Tag Archive: boondocking


HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR

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December 27, 2012

HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR–

We wish you health, peace and happiness throughout 2013!

It is our tradition to spend Christmas with family and this year has been no exception. We had a nice time visiting with our daughters and sons-in-law as well as our wonderful four grandchildren. With all the grandkids being six yrs. old and under, Christmas morning is pandemonium, full of joy and wonderment. It was fun to watch the kids play together, open and play with their gifts. One gift, a very large trampoline with a safety screen, got the most use by everyone. All the adults are hoping that all that jumping on the trampoline will burn off some of the many calories we enjoyed.
Our Christmas feast was prepared by our daughters with wonderful desserts prepared by Grandma Cathy. These wise excellent, cooks prepared enough so there’s plenty of left overs.  Everyone’s still enjoying the fruits of their labor!
We’re “street boondocking” in the RV in front of our son-in-law and daughter’s house (with their neighbor’s OK) in the San Diego area giving easy access to the family while affording us our own place to stay. At one point on Christmas Eve, we had all the grand kids in the motor home sitting around the table making cookies.  Luckily, the RV has an oven for the cookies as the oven in the house was being put to good use. It may be some time before Jerry and I completely clean up all the powdered sugar spread around the RV but we had a great time, made some cookies and lots of good memories.

Happy New Year!

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KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARK ADDITIONAL PICTURES

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June 21, 2012

A day of rest–

Today we rested by the Resurrection River in Seward and watched the water and time float by our motor home.  It is a beautiful day, warm with a cool breeze.  The sun is out and is sparkling across the water.  Occasionally an eagle lazes through the sky overhead and the day is just another beautiful day in Alaska.

Fellow Boondocking RVers–
This morning, we met a wonderful couple from Ohio. They had been boondocking near us at one of the Resurrection River boondock sites.  They were in need of some of the information we have garnered over time about some of the tips and tricks of RVing and boondocking and we were happy to share. We spent a good part of the morning chatting and enjoying each other’s company. They have traveled on now so Ron can fish the Russian River but hopefully we will meet up with them along the road.

Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
Yesterday, we went out on a cruise into the Kenai Fjords National Park. We took so many pictures that we spent most of the afternoon going through them. It was a calm water, no wind, beautiful day yesterday and we have A LOT of pictures. As we went through the pictures we were so thankful that our country was smart enough to save these beautiful places so we and all future generations could enjoy this place. We wondered, would all this be put aside for future generations if our generation had to decide about making this area a National Park? I would hope they would but I’m not sure we have that same vision that previous generations exhibited.
For the blog today, we decided to post a few more of the pictures we took in Kenai Fjords National Park that, for economy of space, did not make it into the blog yesterday. What a wonderful place we have in this National Park.

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RIVERBOAT DISCOVERY. FAIRBANKS, ALASKA.

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June 4, 2012

Riverboat Discovery in Faibanks, Alaska–

What it is…a three hour trip on a sternwheeler on the Chena River. Has three main components: a plane taking off and landing on the Chena river (watch from the boat), a dog mushing informational and demonstration (a float-by on the Port side of the boat), and a stop at an Athabaskan Fishing camp/village (it is on the Stern side but you get off the boat anyway). This is a popular stop for tour groups such as various Alaskan Cruise Ship customers so bus loads of people are there.

What it is like, the good…1) It was a beautiful sunny day, we were up on the upper open-air deck of the boat most of the time, 2) it was as well choreographed as could be done for a large number of people, 3) they allowed everyone off the boat to inform and give demonstrations about life in an Athabaskan fishing camp/village for a half hour then you can wonder around on your own and observe things at your own pace for a half hour albeit along with a few hundred others.   The boat was clean and the staff efficient.

What it is like, the not so good…1) the boat holds 1000 people but they are only licenced for 900 people and usually don’t take more than 750 people, 2) there were 460 people on board today (because it is early in the season), very crowded, 3) so many folks trying to see and take pictures at the same time was difficult.

