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Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Alaska Trip Part 2

If you click on a photograph, it will enlarge and should place a row of thumbnails on the bottom of your screen that you can navigate.

To go back to Lake Louise for a minute - The campground had a tent camping area. It had bear proof food lockers to store your food in. But the tent camping area was also surrounded by bear fence. Basically the same type of electric fence used to keep livestock contained, only built a little tougher. The fence carries 7,000 volts, low amperage. Where the fence needs to cross a road, they use a "Texas Gate" which is a cattle guard with the wires running in the "grooves." These same fences are also used around the Ski Resorts (see below). 
Bear Fencing
On June 12 we were off to the City of Jasper, Alb. After dumping the waste tanks and filling the fresh water tank we were on the way. A missed turn caused us to visit the small town of Fielding, about 15 miles west of Lake Louise and road construction.


Beautiful Scenery - even in construction zones
We made a U-Turn in the parking lot of the YooHoo Brothers fueling station and Convenience store. Back on the road toward Lake Louise we made the exit to Canada 93 and onward to Jasper, Alb. The road was a good two lane road with lots of traffic. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. No matter which way the road turned, or which way your head turned the view was spectacular. This is called the Ice Field Parkway as it passes through at least one glacier.
So, I have scoured all the photos that we took and I will now include them. Many are not captioned as they are just the view through the windshield -We think that you will enjoy them - these are all along the Icefield Parkway.











Proof that I was keeping my eyes on the road






Visitor Center is the structure  in the lower right of the photo


The only real problem was the other tourists on the road. If there was a very great view or an animal sighting, people would turn off the road willy-nilly to see what it was. At one point, we thought we had come across a multi-vehicle accident, only to discover that someone had spotted a bear.
Accident? - Nope - Wildlife
Upon arriving at Jasper, we pulled into the Wapiti Trailer Park, only to find that they were full. They directed us to the Over-Flow camping area about seven miles east of Jasper. A U-Turn was made in the Sanitary dump area, with the Jeep going over the corner of a curb. Not bad, could have been the side of the Motor Home on one of the barrier posts. The Over-Flow camping area is a large gravel area with more than a hundred back in parking spots with picnic tables.
Jasper - Overflow Campground
This is totally dry camping, no electric and water only at two tanks located at each end of the camping area. The water is for people to put the water into jugs to take to the RV.


Water - fill your jug
When we arrived there were probably a dozen people in the camping area. By 8PM, there were probably forty vehicles in the camping area. It was quiet, even though there was a train track on the far side of the camping area.


We decided that we would change the schedule and not spend two nights in Jasper, Alb. But just one. We did get a picture of a rainbow -
Rainbow tops it off
The next morning we were off to Grande Cache and Grand Prairie, but first a stop in Hinton to get fuel and to make a resupply stop at Wal-Mart. We arrived at the Wal-Mart in Hinton and since we were in the Motor Home, parked at the very edge of the parking area. As we were disembarking to go into the store, it started to rain. Between umbrella and hat we made it to the store without a major soaking.

We found that this was a very compact Wal-Mart. They did not have everything a “full size” store does, but enough for us to get what we needed.


After braving the rain on the way back out to the Motor Home, it was off to find the Flying J listed on the app. After several wrong turns, we found the Flying J only to find it closed and abandon. OK, Plan B, Back to Highway 16 and see if we can find a station that we will fit into. The first up was a Petro Canada. Lots of room, but it would not take credit cards.

The next location was a Husky Fuel station. We pulled up to the pump island and I saw a yellow pump handle and the familiar green handle. So, I pulled up to the green handle. I put my credit card in and allowed a $200 pre authorization be allowed, then stared at the screen as it listed three options for fuel. Two with 10% ethanol and one with no ethanol. OK, 10% ethanol. Must be what they call biodiesel up in Canada. I stuck the nozzle in and started dispensing, then something did not seem right. I stopped fueling and smelled the product. Something was not right, this smelled like gasoline. I shut off the pump and walked to the Convenience store and asked if the green handle was diesel – No, in Canada diesel is dispensed on the yellow handle pump. Well shoot – They directed me over to the truck island and again I allowed a pre authorization for $200 to fill the tank with DIESEL. In checking, I found that I had only dispensed 1.4 liters of gasoline into a diesel tank with a capacity of about 361 liters – I figured that I was safe and needed to be more careful in the future.

