CHRIS~N~CAROL

We’re back ! Not just on the blog, but back in the Lower 48. It’s really nice to be “home” where the main roads are paved, and believe it or not, the prices are lower on nearly everything!

In Edmonton, Alberta we met up with some friends we had made while in Las Vegas last March. Don and Diane also ride so we spent the day doing a circle tour of Edmonton on the bikes. It is a very busy, growing city. Construction is everywhere and the economy is strong. Wages are high but so is the cost of everything. The second day we were on our own so we did some sightseeing. We went to the West Edmonton Mall, the largest in the world. It has 800 stores, 100 restaurants, an indoor water park, an ice rink an amusement park, and 2 hotels! Chris found a place to try out a Segway and discovered they are not as easy as they look!

We then headed south through Calgary on a direct line to get back in the US ASAP. We wanted to be able to use the cell phones again, access the camping networks and enjoy some lower prices. Alberta is mostly rolling plains with all the wheat fields you would ever want to see.
The weather was improving and the driving was finally back on some smooth roads.

We crossed the border at Sweetgrass, Montana and were pulled out to answer a survey and have our fruit checked for place of origin. Took about 15 minutes and no problems. From there it was smooth sailing across Montana, Wyoming and into South Dakota. And we did sometimes "sail" - the wind was unrelenting as you can see from the trees!

The terrain has progressed from mountains (our last view of snow-covered caps) to flat plains that stretch seemingly forever.

There is a good reason The Great Plains have that name. At times, it seems that you can see forever.
It must have been daunting to the pioneers crossing hostile land and not being able to see any end, then to come to the Rocky Mountains! At this point we also began to notice the “presence of man”, even in what we used to think of the “boonies”!

Coming into Rapid City the truck’s temperature gauge gave a little blip toward hot and we could smell antifreeze. YIKES! We checked the fluid level several times but could not see any problem. However, being somewhat gun-shy at this point, we dropped the trailer in the campground and headed for the Ford Dealer so they could look at it and run some diagnostics the next day.

We used that day to see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Deadwood and Sturgis on the bikes.
When we went to pick up the truck that evening, we found out they had replaced the radiator yet again! (Our 3rd replacement) They said it had a “crimp” in it, causing a leak. The next morning, we were back on the road. (PHEW)

About the time we got to Wisconsin today we realized that the trees were “normal size” again and there was grass growing spontaneously along the road. Tonight we’re in a beautiful campground with those tall trees all around us, and lots of families enjoying the holiday weekend. It feels like what we think of as home.

We plan to be back in Columbus shortly after Labor Day. This will culminate a year- long 21,000 mile trip during which we spent time in 21 states, 3 Canadian provinces, saw many things we had only read about and some things we never did figure out! Along the way we met some extraordinary people, traveled with wonderful new friends, and had some “very interesting” adventures. We learned a lot about the US and Canada, and a lot about ourselves. We hope you enjoyed our story and pictures. All in all it was a hell of a ride!

We have come to the conclusion that Alaska is just not an easy place to be. My main goal for the Alaska trip was to see Mt McKinley. This is something that only about 20% of the visitors ever get to do. Partly because it makes its own weather by being so tall and partly because most people only have 1 day to get a shot at seeing it. To help increase the odds we scheduled 5 days in the park 2 days on the road to get there where there were viewpoints and 3 days in Fairbanks where you can see it from the university viewpoint 125 miles away. It was sunny all along the road from Anchorage to Denali, but the mountain was creating a cloud above 7000' so we did not get to see it on the way. Once we arrived in Denali National Park it started raining. And it rained for 4 days. The forecast was for at least 3 more days of rain so hope of seeing the big one was slipping away. BUT !! A miracle!! On the 5th day there was no rain and there were a few breaks of sun. These are known as sun events in Alaska. Only I was determined enough to drive to the visitors center and book a bus trip into the park. This is a $40, 8 hour, 66 mile trip on a school bus with 40 of your closest friends. It is also the only way to get into the park. They keep cars out to keep it pristine. Finally I was rewarded by what the driver called "the best day for viewing the mountain all year".

