We're in the states, eh!

We crossed back into the US about an hour ago. RV got fixed quickly and is running well. So nice to be able to run the A/C as it's getting warmer & warmer as we go south.

We really LOVED British Columbia!! We will vacation in BC again! Bummed we missed Jasper & Banff, but our safety is more important. Good thing we turned south yesterday!  The Intertional Truck service dealer in Kamloops was professional and went over the RV with a fine tooth comb. The problem was the ignition switch relay was going bad. One side was all corroded. I wish the place in Fairbanks would have figured out that both the ignition switch and ignition switch relay were bad, but this is just how it turned out. We are confident that we will arrive home safely.

3 nights ago at the RV park in Hyder we met a family from Illinois...similar ages to us with kids around the same ages. They only live an hour from us and left for their trip a day earlier. They just drove by us when we were getting fuel and then we just passed them as they pulled into a Walmart. How funny that we crossed paths like that.

We plan on getting down to I90 before stopping for the night and then we head east tomorrow. Depending on how far we drive each day...we might make it home by Saturday night or early in the day on Sunday!!

Diana
- Sent from my Palm Pre

Catching Up

It's now July 20 and we haven't had internet in several days so I am behind on blogging. I think I will just review the past several days in one post.

On Saturday (7/17) we left the campground and I drove for the first time. I was helping move the rig up so that Eric could pick up some blocks we put down and I just kept driving. The Cassiar was the perfect road for me. It's remote and not crowded. I drove about 160 miles and I think I did pretty good. The kids said it was a smoother ride than when dad drives, but I think they were just trying to push his buttons.

The Cassiar is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and we highly recommend it to anyone traveling north. It gets a bad rap of being a hard road to drive. The top part is in the Yukon and has some issues, but it's far better than parts of the Alaska Hwy. There was a horse in the road at one point that would not move. I had to inch forward and keep honking the (regular) horn to get it to move. We saw lots of bear scat on the road as we approached the junction to Stewart-Hyder, but only saw one small black bear. Stewart-Hyder is very interesting. It's at the top of the Portland Canal which is the most northern ice-free port in Canada. There are several glaciers in the area. Hyder is a funky little town on Alaska. The US does not maintain a customs station but Canada does. It didn't make sense to me but someone explained that booze and cigarettes are tax free and a lot cheaper so it's truly about customs and not immigration. When we left Hyder the custom's officer got into our RV and asked us lots of questions.

We stayed at a cute little RV park called Camp Run-A-Muck. They have WiFi, but the connections were SUPER slow so all I managed was to update my FB status. I did do a few loads of laundry since we have full hook-ups. On Sunday morning we got up and went up to the Fish Creek bear viewing platform. Thd salmon have not started running yet so the bears were not out. We were a little bummed that the salmon are late this year, but it was still a neat place to visit. Parker said he wants to work there someday. We also drove up to the massive Salmon Glacier, which is the largest glacier accessible by car. It was an amazing site. Dori & Park has some fun playing in some snow.

We got a late start out of Hyder and drove 200 miles to Smithers, BC. What a cute town! We stayed at the municipal campground. We were SOOO tired and all headed to bed a little earlier. For the 2nd night in a row, it actually got dark.

Yesterday we got an early start out of Smithers and our plan was to drive east to Prince George and then head toward Japser and Banff. We were traveling up a hill (using the passing lane to pass a logging truck) and the RV lost power. It was a super tense moment but Eric was able to get it started before we started rolling backward or someone hit us. We immediately made the decision that we needed to turn south toward the US at Prince George and avoid the mountains. We stopped in the visitor center parking lot for lunch and I went in and asked about our driving options. They agreed that with potential issues with the RV that we should not go through the mountains as there are very few towns.

We headed south out of Prince George and decided to go as far as possible. When we stopped in Williams Lake to make dinner we decided to push it to Kamloops. We knew it would be about 10pm before we got there. We had more issues with the RV the last hour before we stopped. It was hilly, curvey, and dark and it got quite scarey when the RV died and wouldn't start right away. We managed to make it to Kamloops and parked in the Costco lot for the night. We did talk to another RVer who gave us some advice about our rig and the best route to the US. We had planned on taking the freeway south, but the man said that it cuts straight up through the mountains and we should avoid it.

Eric didn't sleep well and was up right away this morning, which woke me up. We decided that we needed to find a shop to take a look at the RV (maybe bad fuel or need an oil change?) so we headed out right away. There were several truck shops about 1/4 a mile from Costco, but the RV died trying to get there. We parked it in a lot, unhooked the Jeep, and Eric went around to several shops in the area. We found a place that thought they could take a look at the rig around 9:30, which is actually right now. With the wait it cut out this morning and we couldn't get it to start again for about 5 mins (3 times!) we realize we won't be back in the US by lunch as we hoped. We were really hoping to make it to the US and have someone take a look at it there, but we can barely make it 2 blocks without it dying. It seems to be some kind of electrical issue. We think it could be related to the ignition switch, but we aren't sure. We called Eric's dad this morning and he wasn't quite sure what the issue is. We kept the call short since we have to pay roaming in Canada.