After getting fuel it was off to Grande Cache and then Grande Prairie via Canada 70, billed as the scenic route to Alaska. This has to be one of the the worst road in Canada. We were no longer in the National Park and it appeared that is where they spend the money on road maintenance. This road was potholed and rough. It was narrow lanes with no shoulders and the travel was slow. Compared to the roads we had been on, this was the cow path. The scenery was not what we had become used to, this was nice forest and hills, but no fantastic rugged snow capped ridges and the like. There were climbs and down hills and there was rain.





We passed through Grand Cache and continued on to Grande Prairie, Alb. Our RV Park was the Rotary Club RV Park in Grande Prairie. We did not have reservations, but found that there was plenty of room, in this manicured and paved RV Park. The park is located right next to, if not on the Grande Prairie Regional College campus. The Rotary Club owns and maintains the park and all proceeds go back to the Rotary Club for the great work that they do.
Rotary RV Park - Grand Prairie



Grande Prairie appears to be a great city. They have all the major stores, fuel stations, repair outlets and the like. It is in a pretty setting and probably worth more time to explore.

June 14, off to Dawson Creek, BC – Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway. After fueling at Flying J (yes, we found it and it was open) it was off on Highway 43, westward HO! This section of the drive starts out four lane divided going through mostly farmland, as it progresses through Beaverlodge, Hythe and other small villages and towns. The road goes back to a nice two-lane road and remains in farmland the entire distance to Dawson Creek. Along the way, the road number changes to Canada Highway 2, also known as Dawson Creek Tupper Highway. Once into Dawson Creek, we followed the Highway to the Round-About that is the official location of Mile Post 0 of the Alaska Highway. 



Mile Post 0 Alaska Highway - also known as the ALCAN
We circled the Round-about to Highway 97 which is the number for the Alaska Highway.
We continued out this for a few miles, taking a turn onto the John Hart Highway to the Northern Lights RV Park.

Entrance to Northern Lights RV Park
The Northern Lights RV Park is a nice little park. It is gravel roads and spots, 30 Amp service with water, sewer and cable TV at all the sites. We had a gravel pull through for three nights.
Site at Northern Lights RV Park
After getting setup, we decided that we would start the laundry process. This normally takes a couple hours to wash and dry the clothes, hang them, fold them and of course transport to and from the Motor Home. We had been told that no outdoor shoes were allowed in the Laundry Room, or in the individual shower rooms that they had, which occupy the same building. We brought the laundry into a small entry room, that had a chair to sit in to take off your shoes, and then into the interior of the building and into the cleanest laundry area that we have ever seen. When we arrived, the front desk person was vacuuming and mopping the floors of this front section of the building. There were six washers and six dryers. There were four or five individual shower rooms opposite of the laundry area. Each of them were immaculate, and shining. This made up for the gravel area outside. Plus the people were friendly.

Dawson Creek is famous for being Milepost 0, being the start of the Alaska Highway.




History tells us that Ft. Nelson was the original Mile Post 0, as there was already a “winter road” between Dawson Creek and Ft. Nelson. After the construction was complete, they decided that Mile 0 really was in Dawson Creek. A monument was constructed at the location and a Round-About was constructed. However, the symbolic Mile 0 marker was moved to a new location a couple blocks away, as people were endangering themselves trying to cross traffic in the Round-About to get a picture next to the marker.






