Where are we now?

After 5 days in Ft. Nelson and the road only being opened once at 8pm to 6am we all decided we’d leave at the next opening. Gary/Diana and Cindy and I left at 7am to sit in the line at the closure hoping it would open sometime during the day. No such luck. But at 7pm as we were prepared to spend the night parked on the road a RCMP officer came by and told us it would open at 8pm. We called Tom/Darlene and they left the campground to meet up with us. We drove the almost 4 hour drive through the mountains and where the fire had burned along the road, through thick smoke, and finally got to Strawberry Flats where Gary and I were able to get 2 sites. Unfortunately Tom couldn’t fit so he continued on to the Liard Hot Springs. We spent a few days here in 2019 and remembered how beautiful the lake was. Still beautiful but the sky was hazy from the fires and the smoke got worse until we couldn’t see across the lake. 

We spent a few hours at the Liard hot springs which were very nice. Tom’s son said it reminded him of the movie “Cocoon” with all the old people soaking! Then we picked up dinner at a lodge near our campsites. On the drive we saw a bear, moose, and porcupine.

Then because of the smoke we left the next morning for Watson Lake. Spent a couple days there and went searching for our sign from 2019. Cindy remembered that it was near some antique equipment used to build the Alcan hwy. We found it! And were able to hang our new sign near our old one. We also found a sign that Jen and Kirk hung in 2019 that was very near ours. We didn’t know them at that time of our trip but they were excited that we had found theirs and it was so near to ours. Maybe one day our kids or grandkids can find our sign.

Tom and Darlene also hung their sign.

Then on the road again to Carcross. Still looking for clear blue skies. Not today as it drizzled all day. Got to Carcross and woke up to fog! But it burned off by 8am. We visited the Tlingit First Nations Center and saw the same canoe that we watched being carved in 2019.

  

                                                

Cindy and I left the others since we had seen Carcross and Whitehorse before. We drove a couple hours and found a small campground on a lake that is actually a very wide area of the Yukon river. 

We’ll spend the night here then find another campground on the way to Dawson City where we’ll meet up with Tom and Darlene and Gary and Diana. Then we’ll start our drive up to the Arctic Ocean!

Hotel California

About time for an update. We made it into Canada at the Roosville border crossing. No problems, answered the standard questions and got through. Then drove up and across the Rockies to a nice campground in Black Diamond, Alberta. Spent a couple days there then up to Glen’s farm west of Edmonton to meet up with Tom and Darlene. Gary and Diana went to Banff to see that area which we saw a few years ago.

Had a very nice time visiting with Glen and some of his friends when he bbq’d for us.  From Glen’s we drove to Valleyview, AB. 

Stop! Do not continue! Danger Will Robinson! 

After a very tiring drive through the country roads with lots of wind I was tired. And there is a fire that has closed our road a few hundred miles from us. So we sat at a nice campground for a couple of nights to see when the road will open.  Gary and Diana are a couple hours ahead of us and will sit tight until we decide to move and meet up again. So Cindy caught up with laundry and it’ll be a day resting.

Something interesting, we have a Starlink mini and have been setting it outside on a tripod. Until yesterday it’s been pointing north. Now it’s pointing south. Interesting.

On Wednesday we arrived at “MILE 0” which marks the beginning of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, British Columbia.  Gary and Diana were waiting for us and finally we were all together to make our way on to Alaska.  Of course the ladies had to take their picture to mark their arrival to the Alaska Highway.

Thursday brought another windy day which meant another challenging driving day ending in Pink Mountain, BC.  Our neighbors at this new campground were with us a couple of days before.  They are from Wisconsin and driving to Anchorage, so we will be traveling together for a while.  Our party of three is now a party of four RV’s.

We next arrive in Fort Nelson for the night.  As it turns out, the wildfire to our north has caused another road closure.  Guess it is time again to pause our forward motion.  Hey we are not on a set schedule and are free to meander at will.  Just take advantage of a few days of rest while the firefighters do their job.  They are keeping us safe.  Other than the high winds, we have been blessed with good weather and welcoming Canadians.  Life is Good!

Last thing I remember 
I was running for the door 
I had to find the passage back 
To the place I was before 
"Relax," said the night man 
"We are programmed to receive 
You can check out any time you like 
But you can never leave"

On the road again

When we left our plans were to get into Canada before the Memorial Day rush. Somehow I thought it was next week and we could take our time to avoid all of the traffic. Oooppps! Brain fart. No one in our small group told me or disagreed with me that I was wrong. So it’s all their fault right? Hahahaha.

Anyway the Harvest Host we planned to spend 1 night has 50 amp if needed and water and dump available. They graciously are letting us stay here until tomorrow for $15/night. That’s CHEAP. Now we can avoid the traffic and crowds at a nice quiet farm with more alpacas, chickens, ducks, and sweet Zoey, an older Great Dane.

Tomorrow we’ll drive up the Salmon river to a parking lot at Lost Trail Ski Trail for a night right at the Idaho/Montana border. Then on to Kalispell, MT for Tuesday night. That’ll put us an hour to the Canadian border for an early crossing. Haven’t planned anything past that yet.

