We are just north of Beaver Creek, Yukon, about to enter Alaska tomorrow morning. There is much to recount.
Recounting...we left Paris June 27th, spent a week or more in Cary (Rebecca and Jeremy; grand-daughter Penelope off at Green Cove camp), continuing the "build" of our camper and otherwise preparing for the road trip that is now underway. We spent another couple days in Knoxville (Marie and Norm), then several days in Chicago (Tawana and Wes). After several days of corn and soybean scenery, we camped at Green River Lakes in the Wind River mountains in Wyoming for a couple nights, then the Tetons for a week, mostly at Jenny Lake (!). From there, we drove on to former home Missoula and a week with Kim and Dave, continuing work on the camper, seeing friends, etc. From there, we spent a couple nights at the Powell campground, adjacent to Lochsa Lodge, on the Lochsa River. After that, we continued through darkest Idaho, spending a night at a motel in Bonner's Ferry before crossing into Canada.
Our stops in Canada have included Cranbrook, Banff National Park, Dawson Creek, BC, Grand Prairie, Fort Nelson, Watson's Lake, the aforementioned Skagway (which is not in Canada), then Whitehorse, back in the Yukon, and tonight, as I continue writing, at a rest area just north of Beaver Creek, Yukon. We'll cross back into Alaska tomorrow. Persons acquainted with this itinerary will perceive that we are following the Alaska Highway, recreating a trip we did in 2002. Our goals are three-fold: 1) seeing, in person, the northern lights, 2) ascertaining the feasibility of traveling/camping/road-tripping in our Sienna mini-van, and 3) seeing friends and family. After Alaska, we'll turn south to do the Cassiar highway, which we much enjoyed in 2002, Vancouver and Victoria, which we much enjoyed in 1970, and then work our way south along the Pacific coast, which we've always enjoyed. And then, just after seeing Bob and Beth near San Diego, we'll turn back east.
Mostly the posts I'll be doing will be scenes and out-takes from this and that. The seeming millions of miles of black spruce and quaking aspens we have driven do not lend themselves to much of a narrative...
Oh, so far we have seen a big herd of American bison, 2 small herds of woodland bison, 2 caribou, and 3 yearling black bears.
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| Camping at Jenny Lake campground, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming |
