Day 52 - Skagway, Alaska

Day 52, Friday, July 29, 2011

Skagway, AK

Richard and Beverly Enderlein Rig #9

This morning we were treated to a delicious breakfast prepared for us by our wonderful staff, Carol and Ken and Madi and Spence.  It consisted of omelets in a bag, orange juice, coffee, bacon and toast or biscuits.  Even the weather cooperated and didn’t rain.  I heard it said that Spence is learning to cook.  So far he has mastered hamburger on the Barbeque and toast. 

Spence and Madi preparing our breakfast

Carole and Ken showing us how to make our eggs in a bag

While we were waiting for breakfast most of us visited but some just cannot stand to have idle hands and Jackie really seems to be happy doing what she was doing.  What is it they say about idle hands? 

Jackie is crocheting a blanket

After breakfast we had our travel briefing presented by our Wagon Master Ken.  We are all finally getting the hang of things so the briefing didn’t take quite as long as they used to.  Even though we are going to be traveling over 300 miles to Northern Beaver Post, YT, we have been over most of the roads before so we already knew what to expect.

Next we were all treated to an excellent show on bears.  Thank you Cindy Robinett.  She is one very talented person with the computer.  This was no ordinary show but one highlighting the bears we have seen so far on the trip set to the cutest music and captions.

Shortly after noon about 30 of us went on the White Pass Summit Excursion that departed from the Skagway railroad depot.  Because there were so many of us, we were able to have a whole car to ourselves.  The scenery was pretty.  At the top of White Pass, the engine disconnected and went to the back of the train which then became the front of the train.  We were also told to be nice and switch sides of the train so everyone could have a view of the canyon and the White Pass Trail which the miners took to the Yukon River and the gold fields. 

waiting for our train

on our way up the hill

On May 28, 1898, construction was started on the White Pass & Yukon narrow gauge railroad.  It was completed on July 29, 1900.  The track consisted of 110 miles of track, cliff hanging turns of 16 degrees, two tunnels, numerous bridges and trestles.  A lot of the work took place in winter with temperatures as low as 60 degrees below and heavy snow.  In 1982 , after the mines closed, the WP & YR suspended operations.  It reopened in 1988 to operate as a narrow gauge excursion railroad.

I contacted Winifred and George Meiser to see how they were doing.  They have hooked up with the Adventure Caravan Tour that is one week behind us.  They had seen enough of Valdez so they are waiting for the other tour to reach Tok and then they will travel with them.  They said they are sorry that they didn’t get to say goodbye to everyone and that they miss us.

George and Winifred say Hi and Goodbye to all of us

After dinner we went downtown for an hour of gambling and fun.  We were each given $1,000 in play money to gamble with.  The big winner from our group was Jacque Smith who won $10,000 but was beat out by a stranger who won $10,300.

Next on our agenda was the play “Days of ’98 show” which was the story of Jefferson “Soapy” Smith.  Dave Coleman was selected to play a “john” which he played as if he was born to the part.  Diane Hall and Mary Pattison were chosen to be Can Can Dancers and they too were quick to learn the part and did a great job.  By the amount of laughter that was heard, I would say we all enjoyed the performance.

Dave "Poopsy" Coleman

Diane and Mary "working it"

Dave is a happy man as he receives his certificate

Tonight is our last night in Alaska and we are all feeling a little sad to be leaving this beautiful state but home and normalcy is calling.   Besides we need to go home to get caught up on some rest.

Day 51 - Skagway, Alaska (cruise to Juneau)

Robert and Bet

Friday, July 29, 2011

Day 51

Skagway, Alaska

By:  Robert and Bet Delcuze

Up early this morning to be at the boat dock at 7:30 for the ferry to Juneau.

Upon arrival at the dock Ron Robinett shared a proclamation from the authorities in Skagway relative to Gil, a stop sign, and his Jr. Ranger Certificate.  Seems he may be on probation if he is to remain a Jr. Ranger.  Big brother is watching.

We all get comfortable on the Catamaran

The ferry is really a 65 foot catamaran powered by two 600 HP diesels, cruises at 28 knots (about 30 mph), was constructed in Washington State and put in service April Fool’s Day 2001.  A crew of two, Captain Glenn and his able deckhand, Christy.  Christy did everything except drive the boat.  She prepared and served brunch handled all the lines (ropes) and runs the 400m low hurdles at the college she attends in Ohio.