Our impression–
We are glad we went using the half price ticket (it is not worth over $100 for two). We do recommend going with the knowledge that it will be crowded. If it is a beautiful day as it was for us, it is nice to be out on the water. This is a very commercial tour. They sell everything from food and drink to canned salmon and there are gift shops.
Recommendations–
If you have a coupon, use it. Come at least a half hour early and if the weather is good that day, immediately go up to the third deck to the the front seats near the middle aisle (everyone wants these seats). Know that folks will come to stand in front of you to take pictures so be prepared to stand and jockey for position a little to get a good picture. There are lots of mosquitoes at the village so be prepared. They do have a free RV parking area and a free car parking area. Before or after the boat tour, try the -40 degree room (it is free but they want to sell a picture to you of you in the room). It is a good idea to call and make a reservation. Bring your patience, there are lots of people and some are a little testy.

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THE DEMPSTER HWY., YUKON, CANADA ON OUR ROAD TRIP TO ALASKA

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May 21, 2012

Diamond Tooth Gertie’s—
Went to the 8:30 pm show last night. A good show for the $10 and you can stay for all three shows for that price. The showgirls come down off the stage during the show and “flirt” with some of the male customers. The men loved it, of course, but better than that was that the men’s wives had just as much or more fun watching their husbands have a good time. Jerry was chosen to learn the Can-can and was a good sport about trying to do as asked. We had a great time but only stayed for the first show.  Guess we’re really getting old!

Boondocking on the Dempster–
Last night we drove to the Dempster Hwy. turn-off. Needed some gas before taking that road so stopped off at the Dempster/Klondike Hwy. corner gas station. $6.50 a gal. reg. later we were in shock so only got a minimal amount. Started down the Dempster as the sun was getting low in the sky and what a “far north color show!”. The road is paved for the first five miles then it is a dirt/gravel road, not terrible. Found a large pull-out and spent the night. Woke to a temp of 45 degrees F. but I don’t think it ever really got dark last night.  Because the weather is warming, the mosquitoes are out  big time.  They’re huge but slow yet so easier to kill them.  When the smaller, faster mosquitoes arrive…Watch Out!  Jerry always wants me to stand next to him as the mosquitoes perfer me to him if they have the choice.

Traveling the Dempster–
The Dempster Hwy. was very quiet today. No trucks, few cars. Reasons? Well this is a lightly traveled road anyway, this is a three day Canadian holiday weekend, and the Dempster is closed in the north through to Inuvik due to “break up” and the ferry not being able to cross the Peel River. Thus, we were alone on the road most of the time. The views on the Dempster are incredible. We’d heard that it was beautiful but it is even better than we thought. The road is rough in places. Had we had our previous rig, a 36 ‘ Rexal Airbus with two large slide-outs, we would not have taken it on this road. A car would be fine or a smaller, very well built RV such as our Lazy Daze. Turn arounds can be tight and the washboard effect would shake some rigs to death. This is a side trip well worth taking to view the grandure. We would like to come here some year in early Fall (for the Fall colors) and travel the whole length into Inuvik. We did stop at the Tombstone Territory Park Visitor Center which was very nice.  Saw few animals.  Had hoped to see moose and grizzly but no such luck.

Price of Gas–
After paying $6.50/gal. reg. near the Dempster we asked at the Dawson City Visitor Center where we could pay a more reasonable price for gas. They sent us AFD cardlock station. It accepts only Visa or Master Card, was fairly easy to use and charged us $5.50 per gal. reg. Not a wonderful price but a lot better than $6.50 a gal. reg. The visitor center said “Where to buy gas?”  is the most common question they get so they always have a list of the gas stations here and the amount they are charging.

 

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DAWSON CITY, YUKON, CANADA ON OUR ROAD TRIP TO ALASKA

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May 20, 2012

Dawson City, Yukon, Canada
Arrived in Dawson City area last night and decided to take the “view” turn off to Dome Road. The road takes you up a steep mountain on a good two lane road. At the top there is a loop that turns you around to head down hill (not for big rigs though we saw a big tour bus up there). The views are incredible and the climb for us was well worth the gas.
There are “tailings” along both sides of the road into Dawson City. The tailings (piles of gravel and sand) are the remnants of the tremendous amount of dredging of the rivers and streams for gold. Late last night we found an area outside of town to boondock and went to sleep with the sun still lighting the area. At 10:00pm we still had to wear sunglasses. During the night the temp. dropped to 34 degrees F. and when we awoke around 6:00 am, the sun was shinning like it was already noon.
Visitor Center and tour of the town–
Chatted with the visitor center staff about the Dempster and Top of The World roads. The Dempster is closed due to flooding during “break up”. We can go only part way on the Dempster and that we will do tomorrow. The plowing of the Top of The World road was completed yesterday and the ferry is running but the American border station isn’t opened until Tuesday.  That works for us since Tuesday is when we are going (hopefully).  The visitor center staff advised us to check with them Tuesday morning before attempting the Top of The World road.  Spent most of the day today wandering around this interesting little town.

