Four Senior Citizens Get Crabs!

Wednesday night Mystery Dinner

Last night we went all the way across the bay to Clearwater. Target was Joe's Crab Shack. Lee and I had gone there quite some time back and loved it. Somehow just never seem to get back there. Their feature item is their "Crab Daddy Bucket." You get this huge water bucket sized but shorter and bigger around bucket full of a wonderful steamed variety of crabs. Lee and I got the Crab Daddy which had a half of a Dungeness Crab, half a Snow Crab and half a King Crab. You also get three small potatoes in their skins and a big ear of corn. There are several flavors to choose from. We go the Chesapeake Bay flavor which is the traditional crab boil seasoning. Alma got just the Dungeness Crab bucket and Jim not being very adventurous got a crab cake salad. It was all very good. Every now and then they would rev up the music really loud and all the servers would get up and do a different line dance. All very entertaining and fun.

On to the evenings finally, our bowling games. All I can say is the girls rocked once again. We took the guys on both the games. Both Alma and I were totally in our groove. Dummy me I didn't even take pictures but I can assure you they were both good games. We will see what next week brings. Oops! i forgot! We have other plans for next week. Will have to write that one up for you. Till then here's from the "Four Crabby Senior Citizens"

Broken Records

Wednesday Night Mystery Dinner & Broken Records

So we didn't have computer for most of two days. Our battery backup surge protector died so began the saga of deciding on whether to get a new battery or a new unit. First I called Best Buy and after being on hold for 15 minutes (which seemed like 1 hour) I got an associate who told me they didn't sell the batteries but I could get one from Batteries Plus. I asked him what a new unit would run. He said $59.95. OK Called Batteries plus. Yes they have the battery I need. It is $39.95. OK off we go to Batteries Plus. Yup they had it alright but they didn't mention I needed two of these batteries. Now we are up to $80 more with tax. So we go to Best Buy to get the $59.00 special. After talking to the salesman, Bryan, we found for hooking two computers to the system we needed a bigger more powerful unit than the $59.00 special. OK made sense to us so we bought the $129.00 unit and home we went. We tried to hook it up and the battery would beep constantly. By now it is time to get ready to go out for out Mystery Dinner. Its Alma's turn to pick. More of that later. Any way then next morning I got up and fiddled around with this new unit and no dice. When Lee installed the battery (following the pictorial instructions) I said I think you have to peel off that label that is on the battery. He showed me the picture and yup looked like it stayed on and you just shove the battery in. To shorten a long story bottom line we took the thing back to Best Buy and the "Geek" that was manning the "Geek Squad Desk" missed that one too. Finely a manager or someone else got involved and he pulled off the labels and bingo the thing worked. So we are up and running.

So Wednesday night Mystery Dinner took us over to South Tampa to a place called Datz Delicatessen. It was a little Delicatessen with a restaurant and a very lively and noisy bar. Looks like one of the watering holes for the after work crowd. Lots of young working people having their happy hour. Then to add to the din there was a family next table over who had a screamer child. The father wanted to take the kid out but the mother said "NO SHE IS NOT GOING TO WIN. SHE HAS TO LEARN THAT" So she held the kid on her lap pinning down her arms and let her scream till she got tired of it. We were glad when they left. Noise aside it was a very interesting place and the food was pretty good to boot. We were upstairs on a balcony type thing that over looked the main floor. Our view was the deli part. We sat the guy put a piece of cake on a plate for someone that could have satisfied 4 lumberjacks. Our portions were also humongous. We left fully fed and entertained and headed home for out final entertainment. Broken records! The girls managed to beat the Guys thanks to Alma's all time high score of 235. The next game the guys rallied with Lee's first 200 game actually it was a 201 to be exact. We all had fun even Jim and I seem to be struggling these days. Keep tuned for more Wednesday night fun.

By the way. How do you like Alma's and my bowling shoes. The first thing we do when we get to our bowling alley is change into our bowling shoes. My slippers and Alma's bare feet. LOL

Wednesday Mystery Dinner - Restaurant Review

So the trip to Alaska is now just a fond memory and 3059 pictures that I continually try to sort out to put the best of the best in some sort of order. Now as I wonder what I can write about on my blog the idea came to me last night after going out with our BFF's for out long standing date, our "Wednesday Night Mystery Dinner" As most of you may know we go out on Wednesday nights with our BFF's Jim and Alma. The plan is each week one of us gets to choose the restaurant we will go to and the big mystery is on the other couple until we pull up to the restaurant in question. We have had great fun with this for quite some time. The whole thing evolved some time back when we were going to one of these local organizations (no names mentioned here) where you get this "great" meal for $5.00 per person. Great bargain and food not too bad. That is until you have had the same thing for several weeks. After that it gets to be very boring and not that great. We had an executive meeting of the team and decided we should go out to a place of our choosing and have better fare for our night out. So thence our special night was begun. The plan has evolved from that first night. The first night we (by unanimous decision and not too much discussion we decided on Willies Fish Camp (f/k/a Fat Willies.) While we enjoyed Willies we decided we wanted to branch out and then we evolved into each person having a turn at picking a different restaurant and the other couple wouldn't know were were going until we got there. We have had a lot of fun with this and gone to such places as the very good but very pricey Melting Pot and such out of the way places as Cherry Pockets tucked away into the orange groves surrounding Lake Wales only to be found if you have a good GPS system. The search was all worthwhile as the food was good and plenty and very reasonable. The surroundings were rustic and tucked away on a beautiful little like. We have done Mexican, Italian, Japanese, Fish & Steak Houses. Very seldom are we disappointed with what ever choice is made. The next evolution of our Wednesday Night Mystery Dinner was to add our final entertainment of the evening. We all go back to our house (Lee & I) and bowl on the Wii. Now we have a the most fun with this. Of course the big competition is for the Girls to try to beat the Guys. Lee was a terrible bowler at first but is coming along fantastically (due to my tutelage) You know they always used to tell me "You don't have to be a good bowler to teach someone. All you have to know is the theory and technicalities behind it all" So as I teach him where to put his ball and how to throw it I keep getting more and more discombobulated. But we do have fun.

Now as to this weeks Restaurant! Lois, a friend of mine, who goes out more than I do or at least is more imaginative than I told me of a place called Shrimp Boat. So that was the place of the week. We went last night (Thursday) due to my daughters birthday on Wednesday. The ambiance was great. Many beautiful murals of marinas with sail boats etc. All very nautical. They even had all green lights on the right as you went in and red lights on the left side. The old navigational marking of "Red Right Return". Guess in case you have too much to drink with your dinner you can find your way out lol. The food was excellent. I had a trio of sauteed bay scallops, hand breaded shrimp and crab Au gratin with a potato pancake on the side. It was excellent. Everyone had something different and all looked very good. They had a wonderful garlic cheese bread basket and weren't too cheap to give us a second basket (more full than the first) without extra charge as another restaurant (who shall remain nameless) did.

Now we have a few more place we want to try out but a favor here if I may. If any of the readers know of a really good place to go send me a note on my email. jeanannh@aol.com. Would appreciate it. Now I know I have some out of town and out of state readers so just keep it local please.

