A long day but we are home . . . and some final thoughts

In Sault Ste Marie, Ontario we stayed in the same campground that we had stayed in on June 26th . . . . over 2 months ago. Where did the Summer go . . . in some ways it hardly feels like we have been on the road that long.

One last time doing dishes before we pack it up and hit the road for an epic 13 1/2 hour drive home.

Home again . . . . and we have a very bug splattered and dirty van.

Morning glories which have taken over the patio

This morning I went to the Farmer's Market and loaded my basket with some of my favorite things. Dinner tonight will be fabulous and local.  Alaska was not a place that abounded with fresh fruits and veggies. The ones that were in the stores were pricey and not that appealing.  We only saw 2 Farmers Markets and they were not when we were in town.

Final Thoughts:
-We saw more Black Bear in the Yukon than all of Alaska
-Alaskans should be very healthy considering their obsession with fish, especially Salmon
-Proper rain gear is essential for living and traveling in South East Alaska, they really do get a lot of rain
-Some road signs in Canada just don't make sense and they leave you wondering if you were suppose to do something important.
-In British Columbia there seems to be a standing contest to see who can drive the dirtiest white truck
-Campground Internet rarely works no matter what they advertise
-Don't even try to visit Lake Louise on a nice Saturday in Summer
-Given the choice, take the Northern Route 16 to Alaska . . . less traffic . . . nicer scenery
-Drivers of Class A RVs seem obsessed with washing their windshields
-Provincial campgrounds in Canada are generally very nice although sometimes lacking in all of the facilities found in commercial campgrounds
-Most Alaskan campgrounds are just gravel parking lots with water and power . . . most don't have picnic tables or fire rings
-Who knew that showers are an extra charge at most campgrounds
-The local Beer and Booze in Alaska is pretty good . . . they have lots of  long dark winter days to perfect it.
-A sunny 60 degree day is thought to be a really nice Summer day in Alaska
-We drove 11,215 miles, rode 491 miles on the Alaska Ferry System and averaged 15.08 mpg
-We saw some amazing sights and had a great time . . . .

We're on our way home . . . . .

We left the Calgary area on Sunday and headed towards Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. We were amazed at how quickly the landscaped changed from rugged mountains to plains planted with various grain crops either ready to be harvested or already harvested.  A totally different kind of beauty than what we have been seeing the last few weeks.

 Even the sign for the province shows how important grain crops are here.

Another Americana Roadside treasure "Mac the Moose"

Monday we drove to the Winnipeg, Manitoba area and tonight we are just outside of Thunder Bay Ontario.
Tomorrow we expect to make it to Sault Ste Marie Ontario. . . .and hopefully a long day on Thursday will bring us to Vermont in time for the long weekend.

Jasper and Banff National Park

Thursday and Friday were spent driving to Jasper National Park in Alberta. We had a great campground and were finally able to cook dinner outside . . . we finally got away from the coast and the rain.
The fishing rod was not in the Roadside Americana Book but it was neat to see anyway. Look close and you can see Al with his hands on the reel.

The World's Largest Fly Fishing Pole in Houston BC 

 Dinner Table all set

Me  having a before dinner cocktail

Saturday was just a casual cruise through Jasper National Park and Banff National Park. The scenery was fabulous and very different from what we had seen in Alaska. There were also so many more people here. We had gotten used to being nearly alone throughout the last 2 months and now all of a sudden there were lots and lots of tourists everywhere we went.

These 2 pictures were taken not too far from our campground last night.

 Athabaskan Falls in Jasper National Park

selfie

Us selfie

 Athabaskan Falls  . . . . another view . . . so beautiful

A glacial river

Roadtrek goes to Jasper National Park

Another Day Another Glacier or is it an Ice Field

Here we are In Jasper NP

Big Mountains

Favorite View of the day - Waterfowl Lake

Stunning scenery, sunshine and a football game on the radio when we got to our campground. Internet via my phone since the campground internet didn't work (most of them don't) A good day, all in all.
Tomorrow we make our way to Moose Jaw, SK

Ferrying to Prince Rupert in the Rain,more rain and Bears!

Our only goal for Monday was to get on the ferry and leave the rain behind in Ketchikan.

Another loaded container ship . . .it is the way things move here

On our way . . . .let's leave the rain here.

A lighthouse on the way to Prince Rupert

 We arrived in Prince Rupert, BC, Canada and it wasn't raining  . . . amazing. It was after 11 pm and we made our way to the campground . . . .by morning the rain had caught up with us. We spent Tuesday restocking the camper and making plans for the trip home. On Wednesday we traveled once again back into Alaska to go to the Fish Creek Wildlife Platform in Hyder for some bear viewing.
In order to reach Hyder we went 150 miles North and West from the main road. I was hoping for more bears but we did see some and get a few good pics. The bears come to the creek during this time because the Salmon are here spawning and the fishing is easy.