So now on we went to Fairbanks. The weather was clear and we had several more views of the mountain along the road. We also got a good view of it along with the entire Alaska Range from the viewpoint of the museum at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

While in Fairbanks we made a stop at the Ford dealer where the truck had been repaired and got one more part installed, the coolant checked and the oil changed. We were good to go but still apprehensive. We also got to do some riding for the first time in a week. We went to see the Trans-Alaska Pipeline north of town and got lost on the way. We rode about 40 miles of dirt road that at times was little more than a cow path only to hit a dead end and have to ride halfway back to find the real route and some pavement. We finally made it and the site was very interesting.

Now if you have been following our travels you are going to find this next statement unbelievable. Our next stop was in TOK !!! That is only because it is the only way to get in and out of Alaska on the highway. We were warmly greeted by the staff at the RV Park like we were long lost friends. While it was nice to see them and did feel like we had come home we were out of there early the next morning. We drove back over the same road we had taken to get to Alaska and were held up briefly (1 hour) getting across the border. Seems like everyone wanted to get out before winter started in September. The seasons are Sept – May, winter. June, spring. July, summer. August, fall.

Our next stop was a new place in the Yukon Territory. Watson Lake. There is a Signpost Forest there where people from all over the world have posted signs about themselves, or from their hometown.

About 55,000 of them. We had a sign with our names on it made in the Redwood area of California that we decided to add to the collection. Since Watson Lake is smaller than Tok we only planned to stay one night.

Did I say planned? My mistake. Next morning, about 30 miles out, our travel partners radioed to say they had an engine light on and no power on upgrades. YES Virginia, truck trouble again. They contacted a tow truck while we pulled our rig back to Watson Lake. We then returned and hooked up their rig to our truck and followed the tow truck back to Watson Lake. The next morning the repair shop told them the truck would have to go back to Whitehorse to the dealer for repair. 250 miles in the wrong direction. Since we didn’t want them to have to endure the same fate we had in Tok we decided to tow their rig to Whitehorse so they could be with their truck and in a civilized town. We made the 500 mile roundtrip in one day. We were going to part after two more stops anyway and since they were safe and we needed to get back to the states we said our goodbyes. It had been fun traveling with them and a real help when we both had truck problems.

We continued east to Edmonton over the Canadian Rockies where we saw more wildlife in one day than in a week in Alaska. Also some spectacular scenery and some scary roads. The Alaska Highway there is only about 20’ wide in parts with drop offs into water of the bottom of a canyon. Oh Yea, it’s under construction and dirt.

After 3 weeks stranded in Tok, Alaska we are finally back on the road! Here's the ENTIRE town of Tok from the air! On July 23 Chris took a bush plane from Tok to Fairbanks to pick up the truck that was supposed to be finished. Upon arrival he found that it was not only not done, but as you can see from the picture, it was still pretty much in pieces. After Chris spent two days in a motel in Fairbanks, the truck was diagnosed as needing a new motor! Then the next day they "brought in a new technician" who decided it was good as new and said take it and good luck. The drive back to Tok (200 miles) was uneventfull except for dodging a couple of moose. The truck seemed to be running OK and we were anxious to leave, which we did immediately, even though it was already 3 pm!
We made it to Valdez about 9pm and settled into a campground just 1 block from the water and at the base of a glacier. It was a very pretty drive down and we saw several glaciers, lots of waterfalls, eagles, a bear fishing for salmon, and really expensive fuel prices. ($5.61) Two days there and we were on the road to Anchorage for one night in the parking lot of "Freddies" (Alaskan version of Super Walmart) where we restocked our food supply. The next morning we dropped off our TV for repair (it had died in Tok) and headed to what used to be the town of Portage - now just a place on the map.
We were able to connect there with our travel partners for 2 nights as we were on our way into the Kenai Peninsula and they were on their way out. On our one common day together we drove to Whittier by way of a car/ train tunnel! It is one way and one type of vehicle at a time. Cars go on the hour east and the 1/2 hour west unless there is a train which goes whenever they arrive. It's 2 1/2 miles long, about 16' high, 12' wide and costs $12. Before 2000, there was no way to get to Whittier by car at all! Once in Whittier, we went on a Glacier Cruise to see calving glaciers. It was a beautiful day and we saw lots of calving, sea otters, black footed kites, seals, porpise and more waterfalls. We also saw a large high-rise building where the entire population of Whittier lives. Very unusual to say the least.
Next we were off to Homer at the bottom of the Kenai Peninsula. Nice little town with houses up on a high bluff overlooking Kachemak Bay. We camped on the end of Homer Spit, a small strip of land that extends out into the Bay. It was about 1 mile long and 1/4 mile wide, and has 28 ft tidal changes every 6 hours! This is how they deal with it at the local marina. It had a Key West feel except at the extreme opposite end of the US and the climate scale. It would be a nice place to live except for the fact that it goes to 70 degrees below zero in the winter. Chris' thought is that that's about 150 degrees too frickin cold!!!!!!!!!!
After 3 nights it was back to Anchorage for two days to get the TV and see some sights. It was nice to be back in a "normal" sized town and be able to shop and go to a restaurant. Carol was excited to see a freeway and streetlights. Today we stopped at a Harley dealer, got a new rear tire put on Carol's bike, and came to the tiny town of Willow, about 1/3 of the way from Anchorage to Denali National Park (location of Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in the US at over 20,000'). McKinley is only visable about 20% of the time but we will have 5 days there starting Thursday so we hope to see it. We're back with our travel friends now until we get part way through Canada, so even though we're not completely trusting of the truck, we feel more comfortable. Keep your fingers crossed for us! More later.
C&C

