Day 29, Thursday, 7/16: Slept in late and were getting things ready to head out when we noticed the same tire on the trailer was flat again!! Took the truck/camper to the other RV park to dump/fill, bought ice and a really great book on the Northwest Arctic. Decided to put air in the tire and take it back to the place that “fixed” it. We do have a small air compressor along which helped. So back to town we went. It was the owner of the shop this time that fixed the tire. Finally left Inuvik just after noon. We weren’t staying very far from town but the road between was awful! It was paved but had frost heaves big time so you felt like you were on a roller coaster and had to drive really slow with the camper on…. Made us glad to finally get back on the dirt/gravel since except for some pot holes it is smoother! Bob is good at dodging those pot holes now.
Crossed on the ferry at Red River and then on to the MacKenzie crossing. When we pulled up there the ferry crewman told us a small motorhome was in the middle of the ferry and they had locked themselves out of their rig! So, until they could break in we wouldn’t be able to cross! They could only take a few cars at a time and no big rigs at all. We happened to have a metal coat hanger to give them and on the next crossing they were able to get in… In the meantime, there was a First Nation guy selling dried fish so I bought some. It’s in strips like jerky and quite tasty. He has a camp right there on the river and lots of people who are waiting for the ferry buy from him. The ferry crewman also told us that they had to shut down the ferry yesterday due to high winds so it is good that we stayed another day in Inuvik. Stopped at Fort MacPherson and discovered there isn’t much of interest there… Our goal today was to get back into the mountains which is just about where you cross into the Yukon. We are staying in an old gravel pit, off the road, with fantastic views all around. Got out our chairs and sat there enjoying the sites. There is a slight breeze so the bugs aren’t bad and the sky is clear. It is so quiet!! Makes you feel like you are the only ones on earth!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Inuvik Day 2 plus
Day 28, Wednesday, 7/15: It rained off and on all night and today the wind is just blowing like crazy! There is some blue sky so who knows what is ahead. One thing for sure, we can’t put the camper back on the truck in this wind!!! So, we are hoping sometime today it will calm down. Plan to leave in the morning if all goes well…. We did not use SPOT yesterday. We are still in the same campground in Inuvik and if the sky remains somewhat clear we can use it today. Going into town for a bit and will try to post this on the blog at the library where we can have internet access. Might snow tonight. Weather service is similar to Union County... ya just never know if it is real...
Inuvik Day 2
Day 27, Tuesday, 7/14: It started to rain during the night and it has been windy and blustery all day today. Had a late breakfast and went into town to check things out. Houses are all built off the ground and the sewer, water, etc. are all in insulated large pipes above ground that go from building to building. Will get some pictures because it is hard to describe. The ground here is very unstable due to the permafrost.
Checked out the grocery/and just about everything else store. We won’t be buying anything here as it is extremely expensive! Found the liquor store and bought a few bottles of wine because of course that is worth it. Decided we will stay here until Thursday and then spend 3 days going back to Dawson City. They are having a music festival this week-end and the RV park was booked so if we don’t arrive there until Sunday there should be a place for us. It was a nice park. Tomorrow we might check out the Arts Festival going on here in Inuvik and have a few other things we want to do. Hoping the weather dries out a bit. We came back to the camper about 2:00 and took a nap. Got up, had a bite of supper and played cards (Skip-Bo), some games on the computer (Cribbage) and doing some reading. It is now almost 11:00 p.m. and the sun hasn’t set yet. Wind is still howling but the sun is shining through the clouds. We are nice and cozy in our little camper!
