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.