer Soltice, you can watch the sun set, then rise again shortly thereafter.

On Saturday morning, Marcia and I went to the Visitor's Center, then spent the rest of the morning wandering around town, stopping in many of the shops. We purchased some fresh sourdough bread and made sourdough french toast for lunch. After lunch, many of us went to Discovery Mine, the 1st gold find that started the Gold Rush, then on to Dredge No.4, which I'll cover in my next blog.

Whitehorse, YT - SS Klondike

This afternoon, we were given a tour of the SS Klondike, the largest of the sternwheelers to operate on the Yukon River, now a National Historic Landmark. The river was frozen 6 to 7 months of every year, so when it thawed, the riverboats were busy. Smaller riverboats ofter handled extra freight by pushing a barge which was very difficult in parts of the river. The SS Klondike was large enough to handle freight needs without pushing a barge. She required 1 chord of wood per hour to run, so up and down the river every 30 or 40 miles, wood was cut and stacked on the side and the boats would have to pull over to the side and load on more fuel, usually around 12 chords. She is no longer in the water, and has been completely restored.

Whitehorse, YT - Yukon River

Today in Whitehorse, YT, we took a 2-hour scenic tour of Miles Canyon on the Yukon River while listening to an original narration of the history and points of interest along the way. Whitehorse got its name from the historic rapids on the Yukon River which resembled the flowing manes of charging white horses. The construction of the Whitehorse hydro-electric dam in 1958 tamed Miles Canyon and has replaced the once foaming White Horse Rapids with Schwatka Lake reservoir.

Before the Gold Rush, this area was a First Nations' campsite. In 1900, construction of the White Pass & Yukon Route railway from Skagway to a point past the rapids was completed and Whitehorse came into being as its railhead. For years, Whitehorse continued its role connecting rail service with riverboat traffic to Dawson. In 1942, thousands of American Army personnel arrived to build the Alaska Highway. I a record breaking 8 months and 23 days, 1534 miles of highway was laid down. The boom ceased by the end of the war, but Whitehorse had become an important center of communications and transportation, was incorporated as a city in 1950. In 1953 the capital of Yukon was transferred from Dawson City to Whitehorse.

Watson Lake, YT to Whitehorse, YT

Our fourth and final travel day to Whitehorse, Yukon, we continued on through the Canadian Rockies, crossing over the Continental Divide. We stopped at Rancheria Falls which was a nice break from driving. We later stopped at a local Resort for lunch and dined on salmon chowder, a sandwich and bumbleberry pie. After lunch we stopped in the George Johnston Museum, a delightful museum featuring beautiful Tlingit Indian ceremonial robes, trade good and artifacts.

We're now in Whitehorse, YT for three nights and two days. The total population of the Yukon is 32,209 and 23,301 of them live in Whitehorse.

Muncho Lake, BC to Watson Lake, YT

On day three of four travel days from Dawson Creek, BC, to Whitehorse, YT, we continued across the Canadian Rockies, crossing the only suspension bridge on the Alaska Hwy, partly constructed from salvage from “Galloping Gertie”, the old Takoma (WA) Narrows Bridge. Just a few miles past this bridge, we stopped the the Liard River Hot Springs. It was almost a half-mile walk from the parking area to the hot springs, but it was well worth it. You start at the lower hot spring, which is cooler, then work you way up into the upper hot spring toward the water fall where the hot water comes from. Few people ever make it to the falls as the water is too hot (in the picture, I’m at the falls between the lower and upper hot spring).

Later we stopped off at a pull-off overlooking a wide stretch of rapids on the Liard River where we enjoyed lunch. At our destination, we had our usual Travel Meeting to prepare us for our final travel day to Whitehorse, YT, tomorrow, then enjoyed a dinner at the restaurant dining room followed by a Welcome to the Yukon Presentation.

Dawson Creek, BC to Muncho Lake, BC

On day two of four travel days from Dawson Creek, BC, to Whitehorse, YT, we stopped for lunch at Toad River Lodge and dined on bison burgers. The hats? The restaurant has a unique cap collection, featuring over 7,300 caps stapled to the ceiling. Many years ago two travelers stopped in for lunch, and when one them went to the bathroom, the other stapled his friends hat to the ceiling….and thus started a tradition.