Final Chapter of Tales from the Trail

Well I guess I left everyone who has been keeping up with this blog hanging there at the end. Sort of quit blogging about the time we got to Kansas. What's to say about Kansas. "Oh Look! Another corn field" Well after all the mountains we crossed on this trip (and you all know how I hate mountain driving) Kansas with its flat boring landscape was a welcome relief. Caught up on my napping crossing Kansas. Hadn't really planned to cross Kansas. We were going to go across Nebraska but due to flooding on the Missouri River Hwy 29 was closed at Joplin so we had to reroute. Anyway we visited Lee's brother-in-law in Holt MO and his brother and wife came from IL to visit with us also again. From there we went down to contribute to Mississippi economy in Biloxi then over to Panama City to visit Niki and her family (my Granddaughter) Then on to home last Monday. We have been home one week now and just getting caught up on our rest. Never thought I would want to leave home again after that trip but guess what folks. I am already looking and planning for future trips. Oh well go figure. So ends another one of our road trips and a wonderful time we had and a lot we saw and fantastic people we met along the way. So until our next trip everyone just keep on keeping on at whatever you are doing.

Tales From the Trail - Day 57

Salt Lake City and all that it implies!

What an incredible day this has been! It started out bright and early this morning when we gussied up and got ready to go hear the choir. We had breakfast at this hotel where we are staying. (oh I will add a brief addendum to yesterdays tale at the end of this day about this hotel) We had a good hot breakfast. Well it was good but it wasn't really hot but it was free so what can I say? We then headed out for the convention where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast their program live every Sunday. And wasn't it great that we got here on a Sat so we could hear the choir on Sunday morning. Just worked out that way. The choir was magnificent!
The spokesman told everyone to hold our applause until the end and surprisingly enough everyone did just that. But you just wanted to break into a round of applause every time they finished a song. After the concert we walked around temple square took pictures and chatted with the missionaries that were just everywhere. We asked a lot of questions and they answered all of them. We were curious about them and how they lived in general. They all seemed to be mostly young women but Lee seemed to think there were some young men also. They were from all over the world. The two we talked to the most were from Illinois and Australia. We wondered how long their missionary duties lasted and how they lived. They said they would save to come here and live. When they get here they would give their money to the Church, the Church would then find them living quarters and pay them a monthly allowance. They would stay for 18 months. Sounds like a good opportunity for a young person to see some of the world and work at something they believe in. They of course asked us questions like for example what church we attended and did we want to contact us when we get home. They were not at all pushy with their proselytizing though just trying to gather in all they could into their fold. We enjoyed our chat with them.

Well after we left the Temple Square we headed back to the hotel to change into SHORTS. YES THAT IS WHAT I SAID. SHORTS! We had moved our warm weather clothes to the back or our cloths rack in the car and have been dressing in jeans and sweaters since Atlanta. So properly dressed for the weather we headed out to Antelope Island which is the state park and where we could see the lake. Well we got there and drove around the island which is accessed by a long causeway. The causeway was full of birds. Just hundreds of them. We went inland and to the visitors center. Saw a few movies and then headed out to see the bison. They have a heard of between 500 and 700 depending on the season. Once the calves are born the heard of course increases. They have a big round up and test the animals for their health, then they sell them off to various places. Like other parks who want to increase their herds, private individuals who want to raise bison etc. We learned that while we call them buffalo and also bison, buffalo is technically incorrect. That would be their African cousins the Cape Buffalo and also the Water Buffalo. So they are really Bison. They also have Pronged Antelope and Big Horned Sheep. We didn't see antelope or sheep but we did indeed see the bison. They were all over the place and a very large herd. Back and for the across the road and right in front of us. I took some still Pict's and also some movies. I will attempt to put them on here and also face book. Don't know if I will be successful. Anyway a great day. We topped off by having a cheap dinner at Wendy's. Good Day

OK the room. We had booked the is room using our rewards points. The room was at a discount price of $79.00. We had enough points we got 2 nights and had to pay a difference of $37 dollars. Not bad. Well we got to the hotel and the power was off. They couldn't do anything for us. Couldn't find any record of our reservation and were very sorry but their was nothing they could do. So I showed them my confirmation number on my cell phone and they were still sorry. I said well I know it is not your fault but I have a booked and paid reservation ($37 ha ha ha) so where does this leave me? Well they were pretty flustered doing business by lantern light, people walking out when they found there was no electricity and people who were already here calling to complain. Guess the prospect of having an hysterical old lady in their lobby they started a manual search for a room for us. Well they found one and what a room it is. I am 100% sure this was not the room we were scheduled to get. First of all they said they didn't think there was anything on the first floor and I said well I am sorry I told them at Hotel.com I had to have a ground floor or an elevator. I have a bad heart and can not climb stairs. Well they found this room for us and it is a beaut. Jacuzzi, Micro, small fridge and a separate sitting area. Oh well we are in now so guess its ours.

That is all for this now. Tomorrow we continue heading East.

Happy Trails see you soon.

Tales From the Trail - Day 56

Driving from Pendelton OR to Salt Lake City July 9, 2011

Another long long day of driving but at least we had good roads. We left Pendelton OR at about 7:00 AM driving through some interesting landscape. We had long stretches of flat country (a welcome relief for me as I am tired of mountains) then some mountain areas but nothing like we have been driving through. These mountains looked to be very old and worn down. They were very rounded off and not high at all. Some of them didn't even have trees on them save for a scattered spruce here and there. Many of them were covered with a yellow vegetation but not flowers, some sort of a grass. At one point in our travels we saw Mt. St Helen and Mt. Rainier off in the distance. Both very impressive white snow covered peaks. We had good roads all of the way and in Idaho we took a scenic bypass and saw some fossil fields and some pretty waterfalls. Never found the old historic bridge we were looking for but consoled ourselves with a milkshake. Not a good idea for me with my unsettled tummy problems I have been having. Be real glad when that is all behind me. The speed limit in Idaho was 75 and then you cross the border to Utah where it dropped to 65. Boy ya gotta be ready for that one. Jill (the GPS) was flashing red at Lee to slow down. Well better Jill than the man with the blue. At some time yesterday we got tired of Jill's voice, fired her and hired Jack. He is just as annoying as Jill so guess we are just stuck with annoying. So that is all for Saturday, it is now Sunday morning and we are off to hear the Mormon Tabernacle choir sing this morning.

Happy trails to all and will see you real soon

Tales From the Trail - Day 50 to Day 55

July 3 to July 8

Well golly gosh gee whiz. It has been a long time between postings and lots has happened. I won't even begin to put things in chronologically order I will just randomly post as I thing of stuff. Lets see I left off where we had gotten to Skagway a day late but still managed to catch the next ferry to Juneau. That being done we got to Juneau and of course being southeast Alaska it was raining and it continued to rain until we were almost to Bellingham Washington. I honestly don't know how people live in that dismal dreary climate. Sure its beautiful but when you are in your 70's (if you have good sense) you don't want to be out running around in the cold and wet weather. So between the bad roads in northern Alaska and the miserable weather in South East Alaska we decided somewhere along the way we are just dyed in the wool "Florida Crackers" and will just stay that way. So Juneau, what we did in Juneau. Lets see! We got our car washed and a lousy job it was, we washed our cloths and some other woman had the dryer tied up for ever so we went to Auk bay buy the Ferry terminal and found a laundromat and dried them there. On the 3th we were going to go watch fireworks but they were at midnight and of course it was raining so we went to bed pulled up the covers and went to bed. Getting a little tired of sleeping in the daylight. The midnight sun was a novelty but kinda over it now. On the 4th we drove over to Douglas Island to see what was going on. Nothing was. Apparently it all happned on the 3rd. There was a parade happening in Juneau so couldn't get in there so went back toward the Ferry landing and went "Out the road which is a 40 mile run to the end of the road and the people who live there call it "out the road" It was a beautiful ride then we turned around and came home. Also forgot to mention we went to see Mendenhal Glacier. It is magnificent. It is just so big it is unbelievable. After 5:00 when the parade was over we went back into Juneau and went to the Red Dog Saloon. It is a pretty neat pub, bar, don't know what it is classified but it is cool. Drank about 1/4 of a beer and had some potato skins and listened to live music. On the night of the 4th we went to bed early early early. CAN'T and I repeat CAN'T miss that Ferry. Cabins all booked up on the next one out which is not until the 12th. So up early and in line an hour early but we got on that ferry and got our cabin. I was quite surprised by the boat. I surly didn't expect a cruise ship I figured it would be way down on the list of luxury boats but it was surprisingly not TOO bad. The cabin was small and vry spartan. Bunk beds yuk! Lee took the top being the gentleman that he is. The food was not too bad. Have had worse. Had better too but it was edible and not too price and huge helpings so we split our entrees and bought a side of soup. So we spent the days sitting in the lounge looking for whales bears etc. A bear was spotted with her two cubs but of course I missed them. I did get a really good whale tale and some lighthouses. Big cause for excitement last night just before we went to bed. Number 1 there was a sunset. Hadn't seen a sunset for a while. Then number 2 just before I went to bed I looked out the window and it was actually dark and lo and behold there was a moon. Hadn't seen a moon or dark since somewhere in Northern Canada. Woo Hoo we are getting back to the normal way of things.

