The completed trip

The completed trip
49 states, 10 provinces and a territory

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Visits and shopping

Yesterday and today seemed to be very busy. Kim and I had a mani-pedi (yes, Alison, really, me), James went to two Games Workshops. At the one in West Edmonton Mall he helped one of the players in a screaming contest.  We will get back to the store this weekend and perhaps James will be able to play in a game (Warhammer 40k). 

John drove us by the address that my grandmother lived at in the late 1930s. It looks like it is currently housing for women which may have been what is was back then. There is a hospital nearby where she may have been working or training, and it is near where the army barracks was located (maybe where she met my grandfather). 

Visited lots with John and Kim.  And Nikki, Joe and Meghan should be here this evening for more visits.  

Friday, July 29, 2011

Where is that light coming from and the Great White Hunter Dog


Well it has been a few days since I posted so you know that I was told I had to post.


Here is a picture of the participants in Christmas in July (taken with my camera but not by me).

We moved to Terrace and then onto Vanderhoof and Ft St James. We toured the old fort and the pictures below are James and Kathie practicing their hunting skills using native weapons of the 1800's (except the bow and arrow were fiberglas).


As you can see in the last picture of Stuart Lake from the fort the rain is still following us.

From Vanderhoof we drove to Jasper. The morning in Jasper the sun was shining and the inside of the trailer was quite bright thus part of the title of the post.

That morning I was getting ready to walk the dogs and was putting on my boots sitting in the doorway of the trailer. Kody my big dog came to see what I was doing. He was looking over my shoulder when a tree squirrel ran through our campsite. I did not see it, but Kody did, all I felt was a brush of something on my right shoulder, Kody had jumped over me and he was off chasing the squirrel until he treed it and then he was trying to figure out a way to climb the tree. He was strutting around like he had just treed a bear (thus the Great White Hunter Dog).

We have moved onto Edmonton to visit family and are looking to get some work done on the trailer. One tire is wearing unevenly (axle alignment?) and another has a crack in it so we might be here a little longer than we thought - it is a long weekend here.




Thursday, July 28, 2011

Happy birthday one day removed

Ok I will start with describing last nights and this weeks site. The site we were in last night was a roomy pull through at, whistlers campground, a national park (jasper) campground. Unlike provincial parks this national park had full hookups, like provincial parks it was well forested, had a wonderful view of the mountains and a road that Bond would think was a good place for bartenders with his martini. The sit we are staying at this week has much nicer roads and is called glowing embers. It is really nice if a little packed with grassy sites and all the comforts of the mall down at the office and a dog walk area out back with the gate really close to our site which is nice.

Happy birthday to me, as some of you may know my parents always somehow manage to plan a long haul the day of my birthday and have my version of a celebration the next day. Instead of giving me a gift they give me straight cash and show me to the nearest bookstore and leave me there for a couple of hours. I know that most of my friends would call this torture but all would say it is the perfect gift for me. Some would say that it would be heaven for me, but others would say my heaven is Britan. If you don't get why Britan is my heaven you have to think of my taste in girls, you see I am much more attracted to the intellectual qualities of any woman than I am to her body but I am very much attracted to a girls voice, among singers I like altos but if you go for just the accent I am most attracted to the British, I don't know what it is but something about that accent just turns me on, with girls, not with guys. Sorry I started to ramble, I do that a lot even when talking.

Edmonton

We actually got some sunshine today. Now we have lightening scross the sky.

Once we arrived in Edmonton we went to Chapters so that James could get some birthday books. Then spent a nice evening visiting with John and Kim.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Happy Birthday to James

James is 18 today.  Legal age in Alberta, and we arrived in Alberta today.  The highway from Prince George to Jasper hasn't changed - there is still nothing in between the two and it is a fairly easy drive.

There is no cell coverage on the majority of the highway.  It is amazing that as you cross the border into Alberta, the phone pings and you have coverage - how do they do that?  I wonder how long they had to plan to decide where the cell towers needed to be to exclude BC.

Another interesting thing today was the gas prices.  In past years we have noted that Jasper is expensive for gas.  This year, it is 10 cents cheaper than in BC.  Carbon tax and HST definitely take their toll.

