Sat. July 30th - Day 25

Buddy had me up early this morning and we were on the road at 6:40 am and still trying to finish that cinnamon roll.  We made it to Watson Lake, Yukon by 10:15 this morning and walked through the Famous Sign Forest which is years and years of street, personal and road signs posted by travelers using the ALCAN Hwy.  Today was the B & B day.  After we left Watson Lake we saw about 6 Black Bears within 1 hour and then a herd of Bison along with Stone Sheep and one lone Moose feeding in a roadside pond.  We stopped at the well known Liard Hot Springs and took a nice long dip in the mineral hot springs with all the locals.  It felt wonderful.  We stayed and had a picnic lunch and then back on the road.  We were finally getting close to our destination Ft. Nelson when Buddy realized we were just about out of gas. Thank goodness for spare gas cans.  We made it to our campground for hot showers, laundry, and trying to catch up with Blogging.  Hopefully soon, I will be able to add some pics.  Tommorw we are headed toward Dawson Creek, then making our way to Edmonton and then Calgary over the next few days.

Friday July 29th - Day 24

We left Moose Creek campground about 8:45 this morning after Buddy fried us up some Bacon ends and Eggs.  Had to stop for gas in Pelly Crossing at $ 1.47 per liter ($5.55 gal) ….Ouch!  Gas is very expensive in Canada.  It was a very slow, rainy drive this morning.   As I was following the Mile Post Bible I saw that there was a place in the middle of nowhere (Braeburn Lodge) that had famous Cinnamon Rolls and coffee.  Oh....that sounds so good.  So we pulled in and as we were walking up to the counter, here are these 3 lb. Cinnamon Rolls starring at us.  Well, we couldn't say no now so we indulged ourselves and got through about 1/2 of it and hit the road again with full bellies.  We had to stop in Whitehorse for more gas and groceries and once again tried to get on the Internet....with no luck.  So, needless to say we didn't make it all the way to  Watson Lake.  We ended up spending the night at a Dry Campground in Teslin and will be up early early in the morning because we want to make it to Fort Nelson tomorrow so we can have hook ups and hot showers.  Sorry again about the pictures, these RV Parks that say they have wireless internet, don't have the capability to upload pics.

Thursday July 28th – Day 23 Chicken to Dawson City

Today is the Big day….we will be traveling to the “Top of the World” in the Yukon.  We have spent 15 spectacular days touring around Alaska and absolutely loved it.  I think our favorite spots where Homer, Valdez and Denali National Park. There are so many berry bushes(Blueberry, Blackberry, Roseberry etc.) everywhere around the state, but we were about 1 month to early for picking.  We also missed the running of the Silver Salmon by about 2 weeks.  I think if we were to do this again we would come around the first of August.

So, after a long night of rain again, we closed up our camp and decided to treat ourselves to Alaskan Blueberry Waffles in Chicken before tackling the long drive ahead.  The first 35 – 40 miles was a very rough, dirt and gravel road to the Canadian Border, which took just over 2 hours and one flat tire.  We had 4 Caribou(2 moms with 2 babies) leading us down the road…like Santa and his Sleigh.  I had to stop Buddy from taking his Slingshot out and taking one down with his original Paul Teran custom Slingshot.  Prior to the Canadian Border we stopped at the Davis Dome lookout and spotted a small herd of Caribou (about 7) grazing down below us.  Another awesome site!!!!

Now, we are in the Canadian, Yukon Territory and the road conditions are much better, except they were very narrow with steep drop-offs on both sides, hence “Top of the World”.  It took us about 4 hours to make it over to Dawson City, which by our surprise the highway ended and we had to take a Ferry over the Yukon River. We spent a few hours checking out Dawson, had a picnic lunch on the river and got a new tire for the trailer. We drove another 2 hours and ended up spending the night at the Moose Creek Campground (Dry Camp), got up trailer set up just in time before the rain storm hit.  Once the storm blew over, Buddy got to play with fire, smoke a cigar and enjoyed a few shots of Jim Beam.  We grilled up some of our fresh Salmon and veggies and called it a night.  Going to try and make it to Watson Lake tomorrow, it’s about 605 miles….long drive…we’ll see. Nite all      Sorry pics not uploading again.

Alaska Road Trip Wed July 27th – Day 22 Valdez to Chicken, AK

We left Valdez at 7:45 am, it was 50 degrees and partly cloudy, stopped and grabbed a coffee and hit the road.  We stopped along the way and had our bowl of cereal for breakfast in the truck.  Finally near Stewart Creek we saw the sun….yes, this is great. We are headed for Chicken, AK today, about 344 miles.  We stopped in Tok, AK for gas around 2:15 and then arrived in Chicken about 5:30.

