3000 miles

Three Thousand Miles

Day 17, 18, 19, & 20

Hit the 3,500 mile mark! Living on the road is becoming less of a novelty and more of regular routine. Beginning to remember where we put things; who is responsible for what … bedding, meals, repairs, driving, and activities. Dan’s the chauffeur, mechanic, handyman and the chef (evening meals). Vicki is the short order cook, maid, excursion planner, relief driver and map specialist. We stay to about 300-350 miles a day and stop along the way frequently ...  whatever pops up along the way or is touted in the Milepost. Sometimes we stay 2 nights.

     Three weeks heading to Alaska and given that was (and still is) the original goal, we’re discovering Canada has much to offer. British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon Territory … long drives, expansive vistas, friendly people. First Nation museums everywhere … even on rest stops and next to gas stations. The picture is a canoe at the Teslin Tlingit Heritage Center.

     Water is everywhere, rivers, lakes, creeks … the roads follow the rivers. Watson Lake is 76 miles long and two miles wide and we traveled the entire length of it. The Yukon River and its tributaries follow us everywhere we go. As we journey north the roads are less kindly … still paved for the most part, but rough with frost heaves that have been patched in a potholed, irregular kind of way; and stretches of gravel.

Gold Rush

 We left the Alaska Highway in Whitehorse and headed due north to Dawson City (still in Canada). This was the goal of the 40,000 crazed gold rush stampeders in 1896. Michener’s ‘Alaska’ told wild tales of the Chilkoot trail and the Yukon River adventures of these daring but totally unprepared travelers. We walked in their footsteps, exploring those trails and visiting the buildings still standing. We took a walking tour of Dawson City and heard the tales of survival and craziness in that captivating time of American History.

Midnight Sun

What is interesting about this picture of Dan by the Yukon is not the river and not the great scenery, but the fact that it is 10:00 p.m. and the sun will not set for two more hours. But no worries ... it will return in four hours.

Gratitude Expressed

We attended Mass in Whitehorse just before we left and the comforting familiarity offered a contrast to all the new and unusual experiences. The banner hanging beside the altar is remarkable. The symbolism reveals the salmon swimming upstream through the canyons, the Yukon River, the gold, the snow, the church, the mountains and of course, the midnight sun … superb artwork.

Critter Count

     The critter count stands at 7 bears, 2 moose, 6 mosquitoes (intimately met), a flock of Geese heading north and 1 wooly mammoth (discovered at the Beringia Museum). Beringia is the name of the land bridge between Asia and Alaska thousands of years ago during the Ice Age.

Next ... Driving the Top of the World Road to Chicken and then Alaska!

Sasquatch, Speeding, 1908 Buick & Hot Water

Day 14, 15 & 16

The Prince George to Dawson Creek stretch yielded two places of interest. This is the Bijoux Waterfall. (Thanks to Wendell and Bijou for telling us about this!)

Sasquatch spotted!

Each year a select 12 chainsaw carvers from countries around the world are invited to a competition. The results are set around the town of Chetwynd … the Chainsaw Carving Capital of the World. These are little coyote’s favorites.

   Mile O 

Traffic laws in Canada

     We saw a sign that said “If you hate speeding tickets, raise your right foot.” Another declares ‘Speeding cars are impounded’.

Meet Mary and Johnny … young, audacious and caught! We met Mary and Johnny at the Fort Nelson visitor center. Maps and travel brochures spread out on a table, all their possessions scattered around them on the floor. What can they do for seven days? Yes, their car was confiscated for a seven-day time-out. She is from France, he from Belgium. Their attitude is one door closed, another opened. They had hit the road in a jeep, sleeping in the car or in a tent. Started in Vancouver and driving north 2,500 miles, heading for the Arctic Sea at Prudhoe Bay … they certainly are daring.

