seems there is a problem uploading images. it may be the internet connection. time will tell

Lake Watson to Sagway,AK

The trip from FT. Nelson to Lake Watson and Lake Watson to Skagway AK were the longest stretches yet . Traveling over 300 miles each day through even more memorable scenery. The first day we stopped at the Liard Hot Springs. With just under two hours before we arrived at our campground for the night 6 of us decided to take a dip. I was cold and damp and the water temperature was perfect and hot. Such a relaxing stop in such a natural setting.

The second day on the way to Skagway we left at 830am instead of 7am. We drove along dusty highways and winding up and down hills. Saw some more bears. stopped for Cinnamon buns at the continental divide. We then made a short visit to the town of Carcross which was an old railroad town. Took pictures and browsed the stores. Then on to Skagway through the White Pass. Fascinating. Dogs are both fine. Misty sits front and center and can see everything first hand.

Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson

Crossing the bridge

Misty sees the lumberjack

Yesterday was a long and cloudy Day. We did drive part of the Old Alaskan Highway which took us across the historic curved wooden Kiskatinaw River Bridge took pictures. Passed Pink Mt. the highest peak in BC and drove through the lowest. having a great time.

Saw him , along the road

Radium Springs to Jasper to Prince George

Icefields Parkway

Altogether at Lake Louise

Views along th Icefield Parkway

We traveled the Icefields Parkway through some of Canada's most beautiful National Parks.
the scenery was beautiful. we Stopped at Lake Louise, the town was very touristy. The Lake was beautiful and the resort seemed to attract people now, just as it attracted movie stars back in the 30's and 40's. Next we stopped at a Glacier. John and I and Doc and Carole took the specialized Glacial shuttle out to experience first hand what a glacier felt like. It was wet, snowy. icy and very very cold for two Floridians. i learned a lot from the tour guide and can now say "I walked on a Glacier and would have tasted real glacier water but my hands were too cold.
We camped in Jasper Nat Park for two nights. Very nice. Up until the time we arrived the elk and bear had been frequenting the campground daily. then they seem to disappear back into the forest to have their young. I did get to see one elk. a few bears along the road and a coyote. We saw the beautiful Alabascar Falls, Found a seldom visited Lake named Horseshoe lake and took a4mi hike which was about 10 if you clocked the ups and downs. Had a great day.
Was raining when we left Jasper and raining when we arrived in Prince George. Glad to have internet and sewer so i can wash my clothes. sorry, but i just don't have the time to go iIto more detail.
just wanted to wish MAYA and SARAH a happy 31/2 Bday. MISTY and DiD and Runway say hi too.

Kalispar MT to Radium Hot Springs CA

Left at 11am after fueling. Carol and Doc were already in town having their Coach looked at and the thermostat replaced. if things went well they would meet the three of us later. Crossed the boarder without any problems. Seemed most concerned if we had any firearms and fresh fruit.
About 16 mi into Canada on 93, a 2Lane rd, Larry went to pull over onto the shoulder so we could all take a break. With all the rain they had had the road shoulder was not able to support the weight of the coach and within seconds of his right side leaving the road he started sliding down the hill. I thought they were going to tip. A few seconds after it stopped rocking Linda and Larry were out. No one was hurt. Five hours later, after standing in the rain, finding a cell phone that worked, waiting for one tow truck and then a second, they were able to Maneuver the motor home up the embankment. Doc and Carole caught up with us, just before they started to move the motor home and shut down the road in both direction. Their coach started right up and seems not to have too much residual damage except for a cracked windshield. Not the best way to start out on an adventure
i have some pictures when I have more time I'll post some. Was surprised I had internet

3rd Day Glacier National Park (Saturday)

Checked this AM and saw that the "Going to the Sun Road" was opened farther than yesterday. so the four of us started out early again. It was a fantastic ride even though there was only one lane traffic at times

2nd Day Glacier National Park-

Went to the East side of Glacier Park with Linda and Larry. Stopped at the Goat Lick, saw some beautiful Scenery and ended up at Two Medicine Lake. Took Pictures.

1st Day Glacier National Park+ Hungry Horse Dam

Left the campground early. Our first stop was Hungry Horse Dam, in the town of Hungry Horse forming Hungry Horse Lake. (Yes, there is a story behind the name) We were able to walk across the dam and take pictures. Before 9-11 they gave tours inside. Soooo now, we took pictures. enjoyed the view, and drove on to Glacier Park.





