Pike's Big Adventure

Trip is over

2011-09-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we arrived in Saginaw to visit with our daughter Marci and husband Gene, son Steve and wife Bonnie and great granddaughter Braylin. We had diner and got home around 9, exhausted.
Sunday brought Dawn, Marci and Gene, Andrew, Taryn and new great granddaughter Kailyx. Marci & Gene made a big taco salad and we watched the Steeler's beat the down and out Colts. It was not a pretty game, but we won.
We are so fortunate to have such a loving family, both on the east coast and in Texas.
Or friends, Jim and Dixie ask us if we wanted to go to Alaska, again, next summer. What do you think we said?
Until then, I sign off and thank you for your comments.

Back in Texas

2011-09-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

Today we are camping in BEAUMONT, TEXAS. A GREAT CAMPGROUND. THEY SERVICE A CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST. TOMORROW WE HEAD TO SAN ANTINIO TO VISIT Jim and Dixie. HeADING FOR HOME ON SUNDAY. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SINCE WE STARTED THE TRIP, THAT I ACTUALLY HAVE WIFI. LIFE IS GOOD.

Sept. 19, 2011

2011-09-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

We are in Slidell, LA, and heading for San Antonio, Wednesday. Sorry about the lack of pictures. This is the first time in a week we have been able to download and use email. It is raining and humid. While we have a chance, Gene is doing a load of wash.
Hope some of this rain went through Dallas.

Sept. 14, 2011

2011-09-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

Brailynn’s 2nd birthday is today the 14th of September. I don’t know if I mentioned Andrew and Taryn had baby girl, “Kailyx” last week. Family life is hectic in there home.They are both going to school and having to take care of 2 kids.

We decided to stay at the campground and relax and hike on Friday. Hiking up King Mountain was very good exercise with the weather at 56 degrees. On top of the mountain we got some cell phone service so we called Jim & Dixie to let them know when we will get to San Antonio. In the afternoon we drove to the Town of King Mountain and made some phone calls. There is no cell phone service at the campground.
Hope to drive to the west side of Atlanta tomorrow

Another blowout

2011-09-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

We got on the road after a large breakfast and went only about 50 miles when we had another blowout on a trailer tire. The left front tire broke the gas lines, so no refrigerator, stove, hot water heater, etc. Gene quickly turned the propane off and changed the tire himself. We have road service but they said it would take almost 2 hours to get someone to come. It was the first really hot day we had experienced in a long while. So Gene changed the tire and we were steered to the first campground with electricity so we did not loose our food in the frig. It happened to be Kings Mountain National Military Park and State Park, in Blacksburg, SC. Come to find out it is an American Revolutionary War park.

“By 1780 the northern campaign of the war had been fought to a stalemate and England turned its military strategy toward the South. The tactic seemed simple: re-establish the southern royal colonies, march north and join loyalist troops at the Chesapeake Bay, and claim the seaboard. But a sudden battle in the wilderness exposed the folly of England’s scheme and changed the course of the nation”.

Neither of us remembered the Revolution coming this far south.
The visitor center and museum was very informative but we got there an hour before it closed so, we could not walk the grounds and hope to go back tomorrow after Gene fixes the damages on the trailer.

The Ponderosa Pines in the camper ground and park are massive, about 100ft. They had a tornado in this area in the spring and it knocked over some very large trees.large trees

Gene has been working all morning and we are late into the afternoon. He is replumbing the gas lines routed them so they are not near the wheels. Rain is coming this evening and he hopes to finish before the rain. If we had to break down we could not find a better place.

New Jersey

2011-09-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

After leaving New Jersey we drove to North Carolina to see friends Kermit & Priscilla Nabors and stayed overnight. The Nabors where are neighbors 30yrs ago in Texas. It felt like we just picked up a conversation with out time passing. They have had a great tragedy in their lives. We felt being there gave them support. It was a good visit. Pictures will not up load.

September 14, 2011

2011-09-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

Since last I posted, we were going to leave Becket, after a wonderful 2 months with family, on Wednesday, the 7th of Sept. Well, plans are meant to change and that we did. There was torrential rains onWed. & Thurs. and more flooding so we did not leave until Friday. We drove to New Jersey and met our friend Lorraine and spent the night with her and saw her African Safari pictures. Backing up a little, we got a call from our friends Jim & Dixie asking us if we would like to plan a trip to Africa. After much discussion, we all decided to go on a tented safari on the Serengeti. So, Lorraine’s pictures had much importance to us. We leave in Feb. and should see the mass migrations of wildebeest.

Picture of Emilyn

2011-09-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

She has found her nose.

The past week

2011-09-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

The past week, Monday, we drove to New Hampshire to see our friend Anne. She had had surgery on her lung to remove a cancerous growth. It was great seeing her and found out later in the week that there was no cancer in her lymph nodes and the doctors feel they got it all.

We took the train on Wednesday to Boston with Norene. After lunch she was able to make a connection to the airport to catch a plane home to Florida. We went back to Becket.

Sunday, on Labor Day weekend we had a surprise birthday party for Alan’s 30th, over at Bambi and Jim’s house. It has been great to be able to spend more time with the family this year.

Monday we spent time with Joan and Earl. Joan was generous with her garden produce. Can’t wait to make cucumber and tomato salads. It has poured rain from this afternoon into the evening. Hope the rivers and streams have had time to abate to handle the additional water. We heard that Mark has to evacuate the camp grounds again. Roads are flooding. Let's see if we can drag some of this rain to Texas.
Spoke to Ellen in Austin and Joan and Frank in Leander, both have the fires close to them.

We will be leaving the New England area and will be heading towards home on Wednesday. There are friends we are going to try and see on the way home. They live in New Jersey and North Carolina.

