Tales From the Trail - Day 48 & 49

July 1 - Day 48

Tok to Skagway

Well folks here is where JJJ (Jeannie's Jolly Jaunts) takes a little blurp. Well not really a little blurp a pretty big one. It all started early in the morning of July 1. Now remember this date as it becomes ssignificant as the story unravels. As stated in the previous blog "we got a long haul today." We are expecting to be driving at least 10 hours according to good old Jill and usually the way we stop and piddle around on the way you can add 2 more hours to that. Well Lee was supposed to have the gas tank filled up as we are heading for remote areas to say nothing for the fact we are going once again through "frickety fracking" Canada where I have to do all my conversions from kilometers lites etc to figure our gas mileage. So the plan is we are getting up at 4:00 am finding a place somewhere along the way to get coffee (have I mentioned anywhere along the way BC Jeannie is a veritable 'itch?) and hit the road. So I am so the alarm goes off at 4:00 after one of my "having trouble sleeping nights." Seems I have those when we have a stressful day the next day. Anyway alarm goes off, feet hit the floor and Lee says "I forgot to get gas" lets sleep for a couple of more hours." So I lay back down. FORGET IT I CAN'T SLEEP NOW. I get back up start Jill up to see where a gas station is. Good old Jill! She even furnished phone numbers. Good news is I have cell service here. I call the first number a Chevron station and get Daryl who in his welcome southern accent says "Yes Mam I am open 24 hrs a day and yes Mam I have coffee." I get Lee back up and said lets roll. We pack up and out the door to Daryl's get our gas, coffee, tea for Lee and a couple of greasy spicy egg, sausage, cheese sandwiches. Well with my delicate stomach I seem to have developed that didn't sit well. After a few bites I wrapped mine back up and put it back in the bag. We will deal with the rest of that one later. So on the road with my coffee and an unsettled tummy we try to see if we can keep on the time schedule Jill has set for us. We are traveling over some of the worst roads we have had since the TOW/TH. Remember that one from a few blogs back. We will be traveling along at 65 - 70 mph when bingo orange flags on side of road (if we are lucky. sometimes we hit the bad part with no flags) and we are all of a sudden on gravel road. Pot holes big enough to sink a full sized loaded Semi with trailer. We followed another car for a long time which was good cause he acted as a pilot car. When he would put on the brake lights or start shaking we knew trouble was ahead. Presently we came to a flag person who stopped us for one of those stops where you have to wait for a pilot car. Well Ms flag lady had a pet seagull that she was feeding. She told us the seagull comes every morning for breakfast. I gave up the rest of my sandwich and sat and watched the seagull eat every bit of it except the meat. Didn't like the meat. The pilot car came presently and led us over road that was far better than we had been traveling on with no pilot car. GO FIGURE! So back on the road again traveling faster than we should I am keeping my mouth shut. Got a long way to go. So late in the day we are closing in on Skagway. We are now going through Whitehorse and I am looking at the paperwork for the Ferry that we are supposed to catch first thing in the morning. Looks to me like we have to be at the ferry landing REAL early in the AM but it is a bit confusing as to exactly what time we must be here. One place says 3 hrs before sailing which is 7:00 am and one place it says 1 hr before sailing. We decide we better call. Damn good thing I did call. So I'm talking the the Ferry agent and he says "Well I have you for Juneau to Bellingham but Skagway to Juneau was cancelled." Well in my little snippity voice and waving my paper work around (which he can't see) I am saying OH NO NO NO. I would not have cancelled this trip. How would I get to Juneau without the ferry. "Yes Mam he says. We have you as a no show" Oh no I have my confirmation right here. We are sailing (and I look down at my paper) on Oh shoot! July 1 at 7:00 am. Lee said I did not say shoot. I think I did but he assures me no I said something else. So I start wheedling and groveling and telling him as to how as soon as my husband turns loose of the steering wheel he is going to surly kill me. So my friend Sean on the phone says well for a nominal fee we can change this one. But make sure we are not late for the next segment as we will have a long wait in Juneau cause all those ferries are sold out. So all's well that ends well for that little blurb. And good old Lee is just laughing at me. So we roll into Skagway to the Ferry terminal and get our tickets. Oh yes those folks know all about "the Lewis's" Guess word travels fast when some dumb tourist screws up. I don't know how I did that. So far everything as been working like clockwork. We have been where we were suppose to be when we were supposed to be there. With the Yellowstone exception that got us off our schedule and that wasn't due to poor planing it was rock slides road closures etc.

