… It’s done! I finally made it home, sure was a lot of miles there at the end. Now it’s time to get the homestead back in shape after my long absence, and maybe even wash the RV. Yeah, right….
I’m probably not going anywhere till summer, so I won’t be blogging (my life just isn’t that interesting) but thanks for tagging along all these months. The Alaska trip was outstanding, I’m so glad I went, and extra glad that I stayed well into September.
CU down the road!
Yep, been putting a lot of road in the rear view mirror! I know I promised to keep the blog afloat, but it’s hard when I’m sittin still so little. However, there have been a few items of note along the way.
After Pelly’s Crossing, I swung thru Whitehorse and also Watson Lake, but y’all’ve seen that, so it was mostly just some pit stops to gas up and re-supply. Heading down the Cassiar highway, the northern stretch was real pretty, then the colors faded out and it was just green. Nuthin wrong with green, according to Kermit, but after all that glory, it’s hard to get excited about it. At the risk of overloading your leaf peepers, here’s just a few more pix.
As you can see, the Cassiar is more of a trail than a highway, but the road is in good shape, just a bit narrow. There are many tiny free camping spots along the way, just right for small RVs. Somewhere in the middle is the Cassiar Jade store, and it’s pretty cool.
They have an amazing lot of jade bits, and it’s all mined and made right there, I’m told the prices are very good, but with all the C-notes I’m cramming into my fuel tank, I just can’t manage to buy any, mostly because even at the bargain counter, jade is seriously pricey. Sure is purty though!
By the time I cross the border into the good old USA at Oroville, WA, I’m 10 or 11 days straight on the road, and in need of a break. I stop for a couple nights at a little town campground and catch up with phone and email. Hey! My real phone is working again! Time to pull the plug on the Alaska phone. If I missed emailing you to let you know, I’m back on my original phone number now.
Eastern Washington is kinds desert-y, with lots of rolling hills and farms, sure feels funny to have miles again on the GPS, and smooth road under the wheels. I motor on down to Walla Walla and park it at Jim and Kim’s place for a few nights.
WW is all about wine, and we go wine tasting, which also leads to wine buying. Dang, the jade is starting to look cheap! The “crush” is on, that’s when everyone stomps the grapes to make wine. I didn’t see any stained feet, tho…. they use some amazing powered equipment to process the grapes.
Didn’t get to witness the pressing, but it’s all done inside big stainless machines, so there’s not much to see.
Here’s a good one! Kim found a moonshine tasting place! This here fella is making prohibition era shine in a modern still, using authentic family recipes that date back to when whisky was illegal. We did some tasting, and I’m happy to report that a couple bottles of really exceptional shine are headed to Texas. Thanks y’all, it was a blast!
After a fond farewell to Jim and Kim, I moseyed on down to Florence Oregon, to visit my old friends Marsha and Richard. We didn’t do any wine tasting, but there was definitely some wine drinking! We did a little boat trip on the Suislaw river, and watched the salmon jumping. Folks were catching them too; big silvers! Hey, maybe I don’t have to go all the way to Alaska for salmon…. this needs additional thought. Apparently, good food and old friends don’t generate many pictures, I got out of there without so much as a photo of them, but here’s their place. Thanks, Marsha and Richard, for your kind hospitality and all the food, drink and fun!
From Florence, it’s a short run down to Smith River, Ca and Neil and Pat’s place. Remembering my complete picture fail at Marsha’s, I manage to grab a shot of them. We’re at a big car show, held every year in Crescent City, and they sure picked a perfect day for it! lots of purty steel and shiny paint. Check out that flame job! It also appears that my buddy Jimbo has a secret life as a homebrewer from that last picture.
Neil and Pat live in a beautiful place, their house overlooks the mouth of the Smith river, and the sunsets are outstanding. Plus, Neil makes great beer, and there are 3 levers on the fridge downstairs that dispense it in draft mode. Yum!
All too soon, it’s time to hit the road again. Thanks to Neil and Pat, for, well, everything!
