Vol 9 – Pacific Northwest

September 4 – 5, 2009 - GIG HARBOR, WA
We spent two days in Gig Harbor visiting our friends, the Melchiors. We visited with them on the way up and had to visit them again on the way back. The first thing we did was made a stop at Trader Joes. Two months without Trader Joes groceries filled us with cravings and we needed a fix. The Melchiors took us to see the Bloedel Reserve and Gardens on nearby Bainbridge Island, a very nicely preserved estate that is open for hiking and viewing. The first floor of the family home is also open to the public. The Bloedel Reserve covers 150 acres with 84 acres being second growth forest. The remainder acres are altered landscapes with gardens, ponds and meadows. The place is meant for relaxing and reflection and it was! Later in the day we spent some time at the Blackberry Festival in Bremerton and had a nice dinner in nearby Manette. The next day we left for Oregon.













September 6 – 7, 2009 - NEWPORT AREA
Heading south through western Washington we crossed the two mile long Columbia River Bridge at Astoria and continued south through Oregon along the coast through Tillamook and on to Beverly Beach State Park near Newport. Driving along the Oregon Coast is such a beautiful drive. We have done it several times and never tire of it. In Tillamook we stopped and visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Being a holiday weekend, the place was very crowded so we were not able to stay long and enjoy the place like we have done in the past. We were not even able to sample some of the cheese because the line was so long. We did manage to buy some stuff at their gift shop and have lunch in their cafe.


We stayed two nights at Beverly Beach State Park. We spent a day exploring the historic Bay Front, the waterfront section of the town. Newport has been a resort community for the past 100 years and Newport’s location at the entrance of Yaquina Bay has made fishing an important industry. The Oregon Coast Aquarium is located in this area and is a ‘must see’. We did not have time to visit it on this trip, but have explored it on past trips to this area. What we had time for was shopping and eating which is what we did at Bay Front. This area is one long street along the waterfront. What attracts people to this street is not just the shops and restaurants, but the murals on several of the buildings. This artwork is pretty fantastic and encourages you to walk the whole block just to look for these murals.






Two more days to HOME. Stay tune for Vol 10 – Home Sweet Home.

Vol 8 – Alberta – British Columbia

August 28 – 31, 2009 – JASPER NATIONAL PARK and AREA
Jasper National Park is located high in the northern Rockies. It is a very beautiful and scenic place to visit. We have been here several times before. But this time through it was very smokey with several forest fires burning in and near the park. Like the US, the Canadian Park service just lets them burn. It is the best thing to do for the ecology of the park but it is hard on the views.
On the way into Jasper National Park we came across an interesting mountain that I gave the name of ‘Winking Wendy’.
Jasper NP was established in 1907 and is Canada’s fifth national park and the largest of the parks representing the Rocky Mountain Region. We camped in Jasper NP near the town of Jasper.

Jasper is a colorful town with lots of restaurants and junk shops..I mean gift shops. The town is colorful due to all of the hanging baskets full of flowers. It is more like a village than a town and reminds me of a ski village.











This city has a mascot, Jasper the Bear. This is not the original statue. We were here on our honeymoon 28 years ago and Jasper the Bear was quite different.











The Icefields Parkway starts at Jasper and goes into Banff National Park and ends at Lake Louise. The Parkway quietly opened in 1940 while the country was at war. We spent a day visiting the Columbia Icefield which is midway between Jasper and Lake Louise. This icefield sits in a bowl between several mountain peaks. There are glaciers that spill out between the mountains like waterfalls of ice. The waters from those glaciers go into three different ocean systems; the North Saskatchewan River which goes into Hudson’s Bay and the Atlantic; the Athabasca River which flows into the Bearing Sea; the Columbia River which flows into the Pacific Ocean.










We went out onto the Athabasca Glacier on a snow bus tour. The tour takes you up very high on the glacier to a place where the ice below you is over 1000 feet thick.












Going to and coming back from the Icefield, we stopped at several waterfalls and other viewpoints. A lovely place with lofty mountains and high cliffs, swift flowing rivers and lots of wildlife to see.














Our next stop was Lake Louise. We continued south into Banff National Park and stayed the night at the park campground near Lake Louise. We have visited this place many times before but we thought this was a good half way point through the park. Not so much smoke here, it stayed mostly in the north, the views here were very good. We went up to the lake and famous lodge and touristed around for the afternoon. Sorry, no pictures of Lake Louise. The sun was glaring in the wrong place and any pictures would have been too bright.
Known to the Stoney people as “Lake of Little Fishes”, Lake Louise was given its present name in 1884. It honors Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the six child of Queen Victoria.

On the next day we left Alberta and headed southbound for Kootenay National Park and stopped near Radium Hot Springs on the eastern border of British Columbia. The weather is warming up as we get closer to central BC and out of the Rockies. Just an overnight stop here then we head west to Nelson BC.

The hot, dry summer of 2003 was Kootenay National Park’s most active fire season in living memory. Two large, lightning-caused fires eventually merged and burned 12.6% of the park. The drive through this park was nice and scenic, but you can see a lot of the destruction that this last fire did to the park. There is new growth starting, but the destruction is still very evident, even after 6 years.
During our travels throughout Alaska and Canada, we have noticed a lot of wildlife warning signs that not only warn you of wildlife but give you the number of wildlife that have been killed in the area.
September 1 – 3, 2009 – SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
Many years ago we visited Nelson and found it to be quite charming so we thought we would visit it again since we were passing through the area. An old iron and silver mining town, Nelson was settled by prospectors in the late 1880’s. With the depletion of its mines, the town turned to logging, sawmilling and area trade. Nelson is another of those turn of the century mining towns that has retained and restored a lot of their old Victorian stone buildings. The down town area is a trip back into the past with lots of shops and restaurants. The town was used as a backdrop a several years ago in the Steve Martin film “Roxanne”. We stayed in Castlegar, about 25 miles away, but we spent most of our time in Nelson exploring the city and shopping. We met the town character, Izzy, having a nice lazy day in the window of a bookstore.











