BONUS

I got a check for $822.00 from SMART as my share of what was NOT spent on the caravan.  That brings the price down even further.  Can’t wait for our next caravan!

Fuel Cost

I finally went back through my Flying J account and my Visa account and pulled out all of the fuel costs.  In any case the total was $3,104.15.  Not bad for over three months of driving.

Valrico 10 Sep 2019

Home again, full circle after 12,440 miles.  2,910 miles from Valrico to Great Falls, 5,642 miles from Great Falls thru Alberta, Yukon Territory, Alaska and back to Prince George, British Columbia and 3,888 miles from Prince George back to Valrico.  Now for the clean up and services.  Got home to a clean and well kept house.  Richard Balderston had kept an eye on the house for us as well as having Sandy staying in it.  A new water heater was the only real issue while we were gone, but Richard took care of it for us.  Sandy had collected our mail (there was a tub full of it) and it took me the better part of a day to get through it all - mostly junk.  Got appointments for the RV and my truck for service.  Started knocking the first layers of dirt off and out of the vehicles.  It will take a while, but it is good to be home again.

Biloxi Mississippi 9 Sep 2019

We made a couple of stops along the way, but we finally made it to Biloxi to visit Lisa’s Mom and Dad as well as my Mom.  When I asked her what I could bring back for her, she asked for a small wood carving.  It was more difficult that I thought with all the chain saw carvings, almost no one was willing to do small wood carvings, but I finally found one of a bear.  She loved it.  She has always loved apricot nectar cake (she claimed she made it for me because she said it was MY favorite - I didn’t argue), and she also loves her glass of wine in the afternoons, so I found a bottle of Apricot wine for her as well.

Albuquerque New Mexico 5 Sep 2019

Continuing toward home, we stopped in Albuquerque and discovered that the State Fair was its starting.  So, we had to stay an extra day and visit for some good fair food.

Grand Canyon 3 Sep 2019

I won’t bore you with all of the 237 photos of a big ditch, but I will show you how close I was able to get Lisa to the edge.

Grand Canyon 1 Sep 2019

Finally made it to the Grand Canyon.  We were able to get a campsite within the park grounds and they had shuttle busses that ran different routes one of which stopped at the campground.

Idaho and Utah 31 Aug 2019

We made a couple of quick stops in Pocatello Idaho and Cedar City Utah on our way to the Grand Canyon.  Nothing significant to report except Iron Springs campground had some really nice statues with a story about their history.

Montana 28 Aug 2019

Well, we finally made it back to the “lower 48”.  It really felt good crossing the border.

We stopped in Great Falls again at Malmstrom AFB for a couple of days to rest and restock.

Granum British Columbia 27 Aug 2019

On the way south, we stopped in Granum B.C. for one night and guess who rolls in right behind us?  Keith and Colleen Hardman, who were also on the SMART Caravan.  We had a great co-op dinner and relived some of the great things we saw and did on the caravan.

Jasper British Columbia 26 Aug 2019

Actually we are in the Jasper National Park staying at the Columbia Icefield Center parking lot (dry camping) so we can go out on the Athabasca Glacier.  This is Lisa standing next to one of the tires of the Ice Explorer that drove us there.

Prince George British Columbia 23 Aug 2019

This is our last stop as a part of the caravan after 5,642 miles.  There is not much picturesque here, but we did go to the Northern Lights Winery for a wine tasting and some appetizers.  There are really only two ways to go south from here, either due south and hit Washington State, or go south east (over the mountains) and hit Jasper and Banff (which we missed on the way north), SO - we are going with several others from our group to Jasper and try to take a tour on one of the Ice Buggies onto one of the glaciers.  Then on to Montana and we will figure out the rest when we get there.  At least we will be in the “lower 48” and can spend US dollars (and hit a Burger King).

Houston British Columbia 20 Aug 2019

After a long drive we stopped in Houston B.C. for two nights.  We were relieved to find a vet here who could see Emma.  She needed some medications and we never thought we would find them here.

This place is famous for having the worlds largest fly fishing rod.

What it should have been famous for is all of the beautiful flowers everywhere.

