Alaska 2010

Day 54 - Northern Beaver Post, Yukon to Dease Lake, BC

Dee and Marvin Curb #5 Sunday, August 01, 2010

Yesterday was a long drive (308 miles). We were glad to see the Baby Nugget RV Park – looking forward to an evening at leisure and sleeping late this morning since today’s drive is short (147 miles). But, alas, - it was not to be. We were only 7 miles from a forest fire and the Cassiar Hwy was closed. We went to bed thinking we would convoy at 6:30 a.m. to get in line in case the highway opened.

This morning we go to plan B. We began our convoy about 7:00. At 7:15 we pulled out and proceeded to park in the gas station down the road to wait our turn. What a traffic jam! Traffic finally began to move at 9:00 a.m.

We hit smoke at about mile 13. The smoke lasted maybe six miles. At mile 33 we hit loose gravel and dust. At 68.7 on the right, in the middle of all the dust, there was a nice waterfall.

At mile 76.2 we were glad to take a break at the Jade Cassiar Mountain Store. Whew! After looking over all the merchandise, we decided this was a good in-coach lunch and nap spot. At one o’clock we were finally underway again.

At 2:30 we rolled into Dease Lake and fueled up at Petro Canada. While he fueled, Marvin talked to a Fire Management man. He said we just barely got through on the Cassiar Hwy. The wind changed and brought the fire and smoke back toward the road after we got out. Now the road is closed 15 km before the junction with Alaska 1. We were very lucky.

After our travel briefing, dinner was at Mama Z’s – delicious Hunter’s Schnitzel. Several other caravaners were there and “a good time was had by all.”

The evening ended around the campfire with s’mores and dough boys. Yum!

It was a good day – maybe a little more excitement than we bargained for at first but still it was a great day.

Day 53 - Skagway, Alaska to Northern Beaver Post, Yukon

Larry and Ada Beavers #4 Saturday, July 31, 2010

• Left Skagway at 7:45 a.m. after filling with gas and a very good breakfast at the Corner Café.

• Up the mountain at 45 mph, looking for bear or anything else that moves.

• Water falls still falling.

• Back into Canada, set clock one hour ahead.

• Mile 60 – one ground squirrel – very fast moving.

• On the road to Tagish, fall colors showing up.

• Stopped at Johnson’s crossing. Ivan still looking for breakfast. Had to make do with very good pastry. They were between breakfast and lunch. The counters were being used for rolling out cinnamon buns.

• Actually saw Bob and Marvin going down the road, “not stopped.”

• Barry and Monique missed the turn to Tagish. Got real interested in a bear they saw crossing the road. Just might have been the only one seen today.

• Ira and Beverly, real proud of their rig and just might keep it. They were first into camp tonight. Way to go guys.

• The excitement was after we were in camp and found the Cassiar Hwy to be closed due to forest fire – where do we go now

Day 52 - Skagway, Alaska

Friday, July 30, 2010

The Atteburys, Adventure #3

This is our time to do the blog and guess what we did today? Laundry!!! I guess one has to do it sometime.

Before we did the chores Carole and Ken and Madi and Spence put on breakfast. We had camper’s omelets and toast. Yum. The camper’s omelets are beaten eggs in a plastic bag into which a person puts whatever they want into it. I put peppers, onions, mushrooms, and cheese in mine. Ken popped at least six plastic bags (sans air) into boiling water for 12 minutes and they’re ready to eat. Hot, but ready to eat. After we ate our delicious breakfast we had our travel meeting. We leave for Canada tomorrow.

We did our duty and then it was time to play. We headed for town and shopped for a while. As we pulled by the post office to mail some post cards we could see the Soapy Smith floosies sitting up in their windows trying to lure people into their show. It was funny because people were looking up with mouths agape trying to figure out what these girls were doing dangling their legs out of their window and what could they be saying. We went into the Skagway Mining Co. where the prices are good, and we bought ourselves a few mementoes to remember our trip to Alaska. Like I have to have something to remember this trip. For one thing I have tons of photos and there is dust all over everything to help us remember. We went into the Sarah Palin Store for laughs. They have everything Sarah in there. Good luck people. We went into several jewelry stores just to look at the glittering stones. We even went into the hardware store to see what they carry. Well they carry a little bit of everything like the required hardware, toys, camping gear, house wares, and souvenirs. The ocean liners must keep their stores going for the summer. We have seen at least three huge liners every day that we’ve been here. That’s at least 6,000 shoppers per day, (not counting us RVers). The sidewalks are boardwalks, and the store fronts are old Victorian with gingerbread and everything. It’s a cute little place. Quaint and not a bit modern like Juneau.

