We Made It!

If you love trees, the road from Watson Lake to Jakes Corner, in the Yukon, is for you!  Five hours of no birds, no animals--just trees.  More shades of green than you can imagine.

We were heading to Skagway.  Tutshi Lake and Bove Island provided us with a photo op...of us!  Thanks to the couple from Atlanta.

The Last Frontier!  Alaska!  The only state that we had never visited.  We haven't kissed the ground yet--it's only a matter of time.

Almost as soon as we crossed the border, we were stunned by the beauty of Alaska's scenery.

We spent a couple of hours in Skagway.  It's just like going back to the days of the gold rush:  wooden buildings, planked sidewalks, horse-drawn buggies, and cruise ships!  Skagway has a year-round population of 900.  Today there were at least that many tourists.  The T-shirt shops and jewelers seem to be raking it in.

Today's scorecard:  Bears 1  Moose 0

Most Animals Return to Work; Moose Still Holding Out

Yes, it was a good day for animal sightings.  Got an early start from Ft. Nelson, BC, still heading North.  As we crossed the Rockies, the scenery became more rugged.  Finally, out they came:  a deer here, Stone sheep there, a slew of Bison and six bears--a pair of cubs among them.  Ahh!  But where were the moose?

After seeing signs along the road, we made a bun stop (cinnamon, of course) at a small store in Tetsa River.  One was enough to last us all day.

Mid-afternoon we crossed into the Yukon, new territory for both of us. 

Settled into A Nice Motel--actually, that's its name!--in Watson Lake, YT, a town known for its "Sign Post Forest."  It seems that a G.I. working on the construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942 erected a sign stating the distance to his home town of Danville, IL.  That was the beginning of a collection of directional and place name signs that now numbers over forty thousand.

A brief visit to US soil tomorrow.

Ready or Not, Here We Come

An interesting start to the day--a peak at some of the entries in the annual Chetwynd Chainsaw Carving Contest.  This octopus really grabbed us.

In Dawson Creek stands the Mile Zero Monument, marking the official starting point of the Alaska Highway.

A side road gives travellers an opportunity to drive the old Alaska Highway for a few kilometers and to cross the historic curved wooden Kiskatinaw River bridge.  It is 531 feet long and is the only original timber bridge built along the highway that is still in use today.

On a sad note, the Charismatic Megafauna Local #41 of the Audioanimatronic Animals Union has been unable to agree with management, so no wild animals have appeared.

At mile marker 101 on the Alaska Highway stands a small town called WONOWON.  Clever, what?

Our parting shot is of the open road, full of possibilities and adventure.

Moos But No Moose

The first stop on this beautiful sunny day was the town of Banff in Banff National Park.  We found just the place we were looking for--COWS!  Cows sells the best ice cream in the world (according to Tauck World Travel).  We indulged in two scoops of "Wowie Cowie," a divine combination of vanilla ice cream, caramel, English toffee and chocolate.  Yum!

Had to get to Lake Louise to see if the water had returned to its unique glacial blue hue.  (Last year when we visited, the lake was grey and frozen.)  You be the judge.

If you haven't seen the Canadian Rockies, pack your bag and get there!  Imagine 150 miles (from Banff to Jasper) of breathtakingly beautiful snow-and-glacier-covered mountains.

All along the 500 miles we travelled today, signs practically PROMISED us we would see moose:

This is what we got:

Staying in Prince George, B.C., tonight.  Tomorrow, the REAL journey begins.

Floods and Farmland

Awoke to rain in Billings, MT.  The highway we were going to take was closed due to flooding, but finding an alternative road was no problem.  Still saw major water problems en route.

We stopped in several small towns along the way.  All had that spare Western feeling about them.  This (currently not in operation) hotel in Harlowton, MT, was built of locally quarried sandstone, as were many other buildings in the town.



The vast landscape was dotted with interesting grain elevators and the remains of old barns and out buildings.

We crossed the border into Canada and discovered that Alberta is Dinosaur Country.  In fact, at the visitor center Jan ran into a friend she hadn't seen in eons!

Spending the night in Calgary.

Where the Wind Blows Us

Our plans for the day were set.  We backtracked a little to see the Hopperstad Church in Moorhead, MN.  It is a replica of the one in Vik, Norway--a twelfth century stave church with both Christian and Viking motifs.  The one here was built by Guy Paulson, the father of one of Bob's Butler colleagues.  It is amazing.

Then the wind changed and we learned about Salem Sue, the world's largest Holstein cow, and our day took a different turn.

This one's for you, Barb.

Bob found Sue udderly fascinating (sorry, Karen).


We were then lured onto the Enchanted Highway with promises of enormous metal sculptures.  We could not pass that up.

The final treat was Painted Canyon at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
All in all, not what we expected.  North Dakota is our new favorite destination.

On Our Way

After careful organization and precise packing, we were on the road by 7:20 a.m.

Indiana and Illinois were ho-hum.  Then we headed into beautiful Wisconsin, where we stopped for five minutes to enjoy the culture around the Wisconsin Dells.

The rest of the day was spent crossing picturesque Minnesota.  We saluted Sinclair Lewis as we passed Sauk Center, his boyhood home and the inspiration for his novel Main Street.

Two weary travellers arrived in Fargo, North Dakota at about 10 p.m. local time.  We hope this is our longest day.