Still in Lethbridge

Here we are, still in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada! We decided that a day off would be appropriate so we upped for another night at the Bridgeview RV Park in Lethbridge. I awoke at six am this morning and decided that a little exercise would do me good. Grabbing my camera I went for a walk. The photo below is one I captured right in the RV Park of the Oldman River (It must be the one they wrote the song about).

Oldman River at Sunrise

After breakfast back at the motorhome we loaded the Jeep with our picnic lunch and headed for one of the major attractions of the area, Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump. Yes, you read it correctly! Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump is a very well done presentation of native life in this area. The indians used to drive Buffalo off the cliff shown below to kill them for food, hide and other useful items. This is a World Heritage Site that is very well done with a center built into the hill covering five stories.

Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump

After a picnic lunch we tried to visit the Museum in Fort McCleod but it is only open on week days until June 1st. Go figure! Having failed at that we headed back to Lethbridge to visit the Nikko Yuki Japanese Gardens. This is a delightful and serene setting with an authentic Japanise tea house and gardens.

Nikko Yuki Japanese Gardens

Jack at Nikko Yuki Gardens

We coudln't end the day without one more look at the amazing railroad bridge. We did verfy that this bridge is the longest and highest tressle bridge in the world with a length of 5327 feet and a height of 314 ft over the river. It is much more impressive when you are standing under it as a train passes.

Lethbrige Railroad Tressile Bridge

Tomorrow morning it is on to Calgary!

On to Alberta

We left Butte at about 8:30 AM this morning and drove through the senic mountains of Western Montana through Helena and then through the wide open prairies through Great Falls and on into Canada. Our issue today was malfunctioning windshield wipers on the Winnebago. A fuse blew and when I replaced it another one blew. I then messed around with the wiper mechanism and eventually they started working again. We checked on getting a new wiper motor shipped to the dealer in Calgary, Alberta and learned that it would take 1 1/2 weeks. We have decided to continue and maybe have one shipped to a dealer in Anchorage so that it is there when and if we arrive. The prospect of driving through rain without wipers is not appealing but there are not too many alternatives at this point.

We also had a piece of trim come loose and will be visiting the Winnebago dealer in Calgary to get some tape to re-mount it.

Tonight we are staying at Bridgeview RV Park in Lethbridge, Alberta. I guess the town must be named for what is the longest and, they say, highest railroad of its kind.

Longest & Highest Railroad Bridge

Hopefully as we move on toward Alaska we will be able to experience more of the wonders of Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon... in full sunshine.

Idaho to Montana

Our short day today took us from Pocatello, Idaho to Butte, Montana. We went from the broad farming vistas of Idaho to the mountains of Montana. The mountains were wearing a mantel of new snow which we saw through a rain spattered windshield.

Snow Capped Montana Mountain

We arrived at the 2 Bar Lazy H RV Park at about 3:30 PM. After setting up the motorhome we headed for the World Mining Museum. Our GPS Mable decided to take us the back way and we were able to capture some great views of Butte.

Butte with Mountains in Background

View of Mines in Butte

We eventually did find the World Mining Museum which we enjoyed immensly. They had a large collection of normal antiques of the time that mining was king in Butte.

World Mining Museum

A feature of the museum were the replicas of local businesses, schools, churches, etc. They also had a number of mining artifacts.

Mining Village

The only glitch of the day was my cell phones decision to quit working. My exorcism of the demons by removing the battery and giving the sim card some loving attention seemed to do the job and it is now behaving very well.

Tomorrow it is on toward Canada.

Utah Day

We spent the day driving north on that concrete ribbon called Interstate 15. Thankfully it passes through the magnificent scenery of central Utah. We left St George at 8:20 AM and ended up in Pocatello, Idaho at 6:00 PM. Yes, I know, we spent too much time driving. Our objective was to get north of the Salt Lake City area but when we got there we found a dearth of RV parks and ended up in Pocatello.

Hills of South Central Utah in the Morning Sun

Nepo Mountain

Well, we had to stop for lunch somewhere!

The run north through Utah is delightful with beautiful scenery on all sides. We had to stop somewhere for lunch and what better place to stop than at Cabela's. They have ample RV parking and an opportunity to exercise the legs and the credit cards. I found a Reddington Fly Rod to replace the one that got broken on last years trip and a neat T-Shirt. Mary bought a fleece vest that will be useful in Alaska.

