Day 11 Alaska at last

The mountaind as we entered into Alaska

Matanuska Glacier

Alaska range

Day 11

We were both up and ready to go by 8:00. We decided that we would have breakfast at the restaurant and so we got out of the campground a little later than we expected. At first we thought we might have one more night on the road in Alaska, but soon after starting our day it became clear we were going to push on and finish our trip today. We were about two hours from the Alaska border and Anchorage is about 61/2 hours from there. We stopped at a gas station in Beaver Creek Yukon to fill up and get some drinks. Right before we entered town (one store I saw) we saw a grizzly and her two cubs by the side of the road. We tried to get a picture but as soon as we got the camera turned on they ducked into the woods. The store was having customer appreciation day and was giving away free hot dogs discounted gas and slushies. It turned out to be a great stop. A half an hour later we were at the border. The border guard was very friendly asking us few questions. He did ask if he could come on to the bus and without choice he came aboard. All he wanted to do is talk about what a great bus we had and all the time that was obviously put into what we had done. I was secretly laughing thinking (I had about two weeks from purchase to driving down the road). He asked how much we had paid and dropped his jaw at the reply. We laughed saying when he got home he was going to be talking his wife into buying a diesel school bus. We had made it into Alaska.

More Alaska Range

mountains around the house in eagle River

The rest of the ride through Alaska was difficult with many ups and downs and a road that went between good to poor to bad. I was led to believe the last push through the Alaska Range was mostly a downhill travel. Wrong! This was probably the toughest day of driving on the trip with lots of long climbs followed by steady downhill sections. Tough day on the Time Machine. I saw my first glacier on this day and actually saw two with the Madanuska Glacier following us to the ocean on our final push into Eagle River. It was a wonderful feeling pulling intothe driveway in eagle River. We had made it! Jess was finally home and I was absorbing the fact I was actually going to make this my home. Every day I still wake up in amazement. Every day I am reminded of the Robert Frost poem Nothing Gold Can Stay. Some of you might know it from the Outsiders book. i think of that poem and the amazement it talks about when something is new and wonderful. each new day in Alaska for me brings that feeling. I either see a bird I had never seen before or a flower, or just the on a drive to the store staring at the mountains in amazement. My adventure has just begun, and i can't wait to taste, see and experience more. For those who have been following this blog I am going to do another blog of our 100 mile journey down the Allagash River in Maine right before we left for Alaska. I hope you enjoyed our journey!

Matanuskeriver

King Salmon in a stream right near the house

Matanuske Glacier

Snow covered mountains in August

Day 10 Yukon

 

Day 10
We seemed to get a late start on this day. I think all the driving and time changes were catching up to us. I think after feeding the animals and checking the bus we didn’t leave camp until after 10. Our goal for the day was to spend the night on the border of the Yukon Territory and Alaska. Overall this was an uneventful day. The driving was the worst we had done to this point. There was lot’s of roadwork throughout the day and the remnants the last year’s frost heaves peppered the roads. We still managed to make pretty good time. We did see wild horses roaming the roads in the Yukon, it seemed so out of place. We also saw a few moose but were suprised we didn't see more.

The landscape was not a beautiful as we had seen in British Columbia but the backdrop of mountains always gives the eye something wonderful to look at. Jess spotted her first glimpse of fireweed the Alaska state plant and she was giddy with excitement she was so close to home. We did cross some beautiful rivers on this day and made a point to stop often and appreciate where we were in case we never made it back that way again. The day seemed to pass by fairly quickly. It may be because of the late start, or just the excitement we were getting that close. We had a goal we both laughed about; it was the 800-mile out of Anchorage mark. If we broke down 800 miles or less we could scam and use all our AAA towing miles to get us to Anchorage. We surely didn’t want to break down but at that point at least we had a solution. There was no way the Time Machine was going to break down though.

 

We decided we would stay on the shore of Kluane Lake. This is a 125 square mile lake surrounded by towering mountains on all sides. We were told we could park in any open spot and pulled up right to the lake shore with the front window pointing towards both the lake and mountains. This campground also had a restaurant and once again Jess found peirogies on the menu. She couldn’t resist. We enjoyed a good meal and went back to the bus to enjoy a few drinks and the wonderful view. We went to bed at around 11:00, with the big day of crossing back into the USA and Jess being home the next morning.

Day 9 British Columbia, hot springs, animals galore!

This picture doesn't do these cliffs any justice



Mountain views driving through BC



 Day 9



I got up early and wandered down to the river and went for a walk. It was an amazing river valley and the water was as blue and clear as I have ever seen. I wandered for about an hour enjoying the landscape and looking for both bear and moose. When I got back Jess still wasn’t up and I decided to go to the lodge for a cup of coffee and one the legendary cinnamon buns we had both heard about. It was a five dollar cinnamon bun and I had to wait for it to come out of the oven. It was as good as the owner had bragged. I ate half and brought the other half back for Jess for breakfast. She ate it happily. We packed up fed the cats and checked all the fluids in the bus. This was another big day of mountain climbs and our goal for the day was to make it to the Yukon and through British Columbia. 



