A heck of a week

I'm so glad this week is over.
1. Sunday night I was awakened by severe pain in my lower right abdomen. It hurt any time I moved. By Tuesday it had migrated to my hip. I was pain free while lying or sitting down, in excruciating pain when I stood up, and then after walking 10-15 steps, the pain would go away. I went to the doctor on Wednesday, had my hip X-rayed, and got a tentative guess that it could be a bone spur. I was told to continue my water aerobics, so I did.
2. I took my daughter to a check-up at UC Irvine, where she learned some scary news. She had to go back the next day to see a different physician, and is now scheduled for two procedures next week, one of which will be under general anesthesia. The fear is that her initial diagnosis (6 years ago) of ulcerative colitis was incorrect and she actually has Crohn's Disease.
3. Don ran over a giant log in Lee Vining 2 weeks ago and ruined the spoiler underneath the front of his truck. He got that replaced this week, and it wasn't cheap.
4. Our daughter's truck needed to have its transmission replaced. We dropped it off on Wednesday, and picked it up Friday afternoon. $3K. Ouch.

I DID have a wonderful quilt guild meeting on Friday, and this afternoon my hip quit hurting. Texas Tech defeated Kansas this morning. So the week has ended with a couple of nice things.

I spent today at the sewing machine, except for a quick trip over to Oak Glen to see a small quilt show. That will be a separate post on Just One More Stitch. Dinner was Pioneer Woman's Cajun Chicken Pasta--and it was wonderful.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Back Home

We had a wonderful trip to Rock Creek and Silver Lake. The first 4 days were up at the East Fork Campground on Rock Creek, about 30 miles west of Bishop. I had been so hot at home that it was nice to be a little cold. I was in long pants, vest, and flannel shirt most of the time at Rock Creek. I didn't take any pictures - I really didn't go anywhere. Don fished up at the lake, or on the creek, and I stayed at the trailer just enjoying the peace and quiet. I spent most of my days in my Strongback Chair, cross stitching or reading. Now that I have that chair, I can spend hours and hours outside and not complain about my back.

Our second destination was the Forest Service campground at Silver Lake, on the June Lake Loop.  We've been going to June Lake for over 20 years, but have always stayed at Oh Ridge Campground overlooking June Lake. We decided to try some place different this time.

Our site, #36, had this view to the south of Carson Peak

This is looking west towards the Alger Creek Waterfall

Alger Creek waterfall

One of our day trips was up Tioga Pass to Saddleback Lake, near the east entrance to Yosemite. We got up there and learned they had drained the lake to about half capacity in order to work on the dam. That didn't deter the fishermen from coming, as the place was quite busy with shore fishers. Don and another guy were the only ones to go out in float tubes.

Saddlebag Lake, looking north

Saddlebag Lake - the view east from my stitching site

Around lunch time the clouds rolled in, and it became a little drizzly and chilly. We drove back down the road and stopped for a couple of hours along Saddlebag Creek. I stayed warm and dry in the truck while Don walked the creek for a while.

Saddleback Creek, looking south

Don, stalking the trout in Saddlebag Creek

Don on Saddlebag Creek

Another day trip was up to the Virginia Lakes. To get there, you take the 395 to Lee Vining, continue north up to the top of Conway Summit, and go left 6 miles to the Virginia Lakes. There are 4 lakes all within walking distance, and we chose to go to Trumble since there were so many people at the others.

The water in Trumble was a murky green, but it didn't hamper the fishing at all.  From my chair next to the lake I watched Don catch fish after fish - over 30 in all.  Of course he put them back.

This trip was a little different from others in that we had no hookups the whole time - and didn't bring the DirecTV receiver for when we were using the generator. We were able to pick up one radio station at Rock Creek and none at Silver Lake, so for 10 days we heard very little news from the outside world. It was rather pleasant. We each had books to read, and while Don fished I either read or worked on my cross stitch.  We realized our trailer batteries need to be replaced - he would run the generator for a couple hours, and then 2-3 hours later the indicator light showed "empty' again. One of the batteries is 3 years old; the other is 4 - so it's definitely time to get them replaced.

We don't have any trips planned for a while. The next one will be towards the end of October when we go with some friends out to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Heading up to the Sierras

We're leaving in the morning for a fishing and relaxation trip to the Eastern Sierras.  We've never been able to go in September before, so it'll be interesting to see how many other people there will be. When I got online to make the site reservations, we had no difficulty picking our favorite sites.

Little Lakes Basin in the John Muir Wilderness

Our first stop will be along Rock Creek, at the East Fork Campground.  It's only a couple of miles from where I shot the above photo the last time we were there.  Don intends to a)fish Rock Creek, b) fish Rock Creek Lake, and c) hike into the John Muir Wilderness again to Little Lakes Basin to fish as many of the little lakes he can.  I'll be going with him on that hike - it's a really easy hike from the Mosquito Flats trailhead into the wilderness.  I intend to a) read, b)cross stitch, and c)do nothing.