The “Toad River” got its name during the building of the Alaska Highway. There being no bridge over the river, all the supplies had to be towed across the river and the river was therefore called the “Towed River”. Later, when the river was officially named, “Towed” somehow became “Toad”.

This was our first day in the Canadian Rockies and I must say that are spectacular.

Muncho Lake, where we spent the night, is 7 miles long and 1 mile wide. It is know for its beautiful deep green and blue water. The colors are attributed to copper oxide leaching into the water. Marcia’s first comment upon arrival was, “just leave me here and pick me up on the way back”. It was beautiful (see picture attached to this email)

Dawson Creek, BC

This is the actual Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. The marker pictured in my last blog, a block away, has quite a history. Over the years it had been destroyed by a car, stolen by college kids, replaced by them with an outhouse, and had pink and blue handprints placed all over it by high school girls and boys.

I was not aware that the building of the Alaska Highway was a military undertaking. The threats of a Japanese invasion of Alaska during the Second World War initiated one of the greatest engineering feats of the century - the building of a 1,520 mile highway which would connect Alaska to Canada and the United States. Over 11,000 troops endured mosquitoes, black flies and extreme weather conditions to construct a route over muskeg, mud and river.

Day one of the 49 day caravan consisted of a group picture at the actual Mile 0 (pictured on this blog), a Welcome Presentation by the Dawson Creek Tourist Bureau (with more history of the highway), a Caravan Orientation and a dinner, followed by a Travel Meeting to get us ready for the next day's travel to Ft. Nelson, BC.

We Made It

We made it, 3,636 miles in total, to Dawson Creek, BC, Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. We arrived yesterday, two days early for the start of the caravan. We were the 8th coach to arrive and several more came in after us. Phase 2 gets underway tomorrow, the 49 day caravan through British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska.

A lot of miles, but I must say, the weather was wonderful for almost all of our travel days. On had the wipers on sever times on intermittent and only once full on (Castle Mountain). The weather here is Dawson Creek is beautiful, 70's in the day and 50's at night.

On to Canada

Day one of two travel days out of Yellowstone took us to Shelby, MT, just 32 miles short of the Canadian border. We had to leave at 7:00 a.m. as I had a noon appointment in Great Falls, MT, to get the 15,000 service on my rig. It was a beautiful drive out of the Yellowstone Valley, by between there and Great Falls, we had to cross Castle Mountain and, as you can see, we went up into snow. It was really beautiful, the pine trees all white with snow.

Spent the night in Shelby, MT, then on travel day 2 crossed into Canada where, except for two towns, Lethbridge and Calgary, it was just mile after mile, hour after hour of grain fields as far as you could see. We're now in Cochrane, Alberta, a northern suburb of Calgary, 3,103 miles into our journey to Dawson Creek, Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. We're staying here for a day to shop and rest, then have two more travel days ahead to Dawson Creek, AB.

Yellowstone, Day 2

Dedicated For The Benefit and Enjoyment of the People. What a magnificent National Park. Diverse, unusual and beautiful. We ran into 3 elk grazing just up a small hill from the roadway and I was able to get up close to one and get a great picture. In addition, was saw a black bear and more buffalo.

We only had a half day today to get in what we could. Had to do some shopping, laundry, banking and find somewhere to get my rig serviced as I'm about to turn over 15,000 miles on it.

I hope to get back to Yellowstone again some day. You really need weeks to take it all in.

As always, there will be more pictures attached to the email forwarding the link to this blog update.

Yellowstone & Buffalo Butts

What a day. Our first day in Yellowstone and we, of course, decided to take in Old Faithful. It is located about 1-1/2 hours into the park from the North Entrance. Well, it took us 4-1/2 hours to get there. As you can see from the picture, a small herd of buffalo decided to migrate down the roadway. Luckily, we were close enough to see what the hold up was, but I bet the traffic backed up for miles behind us. The buffalo really had nowhere to go, a mountainside on the left and a river on the right. For 3 hours, we went at buffalo speed, let off the brakes, drift a few feet and stop again. We did finally make Old Faithful and it blew just about 10 minutes after we arrived (it goes off approx. every 96 minutes).

