There's No Place Like Home! (Day 48)

We spent the night in Fargo, North Dakota.  Left early in the morning and we were home by the early afternoon.  Back to Wisconsin and back to Tomah.  We love going places; but it sure is nice to get home.  Our adventure to Alaska was more than we ever thought it would be.  The beauty of the land, nature and its wonders, and the people we met along the way

will be in our memories forever. 

We enjoyed sharing this trip,  which has been on our minds for 40 years!  We finally did it, loved (almost) every minute; but...
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME! :-)

Not as tall;  but we have our own little Mountains.

...Our own little wonders of Nature.

...Our own beautiful Wildlife.

There's only one problem...

My camera, hanging from my wrist, has  almost become an accessory to me.  Wearing it for nearly two months, 10,000 miles...

I feel lost without it!

Water, Water Everwhere! (Day 47)

It's funny when you're traveling...you come across things you would never dream of finding.  I would have liked to stop at this bar; but morning really isn't bar time for me. I'm sure the cockpit of the plane was coming through the wall somewhere . Ve-r-y interesting!

Here's another site you wouldn't find if you were looking for it...a bridge to nowhere.  Oh...my mistake...isnt' there one in Alaska too?

Northern Montana has a lot hills, buttes, and landforms.  Everything was so green because of excess amount of rain.  In Glasglow, where we camped last night, I asked why the motel was filled up so early in the summer.  She said that Fema provided rooms for people who's homes were flooded out.  She said it has been like that for 2 months!    Here are some more pictures of flooded areas.

This was along interstate 94 in a few places.  The road had a little water on it still and must have had water on it previously.

That long thing in the water is a train!  The water was all the way up to the train tracks and the train was moving about 5 miles an hour.

I just know that when we stop for the night...

it won't be next to a river! 

Sorry...Neither of you are U.S. Citizens! (Day 46)

After hours of going over rolling hills of southern Alberta, we finally got to the U.S. border to enter Montana.  I handed the Border Patrol our passports and he looked at Bill and I and said by looking at our passports...we were not U.S. citizens.  WHAT?  We had been threw the Canadian and U.S. borders numerous times the last two months and didn't have a problem!  The Border Patrol told us that we had not signed our passports and they were not valid until we signed them.  So we signed them.   I think this "patrol guy" has been sitting in his little "patrol hut" on the prairie too long and I had a feeling that he enjoyed seeing our reactions.  I'm sure... if we were going to try and cross the border with fake passports...we would "SIGN THEM!"  Glad to be "Back in the U.S.A.!"

The rolling hills of Alberta led into the rolling hills of Montana.  It has a beauty of its own; but we're sure going to miss those mountains!  I do enjoy letting my mind wonder, as we drive through these lands, and try to imagine what it was like crossing this country in a wagon and trying to make a life out here.  I like to take pictures of old run-down farms and wish I knew the story within its walls.  So here are a few things I saw along the way I thought looked interesting and unfortunately will be gone forever shortly. 

I think about how it took the early settlers months to cross these plains and Bill and I will have put one about 10,000 miles by the time we get home in less than 8 weeks!

 We have noticed quite a bit of flooding along Highway 2 in Montana.  I imagine we will see more as we head into North Dakota tomorrow. 

I always try to take pictures of anything that has the name Sherman.  We didn't stay at the Sherman Inn; but did find a nice campground that had wi-fi and it worked!  So I got my wi-fi high tonight and finished all the blogs I was missing in my travels.  We should be home in two or three days, which will be a happy; but somewhat sad end to our Alaskan travels.

Wi-Fi Withdrawal! (Day 45)

I waited patiently last night until 9 P.M. at the KOA Campground in Hinton, Alberta to get on the internet to do my blogs for days 41-44.  Oh…I was so happy… finally I could let you know what we have been up to since the last slow wi-fi connection!  The minutes ticked by and at last it was one minute to 9 o’clock!  Then one of those negative thoughts popped into my head…what is going to happen when “everyone” in this campground logs on at 9 o’clock.  It didn’t take long to find out that my thought was right…no way was I going to get on!  I read the campgrounds suggestions for success in connecting and standing on my head didn’t even work! J  I went to bed…vowing that the next place we stopped at a campground with wi-fi I would report to KOA Headquarters the mental stress I endured through their false advertisement of providing wi-fi service!  Well…it’s is a new day and we’re heading to Jasper and Banff National Parks and I won’t have any room in my head for any negative thoughts today.

Right outside Jasper National Park we saw a Black bear grazing along the road.  He ran into the woods and that’s when we noticed another bear up in the tree.  It was almost like he was trying to tell us he was hiding and to go and seek someone else to gawk at! 



There were a bunch of Elk that crossed the road; but this one seemed to have an attitude problem.  Just from the way he was walking, he seemed to say…”hey tourists…this is a park and the wildlife have the right of way!”

There were a bunch of Elk that crossed the road; but this one seemed to have an attitude problem.  Just from the way he was walking, he seemed to say…”hey tourists…this is a park and the wildlife have the right of way!”

 Jasper National Park

A Badger bus from Wisconsin carrying Japanese people?  Ummm….

Banff National Park

Maybe we should stick around Calgary for another two weeks…William and Kate (future King and Queen of England) will be spending part of their honeymoon here.  They’re even going to the Stampede!