We took James to Earl's for a birthday dinner.  Unfortunately the seafood pasta had butter and he had a reaction.  Home to the trailer to have allergy medicine and lactaid (and some plain pasta cooked by mom).

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Fort St James

We visited Fort St James today.  It is a national historic site.  For those of you who have visited Barkerville, it is similar but on a smaller scale.  However, that smaller scale works out quite well as you get an individual tour in each of the buildings that you go into.

In addition, we were able to practice old hunting skills using the bow and arrow and the atlatls (which is a spear thrower, sort of).

We also had lunch at their cafe which was excellent.  It is staffed by students at the College of New Caledonia and they did a very good job.

I got an A

The provincial exam marks are back and I got an A on my physics provincial. Not only that I got a high enough A to get me an A on the overall course.

Those who want a site description go to my first post of July "Yeah we started" because we are in the same site.

Monday, July 25, 2011

So I am spoiled

Those who know me know that I love bread. I practical live off of sandwiches. So after hearing this my auntie Sheila baked me some delicious buns, that we got to keep, while I was staying at auntie Sylvia's. I also like seafood, and I was shelling or shucking or cracking or whatever you call it when you take the shell off a crab all morning at Christmas in July, which we forgot to have for dinner. Noticing this my aunt Faye packaged some and sent it home with us. And while we were staying at auntie Judy's we had fruit salad with dinner, which we also got to keep. If you think I'm spoiled with all these people trying to make and buy me things I can eat with all my allergies read the title.

Bye to family for a couple of days

Spent last evening visiting with Aunt Judy. Lots of discussion about cameras and printers. Took all the dogs out for a walk. No rain but still not a lot of sun. As we passed the Seven Sisters today they were still covered in clouds. Paul says he has yet to see them uncovered. So he took a picture of the clouds. I don't think he will be able to photoshop them out though :-)

Just outside of Vanderhoof, spotted a beehive burner up and running. Darn. So far, no bad allergic reaction from James so hopefully the smoke is blowing the other way. Having a quiet evening around the campsite.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Family Galore

Ok so all the people who read this blog know that I have a huge family, yes? Well yesterday just proved it cause there were at least 50 people at Christmas in July and that was just the people who could make it out. Out of my moms six brothers only one shows up. Though I did meet some cool people, like Patrick who agrees with me that when you stop keeping track of the family relations and just call everyone cousins uncles and aunts it works out better. Or my cousin Jamie, who is the reason I don't let people cal me by that name, for one it would be confusing and for two she is a girl. Another is my uncle Earl, who is a meganerd like me, but he goes for online games, he was quite impressed that I had autism yet was so social, I thanked and told him the truth, that I had to train myself to be social. Uncle (of some sort) Earl was also impressed at my ability to look him in the eye, that is easy for me now even if I don't like to do it, I practiced by having staring contests with mirrors for years. One more new relative is my cousin Tyara, who probably doesn't like me right now. During the adult draw I got #47 the last number so I got the pick of the litter, up to the point that Tyara opened her present I was looking at/for stuff that mom wanted because there was nothing that I liked, once Tyara opened her present which is a beautiful blanket that I am lying under as I right this post, I kind of said sorry mom I want that blanket

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Christmas in July

My family gets together for Christmas in July out at the lake.  The tree was decorated.





And even the inside of the outhouse had a Christmas theme.




The adult gift draw was cutthroat as usual with Dee walking away with the metalwork dog.  I managed to hang on to the solar lights though.

It was great fun and, once the rain stopped, a nice day at the lake.

The old home town

For those who keep track of this blog and those I met in Smithers I apologize for the late posting but I've been busy since then. The first day afterwards I spent 4 or 5 hours working on my iPad on the chemistry assignment that I had to do. The second day I was jamming (as in making jam) with my auntie Sylvia and waiting for my chem teacher to call so I could figure out how to write the equations so that I could get full marks, which is different than how my chem 11 teacher taught me. The third day my chem 12 teacher actually called and I spent most of the morning talking to him, mainly about chemistry but some about books that I should read, I was quite happy to meet another bookworm. And for all you people out there who think bookworm is another word for English major it isn't, just look at this post my grammar is appalling.

