On our way north to Alaska. We just left Center, Tx to see Regan and his family before we finally left. We are bringing Gemma of course but this is the first time we will have Kevin. 🤪

Left Texas this morning to head to Cheyenne, Wy. One whole day to get out of Texas, one other day to get thru 3 more states. New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. 😁

Leaving Cheyenne this morning. Nothing really happened yesterday. We were going to ride our bikes around because they have allot of trails BUT it rained all day. 😭☔️☔️🌧️

It was a freezing 47 degrees this morning. This is one of the reasons I couldn’t live here. I don’t like those kind of temps in July. Not normal. But it is really pretty and green.

Will be in Hardin Montana tonight. Sounds like a big party town. 😄🤪

Today we arrived at the border of Canada and will go across tomorrow. We had to finish off the chicken I had in the freezer and will cook the last 5 eggs we have. No yard bird or products from said bird are allowed in Canada. Also, no fresh veggies. Jeff was scrounging in the fridge for the last sliver of onion we had. 😂 He found it, thank goodness. Saying a prayer they don’t want to search the motorhome. I don’t have anything to hide, but I have an issue with people going thru my things. 😏

The Montana countryside is just beautiful. The crops are all different kinds of green and there are some that are bright yellow and beautiful purple. I found out that this yellow crop is the canola plant. \240Sound familiar? \240It makes great fried chicken. 😄

We entered Canada today!!!! We tried to plan for everything that would hold us over with the border patrol. Threw away all of our fresh veggies and fruit, made sure no guns or ammo - You know us Texans. 😬😬 I guess we looked innocent because we were there 5 minutes and went straight through. 🤪🤪

Lee Creek RV Park. Cardston, Alberta

Wow. Just, wow. We went to Waterton National Park today. It is an extension of our Glacier National Park. I saw a picture of the Prince of Wales Lodge in a magazine several years ago and the pictures were just magical. Didn’t think I’d ever be able to visit it in my lifetime. I think God blessed me with this visit. I just happened to see how close it was to Calgary and I don’t remember how it came on my radar but Jeff did a little rearranging and was able to squeeze this little side trip in. Worth. Every. Extra. Mile! So beautiful.

Went to the Calgary Stampede Parade. It was an hour and a half long and there were estimated to be 300,000 people in attendance that lined the street. This town has all the details down to a fine art. Went very smooth for something that big and that long. Later we went and scoped out the train system. Going to try that out tomorrow when we go to the actual rodeo. \240

PS. I have complete strangers asking me where I’m from. They say they can hear some kind of drawl. It’s a mystery to me, y’all. . 😂

Had an awesome time at the rodeo. These cowboys/girls are some of the best of the best. It was really great to see how good they are.

Got to hear the Canadian National Anthem which gave me goosebumps. I guess I love it when people show how much they love their country.

Jeff got some great close up shots of the bull riding and bronc bucking. He is loving his new camera lens.

We heard some people behind us commenting on how hot it was today. 😂 80 degrees. Nope. Not hot. Poor things. They don’t know what they are talking about. 🔥🔥🥵🥵☀️☀️

Today we saw the Chuck Wagon races. First time to see this kind of event. Really cool watching those horses working as a team. I found out that these team horses are X track racers. When they stop qualifying for the tracks, they are purchased for these kind of events. . They are thoroughbred horses. They seem to really love it.

We went to Banff, Alberta today. . A nice sized town in Banff National Park. Kinda reminds me of Fredericksburg, Tx. Lots of shopping centers and places to eat but so beautiful with mountains all around and a river running thru it.

We wanted to go to Banff National Park today but there was a 70% chance of rain. There are some beautiful sights that we will need to catch next time.

With that off of the table, we went to Vulcan, Alberta. My suggestion of course. They decided in the 90’s to take advantage of the town’s name. It’s all things Star Trek. 😆😁😆 Clever actually. It’s a tourist attraction and they have a huge Trekkie convention every year. Brings alot of money into this small wheat farming town.

I will always love Star Trek. Live long and prosper.🖖🖖

We went to the Colomb ia Icefields Adventure and Skywalk today. Jasper National Park. \240The Skywalk was certainly not for my friends that prefer to stay away from ledges. You know who you are. 😝 The Glacier was fanaminal! And I loved the truck they used to take us there. This is the only job they are built for. Traversing over ice. There are two of them in Antarctica and the rest are here. A great Mercedes product.

Yesterday was a travel day. We got to Hinton, Alberta and are spending the whole day here today. Good thing, because Jeff noticed a good amount of oil splatter on our pickup that we tow behind us. Sooooooo, he got out our pressure washer to clean up the engine area. Hopefully, tomorrow we will be able to see where it’s coming from after we drive a little while. Praying it’s something that’s easy to repair. 😬🙏

Fortunately, I brought my diesel mechanic with me. 🤪 Plus, I think he travels with every tool he owns. Side note……he complains if I bring too many canned goods. 🙄 Gotta keep the weight down in the motorhome. I know that tools don’t weigh very much. 🤷‍♀️

I also got to see some Canadian geese. They are so cute.

