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[Ron]

Week 40: Ending 8/17/03


Monday:
The cruise ships are in this morning which makes for very crowded streets. We drive out of Skagway, not sad to be departing. Ron drives the motorhome and Joan the Tahoe for we have heard about a long climb on the Klondike Highway. Rather than burden the motorhome’s engine with excess weight, it is easier to drive separately.

Unfortunately, this means that we depart Alaska separately, not together as we had entered. We stop at two different vistas to marvel at the landscapes and admire Alaska glaciers for the last time, at least on this trip.

Whitehorse is our destination today, the HiCountry RV Park. It is a lovely park, dusty gravel sites but with nice landscaping throughout, a large gift shop and free coffee. Joan does necessary errands like laundry and grocery shopping while Ron works on the motorhome.

Tuesday:
Another sleepless night for Ron, so we spend another night in Whitehorse. We find Ron’s favorite Internet café, which has moved since we last were in Whitehorse, and catch up on the computer. We check out a few gift shops and end the evening at Boston Pizza. Be sure to try their Salt & Pepper Riblets: addictively delicious!

Wednesday:
The weatherman is wrong again, fortunately for us. Although the sky is overcast, it is not raining nor is it windy. Fifty km/hrs winds had been forecast. It is an uneventful day backtracking on the Alaska Highway. We pull into Baby Nugget RV Park for the night, just west of Watson Lake, YT. Only 996 miles to go to Edmonton!

The RV park is pretty dusty, but they have a nice log cabin restaurant with a breezy deck. A number of other travelers join us on the deck for dinner. Before and after dinner, we strike up conversation with fellow Tiffin RV owners, Ron & Jackie from Florida, and their friend from Ohio, Harrison.

Thursday:
A bright and sunny day greets us as we hit the road. We bid adieu to Yukon Territory. What we think is going to be an uneventful ride is anything but. First we hit some heavy duty construction. Then, traffic is stopped by a herd of wild bison herd with baby calves.

We spot four large Stone sheep and then two young caribou. The motorhome’s engine overheats numerous times at relatively low altitudes (3000-3500 ft.), so we have to pull over each time. As we enter Stone Mountain Provincial Park, we see a group of 13 Stone sheep and then a young family of three sheep and two more caribou. This is wild, but also a little nerve-wracking because of the engine and the instability of the animals’ movements. One never knows which way they are going to turn.

Near MP 355, a Momma black bear and two cubs scamper across the road in front of us and hurry in the woods on the other side. Bears do not usually dawdle on the road like caribou and moose do. We do encounter another bear on the side of the road, his head down, munching away.

After 344 miles, we arrive in Fort Nelson and drive into Westend Campground. Westend Campground is a decent campground with a very powerful pressure RV wash. It is reasonably priced, too, at 5 minutes for a toonie. As soon as we pay for a night’s stay, we drive over to the wash for a thorough cleaning of our vehicles. Ron even manages to wash out the radiator a bit.

Friday:
We book our site for another night. Just a few blocks away is Charlie’s Freightliner service shop, so we check in with them and bring the RV in for an oil & lube and air filter change. Charlie’s can’t change the air filter, but they are able to pressure clean the filter and radiator. Hopefully, this will alleviate our overheating problems.

Ron recognizes a fellow Mason & Shriner from a previous campground, Bob and Diane and their Shetland Rhett. Bob and Diane invite us to join them at the local Elks club (sans pooch) and we continue our conversation by accident at A&W. One of our favorite parts of RVing is the opportunity it affords us to meet new people from all over the country and the world. It is neat to learn what a small world we all actually live in!

Saturday:
It’s a sunny but breezy day as we continue back along the Alaska Highway. The breeze turns into a fierce wind which makes for difficult driving for Ron. We pull into the Mile “0” RV Park and Campground around 7:30 pm, 283 miles closer to home.

This is a pretty campground and inexpensive also: $16.06 Cdn with our Good Sam discount. However, it has only water and electric at each site and no Cable TV. On the plus side, it is located right next to the Pioneer Village, which still has beautiful flower gardens for us to visit. The sun sets way too soon now, it is completely dark outside by 9:30 pm. We aren’t in Alaska anymore and summer is fading fast.

Sunday:
After such a tiring drive, we decide to stay in Dawson Creek another night. We chat with one of our neighbors, a man named Bud from Anchorage. Bud had just sold his house, primarily due to increasingly high taxes (sound familiar?!) and is on the road with his wife and Black Lab to discover a new hometown in the lower 48. We wish them well.

We enjoy the rest of the afternoon exploring the Kissi Fall Fair in nearby Sunset Prairie. The livestock have already been judged and returned home but we are in time for the horsemanship trials for youngsters and adults. No horse wants to kiss Ron but a few of them allow him to give them rubs! We even get to rub a new spotted foal named Bonnie! We get back home just in time before deluges of rain fall upon us.