By popular request

I agree with Margie. (See comments)
I especially agree when the poster has one or more grandchildren and lives in someplace like NY.
To equivocate a little bit, this post is titled "--Adventures!" so when nothing adventurous is happening......well, what does one post about?
We have settled nicely into retirement. And when we pulled our faithful old truck out of mothballs and had it serviced and made ready for daily use once again, we also had to re-tire it.
It is a good thing we came home with some unspent money.
But not for long.
Our house was built in 1987. The floors have sheet vinyl and carpet--23 year-old products that are showing the wear and tear commensurate with their age. So our unspent money has been earmarked. We have considered all options for a few years now, and settled on stained concrete. We have to move everything out of the house, since you can't do one area, move the furniture and do another area, because that doesn't work with concrete. So, while the furniture is out (stay tuned for details) we will have the 80's style popcorn ceiling removed and textured, and repaint all the walls, which are not only original and showing it, but marred by patches from the repiping we had to do several years ago. The furniture will be placed in one of those drop-off containers for a couple of weeks while all the work is done. We will live in the fifth-wheel during that time.
So now we have to 1)choose colors, not an easy task with literally thousands to choose from; 2)select workmen; 3) schedule each task to follow the required sequence on a very tight time line; 4) pack away that with which we can do without temporarily; 5) select that with which we can live without forever; 6)decide what to do with 4&5 in the meantime; 7) find some strong backs to load up the storage pod; 8) pick a date to be out of the house that allows us to complete 1 thru 7 and still be back in the house well before Christmas.
I bet my list is incomplete.
Otherwise, where's the "--Adventure!"

Reflections, rationalizations, or something.

The plan is that this will be the final 2010 posting concerning Alaska.
The prompting came from a strange sighting I just had. I was enjoying my second cup of coffee, which Peggie and I feel is one of the greatest benefits of retirement, sitting in a chair from which I could watch hummingbirds humming around the flowering ground covers in the front yard. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a grey fox trotting along the sidewalk across the street. This is maybe the third or fourth fox I've seen in Arizona. In my whole life. I jumped up, grabbed my camera, and tried to get outside in time to get a picture, but it got away. But, of course, it brings to mind all the wildlife we see routinely in Alaska. So that makes me wax philosophical. What makes Alaska so special?
One of the most asked questions from tourists is "What do people do here?"
It is a good question. It comes from the fundamental difference between the people who choose to live in rural Alaska (and I include NW Canada, but exclude Anchorage) and people who not only live elsewhere, but who vacation on a cruise ship. And it goes back to a discussion I had with a couple of Yukoners one day about the kind of people who live there. It is a 'chicken and egg' question. Does the bush (a general term for the area under discussion) create "strong personalities" or are "strong personalities" attracted to the bush? In this case the term "strong personalities" means the independant, flexible, resourceful, adaptable, opinionated individuals who make up the population. In the past they might have been explorers, prospectors, mountain men, warriors, revolutionaries, itinerants, or anybody else on the fringe. They are often artists, writers, musicians and craftsmen. They embrace nature and live with it, rather than trying to tame or conquer it.
At any rate, they aren't interested in any of the following: shopping, clubbing, theater going, dressing up, social climbing, getting rich, retiring, keeping up with the Joneses, or going on cruises.
They read, watch television (maybe), cut wood, hunt, fish, drink, play cards, help each other out, attend school functions and town meetings, argue and feud with each other, fix things before they think about replacing them, and raise dogs. I'm pretty sure both law and custom require each person to have at least one dog. Everybody has more than one skill set. Carpenters are also truck drivers, or cooks, or teachers, or musicians, or all of the above. Many have to have one thing to do in the summer, and something else to do in the winter.
Peggie and I find them all to be wonderful, fascinating people. They are as much a draw for us as the scenery and wildlife.
All of you Alaskans and Yukoners who read this, please feel free to add your comments.

...the other shoe.

