July 4th - Aloha State Park, near Mackinaw, Michigan
We get going about 9 in the morning, hoping to get to Munising on the northern Michigan peninsula, but find it a longer drive than expected, so pull in to Aloha State Park, just south of Chiboygan, off the 33 about 7 pm. A good drive and only one missed turn that takes Darlene on to a small gravel road where the locals look at us in bewilderment.
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| Wandering Wheels campsite |
Although busy, this is a fine park on the shores of a shallow lake and several people help me back the trailer into place. It has been stinking hot all day - 90 degrees - and hooking up the AC is wonderful. Sadly the water pump isn’t working. Not a major problem, and I’m about to phone Vincent back to see if he’s got any ideas.
July 5th - Wandering Wheels RV Park, Munising, UP Michigan
The name of this place had me trembling as we approached yesterday afternoon, but it has turned out to be very pleasant - heavily treed with reasonable privacy. And rain. Nothing horrific, but we lost power last night. First time in a campground so we were concerned it might be the rig; but no, everyone else was out too. In a campground, when you lose power, you lose water as well.
And speaking of water, we got the pump sorted out yesterday. Heartland had left the main valve turned off, and had secreted it away as well. I’m going to have to learn where all the hidden things are.
The weather forecast promises more rain so again we will bypass the Pictured Rocks and move on to Duluth where we hope to sort out an American phone number and Darlene’s data roaming. The morning is spent driving through rain, mist and fog. Lots of fine views but nothing to see - and, sadly, I think I’m out of “Pasties!” country.
July 6th - Top of the Morn Campground, Iron River, Wisconsin
Not a chance of making it to Duluth. Instead we stay at the “Top of the Morn” campground in Iron River. Decent site, nice lake, good wi-fi. I am still trying to sort out Darlene’s data roaming and in the morning spend a frustrating 20 min with a Rogers rep who has never heard of the OneRate plan for US/Canada data sharing. Here we stay beside Gleta and Dave Hagerman who spent 30 years in Alaska and are full of suggestions
July 7th - Gull Lake Dam Recreation Centre, Minnesota
Ech! A day of lousy driving. In the morning we head into Duluth to find an 8GB card so that I can take video with the 5D MkII. We find a Best Buy that has what I want and then head out for Fargo. The 35 is a mess! They’re rebuilding and I drive for an hour through a nine foot wide temporary lane towing an eight foot wide trailer. When Darlene takes over on the 210, she gets a really rough road that has everything bouncing around including us. No Fargo tonight - we find this great campsite run by the US army Corps of Engineers just north of Brainerd and I do an excellent job of backing in to to a site on my off side. ( If I say so myself)
Ok -we’re now fans of the US Army Corps of Engineers! Absolutely first rate showers!
In the morning we make a stop at Gander Mountain for bear spray and Home Depot for mouse traps, ant traps and light bulbs. Ian finally gets a Rogers rep who know’s what he’s doing and we set up US & Canada data roaming on Dar’s phone. Now I just have to figure out how to tether it to the laptop and we’re all set.
July 12th - Havre, (have ‘er) Montana - Great Northern Fair Campground
A glass of Blue Sail by my side, I am rapidly recovering from another disastrous “parking the rig” episode. It turns out that there are numerous subtleties that I have yet to grasp when it comes to backing up and parking this thing. If this were grade school I would be in grade One. It is embarrassing
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| Wild Horses - Theodore Roosevelt National Park |
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| Buffalo - Theodore Roosevelt National Park |
It really doesn’t feel like a holiday until we get to North Dakota. We spent two nights in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the Badlands. So glorious. Early morning drives through the buttes and coolies yield a few photos but nothing I have any real hopes for. We hike two trails - Coal Vein and Lower Cottonwood and realize that if it were any hotter we would need more water.
Electronics are slowly resolving themselves. Dar’s phone will now tether to the laptop, but this is still a really slow connection. ( There are MILES and MILES of the States where there is “No Service” ) We can finally use our Tracphone to call Canada - when the is service. On the other hand, I still can’t figure out how to charge Dar’s ereader,nor can I figure out how to watch the movies Aaron gave us. WiFi is definitely in short supply.
Last night we stayed at Fort Peck Dam - another Corps of Engineers site and an amazing earthen works dam where we get to rollerblade on an asphalt track that they have laid around the perimeter. And tonight we have landed at our worst site so far - low electrics, right beside busy Hwy 2, and little in the way of scenery.
July 14th - Glacier National Park - Montana
Well, in spite of the pathetic campsite in Havre, Dar and I get our morning run in. We check out the Big R before leaving and discover one of those huge stores that sells everything ranch related - including generators. Dar does her wonderful “bargaining” thing and soon we have 5% off the already lowest price we’ve found in Montana or Alberta. Plus she gets them to throw in the gas can and the 10‘ chain we’ll need to keep them safe in the truck and secure on the ground. We’ve bought 2 Honda eu2000’S that can parallel together easily. I love the fact that we can easily pick them up - but so could anyone else. Hence the chain.
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| Glacier National Park - Montana |
Havre also brought us wind. Heavy unrelenting wind. Weird wind. In Ontario, wind like this is accompanied by clouds and heavy weather. Here the sky is blue, just a few clouds, but a wind out of the west that keeps us inside at our lunch stop. This is doing serious damage to our gas milage as we head towards Glacier.