Irene

2011-08-30T09:51:00.001-07:00

July 28
Hurricane Irene visited us. Most of the roads we drove on last night where washed out. A lot of the roads in Sherwood Forest, where we were staying are washed out. We were moved not able to get to Lee or Pittsfield till late in the afternoon.
Last pictures were the road to the camping area and the playground had 5 ft of water.

wedding

2011-08-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

The wedding

2011-08-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

July 27,
Bambi and Jim’s wedding was a fantastic event. It was catered at the Hills Country Club in Waterbury, CT… They had an open bar that led to everyone loosing up . It was so nice to see most of the family together, dancing, laughing and having a great time.
Mike gave BAmbi away. Norene and Mark. Bambi, Our table, Jim the grome

Rhode Island

2011-08-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

Following weekend we went to Rhode Island to visit Gene’s sister Betty and Brother Donnie and all Betty’s and Johns family. Their kids, kids kids, etc. We went to a beautiful light house in Narragansett and ate at Iggy’s, which is a great little fish restaurant off the beach. We had baked fish and clam chowder, along with their famous crab cakes. Diner was outside under the trees with a cool ocean breeze adding to the ambiance. We also visited Beavertail Lighthouse the 3rd oldest in the America’s.
All the Begin family managed to make it down for the weekend and the first day Gene’s sister Joan was with us. Surprisingly the weather was great all weekend since rain was predicted. We visited some rock beaches and watched the sail boats going out from the bay.
As we drove home the rain came down and we talked of the great time we had.

Reunion

2011-08-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

FAMILY REUNIONDawn and Jeff arrived from Texas on Aug. 11, and surprised us getting to the campground early. Since we found that Jackie’s pop up trailer had some major water problems, we decided to have Jeff and Dawn stay in our camper. Dawn was so funny when she first arrived she was so thrilled with the cool weather and that we could sit outside at the picnic table. After about an hour she went in and got her zippered hoodie. After about another hour she went in for a sweatshirt to put under the hoodie. She had experienced a more than 50 degree temperature change in just a few hours. Jeff on the other hand went into the trailer and took a nap. He had been working long hours the past few days.The reunion was great with a majority of our kids, their kids, grandkids and great grandkids and families. The weather was great all weekend then monday morning it poured. Most everyone got out before the rain on Sunday night. Monday Laurie and 3 of her kids, along with Dawn, Jeff, Norene, so we had a breakfast in our trailer for 9 or so of the family and let them dry off. We then sent them on their way, two to the airport and the rest home to Connecticut.
sorry pictures will not download properly.

AUGUST HAPPY BIRTHDAY'S

2011-08-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO; DAWN, MARK, ANDREA, BONNIE, KURT, MARISTA

PICTURES OF TANGLEWOOD

2011-08-05T08:24:00.001-07:00

Another Week in the Berkshires

2011-08-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

OUR WEEK WAS A BUSY ONE. TICKETS WERE BOUGHT FOR A TANGLEWOOD CONCERT ON THURSDAY FOR A CONCERT ON TUESDAY AUG. 2. ON SATURDAY WE PLAYED RUMMY WITH KRISTA AND LAURIE AND THEN WE WERE TAKEN OUT TO DINER BY DANILLE AND GENE ON FRIDAY AND THEN LAURE, MIKE AND KRISTA TOOK US TO DINER ALONG WITH BAMBI, JIM AND KIDS ON SATURDAY.
GENE, DANIELLE, MARK, JOAN, KIT, GENE & I HEADED FOR BOSTON AGAIN ON THURSDAY THE 28TH. FOUR OF US WENT ON A WHALE WATCH AND THE FIRST THREE WENT ON A BUS TOUR OF BOSTON. I TOLD GENE NOT LET ME GO ON A BOAT AGAIN. I HAD THE PATCH ON, DRAMINE, AND BONINE AND STILL GOT SICK. THERE WHERE A LOT OF HUMBACK WHALES BUT THE BOAT WAS TO FULL TO WALK FROM ONE SIDE TO OF THE OTHER TO SEE ANYTHING. IT WAS ONLY WHERE WE WERE STANDING. OUR VIEW WAS LIMITED. BESIDES THAT I WAS TRYING TO KEEP FROM GETTING SICK. NEVER AGAIN…
TUESDAY, AUG. 2 WE WENT TO THE TANGLEWOOD MUSIC CENTER FOR AN AMAZING DAY OF MUSIC AND SINGING. WE ARIVED AT 2:00 PM AND WENT TO THE BEAUTIFUL OZAWA HALL TO HEAR BEETHOVAN AND DVORAK. GENE & I WALKED THE BEAUTIFUL GROUNDS AND WAITED FOR THE BIG SHOW AT 8PM. THERE WAS MUSIC BY THE CENTER ORCHESTRA, BOSTON SYMPHONY AND BOSTON POPS ORCHESTRA’S. WHAT AMAZING SOUNDS CAME FROM THE LARGE ORCHESTRA’S? THE BIG SHOW WAS WAGNER’MEISTERSINGER’S OVERTURE, VAUGHAN WILLIAMS WITH 16 SOLO VOICES, TCHAIKOVSKY’S ROMEO & JULIET OVERATURE, WITH MORE OF JOHN WILLIAMS PIECES, INCLUDING E.T., AND THE BIG FINALLY WAS TCHAIKOVSKY’S 1812 OVERTURE INCLUDING THE CANYONS. THE DESERT WAS A SPECTACULAR FIREWORKS SHOW. AS WE WERE LEAVING GENE SAID “HOW CAN WE TOP THIS”. SORRY, THE WEATHER WAS PERFECT. MAYBE LOW 80’S WITH A BREEZE THAT GAVE ME CHILLS.
GLEN, HAVE YOU BEEN HERE?
ENJOY HEARING FROM THE BROOKHAVEN GANG. HOPE YOU ARE STAYING COOL.
BY THE WAY THE CAPSLOCK KEY IS STUCK.

Week ending July 24

2011-07-25T10:48:00.002-07:00

Week ending July 24, 2011

OK you jealous friends and family. It has gotten HOT in the Berkshire’s high to mid 90’s with very high humid and poor air quality. So what did we do yesterday, took a drive of 100 miles to take the train to Boston. Gene, Mark, and Gene & I trudged the historic areas on the Freedom Trail. From the Boston Common to Paul Revere’s house, Faneuil Hall, The Old North Church and the Granary Burial Ground. We learned the difference between a burial ground and cemetery. A cemetery is orderly graves where as the burial ground bodies are placed where ever, different directions and then they where buried on top of one another. Our tour guide was dressed in period clothes and was an actor who spoke in the old English language.
Saturday we went to our granddaughter Bambi & her fiancee Jim’s shower/bachelor party. They are getting married August 27. Had a great time and will go down there next Sat. and go out to dinner with a large group of family.
We then drove to Gene’s twin sister Joan’s house. Chatted about what was going on with other family members. We are hoping Joan is able to go with us on a whale watching trip out of Boston on Thursday.