Border crossings! Now that is really funny. Coming into Canada we get this agent who gives us the 3rd degree. Wants to know were we are going. Said to Sakgway. Why are you going to Skagway. To catch a ferry to Juneau. How long are you staying in Skagway. One night. Now What earthly business is it of his to know how long we are staying in Sakgway. Last time I checked Skagway is in Alaska which is part of the United States we are Americans so why should he care how long we are staying there. So we get past the Canadian Border Nazi and be bopping along. Well when we come to the American Border they don't even stop us no flags no nothing. We just breeze right in. CRAZY! Oh and did I mention we got to Skagway in 9 1/2 hrs instead of 10.

July 2 - Day 49

Ferry

Not wanting to miss this boat even after Lee set an alarm clock I set another one. Well I was awake 1/2 hour before the first one went off and was up, dressed and had everything packed and ready to go before the second one went off. Lee got up and off we went to the ferry. We were second in line and was entertained by watching the woman who was moving to Anchorage and stopping by to visit her children in Juneau. Anyway I digress. We watched her wash her truck using rags and a bottle of Windex. We couldn't talk her into doing ours which was really bad again due to the Alaska highway. OH and I forgot to mention on yesterdays segment. We got two cracks on our windshield from rocks being thrown up by trucks which along with the huge dent will have to be fixed when we get home. So getting to Juneau we checked into our room and went in search of a car wash and a place to get some fruit etc to take on the ferry southbound in 3 days. I had forgotten how bad the weather is here. Don't know why anyone would want to live here. It is cloudy and rainy every day. YUK! There are supposed to be fireworks here tomorrow. How they can do fireworks when it doesn't get dark is beyond me but if we can find out what time they will happen we may go see them.

Well That's all for now.

Happy Trails and will see you all soon.

Tales From the Trail - Day 45 - 46 - 47

Denali to Anchorage - Day 45

Spent the morning driving to Anchorage. Not a bad drive and beautiful scenery as we have come to expect. Nothing stands to me as a happening. I need to get back into the habit of blogging every day as I find I am forgetting things. I looked at things to do while in Anchorage. Really did not find much to do except museums etc. There was a display of the Northern Lights (a slide show) that cost us $25 mol then there was an interpretive center where you could see two short movies about the Iditarod and about bears. This one was $17.50 each. Well we did the Aurora thing the day we got there. Had dinner and back to the motel to listen to the next door neighbors dog bark and them slamming the door. That was fun.

Kenai - Day 46:

I really wasn't in the mood to go back into the big city to do the other thing so I says to Lee, why don't we ride down the Kenai peninsula toward Homer. I wanted to look for this church my new friend Susan had taken pictures of and really couldn't remember where it was so we went on a search. The drive down the coast was spectacular. Many "Kodak Moments" along the way. We got as far as Kenai its self and there was our church. We chatted with the Priest took some pictures had lunch at a restaurant recommended by the visitors center and a wonderful lunch it was. We decided we really didn't want to continue on to Homer. Tom Bodett will just have to wait till we go to a Motel 6. He may have quite a wait but he sound like a patient man. Anyway we drove back to Anchorage. Had a so much for lunch didn't want supper so went back up to listen to more slamming and dog barking and to bed.

Day 47 - Driving to Tok (for the second time)

So up this morning and the drive was Anchorage to Tok and here is the excitement for the day. After driving 8 hours we get to Tok, find our motel and go to the front desk. We are told we are booked up. I pulled out my confirmation paper they look at it and say "Oh yes well we have over booked so we are sending you down the road to the next motel down the road. It is a very nice motel and they will be expecting you" Well after voicing my extreme displeasure at such a practice as over booking we finely took our leave and checked in here. Not a bad motel and it is cheaper so you can bet your boots as soon as I get a phone connection I am calling Hotels.com for a refund of the difference.

