Midnight Dome

On the first Solstice after the Klondike Gold Rush, the town climbed to the top of the what they now call Midnight Dome to see the sun set at midnight. Much to everyone's disapointment, the sun set about 11:30 and rose again about 2:00.
But they still call it Midnight Dome. And you get a great view of Dawson and the Yukon River.

A or B SS Klondike

During,  before, and after the Klondike gold rush, ships like SS Klondike plied the Yukon river between Whitehorse and Dawson

She carried everything from fresh fruit and produce to evaporated milk. On the return trip she carry out the gold. Later she carried out the raw silver ore for processing.

She stopped many times to pick up wood to stoke the boiler furnace that spun the paddle wheel.

They are restoring parts of the ship, so we couldn't get to the first class section.  This is the crews mess.

You can get an idea of how big the stern paddle wheel is. She turned at about 20 revolutions per minute. Anything faster and she was just pushing air not water. The down hill trip from Whitehorse to Dawson to about a day. The uphill run took four to five days against the current.

The galley and a view into the first class dinning room.

A or B The Sign Forest

During WWII, the Army was tasked with building a road from the end of the rail line in Dawson Creek Canada to Fairbanks Alaska. Part way their, in Watson Lake Yukon, a lonely soldier from Illinois, put up a sign that pointed back down the road to his home town. Today their are over 80,000 signs pointing home to all the corners of the world. My brother, Gary, put up a sign in the sign forest 5 years ago on his trip to Alaska. Today we found that sign.

A or B Laird Hot Springs

The name says it all. We "took the waters" early in the day.  Still had two plus hours of driving. That was tough. The hot soak made my joints feel good, but also made me want to take a nap.

Had a 10 minute walk to and from the hot springs. Lots of wild flowers. They warned us about bears on the boardwalk, but we didn't meet any.

Morning is a great time for a soak in the 100+ degree water. Very few people. Sharon said it had a strong sulfur smell. My dead nose got nothing. The natural spring had a gravel bottom that was easy to walk on. They had built stairs and benches to sit on. We were in the lower pool. The upper pool was even hotter. This one was plenty hot for me. After 20 minutes I was medium rare and needed to get out.

A or B The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Most of the roads, so far, have been very good. Lots of beautiful senery.  Like this shot along one of many alpine lakes we traveled.

And then there were the construction areas. This is one of the better ones. We were lucky. We only waited a few minutes for the "follow me" truck. If you missed your window, you could wait 20 minutes for the next chance to traverses this 20 mile rebuilding of the Alaskan Highway.

Then the Ugly. Actually,  he was kind of cute. Just strolling down the side of the road. He knew he was big enough to make a big dent in the bus. So I don't think he gave us much thought as he strolled on by.

A or B Dawson Creek

We finally made to the start of Alaska Highway. The fun starts now!

A or B Banff & Lake Louise

Columbia IceFields. Those little dots are people walking on the Glacier. There is also a 40 foot Snow Bus up there.

The glacier used to come all the way to the coach back in the mid 1800's. Thats about 1.5 miles

The CatWalks in Johnston Canyon. Crowds of Asians all talking at the top of their voice and taking pics of each other.. The catwalks are suspended from the walls of the canyon. Several hundred feet above the water.

The most photographed shot in Banff. Mt Rundle from 2nd Vermilion Lake

The Lower Falls in Johnston Canyon

Lake Moraine. Absolutely stunning. And cold. And windy. Couldn't stay but a few minute and we were both frozen.

A or B Jasper

Athabasca Fall just south of Jasper.

A or B Banff

This is view at the end of our street in The Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court Camp Grounds in Banff. The other direction is equally cool.

This is Lake Louise. At the very end of the lake is the Victoria Glacier. Much smaller than it was in the 1800s when the Chateau I'm standing in front of was built.  Can't tell but it's a beautiful turquoise blue.

Alaska or Bust ( A or B )

A or B PreQuel & Day 1

The RoVing Cats are on the road again.

Alaska or Bust . . . bust is what almost happened.

We had so many hurdles to jump to get ready.