Week of July

2011-07-25T10:48:00.001-07:00

Week ending July 24, 2011

OK you jealous friends and family. It has gotten HOT in the Berkshire’s high to mid 90’s with very high humid and poor air quality. So what did we do yesterday, took a drive of 100 miles to take the train to Boston. Gene, Mark, and Gene & I trudged the historic areas on the Freedom Trail. From the Boston Common to Paul Revere’s house, Faneuil Hall, The Old North Church and the Granary Burial Ground. We learned the difference between a burial ground and cemetery. A cemetery is orderly graves where as the burial ground bodies are placed where ever, different directions and then they where buried on top of one another. Our tour guide was dressed in period clothes and was an actor who spoke in the old English language.
Saturday we went to our granddaughter Bambi & Jim’s shower party. They are getting married August 27. Had a great time and will go down there next Sat. and go out to dinner with a large group of family.
We then drove to Gene’s twin sister Joan’s house. Chatted about what was going on with outher family members. Joan is hoping to go down to Boston with us to go whale watching Thursday.

Week of July

2011-07-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

Week ending July 24, 2011

OK you jealous friends and family. It has gotten HOT in the Berkshire’s high to mid 90’s with very high humid and poor air quality. So what did we do yesterday, took a drive of 100 miles to take the train to Boston. Gene, Mark, and Gene & I trudged the historic areas on the Freedom Trail. From the Boston Common to Paul Revere’s house, Faneuil Hall, The Old North Church and the Granary Burial Ground. We learned the difference between a burial ground and cemetery. A cemetery is orderly graves where as the burial ground bodies are placed where ever, different directions and then they where buried on top of one another. Our tour guide was dressed in period clothes and was an actor who spoke in the old English language.
Saturday we went to our granddaughter Bambi & Jim’s shower party. They are getting married August 27. Had a great time and will go down there next Sat. and go out to dinner with a large group of family.
We then drove to Gene’s twin sister Joan’s house. Chatted about what was going on with outher family members. Joan is hoping to go down to Boston with us to go whale watching Thursday.

Ohio

2011-06-30T18:20:00.000-07:00

June 29 we camped at Delaware State Park in Ohio. Great spot. Sites far apart in woods. First time we camped and did not need air conditioning. We went for a hike about 3:00pm. Temps were in the low 80's. Park was so quite we slept in.
June 30 The Football Hall of Fame. It had mostly static displays and a few touch screen TVs. No football atmosphere. What a disappointment. Maybe if we had not been to the Baseball Hall of Fame we would have thought it was OK. The Baseball out shown the Football.
We have been in the Cool Berkshire Mt's for the past 2 weeks. Lows are in the 50's and highs in the low to mid 80's. I feel so sorry for my Texas family and friends.
I have been reading books by...Mary Higgins Clark, John Grisham, and Clive Cussler. Now I changed to a book about the Salem Witch era. The story starts in Billerica, Mass., a town we lived in for 8yrs. Just getting into the story.
We have been to Conn. to see family and phoned our friend Anne in NH. We are looking forward to the reunion and wedding in August.
I do miss our Texas family and friends.
Just stay cool...

on the road again!

2011-06-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

We are on the road again, but I will not be able to keep a complete blog. My surgery for a torn rotator cuff was not successful, so it is hard to type.
I will just be sending notes at intervals.
On June 21st we left Texas and drove to Shiloh Civil War Battlegrounds in Tenn. We visited the Indian mounds there and a museum. Still to hot.
Left Tenn. and camped in Ky. On our way to Lexington, Ky. we had a blowout on the trailer. We seem to have to buy a tire a trip. Gene noticed the tire that blew was made in China.
Camping in Versailles, Ky. and bought a new tire and drove around looking at the beautiful horse ranches with barns bigger than most homes. Quite a few Derby winners were sired hear.
7/28 we toured the Wild Turkey bourbon disterlies near here and had samples. Picked a road and found a house built by Frank Lloyd Wright, 1924, and a famous candy store where they make bourbon balls.
Next we are heading for Ohio and will be at the Football Hall of Fame in a few days.

Dodge City

2010-09-26T15:42:00.001-07:00

Sept. 26, 2010

2010-09-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

Pictures on the way to and in Dodge City.

September 26, 2010

2010-09-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

We have been working our way back home with a stop in Trenton, NE and now in Dodge City, KS. Gene hurt his knee so we have stopped here for a few days and have him rest for a while. I think the hike down Scotts Bluff bothered him. The stop in Trenton was a nice state park on a lake. The turkeys visited often and we were able to snap pics of other birds. Tried to get to the Indian Massacre site using our gps. Unfortunately the road goes out to nowhere and past grain silos. We then found that the actual site is closed and the monument was moved to a site near the new road. And now another great trip is coming to an end. This is the last blog. We will be home about Friday. Looking forward to seeing the family and friends.
I have just found out the our friend Roberta passed away today with a friend holding her hand. She did great the past few days getting off the feeding tube and medications. There will be a service for her probably next week. A mutual friend Evelyn will be coming in from Marfa around Tuesday. We will be home about Friday so I can help Evelyn with the arrangements. Roberta has no other family.

Sept. 22, 2010

2010-09-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

Well we are working our way home. We just found out that our friend Roberta has had her feeding tube removed. She has had a wonderful 90 years and would not choose to go on, in a vegetative state.
Today Gene worked on the outside of the rv. It took him 4 1/2 hours to clean this rig. I, in turn, worked on the inside of the rv. In the afternoon we took a ride to Chimney Rock National Historic site. This was a landmark that the wagon trains headed for on the Oregon, Mormon, and California trails. This spire is getting smaller and has eroded through the almost 200 years it has been used as a landmark. We then went out to dinner at a restaurants that the locals use. It is interesting listening to the locals talk.

Scotts Bluff

2010-09-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

The small ice cream parlor was over whelmed being there was only setting for 4 and here we come in with 15-16 people.
It was a really nice time.

Ft. Robinson

2010-09-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

The group was told by a woman in a museum to go to this place for ice cream. It was such a small room that we all could not get in...and there where cars waiting at the drive for outside service. We had a good time and got better aquianted with the crowd. There was only one woman to handle all of this.