Stone Sheep on a steep mountain road



 

It wasn’t far from the start of the ride and we were driving along mountain cliff with drops that were higher than I can estimate. It seemed at times the road just ended and instead the road curved to the right out of sight. Right after some of the biggest and scariest sections we came across a Stone Sheep standing in the road. It was an absolutely inhospitable place for an animal to be. Not soon after we cam upon a herd of Caribou in the road and were able to take a few pictures. We were amazed at the amount of wildlife. About 15 minutes later a herd a mountain goats was standing inn the road. None of these animals seemed to be scared of us in the least and the only casually moved to the sides of the road. It was obvious it was their road. The days drive was already amazing and we were both excited for the hotsprings that we were to visit later in the day. The morning seemed to fly by. We saw a mother black bear with three cubs right by the road. Jess tried to get a picture but it was difficult getting a picture of the cubs due to thew length of the grass. The whole morning seemed to fly by with anticipation of what we might see next.

We arrived at the Liard hotsprings at about 1:30 in the afternoon. I had never been in a hotsprings before and it was all if not more than I expected. There were three pools. It was designed for people to start in the lower pool and progress into the upper pool. As you progress the temperature in the pools increases. There is a spot at the end of the third pool for you to place a rock onto a pile if you can make it that far. It was boiling hot but I made it. Jess couldn’t make it quite so far. We heard of a pool that was a walk through the woods that had been closed due to a bear sighting. A man had been killed at this pool the year before by a black bear that still is feared is lurking in the area. There was a young guy thinking the same thing. We grabbed our cameras and went to find the waterfalls that were suppose to have a hanging garden and then off to the forbidden pool for a dip. The waterfall was not that cool but when we got to the forbidden pool it was more like a giant swimming pool without a bottom. There were bubbles coming up from the bottom. We both dove in and swam around. We thought we heard something in the woods and both thought it was a ranger who had spotted us jumping the fence. We toweled off and walked back the path. There wasn’t anybody there and it is possible there was a bear close by. When we got back to the fence the guy’s mom was there and giving us a rash of shit, no big deal, she was just scared (the guy was about 23).

Enjoying the hot springs

Jess doing the same

The source of the hot liquid

After leaving the hotsprings one of the first things we saw was another black bear by the side of the road. Jess got some good pictures. He didn’t seem to care that we stopped the bus and were documenting his day. It wasn’t too much farther up the road and we came upon the first head of wild buffalo. These are woods Buffalo and only live in this part of British Columbia. I stopped the bus and Jess got out and took tons of pictures. This was by far the coolest thing we had seen so far on the trip. This wasn’t the only herd of Buffalo we saw that day. They just seemed to rule the roads in this area of B.C. The rest of the day sped by with the anticipation of more animals around every turn. We entered into the Yukon Territory late in the afternoon and decided we would stay for the night. We stayed at a campground on the Swift River where Route 1 winds in and out of the Yukon and British Columbia.

Bison by the road. They were so cool!

Herds of them



Black bear by the road



At the RV Park there was a lounge where they served supper. You could hardly call it a lounge but it did serve beer. Jess was pleasantly surprised to see that on the menu in the middle of nowhere they had homemade pierogies her favorite. She smiled and made cute noises throughout her meal. The owner came in and sat with us asking us questions about where we were going and where we were from. After some conversation he asked me if I wanted to do some fishing and I of course replied yes. He told me of a trail down to the river out a pointed peninsula. It was about a 15-minute walk away. The river was gorgeous and I cast for quite a while unsuccessfully. On the far bank I noticed something slinking up the shoreline. It was a wolf. He kept creeping up the shore in full sight of me. I felt like food. Where there is one wolf there are others. He was just across from the shallowest spot when I decided it might be time to walk out of there. It was very creepy. Back at camp we both had a couple beers and settled in for the night. Bedtime was at around 11:00 p.m.

Ela and I walking back to the bus in BC

 

Mountain goats

 

Buffalo baby



Caribue at the start of the days drive



Day 8 British Columbia




Hill across from the campground


Day 8

The meet up with the trucker from N.Dakota after the first big climb. I'm making sure everything is still OK

It was an early wake up in Grande Prairie. We both needed to use the bathroom and the truck stop across the street was full of truckers getting gas. We quickly took down the curtain put up the futon and were off. We went To a Shell gas station and filled up and checked the fluids. The folks in Alberta were very nice. Everyone we talked to was helpful and kind and this stop was no exception. The women behind the counter talked of places to visit up ahead and of the Liard Hot Springs, which we planned to stop at if we could make it up the mountains. The woman (50 something) told us of how when she sat in the hot spring her large boobs floated. It was a very strange but funny thing to tell strangers. Regardless they were friendly and helpful all through Alberta. After using their toilets and quickly washing up we were off for British Columbia.

