Week 20

 

Monday, August 12, 2002

 

I woke up this morning in my cabin aboard the M/V Kennicott.  I looked out the window and saw the docks of Ketchikan, Alaska.  It was 6:30 AM.  I didn’t feel like getting dressed to run out for 10 minutes, so I just watched from my window as the ship unloaded and loaded and then pulled away from the dock.  As the morning grew on, the sky began to clear up a little and by the time we got to Prince Rupert, the weather was pretty nice.  I drove the princess off the boat and waited in line to go through Canadian customs.  The line moved very slowly and when it was finally my turn, the customs agent came aboard and thoroughly questioned me while looking around in the princess.  Once I was cleared, I drove into Prince Rupert and found the Park Avenue RV Park that I had picked out.  Not long after I checked in, many of the Airstreams that had been stored in Prince Rupert moved from their storage lots to the RV Park.  It was cool to see about 30 silver bullet Airstream trailers and four other Airstream motorhomes including one that was almost identical to mine.  Again I was encouraged to join their club and again I resisted.  I finally made it to the office to get on the internet and spent a good hour there before returning in the rain to the princess.

 

Tuesday, August 13, 2002

I woke up this morning to another day of driving rain.  It was almost 11:00 by the time I checked out of the RV Park, but the rain never let up.  I drove down the Yellowhead highway for a little more than 200 miles to the town of Telkwa.  This route parallels the Skeena River and the CN railroad tracks.  It is beautiful scenery, but not a sign of economic life.  Very, very few homes and hardly any businesses.  I saw one sign that said “next gas – 134 kilometers” or about 83 miles.  I checked into the Fort Telkwa RV Park which was almost full with caravaners from RV Tracks, another RV caravan company.  By the time I write this the park has no vacancy.

 

Wednesday, August 14, 2002

Nothing on the schedule for today.  I was going to go to Prince George, but the town of Vanderhoof looked kind of interesting, so I decided that I would stop here.  Vanderhoof is the geographic center of British Columbia.  It is a small town, but it has a nice museum and a National Park called Fort James.  I thought I would go to them, but first I had to pick out a campground.  I selected Dave’s RV Park, and I was pleasantly surprised.  This is the nicest park that I’ve seen since Oregon.  It is beautifully landscaped, they have a natural grass miniature golf course and the laundry and community room are spotlessly clean.  The management is extremely nice even to the extent of bringing me some of their homemade Saskatoon berry tarts.  I stayed at the park all afternoon and decided not to go back into town.  Not sure how far I will drive tomorrow.  I will pass through Prince George early in the day and I am heading toward Jasper National Park on the British Columbia/Alberta border.  Prince George is about 50 miles from Vanderhoof.  It is the only place where I cross my route other than when I was in Alaska.  I was in Prince George on July 3. 

 

Thursday, August 15, 2002

Today was basically a travel day.  I left Dave’s RV Park in Vanderhoof, BC and drove the 60 miles into Prince George.  I stopped for a while in Prince George to get a haircut, my first since Coos Bay Oregon on June 22.  I also did some grocery shopping and the grocery store advertised that with my receipt, I could get 2 cents off a liter of gas.  I thought I would fill up, so I got 146 liters of gas only to be told that the offer was only good up to 75 gallons.  Another gasoline rip-off.  This was at a chain called Overwaitea.  Beware of this chain if in British Columbia.  I was glad I got the gas though, because when I left Prince George, there was a sign which read “Next gas 135 kilometers”.  I drove another 50 miles or so then stopped at the Purden Lake Provincial Park for lunch.  It was a very nice park, with a beautiful clear lake for boating and swimming.  There were many people there and I enjoyed the people watching.  On the road again I continued down the Yellowhead Highway eventually leaving the province of British Columbia and entering the Province of Alberta.  Jasper National Park is at the boundary.  The park encompasses 4200 square miles.  I decided I would spend a couple of nights here.  I went to the Whistler campground but they were full, so I was referred to Wabasso campground about 10 miles down the Icefields Parkway.  I checked in there but without any connections.  No problem, I already ate dinner and as soon as I parked, I prepared for bed and was in bed before dark.