Remember, this is "adventures," so Margie,....yes and no. The heat pump repairman came out earlier than scheduled. The freon had leaked out. How did that happen? Don't know. So he recharged it and put in a leak-detecting dye. He will come again in a couple of weeks to see what shows up. Last time this happened it took three subsequent trips to find the leak. Meanwhile, we are cool again.
Greg's snide comment aside, the desktop computer started up yesterday. Still, we will probably have to replace it and the laptop sometime this year. They just don't make computers to last like they did in my day. We also have to replace our cell phones, which we didn't even have in my day. (mine literally came apart in August) I don't mean to suggest that "my day" is over, but it is past noon.
Peggie is serious about getting unpacked and put away so she can get into the studio. I think she will disappear in there sometime tomorrow. However, we are going to Tempe on Wed. to play trivia with Casey and Hickmans, and to see Casey's poster symposium on Thursday. This is the final step in her master's program. While in Tempe, we will also get to see Margot Crabtree live and in person.
Once we get back to Tucson, I will drag Peggie from the studio for some meals and other important events, but for all practical purposes she intends to live out there. I will be checking out the back country to see what has changed and where some of those unfamiliar roads go. After all, I have brand new tires that will get me there and back, right?
We only lost $40 in Vegas. 'Course, that's what we bet.
The new bridge was officially dedicated Friday. It will be carrying traffic in a couple of weeks. It is SPECTACULAR when seen from below.
So congratulations to Casey, and to Greg and Margie, we wish you all the best with those new jobs.

Trip Recap

As you read, we are home, but the "adventures" continue. (see previous entry)
We were away from Tucson for 176 days, just one week short of half the year. We traveled 11,771 miles by automobile, about 940 by ferry, 15 minutes by helicopter, and uncounted blocks on foot.
During the season, but not always on a tour, I counted 101 black bears, 13 grizzlies, and 5 moose. In transit, we added 3 more moose, two more bears, 6 caribou, LOTS of deer, bison, and a bighorn. We also observed bald eagles, harbor seals, sea otters, sea lions, and whales. For the second year in a row, and the first two in my life, we avoided even one day of 100+ temperatures. It was a good season. ( "Season" is the term used by Skagwayans, or Skags, to refer to the time of cruise ship arrivals.)
We got to know more people who are either full-timers ("locals"), or seasonals, like us. Every one is a story unto themselves.
We traveled, not by RV, but by jeep. We stayed in mostly very nice motels while on the road. We ate in local restaurants, avoiding all chain-type establishments. The weather was nice most of the time, and was never a serious concern. (Okay, there was that one tour I had to modify due to snow, but you know I enjoyed that.) The landscape we traversed was all beautiful and varied, though the stretch of I-10 from Phoenix to Tucson leaves something to be desired. Anybody who hasn't been to British Columbia should plan a visit, and not to a city only, but into the wilderness.
Sometime in the coming days or weeks we will put together one or more albums of photos, so stay tuned.

No air conditioning...WHAT???

We arrived home today at about noon. The house looked fine, we turned on the air conditioning, removed sheets covering bookshelves, etc. and began unloading the jeep. My goal is to be all moved back in by Sunday night so I can begin spending time in my studio first thing Monday morning. Hmmm.....the house began getting hotter and hotter. It started at 84 degrees and by the time it was up to 90 inside Bill had put in a service call and we shut the system down. I have a small air conditioner in the bedroom (it's on, working and the door is closed) so it will be cool tonight for sleeping. I also have an air conditioner in the studio. It's cooler than the house but doesn't seem to be up to par which is a new development. We went through this last year (with the main air conditioner) when we came home and a bajillion other times. If any of you readers are in the market for a heat pump I can make a recommendation. Based on our experience, don't buy an Amana!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The only other thing is I can't get the desktop computer to power up. It's a good thing I have a laptop and a son in "the business" so maybe I can get some advice over the weekend (on how to fix it and not just dump it). The box load of mail has been opened (We could sit in front of the fan for that).

On the positive side...we're home, the house is pretty much fine, the temperature is going from the 90's tomorrow downward for the next week AND...drumroll...we don't have to clean an RV since we didn't live in it for the last six months!!!

Monday:early in the AM

While Peggie checked us in last night, I saw a couple walking across the motel parking lot. They looked like they might have walked to dinner, so I asked them if they had found a good place to eat. The responded that the "only" place was a mexican restaurant about five blocks away, and that it was good. When Peggie came back out, she said the clerk told her the "only" place to eat was a mexican restaurant about five blocks away. Well, when 100% of those questioned give the same suggestion, we just had to try it. It was good.
Now I hope someplace in town serves a decent breakfast.
We will go to Las Vegas today. We will stop at a casino for about $20 of video poker. Wish us LUCK!
Then we will stop at Hoover Dam for a look at the new Black Canyon bridge. I have seen it on TV and want to see it in person. Then we will be back in Arizona! I hope somebody has turned the temperature down.

Tonopah tonight

Where have Bill and Peggie been? No posts in three days!
Last Friday, the 8th, we took the ferry to Victoria from Port Angeles. There was fog all the way across, so we sat inside and visited with a couple from Oregon/San Francisco. When we arrived, there was a Gray Line former London double-decker bus to take us to Butchart Garden. It was fun for me to be a passenger as someone else gave the tour. I am not good at it, though, I couldn't think of a single stupid question to ask. The gardens were amazing. I especially liked the before/after photos of the former quarry and the present-day garden. After we were dropped back in town, we walked around for a bit, had a fresh seafood lunch and reboarded for the trip to Port Angeles. It had rained lightly while we were in the garden, but stopped before we got back to town. We rode atop the ferry on the return trip and enjoyed the views.
Saturday I left Peggie in bed and went to Les Schwab to get the fifth tire mounted. She was ready when I got back and we headed south on 101. The tire situation cost us the day we intended to use going to the Pacific side of the penninsula, so that was the first adjustment we made to save some time. It rained on us all the way from Sequim, down I-5 to Salem, and through the mountains on SR 22/126 to Sisters. There, the rain stopped. Outside of Sisters we passed a rolled-over truck that had apparently been transporting enough golf balls to make the roadsides look like the aftermath of a really bad hailstorm. We stayed in Bend that night.
This route was our second adjustment. We had planned to go down the coast and spend an afternoon in Ashland.
This morning we left Bend on 2o to Burns. Unfortunately, this meant we were going to backtrack on road we traveled northbound last spring. But, road looks different when you are going the other way, so it's all good. We left Burns on 78 to 95, heading for Nevada. There were two areas of inexplicable fog along the way. The sky was basically clear and the temps were in the 50s.
Observation: In Oregon, the speed limit is posted at 55 on these roads. I drove 65 and was passed more than 20 times, while I passed none. Across the line in Nevada, the posted limit is 70, which I drove. I passed an amazing number of people doing 55-60 and was passed by one guy going about 90. I think everybody was on the wrong side of the border.
We really enjoy the scenery of rolling sage covered hills and volcanic bluffs in Eastern Oregon and central Nevada. It is very stark, colorful, and peaceful. Unlike BC and Yukon which look inviting, but have few residents, these areas look forbidding, yet have residents all over. The higher peaks in Nevada have snow again, just as they did last spring. Really pretty, especially at sunset.
One has to carefully plan fuel, meal and rest stops. There are miles and miles between places. Today we purchased a sandwich and salad at a deli in Burns so we could stop for a Thomas picnic somewhere in the middle of nowhere. (can there be somewhere in nowhere?) Weather was perfect all day. Traffic was light enough not to be a problem. And nothing broke.
Well, okay, one thing went wrong. Peggie discovered she had left her wear-everyday wind breaker in Sequim. We decided not to return for it. But she called the hotel, and they agreed to send it to her.
Last time we were in Tonopah, we were burning the last two drops of gas in the tank, and the town looked really run-down and dirty. Today it was dark when we got here, so it looks better. And we still have a quarter tank of gas.

Let me rephrase....

