Aug 4, 2010 - Fort Nelson BC

We have been off the grid for a couple of days. The phone and Internet are not good in the Yukon. We waited 7 hours to drive down the Cassiar Hwy to Stewart/Hyder but a forest fire made that impossible. The road stayed closed. Therefore we had to come back the way we went and are continuing down the Alaska/Canada Hwy. Tomorrow we will be back in Dawson Creek. Then we head west to Prince George BC and are back on Schedule. I have been busy repairing RVs and havent had the time to do more then make notes in the Travel Log. More later.

Aug 3, 2010 - Fort Nelson, BC, CN

August 1, 2010 We left Whitehorse and stopped at Teslin for fuel. Then we stopped at Watson Lake. The smoke was not bad and we got to put up our signs in the sign forest. So as to continue to miss the fires and smoke, we headed for Liard Hot Springs. We dry camped at Kilometer Marker 880 along the banks of the Liard River. It was about 200 feet below us and was flowing quite well along the canyon. August 2, 2010 Today we headed for Liard Hot Springs. There are two springs but only one was open because the second one had bear activity in...

Aug 1, 2010 - Count 'em.....

...count the wildlife we saw today! Start with bison.... first a lone bull, then two herds, for a total of around 100. Add a black bear. It was eating grass in the road ditch. Add stone sheep. I think three different groups, probably a total of 20. They find some mineral at the edge of the road...salt?....and are very easy to see. There were lambs in the group. I made the comment that next will be a caribou...and there he was! A young-looking male, with lots of velvet on the antlers. Okay, now we need a moose. Can't count the dead one at...

Aug 1, 2010 - Sun. Aug. 1

We can't believe it is already August. It is sounding like the weather is still stifling in MO. We will suffer for a while, I am sure. Today, our journey took us from Watson Lake to Ft. Nelson. The Casier Highway is still closed because of forest fires and so there isn't any choice but to come on south on the Alaska Highway. We have one more day to travel with brother Glen, his wife Gayla, and sister Myrna. Tues. we will head east and they will head west. They are going to Washington to visit family/friends and avoid MO weather. We are...

Jul 26, 2010 - Fort Nelson

Monday 26 July 2010 Managed to leave Fort St John at 9.00am. It was light very early (5.00am) though the day started out overcast and became sunny and hot as we neared Fort Nelson. The road to Fort Nelson was lined on both sides with trees; soft woods in some parts and spruce in others. The pine beetle is having a devastating effect on a lot of the conifers throughout Canada and this area has not escaped them either. The road had long straights with rolling hills and few corners. We took 2 1/2 hours to get to Buckinghorse River where we...

Jul 19, 2010 - Fort Nelson, BC

This was our first day on the road as a group. We started our day with Thumper at 6:00 AM. Terry walked from RV to RV carrying a long handle with a heavy rubber tip. He thumped each tire of each vehicle to be sure that they were up to pressure. I don’t know how many tires we have in total but it has to be close to 200. And oh-by-the-way, this also acts as a wakeup call for those still asleep. Chuck and Sally pulled out of the Park just before 7:00 AM. The rest of us were supposed to be on the road by 8:00 AM so that Terry and Pat could...

Jul 19, 2010 - Museum and Catch up Day

Where do we begin, guess with eating breakfast, as we have a lot to do today. After breakfast Tom is busy doing something and I walk to the office to discuss this Internet problem with them. Advised that I need their security code so I could log on with a secure connection. Got it! We loaded dirty clothes so we can wash them after the museum. The museum is about the best thing the little town of Fort Nelson has going. It was super interesting and a real asset to this town. The employees were great as well as other people we met, such as the...

Jul 18, 2010 - Travel to Fort Nelson

We got an early start today. Wanted to travel approx. 280 miles. We did that with a lot of climbs and descends. One of 10%, was pretty hairy. We were a little disappointed in the scenery of this stretch and also lack of animal sightings. Saw 2 deer, a young black bear standing in tall bushes. Unable to take their picture. We get to our park and get set up ok. The first thing I want to do is check out their Internet WiFi. I quickly determine that it is not secure and I will not go on line until I discuss this with them. Pretty much an...

Jul 14, 2010 - Fort Nelson, British Columba

After another great night sleeping, short as the nights are up here, the sun sets somewhere between ten and eleven and then rises again somewhere between four and five but we are able to pull the window covers down and pretend it is dark. We are again treated to a change of scenery. There are vast vistas of forested land but not as many mill towns as yesterday. Something new today. There are lots of bald mountains and you can see the different layers quite clearly. Some of the mountains are folded over from some geologic happening in the...

Jul 10, 2010 - Dawson Creek to Ft. Nelson

Visited the Farmers’ Market and then headed north on the Alcan. Crossed the Peace River and spent time in the Rockies. Arrived in Fort Nelson at the Bluebell RV Park. This must be the place that prompted the comment, “You will learn to revise your definition of an RV park.” This is so ugly, it may be worse than the one in Wall, SD. We talked to a newly retired USAF staff sergeant, who spent the last three years in AK and is on his way home to TX. He gave us the lowdown on tomorrow’s drive. By the way, combined sales taxes are over 12% and...

Jul 9, 2010 - Into British Columbia

A real town!!!! Fort Nelson has a Subway and everything! After not seeing such things outside of Fairbanks and Anchorage for the last two weeks it is almost like home! Most of the towns in Alaska and Yukon Territory are nothing more than a gas station that has sprung up at a crossroad junction. Perhaps a small restaurant or bar has joined it but that is all so many of the 'towns' are. Tok, Glennallen, Haines Junction, Delta Junction, Destruction Bay - all nothing more than get gas and go. Watson Lake was a complete dump. Seward, Talkeetna...

Jul 6, 2010 - Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada

We drove onto Fort Nelson (which was the original mile post 0; however when the road was finished, Dawson Creek became the official mile 0 since it was the southern most point of the Alaskan highway), we saw (from about 1/2 mile away) two back bear crossing the highway. Unfortunately we could not get a closer look, since the truck in front of us honked his horn to get them off the highway. Reggi did very well in getting them on camera. We arrived in Fort Nelson and are staying at Triple G Hideway. Our Final stops before heading onto to the...