We arrived at the west entrance just after 8am and there was already a line forming. I used my Senior National Park Pass again. It has already paid for itself. We stopped in the visitor center and got some hiking info. We were dissappointed that the Road to the Sun was only opened part way. Headed out to see what could be seen. First Stoped to hike to John's Lake. A 0.5 mi hike, that turned into a0.6 mi hike and then that must have been as the crow flies. I don't think they took into consideration the ups and downs of all the hills. The woods were peaceful, dence and beautiful. The lake, however did not meet our expectations. It was more like a pond. The hike down was easier.
We followed McDonald's Lake and creek as Far as Avalanche where the Road to the Sun was closedand we turnned around. On the drive down. we stopped a took pictures, trying to capture the splender of everything but not quite doing it justice.
When we returned to camp, Linda and Larry had arrived. Also found out that Christy and Alex were still delayed in Billings MT. having their generator repaired. Carol and Doc were traveling and not due to arrive 'till Saturday.

Some History

Oops! Did I mention that we stopped at the Little Big Horn before we stopped in Dear Lodge on Tuesday Night. Not much space available for the coach. We just barly managed to pull in a spot. Just as someone was pulling out. Walked around a bit and took the mini-bus tour out onto the battlefield. Our tour guide did a wonderful job recounting the battle as he pointed out where each event most likly took place. Tour ended just as it started to rain. Glad we stopped.

Rapid City to Deer Lodge

June15.We left Monday morning and drove as Far as Billings MT. We decided to try and stay at a Walmart. I called ahead they said no problem, but make sure you park at the far end. No problem, until we got there and found that the parking lot was small and to find space to park anywhere was a challenge. We did manage to fit, but just barely. We planned to straighten out or repark when the person, parked in front of us, moved and the parking lot thinned out. The car did move around 5pm but before we had a chance to move, someone else backed in even closer than the last. We stayed where we were. I hwas having trouble sleeping with the traffic. The tire air pressure alarm went off around 11 and at 2am my clock went off and the refrigerator alarm was going off and saying low battery. I had to wake John to start the generator to recharge the battery to make sure the fridge stayed cold. For me, it was a long night.
June 16, Tuesday. With me guiding John out of the space, we left early the next morning. I increased my driving time to almost an hour!!! We stayed in a town called Deer Lodge for the night. Close to the interstate, with mountains in the distance. We just relaxed.
June 17. On our last leg of the trip by ourselves. We had a little less then 4 hrs before we reached Kalispell. We didn't want to leave too early so we took the time to eat breakfast at a nearby resturant. Later I would call and make sure they could accommodate us a day early. As usual the scenery was beautiful. In Missoula we picked up 93 and headed north.-----for about 5 miles then we hit construction, Major construction. Sometimes 'no road' construction. Two lanes-heavy traffic-no shoulder-35mph speed limit( should have been 5mph.). This lasted for almost an hour it seemed like forever. John did a great job! We found the campground easily, Spruce Park on the River.
Peaceful! Here is where we will meet up with everyone else for our Alaskan adventure.

Rapid City MT

#2 Friday cont.
Since it was only early afternoon when we finished setting up, we went to see Mt. Rushmore and take one of the scenic routes. The ride there and back was just as plesant as viewing these sculptures and reading about their history. We took the walk along the base of the mt. Lots of steps coming back. MIsty came with us.
June 13 Saturday. Left the campground early to visit the Wind Cave Nat'l Park. It was a beautiful day. Thought we would take the thunderhead trail that had the bridges and tunnels wthat we wanted to see. It was a spectacular drive. We took lots of pictures but it just doesn,t do it justice. We Drove along the edge of Custard State Park hoping to see some buffalo. We saw one. However when we reached the Wind Cave Nat Park we saw herds. You could almost imagine what it must have been like when they free roamed the land.
We toured the Cave . the shorter tour. It does coveran area over a mile sq. with several layers. Very interesting. By this time it was almost 2pm. We hadn't eaten and we needed to get back to DiD and Runway.
It was clear when we returned that runway did not like being in his crate. He had torn up anything he could get his paws on. In the afternoon we went to Thunder Falls. Interesting story but a tourist trap. Only good thing was that while we were inside there was a downpour of rain and hail.. We missed it. Runway does not like being in his crate.