Peoples

      We also met at the visitor center, Elena, whose accent is definitely not Canadian. Such a engaging  lady … she showed us on the world map where she is from … a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean on the north eastern coast of Russia (not far from Alaska). Yes Russian. But don’t stop there, she left there 13 years ago and has lived in Germany and England and the Falkland Islands (off the coast of Argentina). And now she lives in the northern reaches of British Columbia. Intriguing! A chance meeting, an instant friend.

     Driving the Alcan Highway is more than places and things … it is the whole world on one road … people with dreams and hopes and courage and friendliness. So far we’ve met Holland, Spain, Boston, Russia, Finland, Belgium and France ... and a score of Canadians and many from the States … all heading north.

1908 Buick

Canadians provide brilliant people as well. Check out this gentleman. Marl Brown, owner of this 1908 Buick … and it runs. He not only has this one, but Fords from the 1920’s and many more amazing vehicles, motors and engines over many acres and an inside museum of antiques and memorabilia. In 1987, he gathered them all into the “Fort Nelson Heritage Museum” and opened it to the public. These pictures are only one of many buildings. 

Boreal Forest

We are in the Boreal Forest – the northernmost of the world’s forests. This forest stretches around the world in a narrow band at approximately this latitude … 59°. (Our home is at 38° latitude). The trees are most remarkable ... the White Spruce are very tall and very narrow.  

Liard Hot Springs

We are in a unique ecosystem … world famous Liard Hot Springs. Because of the hot springs, this rainforest exists peculiarly in the Boreal. 53 campsites (we were lucky to get one of the last 3 sites on June 10 about 4 p.m.)  This picture is the half-mile boardwalk … through the algae, moss, ferns and wildflowers … to reach the hot springs. Hot pic

Stayed two nights here; leaving on 7/12 for encounters north … entering the Yukon Province of Canada next. Our traveling companion is eager to hit the road again. 
By the way … our little coyote still has no name. Does anyone have any suggestions? 

Oh Canada!

O Canada! Where pines and maples grow, Great prairies spread and lordly rivers flow!

Days 11, 12 & 13 – crossed the 2,000 mile mark.

     The freedom to drive along the road and notice some place that could be interesting or even incredible … that freedom to respond and pull over … even turn around and go back ... that is a wonderful madness. Many times on our first two days in Canada, we did just that. We did set a schedule, a plan for how far to travel in a day, where or when to stop for the night. But the option to stray from the plan is what makes our trip extraordinary.

     Driving into Canada at the border in Idaho was touchy … so many people warned us they had the experience where their Roadtrek interior was tossed looking for contraband. Yet Dan’s friendliness and affability won out once again as the border agent asked a half dozen questions about our travels and what we carried and then waved us on.

    
 Our aim was to travel north to TransCanada Hwy 1 and then east to the Icefields Parkway in Banff/Jasper National Parks. But near the end of our travel day, fortuitously a sign appeared: ‘3-par golf and RV Park’. Early the next morning found us out on the most stunningly verdant golf course ... nature, exercise, and an embarrassingly awful score. The languid deer laughed with us as the trees and ponds reached out and snatched our balls right out of the air.

     
     The next day we pulled over to a rest area on the TransCanada to catch a sight we’d seen before three years ago. There we met a young lady who had been sitting there for over an hour waiting for a train to go by ... with no idea that one would even come. WHY would she do that? Because this is indeed an amazing place. The original 4.5% grade train track was prohibitive and many trains were lost (not to mention the difficulty and cost).

     In 1907 they replaced it with a double spiral through two tunnels … a figure 8 path across the Kicking Horse Valley. (See the picture) And again … miraculous chance … a train did come through! (The same good luck three years ago, when we stopped here). The train traveling east from British Columbia follows the track into tunnels that spiral inside two different mountains going east, north, west, east, west, south, east, north, and finally east again heading to Alberta. 

     Oh, that young lady? Visiting from Holland traveling alone in a Class B Travado across British Columbia.

Banff/Jasper National Parks

Marvels like the natural wonders of our earth cannot be expressed with mere words … so a few pictures … (that also fall short of the experience.)

