Feather Falls KOA RV

What a great thanksgiving, we went to Feather Falls Rv park in Oroville CA, the weather was perfect.

Porto Bodega RV park

Well we when back to one of our favorite places....

PORTO BODEGA MARINA AND RV PARK is a RV Park in or near the town of Bodega Bay. It is a small park with a reported 58 rv sites to park your RV. This park has pull thru slots to make setting up a snap.  You will be thrilled to know that 50 amp service is provided. For the true RV experience – water hookups are provided – much better than camping in a tent! Be prepared to actually put the computer down and enjoy your coffee as there is WiFi, but you have to get close to the office to get it. The park offers Cable TV hookups. Go ahead and bring along little loved ones who bark since this park is Animal Friendly.  A neat thing about this park is that it does have some waterfront attached to it. Do not just drive by Bodega Bay – instead stop and rest at PORTO BODEGA MARINA AND RV PARK.

We enjoyed catching crabs off the pier and yes eating them!

We will return again in  November.

Our 1st trip of the new year

Well, to get caught up since our trip to Alaska, Bob had back problems from all the tire changes we did on the trip and had to have back surgery.  We finally are doing better so we thought a small trip was in order, we found a nice place not to far from home along highway 20 just outside of Clearlake.
We found a small resort called Blue Lakes ;Spring fed water flows into the "Emerald Blue Beauty" of Blue Lakes.  The splendor of majestic trees, crystal clear water and the serenity of the surroundings alone will create a memorable stay.

Blue Lake is a natural mountain lake, with native Bass, Crappie, Bluegill and Catfish. It is also stocked regularly with Rainbow Trout by the Fish and Game Department.

This was a great place.

Eureka! We are almost home!!!

Hi everyone, we are now on Day 35, the 17th of August, 2012. We are now in Eureka, CA at the Elks, we stayed last night at a really nice place called Sounds of the Sea RV Park at Patrick's Point, didn't take pictures. We got there and had another flat tire and by the time we changed that one both Bob and I were having back pains. We were going to stay for 2 nights but, they were all full for the next days, so we had to leave. The next day we headed towards home till we said it is too hot to go home yet, so we stopped at the Elks in Eureka, and we were really lucky to get a spot, the lot was full and we just got the last one because a guy was leaving. We will stay here for 2 nights and then head closer to home not sure where we will stop yet.

While we were in Florence, we got a call from some friends that were following us on the blog and they were in Crescent City, they asked how long we were going to be there and came up our way for 2 days, we went into old town and Antique stores ( Joan you would of had fun) I bought a Guitar, now I have something to do while I'm not working.

We are still having a great time but, we both are ready to get home.

 

We stayed in Florence Oregon at the Elks RV Park, this is one of the nicest ones, we love staying here.

  Gold Beach, OR

This is the Rouge River and they are all fishing for the Salmon.                                       

I love the big trees along the 101 coast.

The Oregon coast has the best views.

This is Samoa Island in Eureka, CA

Day 28 in Oregon

We are now in Florance Oregon, This is Day 28 the 10th of Aug. Our Trip has been a wonderful experience for Bob and I, we saw so many new and wonderful things as well as places. We are going to be here in Florance  4 to 6 days  Then we will be heading to Trinidad above Eureka to Patrick's point for a few, then Ukiah and home. Some of the best things we saw were the Glaciers and our favorite was watching the bears go down to the river and catch fish, and all the bears along side the road as we drove,as well as Moose. 

Also, when driving along the Fraser river watching the white water rapids and wondering what that would be like to do...hum, maybe we will plan that next. Anyways, we saw so much that there is no way to show it all, I started a movie and it is already over a hour and a half long I will probably have to put it on 2 disks, plus we took a video of the bears that alone is one disk. So when we get home and settled in who's up for a movie and dinner???? Hee, Hee!

Bob and I are having the time of our life, the weather has been just great, and all in all the roads weren't that bad, we did have our share of changing tires ( just 2) and we were lucky that we were pulled over to see the last one wearing out before it blew. Zippie has been the best dog, he loves to go in the truck and hang his head out the window,( see last pic below) as well as sleep anyway he can.

For now, we are resting in the great USA!

 

Downtown Seattle, the traffic was very busy, glad we don't have to drive this everyday. Below is Portland.



In Lincoln City on the beach, Bob and Zippie are the little dot.

Sunset at Lincoln City, OR

The Beaches along the Oregon Coast are the best. Going to Florence, OR for a few days.

