Memorial Day Weekend

The kids outside of Pioneer Park


My granddaughter, Alicen and me

Amanda and Tyler on the Chena River

Our Memorial Day weekend weather was awesome, and having our daughter, her boyfriend AND our granddaughter her made it all more memorable!

We spent Saturday at Pioneer Park which was lots of fun. The kids seemed to really enjoy all of it. We rode on the train, had 'old time' photos done, and went in all the tiny little shops. Then we went to the Pump House for lunch on the deck, which explains the photo above. The Riverboat Discovery was cruising by as I snapped the photo of Amanda and Tyler.

Sunday was our barbecue day. Steak, hot dogs, potato salad and baked beans. My brother brought over ribs and potatoes later in the evening. A campfire, some roaster marshmallows, a game of Scrabble and a game of Phase 10. Tyler won both games, so I've challenged him for the next time we see them.

We took them for breakfast Monday morning, and off they went back home to Anchorage. The weekend flew by, but we sure enjoyed seeing all of them and getting to know Tyler better. Alicen, our granddaughter, is such the grown up 10 year old, and such fun. Amanda is as she always remains....'our baby girl' but all grown up. We are proud of our kids and grandkids!!!

Gas Prices Hit An All Time High!

(Click on the link above)

Again, the headlines read 'gas prices hit an all time high'. Check out the article above. They say as the Memorial Day weekend approaches, prices have increased .05 cents per gallon nationwide.
The price of gasoline/diesel are not hurting the rich. They can afford the increases.
The only people being hurt are the lower and middle class people. They are the ones cutting back in other areas (such as food), to afford the increase in gasoline prices. Maybe they've taken a second job, or they're not ordering takeout....whatever. The average american family is cutting back somewhere else so they can afford to put gasoline in their car to take them to work, to earn their measly paycheck to pay their mortgage and their 'increased' electric bill.
Meanwhile......
Bottom line: The rich (that would be the regular rich, the oil company employee/employer rich, their families, and third world country employees) get richer and the poor get poorer. As they continue to live their lives with their $80.00 manicures or country club relaxation, the rest of us average american tax paying citizens will forego our next meal 'out' just to compensate for the increase in gasoline prices.

Such is life......??? Guess So.

Beautiful Weather

Every day has been gorgeous so far! Warm, sunny, and getting greener by the minute. The mosquitoes are not out in full force yet, and I know they will be awful, but for the time being, we are enjoying the sunshine.
We have been working hard at cleaning things up to our liking in the campground, and establishing a routine.
We decided to sell snack items after my brother had checked prices on everything from Sams Club. So, by yesterday I was ready to purchase them. Tony picked me up and away we went. Ending up with a couple additional items we thought might sell, we now can open the 'store'.
Henry has been repainting signs, raking leaves, cleaning, cleaning, sprucing everything up. By the time he starts his 'regular' job on Monday, I should be in good shape.
That's it from the campground for now.

The Golden Heart City

It's been 6 days since my last post because we made the trip to Fairbanks from Anchorage, spent a day and a half getting set up (we are going to be here for 4 months, so we want everything perfect), then we've been learning about the campground I will be managing for the summer. We definitely have had some busy days, but think we're going to like it here a lot. We can pretty much run it the way we want, and can even sell snack items for example, as long as we purchase the items, we don't have to share the profit with the campground!
It will get extremely busy, and I'll probably not have any days off, but I will meet lots of people, and it should be fun! Luckily, both my kids are planning trips to come see us!
The weather here has been amazing! Warm and sunny, not windy and cold like most everywhere else we'd been.

Again, Life Is Good!

Grandpa and Evan

Walking to the truck

'That was Fun!', he said.

(click on photos to enlarge)

Grandpa asked Evan if he wanted to go for a ride in the 'big' truck. No hesitation whatsoever from Evan....'yes!' So, off they went. He had to check out the refrigerator and whatever else before sitting down and belting up. He thought it was quite the deal! (I think Grandpa did too).

Long day for BlackJack

Taking it easy

an hour later

BlackJack made it to Alaska! Yesterday was a long day, over 400 miles, so as you can see from the pictures, he was a little restless.
We've got one more leg, another almost 400 miles to Fairbanks, then we will be stationary for the summer.

Day 10, May 8th

the route from Tok, Alaska

2 of the 4 Caribou..gorgeous.

Chugach Mountains

WELCOME TO THE LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN!!

Our plan was to drive from Beaver Creek to Glenallen, but we continued on all the way in to Anchorage. We arrived about 6:00 p.m., just in time to play with the rush hour traffic.
The road out of Tok, Alaska all the way in absolutely rough. The frost heaves are everywhere, and Alaska doesn't do a very good job of marking them like Canada does.
Wildlife Sightings: 1 Swan, 2 Eagles, 4 Caribou, 2 Moose...and 4 Rabbits.............Note: The moose and caribou both, in Alaska, are much larger than the ones in Canada.
Diesel and Gas prices in Alaska: $2.79 unleaded gas
$2.87 diesel
(who says Alaska prices are higher than anywhere else?)

Weather here is beautiful. Sunny, warm, no snow. It's good to be somewhere. We will spend a few days here in Anchorage seeing kids and grandkids and head to Fairbanks on Sunday.

2200 miles from Bellingham to Anchorage, all without incident. Thank God. No chips in the windshield, no flat tires. Actually, the door to the spice cabinet did come open yesterday, and pepper was spilt in a pile on the floor. But, what's a little spilt pepper?

