Took a drive ...

I'm still sitting in Junction City having work done on my coach.

It is unbelievable how much damage all that shaking on the highways up north did to my coach.  It didn't feel terrible when I was driving, other than I seemed more tired than usual, but the vibration shook screws out of my microwave door, my entry door, the bottom cover on my cab, the window shades, the shower doors ... you name it.  I had an entire list of stuff that just needed to be reattached!

And the dirt!   Plugs, outlets, lights, cupboards, bays .... again, you name it, was covered with dirt and collected some inside as well.  My air filter was half full of dirt!  Words are just not enough of a picture.

I won't be able to completely empty every bay and cupboard and closet to clean until I get back to Coarsegold in December.


As we were expecting some rain, I took advantage of the beautiful weather on Thursday to take a drive.  I had intended just to drive to Florence, but ended up all the way in Coos Bay and back.  It was lovely. I saw lots of sheep and cows and beautiful fall color.

Horsfall Dunes

Junction City, Oregon

Well, I have been here over a week now, parked at the Winnebago Factory Service Center, waiting for service/repairs to my coach from my trip north.  They are swamped!  The entire holding area is full with coaches circling for a place to park.  Its crazy.  Needless to say, I haven't been looked at yet.

I did manage to get to the Ortho doctor this week.  After x-rays, I found that my wrist was really broken when I fell in July, not sprained, and has now started to heal with the bone pretty far from where it needs to be.  I also tore a ligament also that has now split .... so I'm looking at surgery.  I had a CT scan as well, so we'll see what the surgeon has to say as to when it can be repaired and the recovery and PT time involved.  After having a splint on my right arm for 3 months, I am definitely not excited about a cast for another 6-8 weeks!

While I'm waiting for my turn in the service bay, I have some pretty exciting things planned for the week:  a much needed haircut and a facial.  Whoopee.  Hopefully, I'll also have a trip to the surgeon as well.

One great thing this past week was I got both vehicles cleaned!  It feels so much better and I'm not embarrassed anymore.  Unfortunately, when I was cleaning the inside of my Jeep I managed to misplace my keys.  I have never lost my car keys; hopefully I haven't now but I'm out of places to look.  Darn!

I still have to empty all my cupboards and bays to be cleaned (wow that was a dirty trip!), but the living area is clean and that feels so much better.

I'll keep you posted on my surgery and my exciting time here in the parking lot.  And a special thank you to all who remembered my birthday.  I love and appreciate all your good wishes.

Summary of my trip north of the US/Canadian border

LENGTH OF TRIP:

I was gone for 166 days from when I left Junction City on April 3rd until I returned to the same parking lot on September 16th.

That involved 10,609 miles on my coach and about 7,453 miles on my Jeep for a total of $19,062!


STATES, PROVINCES & TERRITORIES:

US:  I drove through Oregon and Washington on the way to Alaska and Idaho, Washington and Oregon on the way back.

Canada:  The Yukon and The Northwest Territories (twice), as well as British Columbia (twice) and Alberta

I drove to the Arctic Ocean twice; once through Alaska and again through the NWT

British Columbia had awesome fresh fruit and vegetables.

Towns I enjoyed the most:  Valdez and Homer and that would probably have to be the combination of the water and mountains together.  

Everyone was very friendly and Alaska, overall, was extremely RV friendly.  Part of that was the dependence on tourism, but not all.  Alaskans and Canadians look out for one another because of the weather and terrain and extend that to visitors.

Prettiest drives:  Glenn Highway and Haines Highway.  The drive from Skagway to Carcross may have made the list if not for the fog obstructing my view.  

There were a lot of glaciers and waterfalls to be enjoyed, along with some pretty awesome scenery.

Animals I saw in the wild:  Brown bears, black bears, lynx, caribou, moose, Dali sheep, muskox, fox including an Arctic fox, and lots of Eagles (although not an animal)

That was the good; now for the ugly:

Camping expenses:             $2,418
(The most expensive stay by far was over the July 4^th weekend in Soldatna.)

