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.