9/16/16 Friday Alaska/Canada Border 40ish overcast rain
Anchorage to the Canadian Border
400 miles
Topped off propane about 3 gal.
Cool
rainy day up and on the road at 9:30.
The weather was overcast and rain in the morning and off and on during
most of the day. Saw temperatures down
to 43 in the higher elevations along the Glenn Hwy. With the overcast views were not that
spectacular but still beautiful with the fall color change. The colors were mostly bright orange/yellow
from the birch trees. The Glenn Hwy was
in pretty good condition, the Tok Cutoff Hwy was over all in fair shape with
some areas of gravel. The graveled areas
on the Tok Cutoff were never very long several hundred yards at most but a lot
of the graveled areas.
I made
it to the border at 7:30ish with just a little daylight remaining so I spent
the night just past the Alaska entry point before the Canadian Customs.
Fried
some pink salmon for dinner I am still impressed with the results. To fry the salmon I lightly coat it with
lemon juice and olive oil, a little salt and pepper on the fish then I sprinkle
on some cornmeal lightly pat the cornmeal to ensure all of the fish is
covered. I then fry it on a medium heat
in a cast iron pan to an internal temperature of about 135-145 degrees. Fixed
salad and some pan baked potatoes, onion, and garlic. Everyone told me that the pink salmon was
trash fish and if I did want to try some don’t try and freeze it because it
does not freeze well. I have had several
pieces of the pink salmon that I froze and it is good by my standards. If I would have gotten to Soldotna earlier
and got some of the red salmon I may and felt the same about the pink as
everyone else but I missed the red salmon run.
9/17/16 Saturday Whitehorse/Teslin Yukon 40ish clear
Canadian
Border to Whitehorse area 350 Miles
The
entry into Canada was easy a few basic questions about firearms and how long
was I going to be in Canada and I was on my way.
Up
early had coffee and on the road 9:30AM.
Weather is 40ish and clear looks like a great day starting.
Not
much traffic on the Alaskan Hwy this time of the year. The view south is a lot different view than
when coming up to Alaska. Everything was
either orange or green not a lot of shades.
Kluane
Lake in Yukon has some of the most breath taking views. It was hard to make any time because I was
wanting to stop at every bend to take more pictures. The leaves are in full color mostly orange
but beautiful. There is still snow in
the higher elevations so lot of snowcapped mountains. The weather was good through this part of the
travel today.
Today
was an eventful day…plenty of sunshine light traffic…one grizzly and two moose
along the road side today. The grizzly
wanted his picture taken but the moose were not sure about the red truck so no
pictures of the moose.
When I
stopped for the evening I could smell wine in the camper. I thought…this is not good…one of my bottles
of red wine in the cabinet broke today one bump was just too much. It did not make too much of a mess and all
glass was contained in the sock I kept it in.
The wine was easily cleaned up.
But before the wine the lower cabinet doors on right side popped open
not a problem but a little challenge to get them closed to allow the slide to
open.
9/18/16 Sunday Watson lake/Disease Lake Mid 40’s clear 55 partly cloud
350
Miles
Dumped
gray water tanks today in Nugget City at the campground next to Hwy 37 Junction
Fuel Stop $15.00 they had no potable water this late in the season…they had
pretty much closed down for the season.
I may
catch up with Bill and Kathy today. Last
time I texted they were in the Watson Lake area and I will make that
today. I send a text…did not get an
answer so I assume they have no cell service.
A
little rain and sleet as I got on the Cassiar Hwy in Nugget City YT. Most of the day was clear and cool beautiful
day.
The
scenery today was not as spectacular as yesterday there was plenty of great
scenery just not the same as yesterday.
The best views/photo opts were after I got onto the Cassiar Hwy. But the Cassiar Hwy is narrow and does not
have a lot of pull off options.
Stopped
for the night in a rest stop on a bluff overlooking a lake with granite mounts
on the other side of the lake. As I was eating I looked out and a rainbow had
formed up against the granite mountains across the lake.
Noticed
that the trim strip on the bottom of main slide rear wall was loose. It felt like some swelling and bowing caused
the screws to break and/or pull out.
Wildlife
for today was a small whitetail deer no horns.
Two cyclist one on the Alaskan Hwy and a lone female on the beginning of
the Cassiar Hwy headed right into sleet/rain and some killer hills.
9/19/16 Monday Houston BC Rest area 40ish overcast 55 mostly clear some rain
Watson Lake to Houston BC 500 miles
The Cassiar Hwy was a beautiful drive the road was in good condition with lots of great views. The only problem was not a lot of photo opportunities with limited pull off areas. The road have little to no shoulder for the most part.
Saw one black bear but no picture no should to pull onto and lots of curves and hills.
Stopped at one campground and paid $20 for a dump and potable water. Once I got to dump station there was no potable water. The attendant then told me…we have no potable water??? I got my money back and moved on to Smithers BC CA city park and got free potable water. In the end all was well.
Spent the night at a rest stop just before Houston BC CA. Lots of traffic until about midnight. Several truckers shared the area with us but no engine idling during the night.
9/20/16 Tuesday Cache Creek BC CA 35 clear 60 partly cloudy
Houston BC to Cache Creek BC 400 miles
Spend the night a River View Campground in Cache Creek. Dumped tanks and topped off potable water. The campground sites were small but it was a well maintained and clean campground ($28).
Traffic was a little heavier today but not bad. I had a little rain in several areas but never very heavy or for very long. Fuel prices dropped to as low as .98 per liter and up to 1.15 per liter.
Got a chance this morning to look at the loose trim on the main slide. It looks like the wall and floor is separating. I called Orvan Fry to confirm my appointment they are looking at available dates and will get back with me. They requested that I send a list of items. Send emails to Cedar Creek Warranty department and Orvan Fry (Amish Family RV Services).
9/21/16 Wednesday Puyallup WA Fairground 45-55 clear
Cache Creek BC to Puyallup WA 350 miles
Another beautiful day clear and cool. I left the fall colors in the north country and not seeing any color change in the southern part of Canada. One surprise I did get was the Frasier River in Canada. Most of the day’s drive followed the river. The river was in a gorge as I rode through the mountains. The distance down to the river was probably 50-200 feet guesting as I viewed the river during the day. I got a few pictures but it was limited opportunities when driving thru I probably should have found a place and stayed a few days…maybe next time thru.
The entry into the US was easy a few questions and a comment about not seeing many SD plates and I was free to enter.
Send email to Nick Hale and Orvan Fry on the main slide problem.
Otto has reserved me a site at the Puyallup City Fairground for 3 days. Got into Puyallup about 7:30 and had a heck of a time finding the fairground campground. The state fair was in the startup mode. Streets were blocked and other with limited turns and lots of people on the streets both driving and walking. I had to make two u-turns. I made it to the campground with no tickets or running over anyone. Once there the host rushed me to this site and when I told him I had 3 slides that extend 3’ each he shook his head…and said this is going to be tight. The trailers were stacked in with inches of clearance between units. I decided one night will be enough here.