After Alaska

We are now located in Summerdale, Alabama, which is about 20 miles to the North of Gulf Shores and the Gulf of Mexico.

In the time since we left Alaska, we traveled through parts of Western Canada where we encountered some very bad road conditions and continued through Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and points East as we made our way to PA where we spent about a month or so before heading South.

After a nice visit with friends in Holt, Florida, we proceeded to Fort Pickens which had recently been pretty much flooded by the remnants of a hurricane and we had to move positions a number of times as the water receded.  Ultimately, we fell under a mandatory evacuation from the RV park as another storm eventually resulted in the closing of the Fort Pickens Road and Campground once again.

The following links will give you access to some sets of photos from this period, including lots of buffalo in British Columbia, a visit with son John to the 911 museum in NYC, a few shots, including the flooding at Fort Pickens and some views from our current location at the Emmaus Motor Coach and RV Resort.

BC to Pa
NYC911
Pickens
Emmaus

Last Days in Alaska and On to the YT

Our time at the Cantwell RV Park ended on the last day of August with a dinner sponsored by park owners Jim and Eileen.  Delicious offerings were provided by folks staying at the park as well as a few people from town and included salmon, halibut, moose and a variety of other dishes.  Having said our farewells, we departed the following morning for Fairbanks.

It was our hope to have a chance to witness some Northern Lights, but weather conditions and a bright moon precluded any views of an aurora at this, our closest approach to the Arctic Circle; however, we did take enough time to enjoy some of the area including, Deb finding some chagas tea, a visit to Pioneer Village and a farm market, and a very close observation of the Alaska Pipeline.  Deb also managed to pan for gold.  No, we did not strike it rich, but she did collect some nice flakes at a location which also included a dome that once housed equipment that was part of the DEW Line.  We also enjoyed a good dinner (and nice servers) at a place that was once featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

We traveled next to Tok, AK, by way of North Pole, AK (not THE North Pole), then on into the Yukon Territory of Canada where we encountered some of the most terrible road conditions and difficult driving of our entire journey, but still enjoyed some amazing views along the way.

Photos of all of this can be found using this link.  We are now (Labor Day) in British Columbia at Toad River and look forward to sharing today's photos sometime soon.

NO Denali

Over the course of three days last week, we took the 440-mile round-trip drive from our location in Cantwell for a brief final visit with Tracy and Jeff in Anchorage (and some shopping) prior to our planned departure from Alaska in the first week of September. Part of our travels took us through an area where Mount McKinley is sometimes visible from several vantage points along the way.  While we were fortunate enough to spot the mountain several times on our journey to Cantwell in late July as reported in an earlier blog entry, we were not so fortunate this time.

As most Alaskans and visitors to this area can tell you, the mountain, known locally as Denali, can generally be observed only about 30% of the time since the view is normally obscured by clouds.  Here is a sample of what has been observed by relatively few of the 400,000 folks that visit the park each year:

This link will take you to the photos of our "NO Denali" trip last week and this link will give you more information about the park, the mountain, the names and more.

Around Cantwell

Today I went again to a location along the Denali Highway, just about a mile to the East of here, where Mount McKinley (or Denali) can be seen, quite vividly, about 30% of the time, obviously on a very clear day.  Today was not one of those days, even though we are enjoying some bright sunshine here at the park, so I decided to gather up a few photos of the immediate area to share with you.  Be sure to see the captions for some little information.

We are so thrilled that we were able to spot the mountain as we were heading to Cantwell a bit over three weeks ago as I posted in an earlier blog entry. There are many people who make the trip to Denali and never get so much as a peek (no pun intended).

Deeper into Dinali

Deeper into Denali, a journey to the Toklat River.

Unlike last week when we took our car into the park as far as we were permitted to go, this time we (along with Shirley and Jim from the Cantwell RV Park) took the Green Bus for a 6.5-hour round trip, 50+ miles one way deeper into the park to the Toklat River.  When we reached the point where we had previously traveled on a paved road, we were now treated to gravel and dirt on a winding road that eventually became a single lane that climbed along and over mountains, providing sometimes dizzying vistas over the edge of the road and into the valleys below.  Unfortunately, the camera cannot capture either the thrill of the ride or the awesome views along the way.  Thanks to Ben, our driver, from Lancaster, PA, we survived the trip intact.