Checked out the grocery/and just about everything else store. We won’t be buying anything here as it is extremely expensive! Found the liquor store and bought a few bottles of wine because of course that is worth it. Decided we will stay here until Thursday and then spend 3 days going back to Dawson City. They are having a music festival this week-end and the RV park was booked so if we don’t arrive there until Sunday there should be a place for us. It was a nice park. Tomorrow we might check out the Arts Festival going on here in Inuvik and have a few other things we want to do. Hoping the weather dries out a bit. We came back to the camper about 2:00 and took a nap. Got up, had a bite of supper and played cards (Skip-Bo), some games on the computer (Cribbage) and doing some reading. It is now almost 11:00 p.m. and the sun hasn’t set yet. Wind is still howling but the sun is shining through the clouds. We are nice and cozy in our little camper!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Inuvik Day One
Day 26, Monday, 7/13: Well, Bob decided that we should start out early this morning so we were on the road at 3:00 AM! Of course, it is daylight no matter when you travel and he thought we might see some critters. The sun was just above the horizon and it was nice. Several reasons we won’t be doing this again! The sun was full in our eyes, there was fog in spots, we didn’t see any critters except for a few rabbits and grouse. We arrived at Eagle Plains Lodge/Motel at 6:00 hoping to have breakfast but their restaurant doesn’t open until 7:00 and the fuel station doesn’t open until 8:00. So Bob is having a nap and I am updating our journal…. More later….
We had a great breakfast at the Lodge/Motel. It is quite a place! The complex was built in 1978 when the Dempster Highway was finished and they are totally self-sufficient. They use generators as there is no power out here. The complex includes the motel/lodge, restaurant/lounge, RV park, public laundry and showers, fuel station with repair shop and helicopter pad. Water is trucked in and sewer is trucked out! We were surprised that the breakfast was NOT expensive. The young lady that waited on us was a college student that works here in the summers. She said it is great because there is no place to spend money so she is able to save! They do have Wi-Fi here but we didn’t take advantage of it since we had internet connection yesterday.
After breakfast we fueled and headed on north. This area is so VAST it is just amazing. You drive for miles and miles and the only thing that is man made is the road! There are no fences or power poles or houses, just an occasional microwave/cell tower on a mountaintop. We have been a little surprised at how many cars and RV’s are on this road. Not as many big trucks as we expected though.
Crossed the Arctic Circle this afternoon. Once we left the mountains we had expected to be in a flat environment which for the most part it was. The surprising thing was that there were so many of the small black spruce forests on both sides of the road. There is a section that is 13 miles of perfectly straight road! Crossed two rivers by ferry today which is always an adventure. The black flies seem to hang around in those spots! Since we got up at 3:00, we stopped at a gravel pit and Bob took another nap (I read my Kindle). He is driving which is a little stressful since you have to watch for potholes and such. Once we left the mountains the scenery was not nearly as spectacular so we just kept driving until we reached Inuvik! Arrived here about 5:30 pm and the first campground was a wash. The sites were too small and we could only stay one night as they have people with reservations. There is an Arts Festival in town starting at 10:00 in the morning! So, we backtracked to another Territorial Park and they were VERY accommodating. We have a nice pull through spot and decided since it is about 5 km. outside of town that we would disconnect the trailer and put the camper on the ground so we have the truck to go sight seeing. They have nice showers here and a viewing tower to see the McKenzie River delta area. Will take some pictures soon. Camper and trailer are dirty/dusty inside and out. 34.5 Miles to the Arctic Ocean.
Bob is thinking Speed Week in Mid August.. We are about 7 full days drive from Bonneville… Bob’s thinking probably stinks… Alaska… Nevada… Alaska.. Utah.. Alaska… salt… ALASKA… much better.
We had a great breakfast at the Lodge/Motel. It is quite a place! The complex was built in 1978 when the Dempster Highway was finished and they are totally self-sufficient. They use generators as there is no power out here. The complex includes the motel/lodge, restaurant/lounge, RV park, public laundry and showers, fuel station with repair shop and helicopter pad. Water is trucked in and sewer is trucked out! We were surprised that the breakfast was NOT expensive. The young lady that waited on us was a college student that works here in the summers. She said it is great because there is no place to spend money so she is able to save! They do have Wi-Fi here but we didn’t take advantage of it since we had internet connection yesterday.
