Ferndale WA

We are in Ferndale Washington in Alaska terms "The Lower 48"
From Juneau we took the Ferry to Sitka, Wrangell, Ketchikan and Prince Rupert where we started our trip home
In Juneau we saw the Mendenhall Glacier it had a spot of deep blue color it was very pretty It rained most of the time we were in Juneau. In Sitka we walked around town and visited the Elks In Wrangell we went sightseeing and visited a place called the Bear Fortress They take abandoned bears and find good zoos for them. In Ketchikan we took a boat ride to the Misty Fjord on the ride we saw some Eagles, Ptarmigan (prononced tarmagain) Alaska's State bird other birds A lot of beautiful mountains not many waterfalls as there had not been much rain also Nyla went shopping with Pat and Margi There were 4 or 5 cruise ship in most every day. In Prince Rupert we went sightseeing and a tour of an old Cannery the tour was very interesting We have seen more than I have told you about we will save it for home
After leaving Prince Rupert headed to Houston to stay one night and on to Prince George to stay and find out if we would be able to travel the 97 or change direction as there was a fire in Williams Lake area with a lot of smoke. The next day we left and were able to go through Williams Lake and we stayed at Cashe Creek the next day we left for Ferndale where we are now
Tomorrow Pat and Ken head for home and we are going to do sightseeing around Washington and do some visiting

Juneau AK

The last post was from Homer We left Homer and went to Kenai for last two days with the caravan We did some sightseeing and had A crab leg dinner what a feast On the last day we turned in radios and other equipment that had been passed out and said our goodbyes There was a lot of nice people that we met For our last dinner we had a potluck and Spike(our leader) provided Halibut and Ham he wasn't able to get any Salmon After dinner Spike told some stories and read some poems we put on a skit Seven things that Spike wouldn't want to hear Don got to play the part of Spike (he has a beard) it was pretty funny at least we got some laughs
July 30 we left with Ken & Pat and Neil & Margi We spent the night at the Palmer ELKS and ate dinner there The next day we headed to Tok AK to spend the night then off to Haines Jct. On the August 2ND reached Haines AK where you spent four days
While in Haines we saw Bears and Eagles did some sightseeing and washed a very dirty motorhome There is a lot of road work up here and they just love to water down the dirt and that makes mud and that makes a BIG MESS
We got our first Ferry ride We put our motorhome and car on the Ferry and went to Juneau
While in Juneau Nyla did some shopping and we saw the state capital and the Governors home and went to the famous Red Dog Saloon where it is said that a lot of laws have been agreed to bills passed
We are getting ready to head off to Sitka AK. in the morning

Homer Alaska

It has been a while since have had WiFi to be able to post
We are in Homer Alaska and our tour is winding down we only have two more days and the tour is over
Let me see if I can bring you up to speed so this might be a little long
Last heard we were waiting to see if the road would be fixed so we could go on to Chicken Alaska WELL!! it didn't happen WE wait a day and the road was still closed and that meant a back track trip to get over to Tok Alaska so we could travel on to Fairbanks that meant 700 miles instead of 180 miles we did get to Fairbanks
In Fairbanks we took a River boat Trip and Susan Butcher's Dinner which was very good We saw the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, North Pole and Santa Land and many other places
We left Fairbanks to head to Denali Park We took a bus trip into the park and saw a mother Grizzly bear and her two cubs we saw a pair of Lynx many Caribou, Mountain Sheep and the biggest was that mother nature cooperated and we saw both North and South Peaks of Mt. McKinley Did a little skit about our tour, Don got to play Spike our tour leader The skit brought on some laughs even form Spike it was his birthday and we celebrated with the skit and cupcakes
On to Anchorage where we had sometime to catch our breath and do some much needed work like washing clothes, the car and the Motorhome as it rained a lot and both were filthy
We had a great time site seeing around Anchorage and very good dinner at the Sourdough Mining Co and Chocolate Factory where they have a seventeen foot chocolate waterfall They claim the largest in the world
It has rained a lot but it has still fun
We are in Homer and Don went Halibut fishing he caught his limit two Nyla went site seeing and shopping with friends the Gunns and Margi Brown
now you are up to speed until next posting

