September 29/30--Dease Lake to McBride

Yesterday, Tuesday, we woke up at O-dark-thirty and got ready to leave. This is what greeted us when we got outside. We had never been snowed on in camp before, so we were unprepared for the mess that you get when you bring in the slide with even a little bit of snow on it. Lesson learned. Last night and tonight the slide comes in at bed time.

The snow was not just at Dease Lake. We had to climb a 4000 ft. pass and this is what we drove on to get there. We had just a wee bit of slipping in steering, but no loss of traction climbing the hills, and hills, and hills, and you get the idea. Before the day was over we had been in snow, rain, and hail.

But, of course we eventually, and ever so slowly, came back down the other side and got back into autumn. Winter stayed up high on the peaks. These are some of the Coastal Range.

Oh, and this is Canada, so that jog in the road is how they solve the problem of the side of the road caving in.

Around every curve was more breathtaking beauty. When He created British Columbia, God was just showing off.

Is it just me, or does that look cold?

Really, around every curve.

Okay. There is this around some of the curves. We are in Canada, and it is Construction season until the ground freezes. This was the only time the flagman was automated. Usually they are human-like.

He was shy-er than the bears I've grown used to. He didn't want to stay and pose for the camera.

We stopped for gas at Kitwanga, where the southbound Cassiar Hwy intersects with the east/west Yellowhead Hwy 16. We pulled to the pumps and a man came out to tell us he was out of gas. Then he went to tell Don. Somehow the conversation turned to truck washing. He had a setup to wash big rigs. The evidence of the construction zones we had passed through was stuck on our trucks and trailers. A couple of before pictures.

I am providing the supervision in this shot. Don had missed a spot.

Today, Wednesday, we got our first glimpse of the Canadian Rockies.

By the time we stopped for the night, the Rockies are on three sides. Tomorrow I think they will have surrounded us!

Monday, September 28-Teslin to Dease Lake

Are you sure it is still September?

Last night was a restless night, we were too tired or too excited to sleep. So, of course, we slept too late. At 4:00 I thought I’d probably be up at six, but it was closer to eight.

As we were leaving the RV park/restaurant/motel/gas station at Teslin, two semi’s pulled in with snow on their loads. Hmmm, wonder where they got that? A few miles down the road we got a view of Dawson Peaks off to the south.

A few more miles and we were trying to decide if it had snowed or if there was a really heavy frost. A few more miles made it pretty clear, it had snowed.

Soon, we had snowflakes in the air but not sticking to the road or hitting the windshield.
Then, I noticed the outside shower door flapping. The same thing has happened before, the latch is half broken and doesn’t stay locked. So I got on the radio and asked Don, “Do you have any duct tape?” as I pulled into a rest stop.
“Did you say duct tape?”
“Yes, duct tape.”
“I have a lot of it.” Surprise, surprise.

So with snowflakes blowing around our ears, we affected a reasonable repair-on-the-road. The hardest part was getting the cellophane wrap off of the new roll of tape.

A few miles after continuing on, a less adventurous person might ask, “Why are we still driving?”

But the road was not slippery, and I could see in my mirrors that my tires were contacting the pavement, and the visibility was fine for the speed we were driving, so we pressed on. It was really pretty and different enough to be fun.

We got gas at the junction of Alaska Hiway and Route 37, and, again, the juxtaposition of signs tickled our funny bones.


We stopped early at Dease Lake because we couldn’t count on anything down the road being open. This place is open, sort of. The water is off because the temperature will be -6 C tonight. (that’s about 20 F) Water is available at the pump house. Power is on, except at the lot Don went to, so he moved over one. The sewer is open, so we dumped holding tanks, again not sure what to expect down the road.
Gas is about 1.20 Canadian dollars per liter. We paid 4.39 for a can of refried beans. But the park is only 20 dollars, and we are the only guests. And the scenery, priceless.

Start Your Engines!

