Back to civilization - May 28th, 2012

Woke up late this morning (long day yesterday)   Morning walk by the Chena River.  Decided the thick brown RV needed a wash to become white again.  Found a local coin-op car wash with an RV bay.   Spent $20 to mostly clean up our rig!

Then on a bike ride.   Fairbanks has a very nice bike trail network all over town.   We went from Pioneer Park east.  Ended up at Fort Wainwright where we got challenged by an MP at the base.  Visitor Center told us we could ride all the way onto the base.  This information was not correct.  We were nicely instructed to turn our bikes around, which we did.

Then my eye glasses fell off.  Lost a screw and the temple piece fell off.   We rode north then west.   Low and behold, we see a WalMart.  Their optical department is open, even on Memorial Day, and they fixed my glasses for free.  We are having much better luck this week than last.

Ate lunch at Sam's Klondike.   Pretty good food, we'd eat there again.  (but we kept thinking "Yosemite Sam")

Then south to Denali National Park.  Short driving day.

They would not let us camp where we wanted to.  "Sorry, we can't give you that campground"   Next day we find out that in that campground, a grizzly had taken down a moose calf and momma moose was making havoc in the campground.

We camped in a campground 15 miles into the park.   Good that we did.   About 2 miles before the campground we come over a hill and there was the great one, Denali.  20,000+ feet.   No clouds around.   We find out that only 30% of visitors  to Denali get to see the mountain.   Lucky again!

Long day May 27th

Up early for our assault on the great north.  We headed up (north) the glacial valley.  Windy and rainy.  Tops of the mountains were not visible but it still was wonderful to look upon.   Then, as we climbed the Brooks Range, rain turned to snow.  Dirt road, very steep grades.

Did I mention that our RV has special tires ?  They are really just small semi tires.  Good highway tread but, for sure, not for snow and ice.  Closer to slicks.

As the snow piled up, the road became more snow packed than dirt.   Huge, and spectacular, scenery.   The last climbs to Atigun Pass are really steep grades that really took all my driving skills.  This road was not made for RV's.  Across the top of the pass and then down.  Even steeper grades !   Down off the pass, everything was a whiteout.  Blizzard conditions.   If they did not have sticks on the side of the road for snow plow operators, I would not have been able to tell where the road was supposed to be.

It is now another 100 miles to the end of the road at Deadhorse AK.   Can't see any tundra, can't see anything.  Stuart puts aside the desire to drive to the end   of the world.   So we (very carefully) turned around and headed up the pass from the great white north and headed south.  I cannot remember being is a situation before where I was so careful and concerned while driving.  Yes, even I was worried.

But we made it up and down over the pass without incident.   When we finally reached the glacier valley, I was relieved and Shar uncovered her head.  Then the LONG drive south.   We went all the way to Fairbanks.  You need to remember that, this far north, it never gets dark this time of day.   Where we were, the sun never sets.  But, because of the winter storm, we could not actually see the sun.  So we grabbed a spot in Fairbanks at the Chena River Campground right in town.  Actually a very nice campground.

Sat May 26th

Up in the morning and short drive into Fairbanks.   Refuel, resupply, new maps from the visitor center  and NORTH.

After the first 87 miles, the paved road ends and the Dalton Highway ( " haul road " ) begins.   It was built to help build the Alaskan pipeline and support / supply the north sea oil at Prudhoe Bay.   A few years back, the road was open to civilians.   So you know me !   Not long on the road and it started to rain.   Road became slick and we proceeded slowly.  We added about 3/8 inch of mud to the back and lower parts of the RV.   Rear view window was completely covered and blacked out.   Late in the day the forest gave way, mountains of the Brooks Range came into view.   At Coldfoot we refueled and checked out the visitor center.  Very nice visitor center.  We spent the night at Marion Creek Campgrounds between Coldfoot AK (population 12) and Wiseman (pop 16)

Another cold night and light rain.  We can tell we are not in Kansas.  This far north, it looks and feels like another world.

May 24, 25 2012

Very nice to have an RV with a thermostat and a heater !  It was COLD this morning, but we were warm.

Passed through Watson Lake, Yukon.  refueled.  Stopped in at the signpost forest.

Today we drove to Whitehorse, Yukon.   More amazing scenery.  Incredibly rugged mountains.  Overnight in Whitehorse, along the Yukon river.  Lots of history about the Klondike gold rush.   Really fun bike/walking trail on both sides of the river.  We rode it twice.