We saw bears three times. 

 Lake Louise

Athabasca Falls in Jasper 

Weeping Wall in Jasper

Peoples ... Visited with the lady from Holland; a student from the Colorado School of Mines … from Australia; and two gentlemen on a hike to a waterfall … from Spain.

Leaving Prince George BC this morning heading north to Dawson Creek, where mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway begins.
(May be a while before we get internet again.)

Leaving the US of A

We spent four days in the company of a variety of Roadtrekers in their natural habitats … forty Roadtreks covering a large section of Blackwell Island RV Park on the northern edge of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

     We made lots of new friends and enjoyed their stories, hints, suggestions, help and talents for all sorts of Roadtrek expertise and and travel experiences. Great suggestions for our trip north came from remarkable natives of Canada. Two people in particular stand out as the organizer and chief entertainer for our rally. Carol Ryan’s attention to detail made the rally a great success and her husband, Terry, added to the fun with his laughter and music and terrific sense of humor. Special thanks also to Judy for her great musical talent and advice from an authentic Canadian. Yes, we made many new friends in this group.

Our campground (see upper left corner of map picture),  was perfect. Excursions include a boat trip on the lake, a hike on Tubbs Hill and a visit to an old mission. Coeur d’Alene is beautiful and lush with nature’s gifts and the city protects those resources carefully. One highlight for us is Tubbs Hill … first picture is the hike from the boat, the others are us taking the hike (2.5 miles). 

The Old Mission was so interesting historically ... marking the history of early Jesuits and Native Americans.

My goodness, we picked up a hitchhiker at the Old Mission. Now Coyote has a traveling companion.

Crossing the border from Idaho to Canada at Kingsgate is next!

Interesting People, Unusual Places

     Day 5. I could list our stops and excursions and where we had dinner and stayed overnight … but more fascinating are the interesting people we’ve met and the unusual places we’ve experienced.  

The first day out we stopped at the most unusual zoo … The Swetsville Zoo (Google it). A gentleman who couldn’t sleep spent his nights creating fanciful creatures with a welding iron from old metal found items.       

     This chap in the picture is two headed and is upset about the flood from the nearby Cache La Poudre River in Fort Collins. We were the only ones there except this lovely lady with seven children. She had tats over both arms, a number of jeweled studs in her ears and a color streaked butch haircut. Talking to her, we found out she ran a day care, taking the kids on an excursion. It looked like she was having a great time as well as the children.

     We chatted with three gentlemen in the waiting room of a tire shop in Rawlins, Wyoming. I asked if they were local or traveling through. The first one said North Dakota. The second one said North Dakota, the third one just said ‘me too’.  There were eight of them, brothers, in-laws, wives and one teen … all traveling together in a large RV to Nevada for a family wedding. Seemed like a real close family! Oh … about that tire shop, we lost a tire … had a couple bulges in it. Rawlins was also our first official boondock overnight in the parking lot shared by Tractor Supply and McDonalds … both of which allowed free overnight parking.

Thermopolis, Wyoming is a strange place, calls itself the largest mineral hot springs in the world. There were hot springs bubbling up everywhere over many acres … even a Hot Springs State Park. They had large pipes to vent all the steam all over that part of town. The pipes were covered with brick tepees that grew large and grotesque with lime deposits over the decades. The hot water bubbles up the pipe and out the top and over the structure. The one in the picture is about 60 years old. 

     We avoided anything called an interstate, so we took a number of rural roads through varied and captivating landscapes … following the original Oregon Trail until we arrived at Cody, Wyoming. Cody has a lot to offer but the most fascinating was the information we learned about it … population 9,000 but has an infrastructure to support 500,000. BIG tourist spot. William Buffalo Bill Cody actually founded this town and intended it as a tourist draw. He sure succeeded. If you travel through Cody to Yellowstone’s east gate … be sure to stop at the dam built in 1910 and still going strong.