And so little time to accomplish the tasks;

Replace the Microwave,

Then the Fridge died,

Add the faulty SlideOut,

Add the microwave didn’t fit,

Non working Turn Signals,

Sharon broke a tooth,

and finally new Ball Joints.

All of these and a bunch of small stuff tried hard to keep us from going.

But we didn’t let that happen. took us less than three weeks to get it all done and ready to go.

Today we started our Alaska or Bust ( A or B ) Adventure.

We left home about 12:30. Stopped at Ann’s to drop off the Miata and then to Birch Run for lunch at Halo Burger.

Got fuel for $2.299. Thats a great price for diesel in Michigan. Made it as far as Gaylord. Staying the night at Walmart.  Only 200 miles, but that is a good start considering how late we gat started.

Not to mention the torrential rain storms and very high winds.

Tomorrow we cross the Big Mac and head for Norway and the Wisconsin border.

A or B Day 2

Stopped in Norway for the night to visit my cousin Pat.

A or B Day 3

Up till now we were traveling on roads we have traveled many times.

I 75 and US 2. I think I could drive those roads in my sleep.

But now we are on US 8 out of Norway heading to north of Minneapolis.

What a gorgeous drive. Lots of lakes and green farm fields.

Good road with paved shoulder.

Also lots of small towns that reduce your speed from 58mph (speed limit 55),

down to 25 mph as you go through town.

Crossed into Minnesota at St. Croix Falls.

A 9% grade down to the river and then a stop light and a right hand turn.

Thank God the brakes were good.

Stayed the night at a Walmart in Princeton, MN.

Missed the turn and had to do back roads, because I couldn’t do a U-turn.

Had a storm come through again tonight.

A or B Day 4

Finally got on I 94. Drove through Fargo to Jamestown, North Dakota.

Stayed the night in the Frontier Fort RV Park.

Found out that Walmart does not have pharmacies in North Dakota.

You can buy over the counter, but no prescriptions. State law protecting in state businesses.

A or B Day 5

I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I caught a cold just as we were leaving.

It had been getting worse as we go. So we stopped early today.

We are in Wibaux, Montana. I slept most of the afternoon and feel a bit more human.

A or B Day 6

Last night was interesting.

About 1:00 am we got hit with hail, winds, thunder, lightning, and pouring rain.

Tornado warning just to the north of us.

What a welcome to Montana.  Lightning show was gorgeous if a bit scary.

Today, we had terrible cross winds for about half the day as we moved north from I 94 to US 2.

If I was feeling better, we could have made it all the way to Shelby.

But instead we broke the last of travels in the US, into two days.

Stopped for groceries at an Albertsons in Glasgow, MT. Sticker Shock!

If the rest of the trip is like this provisioning stop, our budget is busted.

We have severe thunder storm warnings for tonight. Again!

At least this park can handle the rain. And we are under a big cottonwood tree.

Should protect us from any hail.

Besides, with the trains rolling through at 60+ mph, we won’t hear the rain, nor feel the wind.

You can hear the trains coming for maybe two minutes before they get to the bridge just out side our coach window.  Each time it goes by, I swear the train has left the tracks and is heading straight for the coach.  Thelma and Lulu don’t much like the trains.  Their ear go into high alert and sone they nare headed for their safe places. Under the chair and under the couch.

A or B Day 7

Finally, we are only 35 miles from the Canadian Border.

Thought we would never make it. And we still may not make it.

The NEW VISA is supposed to be here tomorrow. And we can’t leave till it arrives.

Yes US Bank VISA strikes again.

Half way through Minnesota, they call to say they are cancelling our cards

because of some problem at one of the places we used had “compromised” the card.

And they will mail us new cards. Of course they want to mail to our home address.

They have done this to us before. Anyway, Sharon convinced them to send it to our last stop before entering Canada.

Now if it just gets here tomorrow. 

OH! I almost forgot. The air hose between the coach and the car ( operates the car brakes ) broke.

I was able to repair it myself. Must have Brakes on the towed car in Canada. Would have taken a week to get new one.

Fingers crossed.

Crossing from Wisconsin to Montana was a study in how amazing this country is and how much land is devoted to farming.  Hats off to those who grow our food or food for our food.  Don’t think it’s a life we could live but appreciate those that do.