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| Had to visit the North Pole and Santa before leaving Alaska. |
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| At Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska |
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| Our Stateroom on the Matanuska |
Wow - what a journey! We left Fairbanks and landed in Haines, AK on the 20th to catch the ferry south. I couldn't bear the thought of driving through all those evergreen trees again so we took the ferry to Prince Rupert. What a marvelous experience!! Mya thought she was going on a cruise ship and I guess it was kind of like one - the inexpensive version. he girls loved the stateroom.We all enjoyed it immensely especially Jeff because he didn't have to drive and had someone else to make his breakfast. He did say the coffee was by far the WORST he's ever had in his lifetime but besides that it was awesome. The journey through the Wrangell Narrows was spectacular. It's so narrow that cruise ships can't go through the area; the captain has to make 28 turns to navigate through the passage. Really beautiful.
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| Time to leave the "cruise ship" in Prince Rupert |
We landed in Prince Rupert on the 23rd. The trees have moss growing on them - not just on the north side but all over. The rock cliffs have ferns growing out of them. It felt like we'd landed in the northern version of Jurassic Park. We still had to spend 3 more nights getting through Canada. Our last night there was at an RV park along the Thompson river. We were thankful for the cold rushing water; this area is known as the "Arizona of Canada" and for good reason. It was 106 degrees and it looks like high desert. We were happy to cool off in the river. There were also apricot trees growing in the RV park and we got to pick them and eat them - fresh off the tree - delicious!
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| A lovely Italian Restaurant in Bothel, WA. |
We planned to go to Vancouver BC and headed to an RV park there but had no reservations. For some reason I thought Vancouver was this quaint little town. Duh! The area has twice the population of San Antonio (thank you Tina for googling the info for me!!) After being in the "sticks" for so long, the whole excursion was a shock to our systems. There was "no room at the inn" for us at the RV park and I was kind of relieved. We decided to bag the whole idea and "head for the border". After journeying almost 8000 miles on this trip, we have decided we are "sticks people". The traffic and people make us crazy, nervous, and irritable!!! We still needed a place to rest our heads for the evening and every RV park I called was full - of course, it was Friday! Bad timing on our part. Everyone getting out for the weekend. But we lucked out and on my last call we found a place in Bothell, WA (just north of Seattle) that had ONE space left! Thank goodness. And it was a quaint RV park in a suburb of Seattle but secluded - Lake Pleasant RV Park - aptly named. Spent two nights there - didn't figure we'd get another spot in the middle of the weekend. But the location was great.We walked up to this darling little market area and had dinner at an Italian restaurant that had live music - one guy playing the mandolin and one on a guitar. It was a perfect evening!! (Something that made us raise our eyebrows - a couple came in with there little dog, sat at a table, and put a blanket on the seat for the dog. It sat at the table with them. Seemed normal for the area - hmmmmm? Never seen that before!)
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Bridge over the Columbia River - Border between Oregon
and Washington is half way across. |
Our goal for this stretch of the trip is to travel the coast highway (101) to see the ocean and seaside towns. Tonight we are staying in an KOA near Astoria/Seaside Oregon. The campground has a gazillion things for the girls to do so they are out there playing and making new friends. It's fun to see them play with other kids they've just met - in these RV parks, no one is a stranger when it comes to the kids. It's almost like a way of life. Tomorrow we are heading down the coast and have reservations in a little place called Waldport. We are a little disappointed that even here the traffic is fairly congested. Seems like everyone loves the west coast. We plan to make it to the Redwoods and then turn inland - unless we change our minds, of course.
This trip is truly an adventure. As with anything, some days are better than others but on the whole, it continues to be amazing. My hope is the girls will cherish the memories we've made on this trip - I know I will. They have been amazing travelers and we've all learned so much from the places we've been and spending this time together. Today, Mya said something about "Back to School" and I told her I better not here her utter those words again while we are on this trip - lol!!!
Our house sitters, Angela and here sister, are enjoying staying at the house and Marty doesn't seem to miss us at all. We are so thankful for both the girls for taking good care of home while we are away. It will be strange being in one place. Maybe we are destined to be gypsies . . .
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We finally saw a grizzly bear - Jeff got close:-)
Chilkoot Park, Haines, AK |
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| Fresh crab in Haines, AK. |
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| Catching the breeze on the ferry. |
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