Travel, Animals and More

August 15. A really good day for travel and for seeing animals. We saw many, many bison along hwy. 97. Also, two black bears and a really big moose. Saw another Escape 19, but not folks that wanted to visit- oh well. Stopped for the night at a turnout south of Ft. Nelson. Felt safe as there were a couple of semi's there also.
August 16. National Airborne Day! Drove to Grand Prairie, A. B. We stayed at  Walmart along with several other campers. At Dawson Creek, we stopped for pictures of us and the Escape. We met a young man there getting pictures. He was on his way to be stationed in Alaska. To be honest, he looked to be about 19. Warm and sunny.
August 17. We headed toward Edmonton, but decided to go south as we really want to camp in several northern states before heading toward home. We stayed in a small town- Nanton, B. C..
Another beautiful day.
August 18. Crossed the border into United States at 9:40. Good to be back and see real mileage signs and gas in prices other than liters. Now at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana.  Really nice off  base fam camp. Got the last spot- a pull thru- which we always like.

August 19. Went to the post exchange and on to Walmart for a timely oil change. Wifi. Beautiful pics of the sunset.
August 20. Staying one more night.  Really like it here! Hot- what a change for us.
August 21. My beautiful daughter's birthday. Left the base early and camped free for the night in New Salem, North Dakota at their municipal park.
August 22. Now at a military camp in Little Falls, Minnesota- Camp Ripley. This is really nice!

More Juneau, Ferry and Teslin Lake, B. C.

August 11. We had all kind of plans for today, but the rain literally put a damper on them. We did do a little shopping and used the library's wifi.
August 12. Thomas' sixteenth birthday! More touristy things and found a new mall- Nugget-small.
August 13. Beautiful day. Stayed at camp. Cooked out, picked more blueberries and got some beautiful pictures of the glacier.

August 14. Up at 3:30 to prepare for a 5:00 ferry to Skagway. Had breakfast on board and we both are always amazed at the large amount of the servings and the very low prices. Chatted with two other couples and enjoyed a beautiful and scenic time. Got to see some whales and a sea lion colony. In Skagway, four cruise ships were in so we headed on out. Drove to Teslin Lake Yukon Government campground in B. C.. After eating we decided to take a walk and came upon a Casita from Texas in the other loop. Duke knocked and we were amazed to be greeted by Vicki and J. C. Cobb. We never know what the future will bring and this is another chance meeting of people we know as we travel. Had a nice reunion and took pictures of each other.

Juneau

August 6. Boarded the ferry to Juneau this morning at 9:15. Had a nice big breakfast on board to get us started. Cloudy and overcast most of the way. We are camped at Mendenhall Lake campground and since it is a National Forest the senior pass applies. What a sin to pay $5 night to camp! The beauty of our campsite is that the glacier is right in back of us.
August 7. Rain most of day. Used library's wifi till the whole mall lost power. We were hungry anyway, so we went for Chinese- Little Hong Cong. This was one of the best I have had.
August 8. Booked our ferry to Skagway for the 14th. Must be at terminal at 5am for 7am departure. Spent a lot of  time shopping - what more can you do on a rainy day?
August 9. More rain, but it sure does not curtail our activities. Pizza today at Bullwinkles across from the library.
August 10. Sunny at last! Decided to stay at camp and enjoy it. Day spent cleaning, repairing and general camping necessities. I picked blueberries by our campsite- quite tasty. Duke picked a few for me- pictures will follow as soon as I download them.

More Haines

July 31. We have enjoyed this place so much and it is so much fun having John and Barbara here. Today was rain, so did not get outside much.