Scotts Bluff

2010-09-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, Sept 21

2010-09-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

It was so good sleeping in the cool weather. Even though it gets hot during the day it cools off to low 40's in the morning. We decided to go for a hike before we left. That is when we came across the bull snake.
We left around 11am and headed south to Scotts Bluff, Nebraska. We have been through the area, but never stopped. It's along the North Platte River in western Nebraska and the landscape really stands out. There are immense sandstone and stiltstone formations that have been eroded by wind and water. This was part of the Pony Express and Oregon trails route. The ranger gave us a ride up because there is a tunnel you have to go through to get to the top and our vehicle could not go through the tunnel. When we got to the top it was beautiful and decided to walk the 1.6 miles down the trail.(boy will we be sore tomorrow) It was hot but dry and cool. What amazed me was that I could walk on the narrow trail. I use to be so afraid of height. We then walked part of the original Oregon Trail walking past the wagon train. This area, a bottle neck, was so hard to get through that they had to go single file, which backed the wagons up for miles.
We where tired so decided to camp near by and met a group of full time campers. They invited us to go and have ice cream with them. All of them where making fun of our dirty camper. So much so that Walt, one of the group, who has a power washer offered to loan it to us tomorrow. Looking forward to being able to look out the windows.
Tomorrow we will head toward another national monument, Chimney Rock about 21 miles from where we are staying.
We are heading toward home.

Ft. Robinson

2010-09-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

How about the sun set? It looked like there was a fire in the woods.

Ft Robinson

2010-09-21T20:08:00.001-07:00

to Ft Robinson

2010-09-21T19:56:00.001-07:00

September 20

2010-09-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

September 20, 2010
We awoke this morning and decided to move on. It is hot here and everywhere, so we might as well be home. So we are sort of heading south. It will still take us at least 2 weeks.
On the road we saw herds of bison’s, deer and pronghorns as we drove over protected grasslands. There where prairie dog poking out and running in the fields.
Our first stop was The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD. We where at this site around 25 years ago. The indoor site features fossils of 58 Columbian and woolly mammoths, camels, lions, wolves and giant bears that where trapped 26,000 years ago in a sinkhole.
After lunch we decided to go to Fort Robinson in Nebraska. We have been here many times and it has brought back fond memories. This is where Crazy Horse was killed along with over 149, men, woman & child of the Cheyenne where killed. The U.S. was trying to forcibly send them to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. A band of Northern Cheyenne escaped and fled across the plains of Kansas and Nebraska, pursued by “thousands” of soldiers. When told they had to return to Indian Territory, the chief said they would rather die here in their old hunting grounds. It was one of the last battles of the Indian War.

Sunday

2010-09-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

Yea, STEELERS! The horse is made up of various parts...spoon, tail light...you have to look hard.

Sept. 17-20

2010-09-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

Sept. 17-20 Hill city
The weather turned miserable from Montana to North Dakota. When we got into the town of Medora, North Dakota, the temperature was 35 degrees at 12:30pm and snow flurries where falling. It was bone chilling. So we headed south and never found good weather. Eventually ariving in South Dakota. We saw deer, pronghorn, buffalo, and turkey. There where large fields of sunflowers and beautiful scenery which would have looked better without the rain.
We are now in Hill City, North Dakota. Today we went to the winery open houses. Very interesting…and walked the town. It is a fun place with people in period costumes and gun fights going on in the street. Tomorrow we will visit Gene’s nephew & wife in Rapid City and then on to the southern part S.D. We have visited most of this area many years ago and as recently as 2 years ago.

We had lunch today with Gene's nephew Ken & wife Carol.
Tomorrow we where going to head to Nebraska & Colorado but it is hot there…so…we will stay right were we are for a few more days. Gene looked up the weather in the mountains of CO...Fort Collins...it is going to be 95%.
Dixie & Jim are heading home. They are in California and it's hot, so they said they will bite the bullet and head home across Arizona and then New Mexico.

I now cannot receive my emails or send them. Frustrating!

Sept 16

2010-09-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

When we left Havre I could never guess what was in store this afternoon. We are still driving on rte. 2 when we saw a sign for Great Plains Dinosaur Museum & Field Station in Malta, Mt. Of course we stopped and as we entered the small museum a video was playing. It was about "Roberta" and "Leonardo" the mummy dinosaur recognized by Guinness Book of World Records as the "best Preserved" dinosaurs. The Brachylophosaurs's had skin, internal organs, and was 90% complete. Amazing! It was x-rayed in Houston, TX. Then we found out the fossil had been at the Houston museum this summer. What I photographed was a copy but it was still exciting. They had a great invertebrate fossils displayed from Montana... Ammonites, crabs, and plant fossils.
By the time we left the museum it was lunch time and we stopped at a little local cafe. It was really interesting listening to the locals coming in and chatting. It was a little old fashioned town and reminded me of a place in Pelham N. H. called Brothers.
The drive on the prairie was straight with hills in the distance. Bails of hay covered many areas along with a lot of cattle. We ended up in another little town of Wolf Point.

Sept 15

2010-09-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

This morning we went to the clinic to have blood drawn so we can get our prescriptions. We went to the H. Earl Clark Museum that is located in the Holiday Village Shopping Center. They have exhibits, artifact collections and dioramas depicting the history of Havre. The time span is from the dinosaur era to early Indian, cowboy, military and farming eras. Right next to the museum is the Wahkpa Chu'gn buffalo jump that was discovered in 1960. It is also the only one in North America with archaeological materials left exposed in place for public viewing. Unfortunately for us it was closed till next spring and we missed the atlatl competition this past weekend. We then thought of going to Fort Assinniboine - Historic Site 1879. the fort is one of the oldest in existence and the largest constructed in Montana. That to was closed along with the Old Forts Trail and Dinosaur Trail. We are going to have to come back this way again. We will leave Havre tomorrow and head toward North Dakota.
Regards to friends and family and Wishing a Happy and Healthy New Year, to all.