 The town of Chicken is so small and remote that they have no phones, no internet, no flushing toilets, no electricity and run on there own generators.  Chicken is an old, but still active Gold Mining area.  The population is 23 in the summer and 6 in the winter.  We got to dry camp for free since we filled up for gas there, which of course was pricey.  But, we did get a whole chicken dinner for a buck fifty.  What’s a whole chicken dinner?  One hard boiled egg.  We did have a fried chicken dinner by the campground and it was just OK. Like everywhere we have traveled, we meet and talked with some nice locals and travelers.  We also saw another Moose today just outside of Tok.  They are usually just along side of the road grazing.

To date we have driven 5,194 miles. Wow…my backside feels it!! Sorry the pictures won't upload at this campground.

Tuesday July 26 - Day 21



One of many Golden Eagles today




The Master Fisherman at work...check out his catch in the water.




The winning catch of the day...a 4-5 lb Pinkie




One of hundreds...waterfall & pond




Buddy's new BFF!!!!! Paul Jr. II?

 Still here in Valdez, what an awesome day.  No rain and the sun tried to peak out all day.  Spent the morning Salmon fishing and caught our limits of 12 fish, but the best part was watching the Bald and Golden Eagles today interacting over the bay.  We ended up shipping home 40+ lbs of Pink Salmon.  Yum!!!  After fishing, we took time to do the laundry (never ending job), and clean out the truck and trailer.  After our long day we treated ourselves out to Pizza and Beer at the Famous Fat Mermaid Bar (Buddy thinks he recognizes the Fat Mermaid).  Then off to Safeway, gas station and the Elks Lodge for a night cap.  Back on the road and off to Chicken, AK tomorrow morning for our last day in Alaska.  Nite all :-) 

Monday July 25 - Day 20



Our first catch of 6 for the morning




Thank goodness for muck boots!




Look who's coming for dinner....




Good time to get back by the truck.




He's right beside us now!

 It rained all night long.....I'm ready for the SUN!!!  We took our time this morning, Buddy cooked up some great Bacon Ends from the meat packing plant along with some fried eggs.  We bundled up and headed out for some more fishing.  We caught 6 Pink Salmon this morning, brought them in to be processed, got warm, had lunch and headed back out for some more fun. Well, what an amazing and exciting afternoon of fishing. While we were up to our boots in water trying to pull 6 more fish in for our daily limit we watched 3, yes 3 Bald Eagles fighting right above us and they entertained us for quit a while.  Then someone yells, "BEAR" and we both turn to our left and see the huge brown bear meandering down the rocks and looking for fish carcases to eat.  Then he heads our way.  OK, grab all you stuff, including our five fish and try to slowly and calmly climb up the slippery slim covered rocks.  We made it to the truck and just watched this guy mosey in the water and grab out a fish for his dinner, then he headed back across the street into the forest.  OK, all is clear, as we all go back down to catch one last fish for the night, or maybe two.  Then about in about 15 minutes, we hear, "BEAR IS COMING BACK", guess he wanted seconds.  OK, babe it's time to leave.  Headed back to camp to clean up and grill the Elks steaks for dinner. We have one more full day here tomorrow and will try to get our last limit of fish to send home.  Nite all ;-) PS Just wanted to let everyone know we have not encounter any problems with mosquito's yet....guess we smell to bad.

Sunday July 24 - Day 19

Another beautiful drive



Buddy filming the Alaskan Pipe Line




The Worthington Glacier





Setting up camp in the rain in Valdez at the Bear Paw RV Park





Our afternoon catch

 Left Dry Creek Camp at 8:00 am in the rain and made it to Valdez, AK by 11:00 am.  The drive over here was just incrediable, with glacier after glaceir, mountain peaks coming up through the fog and river after river. Set up camp at the Bear Paw RV Park right in town, not a lot of choices here.  Temp is about 51 degrees, very foggy and guess what...it's still raining.  Drove around the little town and down to the harbor to get ideas where to go fishing.  Put on our muck boots and rain gear and headed over near the Anchor Point Terminal.  Fished for about an hour and only caught 1 Salmon, back to the Hardware store to buy more Pixie Hooks and then back to the water.  This time we ended up with a total of 7 Salmon, Judy's being the biggest and Buddy catching the most.  Took them to the fish cleaning station and some guys fillet them out for $5 and then to the Fresh and Freeze Market and they vacuum pack and froze them for $8.  We didn't get back to camp until 9:00 pm, BBQ'd up some fresh caught Salmon and Bison Steaks....Absolutely Delicious!!!!!  Didn't get to bed until about 11:30, and listen to it pour rain all night......something new.  LOL see pic below





Judy catches the first & biggest fish of the day....check out her cool outfit! I was sooooooooooooo cold!