Now, along the road adjacent to the Round-About is a rock cairn with bronze plaques commemorating the start of the Alaskan Highway. There is also a large sign over it. Across the parking lot is both an art gallery in an old wooden grain storage building and the Visitor Center which is located in an old train station building



When we visited on a Sunday, the visitor center had two people around the rock cairn offering to take pictures, with the visitor’s camera, of people standing under the sign with the art gallery in the background. This is a very nice service.

We again noticed that beer, wine and other liquors were sold in stand-a-lone stores and not in the main stores. We have also noticed a difference in the naming of things. Like I go into the store and I want sour cream or cream cheese, I would go to the Dairy cabinet. Not here, you would go to the "Cultures" section.




One thing we did see in the RV park was a lot of RVs that we had seen in other places along the route. I was under the Motor Home working on the steps and a man and woman in a golf cart stopped and said, “hey I told you we would see you again.” As best as I could remember we saw these folks in Great falls. MT.

Friday, November 15, 2019

The Trip to Alaska .... and Back Home #1

Well folks, here it comes. The first thing on our retirement Bucket List was to drive to Alaska in our Motor Home. Well, we completed that journey in September of 2019. Along the way I sent out about 45 email updates to a mailing list. These included some pictures (that is what most people look for). This multi-part message will include MORE PICTURES and maybe some embellishment on the text.

For those that like statistics, here they are;

9,731 miles traveled

223:11:19 Engine Hours

96.7 Generator Hours

2,932 - Jeep Miles

1,220.7 Gallons of Diesel - Generator usage Approx. 72.52 Gallons

8.4 MPG Approx. over course of the trip

So, here goes with part one that will be longer than the first email update that was sent out.


If you click on a photograph, it will enlarge and should place a row of thumbnails on the bottom of your screen that you can navigate.

We left Lubbock on Saturday, June 1. We wanted to leave early, but finally departed about 1PM. It was an easy drive, 244 miles north to the Wild Bill RV Park in Boise City, OK. We did encounter some rain on the trip - and some rough road. The combination of the rough road and the rain - did cause an electrical problem in the left turn signal/left marker light circuit. If the marker or headlights were on the left turn signal did not work. So, careful driving during daylight hours will become the norm. Wild Bill's RV park is a good overnight stopping place - not a destination park.

The RV park is across the road from the Cimarron County museum, which is also the home of the Cimarron County Veterans Memorial. A very interesting display of granite slabs with the names of all who served in the military from Cimarron County and those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Dedication Plaque
Cimarron County War Memorial - Boise City, OK
The next day it was on to Limon, CO. This was another easy day of driving, only about 250 miles are so. The destination was the Trailing Edge RV Park. Upon arrival, we found the RV Park, marked by a vertical blade of a wind turbine, but no office in which to check in. My wife suggested that I contact a group of people that we had seen talking at an RV. In that group, I found one of the owners of the park who stated that they really did not have a physical office, they used the "mobile office" approach. The park came about when a wind turbine farm was going to be constructed in the area. The energy company contacted the land owners and asked if they would build an RV Park and that the Energy company would keep it filled. The park was developed and for the first 18 months it was full. Now the construction of the wind turbine farm is slowing down, the owners found themselves needing to start advertising the RV Park to travelers so that they could keep it full. Trail Edge refers to the Trailing Edge of the wind turbine blade. This is also a good overnight park.
Trailing Edge RV Park - Flagpole
Trailing edge RV Park

Night lighting
The next day found us off to the Terry D Bison Ranch RV Resort in Cheyenne, WY. Wow, we imagined an RV Park like the Vineyards in Grapevine, TX. Well.... During the trip, which was only about 170 miles, the GPS we use in the Motor Home directed us off the nice I25 onto a washboard dirt road that ran parallel to the freeway.
This continued for more than six miles - as we went along, with things vibrating off the counters, out of cabinet doors and the like, we noticed billboards advertising conveniences at the next exit. What is up with this? About a quarter mile from arriving at the RV Resort, the road changed to a paved two lane road. The paved road came from a freeway exit two miles further up the Interstate.

