Miles upon miles..............

Miles upon miles upon miles……..

That is what it feels like sometimes. The never ending driving; in a barren landscape. Not flat and boring like Saskatchewan more like having to watch a boring PBS show or someone’s home movies. Over and over again.

That is driving from the Yukon back to lower BC. And lower BC means Prince George.

Give you an idea of what it is like; we left Liard Hot Springs at 8:30 am. Normal stops for lunch, wild life photos and 5 construction zones later we were in Fort Nelson at 3:30. Yes almost 6 hours of continual momentum to cover about 260 kms.  Did we mention the road construction and having to follow 3 pilot cars.

The north has two seasons: winter and road repair.

When we were here in 2009 the roads in northern BC were terrible. We had driven better road in Mexico than in northern BC. Well since that time someone got a boatload of money and is spending it as fast as possible on road improvements. So in a couple of years the road up here should be nice. But not now.

Complaining aside the views are magnificent and we are in beautiful fall colours. But after the first 1,000 km of viewing them, they start to blur after awhile. And there is nowhere to stop and take in some interesting sights, etc. because other than building the Alaskan Highway in the 1940’s the only other interesting thing up here is the current gas exploration boom. Not real interesting for a traveler but good for the local economy.

So we write this from a campground south of Dawson Creek. We have ended our trek upon the Alaskan Highway and are thankful for it. Rattletrap has survived up to this point – with some teething issues – but still on the road.  Karen has not killed Kevan – yet - and Roofus is still a doofus. All is well, albeit a little road weary.

Now we are in search of warmer weather and hopefully more interesting surroundings. Basically we are off to go fishing in the 100 mile house area for a couple of days then head back to the Island.

Cheers for now

Kevan, Karen and Roofus.

Dawson North

Here is a few photos :

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/11854287822-1441595144-18362

From the road Kevan, Karen and Rufus!!

Dawson

We ended up at the “Top of the World” and decided to head south. Well from here everything is south.

Due to Karen’s leg issues we have decided not to go into Alaska. The financial risk of re-injuring her calf muscle is too great even properly insured. Oh well, we decided to go up part of the “top of the World” highway to the viewpoint that overlooks the vast Dawson area. Pictures to follow when we get enough Internet bandwidth somewhere.

One of the great things about the Dawson area is that you can walk everywhere. So cane in hand Karen and I set about and did the normal sight seeing things. Two of the highlights were the Dredge #4 and a walking tour of the city.

The dredge is a National historic sight and it is HUGE. Built in 1913 it was designed and built partly in Wisconsin and Vancouver. One of the large gears is 14 feet in diameter and was too big to be shipped with the fir timbers from Vancouver. It came via sternwheeler up the Yukon River. Not only is it an engineering marvel for its time it was in use till the late 1950’s.

We did a guided walking tour of Dawson. It highlighted the strange stories and characters of the era along with access to some of the historic buildings like the Red Feather Saloon. If you ever visit Dawson make time for one of their great walking tours.

We are now heading south stopping for some fishing and an extended stay back in Whitehorse that will include dinner at the Klondike Rib and Salmon Barbecue. Can hardly wait.

On the road to Nowhere.

Kevan, Karen and Rufus.

Updated photo

Here are some updated photos. We struggle with file size and "high speed" so there at not a lot but they are good:


 http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/11854268756-1441147878-65669/


K, K & R

Too tired for dinner?

In Whitehorse and too tired to even go out for dinner. Karen cooked up bacon and pancakes while I fettled with Rattletrap’s ongoing transmission saga.

The transmission issue is rather simple. The overdrive cuts out over about 3,000 ft so coming up from Watson Lake we kept dropping into 3^rd gear and could not get it to shift up to overdrive. Same thing happened on the cross Canada trip but self-corrected when we came out of Calgary as the rest of Canada resides below 3,000 ft.

The solution is to find the altimeter used by the transmission computer and unplug it. Install a jumper cable between two of the terminals of the connector and viola we fool the computer into thinking we are always at sea level. According to the Internet forum it should work - maybe.

As for being tired it is because of the mileage we have put on. We have logged nearly 5,000 kms since leaving home with the only real stop in Nakusp for the HU event. So we have been getting up at 7:00 on the road by 8:30, stopping only long enough for coffee, gas and a sandwich made in a highway pull off somewhere. About 4:00 ish we start to look for a place to stay for the night so hopefully we can be set up and eating dinner by 6:00 ish.  Do dishes, walk the dog and off to bed to read. Sounds good the first day but by the end of the first week it gets a little tiring.

So when we got into Whitehorse we hit the Canadian Tire for a few things and then headed to the campground. Good thing as the parking lot of the Wal-Mart was absolutely packed with RVs – campers, trailer, motorhomes – all that you can imagine. And it was filthy with garbage falling out and strewn around the garbage cans, shit everywhere and in general not a good vibe. Sort of a real low rent stopping area for people too cheap to pay the $30 for the great campsite we are in.

We were so bummed out and tired instead of heading off to one of our favourite restaurants we headed to the campground. Had a “dispute” regarding my parking abilities and then realised that the real issue was that we were just tired and weary from all the driving.

So how to cure the tiredness? Firstly break up the routine.

Try to have more stops during the day but honestly this is hard to do in the area of the world. The natural beauty of the place is amazing but you cover vast terrain between anything of any real importance or interest. Hence you just drive and look a the trees, mountains and keep an eye open for suspension ruining pot holes the depth of a decent coal mine.

We are heading to Dawson City for a few days of fun and excitement. There we will park up then eat, drink, gamble, see the sights. At this point this sound like the best cure for being tired – have some fun.

Sometimes you have to take a vacation from your adventure.

On the road to Alaska

Kevan, Karen and Rufus.

Moose stalking in the North

Three years and nearly 30,000 kms for Karen to finally spot a wild moose. She has been looking for one since we left to cross Canada in August 2012. All we saw, all the way across Canada were 5 moose: 3 stuffed and 2 in the back of pickup trucks in Quebec.

Well, she finally spotted one on the side of the road on the Cassier highway while heading for Watson Lake, Yukon which is where we are.  She had been looking since we pulled onto the highway at 100 Mile House; camera in hand waiting for that classic travel picture with a moose in it. When she finally did see one it was a glance of a cow in a road side swamp while travelling at 90 kph. All that and she did not get a picture.

Along the way we have seen lots of wild life. We saw our first grizzly bear, a fox, a couple of black bears and about a billion chipmunks. To our wildlife loving friends – fear not the northern chipmunk is doing fine.

Since leaving the fires and heat in Nakusp we travelled north stopping to see old friends in Burns Lake. We only get to see them every few years, which is never enough, but a more welcome home we seldom visit. Ian and Heather we miss seeing you more!

Sorry for the slow update but WIFI and high speed internet are not synonymous here in the great White North. Due to the slow speed we will update photos later.

On the road to Alaska………..

Kevan, Karen and Rufus.

On the road to Alaska

“Head West young man, head West”

And so we are, well, slowly.

We spent a very busy four days with our friends at Horizons Unlimited in Nakusp. It was a very rewarding but simply very busy. Hence the slow posting of postings on this blog.

We are doing well. Rattletrap is doing ok. Rufus is doing great. Karen’s leg is slowly healing and she is getting around better by the day.

So here are some pictures for the time being with more to follow: http://photoshare.shaw.ca/messages/viewthumb/11854277236-1440638526-14614/parm/page/1/15/

 

On the road to Alaska

Kevan, Karen and Rufus J