Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Blog updates are going to be few and far between for a couple of months.  My computer keyboard has died.

Wednesday–Saturday, August 24-27, 2011

On Wednesday, we drove to Camp Wal-Mart in Gillette, WY so that we could spend the night and be able to enter the grounds early for the Escapade.  We spent the night next to Bryan and Jane Rose, and just around the corner from Keith and Shirley Murphy and Betty Bear.  We had a nice social, and then went to dinner at Perkins before retiring for the night.

Thursday, more of the staff entered the Escapade.  We arranged a few tables, had a staff meeting, and then went to MacDonald’s with Denny and Susie.

Friday required a little more set-up work, another staff meeting and social.  Then The Escapade provided a delicious dinner for the staff.

Saturday, the Row people arrived.  The Row is made up of Escapees Members from around the country representing their Chapters, Certified BOF’s and Co-op’s.  After setting up their Row tables, we had a short meeting and rehearsal for the Parade of Banners.  Then, at 5:00, we had our Row Dinner.  It was another delicious dinner provided by the Chop House.  After dinner, the four of us (Orr’s and Forbes) went to the Escapees Boot Camp to participate in their “full-timers panel”.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

We drove to the 7th Ranch RV Campground just outside of The Custer’s Last Stand Battlefield at Garryowen, MT.  It is a beautiful park on the side of a hill with a wonderful view.  Marilyn did a load of wash, and while we were eating dinner a lady walked by giving air hugs after I waved at her.  We went out to meet her, and it turned out to be Janis Lasko, Escapees magazine editor.  We had a nice visit when she came in for a few minutes.  Today was windy, and since the campground was a few miles down a dirt road, the Jeep looks like it did while we were in Alaska.

Type at you later.

Sunday & Monday, August 21-22, 2011

Sunday, we started moving again.  We left Great Falls, MT, and drove to the Elks in Helena, MT.  Shortly after we left Great Falls, Marilyn said that I-15 seemed to be deserted and flat, so she would be willing to drive the motorhome if I would let her.  She drove about 30 miles.  She did great, although she does not want to drive in traffic.  If needed, she now feels confident that she can drive in an emergency.

Twenty miles north of Helena, we stopped at the Gates of The Mountains Recreation Area to take a boat ride into the canyon that Lewis and Clark spent a night camped in.  It is a beautiful boat ride, and well worth the cost.  We rode on the Sacajawea II.

 

These are what Lewis and Clark called the Gates of the Mountains (Rockies).  Notice how the opening seems to close depending upon one’s position in the Missouri River.

After arriving in Helena, we drove to find the Capitol so that we would not spend time finding it in the morning.

Monday, we toured the Capitol of Montana

 .  Inside the Capitol are stained glass windows and murals.  This mural in the House of Representatives was painted by Charles M. Russell.    We then started visiting the Montana History Museum.   At 1:00, we took the little tour train around the city of Helena.  The tour is also well worth the ride.  After our tours, we left the Elks, and drove to the Interstate at Three Forks where we camped for the night.  The thought was that electric was worth the campground fee versus the cost of diesel fuel to run the generator and air conditioner.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

This morning I reset all of my Pressure Pro fittings.  Seven out of 10 worked.  I will have to see what it takes to get them working at Escapade.  Since they did not all work, I checked the air in all of the tires with a tire gauge, and added air where necessary.  Marilyn and I went to Sam’s and Wal-Mart.  Then it was time for social hour with our 4 couples (Hill’s, Del Rosario’s, Forbes, and Frank & Gloria) for the last time here in Great Falls.  Most of us will see each other again at Escapade, but we are definitely starting to go our own ways. 

Saturday–Friday, August 13-19, 2011

This has been a nice relaxing week.  We have celebrated Marilyn’s Birthday by going out for a nice Mexican dinner, and tonight Marilyn and I will celebrate our 44th Anniversary with barbecued steak and shrimp along with champagne.  We have gone shopping to re-stock our cabinets with food since we tried not to have much when we were crossing borders.  We have had good 4:00 socials.  Wednesday, Dennis gave Marilyn a 3 hour motorhome driving lessen.  He started in a large parking lot, and then she drove it back to the campground.  She did great, and now wants to try driving out on the interstates.

Monday–Tuesday-Wednesday- Thursday-Friday, August 08-09-10-11-12, 2011

Monday, we drove from Houston, BC to Prince George, BC.  It was a nice but uneventful drive.  We did stop to take a picture of the sign welcoming us to Burns, BC.  It shows how the flower power of the sixties can affect today.

It really is an old VW turned into a flower planter.

For dinner, the four of us went to Fat Burger for burgers and fries.

Tuesday, we left Prince George, and continued our drive towards Jasper National Park.  We are spending the night in Robson Mountain Provincial Park at the Lucerne Campground.  It is a beautiful boondock park in the trees near a lake.  Along the way, we saw beautiful Mount Henry.