We found the oil leak!!! Yay! And it’s fairly easy for Jeff to fix. It is the oil dip stick tube. It has a hole in it. No welding shop open today so we used the ol’ JB Weld.

I just would like to take a moment and thank my Heavenly Father for giving us the man that created JB Weld. Oh, and Hors-d'oeuvre sticks. 😂

We should be back on the road again tomorrow. 💃🏼🕺

We made it to Mile “0” of the Alaskan Hwy. Dawson Creek is where the US Military started the Hwy as a strategic road to Fairbanks, Alaska during WW2.

They finished the road in 20 months using 25,000 US men. There were also Canadian workers and indigenous people that helped as well.

We all know about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor but I didn’t know that the Japanese also attacked Dutch Harbor, Alaska in 1942. Our military knew that we needed a stronghold in Alaska. And then there is Russia as a next door neighbor.

Some great history was learned in Dawson Creek, BC. You should look it up. It is so crazy how men and awesome machinery tackled this huge job. \240Now we are on our way up to the border and will pass through several small towns.

Today we stayed at Northern Rockies Lodge next to Muncho Lake. A very beautiful lake. I know I say that a lot but, it is. 😄 No Wifi, cell or TV but with that lake view, we didn’t need any of those. We brought our Buccees chairs to the edge, brought my speakers to play music and just enjoyed God’s handiwork.

Just down the road from our RV Park is a hot spring. It is called Liard Hot Springs. At the mouth of the spring it is 125 degrees. Too hot for me but there are a few tiny other springs that mix with it that are very cold. That, I was able to handle.

The military used this spring quite alot as they were building the Alaskan Highway. You can imagine the muscle relaxing therapy this hot water gave them after working 16 hours. One day a week was set aside for the female personnel to bathe.

Watson Lake, YT. This looks like a town that used be bustling with allot of businesses but they have mostly shut down. We found out that there used to be a saw mill here but it shut down. It wasn’t long before the rest had to follow behind because people were leaving in droves. So many people worked at that saw mill.

The one thing the town still has going for it is, The Sign Post Forest. It is said to have started sometime in 1942 when a military worker had a license plate from his home town that he nailed to one of the trees. From the look of things, others followed suit. Now there are literally thousands of signs. The city adds posts so you will always be able to find a place to put yours.

I had read about the The Sign Post Forest before we were going on our 2020 trip to Alaska. We all know what a shituation 2020 turned out to be. \240I still had my sign. We were finally able to hang it up this time.

We got to Whitehorse today. Sorry about the slowness of these posts but we have been in no man’s land for awhile. Canada is very stingy with their Internet. They dole it out like it’s chips of gold and then you get on and it is so slowwwww.

We were supposed to stay in Whitehorse two nights which gives you one full day of doing what you want or need to do. Poor Jeff made a mistake and we had to leave the next morning. 😭😭 They had good wifi, cable and 50 amps so I could use my washer and dryer. I’m happy about one night of good wifi though because I was able to upload all of my pictures to the cloud. They were really filling up my phone storage.

When you leave Whitehorse, YT, that’s when you get off of the Alaskan Hwy and head up to the Klondike Loop all the way into upper Alaska. This is where the gravel roads start happening. The dust, washboard bumps and potholes.

If you want to travel to the Top of the World Hwy, this is the way you gotta go. 🤷‍♀️ These last three days remind me of giving birth. “How is that, you say?” Well, right after you give birth to your child, you don’t EVER want to do that again……. But then you forget about the pain and misery of your insides coming out, \240and you do it again.

The motorhome got covered in dust! Inside and out!!

We’ve arrived in Dawson City today. This town is right out of a western movie. Dirt streets and wooden plank sidewalks. It also has a saloon named Diamond Tooth Gertie’s. They had a Can Can show and casino. We had such a great time there.

Back in the gold rush days, the only “road” in or out of Dawson City was the river. Meaning nothing in or out in the winter as the river freezes solid each winter. It was a very hard life for the locals back then.

When you leave Dawson City to head out, you have to cross the river on a ferry. I have no problem with ferrys. I’

ve used them many times, but when there is a sign that tells you that you are riding it at your own risk……that can make a person slightly nervous. 🤪

We arrived in Chicken, Alaska today. Back in the USA!!!! The trip here was nothing short of endurance though. \240You have to travel over The Top of the World Hwy. Mostly gravel road. \240It was awful. Our motorhome has four slide outs and they must not seal very well. Our bay doors don’t either. I had to vacuum the bed off before we could go to sleep. Did I say it was awful?