We stopped to view a sea lion on the rocks; he had arrived early for the mating season in April 2012. 

Lonely young bull waiting for the females to arrive
IN APRIL 

Capt. Glenn chased several pods of hump back whales, which at best you can get a picture of the blow, and maybe the tail flip, but it was exciting to see. 

Humpback showing us his tail

Capt. Glenn, who is an experienced whale guy, got this picture……….

WOW!

Juneau has 30 miles of roads, none of which lead out of town.  John Hanson, bus driver and narrator, never stopped talking the whole trip; even recites original poetry. 

We had 3 hours to spread the wealth around Juneau, i.e., buy food, jewelry, or candy.  Boat tourists everywhere. 

Mendenhall Glacier and the visitor’s center completed the trip back to the ferry. 



Mendenhall Glacier

The return boat trip was delayed 30 minutes while Capt. Glenn replaced the port engine cooling water pump impeller. 

Highlight of the return trip was viewing of a grizzly mom and cub catching salmon. 



Mama and baby bear having a snack

Eldridge Rock light house and the story of its haunting completed the 2 ½ hour journey home.



Eldridge Rock Lighthouse with sea lions and otters all around

 Tied up to the dock at 9:00 p.m., tired but happy to find our land legs.




Day 50 - Skagway, Alaska

Day 50             

Gilbert & Jenna Hall  Rig #12
Wednesday, July 27         

Gilbert and Jenna Hall

A Free Day in Skagway

Skagway is known for it's rainy foggy weather, and today started out just that way.  It looked as if our free day might be a rainy day.  But as time went by, the rain stopped, the fog lifted and we ended up with a pretty good day weatherwise.

Many from our group took advantage of the stores on tourist trap row in downtown Skagway to make a few souvenier purchases.  Christmas shopping or just getting something to remember our trip by was what many chose to do.  Kris and Karl found bargains on jackets as they braved the crowds from the four cruise ships that were in port today.  We were able to find a lot of "Alaska made" gifts in the locally owned stores.

Chris and Carl Findley

Optional activities were a part of today's agenda for many.  Roni, Bruce, Chris, Mary, Ron and Jackie all went to the Musher's Camp to learn about dog-sledding.  the camp, located near Dyea was up on a high hill.  A large pen of puppies attracted a lot of attention from everyone. After a briefing on mushing, everyone loaded a converted Mercedes truck for long ride up the mountain to the track.  All six of our hearty companions climbed into a sled to take a turn around the track with the sleddogs leading the way.  After the ride everyone had the opportunity to pet and play with the puppies and the other dogs.



Adventure Caravan Mushing Crew





In the afternoon 15 brave souls challenged the Alaskan Zipline. The whole zipline course was set high on the side of a mountain.  We were required to ride 800' up extremely steep roads in the same converted Mercedes truck to reach the staging camp. After gearing up, which took quite a while and inspired lots of laughs, we practiced on a short "bunny" run just to get the feel of the ride. The 2nd run required you to run about 20 feet and jump off a cliff; the 3rd run found us on a platform 75' above the ground. The only way down was to step off the edge and slide down the cable.  It took a little talking by Roni and Cindy to get Jenna to take that step.  The fourth run was a long 753' run through the trees about 50' off the ground.  All of the other runs were short but fast. This whole venue was just built this past winter.  They cut the roads, milled timbers from the trees they cut down, and built suspension bridges, walkways and platforms all over the side of the mountain. A swift moving mountain stream tumbled over huge boulders throughout the course.  It was an amazingly beautiful site and a somewhat frightening course to zip - probably more frightening to some than others. Ken laid back and took in the sites while zipping. Chris on the other hand snapped photos in flight.  Janice amazed us all with her five=pointed star flight.  Marge was apprehensive at the beginning, but she took to zipping lke a bird to flight.  While most enjoyed the whole activity, others were more than happy to see the final line.

Adventure Caravans Ziplining Crew

Roni suiting up

Art and Jill are ready

all the ladies

part of the course



Jenna getting ready to go

Gilbert ziplining

Free days are also days to catch up on sleep, get the laundry done, clean house or just relax with a good book.  I'm sure everyone enjoyed his free day whether they shopped, mushed, zipped or just relaxed.