Sept. 14

2010-09-14T17:56:00.000-07:00

Coming out of the mountains Sunday we drove over flat prairie. We stopped at the Museum of the Plains Indian which had varied arts of Northern Plains tribal peoples. They had a movie, done in 1932, that featured the Indians from various tribes using the common sign language to make a record their signing so it would not be lost. Highlight of the exhibits where their weapons, horse gear, clothing and art.
We decided to stay in a town called Havre. It looked like a small town from the road but it had a Walmart and street lights. During the drive to Havre we passed small towns without even a traffic light.
The Evergreen Campground was reasonably priced with wifi, tv, 50 amp service, which are luxuries that we haven't had in some time. We decided to get prescriptions refiled at Walmart and ran into some difficulties. Called the doctor in Texas and we needed to get blood work done, so we decided to do some sightseeing while we wait for the paperwork could be sent here.
We went to the next town on rte. 2 Chinook, Mt., to see the museum and go to the Nez Perce's, Bear Paw Battlefield. It is the site of the last battle of four-month Nez Perce War of 1877 an another sad story of the US persucution of the peace loving Nez Perce people and the brave Chiefs who tried to run to Canada and avoid any war.
Chief Joseph was the last chief remaining and had no favorable choices. Many of the tribe where too weak, old and sick without food or blankets. He decided the best course of action was to surrender. Thus saving his people further hardship, giving them a chance to survive.

9/14

2010-09-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

First, I still cannot send emails, so...Carla my thoughts are with you and your husband. Please keep me informed.
Maureen, it is so hard to be away at this time. Our thoughts are with Roberta and hope she is not suffering. I just think about her 90th birthday party and how happy she was at that time.

Sept. 11

2010-09-12T17:58:00.001-07:00

Sept. 11

2010-09-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

Sept. 11

2010-09-12T17:41:00.000-07:00

Sept. 11, 2010
Last night was an unusual night. The people we met earlier invited us to their campsite to watch a movie. Brad had a projector that he showed onto a sheet that he hung in the woods. We met some of their friends and young kids, and had wine and cheese. We did not stay for the whole movie because it was cold and even with a fire it was chilly. I took pictures of the snow falling onto the mountains and when we left this morning we had snow flurries falling on the road. A pleasant surprise was seeing the mountain goats both near the road and climbing on the cliff. It was a beautiful picture and we hated to move on, but…Once out of the mountains we where in prairie and farm land.
We drove across the border on rt. 89, into Montana and found a campsite just outside of Glacier NP. Since we have been on the eastern end of the park we figured to say just tonight and go on to rt. 2 east toward South Dakota.

Sept 10

2010-09-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

Sept. 10
The drive to Banff was as beautiful as yesterday. I got frustrated when I saw that we could have gone to the Canadian Glacier NP and been able to visit the Burgess Shale Fossil Beds. About 500 mya the incredibly diverse and detailed remains of long extinct marine creatures were captured forever in the layers of sedimentary rock of Yoho Mountains. You can make arrangements for a guided tour. It does say that it is a full day strenuous guided hike, but I would like to try.
We parked in Banff and went for a walk. Tomorrow is a big triathlon and they where getting by ready putting up signs and directions. Glad we made it today. The town is lined with flowers and shops. One shop we went into had fossils from all over the world, but included the fossils of Nebraska, Utah and other regions where we have collected. I priced the turtles…$1000 to $2700. The oreodonts where summarily priced. It made us feel good.
Of course we stopped for lunch and ice cream and headed down rt. 1 to rt. 40. We came down that road 2 years ago to Kananaskis Provincial Park. We decided to camp in Boulton Creek for the night, we saw so many campgrounds closed and we thought we may have to camp at the visitors center parking lot. The campgrounds close Sept. 19. Snow is coming down heavy in the mountains and turning to rain at the campground. Some campers we met said if we stayed a few days the snow would be here. We will be leaving tomorrow, regrettably. We did see a moose on the way in to the park. But, haven’t seen much wild life so far.

Can't help it, love the area

2010-09-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

Sept. 9 part 2
All day as we came down the road we both had the feeling that we had been here before. Gene thought we came into the Rockies by Lake Louise, in 2008, but, we where both mistaken. We checked our records from 2008 and we did come this way from Jasper to Banff. It is great when you have memory lapses and everything seems new again. Although, we did think we where in the twilight zone with the feelings we where having. But in our defense the first time the two of us where here it was summer and there where a lot of people and traffic and not as much snow on the mountains.

Sept. 9

2010-09-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

Prince George 9/8/10

2010-09-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we ran around doing chores. Gene had the tires rotated on the rv and I did laundry. We then went shopping and at the time we decided to stay another day here. We had diner with Dixie & Jim and said goodbyes. They are going down 97.
Then we got up this morning and it was 34 degrees and decided to leave today since we are going back on rt. 16 to Jasper. Depending on the weather we will either go down the Canadian Rockies or go over toward Edmonton. It might be a few days until we have wifi again.

Some misc pictures

2010-09-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Ft. Liard with campfire and cookout. Some of Dixie's pics.

To Prince George

2010-09-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

I would like to wish my Jewish friends and family a Happy & Healthy New Year (LaShana Tova).
We went through a town that had many of carved statues all along the way. When we stopped at the town we found out it was the capitol of chain saw carvings, with people coming from all over the world to compete. The town has 2 coal mines a gas pipeline and the wood carving. The competition brings in a lot of people. Chetwynd is a town of 5,000 people.

Back to Prince George 9/6/10

2010-09-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

The ride down to Prince George from Dawson Creek was beautiful today. There are pictures from Dawson Creek mile 0. There was some sun and light rain but a warm 50 degrees.

Dawson Creek, Mile 0

2010-09-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

Dawson Creek is the starting point of the Alcan Hwy. The first rough highway was completed in 8 month between Dawson Creek and Fairbanks, but to make it a perminate road it took another 18 months. It was started in 1942 to protect the US from the Japenese that where alread at the Alutian Island. That is 1500 miles through forests over streams and rivers. About 25 thousand people worked to get the road done. The ports of Valdez and Skagway where improved to get supplies up to the workers. They later built a road from Haines to the Alcan Hwy to further supply the troops. All in all an amazing feat.
We are in Dawson Creek and it is COLD. The high was 47 degrees. It is a damp, chilling cold. Since everything is closed because it is a holiday weekend we are going to head over to Prince George on route 97. We had the idea of going into Montana and over to South Dakota and then down to Texas, but we are seeing bad weather in Montana. Possibly Snow tomorrow. We will watch the weather as we come down to the states.
We are looking forward to getting back into the states. I cannot recieve or send any emails again. Appreciate all the nice comments on the blog. Gene & I are sorry we will miss our ggdaughters 1st birthday. There are a few birthdays in New England that we can't send greetings. A Happy Birthday to Mike & Alan LaClair, Allison George, and Brailynn Grace Kelley. Love and miss you all.

