Home Sweet Home

This will be my last post.  We left Crossville, Tennessee this morning and decided to top off our trip by driving through our favorite National Park - The Smokies.  Turned off I-40 at Sevierville and headed through Pidgeon Forge into the Smokies.  They were in their smokey glory this morning, but were a beautiful site.  Traffic through the park was minimal, probably because school has started for most areas.  Drove down 441 into Franklin (one of the most picturesque drives), visited the post office to get our 2 months of mail and headed home.  Were not sure what we were going to find, but home sure looked good - a bit weedy, but good.  Did some unloading and quit for the day.  Turned on TV and nothing works.  Apparently, the earthquake in Virginia today must have moved our satalite dish.  No service tech until Thursday.  UGH!!!!  Home Sweet Home - there is nothing like it.  Labor Day is a day closer.  Chatterbox passed her praxis (teaching) exams - YEA!- and Squirell got her drivers license - look out everyone, Herbert is on the road).  Life is Good.  Love ya'll - see ya'll soon. 

Crossville, Tennessee

Here we are in Crossville, Tenessee.  It was a day of reminising about the last 2 months.  It is a bittersweet post, as we saw everything we set out to see, but at the same time our adventure is coming to an end.  We shall drive up our mountain road tomorrow evening hoping that our log home is still standing and is not eaten up by critters or overgrown by weeds.  Our birds and hummingbirds will be very thankful for our return.
Over the last two months we saw the most beautiful, awesome country and thank God for all his creations.  We saw different lifestyles in Canada and Alaska.  I must say that their lifestyles do not seem to be materialistic - they all live in meager homes, but all have a boat and an RV in their yard.  The boat and RV allow them to travel to the coast to fish during the salmon runs.  It is amazing to hear a gentleman from Nova Scotia share that he worked in Pink Mountain, British Columbia for 7 weeks fixing generators, pumping gas and running the gas fields campground and earned enough money to live on until next June.  We saw towns with only 50 residents and they live there year round and their winters are brutal -- they rely on ATV's, snowmobiles, and planes to get supplies.  Most of the residents rely on tourism, fishing, winter sports and gas fields.  I am assuming that during the 9 months of darkness (3 hours of light a day) they are working to prepare for the coming summer tourists and during the 24/7 of daylight they work and play and sure don't get much sleep. 
All in all, we are so thankful that we had the health to accomplish one of our bucket list dreams.  We shall remember our experiences for the rest of our lives.  We do look forward to returning home and reuniting with our children, grandchildren and friends again.  Love ya'll and will see ya'll very, very soon.  Labor Day is closer than we all think. 

Benton, Illinois

Drove through Kansas today and we had no wind- thank goodness.  For a Sunday morning, St Louis was a zoo.  Was there a football game there or something?  We decided to make a short day of it and stop in Benton, Illinois around 3 pm.  After yesterday, we needed to get off the road.  It is really, really, hot and humid here.  Tomorrow we will drive to Crossville, Tennessee for the night.  Then -- off to Franklin, NC.  Our days of being Gypsies will end and it will be time to settle into our cozy log home (if we can find it).  Love ya'll and will see ya'll very soon. 

On our way to Kansas City

What a day.  We left Mitchell, South Dakota thinking we would stay in Nebraska City, Nebraska, BUT as we approached Souix City, Iowa we saw evidence that the flooding of the mighty Missouri River has not really receeded yet.  We drove some of I-29 roads that had huge sandbags to keep the water off the roads.  We had to take the same detour we would have had to taken in June around Omaha as the interstate is under water.  How horrible for these people - most of them are farmers and have not been able to get their crops in let alone their homes being flooded.  Now- God is so good!  Wednesday evening before we arrived at Mitchell, SD they had a horrible storm with wind and hail.  Today as we were driving the detour through corn country we saw miles and miles of blown down corn fields - I mean leveled. not only have these people had to deal with flooding, but what crops they were able to plant have all been leveled by the wind.   When we pulled into the Kansas KOA we found out that the storm had gone through Kansas City last night and just received power today at noon.  Today we drove almost 500 miles (no wind today) and we are both tired.  We are hoping to get to the other side of St Louis tomorrow - depending on the wind.  Will post tomorrow evening.  Love ya'll.