After breakfast we fueled and headed on north. This area is so VAST it is just amazing. You drive for miles and miles and the only thing that is man made is the road! There are no fences or power poles or houses, just an occasional microwave/cell tower on a mountaintop. We have been a little surprised at how many cars and RV’s are on this road. Not as many big trucks as we expected though.
Crossed the Arctic Circle this afternoon. Once we left the mountains we had expected to be in a flat environment which for the most part it was. The surprising thing was that there were so many of the small black spruce forests on both sides of the road. There is a section that is 13 miles of perfectly straight road! Crossed two rivers by ferry today which is always an adventure. The black flies seem to hang around in those spots! Since we got up at 3:00, we stopped at a gravel pit and Bob took another nap (I read my Kindle). He is driving which is a little stressful since you have to watch for potholes and such. Once we left the mountains the scenery was not nearly as spectacular so we just kept driving until we reached Inuvik! Arrived here about 5:30 pm and the first campground was a wash. The sites were too small and we could only stay one night as they have people with reservations. There is an Arts Festival in town starting at 10:00 in the morning! So, we backtracked to another Territorial Park and they were VERY accommodating. We have a nice pull through spot and decided since it is about 5 km. outside of town that we would disconnect the trailer and put the camper on the ground so we have the truck to go sight seeing. They have nice showers here and a viewing tower to see the McKenzie River delta area. Will take some pictures soon. Camper and trailer are dirty/dusty inside and out. 34.5 Miles to the Arctic Ocean.
Bob is thinking Speed Week in Mid August.. We are about 7 full days drive from Bonneville… Bob’s thinking probably stinks… Alaska… Nevada… Alaska.. Utah.. Alaska… salt… ALASKA… much better.
On The Dempster
Day 25, Sunday, 7/12: On the Dempster… First Bull Moose… Big… and of course he was next to Two Moose Lake. Cannot find the words to express the beauty of this place.. One might be awesome. Huge could be one.. Spectacular.. Nothing like it so far. It’s one big place and fantastic scenery in all directions. Went through rolling hills, forests of small trees, rivers, lakes and mountains all around. Interesting rock formations and colors. Took lots of pictures today! The road wasn’t bad so far and we ended up driving about 250 km. Spent the night at a view point turnoff and had wonderful views to look at while we had dinner. There was a very large and annoying crow that was prancing around on the camper roof sometime after we went to bed. Not sure what he was doing up there…
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Dawson City
Day 25, Saturday, 7/11: Happy Birthday to my niece Cindy! In Dawson City today doing a final prep of stuff for the Dempster trip. Except for some rough road, it was a pretty uneventful day. Nice weather but no critters to be seen…. This town is a major tourist town and the streets were filled with people today! We got fuel and filled the extra tanks in the trailer. Also filled the extra water containers since we will probably be dry camping for a bit. Doing a load of laundry and bought a few groceries. Plan to watch a bit of TV this evening since we have a cable connection here at this RV park. It’s been almost 4 weeks since we have seen TV! We have picked up a radio station here and there.
About those cinnamon buns at the Braeburn Lodge (last place we tried them). We met someone yesterday who told us the reason they weren’t that good is that the two women who normally make them were on holiday and they were selling some that had been frozen! We only ate about half of it and threw the rest away…
Hoping to grill a burger tonight if it doesn’t rain on us. It is quite warm (75) but cloudy and just now starting to drip a bit. Plan to go over everything before we head out tomorrow: all vents closed, tires in good shape, hitch oiled, everything strapped down, etc. The road is 475 miles of dirt/gravel and we have heard it is VERY dusty.
When we make it to Inuvik we will try to hook up to internet at their public library…
Happy Birthday to our son, Jim, on Monday, 7/13!!!! Won’t have internet or phone then.
