back on the internet!

We have been in some remote areas of the Yukon and have not had internet for a few days.  Now it is time to play catch up on the blog.

Day 17 - Whitehorse, YT

Day 17 - Friday,  June 24

Whitehorse, YT

By: Cindy and Ron Robinett – Rig #18        

 

Our day began with the 9:00am briefing meeting with Ken.  From there we car pooled to the SS Klondike Sternwheeler.  What an amazing boat! 

Our tour began with a film strip showing us the history of the Klondike.  Over 300 round trips up the Yukon river to Dawson City  and back again.

The last trip for the Klondike was down main street from the ship yard to the present display site.   Our guides were very good and gave us lots of interesting information on how the boat was run.  We could not get over how much wood it took to run this boat.  How many cords per mile was that again??

From the Klondike some of us then ventured on to the fish ladder just up the river.  Getting all those fish from the river around the dam and up to the lake is the reason for the fish ladder.  A salmon is born in the rivers headwaters, stays for 2 years,  & swims 1350 miles down stream to the sea.  The salmon will grow for 5 to 7 years, and then returns upstream to its birth place, where it proceeds to lay its eggs and then dies.  How can it find its way like that when on a Friday night, some people  have trouble finding  their way home from the local tavern a few blocks away.  Go figure….

Many in our group toured the local brewery here in Whitehorse. Word  had it some were disappointed with the quantity of  the reward for taking the tour.  But the quality was undeniably good.  While some were taking in the brewery tour others went to the Air Museum and the Dogsled Kennels.   A few brave couples even took on the mosquitoes while trying to golf.  The mosquitoes around here seem to be bigger than the golf balls!!

Today also found about 5 of our rigs windshields being fixed by the window doctor.  No Fun!!  For sure all of our rigs could use a good wash but for now that is a lost cause.

The most unusual thing we saw today was the big orange bus here at the campground.  The bus had  24 people from Germany that was traveling from Vancouver to Anchorage.  It was completely self contained.  Sleeping space for 24, seating for 24, its own kitchen and dining facilities and a bathroom. (Now this is what you call up close & personal)…  

Okay, so where is Buddy Bear??  Still with Art & Jill?      Well, that’s all for this 24^th day of June…. All in all a great day to visit Whitehorse & see all of the sights!!  Life Is Good!!                                          

Ron & Cindy Robinett

Day 16 - Watson Lake, YT to Whitehorse, YT

Day 16 - Thursday, June 23, 2011
by:  Chris and Mary Pattison Rig #17

    Hi there from the Canadian contingent!

Today we started on the Alaska Highway at Watson Lake in the Yukon, then we went to BC, then to Yukon, then BC ………. finally we settled down in the Yukon (that’s what happens when boundaries are drawn on maps and the road has to bypass mountains!).

Our first stop was Rancheria Falls, the large parking area was soon filled with Adventure Caravan RV’s and it was worth the trip to see both the two sets of falls and also the boardwalk running up to them.

Boardwalk to Rancheria Falls

Rancheria Falls

Much of the highway is forested and there is evidence of the permafrost being close to the surface as the (mostly spruce) trees are short, scrawny and with very thin trunks. The first time I saw this I thought it was all new growth forest, nothing could be further from the truth, these are very old trees!

Marsh Lake

The gem on this day for us was the small town of Teslin. Teslin comprises two gas stations on either side of the highway and three small but deceptively good museums along the highway. The first is a wildlife gallery and as we are seeing a lot of wildlife as we travel, we passed on this and started at the George Johnson Museum. George Johnson was a Tlingit (pronounced Kling-et) in the early 1900’s who recorded his (Tlingit) people’s lives with a camera. He also purchased the first car in Teslin and it did not seem to matter that there were no roads at the time; he, along with some helpers cleared a road in the bush and provided a local taxi service along this short section of road and also the frozen Yukon River during the winter. (An interesting aside is that he traded in his car to the original Dealership for a truck 42 years later and it was received ‘without a dent on it’). If you go to the museum, you must see the video, it is 55 minutes long and an excellent history and culture lesson.

The Tlingit Heritage Centre, a few kilometers further along the highway is also worth a visit and shows more of the Tlingit culture; very interesting and we could have spent more time there.

In terms of wildlife sightings, yesterday was a feast and today was certainly a famine. All we saw was a stump bear, a black log sheep, a green bush bison and finally a (real) deer.

The day ended with a Leader catered margarita and nachos feast. As the margarita refreshed my brain, I am sure that all those wildlife sightings were real ………. Life is good!

Mary is getting us Margaritas!