July 18th - Saskatoon Island Prov Park, Alberta (just west of Grande Prairie)
Glacier National Park in Montana was a wonderful introduction to mountains again. We spend three nights in the Two Medicine Campground off of the 49, arriving in the late afternoon but still finding a campsite. Not really a pull-through; when I moved the rig far enough to clear the slides we couldn’t unhitch because of the curve, and leaving it straight enough to unhitch meant having the living room slide at 3/4s because of a tree. That worked well enough in good weather. The next day we drove the “Going to the Sun Hwy” - very lovely but with serious construction. We do some little hikes but nothing strenuous. The snow on the way to Hidden Lake is very slushy and we need both our boots and poles to make headway.
The next day Dar and I hike around Two Medicine lake - a beautiful walk through woods and fields with the lake below us. I see my first Western Tanager and a Least Weasel. We decide at the half-way point to turn around as the other side promises more uphill climbs and we’ve already been at it for 3 hours.
On Friday we head for Calgary, but learning that the Stampede is still on, decide to push for Edmonton and make it to a Lions campground in Leduc, about 10 miles south.
My Edmonton highlight is a visit to The Royal Alberta Museum where we see an exhibit of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year images. This is a world-wide contest run jointly by the BBC and the Natural History Museum. The photos are spectacular and leave me exhilarated. ( The link is www.nhm.ac.uk/wildphoto - check it out!)
For lunch we find a Cactus Club Cafe not realizing that it is one of several in a group owned and operated by Canada’s Iron Chef Rob Feenie. Yes, lunch was great! Dar has the Rocket Salad and I have the Short Rib sandwich with Yam fries - served with a cilantro jalapeno mayonnaise and jus for dipping. The beer is an Udder from Vancouver. After lunch we head into the West Edmonton Mall. This is a place for kids. Lots of entertainment, everything from ice skating to roller coasters. Too many people for me - I am happy to have seen it and happier to leave.
Sunday takes us to a wonderful little provincial park - Saskatoon Island. Ian does an amazing job of backing in to the site and restores his confidence somewhat. On the drive north we found a small Hutterite vegetable stand where I am introduced to Saskatoon Berry pie. Wow! This may become my favorite pie. A gentle bite followed by a succulent embrace of the tongue. Oh my, my, my.
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| Dawson Creek - the beginning of the Alaska Highway |
July 19th - Mile “0” Campsite, Dawson Creek, B.C.
Upon arriving at this camp we are immediately set upon by Bob, handshakes and smiles all around, who mistakenly believes that we are part of a Tracks caravan that he is shepherding to Alaska. We clear up the mistaken identity and we get a Tracks catalogue detailing the numerous trips they organize and the outrageous prices they charge. Darlene and I explore Dawson Creek in the afternoon taking a rather sad self-guided tour around the town. Because of progress and a serious fire, very little of the 1942 town that played host to thousands of American soldiers and engineers is left, so we are left reading a brochure that says “On this spot there used to be ........ - but now it’s a hairdresser or a bank”
Sunday, July 25th, Skagway, Alaska
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| Broadway Ave. - Skagway - Alaska |
Hard to believe it’s been six days since I’ve written anything. We arrived in Skagway yesterday having taken the cutoff from the Alaska highway at Jake’s Corner. A gorgeous drive south but not a lot of wildlife seen. Skagway is a neat little town, nestled by mountains on either side and sitting at the tip of a fiord. It has been well preserved by the National Rangers, and in the afternoon we see a video on the Klondike Gold Rush and then take a historical walking tour with one of the rangers where we get a sense of the sudden population explosion that hit this little town, the lawlessness that prevailed, and the gruesome trek that faced would -be stampeders over the Chilcoot Pass.
We have a good lunch at a local brew pub (gratuity included 18% - a result of being subject to the hordes of tourists off the boats, many of whom don’t tip.) And the boat people drive the economy too. Skagway has many original buildings but they’re 90% occupied by gift stores and jewelers and all are over-priced.
We also visit the Alaska Ferries office and purchase tickets for the inland passage. We’ll leave from Haines on Sept. 8th and spend a week, getting off at Juneau, Sitka, Petersburg and Ketchikan before leaving the boat at Prince Rupert.
Dar and I are just about to go for a run. We’ll forgo the trip on the narrow gauge train up the White Pass - we’re hemmed in by clouds. Today we’ll drive up to Whitehorse. Back to the Yukon - where they got cell service three years ago and our Rogers phones have no service!
On The Way:
In Dawson Creek we solve the mystery of a drip leaking down one of the support legs. The day before we’d had an outdoor shower using the trailer pump. One of the taps wasn’t completely turned off. Not a problem when using the trailer pump but when we connected to city water the next day it dripped steadily until we found it.
In Watson Lake we make a sign for their sign forest - but I am wishing I made up something fancy before we left. Who knew we’d be joining 63,000 others?
In Whitehorse Darlene tries her hand at backing the trailer into the campsite. She/we/I apparently chose the skinniest site we could find! It takes time but she handles the stress magnificently and I get to see what it’s like on the other side of the operation - not so much fun either. Difficult to be everywhere at once.