Frontage road on the way to Terry  D Bison Ranch
Well what the.... Time to retire this navigation system. Arriving at the Terry D Bison Ranch RV Resort, we were rather dismayed to find a fair overnight RV Park, but not an RV Resort.

Terry D Bison Ranch RV Resort
Narrow sites and dirt roads and sites with lots of standing water. To their credit, the RV Resort does have a Steakhouse Restaurant and a small cafe.

After another night of thunderstorms, the next morning found us on our way to Sheridan, WY and Peter D's RV Resort. This trip proved to be uneventful, about 330 miles on the Interstate, so not bad travelling. Upon arrival we were very impressed with Peter D's. Though not a destination "resort," it was a very nicely maintained facility with an owner with a sense of humor. He told me that his wife told him he was not artistic as he could not draw a paycheck. He did recommend a local restaurant, though we did not take advantage of it. Sheridan is a nice town and is an access point to the Bighorn National Forest. It is also a big rodeo town.


Peter D's RV Park - "a keeper"
Onward - the next day we were headed about 350 miles north and west to Great Falls. MT. Dick's RV Park was the destination, where we would rendezvous with my brother Bill and his wife Sonya. This was a long day on the road, the majority was two lane, which varied from wide shouldered wide lanes to wide lanes and small shoulders. All in all not a bad drive, just long. And the little mix up in directions going through Billings. We wound up going through downtown. Narrow streets, most under construction.

Billings, MT
Dick's RV Park is a nice location. It has much wider sites than our Cheyenne stop. It is well maintained, though one of the owners was bemoaning the weather that had put them behind in their annual maintenance.
Dick's RV Park - Great Falls, MT
While here, we toured the Charles M Russell Museum.
This honors the cowboy/artist and it holds a fine display of his paintings and sculptures. The grounds include his art studio, which is a rustic log cabin and the home that he and his wife had built.

Museum Entry Plaque
Charles M Russell
Studio that Charles Russell worked in
Workroom in Studio
Display inside Museum
Behind the sculpture is the horse drawn hearse used to transport Charles Russell
Now, as for eating, we found two very good spots. The Roadhouse Diner (no, Patrick Swayze and Sam Elliot did not work here) serves some of the very best burgers that we have had. A couple photos are included.



Double Beef Cheese Burger for lunch  - No dinner tonight
The second place we found out was actually a chain - The Montana Club. This is the place for dinner, with a very large menu that will please anyone.

Bill and Sonya also took us to see the "Great Falls" of Great Falls, Montana. This was actually a series of five waterfalls that Lewis and Clark encountered on their journey west. I like the fact that the hydro dam was placed in such a way as to preserve at least part of the original falls.
Great Falls, MT
Now, the turn signal/marker light problem. This turned out to be a partially melted bulb socket and connector. A search for a replacement was for not. I discovered that the headlight assembly in this 2009 Winnebago Destination was from a 2001-2003 Toyota Highlander. The part could be ordered, but arrival was not to be until after we were to leave. So, a light socket of the correct diameter was purchased, modified and put into the headlight assembly with silicone and duct tape - southern engineering at its best. Wiring was spliced and off we went, just 85 miles further up the road to Shelby, MT to the Trails West RV Park.

From Shelby, Mt. we crossed the border into Canada. Shelby has a giant American Flag that flies on the top of a hill over the town. Very impressive.


Flying high above Shelby, MO. Shelby is the first town passed going south from the Canadian Border.
The crossing across the border was without incident. We had prepared a detailed list of all food items that we had on board.

Sweetgrass Border Crossing

At the border we were asked for our Passports, asked if we had any weapons or chemical defense sprays, tobacco, or cannabis oils. Then it came to alcohol, how much did we have on board? Then it was how long do you plan to be in Canada – with all of the questions answered, we were wished a pleasant stay and waved on.Our first stop in Canada was at a Travel Information Center in Milk River, Alb. A little bit of literature was picked up and off we went.

