We saw several signs warning of moose and/or caribou on the road but the only animal we saw was an elk, a young bull with his antlers in velvet. He was crossing the road but decided to turn back when I stopped to get a photo. Just barely caught him before he made it back to the forest.

                           Caution Moose                                                                       Elk heading for cover

Fairly uneventful day and we made it into Fort Nelson by mid afternoon. We stopped at a commercial campground that advertised Internet connections. The campground mostly filled up and about half or more were from the States. All the feeder highways have now converged on the ALCAN, as this is the main route of only 2 highways leading to Alaska. Where were all these people today? We saw hardly anyone on the highway all day.

The big news of the day is we figured out how to use a prepaid phone card to access our home Internet service on our newly acquired laptop computer. Now we just download mail just like we were sitting in our house in Leavenworth. With no attachments, we can send and receive mail in less than 2 minutes.

We got a late start as we wanted to hang around and get another shot at the Internet to send and receive e-mail. The access facility wasn’t open until 9:00 so we had breakfast (bangers, eggs, and toast), emptied tanks and filled with fresh water. It was a little after 9:00 when we were ready to pull out and most of the other RVs had already left. There were only two remaining when we departed.

The farmland soon gave way to forested mountains, the same as we had been going through for the past few hundred miles. The road was noticeably rougher but still not bad. After about an hour we came upon a line of traffic stopped in the road ahead. A sign said ‘seismic activity’. Of the 18 vehicles lined up to get through, 17 were RVs. We recognized some of the rigs that were camped with us the night before. After 20 minutes or so they let us through. We passed miles and miles of cable laying along side the road. Also a mudslide had just been cleared from the pavement. Guess there was a lot of rain earlier. In fact we ran into a young couple with small children also taking pictures at the Alaska Highway sign but they were coming from instead of going to. They said they drove through rain for days on the way down. We have seen nothing but sunshine and blue skies.

The delay caused the traffic to bunch up and we were in a caravan for a while. The mountains grew larger and higher and we soon crossed the pass that is the highest elevation on the Alaska Highway. The scenery was magnificent, a large river valley surrounded by tall snow covered peaks. We stopped and had lunch near the summit. Just as we rounded a curve in the road, we came face to face with a cow moose. I managed to stop in plenty of time and the dog soon spotted this strange creature, started barking his head off, and sent the moose into flight. Baron the moose dog! We also saw stone sheep and caribou standing beside the road.

                   Pass at Stone Mountain                                                                      Stone Sheep

As we continued the journey, we crossed a beautiful little river named Racing River. It was not muddy like all the rest we have seen but was milky from all the limestone in its watershed. About 5 miles past the river we rounded a bend and saw some signs that said, “Road Closed Ahead”. There was a campground and cafe a few yards beyond the signs and a lot of RVs had already parked there. We pulled in to see what was going on. Apparently the unseasonably warm weather (did I mention it was hot in Fort Nelson) caused a big snow melt and the heavy rains combined to wash out a section of the road. The word was it would be three days before traffic could continue (there were no side roads for a detour). Meanwhile traffic, mostly RVs continued to stack up. We were also told the two campgrounds farther up the road were already full and this one was filling up fast.

Bummer! Now what? We didn’t want to stack up with all the others at a small campground, they were already filling up the parking lot as well. So we headed back to the Racing River bridge where there were some really nice areas to dry camp. Four motorhomes were already parked on the wide access road to the river and another was down by the water. We selected a nice spot, got some rocks to level the rig, and settled in for the long haul. Soon a couple from Alberta in a 5^th wheel joined us in our little cove.

We got acquainted with Barbara and Don McKay over coffee and muffins she baked. Very interesting couple. He was a retired mining engineer and they were heading up to the Yukon to visit a mining town where he spent time as a college student in the 50s.

                                                     Dry camping while stranded at Racing River

An inventory of our food supply showed some salad stuff, 4 bangers, half dozen eggs, pound hamburger, a few bagels, some cream cheese and butter in fridge. Half dozen apples and a couple bananas for fruit and quite a few cans of tuna, salmon, and sardines. Heck, we’re good to go. We can last for weeks, or at least days. And I have the shotgun with some slugs so me and Baron (the moose dog) can always go shoot a moose.

We spent a most pleasant afternoon visiting with the other stranded travelers, making new friends, and exploring the area. I tried my hand at fishing again but nada. Water was just too murky for artificial lures and I didn’t have any bait.

Spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner. No parmesan cheese -- this wilderness camping is hell. We saved half of the sauce for dinner the next day. To bed at 10:30 and it was still light enough to read a book.

Still waiting for the road to open. We slept in this morning, nothing else to do. It has been raining off and on all day but not a heavy rain. Hopefully not enough to hamper the road repairs. Rumors have been running rampart. “A culvert out but a hundred miles up the road a bridge is out. The campgrounds are closed due to grizzly bear attacks....” On and on. Our neighbors in the 5th wheel took off for a recon this morning. Barbara came by and asked us if they could pick up something at the store up the way. A quart, excuse me, a liter of milk would be nice. When they came back she had the milk -- the last ounce, excuse me again, last gram of milk in the store, $2.75C for a liter! We were glad to get it though even at that price.

Barbara and Don had the latest intel on the road conditions. The BC road crews were bringing in a Bailey Bridge to span the gap and get the traffic flowing again. As a former Army Engineer, I knew about Bailey Bridges; they are used by the military for ‘quick and dirty’ spans over relatively short gaps in the road. They are kinda like a big erector set and go together in pieces. Just hoped they were strong enough to hold some of the big rigs we saw cruising down the highway. Anyway the bridge, coming from the north (other side of the washout) was supposed to be in place by 9:00 that evening. However there were over a thousand rigs waiting to cross from the south and who knows how many from the north. The bridge was to be one lane with alternating crossings. We were debating about when to head out, certainly not before we saw a string of traffic coming down from the north. Barbara and Don were thinking about staying for another day. They had a good point but we didn’t know if we wanted to wait that long. We contemplated getting up early the next morning and giving it a try. In any case I expected traffic to be backed up for miles.

Another fall out from this problem was the bunching up of all the RVs. That meant all the campgrounds up the road would fill up in a hurry. It may have been wise to wait another day and let some of them get on up the road. Soon we would be needing a campground to get rid of waste and take on fresh water.

We still had food and fresh water and could easily hold out for a couple more days. But we were anxious to get on up the road. Also we were out of touch with the rest of the world, no TV, e-mail, or even cell phone coverage here.

We headed out early to see what was going on up the road. When we got to the store/campground at Toad River there was a road block and a woman waving a stop sign who said we could only get as far as Muncho Lake. There the police would stop us, the campgrounds were full, we couldn’t park on the road -- $2000 fine, bla, bla, bla. We decided to push on anyway.

Muncho Lake is a beautiful clear lake nestled among towering mountains on all sides. We didn’t see a police roadblock. Pulled into a Provincial Park and tried fishing for a while -- nothing. Then a park person came along and ran us off because we were not parked in a camper spot. We got rid of the holding tank stuff and left. Stopped at another Provincial Park at the other end of the lake and about decided to spend the night there. Nice campgrounds, plenty of spaces, but full of mosquitoes. We learned from one of the other campers there was a modem hookup at a nearby lodge so went there and sent/received e-mail.

The day was young, clear bluebird skies; we decided to push on to see how far we could get before being stopped. Like the Energizer Bunny, we just kept going and going. We never did see the police roadblock, in fact never found another roadblock period. After about 2 hours of driving we started spotting oncoming traffic with Alaska license plates. That’s a good sign, the road must be open.

Saw our first bears along this drive. Two blacks at different locations and a pair at another, one black and one cinnamon. Also saw several stone sheep but no moose.

We made it all the way into the Yukon Territory and still no washed out road or roadblocks. We were beginning to think the whole thing was a hoax perpetrated by a couple campgrounds to keep their camping spots full. Then we topped a hill and saw a half-mile line of traffic. This must be it. Surprisingly it didn’t take long for us to get through, about a third of the group was allowed to pass each time. It won’t be long now, the washout will be just around the next curve.

We drove for another hour wondering all the time why in heck the traffic choke point back in that little settlement. Another scam to get business for the local stores? But finally as we topped a hill there it was and a serious wash out it was too. A huge culvert, probably 15 feet or more in diameter, had collapsed after all the supporting dirt around it had washed out. Dropped the highway a good 20 feet. Not much traffic stacked up to get across the temporary bridge, which by the way, was not a Bailey Bridge but constructed from two huge ‘I’ beams we saw going up the highway on two separate trucks a couple days earlier (from the south).

So we made it to Watson Lake, YT, and headed for a commercial campground, $18C and included a free camper wash. We took advantage of that offer and knocked off some of the road grime, although it wasn’t too bad.

Since we had no food, except canned sardines, we went out to eat. OK but nothing to brag about. The campground did have modem hookups so we are back in contact with the rest of the world.