Up Keno hill and then 'Moose Creek'
Day 24, Friday, 7/10: Bob went over to the lodge first thing this morning and was able to hook into their Wifi for just a bit. Didn’t do the blog but did receive some e-mails. Left camp about 7:30 and drove to Keno, about 36 miles up the road. It is a mining town (silver and gold), established in the late 1800’s and they continue to mine today. The little town has several museums which were very interesting. They also had a very large Grizzly that was stuffed and on display. Drove the RZR to Keno Hill, about 6 ½ miles to the top. Fantastic views from the top, with a sign post indicating distances, an old cabin and a butterfly walk. Didn’t see any butterflies however. Maybe wrong time of year…. There was still some snow on the ground up there and a bit windy so it was cold! Had met a couple from BC who have an Arctic Fox trailer and they were staying at the same campground. They have a Rhino so we rode with them part of the time. Bob has become an unofficial promoter of the Arctic Fox website, giving everyone he sees with an Arctic Fox or Nash the internet address! We have actually seen quite a few up here.
Drove back to Mayo (saw a moose on the way!) and visited their little museum too. Not as good as Keno but interesting. Got back to the main highway about 3:00 and found a Yukon Government Campground called Moose Creek where we are staying for the night. Had planned to drive on to Dawson City but it’s getting late and we are tired. No sense pushing ourselves since we aren’t on a schedule! Lots of firewood here so we might have a campfire later. So far, we are the only ones here and there are 30 sites.
(About 4 more rigs showed up during the evening…)
Drove back to Mayo (saw a moose on the way!) and visited their little museum too. Not as good as Keno but interesting. Got back to the main highway about 3:00 and found a Yukon Government Campground called Moose Creek where we are staying for the night. Had planned to drive on to Dawson City but it’s getting late and we are tired. No sense pushing ourselves since we aren’t on a schedule! Lots of firewood here so we might have a campfire later. So far, we are the only ones here and there are 30 sites.
(About 4 more rigs showed up during the evening…)
Mayo and Keno
Day 23, Thursday, 7/9: Left camp about 8:00 and headed for Braeburn Lodge which is supposed to have wonderful cinnamon buns. We are “on a roll” with rating the buns at various spots so couldn’t pass this one up. They are huge, dinner plate size and about 5 inches high, but not nearly as good as the first one we had in HUCTesta River Resort. The one from this morning will last a week it is so big… Maybe a little butter and the microwave will improve it some.
Stopped in a little town called Carmacks around noon for fuel and they had quite a little grocery store there. Found some sausage rolls which we bought for lunch. We really like them (I don’t want to know what kind of meat they use because I have been searching for pork sausage and they don’t have it up here…). Anyway, about a ½ hour up the road we stopped and warmed them up and ate them going down the road. Very tasty! Some road construction along this route so we were delayed a bit. It has been very smoky the last few days and we have heard there are several large forest fires in the area.
Took a side road to a place called Mayo. Camping tonight at the Bedrock Motel/RV park. Lodge/motel is nice but can’t say much for the “RV park”. Not very friendly either…. Did notice that we are so far north that it never got dark during the night. Having a bit of trouble sleeping due to it being light all the time!
Stopped in a little town called Carmacks around noon for fuel and they had quite a little grocery store there. Found some sausage rolls which we bought for lunch. We really like them (I don’t want to know what kind of meat they use because I have been searching for pork sausage and they don’t have it up here…). Anyway, about a ½ hour up the road we stopped and warmed them up and ate them going down the road. Very tasty! Some road construction along this route so we were delayed a bit. It has been very smoky the last few days and we have heard there are several large forest fires in the area.
Took a side road to a place called Mayo. Camping tonight at the Bedrock Motel/RV park. Lodge/motel is nice but can’t say much for the “RV park”. Not very friendly either…. Did notice that we are so far north that it never got dark during the night. Having a bit of trouble sleeping due to it being light all the time!
Fox Lake, Yukon
Day 22 Wednesday, 7/8: Well, we have been on the road 3 weeks now and it has gone by really fast. For those of you who are wondering, for about two weeks I haven’t had any pain or discomfort from the surgery so it took about 4 weeks for recovery. Not bad. Still feels a little odd in my throat but I will get used to it. Bob says I still snore a bit but nothing like it used to be and I don’t stop breathing as before so I guess it was a success! We are both satisfied with the procedure and glad it is done.
