See You on the Road...

We've reached the end of our journey as a group of 5 coaches. We've stopped in Valmount, BC to stage and plan for our trips down the Icefields Parkway, one of the most beautiful drives in Canada. But how can we see even more beauty? I look forward to it.

But for now, we've gathered to have a farewell dinner and give thanks for all we've seen and done. It's been 3 months and about 8,500 miles. What an undertaking! And even more amazing, we are relatively unscathed by illness or mechanical breakdown. Actually, that's more like a miracle. 

For all they've seen and done, they look amazingly relaxed. The company of good people will do that to you. Craig and I have been honored to be a part of this group and will always be thankful for the friendships we've made. We hope to see you all again very soon.

Safe travels and God Bless.

Mama Yeh...

We've turned the corner and started for home. The lure of home and family is almost more than we can control. We are just off the Cassiar and heading toward the Icefield Parkway in Jasper National Park, a beautiful destination.

Actually, a man lives here.

We are trying to quell the urge to run for the border. As usual, there is much to see as we go along. As we passed through Smithers, BC, we decided to check out The Shoe House. Yes, it is a house, shaped like a shoe. The owner allows you to walk about on the grounds and even had a guest book you could sign. Just beware, it is 22 miles out in the country, and I swear we heard banjos.

Taking it for a spin...

Two avid outdoorsmen.

Next along the route, was a stop to see the World's Largest Fly Rod, in Houston, BC. It was surprisingly true to life, according to Craig, our tour fly fisherman. 




We stopped in Prince George, BC for an overnight to visit the Costco and go the Wendy's (That's for Tom). Since we are into the "high" season, it's becoming more and more difficult to find space for 5 RVs. Our choice in Prince George was a fun one. Mama Yeh RV Park was, shall we say, unconventional? And we just came back from Alaska, so that is saying something. 

Paula called to make reservations and spoke with the owner. He is a lovely man, and very excited to have you stay at his RV park. He had been working on improvements for several years, and it was great to support a small business owner. His enthusiasm was contagious.

Joan, Craig and Van checking in.

We were advised to check in at the office. When we arrived, the office consisted of an Easy-Up with folding tables and a mailbox. You could fill out your information, put your money in an envelope and go to your sight. The hanging flower baskets were a nice touch. 

Yours truly at the Internet Cafe/Wifi Hotspot.

Our sights were long and surprisingly level. The owner came by in the afternoon and handed out the WiFi codes, to be used at the office. I decided to try to connect, even though there was a sign on the table about bears in the area. Eaten While Surfing would be on my tombstone. Luckily, no unwanted guests.






It was a fairly quiet place to spend the night, and another one of a kind experience. 

How many of those can you have, anyway?

Miracle in a Can...

To what am I referring? Do you remember long ago in a land far, far away, when some excited people began an amazing adventure? Their journey took them to farms and rivers, fields and Austin, MN? Yes. I'm referring to our visit to the Spam Museum. There we learned all about Hormel Foods, the many varieties of Spam and Spam's contribution to the war effort. "Miracle in a Can" was their war time slogan.

Spam Selection

In that post so long ago, I promised that we would one day have a Spam tasting. That day came as we sat by a river in British Columbia. We all pitched in side dishes and Craig got out the grill. We felt grilling would release the special flavor of the Spam. 

Looks Yummy?

We chose 5 flavors to taste and Ms. Paula Moore prepared them for cooking. She may not eat a lot of Spam, but she is a dauntless cook, as we've learned on this trip. We had Black Pepper, Chorizo, Bacon, Teriyaki and Portuguese Sausage Spam. 

Van trying to control "The Grillmaster"

Craig threw them on the grill and the smell of canned meat was everywhere.

Thankfully, no fighting as there was enough for everyone to have a slice of each type. We gorged ourselves on Spam and then finished off with a yummy banana pie made by Joan.

One Happy and Satisfied Group!