 Chris n Mary

Day 15 - Liard Hot Springs, BC to Watson Lake, YT

Blog for Day 15 -Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Liard Hot Springs, BC to Watson Lake, YT
 

By: Winifred Meiser - Rig# 16

 

We woke up to the sound of silence – no raindrops falling on our overhead or anywhere nearby.  Yah!!  I know, we are in a rainforest but now I know, on our relatively short drive north to Watson Lake, we can take photos that don’t include windshield wipers.

 

Chris and Mary with Robert and Bet
enjoying no rain this morning

We spotted several wild life species that came out to enjoy the sunshine – a herd of buffalos, a small black bear having a drink in a stream, and a quick brown fox on the run.  None of them were in the mood to pose so I guess they had places to go and people to meet.  And so did we. 

At our first stop, refueling at Contact Creek, we met Evan, a nice young Swede who was sharing the highway headed south from Alaska to San Diego, CA – on his BICICLE!  He has been on the road for eight months, and expects to arrive in September.  He was nice enough to let me have a photo op with his bike. 

Evan said he sings along the way so the animals hear him coming and are not startled by him on his silent machine.

Good plan!   Later, we saw a solo hiker and I wondered what his game plan was for sudden bear encounters etc.

 

Pulling over for a late ham n eggs breakfast in our home-on-wheels gave our “tail-gunner” Spence and guardian angel Madi a chance to catch up with us laggards before we reached the “Welcome to the Yukon” sign, and after that little photo op, we all arrived at Watson Lake in time to be reunited with all 22 of our Adventure Caravan’s RV Family and a group visit to their world famous “Signpost Forest” an overnight stay at a nearby RV Park.

 

For those uninformed about the signpost forest (and lacking an internet connection) it’s a small forest of poles with signposts where visitors (thousands and thousands of us) follow the tradition started by homesick US service members who put a sign with their city and the its’ miles from the Yukon.

 

With materials provided by the Wilczynski's, Madi created a sign for all participants with our names and the Adventure Caravans 58 days tour.  Several hardy members of the group carried a battery-powered drill and a big ladder (so we could have top billing) and the rest as they say is history.  Several of us individually made signs or brought license places to nail in place.  Yes, I brought something too – a “hunkajunk” of recycled metal - THAT’LL never wear out - from the Vista Antique Steam Engine Museum (a little plug for my townJ) and used red nail polish to write our hometown and the miles we’ve travelled thus far. 

 

We all gather to hang our signs

The Caravan's sign

Winifred and George Meiser hang their "sign"

Roni and  Bruce hung their sign

But Watson Lake is more than a quick tourist stopover for one of our group Ronnie & Bruce Wilczynski, Rig #22 – it’s a part of Bruce’s family history and one of Watson Lake’s regional lore with a tale of survival, courage and

determination that made local headlines. 

  

In 1943, a USAF plane crashed in mountainous terrain near Watson Lake during a blizzard, and all aboard were given up for dead. But, nineteen days later, USAF Staff Sergeant Eddie Wilczynski (Bruce’s dad) and a civilian passenger - both crawling for four days on broken legs - were finally found by a Canadian Mounted near a Watson Lake settlement. ”Am I glad to see you!” was Eddie’s welcoming remark.

 

Reading about Staff Sergeant Wilczynski and his traveling companion dragging their broken bodies through the snowy peaks trying to avoid the ancestors of the bears we’re happily photographing today makes me think “How lucky we are in our mobile palaces with our little “Toads” faithfully following along, enjoying a glass of wine and the company of our favorite companion and friendships at the end our day’s “rough road” journey. 

 

So here’s a toast to you Eddie Wilczynski, and to all the other service members who made this Alaskan Highway and our journey possible.

Day 14 - Fort Nelson, BC to Liard Hot Springs, BC

Janice and Leslie

Day 14 - June 21st, 2011

by:  Leslie Kilpatrik and Janice Crosson Rig #15

Lots of liquid sunshine heading our way today. We have had more than our share of rain.

While in Banff Leslie bought rubber boots thinking more was to come and now walking in water is not so hard. The morning started out with a climb up Steamboat mountain having up to 10% grades. I was a little concerned but things went fine. After Denver this was a piece of cake.

Everyone was looking forward to those great cinnamon rolls Ken kept talking about at Tetsa River Lodge.

By the time we got there most of the caravan had gotten their rolls. Thanks to Carl & Chris letting us know that two rolls remained. We placed our order right away. Ken was right!!!

our cinnamon rolls

Tetsa River Lodge

Ron & Cindy stopped at Toad River Lodge and had soup which she said was also very good. 

As the day went by there was no let up with the rain. The hwy. goes along side Lake Muncho with its clear blue water. Rocks both small and large had fallen into the hwy. which everyone had to be careful not to run over. On the way we saw black bears and bison.

The campsite at Liard Hot Springs was a little hard for our 5th. wheelers to park but with help from others they got in ok.

Most of the group went to the hot springs but we chose to go out looking for animals since the rain had let up. In the morning it is  on to a new adventure.   