Right now I am about a mile away from the truck shop at a McDonalds with the kids. There is no WiFi here so we are about to head to Starbucks to see if they have WiFi. Hopefully the RV is a quick and cheap fix (I won't hold my breath) and we can be to the US by the evening.

**Will update photos & video when we can!!**

Goodbye Alaska Highway

We ended up sleeping in a little bit this morning. We didn't have the best night's sleep (that's what you get for FREE) and we were chilly. Eric aired up tires and I grabbed some baked goods at Starbucks (thanks P&P!) before getting back on the highway. I tried the ATM again and it would not let me get any money. It said my daily allotment was exceeded. Grrr!! I took our money before midnight CST, so there shouldn't be an issue. I am not sure what is up. I was able to take out money one night and then the next morning when we first got into Canada. So worse comes to worse, we will use the credit card.

Today's drive along the Alaska Hwy was very pleasant. The surface of the highway was good and rough areas were well marked. The fist 250 miles is a portion we covered on the way up. We stopped to make lunch at one of the Continental Divide rest areas that we stopped at before. We didn't want to go back all the way on the same road, so we decided to take the Cassiar Hwy back.
It turns south and travels through western British Columbia paralleling the inland passage of Alaska.

At first the Cassiar really stressed Eric out. It was like turning onto a small sideroad, even though it was paved. Overall it hasn't been bad. We aren't driving as fast as we were most of the day, but we still arrived at the Boya Lake Provencial Campground with plenty of day left. We actually stopped much earlier than we do many days. This lake is just so beautiful. It water is tourquoise blue and crystal clear. The trees and mountains reflect so well in the lake. It's just breath-taking! We are camped right by the swimming and boating dock so the kids wanted to go swimming right away. The glacial water is in the 40s. Parker jumped in and was out of the water super quick. The look on his face told how cold it was. After dinner, a walk, and some s'mores by the fire, Eric & Jake decided to have a man contest. They decided to jump into the lake and whomever was in longest was the manliest. They were crazy and lasted about 6 mins. You can check out the video below. Enjoy the gorgeous pics from the day too!

Goodbye Alaska

We set a 7am alarm to get on the road from Tok as we had nearly 400 miles to cover to get to Whitehorse (Yukon Territory, Canada). We topped off both vehicle with gas and got on the road. We had about 90 miles to the border. Canada customs is another 20 miles down the road. There is not a lot along this stretch of the road. We did see rivers, creeks, and lakes looking quite full along the way. There was major rain in Alaska several days ago which caused flooding in the area. In fact, the Taylor Hwy had many parts washed out. Several people were stranded along the road. We drove that road into Alaska a few weeks ago. Last night I called an RV park at Border City to see if they had any spaces and they said they were flooded. As we drove by we saw that the RV park was surrounded by water and several RVs were stranded there. We were thankful to not be a part of any of this flooding. We sailed through customs with no issues.

The stretch of the Alaska Highway today was bad. We were told that it was horrible from Beaver Creek all the way to Whitehorse, but that's not the case. Construction starts in Alaska about 15 miles before the border. It's rough going from the border to Beaver Creek. It's absolutely HORRIBLE from Beaver Creek until about Destruction Bay. Frost heaves and uneven pavement that really pushes you side to side on the road. We are taking the Cassiar Hwy tomorrow which is known to be bad, but many people say this portion of the Alaska Hwy is worse. We hope so. From Destruction Bay to Haines Jct there are rough spots, but most are well marked and if you slow down all is OK. The road was pleasant from Haines Jct to Whitehorse. A few heaves along the way, but pretty smooth the whole way. It took us over 11 hours to drive the 393 miles yesterday. The trade-offs for going slow was the Jeep bumper still being entact AND our gas mileage when up to 10.6 mpg.

We got into Whitehorse and planned to get gas, money, and then check into a campground. We had issues getting money as the ATM said we were over the daily limit. This was frustrating as I had used the same bank in the Edmonton area and gotten out $500 no problem. I tried different amounts and different banks and got the same result. I ended up being able to get $200 from the first bank. We stopped by the public library to use the WiFi and check our bank balance. Plenty of money in there, so I was confused by not being able to get more than $200 out. Since we are low on funds (we are avoiding using our credit card and getting 3% fees on each transaction) and it was after 9pm and we wanted to get another early stop we decided to just park at Walmart. I never thought we'd do this on the trip, but it was late and I was concerned about having enough cash. We are going to be more remote over the next few days and there are places where we will need cash. We plan on hitting the ATM in the morning before hitting the road. Hopefully it's not to loud in the parking lot overnight.