Unfortunately, due mostly to the warm temperature, while the views were spectacular, there were not too many animals to be observed; however, as you will see in these photos, we did spot a number of caribou.  There was also a Grizzly that could be seen from too great a distance for the camera and likewise a Dahl sheep that appeared as a small white dot on a mountain. Some of the photos are captioned and, as usual, you can click on the "slideshow" button to see full views of the photographs.

We did not travel as far as Wonder Lake so this is not our photo, but I thought it was worth sharing - from Alaska NPS.

Denali National Park - Trip 1

For the last day of July in our Alaska Adventure, we took our first trip into Denali National Park, home of Mount McKinley, a vast array of wild animals and 6 million acres of scenic views. On this trip, we saw only the latter, but we were very pleased with just that.  Keep in mind that we went only about 13 miles into the park and there will be more visits to come.

We hope that these photos will convey some sense of the vastness of this area.  You will see some good examples of where the tree line ends as the elevation increases and also the line where all vegetation ends and there is nothing but rock from there to the top.  As you see the various waterways and beds with no water, try to imagine what this must be like when the Spring melt is at a peak.

The day also included a short side trip to the small town of Healy, Alaska (Pop. 1000, give or take) where we bought a tomato.  20 extra miles for a tomato? Well, this is the Alaska interior.  We could always go 100+ miles (one way) to the Walmart in Fairbanks. Our last two photos are included for Mary and Vickie.

Along the Denali Highway

For reasons you can probably surmise by going to this link, we have elected to not take our RV on the Denali Highway; however, we did drive a number of miles of it today with the car.  It is quite a beautiful drive, but although some folks drive the full length of the road, we've opted to have a chance to return to the lower 48 with our Suncruiser still mostly intact.  Deb spent part of the trip picking blueberries while I was chasing down and photographing a wide variety of mushrooms, ranging in size from just a few inches to nearly a foot in diameter.  Photos are available at this link.

Odds and Ends

As we continue our Alaska experience, not every day is a great exploration or discovery, but there is always our immediate surroundings to enjoy and little tidbits we encounter day to day.

In this small collection of photos, you will see another amazing sunset over the nearby mountains.  Next is one of the hazards that can be encountered while traveling around the area.  Yes, that is mud covering a trailer that arrived here from Fairbanks.  Understand that most of this area is wilderness and of the few roads that are available, many are under constructions and others are mostly gravel.  For instance, there is only a single road that goes through the 6 million acres of Denali National Park.

In the next photo, a white rectangle on the mountain is an outdoor movie theater for folks on ATVs.  Next is some Alaskan rhubarb that Deb was preparing for an excellent pie. Finally, thanks to Eileen, there are a few more photos from our recent visit to the Wolf Den Kennel.

Cantwell to Denali Village

These are yesterday's photos which include views of the area surrounding Cantwell, AK, and some stops along the Parks Highway between here and Denali Village which lies just a few miles to the North of the entrance to Denali National Park.  We decided we would spend the day getting a bit familiar with the area and delay our first visit to the park until next week.  In the meantime, we will keep an eye on the weather forecast in hopes of selecting the best day.

Our time at Denali Village was mostly spent in checking out the gift shops.  Although they are quite nice, many of them seem to carry the same items.  I should point out that the prices in the area are very high.  As an example, a generic gallon of water was priced $4.50!  Also while there, we took a special photo just for Jessica.

Going to the Dogs

Last night, Deb and I joined Eileen (owner of the Cantwell RV Park) for a visit to the Wolf Den Kennels, just a short drive to the West of our location.  This enterprise, owned and operated by Mike Santos and his wife is really quite amazing and you can learn more about it via this link.

Prior to this visit, I was always a bit concerned about the care and welfare of mush dogs, but the love displayed between these owners and dogs is quite evident and absolutely a two-way street.  The dogs are well kept, well fed, appear to be completely satisfied with their situation, and primarily READY to RUN.  Find photos here.

Quartz Creek and Points North

For our final weekend with Tracy and Jeff, we met up with a bunch of their friends at a campground at Quartz Creek in the Chugach National Forest.  This is a beautiful site which is located just about 8 miles to the West of the Seward Highway along the route we previously took on our trip to Homer.   This was our first experience in our 8 years in the RV with 'dry' camping (no electricity, no water, no sewer) for more than one night. Fortunately, all went well.  Our main concern was with our house batteries and I would not try this for more than 2 nights.