No Spam tasting would be complete without a survey of everyone's favorite. Drumroll please.... There was 1 vote for Black Pepper Spam, 2 votes for Bacon Spam and the runaway favorite was Chorizo Spam, with 6 votes. We say "Go for it!"

So grab yourself a "Miracle in a Can".

Out of Touch...

Craig and I drove two 12 hour days to catch up with the group. Whew! It's hard to keep up with these young folks. They were just going and going. Plus we had some communication issues, like no cell service. If you drive the Alaska Highway, you just get used to it.

At any rate, we knew they would be at a provincial park (read state park) just after the turn to the Cassiar Highway. You should have seen the look on their faces when we pulled in at about 8:00 PM. They could not believe we managed to cover that amount of distance in two days. But it was worth it. It was great to see everyone, and the park was beautiful. The sites were right on the water and the lake was like glass. Yet another park to spoil us.







I was so excited (and tired) that I forgot to take some photos. Paula is a budding photographer, and took these of the group and Big Mama.We hated to leave that amazing place, but the generator hours were too short to keep up with us, so we headed on down the highway. 






When we planned the trip, I wanted to drive both of the often used routes to Alaska. We went up on the Alaska Highway through Calgary and Dawson Creek and wanted to come back on the Cassiar Highway. Mostly because it's nice to see something new. 

I had not read much about the road until we were ready to drive it. That's when we found out that the Cassiar Highway is one of the narrowest roads we've seen. Anywhere!! The Milepost notes that the northern section is two lanes with no shoulder. By that I mean, the pavement ends and the road drops off at 45 degrees to a depth of 1 to 5 feet. Did I mention that there are no lines painted on the road?

After the road improved.

This continued for the first 150 miles of the highway. The other problem was a lack of turnouts. No where to go if you had a problem. And it's a truck route!! I'm surprised we didn't lose a mirror. You can't believe how happy we were to see 12 inches of shoulder and a faint center line.

When is the last time you saw this?

As we left the beautiful lake, we figured we needed to make some reservations. Without cell service, we found a store a few miles away and went there to use the phone. That's when we found out that we needed a calling card. When was the last time you used one of those? We didn't have one, but the nice, young girl at the register let us use the store phone. Thankfully, we could make a reservation. Then the young girl informed us that we would have no cell service for 395 miles. What??? Did we hear that correctly? Almost 400 miles with not so much as 1 bar. And no way to make the phones we did find work. This road was becoming a test of patience for all of us. 


At least the scenery was beautiful, and different from any we had seen. The Cassiar Highway is lined with lush valleys and clear, blue lakes. The occasional snow covered peak makes it look like Switzerland. 


We stayed two nights at a nice park so we could take a breather and get some laundry done. It was the perfect place to have a cookout and enjoy some of Craig's catch of the day. Since the ladies wanted to contribute, we decided to go berry picking. Again, Paula rose to the occasion and documented our hard work. Maybe not so hard, but we all ended up with insect bites of various sorts. 

The berries were delicious.

Just before we left the Cassiar Highway and returned to "civilization" our boys had another chance to play good samaritan. The guys had stopped to fix Rich's windshield wipers. A young woman happened to be parked in the same rest area, and had no idea she had a flat tire. Big Mama and the boys to rescue. A little air and she was on her way.

Another win for our Angels of the Highway.

Way, Way Out...

On our way north, I talked Craig into visiting the Kennecott Copper Mine and the town of McCarthy in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. This trip is a long day, since you drive 30 miles to the town of Chitina, then 59 miles down the McCarthy Road.

Oh, yeah, Craig was not thrilled by the idea of that little adventure. We parked the RV at a nice little state park, and off we went. The road is gravel or chip seal, and it takes about 2 1/2 hours each way. Again, Craig was not thrilled. 

We almost decided to turn around, since the first ten miles was at 20 mph. But then it improved and we could get up to about 35. The potholes were something else. We hit one (unmarked) and I swear we left the ground in the truck. Then we see a cone marking another one. Made us wonder how bad they have to be before they are marked. This one looked like a speed bump with an 8 inch deep depression on either side. That says flat tire or broken suspension. We kept our eyes peeled.