I think the pictures say it all. We made it to Alaska, one of my longtime dreams.
Unfortunately we only made it 10 miles inside the border, when the engine on the new 2008 Ford truck blew up. We were stranded on the side of the road for 5 hours waiting for the tow truck to come from Tok, the nearest town, about 90 miles away. Then it was a 3 hour ride back to Tok, in the tow truck, pulling our truck with the camper attached. 30 mph all the way except where the road was gravel and then we had to slow to 15-20 mph. We got into a campground around 11 PM just before sunset.

You really can’t appreciate the 19 hours of sunlight until you have been here. We have trouble sensing when it’s time to go to bed or get up unless we black out the bedroom. Often there are people out walking and conversing in the campgrounds until 11 pm.

As for the truck, it has some exhust cooling valves that are bad as well as needing to have the biggest part of the exhaust system replaced and will be towed to the nearest Ford dealership which is in Fairbanks, about 212 miles away. In the mean time we are in a nice campground in Tok and have the motorcycles to ride. Too bad there are only 2 roads! The one from Whitehorse to Fairbanks which we came in on, and one that intersects it, going from Chicken to Anchorage. Fortunately the town has a grocery store, good cell service and 5 cable stations. There are reportedly 1400 residents! They must be counting tourists.

We convinced our travel partners to continue to the Kenai Peninsula as planned, and we will catch up with them as soon as we get our truck back. We will have to shorten our stay most places but we had allotted 5 weeks to see Alaska. Too bad 2 weeks will be spent looking at Tok.

This really is the last frontier.

Hello again.
We have progressed from British Columbia to the Yukon Territory. There are 30,000 people who live in the YT and 23,000 of them live in the capitol of Whitehorse. Of those 1/2 are decedents of the original people (known as First Nation).
As you might imagine we found a lot of services in Whitehorse and that was a good thing. While pulling into the campground one of the 6 wheels on the camper sheared off all of it lug nuts and went rolling away. Luckily we were only 1/2 mile from a repair shop and they were able to replace the hub and bearings and put on the spare. Because we didn't want to continue without a spare we ordered a new rim which had to be shipped from Edmonton. This held us up for 4 days but that was OK since we needed to do some housekeeping and stock up on supplies. The day we were leaving our travel partners had an accident with their rig and needed to get some fiberglass work done on the tail end so it was back to the repair shop for them. Bad timing. It was Canada Day weekend and no one was open. By the time they got it fixed, we ended up spending 10 days in Whitehorse.
While we were there we connected with a gal at the local Harley shop for a Wild Women Wednesday ride and also took a day trip to Skagway, Alaska. Lots of great scenery and our second step into Alaska. Both Skagway and Hyder are located along the inland waterway that is part of Alaska that really looks like it should be Canada.

While in Whitehorse we got to experience what the locals call Yukon Summer. On a sunny afternoon we got a major sleet storm. Mind you this is JULY!!!!. Little pellets about the size of small peas covered the ground and dropped the temperature about 25 degrees in 10 minutes. Most bizarre.


These pictures are from our trip to Skagway, about 100 miles. It is a ferry stop on the Inland Passage and is full of touristy type stores

One day while I was out riding and seeing some of the local color I came across a bunch of redneck Canadians who had built their own mudrun. They were having a ball and I think I was the only person there who went home clean.