The main event of the weekend was a 50th birthday party for one of the crew and we were fortunate to have a day of perfect weather for the event.

These photos also include our first views of Mount McKinley that we spotted as we traveled North out of Anchorage toward the Denali area where we will be spending the next 6 weeks.  McKinley, at over 20,000 feet, is easily quite visible and imposing from over 100 miles away.  There will be more on all of this in some future blogs.

Talkeetna

Last weekend we traveled to Talkeetna, AK, which is located about 14 miles East of the Parks Highway, about midway between Anchorage and Denali National Park.  On the way, we passed through Wasilla which is considerably larger than we expected (there is even a Starbucks).  We also drove through Willow which was at the center of the Sockeye Fire which I mentioned in a post about a month ago.

This will be our last week in the Anchorage area and after a weekend visit to Quartz Creek, we will be heading to Cantwell, near Denali, where we will spend six weeks taking in the sights of that part of the state.

Link to photos

Link to Talkeetna Information

Link to the Aurora Forecast - Hoping for some views soon!

Exit Glacier and Mount Marathon

For the Fourth of July weekend, we traveled in our RV along with Jeff and Tracy and a bunch of their friends, many also in their RVs, to Seward, Alaska.  Tracy and some friends were involved in a Softball Tournament where they played 7 games in two days and we also took advantage of the timing and location to enjoy some other activities.

On Friday, we took a short drive followed by a hike of about 4-5 miles to enjoy some great views of Exit Glacier and the surrounding area.  On Saturday, we were in Seward to observe the end of one part of the Mount Marathon Race which is held each year on the 4th.  We then spent most of Sunday, after the softball games, enjoying some local fare in Seward.

Mount Marathon Information

Exit Glacier Information

The weather was not always perfect, but nice enough to have a great weekend with some nice people as we enjoyed some awesome sights that we are pleased to share with you via some photos.

Exit Glacier and Mount Marathon Photos

Seward Views and Return Trip to Anchorage Photos

Downtown Anchorage

Yesterday we were joined by Tracy and Jeff for an afternoon and evening taking in the downtown area of Anchorage.  We started with a visit to the Alaska Experience where learned some of the details of the devastating 1964 earthquake and enjoyed many fantastic views of Alaska's Northern Lights in a film by Todd Salat, Epic Aurora.

We then visited the Anchorage Market where we viewed many crafts on display and tasted some excellent food.  We were also thrilled to meet the artist who was responsible for the creation of the Baleen Scrimshaw that has been hanging in Tracy and Jeff's living room for many years and another of which is now on display in our RV.

It turns out that this guy made these pieces some 20 years ago and it was quite nice to have a bit of a chat with him and his mother.  He was pleased to learn that his work had found good homes.

We continued our day with a walk around the city and stopping into some of the shops along the way, including some watering holes and more good food.  We are pleased to share some photos of all this with you which include shots of the floral arrangements that dot the city.

A Different Alaska Discovery

Thanks to a suggestion and a coupon from Tracy and Jeff, today we discovered an excellent place for a late lunch after a bit of shopping.  After all our travels around the country since 2007, not to mention the trips we made to Mexico in the years before that, we've just discovered a new favorite Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, named Gallo's.  Like you, we think it is just a bit strange to find a good, no great Mexican eatery in Alaska, but we must say that the chimichangas are certainly among the best we've ever eaten.

We will return and suggest that you try it if you find yourself in the area.  There are two locations in Anchorage and one in Fairbanks.

Snowing?

With high temperatures in the 70's and 80's, it is not exactly the conditions for snow here in Anchorage; however, there are times that we are seeing what appears to be large snow flurries in the air and accumulations of white can be spotted here and there, depending on location and winds.  This is all due to a large population of cottonwood trees all around the area.  Even though these trees are not unique to Alaska, it is a bit surprising to learn that the national record tree, at 101 feet tall and abut 32 feet around at the base was discovered in Haines, AK.

Today, as I write this, there is quite a bit of this flurry activity and I'm guessing that it is probably not a good day for allergy sufferers to spend too much time outdoors.

Alaska News

Today's entry is more a news item than a blog.