Gas/Diesel expense:           $4,179

Plus, I purchased 3 new tires on this trip; one for the coach and two for the Jeep. 

When I returned, I had to have the engines cleaned, as well as the undercarriages on both vehicles. 
And there was body work involved ..... and lots of repairs to be made.

I did not total the food expense, but know that it was high as well, from 25% more at the grocery store, and much higher in restaurants, than in the lower 48 states.  For example, it was common for a hamburger to cost $20.

The exchange rate in Canada is favorable; 20%, but every one of my credit cards charged me a foreign transaction fee every time I used them (most frustrating).  I'll definitely change that for the next trip.

It was a wonderful trip and I'm very glad I did it.  I'm looking forward to the next adventure!

The road south ...

I left Banff in the snow and 33 degrees and crossed the Canadian/US border later the same day at 78 degrees and sunshine.  They did an on board inspection of my coach and confiscated my peppers and tomatoes as they were grown in Canada.




It was an odd feeling after I crossed the border and didn't have to do any of the calculations on the speed signs.  Of course, when I saw a sign for 70mph I immediately tapped the brake to reduce my speed to 45km.  ha.

On the way to the Whitman Mission in Walla Walla, my coach GPS took me along the twisty back roads.  I got to see a part of Washington I'm not familiar with.  I think of Washington as trees and green and coastline, when on the other side of the Rockies it is dry with cattle and wheat and hay fields.  Very different, but pretty.

 

Meanwhile back in Oregon ... I love the beauty along I-84.  As an added bonus, I saw beautiful fall colors.






I would like to develop some interest or hobby that I can do along the road, i.e. golf or wineries or fishing, but none of that interests me.  Oh well, I'll just have to content to see all the wonderful sights I find!



I'm back in Junction City, Oregon at the Winnebago factory.  I feel like I limped in ... the vibration from the roads north shook everything loose.

Bow Valley Parkway and Lake Louise

Banff, Alberta

I left snow clouds in Hay River to find rain every day in Banff, with snow predicted by end of the week.  This is seriously limiting my sightseeing.

There is a shuttle from the campground into the town of Banff, which is nice because driving in a resort town is a pretty big mess.

View from the hotel terrace

Mt. Rundle and Mt. Cascade, part of the Rocky Mountains, dominate its skyline.









The Banff Springs Hotel is a luxury hotel that was built during the 19th century as one of Canada's grand railway hotels; constructed to resemble a Scottish castle.  It is huge and pretty cool.







I had some of the best halibut I've ever had in a restaurant downtown Banff, better even than most in Alaska.

My waiter is from Austrailia.  He was telling me that there are so many Australians in Banff that they form their own community.  He was telling the truth because most of the locals I've talked to all have the accent.








So today I ran out into the rain to see what I could see ....

I'm here until Friday morning, but with a 90% chance of rain tomorrow and snow expected on Thursday and Friday, I don't know that I will see many more sights.  I'll have to catch the rest when I come back in the Spring.

The drive to Banff

Jasper

Icefields Highway

As I was coming up this hill, this sight gave me a moment's pause because of the recent fires ..
It is just the smoke from a utility plant smokestack.

Hay River, NWT

Hay River is known as the transportation hub of the North for its role in the growth of the NWT.

Although it continues to rain every day, the nights have been clear enough to see the Aurora twice.  Again, I haven't been able to get a good picture, but it was truly beautiful.

The Great Slave Lake is also beautiful (Yellowknife is on the other side, some 450 miles away)

And just to confirm that ravens are MUCH larger than crows ...

Heading South to spend a week at Banff and then onto Junction City, Oregon for three weeks getting some repairs done on the coach .... two weeks in Coarsegold before heading to Germany with Susi.