Just as we got comfortable, we came upon the Kuskulana Bridge. The bridge is 525 feet long and 238 feet above the river. And did I mention it's made of wood, and it's one-way? I could look down, as long as we went slowly.







Finally, we make it to the end of the road. Literally, 2 1/2 hours on the road. Dusty, dirty again, and happy to get out of the truck. And we come across this guy. What was he thinking???











When you reach the end of the road, you cross a foot bridge and you can walk about 1/2 mile to McCarthy from there. Kennecott is almost 5 miles away so you catch the shuttle bus. Money well spent, especially after seeing this guy. 

They were having the McCarthy Whitewater Festival and kayakers were putting in up river and trying to hit a target as they navigated under the foot bridge. We paused to watch and saw something black in the water. I thought it was someone out of their kayak, but Craig yelled "It's a bear!" Sure enough, a black bear had gotten too far out in the river and was swimming for his life. He passed under the bridge and managed to get to shore just in front of me. What are the odds? As the pictures show, he seemed none the worse for wear. We even saw him from the shuttle on the way to Kennecott. 









The Kennecott Mine was huge. Over a 25 year period, the mine processed $200 million worth of copper ore. The visitor center had an excellent film about the processing plant and the steps involved. The amount of copper retrieved from the ore was exceptional, even by todays standards. I'm just sorry I missed the mine tour. 





Instead, we hiked out to yet another glacier, and toured many of the restored buildings on the site. There is a lodge on the site, and several outfitters that take the hale and hearty out to climb on the ice. It was a hot day, so we did give it a fleeting thought. Nahhh.








On the way back we stopped for a beer and ran into Neil Darish from the Discovery Channels Edge of Alaska at The Golden Saloon. We also met a daring couple, about our age, from Kentucky. They had come up via the Cassiar Highway, but had continued to the Top of the World Highway, Chicken and Eagle. They even spent a couple of nights in the work camp accommodations in Prudhoe Bay. Their pictures spoke volumes, very basic.




After a long day, and refreshed from our snacks and beverages, we hiked back to the bridge and started home. It seemed easier going back, maybe just the beverages?

We had slowed for a turn and a coyote darted across the road. Cool, since we hadn't seen one so far. A turn or two later, we see a young lynx run in front of us. Even better, he decided to hide out on the side of the road and give us the once over. Or maybe he was posing for some pictures. Either way, it was a great way to end the day.

Between the Glacier and the Sea...

After Anchorage, we headed out the Glenn Highway to the Richardson highway. The drive was a little rough, but beautiful. We are getting used to this particular combination. Difficult but totally worth it. We stopped off a couple of times just so we could take it all in. The first thing we came across was the Matanuska Glacier. After so many glaciers, I'm still amazed that they can be different. How is that possible?









And how many peaceful lakes can you stop by and not marvel at the beauty? We continue to be awed. Even Mona likes to take a moment to reflect.








We arrived in Valdez, Alaska and caught up with our group. At least for one day. We had a chance to visit a little and go to the Valdez Museum & Historical Archive. The museum is a great history of Valdez, it's people, the pipeline and the oil spill. They even have a traveling exhibit of art made from found objects. Notice everyone checking out one of the exhibits. Some fascinating stuff.






There is a separate museum that has an exhibit titled Remembering Old Valdez. This museum has an excellent video that documents Valdez from it's beginning as a gateway to the Klondike gold fields to the devastating earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the town on Good Friday in 1964. The people featured in the film told their stories of that day. Some lost loved ones and some just barely survived. Only one thought it was an earthquake. The others thought it was an explosion of a volcano or a bomb dropped on Anchorage. I had to remember it was still the Cold War.

After the museum, we drove out to the Solomon Gulch Hatchery. The hatchery incubates Pink and Coho salmon and releases them. Then the salmon return to Valdez to spawn each year. The hatchery collects brood stock, harvests some to recover their costs and the rest are harvested for commercial purposes. This was an amazing place. The salmon were shoulder to shoulder as they tried to enter the fish ladder. They flowed like waves in the water.

