Oct 2014 thru December 2014

I think the last time I wrote we were getting ready to leave for South Carolina and then on to points south.  I really mean south,
On Thursday Nov 13 we drove with Bill and Deb Dorris to Canton Georgia to Ike and Joann Ikred's house for dinner and then to the airport the next morning.   Ike had arranged for a limo to pick us up so that we wouldn't have to fight traffic on our own.
We arrived at the Atlanta airport got checked in and then the fun began.   Ann Reynolds, Maston Griffin and Carolyn and Keith Newberry were already on the plane when we got seated.   IT was a 3 1/2 hour flight to San Jose Costa Rica and then another 3 hours to the town of Manuel Antonia to the Villa that we were staying in.,  Joann, Bill, Ann and I went to high school together and have remained friends for years.

What a place.  Our bedroom had a view of the Pacific Ocean.   The house came with 3 "servants".  Saul, Lizbeth and Willy.    They waited on us hand and foot.   Cooked, cleaned, did laundry for us, and arranged anything we wanted to go and see.,   The fresh guacamole was absolutely wonderful along with the pica da gal lo.
One of the highlights of the trip was a day trip to ZIP line.    I had said I wanted to do this but when we got there I thought "what have I committed to" but all 10 of us did it and actually it was fun.  It was a little scary but I did it. We also did a river cruise and had monkeys crawling all over the boat, peoples heads etc.

After returning to the states we left SC and went to Bainbridge for Thanksgiving with Keith and Carolyn and their family  and then on to Dade City Florida to start working with East Central Pasco Habitat for Humanity.
The weekend of Dec 6th we went back to Bainbridge for the annual Christmas Open House that Ann and Maston do every year.  Stayed with Carolyn and Keith and a lot of other high school friends were there including, Juniel Harrell Davis, Glenda Zorn, Charles Palmer, Manning Moody, Stella Weil, Elain McLendonTrammel, Judy Rich Simpson, Peggy Williams Stout, Bill Dorris and I am sure I have forgotten some of them. What a fun time.

We are now back in Dade City and have people arriving from all over the country to work with us from now until March,
We spent Christmas Day with my cousin Janice Pope Brockmeier.   Jan and I had not been together on Christmas for about 60 some years.  We used to go to our grandparents when we were little girls.
The Habitat "family" also did a prime rib dinner later on Christmas Day and it was out of this world.

We are now planning something for new years. Do you get the impression we just eat all the time???

2014 has been a wonderful year for us with the 2 big trips and hope that 2015 is even better.

Sept. 14, thru October 23, 2014

I have been so busy since we got back to Virginia on Sunday, September 14 that I have not even thought about the Blog.
We had lots and lots of yard work to do. The flower beds were shall I say a NIGHTMARE.   We got them clean though but not without me getting into some poison ivy which resulted in some prednizone and of course as Larry says it not only makes me hungry I turn mean.
We have enjoyed two camping weekends with our Good Sams Chapter.   The first one being the Va. Samboree at Rockahoc and then this past weekend we were at Greys Point.   It was one of their Halloween weekends so we all dressed in costumes and handed out candy to the ttrick or treaters.

We also had a couple of visitors during this time.   First of all Larry and Tracey Saulsgiver came and man were they helpful.    Larry and Larry cut firewood and Tracey helped me clean all the dead bugs out of the house.   Next Tom and Christine Hounsel from Florida came by on their way back home after working at a KOA in Maine all summer.   Next Becky and Stuart Griffin from Bainbridge, Georgia came to visit.   He was here buying cows from a guy in Orange , Va.

We have spent a little time with Bryant and his family but they are so busy with their lives it is hard to catch them when they are not doing something with others.  Taylor came out and spent a day with us.
Now we are trying to get everything finished up and winterized as we will be leaving in about 2 weeks to head to South Carolina to our friends Bill and Debra.   We will leave the motorhome there and fly with them and 3 other couples to Costa Rico for a week, then on down to Bainbridge, Ga for Thanksgiving with family and on to  Dade City, FLorida until late March.  Larry will be doing a safety class in Americus Georgia the first of April and then we will be heading back up to Virginia.

Catch you after Costa Rico.

August 30, 014 thru September 12, 2014

I have been very busy with visiting and family so havent had time to update the blog but now I am going to try and catch up and won't promise after this to keep up as we will be back in Virginia and it will be work work work to try and get the place in shape again.

We had a wonderful visit in Holland Michigan with friends.   Got to see Jerry and Sarah Bos, Gerry Cawthra and Bill.   Jeni Hescott Werley and Jay Hescott.  It had been a long time since we had seen Jeni and Jay..  Also saw Marvin Young, one of my school teacher friends,

Spent a sunday afternoon with Kay and Jim Namovich and their daughter Clare and Grace.    Grace likes to bake so she wanted to learn how to make the famous pound cake.   Clare was the youngest baby Larry ever held until Miss Sophia Hedrick came into our lives.

Visiting with Peggy and Doug Fairchild and catching up on their familes as well as Judy and Jack Faber.


Left Holland and moved on over to Mason Michigan to visit with John and Judy Switalski.   We had seen them in Louisville Ky back in December. We have been friends for 40 + years.   Also reconnected with Judy and Chuck Lasater whom we had not seen in about 35 years.