Tires hit the pavement in Bellingham Washington (the lower 48 folks) at 8:30 this morning. We drove down to Seattle went up in the Space Needle, decided not to have dinner there for a number of reasons. One being you have to book a week in advance and 2 we want to head home. Then after viewing Seattle and being devastated by finding out there is no such hospital as Seattle Grace. But then with the wacky Doctors they have who would want to go there? Oh well out of Washington state and into Oregon. We have stopped the night in Pendelton and will get up early tomorrwo and try to make it to Salt Lake City. That is about all. Can't thing of anything else I may have missed.

Take care and Happy Trails

See you all real soon now

Tales From the Trail - Day 48 & 49

July 1 - Day 48

Tok to Skagway

Well folks here is where JJJ (Jeannie's Jolly Jaunts) takes a little blurp. Well not really a little blurp a pretty big one. It all started early in the morning of July 1. Now remember this date as it becomes ssignificant as the story unravels. As stated in the previous blog "we got a long haul today." We are expecting to be driving at least 10 hours according to good old Jill and usually the way we stop and piddle around on the way you can add 2 more hours to that. Well Lee was supposed to have the gas tank filled up as we are heading for remote areas to say nothing for the fact we are going once again through "frickety fracking" Canada where I have to do all my conversions from kilometers lites etc to figure our gas mileage. So the plan is we are getting up at 4:00 am finding a place somewhere along the way to get coffee (have I mentioned anywhere along the way BC Jeannie is a veritable 'itch?) and hit the road. So I am so the alarm goes off at 4:00 after one of my "having trouble sleeping nights." Seems I have those when we have a stressful day the next day. Anyway alarm goes off, feet hit the floor and Lee says "I forgot to get gas" lets sleep for a couple of more hours." So I lay back down. FORGET IT I CAN'T SLEEP NOW. I get back up start Jill up to see where a gas station is. Good old Jill! She even furnished phone numbers. Good news is I have cell service here. I call the first number a Chevron station and get Daryl who in his welcome southern accent says "Yes Mam I am open 24 hrs a day and yes Mam I have coffee." I get Lee back up and said lets roll. We pack up and out the door to Daryl's get our gas, coffee, tea for Lee and a couple of greasy spicy egg, sausage, cheese sandwiches. Well with my delicate stomach I seem to have developed that didn't sit well. After a few bites I wrapped mine back up and put it back in the bag. We will deal with the rest of that one later. So on the road with my coffee and an unsettled tummy we try to see if we can keep on the time schedule Jill has set for us. We are traveling over some of the worst roads we have had since the TOW/TH. Remember that one from a few blogs back. We will be traveling along at 65 - 70 mph when bingo orange flags on side of road (if we are lucky. sometimes we hit the bad part with no flags) and we are all of a sudden on gravel road. Pot holes big enough to sink a full sized loaded Semi with trailer. We followed another car for a long time which was good cause he acted as a pilot car. When he would put on the brake lights or start shaking we knew trouble was ahead. Presently we came to a flag person who stopped us for one of those stops where you have to wait for a pilot car. Well Ms flag lady had a pet seagull that she was feeding. She told us the seagull comes every morning for breakfast. I gave up the rest of my sandwich and sat and watched the seagull eat every bit of it except the meat. Didn't like the meat. The pilot car came presently and led us over road that was far better than we had been traveling on with no pilot car. GO FIGURE! So back on the road again traveling faster than we should I am keeping my mouth shut. Got a long way to go. So late in the day we are closing in on Skagway. We are now going through Whitehorse and I am looking at the paperwork for the Ferry that we are supposed to catch first thing in the morning. Looks to me like we have to be at the ferry landing REAL early in the AM but it is a bit confusing as to exactly what time we must be here. One place says 3 hrs before sailing which is 7:00 am and one place it says 1 hr before sailing. We decide we better call. Damn good thing I did call. So I'm talking the the Ferry agent and he says "Well I have you for Juneau to Bellingham but Skagway to Juneau was cancelled." Well in my little snippity voice and waving my paper work around (which he can't see) I am saying OH NO NO NO. I would not have cancelled this trip. How would I get to Juneau without the ferry. "Yes Mam he says. We have you as a no show" Oh no I have my confirmation right here. We are sailing (and I look down at my paper) on Oh shoot! July 1 at 7:00 am. Lee said I did not say shoot. I think I did but he assures me no I said something else. So I start wheedling and groveling and telling him as to how as soon as my husband turns loose of the steering wheel he is going to surly kill me. So my friend Sean on the phone says well for a nominal fee we can change this one. But make sure we are not late for the next segment as we will have a long wait in Juneau cause all those ferries are sold out. So all's well that ends well for that little blurb. And good old Lee is just laughing at me. So we roll into Skagway to the Ferry terminal and get our tickets. Oh yes those folks know all about "the Lewis's" Guess word travels fast when some dumb tourist screws up. I don't know how I did that. So far everything as been working like clockwork. We have been where we were suppose to be when we were supposed to be there. With the Yellowstone exception that got us off our schedule and that wasn't due to poor planing it was rock slides road closures etc.

Border crossings! Now that is really funny. Coming into Canada we get this agent who gives us the 3rd degree. Wants to know were we are going. Said to Sakgway. Why are you going to Skagway. To catch a ferry to Juneau. How long are you staying in Skagway. One night. Now What earthly business is it of his to know how long we are staying in Sakgway. Last time I checked Skagway is in Alaska which is part of the United States we are Americans so why should he care how long we are staying there. So we get past the Canadian Border Nazi and be bopping along. Well when we come to the American Border they don't even stop us no flags no nothing. We just breeze right in. CRAZY! Oh and did I mention we got to Skagway in 9 1/2 hrs instead of 10.

July 2 - Day 49

Ferry

Not wanting to miss this boat even after Lee set an alarm clock I set another one. Well I was awake 1/2 hour before the first one went off and was up, dressed and had everything packed and ready to go before the second one went off. Lee got up and off we went to the ferry. We were second in line and was entertained by watching the woman who was moving to Anchorage and stopping by to visit her children in Juneau. Anyway I digress. We watched her wash her truck using rags and a bottle of Windex. We couldn't talk her into doing ours which was really bad again due to the Alaska highway. OH and I forgot to mention on yesterdays segment. We got two cracks on our windshield from rocks being thrown up by trucks which along with the huge dent will have to be fixed when we get home. So getting to Juneau we checked into our room and went in search of a car wash and a place to get some fruit etc to take on the ferry southbound in 3 days. I had forgotten how bad the weather is here. Don't know why anyone would want to live here. It is cloudy and rainy every day. YUK! There are supposed to be fireworks here tomorrow. How they can do fireworks when it doesn't get dark is beyond me but if we can find out what time they will happen we may go see them.