June14, Sunday. We Realized Saturday night that we had NOT seen the Badlands, but had passed them. They were around Wall, and we had decided not to take the scenic loop in the rain with the MH. I kept thinking that we had not yet reached them. We decided to stay an extra night and drove back in the morning so we didn't miss them. Good decision!! Spectacular!! Wish the pictures did it justice. Misty liked it too. The pups stayed at home. Runway really does not like his crate.

June

On Our Own

June 6--We left Columbia MS early heading towards St Louis on Saturday ( Happy B-Day Teressa). We thought it would take two full days, but we stopped within 3 hr of St Louis the first night. We were within a few miles of the 'throwd rolls' resturant but were so excited that we found a campground and managed to park that we had a glass of wine and went to sleep.
Arrived in O'Fallon (my daughter rebecca's home) in time for lunch. we parked, jeep in tow, in front of her house. There was more room than I thought there would be so I was more relaxed. The next day we took the coach to frieghtliner to have routien maintenance done. While the coach was being serviced we had a great visit with family.
Runway, the new dog, cough was getting worse so we needed to take him to the vet to get it diagnosed. Poor thing. It was Kennel Cough. Nothing to do but let it run its course.
The next day we took both dogs (different vet) to get a health certificate to cross the boarder.
the whole time hoping that Runway would not have a coughing spell. He didn't and we are good to go.
June10 Wednesday. We picked up the coach and headed west. the first night we spent in Big Lake state Park. Very nice, but we needed to unhook to park. The roads were narrow and the turns were sharp. Another adventure in parking for John.
June 11 Thursday. The weather was cloudy. I took my first attempt at driving during the day so John could take a rest. It most likely woke him up . We picked a passport America campground for the night. Close to the interstate but not completely dried out from the rain.(Very Muddy)
We tried to pick an easy out site. We did, but when we leveled, our left rear tire was 6"off the ground. We also hoped there was no more rain. so we would not have a problem exiting from the bottom of the campground. The showers were nice but the gentle rain on the roof was not comforting. All our worrying was for nought. We had no problems leaving in the morning.
June12 Friday. Out early, heading for the Badlands. Took time to stop in Wall and have breakfast at the Wall Drug Store. The store was interesting. We bought a few souvoniers. Had breakfast(not the best) and took pictures. We headed out towards Rapid City and the rain was comming. In and out of rain the rest of the way. I drove for about 45min. The first campground that we planned to stay at we couldn't get to because the exit was gone because of construction. I went to plan B but that campground did not appear to be in existence when we found the location. So I found a Good Sam In Rapid City. called. John turned around and we headed back through the city to the Lazy J. Very nice. We needed to unhook the jeep to Park. the campground overlooked Rapid City. Very pretty. Couldn't get internet at our site. thus the late entries.

Columbia, Mississippi

The drive was pretty and uneventful. We had a little clitch when we went to start. We couldn't get the jeep transfer case into neutral so it could be towed. With the help of doc and Carole we tried several things that just didn't solve the problem. I had keys and dog and candy lifesavers in hand ready to drive behind the jeep when John looked one more time underthe jeep and found the problem. He was able to fix it long enough to slide into neutral. We will have to replace the broken pin when we pass a jeep dealer.

Campers at Columbia are a group of "Old Friends" who gather together 4x a year to play games, share pot lucks, craft, and socialize. About 30 RVs& trailers attended this rally. We took a train ride on the train that crashed through the end and derailed with the group last year. No one was hurt so it has become a bragging memory "I Survived the Columbia Train wreck of 2008" It was a very plesent 4mile round trip experience. We also toured the Parachute Factory. It also very interesting.
Most of my time was spent trying to finish my sweatshirt jacket.While I sewed and sewed and sewed. John finished his book and I finally finished the jacket.
We played washers and ladder jacks and didn't win. We did win on the poker walk however with 4 Aces. Yea!! Now we could buy more 50/50 tickets------which we did not win. Nor did we win at BINGO But, we had fun!

We did get our runway setter . Cute and very scared. By the end of the week, we were able to pet him without him retreating to his crate. He even allowed a few camping with us to give him a treat and pet.

We had such a nice time with so many nice people we decided to join them again in September in Georgia.

We left this morning around 7:30am for St Louis. We got as far as Sikeston MO. where we stopped for the night. John drove all but the 30minutes I drove. I am a slow starter.

Off again early tomorrow