Wednesday.  We continued our drive south and east (25 miles) and entered Jasper National Park.  We are spending the night in Whistler’s Campground.  After getting set up, the four of went in to town for lunch.  In town, we saw these deer eating the brush.  We went our separate ways after lunch.  Marilyn and I drove out to Old Fort where we took a short hike along the rim of Malign Canyon.  The views of the rapids, and falls were great.  Next we drove down to Malign Point where the mountains were mirrored in the lake.  Our final stop for the day, before heading back to the hose for dinner, was at Athabascan Falls.

Thursday.  We continued our drive through Jasper and Banff National Parks.  As we left Whistler’s Campground, we saw these elk eating brush inside the park.  We took many pictures of glaciers, and we ended up south of Calgary, AB in a little public park in High River, AB.

Friday.  Drove from High River, AB to Great Falls, MT.  The phones are turned back on.  Sharon and Don were going to get us in to Malmstrom AFB, but when we went to sign in, the base was locked down for up to 3 hours.  So we are spending the night at Sam’s Club, and will go to the FamCamp tomorrow morning.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Yesterday, we said our final goodbye to Alaska (Hyder), and this morning we left Stewart, BC in order to start south.  We drove about 200 miles and stopped for the night near Houston, BC.  During the drive, we took pictures of the scenery (glaciers and mountains).  First, instead of digging a hole for a telephone pole, they mound rocks around it.

Next is Bear Glacier.

This is called the seven sisters, a series of peaks.

 

And last, we have the Hudson’s Bay Glacier (there was no sign to indicate how it got its name.

Saturday, August 11, 2011

We left our campground this afternoon, and drove the approximately 5 miles to Hyder, AK.  In fact, we made the drive more than once.  Here is a picture of the sign made to welcome people to Stewart.

After driving through Hyder, and past Fish Creek, we continued the 23 miles to Salmon Glacier (from sea level to over 3,000 feet).  The road to the glacier was created for the mines, and turned in to a wonderful tourist attraction after the mines closed.  Here are remnants of a couple of those mines.

The bottom of the glacier is called the toe, so that was one of our next stops.

There are several glaciers to see along the route to Salmon Glacier.

Salmon Glacier is so large, that one can not get in to just one picture.  It turns to the left, and then continues down to the Salmon River.

In this view, the glacier appears to turn to the right.  We were told that this area is normally filled with water, and called Summit Lake.  Ten days ago, the lake drained, and flowed under the glacier.  The first time, it caused flooding, but no more.

Here are pictures of Don and Sharon, and Marilyn and I with Salmon Glacier in the background at the summit viewpoint.

After leaving Salmon Glacier, we stopped at Fish Creek to see bears.  Once again, there were none.  Then it was home for social hour.  We drove back to Hyder to find a place for dinner.  We tried the Glacier Inn (recommended by the campground owner).  It was a pool hall dive full of smoke.  So we nixed that one.

Then we drove back to Stewart and spotted the Bitter Creek Café.  Prices were not bad, and the food was delicious.  We would definitely eat here again if ever we return.  We could even pay the bill in US$ at an even exchange.  I am going to see if the gas station will do the same.  That is a great exchange rate since the C$ is worth more than the US$.  The liquor store took US$, and apologized for having to give C$ in change.

Thursday–Friday, August 4-5, 2011

Thursday, we arrived at Bear River RV Park in Stewart, BC.  Along the way, we stopped at Jade City where 92% of the world’s jade is mined.

We did get a glimpse of one bear, but no picture.  We stopped for a picture of this glacier which was across the river from the road.

Since it was Don’s birthday, we went out to dinner at the King Edward Hotel in Stewart, after driving to see Hyder, AK.  It is an old town with access by small boat, small plane or by road from Stewart, BC.  None of the roads in Hyder were paved, judging from the few buildings in town, there are no building codes.  There are no US Customs agents getting into Hyder, but Canada has its Customs Agents for the return to Stewart.  This is a picture of the main street of downtown Hyder.

Friday we stopped at the Stewart Visitor Center.

Then we drove to the US Post Office to find that it has decided to observe Pacific Time instead of the Alaska Time that it did before we arrived.

We had lunch at the landmark “Bus” where Marilyn and I had fried salmon and chips.  Don had shrimp, and Sharon had a chowder bread bowl.

Final stop for the afternoon, we went to Fish Creek to see salmon spawn and bears eat salmon.  There were no bears, but we did get to see salmon and a young eagle.

On the way back to the RV park, we stopped for a picture of this glacier hanging above the town.

After dinner, Marilyn and I returned to Fish Creek where we did get a glimpse of a bear a little after 8pm, along with a hawk, and more fish (unfortunately, they were so far away that they come out blurry).