Well, we got up earlier than planned. Thought it was 7 when it was actually 6. Decided to not make coffee but to drive to Taglish and have breakfast. It is a small town and Bob had read on the internet about this store/restaurant/motel/RV park that was supposed to be nice. So, on we went. Turns out it was a very nice place. The owner, Kurt, was there but he doesn’t normally open the store/restaurant until 9:00 (we got there at about 7:00). He saw us and invited us in for coffee and said he would be glad to fix breakfast. He and his wife moved here from Germany 3 years ago and they own and run the store/restaurant/motel and RV park. It is small, only 5 motel units and only 7 RV spots but just enough to keep them busy. Every Saturday evening he BBQ’s steaks, ribs, chicken, etc. so we hope to stay there on our way back through. The breakfast was awesome and more than we could eat. He is quite a talker and we enjoyed hearing all about the area. Lots of mosquitoes here though! Maybe it will be better when we come back in late August.
Drove on to Whitehorse and did some shopping at Wal-Mart. Bob is having to fix the muffler on the RZR so he had parts to buy for that and of course we had to stock up on more wine. It is MUCH cheaper in the Yukon than in Alberta or NWT. Bought a few groceries and fuel too since this is the last city before we head north to Inuvik. Will still have a chance to get fuel before we turn off on the Dempster Highway and will fill the extra cans in the trailer then. We will also fill the extra water containers. Bob about freaked out when he saw a large puddle of oil under the front of the truck! We drove to another spot and he let it sit for awhile and nothing. He decided it was from someone’s else’s vehicle. Whew! All of our fluids were fine although he did add some coolant as the low coolant light has been on a few times.
Arrived at a Yukon Government Park on Fox Lake about 3:00 this afternoon. Our campsite is right on the water. It can’t be more than 30 feet from the rig to the shoreline! Very beautiful spot, a little breeze which keeps the bugs away and the water is quite warm (relatively speaking). Bob is working on the RZR and I took a few pictures. Sat in lawn chairs by the water until almost 9:00, sipping our wine and enjoying the peaceful spot. Sunset is not until at least 11:30 so it seems earlier than it is.
Well, we got up earlier than planned. Thought it was 7 when it was actually 6. Decided to not make coffee but to drive to Taglish and have breakfast. It is a small town and Bob had read on the internet about this store/restaurant/motel/RV park that was supposed to be nice. So, on we went. Turns out it was a very nice place. The owner, Kurt, was there but he doesn’t normally open the store/restaurant until 9:00 (we got there at about 7:00). He saw us and invited us in for coffee and said he would be glad to fix breakfast. He and his wife moved here from Germany 3 years ago and they own and run the store/restaurant/motel and RV park. It is small, only 5 motel units and only 7 RV spots but just enough to keep them busy. Every Saturday evening he BBQ’s steaks, ribs, chicken, etc. so we hope to stay there on our way back through. The breakfast was awesome and more than we could eat. He is quite a talker and we enjoyed hearing all about the area. Lots of mosquitoes here though! Maybe it will be better when we come back in late August.
Drove on to Whitehorse and did some shopping at Wal-Mart. Bob is having to fix the muffler on the RZR so he had parts to buy for that and of course we had to stock up on more wine. It is MUCH cheaper in the Yukon than in Alberta or NWT. Bought a few groceries and fuel too since this is the last city before we head north to Inuvik. Will still have a chance to get fuel before we turn off on the Dempster Highway and will fill the extra cans in the trailer then. We will also fill the extra water containers. Bob about freaked out when he saw a large puddle of oil under the front of the truck! We drove to another spot and he let it sit for awhile and nothing. He decided it was from someone’s else’s vehicle. Whew! All of our fluids were fine although he did add some coolant as the low coolant light has been on a few times.
