Annual trip to the fair for Alyssa's birthday.. Kristina met us there... Fun times~ Alyssa chose Josh Turner this year!!
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Getting Home
We decided to spend an extra night in Anacortes because Seattle, Friday afternoon travel would be a nightmare. Then we realized that it was eclipse weekend. We decided to leave really early on Saturday morning. We had fuel and were on I-5 heading south at 5:00 am. Getting through Seattle and then Portland was easy, still a lot of cars on the road that early. Amazingly, we were home by about 11:00am. Corey was already there and the rest of the family was coming out later. I keep saying it, but, the eclipse was AMAZING. Never realized that the temperature would also change, about 15 degrees, for about two minutes. LOL Was great to see with the whole family. Our pics do not do it justice ! ! This was 8/21/17.
I am missing all the family pics that I took... Darn it, gotta figure out how to get them off my phone and onto this computer. Will update when I figure it out! LOL... Finally here in February 2018, I find out how to get pictures off my phone. What a process ! ! ! LOL
Amazing how cold it got for a few minutes while it was dark...
Sure been nice to be home for a while. We are leaving again on Saturday, September 23rd for Albuquerque NM for the Balloon Fiesta with Fantasy RV Tours. We are working both Rally's, they are back to back so will be perfect ! !
Fort Twlkwa, Prince George and Kamloops in BC and then on to Anacortes, WA
Fort Telkwa RV Park was a new park for Fantasy RV Tours and on the way, look what we spot....
It was another amazing setting, right on the banks of the river and another one night stay. Lots of that towards the end of this trip, however, things are changing as BC, Canada is having a lot of wildfires and the smoke is really travelling.
We do go on to Prince George and there is a Costco there so we stock up and plan for our re-routed trip and the extra meal. Today, we get the final word that we cannot go to Cache Creek and the Hat Creek Ranch as the smoke is too bad, fire is too close and there are several closed roads. People are being evacuated from our trip path and so it is too unsafe to attempt that original route. From Prince George we are going to Kamloops instead. Soooooooooooo, instead of our stop at Hell's Gate Canyon with lunch, we are treating our guests to a very nice salad and sandwich bar ! After a long travel day, about 100 extra miles, our guests are very happy to not have to leave the campground or fix their own dinner. However, someone forget to NOT invite the yellow jackets. They were swarming our meat plates. Frustrating, but a very nice dinner along with Bill and Kay wanted to thank everyone for all the help that they gave them, that they added beer and wine. Great evening ! ! Not the best park but it was an emergency so happy we all had somewhere to park together.
On to Anacortes, to another new park to Fantasy. It is a beautiful setting but the owners do not understand caravans and that these people are very experienced in parking their rigs as a team, they do not need or want additional help. Also, the park lost three of our guests extended reservations. Oh boy ! ! They did make it all good.
Our farewell dinner was moved to the restaurant instead of the too little meeting room at the park. It was an excellent dinner and was better done at the restaurant too. Bob and Karen suggested that we give our gift bags to the guests during a "game". Bob did a great job of MCing it and we had come up with some kind of award for each couple, such as who had the most pins on their lanyards. It was very fun.
We did serve a regular blueberry pancake, (to make up for the blueberry pancakes missed on Canada Day, July 1st) and eggs breakfast the last day. We did it "made to order" style and that worked out very well as people were coming and going and so everyone was not there at exactly the same time. Mixed emotions with everyone leaving and us going home. Will miss everyone!
It was another amazing setting, right on the banks of the river and another one night stay. Lots of that towards the end of this trip, however, things are changing as BC, Canada is having a lot of wildfires and the smoke is really travelling.
We do go on to Prince George and there is a Costco there so we stock up and plan for our re-routed trip and the extra meal. Today, we get the final word that we cannot go to Cache Creek and the Hat Creek Ranch as the smoke is too bad, fire is too close and there are several closed roads. People are being evacuated from our trip path and so it is too unsafe to attempt that original route. From Prince George we are going to Kamloops instead. Soooooooooooo, instead of our stop at Hell's Gate Canyon with lunch, we are treating our guests to a very nice salad and sandwich bar ! After a long travel day, about 100 extra miles, our guests are very happy to not have to leave the campground or fix their own dinner. However, someone forget to NOT invite the yellow jackets. They were swarming our meat plates. Frustrating, but a very nice dinner along with Bill and Kay wanted to thank everyone for all the help that they gave them, that they added beer and wine. Great evening ! ! Not the best park but it was an emergency so happy we all had somewhere to park together.
On to Anacortes, to another new park to Fantasy. It is a beautiful setting but the owners do not understand caravans and that these people are very experienced in parking their rigs as a team, they do not need or want additional help. Also, the park lost three of our guests extended reservations. Oh boy ! ! They did make it all good.
Our farewell dinner was moved to the restaurant instead of the too little meeting room at the park. It was an excellent dinner and was better done at the restaurant too. Bob and Karen suggested that we give our gift bags to the guests during a "game". Bob did a great job of MCing it and we had come up with some kind of award for each couple, such as who had the most pins on their lanyards. It was very fun.
We did serve a regular blueberry pancake, (to make up for the blueberry pancakes missed on Canada Day, July 1st) and eggs breakfast the last day. We did it "made to order" style and that worked out very well as people were coming and going and so everyone was not there at exactly the same time. Mixed emotions with everyone leaving and us going home. Will miss everyone!