Back to Indianapolis on Sunday Sept 7th to visit with Ally's family for a few days.  Kate had a kickball game on Monday afternoon and we had a dinner at St. Matthew School and Tuesday night.
Also Ally and I managed to get the third floor bedroom back in shape.  Hope that made Doug happy, now he just has to get someone to finish the bathroom up there so they will have another bathroom to use.   Six people in one is a LOT.

We left Indy on Wednesday and drove to Spring Valley Campground in Cambridge Ohio for the night so we could clean up the MH a little and dump tanks as we came on to New Martinsville W. Va. to the Good Sams Samboree .   We are having a good time here and just trying to relax before heading on to Virginia on Sunday.  It will be have been gone 4 months.



Mem

August 24, 2014 thru August 30, 2014

Sunday:   We kept Sophia and Kate  while Bella went to a birthday party and Ally to a wedding shower.   The swing is Sophia's favorite thing to do and also jump on the tramp with her sister.
Noah got home around 6 pm and was very tired.  We went to La Ha(the mexican restaurant) for dinner and then Larry and I went back to the motorhome.

Monday:   Just doing things around the house for Ally and then a kickball game at 6pm.

Tuesday:  Ally had her co op duty, Sophia's open house for pre school.  Open house at St. Matthew to check in with the teachers.   Since she had 3 kids to try and see all teachers she asked us to go and go to some of the meeting.   Katie babysat the kids. She had to go and pickup the girls from gymnastics and get them fed and bathed.   We left the school and went back to the motorhome.

Wednesday:   Did some more things around the house. Put up blinds on the basement and front doors.  Cooked and vacuum sealed a good bit of chicken for Ally. No one had anything after school so we enjoyed a little down time.

Thursday :   Larry did the last school run and I went to pickup Sophia around 9 am as Ally was going to Kokomo for a haircut.   Sophia got to ride in the motorhome to Kokomo to meet her Mom and Molly.   After dropping her off we continued on to Holland Michigan to Dutch Treat Campground.   Both of us were so tired that we actually had the giggles.   Larry cooked us some salmon on the grill and we went to bed at 10 pm.

Friday:   Woke up at 8 am.   Do you think we were tired?   Went to Meijer came back to motorhome. Gerry Cawthra came for a visit and then we went to dinner with Scott and Judy VanderZwaag to the Saugatuck Brewing COmpany where Judy works. We had heard so much about it and it was GREAT.   Had a wonderful visit with them. Back at MH and sat outside and enjoyed the nice evening.

Saturday:   Woke up again around 8 am , went to the farmers market and then by to see Marvin Younger.    Going for dinner at Jerry and Sarah Bos's house.

Sunday August 17, 2014 thru Saturday August 23, 2014

We arrived in Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon after spending the night in Terre Haute In at the KOA campground.   We needed to clean up the tanks, do laundry etc before going into the service drive by Jim and Jennifer Kane's house in Ally neighborhood.
All was well with Ally and the kids.  Doug had left that morning heading to Wisconsin for 2 weeks for a school for the Army.
Isabella has the chicken pox but is starting to dry up and feeling much better just can't go to school yet.   We are certainly hoping that Sophia will get them very soon.
Monday we did a lot of things around the house and of course Larry had a "Papa do list".  Ally had several errands to do and we got all things done .  Kate had kickball practice so Papa and I took her and checked out the Fairgrounds campground to see when we could move over there since the State Fair had been going on.Forgot we made 2 pound cakes.  One for the new neighbors and one for us.

Tuesday was a very busy day with Ally having to do things for her Food Co op business and I had the girls most of the day.   I discovered  Sophia was breaking out with the chicken pox that afternoon so we knew we were in for a couple of bad days.   Kate had a kickball game at St. Matthew at 6 pm and we all went to that.   Sophia was asleep in the carseat and we just transferred her to the stroller and she slept. Ally had a meeting at Geist Christain so we had the kids until around 9pm.

Wednesday: This was not a good day for Sophia.She was running fever and itching a lot.   We were giving her some benedyl  and tyenol but she was just miserable.   However as long as we were swinging her in her "baby: swing that Papa had repaired and moved to another tree limb she was happy.   We had a nice afternoon at home after school and Papa cooked his famous "papas steak" and everyone was happy. Pound cake all gone.

Thursday: Made another pound cake with Sophia. She was not feeling good at all today but a nap helped.
Kate had gymnastics and the rest of us just stayed at home and got more projects done.

Friday:We moved the motorhome to the Fairgrounds and then Larry and  Ally took her car to have a little work done,.  More gymnastics for Kate, Bella slept a longtime in the afternon. Sophia was busy all day , feeling so much better and starting to dry up with the "pox".   Noah is going to the lake with a friend tomorrow.


Saturday:   Larry had to get up very early to take Noah to X country practice which was suppose to be at 8:30 but somehow we were told 7:30.  Oh well !!!!!!!  Not sure what we are doing the rest of the day.

Saturday August 9th thru Friday, August 15, 2014

Where do I start ??????????
Saturday.    We left Cody Wyoming for Lyons Colorado to do a Habitat Build.   We drove thru some beautiful countryside again and got into Timnath Colorado for a night in a Wal Mart.    Now we only have about 35 miles to go to Lyons tomorrow but wanted to get in early and get set up for 2 weeks.