Hyder Alaska 17 Aug 2019

We actually camped in Stewart British Columbia, but all the action was just over the border in Hyder Alaska - the Salmon Creek, the Glaciers, and the BUS.

Dease Lake 14 Aug 2019

Well, this was just another stop over location, but on the way there, we did stop at Jade City.  It is a small town with one of the largest Jade mines in the world.  Ironically, their largest buyers are Japan and China.  It was also my birthday and they told me I could get any jade ring I wanted, but what would I do with another ring.

Watson Lake 13 Aug 2019

On our journey south we stopped again in Watson Lake.  I was able to take in the Northern Lights Center show this time around.  It is a dome type of theater with seats that almost lay flat and gives an explanation of how and why the Lights are formed as well as some of the most spectacular showings of the Lights captured.

Whitehorse Yukon 11 Aug 2019

Well we are on our way back south.  We have been in Whitehorse on the way up and did all the really cool stuff, but there is still more things to see.

Destruction Bay 8 Aug 2019

Destruction Bay was an interesting stop for two days.  First, there is virtually nothing to do in Destruction Bay, BUT our camp host is quite a unique character.  He cooked us Bison burgers the first night along with all the trimmings and sides, plus he had some live entertainment which was pretty good.  And the second night he cooked a roast (like a steamship round) again with all the trimmings and sides, AND this time there was a three piece entertainment for us.

Destruction Bay got its name when the US Army came here while building the ALCAN highway and set up a tent city.  Then because of the position of the mountain ranges here the wind occasionally comes howling through with 100 mph gusts and 70 mph sustained wind, it destroyed the camp - hence the name destruction bay.

Valdez 6 Aug 2019

Today we drove out to the Valdez glacier, but it was around a bend and no way to hike up to its face like we were told.  But we were able to walk up to Valdez Lake and get a couple of pictures.

Valdez 5 Aug 2019

This is actually an extenuating of yesterday’s cruise.  We saw humpback whales, Dalls’ porpoise, harbor seals, steller sea lions, sea otters, mountain goat, horned puffin, tufted puffin, cormorant, and of course bald eagles.

Valdez 4 Aug 2019

Because there was so much good stuff today, I am going to break this up into two posts.  First was the  Glacier portion of the cruise.  I didn’t realize that there are over 30,000 square miles of glacier ice in Alaska alone. We sailed out to the Columbia Glacier which was the last of the Alaska Tidewater (reaching the bay) Glaciers to go into a retreat. It has been retreating since 1978.  But still it is still four and a half miles across the front, 200 feet tall with another 600 feet below the bay water level.  It is depositing between 8 and 10 million tons of ice into the bay each day.

Wrangell-St. Elias 3 Aug 2019

Today on our trip to our next stop, we stopped t Wrangell-St. Elias National Park which is the largest National Park with 13.2 million acres.  It also has a glacier that is larger than the state of Rhode Island.  The we proceeded on the rest of our trip and we saw glaciers, glaciers, glaciers, mountains, mountains, mountains, and waterfalls, waterfalls, and waterfalls.

Palmer/Grand View 2 Aug 2019

On the way to our camp, we stopped in Palmer to visit a Musk Ox Farm.  Learned a few things about them, like they don’t excrete musk and they are not an Ox.  They actually belong to the goat family.

Whittier Alaska 1 Aug 2019

Today we took the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage, thru Girdwood, Whittier, Portage, and Spencer. We saw tons of glaciers, waterfalls and majestic scenery from the comfort of our train car.

Anchorage 30 July 2019

Yes we are back in Anchorage for a few more days.  Today we went out to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and then up to the top of Mount Alyeska.  The Conservation Center is a place that rehabilitates injured or abandoned wildlife.  We saw bears, Moose, Muskox, Bison, Elk, Caribou, Deer, Fox, Coyote, Lynx, Eagle, and even a porcupine.

Seward 28 July 2019

Homer Spit 25 July 2019

I was hoping it would be me, but two from our caravan ran into Jane and Jewell Kiltcher (of Alaska the Last Frontier fame) while here.

Homer Alaska 24 July 2019

We are camped out on Homer Spit, which is a peninsula sticking out into Katchmack Bay.   