Camping tonight in a small town names Bassano in Alberta.  They are celebrating their 100^th birthday this year.  We’re staying at a nice, neat little park that is just blocks from downtown.  The park has bathrooms, showers, electricity;… but “NO WI-FI!”  WI?, WI?, WI?

Interesting bridges….not for vehicles; but for animals to cross the highway.

Before we knew it…we were leaving the mountains behind and moving into farmland and rolling hills once again.

Along the Way.......to the KOA (Day 44)

We only traveled about 200 miles today instead of the 400 or so we have been doing the past few days.  Going to stop in Hinton, Alberta so we can get up early and spend the whole day driving through Jasper National Park.  I mentioned before that we were there 30 years ago and had to go through it fast because it was cold and rainy, Brian and Mark were little, we were camping from the back end of our truck and we had to find a place with electricity so we could have heat.   This trip through the park should be a little bit easier J Here’s some scenery along the way to the KOA. 

Came across a coal mining operation.  The coal looked pretty near the surface as you can see in the next pictures. 

It may not look like it…but this dump truck is gigantic!

I think this bridge is pretty old…needs a paint job and the deck is “wooden!”  Come on Canada…get with the times!

Every little stream and river were rushing and overflowing their banks.  They tell us that they have gotten an excess amount of rain this spring and they are ready for more sun.  With such long winters…I definitely can understand that.

Spending the afternoon and night at the KOA Campground in Hinton, Alberta.  Needed to watch some news and hook up to the internet to do my blogs.  “Great!  Can’t get on until 9 tonight!  I think that is false advertisement to say they have free wi-fi!  Know where the “Better Business Bureau” in Canada is…“eaahhhh?” 

Guess…we’ll just have to enjoy the scenery until we can start “clicking” on our computers.  We have some French Canadians in the motor home next to us.  I decided it was time to graduate myself from “people-watcher” to a downright “Eavesdropper”;  but I can’t understand a word they are saying!  Leave it to the French!  Guess I’ll just have to mind my own business. J 7,100 miles behind us so far.

Mile 0 in Dawson Creek, BC on Father's Day (Day 43)

We drove the entire Alaska Highway…except we took it backwards.

Dawson Creek, British Columbia is the official starting point of the Alaska Highway…”Mile 0.”  In 1942 the United States started building the highway from here to Delta Junction, Alaska, which would then connect to other highways within Alaska.  The United States needed a way to transport military equipment to Alaska as a means of defense against Japan.  The “almost” 1,400 mile highway was completed in an “unbelievable” 6 months time!

…and it’s been raining all day…what did it look like before?

We have entered the Providence of Alberta.  Camping at a park near Grande Prairie.  I feel like I’m in Minnesota…lots of farmland, trees, rivers and lakes.  Heading to Jasper National Park tomorrow. We’re still 2,000 miles from home!  Getting a little homesick.  Our children called for Father’s Day… so that helped hearing their voices again. J

 

Muncho Lake was "Mucho Magnificient!" (Day 42)

Hope you can zoom in to read how the Sign Post Forest got started.  We were shocked at how many signs people have put up from all over the world.  Forgot to bring our sign; but there are lots of signs of towns from Wisconsin representing all of us Wisconsinites. 



If you ever want to go and put up your sign…

go to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.



That splotch in the center of our windshield isn’t from a bug that hit the window…but a “ROCK!”  There are so many roads under construction or roads that just warn you about damaged areas ahead for 100 miles!  We figured it would happen… covering so many miles with these road conditions.  So when we got a crack in another part of the windshield…our thoughts were…”Oh, well.”  Neither are in Bill’s line of vision, so that’s good. I marked it so I can watch how far it moves each day :-) 

I was hoping we would see the wild Mustangs.  One thing nice about most of the roads we have traveled is that they have large clearings on either side.  It gives you a good view of any wildlife grazing and a means to avoid from hitting them.

This was about the most beautiful place we visited.  It is called Muncho Lake in Bristish Columbia.  The water is so turquoise it almost looks fake.  They say the color is from the copper sulfur oxide that leaks into the water from the surrounding rocks.

 We figured we could handle lunch.  What we paid for burgers and fries could… “almost,” pay for a nice dinner back in the states.  After I read on the placemat that they have to transport their food 800 miles by truck, twice a week, I could better         

     understand the pricing.  I also think we were paying   

or the view and that I didn’t mind!

Today was also the day for some of the best rock formation viewing I have ever seen! The forces of Nature at its “Best!”

New animal to view…the Stone Sheep.  Are they eating stones?  We were told to watch out for them because they are usually in the middle of the road….”that is true!” 
I don’t know how they keep their footing on the sides of the
steep mountain roads.

Then around the corner…you go from bare rocks and boulders to rolling mountains with every shade of green in the palette.  I think when people say they live in BC…
it really means “Beautiful Country!” 

We camped at Fort Nelson in BC.  In the 1800’s it was a fur trading center.  Today, as you can see from the greenery…may explain the 55,000 agricultural subdivision Fort Nelson is developing.  Located in their town is the largest natural gas processing plant in North America that transports the purified gas to the lower
 mainland of British Columbia.

                      A little closer view of the water.

This resort was along the shores.  Everything must be brought in by truck or airplane.  They even have to generate their own electricity!  They have a lodge, cabins and fly-in fishing tours for anyone...

who can afford it.