One feature about traveling in a Roadtrek is the friends … friends we haven’t met yet. When you pass one on the road we blink our lights … as do they. When you see a RT in the parking lot, you are instant friends. A sort of trust thing happens instantly. So we’re saying “hey” again to Kris & Tom from Pennsylvania and Tom & Judy who are full-timers originally from Arizona. Kris and Tom are heading to the same RT Rally we are going to in Coeur d’Alene and Tom and Judy are going to the photography rally
in Montana.

Yellowstone for two days … we casually scouted around in the 2.2 million acres and saw lots of unusual things (as we were spending time in a volcano caldera) … lots of steam and vapor and mudpots and waterfalls.

But … we didn’t see a bear, except this one (the guy on the left). And we hiked 15,350 steps … thanks for the Fitbit from our wonderful daughters, Deb, Wendy, Katie, Jen and Polly!

We can’t finish up here without mentioning the young fella on the bicycle with the solar panels, a really great golden curly beard and the legs of Hercules. He was biking across the country from Boston. Friendly and talkative and a lot of fun. He is a special education teacher.

P.S. Spent two nights in Yellowstone campground and boondocked at Walmart one night and Cracker Barrel another.

On the Road Again

Here we go ... on the road again!

     Our Coyote is all comfy with our pillows and throws, blankies and comfort food in the cabinets and fridge. Coyote is peeking through the window to make sure we forget nothing (Hah - I'm sure we've forgotten something.)  The coyote sticker and the comfy bags and the pillows are all gifts from our daughters.

When choosing what to bring with us, I find that that we do not need about 75% of our stuff. It is getting clearer to me how some adventurous people can actually live in a Roadtrek full-time.

   It's really now ... we are really leaving! We've found a movable place to hang our hat and we have each other. There is nothing else we need.  

It is interesting that all the omens and signs point to this being exactly what we should be doing. I have a list of states and provinces so we could check off when we see a license plate. The first two cars we saw each had Alaska plates... only 3 miles from home! Now that's awesome.

And... today this came in our email from two good friends... a good laugh to send us off our our 10,000 mile, three month trip.

 While on a road trip, an elderly couple, Stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch.

After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant, and resumed their trip.

 

When leaving, the elderly woman unknowingly left her glasses on the table, and she didn't miss them until they had been driving for about forty minutes.

 

By then, to add to the aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around, in order to return to the restaurant to retrieve her glasses.

 

All the way back, the elderly husband became the classic grouchy old man. He fussed and complained, and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire return drive.

 

The more he chided her, the more agitated he became. 

He just would not let up for a single minute.

 

To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant. As the woman got out of the car, and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, the old geezer yelled to her,

 

While you're in there, you might as well get my hat and the credit card.

Our musical tribute -- thanks to The Highwaymen
On The Road Again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTgVi2hyA5Y

Anticipation

    Countdown seven days ... we leave May 27. So now are working our way through our checklists. He has a Pre-trip Maintenance Checklist he's going through ... stuff like brakes, fluids, oil change, tires, batteries, hoses, etc. I'm working on health, financial and detail checklists. Details include notifications, document checks, meal planning, etc. 

(If you would like copies of our lists give us a holler and we'll send them to you). 

    Dan managed to install the solar panels without climbing up on the roof. He used carpet squares attached to the top of the ladder to prevent scratching and well-nuts with the screws to prevent leaks. We expect to do some boondocking and those solars will help keep our in-house batteries charged.

   Thanks to our talented daughter we now have our "Coyote" on our back window. So if you are traveling throughout NW US and into Canada and up to Alaska ... look for our coyote.    We've already connected with a half dozen people who are on their way north. So we expect to trail them, lead them or get out of their way. But mostly we hope to connect somewhere on our travels. What a treat that will be! 

So ... Anticipation ... and thanks to Carly Simon ... travel music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NwP3wes4M8

The research paper

This is like being in college again. When is the research paper due? 