We also exercised the credit cards at couple of Flying J stations. Yesterday we made 6.9 miles per gallon and today we were up to 7.9 miles per gallon. I have found an improvement in mileage every time we get out of California. I am also trying to maintain my speed at no more than 60 miles per hour.

We celebrated our 450 miles travel today by going to see the new Indiana Jones movie tonight. Mary thought it a bit preposterous but I liked it.

We have made the commitment to limit our daily mileage to less than 350 miles and spend more time enjoying our nightly destinations and sights along the way.

My Brake Buddy is working fine and we have had no problems with the motorhome.

We are on the way!

We are on the road! We made our escape from the confines of Riverside, California at 9:00 AM this morning and are now four states away in St George, Utah. Today's journey covered about 360 miles and revealed some issues. First there was the strange sound on the way to U-Haul to fill up our propane tanks. The problem turned out to be my miscalculation that with the Jeep key in the Accesory position would keep the steering wheel unlocked. The noise was the front tires on the Jeep squealing as they were locked in a postiion other than that which we were heading. I needed to have the key in the Accesory position to provide power to my Brake Buddy auxillary braking system on the Jeep.

The solution was to not use the Brake Buddy and leave the key one position back of on, which kept the steering wheel from locking. Once in St George I went to the local Radio Shack and purchased another power plug which I then wired to remain on at all times. We will find out how it works tomorrow. When installing the power plug I learned that I had forgotten to load my socket wrench set. Hopefully I will not have an urgent need for them.

Motorhome with Jeep in Tow

We are spending the night at the Temple View RV Park in St George, Utah. This is a very nice well maintained park which we also stayed at on our trip last year. My new Apple Macbook Pro wasn't able to get on the wireless network at the park so I am doing this blog update on my old PC laptop using my EnGenius Wireless USB Adapter. It rocks.

Mary is doing well in the last week of having to wear her "Space Boot". It comes off for good next Tuesday.

We Leave Tomorrow

We are ready to go! The motorhome is loaded, our mail is being forwarded to Florida (hopefully they will be able to get it to where we want it when we ask) and the vehicles are prepared. It is hard for me to believe the amount of work necessary to get ready for this Alaska Adventure. Of course we did this while hosting a "cousin" from Finland. Satu Savela a third cousin from my father's side visited us for two weeks at the end of her eight month around the world adventure. She is a delightful lady and we wouldn't have missed the experience. Last week we visited the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas with her. She left on Saturday, 24 May to go back home. Karyn, Todd and family were here for the Memorial Day weekend so got to see Satu off on her journey home. She enjoyed learning about life in America and meeting our family.

My Jeep Ready for the Road

My motorhome consultants, including Joe and Vicki Keiva who write for Good Sam magazine, advised me to carry a spare tire (just the tire, no rim) in case of a damaged tire. I bought one and then realized that I had no place to carry it. Hence the box on top of the Jeep. I purchased a Yakima roof carrier and then made a box for the tire. Riverside Tent and Awning made me a nice tarp to cover the whole thing. The logic is that you can always find someone to change the tire but it may not be so easy to find a replacement tire. We'll see.

Close up of the Box

Actuall I am glad I had to make the box as it will be handy for Desert campouts in the future.

The Winnie is Ready!

Our Winnebago Adventurer is ready for this Alaska adventure. We have tried to make sure that all systems are go and hopefully the trip will be uneventful from the motorhome problem point of view.

Our next post will be from the road. Wherever we can get access to the internet. Another factor in getting ready has been loading and learning to use my new Macbook Pro (thank you Todd and Karyn). I am taking my PC based laptop along, just in case, but the Mac seems to be working fine and I am getting more comfortable using it every day.

More from the road!

Alaska or Bust!

Our adventure quest in 2008 is a journey to Alaska in our 2007 Winnebago Adventurer.  We plan to leave on or about May 28th and will travel the Alaska Highway on the way up with a goal of being in Anchorage by June 21st.  My brother Don and his wife Bobbi are meeting us in Anchorage for a week of exploring the Kenai Penninsula.  After that we will travel north to Denali National Park and Fairbanks.  Then we will head south again and return to the USA along the Cassier Highway in Western British Columbia.