Day 9, May 7th

Whitehorse to Beaver Creek, 268 miles. As we got 130 miles out of Whitehorse, the road became extremely rough, about 8 miles of gravel, washboard, just plain 'ol bumpy road.

Wildlife sightings: 1 Wolf, 1 Moose and 4 Swans! - Seems odd to see swans on this highway when you consider it wilderness.

When we got to Beaver Creek, of course it was raining, so we had dinner at the 1202 motor inn, (pizza and strawberry rhubarb pie), had two games of Scrabble and called it a night.

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Day 8

Kayakers in the Yukon River

Downtown Whitehorse

Miles Canyon

Notice the kayakers in the water

Old Log Church, opened in 1900

Yukon River (looks cold!)
(click on photos to enlarge)

Well, it's snowing in Whitehorse today. We can't seem to escape the weather, or it's following us.

But a little snow is not going to keep us in, so we set out in the jeep to see what Whitehorse is all about. It's a pretty cute little town, population 23,100. There's lots of new buildings going up, so apparently it's growing, but it is definitely geared towards tourism.
We had dinner last night at the Edgewater Hotel, and the food was excellent. I had the halibut, Henry had the steak.

We will be up early tomorrow and on the highway, with plans to arrive in Anchorage sometime on Wednesday.

Day 7, May 5th

BlackJack sleeping in the Truck

Johnson's Crossing

Bald Eagle in flight

Sign Forest (Watson Lake)

Over 61,298 since 1942

Chehalis, Washington sign










(click on pictures to enlarge)

Today, we woke up to the sun shining!! What a pleasant surprise! We had our coffee, breakfast, and were on the road at 9:00 a.m.

Wildlife sightings: A small herd of caribou - 10-12, A gorgeous bald eagle (see the picture); and 2 wolves

The Signpost Forest in Watson Lake is pretty awesome! People from all over the world post road signs or homemade signs usually from their own city or state. It's fun to walk through the 'forest' and see if you can spot a sign from your hometown. Chances are, you will!

We were lucky to catch the picture of the bald eagle!

Johnson's Crossing (picture above) is famous for the 'world's best cinnamon buns'. Of course, we stopped, I bought, and they are right! Huge and excellent is how I would describe their cinnamon buns. The Lodge at Johnsons Crossing has been there since 1942.

We ended our day at Whitehorse and will be here for 2 days. I have never spent any time in Whitehorse and I know there's lots of history here, so tomorrow we will check it all out. The sun is still shining, AND as I type this, it is 8:00 p.m., the sun is still high in the sky!

Welcome to the North!
(This trip wouldn't be complete without BlackJack. He is the BEST little traveler, and I think he's got the whole routine down.)

Day 6, May 4th

Left Ft. Nelson in the rain.......the rain then turned to snow as you can see from the picture above. From Steamboat Mountain to Stone Mountain was snow, but slush on the highway. Too bad because the most scenic portions of the Alaska Highway were on this stretch of the road. But, we drove through it without incident, to Watson Lake, making a 315 mile day.

Wildlife Sightings: 1 caribou, 6 buffalo, 2 moose, 2 deer, 1 sheep

We are safe, warm and dry....but our truck and trailer are a bit dirty...oh well. We've got a long way left on this trip.

Day 5, May 3rd

l


It rained the two days in Dawson Creek, so we hitched up and left in pouring rain, and plenty of mud. (yuk). I drove the jeep to the other side of Ft. St. John before we hooked up again. Had to bypass the weigh stations.

We stopped for the night in Ft. Nelson. Our trip is going quicker than we originally had planned, but we have found that lots of places of interest are not open yet.

Wildlife sightings: 3 moose, a Mamma black bear and her two cubs!
(Awesome!!)
Diesel price in Ft. Nelson: $4.49 gallon

Days 3 and 4..May 1st & 2nd

Remember to click on pictures to enlarge

Today we drove 170 miles in to Dawson Creek, and decided a couple days here would be good, so checked in to Tubby's RV Park, and here we are.
Diesel prices: $3.71 gallon
unleaded gas prices: $3.89 gallon

Wildlife sightings: 5 deer, 1 wolf, 1 moose

Day 2, April 30th

Day 2 of our trip was interesting.
Wildlife sightings: 3 deer, 1 VERY large owl and a Black Bear.
We were pulled over in Prince George and were told that we had an 'illegal combination'. NO double towing in British Columbia unless you are commercial, which of course we are not.
So, now, we were looking at the next 800 or so miles in BC with me driving the jeep? Yes and no. We have located the weigh stations so far and hooked or unhooked the jeep as necessary.

Today is actually Day 6 of our trip as internet connection is sporadic or non existent. At this moment, I am sitting in the laundry room at an RV park with incredibly slow connection. When they advertise 'hi speed internet' or 'internet access' or 'satellite TV'..........not necessarily the case as we have found out. I will see how long this will take, but am hoping to post all our days...(we have some great pictures).....otherwise, It may have to wait till I get to Alaska.

Bellingham to Big Bar Rest Area

Day 1: We left Bellingham around 10:00 a.m. on April 29th. Our first stop was Minter Gardens which are the top two pictures posted here. We actually didn't go through the Gardens because we decided $30.00 to see the gardens could probably be better spent elsewhere, so we continued through Fraser Canyon which is some gorgeous country.
220 miles and we called it a day at the Big Bar rest area. Henry cooked our clams for dinner outside on the picnic table, and then we watched another episode of "Lost".
A good first day.