Sunday:   We arrived in Lyons around 10 am and were met by Pam and Greg Lurz which we will be working with.   Enjoyed catching up with all our travels and they had dinner for us along with Joe and Jerry who also work with Habitat.

Monday:   We just rested and do laundry done, walked downtown, got some vegetables and fruit at a local fruit stand.   Jerry and Joe came back over for dinner. Larry cooked some of our halibut on the grill and it was wonderful.

Tuesday:    They work Tuesday thru Saturday with this affiliate so that is different for us.,   We reported to the meeting place and I have a lot to say about this.   There is a group here called ALL HANDS and trust me they think they are in charge.   Now you have to understand we were told that we would be House Leaders which is a lot like our Team Leaders with RV CAV.    We were not introduced to anyone, no one from Habitat showed up and the guy who is in charge of ALL HANDS is a complete JERK.   We worked with Pam and Greg at an electric company, painting and repairing things, not what we expected but never the less did it.  That afternoon we were required to attend a 2 hour safety meeting which was a complete waste of time, Then we were suppose to meet with the group for the next day assignments which was another MESS.   We were told they had NO house for us to be leaders on.

Wednesday:

Larry refused to go to work.  He spoke with Mary Vandeveld, our RV CAV leader and it was decided that Habitat was being ambushed and we along with Greg and Pam needed to get out of Dodge.  Habitat had chosen to let ALL HANDS run the show and that is not the way we work.   After much discussion, Greg, Pam, Larry and I chose to go to Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park for some of Gods wonderful creation.  Had a great lunch at a favorite place of Pam and Greg.  During this time we were informed by our daughter that our 7 year old grandaughter woke up with the chicken pox and she is hoping the 3 yr old will get them next.   No the problem is her husband is leaving on Sunday for a 2 week stint with the army for Lt. Col. school.    Guess where we decided we needed to be in Indianapolis with her.


Thursday"We left Lyons around 10 am traveled into Kansas and spent the night in a rest area.   Kansas has nice rest areas and allow you to stay overnight. They also have a separate place away from the trucks for RVs plus a dump station if you need it.

Friday:  Another travel day in Missouri to a Wal Mart .   We actually saw an exit on Interstate 70 for Halstead Road.  Tomorrow we plan to travel on into Indiana and then on to Indy on Sunday,

Later with more updates.

Monday August 4, 2014 thru Friday August 8, 2014

Our week started out with a travel day from Butte Mt. to West Yellowstone, Mt.   We are at the Mountain View KOA.   After we got all set up we rode into town to the visitors center to check out what to do next.

Walked around a little and then went back to campground and ordered pizza from the little restaurant there and it was some of the best pizza we have had since Skiles Pizza in Holland, Mi.

TUESDAY:  Unfortunately it is raining this morning.   Not a hard rain but misty.   We drove into the park, Yellowstone National Park, that is, and as 2 large Elk with 2 babies, and one OLD  Buffalo.  We got to Old Faithful about the right time.   We could not believe that we actually walked up and it started to erupt.  How lucky can you get.  It continued to rain so we just drove back out of the park and went back to motorhome for a nice nap.

WEDNESDAY:  We left the campground around 8:45 am and drove thru Yellowstone National Park to Cody, Wyoming.   What ANOTHER beautiful drive.   It was raining some but not hard and it was simply gorgeous.  The one large buffalo picture is the one that was walking right down the road and we thought he was going to attack the MH .  He decided to walk by Larry's side of the coach and if Larry had opened his window he could have touched him.We saw lots of burned areas from forest fires, snow on some of the mountain peaks as we went up to 8590 feet. in the Absaroka Mountain Range.  The Buffalo Bill Reservoir is very large and there is a dam on the Shoshone River.We went thru 3 tunnels.
After getting set up we went into Cody to check out the famous Irma Hotel, named for Buffalo Bill's daughter and had a bite to eat and watched the Old West Shootout. Talked with a nice couple from Canada and then went to the Rodeo.   Larry and I neither one had been to a rodeo and it was fun.   They lady at the campground told us where to sit, in the Buzzards Roost,  so that we could see everything and it was great.

THURSDAY:  We had a lazy morning which we both needed and then went to the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum which is amazing.  The gun collection area of course was the first place Larry wanted to go so I sat down and read a couple of very interesting articles about this area and how it got its name and many things had happened in the area.  We only did about half of the museum as it really is so interesting. The tickets are a 2 day things so we plan to go back tomorrow.

FRIDAY: We went back to the museum today and sent another 3 1/2 hours.   This is certainly one of the best we have seen.  Buffalo Bill Cody was an amazing man.  Had some beans, biscuits and coffee at their chuck wagon demonstration.   I got the recipe for the sourdough starter.   Came back to the motohome for awhile and after a rain shower went back into Cody for dinner.   I decided to have some ribs and they were great.  Larry tried a buffalo burger and liked that.   We have had a wonderful time here in Cody WY, Tomorrow we will be traveling on towards our destination in Colorado to help with a Disaster Response Team for about 2 weeks. This is part of Habitat for Humanity.