Mitchell, South Dakota - The Corn Palace

Passed fields of corn, hay and sunflowers today on our way to Mitchell, South Dakota.  It's Back - THE WIND!!!  It was a very hard 300 miles with the wind howling the way it did, but we made it to Mitchell KOA for the night.  Dad stopped into the local Cabela's to get some hackles for our fishing flies and there were none - all the women have bought them up to put in their hair.  Went to the Corn Palace where everything on the outside of the building is made with corn and parts from the corn.  It is changed every year and was amazing.  The designs were something else.  Everything from the cob to the stock was used.  Very unique.  Hoepfully we will make it to Nebraska City, Nebraska tomorrow and hopefully the wind will not blow as hard as it did today.  From what I understand - the wind always blows here.  Love ya'll and can't wait to see everyone. 

Custer State Park

Today we road toured Custer State Park.  Saw quite of few of the 1300 buffalo that roam the 71,000 acre park.  We also saw a band of curious burros roaming free looking for a hand out of food.  They caused quite a log jam.  Then we traveled up the Needles Highway and went through 6 granit tunnels that were amazing.  The last one was the eye of the needle and it looked like we were threading the needle.  We passed a tour bus and were trying to figure out how it was going to get through that eye as it was only 8'4" wide and 10' high.  Did our last load of laundry on the road.  It will be good to not have to find quarters to feed the washer and dryer.  Tomorrow we head our motor coach toward home.  We will be staying in Mitchell, South Dakota where the only Corn Palace is.  More tomorrow after we have seen the palace.  Hopefully we will be home by next Thursday.  Love ya'll and are looking forward to a huge homecoming with ya'll over Labor Day.  See ya' soon. 

Crazy Horse - Mt Rushmore

We traveled to the Crazy Horse Museum.  Not only was the stone carving in the side of a mountain impressive and massive, the museum was so well done.  The pieces in the museum were all donated and amazing.  Really enjoyed this tour and learned alot.  Then we traveled to the Wood Carvers Museum.  Saw some amazing carvings along with animated carvings.  Then off to Mt Rushmore.  It sure has changed from when I first saw it when I was 13.  The carvings in stone on the side of that mountain, though, is still very impressive.  Tomorrow we head to Custer State Park.  Love ya'll. 

The Black Hills

Left The Devil's Tower and entered South Dakota. The landscape was dotted by rolls and rolls of just cut hay.  Their livestock must have verocious appetites.   Drove through Sturgis (just missed Biker Week), Deadwood and onto the Rafter J Bar Ranch RV park for three nights.  We will rent a car and travel around the Black Hills (Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Custer State Park) by car.  There are some tunnels that are too low for our coach to pass through.  Will send pictures tomorrow of our adventures.  It has finally cooled down a bit, thank goodness.  Love ya' all. 

South to Devil's Tower

What a busy day we had.  We left Sheridan, Wyoming and stopped at Ft. Kearney - a huge fort about 19 miles south of the Little Big Horn to protect traders and pioneers using the Oregon Trail.  They even had barracks for band members.  Wonder if they were gold members?  Then off to Buffalo, Wyoming and the Mountain Meadow Wool Mill.  How wonderful it was to see how they naturally process their wool.  Everything is naturally processed.  And then came the showroom.  Both the mill and showroom were small, but mighty.  I sure have been having fun gathering fibers made in the USA and Christmas Shopping.  Found some very interesting gifts and beautiful fibers.  Then it was on to the Devil's Tower.  We are staying at the KOA just outside of the park.  Sure is an impressive rock.  Tomorrow we travel to South Dakota for a few days to tour Custer country and then it will be head for home.  Love ya'll and the days are getting fewer when we can see ya'll.  Labor Day is not that far away. 

Sheridan, Wyoming

We are in Sheridan, Wyoming.  Hoping to beable to see the wool mill tomorrow in Buffalo.  We will be traveling to the Devil's Tower National Park for the night and then on to Southern part of South Dakota and Mt. Rushmore for a few days.  It is HOT!  Not used to the temps as the highest in Alaska and Canada was low 70's.  Congrats to young Red as he is now a gold member of the WCU Pride of the Mountains Marching Band.  Look forward to their first Pre-Show, Half time show and Post Show. 
Love ya'll. 

