May 31, Fourteen Bears and a Hare

Getting up early this morning paid off because there was so much wildlife on the sides of the Alaskan Highway.  In our journey today, we saw 14 black bear and a hare. J  One of the bears was a grizzly!  We saw lots of bison grazing along the highway, along with sheep, caribou, moose, and elk.  It was a pretty exciting trip today.  One sad thing was a dead bison, hit by a vehicle, and not far down the highway was a baby bison wondering along the road all by itself.   Poor thing; but I guess that is nature.

We had to stop and have breakfast at the Northern Rockies Lodge on Muncho Lake.  Last time we stopped, we had lunch and it cost $50 for burgers and fries!  This time breakfast was a deal….$33 for eggs, potatoes, sausages, and the waiter gave us free coffee.  The lodge gets groceries twice a week from 800 miles away.  They figure, by the time the groceries get to them they are 60% higher.  To buy gasoline there is $1.99 a liter!  

Glad we didn’t have to fill up there.

Muncho Lake is probably the most beautiful lake we have ever seen.  It still had ice on parts of it when we stopped.  The waiter said that one of the lodge’s planes was bringing people in later today.  They were hoping the winds would come up and push the ice to the other side of the lake so they can land 

in the water in front of the lodge.

The water looks so turquoise due to the fragments scraped from the glaciers.  Some of this sediment sinks to the bottom; but some remain suspended in the water which 

reflects back the color green to our eyes.

I thought we were getting out of the mountains…then around the corner were some more mountain peaks.  These are called The Northern Rockies of British Columbia.  They were beautiful and our GPS was squawking again…”winding road ahead, winding road ahead, winding road ahead!”  

Camping at Fort Nelson, BC.  For the past 3 night the campgrounds said that they had Wi-Fi and they “LIE!” Tomorrow night we will check first to see if the internet works before we pay for the ameneties they really don’t have!  

Unhappy camper! Blogs are backing up! 

Without computers…you find other things to do.  We walked over to this neat museum next to the campground.  It had a lot of history of the area, old buildings, old machinery…old everything.  There was an old guy there that had a collection of old cars.  He told us an old story about him and the old Buick below.

The car on the right, the old man said he drove from Whitehorse to Fort Nelson.  It took him 3 days to make the nearly 500 mile trip in that 100 year old car.  The only scary encounter he said was when a buffalo ran along side the car for about a half mile.  

I think seeing this Willys has brought back memories of the Willys Bill had at one time.  I can read that smile.

You take my picture....

 ...and I'll take yours.

My Parking Lot People

Got up at 4:30 in the morning to go to the dentist in Anchorage to find a parking space for a 28 foot motor home.  Surprise....no one was in the parking lot at 5 in the morning :-)  However, I'm glad we got there early because from 7 to 9, cars poured in constantly.  I stayed in the motor home while Bill went and got his root drilled out (yuck for him!) 

Our windows are tinted so people can't see in;  but I can see out.  It was fun to watch their reactions to a big motor home in their parking lot.  One lady took out her phone and took a picture of our motor home.  I wondered what her thoughts were.  My idea was that she was thinking to herself...."Who in the #&%* is in my parking spot and I'm reporting you to security!" 

It was fun to watch these "Parking Lot People."...Some people park as close as they can so they don't have to walk very far, while others park as far as they can (I'm assuming it's their morning workout?). 

Some people have backpacks, while others have their fancy briefcases (Maybe they make more money?). 

Some park their vehicles forward, while others back up into their space (They just got there and they already look anxious to leave?). 

Some walk slowly across the parking lot, while other have a fast pace going (Either late for work or time for their morning constitution?) 

Some of these people are young, while many of them are older (Stocks not doing well or can't afford health care?).

Some people are smiling, while others have on their serious faces (Fear of being fired?)  

Then one of the "Parking Lot People" looked familiar...it was Bill and he was walking fast and had on one of those serious faces.  (walking fast?...means... in a hurry to get out of there!  Serious face?...means...not all went well as planned!)

 Glad I'm not totally correct on reading people because Bill was walking fast because it was starting to rain and the serious face had a lot to do with all the Novocaine that was injected in his mouth. :-)  Bill's tooth is better; but he does have to go back on Thursday for the dentist to finish the procedure.  I tried to get a picture of Bill's tooth so I would have at least one picture for this blog today, no such luck.  I should have taken pictures of my "Parking Lot People :-)  Heading back to Wasilla for a few days to see the local sites and then return to Anchorage on Thursday.