Visited Miles Canyon.  Basalt canyon.   Before the river was damned, the whole Yukon river rushed through her.  Wiped out many a gold miner.

In the morning, fueled up and headed north toward the border.

  Around the Kluane National Park, the road became a big challenge.   "frost heaves" put huge bumps and dips in the road.  Several times I thought we were airborne.   But WOW what scenery.  Across the US border and money changes.   Stayed at a "camp spot" that is a large highway turnout.   Between Tok and Delta Junction.

Wed May 23

At noon, we were back in the RV and rolling down the road.  With out leaving a quart of fluid every 50 miles.

We drove to Fort Nelson, fueled up, and decided to continue.   You need to know if you drive here, the greatest amount of wildlife we saw was along the Liard River corridor.  As evening went along, more and more we saw and had to avoid on the road.

Buffalo
Elk
Deer 
Fox
mountain lion
moose
Bear, both black and grizzly

After driving to river forest area, we headed over the Rocky Mountains.   Over-nighted at Muncho Lake.  Very cold, lake was still frozen.  Amazing mountain scenery.  Highly recommended drive.

Back to the trip - May 23

Finally !
Wed May 23rd

We are back on the road.  4 lost days in Dawson Creek BC over their "Victoria Day" 3 day weekend.   On Sat a repair garage replaced the front seal on the tranny.   We drove 50 miles to Fort St John and discovered that the tranny was still leaking.   Special type of tranny fluid which was not available anywhere.

So we went to church Sun in Fort St John, BC.  Met some nice people and got invited to dinner Sun afternoon with a family.   And an invite to "tea" for Victoria day.   And because nothing was open Monday, we joined the family again and helped them put in garden boxes and weed.   It was something to do !  We enjoyed the work and getting to know more about NE BC.

In the afternoon, we went to "tea".   More nice and interesting folks.    I would not like to winter there, but great people.

On Tues. AM a transmission shop was open to check us out.    Turns out the welds on the torque converter were leaking, and getting worse.   They ordered the new part.  Since we had the to kill, we rented a car and drove to Hudson's Hope (a town) to see the Bennett Dam.   Largest earth dam in North America.   Our luck is not very good.   The dam is closed on Tuesdays.   We still got a look at the outside, just not the inside.

The parts came in Wed. morning, were added to the tranny, reinstalled, and we were finally on our way.

The tranny shop guys are all oval track racers, so we had a bunch to talk about.

One more day - May 21st

Spent another day in Fort St John.   Victoria Day is today so everything is closed.   Spent the day with 2 different ward families,  working in the garden and then having "high tea" and singing happy birthday to Queen Victoria!   This evening we went to see "Avengers" with one of the families.   Good film, lots of action and special effects.  We were able to get some ATF today and the rental company wants to have the tranny looked at again tomorrow.   Oh the adventure.  We will admit that meeting these 2 families was fun and interesting.   Eating cucumber sandwiches for high tea is not my favorite,   But the Union Jack cake was very good.

Fort St John #2 - May 20th

Still here in FSJ, BC
Went to church. Very nice ward.   Many folks tried to help.   3 members own tire shops.   All 3 checked their inventory,  No Mercon SP fluid.   Been trying all day to get a hold of someone from the Ford dealer or NAPA to get some ATF, but unable to do so.

Monday is Victoria Day, their memorial day.  EVERYONE is  out of town camping,

Lybbert family invited we to dinner after church.  We took them up on the offer and spent the rest of the day talking with the family.   Made the day pass painlessly. 

Current plan.   We have to have some ATF or we cannot leave her.   More than 1 brother strongly recommended not to head north in the current condition,   Too many mountain passes and huge distances with no help.   So we will try to get some fluid and drive towards Calgary Alberta to switch to another vehicle.   (if approved)

Woo Hooo,   vacation

Fort St John - Sat May 19th

Not a good day.  I sent the following email to the RV rental outfit.

Help

We don't have a phone, so email is our best contact.

After the tranny was worked on, I let it idle for about 10 minutes, then drove it around a few blocks.  No sign of a leak.   So we headed on our way.
In Fort St John we stopped for milk.   And the leak was back.  Not as bad, but everytime we stop, we leave a 7 inch puddle.