As I was leaving Hay River, getting diesel and air in the tires, two locals mentioned how excited they were that the sky was filled with snow clouds.  Their comment to my unhappy response ... you don't live there if you don't enjoy the snow eight months out of the year.  Like I said ... heading south.  ha.

Fort Smith

Yesterday I took a drive to Fort Smith - about 400 miles round trip on Highway 5.  I had to laugh when the ranger asked me if I did it all in one day.  Silly ranger.

Fort Smith is larger than I anticipated, but they only have three places to eat in the town; a pizza place (closed for the holiday), Annie's (according to the ranger only open when they feel like it - darn hippies), and the hotel restaurant, which serves the world's worst burger.  The ranger laughed and agreed with me.

Along the drive ...

Fall color

Salt Plains and Parson's Lake Road

Two of the three black bears along the highway

Some of the Wood Buffalo in the National Park

Angus Sinkhole - 100 meters across and 60 meters deep; formed with an underground cave collapsed.

Here's a stop sign you don't see every day!

Yellowknife, NWT

I spent 4 days in Yellowknife.  The name Yellowknife originated from a local Dene tribe known as the Yellowknives Dene, who used copper-bladed or yellow knives.  Yellowknife became the capital of the NWT in 1967.  Ironically, Yellowknife is the diamond capital of North America.

Continuing the odd weather this year, according to the rangers and locals I've spoken with, it has rained every day for a month and it never rains this time of year.  Which really put a damper on my aurora viewing.

I drove the Ingraham Trail Highway 4 one night to the very end where the ice road starts in winter, to try to see the Northern Lights.  That was my first viewing.  There wasn't much to see on the way out, or back, but the full moon was pretty.  Unfortunately, the only picture of the lights I was able to get looked like static.








I had dinner one night at the Bullocks Bistro, famous for their fresh fish from the Great Slave Lake  Side note - Yellowknife has such a large Asian tourist population, this restaurant had the menu in at least 6 different Asian languages.

Ragged Ass Road - A short, unpaved residential street in Yellowknife's Old Town, was named by the late Lou Rocher, who owned property along it at the time.  A poor prospecting season left Rocher and friends "ragged ass broke" and the street name was born.

Fireweed Studio:  Once a blacksmith shop at the Giant Mine site, this small cabin was constructed in 1938 and designated a historic building in 1996.

 Built in 1937, the Wildcat Cafe thrived on the business of bush pilots, prospectors and other early settlers of the Yellowknife area.  By 1939, it became the city's first ice cream emporium.

I did a little grocery shopping while I was here.  The market had a surprisingly huge produce department; nice produce; some overpriced, some not so bad.

Here is something I thought was funny - I saw this sign and pondered what it meant -

It was a cattle guard in the road!

Northwest Territories

Definitely a change in the terrain as you approach the Northwest Territories; shorter trees, more scrub.  This is actually my second venture into the Northwest Territories this trip.

The first stop after crossing the border with Alberta was stop at the 60th Parallel Visitor Information Center.  They actually gave me a certificate.

At Kilometre 72 (Mile 45) I found Alexandra Falls, a powerful 105-foot waterfall on the Hay River.

The highway takes me into the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary for 50 miles.  Bison look slow and docile, but they can move with amazing speed and aggression.

After a stop at Fort Providence for diesel, I did something wrong.  I can hear all of you screaming at me right now ... but it turned out fine.  I picked up a couple of backpackers hitchhiking to Yellowknife.  I have never picked up a hitchhiker before, but it always seems such a waist to be driving this huge coach by myself, so i took a chance.

As it turned out, they were a couple from Montreal on holiday, canoeing the Mackenzie River.  He is an ER doctor and she an optometrist.  It made the 4 hour drive to Yellowknife delightful, and he was nice to add some DEF to my tank for me and save my wrist.  And we did see some bison on the way.

We made a pit stop here ... the North Arm Territorial Park Day Use Area.

I don't know that I'll ever pick up another hitchhiker, but it turned out good.