The Jack London Museum–
Fans of Jack London since childhood, we had to visit the Jack London Museum and see the cabin Jack London lived in while he was mining for gold in the Klondike. The presentation was excellent and the pictures at the museum of the struggle that people in the time of the gold rush went through (including Jack London) is amazing. His restored cabin is on the museum premises and is set up so you can see how they lived.
Diamond Tooth Gerties–
There’s a show at 8:30pm tonight at Diamond Tooth Gerties and we will attend. Should be lots of cancan dancing and great fun.

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FORT NELSON, BRITISH COLUMBIA TO WATSON LAKE, YUKON. ON OUR ROAD TRIP TO ALASKA

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May 15, 2012

Fort Nelson, British Columbia
Last night, we toured the outside of the museum in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. They have quite a display of old equipment and tools as well as an old post office building. It was 9:00 pm and still very light outside. It didn’t become dusk then dark until after 10:00 pm. Our solar panels are loving all this daylight and we are running the refrig. off batteries during daylight hours instead of using our propane. We’re just closely monitoring the batteries.

Boondocking
Drove north about 18 miles outside of Fort Nelson. The visitor center has sign saying no overnight parking and we were told it was due to a city ordnance. There was already a motor home parked for the night in the rest area (mile marker 318.7). We pulled as far from the road as we could and oriented the RV to be next to a little stream outside our windows. It was very quiet there last night and we woke this morning to a beaver swimming up the stream. The temp. this morning was 41 degrees F. and at 6:00 am it looked like the middle of a sunny day.

Driving the Alcan Hwy.
Using the “Milepost” is very helpful while driving the Alcan. Somehow had the mistaken idea that there were frequent mileposts along the side of the road. Not so. Milepost signs are only every occational and can read Killometers from Dawson Creek or miles from Dawson Creek (milepost “0″). We drive slow. Very slow. There are quite a few trucks on the road and they are always in a hurry so we move over for them. Cars and RVs are also in a great hurry. The cars, I get, maybe just locals going home. The RVs in such a hurry well maybe they’re on vacation and it is all about the destination. Otherwise, we hope folks slow down and enjoy the trip, it is too stressful to hurry. We’ve seen a lot of wildlife along the side of the road that others have raced by and didn’t get to see at all. Today, there were quite a few Stone Sheep , Bison and Caribou along the side of the road grazing. We looked for bear but only saw one and he didn’t stick around for a photo op.
The Canadian Rockies are still decorated with snow but the roads are clear. Many of the rivers and lakes are still partially frozen. Speaking of roads, so far, they have been fine though 6% and 8% grades, S curves, and unguarded steep drop-offs are plentiful but seem not too bad (this pronouncement from a real ‘fraidy cat’).
A bicycle rider was up in the Canadian Rockies today. So Jerry and I think of ourselves as pretty low maintenance and we thought that planning this trip to Alaska was daunting. I can’t imagine planning to do anything like this on a bike, much less actually doing it!!! Don’t know where he is headed but to ride a bike over the Canadian Rockies is amazing in any ones book.

Moncho Lake
We ate lunch today with a view of the beautiful, partially frozen Moncho Lake outside our window. The color of the lake is a beautiful blue/green that they say is caused by copper leaching into the water. The Provincial Park campground at Moncho Lake charges $16.00 Canadian/night and while there are no hook-ups, many of the campsites back up to the lake. After we left Moncho Lake it started to rain… a cold, gray rain and we’re on our way to go swimming.

