These things
are sure huge ... how they stay up is a puzzle .. except the wind is
really blowing |
Teddy Bears
Picnic ... If you go down to the woods today you better go in disguise
.... |
That is
Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach in the background |
As you can
see, there sure are a lot of kites ... most of the Dad and son small
ones do not show up |
For you long
time sufferers, you might recognize this site as the first one that
Elsie and I went to with the Folly. It sure seems a long time ago
now ... my fingernails have almost completely healed now |
Roy and
Diane at Swan Lake Campsite. Note the beautiful weather.
From here on it became much cooler. There goes my tan. Also
note the large site and grass ... no Peace River Mud to be seen |
This is the
view from the window in Harvey's Loo ... Not bad eh? |
Dawson Falls
in Wells Grey Park. It was about a 10 minute walk from the car
... where are the bears? |
Helmcken
Falls in Wells Grey. Note the snow to the right of the Falls |
Getting
ready to leave Prince George |
Entering
Fort St. John. Note the Peace River Mud in the foreground |
Sourdough
Pete's Campsite. The water tap leaked, so slowly the ground under
Harvey began to literally melt. In three days, the front jack
sank into the goo over 6 inches. This explains the Harvey's tilt
here/ |
Famous sign
in Dawson Creek for Mile 0 of Alaska Highway |
Somewhere, I
have a picture of Mom and Dad at this identical sign in 1943.
Interesting comparison |
Dawson's famous Dew Drop
Inn. I had a tour of the bar given to me by the resident
drunk. The walls are covered with signed dollar bills etc from
around the world. I looked but didn't see anyone I knew. A
little difficult to do as there are literally thousands of the
things. There was also a stuffed 180 lb cougar. Go figure
|
New signs
showing the way to the highway. I can't figure why the arrow was
necessary as the road only goes two ways ... north and south.
Well, I guess you could get lost .... |
Again,
another new sign for the highway. This guy is actually pointing
the way north ... for the slow learners I guess.... |
The official
brass plaque indicating the start of the highway |
Now here is the controversy ...
Before the road was built, there existed a road of sorts from Dawson to
Charley Lake just 10 miles north of Fort St. John. So, the people
in Charley Lake claim that they are the real start of the Alaska
Highway. Think of all the signs that would have to be changed if
this is accepted??? |
On the way
back to Fort St. John, we went off the modern version of the Highway
and visited this bridge that was the last wooden structure. It is
on a stretch of the old highway that is still maintained. |
Given the
number of bullet holes in the explanation sign, the locals are not
impressed with this site |
This wooden
structure is actually cambered ... one of the engineering marvels |
Ahhh ... my favourite time of
the day ... picnic time. Note the bridge in the background |
I wonder how
does this get any better ...???? |
Toad River Campsite ... no
sewer, no water, but hey .... Ya got 4 TV Channels |
Bull Moose
just behind the Toad River Campsite |
Impressive
to us city slickers. He paid very little attention to us ...
thankfully ... |
Had enough
of the river vegetation ... time for dry land |
Sunset at
Toad River ... we are getting only about 4 hours night time now.
Less as we get further north ... |
NO!!!
That is not a landlocked Beluga Whale! It is me relaxing in Laird
River Hotsprings |
You will
note that there are no pictures of Elsie enjoying the water. I
was threatened within an inch of my life if I dared to take one.
Suffice it to say, we both enjoyed the water that varied form 104 to
140 F. the further you go closer to the source. Here it was
104 and the falls would have been 106 or so ... |
This is a
serious Caribou warning sign. There are similar Moose signs and
bear signs |
The Alaska
Highway. So far, on average, it is in better condition that the
Trans Canada in Northern Ontario |
The scenery
just keeps getting more and more impressive |
Watson Lake
Sign City. These posts with signs on them have been put there by
people traveling through. It actually cover almost a small city
block. They claimed to reach 6000 several years ago so how many
they have now ... who knows. Four people from Ohio brought signs
and put them up while we were there. |
On our way
to Skagway. This is Summit Lake. Note that on the last week
of May there is still ice covering it. |
Statue by
the cruise boat docks commemorating the "Stampeders" who entered the
Klondike Gold Fields after hiking Chilcotin Pass. We had a look
at Dyea which was the jump off point and at one time had 6000
people. They either were very brave, very stupid, or just Gold
Crazy ... or all of the above ... |
The same
three ships in dock as we had 9 years ago. Holland America in the
foreground, Princess to the left and the Norwegian Line on the
right. Skagway had literally thousands of visitors from these
three and the same thing happens 7 days a week during the cruising
season. By 6:00 all shops were closed tightly |
On the way
back from Dyea we stopped at "Skinny Lookout" |
South
Klondike Highway back to Whitehorse |
Does Barley
look comfortable or what .... |
Now, he is
comfortable .... "5 in the air" is his favourite position. Note
the left foot bandage |
Hops on
patrol in Vernon. These days we can often let them off leash and
the don't run too far ... Improvement is slow .... |
Barley and
Hops on guard. Note that the stair cover was still working here
and that the bandage is gone from Barley's foot. |