Dawson Creek & The Alaska Highway

Hello and greetings from Dawson Creek, British Columbia.

We're at Mile Post 0 and the start of the famous Alaska or ALCAN Highway. From here it is about 1500 miles to Fairbanks on what is called the most adventurous drive of a lifetime.

Laurie @ Commemorative Plaque

Downtown Marker

The Famous Sign !


We got here yesterday, Friday after a long and somewhat boring ride from Edmonton. We spent 4 days and 5 nites there and it is a big industrial city with lots' of rough edges. Being the capital city of Alberta and close to the oilsands (2nd largest petroleum reserve in the world) it brings all sorts of folks from roughnecks to tourists; college kids to retiree's and bustles all the time.

A view inside Fort Edmonton.

A local resident just outside of Edmonton

Ukrainian Church at their restored village

A working farm at the restoration.

As I mentioned it has a large Ukrainian population and lots' of historical significance for the development of western Canada. It also boasts the 2nd largest Mall in the world with an indoor wave pool and full amusement park. We actually watched a sea lion show inside the mall !

Gene & I did get in a round of golf and we made a Costco run for supplies before heading north.

I've had a lot of problems with Verizon and have not been able to use my "aircard" for Internet access. They've bounced me around, outright lied and tried to charge me outrageous fee's for roaming in Canada. Anyway, it's unplugged and won't come back on till early July in Alaska.

So, I've had to rely on campground wifi and it is somewhat sketchy at best. Not sure how I'll do as we get further north. No pics tonite of Dawson Creek. The new laptop will not connect to the c/g hotspot; the old laptop will but the camera chip won't d/l into this laptop. Go figure !

Some pics from the Highway:

Lakes and mountains all close by !

The Alaska highway...road construction !

Mom & her cub......up close.

A meeting on the road...licking the salt !

He was by himself and quite imposing up close.

Winding through the mountains...this curve had guardrails....some don't.



We'll talk again soon,

Gene & Laurie

Rockie Mountain High.............Banff to Jasper...Wow

Hello and Greetings from Edmonton:


With apologies to the late John Denver, we've been on a "Rockie Mountain high" for the past 10 days or so after traveling through the spectacular Canadian Rockie Mountains. The vistas are breathtaking and each day we approach "sensory overload" as the roads and views seem to be more beautiful with each turn. We've been fortunate to finally have some really nice weather and the snow topped mountains with clear blue skies have made for picture perfect conditions.


To recap: We left Calgary in snow. Yep, had to brush 3" of the white "stuff" off the slide toppers so we could get under way on Saturday morning (6/6) and the campground looked picture post card perfect............for February ! Our drive over to Banff was filled with magnificent views and blowing snow (strong flurries) that really kept me focused on my driving duties.


The c/g on Saturday morning June 6th !

Our picnic table.

On the Drive from Calgary to Banff.

We camped inside the Banff National Park and our site was nestled in the trees amongst the snow capped mountains and the wandering herds of deer and elk. Yep, they wandered through the campground and have no fear of people. Quite a sight.

A visitor to our campsite in Banff.

Tunnel Mtn. c/g in Banff.

Banff is an "alpine" village surrounded by mountains and full of tourists shopping. Seems the main activity in town is to shop and the stores are full of all the latest trinkets to get our Dollars, Euro's, Yuan and Yen. Lot's of Asian visitors. We visited the Hot Springs; the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel; walked the shops and enjoyed some of the restaurants. But most of our time was spent wandering the paths, trails and mountain roads savoring the views and the splendor of the scenery. A side trip up the Bow Parkway to Lake Louise added more awe inspiring vista's to our already overloaded senses. Lunch at the Chateau Lac Louise overlooking the lake made for a wonderful repast. All along the roads are deer, elk, wolves and bear.

Waterfall behind Banff Springs Hotel

Downtown Banff

Downtown Banff (looking the other way)

Lake Moraine

Chateau Lake Louise & me.

Lake Louise

We moved along on Wednesday to the Icefields Parkway which runs through the middle of the Canadian Rockies and connects Bannf to Jasper; two separate but huge National Parks. Route 93 is described as the "most scenic drive in the world" and I'm quite sure they are right. Huge mountain's, snow capped summits, deep gorges, rushing rivers and spectacular falls are everywhere; and then you get to the glaciers ! Wow, icefields and glaciers line the central part of the highway about halfway between the two towns. No other towns or villages, just some park warden homes and maintenance buildings hidden in the trees.

A view along the Icefield Pkwy.

More fantastic vistas on the Parkway.

We 'boondocked" ovenite at the Icefield Centre. The driving is slow, averaging about 40 mph and with numerous photo ops it takes quite some time to travel the highways. The center offers excursion buses out to the Athabasca Glacier. These "ice buses" actually get to drive out onto the Glacier and are geared so low that with the gas pedal all the way to floor the top speed is only 18 KPH (kilometers) . Quite a view and experience.

Icefield buses

Standing on the Glacier

Athabasca Glacier

A slowly receding Glacier

Another spectacular ride along the upperhalf of the Parkway the next day and we camped in Whistler's at the Jasper National Park. Large and crowded campground but big sites and full hook-ups. Jasper is not as "artsy" as Banff and has the CN train yard and station in the middle of downtown. Lot's of young folk and hikers here. Some good restaurants and small shops but more geared to hiking and biking then shopping.

A view of the Parkway heading to Jasper

A drive up to Magline Lake in the mountain range gave us the opportunity for more wildlife viewing: bears, deer, moose and a bald eagle plus more sensory overload with lakes, streams and waterfalls.