Arrived at a Yukon Government Park on Fox Lake about 3:00 this afternoon. Our campsite is right on the water. It can’t be more than 30 feet from the rig to the shoreline! Very beautiful spot, a little breeze which keeps the bugs away and the water is quite warm (relatively speaking). Bob is working on the RZR and I took a few pictures. Sat in lawn chairs by the water until almost 9:00, sipping our wine and enjoying the peaceful spot. Sunset is not until at least 11:30 so it seems earlier than it is.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Leaving Watson Lake
Day 21 Tuesday, 7/7: Up early to do a last load of laundry. Plan to head out about 9:00. On toward Whitehorse, YT! Next internet will probably be Inuvik in about a week. Hope we survive the Dempster Highway!!!!
Finally left Watson Lake about 10:00 and had a leisurely drive. Sunny, warm day. We stopped at the Continental Divide Lodge about 11:45 and had a cinnamon bun. It was good but didn’t compare to the one we had at Testa River Resort. Drove on past Johnson’s Crossing to a small Yukon campground on Squanga Lake. Only $12 (Canadian) for the night and lots of free firewood. No hookups but we don’t need them. Mosquitoes are a bit irritating but with mosquito coils burning, spray repellant and a campfire I think we can manage to survive! The plan is to be on the road fairly early tomorrow and maybe we will see some critters. Only saw 2 bears today and nothing else…. The scenery along this section of the highway is awesome. Beautiful mountains, trees, rivers and lakes. It is a fisherman’s paradise for sure. Since we aren’t into fishing, we will just have to sit by the fire and enjoy a glass or two of wine. Haven’t had the boat in the water yet. Waiting for a bit warmer weather and less bugs. Have lots of time and lots of lakes yet ahead.
After dinner we walked down to the lake and on the way back stopped and spoke with a Mennonite woman. She was one of 6 (3 couples) traveling in an old gray bus from Florida, Illinois and Kansas! We now refer to them as the Mennonite hippies…. Anyway, she knows someone in Cove and we had a nice chat with her. The others were around the campfire roasting marshmallows!
The next camper we met was in a Volkswagen Jetta and “tenting” it. He is a school teacher (probably in his 30’s) from Quebec and he speaks French, German and English. First name is Pierre but I didn’t catch the rest. He was very friendly and we discussed US politics a bit. He is not a Bush fan and hopes for greater things from Obama. He is on his way to Alaska also.
Finally left Watson Lake about 10:00 and had a leisurely drive. Sunny, warm day. We stopped at the Continental Divide Lodge about 11:45 and had a cinnamon bun. It was good but didn’t compare to the one we had at Testa River Resort. Drove on past Johnson’s Crossing to a small Yukon campground on Squanga Lake. Only $12 (Canadian) for the night and lots of free firewood. No hookups but we don’t need them. Mosquitoes are a bit irritating but with mosquito coils burning, spray repellant and a campfire I think we can manage to survive! The plan is to be on the road fairly early tomorrow and maybe we will see some critters. Only saw 2 bears today and nothing else…. The scenery along this section of the highway is awesome. Beautiful mountains, trees, rivers and lakes. It is a fisherman’s paradise for sure. Since we aren’t into fishing, we will just have to sit by the fire and enjoy a glass or two of wine. Haven’t had the boat in the water yet. Waiting for a bit warmer weather and less bugs. Have lots of time and lots of lakes yet ahead.
After dinner we walked down to the lake and on the way back stopped and spoke with a Mennonite woman. She was one of 6 (3 couples) traveling in an old gray bus from Florida, Illinois and Kansas! We now refer to them as the Mennonite hippies…. Anyway, she knows someone in Cove and we had a nice chat with her. The others were around the campfire roasting marshmallows!
The next camper we met was in a Volkswagen Jetta and “tenting” it. He is a school teacher (probably in his 30’s) from Quebec and he speaks French, German and English. First name is Pierre but I didn’t catch the rest. He was very friendly and we discussed US politics a bit. He is not a Bush fan and hopes for greater things from Obama. He is on his way to Alaska also.
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