We had an early dinner tonight at the Stowaway Restaurant. It is right down on the dock where the ferries and ocean liners tie up. The food is great, and of course we had halibut. You just have to eat halibut here in Alaska. But the topper was the dessert Trecia had. It was peach bread pudding. It has coconut, raisins, and pecans in it. Fantastic.

The day is ending with everyone getting ready to hook up their towed and hit the hay for the long drive to Northern Beaver Post, YT. At least it gets dark now; we are getting only 17.5 hours of daylight now. With only six days left of our tour, I for one can’t believe that it’s almost over. We’ve made some lifelong friends in this eclectic group. It’s great to know if you need any help there is someone that can do it. These people even help strangers. Case in point Jim Northup helped another couple who were stranded with brakes that didn’t work on their car trailer. He spent his morning rebuilding said brakes out of the goodness of his heart; it’s a big one to boot. The bad part is we all split up and go our separate ways, while the good part is we have a whole bunch of new places to visit where we have good friends. We’re homeward bound.

Day 51 - Skagway, Alaska (cruise to Juneau)

Gary and Sally Johnson #17 Thursday, July 29, 2010

Today was our last cruise of the caravan, and we again were blessed with good weather. Our trip took us from Skagway to Juneau and back again on the catamaran Fjordland.

We left early, probably about 8 am, and were immediately captivated by the beautiful scenery of Lynn Canal where Skagway is located. Lynn Canal is the longest and deepest glacial fjord in North America. Soon we were seeing humpback whales, eagles, harbor seals, and orcas. Our captain pointed out rushing waterfalls, like Long Falls and Sawmill Falls, and hanging glaciers as well as Davis Glacier that extends down to the water. We passed Haines and picturesque Eldred Rock lighthouse, the site of several disastrous shipwrecks.

On our arrival in Yankee Cove some 20 or so miles from downtown Juneau, we were picked up by bus and driven into town. There we had about 2 ½ hours to fuel the economy by having lunch and shopping. Next, our bus took us to Mendenhall Glacier to see the most visited glacier in the world up close and personal. This is by no means the largest or most beautiful glacier, but it is spectacular. It is receding like many glaciers, this one about 60 feet per year.

Soon we were back on our catamaran and headed to Skagway. We saw all the sights we’d seen on the way to Juneau, but this time in different lighting. We stopped in Haines to let off a few passengers, then cruised into Skagway. A lovely day in a perfect setting.

Day 50 - Skagway, Alaska

Wolf & Barbara Schlichting Rig #18
Wednesday, July 28
The first day after 2 members of our Caravan left

After a restful night Tuesday still dreaming about the road condition coming from Tok, we found Marvin rig #5 trying to fix the lights on his tow car with the help of Spence and Ken. A bad fuse was the main problem. I tried to take a picture of him in action but he was hiding behind the engine door. About noon all his problems were solved with a spare fuse.

The afternoon started with the Soapy Smith Vaudeville Show at 2.30 pm carpooling to town. The saga of Soapy Smith happened in 1898 with his death and the law came to Skagway in a big way. To reach the gold rush fields of Dawson in the Yukon, Skagway became the starting point to the Klondike trail once the ships docked from Seattle.

The show lasted one hour. The highlight came with Paris Bobbitt dancing the CAN CAN. It would have been nicer if she had worn the proper costume to see her legs swing to the tune. We all yelled higher higher with her legs, but no go.

After wards we rushed to the White Pass Yukon train station for the trip up to the summit of the White Pass elevation 3292 feet. Crossing over into British Columbia for about 500 feet we stopped to reverse the train engines and down we went to the Skagway rail station. To actually see the Klondike trail along the mountain range to the White Pass made me realize the difficulty to carry the supplies up this steep mountain pass in the winter, to get to the top and being stopped by the NWMP at the border for not having the required supplies with you to go on.