Our goal was to leave around noon today and we pulled out at 12:20 p.m. Not bad! We had to stop at Breakdown Point for old time memories but thankfully we were not broken down. Time for a walk around to see that everything is working correctly.

It was 34 degrees at the Summit and we were glad it was no colder. A lot of the colors we've been watching the last few weeks seem to be past their prime but it is all so colorful compared to the trip up in April. Look at all the snow on these higher points. Remember, when we were here in April everything was white and I can't even imagine how deep the snow was on these high ridges.
I just like messing around with the camera and the binoculars. We stopped to say goodbye to the goats that came out to wave.
This gorgeous bear came out to say goodbye too. Actually, he was so busy eating dandelions (yes, they've reappeared) that he just collapsed on the ground and ate away.

We made it as far as Teslin and decided to stop at the RV park. We don't have many neighbors.

We stayed here on the way up in April but the RV park wasn't open at that time. Bill has checked out the showers and we're both looking forward to loooooong hot showers. Six or eight gallons of hot water in the RV make for short showers. Then off to bed...Don likes to travel early...I think a compromise is in order.

Note: the showers were great and we are grateful.

Outside v Inside

The rain abated today. Thank you.
Outside, all I have to do is disconnect utilities and hook-up. I am in the same condition of readiness as if we had been here only overnight.
Inside, however, is a shambles. I have things (temporarily) everywhere. But, Peggie asked Trish if she could end work today so we can get out tomorrow, so she will be available to offer helpful suggestions on where I can put things for traveling. If I follow all of her suggestions I may be unable to sit. ba-da-pum
But seriously, folks, I do think we can be ready in 2-3 more hours.
Don is aaalllmost done with ATA. He has to turn in uniforms and keys. In sewing terms, all done but the hem.
So, aside from getting things ship shape here, we were in town (we being Don and I) and ran into two Liarsville performers all packed up to hike the Chilkoot Trail. All they needed was a ride to the trailhead. Happy to oblige. One last trip there (Dyea) was called for anyway. We saw 8-10 very large birds that turned out to be immature eagles. Bald eagles don't get white headed until they are 5 years old. And what else did we see, you ask? Why, a couple of big ol' grizzlies of course. As I mentioned earlier, the King salmon are now running up the Taiya River. The harbor seals were also well upriver having their fill.
Not to jinx anything, but it should be noted that I worked all day without breaking anything, losing anything, hurting myself, or having to make a hardware store run. Good, huh?huh? Yeah!

Windy Wind Up!

Today we will try to wind things up here in an attempt to leave tomorrow. The rain is on temporary hold, but the wind is trying to blow us away early.
Speaking of kodiak moments, Don went out on the last jeep tour Wed. and they saw four bears and two porcupines. One of the porcupines was roadkill, so of course they had to stop and look closely at it. They were absolutely thrilled to see the claw marks on its belly indicating that it had been viscerated by a bear.
Roger, Janie's husband, finally got to go salmon fishing in Dyea as the king salmon begin their run up the Taiya River. Some rangers approached him in a boat to inform him that he was sharing the river and the fish with three grizzlies. He had been so engrossed in the process that he had not even noticed. The bears had more success than he did.
Winter is coming on with a vengeance now that fall has arrived officially. The interior has had freezing temperatures and lowering snow levels. Skagway is still in the 40's and 50's thanks to the south wind. It is fun talking with people about the trip home. Some are worried that snow will be a problem. Some tell us that the last time they drove the Cassiar it was very rough. We just say that since we have a home on wheels we can stop to wait out a snow storm, and that the last time we drove the Cassiar it was very rough, but it is fine if you just slow down. We are going to let the weather determine if we go through Jasper and Banff.
Yesterday I took Barry and Corrinne to the ferry and said goodbye. Don was there dropping off Kyler, so we went to lunch at Sweet Tooth. I did the laundry, so we can begin our trip with clean clothes. Don aired up all of our tires. I got a fair start on repacking for the road. We had our last card game last night. Peggie feels it is important to point out that I had the low score. Tonight we are going out to dinner to say goodbye to everyone. I think it is that nobody wants to fix dinner at home because we are all packing up.