August 1. Another month down the tube. To town today for various touristy things and to catch up  on wifi. Internet went down at the library, so we got very little done. Went to John's for (happy hour). Wine and cheese and A BEAR. We were sitting around the campfire when some boaters pulled to shore to warn us of a bear near. We fast put our food away and waited. In the meantime a ranger drove up and as he was preparing his weapons the darn thing came out of the brush down from our camp. I got my bear picture! He used a noise shot to scare it away. Later,  Duke, Barbara and I went back to sitting. Shortly, the bear was back and thanks to Duke seeing it come out of the brush by the camper, we were able to yell and he moved on. Took its time though as he reared up on a table in the site across the way. No food found so moved on. We resumed our sitting till late, but definitely an unforgettable night.
August 2. No rain, but damp and chilly and had to have heat on. What a difference from the lower 48,
August 3. Caught up on internet today. Went to Big Al's to eat fish and chips. Tiny little drive up shack with really good food. So pretty and sunny today! Sat at John's campfire and had a few visitors stop by.

August 4. Up early and started preparing chili for tomorrow. Off to the farmer's market and met a few locals. This was at the fairgrounds and inside was a cute area of old shops- some real and some only shells to make them look authentic- Dalton City. Did the laundry afterwards and a real eye opener at $5.00 a load. We were at John's later and a bear came up on the bank beside us. A stupid tourist followed him too close and made him go back into the campground rather than off into the woods. Someone shot off a noise maker to scare him off.

August 5. Went to mass and stayed afterward for coffee. Friendly people. Father Perry asked to bless our truck and in doing so made our day and visit to Haines even more special. We took our chili and wine down to John's and had such a good time. Back at camp later, knock on the door and Jean Boeckman- our Casita buddy was there. We knew she was in Alaska, but did not know where. We met her twin sister, Jane and we all spent a while under John's awning talking. The rain had moved in earlier, so no campfire. Later, we said our goodbyes and went back to prepare for our ferry ride tomorrow to Juneau.

Blueberry Lake and Haines

July 24. Stayed at Allison Point one more day as we wanted to move to Blueberry during nice weather. Saw an Escape 17 and a small one- maybe a 13, while in town.

July 25. Beautiful day!  We are at  Blueberry for  two nights. Couldn't have picked  a more perfect camp and campsite.  As we were finishing our set up we had a wonderful surprise as Grady and Shirley Collier  from  Alabama pulled in. We met them last March at the Alabama rally. We went to their campsite later for coffee and met another fellow camper who is a teacher at Port Lion near Kodiak . It was so much fun visiting and hearing stories from all. Matt, the teacher, was so great to listen to as he shared his teaching and traveling experiences. We were sorry to see the evening end.
Matt was going on to Cordova for a marathon run on Saturday and the Collier's  were leaving  in the morning.
July 26. Our friends left at around 12:30. We took pictures of them and vise versa. We are truly blessed to have met so many wonderful people in our travels and to have such a gorgeous day today.

We were able to use our grill and do what we love best- camp.
July 27. Got on the road early and now heading to Haines. Passed through customs at Beaver Creek and had a great breakfast at Burwash Landing Lodge. The roads are pretty bad. Road work is every few miles. Slow traveling. Camped for the night at Lake Creek Yukon Gov. Camp.  Buggy and rain early, so we were not out side much.

July 28. Now in Haines and I have to say our truck and camper have never been this filthy! This time we wanted rain to clean them up, but it did not happen. Got to our destination- Chilkoot Lake State rec area and there were no vacant camp sites, but as it turned out, our friends, John and Barbara Harris  from Lubbock are  here and we stayed in their pull thru for the night. Had a great time with them cooking burgers on the grill, drinking a little wine and having a campfire. A fellow camper came over- Mike and his beautiful dog, Pretty Girl. Up till 11:00 and it actually did get dark for a change.
July 29. Barbara over to let us know a pull thru opened up. We moved and are so happy to have such a great site on the water. Beautiful mountains in the background. John came by later to warn us of a bear sighted in the area. We went in to read as it was a little cool outside. We will be here till next Sunday morning.
July 30. Up late. Found out from neighbors a bear was by our fire ring and from John that bears had played havoc with several tents last night.  Darn all I want is a picture! Went to town for wifi and a little tourist activities.

Pictures

This little guy was a constant visitor while we were in Leavenworth,WA.

Pictures