Even with all of that misery, this town was worth getting to. Chicken is another gold rush town. When the town finally got a post office, they had to come up with a name for the town. It was agreed, due to the number of ptarmigan (a bird) in the area, that this would be the name of the town. But after some discussion, Chicken was decided on because it’s said that the other name would be too embarrassing. So, absolutely nothing to do with chickens. 😄

I just loved this little town. It has so much character. There are three businesses that make up the town and total population. Around 20, I think. None of them get along and there is allot of toxic history. I’m sure this would be a great reality show.

They have one of the few remaining gold dredges that were used. Amazing machinery for the times. \240 \240Jeff learned to pan for gold and actually found some. He was so ecstatic. 😄

Arrived in Fairbanks, Ak today. This is a mid sized town. Has a few things to do but it is mostly a winter destination. The best place to see the Northern Lights but you have to have it dark which doesn’t happen in the summer.

We went on a riverboat cruise. It was so much fun!

We went into Denali NA tonal Park today. You can’t go in very far on your own. You must book a bus tour to really go into the interior. And even with that, only a fraction of the park is available to the public. Most of it is untouched wilderness. For those that know how to survive in the wilderness, you are allowed to go anywhere for hiking and camping. That would not include me. 😄

We went on a bus tour and got to see a grizzly bear a few carabou.

Went biking thru a small party of the park. They don’t have any bike trails inside the park so you must use the two lane road along with the buses and car. 😬 A little nerve wracking but still fun.

Then we drove from the park to the town of Denali. \240Did shopping (of course) and had some wonderful pizza.

In Talkeetna, Ak. Oh my goodness! We went on a plane to land on a glacier. It was the best excursion so far. Breathtaking! I’ll let the pics speak for themselves.

Kenai, Ak today. Big fishing area. This is on the Kenai Peninsula. It rained pretty much the whole time we were there except one day. Had a great time riding bikes. They have amazing bike trails.

The first day we drove down to Homer, more exact, Homer Spit which is about an 1 1/2 hours away. Homer Spit is about 4.5 miles long. It’s just a thin piece of land off of the peninsula. Allot of little shops and places to eat. Great place to visit.

Leaving Kenai today. Stayed here about a week. Was really nice to just chill and get caught up on the laundry.

The first day we were here, we went to Homer Spit. It’s like a little island right off of Homer. Places to shop or fish. We found a great place to eat as well.

Today we got to Valdez, Ak. It’s pronounced Valdeez. It was claimed by a Spaniard for Spain. It is also the end of the Alaskan Pipeline. You also go thru Thompson Pass to get here. So majestic!

We saw a ton of salmon today that have reached the end of their journey. Having come back to the place they were born to lay eggs at the cost of their very lives. It’s kinda sad to watch. Once they enter the river/stream from the sea, they no longer eat our sleep. They fight to get to the end at all costs to lay their eggs. Only 10% of Sockeye make it. Not sure about the other salmon species.

We visited the hatchery here in Valdez and of course there were thousands of salmon coming back. Bears and other sea life that eat them to survive are waiting at these very spots. It’s the circle of life.

Drove to Skagway, AK. You have to leave Alaska, go thru Canada the back to Alaska to get here. Get to go thru two Border Patrol checkpoints. Yay. Same thing when we leave. This is where thousands and thousands of stampeders (gold diggers) came thru to try and find their fortune in the Klondike.

This is such a quaint little town. It has board sidewalks and awesome little shops to enjoy. Reminds me of Dawson City but this town has paved streets and more shops. \240Of course I loved it. 😄

It is also a major stop of cruise lines so there are tons of people in town everyday of the summer.

Stewart Canada and Hyder Alaska

Our last city in Alaska was Hyder. You have to go thru Stewart, BC to get there. The population of Hyder, Ak is around 60 and it only has housing.No gas station or grocery store. The few kids that live in Hyder attend the Canadian schools.

During the first weeks of Covid shutdown between the boarders, the Canadians would not let the Hyder people \240cross for any reason. Gas or food. The citizens of Stewart stepped up and brought things to the border.

How the Canadians thought they would get Covid from them is beyond me. \240Government at its best but I had to remember ours wasn’t any better in places.

We saw a few bears, one that is so fat getting ready for hibernation, and a huge glacier. Salmon Glacier. We had to drive up the side of a mountain, thru the clouds on \240a gravel road to see it. Complete nail biter. Even for me. 😄

Cour D’Alene, ID

Back in the USA!!! God Bless America.

CDA IS an absolutely beautiful city. Gorgeous bike paths that we took advantage of for two days.

West Yellowstone, MT and Yellowstone Natl Park

Went thru the park again. This is our 3rd visit here. We finally got to go to a part of the park we haven’t seen before because of construction. As always, the geysers, vents and mud pots are so amazing.

There were these painted Buffalo all over the town of West Yellowstone. I don’t know if they were done by the same artist or different ones but they were beautiful.

This Alaska trip was just amazing. We not only saw all kinds of animals and fish, but the amazing beauty and diversity of the landscapes were breathtaking. God’s handiwork and perfection cannot really be seen in pictures. You have to go there.

So, we did.

Jeffrey and Cheree’

2023