That is all. I am tired and we have a really long haul tomorrow. From here through Whitehorse to Skagway it will be a really long day so off to bed

Happy Trails see you all soon!

Tales From the Trail - Days 43 & 44

June 26, 2011 - Day 43 Denali National Park

Another long day but a good one. We boarded our bus for our tour to the back country of Denali NP. Of course Lee and I have to sign up for the "biggest and best", we took the 12 hour tour for the whole 92 mile road as far as it goes. We had the choice of taking a "tour" on a beige bus for $159 or riding the park shuttle for $47.50. I asked at the desk, what will I get for the more expensive tour that I won't get for the cheaper one. He quickly explained the shuttle is NOT a tour and we get no narrator. And on the tour you get a bag lunch. Well after listening to the guy on the way to the Arctic circle talk non stop for 17 hours I figured I could do without a lot of talking. So at least we were smart enough to get the cheaper one. The first words out of our bus drivers mouth was "This is not a tour bus and I am not a tour guide" Well all that being said he turned out to be super informative and had sense enough to know when to shut up. We made a good choice. He told us about all the animals and answered questions as asked. He was great and the trip was great. We saw Moose, Caribou, Dall sheep, Red Fox, Grizzly Bear and Mt. McKinley which more often than not does not choose to put in an appearance.

Going out it was dreary and overcast but later in the day the sun was shining and the colours were more vibrant. We did not see bears until we had started back so were all pretty discouraged. We had been traveling 6 hours. No sooner than our amazing driver started back he spotted a Mama Bear with her cubs. The cubs were in their second year so were as big as Mama but they were definitely her babies. Our "not a tour guide" told us the female keeps her babies for two years then kicks they out after their second winter. We saw lots of little critters like the Arctic Hare and cute little ground squirrels. There was a Pika but he moved too fast to photograph. As advertised the trip took 12 hours but the "not a guide" pretty much let us doze going back except when some one would spot an animal or when an announcement needed to be made. Back at our Creekside Cabin we had dinner at the restaurant and off to bed.

June 27, 2011 - Day 44 and a day to Bitch.

So we are having an off day and not much to keep me occupied and out of trouble excepting editing our photos and catching up with email and blog. So I started thinking bout things that have really ticked me off about motels on this trip.

1. The practice of putting "Old Decrepit People" on anything but the first floor.

2. The new (so it would seem) practice of partially making ones bed. We start off with a nice made bed but if you are staying more than one day, the next day they only pull up the covers and leave the spread folded on a chair or something. Then sometimes they shortchange you on supplies. Like coffee, creamer, sweet & low, shampoo, lotion etc to take the place of the ones you have stashed in your suitcase. So if they are only given partial service then why not cut the rent down on subsequent days????

3. Showers! I hate motel showers. If it is a tub and everything else seems copacetic then the shower curtain flaps over and attacks you for your entire shower. The other thing is, like we have here, is not a tub but a walk in shower. It is smaller than a phone booth. If you drop something forget about it. No room to bend over an pick it up. Forget about washing below your waist, no room to bend over and reach your legs and feet. The rest you just have to wing it. All the while the water is blasting in your face. And if you turn around it is hitting you in the back of your head and knocking your brains out. The next fun thing is that you will be in the middle of your shower and all of a sudden a blast of boiling water comes out scalding you. You then screech and jump out of the shower dripping wet. Then there is the old "Ya gotta be a contortionist to reach the toilet paper" gimmick. That is self explanatory!

Well that is about all. Guess I have bitched enough. Give Lee a rest. Sometimes I don't know how man puts up with me.

Happy Trails folks and keep tuned. We are winding down

Tales From the Trail - Days 38 thru 42

June 21 thru June 25

Fairbanks is just a distant spot in our rearview mirror by now. Sorry I haven't blogged since the day we hit town but it has been really stressed and busy, then sick. So will start the story as all good stories should start at the beginning.