So days ago I went to Smithers and met a bunch of people who I had never seen before. They all knew who I was right off the bat because of my parents, and the fact that I met them when I was about 3 but who is going to remember random adults from back then. A few of the people were from the accounting company VanderGaag and Bakker, which if we (my family) had stayed in Smithers may have been VanderGaag, Bakker and Ross. Just before we met my mom's old colleges we saw one of my old friend's mother, and we agreed to see them by the end of the day, which was fine by me, I wanted to see them anyway. After that we went off to see my old daycare, and I got to see where I was left as a child while my parents went off to work. According to aunty Lisa, the person who runs the daycare, I followed Skeena around in daycare, according to my mom I followed Emily around in grade 1, so I guess I had a thing for redheads when I was that young.

Now onto my friends from way back when, Skeena and Sage, and their parents and little sister that I never knew (she was born just after I moved away). We (as in me, my parents, the three sisters and their parents) had a pretty long conversation about whatever came, until the younger generation got bored and left to the other room to look at the chinchillas. I had a good time there even if there was less reminiscing and more talk of music than I thought there would be.

Now because it is my job, the campsite is like all provincial parks nice and forested with a paved road but no hookups, with one major difference, nice showers.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Trailer Update - Solar Panel / Inverter

Before we started out on our trip this year we had a 130 Watt solar panel and a pure sinewave inverter installed. The inverter was wired so we can use all of the outlets in the trailer. This was all installed by Pacific Van and Camper in Nanaimo.

We have been very happy with both the solar panel and the inverter. We are able to work as if were were hooked up to power and the batteries charge up during the day. The solar panel seemed to work when we were on the ferry from Skagway to Prince Rupert (from lights on the car deck) as the batteries had more of a charge when we went down to let the dogs out at the various ports.

We can charge the computers and iPads as we drive along by turning on the inverter and plugging in the computers.

We do not use the microwave or air conditioner unless we have shore power and the fridge and water heater are on gas but we are using everything else.


Pictures

After being on the road for 2 weeks we parked the trailer at Kathie's cousins place in Kitwanga for a couple of days. Her husband Barry offered to take me out into the swamps in his Argo (and 8 wheeled all terrain vehicle that floats) to take pictures of the animals in the swamp, bear, moose and beaver. It was a very wet day and we banged through the bush trails and had a great time but we didn't see any large animals. They were probably hiding from the rain.

We did see hawks and eagles.


And we stopped on a ridge above a swamp and the humming birds were flying all around us. Unfortunately as soon as I moved the camera to take a picture they flew away. I got lucky with the one below he did not see me move the camera.


In the picture below you can see the humming bird feeding but you can also see the rain falling.





The day after we drove around and took pictures of the more easily accessible areas. We did see some bear cubs that day.

Here is a picture of the church and bell tower in the Kitwanga Village.



I had a great time and look forward to going back into the swamp and getting that picture of a moose.




Lakelse Lake

Well, after spending the morning visiting with more relatives and catching up a bit, we have moved to Lakelse Lake (between Terrace and Kitimat).  We are staying in the provincial campsite with a huge site and lots of trees.

For those wondering about Abby (our 13 year old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever) she seems to be doing better now than she was at the start of the trip.  She was whining as we were packing up today - and I never thought I'd be happy to hear her whine!  She is eating better and talking short walks.  Kody (our 6 year old Bernese Mountain Dog) is doing great.  He is going for long walks with us and has not been bothered by the limp he sometimes gets.  He wanted to go chase the squirrels at the site today.  It's a good thing he thinks he can't get through the screen door, or the door would be no more.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Sylvia's birthday yesterday

Busy day yesterday.  Even though it was Sylvia's birthday, I tied up her phone for a good section of the day.  Contacting as many of my students as I could and saying hello.

Paul and Barry went out on the Argo and got very wet and a couple of pictures.  They are out for more pictures today.  Sylvia is going to teach James how to make jam.  I'll sit back and watch - and try to stay out of the way.

Kathie

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

A day for visiting

It was a day to visit lots of friends in Smithers.  I spent a couple of minutes with my Uncle Joe at Bulkley Lodge.  Then we went to VanderGaag and Bakker and saw Willy, Ted and Val.  Over to visit Don McM. for a while and then Lisa and Stan.  Then finally to visit with all the S's (Shelley, Skeena, Saige and Silkien) and Ian.