The plan was to stop for the night in Claresholm, Alb. But, we decided to see what else was in town and possibly to “boondock” alongside the road. After we got to the end of town, we found a large gravel area next to the Providence Truck scale. We pulled off and activated the satellite dish and watch a part of the Texas Rangers Baseball Game. I got to doing some research and found that overnight parking along the road was not allowed unless posted – well guess what – no posting. We then decided to proceed down the road another 20 miles or so to Nanton, Alb. The Rangers were losing anyway. In Nanton we found a Pilot/Flying J fuel station. Then on through town we saw signs for an RV Park, but never found an entrance. So, we decided to “boondock” in the Flying J gravel parking area. Nanton has two of the oldest wooden grain storage facilities in Canada.

Grain Storage in Nanton, Alb

The next day, after fueling, we continued on our journey to Lake Louise, Alb. Our plan was to stay in the Lake Louise Trailer Park. After winding our way through the outskirts of Calgary, Alb., which included a few last minute lane changes and guessing that our GPS really meant 16th Ave. N instead of 16th Ave. W, we arrived at the entrance to the Banff National Park.
Entry to Banff National Park
After purchasing a four-day pass to transverse the Banff and Jasper National Parks, we continued toward Lake Louise. The scenery was beautiful.

Deer alongside the road
Looking north across Bow River
At the exit for the Village of Banff, I turned off, with the idea that we would find a parking lot, unhook the Jeep and tour the Village. Well, we did not find a parking lot and I took the Motor Home and Jeep right through the center of the Village. It got to the point where we needed to turn around and get back on the highway and visit the Village of Banff at a later date. If the effort of getting turned around, a few wrong turns were made and I ended up going up the main drive of the Banff Lodge, right around the circular drive and back out.

Turnaround in Banff
Driving through Banff
All the time, other people, who were all jockeying for a parking place stared. Well Hell, I am from Texas – this is no big thing. We finally got out of the village on to TransCanada One and arrived at Lake Louise Trailer Park. There were about six or eight vehicles in front of us.

Entrance to Lake Louise RV Park
We hoped that we would get a spot in the 189 space park. At the gate, after being greeted in French, as we had been greeted several places before, the attendant stated that there was indeed room for us to spend two nights. We were assigned site #126. I asked if it was a pull through or a back in. The attendant stated that I could pull through or back-in, which ever I wanted.As we drove through the park, we noticed that the sites were double. One RV would pull in one direction and the other RV would pull in the opposite direction. We also noticed that probably 90% of the RVs in the park bore the logo of some rental company. I think we had identified four or five different companies.There was an electrical only pedestal on both the right and left sides of the spot. When we arrived, we found a travel trailer in site #125, the second part of the site, connected to the right pedestal – we pulled in so the left (driver) side was to the pedestal. We connected the electrical, put the jacks down and the slides out. Then it was time to get satellite and OTA TV setup. Nope neither was going to work. Too many trees. Below is with the neighbors gone.

Lake Louise Trailer Park
Not a bad setup.Deb decided that we had better make reservations in the Denali area. So, making the false assumption that Verizon would charge five dollars a day extra for International usage, she started making calls and finally located a spot in Cantwell, AK about 27 miles from the Park. Then she got a text message stating that she had accrued more than $150 in International charges. Oh well --- In reviewing a text message she had received, it appeared that we needed to “opt in” to the $5.00 International service - Well we live and learn. This first night I constructed a light shield “black out” blinds for the bedroom windows. We had been told that the “midnight sun” would interfere with sleep. Since I did not want to put duct tape on the aluminum window frame or on the wall paper, I started by putting blue painters tape around the aluminum window frame. I then used duct tape to attach aluminum foil to the windows.

"Black Out" curtains. They also reduce the heat by about 10 degrees
We decided to check out the "city" of Lake Louise. There is a small housing area, complete with an ice rink, and a small shopping plaza. The plaza is on the banks of the Bow River and provides an excellent backdrop.

