Thursday, July 30, 2009

Home Sweet Home (The Last Leg)

This guy knows how to fish. What diversity 7 days of travel can bring. This picture was take in Hyder Alaska from a viewing platform. The bears were content to go about their business of making a living the natural way.
This is the first Mt. Scene at the entrance to Canadas' Jasper National Park. It is the highest point in the Canadian Rockies.
When we left the park we traveled through Calgary south to the Montana border. Agriculture was present all the way home. A few Oil Fields were present in Montana and western North Dakota. Lots of Canola, Wheat and Livestock. The river valleys have recieved ample rain this year where Hay and Pastures are so important to there economy.


And this is the scene from south of the machine shed at home. The corn was barely thigh hi when we left on the 25th of June. I am hear to tell you the good ole Iowa landscape looks pretty plush compared to a lot of the country where water is so scarce.
Thanks for following our blog. We enjoyed every moment, met a lot of folks along the way, it was a great trip and we are happy to be home.
A special thanks again to B&C; M,M&C and S&K, You guys made our vacation of a lifetime very special.


Thursday, July 23, 2009

Heading Home

The first sighting by Grama. Zoom in and you will see!!


Almost to Tok, we still realize the beauty in Alaska never ends



I can tell when Grama misses the kids




We got caught up in traffic just south of Palmer. 30 min. to go 2 miles.
Decided to stay at Fox Run Camp ground and continue on the next morning.
We then continued on to Tok Where we stayed at Tok Village RV Park.
Tonight we find ourselves in the Capital of the Yukon, Whitehorse.
Tommorrow who knows but we are not going to rush and get thrown off the roads because of frost heaves. Some of the Alaskan Hi-Way between Destruction Bay and Tok had Frost Heaves at least two foot deep. What a roller coaster ride.
And we have no cell coverage for the time being. We should be back into service in a couple of days.


Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Fun at the Property

All good things have to come to a close as time just runs out. We had a wonderful time with Steve and Kathy. Creating memories to never be forgotten.

Cousins relaxing at the property.Kathy and I had a chance to visit and enjoy one another.
The camper at the property. The best most relaxing Campsite of all. Thank you Steve and Kathy for our campsite. We had a great time with you both. And the Steaks were done to perfection.

This is Jay hooked up with a Wild Sockeye Salmon at the Kenai River in Soldotna, AK. They range in size from 8 to 12 lbs. It takes 5000 casts per fish!!!!!! Just 4 for Steve!!!!


These are Halibut, Silvers, Rock Fish, Grey Cod and even a Kelp Greenlee. All from the depths of the Pacific Ocean. We had a great day on the Charter. Leaving camp at 3:00 AM and returning at 9:45 PM.

Sharon and I even got in on the processing. Note how she supervises me. Just watches me like a Hawk. (Jay did get pretty good with the processor, though!)





Tuesday, July 14, 2009

What a workout !!!!!

This is the results of a one day Halibut Fish

Lucky lefty hookin up the big one



Aview from Cook Inlet back toward shore.
Yes thats right ole lefty showed me up pretty good.
What an experience we had. We are glad we went for it.$$
Oh well just the kids inheritance

Monday, July 13, 2009

Kathy's to Whittier to Homer

After we left Kathy's,we drove down Turnagain Arm, went through the longest mountain tunnel in North America, it is 2.5 miles long, it is also shared by the Alaskan Railroad. It takes you to Whittier,this picture is on the docks at Whittier.

Typical scene along the Seward Highway.




We are camped at Stoney Creek Campground, this is taken at 11:00 p.m. at night, stays light out a long time, we finally just close our eyes to make it dark.




This is Exit Glacier. Is this the viewing area ? No ! Is this the toe ? N0! Is this the Edge? Yes! That is all the further we could climb, 1.2 miles up a mountain path. The continuation of this trail goes another 7.5 mi. to the surface of the ice.

We had lunch at this seaside resturant in Seward, ate Halibut, very good.

Camp-sight scene across Cook Inlet in Homer.
We are having a great time, we are going on a Halibut fishing charter tomorrow and will not have access to internet for a couple days.