Carson Peak, seen from Oh Ridge Campground at June Lake

Our second stop will be at Silver Lake Campground on the June Lake Loop.  In the past, we've always stayed at Oh Ridge Campground overlooking June Lake, but this time we'll stay at Silver Lake Campground.  In the above photo, it would be at the base of and to the right of the large mountain.  Don intends to a) fish Silver Lake, b) fish Rush Creek, c)fish Grant Lake, d)fish Gull Lake,  e)fish June Lake, and f) go up the Tioga Pass road towards the Yosemite National Park west entrance and fish Saddlebag Lake.  I'll go with him on that trip. In addition, I intend to a)read, b)cross stitch, and c)do nothing.

Sounds like a great trip, doesn't it?!  We won't have hookups, and I won't have internet access, so I'll post pics in about a week and a half. 

Home at Last

Such a welcome sight - our front door.  I am so exhausted - I think I got about 3 hours sleep last night.  We had left East Bay RV Park in Springville, Utah, intending to stop at the Cedar City KOA. We had reservations for tonight at South Point Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas. We arrived in Cedar City at noon, and Don wanted to continue. (He'd done that many times during the trip). So we went another 90 miles to Mesquite, Nevada, where we checked into the Virgin River Casino. There was no way we were going to stay in the RV--it was 111˚.  Our room was only $25, so it was a pretty good deal to get off the road and be in an air-conditioned room. That was the only positive.  We went over to their restaurant, and had a lousy dinner. My fried shrimp was freezer-burned and dry, and Don's fried chicken was overcooked and his fries were limp and stale from being under a heat lamp for a long time. We then discovered that the beds were hard as boards. I would lie on one side for 5-10 minutes until my shoulder hurt, then turn to the other side. I tossed and turned this way until midnight, when Don got up and decided we would drive home. He wanted to avoid the desert heat by driving at night. When we left Mesquite at 12:15, it was 95˚.  Luckily it cooled down by the time we reached Las Vegas, and we were able to turn the air conditioner in the truck off the rest of the way home. We reached Redlands at 6 am, where it was a cool 65˚. We dropped the trailer off at the storage unit, unloaded the cold/frozen food and the dirty clothes, and grabbed a quick Egg McMuffin and coffee at McDonald's. We were home by 7 am.  So nice. I put the food away, and Don emptied the truck, and then he went to bed and slept until noon. I haven't been able to sleep. I bet tonight I'll snore like a freight train!


I haven't posted since Dawson Creek - so here's what happened from there:

Saturday: Burning Embers Campground and Resort in Edmonton, Alberta.  292 sites.  All full due to the holiday weekend and a bluegrass festival about 5 miles away. We lucked into a site after someone cancelled it because it was muddy. We were actually given a wooden pallet to use to walk on between the truck and the trailer door since it was so muddy. The drive from Dawson Creek was fine - the roads were in great condition and flat. 

Sunday: Riverside Resort in Lethbridge, Alberta.  Huge campground, which was at about 99% capacity since it was a holiday weekend in Alberta. It's also WAY overpriced.  We paid $54 Canadian, which turned out to be over $58 US.  We were in a section called "Arizona," which is called that because it's all gravel and no grass.  There is a swimming pool, but it had dozens of people (mostly children)  in it due to the holiday weekend.  One good thing about this night was that we met Jim and Joanne in the next site and had several hours of friendly conversation. They're full-timers who spend summers in Alberta and winters in Yuma, AZ.

Monday: Countryside RV Park in Dillon, Montana.  Very nice place.  We pulled in to a nice pull-through site just in time to get set up before a major wind and thunderstorm hit.  This is a pretty park, and if we go that way again we will stay there again. The owner/manager is a very nice woman, who really wants to give you information about the area. The shower and bathroom facilities are spotless. 

Tuesday:  East Bay RV Park in Springville, Utah.  This is the second time we've been there. I recommend it as a place to stop along I-15. You are given a long pull-through site with full hookups. There's a pool and some very nice shower/toilet rooms. The park is nicely kept, and they only charge $28.  That's a little more than HALF what we paid for a not-as-nice place in Lethbridge.  

We learned from our daughter that while we were gone a wood rat got into the house - and then drowned itself in our toilet. She was up here to do her laundry and water our plants, and discovered it in the toilet. Gross!  Luckily it didn't clog up the toilet when she flushed it away. We'll now keep our eyes and ears open for signs of more. We can't figure out how it got in. I haven't seen any signs in the kitchen or anywhere else.

This will be my last post on Wanderlust for a while - I'll be back on my other two blogs, Cookin' With Cyndi and Just One More Stitch, until we take the trailer out again.