Wrapping it up in Alaska

Eric was up early this morning and had breakfast burritos and coffee prepared before the rest of us got up. We headed out around 9am and headed east to the Matanuska Glacier. We unhitched at a rest area and drove the Jeep into the park. We were no prepared for hiking on a glacier, so the visit was a little disappointing. We didn’t get to climb out as far as we’d like because it was so slippery! I highly recommend crampons, spikes, Yaktrax, or similar to anyone who is going to visit. Even a hiking pole or 2 would be beneficial. I fell on the way back to the car, but I didn’t get hurt at all~ maybe a little bruise on my knee. It was pretty cool being up next to the massive glacier. The ice is a wonderful turquoise blue color. The ice absorbs all colors except blue. Even rivers that flow from a glacier are that beautiful shade of blue. Anyway, I guess that doesn’t sound so disappointing, but I wish we had gotten our money worth. The entry fees were $55 for the 5 of us so it would have been nice to be able to explore more. We did have to sign a huge waiver form before going out to the glacier. If you are prepared with the proper footwear, then you should have a grand time!The glacier pretty much signaled the end of our time in Alaska. We are headed east and then southeast toward home. We are back in Tok, Alaska which is about 90 miles from the border. We will be in Canada tomorrow morning. We want to put on some big miles, but we will have some rough roads and changes in elevation to deal with over the next few days so my guess is we will cover around 300-400 miles each day. We hope to get to Whitehorse tomorrow which is nearly 400 miles. Tomorrow is also the roughest stretch of highway on the trip, so we are going to try to get an early start. Eric had to so some reinforcement in the Jeep bumper this evening so we hope it holds. We saw a sign that said trading post today and wondered if they would trade 5 one way first class airline tickets to Illinois + shipment of our stuff in exchange for a big ass RV and an old jeep! LOL!

Not sure anyone reading this is on their way to Alaska soon. We have only used a few coupons our of our 2010 Great Alaskan TourSaver book. We want to sell it so we can try to break even. Since our time in Alaska was fairly short compared to many traveler, we didn’t have the flexibility it takes to get the savings out of the book. Just leave a comment and we can work out the payment and shipping! **Update: I put the TourSaver on eBay.**

Sarah Sighting?

We woke up a little earlier today (8ish) and headed over to the airport area. I dropped the guys off at the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum and Dori & I went shopping. The guys really enjoyed the museum and got a lot of time on the flight simulator. Dori & I shopped at the Alaska Shop at the visitor’s center in downtown Anchorage and then went to Trapper Jack’s a few doors down. It’s good that we had a time limit or I would have spent 100s of dollars. That store is so stuffed with every souvenir there is.We headed out of Anchorage around noon and headed NE. Right after we passed through Palmer we stopped at a scenic overlook and our day was changed by Sarah Palin. OK…it wasn’t Sarah Palin, but the woman looked like her from behind. She had a bunch of girls out for a birthday party and they were putting out a geocache. I was first to sign the log and the woman asked where we were headed. She encouraged us to go visit the Independence Mine State Historical site. We were going to go down the road a little further, but we ended up backtracking 2 miles into Palmer and we are camped at a GREAT little public campground. It’s called Matanuska River Campground and it’s only $15 for a site with electric. It’s been the cheapest night of the trip. There are tons of sites open.After we got settled we headed up to the Independence Mine. The elevation up there is 3500 ft, so we miscalculated our time. Eric was very excited when he realized that this was a place he saw on Lonely Planet once and wanted to visit. Our visit there was short because Eric & Parker were scheduled for a 4pm white water raft trip.They had a great time on the rafting trip. It was just them and the guides. The one guide drove along the river with them and took several photos. They burned the photos to a CD and gave it to us at the end. They had a GREAT time! The rafting trip was with Matanuska Madwater Rafting Company. Scott, the owner, did a great job to giving instructions to Parker. They provided neoprene dry suits so that they stayed warm and dry. At the end they had the guys practice a rescue swim. Parker jumped right in and floated about 40 yards downstream and then grabbed the rope they threw. He loved every minute of it!

The campground doesn’t have WiFi and my phone reception isn’t strong enough to tether, so I am down in town long enough to post this and upload Eric’s vlog entry. I wanted to make sure I posted today as we are going to start hightailing it east tomorrow. We might even make it to Canada. If not tomorrow evening, then definitely the next day. We will only post when we have WiFi at a campground for the next week or so til we hit the US again. We plan on going down the Cassiar Hwy and might even go down into Washington to visit friends, but it will all depend on how the roads are and how many miles we cover each day. We just found out some other friends are in Seattle right now and would like to visit with them too…but that will probably really be pushing it. There are things we still want to stop and do along the way…so we will see. Our time here in Alaska has been wonderful. Outside of being wet and cold that first night in Seward, the state was VERY enjoyable. I could totally live here *IF* it was like this year around~ long days (ok…not any darkness) with coolish days. BUT~ we all know that winters have got to be pretty tough…so I will pass! Will we ever return to Alaska? Who knows?!! Maybe years from now when we are retired we can come up and be hosts at a nature center or similar. I can say that we won’t be driving up here anytime soon. It’s a LONG drive!!!! One that we are NOT looking forward to making home right now. Eric reminds me that our trip isn’t over. We are just vacationing toward home. Good thing to keep in mind!

Thanks for following along. We will be making trip recommendations and even add a list on the sidebar of places we loved. We hope that our suggestions will be helpful to others as they travel.

**I never did find any WiFi last night, so I posted this as soon as we had access in Tok.