Billings, Montana

Well-Bozeman and Billings both had our favorite stores, sooo we took the day to visit these stores.  REI was in Bozeman and it has been so long since we were in an REI.  It was really nice to see the updated products for backpacking, water sports, etc.  Then it was on to Billings, Montana.  We have never been in a Cabela's store.  We have done everything by internet.  What a store.  If you could not find it in that store it was not made.  Every sport was represented in that store and then some.  We are staying at the Billings KOA.  The very first KOA ever.  Tomorrow we will head to Sheridan or Buffalo Wyoming.  I have not heard from Mountain Meadows Wool Mill as to whether we can tour the mill.  I will be very disappointed if I miss seeing the facility.  Oh well -- I shall live.  Love ya'll.  See you soon. 

Bozeman, Montana

Left Jackson Hole this morning and drove through the Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks on our way to Bozeman. Did not do much stopping, but did stop and eat lunch at the Old Faithful Inn.  The Inn is on the Historic Registry and is as stately as always.  The new Visitor Center that was being built 3 years ago is finished and is really nice.  As we were traveling noth to the Mammoth Hot Springs - guess what was walking down the middle of the road?!  You guessed it - a very large buffalo.  It walked right by our coach.  Sure am glad it was not mad at anything or we may have been gored.  Drove into Mammoth and as usual the Elk were lazily napping on the lawn under trees.  Drove to the north entrance of Yellowstone into Garnier, Montana and on north to Bozeman.  Will leave in the morning for Billings, then Buffalo, on to Devil's Tower and down to South Dakota,  Our itinerary is closing fast and we probably will be home around the end of August -----  SOOOOOO we probably will be home for Labor Day.  Love ya'll and miss ya"ll and will see ya'll soon. 

On our way to Jackson

Started our of Great Falls this morning on our way to Twin Bridges.  Toured the Winston Rod Company and really learned alot.  Small Building, BUT large operation.  Jammer - you might enjoy their video on their website (http://www.winstonrods.com/).  Then on to Jackson Wyoming.  The wheat and potato fields in Idaho were amazing.  HUGE!!!  All you could see is field after field of potatoe blooms and wheat fields.  We kept seeing these sod roofed short, squat buildings - Guess what they were for??--  potato storage.  Really cool.  Followed along beside the mountains and knew we had to drive over them BUT we sure were not expecting what we received.  We have never driven a mountain with a 10% grade up and a 10% grade down in a total of 6 miles.  It was a beautiful drive and I sure am glad it had guard rails.  First gear was a must.   At the bottom of the mountain was Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  We are staying at the Virginian RV Park - right across the street from the Gun Barrel Restaurant.  YUM!YUM!  The buffalo steaks were awesome.  Tomorrow we take the shuttle into downtown Jackson for some walking and shopping.  Friday we will be leaving and driving through the Tetons and Yellowstone on our way to Billings and Bozeman, Montana.  I hope young Red and Chatterbox have been able to stay awake for their shoots.  Love ya'll.

Butte, Montana

Got the coach serviced.  Paw Paw said the oil was like sludge and the oil filter was so clogged from all the Alaska and Canada road dust that he is glad we were able to get this service work done.  Back on the road by noon and are at the Butte KOA.  Tomorrow we will go to Twin Bridges to tour the Winston Fly Rod company and then on to Jackson Hole Wyoming.  We are so close that we could not drive by it and the Gun Barrel Restaurant is calling.  We have not found a good restaurant for wild game yet.  Not only that, but the Pendleton and Coldwater Creek shops are calling me.  We will be staying at the Virginian RV park in Jackson Hole for 2 nights.  Twice at the Gun Barrel??!! Who Knows!!!!!  Then we will drive through the Tetons and Yellowstone on to Buffalo Wyoming to hopefully tour the Wool mill.   I now have great internet service, either by RV park or with my Verizon Air card.  YEA!!!  Pass a message on to young Red -  I am anxious to know how the new band director is ( go with an open mind) and that you made the cut for the band.  Have a great start of the college year and tell Your young lady friend that we look forward to seeing you both as soon as we return to North Carolina.  Glad GJ95 enjoyed his primitive hiking trip.  Will have to get the family together for a trip into the back country.  (That ought to be interesting)  Will post tomorrow evening and hopefully have pictures of how bamboo rods are made at the Windston Rod company.  Am assuming that the new Design Engineer is enjoying his new post and the little ones are ready for school.  Love ya'll.