As we were getting ready to leave the RV park, we ran across another Rialta. Of course we had to stop and chew the fat for a while. They loved their rig, a 2002, but got a wet carpet when driving in a big rain. Where have I heard that before? We told them about the Rialta group on the Internet and they could get lots of information about anything related to Rialtas including the wet carpet problem.

Watson Lake was awash with RVs. The washout in the road caused traffic to cluster and there was a big cluster in Watson Lake, the first town of any size after getting through. The town’s only grocery store recently burned to the ground. We asked around and found the grocery store’s temporary location. It was about the size of a convenience store but had fresh meats and veggies. We got a couple day’s supply figuring we could stock up in Whitehorse.

On the way out of town we stopped at the Sign Forest. It is the darnest collections of signs you can imagine. The thing was started when some homesick worker on the ALCAN posted a sign showing the distance to his hometown. It now has over 40,000 signs of ‘hometowns’ from all over the world. While we were there workers were putting up more post for still more signs and some tourists were placing signs of their own. Looks like a lot of towns all over the world lost their signs over the years.

               Sign Forest in Watson Lake                                               Mtn reflecting in lake along the ALCAN

We crossed back and forth into BC and the Yukon as the road ran down the border between the two provinces. Finally, we turned NW and out of BC for the last time. More great scenery followed.

A fairly uneventful day, we ended the day in Whitehorse. A clean neat town like most we have gone through in Canada, it is, of course, the YT capitol -- and yet it is smaller than our hometown of Leavenworth, Kansas. Dinner at a Chinese restaurant, we were having withdrawal. Also it may be the last decent place for restaurants until we hit Anchorage.

Pulled in for the night at a Good Sam park north of town which included cable TV. Wahoo !! Haven’t seen TV for a week.

We left a very nice park this morning heading north once again. Unlike the ho-hum scenery of yesterday, today’s views were spectacular. We drove along the Kluane National Park which has the St. Elias Mountains, Canada’s highest mountain range. Fortunately we didn’t have to cross them. The mountains lived up to the hype in the travel brochures and with this clear day the snow capped peaks and ice fields were visible for many miles.

At noon we stopped at Kluane Lake for leftover Chinese food from eating out the night before. There was a nice sandy beach and a gentle slope into the water. I took Baron down to the lake for a swim then after lunch took him back for a bath. We lather him up then send him into the water to ‘fetch’ and that rinses him off. Well I just started lathering him up good and turned around to see a bear about 50 yards away watching us. This wasn’t a little harmless black bear but a grizzly, the real McCoy, purebred grizzly bear through and through. Well this beach wasn’t big enough for both of us so I decided to let him have it -- all of it. Besides I just remembered some urgent business I needed to take care of in the van. My feet were churning the ground sending a spray of sand and gravel that looked something like those Jet Ski boats when they are shooting rooster tails across the water.

Then I fell down!

I’m doomed, I’ll be the main course at a bear feast!

Baron to the rescue! He took off after the bear and, believe it or not, the bear turned and ran. I called him back before he became the main course. Heck, just as well finish the shampoo job so sent him into the water to rinse off. But we didn’t linger as the bear didn’t go far. In fact he hung around and was still there when we left.

Well that added a little excitement to the day.

We had just about decided all those stories about how bad the roads were was just so much bunk, but this day we found out differently. Every bad thing I heard about the ALCAN came true. There were potholes, chuckholes, blowholes, holy sh-- holes, postholes, holes in holes, there were up heaves, down heaves, frost heaves, dry heaves, heave-hos, and then came construction areas. Twenty-five miles of construction in one stretch. There was choking dust, mud (produced by the construction workers), oil on dirt, dirt on oil, more gravel with choking dust, and the gravel was rough. It had potholes and the rest described above. Additionally, it had washboards of various size and dimensions. Then in places the road REALLY got rough.

But we made it, we were finally in Alaska! Back in the good old USA where gasoline is sold in gallons and distance is measured in miles. I could go back to figuring our miles per gallon. We stopped at the first campground we came to. Got a fill of gas, $1.79 per gallon but of course those are American funds. J

L&D in Alaska!!!!

Last night we camped next to a couple from North Carolina who were driving a Roadtrek 200. They only had the unit for a month; looks like they are wasting no time in putting some miles on it. He was complaining about the shower, they have to string shower curtains in the middle of the floor to make a shower stall. Then if the unit was not perfectly level, all the water would not drain out. Makes the Rialta shower sound all that much better.