We did see other things along the way there and back, which you will see in the pictures included with the email notifying you of this blog update. There will be a second blog update on our next day Yellowstone following.

Oh, Those Rocky Mountains

We made it, but what a travel day it was going through the Rocky Mountains. We're now in Gardiner, MT, just a mile outside the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, and yes, that's snow in the background. We're sitting at just above 5,000 feet here at the campground.

For those who have never driven an RV, it's really easy. Just sit back in your captains chair, put the rig in cruise control most of the time and aim it down the road. You've got a great view of the road ahead in that you are sitting up high. Driving up and down the mountains was anything but easy. This was 6 or 7 hours of high tension driving all the way. Climbing and descending 7 and 8 degree slopes with hairpin switchbacks, at times along the edge of a cliff, we climbed to 7,200 feet, back down to the valley, then back up to 8,300 feet and back down again, repeated several more times. The scenery was spectacular (I send a few photos via email). Awesome views along the way, and yes, there was snow at the higher elevations, but exhausting. We left Sheridan, WY at 8:30 a.m. and arrived at Gardiner, MT just in time for cocktails, which were much needed.

From Mt. Rushmore

Hello from Mt. Rushmore, SD. We are now 2004 miles into our journey to Alaska. We have now traveled through MN and SD, crossing the Missouri River midway through SD. So far, every day on the road has been beautiful. Any bad weather has occurred during the night or on a rest day.

Mt. Rushmore is quite spectacular. It took 400 men 14 years to construct it. The four men sculpted commemorate the founding, growth, preservation and development of the United States. George Washington signifies the struggle for independence and the birth of the republic; Thomas Jefferson the territorial expansion of our country; Abraham Lincoln the permanent union of the States and equality for all citizens; and Theodore Roosevelt the 20th century role of the United States in world affairs and the rights of the common man. One of the most interesting facts about the sculpture was that over 80 percent of it was accomplished with dynamite.

In addition to Mt. Rushmore, we spent the better part of a day on the road in the area. The first leg was the Needles Highway where we saw some beautiful granite spires, including The Needles Eye and Cathedral Towers. After a nice lunch at a lodge in Custer State Park, we took the Wildlife Loop through the park where we saw bison, deer and wild mules. We finished up the afternoon on Iron Mountain Road where we went through 3 single land tunnels carved through rock, one of them framing a view of Mt. Rushmore when looking through the tunnel.

Tomorrow we head off on a two-day trip to Yellowstone National Park where we will spend 3-days.

Getting There - Travel Update

We're 7 days, 1529 miles, into our journey to Alaska. We crossed the Mississippi River today and are currently in Jackson, MN, having left MA 7 days ago, traveling through NY, PA, OH, IN, IL, and WI on the way here. So far the weather has been good for all the days on the road.

Only one point of interest. While in Sylvan Beach, NY, we visited Fort Stanwix in Rome, NY. A must see for history buffs. It is in downtown Rome, NY, and is a National Monument operated by the Park Service. The history of the fort and the role it played in the Revolutionary War are presented amazingly well in the Visitor's Center and the fort itself has been completely restored. If you are ever near Rome, NY, this is a must see.

Jerry

Getting Ready for our Alaska Adventure

Boy, I'm sure glad the winter is behind us. It's good to be out RVing again. We've already been on two club outings, a Mystery Weekend joint club outing with the MA and RI clubs, and a week at Scusset Beach where we were joined by 16 other club rigs for the weekend.

We've received our Yukon/Alaska Caravan information from WIT (the caravan sponser), including The Milepost, a mile-by-mile highway log on north country travel. We'll be on the road for approx. 3-months, and for more restful nights, we had a sleep number mattress installed in our motorhome.

We are heading out tomorrow, May 27th to Dawson Creek, BC (Mile 0 of the Alaska Hwy.), going by way of Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone. When we arrive in Dawson Creek on June 17th, we'll be joined by 14 other Winnebagos for a 49 day caravan through BC, the Yukon and Alaska.

I'll be sending out updates on Our Little Journey from time to time. I'll be breaking down our travels into 3 phases as noted below, and I'll notify you every time I update the blog.

• Phase 1 - Our Journey to Alaska
• Phase 2 - Our Yukon/Alaska Caravan
• Phase 3 - Our Journey Back Home

Jerry