Well That's all for now.

Happy Trails and will see you all soon.

Tales From the Trail - Day 45 - 46 - 47

Denali to Anchorage - Day 45

Spent the morning driving to Anchorage. Not a bad drive and beautiful scenery as we have come to expect. Nothing stands to me as a happening. I need to get back into the habit of blogging every day as I find I am forgetting things. I looked at things to do while in Anchorage. Really did not find much to do except museums etc. There was a display of the Northern Lights (a slide show) that cost us $25 mol then there was an interpretive center where you could see two short movies about the Iditarod and about bears. This one was $17.50 each. Well we did the Aurora thing the day we got there. Had dinner and back to the motel to listen to the next door neighbors dog bark and them slamming the door. That was fun.

Kenai - Day 46:

I really wasn't in the mood to go back into the big city to do the other thing so I says to Lee, why don't we ride down the Kenai peninsula toward Homer. I wanted to look for this church my new friend Susan had taken pictures of and really couldn't remember where it was so we went on a search. The drive down the coast was spectacular. Many "Kodak Moments" along the way. We got as far as Kenai its self and there was our church. We chatted with the Priest took some pictures had lunch at a restaurant recommended by the visitors center and a wonderful lunch it was. We decided we really didn't want to continue on to Homer. Tom Bodett will just have to wait till we go to a Motel 6. He may have quite a wait but he sound like a patient man. Anyway we drove back to Anchorage. Had a so much for lunch didn't want supper so went back up to listen to more slamming and dog barking and to bed.

Day 47 - Driving to Tok (for the second time)

So up this morning and the drive was Anchorage to Tok and here is the excitement for the day. After driving 8 hours we get to Tok, find our motel and go to the front desk. We are told we are booked up. I pulled out my confirmation paper they look at it and say "Oh yes well we have over booked so we are sending you down the road to the next motel down the road. It is a very nice motel and they will be expecting you" Well after voicing my extreme displeasure at such a practice as over booking we finely took our leave and checked in here. Not a bad motel and it is cheaper so you can bet your boots as soon as I get a phone connection I am calling Hotels.com for a refund of the difference.

That is all. I am tired and we have a really long haul tomorrow. From here through Whitehorse to Skagway it will be a really long day so off to bed

Happy Trails see you all soon!

Tales From the Trail - Days 43 & 44

June 26, 2011 - Day 43 Denali National Park

Another long day but a good one. We boarded our bus for our tour to the back country of Denali NP. Of course Lee and I have to sign up for the "biggest and best", we took the 12 hour tour for the whole 92 mile road as far as it goes. We had the choice of taking a "tour" on a beige bus for $159 or riding the park shuttle for $47.50. I asked at the desk, what will I get for the more expensive tour that I won't get for the cheaper one. He quickly explained the shuttle is NOT a tour and we get no narrator. And on the tour you get a bag lunch. Well after listening to the guy on the way to the Arctic circle talk non stop for 17 hours I figured I could do without a lot of talking. So at least we were smart enough to get the cheaper one. The first words out of our bus drivers mouth was "This is not a tour bus and I am not a tour guide" Well all that being said he turned out to be super informative and had sense enough to know when to shut up. We made a good choice. He told us about all the animals and answered questions as asked. He was great and the trip was great. We saw Moose, Caribou, Dall sheep, Red Fox, Grizzly Bear and Mt. McKinley which more often than not does not choose to put in an appearance.

Going out it was dreary and overcast but later in the day the sun was shining and the colours were more vibrant. We did not see bears until we had started back so were all pretty discouraged. We had been traveling 6 hours. No sooner than our amazing driver started back he spotted a Mama Bear with her cubs. The cubs were in their second year so were as big as Mama but they were definitely her babies. Our "not a tour guide" told us the female keeps her babies for two years then kicks they out after their second winter. We saw lots of little critters like the Arctic Hare and cute little ground squirrels. There was a Pika but he moved too fast to photograph. As advertised the trip took 12 hours but the "not a guide" pretty much let us doze going back except when some one would spot an animal or when an announcement needed to be made. Back at our Creekside Cabin we had dinner at the restaurant and off to bed.

June 27, 2011 - Day 44 and a day to Bitch.

So we are having an off day and not much to keep me occupied and out of trouble excepting editing our photos and catching up with email and blog. So I started thinking bout things that have really ticked me off about motels on this trip.

1. The practice of putting "Old Decrepit People" on anything but the first floor.

2. The new (so it would seem) practice of partially making ones bed. We start off with a nice made bed but if you are staying more than one day, the next day they only pull up the covers and leave the spread folded on a chair or something. Then sometimes they shortchange you on supplies. Like coffee, creamer, sweet & low, shampoo, lotion etc to take the place of the ones you have stashed in your suitcase. So if they are only given partial service then why not cut the rent down on subsequent days????

3. Showers! I hate motel showers. If it is a tub and everything else seems copacetic then the shower curtain flaps over and attacks you for your entire shower. The other thing is, like we have here, is not a tub but a walk in shower. It is smaller than a phone booth. If you drop something forget about it. No room to bend over an pick it up. Forget about washing below your waist, no room to bend over and reach your legs and feet. The rest you just have to wing it. All the while the water is blasting in your face. And if you turn around it is hitting you in the back of your head and knocking your brains out. The next fun thing is that you will be in the middle of your shower and all of a sudden a blast of boiling water comes out scalding you. You then screech and jump out of the shower dripping wet. Then there is the old "Ya gotta be a contortionist to reach the toilet paper" gimmick. That is self explanatory!

Well that is about all. Guess I have bitched enough. Give Lee a rest. Sometimes I don't know how man puts up with me.

Happy Trails folks and keep tuned. We are winding down

Tales From the Trail - Days 38 thru 42

June 21 thru June 25

Fairbanks is just a distant spot in our rearview mirror by now. Sorry I haven't blogged since the day we hit town but it has been really stressed and busy, then sick. So will start the story as all good stories should start at the beginning.

You all read the story of our getting there so will skip to our first full day in Fairbanks.

June 21 - day 38: Our outing for the day was scheduled to start at 5:00 pm so we spent the day riding around town finding where we had to be picked up for the various tours we had booked. Went to Wal-Mart to get lunch meat as our tour for tomorrow is leaving at 6:00 am and lasting 17 hours so we had to pack our lunch. We put the sandwich makings together so tomorrow all I have to do is put the sandwich itself together. Then we headed out to our pick up point. We boarded a van and headed out over (what else) a very long rough road to where we were to catch our rafts to float down the river (in the midnight sun.) Humph, what sun? From the minute we got to the rafting place it started drizzling and progressed to a steady shower. No sun, No animals (oh excuse me I forgot the state bird. The mosquito!) They were out in full force. So after floating down the river wet, cold miserable and no animals we finely got back to the pick up point and piled back into the vans to wait for the next float to get there. Apparently like the military they don't leave their buddies behind so we waited for them. At least now we are warm. Got back to our lovely apartment, at 12:00am, took a shower and piled into bed to get up at 4:30 the next morning. Remember I still have to pack lunches.