Bow River - behind the shopping plaza
Bow River with mountains in the background
Beautiful even on a cloudy day
Lake Louise Shopping Plaza
One of the nice things about this park was the scenery. When walking the dog, I toured a pretty large area of the park. Aside from seeing the bear fencing, and walking on a trail in the bear migration area, the views of the Bow River were pretty amazing.

Bow River - across the road and over the bank from the campsite
Bow River
Up at 5:30A today (June 11) to go visit Lake Louise, take a Gondola Ride at the Inn of Ten Peaks and go to the Village of Banff. We had been advised to get to Lake Louise about 7AM, as the parking lot would not be so full and there would not be as many people around the lake. Going up to the parking area for the lake, we encountered a traffic jam of sorts. Cars parked on both sides of the road with there windows open, people hanging out, one guy with the driver’s door open into the traffic lane leaning over the roof of his car with a camera, what is all the commotion about. As we got closer we saw what appeared to be a momma bear and two cubs – cute as heck and more dangerous then you could imagine.

Bears along the road
Cute but dangerous

People walking up to them, like they were kids. We got by before any bloodshed. We later heard that they were Grizzly bears.The information about getting to Lake Louise early was correct, we found a great parking place and the crowds were minimal. Multiple photographs were taken.
Lake Louise - very photogenic


Hard to take a photograph without people in it

Deb, the shy one, struck up a conversation with two young ladies from Pennsylvania. They were out to visit Lake Louise and Moraine Lake and then had to head home.

They were also taking many photos and took a photo of Deb and I with Lake Louise in the background.



The lake is not very large, but the setting between the surrounding peaks makes it a spectacular view.

Canoeists on Lake Louise
Stream (river) coming out of Lake Louise

Of course the Fairmont owns the Chateau Lake Louise, which makes it clear there are no public restrooms and that hotel guests and restaurant guest are allowed on the property.

There appears that there might be other businesses in the area, but we were unable to determine what they were.

The next stop was the Inn of Ten Peaks for the Gondola ride up the mountain.



A good alternate use of the Ski Lift in the summer time, the Gondola, or open chair, which ever you choose, goes to the top of the Grizzly Ski Run. At that location there is a viewing area that gives a very spectacular view of the craggy Canadian Rockies – and in the distance, Chateau Lake Louise and Lake Louise.

Lake Louise is in the distance in the center of the photo
Lake Louise in the distance on the upper right side of photo
Lake Louise and Chateau Lake Louise
Inn of Ten Peaks with the Canadian Rockies in the background
After a visit to the gift shop, it was off to take the dog for a walk and to relax a minute. Next up was the trip to The Village of Banff, Alb. It is about 30 miles south of Lake Louise. On arrival, we took a short driving tour of the Village. This time we took a few different streets than we did the previous day. We found a Public Parking Lot with three hours of free parking and left the Jeep.


We toured the main street of the Village which reminded us a lot of the Town of Leavenworth in Washington State.

We ate lunch at the Boston Pizza restaurant. The pizza was good, but the ”hard” cider was served room temperature which made it a little tasteless. We had a good conversation with the waiter who was on a work visa from New Zealand. It was interesting hearing about his take on some of the things going on. He is a snowboarder and is learning to ski, so Banff was a good location for him. Stops were made at a pet accessories shop, candy shop and a shop which claimed to be the official seller of RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), memorabilia and memorabilia regarding Sgt. Preston of the Yukon fame. It was a little lacking in that.Upon returning to the Jeep, I found a Notice of Violation on the windshield for not displaying our Banff National Park permit. The permit was taped to the windshield of the Motor Home where I had been instructed to put it when it was purchased. We found an office of the National Park Service and I went in to plead my case. The gentleman that I talked to understood the problem and stated that I did need to display it in any vehicle that I was driving. He put on the Notice of Violation that I had purchased a Pass. He stated that it was taken care of and not to worry about it.

For those amateur (ham) radio friends, from Lake Louise I did use Winlink to send an email to Gary (WA5TED) and made contact with W9SMR in Indiana on PSK31.