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