We left Skagway and what we thought would be a beautiful drive and a lot of photo-ops turned out to be foggy drive and no pics
For lunch we stopped at Michelle Phillips Last years Iditirod winner We had a nice chicken lunch After we ate we visited the kennel and all the dogs some of our group took a ride on a wagon pulled by a team of ten dogs
Then it was back on the road to Whitehorse where we stayed three nights We saw a fish ladder they are made so the Salmon can get by a dam We saw the Yukon River where all headed north would travel on boats we toured a stern wheeler paddle boat that once was used for travel from Whitehorse to the gold fields in Dawson City We had a steak dinner and watched a slid show put on by Michelle Phillips and we went to the Frantic Follies Vaudeville Show
We moved on to Dawson City where we are now Dawson has a lot of mining history as this is where gold was first discovered and started the rush to the Yukon for gold We went to the location where the first gold was found and we did some panning for gold between Nyla and I we have about 12 to 15 flakes I think we would starve to death if we had to rely on gold panning for a living
It rained here yesterday and our road to Chicken Alaska was washed out so we are waiting to hear if we will be moving on tomorrow
Our trip out of here ought to be fun as we have to travel on a Ferry to cross the river to continue on to Chicken

Skagway

Since we left Hyder we have been on one night stops at Dease Lake, Watson Lake, and Teslin On Friday the 2ND of July we traveled to Skagway where we are for four nights
Last night the 3RD they did there fire works and we had a nice show The RV park we are staying in is between town and the harbor where they fired off the fire works and we are looking out at the harbor
The town is about a block or so from the RV park It is a nice small town with quite a bit of history This is where the gold miners left from to find their fortune of gold in the Yukon very few found their fortune The struggle was hard as the were required to take a ton of supplies with them up a very steep trail called the Chilkoot Trail
Weather has been cool here and cloudy most of the day and a little rain most every day
They had a 4TH of July Parade today and a lot of games for the kids There was only one cruise ship in port today and not many people went in to town
We are having a great time and seeing a lot of beautiful country Road are two lanes and a little narrow We have had some gravel roads but they are in pretty good shape
That is about it from the north our next move will be to Whitehorse on Tuesday

We are in Hyder Alaska with our caravan It was a very beautiful drive in today
Since the last posting we had left Jaspar and travel to Prince George then to Houston and on to New Hazelton where we met up with our caravan
We were in the heart of Totem Pole Country and Spike our tour guide explained all about Totem Poles
They checked out every bodies RV and screened our radiators to prevent rock damage We were given radios so Spike was able to narrate our trips as we travel He really knows his stuff from plants to Glaciers And we did see several glaciers on our way to Hyder today
Tomorrow we are going to see some bears and the Salmon Glacier one of the largest and have a Halibut dinner at the Sealaska Inn
We are spending two nights here and then on to Dease Lake
Looking forward to more beautiful country

We are in Jasper Canada and will leave for Prince George tomorrow We have had a great time After leaving Utah we traveled north through Idaho and Montana in Canada we stopped a Fort McLeod to visit with the Cleaver's That's Gorden and Tina friends from the Elk's RV Club
Had a great visit and saw some beautiful country We stayed an extra day as Ken needed some work done on his RV
We left Fort McLeod for Lake Louise to stay for a couple of days and on to Jasper where we are now We have seen Mountain Goats Elk and Mountain Sheep and we aren't in Alaska yet I'm about to run out of time so I will finish this up I will try to get some pictures out next time
Don and Nyla

May 25 2010 We left home on our trip Our first destination was Provo Utah where we stayed at the Elks We went to the graduation of our grandson Casey also met with family and friends awaiting the arrival of our grandson Kyle returning from his mission in Tennessee
We visited with my sister Linda and saw a play at the Hale Theatre The play was "The Three Musketeers" it was very good and lots of action
We did a little shopping to finish up our needs for our trip to Alaska now we are waiting friends Pat & Ken Gunn to meet and leave for parts north