Tuesday July 29, 2014 thru Sunday August 3, 2014

TUESDAY:This is going to be an interesting week.   It started raining last night and has continued most of today,
Larry and and I used the morning to plan our route back into the States and just have some "Down time".Linda and Jim got up and left at 5 am to go and see if there were any bears fishing.
After lunch we decided to ride back into Stewart and ride to the Salmon Glacier.  Now they told us it was about 17 miles from the bear viewing area but failed to say most of it was gravel road and very steep and curves all the way with no guard rails.   Now I am talking very STEEP.   It was about the same as the Top of the World and also our jeep trip in Colorado.  It was a beautiful place to be and the glacier is awsome.   We enjoyed it very much.

WEDNESDAY: Larry and I left and headed to the Lower 48.   Jim and Linda are staying another day or so,   We had a long day driving into Prince George BC through lots of farm land and logging areas.   We also saw a mama grizzly with her cub.   We found a nice campground called BeeLazee outside of Prince George and got a site for the night.   It was nice to have full hooks up again so we could take long showers and do laundry.This is where we really changed our travel plans.   Mary Vandeveld, our Habitat for Humanity Leader sent out an email stating help was needed in Colorado for Disaster Response so we decided to go and help out.

THURSDAY:Another travel day. We traveled along the Fraser River and saw big horn sheep, an eagle drove thru an Indian Reservation and made it into Westbank BC at a Wal Mart for the night.

FRIDAY:Started out our morning following along Lake Okanagan which was absolutely beautiful.   We crossed the Border at Osoyos into Washington State.   Now this was an experience.   The Canadian Border crossing have been nothing but great. The people are friendly and have not given us any problems including the fact that Larry and Jim both declared a "long gun". They had filled out the paperwork and there were no problems.    Coming back into the US was another story.   First of all they were as slow as syrup and had vehicles lined up a long way, it was 10 am so it must have been break time so after waiting about half an hour we finally were at the booth.   The lady was nice but asked a lot of questions and finally said that Agriculture would be coming on board.,   Another wait!!! Finally a very nice lady came into the coach, she was from Winchester Va by the way, and talked with us and then asked to see my refrigerator.  She took my lemons, line, and a pepper.   I also had more lemons sitting in a basket on the counter and she took them.   She said NO citrus could come into the US.   Don't understand that but not going to argue with them.
We came on down through Spokane Wa into Coeur d Alene Id and could not find a campground anywhere so we stayed in another Wal Mart in Smelterville, Id.

SATURDAY: Slept a little later due to another time change, now on mountain time which is 2 hours earlier than Virginia.  Made some calls for campground reservations for the next week which was a MAJOR task.  We left Wal MArt around 10:30 am and drove to Butte Montana.   We got into a nice KOA, one of the nicest KOA we have seen in a long time.

SUNDAY:   Slept later again.   Larry was so happy to find out he could wash the motorhome here in the park, so I guess you know what he is doing.   I on the other hand was determined to clean the inside as it was absolutely awful .    We have been on so many gravel roads that there was dust and dirt everywhere.   IT IS NOW CLEAN.
Tomorrow we are heading on to West Yellowstone Mt and are going into Yellowstone NP to see Old Faithful and other sights.  We will be there for at least two days and then on to Cody Wyoming to a museum and also a rodeo.

Will add pictures a little later.,

Monday July 20 until Monday July 28, 2014

Okay are we ready for this week!!!!!!!!

We left Fairbanks on Monday July 21, 2014 and headed to Tok Ak and on to Chicken Ak.  We stopped in Tok for lunch at Fast Eddies, where we had eaten before and then started on to Chicken so that we could travel across The Top of the World Highway to Dawson City, Yukon.  We arrived at Chicken and got settled for the night.

Tuesday morning  Linda Matheny and I went on a tour of the old town of chicken.  We had both read the book, Tisha which was about a young girl who came there in the early 1900's to teach school.   We saw the old school house where she taught and the other side of that building was where she lived.  After that we started our trip on the Top of the World Highway around noon. .   Oh my goodness what a beautiful drive but a white knuckle day.    It reminded me of the trip on the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado along with the off road jeeping trip we took.  Rough road, gravel, curves, steep drove offs, no guard rails and some traffic that was not so nice about slowing down and sharing the road.  Fortunately when there were 3 LARGE trucks on the road we were stopped at a pull off for a break and lunch.It was a long day but a good one. We certainly got the right traveling conditions weather wise.  We arrived at the Ferry to go across the Yukon River to Dawson City about 5:30 and it took several trips for us to get across. It holds quite a few cars and trucks but about 1 motorhome and a few other vehicles is all for one trip.   Jim and Linda went across first and then it came back for us.   It was a little scary but very well done.It was a very new adventure for us.

Wednesday Larry wanted to do somethings around the motorhome so Jim, Linda and I went into Dawson City to finish our Passport Book Contest for Gold and did a little shopping.  Linda did some gold panning again.  That woman is addicted to that.  Around 7 pm we went into town to go to Diamond Tooth Gerties for the show.   What a good time we had.   Larry had one of the girls sit on his lap, then one sang to him while rubbing his bald head.   You know he enjoyed that.

Thursday we did a couple of more stores and then a museum road up on Dome Road to look down on the city and the river.