You all read the story of our getting there so will skip to our first full day in Fairbanks.

June 21 - day 38: Our outing for the day was scheduled to start at 5:00 pm so we spent the day riding around town finding where we had to be picked up for the various tours we had booked. Went to Wal-Mart to get lunch meat as our tour for tomorrow is leaving at 6:00 am and lasting 17 hours so we had to pack our lunch. We put the sandwich makings together so tomorrow all I have to do is put the sandwich itself together. Then we headed out to our pick up point. We boarded a van and headed out over (what else) a very long rough road to where we were to catch our rafts to float down the river (in the midnight sun.) Humph, what sun? From the minute we got to the rafting place it started drizzling and progressed to a steady shower. No sun, No animals (oh excuse me I forgot the state bird. The mosquito!) They were out in full force. So after floating down the river wet, cold miserable and no animals we finely got back to the pick up point and piled back into the vans to wait for the next float to get there. Apparently like the military they don't leave their buddies behind so we waited for them. At least now we are warm. Got back to our lovely apartment, at 12:00am, took a shower and piled into bed to get up at 4:30 the next morning. Remember I still have to pack lunches.

June 22, 2011 – Day 39

Our trip for the day was to take a bus tour up the Haul Road/Dalton highway to the Arctic Circle. This road is another one of those very primitive roads gravel of course and very rough. Which is why we didn't take our car. I had heard it was pretty bad. However after the TOW & TH this road was pretty mild. At least no mountains and shear drop offs. So we get on this bus for 17 hours (I swear I am not kidding. 9 hours up and 8 back he must have been heading down hill or something coming home) Anyway it was a very long trip and this guy NEVER NEVER NEVER shut his mouth for the entire trip except for 4 films he put in the DVD player each one approx 20 - 30 minutes long. The rest of the time it was non stop mouth. He told about every blade of grass, the tundra, the perma frost, every tree that grows in the area, every animal that is in the area and of course the pipeline, the methods of mining gold, placer, drift and dredge and on and on and on. When he ran out of information he started telling personal stories, local stories etc ad nauseum. I swear to God he could out talk both Lee and I on one of our good days. In fact several times I would start so say something and I guess he figured I wasn't getting paid to talk so he blew right over me. Being at the Arctic Circle was pretty cool though but another long long day. Home by 11:30 or so and another shower. Oh goodie we get to sleep in tomorrow and don’t have to be at our next pick up point till 8:00 am.

June 23, 2011 – Day 40

So today we have the Eldorado Gold mine, Dredge #8 and the Discovery stern wheeler river boat and this is the day that “ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE” Started out pretty good was very tired but was maneuvering around ok then we went to the Gold mine first and really enjoyed panning for gold.

Alma and I had done this very excursion when we went to Alaska so I remembered Yukon Yonda and her husband Dexter. Everything was going real good until those damned cookies. There were the most wonderful chocolate chip cookies there free! Our guide said stock up, the dirty rat, so I did. Had 3 of them (so did Lee) what he failed to mention is right after that we were going to the dredge and be fed beef stew. Well I only could eat just a tad of the stew. (Lee had two bowls) I did not eat my dessert. (Lee did) By the time we left there I was not feeling too good. We boarded the riverboat and I was feeling sicker and sicker. To make matters worse there was a woman sitting right in front of me with a black top on with hair and dandruff all over it. Not too appealing in my present state of being. I had to move. Went to the ladies room to try to off load and was not successful. I never upchuck. Lee had had the same thing I had only more of it and he was fine. He also had a free doughnut and the salmon on the cracker (I didn’t) He was fine. So I really don’t think it was food poisoning. I think I was just overly tired and caught some bug. We were on the boat with people from one of the Dam ships and there is always something going around with that crowd. So we got back to our apartment, I sailed right in without speaking with Elizabeth who was there waiting to wish us home (did I mention we were at a Bed & Breakfast www.lizziesnest.com/ check it out. We were in the Forget me not Apartment) and climbed right into the bed at 6:00. Well two hours later it started and I was up all night getting rid of my stomach contents. I have never been this sick in my life in fact the last time I remember doing that was when I was pregnant and that goes back a few years. This went on all night for every two hours until 3:30 when I got a reprieve. Then the other problem started.