Fort Nelson

2010-09-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

When we got back and set up at a campground we took a shower, to get some of the smoky smell from our bodies. We went to the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum. We found out the fort was named for Admiral Nelson and was established as a fur trading post in 1805. It is located at mile 300 on the Alaska Highway which was constructed by the US army during World War II as a vital link between Alaska and the south. There was a very interesting movie on the building of the Alcan Highway. The area had a lot of old machinery and work equipment, a working blacksmith shop, first post office in the area and a few homes. A highlight for us was the Vintage cars and the man that restored the cars, Marl Brown. He told us about the car that was in the parade in 1928, a Durant ( I never heard of) that still runs. He cranked it up for us. The car has a single cylinder, and its original wood frame, axles and wheels. There was also another car that in 2000 was driven to Whitehorse and back. It is a 100 year old McLaughlin Buick, now 102yrs. old. It gets 25 miles to a gallon.

By the way it is 44 degrees, damp, rainy and windy. It feels like snow is coming so we are heading south.

Fort Liard

2010-09-04T20:30:00.003-07:00

Last night we had a great fire and cooked hot dogs on sticks. The wind came up and we where freezing. We went into the camper and the rain started. It rained hard all night but was not very cold. Only about 55 degrees. But as the rain kept up I thought about the lake water nearby. Finely feel asleep and awoke to a knock on the door. Jim and Dixie where moving out to the main road and a pullout to camp at. Found out that they awoke at 2 and saw water filling in where they where camped and moved onto the road. They then awoke us at 7:30am to tell us they where moving. We thought we might have to stay another day because of the road conditions but we caught up to the Carters and we where on the road. It was raining and a little rough in spots and a little slippery but we made it to the paved road and back to Fort Nelson.

Fort Liard

2010-09-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

Before I go on to our trip yesterday I wanted to comment on the people we met from Holland. I don't remember if I told you that they gave me some Hooghoudt, a liquor to try and a cap from the Skutsjesilen 2010 boat race. That liquor was sooo good and I liked it so much they said they would send us a bottle when they get back. I want Jeff to make sure he keeps it safe and unopened. They will send it in a plastic bottle to reduce the weight. We gave them the pictures we took on a cd and Gene brought over some beer. They where a lot of fun. I could not tell you their names. Greta was the only one I remembered. I could not pronounce the others.
Now, yesterday was an adventure into the Northwest Territory up to Fort Liard. The first 100 miles was paved, but then there was about 25 dirt. It wasn't to bad as long as we went slow and it was a pretty day. The flyer said that Fort Liard area has been occupied for over nine thousand years. The road up to the fort is only 15 yrs. old. The Native culture is very much alive in the handicrafts that we saw. There birch basketry is known all over the area. Local trappers still bring their furs to the fort and buy provisions for life in the bush. There where not any services all the way up the road. We stayed at the Hay Lake Campground. It has 12 sites. We saw a male buffalo come into the campground. First on a walking trail and then in the campground itself. We where told to pull in our mirrors on the truck because they are known to try and scratch themselves on the mirrors.
We had lunch at the Two Sisters restaurant which was the only place in town to eat.

Holland visitors

2010-09-02T23:05:00.000-07:00

Fort Nelson

2010-09-02T22:58:00.001-07:00

We saw herds of buffalo, mountain goats, and caribou. These pictures include some of our new friends from the Netherlands.

Fort Nelson

2010-09-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

Fort Nelson, Sept. 2

2010-09-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

We are having a great time. Saw a lot of wildlife today and met some wonderful people from the Netherlands. It is getting cold and the trees are turning but we are not done yet. Tomorrow we will go up into the Northwest Territory . This is really an adventure.

August 31

2010-08-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

August 31

2010-08-31T15:17:00.003-07:00

August 31

2010-08-31T14:12:00.001-07:00

August 31

2010-08-31T13:18:00.000-07:00

We made it from Glennallen to Tok. Then Tok to Congdon Campground at Destruction Bay. That is where we saw the grizzley bears when we where here last time. We got into the Yukon the next day at Wolf Creek Campground, and picked up supplies. Now we are in Teslin doing laundry, since we will be dry camping for a while. Our plans are to go into the Northwest Territory, if the road is ok. Notice the road conditions going from Tok to Destruction Bay.
Meanwhile, Gene is doing fine. I think he just wanted to lie around for a few days.
The ride down here was beautiful. The trees are turning colors with beautiful hues of yellow, orange and although the fireweed is not in bloom any more, the red of their stems can be see far away. The fireweed stems open up to produce seed. When we first saw it we thought someone had lost a bale of feathers. The mountains seem to have more snow on them and the tempertures at night are in the low 40's. During the day, once the sun comes out, it is a pleasant 60 degrees.
Since we are in Canada we do not have phone service. I will write at the first chance I have to keep in touch.

on the road to Glennallen

2010-08-27T11:53:00.001-07:00

on the way to Glennallen

2010-08-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 27

2010-08-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

I guess I am up to date now. Yesterday we left Williwaw and drove to Glennallen. You can see fall is in the area. Gene's back is feeling better so tomorrow we will drive from Glennallen to Tok to Destruction Bay. From Tok to Destruction Bay, in the Yukon, the roads are terrible. Pot holes and permafrost heaves. Forty miles an hour is top speed. Always watching the road. Back over the worst roads in the area. In stead of taking one day to do the trip we will take two or three to go 350 or so miles from Glennallen. I would like to go up over the Top of the World highway to Dawson City, but the last we heard it was washed out. Tok is the town for information on that.We will not have Internet access for a while. I will try and get more organized. Hope you enjoy our view of the area. I am getting my emails but cannot send. Christine, those emails you sent where very funny. Let your daughter know we wish her a happy bd. Sorry we will miss Brailynn's first bd., but it is till to hot down there.

