Banff

8-20-13 A delightful day to visit in Banff…..Scenic drives abound……Mt Rundle near Banff

Lake Miniwanka

Mt Sheep ---

Downtown Banff!

More scenic views along the way…….

A busy –enjoyable and delightful day!

Moraine Lake

8-21-13  The skies are blue – the weather perfect!  So off we go.  Lake Moraine continues to be my (Susie’s) #1 Favorite place.  We have visited many times and it is still very magical.  The rock flour from glaciers remains suspended in the water to give it that beautiful color of turquoise.

But my oh my the crowds of people.  Cars are parked for a long way along the road.  They are monitoring the number of cars that go out to let just that many in.

And then on to Lake Louise – another magnificent place with wonderful views. 

Happy 49th Anniversary

Lake Louise is all filled to the brim with tourist.  We’re not quite ready for the walk to the Tea House (~2 hrs walk up hill!?) so we drove down the road to Hector Lake for a relaxing – people free lake view and lunch.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood!

to Dawson Creek, BC

8-17-13  Another good nights’ sleep on the Alaskan Hwy heading south.  Looked for a big pull off, of course didn’t find one, but this morning we past several large perfect places to park.  Oh well….. on to Dawson Creek – roads are now very hilly with long straight stretches.  Trees and roadways are still green.

Arrived Dawson Creek – Milepost “0” – what a great summer and there is still more to enjoy!

Enjoyed an afternoon at the Pioneer Villages

And an afternoon drive to Swann Lake for a gathering of jammers and dancing…..

Time to relax for football…….

South to Muncho Lake

8-15-13  We’re rambling south – enjoying the views – taking our time.

Stopped at Rancheria Falls – a nice boardwalk thru the boreal forest to the falls.

There was no SNOW at Watson Lake.  We looked and looked for the Escapees Sign that Dennis Hill posted last year…… alas, couldn’t find it.  But we did visit our sign! Among the zillions!

A nice stop for the night at km 880 with a view of Liard River 880 kmThen on to beautiful Muncho Lake – Strawberry Flats Campground.Decided to take off a few layers of mud and dirt.  The RV was terribly dirty from all the heaves and dirt after Tok.  Dennis – look, Denny even cleaned the wheels!  And you know what happened after that don’t you?  Yep it rained!  But what a view!

Atlin, BC

8-13-13  Dennis & Corkie McDonald suggested we stop in Atlin…. A small town south east of Whitehorse.  A delightful drive along the Little Atlin  and the Atlin Lakes – mostly chip seal / firm hard pack ~ 60 miles off the Alaskan Highway.

Am sure you have heard this before “Situation Normal All Fouled Up”

Or “Things Are Really Fouled Up”

Fireweed is finished blooming --- means winter is just 6 weeks away!

View of Atlin Lake

Several interesting looking cabins.

Whimsical trees upside down!

Colorful Atlin

Interesting Atlin

Atlin is in BC, so back to the Yukon!

Incredible views along Little Atlin Lake – storm clouds a brewing!

Whitehorse YK

8-11-2013  Enjoyed an early morning sky along Kluane Lake before heading to Whitehorse, YK.  Road had less heaves / mile than from Tok.Wal-Mart has nice hospitality!  Certainly busy with the comings and goings.  Enjoying the delightful sunny 80’s.   Enjoyed the Frantic Follies…..along with some corny humor!

A sunny Sunday just invites us to take a trolley ride along the Yukon River parkway.

Whitehorse has the longest wooden Fish Ladders.  The staff were very helpful and exciting sharing information about the 1800 mile Yukon River trip from the Artic Ocean.A Fish Art Project celebrating 50 yrs for fish ladder.

Never know what you’ll find along the way…… how is this for a bicycle rim art project?Denny is thrilled – able to reconnect with DirecTV for plenty of football.  Games and preseason talk galore!  He’s a Happy Camper!

Alaska in our Rear View Mirror

8-8 & 9-13  Ok we’re spoiled.  We have had a fabulous Alaskan summer.  The weather has been superb – best summer in years for Alaskans.  We enjoyed the Palmer area, Fairbanks, Denali, the Kenai.  Weather for Kenai area is forecasted for probably rain for the next 10 days.  So we have wimped out!  It’s time to head south to the lower 48 and perhaps see some of the things we missed coming north (many things were still closed due to the long winter).

So off we head along the picturesque Glenn Highway to Glen Allen to Tok……… oh my the frost heaves…..for miles and miles.  Time to take it slow.

Stopped to top off the diesel tank in Tok – prices were YIKES! $4.69/gal of diesel.  But only go up from here thru Yukon and Alberta.  The weather is sunny and delightfully warm on this side of the mountains.

We’re staying the night at an overlook for Midway Lake mm 1290.  Nice view – quiet spot!

Stopped at the Tetlin Wildlife Refuge --- Denny likes the sod roof!Headed to Destruction Bay on Friday morning.  What a rock and roll roller coaster ride the entire day.  ~30 mph is pushing it!  Lots of heaves, gravel and some pilot sections too.  The RV & Car are DIRTY!Time to relax – camping tonight at Congdon Creek Campground km1666 on Kluane Lake.  Great views of the lake.  It’s windy and the lake is choppy!  Fireweed is topped out (winter will be here in 6wks), berries are in bloom,Time to relax --- Whitehorse tomorrow!