Day 13 - Dawson Creek, BC to Fort Nelson, BC

Day 13 - Monday, June 20, 2011

J.W. & Mary Jo Hurdle (#14)

Day 13 of our journey began on Monday morning at Milepost 0 of the Alaska Highway.  We left the soggy grounds of the RV park in Dawson Creek for a 282 mile trip (our longest day of travel so far) to Fort Nelson.  At least we started out without rain but about 100 miles into the trip the rain returned.

J.W. and Jake

Because Spence and Madi had to stay behind to assist another camper that had motorhome problems, a special thanks go out to our substitute tailgunners, Mel and Carl.  I'm not sure they were much help though, I did hear Carl tell someone before we left this morning, that if they had motorhome problems to call a wrecker. 

It rained most of the day today but the drive was good, the roads were much better than we thought they would be.  We spotted one black bear on the route.  Other spottings included a red fox, moose, and several deer.

After arriving at the Triple G Campground several of us toured the Heritage Museum.  There was so much classic stuff to view, it was hard to see everything.  There was also a big collection of antique cars, trucks, motorcycles and farm equipment.

L to R Gene and Marge Arnott, Jill and Art Spierre

Mary Jo and J.W. Hurdle

 It was good to see those that were delayed today arrive at the campground early.

Looking forward to a day of sunshine and no rain tomorrow.

Day 12 - Dawson Creek, BC

Day 12 - June 19, 2011

By:  Bert and Carol Henderson Rig#13.5

Arriving at the Northern Lights RV Park late in the afternoon on June 18, we were greeted by the park owners who assisted our wagon master, Ken Adams, park some large RV’s in some very snug (tight) spots [So tight that some of them had to paint Vaseline on their side to slip into their lot] . After taking time to connect utilities, we made our way into the nicely converted old school house for a program on the local area given to us by Kielti from the local Visitors’ Bureau.

After a great night’s sleep, a familiar sound knocked on our roof this morning; just like many of the other days we’ve spent on the road. Rain and water greeted us when the alarm rang at 6:30 a.m. to begin the 12^th day’s activities on our Alaskan expedition.

Bert and Carol at Milepost 0

First thing in the morning(or soon thereafter), with camera in hand or better yet in the back of my SUV, we ride shared into Dawson Creek for a photograph at the mile zero post for all the 44 participants of the Adventure Caravan’s  2011 58 day Rocky Mountain, Alaska RV Caravan. Fortunately for us the rain stopped to give us time to get pictures taken without anyone having to use a rain coat, umbrella, or a damp towel.

Carol and I later attended church service in town this morning and returned soon after that to the Northern Lights RV Park to go on an expedition to The Old Kiskatinaw Bridge. The longest curved wooden on the old Alaska Highway is not a busy part of the new road. Built in 1942, the structure is very sound and easily supported the two travel trailers we saw cross the bridge during our visit.

Kiskatinaw Bridge

Bert and Carol on Old Kiskatinaw Bridge

During the driver’s meeting, Ken explained some of the road conditions and what the driving will be like on our way to Ft. Nelson.  Considering there are some steep grades to travel both up and down, drivers were encouraged to downshift to safely travel down the 6% to 10% grades that we’ll encounter during tomorrow’s 7 hour drive.

After the driver’s meeting Ken explained to a group of RV owners who wanted to know how to reduce a coach’s electrical load considering some of the electrical service we’ve had in some of the RV parks.  Many of the coaches were not functioning well on 30 amp services. Voltage dropped and the current would also drop triggering many of the electrical safe guards built into some of the new coaches to shed load by tripping their internal breakers.

School bus

Ken finished in time for all to board a charter bus to attend dinner at a local game farm.  A tarp covered the dining area with a real wood fire going to add a touch of real camping to the shindig. When dinner was served the meal was spectacular with boar, elk, and buffalo served in different dishes. Desserts were decadent and abundant. After eating our fill the owner took all who were interested on a walking tour of the facility. The tour group saw and hand feed, elk, reindeer, and the donkeys.  The last stop for the tour was visiting the 150 head buffalo herd or some semblance thereof. With everyone filled with great food and having a better understanding of a “Wild Game Farm” we said farewell to the host and hostess we were driven back to our coaches that beckoned us for a good night’s sleep for an early morning departure for Ft. Nelson and our first day’s travel on the Alaska Highway.

Feeding "Buddy" the dog

Day 11 - Prince George, BC to Dawson Creek, BC

Day 11 - Saturday, June 18, 2011

Gilbert & Jenna Hall - Rig 12

On the Road to Dawson Creek

Our day began with everyone busily packing up, connecting towed vehicles, and striking out for Dawson Creek.  For us, our preparations to leave were compounded by a jack that refused to retract.  Thanks to Robert Delcuze in Rig 8 for helping me get it up so that we could join the 248 mile exodus north. 