Mountains and more mountains

We still wanted to get a new air filter and a rock had gone through the lens of the right headlight. The left headlight had no high beams. It was Saturday and we found out it was a holiday weekend (like the fourth of July in America) and most businesses would be closed. A helpful group of men at a parts store in Fort St. John gave us a place that might be open and might have the filter. Off we went, and luckily they had a filter that worked. Again some great people in Alberta. It was my first 80$ air filter and hopefully my last. We also picked up two new headlights I would put in at our next stop.

We decided that even though it had already been a long day we would push on and do our first big climb of the trip. Our plan was to make it to the Tetsa River Campground in British Columbia. The campground has been family owned for generations and is know for having the best cinnamon buns in the cosmic universe. The bus was an absolute trooper climbing the mountains with all the weight. I couldn’t believe how well it did. We pulled over at the top of the longest biggest climb 7 miles at about a 7-10% pitch. The resting area was called the Steamboat Mountain Summit. There were three trucks pulled over and the truckers were all grilling and eating supper. One of the truckers came over and it was the trucker who had eaten breakfast with in N. Dakota. He offered us Brauts but we declined having bought hamburgers for our own grill later and we didn’t want them to spoil. We all shared a laugh and we off to our destination 20-min. down the road.

A moose in the road in front of our Tetsa river campsite

More mountains

and yet more. I couldn't get enough

Tetsa River

Look going down the road

At the campsite after supper we met a gentleman from Alberta who was being inquisitive about the bus. I offered him a beer and we shared some conversation. Jess and I were going for a walk down to Tetsa River to take some pictures and asked if he could join along. I’m having a big brain fart about his name. Incredible place right in the mountains. When we got back to the campsite a Bull Moose trotted down the road. (picture) This little dog chased the moose into the woods and barked and barked. Jess came back from the restroom wondering what she missed. Glad I got a picture. The weather was wonderful and we settled in for the night. Again we had a time change when we entered into British Columbia and it was messing with my head. Bedtime at around 11:00-11:30.

More mountains

Another Tetsa river shot

Day 7 Alberta to Alberta

Day 7

Start of the rolling hills in Alberta

We were both glad that we were out of Saskatchewan. The landscape started to change with more rolling hills right before we hit the border to Alberta. We were both happy we wouldn’t have to stare at oceans of farmland anymore. We packed up and were on the road once again around 9 a.m. Our plan today was to either make it just into British Columbia or stay on the border in Alberta. After Saskatchewan any drive would be better. I did enjoy the rolling hills of Alberta but it was still mostly farmland with oilrigs. We did drive through Edmonton which is a huge city and that was in the middle of the day and helped to break up the ride. We also stopped at a bus wholesale company right on the main road with hundreds of buses. We had no seat belt for the driver, only for the RV seat for the passenger. Inside the sales rep told us to just go out back to one of the buses with the hood up or off and take a seat belt. Nice people in Alberta. We were both getting a little nervous and excited for what lie ahead.  The mountain climbs up ahead are steep and we were extremely heavy with all our belongings. We talked of getting a new air filter before the mountains as the last precautionary measure we could take. The weather sprinkled and rained off and on throughout the day, and I don’t remember it being a particularly memorable day. I did see a herd of Buffalo next to the highway, it was a first for me. They were behind a fence and we argued whether or not they were wild or kept Bison. They were in a nature preserve, so I still don’t know the answer.

All the cats enjoying the day

I know that dogs sniff eachothers butts, but sleeping and butt sniffing?

Alberta

More Alberta

and more Alberta

Both of us hungry, we decided we would go and get a bite to eat, and possible stay for the night in the town of Grand Prairie, Alberta. Parking the bus can be a hassle in a city and Grand Prairie was fairly large. We found a hotel that had a bar and restaurant inside. Our intent was to eat, get directions to a RV park and end the day. We ended up drinking and hanging out with the local folks until closing. The bar tender said we were her favorite customers ever. Many free cocktails, and with the price of alcohol in Canada we couldn’t say no. Before we knew it, it was late and the RV park was no longer an option. The folks at the bar said we should just sleep in the bus out in the parking lot and that we wouldn’t be bothered or hasstled. I kept asking "what about the police", and the bar tender just kept saying "what police"I had no problem with that idea; neither did Jess until we both realized there was no bathroom. She wasn’t very happy with the dumpster peeing situation, but she’s a trooper. We went to bed at about 10:30 both a little worse for wear.

Rainy ride