This was a tiring and trying day. More rough roads, not quite as bad as the last half day in the Yukon but pretty bad. The Alaskans just hit the bad place at full speed just like they were part of the pavement. We did see one car setting by a rough place with the right front bumper on the ground and a couple young men standing by looking disgusted -- my guess, broken axle. We are also seeing a lot of traffic, mostly local but quite a few RVs mixed in.

My original plan was to make the trip late in the season hoping most of the road construction would be completed. But for some reason that escapes me we decided to come early. On the positive side Mother Nature has smiled on us and we have experienced clear skies and sunshine almost every day. Today was even on the hot side and we ran the A/C most of the afternoon.

I am running out of superlatives to describe the scenery. We drove along a snow covered mountain range that made the mountains in Canada look like foothills. That night we camped in a valley about 100 miles from Anchorage, forest covered hills on one side and rugged snow covered mountains on the other.

                                                 RV park & view on Richardson Highway near Anchorage

The Rialta is holding together through all this pounding but from the rattles in the coach it sounds like it is coming apart. We did spring a leak in the black water holding tank valve some time back. It leaves little embarrassing puddles where ever we park, that is until I broke one of the ears off the outlet cover now it just dribbles down the highway. We called Winnebago’s service desk and all the Winne places were behind us until we get to Anchorage. Will try to get it repaired there.

Took our time getting out of the campground today. We only had a hundred miles or so to Anchorage. We could see dark clouds and mist hanging over the area toward Anchorage and sure enough a few miles down the road we ran into rain. It rained on us the rest of the way and most of the day but not a downpour, just steady rain.

We also ran into rough roads and construction and only made 30 miles the first hour. But the closer we came to Anchorage the better the roads were finally ending up with a four-lane expressway. As we passed the airport we spotted a Winnebago dealer and pulled in. I told them about the problem of the leaking sewer valve and they made me an appointment for 8:00 the next morning.

We grabbed a bite of lunch on the way to Diane’s cousin’s house and made it there about mid afternoon. The two cousins hit it off and had a good old family visit. One would never suspect they had not seen each other for over 50 years. Bev fixed king crab legs for dinner and they were out of this world. Nothing like the crab we get in the Midwest (frozen and 2 months old).

                                   Bev & Al and view from their deck

Both Bev and Al had to work so we headed out bright and early to A&M RV place. They were very helpful and had us back on the road in an hour or so. We stopped for a late breakfast on the way back to our hosts’ place and when we came out of the restaurant, two guys were parked beside our van (which was in the rear of the building). They pulled away when they saw us coming across the parking lot. Casing the place for a hit? Bet they didn’t know about the big black dog inside.

Spent the rest of the day doing laundry at Bev’s and there was plenty. They took us out for dinner downtown Anchorage that evening. Both of us had beer batter fried halibut, excellent and more than we could eat. Al said goodnight about 10:00 PM and left in his car. ????

I got up around 7:15 to take the dog for his morning pee and saw the new sewer valve was leaking like a sieve. Now instead a spot of nasty stuff, there was a long trail of it running down the street. I dug out my tools and tightened the bolts holding it together but didn’t help. So I washed down the street with the outside shower so it wouldn’t look too bad and went into the house to call the RV place. Didn’t open until 8:00. At 0800 I was on the phone again trying to get in touch with the service department when the police walked in and told me to come with them.

The police!!!!

They came to arrest me for the nasty stuff on the street!! But that wasn’t the case, they were after bigger fish, namely Al. They had a search warrant and went through the house with a fine toothed comb. Even took pictures of everything in the house including us. However, they made it clear from the start that Bev was not involved and we were free to go at any time. This was part of a Federal investigation of Al’s business dealings. One or two of the 6-8 officers were wearing a jacket that said IRS. They were looking for his business records but didn’t find anything. Well that was enough excitement for so early in the morning so we didn’t hang around. Poor Bev, she was scared, humiliated, angry, and embarrassed. Of course Al was no where around, he had left early that morning for Fairbanks.

So back to the RV place leaving Bev with her problems and trying to get our problem fixed. The folks at A&M were apologetic about the problem and worked us right in spite of all the work they had stacked up. Bet that place is a madhouse in the summer.

After we had been there for a hour or so, Bev called and explained that Al owned a string of “massage parlors” and the one he bought in Fairbanks was previously owned by a very unsavory character. They are also illegal in Alaska so looks like the Feds are trying to nail him.