June 24, 2011 – Day 41

Thank goodness we had an R&R planned because I took it in full force. I stayed in bed all day. All I could eat was some dry cheerios a cup of bullion, ginger ale and late in the day some ramen noodles.

June 25, 2011 – Day 42.

So here we are all rested up I am back to normal and everything is good today. Headed down to Denali went into the park signed up for the bus trip tomorrow Another long one but should at least see animals and the good news is they said the park shuttles are not narrated. So we won’t have to listen to another 12 to 13 hour trip of someone just talking talking talking. So after that we checked into our “Creek side Cabins” and that is just what they are. A lovely spot. So now you know what I know. On the sad side we have been saddened to hear of two of our neighbors passing while we have been on the road. Our thoughts and prayers are with Larry Cummings and Mae Houseman.

To all of our friends and family “Happy trails and keep well.”

BFFD (best frineds for the day)

This is an addendum to yesterdays post. I forgot to mention the couple we met along the TOW hwy yesterday. While driving through the fog we were following a little car and had a feeling of confidence that as long as we were behind them and didn't see their tail lights suddenly drop down off the mountain we were OK. Well they finely pulled over and stopped and flagged us around. We didn't really want to go around but if was obvious they were not moving till we did. Up the road there was a rest area. I told Lee pull over so I can clean my undies lol. Well they came right in behind us and we (of course) got to talking. Well they started it! They were staying in the same place as us in both towns. They kept wondering who belonged to this car from Florida and now they finely had the opportunity to meet us. Well this started a relay all the way to Fairbanks. We just keep meeting up with them no matter where we would stop. Even in Tok they were at the same restaurant as us. It was funny.

Tales From the Trail – Day 37

Top of the World/Taylor Highway

June 20, 2011

Before I launch into the adventures of this day I just want to mention a couple of interesting things. No. 1, you may remember the blog of us going to Laird springs. The Milepost magazine mentioned that we should be on the lookout for bears. So of course we did look out for them and thank goodness we didn’t see any. We had to walk on a long boardwalk I think it was 1/3 mile through the woods. The trip was uneventful and there were lots of people coming back and forth so we weren’t particularly frightened. Well on the way back from Skagway our bus driver was telling us about his best friend being mauled and killed by a bear at the hot springs recently. However I pulled the story up on the internet and this killing was in 1997 but it was just as he explained it. So don’t know if this was his friend or not. Anyway that was that.

The other interesting thing was while in Dawson City we were having an ice cream and this truck pulled up with a tag on the front that said Inuvik. Well I have heard more abut Inuvik this trip that I have in my entire live from people we have met in our travels who were taking the trip to Inuvik. So I was asking the people from the truck about it. One lady said yes that is her home town and the guy was from there too and the only reason she hung around with him is he was married to her “BFF” who was a First Nation. Well that led in to more discussion and we had a really nice and informational talk with them. And she said “No she doesn’t live in an Igloo and never did” when I said well they are really only used when the people are out hunting for temporary shelters, right? She was quite impressed that I knew that. She said I was the first tourist she had met who knew that. She is a graduate from Penn State and a guide for various trips around. Quite an interesting person and funny as all get out. When I asked here about the “Top of the World Highway” she went ooooogh and shook all over. Then she laughed and said I’m just kidding but guess what. SHE WASN’T! Which brings us to the meat of the blog.

