7-29 Home Sweet Home

Left Wilderness State Park and headed south. After a couple of road detours, we got  home at 2 pm.

Just wanted to wish my husband Scot a very happy birthday today and to thank him for all the 11,600 miles we traversed across the country. Thank you one and all for all your prayers and support. It truly was another trip of our lifetime. Amen.

7-28 Wilderness State Park, MI

Beautiful view of the bridge

7-27 Fayette Historical State Park

This is a must see destination.

7-26 Mountain, WI

Left at 8:33 am. It practically rained all night. Rain off and on all the way to Antigo, WI. Stopped and bought gas, beer and cheese curds. Finally reached Mountain and checked in at the little snack office.
Talked to the owner and told him that we visited a couple times years ago. His parents used to run the campground. $25 per site and had to pay cash. Mosquitoes were waiting for us! Drove around Mountain to try to remember some sites. Finally went to Everbreeze to remember some great times at the old cabins with Scot's sisters and all our kids. The bar has a great view of Chute Pond. The cabins have been updated. It was a very muddy day due to all the rain.

7-25 Chippewa Falls, MN

Visited the Leinenkugel's brewery. Great deal on tour and glass to enjoy samples.

7-24 Garfield, MN

Up at 5:45 am and took off heading to Fargo, ND. Got off at Fargo to get cheap gas $1.99. What a fiasco! Roads were under construction. Decided to head to Fergus Falls to shop at Walmart. More road construction on our way to Garfield. Camped at Oak Park Kampground. Beautiful park with a swimming pool, paddleboats, electric, water, showers, wife....the works!

7-23 Medora, ND

We visited the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We spotted prairie dogs and buffalo. It was very hot here, upper 90's, with no shade from trees at our campsite.

7-21 & 22 Three Forks, MT

Staying here for two days. Very hot & humid.  This is called the Buffalo Jump where the buffalo were  coaxed into falling off the cliff and died instantly. Then the First Nation used their hides, bones and meat for their tribes.

7-20 Kellogg, ID

Finally found a campground "Crystal Gold". Camp sites are very hard to find these days.

7-19 The Dalles, OR

Up at 5:30 am. Made breakfast and got on roadsI5 to 405S steering clear of Seattle. Traffic was still horribly busy. Sightings of Mt  Ranier and Mt Saint Helens. Stopped at Multnomah Falls & ate lunch.

Camped at Deshuetes River State Park. Great place.

7-18 Mt. Vernon, WA

Drove to Seattle to visit the Space Needle. It was about 60 miles but took about 1 1/2 hrs. due to traffic.  Must see destination also.

7-17 Mt. Vernon, WA

On our way back to the USA, we went through customs. What a fiasco Delayed an hour.  We declared our fruits & veggies and got into some trouble. Two officials checked our truck & trailer and said that we were good to go.Camped at  Bayview Campground in Mt. Vernon, WA. Walked to the Padilla Bay Beach.

7-16 Chilliowack, BC

Went to Vancouver to explore for the day. It was recommended that we check out Stanley Park. Busy traffic all the way. The park was free but had to pay for parking. $7.00 for 2 hours of fun.Tons of people walking, biking, roller blades, and horse drawn carriages. It's a must see destination!

7-15 Chilliwack, BC

Left the Silver Star Campground after the sani -dump opened at 8:00am. Usually we don't have to wait, but it was locked. We like to leave earlier and avoid some traffic on the road. Finally found a car wash that was suitable to watch the Wolf Pup. Sunny 75 degrees. We crossed the highest peak of 5749 elevation on our way to Chilliwack. Passed through some tourist towns, around lakes, etc. Nice relaxing ride today. Reached Cottonwood Meadow Campground around 1:30 pm. Called the campsite couple times to make sure that we could stay here for two days. This campsite was recommended by a camper Scot met in the last campsite in Vernon. Nice small campground with the cleanest "wash rooms", this is what restrooms are labeled in Canada. Nothing else around here except the Visitors Station and a couple gas stations. There is a Best Western that also sells liquor. No grocery store in Canada sells alcohol.

7-14 Vernon, BC

Another long drive through the beautiful mountains. Scot has been doing all the driving. Finally got to Vernon and camped at the Silver Star RV Park. Thank goodness they had sites left and a swimming pool. Thank goodness it was 80 degrees and we were totally ready for a swim. Busy place. Plan to be in Vancouver is a couple days.

7-13 Jasper National Park

Had to change our route due to the wild fires here in Canada. On our way to Jasper, there were some dark clouds and lightening on top of the mountains. It started to rain, then it decided to rain harder and then came the hail. It was coming down so hard and fast that we couldn't even see where we were going. I rolled down my window just to check where the end of the road was. Thanks goodness there was no one in front of us or behind us. Scary moments.........
Once we got to Jasper there were no camp  sites available. Thank goodness for an overflow lot. We were tired of driving. Actually, the scenery was great. There were about 50 other campers there also. No hook ups, but we were already prepared with supplies.  The cost of camping here was $12.70, Canandian money.

7-12 Dawson Creek.....again.

Saw one bear leaving our campsite this am. Pouring rain and of course dusty road conditions. Lots of scenery to look at and watch for wildlife. This town was a lot more fun the first time coming through. Total mileage: 7269.