When we entered Alaska, we passed through an area where a wildfire had crossed the road just a day earlier and was still burning not far from the highway.  It was so sad to see many acres of destroyed forest that were left in the wake of the burn.  Today, as I write this, there are two major fires involving thousands of acres of the Alaska landscape; one to our North in the Willow area and another to our South near the Sterling highway.  In Willow, there have been hundreds of mush dogs evacuated.  We are far enough away from both fires, but we can see a bit of the smoke from time to time.  The one in the Sterling area started just a short time after we went through that area on Sunday.

Yesterday marked the fourth consecutive day of high temperatures in the 80's in Anchorage, breaking a record from the 50's.

For those you that have not had the experience of the Summer sun in Alaska, you might find it interesting to hear that we attended a softball doubleheader on Wednesday with the first game starting at 8:45 pm on a field with no lights and the sun was just setting when we were leaving the field after 11:30.  Tonight the sun will set at 11:42 and it will not get completely dark at all before sunrise at 4:20 am.

Trip to Homer

Over the weekend, we were joined by Tracy and Jeff for a 225 mile trip down much of the Kenai Penninsula to Homer.  Most of the trip is via a two-lane road that winds its way through beautiful vistas of mountains, lakes, streams, rivers and bays.  Along the way, we stopped about 50 miles short of our destination to spend a night at a state recreation area where we sat right on the water's edge and observed a number of Golden and Bald Eagles as well as an amazing sunset.

While on the Homer Spit, Deb and Jeff spent an afternoon out on a boat fishing for Halibut, while Tracy and I took a 5- mile walk exploring the spit.  The fishing experience was a bit less than hoped for, but we did know to expect something less than on the trip Deb took with Tracy and Jeff about 10 years ago.  They did catch their limit and we have some good eating on the horizon.

See some captions in these photos for more information.

From Jewel Lake Road, Anchorage, Alaska

Do you know what this is?

We are now pretty much settled in with our RV stationed at Sand Lake Elementary School in Anchorage, just a few blocks away from our daughter's place.  We will be staying here, except for assorted trips around the area, until a bit beyond the middle of July as participants in the Anchorage School District's Camper Host Program.  While we are here, we keep an eye on the school and report any problems we may observe. We're already familiar with some of the maintenance crew since our first report concerned the water supply to our RV.  Other than this, we have been enjoying the company of Tracy and Jeff and getting familiar with our surroundings.

I'm hoping to provide something more interesting to read about our current adventure soon, but in the meantime here are the photos from the last day of our trip to Anchorage which I had mentioned to you earlier when the following message was sent to the usual followers of this blog.

We have arrived safely in Anchorage, Alaska.  This will be our base location as we visit with family and friends and explore various locations in this part of the state for the next 6 weeks or so.  The trip from Glennallen today was absolutely filled with fantastic views around just about every of the hundreds of bends as we climbed and descended the mountains along the way.  Thanx to Deb for doing most of the day's driving so I could enjoy the scenery and take photos which will be shared with you in a day or two when we've had a chance to get settled in here.

Alaska at Last

It is Memorial Day and we have finally arrived in Alaska.  Today's travels took us from Beaver Creek in the Yukon to Glennallen, Alaska. Before departing the YT, we encountered some folks we had met while spending the night at Watson Lake. Unfortunately, they were experiencing a problem with their vehicle and will probably have to spend another few days in Canada while parts are delivered and repairs are made.  Fortunately, some fellow travelers helped them out with a lift to Beaver Creek and the RCMP helped out with connections to have their vehicle towed.  Like us they are on the way to Anchorage, but could not accept our offer of a ride with their vehicle and a trailer full of goods in the Yukon.

We crossed the border in Port Alcan and promptly had our eggs, frozen chicken and half a tomato confiscated by an otherwise friendly Border Agent.  Naturally, Deb had to alter the dinner menu.  Our next encounter was with an active wildfire which we had heard about.  The active zone was no longer near the highway, but many trees have been destroyed in the area.  The entire area has been very dry as witnessed by a number of lakes that are nearly dry and the haze that you may have noticed in many of our photos is the result of all the dust in the air.

Road conditions were excellent to fair but better than others we've suffered through.  Deb has become quite fond of driving down the middle of the road or even on the wrong side when conditions require it.