Anchorage 21 July 2019

Wouldn’t you know it!  We spent 4 days in Denali trying to see the great mountain without any luck, then as we headed out for Anchorage, we caught a glimpse of it.  We pulled over at a viewing location about 150 miles south of it and was able to take a picture of it.

In any case, I hurt my back again and had to go to an urgent care facility.  They couldn’t do much for me except give me some pain medication.  So we will be back on the road again tomorrow morning.

Denali 19 July 2019

This was our day for an 8 hour trip into the Park.  Unfortunately it was overcast (all week) so we did not actually see the mountain, SO, I will post some of the pictures of animals that we saw and took.

We saw bears, antelope, fox, Dahl sheep, a ton of the Arctic squirrels, and landscapes that will take your breath away.  Note that I will only post some of the pictures here, but I have a bunch more.

Denali 18 July 2019

After a little rest we were at it again.  First we hit the Husky Homestead Tours where we were given a really through explanation by Jeff King (a four time winner of the Iditarod race) himself.  As part of the husky training, they had to be socialized, so we got to play with the 4 week old puppies.  Later that evening, we went to the Alaska Cabin Dinner Theater where I was recruited into playing the part of the miner with a poke of gold.

Chena Hot Springs 16 July 2019

Today was another busy day.  We drove to the Chena Hot Springs for another warm soak, but first we hit the Ice Palace (which is kept at a cool 24 degrees), and we fished off the day with an all you can eat Salmon Bake (they also had prime rib for Lisa) and a show at the Palace Theater.

Fairbanks Alaska 14 July 2019

The next day, we took a three hour tour on a steer wheeler.  During the ride we visited the sled dog training site of Susan Butcher (the female four time winner of the Iditarod).  We also stopped and visited a recreation of an Indian Village complete with a fishing wheel and reindeer.

Fairbanks Alaska 13 July

We visited Dredge # 8 and got on the train to ride around the entire site with explanations about all the pieces of equipment and how they were used.  We also got a chance to pan for gold ourselves.  Then we got up close and personal with the Alaska Pipeline.  Learned a few things about it as well.

North Pole Alaska 12 July 2019

There actually is a village named North Pole in Alaska.  And it has Santa and Mrs Claus there in the Santa Claus House Christmas Store.  We also visited the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska.

Here are some more pictures of both.

Delta Junction 11 July 2019

Well we finally made it to the OTHER end of the ALCAN highway mile 1422.

We haven’t seen many mosquitoes, but I did save Emma from one just before he got to her.

Tok Alaska 10 July 2019

Tok is another two night rest stop, which we all needed after the Top of the World highway.  You would not believe the amount of dust that accumulated on out rigs and towed (toad) vehicles.  A lot of cleaning, but we did manage to have a great pot luck dinner together.

Chicken Alaska 9 July 2019

But first, after leaving Dawson City, we had to take the ferry across the Yukon River to get to the Top Of the World Highway, cross the border back into the US, to get to Chicken.  You could not be hooked up to your tow vehicle for the cross, so Lisa had to drive the Ford Ranger (with the help of Emma) onto the ferry while I drove the RV.  That small white truck on the back of the ferry is Lisa.

Dawson City 7-8 July 2019

We made it into town a little late, but not too late for the Diamond Gertie Show.

More about the show later, I just put that picture up to get your attention.

Carmacks 6 July 2019

Carmacks is just a stop over place to cut the trip to Dawson City in half.  It was an RV park for 11 campers, but we squeezed 21 in like sardines.

On the way to Dawson City (which is back in Canada) we did see some fire off in the distance, but fortunately the smoke was blowing in the other direction.

Juneau 5 July 2019

Today we took a fast boat from Skagway to Juneau to do some sightseeing from high above on the tram, some educational experiences at the Salmon Hatchery, and some whale watching and sea life observations. That is a humpback whale tail you see in the distance.

The day started out with an early trip to the boat, which was a very nice boat and a great captain and crew.  We saw a lot of glaciers, waterfalls, bald eagles, sea lions, dolphins, and other wildlife.

4th of July celebration 2019

What would the 4th of July be without a cookout?