Friday was a travel day heading on into Whitehorse,   We stopped at a rest area to look at the Five Fingers which is a really hard place in the river to steer the old paddleboats and a lady was talking to Jim about the dogs.   I asked her where she was from since I could tell it was from the south. She said north Mississippi up by Tennessee.,  I said, Corinth, she was so surprised that I knew where it was.  It is not far from Selmer Tenn where we lived many years ago.We also saw a funeral procession for a First Nation member walking up a hill to the burial place.  Stayed overnight in a pull off.

Saturday we traveled on to Whitehorse and then on to a pulloff by Swan Lake where we had stayed on the way out.

Sunday we decided to get on the road early in hopes of finding some early morning wildlife and we did.   We saw several more bears .  Our total now is 35 blacks and 7 of them were grizzly. We started down the Cassiar Highway We are now having some more bad roads with lots of pot holes, gravel so it is slow going.We have seen the effects of the 2010 forest fire that was started by lightening which burned about 30000 acres of land.   We are heading down to Stewart BC and Hyder Alaska to see if the Bears are fishing for salmon,  rest area overnight.

Monday we arrived at the Meziadin Provincial Park and got set up for a couple of nights.    Jim made a major boo boo when we stopped for fuel.   Problems with the fuel pump, had to wait for re set  still did work so Larry and I left and came on to park.   They got here a little later and Jim suddenly realized he had not paid for the 4 gallons of fuel he finally got but also realized when Larry told him that he had left his credit card there.   He had to drive 160 miles round trip to retrieve his card.  Larry and I rode into Stewart/Hyder to see where the bears are suppose to fish.  We found it!!!!!!!!!!! Got to see this very large bear catch a fish and eat it.   It was a sight to see,   One the way back to the campsite we saw 5 bears and an avalanche in progress.   It was really cool.   Snow and rocks coming down into a stream of water.  It happened so fast I could not get a picture.

Sunday July 20, 2014, our week in Fairbanks, Ak

This has been a very busy week in the Fairbanks, Ak area.   When we checked into the campground last Monday and Jim told the lady we wanted to stay a week I asked him what were we going to do for a week.  Little did I know how much there was to do and see around Fairbanks.
We just settled into our campsites and then later in the afternoon we played cards for a while with Jim and Linda.  The couples that we had met from the Albany Georgia area were also in this park and we visited with them some and they told us about some interesting things to do.   They are friends of a girl Larry and I went to high school with and she had told me on facebook about them and we actually were in the same area so we got together.
Tuesday we went into town and went to the Visitors Center. I might add one of the best we have been in.
Watched a movie on the northern light which was somewhat boring as we had been to another museum about them which was much better.  After checking that out we went to have lunch at the Cookie Jar Restaurant,which had been recommended and also it was one of Guy Ferrier's places too.   Our waiter was Justin and he just happened to be from Clarksburg, W.V. where Jim Matheny was born and raised.   Jim and his sister knew of his family.   Small world out there.   Picture of Jim and Justin.
Linda and I took a trip later that afternoon to North Pole, Ak, while the "boys" went to a car museum.  Oh what a good time we had.   Sat on Santa's knee, had a good time buying Christmas things for everyone and had some wonderful hot chocolate.
Wednesday was a day trip to the Chena Hot Springs and Ice Museum.   The museum was done by a couple of artist.  Everything is sculptured out of ice  even the stools , bed, outhouse, Christmas tree, etc are made of ice.   After lunch Linda, Jim and I went in the hot springs for a while.  Made a stop at Sam's Club, Pioneer Park and back to campground.   Linda and I found some real bargains on some cute shirts for summer, ha ha, like we will wear them.   It is cold and wet up here.
Thursday we did an early river cruise on the Riverboat Discovery III.  This was started by the Brinkley family man many years ago and some of the descendants are still running the cruises.  We stopped by the Susan Butcher training camp for the sled dogs.  Susan died in 2006 from cancer but her husband David Monson and daughter still run the business.  She was winner of the Iditarod several times.  After that on to an Athabaskan village and were treated to their way of life.  We enjoyed some salmon dip on our return trip up river.   Larry went to the front of the boat and then the back so he got several tastes. Our next adventure was right after that heading to the Gold Dredge #8 mine.  It was a train ride with entertainment from a gentleman singing and playing guitar.  Our guide was a school teacher in the fall and a guide in the summer .
We all panned for gold and got some.   Linda and I had done this before so we combined the gold from the 3 times we panned and I had a necklace made from mine.  I think Linda did too but is giving it as a gift.
Later we went out for Chinese food and took Larry to see Santa.  Last year everytime Sophia saw a Santa she called it Papa so he had to go and get his picture made to send to her.
Friday, Linda and Jim went to Liven good and to the Artic Trading Post to visit a family they had met when they were here 10 years ago.   Larry and I just wanted to have a "down day" so we opted to stay at the campground.  We did go into the grocery and then it decided to really rain so we just stayed in the mh and enjoyed a long afternoon nap and reading some.
Saturday found us heading to the Farmers Market, Harley Davidson store, which happens to be the furthers north Harley Store, and then we spent the afternoon at Pioneer Park.   Now Linda and Jim had been there also 10 years ago but Jim swore he had never been.   Starting to worry about this man.   We had a nice afternoon and also got to call and chat with the ODC camping Chapter while they were at Endless Caverns in New Market Va.
Today is our last day here and tomorrow we are heading to Tok and Chicken and will be back in Canada, at Dawson City  on Tuesday so the cell phones go off until we get back in the lower 48.