A lot is not happening

At 6:00 AM this morning Jim did not start up his noisy diesel truck to go to work. All summer, except on his days off, Jim has left for his job driving a big diesel bus in his noisy diesel pickup at 6:00AM. Everybody in the trailer park is aware of Jim's comings and goings.
For the last two hours, trains have not been chugging and rumbling and clattering and screeching down to the docks to load passengers who are not streaming off of cruise ships that are not sitting at the docks.
The streets are not full of walkers and bike riders making their way downtown to service the thousands of cruisers who will not be in town today.
Peggie and Corrinne are not avoiding a walk or bike ride in the rain by riding in my bus downtown.
All up and down Broadway shops and stores and restaurants are not opening for business.
We are not leaving town today because Peggie is not done inventorying and storing everything in two stores.
I am not driving a tour today because I AM done.

Goodbye Veendam

We heard there was going to be a big party at the dock when the last ship leaves and the season is over. Being the wild adventurers that we are we decided we couldn't miss it. We bundled up and went to the dock. The party-ers were mostly young and ready to party into the night and a lot of the passengers on the ship were ready to party too. There was lots of singing and shouting back and forth and once the mooring lines were released security allowed the crowd to go farther down the dock. Much mooning and flashing proceeded. We decided to pass on that part; we're not THAT adventurous. By the end of the evening we were pretty wet from the rain but agreed that we were glad we saw the final departure. Movies may follow.

Here's one of the signs we enjoyed.

I'm NOT done!!!

But I will be in a few days...

This morning I practiced my retirement routine of leisurely drinking my coffee and then getting ready for the day instead of the get up, shower, dress, make lunch, eat breakfast, pack extra shoes, ride the bike to work and work.

It was good, very good. I will enjoy the leisure again.

I'm done!!!

Brown and crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside......yep, I'm done.

I just double checked the schedule, and, sure enough, I'm done.

I loved teaching, but I was glad to be done. This is like that. I enjoyed every tour, all the people on the tours (almost all), the people we've met here, the wildlife, the color changes, and the weather........and I am thrilled to be DONE!!!!

DONE, DONE, DONE!!!

Termination Dust or Termination Snow--It Was Beautiful.

Fresh snow on the Harding Glacier--I could see it out the front window at the store--gorgeous! I called Janie and told her to bring her camera and then I called Bill and told him to take pictures. That sounds a little bossy doesn't it? But just look at the results.

It was about 43 degrees on the way to work. I think a lot of cruisers decided to take it easy and sleep in for the early part of the day.

Look at that empty street!

One more day of ships and then we begin doing inventory. We're hoping to leave on Sunday. The grocery store and laundry have returned to winter hours so it must be time to go home.

It feels like winter to me.

Peggie is correct. Today is like the coldest, winteriest, nastiest days in Tucson. But folks, that ain't bad, comparitively speaking.
I had to take a bus to Whitehorse today, and since Don had no tours scheduled, he went with me. He needed to pick up some oil filters. One of the duties he has is to winterize all the jeeps. This includes changing oil so the jeeps are ready to roll next spring. That is the same reason I was taking a bus up. The buses stay at the Ford dealership so they can do whatever is necessary when they have time over the winter to have the buses ready each spring. We went to the Jeep dealer for his filters (and wipers for my truck) and to get an emergency road kit out of one of his jeeps that will stay there for repairs. When we got back, he found out one of the Jeeps was ready to come to Skagway. Nobody mentioned this to him when we were there! So now he has to make another trip tomorrow.
Our drive was uneventful. Many goats, but no bears or moose. The snow is heavier and lower (4000') on the mountains. There is still lots of color, but also lots of leaf loss. The color changing phase has lasted longer than people told me it would. Tomorrow Don's tours may get to see fresh snow on Montana Mountain.
I cannot believe I only have two more tours to drive. Then a day of ferrying buses.
Peggie has unknown more days to work. Her job has always been harder than mine.
We still hope to leave Sun or Mon.