The salmon provide food for many species of animal in the bay. We watched sea lions stuffing themselves with fish, throwing the extra pieces away. The extra was grabbed by the sea gulls and bald eagles. The birds were everywhere. 

We thought it could not get any better but we were wrong. In the middle of watching the sea lions, we noticed a small grizzly bear on the rocks coming down to do some fishing. We watched from far away. We watched several people taking pictures from the bank, not 30 feet away from him. Not good, we thought. Bob remarked that he was sorry that he had not brought his long lens. It was as if the bear heard us, since he started working his way in our direction. Before long, we were those people who were too close to the grizzly bear. Too close for comfort. A gentlemen from the hatchery moved everyone toward the fish ladder and away from the bear. A good thing to be sure. 






We watched as the bear worked his way toward us, and caught him on camera as he fished his heart out. We had read that bears in situations where there was plenty of food, could just eat the more nutritious parts and discard the rest. Of course the birds were waiting. Awesome day!!

Next day, we watched our group move on. We had decided to stay a couple of days so Craig could fish, and then we would catch them as they headed to Watson Lake to join the Cassiar Highway. So sad.







We spent the next two days resting, fishing and visiting the remaining museums. Craig was having a blast, catching 5 salmon his first day and 6 his second. We spent a considerable amount of time cleaning them and removing the bones. My eyebrow tweezers will never be the same. 


I wandered around town. On my wander, I came upon a couple singing songs about how much Jesus loves us. I stopped to listen and said a prayer of thanks for my adventure and my friends. 








Next I stopped at the Maxine & Jesse Whitney Museum to see one of the largest collections of Native Alaskan art and artifacts. And it was HUGE. All crammed into a room the size of a 3 car garage. There were hunting implements, clothes, toys, beadwork, furniture and a collection of mounts that would rival a Cabbelas. This was one of the largest moose I've seen. There were 2 grizzlies, 3 wolves, mountain sheep and goats, a bison, various small game and TWO polar bears. See what I mean?

On to the Kennecott Mine.

Aviation Overload...

We made it to Anchorage, after an overnight in a rest area, our first in Alaska. Not too bad. We'll do more on the way home, for sure.



After our extra stops, the rest of the group is ahead of us. We found out they stayed in the Cabella's parking lot, so we decided to do the same. It was fairly level and amazingly quiet at night. Well, until this guy showed up. It's 10:00 PM in this picture. Not only is the generator on, but it's a little smokey. Luckily it did not last long and the wind was in our favor. 

Craig could have stayed for hours.

It's only for one night, since we just wanted to hit some of the highlights in Anchorage. Of course, those always have to do with aviation. So we were off to The Lake Hood Seaplane Base. We had the best of two worlds, lake views and airplanes. We drove around the lake and it was literally ringed with airplanes. They have about 200 operations (take offs and landings) per day. That is a lot for any small airport. 

We stopped into their Alaska Air Museum to see what was special about Alaska aviation. They had extensive histories for the airlines, from the first plane to fly in Anchorage to deregulation, and now. Alaska Airlines has a long history of firsts, like being the first to use a B-727 on a gravel strip. I bet that was interesting. They have been opening doors for decades.




This is for my flight attendant daughter-in-law. I love the stuff about the planes, but reading about the others involved is so interesting. There was a display about the flight attendants or "Stewardesses" of Wein Air Alaska. If she worked for Wein, she would have one of these beauties to help deal with the cold. It's a coat made of possum and individually tailored for each flight attendant. The placard also reads "Possums are not native to Alaska, go figure." 

She also might have had a copy of the book on the left, what you need to know to have a career as an airline stewardess. Riveting, I'm sure.

Next were off to Point Woronzof Park near the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. The park is at the end of a runway used by the heavy aircraft for takeoff over the water. You can stand on a hill and watch the rush take off. It's loud, a little smelly and awesome. We stayed to watch them all take off. Craig had been there before and remembers when it was legal for aircraft to take off over weight. When they left the runway and passed over the hill, the aircraft actually sank toward the ocean for a short time before they pulled up. We didn't see anything like that. Dang it!