June 22, 2011 – Day 39

Our trip for the day was to take a bus tour up the Haul Road/Dalton highway to the Arctic Circle. This road is another one of those very primitive roads gravel of course and very rough. Which is why we didn't take our car. I had heard it was pretty bad. However after the TOW & TH this road was pretty mild. At least no mountains and shear drop offs. So we get on this bus for 17 hours (I swear I am not kidding. 9 hours up and 8 back he must have been heading down hill or something coming home) Anyway it was a very long trip and this guy NEVER NEVER NEVER shut his mouth for the entire trip except for 4 films he put in the DVD player each one approx 20 - 30 minutes long. The rest of the time it was non stop mouth. He told about every blade of grass, the tundra, the perma frost, every tree that grows in the area, every animal that is in the area and of course the pipeline, the methods of mining gold, placer, drift and dredge and on and on and on. When he ran out of information he started telling personal stories, local stories etc ad nauseum. I swear to God he could out talk both Lee and I on one of our good days. In fact several times I would start so say something and I guess he figured I wasn't getting paid to talk so he blew right over me. Being at the Arctic Circle was pretty cool though but another long long day. Home by 11:30 or so and another shower. Oh goodie we get to sleep in tomorrow and don’t have to be at our next pick up point till 8:00 am.

June 23, 2011 – Day 40

So today we have the Eldorado Gold mine, Dredge #8 and the Discovery stern wheeler river boat and this is the day that “ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE” Started out pretty good was very tired but was maneuvering around ok then we went to the Gold mine first and really enjoyed panning for gold.

Alma and I had done this very excursion when we went to Alaska so I remembered Yukon Yonda and her husband Dexter. Everything was going real good until those damned cookies. There were the most wonderful chocolate chip cookies there free! Our guide said stock up, the dirty rat, so I did. Had 3 of them (so did Lee) what he failed to mention is right after that we were going to the dredge and be fed beef stew. Well I only could eat just a tad of the stew. (Lee had two bowls) I did not eat my dessert. (Lee did) By the time we left there I was not feeling too good. We boarded the riverboat and I was feeling sicker and sicker. To make matters worse there was a woman sitting right in front of me with a black top on with hair and dandruff all over it. Not too appealing in my present state of being. I had to move. Went to the ladies room to try to off load and was not successful. I never upchuck. Lee had had the same thing I had only more of it and he was fine. He also had a free doughnut and the salmon on the cracker (I didn’t) He was fine. So I really don’t think it was food poisoning. I think I was just overly tired and caught some bug. We were on the boat with people from one of the Dam ships and there is always something going around with that crowd. So we got back to our apartment, I sailed right in without speaking with Elizabeth who was there waiting to wish us home (did I mention we were at a Bed & Breakfast www.lizziesnest.com/ check it out. We were in the Forget me not Apartment) and climbed right into the bed at 6:00. Well two hours later it started and I was up all night getting rid of my stomach contents. I have never been this sick in my life in fact the last time I remember doing that was when I was pregnant and that goes back a few years. This went on all night for every two hours until 3:30 when I got a reprieve. Then the other problem started.

June 24, 2011 – Day 41

Thank goodness we had an R&R planned because I took it in full force. I stayed in bed all day. All I could eat was some dry cheerios a cup of bullion, ginger ale and late in the day some ramen noodles.

June 25, 2011 – Day 42.

So here we are all rested up I am back to normal and everything is good today. Headed down to Denali went into the park signed up for the bus trip tomorrow Another long one but should at least see animals and the good news is they said the park shuttles are not narrated. So we won’t have to listen to another 12 to 13 hour trip of someone just talking talking talking. So after that we checked into our “Creek side Cabins” and that is just what they are. A lovely spot. So now you know what I know. On the sad side we have been saddened to hear of two of our neighbors passing while we have been on the road. Our thoughts and prayers are with Larry Cummings and Mae Houseman.

To all of our friends and family “Happy trails and keep well.”

BFFD (best frineds for the day)

This is an addendum to yesterdays post. I forgot to mention the couple we met along the TOW hwy yesterday. While driving through the fog we were following a little car and had a feeling of confidence that as long as we were behind them and didn't see their tail lights suddenly drop down off the mountain we were OK. Well they finely pulled over and stopped and flagged us around. We didn't really want to go around but if was obvious they were not moving till we did. Up the road there was a rest area. I told Lee pull over so I can clean my undies lol. Well they came right in behind us and we (of course) got to talking. Well they started it! They were staying in the same place as us in both towns. They kept wondering who belonged to this car from Florida and now they finely had the opportunity to meet us. Well this started a relay all the way to Fairbanks. We just keep meeting up with them no matter where we would stop. Even in Tok they were at the same restaurant as us. It was funny.

Tales From the Trail – Day 37

Top of the World/Taylor Highway

June 20, 2011

Before I launch into the adventures of this day I just want to mention a couple of interesting things. No. 1, you may remember the blog of us going to Laird springs. The Milepost magazine mentioned that we should be on the lookout for bears. So of course we did look out for them and thank goodness we didn’t see any. We had to walk on a long boardwalk I think it was 1/3 mile through the woods. The trip was uneventful and there were lots of people coming back and forth so we weren’t particularly frightened. Well on the way back from Skagway our bus driver was telling us about his best friend being mauled and killed by a bear at the hot springs recently. However I pulled the story up on the internet and this killing was in 1997 but it was just as he explained it. So don’t know if this was his friend or not. Anyway that was that.

The other interesting thing was while in Dawson City we were having an ice cream and this truck pulled up with a tag on the front that said Inuvik. Well I have heard more abut Inuvik this trip that I have in my entire live from people we have met in our travels who were taking the trip to Inuvik. So I was asking the people from the truck about it. One lady said yes that is her home town and the guy was from there too and the only reason she hung around with him is he was married to her “BFF” who was a First Nation. Well that led in to more discussion and we had a really nice and informational talk with them. And she said “No she doesn’t live in an Igloo and never did” when I said well they are really only used when the people are out hunting for temporary shelters, right? She was quite impressed that I knew that. She said I was the first tourist she had met who knew that. She is a graduate from Penn State and a guide for various trips around. Quite an interesting person and funny as all get out. When I asked here about the “Top of the World Highway” she went ooooogh and shook all over. Then she laughed and said I’m just kidding but guess what. SHE WASN’T! Which brings us to the meat of the blog.

We weren’t supposed to leave Dawson until tomorrow morning but looking at our schedule we have a trip planned for tomorrow evening. A midnight dinner float trip. And we have to meet with the people at 5:45 tomorrow afternoon. After hearing about Top of the World/Taylor Highway ( I will shorten that to TOW & TH) I figured we better get a real early start tomorrow morning like 5 am. Talked to the people at the hotel in Dawson and they said the border doesn’t open until 9 am so that won’t work. Lee finely said we better check out of Dawson and leave today heading for Fairbanks. So we did. Well kids, do you remember the “Little Gray Road” we went on when we went out west in 74? Well TOW made that road look like a super highway and the TH was even worse. We had to catch a little ferry right outside of Dawson to cross the river then from that point on we climbed these mountains on a gravel road. It was raining. It was slippery. And it was foggy. We were on narrow winding mountain roads. Thank God it was rainy and foggy. If I could have seen down those shear drop offs I would have probably had a heart attack rather than being a nervous wreck. Lee, bless his heart gave me permission to “Bitch” until we got to flat land. IT WAS HORRIBLE. Well that was only the beginning. We finely got to the border and into Alaska. The roads got 10 times worse. The roads became clay, narrower and more slippery. At one point in time the sign said “bump in the road” well we came to the bump and I looked over to my right and I saw what caused the bump. The land was shearing off into the ravine. Looked like it was going to go any minute. OMG, I thought I was going to die for sure. Right outside of Chicken AK we came upon a big RV who had run off in a ditch. I truck was towing them out.