8/24

2010-08-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Gene called Dixie and Jim last night and told them our predicament. They are going to drive to and stop at Williwaw today. Gene says his back is getting better. He has been up in bed 2 days.
I have started reading Louis L’Amour’s book “The Haunted Mesa”. I haven’t been able to put it down. Of course it takes place in the canyons and plateaus of the Southwest. It says, “he will learn of the astonishing world of the Anasazi and discover the most extraordinary frontier ever encountered”.

It was another cool (41) morning, but is brilliantly sunny and warming up.

Our son Jeff happened to call and said he would sacrifice himself and fly up to Alaska and I thought drive us back, but he said no, I will fly the two of you back and drive back myself.

8/22

2010-08-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Sunday 8/22
A trip back to Williwaw Campground was in store for us today. Dixie and Jim needed to wait for a prescription coming by UPS on Monday. We said our goodbyes to everyone and pulled out on a damp drizzly day. We will meet up with the Carters in a few days.
Gene’s back started to bother him and by the time we got to the campground it was time for him to go to bed with a few Aleve. I did the crossword puzzle in the paper and read.
We played cards in the evening as we listened to the rain. By the way we have been getting up in the mornings to 39 or 40 degrees. It is great sleeping weather.

Fishing trip 8/20/10 Ninilcheck AK

2010-08-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

We are still in the Homer area(about 35 outside). While Gene & Jim went on their fishing trip, Dixie and I went out to lunch and did some site seeing. The Homer visitor’s center was really interesting with a movie about Homer and some of its history. We stopped to take more pictures. The scenery is breathtaking. I can’t get enough of it. Then we went down to the spit to shop but everything we liked was too expensive. We wanted to get home in time for the guys boat to come in, which we thought was going to be 3:30 or 4. It came in at 5:45. I heard the captain speaking of one person that got very sick on the trip. To my surprise it was Gene. They each caught the quota of 2 haddock. After cleaning it will amount to 15 lbs of fish for Gene and Jim each. It was interesting to see them launch the boat this morning. They use a skidder/tractor to put the trailer far enough into the water.

2010-08-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

Ninilchik

2010-08-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

Please forgive misspellings. I am trying to edit a weeks worth of pics. and info.

8/18

2010-08-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

8/18

2010-08-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

Another unusual day…Gene & Jim where supposed to go fishing but the waves where to high. We had moved to a campground next to where they go out…so since we had a day off and it was sunny we decided to wait another day. Our campsite is overlooking the beach and 2 of 4 active volcanoes in the area. Redoubt and Spurr and they are both puffin ash. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but you need a thousand words to describe this scene. Just awesome!
We walked the beach getting some exercise going up and down hills.
At happy hour we where being happy and decided to ask the girl working here to come and have a glass of wine. Linda is a joy and her husband is the person taking the boys out fishing. She told us about the American Legion having a chicken dinner every Wednesday, so we decided to get some local flare and have dinner out. It was a unique experience. We where also told about the town of Nilichik down the road. After a time we found the quaint old town and walked around. There are pictures of a group of boats that are waiting for the tide to come in so they can get out of the little cove.

8/21

2010-08-26T19:41:00.001-07:00

Saturday, 8/21
We took several walks down to the beach. It was a steep hill going down but coming back up was steeper. The beach has soft sand and is rocky in places making good exercise on the legs.
In the afternoon, as I was making lunch, Dixie came over to see if we wanted to go have a burger at the Boardwalk Café in Ninilchik. It was right by the water. Nothing fancy… A young boy is visiting his grandmother. She does the cooking and he takes the orders and serves and is very chatty for a 13 year old. They will close tomorrow so we were happy for the experience.

pic-a-road

2010-08-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

Pic-a-road

2010-08-17T17:42:00.001-07:00

Pic-a-Road Day

2010-08-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

It has been drizzling since we arrived here on Sunday. Today it seemed to clear a little, so we ventured and picked a road. We had never noticed that there where beautiful snow capped mountains around us until the fog cleared. Dixie found a magi zine while doing laundry and it mentioned North Fork Rd and said it had beautiful scenery. We went up the road and decided to turn on Nikolaevsk St. The article mentioned the Russian Village of Nikolaevak. The church appeared first. Then a sign for a cafe. The Samovar Cafe and Gift Shop was such a treat. There where 8 people in there and the woman was giving them instruction on what to order and what they could and could not do. She then motioned for us to come close and join the other group. We ordered borscht soup, piroshki and tea. She insisted that we have desert,too. There was Russian music playing in the background. She was busy and this unique women asked one of the women in the group waiting for food to fill mustard containers with mayonnaise. She was quite a character. There where clothes you could put on to get a real Russian experience. A very pleasant and unusual day.
Tomorrow Gene and Jim are going to try their hand at fishing. They are wanting to get some halibut and cod. If they are successful we will have to empty our freezers.

8/15

2010-08-15T22:06:00.003-07:00

8/15

2010-08-15T21:53:00.003-07:00

Homer 8/15

2010-08-15T21:44:00.003-07:00

Homer 8/15

2010-08-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we met Jim & Dixie in Soldotna. Jim found out he was to late for the fishing he wanted to do. There was not a sole in the campground. It was like they where invited to a party but came on the wrong day. We stayed overnight with them and in the morning we drove to Homer. I am sorry about all the scenery pictures but this is for my record, too. As I said before, it has been cool and rainy. What I did not realize is that all records have been broken with Anchorage receiving 29 straight days of rain. I think today will be 30.
We drove to a campground we stayed in 2 years ago, the Bumble Bee. Nobody was there. The campground was empty we are the only two vehicles here. After we got set up we went to Homer and had a ice cream & a beer. Not together. When we got back the owner of the campground John and his wife invited us over to meet some of their friends and neighbors. We remembered some of the people from the last time we where here. When leaving they gave us a few pounds of ground moose meat and a package of smoked salmon. There will be a party when we get home.

Williwaw CG

2010-08-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

campground pictures

2010-08-14T20:37:00.003-07:00

Got the pictures of Brailyn. Thanks!