It was a dark and stormy day when we left the Nelson area and headed west hugging the US border. Traveling on Highway 3 in the pouring rain, we again climbed mountains and into valleys. We finally broke through the rain and we were driving through an area called Regal Ridge which looked like an area where estates might be built. What was interesting were the bronze statues that were set up at certain points. I was only able to get a few pictures. I missed the one of Sasquatch.
We passed through the town of Osoyoos and through some very scenic country full of vineyards and orchards. We passed many fruit stands, but sadly we could not stop and get any fresh fruit. It would all be taken away from us when we crossed into the US.

We stayed the night in Hope, a city we visited on our way into British Columbia, and departed for the border the next day. We will spend a few days visiting our friends in Gig Harbor and then travel the coast of Oregon into California. We will be home in less than a week.

Stay tuned for Vol 9 – The Pacific Northwest.

Vol 7 – Dawson City to Dawson Creek

August 20 – 21, 2009 – DAWSON CITY, YUKON
After going through the Canadian checkpoint, we crossed into Yukon and continued on the “Top of the World” highway until we came to the Yukon River. On the other side of the river is Dawson City.

The only way to cross the Yukon River into Dawson City from this side of the river is by ferry. There is no bridge and the ferry is free. Dawson City is a Gold Rush town of 1898 and today in 2009, the town (I would never call it a city) still looks the way it did in 1898. Some buildings are restored and some are empty and falling down and all the interior roads remain unpaved. Dawson has a restored river steamer (the Keno) and a nice riverwalk pathway to hike. It has a very good museum and also the cabins of Robert Service (the bard of the Yukon) and a replica of the cabin used by Jack London (the real one was moved to Jack London Square in Oakland, CA.). There are still active placer mines here and gold is still a major part of the economy. The temps will drop to 60 below zero in the winter so anyone who isn’t really serious about mining or privacy leaves the city in the fall.










August 22 – 24, 2009 –KLONDIKE HIGHWAY – ALASKA HIGHWAY – SOUTH
Leaving Dawson City and heading southeast we followed the Yukon River. This river was in our sight most of the drive. This country is pretty remote and settlements are few. But the scenery is beautiful!


This road is still the gold trail and passes Mayo and Keno, the sites of gold and silver strikes in the early 20th century. We crossed the Tintina river at a place called Stewarts Crossing and had lunch there. Onward to our overnight stop in Carmacks which was settled by the pioneer George Carmack.

From Carmacks we went on to Whitehorse again where we spent the day going through places Jo had not seen as she was in Orlando when I passed through the first time.

We had another overnighter just outside of Watson Lake, our last stop in the Yukon. Watson Lake is world famous for the “Signpost Forest”. The forest was started in 1942 by a homesick U.S. Army GI who was working on the Alaska Highway. He erected a sign pointing the way (and stating the mileage) to his hometown. The forest now covers several acres with signs placed by tourists designating their home towns. There are signs from all over the world and there are over 60,000 of them. This is a fun place and you could spend all day wondering through this forest looking for familiar towns and signs from your home area.



From Watson Lake to Dawson Creek BC, it is a long trek through empty country. On the way we passed by Muncho Lake; a beautiful blue green lake set in high granite peaks, very similar (except for the color) to Lake Tahoe.

Scattered along this road are a few 'lodges' with cafes and gas stations set in places where the US Army placed resupply points along the Alaska Highway route during construction. We were coming through rather late in the season so a lot of these places were deserted and boarded up for the coming winter. A lonely but picturesque drive.




We came upon Bison walking along the road and at one point saw a group of wild horses grazing alongside the road. It started to rain real hard and they all turned and wondered back into the forests.



We stayed the night at a campground next to Toad River Lodge; a place that has a ‘World Famous Alaska Highway Hat Collection” with thousands of baseball caps hanging from the ceiling.












August 25 – 27, 2009 – DAWSON CREEK, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Reaching Dawson Creek you know you are out of the northern mountains and back onto the prairie because the first thing you see are the Grain Elevators, the tallest building and ever present in every town across Canada from the Rockies to the east coast. We spent a day in Dawson restocking our supplies and exploring the downtown area. Dawson Creek is “Mile 0” of the Alaskan Highway. The start of the Alaskan Highway, or the end depending on what direction you are going. For us it was the END.
There is a lot of Alaska Highway history in this city and on the main street several of the buildings have murals depicting this history.










All over Canada there is a chain restaurant called “White Spot”. This is a family restaurant that was started in the 20’s and was committed to being the “cleanest spot in town”. We found one of these places in Dawson City and the food is really good. So if you are ever traveling through Canada, and see one of these restaurants, it’s a great place to stop and eat.

From Dawson Creek we headed south and east across the prairie through Grand Prairie and Grande Cache into Alberta where we will spend the next 4 days in the Jasper and Banff National Park area.

Stay tuned for Vol 8 – Alberta and British Columbia.