Teslin, and Nugget City in the Yukon then on to Dease Lake and Stewart in BC
Teslin was quite the adventure. Our tour timing was great. This is a very dusty camp with not much but amazing natural beauty around it. It sits on a lake but no access to the water. We got there and got all set up only to find out that the road ahead has been closed since yesterday. Good thing that their restaurant served excellent food. There was some kind of spill on the road that was taking a long time to clean up. The park filled for overnight as no one could pass. They even had dry camping out near their gas pumps. The next day, luckily, we were able to leave. Here is what we found.
So lucky to have been able to pass. They had the road totally closed for about 1.5 days.
Love the Fireweed.
From Teslin we traveled to Nugget City. Another one of our stops with no cell or internet service. Boy, we are all sure tired to our phones ! !
Dease Lake is a little, out of the way place, perfect for a one night stay. We made our chili there. Was a big hit.
Stewart is a fun place as we travel about five miles to Hyder, Alaska to watch the bears. Gotta take your passports in the car with you because there is a border crossing checkpoint coming back into Canada, even tho there is no other way out. Hyder is where the National Parks have a viewing platform over Fish Creek and the bears come out to catch salmon as they are spawning. This year, we got lucky and got to watch a bear for about half an hour.
Last year the fish were all just about dead and we didn't see bears, this year they are just getting here to Fish Creek and so the bears are still hungry. Everyone saw them this time!!
Tok and Destruction Bay, Yukon and then Skagway, Alaska
We visited Tok once again since this is our way back. Can't believe that we are on the downhill slide of this trip already. We took our guests out to Fast Eddie's for pizza and soda. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. On the road again, everyone could stop at the Delta Junction and get pins as well as a certificate saying that they had completed the official end of the Alaska Highway.
On to Destruction Bay for August 3rd. Loren, the owner, is quite the Yukon man. He serves us an amazing meal of baron of beef, a layered green salad, beans, potato salad, rolls and his gamma's recipe for apple brown betty with whipped cream. All very delicious ! ! He also sold walking sticks in a variety of stages of completeness. They were of diamond willow. He was quick to say, not red willow. We bought one which we found a similar one at another store for twice the money!! He also had Suzanne come and teach beading. Very intriguing and hard to do. LOL. He had some beautifully made wooden, folding tables too. Sold a lot of them. After a little break from dinner, he had his friend, Gary, come in and tell stories and sing for us. Loren ended the evening by singing a few songs himself. Would have almost been a better evening if he had sang and not had Gary there. LOL
Skagway is an amazing area, however, we had a last minute change in our directions as the campground changed our plans on us. They are owned by the City and don't seem to get their stuff in order sooooooooooo, half our group were at one end of town and the other half near the marina, at the other end of town. Happy that we are so busy there that it worked out ok. The night we got here we went to the Soapy Smith Vaudeville Show with a Monte Carlo Casino night. One of our guests, Linda, was the big winner. She also caught the biggest halibut when we were in Homer. Lucky gal ! !
Saturday, August 5th we boarded a catamaran on Fjord Express for Juneau, about 90 miles away. We saw a lot of wildlife but not whales bubble feeding like we did last year. Darn it ~
We watched from the safety of a wonderful restaurant and enjoyed a terrific lunch.
On August 6th we boarded the White Pass/Yukon Railroad Train at 8:00am. It took us up the mountain past waterfalls, old trestles and then the valley below.
You can actually see part of the Gold Rush Trail too. We were back early afternoon and then went that evening to a wonderful dinner at the Skagway Fish Company. Was so good ! ! Fantasy RV Tours substituted that dinner for the, now closed, Frantic Follies... Good trade, take the dinner, any time.
On to Destruction Bay for August 3rd. Loren, the owner, is quite the Yukon man. He serves us an amazing meal of baron of beef, a layered green salad, beans, potato salad, rolls and his gamma's recipe for apple brown betty with whipped cream. All very delicious ! ! He also sold walking sticks in a variety of stages of completeness. They were of diamond willow. He was quick to say, not red willow. We bought one which we found a similar one at another store for twice the money!! He also had Suzanne come and teach beading. Very intriguing and hard to do. LOL. He had some beautifully made wooden, folding tables too. Sold a lot of them. After a little break from dinner, he had his friend, Gary, come in and tell stories and sing for us. Loren ended the evening by singing a few songs himself. Would have almost been a better evening if he had sang and not had Gary there. LOL
Skagway is an amazing area, however, we had a last minute change in our directions as the campground changed our plans on us. They are owned by the City and don't seem to get their stuff in order sooooooooooo, half our group were at one end of town and the other half near the marina, at the other end of town. Happy that we are so busy there that it worked out ok. The night we got here we went to the Soapy Smith Vaudeville Show with a Monte Carlo Casino night. One of our guests, Linda, was the big winner. She also caught the biggest halibut when we were in Homer. Lucky gal ! !
Saturday, August 5th we boarded a catamaran on Fjord Express for Juneau, about 90 miles away. We saw a lot of wildlife but not whales bubble feeding like we did last year. Darn it ~
While in Juneau, our Tail Gunners, Karen & Bob Hephner took a float plane ride in celebration of Karen's birthday.
We watched from the safety of a wonderful restaurant and enjoyed a terrific lunch.
On August 6th we boarded the White Pass/Yukon Railroad Train at 8:00am. It took us up the mountain past waterfalls, old trestles and then the valley below.
You can actually see part of the Gold Rush Trail too. We were back early afternoon and then went that evening to a wonderful dinner at the Skagway Fish Company. Was so good ! ! Fantasy RV Tours substituted that dinner for the, now closed, Frantic Follies... Good trade, take the dinner, any time.
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