The Salmon . . . . plentiful in Fish Creek

The view from the platform upstream

Our 1st bear was a large Black Bear who roamed up the opposite shore. He picked a fish out of the water and immediately threw it down. We thought the bear would come back for it but it didn't and the fish died on the shore.

My favorite bear picture

Deserted fish

 The second bear was also a Black Bear but appeared to be much smaller, possibly a 2 year old cub.
This bear walked right by the fish the other bear had left and went further up the shore to eat a stinky old fish . . . . no fishing required

There were also some birds in the area taking advantage of the fish pieces left behind by the bears.

Tomorrow we head for home via Jasper and Banff National Park.

The Alaska Marine to Petersburg, Wrangell and Ketchikan

The rain started in Juneau as we were sitting in line for the ferry.The ride from Juneau to Petersburg was over 8 hours so we got a cabin so we could sleep before getting off the ferry at 3:30 am.

A pretty basic room with bunk beds and a bathroom












Upon arrival in Petersburg we drove down the road to a wide spot where we could park and continue our sleep until morning. In the morning we drove back into town to find some coffee and breakfast. We found a nice coffee shop with really good homemade muffins. Then we checked out the Visitor Center to get some directions to places of interest. By now it was starting to mist again and, of course, there were plenty of clouds hanging low.

The beach view

 Petersburg is predominately a commercial fishing community. The big cruise ships do not stop here so tourism is secondary. After driving around the North side of the Island we headed to the library to find some internet and catch up on the blog. The library was a beautiful new building, huge for the size of the community.  The library in Grand Isle would fit in one of the meeting rooms here.  We then found our campground and settled  in for a rainy night. The second day in Petersburg we drove to the South end of the Island and then visited a fish hatchery and a salmon ladder.

It is difficult to capture fish jumping up the stream without a rapid fire camera but they were there and it was very cool to see.

Wednesday morning we again boarded the ferry for a 3 hour ride through a narrow passage to Wrangell. We left the dock at 5:30 am so it was just getting light out. The rain stopped until just before we landed.

Left Bank

Right Bank

My panorama view

 Wrangell was a nice enough town and the people were friendly . . .the down side was that it rained nearly all of the time we were here.  We spent several hours in the library as there were few other places to go. We did see a replica of a native tribal house and we had a chance encounter with a retired Vice Admiral from the Coast Guard.

The totem poles had been taken down and put under cover to await restoration.

Al getting soaked as he filled our external water tank .  . .did I mention that it rained the whole time we were in Wrangell.

I tried to take a picture of a hummingbird hanging  around the hosta outside the library window.




















Once again we boarded the ferry at night for a 6 hour ride to Ketchikan. We had a cabin and slept until the ferry docked at 5:45 then we drove to a Walmart  parking lot for another couple hours of shuteye. Coffee and food was the next priority and I found the best deal we have had in Alaska; $0.50 for a 12 oz coffee at a shop frequented by locals. It was too early to drive to our campground so we went exploring. The Vice Admiral we had conversed with in Wrangell had told us to go to Herring Cove on the South end of the Island to see bears . . . . he should know he was stationed here. We went but saw no bears, no good place to park either so we made our way back North.

We found a nice waterfalls along side of the road.

Some nice views since the rain had subsided for a few minutes








And a really nice public beach

A tug towing a container barge to deeper water. Notice the cars on top of the containers? That is how many cars are shipped around here to various places.

 Only in Alaska do you see grocery stores on the water front with cruise ships passing by. An interesting sight to behold.

We even found an old Roadtrek in the parking lot with us.












Our campground for the weekend was really more of a seasonal fishing haven. Most of the campers here were seasonals and they had many people coming in everyday to rent boats and go out fishing.
It was really not a bad place and the view was nice from the dock.

Once again our little guy is dwarfed by a Class A

I went down on the dock this morning to see what fish people were getting and we met a couple from Montana cleaning up their Halibut catch. We talked for awhile and then the gentleman gave us a very nice fillet for our dinner tonight. It was really nice of him and we thoroughly enjoyed having fresh fish.

Ready to be cooked

Ready to be eaten

Our final night in Ketchikan and once again it is raining with an anticipated rainfall of 2-3 inches. Tomorrow we head to Prince Rupert, Canada on our final ferry ride of the trip.