Leaving Glacier National Park

Today we left Glacier National Park and drove to Great Falls, Montana on a back country road.  The fields of wheat and hay were absolutely beautiful with the rocky mountains way behind the fields.  The cattle and horse ranches were huge.  It was nice to have the road almost to yourself before we came back into civilization of the interstates and fast pace of the cities.  Tomorrow we visit the local Freightliner service company to have our coach serviced.  After driving 10,000 miles we need the oil and fluids changed and to check out all the belts, etc.  After 5 stops at tire places while in Canada and Alaska, we think we finally have our tire problems solved - although we are not saying that too loudly.  Glad the hikers are back home and no fatalities.  We will have to plan a "family" hike some time - one the old folks can keep up with.  Drive safely back to the "whee" and hope young Red is ready for band camp.  Good luck for all those other young 'uns returning to school - hope it goes smoothly.  If I am not mistaken' there is one who is looking at her senior year - enjoy it beause you will never beable to return to that time again. 
Love ya'll - stay healthy - and we will keep you posted as to where we are. 

Glacier National Park

What a day.  The Red Bus picked us up at the KOA at 9:30 am.  It was one of the original national park touring buses that was refurbished in 1999 and returned to the national parks in 2006.  Glacier has 32 of these tour buses and Yellowstone National Park has 8 and Skagway Alaska has 4.  They carry 17 people and a driver and have the open air top.  What a drive.  The sun was shining with a cool breeze blowing.  Vehicles over 21 ft could not go over the Going to the Sun Road.  It was like the road to Highlands only longer.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful.  The picture on the right is of Wild Goose Island, the most photographed island.  Tomorrow we leave Glacier and head towards Jackson Hole Wyoming (a two day trip).  Then up through the Tetons and Yellowstone on our way to Buffalo, Wyoming and South Dakota.  Glad everyone is doing well and we miss ya'll.  Hope everyone made it up and back on Gabe's mountain.  Will keep you posted where we will be. 

Going to Glacier National Park

Left Canmore, Alberta this morning. Drove thorugh fields of canola and hay as well as cattle and horse country.  These ranches were beautiful, especially the ones that all you could see is yellow fields of canola.   Went through the long USA Customs Line about 4pm Pacific time.  This was the 6th time we went through Customs (3 thru Canada and 3 thru US).  Had no problems with this officer.  Drove into St Marys, Montana and got a peek at Glacier National Park - WOW!  Booked a tour on their little Red Bus (like the yellow ones in Yellowstone) since we are not able to drive our small RV coach on the Going to the Sun Road.  This way Paw Paw will enjoy the ride since he will not have to drive.  We have seen some glorious landscape that our Lord created for us to enjoy that it leaves you breathless and speachless.  We will take that tour on Sunday.  We are taking the weekend off and staying at St Marys KOA RV camp in East Glacier.  We will recoup from our road buzz and catch up on our laundry.  Got the coach power cleaned as it was caked with Alaska and Canada grey sludge.  So far we have been in 6 tire repair shops, two window chips repaired and 5 car washes.  I am now able to get my voice mails on my cell phone and use my broadband air car.  Monday we will head to Virginia City, Montana, travel through Yellowstone National Park, through Bozeman and Billings Montana on our way to Buffalo Wyoming.  Then we will travel to the western part of South Dakota before we slowly head home.  Love ya'l;l.  I want to hear details on the hike to Gabe's Mountain, the movie set, and how the salmon was.  Will post pictures of Glacier on Sunday evening. 

Jasper - Ice Fields Parkway - Banff

Left  Hinton, Alberta this morning and drove into the little tourist town of Jasper.  Had lunch and hit a small quilt and yarn store.  Nothing exciting to speak of.  Left Jasper and headed into Jasper National Forest and down into the Ice Fields Parkway.  WHAT A SIGHT TO BEHOLD.  They are part of the Northern Rockies and I am here to tell you they are beautiful.  Every curve you turned you saw these towering, rocky mountains and most of them had glaciers on them.  We came to the Columbia Ice Fields ( 6 - 8 glaciers and 64 sq miles) and the Athabasca Glacier is the largest glacier seen form the parkway. There were even busses driving on the glacier.  Then on to Banff National Park.  What spectacular scenery.  We are staying in Canmore and hope to drive to cross the USA border tomorrow.  We have been driving long days so that we can cross into the US.  I will say this--  since we hit BC and Alberta we are now seeing some dark nights and even the moon.  Today is the first day I did not have on 3 layers - it was actually hot (74 degrees).  Glad the salmon is arriving and everything is ok .  Love ya'll.