Saw this group near the Northern Rockies

7-11 Tetsa River

Turned out to be a great day for animal sightings, better than Denali!  Bears, buffalo, moose & stone sheep.  No comment on the dusty road construction today :(

7-10 Teslin

Drove to Skagway today. What a trip!  Roads were very winding and steep overlooks. Quaint little town & great for souvenirs. Last day in Alaska.

Whitehorse, YT

Up at 4:30 am, 47 degrees and ready to hit the road all the way to Whitehorse. Lots of snowshoe hares. After checking through customs, we stopped at the Welcome Center in YT and I spoke french to the hostess. It was very sunny when we took off but the rain started off and on all the way to Whitehorse. More road construction due to permafrost road repairs. Not much other wild life today.
Mountains were still beautiful with all the snow at the top yet. Finally reached Whitehorse and checked in again at the Pioneer RV Park. Thank goodness there were an extra spot that we could use for the night. Heading to Sagway, Ak tomorrow. Yes, going through customs again.

Tok, AK

After fighting off the mosquitoes while we were emptying the tank, we were heading off to Tok, AK.
Road constructions continues. Not much wildlife today. Stopped at a Three Bears grocery store but it was very expensive & no beer. Had to go around the corner to another building - Three Bears liquor store - to buy some beer, not much because we were headed to customs tomorrow. Camped at the same place called Tok River State Campground. Got a corner site next to where we were a few weeks ago.

Cooked chicken on the grill, played cribbage and went to bed early to start early the next day. Campgrounds are really full these days and good thing we stop early to check in.

Glennallen, AK

What a beautiful drive here today through the mountains from Portage to Glennallen. Stopped for groceries and gas in Palmer at Fred Meyer's. Gas was $2.61/gallon. The price is coming down. Along the way there was a two day "Fireweed" 400 round-trip bike race to Valdez, which begins and ends at Sheep Mountain Lodge.  It can be 50, 100, 200 or 300 miles. We saw at least 30 cyclists. Arrived at the Tolsona Wilderness Campground at 1:00pm. It's a Good Sam's Park so we get a $5.00 discount. Mosquitoes are free. Wi-fi available near the restrooms, not at our campsite.

Portage, Ak

Left at 7:00 am, said goodbye to the Pellegroms and headed south. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. Took a road trip to Hope, AK. It was an old gold mining town about 17 miles off the Sterling Highway. Beautiful view across the Turnagain/Cook Inlet.

Arrived at Williwaw Campground at 11:00 am. Went back to the same state park where we were on
6-27 with the Pellegroms. Very nice sunny day so we decided to go on a glacier boat ride on Portage Lake, which lasted one hour. After that we went for an hour hike. Thank goodness we didn't see any bears! They have been spotted in the area. In fact, our neighbor told us that there was one at the park entrance that night.

Kenai, AK

Goodbye Homer. Thanks Carole & Dick for a wonderful time.

Happy 4th of July, Homer, AK

Planning to go to the American Legion for a burger & beer. Parade at 6pm.

Homer, AK

Went exploring in Homer today. Finally the rain stopped & the sun came out, but still chilly 60's. Checked out a few breweries along the way.

Homer, AK

We caught the big one!

Shopping with Carole, my college roommate

The marina

Homer, AK

Went to the Homer's farmers market today which had fresh vegetables, food vendors, and artist tents. Some Russian ladies were selling their homemade baked goodies, hats and jewelry, etc.

Here's a photo of an eagle perched on top of Moose Manor:

Homer, AK

Had a great night sleep in Moose Manor. Went to Fritz Creek General Store for lunch. They had the best pulled pork & chicken lemon soup. Took a tour of the town. Had to get groceries at Safeway. There's always a separate store right next door for beer, wine, and liquor sales. Scot made ribs on the grill. Spotted eagles flying around.

A photo of the Homer Spit

Homer, AK

Left for Homer which is 90 miles away at 9:00 am. It's 48 degrees and raining. It  has been a very picturesque ride on two lane paved roads. Lots of small towns, villages, rivers, and streams. Arrived at 11:00 am. Took us a while to back up the Wolf Pup next to Carole's Moose Mansion (pictured below). Went out to lunch at Land's End and had a great bowl of chowder with fish & chips.Their house overlooks Cook's Outlet. Total distance traveled thus far: 5,126 miles

Sterling, AK

We left about 9:00am and headed south to Homer. Only 49 degrees and rainy. We found a campsite @ Alaska Canoe in Sterling, AK. Thank goodness the sun came out and got 10 degrees warmer.

This was a picture of Moose Pass. Very scenic route today.

Whittier, AK

We camped at an Alaskan State Park, Portage Glacier, AK with the Pellegroms. We set up camp and unhooked the trailers. Despite the wind & rain we enjoyed our visit to Whittier, which is a village on the Prince William Sound. Rick drove his truck through the train tunnel that was $13. Ate some delicious clam chowder at a sea side restaurant called Swiftwater Seafood Cafe.

Palmer, AK

Palmer is just outside of Anchorage. Met the Pellegroms here at Big Bear RV Campground. Still have plenty of daylight & its difficult to sleep at night. Enjoying a beer to celebrate our trip to Alaska.