We spent most of the day traveling either along or through portions of the St. Elias Range and the Wrangell mountains, but my favorite mountain photo of the day (above) was taken from a back row of the Northern Nights Campground & RV Park where we are spending the night.  More photos here.

Whitehorse to Beaver Creek

You've heard of taking the road less traveled.  That was us today, from Whitehorse to Haines Junction and on to Beaver Creek.  The trip took at least two hours longer than expected due to road conditions that the locals describe as good, meaning that they are better than they were three months ago.  For us, a 17km stretch of gravel and a 30+km stretch of gravel and packed sand/ground, is far from being good.  At speeds of as low as 5mph and averaging about 10 or 12 then 25 to 30 over other areas that were red flagged (meaning stop now), it was not the best of days for making progress.  On the other hand, we did enjoy some great views of mountains in the St. Elias Range that reach from here to the shores of the Gulf of Alaska and a brief visit to a really nice welcome center in Haines Junction.

As we sit here at the Beaver Creek RV Park, we are only about 100 miles from Tok, AK and about half that distance to the Yukon Territory/Alaska border.  Hoping for some better road conditions, we have set a target of Glennallen, Alaska for tomorrow which would put us in Anchorage on Wednesday.  These are the photos from today's trip.

The S.S. Klondike

We spent the entire day today in Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory, right along the Alcon, now more known as the Alaska Highway.  We just happened to catch part of a documentary on TV this afternoon that gave a bit of a history of the road as it was constructed in WWII, an amazing feat. I've included two photos of vehicles that were involved in the joint operations by the U.S. Army with Canadian military and civilians.  The vehicles are on display here at the Hi Country RV Park, a really lovely spot which we had also visited during our trip through the area in 2007.

Most folks who visit Whitehorse know of the S.S. Klondike, a sternwheeler built in the 30's which is now on display as a National Historic Site.  These steamers were used to deliver goods and passengers up and down the Yukon River and most of the balance of today's photos are from our self-guided tour of the boat.  It is pretty amazing to note that when these boats were operating, the downstream leg of the trip was a scant 15 hours while the upstream leg would take 3 or 4 days.

Click here for photos.

Toad River, BC to Whitehorse, YT

The photo journal for today includes our passage through the Great Northern Rockies from Toad River to Watson Lake, British Columbia and on to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory.  The first of these two days could be known as the Day of the Buffalo (plus more bears), but the second day we saw only one female caribou with her young calf.  The rest of the animals for that day were the variety with two legs (construction workers), but on the plus side of that, we took a break at a neat little cafe at Johnsons Crossing in the middle of the long work area.  Photos from both days can be found here.

We are now in Whitehorse where we have elected to take our second down day.  We made a short excursion into town where we picked up just a few provisions and visited a local landmark (more on that with some photos in your next installment).

Reporting from Toad River, BC

Just a quick note to share some photos of bears and more.  We are in Toad River this morning after a late arrival last night.  You will keep in mind that photos are shot through bugs and dirty windows and mostly while in motion.  I missed the wolf, but you can see other animals here.

Photos - First Days in Canada

OK, the first few photos in this set are from the tail end of our trek through Montana, but the rest cover some various views along the way from the US/CA border (where we were treated quite nicely BTW) to Dawson Creek where we are residing just a short distance from "Mile 0" of the Alaska Highway or Alcan where we will be rolling along tomorrow.

NOT shown in the photos is an animal (or perhaps an alien) that Deb spotted along the way today.  She says it was about the size of a turkey, had a purple/grey color, long legs and resembled one of the nasty critters from Jurrasic Park.

We're looking forward to arriving in Alaska and yes, the above is the actual forecast for the next few days in Tok.

Click here for our photos.  Be sure to see the captions for some information.

Let there be SUNSHINE

I know you have all be growing just about as weary of hearing about all the rain we've been seeing as we are in the experience.  Well, great news; the sun began to shine just as we were crossing the border into Canada and it has been nothing but sunshine ever since.  As a matter of fact, I'm observing a sunset through the windshield (at 9pm local time) as I write this.  A beautiful sight, lighting up the landscape that we will be entering tomorrow.