On a different note --  I failed to mention some things about Skagway that might be of interest to those traveling to Alaska.  Skagway has a beautiful quilt store with some lovely hand dyed Alaskan fibers.  The store is the Rushin' Tailor on 3rd avenue.  Also, I have never seen such beautiful workmanship in jewelry pieces in my life.  What creative artisians.  Right near the Rushin' Tailor is Djon Delight and they ship salmon anywhere in the world - and quite reasonable, too.  Hoping you enjoy your trips to Alaska and for those going to Washington state.  Safe travels. 

On our way through Canada

It has been a very interesting few days. This is the first time I have had internet service and cell service. Sunday we left Skagway, Alaska, went through customs at the most beautiful boundary facility.  It was up on the top of a knob that took us quite a few miles to get to the rocky summit.  There was nothing within miles except rocky mountains and blue water lakes.  It was very cold and to make it more interesting, this is the trail that the Gold miners took from Skagway to the gold fields in Dawson Creek, Yukon.  What stamina those men must have had - and of course the drive to get rich in the gold fields.  Stayed overnight outside of Whitehorse.  Monday we traveled to Coal Mountain RV park for the night.  Saw a herd of buffalo (over 30) right beside the road and of course two big bulls decided to cross the road right in front of us.  The calves were so comfortable with the road traffic that they were aleeping right along the road.  After leaving Coal Mountain, our tire monitors started beeping, which means one of our tires was loosing air.  We made it to Toad Mountain to get air in the tire.  Then drove to Ft Nelson where we knew we could get it repaired.  During our drive we enjoyed caribou along the road and black bears.  Got the tire fixed in Ft Nelson and decided to drive down the road to Pink Mountain RV park.  You will never guess what we passed again --  Sasquatch Crossing.  Well, we could not resist the urge to stop and eat.  WHAT AN EXPERIENCE.  Edward will not believe it when we share this story.  Thank goodness the food was good.  Tomorrow we will travel down to Hinton, Alberta and then through the Ice Fields Parkway, Banff National Park and eventually back to the USA.  I don't know when I will have internet again and cell service is very spuratic here.  I cannot retreave any voice mails as long as I am in Canada, so if you left me a voice mail, I will get it when I reach the USA.  Love ya all.  Smile pretty for the cameras those who have bleached eyebrows. 

The Alaskan Marine Ferry

Had some time to kill after we left the RV park, so decided to go to Chilkoot Lake where we heard there was a momma bear and 2 cubs fishing there.  It was not long until we were blessed to see these three wild animals fishing.  Fishermen reeled in their fishing line and left their fish catch for the bears, spectators dawned their cameras and cautiously started taking pictures.  What a sight to stand and watch these powerful animals fish.  Momma caught the fish and cubs tried to steal it with quite growling sounds from both the mom and cub.  Finally the cubs won out and it was not until the 3rd catch that mom got to eat.  Then they moseyed (sp) across the parking lot back into the woods.   Later that afternoon, Paw Paw was talking to an amateur, professional photographer and all of a sudden I heard him say "Wow bear, wow bear!"  The oldest cub, followed by the youngest cub,  was walking straight in front of him and just 6' from the coach window before slidding down backwards into the lake.  Momma had already entered the lake further up the parking lot.  Watched them fish a while and decided to go to ferry station.  As we were leaving, mom and cubs were walking down the road eating berries and the cubs wrestling.  Now, the second experience was the hour ride to Skagway from Haines on the Alaskan Marine Highway Ferry.  IT WAS HUGE!  The lower deck was a parking garage for probably 18 RV's and well over 30 cars and motorcycles.  Then there were 2 decks of cabins with lounges and a cafeteria, then the upper deck lounge.  The trip took about an hour through the fijords and was absolutely spectacular.  Got a picture of the ferry at night, but it was not very good.  We are off to Whitehorse, Yukon and will be headed down to Jasper and Banff National parks and THEN back into the USA.  Not sure about internet service as I will be at the mercy of the RV park provider AGAIN.  Love ya'll and enjoy the pictures of the bears.  We sure did enjoy watching them. 

Rainy Haines

Very cold and rainy here in Haines today.  We decided to just rest and do laundry.  Tomorrow we will head to a state park here in Haines where we have heard that the bears are feeding on migrating salmon.  Don't know what we will see, but going to give it a whirl.  We will then go to Skagway on Sunday via ferry.  The temp did not reach 60 and it was a bit chilly last night.  But one good thing is that the bay is just beautiful to watch the tides and the clouds on the mountains.  Kids --  the salmon was mailed today so you should receive the middle or end of next week.  Hope you enjoy.  Love ya'll and will try to post tomorrow evening. 