We weren’t supposed to leave Dawson until tomorrow morning but looking at our schedule we have a trip planned for tomorrow evening. A midnight dinner float trip. And we have to meet with the people at 5:45 tomorrow afternoon. After hearing about Top of the World/Taylor Highway ( I will shorten that to TOW & TH) I figured we better get a real early start tomorrow morning like 5 am. Talked to the people at the hotel in Dawson and they said the border doesn’t open until 9 am so that won’t work. Lee finely said we better check out of Dawson and leave today heading for Fairbanks. So we did. Well kids, do you remember the “Little Gray Road” we went on when we went out west in 74? Well TOW made that road look like a super highway and the TH was even worse. We had to catch a little ferry right outside of Dawson to cross the river then from that point on we climbed these mountains on a gravel road. It was raining. It was slippery. And it was foggy. We were on narrow winding mountain roads. Thank God it was rainy and foggy. If I could have seen down those shear drop offs I would have probably had a heart attack rather than being a nervous wreck. Lee, bless his heart gave me permission to “Bitch” until we got to flat land. IT WAS HORRIBLE. Well that was only the beginning. We finely got to the border and into Alaska. The roads got 10 times worse. The roads became clay, narrower and more slippery. At one point in time the sign said “bump in the road” well we came to the bump and I looked over to my right and I saw what caused the bump. The land was shearing off into the ravine. Looked like it was going to go any minute. OMG, I thought I was going to die for sure. Right outside of Chicken AK we came upon a big RV who had run off in a ditch. I truck was towing them out.

Well it was a long day and we finely made it to Fairbanks where we are staying at a Bed & Breakfast. JILL decided to get even with us and took us the wrong way and then next thing we knew we are on, guess what? A narrow little dirt road winding up the mountain. I just wanted to cry. I kept saying OMG what have I gotten us into. Five days up on this mountain. Well after twisting and turning and getting to this impossible road that the dip stick wanted us to turn onto we called the place and said “We think we are lost” Well our host gave us directions and we quit listening to Jill. I think she is defective. In Dawson City she tried her best to get us to go the wrong way. I took her in the information center and asked the lady “have you ever had a GPS come in and ask for directions. She said she didn’t remember that happening. Anyway sure enough she was telling us to go the wrong way. I thing when she gets home she is going to get packaged up and go back to Garmin and as long as we stay in the lower 48 Sally can get us where we want to go. Anyway we are here at Lizzie's Nest Bed & Breakfast with some really nice hosts and a beautiful apartment.

That is all for tonight. It is midnight and still daylight.

Till we meet along the trail again see you soon and Happy Trails to you all.

Tails from the Trail days 32 through 35

So due to lack of Internet and just being to darned tired when we get back to our rooms I have let the blogging slide except for the Buddy Lee Gone Wild episode.

Day 32

Upon leaving our restful and quiet time in Rancheria we headed for Whitehorse. The roads remained fair to poor most of the time with some good road conditions here and there. Arrived in Whitehorse checked into our room and I really don't understand these hotel people they see old people coming and they give us the furthest away from the elevator and sometimes try to give us rooms where we have to climb stairs. I don't do stairs anymore. Just can't. Oh well we spent the night in our room 250 miles down the hall from the elevator but he room was nice. On the 3rd floor so we slept with our window open. Walked around town a little had a nice bowl of soup and a quiche. Located the train depot so we would know where to go the next morning.

Day 33

Boarded the train to go over the White Pass. This is one of the most spectacular trips scenery wise that I have ever taken. This was my fourth trip over this pass and I still loved it. Needless to say Lee loved it too. We rolled into Skagway and you all know that story so we will just skip down to.

Day 34 where we caught the bus back to Whitehorse a 6 hour trip. We found our car still at the motel whee we had left it and DAM! nobody got tired of looking at it and wash it so it was still as dirty as when we left it and with the huge dent in the side it looks pretty pitiful. I whined a bit and they put us on the ground floor and not so far from the elevator. got a good nights sleep and was on the road by 6:45 the next morning.

Day 35

A long trip through some beautiful country. Drove up the Klondike Highway on the way to Dawson. We were under the impression that it would be a really long day traveling but we made it here in about 7 hours. Guess that was a long day of traveling but it seemed to go by pretty fast. Guess cause the scenery was just so beautiful. We are now in Dawson and the Internet here is not free. $10.50 per day. so we got it for today and are spending the afternoon just catching up on things. We won't pay for Internet anymore here and I have no clue what the situation will be on into Alaska. If we have to pay an arm and a let we will just wait till we get back to the lower 48 to post. I will just blog and not post.

That just about catches you all up on our travels. Till next time Happy Trails from Jeannie and Lee.