He still thinks he's a lap dog.

OH, I LOVE THE SMELLS.

We are now back in the USA!

Here is one of the Glaciers called Salmon Glacier.

Look Ma I got one!



Do I have to share????

More Glaciers

Day 22 Sat, Aug 4^th, Had the coastal range and copper river to look at, towns were Kitwanga, Gitwangak, New Hazelton and finally Smithers, took lots of pictures of the Glaciers the biggest one was Salmon Glacier.

Day 23 Sunday Aug 5th, drove down until we came to a campground called Cinema Second Hand RV it was free and a real nice place in Hixon. Towns were Telkwa, Houston,Burns Lake, Fraser lake, Vanderhoof, Prince George to Hixon.

Day 24 Monday August 6^th made it to Boston Bar at a RV place called Boston Bar RV right by the river and Hells Gate. Drove through, Cottonwood, Quesnel, Alexandra, McGleese Lake took pic, Williams Lake, 100 mile house, 70 mile house, Chasm Clinton, Cache Creek Ashcroft, Lytton Keefers to Boston Bar. We followed the Fraser River saw rafters going down the river and the white waters were high.

Day 25 Tuesday August 7^th, left Boston Bar, went through Spuzzum, Yale, Hope,Chilliwack, into USA at Abbotford. At the boarder once again we were pulled over because we had declared the produce that we bought in Smither, Canada. Not only did it cost an arm and a leg for they took it away. 2 hours later we are on our way, made it to Mt. Vernon Wash. For the night. We have cell service again Hey!

We are having a great time lots of great pictures, I wish I could add more, but it takes soooo long to down load, when I get home I will add more of the highlights. For now just wanted to get you caught up. We are heading for Lincoln City, OR tomorrow it will be another 300+ miles, we are getting closer to home, we will stay there for a couple of days, and on to Florence, OR for a couple of days.

Days 18-21st

Days 18-21^nd the 3^th of August,

As we left Johnson's Crossing we had a great start roads were good, but as all good there is a bad and the roads got bad again, then good again. We made it back to Watson Lake and then we started our new adventure on route 37 toward Steward. Once we turned onto 37 it was like going back in time the road was narrow but good. We went by lots of beautiful lakes, mountains and streams as well as mossy fields. We saw a fox, 2 moose and 4 bears. Some of the little towns were Good hope lake, Centerville,Cassiar and Jade City we stopped here and looked around.We drove 260 miles and decided to pull over at a rest area, by Dease Lake, there were 2 other big rigs there also.

The next day (day 20) we drove by Iskut (asmall Tahltan Native community), Bell Lodge 1 and 2 climed a range of 4400 feet, we had the Skeena Mountains and the Cassiar Mountain to the south, all around us. As we got closer to Steward the mountains got closer and then there it was the glacier mountains.

We set up came at Rainny creek campgound, it is right in the side of a mountain, it like a rain forest.

Day 20. We drove around to the town of Hyder which is in Alaska, Steward in in BC. There is only 100 people in Hyder. This is were the Bear viewing is. We have to cross back into BC Canada each time we go only 2 miles into Alaska we have to go through the boarder portrol.

Day 21 we are going to see the bears in Hyder. We stayed for 2 hours and saw nothing, and then here she came with her cub. What a great experence that was to see.

I will add pictures when we have a better cont.

Day 17 Going South...

Day 17^th, We are starting our way back home, the furthest North we went was to a town called Fox where we took pictures of the Alaska Pipeline.

Alaska Pipeline with Bob under it.

Little history: After oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay in 1968, a reliable system was needed to transport crude oil from Alaksa's North slope to the lower 48 refineries, Many methods were
discussed ice-breaking tank vesssels to traverse the Northwest passage, giant tanker airplanes and extending the Alaska railroad to Prudhoe Bay. Ultimately, the oil companies determined that the most economic transport method was a hot-oil pipeline from the North Slope oil fields to the Port of Valdez, where the oil could be loaded into tank vessels, and shipped the the US West Coast.

As we left Fairbanks, our plan was to go to Destruction Bay along the Kluane Lake, we were trying to get a picture of the low dense trees when decided to pull over into a rest spot, thank goodness we did because we found out that the back tire had blown clear off. We changed the tire and off we went to the nearest town called Tok to get the spare put on the rim of the one we lost. Once that was done off we went. The next 200 miles were the worst roads we had gone through, they must have been working on them from the 1^st time we went through, because it wasn't that bad then.