As I research our trip north through the States and Canada and into Alaska, there's a different feeling here ... a different sense of intense interest. Yes, 'someday' is nigh and this is the most fascinating reading, the most interesting video and the most intriguing  blog I've ever read. The books are piling up now and I'll have to decide which ones to actually bring with us. The little one in this picture "Alaska TourSaver" are coupons "buy one get one free" in Alaska. We paid $109 for it ... we'll let you know when we use is if it was worth the money. (anyone used it before?)

Just like in college, the research is overwhelming. It even interferes with my sleep now. One long night I kept thinking of and seeing visions of all the places we could actually go to and experience and learn about. This is a good definition of anticipation. 

So with lack of sleep the next day, I went to a doctor's appointment (it's on my pre-trip checklist) and WOW ... right there on the office wall was hanging this picture titled Teklanika Sunrise. Just the day before, I had made reservations for Teklanika River Campground 29 miles inside of Denali National Park ... the ONLY campground inside of Denali. We really want to boondock much of our trip and be flexible with our routes and plans ... however if we don't reserve, we don't get inside the park to camp.

So far, we've decided on the trip north to hopscotch from home to Yellowstone in Wyoming, to the FMCA region 8 rally in Coeur d'Alene, to the Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper in Canada..... and then to Fairbanks for the winter solstice celebrations and then Denali. Of course, that includes lots of fascinating stops along the way which we'll share as we get there. That should take care of the first four weeks.

The Planning Phase

This is April 26 ... doesn't that count as Spring? Not in Colorado. We call it Springtime in the Rockies. This is our Coyote today. 

 picture taken from above.

The pre-trip planning ... A study showed that the largest boost in happiness comes from the simple act of planning.  We can also say that it certainly gets our minds off what's happening right now and keeps us occupied with the details of preparation.

As part of our planning phase for our trip to Canada/Alaska, we have a checklist to attend to ... as long as we're snowed in per se.

• Get Dan's health resolved ... radiation will be completed on May 14, then a two week rest and then time to GO!

• For the Coyote Roadtrek RV ... we're cleaning out, sprucing up, purchasing supplies, and getting an oil change and safety check. We already replaced bearings and brakes.

• Dan is also going to install solar panels on top of the Coyote as we plan on boondocking sometimes (camping without hookups ... off the grid).

• Our trip research involves checking multiple blogs and three different Facebook pages as well as Roadtrek organizations and Yahoo groups. People who have been to Alaska have a lot to share. Oh ... also bought the book Milepost ... everyone says it is indispensable. 

• On previous shorter trips (three weeks each) in 2013 and 2014, we developed (by making a lot of errors) a pretty good checklist for what to bring, what to check on, and meals and food lists. We also found a great pre-trip checklist for a long trip on a blog and adapted it for ourselves. Anyone interested in these checklists, just let me know and I'll email them to you. 

Welcome to our Travel Blog & Why Coyote?

Welcome to our travel blog!

This marks the beginning of our trip. We're in the planning stages now. We're heading North to ALASKA in May, 2015. We are embarking on an adventure in our 70's; a bucket list buster checking off a number of items in one trip ... and a chance to live life more fully and discover what happens when we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the world again. Things will happen to us so that we don’t know ourselves. Cool, surprising and refreshing life will rush in. (apologies to D.H. Lawrence)

Why have we chosen Coyote for our theme, mascot and nickname for our Roadtrek RV? Whimsy for sure, but there are a couple of reasons ... this guy represents tenacity, determination and stubbornness. Surely we are embracing his resilience and daring as qualities for our trip. Also leaving home on such an adventure is a little bit scary, so we are taking a part of it with us … our street name is Coyote.

So ... come along with us and share in the adventure.
Dan & Vicki
P.S. Please leave a comment - let us know if you want to come along with us in spirit and especially if this blog is easy for you to access and read and/or you have any hints or suggestions or tips for our travel.