Brrr...Is this winter?

Yesterday was windy, rainy and cold. Most stores were closed because it was another no-ship day. That meant it was a great time to do inventory at the store Karin worked at this summer. We listened to music (OMG Karin, how did you ever stand that yodeling?) but with so much counting to do we didn't really chitchat. Four of us went to the Smoothie shop for lunch (a rare treat) and I mentioned that a day in the 40's with rain and wind would be one of the coldest and yuckiest days in Tucson but it was kind of fun here. (My friends here and at home know I was enjoying not being too warm.) People wore jackets, hats, hoods, and I even saw a few gloves and scarves. Remember, we're leaving soon and know it will still be warm when we get back to Arizona. We'll have to watch the weather though. Bill is DETERMINED to have a year in his life without seeing/feeling a day that's up to 100 degrees. So far, 2009 is the year!

We have ships coming in these last three days but with fewer passengers than usual. With some of the stores already closed it may mean that even more people will come to the quilt shop or with the weather cold it may mean that even more people will come to the quilt shop or because it is a great shop it may mean that even more people will come to the quilt shop....or NOT.

Brackett's Wagon Road

The Goat Lake Hydroelectric Plant turnoff is about a mile above customs and about 500 feet above the river. The road down to the power plant is closed with a gate, which we walked around. While we were down there the road mysteriously doubled in length, so the climb back up was longer than the walk down.

Once you cross the river on the pipe, it is easy to find the old wagon road and follow it along, even though the forest has reclaimed it all. However, downstream the entire hillside is overgrown with Devil's Club so we went upstream. The whole forest is covered in moss. The ground is like walking on sponges. We were afraid we would fall right through into a cavern or something.

Cutting a road through this area must have been formidable. Even today, with a bulldozer, it would be a serious undertaking. The hillside is steep, with solid cliffs of granite everywhere. There are many caves suitable for bear hibernation. Guess I won't go there in early spring!

We hiked as far as Pitchfork Falls and the water was too high to cross, so that was the end of that. The only relic we found was the old telegraph wire that is strung from tree to tree. The trees have grown so the wire passes right through them, and in places, the trees have fallen and taken the wire down. There is so much moss and needle/leaf mulch that anything dropped would now be covered over. A metal detector would be a big help, but since we weren't supposed to move anything.....
It was raining lightly while we were out there. Nobody slipped on the wet pipe, but getting on and off at each end was dicey.
I don't think Erin, at customs, believed that the six of us had just gone up to take pictures of Pitchfork Falls, but I guess when she ran our passports she could tell that we all drive through there a lot, so she didn't hassle us too much. She is one of the nice ones; she even attended the potluck for the stricken driver.

4 day weekend.....sort of

Friday was a no ship day. You already know how that went.
Saturday we did laundry after getting to go out for breakfast. Then we took the White Pass & Yukon Route train to the White Pass Summit. There will be an album of those pictures coming soon. Of course, we wish we had done this earlier in the season. Me, because I really would have been able to compare the train ride with the bus ride. I think the bus ride is a much better value. I did like getting to see back up into the canyons that are totally wild except for the tracks. One of the coolest things to me was getting to see the trail that thousands of feet had pounded out into the hillside. And the original, no longer in use, trestle that was a record at the time. Robert and Lynn, two of our card-playing neighbors went with us. They have been on the trip many times (he works for the RR) so we didn't have to switch places at the summit, so we had the canyon-side view going up and down.
Then we went out to dinner with the whole card-playing bunch plus Don. A good time was had by all.
Today is another no-ship day, there is light rain so far, but our plan is to go to the hydro plant and walk across to the other side, which we didn't get to do last time. Peggie has to do inventory today. No playing for her. We are taking Don's youngsters, so that should be entertaining, right there. Back in the gold rush there was a short-lived attempt to build a road up the canyon. Supposedly, it is strewn with detritus. Since it is National Park land, we can't pick anything up, but it will be fun to see what we can.
Tomorrow I have to drive to Whitehorse again to pick up the bus there and leave another for the winter. So it isn't exactly a day off, but I get to drive to Whitehorse, so it isn't exactly working, either. Tuesday and Wednesday are tour days, then Thursday we take both buses to Whitehorse and we are done.