Well it was a long day and we finely made it to Fairbanks where we are staying at a Bed & Breakfast. JILL decided to get even with us and took us the wrong way and then next thing we knew we are on, guess what? A narrow little dirt road winding up the mountain. I just wanted to cry. I kept saying OMG what have I gotten us into. Five days up on this mountain. Well after twisting and turning and getting to this impossible road that the dip stick wanted us to turn onto we called the place and said “We think we are lost” Well our host gave us directions and we quit listening to Jill. I think she is defective. In Dawson City she tried her best to get us to go the wrong way. I took her in the information center and asked the lady “have you ever had a GPS come in and ask for directions. She said she didn’t remember that happening. Anyway sure enough she was telling us to go the wrong way. I thing when she gets home she is going to get packaged up and go back to Garmin and as long as we stay in the lower 48 Sally can get us where we want to go. Anyway we are here at Lizzie's Nest Bed & Breakfast with some really nice hosts and a beautiful apartment.

That is all for tonight. It is midnight and still daylight.

Till we meet along the trail again see you soon and Happy Trails to you all.

Tails from the Trail days 32 through 35

So due to lack of Internet and just being to darned tired when we get back to our rooms I have let the blogging slide except for the Buddy Lee Gone Wild episode.

Day 32

Upon leaving our restful and quiet time in Rancheria we headed for Whitehorse. The roads remained fair to poor most of the time with some good road conditions here and there. Arrived in Whitehorse checked into our room and I really don't understand these hotel people they see old people coming and they give us the furthest away from the elevator and sometimes try to give us rooms where we have to climb stairs. I don't do stairs anymore. Just can't. Oh well we spent the night in our room 250 miles down the hall from the elevator but he room was nice. On the 3rd floor so we slept with our window open. Walked around town a little had a nice bowl of soup and a quiche. Located the train depot so we would know where to go the next morning.

Day 33

Boarded the train to go over the White Pass. This is one of the most spectacular trips scenery wise that I have ever taken. This was my fourth trip over this pass and I still loved it. Needless to say Lee loved it too. We rolled into Skagway and you all know that story so we will just skip down to.

Day 34 where we caught the bus back to Whitehorse a 6 hour trip. We found our car still at the motel whee we had left it and DAM! nobody got tired of looking at it and wash it so it was still as dirty as when we left it and with the huge dent in the side it looks pretty pitiful. I whined a bit and they put us on the ground floor and not so far from the elevator. got a good nights sleep and was on the road by 6:45 the next morning.

Day 35

A long trip through some beautiful country. Drove up the Klondike Highway on the way to Dawson. We were under the impression that it would be a really long day traveling but we made it here in about 7 hours. Guess that was a long day of traveling but it seemed to go by pretty fast. Guess cause the scenery was just so beautiful. We are now in Dawson and the Internet here is not free. $10.50 per day. so we got it for today and are spending the afternoon just catching up on things. We won't pay for Internet anymore here and I have no clue what the situation will be on into Alaska. If we have to pay an arm and a let we will just wait till we get back to the lower 48 to post. I will just blog and not post.

That just about catches you all up on our travels. Till next time Happy Trails from Jeannie and Lee.

Skagway Alaska

Days of the 98 Show Staring that one and only BUDDY LEE aka Lee Lewis

June 16 & 17

I am stepping ahead in time to bring you up to date on Lee's antics. We got to Skagway and he heard the town was rather wild so he jumped right in with both feet. He started almost immediately. We got into town on June 16. Came over the White Pass Just like the gold rush people did but we sort of got confused we came over the pass the wrong way but that suited Lee just fine. he LOVED Skagway. Right away we took a street car (and I don't think it was named desire either) for a city tour. The girls who drive the streetcars are just so cute and they dress up in period costumes. Well right away Lee got into the spirit of things and had his picture taken with one of the cuties. Next we went to the Red Onion for lunch. Well the Red Onion was one of the many brothels in town. One of the "Girls" took a liking to Lee and I thought she was going to drop her load on his shoulder. Well I got him back to the hotel safe and sound that night BUT today we went to the "Days of the 98 Show. This show is in its 85th year. Well the girls in the show saw Lee and really took a liking to him. They drug him (kicking and screaming) up the stairs and had their way with him. When they brought him back he had lipstick all over his cheeks and a girl on each arm AND he was in his night cloths. They were scratching and fighting over him. Finely gave him back to me and we got out of there in a hurry. All in good fun.

I'll catch up on my blogging when we get to Dawson. We are there 3 days. Just toooooo tired

today.

SEE FACEBOOK PAGE FOR THE PICTURES. TROUBLE UPLOADING TO BLOG.

Tales from the Trail - Day 30

June 13, 2011

Rancheria, Yukon Territory

Pronounced Ran-che-REE-a

Today we experienced the bad road conditions we had been told to look for. Long stretches of loose gravel road. Then they tell us the really bad road is when we cross the border into Alaska. Supposedly it is entirely a gravel road and wet and slippery. Boy oh Boy sounds like fun. NOT! At one point in time we came to a full stop and were stopped for 20 minutes. Everyone just got out of their cars, campers and trucks and chatted. This is what we were told would happen and it did indeed

We entered the Yukon Territory today then dipped back into BC then back to YT. We did this about 6 times before they decided to keep the road in the YT.

Gas, continues to be high but nothing like at the Northern Rockies Lodge @ $7.00 per gallon. Food and Lodging is cheaper here. Last night at the Northern Rockies Lodge we paid $160 for one night. Here at Rancheria we are paying $130 for two nights. R&R day tomorrow. And what a beautiful area. We look out on the most beautiful little lake from our porch. Only drawback is hovering around the screen door are 8297 mosquitoes. Oh well we can sit on the bed and watch the lake looking for animal. Food is cheap here too. Good place to spend 2 days. Haven’t had cell phone service for two days and the internet here is very intermittent so this will get posted when I can get on.

It is twilight now all night long, (when it finely gets dark at all) it is amazing to get up at 1 am and see it still twilight.

Tales From the Trail - Day 29

June 12, 2011

Caribou, Stone Sheep, Bison, Bear, Hot Springs & Lake Muncho

What a Day, What a Day, What a Day!

One of the best so far. Right up with the Mount Rushmore Day. All of the above along with some of the most beautiful scenery so far. Really glad to get out of the plains. We left Fort Nelson planning to get to Muncho Lake early so we could go on up the road and spend some time in the hot springs. Took us about 6 hrs to go about 150 miles. Every few miles there was some animal to see. I was looking for a bear but alas! No bears to be seen. Jill (our trusty GPS) took us to the most desolate motel you have ever seen. I am looking in the Mile Marker magazine thinking boy the only similarity here is they both have a red roof. So we asked some one and they said next lodge up the road. Well we road and road and in about 6.5 miles there was our lodge. It is beautiful and it ought to be. Is it ever expensive. So at dinner we read the little informational thing about it. They operate John Deer Diesel generators to generate their electricity. It takes 1600 gallons of diesel per month to keep the place running. All their food comes from Edmonton 2x a week a distance of 800 miles. Therefore everything is 60% more expensive here than in the towns. We paid $7.00 per gallon of gas and that was after a 20% discount.

But I digress. Back to our day. On the way to the hot springs about 40 miles further up the road we finely spotted our bear. Now my day is complete. The hot springs were really nice. Very hot though. I couldn't stay in very long cause I kept feeling my blood pressure rising so we got out and did what we did best. We chatted with all the other people who were sitting on the benches. After we bot dressed we had a picnic lunch and then backtracked to the lodge and a nice (expensive) meal for dinner. Tomorrow we will cover this same 4o miles again. Maybe the bear will be there again. There was no place to stay closer to the springs. Had we passed it it would have been further. This is really remote. For the first day I have had no cell phone service all day.

