SKAGWAY

September 11, 2014

We woke up in the small town of Skagway and once again were greeted in this wilderness with a bizillion jewelry stores.  Oddly, we learned that the cruise lines own all the jewelry stores.  The only chain store in town is the Radio Shack, where not only can you buy hardware type things, but ice cream and a tan in the tanning booth incase you are looking pale.  No one has had a baby delivered in Skagway for 30+ years.  The services are so inadequate and minimal that a pregnant mom will fly about three weeks before her due date to Seattle to deliver.  The wildlife is prevalent and the locals call people riding bicycles down the hill, 'meals on wheels'.

We boarded the White Pass & Yukon Railroad towards Canada.  It's a narrow-guage train that slowly chugs up the steep 3000 ft, mountain.  Some of the bridges are made of wood and still standing --- at least they were when we went across.  We were fortunate to be in the caboose, so we could go outside and get a spectacular view.  At the top of the mountain, our driver met us and took us back down the hill.  The store front in the photo below is made entirely made of driftwood and over 100 years old.

JUNEAU - and the MENENDALL GLACIER

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Welcome to Juneau...the capital of Alaska.  A land-locked city with the only access to the city via the sea or air.  A whopping 30,000 people live in Juneau.  We boarded a bus and headed to Mendenhall Glacier where we hiked a mile up to the glacier and a waterfall, turned around and watched a wonderful story about the glacier at the visitors center. 

We learned not too many years ago, the McDonald's restaurant opened  here and people actually slept out the night before to be one of the first in line.  By early afternoon, they had already run out of buns so had to shut down for a day while more buns were flown in.

It's been great to catch up with family on the phone in port and check email to stay in touch.  We sure aren't missing the news and the break from reality is so fun. It's a dream come true to travel on such a wonderful ship to the night of the midnight sun.  And yes, of course, I added a coupla rocks to the rock stacking at the glacier.

Loving the Seattle Kids and North to Alaska - Ketchikan

September 5, 2014

We had a fun three days living at the Travel Camp on the Ft. Lewis military base.  It's so nice to be with Jared, Becky, Brody and Maycen.  We watched Maycen's soccer practice and a 'real' game on Saturday morning.   We went to the Washington State Fair and watched the kids and us giggle through the big slide and all the rides for the kids while the big kids rode the big rides.  We're not sure who really had more fun.  On Saturday, the warm temps made it a perfect day to enjoy American Lake in their boat and watch the kids enjoy swimming at the beach.  Jared cooked amazing ribs for dinner and we all complained that summer really shouldn't end.  Maycen had her first sleepover in the camper and we loved every minute!

September 7, 2014

We left the Travel Camp and headed to the SeaTac airport to meet the shuttle which would take us to the Holland America ship, Statendam, in Vancouver, BC.  Willie was left in the capable hands of the Toppenberg's and we were off to Alaska for our first ever visit to the 49th State ---- and we were able to check a big item off our bucket list.

We rode a luxury shuttle to Vancouver where we boarded the ms Statendam.  It's a mid-sized ship and our room has a big balcony on the starboard side of the big blue ship.  We booked through Costco and sailed towards Ketchikan at 5 p.m.  Already we've met some amazing people who surprisingly share some of the most intimate information.   People on board are from all over the world so it's a fun melting pot of cultures.  

We were entertained by a movie about a mom bear and her cubs and how difficult the first year really is as they forage for food looking for the golden pond filled with salmon for bulking up for the winter.  An amazing documentary that set the stage for our trip to the last frontier.

Monday, September 8, 2014

We spent the entire day at sea and tried time after time to figure out where we were on the ship and where we were going.  There were about 800 people on board (ship holds 1200) so it wasn't too crowed and the  last trip for the season heading up the inside passage.  We found a secret spot on the fantail where you're out of the wind, overlooking the wake and can bask in the sunshine.  Yes, fortunately, lots of sun!

It was fancy night, so we got all dressed up and celebrated our 30th anniversary with delightful new friends from the UK and Vancouver. The ship and crew helped us celebrate with a special dessert.  Of course, luck would have it, we enjoyed a gorgeous full moon too!

 

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Hello to Ketchikan where they have 300 days of rain each year --- about 13 feet of rain!  Fortunately we enjoyed bright sunshine and had lunch and a shop around with new friends who jokingly said that Holland American is for 'newlyweds or the nearly dead'.  We haven't found too many of either fortunately!

We toured Creek Street where the ladies of the night entertained the gold rush men and saw the salmon already dying as they returned after 4 years to the place of their birth in the creek.  Interesting that they can even remember where to return to lay their eggs.  It's one of nature's miracles for sure.  We learned from a local fisherman that on a good trip out, he could earn up to $2400 a trip and in a not so good year (like this year), the pay is about $650 per trip out.   There is a season for each type of salmon and now is the time for the Coho.  

We are getting better at finding our way around the ship and recognize many new friends.  It's so fun to be so pampered.

 

Hello Yellowstone Park!

September 3, 2014
It's been  25+ years since we were last in this magnificent park.  We found a great KOA at West Yellowstone and booked two nights.  Two full days of driving deserves a day to vacation and explore.  A couple of fun things we noticed....the vehicle of choice in Montana is the Toyota FJ (my personal favorite car!) and our new favorite slogan is, "..if the mountains are calling, you must go" and so we went.

