Hi everyone.
The first two pictures were along the road after we left Skagway. It has been too long to remember just exactly where but thought you might enjoy them.
It has been a long dry spell, at least for the blog. We arrived back in the lower 48 on September 14. The first picture is of the fox we talked about before Stewart on the Cassiar Highway. It was a scruffy thing, but what a fluffy tail!
It has been a long dry spell, at least for the blog. We arrived back in the lower 48 on September 14. The first picture is of the fox we talked about before Stewart on the Cassiar Highway. It was a scruffy thing, but what a fluffy tail!
Next is the last glacier we saw, named Bear Glacier, on the way out of Stewart. We made a special point to go to an area famous for watching salmon run. Stewart Canada and sister city Hyder, Ala
ska. Well, here's a picture of what we saw...three salmon! 
The ranger on duty in Hyder said it had been a dismal summer for the salmon run. They had a pretty elaborate walk way for the viewing. Too bad there were no salmon. There was a small grocery store in Hyder , we were in need of milk and thought we might be staying a couple of days. Milk was $6.00 per HALF Gallon. I don't know if it would have been any cheaper at the store in this picture, probably not but we thought you might like to see the store anyway. 
The city of Stewart had this board walk for viewing wildlife I assume. We didn't see any but needed some exercise so we walked the entire walkway. Sorry the picture doesn't show it all but apparently they are going to build more. It came to this bridge and just stopped. 
Later we ate at this "Bus Restaurant". We had hoped for a last taste of halibut and chips, but she was out of both. Now, 2 months later, neither of us can remember what we ordered except that she had macaroni salad. 
This black bear was along the Cassiar highway on our way out.
The border crossing back into Washington at Oroville was mostly uneventful, the only thing they took from us was a lime! So much for my Corona beer. The Okanagan valley (highway 97 from Prince George to Washington) was splendid scenery. Since we didn't get around to making notes on our way home I will just briefly summarize our flight home. I say flight because it seemed like we didn't care about seeing much of anything at that point, we were just ready to get back to our bigger motorhome which we have named "Allie."
We bought a big box of apples in Washington (yum), and also spent a little time at Dry Falls (notice the moon coming up).
We bought a big box of apples in Washington (yum), and also spent a little time at Dry Falls (notice the moon coming up).
We stopped in Boise to see the capitol. We were disappointed to find that renovation was in progress on a very large scale. Of course we didn't know that until we had paid for 2 hours of parking. We spent some time walking around it, looking at the statues that were across the street and admiring the flowers. We have included a couple of pictures of the progress as well as one of the flowers. Be sure to enlarge them 
so you can see the man working in the top of the Capitol Building. I'm glad I didn't have his job.
so you can see the man working in the top of the Capitol Building. I'm glad I didn't have his job. 
We soon found out that it was a good thing it was cool all summer in Alaska. The heat suddenly became a problem. We might have mentioned, we had some problems when we first got "Gertie", trying to seal out all the heat and fumes from the engine compartment. We thought we had the problem pretty well solved until we hit the heat in Washington, Nevada and AZ. The worst was about the time we arrived in Las Vegas. We got into a traffic jam caused by construction. At that point we got out Street Atlas and found a way around the worst of it and headed out of town as quickly as possible.
We did stop at Hover Dam. The traffic still has to cross the dam and we were stopped but not for long. It is really incredible to see the beginnings of the new bridge that will eventually eliminate crossing the Dam. We have included some pictures, one that shows its location to the dam, a couple that show both ends
of the dam.
We did stop at Hover Dam. The traffic still has to cross the dam and we were stopped but not for long. It is really incredible to see the beginnings of the new bridge that will eventually eliminate crossing the Dam. We have included some pictures, one that shows its location to the dam, a couple that show both ends
of the dam.
We arrived in Benson on Sept 19th and were glad to be back in Allie, even if it did seem like everything needed work. The front A/C seemed to be running but the fan didn't come on. It was a couple of days before we got a chance to check it out but when we did it was just a matter of taking off the inside cover and turning the fan a few times. Lucky for us.
Then it was time to work on the water softener. Just as we were leaving we had found that there was a problem with it. After talking to Russ at the factory we decided it needed new seals. When they arrived and we opened it up we found the seals were okay but there was some other problem. Ended up sending it to the factory for service. It has now arrived and is working like a charm.
Another thing we found, just as we were leaving, was Gary's new camera didn't seem to adjust fully to wide angle. It was too late to get it fixed then and we knew we would need the telephoto on it so we suffered through. We just used my camera for the wide angle stuff and still were able to use his for the stuff that was further away.