Today was a day of stark contrasts.  We left a major city, drove into mountains, and ended up on rolling plains. Cloudy skies and jacket weather gave way to sunshine and warm temperatures. Excellent highways were replaced by rough, muddy, rocky construction sites. Along the way we were treated to beautiful mirror smooth lakes, swiftly moving rivers and an amazing waterfall. Wildflowers were abundant during the first leg of the trip and a Stellar Jay posed for pictures at Bijoux Falls. At Azouette Lake Lodge Bet, Robert, Jenna and I watched number of scuba divers apparently learning to dive in Lake Azouette.  I'm sure the clear mountain lake is an excellent place for diving.



Stellar Jay

Bijoux Falls

Scuba divers

Three fourths of the way to Dawson Creek we were treated to an amazing collection of chainsaw wood carved sculptures in Chetwynd.  It is hard to believe that artisans could create such intricate sculptures in just 35 hours using chainsaws and other woodworking tools. I couldn't produce such beauties in 35 years! I was particularly intrigued with the benches and the praying mantis, but there was nothing shabby about all the others. The city of Chetwynd has discovered a great way to attract tourists.

Gilbert and Jenna

Upon our arrival in Dawson Creek our wagonmaster had arranged to have Keltie Durrell from the Dawson Creek Visitor's Center give us a brief history of the Alaska Highway.  Her presentation was informative and entertaining.
The fact that the U. S. Military along with the assistance of Canada was able to build such a long and winding road under such harsh conditions in only 9 months is amazing.  Such a project today would take 9 years just to do the environmental impact study and get the project approved, and the budget would be in the trillions.

Following the presentation, Chris Pattison from Rig 17, and Robert Delcuze came to our aid when they tore into the gearbox on our landing jacks.  After a couple of hours of labor, they were able to get us back into working order. Thanks guys!  That's one thing I have noticed about the people on this journey; everyone is so willing to help. That is another reason to take an Adventure Caravan tour.  The security of having dozens of minds to call on for help is invaluable. 

Tomorrow is another exciting and fun day!  Till then - Happy Trails!

Day 10 - Prince George, BC

Adventure Caravans 
Day 10 - Friday, June 17
By:  Dick and Diane Hall-Unit 11

We are spending our second day in Prince George, BC.　
We filled up the park with our 22 rigs.  We have had two beautiful, sunny days.　

This morning we took a trip into town to get our car washed.  It was hard to see out the windows.　Not far from the main section of stores, we saw signs to watch out for moose.  We didn't see any, but the sign was close to neighborhoods.

We made a stop at Costco which made us feel at home.

After our trip meeting we enjoyed a delicious potluck.   A lot of special dishes with food left over!   Madi and Spence shared two pies -- cherry and apple from Purden's which was closed when we stopped.  Spence went to the back door is what was the rumor.

Dick and Diane, filling their plates at the potluck

Park owner, Rob, thanked us for staying in his park and welcomed us back again on our return to the states. He had a gift of playing cards for anyone that guessed his age. Diane was the first to guess and she guessed 45. That was correct and the game was over.

The entertainment was watching games of Bean Bag and another called Washers.　

Spence is getting the hang of it

Chris Findley taking aim 

Bruce sunk one in.

Roni looks so serious!

everyone was having fun watching the action

Day 9 - Valemount, BC to Prince George, BC

Day 9 - Thursday, June 16, 2011
By Carl & Chris Findley,  Unit 10

Arrived Prince George, BC today from Valemont.  We were joined by the other three units. We would like to welcome Don & Jacque Smith (Smith?? Obviously an alias) from Texas.  Ron & Cindy Robinett from Florida.  Lee & Pug Cook from Washington State.

  

Don and Jacque

Lee and Pug

Ron and Cindy

Same old start of a travel day - cool, overcast and windy. We however did arrive to a beautiful sunny afternoon at the Southpark RV Park. Why is it that the farther north we go the warmer the weather gets? 

Despite the high recommendation by Spence of the pie stop many of us were disappointed after drooling all morning with thought of a piece of pie for lunch. They were closed.  Some of the folks chose to have picnic lunch at tables outside the store.  Spence was severely chastised at tonights social. After being given 2 strikes for the road log boo boo’s Ken and Carole gave us all mosquito zappers and they were forgiven.

There were many animal sightings today, especially bears and mosquitoes .  There were also a few cows, horses and road construction workers. We personally chased a black bear  down the highway  until he realized he couldn’t out run us and went off into the woods.`

Parking our campers  at Southpark became quite a spectator sport. Some of the sites were a bit of a chore, especially backing in the fifth wheels.  Those of us lucky enough to have pull thru sites got to watch the show.