Whew, it was a busy day.  Now we are back in Kitwanga and ready to go to sleep.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Kitwanga for a couple of days

For the next couple of days, we are in Kitwanga.  Spending the time visiting with family.

Sylvia said Carl was in trouble because I didn't post when I was visiting with him - but then, visiting with her I also didn't get around to posting.

Driving into Smithers today and hoping to touch base with some old friends.

Monday, July 18, 2011

We have achieved the speed of the Internet

Hey all you frequent readers of Ross gu-astar and random people who have just stumbled upon it. So we have come to my uncle Carl's place in great weather (so I like pouring rain, what of it) yesterday and after 5 minutes my mom says James your uncle Carl is rubbing off on you all ready, probably because we were cracking similar jokes at her expense, and uncle Carl states I look like my uncle Mandell. Other than that the best part of the day was when dad hooked up the wireless modem to uncle Carl's and aunty Darcy's Ethernet and I got Internet like that (I would snap but you can't here it in the text). Me and mom could actually work, on a proper Internet speed, and finish before wishing to gut whoever invented slow Internet. So we're tech heads with super fast Internet at home, I admit I am a nerd on a regular basis.

Prince Rupert & Weather

I have posted the picture below to show that it does not always rain in Prince Rupert. The weather this trip has been confused. We started out in southern BC in rain and we had rain on most days until we got to the Yukon. One night is Dease Lake we had an inch of rain.

When we got to Whitehorse, Yukon the weather broke and we had sunny warm days that lasted for a long time because the sun did not go down and the sun was quite warm even at 9 or 10 in the evening. We drove to Skagway, Alaska and it was so hot we turned the air conditioner on.

It was cloudy with sunny breaks (and some mist) on the ferry from Skagway to Prince Rupert. It was foggy in the Prince Rupert harbour but sunny for the 2 days we were around there and now we are in Terrace and it is raining again.

I see that BC Highway 20 is closed again because of the rains. We hope all of our friends in the Bella Coola valley are OK.






Terrace to Kitwanga

Arrived in Terrace and had a great visit with Carl and Darcy last night.  Driving from Prince Rupert to Terrace we saw lots of fisherman.  Just coming across the bridge at Ferry Island in Terrace we counted more than 15 people standing out in the water fishing.

Carl has an old tape of my dad and mom reciting poems.  Dad, his two favourite Robert Service; and mom, some that she had written.  It was very special to hear their voices.  Carl is copying it to a CD and will give all the siblings a copy.

Kathie

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Back in Canada

The ferry arrived in Prince Rupert at 6:30 local time - that's 5:30 am Alaska time.  Being very tired, we found a parking spot next to a park, walked the dogs and then went to sleep for a while.

We were pleased to find that the ice in the fridge basket was still mostly there.  As we couldn't run the fridge on the ferry (no propane allowed) we put a pack of ice in the bottom drawer and left it shut tight to keep everything cold.  It worked out very well.  The gas for the generator had to be stored in the ferry paint cupboard.  Paul donated to their annual fuel drive - we forgot to pick it up before leaving the ferry.

After catching up on some work, we spent a little time in the Museum of the Northwest.  It is a beautiful museum and nicely laid out with lots of light and a very pretty view of the water.  They have many first nations artifacts and information.  One of the pieces was a songbook from Gitwangak and the handwriting looks familiar - maybe I have it somewhere else in my many pieces of history.  The only disappointment was that history appears to end when white settlors appeared.  There are three very small displays tucked in the back of one room for the more recent history.  The medical tools used by my great-great grandfather are no longer on display.  I asked about them and they said that  they have much in storage as their is not enough room to display all items.

We are staying at Kinnikinnick Campground.  It appears to be a fisherman's campground.  Nuff said.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Pictures - no driving



It was not a great day for taking pictures. I got up too late and missed the Humpback whales. It was cloudy so the mountains weren't there so I worked on the old buildings along the shoreline and a few of the birds that came close enough.

This is a pigeon guillemot landing. It is the last of a sequence of the landing from the first foot hitting the water to the final splashdown.
















We land in Prince Rupert in a few hours and will spend the day there.

Ketchikan Alaska

The ferry is in Ketchikan tonight.  Ten o'clock Alaska time and it is still light out.  But it does actually get dark here (not like Whitehorse).