Saturday, July 11, 2009

At Steve and Kathy's (Eagle River)

We made it to Kathy and Steve's.Here are some flowers the girls planted for Kathy, they sure do
look nice.
This is Kathy and Steve's house,Steve painted it since we were here last, also has new windows, really looks sharp. We left Kathy's in the morning, headed to Whittier, spent a few hours there.
Then we headed toward Seward, found a nice campground about 6 miles from Seward. A real nice place. Heading to Seward and maybe Homer tomorrow.

Friday, July 10, 2009

The Inside Passage to Eagle River

The Manatusca Showing up 3.5 hrs late
Do we look like tourists or what?


This sunset lasted for 2 hours

This is the sunrise the next morning



We arrived in Tok and stayed at the RV park




This is scenery on the Glen Hi-Way
And now for the next chapter. Who knows we are still just putting one foot ahead of the other With no special plans. We are surely going to enjoy Steve and Kathy.





Tuesday, July 7, 2009

From Prince George to Prince Rupert Day 12

As we drove along Queens Hi-Way 16 following the Sheena River the Scenery was breath taking. Agriculture plays an important role in the economy with mostly dairy and beef operations in the lush valleys. Lumber and paper mills are predominant in the forested areas with sustinent fishing present on the reservations. The closer we got to Prince Rupert we witnessed more sport fishing .
We are so looking forward to boarding the ferry and traveling up the inside passage To Haines AK.
That starts at 5:30 PM.Day 13

Sunday, July 5, 2009

From Seattle Washington to Quesnel B.C.

We saw Cruise Ships in the Harbor in Seattle.
Walked to the farmers market where as you can see
this is a very popular place. We sampled the Russian Pasteries. YUM YUM!!


A short drive and we were at the Space Needle. Amazing Tour By Marks' Tours From Renton

On our way to Dragon lake and Roberts' Roost The drive through the Fraser River Valley was a close rival to the Grand Canyon?? That will be another trip.



Hear we are parked along the shores of Dragon Lake with all the emenities. As you can see even Wi-Fi. PS Fishermen I saw the pictures of the 12-15 lb salmon and trout they catch out of the lake. Impressive!!




Saturday, July 4, 2009

Heading North Day 10

Hear we go , On the road again. Rested and heading north to Prince Rupert. Thanks to Mark and Michelle for there hospitality,healthy food,and a great time sightseeing. We especially were greatfull to get to know Conner. What a nice little boy being, raised by loving parents.
Well we have many adventures ahead and we are not sure when we will be connected again. So it could be a few days before we find Wi-Fi.

At Michelle and Marks in Renton

Here is a picture of Mark, Michelle and Connor in front of their house. We are having a real nice time with them. This has been real relaxing for us. Happy Fourth of July to everyone!!
Connor loves to play outside with his truck in the sand.

Connor riding his bike, he is an outdoors boy alright!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Good morning everyone!!!
We ended up at Motel 8 last night after trying several campgrounds and everything was full or they weren't very good campsites. So here we are in Kelso, Washington. We are heading to Mark& Michelle's this morning, should get to their place shortly after lunch. We talked to Mark yesterday. Our travels have taken us from I-80 across the desert into Calif. then we got on Hwy
20, traveled that till we got to Hwy 101, which is the coastal drive,then got on Hwy 30, took that to I-5, which is what we will take to Mark's. In Legget, Calif. it was 95' and about an hour later up the coast it was only 65', what a difference, and so nice. It actually got down to 50' someplaces. We can't believe how many different terrains we have seen. This is quite a USA. We will be staying at Mark's till Sunday morning, then we will head north to Prince Rupert and get on our ferry. Will keep you up to date, we sometimes have trouble finding WiFi, but we keep looking. Everyone have a great 4th of July and stay safe. Love you all. Mom & Dad

Thursday, July 2, 2009

The state parks in Oregon are the best
Sharon and Jay enjoying the Red Woods


The drive along the coast of California and Oregon was a great experience. If you go there allow time to enjoy. It takes all of two days.



This clip tells it all. I'll Clean the lens later HA!