Replacing the rain is insects of all shapes and sizes splattering the front of our RV by the thousands.  It has been so bad that we had to stop and clean the windshield along the road today so that we could see sufficiently to continue.  When stopped for the night, Deb joined me for another scrubbing of the front of the rig and it seemed that some of the critters were attached with super glue.

This is our third night in Canada.  Night one was spent in Lethbridge, night two a bit to the west of Edmonton, both in Alberta, and today we crossed into British Columbia and Dawson Creek.  We are staying at the Northern Lights RV Park, a location we knew from our May, 2007 trip with Tracy and Jeff's RV.

As I've noted previously, we've not been taking a whole bunch of photos, but if I get a chance tonight, while we have WiFi, I will upload what we've captured so far in Canada and send them along.

Hardin to Helena

Leave Hardin, MT. Rain on, rain off.  Start construction, end construction.  Climb a mountain, descend a mountain.  Repeat, combine, repeat, repeat.  All this on I-90.  Now, do it all over agin on I-15. Arrive in Helena, MT after about 6 hours of the above.  Now, don't get me wrong, it is still worth making the trip, it is just that we are getting pretty weary of the rain part. As to the construction part, we'll take it, hoping to take advantage of the improvements on our return trip.

For those of you that have been following our adventures since the beginning in 2007, you're probably wondering about the absence of photos since we started this trip.  The primary objective of this part of the journey is to get to Alaska.  Of course, we enjoy what we see along the way, but we are not taking much time for exploration; however, we were happy to spot more antelope along today's route, along with our first two buffalo and our first moose.

Some photos from today, mostly taken while on the road, are included here to give you some sense of this part of Montana, including the moose.

A New Record

So you say..."What new record?"

Both our RV and our car are the dirtiest they've ever been!

We started the day driving through some dust, dirt and light rain, then it all got cemented when, a bit later, we drove into a fog that was so heavy we could barely see a few feet ahead.  Fortunately, this was just as we were approaching a rest area.

As we drove through this part of Wyoming and Montana, we could not help but wonder at a few things:
- just how vast this country is, with lots of wide-open spaces
- exits along the interstate that lead directly to dirt roads
- only 150 years ago, wars being fought over these lands
- more antelopes than cattle and people - not really, but...
- another small population county seat - He'konemâhoeve'ho'eno

A few photos to share - click here.

Greetings from Black Hawk, SD

Just a quick note today to keep you informed of our progress.  Continuing with some pretty high winds, not quite as bad as yesterday, and construction, we finally reached Three Flags RV Park in Black Hawk, a place we stayed during our 2009 adventures with Mary and Bill.

Yesterday, I failed to note that we had passed by the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD, and today we passed the area of the Badlands and made the obligatory stop at Wall Drug where the coffee still sells for just 5 cents.  If you are interested in reading more about these locations, you are invited to review our blog entries from the Summer of 2009.  Just click here and scroll down the right-hand side of the blog to find the blogs from that period.

One personal note to Theresa - your nice loaf of bread will NOT make it to Alaska, or even to Canada since we already enjoyed about a 1/3 of it with our Ziti dinner tonight.

Plankinton, SD

After another day of difficult driving in the wind from Council Bluffs, Iowa via I-29 then I-90 to Plankinton, SD, we were so very pleased to encounter some bright spots to end our day.

First, we chose to park our rig at Hills RV Park and Campground, just off I-90 at exit 308.  This is not an RV Resort but is nicely kept with all pull-thru sites and easy access to the highway.  The owner is quite nice and friendly and was kind enough to make some suggestions for dinner, which leads me to bright spot number two:

We add our endorsement of the 5-star rating.  Owned and operated by Teresa L. Bathke, Al's I-90 Cafe is located just across the street from Hills RV Park and is a must try spot for anyone traveling through this area.  Teresa is quite an excellent cook and we very much enjoyed our meal of some delicious soup, followed by a hot roast beef sandwich (made with Teresa's own fresh bread), with mashed potatoes and homemade gravy.  It must be noted that Teresa does everything that is required to run this place and mostly on her own.  We welcome her as the latest addition to the followers of this blog and wish her all the best.

A Down Day in Council Bluffs, Iowa

We elected to proclaim a "down day" following a difficult drive of only about 225 miles across a good portion of Iowa yesterday.  The major problem was a chilly wind that we were driving against for the entire distance (I really don't want to know how much it affected our gas mileage).  Of course, this was also compounded by plenty of construction along the way and some rain, most of which was encountered when Deb was driving.  Ah, but that is typical.