Finished!

We have officially driven the entire Alaska Highway, including the Cassiar, Klondike, Top of the World, Taylor, Richardson, Glenn, and Parks Highways. We have logged over 7600 miles since we left home on June 3rd. We still have another 2200 before we get back home.

We're at Northern Lights RV Campground in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. It's a pretty nice place--a little tight between spaces, but well-kept and with nice restroom and laundry facilities. In addition, "full hookups" here includes a sewer connection--something that was pretty rare along the highway.




This was our campsite at Toad River Lodge 2 nights ago. That, too, was a pretty decent place. It was a bit more spaced out than Northern Lights, and has very old, but working, restroom/shower facilities.




This is the beaver pond behind the campground. After dinner, Don and I walked over to see if we could see some moose on the lake. We didn't see moose, but spent about 15 minutes watching a family of 4 beavers and a pair of muskrats collecting sticks and weeds for their homes.







After leaving Toad River yesterday morning we went up and over Steamboat Mountain, where we had great views of the terminus ranges of the Rocky Mountains. I learned that the mountains here are the farthest north the Rocky Mountains extend--that any other mountains north of here are a separate range. So the Rockies extend from northern British Columbia all the way to north-central New Mexico. It was all one cordillera, or mountain-building event that created this massive range.

Our stop last night was at Sikanni River Campground, where Don was able to spend a few hours fishing. The river was running fast, and he was able to catch only one grayling. The Sikanni River has a place in Alaska Highway History--a regiment of African-American soldiers built the first bridge over the river in 1942, taking only 3 days. It lasted longer than any other bridge built on the highway that year.

Knowing we only had 160 miles to drive today, we slept a little later and enjoyed pancakes for breakfast. We made it to Dawson Creek by noon, and are in site #8 at Northern Lights. We relaxed for a few hours this afternoon, and then went to go take a photo of the Mile Zero marker in downtown Dawson Creek. We also spent some time at the Alaska Highway House, a small museum on the corner next to the marker.

We celebrated the completion of the Highway at Tony Roma's--baby back ribs for me and steak for Don. I also enjoyed a strawberry daiquiri--yummy! On our way back to the campground we picked up some donuts from Tim Horton's for tomorrow morning. They look good; this was our first visit to Tim Horton's, and we still haven't tried the coffee!

We decided that we want to go home now. One option that we had been considering was doing some more fishing in British Columbia; another was heading for Montana and fishing on the Gallatin and then going back to Henry's Lake for a few days. But home beckons. So when we get on Highway 2 tomorrow, which will take us through Alberta, we won't get off that road (except to sleep) until we get to San Bernardino. The 2 turns into Interstate 15 when we cross the border into the US. We don't know how far we'll go each day--it depends on the wind and how tired he is or isn't. But we think we'll be home by next Friday. We'll see.

Hooray! We did it!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

7,000 Miles and Still Going

Greetings from Toad River, British Columbia, 398 miles from the end (or the beginning) of the Alaska Highway. That point is in Dawson Creek, and from there we'll still have about 2200 miles to go before we get home.

We had a nice breakfast at Rancheria Lodge this morning. They have some great 12-grain toast and hash browns made from red potatoes, which we enjoyed with our eggs. We were on the road by 8:00, and since this section of the Alaska Highway is in pretty decent condition, we made good time. Between Watson Lake and Liard River, we saw 3 black bears and 4 buffalo. Then when we got into Muncho Lake Provincial Park, we ran into 3 different herds (flocks?) of Stone Sheep. They like to lick the salts on the roads, and have little fear of motorized vehicles. Once you honk at them they'll get out of your way.



















We stopped at the Muncho Lake overlook just before a rainstorm hit. You can see it off in the distance.








From Muncho Lake it was a mild uphill drive to a pass separating the Trout River and Toad River watersheds, and then a nice long downhill to the Toad River. We pulled into Toad River Lodge at 2:30, and are enjoying some TV at one of their pull-through campsites. The MLS All-Star Game will be on this evening on TSN (Canada's ESPN), so we're glad we chose to come this far.

Tomorrow: we have no idea! Don's thinking we'll go the 400 miles to Dawson Creek and then stay there 2 nights to "celebrate" our completion of the Alaska Highway. I hope so.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Denali to Tok, Alaska to Kluane Lake and then Rancheria, Yukon

Monday, July 25

We left Denali National Park, on Friday morning, and 915 miles later we are camped along the Rancheria River in the Yukon. It's on a little stretch of the Alaska Highway that runs through the Yukon before and after it dips down into British Columbia.

We made it to Tok, Alaska, on Friday, going through Fairbanks. The highway was in good condition all the way, so we made good time.