The ferry goes through Wrangell Narrows  which is 20 miles of narrow tidal waterway. In some areas Wrangell Narrows is barely wide enough to accommodate the Alaska State ferries. The "Narrows" has tides that range from a high of 19 feet to a low of -4 feet.  The MV Matanuska, our ferry, when it's at capacity is 16 plus feet deep in the water.  It must be quite a challenge for the crew!







Thursday, July 14, 2011

Driving to Juneau?


Well this is different. Someone else is driving. We got on the ferry from Skagway to Prince Rupert this morning. Instead of 3-4 days of driving we are spending 40+ hours on the ferry travelling down the Alaska coast. It gives us a different view of things. Kind of like an Alaskan cruise but the tour busses don't meet us at the docks and the word is the taxis charge a chunk of change to go into town.

We are in Juneau right now and we are here for 5 hours so we are sitting in the trailer working of different things keeping the dogs company as they are not allowed upstairs and we are not allowed downstairs when the boat is in motion.

The skies are cloudy so the pictures are not as spectacular as they could be. The first call for a sighting of whales came during dinner. Because there had not been any calls I had left the camera in the stateroom so I missed the Killer whale. The next call came a few minutes later and I got the camera and put my "new" long lens on (400mm). I got this picture of the Humpback whales feeding.

Juneau AK

Well, the ferry stops at Juneau . . .  except it is 12 miles outside of town.  The same thing happened with Haines (only four miles out of town there).  We could go in by taxi, but we decided to keep the dogs company instead.  On the ferry, the dogs are downstairs in the trailer and we can visit them and take them out at each port of call.  So it works out pretty well as they are comfortable in the trailer and the ferry makes a number of stops.

Saw some great scenery and glaciers today.  Also saw some pods of whales.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Driving and pictures














It has been strange staying in Whitehorse, the sun never goes down. I was walking the dogs the other night at 11:45 and there was quite a nice "sunset" but I don't think it actually got dark.

We moved on from Whitehorse to Skagway today. The drive was easy, short and a little bumpy. The worst part was trying to get the truck and trailer off the road so I could get pictures. We are 50 feet long and over 8 feet wide so I can't just pull over on the shoulder of the road.

The hill down into Skagway drops about 3500 feet in abut 20 kilometres so the exhaust brake paid for itself again today.

The scenery is fantastic and the weather was good so the mountains and lakes were clear.

The weather since we got to Whitehorse has been really nice and we had the air conditioner on for the first time since we left. Let's hope we have left the rain behind for a while. The wind has picked up this evening and it is blowing hard. Everything is tied down so we should not have any problems.

Skagway Alaska

This morning our RV neighbour, Joan Ambrose, gave me a lovely Sea-bean book mark that she made from Sea-beans found in the Florida Keys.  You can read more about these drift seeds at www.seabean.com.

The drive from Whitehorse to Skagway is absolutely breathtaking.  You are driving along beside the peaks of mountains (along the tree and snow line) and looking at the lakes that are right beside the road.  We stopped a couple of times for Paul to take some pictures.  Then we drive down from about 3,400 ft to sea level in a very short distance.  No problem for Paul and the exhaust brake though.

Skagway is very picturesque.  We walked around and viewed the sites (and spent too much money).

Tomorrow we are taking the ferry from Skagway to Prince Rupert.  We leave at noon and arrive in P.R. on the 16th in the early morning.  Cheaper than an Alaskan cruise and better than driving the Dease Lake highway again.  I'm looking forward to seeing the sights.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Sites and sights

First my job, the site is very nice if a little cramped. The entire camp is surrounded by forest and the wifi is good even farther away from the buildings the supply them. In three days we have had two different neighbours, and it was full of campers the last two nights so this is a busy place.

From the frantic follies were extremely amusing I especially liked the acted out poetry recitation. The walking tour was nice, I learned a lot and I liked it, especially the parts about soapy smith who we now have a book on.

Frantic Follies and Walking Tour

Last night we went to the Frantic Follies.  It was a great show with lots of entertainment.  Some very 'punny' jokes.  We all enjoyed ourselves very much.

This morning we went on a walking tour of Whitehorse and learned some of the fascinating history.  Hearing about Soapy Smith and all his exploits was great fun. I particularly liked the fake telegraph office.