Haines, Alaska

Drove to Haines today and plan on staying until Saturday morning when we will take the ferry to Skagway.  We are staying at Oceanside RV Park right on the Bay.  We watched two Bald head eagles fishing from the docks.  On our way from Haines Junction we saw 4 brown bears right on the side of the road (picture).  Coming into Haines we saw two fish wheels (picture)on the Chilkott River.  It was really interesting to watch how it worked to catch the salmon.  Will visit the local museum and town tomorrow.  Love ya'll and will touch base tomorrow evening. 

Chicken, Dawson City, Whitehorse, Haines Junction

Alot has happened in two days.  We decided to travel to Chicken, Alaska after hearing that the Taylor Hwy was pretty decent.  There were sure a lot of whop-de-do's (frost heaves) on the way.  Chicken is pretty remote.  100 miles from no where.  There are two RV parks, 2 cafes, 3 gift shops and one bar - all in a very small area.  Chicken was a gold mining area and still is to a certain extent.  After talking to a local there, we decided to go ahead and drive the Top of the World Highway into Dawson City, Yukon Canada.  There are not enough adjatives to describe the 108 mile drive.  You litteraly felt like you were on top of the world mountains and could see forever.  What a ride.  In the middle of this highway is the Boundry Crossing from the US into Canada.  Paw Paw decided to get fisty with the border patrol person (will share with you when we get home) and I thought we would have our coach searched or worse detained.  Just a little excitement to make things spicey.  Then, when you decended into Dawson City we got a ferry ride across the Yukon River.  If that was not enough, when we were approaching the other bank of the Yukon, there was a bull dozer creating a road for us to drive off the ferry on.  Pulled into Dawson City and what a surprise.  This town has kept it's 1800 charm in tact.  The roads are gravel and the sidewalks are boardwalks, just like they were back in the goldrush days.  The buildings - oh my were they beautiful and very well kept up.  They sure have preserved their charm.  I declare if there were no cars and everyone was in 1800 period dress, you would think you were back in that time period.  Traveled the Klondike Highway the next day and passed nothing until the half way point where there was a grocery, gas station, hotel and RV park.  Amazingly, today (7/27), we traveled the other half and saw nothing until we hit Whitehorse.  Stopped there to have a tire problem solved and then moved on to Haines Junction.  Saw a big, brown bear along the road.  Tomorrow we travel to Haines, Alaska where I hope my air card will work again. Then off to Skagway and then to Jasper and Banff.   Sorry for not posting before now, but internet service in the Yukon is very spuratic and does not work well and my air card charges $20/mg if I use it in Canada.  I have service on my cell, but the calls are dropped, so I can not call out.  Glad everyone is well.  Miss everyone, but having a great time.  So glad we decided to do this.  The traffic has not been bad and the RV places have not been full.  Will post again tomorrow in Haines or when I have service. 

Love ya'll. 

Tok

Left Valdez in the clouds with rain.  Was so hoping to see the Keystone Canyon in the sunshine again, but lo it was still beautiful in the haze of the clouds.  Went to see the end of the Alaska Pipeline that terminates in Valdez and also a fish wier where the salmon are  migrating from the ocean. The Solomon Gulch Fish hatchery is the returning home of 320,000 pink salmon and 200,000 silver (coho) salmon.  The hatchery takes the eggs of these salmon and hatches them to release next Spring to guarantee that there is enough Pink and Silver Salmon for the commercial fisherman, the sport fisherman and also the residents of Alaska.  They do the same proceedure in Seward at the Big Bear Lake Fish Wier (hatchery).  The Tok cut off road to Tok had nothing on it not even a gas station.  Makes for a long day of driving.  We are staying at the Tok RV Village.  Ate at Fast Eddie's - Yum Yum.   Any restaruant named after a special Son in Law had to have good food.  Came back to the RV park and washed the Rv since we drove over 24 miles of muddy gravel road construction.  Then the RV park had a free night of music.  It was really great, the lead singer sang with Doc Watson and then there were two young musicians.  It was a welcomed surprise evening.  Of course, it was all topped off with ice cream cones.  Thought we would be heading to Haines, but have decided to go to Chicken since we heard the road is in pretty good shape.  We will determine whether we go over Top of The World highway into Dawson Creek after we hear how that road is when we get to Chicken.  We have heard horror stories about damages incurred while driving that road, but the views are supposed to be worth it.  I think we will have one more day in Alaska, but once we hit Canada we will have to rely on their wifi for postings on the blog.  My cell phone is Canada equipped so if you need to call you can.  I heard on the news a piece of tidbit for all you educators out there:  The Anchorage school system is beginning to register children for the new school year.  Would you believe that in that school system there are a total of 90 different languages spoken?  English, Spanish, Inuvit, and Samoan are the top languages.  Here is the picture of the snow along the road that has not melted on top of Thompson's pass (2360').   Chatterbox, check your private email.  Love ya' ll