White Pass & Yukon Route

 

Yes, we took the train to the Summit. Pictures later. Off to a dinner date.

A new album link

I took so many great pictures of our drive to and from Whitehorse this morning that I'm going to put them all in one of the linked albums. A few are taken when we actually stopped the cars and got out. Most are taken through the windshield or through side windows so there are spots and such. We're enjoying it most by having it show as a slideshow on a full screen.

A No-Ship Day!

So we did go to Whitehorse.
There was new snow at maybe 4500 ft. on the mountains.
On the way, Peggie was amazed at the massive amount of color change that has taken place in the last week. I think it has grown even since I was up there yesterday.


We had an excellent bear sighting. It was a young black with a white mark on his chest, and could have been Blaze whom I haven't seen since May. He stayed in the road and acted kind of confused.
At one point he approached my car (I was driving Dave's car to Whitehorse with Peggie following in our truck) like he was asking for food. We finally had to leave because more cars were coming, but he stayed in the road wandering back and forth looking lost.
When we got to Whitehorse, we ran into Don and we were able to have lunch together while our truck was being serviced. Now that it is time to come home, we found Whitehorse's best restaurant. It is called Earl's. We all thought our food was fantastic. Then Don came back to Skagway while Peggie and I did a little shopping and she got her hair cut.
Last night I attended a potluck for James, a driver from another company who suffered a heart attack last week. He is in Anchorage and will be flown to Tucson, where he lives, for a pacemaker. It was a good turnout of drivers from all the companies. It was fun talking to them. I wish we had done something like this at the beginning of the year. Some of them I didn't know.
Tonight we'll play cards with the group and Peggie and I are taking the train to the Summit tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Casey-man!

We hope you have a great day.

In your honor we're going to Whitehorse, Yukon to have the truck serviced. It's getting up in years too. Boy, we love that truck. You too!

There's the right way, and the Skagway.

"Juneau alaskan get sunburned if she stays out too long on a day like this," Homer said to his wife, Tanana.
"I'm not burned, but I'm hot," Tanana replied. "Can you get me a bottle of beer?"
Homer plunged his Haines into the ice chest. "No bottles, Ketchikan," he said, tossing her a cold one.
"I'm feeling much better now," Tanana said. " I Wasilla coupla' days ago. I was vomiting so much I was afraid the Seward back up."
"Yeah, my friend Kennicott the same flu bug," replied Homer.
"So many people were getting sick, just going to a crowded place took determination Anchorage," Tanana pointed out.

Blame this on Margie. Her beer names got this started in my brain.

Trivia anyone?

What is bottom fishing?

A. What singles do at bar closing.
B. Asking "Does this make my butt look big?"
C. Jigging bait on the ocean floor.
D. Digging for cash to buy another Alaskan beer.

I haven't seen these in the desert!

As it is difficult to accurately identify a safe mushroom without proper training and knowledge, it is often advised to assume that a wild mushroom is poisonous and not to consume it.

No Problem!

Check out the photo album--very interesting!!!!!

(FYI: I've added a few photos to the last few posts--termination dust and rain.)

Time for a little truck repair

Since we'll all be leaving in about two weeks thoughts have been turning to getting vehicles road ready. In our case, that meant installing a new taillight assembly. I'm glad I didn't miss this.

Brother Bill begins to install the taillight assembly as Brother Don supervises.
"Hmmm....I think we connect it here." says Brother Don.

"And here too."

Brother Bill gets right to work....as Brother Don supervises.

"Hey Don...I don't have the right tool. Check and see if you have it."

"Yeah, it's in here somewhere." says Don

"Here it is!"

More supervising...

Mission accomplished!

Now that the chores are finished let's go play!