One of the neatest things in Arco, ID is since about 1930 the senior class climbs up a small mountain and paints their class year in white paint: 

Here’s our stop for tonight, cloudy, thunder and light rain. Should sleep good tonight:  

We left Wednesday morning, spent 2 nights at a Harvest Host farm in Tremonton, UT waiting on Gary and Diana to catch up. Cleaned up the coach a bit while waiting. Then drove up to Howe, ID for another Harvest Host. On the way we visited EBR-1, Experimental Breeder Reactor #1. Cindy and I saw it in 2013 but it was nice to see it again. It was the first nuclear reactor to generate electricity and powered Arco, ID as the first town to be powered by a nuclear reactor. Lots of theory and development went on here. Pretty neat to see. Then another 30 miles to the HH farm. We decided to spend our free night and 2 more nights at $15/night here. Tomorrow we’ll drive around sightseeing in Gary’s jeep.

Here’s our sunset at 9:06pm. Getting a bit further north so sunset is later.

Almost ready to leave

Cindy and I have been pretty busy getting the motorhome ready for departure on Tuesday. Got to the cabin a couple weeks ago, brought the motorhome up. When you’re planning a trip of 3-4 months it takes time to figure out everything you need to pack and where to pack it. But it’s going well. After everything is packed we’ll still have a good bit of room. Having dinner tonight with good friends Jennifer and Kirk. And their daughter Christina.

Got a snag in our plans. We’re going to Riverton, UT for a doctor appt. on Wednesday then had planned to meet Gary and Diana in Perry, UT then take our time driving to Mulhurst, Alberta to meet up with Tom and Darlene. But Gary just called and has transmission problems. So he’ll get that fixed but might be delayed a few days. So we’ll meet up with Tom & Darlene in Helena, MT. Then Gary & Diana will catch up to us at Mulhurst.

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Once again

 We've been enjoying our Colorado cabin for the past few years. There is a great community at Arrowhead, the summer weather is absolutely enjoyable. Most days are in the 70's with an occasional day bumping the low 80's but only for an hour or two then down into the 50's overnight. Open window weather fo sho. Cindy and I are both members of our volunteer fire department. We enjoy being able to serve our community and are called out, mostly for medical emergencies, whenever someone has an issue up here. Remember we're at 9400' and the top of our mountain is 11,500' so the altitude can be an issue especially for weekenders who come up to play hard. 

But in a few weeks we'll head back up north, way up north to Tuktoyaktuk, NWT Canada. Tuk is on the Arctic Ocean where I plan to jump into the frigid waters. Will I? Won't know until we get there. Then into Alaska where we'll spend a few weeks at Jennifer's brother's 80 acre place parked at his pond. Jennifer is our Fire Chief and good friend.

Last fall while talking with Gary at his orchard (he's a retired fruit farmer near Delta) he mentioned that his wife Diana would love to travel to Alaska one summer. I said that Cindy wanted to return. So once we mentioned it to both ladies the planning started. Gary has a really nice truck camper with 2 slides and we have a cabin. So off we went looking for a motorhome. After looking at everything locally I found a 30' Monaco single slide motorhome in Cheyenne, WY. We drove up, checked it out, and bought it. It drove great on the way back to our cabin. Then I started some upgrades. It is in great condition inside and out, and mechanically. But it had no inverter and only 2 golf cart batteries. From our trip in 2019 in our 36' Foretravel I had a good idea of what was required to be comfortable electrically. So after a few weeks I had added an inverter, 400 watts of solar, 280 amp-hour LiFePO4 battery, DC-DC charger, transfer switch, and a few other essentials. Now we'll have use of the microwave and coffee maker while dry camping. We plan to do mostly dry camping. It's waiting for our return to Arrowhead in a few weeks. Then I spent some time helping Gary upgrade his camper, Kirk (Jennifer's hubby) helped also. Gary had 1 80 watt solar panel so we replaced that one with 4 100 watt panels, added an inverter, and a transfer switch. He already had 200 amp-hours of LiFePO4 batteries so should be good on that. Now he'll have coffee in the morning and popcorn whenever he likes. Then I got a call from Tom wanting to know if he and Darlene could come along with us. Sure! We've known Tom and Darlene for 14 years. He decided to buy a 40' Super C and is adding solar and LiFePO4 batteries. All 3 of us will be ready to dry camp. So when we went back to our cabin a couple months ago we flew to Phoenix where Tom and Darlene picked us up. I spent a couple days helping him with his upgrades. Then Gary and Diana drove down to spend a couple days and meet Tom and Darlene. Then we drove back to Arrowhead with them.

Now we're enjoying our condo in Baton Rouge and spending time with our grandkids. Since my last update we have 2 new grandkids thanks to Mike and Katie. Luke will be 3 the end of April and Jane is 7 months old. Eva is 11 and Ella will be 17 in a couple months. And she will be a junior at EDWhite. I can't be getting that old. Oh yeah, I am 71 now. Ouch, but still going strong, kinda strong, well still going at least. 

That's it for now.