We finally stopped around 8:30pm at a rest area some place between the Kluane wilderness Village and Destruction Bay, we were looking out at the Kluane Lake, which was nice, we had rain all night and the mountains looked like they got some snow.

Kluane Lake

Kluane Lake is located in the southwest area of the Yukon. At approximately 400 km² (150 sq mi), and 70 km (43 mi) long, it is the largest lake contained entirely within the territorial border.

Kluane Lake is fed by the A'ay Chu, which is composed of meltwater from the Kaskawulsh Glacier, located within Kluane National Park. It drains into the Kluane River, whose waters flow into the Donjek River, White River, Yukon River, and eventually the Bering Sea.
The Alaska Highway follows most of Kluane Lake's southern border, and the drive offers many spectacular views of the lake. The Yukon communities of Burwash Landing and Destruction Bay are located on the southern shore of the lake. The lake is also known for its whitefish and lake trout fishing

We are now at Johnson's Crossing 30 miles from Teslin, right before the Teslin Bridge.
Tomorrow we should be on Highway 37 heading to Stewart, this will take 3 days. I will post our adventures as we go.

Day on the Chena River Kayaking

The Riverboat Discovery II

Yesterday we forgot to mention that we took a Riverboat Cruise down the Chena River.

Today we Kayaked it.

We also learned that Kayaking is not as easy as it looks, after the 7 miles we went in 3 hours, we won"t be buying any kayaks any time soon.

Resting the rest of the night our arms hurt.

The catch up of the Journey...

Here is the catch up of the journey:

Day 11, what a day, it started out great, went through , a town called Champagne, this was originally a campsite on the Dalton Trail to Dawson City, established by Jack Dalton in the late 1800's, a roadhouse and trading post were built at Champagne in 1902.

As we entered the Kluane Range, we saw Aishihik Lake. Haines Junction is coming up next as we travel North. Beautiful views to southwest of the snow covered Kluane Ranges as the Alaska Highway parallels the Kluane Ranges from Haines Junction to Koilden, presenting a nearly unbroken chain of mountains to 8000 feet interrupted by only a few large valleys cut by glacier-fed rivers and streams. West of the Kluane Ranges is the Duke Depression, a narrow trough separating the Kluane Range from the St. Elias Mountains. From there are mountains we can't see from the highway and those are Mount Logan , Canada's highest peak at 19545 ft Mt St Elias is 18008 feet and many more.

Ok, I said it started out great, as we were heading to Destruction Bay once we left Haines Junction and started up that long hill toward the Kluane Range, our radiator  hose came off spewing fluid all over the windows, and the truck just slowed down to a crawl, we pulled over in a small rest spot, not sure what to do, now knowing that the towns are very small and not much in them, Bob said that we need to try and coast back down as far as we could back towards town,(Haines Junction) we got as far as the next rest spot about 15 min from town, a couple came by that saw us at the 1^st stop and asked if they could help, Bob went into town with them. Almost an hour later he came back with a tow truck.

Thomas the tow truck driver, took a look at the hose and and pulled it off to see what was wrong, he found out that it wasn't on right and fixed it, but not before he had to go back into town to get 5 gal of water and all our water we had. So once we felt that we were ok, we started back up the mountain to Fairbanks. We stopped at Beaver Creek only 20 Min's to the border of the USA.

Day 12, We left Beaver Creek, Yukon and headed to Fairbanks, Alaska. Beaver Creek history: Was the site of the old Canadian Customs station, In 1942 Beaver Creek is one of 2 sites where Alaska Highway construction crew worked from opposite directions connecting the highway, thus making it possible for the 1^st time for vehicles to travel the entire length of the highway. We finally arrived at Fairbanks Alaska!

Beaver Creek sunset at 11:30pm

Tanana River

Day 13 thur 16^th day (JULY 25^th -29^th) We are in Fairbanks, and enjoying the weather as well as going on a riverboat tour, We also went to the North Pole! Yes, there is really a North Pole in Alaska. We even sat on Santa's lap. On Sat we are going to take a Kayak down the Chena River about 10 miles, I'm going to have my own Kayak to do this.(LOL) We will give more of what we did after the 29^th, til then.

Just crossed the boarder into USA

Bob is in the sleigh.

Who says you are never too old to sit on  Santa's lap

Chena River we will be Kayaking this.