Liard River Hot Springs
“Who, in their right mind, goes swimming in rainy, 54 degree F. weather?” this from my logical husband. Well, we do and did. The walk to the Hot Springs is a good 10 minutes on a board walk and so worth it. The smell of sulfur is the first thing you notice, then the steam. There are changing rooms but we had put our suits on under our clothes and got into the Hot Springs on the “cooler” side which is the left side of the pool. The water is clear and you can see right to the bottom and the water is ever changing so it is “clean”. It felt wonderful to these old bones and we met some lovely people there. This is something I would gladly do again especially this time of year when it is so uncrowded.
Every hour or so you hear a very loud BANG. Turns out the rangers are working on “bear adverse conditioning”. We heard two bangs in a row when we arrived and again about one hour later. So does that mean they saw a bear or two and were scaring him away?

Watson Lake, Yukon
We made it to the Yukon!!! Arrived this evening, exhausted. Will do all the touristy things tomorrow. From Laird River Hot Springs to Watson Lake we saw a couple of dozen black bear. One was a mama and her two cubs. Lots of good memories made today.

 

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QUESNEL TO BARKERVILLE, BC, CANADA. ON OUR ROAD TRIP TO ALASKA

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May 11, 2012

Quesnel–

Woke this morning to a temp. of 33 degrees F. Boondocked, undisturbed all night, in a gravel parking area in Quesnel. There are no signs for “No overnight parking” and in fact it says “Free Parking”.  We finished doing some surfing on the internet in the evening using the visitor center free Wi-Fi.  After 8:00 pm, we moved to our overnight site (GPS location N 52.97654 W122.49319). This morning around 6:30 am, we moved back to the visitor center parking lot to use their Wi-Fi for following the stock market while we had breakfast. There’s a river walk near the visitor center and we spent about an hour this morning roaming around the river walk and part of the town.
Gas prices in Quesnel were 129.9/liter to 132.9/liter regular. We found the lowest price for gas on line and headed there before taking off for Barkerville.

Barkerville–

Barkerville is about 50 miles east of Quesnel on route 26 and is a famous gold mine town. There’s a mountain caribou reserve along the route but we did not see any caribou. We did see a black bear though, right on the side of the road. We looked for other wild life along the way but we think they would be more likely seen in the early morning. Barkerville is filled with historic buildings along a short dirt road and right now there’s still snow next to and behind the buildings. There is no snow on the roads at all. The town is gated and you pay an entrance fee to tour the buildings.  It will be open to the public on May 19th. Even though it wasn’t open for business and all the buildings were closed when we were there, we were able to wander around the little town looking in windows and enjoying the place. It was kind of like Disneyland only it is a real, mining town from the 1800′s. Gold was discovered nearby in 1862 and this town sprang up as part of the gold rush. The drive there is beautiful on a good, two lane road with a few short 8% grades.  We can see why this is a popular place to visit.

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KAMLOOPS TO WILLIAMS LAKE ON OUR ROAD TRIP TO ALASKA

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May 9, 2012

Kamloops to Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada

We spent the night in Kamloops in the Paul Lake area and woke to a temp of 39 degrees F. There’s a Provincial Park there but it is closed until May 15th so we just pulled over on Paul Lake Road and boondocked undisturbed for the night. Went to a McDonalds to check the stock market this morning and went on our way to Williams Lake, British Columbia. The drive along route 1 west then route 97 north has fabulous scenery. We did see some snow flurries along the way but we are moving north and it is colder, even though it is after the first week of May. Stopped for lunch along the road and enjoyed a lovely, short walk.

Boondocking at Williams Lake

Now we are in the town of Williams Lake. Arrived at the Williams Lake visitor center at 4:30 and made plans for travel tomorrow with their help. The visitor center has free overnight parking with a free, no pass word, Wi-Fi connection.

Also staying in this visitor center parking lot is a couple from Holland. They have just come back from touring the Yukon and part of Alaska. They said they NEVER pay for “camping” in any country, including all of Europe. Quite the sense of adventure these two folks have!   They are going to visit Vancouver, Seattle and then spend part of the summer touring the Maritime Provinces.   He told us of a number of places we can boondock as we move further north, places where they have boondocked successfully just recently.  Wow, we were impressed.  This guy could teach a class on finding free overnight spots.  He said something that we have found to be true; traveling is quite expensive and if you don’t have to pay to overnight (especially if you don’t need or want full hook-ups) you’ll just have more money to spend on your travels.  Our budget is tight but I would hate to not travel so boondocking is great for us, to say nothing of not being right next to your neighbor in a campground.  It’s all in where you want to direct your resources.

