Alaska2018

No pictures from me - but some excellent ones to come from the big camera when we can upload later.  All of us to the Going To The Sun busses across the park and back, stopping to hike the Hidden Lake Lookout trail.  It was incredible!  We saw a lot of wildlife, wildflowers, waterfalls, hoodoos and more.  The only possible complaint is the wildfire smoke which is obscuring our view and causing some sore throat issues.  But, it was worth the hike for sure!  Later, Ken and I hiked the St. Mary's Falls trail.  It was a quick 1.2 miles each way because the sun was quickly setting. The children stayed in the camper (their choice) while we did our hike.   Tomorrow we will try one more waterfalls hike before heading to Butte to have dinner with the Knight family.  Then a few hard days of long driving to get us east.  We are still figuring out our route.  Everyone is healthy and one child has declared Glacier to be her favorite ground level...

Driving the Icefield Parkway through Canadian Rockies National Parks Jasper and Banff.  Our target campground for last night was full, as were all the campgrounds in Jasper NP.  It was a great blessing that we didn't get asked to move out of our sleeping spot in a pull out along CAN-16 just inside Jasper NP.  Hopefully we find a good place to sleep tonight. Some sight seeing and walking planned for today. Ken had some really interesting driving today between successfully navigating between a semi and a telephone pole in a narrow alley and the extremely congested narrow parking areas at the falls within Jasper NP.  That said, the views are fantastic!   Athabaska Falls Alpine glacier near the Icefields Centre.  We stopped here to have some lunch. Jasper NP Explorer program. Banff NP We are so very blessed to have ANY campsite tonight, and due to someone canceling (as we pulled up to the registration kiosk!) we got a site with full hook ups!  Every single...

After a much needed solid night of sleep, Ken cooked up some bacon and omelets for breakfast as well as coffee and tea while I got our laundry caught up and cleaned the camper.  Then we packed everything up and headed east.   Side note:  The campground we stayed in requires "clean and bare" sites due to grizzly bear activity.  I have been a stickler about cooking outdoors and keeping all food outside so that our camper with its canvas end beds wouldn't smell of food or toiletries.  The back of our SUV is stacked with plastic storage bins of pantry foods and one big bin of cleaning supplies and toiletries. It is a bit inconvenient, but we haven't had any problems with bears or other critters. We are recalling the 1988 Winter Olympics and the children are wishing they had packed Cool Runnings as we pass through Calgary today.  I told them about the Calgary Stampede as we passed a large horse farm. Winter Olympic ski jump and bobsled? tracks. Ken has been in c...

We are back in Dawson Creek for lunch and groceries, then onto Jasper and Banff National Parks.   Taco night at a "user maintained campground" on Alberta route 40. Smoky River bridge construction.  Not fun. They wet the road between lines of traffic passing through - it cuts the dust, but thickens the mud. This is one of a few times we have been very thankful for the decision to get new tires in Anchorage! Beautiful sky!

Today, we travel the Tok Cutoff from Glennalllen to Tok, then back into  Canada, retracing the Alaska Highway. Dad and Mom are heading along the same path, but we need to move along faster now, so we aren't staying right together.  Eventually they will head south as we continue east.  It was wonderful to travel together for just over two weeks! Tok Cutoff - excellent views of the Wrangell mountains, including Mt. Sanford, but the worst road conditions we have driven so far.  It is paved, but very damaged by frost heaves. Our border crossing went well although there was a line of six vehicles in front of us. We drove late into the night and were rewarded by a large nursery herd of Elk! Better photos on the big camera later!  I estimate somewhere upwards of 50 elk were alongside the road.

Abby returned home from Wildwood Summer Beach Mission with Cru today. The weather today is warmer and less cloudy without the rain we had yesterday.   Ken's drill was not turned in at the Sign Post Forest.  It was accidentally left there when we hung up our sign two weeks ago, sadly nobody turned it into lost and found. Some of the smoke rising from a nearby wildfire.  We have witnessed some unique vehicles.  The one above is a double cab pickup with a truck camper, towing a homemade storage trailer.  That trailer is a small flatbed trailer with the upper part of an old pickup bed and cap mounted on top!!!  We have seen all kinds of configurations of fifth wheel trailers with travel trailers, quads, water tanks, kayaks and more on the fiver-flat bed!   A sign at Contact Creek Lodge and gasoline says "higher prices ahead" with regard to fuel.  They aren't kidding.  CAN$1.39/L here, CAN$1.91/L at the next stop south.    That is $3.92/...

Update:  My foot is much better today, it is tender to the touch, but I can get back into my trek shoes and hiking boots!  So glad I packed the rice pack into the freezer before we left home! Tolsona Wilderness Campground is excellent - a true jewel!  Their laundry is the best pricing we have seen, their wifi is good and Ken was able to work remote today, it is quiet and we got side by side sites with my parents in the sun for their solar recharge and us in the shade for our expandable beds.  There are water and electric hookups and thanks for Mom and Dad's Passport America membership, it was $35 for two nights!  The kids have loved the creek and the wifi. It is buggy here, but we solved our mosquito problem in the camper.  There is a gap where the expandable bed folds down. The gap is the size of a golf ball on both sides on the expandable bed hinge.  So, I stuffed an extra pair of clean socks in the gap, then covered it with a single sock which I sme...

After a few blissful days at Resurrection Bay South RV park, it is time to start the long trek east.  First, we had to flag down my parents because our battery needed a jump, then came around and helped us out then headed to Costco in Anchorage.  Of course, I managed to injure the top of my foot while helping hitch up.  The friction sway control bar was resting up on the hitch and it fell squarely on top of my foot - ouch!  I had on hiking trek shoes which offered a little protection.  Thankfully, I don't think it is broken. Then we headed to Exit Glacier, which is part of Kenai Fjords NP.  The two youngest children earned an Exit Glacier patch by completing activities in the Discovery Art Backpack.  We hiked the 2mile Edge of Glacier Trail.  I got a few comments about hiking the rocky path in flip flops, but I was concerned about swelling and heavy boots.  Hiking seemed to help, actually.  The hike was very nice and the glacier view was...

The fog was extremely thick this morning until close to noon, then it burned off for a beautiful day.  The wind has been as strong as the sun, however and several of us are sporting sunburns.   Ken and the children hiked Mt. Marathon.  Only Ken and Zeke made the summit.  The rest stopped and waited near "the bowl".   Mt. Marathon from our campsite. I stayed behind and accomplished much with regard to reorganizing, repacking, and cleaning the camper.  It needs a good reorganization about once a week in order to keep everything in its place. This was especially important since we switched from hiking to boating to hiking and thus all the backpack "stuff" had been dumped out and repacked a couple times.  Thanks to my parents solar set up and careful water conservation, I also got in a load of laundry.  The portable washing machine has been a good investment.  At $9/load or more, for the size of our family, the washing machine has earned its keep...