Alaska Adventure Part Three - Finally, Alaska!

Alaska Adventure Part Three - On To Skagway

We hit our first real gravel road surface in a construction zone as we pulled out of the campground in Watson Lake. Not sure if it was a good thing, but the water truck had gone up the road just in front of us. No dust, but mud to deal with. Poor See-More. It has had its first initiation of road grime on from the Alcan.

Road Construction on the Alcan Highway

See-More's New Livery

We stopped for coffee and sweet rolls at a cafe at Rancheria (ran-chur-REE-a) that George had visited on a previous trip. New owners and no sweet rolls either. So we had little fruit bread loaves in place of them. Meh, just okay.

It was a short drive day (less than 150 miles) to Teslin, YT where we stopped for the night. More tight sites and limited wi-fi at the cafe building. The mosquitos were out in force so I opted to not feed the blood-thirsty little buggers just to have internet.

Leaving Teslin for Skagway, Alaska the next morning, I saw one bear then farther up the road, another two on the way to Carcross, YT.

What's that up ahead?

Why, it's a black bear!

Finally, we made it to Alaska on June 24th! Crossing into the U.S. was a breeze. From Customs, it was a 13% road grade winding down into Skagway.

Cool cloud formation

We're here!!

Waterfalls along the road

Hello, Skagway!

We stayed at an older RV park near the edge of town in Skagway. No wi-fi, unless you want to pony up $$$, but we had cell service and a few TV channels. Skagway is a real tourist trap because of the cruise ships that come into the port daily during the cruise ship season. Tons of jewelry stores on the main drag.

Cruise ships in port

Saturday we went to Dyea (Die-eeee) and saw our first brown, aka grizzly, bear. We had driven out on the tidal flats and there he was, off in the distance, safely away from us.

One of the bays on the way to Dyea

Mr. Grizzly

Tidal Flats at Dyea

Wild Iris at Dyea

The highlight of our visit to Skagway was riding the narrow-gauge White Pass and Yukon railroad. It was built to make it easier for men get to get to the goldfields in the Klondike during the Gold Rush of 1898. Started in May 1898, it took two years, two months, and two days to complete the 110 miles of railroad. By then, the gold rush was over. Today it gives visitors a glimpse back in time to the turn of the 20th century.

Here she comes!

Looking across to U. S. Customs

One of two tunnels

Looking back towards Skagway

Inside Car #216

Doing the "Summit Shuffle"

The famous gorge bridge

At the summit

Heading back down the mountain

More downhill fun

We finished up our train ride with a visit to the Red Onion Saloon in "downtown" Skagway where the waitstaff get into character.

Red Onion Saloon Hijinks

Alaska Adventure Part Two

We liked the RV park in Telkwa so much, we stayed two nights there. With the Alaska Highway closed, we were not going to be able to have our two night stay at Liard River Hotsprings Provincial Park, so Fort Telkwa became our Liard replacement. The town of Smithers was 10 km away from Telkwa and we were able to restock groceries and hit up the Canadian Tire store for goodies.

I was concerned about the cats riding in their carriers in the trailer and the roughness of the ride. Things were getting tossed around back there and it was stressing me out. The carriers are too big to go up front in the truck cab so I needed to come up with another option. Hooray for Canadian Tire. I purchased two soft sided carriers and put them side by side on the top of the seat. Still room for the dog and me in the backseat to boot, so it was a win-win situation. It took two days of traveling to get out the duct tape and using my best MacGyver skills, taped together wheel leveling blocks to make a platform on top of the seat to better support the carriers. Now mama is less stressed with the kitties up front which makes my fellow travelers happier, too.

Pets in Motion

Mountain by New Hazelton, BC

The Cassiar highway is quite the road. Very bumpy, narrow and winding in many places. However, it is very scenic! Mom and George spotted their first bear in the brush along the roadside but I missed seeing it.

Our first night was spent at Meziadin Lake Provincial Park (Mezy-AD-in). Super nice park with friendly hosts and awesome views. We did not have a lakefront site, but still had a nice one. Met some fun people from Anchorage who were camped next to us.

Meziadin Lake

The next day we drove a few more hours north on the Cassiar to the town of Iskut, BC.

Rest stop north of Bell 2 Lodge

More along the Cassiar

 We spent the night at Mountain Shadow RV Park. It was nicely kept and the view was spectacular! A bear was spotted close to the campsites, but I never saw it. In fact, I haven't seen much wildlife at all. :-(

The view from our window

This morning we left Iskut and are parked for the night just west of Watson Lake, Yukon. Not much scenery but we have power, water and wi-fi again. Although last night's park had wi-fi, it was satellite based and we had a lot of trouble connecting. Couldn't upload or download pictures either.

The Cassiar up to the Alaska Highway was rough again and See-More, our fifth wheel, took another beating. This time the lower bunk window emergency escape latch was damaged and the window won't stay closed. Duct tape to the rescue. Also, the small pull-out pantry next to the kitchen sink had slid completely out. If it keeps up, I'll duct tape that sucker shut, too. For now, I hope the ottoman will keep it from coming off the tracks again.

Our generator basket hold down bracket also got bent over the course of travel up the highway. We've sent feedback to Torklift advising them of it, and have moved the generators back to the front of the truck where the forces of evil are less likely to affect the ride.

I also escaped from my holding cell in the truck today. The dog barrier folds down so I now have it in that position which allows me better views from the back seat. It will be fairly easy to put it back up should we need to contain Trip in the back seat. Nose prints on the windshield are not welcomed.

Scenic Valley

Watch for these signs!! It means bumpy road.

Unmarked, but Paved Highway

Finally! The Alaska Highway west of Watson Lake

Who? Me? Not today!

We will spend one night here near Watson Lake and tomorrow it is onto Teslin, Yukon and then into Skagway on Friday.

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.

Fire in the Sky - Again

Fire season is upon us here in North Central Washington state. There are several fires burning including one near Lake Chelan. When I stepped outside this evening, not only could you see the smoke wafting down valley but you could smell it. Brings back memories of last year. Not good memories either.

I can only hope the idiots with fireworks are smarter than I give them credit for and they don't shoot them off tonight. We do not need a fire here in the Methow Valley. Conditions are ripe and the wind is blowing. It wouldn't take but a small spark to ignite a large fire.

Smoke as seen up valley

Vibrant Sunset

Hope your Fourth of July was happy and safe!