Tomorrow, its off to Juneau.  Till then - Happy trails. 

Day 49 - Destruction Bay, Yukon to Skagway, Alaska

Adventure Caravans

Alaska 2011- 58 Day

Blog – Tuesday, July 26, 2011-Day #49

Prepared by Dave & Lynn Coleman – Rig #6

Today was a travel day.  269.5 Miles from Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory to Skagway, Alaska

It rained all night last night. While I’m sure we would all have loved to sleep in on this rainy morning after our lovely meal and entertainment provided by our host (Loren) at the Destruction Bay RV Park last night, it was an early start. Several rigs were out before our fearless leaders, intent on getting gas, or seeing to repairs en route. #1 was out as scheduled by 8am (7am by our bodies’ Alaska time—ugh!!). After several “one night stands” we are all looking forward to getting to Skagway where we can settle in for a few days.

While pulling out of the park, Ron and Jackie were flagged down by a gentleman at the gas station—apparently he and Gil got their gas payments switched and Gil had paid much more than he should have.  The other gentleman was heading in the other direction and was trying to get the attention of one of our members to rectify the situation.  Fortunately Gil hadn’t gone far, and was able to hear the discussion on the CB and returned to get these high finances straightened out.

The roads today were much better than yesterday.

We had a beautiful drive along the Kluane Lake, and thought it would have been really spectacular in the sunshine.

21 miles out we passed the location of the official opening of the ALCAN in 1942. While we may complain about a few bumps in the road, it is truly amazing to think about what these young men accomplished nearly 70 years ago, and the conditions in which they did it.

At mile 51.6 our road log shows: “Highest point on the remainder of our caravan…”, guess that means it’s all downhill from here…

We spotted a coyote, and heard reports of chipmunk and bunny sightings. We haven’t had a social since arriving, so this may not represent a full report of wildlife sightings.

Our traveling group stopped at a bakery in Haines Junction for coffee and a snack. The bakery was located across the street from the Kluane Visitors’ Center, where we spoke with a nice young lady who had been traveling the road with us on her way to Haines.  She was amazed at the size of our rigs and said she had passed many of us on the road and assured us we were all quite courteous and made it easier for other drivers such as herself to pass safely.  One of our drivers recalled seeing her on the road and remarked that she had passed us in a safe manner. It’s nice to get a compliment after weeks of suffering through occasional one-finger salutes and frequent scary situations when we are simply trying to get down the road and share it with others safely.

Emerald Lake is, indeed, a beauty.

 

Emerald Lake

The world’s smallest desert was worth a quick photo stop.

We crossed over from the Yukon Territory, to British Columbia, and back in the USA after 250 miles.

The last 10 miles or so down the incline into Skagway were blanketed in thick fog. We were unable to see the rig in front of us if we were back more than 50 feet.  It was a scary few miles, and then some of us in the later groups got stuck at customs for about 45 minutes.  We were apparently going through at the same time many of the cruise ship tour buses were returning to Skagway.

Our rigs arrived safely in Skagway (some with repairs, some “patched up” and some with a new part or two) and we will be sharing stories of the drive over the next few days.

Day 48 - Tok, Alaska to Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory

Alaska Bound Monday, July 25, 2011, Day 48

Destruction Bay

By:  Bert and Carol Henderson, Rig # 13.⁵

A projected long day means an early alarm. At 6 a.m. we arose to drink our early ready cup of coffee. Knowing we had to leave at 7:31 a.m. meant all of our morning preparations were abbreviated to meet the early departure time. The reason we leave so early in the morning is because the road is projected to be less than friendly to our travel. There are places that we know we’ll have to drive at five or 10 miles per hour, greatly increasing our travel time.

When we left the RV Park in Tok the drive to the fueling station was thankfully short. No calculations of mileage, fuel consumption, and speed were necessary to travel the few hundred yards to the station. Fortunately my coach only needed about 15 gallons of gas to top off the tank. Now I have the freedom to travel between 350 and 400 miles.

When we left Tok the fog was dressing the mountain tops and bogs with a beautiful covering of white cotton.        

        

Fortunately for us the fog did not cover or attempt to be anywhere near us during our travels. That is one hazard we didn’t have to worry about during our drive.