I still have around 3000 miles to go, and more friends to visit. I’ll be back in a week or two with some more pix. I have to admit, I’m really looking forward to getting home, but I’m not going to get all hasty about it! See ya again real soon!
As my last official Alaska adventure, I’m heading up to the Top of the World highway in search of big aurora. Was I successful? Did I have the awesome Northern lights experience? Read on!
Leaving Tok, the road heads for Chicken, Alaska. The road will soon be paved all the way to Chicken, thanks to recent and ongoing construction, which I encountered. On the way up, every roadside pullout is packed with hunters. yes, hunting season is open and the Alaskans turn out in force!
The town of Chicken is just this neat little funky place, and is just about the last bit of Alaska I’ll see. I pull off at Beautiful Downtown Chicken and park for the night.
Ain’t no aurora till after dark, but it’s looking pretty good. The sky is mostly clear. To kill some time, I get a beer (or two) at the saloon, then sit out on the porch with some local hunting folks and chew the fat. Feels very homey here, nice folks. The tourists think I’m some of the “local color” haha.
That night, I’m standing outside, the sky is clear, the stars are out in profusion, but no aurora. Damn! I stick it out till about 0130, but there's not even a hint of activity. so far, not good!
The next day, I leave Chicken and head for some currently-unknown high place to camp along the top of the world highway. The rod runs along the ridgelines, and should offer outstanding views. No pavement anymore, the road is dirt and gravel, but in very good condition. The fall colors are amazing!
I find a truly high place: it’s a graded area way up on the hillside above the road. This should be a great place to watch the sky tonite!
By 10pm, it’s getting dark, but unfortunately, it’s getting cloudy too…. Damn! By 11, it’s totally socked in, not a star in sight. No aurora for me tonite…. Worst of all, I’m just positive that the most amazing display is going on up there above the clouds, and I can’t see it. I go to bed a bit dispirited.
The next morning I continue on the road to Dawson City, and the amazing fall colors along the way really cheer me up! I know, you’re probably getting tired of all these leaf pix, but maybe just a few more….
The road ends at the Yukon river, and to get across to Dawson, you have to take the ferry. It’s free, and no problem for even a large RV. Here it comes!
A 5 minute ride later, I’m in Dawson. I stayed here in 2014, and it’s a great little town, very historic and original, from the gold rush days and all. This time, I’m not going to stop, I need someplace darker, maybe I’ll get lucky tonite So it’s on down the road. The town is surrounded by huge piles of tailings from the mining days, and there’s still a lot of active gold and silver mining in the area.
At this point, I’m just cruising down the road, looking for a likely place to stop for the night. Coming into Pelly Crossing ( a tiny town with a bridge across the Yukon) I spot this sign. It leads to a very nice, deserted, free campground. Hey, this’ll do!
Best yet, the evening is warm, the sky is clear, hey, you never know….. I’m sitting out with a beer and a cigar, enjoying the beautiful fall evening, and I’m looking at this bridge. Hey, there’s a pedestrian walkway along the bridge. Oh, Hell yes! I’m going to walk across it…. Might be photogenic.
The walkway is one of those steel grate affairs, so that’s pretty cool, looking down at the treetops beneath my feet. Got a nice shot of the RV across the river. Fun! Just something RVers do, I guess.
As the sun sinks, the sky is 100% clear. Hey, this could be the night!
It is.
I am treated to a truly spectacular aurora display, the best and brightest I’ve seen, and it goes on for hours. The aurora is trippy, it changes in intensity and shape constantly, it ebbs and flows like an ocean in the sky. I spend several hours just watching it. Sometimes it’s so bright you could read by it, other times, it’s real dim and subtle. Hard to put across in words, guess it’s just something you have to experience for yourself. Finally, I get some good photos.
Aurora quest: successful!
Now it’s truly time to put Alaska in my rear view mirror and head south to friends and home. It’s a long road, guess I better get to it! I’ve decided to keep the blog open a few more weeks as I travel home, so stop by occasionally. Never know what you might see.
Bye, Alaska, see you again sometime!