Catch you guys later.

Monday, July 7, 2014 What an adventure

Monday July 7 we left Homer Ak. where we had been for the 4th of July celebrations and the wonderful trip of fishing for Halibut.
We traveled back thru Soldotna and stopped for our first trip to Fred Meyer which is a all in one store somewhat like Wal Mart  and Meijers in the lower 48 but I like it much better.  
I finally found the sweatshirts that I wanted for the Hedrick girls.   Papa got a good deal on caps with Alaskan wildlife on them.   We needed to pickup some snacks to take with us to Skilak Lake where our friends Jeff and Sharon Lawrence have a cabin on a Island.
We turned off the highway onto a gravel road and everything that could rattle DID.   Larry even said, "Mem, something is rattling in that cabinet"  my comment was unless I empty that cabinet it is going to rattle. We arrived at the Lot C parking area which Sharon had told us to go to, and find a large gravel parking lot to leave the RV's in.   Now this is in the middle of a forrest but we have plenty of room as there are only 2 boat trailers parked in there. 
Sharon and Jeff have come across the lake in their boat to pick us up and take us to the Island, by the way, Caribou Island is its name.   The is a small one named Frying Pan Island,which looks like a frying pan.
We all get in the boat including Linda and Jim's 3 little dogs, their first ever boat ride and off we go.   Now the lake is beautiful blue in color as it is partially fed by a glacier and it is COLD.   Sharon says you could last about 4 minutes in the water.  Don't want to try that.   It is a little choppy but nothing that we can't handle.   Since I have experienced some rough water on Lake Michigan many times I was okay.
We had a wonderful time on the Island.   They had lunch for us and then we took a walk around to meet some of their neighbors.   One couple is from Germany and they live on the island from Feb until Oct.   No electricity, no running water and have an outhouse.  They have solar panels,     get water from the lake and of course you know what an outhouse is for.  Sharon's outhouse is all decorated, I will post a picture later.
I had read a book "Winds of Skilak" written by a woman who along with her husband left Ohio in the 80's and came there and built a cabin and lived there many years.We got to walk up and see the original cabin that Sam and Bonnie built,  I have a picture of us in front of the original cabin.
After having a wonderful dinner it was time to get back in the boat and head back to the mainland.  The water had calmed down a lot so it was going to be a smooth ride back.  It was until Jeff went a little too far down the lake and the GPS quit working and he was a little to close to shore and the motor was digging into the dirt and I was getting a little more concerned. This lake is about 600 feet deep in some places and as I said before very cold.   However , everything worked out and we got back to the landing safely.  Larry said he knew that I was afraid as I stopped talking.  Imagine that>>>
I went to bed around 11:30  woke up at 1:30 and noticed it was darker than usual outside.  I walked to the front of the motorhome and the moon was just about full and right in front of us.  I got some pictures but they really don't do it justice.  On the right side I could still see the sun just on the horizon. 
All in all it was a WONDERFUL day and we are so gratefully for having been able to go and visit with Jeff and Sharon. 

Now we are in Anchorage for a few days before heading on up the road to Denali and Fairbanks.

Monday July 7 2014 thru Saturday July 12, 2014

We are now at Skilak Lake, Ak where Jeff and Sharon Lawrence our friends from Va. have a cabin.   They lived in Alaska for 30 years before moving to Virginia.   We left Homer on Monday morning and traveled up to Skilak Lake and parked our motorhomes in a parking lot at the "Lower Landing" of the Lake.   They came over and got us in their boat and took us to Caribou Island where their cabin is.   The water on the lake is glacier fed so it is very cold and can be quite rough at time.   It was a little choppy but we made it back to the island just fine.   Sharon had a nice lunch for us and then wanted us to walk around the island and meet some of the neighbors.

She had given me a book to read before we came up here written by a lady from Ohio, titled "Winds of Skilak". She and her husband came up to the Lake in the 80's and built a cabin and lived here for several years.    After seeing the island the cabin that they built I am now re reading the book and it means so much 

more. Linda and Jim are both reading it now.   We enjoyed our time with them and after a delightful dinner we headed back to the motorhomes.   Now the lake had calmed down some but it was still a bit rough but we made it safely back to the other side.   

Tuesday we came to Anchorage and have been doing museums, gold panning and just relaxing.   Sharon came over and took Larry and me to the Native Hospital and we enjoyed seeing all the artifacts of the native culture.  

Jim and Linda got to visit with his great niece and her family on Thursday while Larry and I did things with Sharon.

Friday and Saturday was just checking out other museums and did a little shopping.  I think all of us are about on History overload but we have certainly learned a lot about Alaska and its native people.

Tomorrow we are heading on up the road toward Denali and Fairbanks.    We will be in Alaska about another week and a half and then start heading back towards the lower 48.

As you can see from the pictures one is an outhouse and one is the inside of the outhouse.   Sharon thought she needed to decorate it.  