I don't know what to do.    One option is to load up with several cases of ATF fluid and just drive.   Only problem with that is that the required Mercron SP is not available anywhere we've looked.   It may only be available at a dealer or at a NAPA store.  Both closed until Tuesday.

This trip is not turning out the way we planned.

So we made it 47 miles today and have no ATF in reserve.   I think we will change our plans!   To what I do not know.

grumble

To Williams Lake

The trip has begun.  Got out of Port Angeles on time, caught the ferry to Edmonds and found the Cruise America office in Everett.   The RV was ready for us. It's a 2009 Ford 350 chassis with a 26' RV.  Seem very adequate - surely more room than out little camper.

Drove to Hope BC the first night.   The RV handles well.  Less rocky than our camper while driving.  We spent the night at a campground called Emory Creek just north of Hope.   We also found that every visitor center in BC has free Wi-Fi, so we often check our email.

Thurs we woke up and ate cold cereal for breakfast.  We drove to 100 Mile House (yes, a town with that name), visited a bike shop for directions, and I went on a ride.    New trail so it was pretty rough.   Would have been a lot funner if I had my own bike.   This bike is not near as good, plus I'm not used to this one yet.   All excuses.  I crashed 4 times.

We then drove to Williams Lake.   This was the turn off point when we drove to Bella Coola.   We were not hungry yet so we dropped into another bike shop to fins a ride.   They suggested the Williams River Trail..      "all flat and very easy"   It was not flat or easy.    "just 10 K each way"  "you can't get lost"

Mom turned back after 2 miles, but not Stuart.   It is a very nice trail, following the river down to it's junction with the Fraser River.   Going down, I just knew I had to go back up;   but I went all the way to the end.    Then back.   Since they said I couldn't get lost, I did not pay much attention going down.   Turns out they were wrong.   You can get lost.   And I did.  An extra 4 miles worth.   By then, mom figures I'm dead.   And since I only had cold cereal for breakfast and no lunch, I'm
totally out of steam.

Back to the RV and we were both ready for FOOD

On to Dawson Creek - May 18th, 2012

Friday we drove from Quesnel to Dawson Creek.  Big scenery change as we went over the Rockies  into the plains.  Today was marked by 2 changes, first it got cold.  Some from higher altitude & snow everywhere except the roads. 

After the mountains, just lots of trees.   Birch and aspen, I believe.  Some pine, but a lot of pine trees are dead from the pine beetle.  Thousands of dead trees.

Many huge lumber mills and logging related business all through here.

The RV handles well but a new problem has come up.   It's leaking tranny fluid even more.   We are trying to contact the company to see what to do.   Maybe just keep pouring fluids in and keep driving.

Woke up Saturday morning to 23 degrees.   Sure glad we have central heating!   Too cold to hike or bike, so we will probably just drive today if approved.   This is the last town for a few days.  (OK, Fort St John is big enough, but it is pretty close so I'm counting it the same as Dawson Creek)

Between cooking our own food and buying restaurant, it's working out well so far.

Ever since teaching seminary days, we both cannot seem to sleep in for the mornings, so we are getting early starts.  The next few days we should start seeing some wildlife.  I did see a marmot the other day (when I got lost on the bike ride)

travel plans

So, actually, I'm just practicing on the tablet to make sure everything works (so I know how to make it work)

Here is a photo of all the stuff we are gathering for the trip,   The RV is not equipped with all the personal stuff needed (pots pans bedding etc) so we have to bring everything,

Travel

This is the blog we will use for our upcoming trip.    I only hope it works !

We had some visitors this last weekend. Stu's nephew , Linds, and his wife, Eunjee came on Saturday night and we had a nice visit. He is graduating and wanted to take a last jaunt around the Olympic Peninsula before they move to California.
Then on Sunday, my Nephew, Sean , and his wife, Heidi and baby Evette, came to stay a couple of nights because he is graduating and wanted to take a jaunt around the Northwest before he leaves for Dallas!
We had fun with both families, and were glad they could come and see the beautiful place we live.
As per the time of year, and BECAUSE we had company, the weather was not good. Rain, the entire time, (except for a few sunbreaks), but everyone was chipper and we did go on a hike, and the "boys" went on a very muddy bike ride.

We had the family over for dinner Sunday night to see Sean and Heidi- here are some pictures of everyone and the 'bike riders'.