The Tanana River is one of the largest rivers in Alaska, and runs alongside the highway east of Fairbanks for a while.

We stopped for the night at Tok Village RV Park, which is a very large campground on the east side of Tok which caters to people driving the Alaska Highway. We were the 6th or 7th to check in, and within 3 hours, the place was nearly full. We did our laundry ($3.50 a load in the washer, and $1.50 for 45 minutes in the dryer.). Dinner was barbecued chicken thighs, cole slaw, and corn. We had cable TV that night, so we watched news and some reruns of Law & Order that we hadn't seen before.

Saturday morning we were up early (5:30) and after a breakfast of egg and bacon burritos, left around 7:00. This time, the road was NOT in good shape. We had heard the stories from many people about how it was under construction and full of frost heaves around Burwash Landing. Here's the scoop: it's that way from Beaver Creek all the way to Destruction Bay. We rocked and rolled and bounced for hours, and welcomed the chance to stop in Destruction Bay so Don could get a fishing license.

16 miles south of Destruction Bay we pulled into Cottonwood Campground, a unique but lovely campground right on Kluane Lake. Kluane Lake is the largest lake in the Yukon, and its waters are a deep royal blue. It's just beautiful. Don knew he wanted to fish there, so we opted to stay for 2 nights. We were given our choice of campsites - one with electricity and water in the interior of the park, or one with electricity only right on the water. Since our fresh water tank was 2/3 full, we opted for the lakeside site.







Looks beautiful, doesn't it?!

Let me tell you about the idiosyncrasies of this campground. First, all the electricity in the park is provided by generator. Therefore, it's 15 amp power. You're given a list when you check in of what 15 amps will and will not run. Then you're shown how to reset the breakers if you happen to pop one. Second, the generators have to go off every day (I'm assuming they need to be refueled and/or cooled and/or switched out), so there's no power at all from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. I can deal with that. Third, since the campground is so close to the Kluane Wildlife Refuge, they have a grizzly bear problem. Or at least, they used to have a bigger problem than the one they have now. They have no trash cans. You are asked to take your trash with you when you leave. Fourth, there's a lot of wind. It doesn't blow all the time, but when it does the waves really crash up against the shoreline. The good thing about a light wind, though, is it keeps the bugs away. They weren't bad here at all.

If you can handle those idiosyncrasies, and we can, then you will love this place. We sure did.



There were some lovely times when we sat out behind the trailer on the shore.




How's this for a place to read?

One more thing about that site--the bathroom in our trailer is in the rear, so it looked out over the lake. We were so close to the water that it appeared as if we were on a cruise ship.

Don did go fishing in the lake several times, and caught a grayling. That's all. But he had a nice time trying (they don't call it catching, just fishing).

This morning we were up again at 5:30, but hit the road a little earlier since I had made a coffee cake the day before. We made it to Whitehorse around 10:15; the highway was in much better condition than the previous day's stretch was. I was completely out of anything green, as well as eggs, so we stopped at the WalMart in Whitehorse. I've shopped at the Supercenter (a Canadian grocery store similar to Food 4 Less back home) and knew it would be extremely crowded, and I knew that the WalMart had ample parking for RVs. I was able to pick up canned peas and green beans, eggs, coffee creamer, bread, and some frozen spinach.

Back on the highway by 11:30, we decided to stop for lunch around 12:30. That was at a rest area just past Jake's Crossing. We reached Teslin around 1:30 or so (I really wasn't paying attention) and I was able to get lettuce and tomatoes at the Nisutlin Trading Post. We looked at the maps and the Milepost book and decided to go on to Rancheria.

Rancheria Lodge is right on the Rancheria River--and since it originates in British Columbia, Don can use his BC fishing license here. It's a pretty rustic place--derelict cars are strewn along the edge of he campground, but there are electric hookups (30 amp), a sani-dump, water fill-up, and clean shower/toilet facility. I can also go over to the lodge to use the WiFi, which is what I'll do in a few minutes.


We took the only electric hookup site on the river. The rest are in the woods a few hundred yards away.




This is the view from our big window. Not bad, huh!







And of course, since this is a good river for Dolly Varden (a kind of fish related to trout) and grayling, Don is out there and will be out there until almost dark.




We'll stay here for 2 nights.
Wednesday: Toad River Lodge and Campground


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Denali Grizzlies

Wednesday, July 20

Along the way to the Eielson Visitor Center we saw 5 different grizzlies. One of them delayed our bus for about half an hour. We caught up to him near the Toklat River crossing as he was ambling along the road. It's park policy to not disturb them by trying to pass or force them off the road, so our bus an another one played leapfrog for a while giving everyone a chance to take photos.

























He finally shuffled off to the side of the road, where those of us on the left side of he bus were able to take more pictures.

















On the way back from Eielson we saw another down by the river.












- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad