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.