Tales From the Trail - Day 28

From Grand Prairie to Fort Nelson

June 11, 2011

Well after traveling over 4500 miles and spending 28 days we finely reached he "World Famous" Alaska Highway. From Dawson Creek BC to Delta Junction AK. Now this is what it is all about. We have finely reached the beautiful country. We left Grand Prairie at 8:00 this morning and reached our destination at 3:30. A long day. We stopped for a pee break in Dawson Creek at a McDonald's and bought a mocha latte' then travelled until we needed gas when we stopped in some little way side place that had a gas station and a restaurant. We got gas then went over to the restaurant and had the daily special which was soup and pizza. Both were very good. A couple came in and we invited them to sit with us. We were the only 4 customers in the place. They were from Louisiana. I swear to goodness, the man was Paul Horney incarnate. They left Louisiana and travelled 1000 miles the first day. Their prime goal or I should say his prime goal is to get to Alaska. Sound familiar girls? Like getting to Yellowstone? Anyway it took them, let me see, let me count on my fingers. They left on Tuesday. This is Saturday. YIKES! it took them 5 days to get to where it took Lee and I 28 days to get. She wanted to leave him and come with us. She was carrying on how he doesn't let her sleep in or stop to see anything. We were laughing at them. He gave us some nice home grown tomatoes he had grown himself. We parted company leaving long before them and presently here they came around us tooting their horn. How funny!

Tales From the Trail - Day 27

June 8 & 9

Didn't blog yesterday. We spent another day in Edmonton. We first went in search of the High Level Streetcar but didn't find it so we took our second choice of things to do. We went to the Muttart Conservatory which was pretty cool. They have 4 glass pyramids (that looked like the ones they have at the Louvre in Paris.) Inside of each pyramid they have a different environment. The first one we went into was the tropical garden. Needless to say all tropical plants. Then they had the temperate gardens which was like the northern gardens then the arid - desert types of vegetation's then the feature pyramid which this month was the Celtic Gardens. Just beautiful. While we were sitting in the Temperate pyramid and enjoying the lovely smell we got to talking to one of the docents (we seem to do a lot of that) anyway we told her of our aborted trip trying to find the High Level Streetcar and she said "Oh I can tell you just how to get there" so she drew us a wonderful map and we got right there. It was just leaving on a 40 minute trip so we went into the village of Old Strathcona and had a bowl of really good "spicy ginger pork" soup. Then picked up our car and back to he motel.

Today we drove through the upper reaches of Alberta Canada to a little town of Grand Prairie to a nice surprise at the motel. The front desk clerk checked us in and as I was chatting with her mentioned it was my birthday. So she wished me a very happy birthday. Lee and I went out to get our stuff out of the car and she came out and said. Here I want to trade keys with you. I have a nice surprise for you inside. So I says OK what is it. She said go to room 116 instead of 201. OK I figured the surprise was just that she found us a room on the first floor but when we got into the room we really got our surprise. It has a full kitchen with a full size stove and refrigerator and a hot tub in the room along with a wet bar. Not stocked of course but what a wonderful room. And it is HUGE. We are going out to dinner then will sit in the hot tub with a glass of wine for a while.

All for now Till next we meet along the trail.

Tales From the Trail - Day 24

Edmonton Alberta Canada

June 7, 20111

Let me start this post by just saying I am not real fond of Canada. You have to be a millionaire to live here. Everything is so expensive. Will be glad to get back to the good old US of A.

That being said I will get off my soapbox and tell you of our hotel experience in Edmonton. We drove for 5 hours on Monday stopping in Vulcan. That is right, Vulcan. A whole town devoted to Star Trek. It was pretty cool. Traffic was horrible coming through Calgary. We had anticipating on stopping and going up in their version of the space needle but decided since we are doing that in Seattle we would take a pass. Just as well. Wouldn't have wanted to fight that traffic.

Anyway we got to Edmonton and were pretty tired. The Hotel was in a really crummy area and that didn't set well with us then the girl at the counter informed us there were no elevators and if we wanted to go elsewhere she would refund our money. We decided to stay the night. Well the room made Motel 6 look like a castle. At least Motel 6 is always clean. This place was a real dump. Floor didn't look like it had ever seen a vacuum cleaner and behind the bed stand there was all kind of trash on the floor and the rug was just plain filthy. I will say the bathroom was clean and the sheets were clean but we were really turned off by the room. First words out of Lees mouth when he woke up was "Lets get out of here" So I called around and found a room (double the price) but it is wonderful and in a much better area. We had been afraid someone might break into our car and steal our stuff but the car was fine and they did agree to refund the remaining two nights.

Got checked into our new motel then off to explore the giant mall here in Edmonton. Anyone who enjoys "Mall Crawling" would LOVE this mall. It is so huge it has a full sized amusement park with three different roller coasters and all other assorted rides. It has an indoor water park with a wave pool just like being at the beach several large water slides. NO I DIDN'T GO ON ANY OF THEM but enjoyed watching the people swim. They had some sort of a rope thing that people could climb all over and be secured with ropes, a bungy jump and a full sized ice rink were we really enjoyed watching some young people who obviously were practicing for competition. They were really good.

We had lunch at the food court and opted for the Chinese. Bad choice it was terrible. Oh well we had a good day all in all and were really tired after walking all over the mall.

In two days we will be traveling further North and I will spend my birthday in Grand Prairie Alberta Canada and we will soon be on the famous Alaska Highway. We will hit that in Dawson Creek

till next time we meet out on the trail

See Face book for more pictures. Had problems uploading pictures to the blog.

Tales From the Trail - Day 22

So no incredible people today. We went into breakfast (the free one at the hotel) and there were just 3 old ladies there. They were so quiet I thought we had either stumbled into a church or a funeral. It took only about 5 minutes for us to liven them up. We seem to have that effect on people. Anyway they were on their way home and they had come down from somewhere in northern Alberta for a funeral. Guess that is why they were so quiet. After they left a man and a much younger woman came in. We thought she was his arm piece. Turns out she is his daughter. Presently her husband and one of her sons came into the breakfast room. They were in town for a baseball game (her sons) Lee was busy entertaining them with all the places we had been and were going to be. The older man and the girl were lively and asking question and generally conversing with us. The husband said one sentence the whole time we sat there. "I ain't been east of Denver Colorado and got no need to go" that was it. What a crummy personalty he had to have such a bubbly wife.

Went to a Japanese Garden. It was OK and then we went back to a park by the high level bridge and had a picnic. the highlight of that trip was we saw a train crossing it and then an almost tragedy. Some woman came running up and asked if any of us in the area had left a baby in the car cause it was crying and the windows were only down a crack. The other people who were in the area with us went to investigate I said call the police right away. While they were discussing it the parents finely came out and the woman gave them hell. They never commented just got in their car and left.

Then we went to the top of the hill and took some better pictures of the bridge and took some better picts of the bridge. Then back to the motel for a nap. Geeze traveling is hard work. Oh I forgot we also went to a Walmart.