The Three bears of Lake Magline

Look closely for the bald eagle

Lake Magline

Moma bear & her cubs

Picture postcard perfect !

During one of our stops we met a young couple from Edmonton. They had just gotten engaged (he proposed on the little beach near Lake Annette) and they were so excited and bursting with joy to share their good news. Good luck Kelly & Athena ! (see their pic below).Lake Annette

Kelly & Athena

We've been in Edmonton for a few days and had to leave the beauty of the mountains behind. The city is industrial, busy and crowded. As the capital of Alberta it is bustling with folks and oilsands workers. It is also home to the largest concentration of Ukrainian people outside of Eastern Europe and we toured a heritage village. There was a large migration in the late 1800's and early 1900's with free land grants and a promise of a better life.

We'll move onto Dawson Creek on Friday (6/19) and the our first look at the Alcan Highway.

Enjoy the photo's. We'll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

Olympic Experience

Hello & Greetings from Calgary.

We've had some really nice weather here and a fabulous experience at Canada Olympic Park. The campground is right next door to the 1988 site of the Winter Olympics and they have turned the place into a very active winter and summer activity venue. Miles and miles of dirt bike paths; zip lines from the 90 meter ski jump tower and a hamster ball (my term) ride that straps you into a clear plastic over sized beach ball and let's you roll down a ski slope, insane but the kids like it. You also have unfettered access to all the areas including several ski jump towers; bobsled and luge tracks and a really neat museum and Hall of Fame.

Getting ready to jump - 60 meter tower

They athletes practice year round and they use the 60 and 90 meter towers to jump. Yes, no snow just plastic mats, looks a lot like grass that they keep wet with sprinklers and these folks come down the ramps on skis and land and slow down in soft dirt. Absolutely amazing.

We were at the top and saw and heard these young folks jumping. We were able to walk over to where they were and I passed a comment about how much "courage" it took to do something like that. The coaches overheard me and they invited us to come closer and we had an unbelievable experience. We actually stood underneath where the slope ends and they jumped over our heads ! We got to stand alongside the landing areas (during snow and competition the officials would be standing here) and the views were incredible. You could actually hear the wind as the skier passed by you, maybe 6 feet away !

We stood right below this jumper.

He's past us and heading down

I've always been fascinated with the winter games and this was a lifetime experience. Some of these kids (girls and boys in their 20's) will compete in the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

On the way down, track has water on it

We were standing on the steps to the left.

The pictures show some of the action, but I'm not sure you can get the full feeling.

Our viewing platform on the right

We also toured a historic fort in downtown Calgary where the first contingent of the Northwest Mounted Police began guarding the territory in the mid 1800's.

Downtown Calgary

Gene & I got in 18 at Fox Hollow Golf Course today and we're off to Banff and the Canadian Rockies on Saturday.

Fox Hollow Golf

BTW, it's 9.24pm and the sun is still shining. Days are getting longer !

We"ll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

Montana Heat Wave - Calgary Cool !

Hello & Greetings from Calgary:

We've arrived in Canada on this past Sunday a day ahead of schedule. The US government now requires a passport to enter or leave the country and the new rules took effect on June 1st. We've had passports for years but we thought there may be a back-up or long delays on Monday and opted to move up our crossing to Sunday. No problems, no hassles and took about 20 minutes to get through, but most of that was due to only one booth being open for all cars and RV's and one for trucks only.

We had a great time visiting with friends and family back east over the Memorial Day weekend. A whirlwind visit but it was good to see our daughters, son-in-law and grand children. The wedding was spectacular, the fire department dinner predictable, but good and the flights on-time but boring.

GrandMa & Grand kids: Craft Time !


The "Bride & Groom"
Can you spot the "fa-gow-eee" indian ???



We headed north on last Wednesday and stopped overnight in Kaycee, Wyoming and then up to Billings, Montana. Eastern Wyoming is a vast open area of prairies and low rolling hills. The state is ranked 50th in population and we probably saw more antelope than people. Eastern Montana has more folks but huge wheat fields and still plenty of cattle and antelope.

We stayed at the Billings Elks Lodge for 2 nights and toured the area with a day trip down to Red Lodge and the entrance to Beartooth Pass. This connects Montana to Wyoming and Yellowstone Park and is closed all winter due to heavy snow accumulation. The US Forest Service opens it in mid-May and they have a big celebration and follow the plows through the Pass on opening weekend. Red Lodge is an eclectic little village nestled below the mountains and ski slopes. We ventured into the Pass area about 20 miles ( the whole Pass is 68 miles of switchbacks and mountain vistas) and found this neat, little lake nestled in the woods around some forest service campgrounds. Great place to relax, fish and hike someday.

Entrance to Beartooth Pass, MT.





Greenough Lake


Montana was HOT ! The temps were running in the high 80's and low 90's and our a/c units were crankin' ! This was most unusual for late May. We had dinner at the Billings Elks Lodge both nights and there was country music for dancing on Saturday.



Great Falls was a bit smaller than Billings but still a good sized city and just as hot and we only stayed the one night.



Calgary is cool. Monday the high never got above 58 and the nights are in the low 40's. The sun is out and that helps, but we're using heat pumps instead of a/c. and it's staying light out till almost 10 pm !



Our travelling companions, Gene & Lynn arrived yesterday and will help us explore Canada & Alaska. They're in a 43' Country Coach and have Max, a cute little schnauzer to help them.



We'll be in Calgary for the week and then head for Banff, Lake Louise and the Canadian Rockies.



We'll talk again soon.



Gene & Laurie