Did I say "no huge repair bill?"
I made a second trip to Les Shwab here in Sequim (pronounced Squim) because even after rotating the tires, I could still hear that 'thrump-thrump-thrump' and it bothered me because I don't like to ignore warning signs just because I think I know what they are. It is like getting the check engine light fixed even though I knew it was a false indication. Anyway, I was going to have them switch the spare and the thrumper. Soooo, when I looked again at the thrumper, I noticed a split at the tread edge. I looked at the other three tires and two of them also had tiny splits near the tread edge. But, these tires are warranted at home. Surely I can wait. So I asked them to switch the spare and the thrumper. Then I met Ron. When he handed me back my key after making the switch, he commented on the splits, suggesting that he wouldn't try to drive to Arizona on those tires. Yeah, but it's my money. And I can make it. Right?
Back to the hotel. Thinking. Thinking.
By bed time, having discussed it with Peggie, we decide to call the home town dealer, find out if the warranty is transferable, and if so, get new tires here. That's what I did this morning. The warranty can be honored here if I get info on the tread depth and splits and return to Tucson for a credit/refund.
The thing is, I thought I had five identical tires. But the spare is still the original equipment that I replaced two years ago because I had six flats in a year from cactus thorns. So I decided to get five new tires and have a spare equal to the tires on the ground. So let me rephrase: The thrumping tire problem has been fixed for only $1200. Plus another few hours of not-vacation-time. Including postponing the Victoria trip for a day, and returning to Les Shwab again on Saturday to get tire #5 mounted. (they only had 4 in stock, of course)
Oh, and it wasn't that easy. I keep a padlock on the spare so nobody will steal it. Fine, the key is in the glove box. Well, it was in the glove box before somebody broke into the jeep at Casey's apartment last year and stole the owner's manual....and, apparently, the key. So a quick (quick? this is me) trip to the locksmith. On TV any cop or PI can pick a lock in seconds. In real life, a professional takes five minutes, gives up, then goes and gets the cutter and cuts it off. So add a new $14 padlock and another detour on the way to solving a problem. The silver lining? I never needed that spare in a place where no cutter was available.
But now we had some time to spend here. We decided to follow a suggestion I got from a passenger earlier, and go up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. On the way up I redeemed part of my 62nd birthday gift from Casey, and purchased my Senior Pass. It will get me into National Parks free from now on. Thanks, Casey. And Hurricane Ridge is SPECTACULAR scenery. It is atop one of the higher peaks in the Olympic Mountains. You can see a lot of other mountains from up there. And we avoided hitting another road-crossing deer.
Tomorrow we will go to Victoria and see Butchart Garden.
Sorry, I just can't let it go.......now our Jeep is also retired.
I can already hear Margie groaning, and I haven't hit "publish" yet.

Adventure means interesting, not catastrophe.

While we were at Heike's, we explained to her about our blog title. "Adventure" means a catastrophe averted.
Today wasn't even close.
Two days ago I noticed an uneven wear pattern on the left front tire. We were still in Canada, so I didn't want to get into something like new tires or shocks or anything. So, perhaps risking a blowout (not really) we continued until we got back into the U.S.
We had to get a check engine light checked out and lost half a day of travel last spring when we were in Omak. So while we were in Omak again, it was natural to get the tire situation fixed, (rotation) change the oil, wash the car (and our clothes) and lose half a day of travel.
But we were traveling again by 11:00. No long delay, no huge repair bill, no adventure. We headed down river on 97 then switched to 97A just because we had to choose one or the other. The U.S. side of the Okanogan (new spelling) Valley is also fruit growing country. The big difference is the lack of fruit stands. They seem to be more comercial type. Large packing warehouses, Treetop plant, trucks of apples going somewhere else. But we did find a stand. Lots of good, fresh apples, pears, nectarines, etc. We settled on some plucots. Sooooo gooooood!
We went down to Wenatchee, then headed across the south cascades loop (route 2). I don't know if it is because we just left BEAUTIFUL British Columbia or not, but I think the north cascades loop is more spectacular.
Anyway, we got to Seatle and headed for the Port Townsend ferry, since we want to spend some time on the Olympic penninsula. When we finally got close enough to figure an ETA, we called and made a reservation on the 7:30 ferry. But we arrived at 5:58 and made the six o'clock, barely. Cool. We got to cross in daylight. Tomorrow we will explore Port Townsend, then ferry over to Victoria on Thursday.