June 29 thru July 6, 2014 Alaska Trip

What a great week we have had so far.  
Monday after spending Sunday in Wasilla, Ak we got up VERY early and headed on down to the Russian River Ferry area so that Linda and Larry could get into the salmon fishing. 
We arrived about 10 am and those two were in the river before noon.   Now I had tried my best to get Larry to buy some waders before we left Virginia but he would have not part of it.   Jim had a pair to loan him but they were a little short and his feet were killing him.   One day the man will listen to me. No fish that day but on Tuesday we took a little side trip and got him a pair of hip waders and he went back to fish. We decided to stay another day so that they would have another chance at the fish.  Well, on Wednesday both of them had luck.   Larry got 2 salmon and Linda got a rainbow trout.   Both were extremely happy. 
We had company come to visit on Tuesday night.   I had been chatting on FB with a friend , Connie Boss from Georgia and she told me of friends of hers who were in the area so we got in contact with them and actually got to meet them.     Becky & Terry West from Albany and Janet and Steve Gay from Ohio
I cooked for us while they enjoyed the fishing and I also got the gifts I have bought organized plus packed away a lot of clothes that I am not wearing and will not wear for a while.
Thursday we moved on down to Homer Ak and got set up in our campground.  It is so pretty down here on the water and the mountains in the back ground.
Since Alaska is 4 hours behind Virginia in time zones I was able to be the first one to wish our son a Happy Birthday on the 4th of July.   I texted him at 8pm Alaska time.
Friday morning I was up at 4:30 am getting ready to go Halibut fishing.  We had bought tickets for a charter fishing trip that left the dock at 7am.   We had a wonderful  day it was.   I had never been out fishing like that as when we lived in Michigan and fished on Lake Michigan I always seemed to get to be the boat driver.
We each, that is Linda, Larry, Me and Jim caught 2 Halibut each.   You have to catch one under 29 inches and the other can be as large as whatever.   I had a BALL.   I got my largest first and then I had to keep throwing back the big ones and try for a smaller.   Finally one of the deck hands helped me and I got my second fish.  We got back around noon, put fish in freezer, rested and then cooked some for dinner.   Oh my goodness how GOOD that was.
Saturday was a day to just get things done in the motorhome such as cleaning.  Then we just relaxed, went for a walk on the beach , visited with our neighbors and then went to bed. 
Sunday is just another day of relaxing and tomorrow we head back towards Anchorage with a couple of days stop in the Skilak Lake Area  where Jeff and Sharon Lawrence our friends from Virginia have a summer cabin on Caribou Island.   We hope that the second run of salmon is coming into their lake so we can catch a few more.  They lived here for 30 years and moved to the lower 48 about 3 years ago.  We actually met them thru Habitat for Humanity in Florida.

The picture that is Land's End is really lands end.   You can go NO further by car.   That is the end of the line from Homer Ak by land.

 

June 22 thru June 28, 2014

Sunday June 22 thru June 28, 2014

We had a lazy morning in Whitehorse Yukon and decided  around 10:30 am to go and purchase tickets for the Frantic Follies for the evening performance and  then check out the town.

Checked out the Visitors Center, used their WiFi and then continued on to several museums.   The Yukon is having a contest for some Gold.   You have to visit at least 10 of the museums, sites of interest and get stamped to enter.   Linda and I are having a great time getting the stamps.  The contest is until August so we have time to try and finish getting our stamps.  We have 13 so far and hope to get 20 of them for a better chance of winning more gold.

At one of the museums we actually panned for gold and we both got several little flakes.   They put them in a little vile of water for you.

Last evening we went to the Frantic Follies  here in Whitehorse.   It was about the life during the gold rush here in the Yukon.   Lots of great young talent in the show.

Monday 6/23/14

We left Whitehorse around 9:30 am and immediately started running into some gravel road, construction and frost heaves.   Slow travel.

We have now seen 22 bears and 4 of them have been Grizzly, 2 of which were t oday.We stopped in another Visitors information center to get another stamp, watch a movie and use wi fi.   After lunch Larry went back inside to use wifi and found that Linda had left her purse.   When he took it to her she was not even aware she had left it.    Man that would have been a MESS…. We have stopped for the evening at a pull off.  It is really strange with so much daylight.

Here is a grizzly and the another picture is the scene outside   our window tonight .

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

We have now been in Canada for 14 days and the good Lord willing we will be back in the USA in a little while.  We are having lots of bad road at this point with stretches of gravel anywhere from ½ mile to 7 or 8 miles plus one point we were lead by a Pilot Car due to one side being worked on.

We arrived at the Border at 10:34 Alaska time. We traveled on to Tok and got a campsite for the night and Larry proceeded to WASH the motorhome and car.,     They were both MUDDY!!!!!!!

Wednesday 6/25   we traveled on down to Valdez Ak, which I am sure all of you remember about the oil spill.   We are at Bayside RV Park right on the Prince William Sound is it is so pretty.  Only problem it has been raining and it is colder than I would like. 

Thursday 6/26 we just visited around this little town watching people fish, checked out a fish hatchery.  Had lunch at a rally neat place called the Fat Mermaid. We got to talk to Karen , the owner really a great time. The food was good too.  It was still just misting rain and damp but we are still having a great time. We are planning to leave here on Saturday heading over to Anchorage and then places further south. Glacier outside of Valdez I forgot to mention that the guys here in the RV Park feed the Eagles every afternoon.    They stand out and wave a fish and then throw it on the ground and the eagles swoop down and pick it up. 