The destination today is Destruction Bay, Canada—about 225 miles from Tok, Alaska. We were treated to our first really bad road considering our travel on the Top-Of-The-World Highway was suppose to be the epitome of terrible highway. Today’s road was washboard, potholed, frost heaves (the first major encounter), rock, gravel, and swirls of tons of dust. Our vehicles, both RV and toweds, got really crusty with more dirt. I washed my coach in Valdez and the unit stayed clean for the three days in the RV Park. As soon as we hit the road we were covered with pounds of mud and slop! Today we just piled more on; you can’t see in the windows or tell what color the vehicle is.

We stopped at the rest area less than a mile away from the RV Park in Destruction Bay to have lunch and to sit until the designated time, 2:30 p.m. When we arrived at the designated time, our wagon master parked the arriving rigs expediously in an interleaved manor, i.e., front to back in the sites. For utilities, this park only provides water and electricity, no sewer; so boon-docking is in order for this stay. That’s not a problem because we’ve loaded on a sufficient amount of fresh water and our black and gray water tanks are clean and empty. That just means we’ll have less to disconnect for our morning departure.

Carol and I walked around the facility and take pictures for the folks back home to see some of the scenery that is afforded us out of our coach window on this trip. 

We also walk next door to the motel that has a gift shop so we can purchase hat pin souvenirs. I ask if they have walking stick pins and I get the usual, “No!” So I buy an extra hat pin for my Alaska hat.

We have a driver’s meeting scheduled at 5:30 p.m. today with a dinner and show to follow. The dinner was a marvelous slice to order roast beef with smoked potato salad, baked beans, garden salad, and a wonderful apple crisp with tons of whip cream. J About 8:30 p.m. Loren, our cook, tour guide, and performer, gave us some history of Destruction Bay and included songs and personal anecdotes of where we are and what we’ve seen during our short stay. At 9:15 p.m.  

Loren thanked us and Adventure Caravans and wished us well in our journeys. What a great way to end the evening and a tiring drive.

More to follow later!

--END--

Day 47 - Valdez, Alaska to Tok, Alaska

VALDEZ TO TOK

SUNDAY, July 24, 2011 - DAY 47

DOT & MEL BOLTON, RIG #4

WE AWOKE TO A HEAVY BLANKET OF FOG OUTSIDE AT 7 A.M.        

 

BY 7:20 IT WAS RAINING WHILE SPENCE WENT AROUND ‘THUMPING' THE TIRES.

WE TOOK OFF AT 8:30AM BEHIND CHRIS AND CARL FINDLEY IN THE FOG.

THE FOG, MOUNTAINS AND SNOW MADE A PRETTY PICTURE.

WE PASSED BRIDAL VEIL FALLS AND SAW THE POLES IN THE GROUND THAT ARE LIGHTS THAT HELP THE SNOW PLOW DRIVERS KNOW WHERE THE EDGE OF THE ROAD IS IN A SNOW STORM.

NEXT WE PASSED WORTHINGTON GLACIER COVERED WITH FOG.

THE FINDLEYS AND US STOPPED AT POSTY’S TRADING POST, DID NOT FIND A RESTURANT SO WE ATE IN THE RIGS AND CONTINUED ON OUR WAY.

WE STOPPED A HOUR LATER TO READ A SIGN TELLING ABOUT THE FIRST TELEGRAPH LINES THE ARMY PUT UP TO CONNECT ITS WIDELY SEPARATED GOLD RUSH POSTS. THE PROJECT WAS STARTED IN 1900 AND FINISHED JUNE 27, 1903.

WE ARRIVED IN CAMP IN TIME TO WASH OUR RIG AND TRUCK AND GET READY FOR OUR TRAVEL BRIEFING.

KEN TRIED TO REALLY IMPRESS US ON THE NEED TO “SLOW DOWN” BECAUSE OF THE MANY FROST HEAVES ON THE ROADS TOMORROW.

BUDDY BEAR WAS PRESENTED TO MEL AND ME BY LYNN AND DAVE COLEMAN.  WE WERE THEN SERVED A WONDERFUL DINNER OF POTATOES, HAM, SALAD AND PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE BY KEN AND CAROL, SPENCE AND MADI.  BUDDY BEAR ENJOYED HIS 2 PKGS. OF HONEY BEFORE BEING PUT TO BED BY DOT.

IT IS SAD TO THINK THAT WE ONLY HAVE 11 MORE DAYS TOGETHER.