Culture shock; too much, too many

We knew that driving south allows us to acclimate to a warmer climate slowly. You know, unlike flying, where you enter a plane in winter (Skagway) and arrive a few hours later in late summer (Tucson).
But the other thing is getting used to seeing lots of people. Today, as we drove through Kelowna, impatiently weaving in and out of veerrrry heavy traffic, I realized that within a five mile radius, were more people than live in the entire Yukon Territory. Really. If I had seen ALL the people within 500 miles of Skagway at the same time, it would have been fewer people than were in that 5 mile radius.
We started the day in Williams Lake. Proceeded on hwy 97 through Kamloops and on to Vernon, before heading down the Okanagan valley. The valley is the fruit and wine basket for Canada. Every 100 yards is a fruit stand or a winery. (Except in Kelowna. It has 3 miles of every retail business in the world. And all those people are on their way to or from at least one of them.) We looked hard for a Thomas place name, but no luck. We crossed into Washington at about six o'clock. As we headed to Omak, we saw a sign warning us that the next 13 mile stretch was a "high kill" zone for deer. Since it was dusk, we slowed down a bit. Sure enough, a doe walked onto the road. I saw her in time to stop and let her pass. A few miles later we saw three cars pulled over, with people out and talking. As we passed them, I think we ran over parts of a deer one of them had killed. But we were undamaged. We are staying in Omak. We went through here in April on our way north. Tomorrow we will head over to the Olympic Penninsula.

Williams Lake

We thought we had construction delays yesterday....
today, we had construction delays. Someday, British Columbia will have really good roads, and new, improved bridges; then they will start all over again. Construction never ends, it just takes a break for the winter.
We would like to post pictures of the two bears we saw, or the beautiful mountains and gorgeous rivers, but we are tired and pictures take forever to upload at these hotel web connections.
We are in Williams Lake, BC. We alternately drove through breathtaking landscape and sat in line behind the flagger at one or another road improvement project. We also managed to see deer in peoples yards and fields and beside the road. Two plump looking bears were eating the greens at roadside. We did not turn on our blinkers while we took pictures.
If you are looking at our progress on maps, we took hwy 29 from Ft. St. John to Chetwynd, where we rejoined hwy 97 to Prince George and on to Williams Lake.
I really don't know how many construction projects we encountered or how many deer we spotted. Too many to count.

On the road again, day two, Muncho Lake to Ft. St. John

We awoke to stormy skies at the Northern Rockies Lodge on Muncho Lake. As we hit the road we got the leftovers of a good rain storm. This section of road hugs the lake shore at the base of a range of mountains, so it is still the 1943 alignment of curves, though it is slightly wider and paved now.

Yesterday, we saw many bison along the road east of Watson Lake. Today we spotted too many deer to keep track of, and we got good photos of these two black tail bucks.


Continuing on, looking hard for moose because signs kept warning us to, we encountered several parties of caribou. This was the largest gathering of young females and some calves.



We also noticed that some of the 'pine' trees were turning yellow along with the aspen. It is a strange sight. They are larch trees, a deciduous conifer.


Finally, we saw this cow and calf enjoying the soothing properties of this roadside pool.

I learned that one shouldn't put on the emergency flashers when viewing wildlife. People stop to help you and scare away the animals. On the Skagway tour route, flashers are how we inform each other that we have a sighting. So from now on, we just pull over and try not to look like we are having trouble.

We also ran into two long construction delays, so we are spending the night in Ft. St. John.

Many wayside stops are closed for the winter, or just closed for good. So it is still a good practice to get fuel whenever you can. We also find that more frequent stops keep our joints from getting locked in one position.

On The Road Again

We left Skagway on Thursday afternoon and headed to Heike and Stefan's B & B in Tagish. The sunlight on the snow-covered mountains was so pretty we, of course, had to make several stops for pictures so it took us three hours to make an hour and a half drive. We also forgot about the hour time change so when we finally arrived at Tagish cabins it was 7:00 p.m. and Heike said she was beginning to worry if we were going to make it. We had a beautiful cabin, and a great moose liver dinner (above and beyond the typical Bed & Breakfast, eh?). After a leisurely breakfast, we got on the road and drove and drove and drove. We did start to see wildlife--BISON--first in singles and then in herds. We stopped at Muncho Lake at Northern Rockies Lodge--another beautiful place. We're getting ready to head out to Fort St. Johns and maybe beyond. We'll check in again when there is internet service.

We need the temps in Arizona to start moving downward in a big way.