When you think of Valdez, what do you think of? Is it the destructive 1964 Good Friday earthquake, measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale and the tsunami that followed which caused the Army Corps of Engineers to move the town 4 miles away? Or, perhaps the 800-mile-long transatlantic pipeline, opened on August 1, 1977, which […]
Alaska’s “Little Switzerland”: Valdez Read More »
Oh no…another wildfire. We needed to revise our route again. Instead of going northwest to Fairbanks, we are headed southwest to Valdez, with a stop in Glennallen. Since we are traveling during the 4th of July week, the campgrounds in Valdez were booked until the 6th, so we stayed 4 nights in Glennallen. It worked
Mosquitos, A National Park, and Salmon: Alaska at its Finest Read More »
Well, for this blog I had a hard time deciding on which photo to use for the feature photo on the top of the blog. We had our first bear photo opportunity during our drive to the Alaska border and as soon as we took it, Dave said, there is your top blog picture. But
From Whitehorse, Yukon, we had planned to take the Klondike Highway northwest to Dawson City, Yukon – home of the famous Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s. However, due to an uncontrolled wildfire, we needed to look at different options. One was going south to Skagway, AK, taking a 1-hour ferry across Chilkoot Inlet
Detour to Haines, Alaska Read More »
What is a sign post forest? Well, back in 1942, during the construction of the Alaska Highway, U.S. soldier Carl K. Lindley was spending time in Watson Lake, British Columbia recovering from an injury. He was asked by his commanding officer to repair and erect directional signposts. While completing the job, he added a sign
More fun on the Alaska Highway Read More »
Yes! We snagged two of the 10 hard-to-get first come first serve campsites at the glacier made, Azure-blue Muncho Lake. We arrived at 10:45 am (after a stop at the Testa Lodge to buy two of their famous cinnamon rolls), quickly backed into 2 lakeside campsites, and by 11 am, all 10 were taken.
More Great Stops on the Alaska Highway Read More »
What is so special about the Alaska Highway, formerly known as the Alcan (Alaska-Canadian Highway)? For many years, there had been talks between officials in United States and Canada about building a road connecting the contiguous US to Alaska with no agreements reached. However, after the attack on Pearl Harbor and Japanese threats to the
On the Alaska Highway! Read More »
Our next stop was Calgary. Time for the big city! I had no idea how big Calgary was, with a population of 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. We were staying in an RV park in Okotoks, a town about 24 miles from downtown Calgary. I was thinking it was going to be a small
Continuing North in Canada… Read More »
As the weather is warming, we are ready to head to Alaska and drove through Montana heading northwest. I am amazed at the vastness of Montana’s landscape. I now understand why it is called “Big Sky Country.” Trying to capture the scenic views in a photo is difficult. Here is one from the top of
Montana and Yes…Canada! Read More »
I have a feeling you know what Sturgis, SD is famous for, so why is this one of our stops, you ask? Well, we were having an intermittent problem with our F350 truck since Holland, MI. After a long drive, it would not start. But Dave was able to slide under the truck and wiggle
A Close Encounter in Sturgis, SD? Read More »