Anyway, things are running pretty smoothly by now. We spent one day organizing the basement. Now it is time to pull everything out and really get organized inside while Gary spends his days cleaning and waxing the outside. Tonight he is off singing with the Barbershop Chorus.
We are certainly enjoying being back in AZ when it comes to shopping for fruits and veggies. I do sympathize with Alaskans when it comes to grocery shopping.
I got interrupted again and didn't get this posted. It is now Nov 9 and we are about ready to head for the Square Dance Festival in Indio, CA. We have moved to the Escapee Park here in Benson for a few days while they pour our new concrete slab. We are looking forward to using it when we return.
Since we came back we attended a couple of Antique and Custom Car shows and watched the parade during the Benson Stagecoach Days. Gary has enjoyed singing with his brother and the Benson Barbershoppers. Next year their sound at the Stagecoach Days should be much improved with their new amplifier and mikes. We are looking forward to the square dance weekend trip to Indio, CA, and then returning to Apache Junction for a winter of dancing.
GARY'S FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE ALASKA TRIP: This was without a doubt the most spectacular adventure I've ever had. Canada is indescribably lovely. Alaska is a heck of a place. If you haven't been there, get there as soon as you can; everything changes with time. Our choice to take up an old small RV was the best choice for us. It was easy to park...anywhere! No toad to hassle with. Cheap to put on ferries. Down side was that it was a little tight inside, and it required more maintenance than costlier/bigger rigs. The fact that we went without time constraints, without reservations anywhere, without any idea where we would be the next week, gave us the flexibility to not get excited when we had some mechanical problems. Actually, I miss Gertie!! My brother, George, has her now, and we hope he has as marvelous a time with her as we did. Fuel was terribly expensive the whole trip. Food was extremely high in both Canada and Alaska. But consider that we seldom had to pay for an RV site in a campground. That really offset somewhat the high prices. It was one of the high points of the trip to find a scenic place at the end of the day, and just stop over! How great is that!? We won't likely make such a trip again, but it was super fun to do once! The memories will be with us both forever. Thank you for coming along!
Then it was time to work on the water softener. Just as we were leaving we had found that there was a problem with it. After talking to Russ at the factory we decided it needed new seals. When they arrived and we opened it up we found the seals were okay but there was some other problem. Ended up sending it to the factory for service. It has now arrived and is working like a charm.
Another thing we found, just as we were leaving, was Gary's new camera didn't seem to adjust fully to wide angle. It was too late to get it fixed then and we knew we would need the telephoto on it so we suffered through. We just used my camera for the wide angle stuff and still were able to use his for the stuff that was further away.
Anyway, things are running pretty smoothly by now. We spent one day organizing the basement. Now it is time to pull everything out and really get organized inside while Gary spends his days cleaning and waxing the outside. Tonight he is off singing with the Barbershop Chorus.
We are certainly enjoying being back in AZ when it comes to shopping for fruits and veggies. I do sympathize with Alaskans when it comes to grocery shopping.
I got interrupted again and didn't get this posted. It is now Nov 9 and we are about ready to head for the Square Dance Festival in Indio, CA. We have moved to the Escapee Park here in Benson for a few days while they pour our new concrete slab. We are looking forward to using it when we return.
Since we came back we attended a couple of Antique and Custom Car shows and watched the parade during the Benson Stagecoach Days. Gary has enjoyed singing with his brother and the Benson Barbershoppers. Next year their sound at the Stagecoach Days should be much improved with their new amplifier and mikes. We are looking forward to the square dance weekend trip to Indio, CA, and then returning to Apache Junction for a winter of dancing.
GARY'S FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE ALASKA TRIP: This was without a doubt the most spectacular adventure I've ever had. Canada is indescribably lovely. Alaska is a heck of a place. If you haven't been there, get there as soon as you can; everything changes with time. Our choice to take up an old small RV was the best choice for us. It was easy to park...anywhere! No toad to hassle with. Cheap to put on ferries. Down side was that it was a little tight inside, and it required more maintenance than costlier/bigger rigs. The fact that we went without time constraints, without reservations anywhere, without any idea where we would be the next week, gave us the flexibility to not get excited when we had some mechanical problems. Actually, I miss Gertie!! My brother, George, has her now, and we hope he has as marvelous a time with her as we did. Fuel was terribly expensive the whole trip. Food was extremely high in both Canada and Alaska. But consider that we seldom had to pay for an RV site in a campground. That really offset somewhat the high prices. It was one of the high points of the trip to find a scenic place at the end of the day, and just stop over! How great is that!? We won't likely make such a trip again, but it was super fun to do once! The memories will be with us both forever. Thank you for coming along!
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