Most of today was spent in the less glamorous aspects of our travels, like laundry, cleaning, cooking, checking fluid levels, tire pressures and making sure that the TV antenna that I reported on earlier is sufficiently secured until I get a chance for repairs.

Tomorrow we will be heading first North and then West and you'll probably be hearing from us next from some location in South Dakota.

Mothers' Day in Iowa

We are spending this night at Sudbury Court Motel and RV Park.  It is advertised as "Clean, Comfortable, and Affordable" and holds true to all of the above.  The RV park boasts only about 20 sites, but it is nicely kept and includes WiFi.  Unfortunately, being located 7 miles from the interstate, it is not widely known and as a consequence there are only three sites occupied as we sit here tonight.

If you are like us, you've never heard of Marengo, Iowa, but it is the County Seat of Iowa County with a population of around 2500, much smaller than what we normally think of as the seat of county government, although it is not that much smaller than where we spent our first full month in an RV in 2007 in Folkston, GA.

After all these years in an RV, I finally managed to do it.  I failed to lower our TV antenna when we hit the road this morning and within just a few minutes it was attacked by an overhanging branch.  This is something we always try to be careful about and Deb even reminded me several times this morning, but...  I guess I'll be searching for parts.

The Best and the Worst

It has the best of roads, it has the worst of roads (repeat - over and over).  Alex, the question is:  What is Interstate 80? In our travels since 2007, we continue to find more and more of this.  The country's highways are in really bad shape.  We encounter construction area after construction area, but only rarely do we have the opportunity to enjoy the results.  Then we went from bad to worse when we needed to travel North on Indiana highway 49.  If this is not the most battered and worn-out surface we have ever driven on, it has got to be a close second.

Tonight we are staying at the Sand Creek Campground near Chesterton, IN.  I don't usually post such statements, but I suggest you avoid this place unless, like us, you are very low on options.  For those of you who know Deb really well, you will understand when I say that she is (predictably) not thrilled.

Not to be entirely negative for today's entry, we were pleased to note that the RV and boat manufacturing industries seem to have recovered quite nicely since our last visit to Indiana in 2009.  Have no doubt, roads and RV park aside, we continue to enjoy our travels.

Leaving PA

We have actually already left PA and we're spending the first night of this Ultimate North American Road Trip in Ohio.  We expect to arrive in Anchorage, AK, sometime in the last week of May.  For this night, we are resting ON the Ohio Turnpike. We were previously not aware of this option, but for any of you who might be traveling through this area in an RV, there are four Service Plazas on the Turnpike that provide RV sites where it is possible to stay for the night with electricity (for a charge). Here at the Portage Service Plaza near Streetsboro, OH, there are 10 sites available, half of which have 50 amp service.  It is evident that there are not too many folks aware of this availability since we are the only ones here as of 10pm.  As a bonus, there is also a Starbucks here.

Since we have traveled and reported on much of this route we are taking from PA to AK, I will be doing my best to provide commentary and photos that are at least somewhat of a departure from earlier blogs.  Consequently, with only the above exception, I'm not including any pictures today since we've spent most of the day on Interstate 80, which we've covered a number of times in the past; however, before today, I had never seen the sign near exit 111 in PA.

Déjà Vu

On the 14th of May, 2007, we departed Houston, TX, for a trip to Anchorage, AK, to deliver Tracy and Jeff's motor home.  This trip and preparations were reflected in the initial blog entries we posted and you can review these here if you are interested.  At that time, we would never have guessed that this (traveling by RV) would soon become our way of life, a decision that was reached within days of beginning this first adventure.  The following month we found an RV that suited our needs and in October of that year we started moving around the country.  As most of you know, much of our travel has been represented in our blog through narratives and photos ever since.

In the next week or so, on or about the 7th of May, 2015, we will begin somewhat of a repeat of our first adventure when we will depart PA for a trip to AK where we intend to spend the entire Summer at various locations.  Our route through Western Canada and Alaska will be pretty much the same as we traveled in 2007 (options are somewhat limited) and the trip from PA to MT will pretty much follow the first part of a trip we made with Mary and Bill in the Summer of 2009 when we visited the Badlands of SD and other locations in that part of the country.