After the valve was fixed ( I checked it out this time before leaving the lot) we hit the road to Homer. Gorgeous drive along the Cook Inlet and over the coastal mountains. One pass we crossed was still under several feet of snow but the highway was clear. The road was excellent and we had a very pleasant drive. But we didn’t make it to Homer, would get there the next day. Instead we dry camped in a Fred Meyer store parking lot. Fred Meyer is big in the Northwest and rival to Wal-Mart, only better stuff. We bought some groceries including some more king crab legs and cooked them up in the parking lot. They even provide free dump station and water but that is just smart marketing as most RV’ers will purchase stuff in their store.

                         Cook Inlet                                                                             Pass on Seward Highway

Ten o’clock and the sun is still shining brightly. It’s tough to get to sleep when there’s a good night of sunshine left.

14 June.

This day began our 5th week on the road living in the Rialta. So far we have not had any major conflicts and have not threatened to kill each other over two or three times. After a late start we drove the short distance to Homer, stopping at a great overlook to have lunch along the way. We also went through Anchor Point, the western most point on the US highway system. We didn’t spend much time in Homer but drove directly to the Homer Spit, a 4-mile long very narrow peninsula leading out into the Ketchemark Bay. Camping for the night was in a public campground run by the city near the ‘fishing hole’, cost was $10 no hookups but did have a central dump station and water. Although the Spit is a little trashy, not what I expected, the town of Homer is pretty neat and clean. The Bay is completely surrounded by high snow capped mountains which include several volcano peaks.

                         Homer Overlook                                                                     Campground on Homer Spit

The fishing hole is a little bay, 200 yd. long by 75 yd. wide, and the Alaska Game and Fish Commission stock it with king salmon smolt. The adult fish come back after 3-5 years at sea to spawn but there is no place to span so they just wander around in this little bay until they are caught or croak. The bay is cut off from the ocean at low tide and more fish stack up at the mouth waiting for the rising tide to come in. Probably the best fishing opportunity for the bank fishermen in the state, otherwise they have to charter a boat and pay out the gazoo.

The day was blue bird clear but a cold wind is blowing in off the water making the windbreakers a necessity when out of the van. We found an e-mail connection but had to pay $2 for the privilege plus the long distance call to our Internet server. So we wouldn’t be posting e-mail every day at those rates. We had 89 messages, mostly from the Rialta news group, but didn’t take long to download -- about 5 minutes.

I checked out the fishing hole and talked to a local angler about what to use. Then went across the highway and purchased a license and salmon tag dated to begin the next day. Since the limit on king salmon is 2, I figured a one-day salmon tag would do as I was sure to catch at least that many the first hour.

Another dinner of king crab legs -- we had stopped and bought some more at a fish shop along the way. There was another batch in the fridge so guess we would have them the following night. So when were we going to eat all this fresh salmon?

We stayed around Homer Spit all day. I gave it the old college try at catching a salmon but no luck. I did see some big ones -- 20 to 25 lbs. -- being hauled in but most anglers were just like me, fanning the air with line and lure but only getting exercise and fresh air for the effort. I could see many fish cruising around but they weren’t interested in anything I had to offer.

                                                                Fishing Hole at Homer Spit

We briefly drove into the town of Homer looking for a place to get fish and chips but soon gave up and came back to the Spit where we found a place and chowed down on some excellent halibut.

More fishing. Dinner on the second batch of king crab legs -- yummy! More fishing but still no luck. I finally gave it up at 10:45 PM just before sundown at 11:00.

Left Homer for greener pastures and headed toward Seward. It was only 180 miles so an easy day’s drive. As we passed the Russian River area, the highway was lined on both sides with parked cars and trucks. Every nook and cranny was full and a law enforcement dude was writing parking tickets right and left. Seems it was opening day of salmon season on this stretch of river and all southern Alaska was out. The river was lined up elbow to elbow with fishermen, aka ‘combat fishing’. Well there goes my fantasy of wilderness fishing in Alaska.

We hit Seward about 3:00 and went to the Waterfront RV park run by the city. It was jammed full of RVs setting side by side, in the dirt, no shade, kids and dogs everywhere, dust fogging. Not a pretty picture. We checked out a couple of other places and finally backtracked about 10 miles to a fairly decent place about half mile off the road. They had cable TV. Wahoo!

Seward is a big tourist town, a ferry terminal, and a cruise ship port. We met several buses that had “Princess” across the front and hauling a loads of tourists to somewhere. Sure enough there was a cruise ship docked in Seward.

We packed it in early. Will go out and play tourist tomorrow.