Welcome Back

What a sunrise our first morning back in Paris, MO. And, Sophie is so glad to sit on my lap and chew on her toy. We are all content to sit rather than jumping in the truck to take off again.

It was a great adventure. Only 10,460 miles! After all that riding, we are ready to remain parked for a while. We arrived here Thursday afternoon.

We have seen Sharon's parents. It will take a while to see everyone and get the RV and truck cleaned inside and out. One day at a time, don't have a time schedule now. We will be here until we get "Hitch Itch".

RAPID CITY VISITOR CENTER

Today we made it to Wall, SD. We aimed to get a little farther but, we stopped in Rapid City a couple of hours for a visit and wore ourselves (and Sophie) out visiting.

Most who read the blog do not know Beth, Lee, & Obi. A few of you will. We stayed next to them at Kerrville last winter. Obi & Sophie are best friends and had a great time romping and playing again today. We certainly enjoyed seeing them and talking about old times, Alaska (they have been too), and RVing. They are full time also and will be headed to TX in Oct. Thanks guys, for driving up to meet us.

It is hot & dry here in SD too...93 now. We have 625 miles to go. Probably try to get near Sioux City, IA tomorrow. If we do, we can probably get to Paris, Thursday. Hot here too, so no use to pay for another night on the road when we have a site waiting on us.

Happy Trails Everyone!

WELCOME HOME

"Old Glory" was flying high when we rolled into Great Falls yesterday. It was great to see and reminded us of what a wonderful nation we live in. We are glad to be back.

Tonight we are in Sheridan, WY. What a difference several hundred miles makes. It is hot and dry here and on our trip, it was always cool and often wet. Hopefully, we will bring some "cool/wet" back to you guys.

It looks like we should be back in MO on Thursday or Friday barring any unforeseen events. We have friends workamping near Rapid City and we may try to make connection for a short visit tomorrow.

Thanks to all of you who read the blog and for all your positive comments. Thanks also for being you and doing all you do to support us and each other. We certainly do miss you.

Wherever you are in your travels,
Be Safe!

LAKE LOUISE

Another mountain lake. Sure it will be pretty but so are the many others we have seen. We parked the truck and put Sophie in her crate. The parking lot is half full at 9:00 a.m. What is the big deal?

We start the trail and walk a short distance through the trees, all of a sudden I look up and cannot believe my eyes. Oh my! I see what the big deal is.
Talk about "awesome"! There just are no words to describe the sight. And, No, the picture does NOT capture the beauty, nor the vastness, of this beautiful lake and the mountains behind it.

I could sit and look at this for hours and hours. I am sure people do.

We moved on and drove to Banff via the Bow Valley Parkway. We had been assured of seeing wildlife on this route. Other than a squirrel and a couple of birds, we saw no wildlife. We did see plenty of bikers along this 35 mile stretch.

Arriving at Banff, I wanted fuel. The fuel stations at Jasper and Lake Louise were so crowded and tight, I was hoping for something bigger. It was not to be. I wiggled in and found the diesel pump while vehicles kept crowding in. When I had finished and climbed into the truck, Sharon said, "There is no way you are getting out of here." Well some how I did.

We parked the truck in a shaded spot and abandoned Sophie once more. We walked to downtown Banff and to the Visitor Center. After browsing there, we went across the street to Starbucks to use their wifi. We need to check in with our whereabouts occasionally.

Then to St. James Gate, Irish Pub for fish and chips, and a Guiness. We browsed the shops for a while after eating and then decided maybe Sophie Rose would like out of the crate. It took us three times around the area to remember where we parked but, both the truck and Sophie were right where we left them.

Banff, though a crowded little community, on this August day, is a clean, upscale, pretty place. Beautiful place to visit, wouldn't like to live there place!

We again took 1A, Bow Valley Parkway, returning to our campsite at Lake Louise Campground. Just before we got back, we did see a black bear. He was good size but was in the trees enough that he did not show up in our pictures.

Banff National Park is a scenic area. With the other lakes, mountains, and wildlife, Lake Louise is a perfect way to end this chapter of our adventure.

Tomorrow, August 19, (Happy Birthday Brenda) we head back to the USA. We have had the trip we had hoped for and now we are excited about returning to Missouri to see family and friends.

ABATHASCA FALLS

We have spent three days in Jasper National Park with 781 camp sites in Whistler's Campground where we stayed. There are others but not this big.

We were warned of bears in the park however, we have not seen any. We have seen several elk.

We have visited the city of Jasper, eaten at Tim Horton's, driven the 93A mountain road, seen the Whistler Mountain Tram, The Columbia Icefields and glaciers, and the Athabasca River and Falls.

Tomorrow, it is on toward Banff and we will be staying at Lake Louise Campground.

TOP OF THE WORLD HIGHWAY

 The Top of the World Highway is so named because much of its route meanders along the tops of mountains and ridges with endless views. Those driving along this route are able to see beautiful vistas including spectacular alpine valleys.  

Five of us on the Alaska Trek opted to leave the group and travel Top of the World Highway. We went over the 108 miles from Chicken to Dawson City in five and one half hours. We averaged less than 20 mph. Arriving at the Yukon River, we drove our rigs on the ferry which took us across to Dawson City. The ferry ride was a story itself. 

The views from the highway were awesome and  breath taking. From the mountain tops we could see for miles. We took pictures, however, they just do not capture the vastness of what we were looking at. 

As you can see, the road is rough. Mostly dirt and often "wash board" like. It was not as narrow as we had been led to believe. There were some very steep hills, both up and down, with no railings and a long way down if you would run off. I was very glad it was not raining and slick. 

After arriving at Dawson City, with only one paved street, we rewarded ourselves with dinner at "The Drunken Goat". It was one of the best meals we had on the trip. Of course, we were pretty dry after that ride so, we did need to quench our thirst too.



Then, we had to see one of the great shows of the Yukon at "Diamond Tooth Gerties". All the guys enjoyed the dancing girls. Diamond Tooth Gertie was a great singer but not much to look at.

Dawson was a really fun place and probably one of our favorite cities on the trip. If you ever come this way, don't miss it.

We spent the night in Dawson City and then went half way to Whitehorse the next day. Whitehorse was where we rejoined the group. Thankfully, we missed the stretch the rest of the group was traveling from Beaver Creek to Destruction Bay. Most of us felt this was the worst highway we have ever seen. It was after this drive that we had our slide out issues.

Top of the World Highway was quite an experience. Yes, it is rough and most people don't choose to do it, however, we are glad we did it and happy the truck and RV were able to hold up to complete the ride. Read about it, study on it, and make your own decision. For us, it was one of the highlights on our trip.

This trip really is the adventure of a lifetime. We recommend "Adventure Treks" and feel the staff did an excellent job of making our experience the adventure it was, into the "Last Frontier".

FAREWELL

Haven't updated for a while. We have been on the move and the Internet we have had was not very reliable.

We arrived at Prince George, BC this afternoon. This is our final day with our tour group. The "Farewell" dinner is this evening. It has been a great group and we have made some terrific new friends.

We have had a great experience and we will all have stories to tell. We have seen mountains and glaciers, whales and bears, dirt roads and highways, as well as sharing meals and campfires.

I didn't have a picture of the entire group but, I do have a picture of all the dogs making the "Trek". They have all done well too."

Happy Trails to you all,
Til we meet again!