Traveling Off Season-

It has turned out to be a real blessing  traveling before the rush of the summer tourist season.  I’m glad we started across Canada in early May.  I would rather have less sunny weather than crowds to contend with.  Off season you can mosey along without causing other drivers distress and when you get somewhere special, you have the place pretty much to yourself.  I’m fairly sure as you mosey along you get a chance to see more.  Of course, you do miss the “tourist things” but that never appealed to us anyway.  So to each his own.  This just works for us.

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HELLO BRITISH COLUMBIA ON OUR ROAD TRIP TO ALASKA

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May 6, 2012

British Columbia, Canada
Border Crossing–
We crossed the USA/Canadian border last night at Sumas, Wa. After a long winding ride from the Rest Area north of Everett, Wa. to Sumas, Wa. Not sure, but we think our GPS got confused. It took us along a beautiful scenic route, winding in and out of residential and farming areas and gave us a real tour of the area. Of course, it took us at least three times as long to get to the border crossing but we don’t care about time now that we’re retired. They say the Sumas crossing is usually less crowded than other crossings but crossing into Canada is new to us since there have been many changes and restrictions due to 9/11, so we have nothing to compare it to.

When we approached the border crossing it seemed very crowded but the lines move fairly quickly. Our turn at the window: asked if we had guns, pepper spray, bear spray, etc. then it was on to fruits and vegs. Turns out that apples are forbidden fruit to bring across the USA/Canada border. We ended up throwing away a whole bag of fresh apples we had purchased the previous day. Seems a waste but they say they need to protect their crop from infestation. I guess the bad apple bug doesn’t fly across the border without checking with customs. Getting across the border took less than a half an hour.

Overnight boondocking–
There were lots of beautiful places we saw for boondocking in southern British Columbia but it is not allowed from what we’ve been told. There is no rule against staying overnight in the rest areas though and some RVers we met from British Columbia said that in Canada, as in the US, Walmart, etc. are usually OK for overnight.
We spent the night in a rest area after crossing the border. We were tired from many hours of driving and it was already past dinner time for us. It seems there are two kinds of Rest Areas in British Columbia; first there’s the “business rest areas” which probably wouldn’t be so great for overnight parking and there regular designated Provincial rest areas that look much the same as the rest areas in the states except the RVs and the trucks are in seperate locations. So far, the designated Provincial ones seem to have free dump sites and fresh water but not sure that is a constant.

Super Moon–
We’re interested in Astronomy so we were excited to learn there was to be a “Super Moon” on May 5th. The moon was supposed to be closest to earth last night, so we watched for it to rise. Oops! Too much cloud cover to catch the rising moon but did see it when it peeked out from behind some clouds a few hours after rising.  Beautiful. There were some Canadians that stopped in the rest area to set up cameras to catch the Super Moon.

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OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK SIDETRIP#2 DAY13 ON OUR ROADTRIP TO ALASKA

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April 28, 2012

Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington

Today was our first full day in Hoh Rain Forest in the Olympic National park. Our campsite is backed up the the Hoh River that is flowing faster today than yesterday but far from causing us a problem. You can hear the water rushing by and the a few river rocks tumbling by but the loudest in the morning is the bird sounds. Clearly the birds know it is Spring and they sound like they are discussing it. The temp this morning was 45 degrees F, warmer than it has been most mornings.
After a leisurely breakfast, we walked to the Hoh visitor center. As we came to the parking lot there was a fine array or Masda Miatas in many colors and all from Washington State. We asked around at the visitor center and found that the gathering of Miatas was a car club that was touring the Hoh Rain Forest.  They’re all staying at a nearby resort. The Ranger at the visitor center suggested a number of hikes so we were set for today and tomorrow. Today we only hiked about three miles but got a feel for the ecosystem here. Tomorrow we will try a six mile round trip hike that is supposed to take us to a waterfall. The hikes for today were beautiful and easy and we did see some elk along the trails.
Since our campsite backs up to the river and has quite a bit of open sky, we have fairly good solar. There has been a fine drizzle all day but rarely did it actually rain today. Our open campsite must “see” a cell tower or a repeater because we have a good internet connection.

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