Williwaw Campground

2010-08-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

Williwaw Campground,

We drove from Talkeetna through Wasilla, where we stopped to shop. No we did not see the soccer mom. Then we went on to Williwaw CG passing Turnigan Bay. There is beautiful scenery even with the rain. I couldn’t take my eyes of the majestic snow capped mountains. Yes it is 50 degrees and raining but it is easier for us to take than the heat all you people are suffering through. Putting on our rain gear and boots we walk around and sing like Gene Kelly did in the movie “Singing in the Rain”. What fun! We can go for hikes or walks at any time of day and the days are getting shorter. Only 16 hours of daylight.
The park manager told us about the bears in the park and about one in particular that had to be killed because someone left a plastic bag on the ground that the bear ate. He could not defecate and became sick and acted unusual. A family was finishing dinner and they where cleaning up when the bear came and jumped onto the table and finished the leftover piece of apple pie. He did not leave until it was all gone. Unfortunately because of the plastic bag he kept throwing up his food and had to be put down. As we walked through the campground we found a site where someone had left a plastic bag on the ground.
Jim and Dixie left this morning to go to Soldotna where we will meet them on Saturday. We love this park even with the rain. We hiked a total of 6 miles in 2 ½ days and it felt sooo good.
By the way… I am now reading Cokie Roberts’s book “Founding Mothers”. I recommend the book to all but women especially. You won’t believe what women accomplished in hard times, even when they had no rights at all. The woman themselves where thought of as just property. The revolution would not have succeeded without them running the farms, raising families and keeping the businesses while the men where gone.

Talkeetna

2010-08-12T08:57:00.001-07:00

Talkeetna

2010-08-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

It was raining today when we got to Talkeetna. Dixie & Jim wanted to take the flight over Denali but it is cloudy & raining...so they will see about tomorrow morning. They have had a lot of rain here this summer and the rivers are over 2 feet higher than normal. The town is real interesting. It has become very touristy with the train and buses from the cruise ships stopping here. We met an interesting family from England visiting there sister in Anchorage. The sister is from PITTSBURGH. They have family in Squirrel Hill which is close to where I grew up. Then we stopped for ice cream and met the owner who had a really interesting story of how he grew up here. His family and 31 other families decided to move to Alaska in 1959. It ended up all the families did not settle in Talkeetna. The people in the caravan had disagreements and broke off in different parts of Alaska. He spoke of how the roads and bridges where then. He was 16 at the time. We have walked the town twice today, which could only take about 15 or 20 minutes, unless you stop in the shops.

Denali

2010-08-11T20:54:00.001-07:00

Denali

2010-08-11T20:48:00.003-07:00

Denali

2010-08-11T20:44:00.000-07:00

Denali

2010-08-11T20:37:00.003-07:00

Denali

2010-08-11T20:33:00.001-07:00

Denali

2010-08-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

First let me say Happy Anniversary to Marci & Gene on the 5th. Then a Happy Birthday to Marista & Andrea(Marista's has past and Andrea's toward the end of the month.

Monday we drove to Denali NP from Fairbanks. The first pictures were taken on the trip down. When we got to Denali there were only 2 sites left. Lucky! We went to town and did a little shopping since we saw a sign 50% off.
The next morning, Tuesday, we took the 9:15am bus to tour the park. We saw 3 fox, a few groups of Caribou, many Dall sheep, few moose, 3 grizzly bears, ground squirrel, ptarmigan, bald eagles(not a great picture of one), wolf(to far for pics. we could see them through binoculars). Gene captured a great picture of a red fox going after a bear. I have the bear in the picture but the fox is a dot on the far right. We got back home at 9pm. Quite a full day. We got some pictures of Denali on the way into the park but then the clouds came in and by the time we got to Wonder Lake there was wind and light rain. We have seen it all before. we were here once with our son Steve and his wife Bonnie and her parents, and once with our son Jeff and his friend Lisa. We met some very interesting people on the bus. A group from Israel,a criminologist, an anthropologist, travel agent, also, a young girl traveling alone from China, and a Japanese family. All made it a joy to travel.
Alaska has a population of about 647,000 in the whole State, which is bigger than Texas. The park is as big as New Hampshire. There are no utility polls or wires, and only one road into the park and can only be accessed by bus.

8/8

2010-08-08T22:25:00.001-07:00

Fairbanks, 8/9

2010-08-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a leisure day. I made breakfast and did all the laundry. After lunch we went to the University of Alaska Museum of the North. The architecture is an amazingly beautiful white building high on a hill overlooking the city. The main level gives the visitor an introduction to this vast and diverse state. Exhibits focus on the culture, wildlife, geography, paleontology of each of Alaska's five major geographic regions. The Blue Babe caught my attention. It is the world's only mummified Ice Age steppe bison. We saw a 30 minute movie on what it is like to live in the area in the winter where the temp can go -75degrees. They have a coffee toss when the weather is -35. The coffee freezes before it touches the ground.
The day ended with Jim & Dixie after they called saying the wine was ready for us.

Fairbanks...Moose

2010-08-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

Fair

2010-08-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

Tanana State Fair

2010-08-07T21:05:00.001-07:00

Fairbanks, AK

2010-08-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

Today was an exhausting day of shopping and then touring. I left the camper with Dixie around 9am and shopped till I almost dropped. We got back home and had lunch and then Gene, Dixie and I left again to hopefully see the sandhill cranes. What a surprise when there was a field and pond of the cranes, canadian geese, and mallard ducks. What a treat. We then left for the Tanana Valley State Fair. There we saw huge pumpkins, cabbages, turnips, mushrooms and beautiful flowers. ON the way back home we saw a moose. What a great day. We got back home about 6:30 tired but happy.

Bear picture

2010-08-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

These are the grizzley bears that Dixie took, walking between our two rvs.

Tok to Fairbanks

2010-08-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

August 5, 2010
After sending the blog Gene, Dixie and I walked over to the visitor information center to find out about tours going to the Arctic Circle or up to Prudhoe Bay. The cost did not make it worth our trip. It rained today and was damp and in the 60’s all day but of course we can’t complain considering the heat everyone in the lower 48 is dealing with.
We will leave for Fairbanks tomorrow morning.
I really appreciate the favorable comments on the blog.
August 6, 2010
We were on the road this morning, even though it was raining and I wanted to stay in bed listening to the rain. When we arrived in Fairbanks Dixie and I decided to go to Wal-Mart to get some shopping done and restock our rigs. Tomorrow we will go to Sam’s and finish shopping. There are a few things we want to do while here. Go to the museum; see the sand hill cranes, and musk ox…that is for starters. I will let you know tomorrow what we actually do.

To Tok 3

2010-08-05T12:13:00.003-07:00