The pin-hole leak in the water valve for the toilet is still leaking so a repair and/or a new toilet is in our future very soon.  We tried to book an appointment at the Camping World in Spokane, but they are booked solid until next Monday.  They promised to try and fit us in tomorrow if we were willing to wait, but we're thinking we can't wait around, so will have Amazon deliver a new one to Becky and Jared's...love you Amazon Prime!

We had a fun day touring the park, exploring and were saddened that Roosevelt Lodge (after a long drive) was closed along with several parts of the upper and lower loop for bridge work.  The crowds were not existent and the weather spectacular as we toured without the rig  thank heavens since there were so many hair pin curves.  Some of the local beers have pretty interesting names:=)  The bubbling hot spots, shops and waterfalls were beautiful.

This morning we were up early and headed North on scenic 191 out of West Yellowstone towards I-90 near Bozeman, MT.  We drove along the rippling and sparkling Gallatin River and went past the entrance to Big Sky ski area.  This is a spot we will go back to and spend more time in the future.  Just maybe this is one of the most beautiful places on earth. 

The un-beautiful part....we were about 8 cars behind the road crew painting the road....and yes, one side of the rig is now yellow while my side is white....both the car and rig have a new doo! Hopefully it will come off about the same time the toilet is fixed! 

Tonight we returned  to the Blackwell Island RV Resort in Coeur D'Alane, Idaho. We stayed here two years ago and loved it.  It's fun to be back along the banks of the Spokane River.  Tomorrow we head towards Seattle and our kids and we can't wait!

Across North Dakota and into Montana

We passed huge fields of sunflowers and listened to the free Sirius radio all the way across North Dakota (very boring state) and ended up on the Yellowstone River in a great KOA near Billings, Montana.  Turns out this was the very first KOA in the country.  When you are in Montana, it really is big sky country with BIG raindrops and even bigger clouds.  What a great state!  Last night we had a great walk along the banks of the Yellowstone River at sunset.

We've not really had the 'perfect' trip as we've battled the fridge not working with the gas on and the toilet springing a pin hole leak....grrr!  But fortunately, the mechanic on board was able to fix the fridge and this morning we were up early and at Home Depot at 8 a.m. to buy plumbers tape and gel instant  glue.  So far, it's holding but a  RV repair is probably in our future.

We decided to drop down to the South and swing through Yellowstone Park rather than heading North to Spokane.  Seniors get a FREE pass into all the national parks so it's a great benefit!  We passed through Cody, WY and toured the Buffalo Bill Dam.  These dams 'on the grid' for Montana and Wyoming are 'remotely' controlled from a center in Helena so no one really works on site.

It's been a good 25 years since we've been to Yellowstone with the kids.  We were at Old Faithful when the geyser wasn't going off and toured the new educational center.  The summer rush is over, the traffic and tourists at a minimum, except of course, when a big buffalo is on the road blocking a lane of traffic.  This thing was huge and I missed getting his whole body in the picture...but good news, there was another one just ahead.

The devastating fires of 1998 that burned over 800,000 acres all summer long in Yellowstone were clearly apparent as the barren countryside displayed huge amounts of charred and burned trees along the road from the East entrance to the West entrance.  The forest is starting to re-generate but it's slow.

We found our way to our KOA park in West Yellowstone around 5:30.  It's still peak season with a deluxe site price of $75 a night.  We got  hooked up and decided to spend two days so we could head back to the park again tomorrow and not have another full day of driving.  Thanks for traveling with us. 

NORTH to Alaska

Here we go...on the road again!  We left from the lake house at 11 a.m. today and are headed towards Seattle, where Becky and Jared will keep Willie, the camper will park at Fort Lewis Travel Camp and we will head to Alaska for a sea and land cruise on Holland America. We figure we will travel by car, train, bus, plane and ship on this next adventure.  We are excited to see our Seattle kids...it's been too long.  Brody was 2 in June and Maycen is 4 1/2.

This morning, we had the final donuts for the summer at the lake (a big tradition) and said goodbye to our special friends as we finished the last minute packing of the rig.

We had a great week with Xochitl (7 1/2) at the lake where she and Willie became best fishing buddies.  What a treasured time with a special little girl.

We are celebrating our 30th anniversary (a little early) with this spectacular trip to Alaska.  It's a dream vacation that we booked through Costco.  It's so fun to be back on the road and in the camper.

We traveled to the Bismark KOA today where it's sunny , breezy and a big rain storm is headed this way tonight. We are so glad we aren't in the tent campground.  It's amazing that all the campsites are taken...who would have thought this was a 'destination' spot??? 

We aren't in the oil field area but will be by tomorrow night so we booked in Billings at the KOA, where we were lucky enough to get the last spot with a full hook-up when we booked at 4:00 p.m. today.

Our first stop today was the new Costco for gas in Fargo, where the crabgrass was abundant and quite beautiful!  Willie is such a good traveler...he sleeps most of the time in his beddie until the sun gets too hot and then he moves to the back of the car.

Tonight we dined on the fabulous ribs from The Piggy in Walker, MN and sweet corn.  Tomorrow we click along at 10 mpg for a night in Billings, MT.  We can't wait to see the mountains again! Happy trails!