Tales From the Trail - Day 21

June 4, 2011

Today was a great day. After four days of rain, rain, rain, we woke up to yet another dreary overcast day. Our plans were to go see the High Level Bridge then to Fort Whoop – Up. Well the best vantage for the bridge was Fort Whoop – Up so we got to see two attractions from the same place. We first walked up a hill and got some great pictures of the bridge.
Condensed story of the High Level Bridge.
The Lethbridge Viaduct, commonly known as the High Level Bridge, was constructed between 1907–1909 at Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada at a cost of $1,334,525. This bridge is the largest railway structure in Canada] It was built as part of a major diversion of the Crows nest Pass route between Lethbridge and Fort Macleod. The river crossing was previously over a wooden trestle measuring 894 m (2,933 ft) long and 20 m (66 ft) high; an impressive structure in its own right. Although the original route accomplished its purpose in allowing the CPR to rapidly complete the railway, it turned out to be expensive to operate. The original bridges were designed to last only about 10 years. The CPR decided, in 1905 to construct a completely new route on a better gradient to bypass the original line. The new line was built to the north of the Oldman River. It required two bridges, one just west of Lethbridge—the High Level Bridge—over the Oldman River and another large bridge over the Oldman River again west of Monarch. This route eliminated many curves and reduced the grade from 1.2 percent to only 0.4 percent. It also saved 8.5 km (5.28 mi) of track. It was a very impressive site indeed.
Next we went into Fort Whoop – UP.
Condensed story of Fort Whoop - UP
Now Fort Whoop – UP was built by the Americans as a liquor trading post. The original name was Fort Hamilton but nicknamed Fort Whoop – Up due to the illegal activities that were going on. The sale of whisky was outlawed but, due to the lack of a police force in the region at the time, many whiskey traders had settled in the area and taken to charging unusually high prices for it is commonly thought that the only purpose for Fort Whoop-Up was to trade whiskey. Although it was one of the most infamous of the whiskey trading posts, there was much more legal trading that occurred here (e.g. trading of furs for blankets, food, fire arms) than there was trading of whiskey. The outlaws of Fort Whoop-Up and surrounding areas—combined with the supposed flying of an American flag over Canadian territory—contributed to the formation of the North-West Mounted Police. Fort Whoop-Up was a destination on their march west in 1874.
The NWMP arrived at Fort Whoop-Up in October 1874, with the task of establishing Canadian sovereignty in the territory and controlling the alcohol trade. They found no whiskey on the premises and the flag that had been reported as an American flag was inspected and found to be a trade flag for the fort (later adopted by the City of Lethbridge as the municipal flag). Finding no reason to close the fort, they continued further west and the fort continued in the trade of legal goods.
Their first strike on the alcohol traders came after a Native complained at Fort Macleod about a group of whiskey traders who had sold him overpriced Whiskey. Shortly after, the North-West Mounted Police caught and fined the perpetrators, although they were not at Fort Whoop-Up at the time. Although the presence of the NWMP decreased the abundance of whiskey trading, it still occurred.
In 1875, the NWMP rented a room from the owners of the fort, Healy and Hamilton, and established a post there. This arrangement lasted for at least twelve years, the fort acting as both a trading post and a NWMP post. The following year, Healy and Hamilton sold the fort to Dave Akers, who was in control of the fort almost until its demise. The fort was again burned in 1888, the fire having started in the NWMP barracks. This fire was not as severe as only the NWMP barracks were destroyed. The fort remained in operation until it was deserted somewhere between 1890 and 1892. It was then destroyed piece by piece until the last of it was washed away in a flood in 1915.

While we were inside the Fort the sun came out and the day was now beautiful and had warmed up. Since it was still early in the day we decided to go on to our 3rd destination that we had planned for Lethbridge.

Our next destination was “Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump”
The Buffalo jump is a cliff where for the last 6000 years Indians would drive the buffalo over the cliff killing them for meat and hides to tide them over the winter. We saw a movie depicting a hunt that would have taken place 1000 years ago. This was before the Europeans introduced horses and firearms to the Indians. The method they used was to first build a “drive lane” for the buffalo by building cairns with branches to frighten the buffalo. The buffalo viewed these two lines of cairns as a solid wall that they could not go through. Next two braves would dress up in wolf skins to start the herd moving through the drive lane. Another brave would dress up in buffalo skin and pretend to be a stray calf. All the buffalo would chase after the stray calf to protect him for the wolves. At the last minute the “calf” would duck behind the other braves waving skins to frighten the buffalo and the buffalo would continue over the cliff. The braves would finish off any who survived the fall then they would all set about preserving the meat and curing the hides for the long winter.

Legend has it that the way the jump got the name of Head smashed in was that a brave wanted to see the buffalo falling past him so he took cover under a ledge. There were so many buffalo on that hunt that he became trapped behind all the fallen and dead buffalo. When the others finely got the animals out to slaughter they found the brave with his skull crushed. Hence the name “Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump”

All in all we had a truly marvelous day. We finished it off by stopping at a restaurant in Fort Macleod for French onion soup and a Monte Cristo sandwich. Now back at the motel Lee is relaxing with a martini and I have a cup of coffee. Till next Tales from the Trailes!

Tales From the Trail - Day 20

June 3, 2011

Yesterday was a miserable day (weather wise). Rained on us all day long. We traveled from Great Falls Mt to Lethbridge, Alberta Canada. The countryside was rolling grassland and I could just imagine this country 200 years ago when the Lewis & Clark expedition made their way through here looking for the Northwest Passage. For miles and miles all you can see now is fields under some sort of cultivation. We also saw some cattle ranches with beautiful Black Angus cattle.

When we got to the border it took us about 1/2 hour to get through. There was a family we had seen at a rest area in Montana who were Asian and they were travelling with two children. For some reason they had to go inside and do some sort of paperwork cause we saw them again at the border coming out with a packet of some sort. I know from what I have read when travelling with children you have to have birth certificates and proof that you have legal right to bring the children across the border. Anyway I guess everything was copacetic with them because they finely got in line some cars behind us and came through. The only thing the border person was concerned was if we had weapons and did we understand the Canadian laws concerning carrying weapons. We told him we did not really know the law but didn't have weapons anyway. He asked if we had alcohol and I said "I think we still have a bottle of wine back there somewhere" so we made it past that test.

We have met some incredible people on this trip. Yesterday we met a young couple who are biking across the country moving to California. And I don't mean motorcycles I mean bicycles. The kind you peddle. They tent out most of the time but days like yesterday they hunker down in a motel. They are following the Lewis & Clark trail. I asked them if they were carrying all they owned on the bikes. They said no, his father is driving out to California with their stuff. How cool is that? Then we met a couple the day before who told us about the L & C Interpretive center that we visited and enjoyed. They are traveling the L& C trail from the end back across the country to the beginning. They were really into the whole L&C thing. We saw them at the center and he had a tripod taking picture of all the exhibits. And I do mean all of them. Then there was the sweet little lady who must have been 85 if she was a day. She was a docent at the L&C Interpretive Center and a retired pediatrician. She said the saddest thing about being a retired pediatrician was being a retired pediatrician with no grandchildren. She was a spunky gal who has travelled all over the world and she has beaten us by seeing all 7 of the continents. She has driven the Alaskan Highway 3 times by herself. Boy what an incredible person.

Well this is yesterdays log that I am writing today. Just a bit behind. We are getting ready to eat breakfast and head out to explore Lethbridge.

Tales From the Trail - Day 19 part 2

June 2, 2011

Today turned out to be a much better day than we have had for the last two days. After breakfast and then on the phone for 1/2 hour arguing with Hotels.com about charges for hotel changes we have had to make we finely got all that taken care of and then headed out to explore the town a bit.

At breakfast we were talking to some people who told us about the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center so we decided to go check that out. A really good museum and good movies of the Lewis & Clark Discovery Expedition. One movie centered on the fact that they had to portage their boats for 18 miles around the five falls that are in this area. After the museum we went in search of the 5 falls on the river. They are pretty impressive. For the Great Fall (that the town of Great Falls is named for) we had to travel way down a very narrow road through fields and fields of something growing. Not sure what it is but there is a huge General Mills Plant here so maybe wheat. They also have refineries and a huge electrical generator from the water power.

I will post some of the pictures on Facebook. Off to Lethbridge Alberta Canada tomorrow.