Valdez

Thought maybe we made a mistake to come down to Valdez as the drive was a boring, barren drive UNTIL we hit the Worthington Gacier.  It was huge.  Then we drove down and hit the Thompson Pass (2683ft).  It is not very high above sea level, but what scenery God provided us with.  Words cannot describe it and the pictures do not do it justice.   Saw the Alaska pipeline and it does terminate here in Valdez.  Here are a few facts about Valdez that are amazing:  1.  Prince William Sound is surrounded by the Chugach Mountains, the tallest coastal mountains in North America, rising from sea level to an elevation of 7000' ande is the most heavily glaciated mountains in the Northeast.  2.  The average rainfall is 64" and the average snowfall just in Valdez is 325".  3.  The average snowfall in Thompson Pass is anywhere from 600 to 900 inches of snow. How's that for facts?!  We saw snow that was 3 feet thick by the road that was not anywhere thawed. The picture at the right shows the poles that mark the edge of the road - they must be at least 15 - 18' high.   Apparantly the salmon are beginning to run here and we will go to see them swim upstream from the sound tomorrow morning.  Oh,  we almost ran out of gas because there were no stations along the road.  Had to empty one of our emergency gas cans that we carry just to get us into Valdez.  Tomorrow we head to Tok and then to Haines.  Love ya'll and will keep you posted.  Glad GJ95 is home safe and sound. 

Kenai Peninsula to Palmer

Stayed at Russian River Campground last night. The drive into Anchorage is beautiful as it skits the Cook Inlet.   Drove today to Wasilla to tour the Ididarod Home base and then to Palmer to tour the Muskox farm.  These muskox are domesticated primarily for their down which is hand combed and given to the Native people coop to knit into garments for income.  None of the down is sold, either in fiber form or spun form.  Each muskox can yield between 4 to 6 lbs of down.  The muskox we saw weighed from 100#'s to over 1000#'s.  Their feet are huge.  The babies are so cute, but they were mostly sleeping as they had just had their lunch.  We then traveled to just this side of Glennallen at a beautiful RV park by the Matanuska Glacier.  Boy is it impressive.  I will have to send pictures of the glacier tomorrow as my camera battery went dead.  We hope to get to Valdez tomorrow for a day or two.  Love ya'll.  Congratulations to our new Design Engineer in the family.  It took a long time getting there, but well worth all the stress. 

The Homer Spit

What a day.  The temp was 66 with a cool breeze and the sun shining and we were on a small 4.5 mile spit in an Alaskan fishing town for the day.  What more could you ask for!  Caught the trolley at the RV park, had lunch at Captain Patties that had  a view of the bay and then walked the boardwalks.  Did you know that the Time Bandit from the TV show, Deadliest Catch, is docked in Homer, Alaska?  How cool!  I have never seen such exquisite handmade jewelry, totem poles, and fossilised bone and ivory.  The designs are just beautifully created.  Saw the Salty Dog Saloon bedecked with all the $1 bills stapled everywhere.  Did you know that Arlo Guthrie (Alice's Restaurant creater) visited the Salty Dog?  Just a little tidbit that I KNOW ya'll could identify with - HA! HA! HA!  Tomorrow we will be leaving Homer and heading to Portage Glacier, through Anchorage again, and on to Haines and Skagway Alaska.  Let me know who wants Salmon shipped to them, as we will be getting the salmon in Haines.  Just giving ya'll time to think about it.