You can be sure that we will be sharing some commentary and pictures as time and WiFi permit as we make our way along the Ultimate North American Road Trip, a general, preliminary route of which can be seen here.

Bass Lake

After spending three nights at Bass Lake in Dillon, SC, we headed a bit further North to Emporia, VA, where we are staying for two days as we continue our slow crawl toward PA.  The road trip, at this point, continues to be the typical drive along I-95, seeing not much more than trees and traffic along the way; however, thanks to timing and weather conditions, we did make one unusual observation when what appeared to be a fog or smoke, was actually the heaviest pollen floating through the air that we have ever seen as our black car turned to a yellow color.

While at the lake, Mary, Bill and Deb tried some fishing, but mostly not catching while I roamed about the area.  Along a stream near the lake, I spotted a beaver dam that was creating a level change of about 1.5 feet as you can observe in one of the photos available here.

The Golden Isles

We visited the Golden Isles area of Georgia during our first extensive stay in one location when we started our RV adventures during October/November of 2007.  This time we added another island to our list of locations, St. Simon's Island which is just a bit to the North of one of our favorite sites, Jekyll Island.  Of particular note here (and you'll see lots of photos) is the lighthouse, built in 1810, replacing the original which was destroyed during the Civil War.

Click here for this year's photos.

For more information about our visits to this area, you are invited to view the blogs and photos that we published in 2007.  Click here for the first entry and here for the second.

More Cedar Key

Today we did a short (less than one hour) relocation from Cedar Key to Williston, FL, where we will be spending the next week.  For our last full day at Cedar Key we explored some of the other islands around the area which included a visit to the Cedar Key Museum State Park.  You can find a few photos with this link.

Shell Mound and Manatee Springs

While some of you in the more Northern areas are still encountering snow, we spent March 20th discovering some more locations in the area of the Lower Suwannee NWR with the temperature in the middle 80's.

First, a visit to a shell mound.  Not having done any advance research, I was expecting just some pile of shells.  Well, how about an area of over 5 acres and 28 feet high with an interesting history (see link above).  The mound has been covered with trees and other vegetation over the last 1000 years, but the composition of probably trillions of shells is still evident on the trail that crosses it. 

Next was a visit to Manatee Springs State Park which included a walk around the first magnitude spring (an average of 1 million gallons of fresh water per day) and a hike along a long, elevated boardwalk to the point where the water from the spring enters the Suwannee River.  There were no Manatees in the area this day, but we did spot many snakes and one 'gator swimming across the river.

Click here for photos of these adventures.

Cedar Key, Florida

Having completed our Winter stay in Frostproof, FL, we have now moved a few hours North and West to Cedar Key which is an accumulation of islands just off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico.  There are 6 larger islands in the group which are connected to each other and the mainland by bridges, but other large islands and at least hundreds of smaller ones can only be reached by boat.  The outermost island of the group, Seahorse Key, boasts a central ridge with an elevation of 52 feet, making it the highest point on Florida's West Coast.  The area is responsible for the production of 95% of the farm-raised clams harvested in the U.S.

Please enjoy these photos of the area that were taken as we explored Cemetary Point via a boardwalk above a tidal marsh, observed two young bald eagles near their nest (no white heads yet) and took in the sights, sounds and food of the commercial area along Dock Street.

Note:  In each set of photos you can click on the "Slideshow" button above the album title.

Also, here is another set of photos from last month when we repeated our Carnival Paradise experience, this time joined by two lovely young ladies.  As you might conclude from the photos, we all had a really nice time.

Lakes

In an earlier blog entry I mentioned all the lakes, not just in this area, but in Florida in general.  We still have quite a few to explore in the immediate vicinity and I doubt that we will visit them all, but here are a few photos that include some shots of a couple more.

Oranges

In a post last month, I mentioned that in our current location in Frostproof, FL, we were sitting in the midst of many orange groves.  Oranges, oranges everywhere and they are mostly to drink.  Florida's Natural headquarters and Welcome Center is located in Lake Wales, just a short distance to our North and most of the groves that surround us for many miles are dedicated to the juice that is produced by the 1100 growers that own and operate this facility.  

Click here for some photos of our visit (there is a Slideshow button available when you open the site).  See photo captions for additional information.