Friday we woke up to SUNSHINE, still chilly but at least not raining, we checked out another museum and as Linda says they  focus  more on the 1964 Earthquake that destroyed the town.  32 people were killed and they eventually moved the town and lots of houses to another location.  They don’t talk much about the oil spill as I think there are still a lot of hard feelings with that one.  We met a guy who was fishing yesterday and he told us he plays on Friday night at the Fat Mermaid so we went to listen to him for a while last night.   He is from Hawaii and is really good. We had a great time.  We are leaving this morning and just taking our time heading down to Homer to do some fishing along the way and just enjoy more beautiful scenery .

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June 16 thru June 21, 2014

 

Today is Monday I think.   I really can’t keep up with what day it is.   We left Jasper National Park in Alberta Canada this morning around 8:30 and headed to Grand Prairie Alberta.  We saw some wildlife along the way several mule deer, a couple of fox and a deer.   The landscape has changed from the majestic mountains to mountains with forest on them.   It is a totally different look.

It has been raining and so we are taking our time.   We actually crossed the Smoky River which had a wooden bridge over it then we  drove through the top of the clouds at 4344 feet. That was a little scary.  It was pretty, then all fog and then we realized we had come through a cloud and now have blue sky and it went from 43 to 58 degrees.

We have fueled up twice today as the guys want to be sure we don’t fun out of fuel.   Now them finding a Flying J is another story.   They like to drive 5 to 10 miles out of the way to save a penny.   Linda and I are giving them a very hard time about that.

We have stopped and shopped at a Wal Mart and are spending the night here.   Tomorrow we travel on to Dawson Creek and  this is the beginning of the Alaska Highway. 

Tuesday 6/1714

From Grand Prairie we crossed into British Columbia and arrived in Dawson Creek, which is the beginning of the Alaska Highway.   I have pictures of the 0 mile marker for the highway .  We spent several hours at the Visitors Center in Dawson Creek and then traveled onto Fort St. Johns where we found a Wal Mart to stay in.   After getting set up, now this was early in the day, we went to the North Peace River Museum, which was very interesting. We watched a video about the upcoming things we are going to see.   Of course we have changed time zones again so here we go.

 

Wednesday 6/18 /14

Jim had said let’s start out about 8 am so I am thinking get up around 7 am and off we will go.   Now I have my phone on airplane mode so I won’t use cell signals in Canada but I use it as a clock.  WRONG, it did not change time zones so I am up at 6 am making coffee and getting on the move, I think, then I realize it is only 6 am, however both Jim and Linda woke early so off we go a little early.  Found a dump station that was FREE, took advantage of that, and headed out to Fort Nelson.   It was uneventful for a while and then we saw a mule deer, female moose and then our first Black Bear .    Jim kept saying on the CB, tell Mem to get out and take a picture.   I will not tell you what I said to Jim.  I did actually open a window and hang out as he crossed to our side of the road and got several good pictures.  After leaving Fort Nelson and getting ready to find a pull off site for the night we have seen 3 more bears. One was actually trying to get into the garbage bin at one of the pull offs.   We are now overlooking the Muskwa River Valley with a mountain on one side and the valley on the other. There is a little water fall coming down off the mountain.

Oh I forgot we have been to our last Flying J for a while.   They got fuel  today at a Fast Gas.

Thursday 6/19/14

When we left our campsite, which was just a pull out on the highway we saw 6 bears, 1 moose, 2 mountain goats, 2 herds of stone Mt. Sheep and 1 Buffalo herd. We traveled thru the Tetsa River Area, Stone Mt. Prov. Park, Summit Lake, Toad River, Muncho Lake and then to Liard Springs.

When we got to the campground at Liard Springs, there was a bear, then another buffalo .

We then went to the Provincial Park to the Liard Hot Springs.   That was WONDERFUL!!!!!

 Buffalo.   Four “old” people  in the hot springs.  Mountain Goats   Linda and Mem on walkway to Hot Springs,     Black Bear.  Found out today that the picture of the Lady Slippers are very rare .  It takes up to 15 years for these to bloom and if you see one of a color they are extremely  rare.

 

Yellow Lady Slipper.

Friday June 20, 2014

We left early again in hopes of seeing more wildlife.  At this point we have seen a total of 20 bears, 2 of which have been grizzly. We also saw moose and buffalo.

We stopped in Watson Lake and put up our sign with our name on it in the Signpost  Forest.

We are now traveling on some gravel roads and that certainly slows us down. Today I think we hit 13 miles of gravel and Jim got another ding in his windshield.   Glad he is leading the pack and is getting the major hits.  LOL.

Saturday June 21, 2014:

Not  much wildlife this day.   We left early again in order to see them feeding along the road but all we saw was rabbits, chipmunks and a pore pine.(spelling).  We did go to a couple of museums that were very informative about this region.   The George Johnston at Teslin Yukon was very interesting about his life and how the Tinglet people lived.     We also learned that the term Eskimo is somewhat of a slang term for people who  were “raw flesh eating”.  We traveled on into Whitehorse and got a campsite for a couple of nights then we are heading on to Tok, Alaska.