The next day we had an amazing breakfast on the recommendation of two men from our neighborhood. The Snow City Cafe is one of those places that's loved by tourists and locals alike. And luckily we made reservations. That's right, reservations for a cafe at 8:00 in the morning. So worth it. 

Alaskan High Kick

With full tummies, we headed over to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. It represents the 11 major cultural groups in Alaska. They have exhibits, presentations and 6 authentic Native dwellings grouped around a small lake. There are interns from local high schools that are on hand to answer questions. They also participate in demonstrations of Native games and dances. We both really enjoyed it, and I got involved. I think it looks less like I am dancing and more like I have a bad back.











That was a full 24 hours, and we need to head to Valdez for a three day vacation and to see our Alaska 2016 cohorts.

On the road again...

Williwaw, Wa, Wa, Wa...

We leave the Kenai Peninsula behind and head toward the largest city in Alaska, Anchorage. On the way, we stopped in the Portage Valley and stayed a few nights at the Williwaw Campground in the Chugach National Forest near Girdwood, Alaska. Williwaw is a beautiful campground beneath the glaciers and surrounded by waterfalls. We were lulled to sleep by the sound of running water. 

We camped just below the glacier and to the left. All paved roads and paved camping spots. One of the nicest parks we've seen.








I wanted to see the Portage Glacier so we took a Portage Glacier Cruise. This glacier calves into a lake and the icebergs float up to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center. We watched kayakers taking off to tour the lake with their companions. Even the dog looked like he was having fun. 








The next morning we headed to the Alyeska Resort to ride the tram up to the ski area. They have amazing views of Turnagain Arm. What kind of arm?




Turnagain Arm is an area that extends from the Kenai Peninsula to Portage Bay. The area experiences some of the largest tides in the United States, up to 40 feet. In certain conditions, a  Bore Tide  will enter the bay, reaching 10 feet tall and traveling at 10-15 miles per hour. Watch the video at the link to see the tide. There are warnings posted everywhere about the tide and the mud flats. We weren't there at the right time, but we did see some kite surfers using the waves to their advantage. Some people will do anything.



We had a great ride on the tram up to the Alyeska Ski Area and a nice lunch at The Bore Tide Deli. The use of the Bore has a double meaning. First referring to the Bore Tide on the Turnagain Arm and second because it serves, you guessed it, Boars Head Meats. We thought of Tom and Paula as we enjoyed our Pastrami Sandwich. Yummy.

We rounded out the day with a visit to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. The Center provides care for orphaned, displaced or injured animals. Along with education and conservation activities. 

We saw some amazing examples of success like these fellows:

One of two calves.

Just chillin.

And this bad boy. Craig had a tear in his eye. 

Is it wrong to stand in an animal sanctuary and imagine what the mount would look like? It feels a little wrong, I won't lie.









The most interesting things we learned was about the Reintroduction of the Wood Bison into Alaska. The Wood Bison was declared extinct in 1941. The largest mammal in North America, it suffered some of the same fate as the Plains Bison, overhunting.

Amazingly, a small herd was found in Canada in 1957. After many years, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center acquired some of the animals and started a small herd. With a goal of restoring the Wood Bison to the wild, the Center grew a larger herd and last year released 130 Wood Bison into a area north of Anchorage. They have already seen calves born this year. 

The video they show at the Center is amazing. At the end, the herd is moved from a holding area and released into the forest. To facilitate the transfer, orange fencing is used to direct their movement and a single man leads the herd on a snowmobile. Can you imagine what it felt like to ride in front of a thundering herd of bison? Wow!



We rounded out the day with a leisurely walk around the campground. And as luck would have it, the raspberries are coming in. We've noticed berry pickers along the road in several places so we tried our luck. We found dwarf raspberries along both sides of the road. It took several handfuls to satisfy our hunger. It's times like these I need bigger hands.