Alaska Adventure Part One

Summer's big adventure has started. George, Mom, Trip (the dog), Baby Girl (cat #1), CK (the Camping Kitty aka cat #2), and I are on our way to Alaska. We got a slightly late start on departure day because CK heard the cat crate door open and decided to hide under a bed and not come out. Bad kitty. Had to get the water spray bottle out to encourage him to come out.

Day 1 we made it Vernon, BC and Kekuli Bay Provincial Park. Very nice park with no facilities but a beautiful view of Kalamalka Lake. We were only in Canada for less than an hour and had two cars pull out in front of us. I don't know how you make a big fifth wheel disappear from other drivers' views, but apparently we have an invisible force field around us. We missed the second vehicle by inches and the trailer still smelled of burnt rubber from locking up the brakes an hour later. We had an enjoyable dinner with mom's friends in Vernon who spend the winters in Brownsville, TX.

Kekuli Bay Provincial Park

New Camping Friends

Day 2 we got as far as Clinton, BC. The campground was mediocre at best. Tight sites but not too expensive. However, the owner was a piece of work. Everything was the best, including his BBQ, but mom's fried halibut was overcooked and so was George's ribs. And the mashed potatoes were instant. But hey, at $14 CDN, guess that was cheap, too. The real kicker was the free wi-fi internet. For all of two hours. Then the campground owner changed the password.

We got a whopping two TV channels, but luckily we were able to learn from one of them that 97 was closed up near Chetwynd due to flooding. During our two hour internet spree the night before, I was not able to get much more info. I feel like I got revenge the next morning before leaving because I was able to guess the new password and log in to check road conditions up north, and it was still closed with no estimate of reopening. Take that azzhat!

Hanging with The Donald in Clinton, BC

Mom and Donald

Tight quarters and so scenic. Not.

We decided to continue our northward trek towards Prince George the next morning. The people camped next to us the night before were also heading to PG. We called the campground to make a reservation and off we went.

We stayed at Mama Yeh's just south of Prince George. The owner, Edward, sounded delightful when we made the reservation. We were not disappointed. The campground is fairly new, and with the short construction season, he is not able to do much each year. We had a nice wide pull through site with full hookups for $18 CDN using Mom's Passport America membership. Score! The campground has no other amenities like showers and such and the free wi-fi was only available at the office. I never could get my computer to connect though. I did get a connection on my phone to verify 97 was still closed.  The campground was full of wildflowers scattered among the sites. So pretty to see. We would definitely stay here again. Our fifth wheel suffered its first failure today. A rear shelf in the bunk area broke. We will see for sure how well built (or not) this trailer is on this trip. The roads may not be in the greatest of shape.

Our site at Mama Yeh's.

The "Office" at Mama Yeh's

Since 97 was still closed, we made the final decision to alter course and drive up the Cassiar Highway which is shorter distance-wise than the Alaska Highway but less services, including campgrounds.

Today we headed west out of Prince George and are in Telkwa, BC at an awesome campground with terrific wi-fi. Hence the first post and pictures. It is gorgeous country up here. Kind of reminds me of the North Cascades.

Bulkley River and Hudson Bay Mountain from Telkwa, BC

PS - we saw our first two moose today, and about a half dozen caribou yesterday.