We had a very nice lunch with Alvin, Peggy and Judy at the Klondike Rib and Salmon Barbecue.  The building was built for Klondike Airways (which never actually successfully flew planes but did deliver mail with snow machines).  We go our separate ways tomorrow as A, P & J are heading north to Dawson City and we are heading to Skagway.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Just relaxing

Last night we had a great visit with Doug and Nina (9-ha) from Surrey (and spent a couple of minutes working on their Mac).

This morning we slept in and then went for a walk.  This afternoon James went to the local Games Workshop and Paul and I spent some time at the MacBride museum.  Got a picture in front of Sam McGee's cabin. This evening we are going to watch the Follies.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Driving

Well we left home a week ago and the truck has another 3000K on it and the odometer went over 200,000 K today as we drove along the Alaska Highway. We got the truck new 14 years ago this month.

The drive here has been long and slow. Highway 37 had a lot of construction and long stretches where it is very bumpy. Even in the construction zones where they were chip sealing the road had frost heaves in it. We were averaging about 55 kph for large stretches of the drive. On a short drive that is not too bad but this was for a couple of hundred kilometres. Now we are on the Alaska Highway we are moving faster.

The scenery on Highway 37 and the Alaska Highway is great, mountains, forests, rivers and lakes for miles and miles. There was so much of it, it became monotonous, partly because we had to go so slowly because of the road conditions. The two side trips - from Stewart to the Salmon Glacier and from Dease Lake to Telegraph Creek - were worthwhile and I am going to try to get into Telegraph Creek in the autumn when the leaves have turned.

I have the day off tomorrow as we are not going anywhere so maybe I'll go out and take some pictures.

A Few Pictures


After driving all day I did not have the patience to do any posting and now Kathie has
run out of patience and told me I have to post a few pictures, so here they are -

The old homestead south of Lac La Hache. I took these pictures the morning before we left for Vanderhoof.

After more driving we were in Stewart and we drove up to the Salmon Glacier. I have a number of pictures that I will put together in a panorama.













We then moved up to Dease Lake and went into Telegraph Creek.

Whitehorse

We have arrived in Whitehorse.

I've told Paul he needs to post some pictures.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

In the Yukon

Today we moved on to the Yukon.  After a short stop at Jade City, we are spending the night at Racheria Lodge at Mile 710 on the Alaska Highway.

Quite a bit of rain today.  The road was pretty bad until we hit the Yukon border, but is much better now.

The best purchase Paul made this year has got to be the Super USB Wifi Antenna from C Crane Company Inc. in Fortuna, California.  When we stopped I asked about wifi.  She said "only in the restaurant".  We set up the site and I plugged in the wifi antenna  - it picks up the restaurant wifi plus one more.  Last place, it picked up six wifi signals and the only one locked was the RV resort.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Abandon Your Stomachs Ye Who Enter Here

Telegraph creek was beautiful, you could look into ravines that lasted for miles beyond. Looking at the trees from a distance they were just a mat of green on mountains, making the mountains look almost like a grass covered hill. Even the cliff faces were beautiful with multicoloured stripes along both the length and the height. From the lookouts the rivers that make up telegraph creek look like mirrors of the sky above. And the drive is nice to, when wet, cause otherwise your moving so fast upon so many twists and turns that your stomach is churned like butter. As the title states, "abandon your stomachs ye who enter here."

Now onto my description of the campsite, kind of nice with a rude reception guy (he called me a girl) and campers (they walk through our site as if it is empty). Physically it has large sites, we have a pond in ours, and is right next to the highway, there is a good view even when cloudy and it is surrounded by trees. As well as being right next to a highway it is also right next to a super a store.

Got a little mud on the tires

Actually is was closer to a lot of mud all over the truck.  Drove out on a day trip to Telegraph Creek.

WOW!!

It is 115 km of dirt road.  The trip out took us four hour as the road was wet and muddy from the rains last night.  The truck was in 4x4 but still did some sliding at certain points.  More than a few 20% grades (yes, I said 20 - that is not a typo) and some hairpin turns make the drive very interesting.