 

Friday, August 16, 2002

I awoke this morning deep in the forest of Jasper National Park.  I left the campground and drove down to Athabasca Falls, about 10 miles.  This is unbelievable how the rapids flow through the rocks making all kinds of formations.  On June 9, a 21 year old man fell into these falls and they never found him.  I watched as three boat loads of tourists ranging from about 10 to about 80 got in rubber rafts to ride the rapids.  Forget the danger; it was just too cold for me. J  I left Athabasca falls and continued South on the Icefields Parkway to the Columbia Icefields visitor’s center.  There I parked the princess and after touring the museum, I boarded a bus that takes you out to the Ice Fields.  There you transfer to a monster bus that actually drives out onto the ice.  Let me tell you a few things about this bus.  It was brand new.  It cost $750,000.  It carried 56 passengers plus 4 wheelchairs.  The bus had 10 wheels; each tire was five feet high and three feet wide.  When the trip began, we first started down a 32% grade.  What a thrill ride this was.  Almost as good as a roller coaster!  A couple of miles out on the ice, the bus stopped and everyone got off.  The ice at this point was said to be 1000 feet thick.  This was really cool to say the least.  Leaving the Columbia Icefield, I retraced my route 67 miles back to the Yellowknife Highway.  Again I stopped at the Whistler campground and this time they had room for me.  This place has 781campsites.  Still no hook-ups, but I’m getting used to that now.  After I checked in I left the campground and drove 4 kilometers up the mountain to the Jasper Tramway.  This is a very thrilling cable car ride similar to the one that I did in Juneau.  This one goes 1200 meters or about 4I left the campground and drove 4 kilometers up the mountain to the Jasper Tramway.  This is a very thrilling cable car ride similar to the one that I did in Juneau.  This one goes 1200 meters or about 4000 feet up the side of the mountain.  Once at the top you are at about 7500 feet.  You can see in every direction, forever.  There was a very nice restaurant at the top of this mountain, but I didn’t know about it and I got something to eat just before going up.  Next time I’ll know better.  I’ve had a great time in Jasper National Park and I highly recommend it.  Frankly I’d have to say that the scenery was as good as if not better than most of Alaska.  Tomorrow, I plan to stop at Maligne Lake before leaving the park and heading to Edmonton.   

 

Saturday, August 17, 2002

I left the campground this morning and started down the Yellowhead highway.  When I got to the turn-off for Maligne Lake, I didn’t see it until I passed it, and I decided to forego that 60 mile side trip.  Once I left Jasper National Park, the road opened up to four lanes and flattened out.  I have been driving in mountains it seems, just about continuously ever since I left Los Angeles.  A little flat ground is a welcome change.  Of course the down side is that the scenery is also diminished.  Now I am seeing more development and advertising, etc.  By mid-afternoon, I arrived at Glowing Embers Travel Center on the outskirts of Edmonton.  I checked into the RV Park, then immediately headed into town.  I have been looking forward to seeing the Edmonton Mall, the largest mall in the world.  I had no trouble finding it, and of course there was plenty of RV parking.  A lot of the stores were closed or closing because by the time I had dinner, it was approaching 9:00. But I did walk the length of the mall; saw most of the 800 stores and 25 theaters.  I saw the triple loop roller coaster and the 130 foot free-fall drop; the world’s largest indoor wave pool and 23 water-slides as well as all the other rides; saw the ice rink and the dolphin tank, the miniature golf course and the submarine ride.  There are more than 100 restaurants or eateries in the mall.  It is an amazing place.  I didn’t go on any of the rides, because it was late, but I plan to go back on Monday and do that.

The mall is only open from noon to 6:00 on Sunday, so I figured I would do something else tomorrow.

 

Sunday, August 18, 2002

 

I love this city.  Edmonton is very nice, very cosmopolitan, very clean, and very friendly and they really have some neat things here.  Today I went to Fort Edmonton Park which is kind of like a theme park, but a little more serious.  To begin with, you take a full size turn-of-the-century train from the entrance to the Fort, a couple of miles back into the park.  Costumed guides explain that this fort with its 20 foot walls and corner towers, was not like the forts that you see in the movies.  There was no violence here.  This was a trading post.  The time period was 1846.  This re-creation of a major fur trading post was very, very good.  There were about 20 buildings within the compound, each built to re-create the original fur trading post of Edmonton.  It was one of the best such re-creations that I have ever seen, better than Williamsburg or Mystic Seaport or Plymouth Plantation or Sturbridge Village.  After leaving the fort, you pass into 1885 street.  This is a street with homes, stores a church and school all with architecture and furnishings of that period, again about 20 buildings, then onto 1905 street and eventually onto 1920 street.  There were various horse drawn vehicles on the earlier streets, and automobiles and trolley cars from the 20s operating up and down the streets.  All in all, there were more than 80 buildings and lots going on.  It was a pleasurable day, and the temperature was perfect as it has been almost every day of this entire trip.  This park only cost $8.00 to get in and that’s Canadian money, which is worth about $5.00 American.  After leaving the park, I drove around downtown Edmonton stopping briefly at the Alberta Legislative Building.  This city is really vibrant.  No sign of decay or crime anywhere.  Everything is neat as a pin.  I really didn’t expect Edmonton to be as big and nice as it is.  There are many more things that I would like to see and do here, but I will stay tomorrow and leave on Tuesday for Calgary.