Homer Alaska

This is a beautiful sea port.  If you look at the map it is a peninsula set back in a bay where the aleutians begin.  Across thge bay are tall, snow and glacier covered mountains. It is amazing that we ar 115 feet above sea level and the mountains are still snow covered.   Just beautiful.  We were fortunate to have the last site in the campground that overlooks the bay.  How beautiful.  Today we are taking the trolley tour around Homer and hope to eat lunch at Captain Patties, out on the spit. It is 67 degrees, but with the wind blowing it is much cooler.  Thank goodness the sun is out.  We have been very fortunate to have had only 1 or two days of rain the entire time we have been gone.  I am sending two pictures:  1st one is the mountains at the beginning of the Aleutian Islands and the 2nd is the bay at Homer.  Love you guys.  Smile pretty for those movie cameras, and I am sure the kitchen cabinet painting can wait a while longer. 

The Russian River

The Red Salmon have finished their run up the Russian and the bears are waiting for the pink salmon to make their run any day now.  Thank goodness they waited for us to get off the trail.  Yesterday we fished for a few hours, but did not catch anything.  We hiked the Angler's trail  today along the river hoping to find the Russian River Falls.  Saw lots of bear scat and heard of a mom with cubs fishing in the river.  Well after 2 miles in we decided to turn back. Never did find the falls.   If a bear would have approached us there was no place for us to back up to because the trail was sooooo rocky and dangerous.  There was a spot where I had to slide down on my bottom and then when we turned around, I had to crawl up the mountain (my knee has really been bothering me and the trail was slippery), sooo I sure was a site to see.  Then the Ranger posted this bright pink poster after we returned to our coach ---  humm.mmThe river is beautiful and we are so thankful for generators and internet air cards to enable me to post this info.  Hope all is well.  Chatterbox, practice being a lady in a dress and walking in those stilettos (sp).  Hope all is well with everyone.  I know school begins soon and ya'll are in preparation for that  We are off to Homer tomorrow for 2 days - One for laundry and the other to walk Homer.  Love ya'll.

Relaxation

Today we enjoyed the scenery.  It was nice to sit still and view the glacier topped mountains.  Tomorrow we leave Seward and hopefully head to Russian Creek State Park.  The sites are first come first serve, so will not know if we get a site or not.  Also, if we do get a site we will have no services, so will be out of communication for a few days.  Will let you know when we come back to communication when we head to Soldotna.  It was good to talk to Mothership today and hear that GJ95 is doing well and will be home on Wednesday.  Ya'll take care and we miss ya'll and love ya'll. 

Seward, Alaska

Traveled to Seward today.  Beautiful ride out of Anchorage along the Cook Inlet.  It was mountainous all the way to Seward.  Stopped to see the Portage Glacier and also the Exit Glacier.  Also saw this huge ocean liner in the port of Seward.  The Alaska Railway Station is right around the corner from the ocean liner and will take you to Anchorage, Denali, and Fairbanks.  Missed the red salmon run here into Bear Lake.  The rest of the salmon will not run until the end of August.  The streams are so muddy, we are not sure we will beable to fish. We shall see when we travel to Homer, on the other side of the Kenai. 

Anchorage

What a day we had.  Boarded bus #15 and traveled downtown Anchorage to the People mover station.  Guess what was right across the street?  The Oomingmak Musk Ox CoOp.  What an interesting shop.  All the products sold there are made from Quivit and knit by Natives all over Alaska.  They purchase all the Musk Ox down that is combed from the 40 musk oxen from the farm in Palmer and when they have 600 #'s they send it (of all places) to a mill in South Carolina that handles fine down like Quivit and Cashmere (there are only a few in the US).  Then it is distributed to the Native knitters, both men and women to knit.  They are paid by the stitch ( # cast on and # of rows knit) for the scarves, hats, headbands or gloves.  Beautiful workmanship.  The headbands are double knitted.  Most of the Quivit that is sold in Alaska is produced in Canada.  Found some great Artic lace pattern books.  We then went to the Alaska Museum.  What a great place.  The gift shop had books, quivit, and hand made items of Alaska - the jewelry is beautiful.Some of the paintings just took your breath away.  The Alaksan History part was amazing.  The clothing and beading was beyond words.  Nothing was wasted from the hunting kills of the seals and whales.  Even the intestines were dried and sewn together to make waterproof jackets used to keep them dry during hunting in boats.  Don't have a clue where we will be going tomorrow when we leave Anchorage, except that it will be somewhere down the Kenai peninsula.  Love ya'll.