This is the grand canyon of the north and the views of the valley are spectacular.  Deep ravines and you can see for miles.  I highly recommend stopping at the rest area for lunch, or just to look at the views.  Once we arrived in Telegraph Creek, we had pie and coffee at the RiverSong before heading back to Dease Lake.  By the time we came back out, we did the route in half the time because the roads had dried.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Dease Lake

Drove from Stewart to Dease Lake today.  It is a long drive.  Gorgeous, I'm sure, if we'd been able to see the mountains through the clouds.

It was very scenic even with the cloud cover.  Paul is cooking chicken on the BBQ in the rain.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Salmon Glacier

We drove up to the summit of the Salmon Glacier today.  The road between Stewart and the top is gravel and rough in spots - particularly where it is maintained by Alaska rather than BC.  Along the way we saw a marmot but no bears.  We stopped at Fish Creek but the Chum are not running yet, so no bears there either.

The glacier is breathtakingly beautiful.  And we heard it as well.  That cracking and groaning echoing all over is an awesome sound.

The person selling postcards at the rest area at the summit of the Glacier lives in New Brunswick in the winter and summers at the Glacier.  He lives at the the rest area in a little wee tent and only goes into town once a week.  Not bad on a day like today and he says it only gets down to around 10 Celsius at night. . .but still, not for me.

We had no problems coming back into Canada (we remembered from last time that it is easier with your passport).  Now Paul has to look at the many pictures and find the best ones.  I like this one to start.



Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Apparently it is my job

Hey all you people of the internet apparently it is my job to post about what our campsite looks like not my moms so here it is, bear river is a nice camp with all the hookups we normally use but no showers, the view is nice with plants all around and it lives up to its name for at night you can't leave anything that could smell attractive to the bears outside to try to keep them away.
Today we went up to salmon glacier, it was beautiful the ice looked literally like a river of ice where you could see the rapids on top, and there were pools of water so blue and calm that you could barely tell that it was water.

Stewart BC / Hyder Alaska

Arrived in Stewart today.  Just a short couple of hours from Kitwanga so we waited for Alvin, Peggy and Judy and then drove up late in the afternoon.

In the morning I was on an Elluminate meeting and then we went grocery shopping at Kitwanga General Store.  Great selection of meat (superbly cut, of course, by Nikki).

We saw a couple more bears on the road today but missed the grizzly and cub that were along the road earlier according to the campsite office.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Kitwanga and Family

Arrived in Kitwanga today.  Saw another bear and cub today.  Visiting with family.

Paul was out taking pictures of barns and buildings when we were at Lac La Hache and saw some gophers inhabiting and old homestead.


Sunday, July 3, 2011

Vanderhoof on a Sunday

We arrived at Dave's place RV park.  This is a place we have stayed before.  For an overnight stay, it is a good place.  Far enough off the highway to be quiet but still close enough for a quick get away tomorrow morning.

We spent part of last evening in the RV next door talking to Marv and Andie about the best routes through Ontario and the east coast.  As they are from Ontario and travel eastward a great deal, they were able to tell us what "not to miss" places were around as well as give us the scoop on traffic and roads.

Today, we saw the first bears of the trip.  A black bear with two cubs off to the side of the road just before lunch - ours, not theirs.  We stopped at Hixon for lunch.  It was sunny and warm . . . but that didn't last. Just as we were packing up it starting to rain hard.  We got the dogs into the back as quickly as we could and didn't get too wet.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Yeah we started

Finally we have started the trip that this blog is all about. From now on it will have info on all our campsites, hellos and info on what we have done, and me filling in information that mom and dad forgot like the beautiful river we drove next to in the Fraser canyon that looked almost like calm water or the annoying bugs at the campsite. So we are on the road again which means video games and reading all day long, with intervals of walking lunch and setting up the trailer, but also early mornings bugs and legs stiffer than trees.
The morning shall come and there will magically be a new destination.
And just because mom forgot to I will describe the site, very grassy with lots of shade and a few bugs around, pull through sites and fairly nice facilities.

Lac la Hache

We were up at 4:30 this morning to finish packing and get to the first ferry. We might have been able to sleep a little bit longer but we spent a couple of hours having a lovely visit with our neighbours Wilf and Terry, and, after a couple of glasses of wine, just didn't feel like packing anymore.

The drive through the Fraser Canyon was beautiful and sunny. Saw lots of motorbikes out for a ride. Had lunch in Cache Creek and then stopped here at Big Country RV for the night,