Recap of Our Alaska Trip

Here is a recap of our trip.

Leaving British Columbia Tomorrow

Hi Everyone,

Tomorrow we will be back in the lower 48 states, and will have concluded our most wonderful adventures in Alaska. Since the title of this blog no longer fits our going forward situation, we have started a new general blog for ourselves and for those of you who ever wonder "where are Jerry and Mary now?" The new blog is entitled "Finding Jerry and Mary." Our first posting on that blog will be after we get back into the lower 48.  We will still post a recap of our trip on this blog at a later time. 

But, since we are still in Rosedale, British Columbia (Canada), let me tell you about what we did today. We hiked up the mountain (only a 15 minute hike) to a waterfalls. Walking through the forest (even though there are warnings everywhere about bears) was exhilarating.

We both loved taking pictures.

The pictures of the actual waterfall do not do justice to the actual beauty of the falls and surrounding area.

Here are a few more pictures.

Have a great week,  everyone.  And, thank you for following our blog.

Jerry and Mary

Camperland RV Resort in Rosedale, British Columbia

Hi Again,

Since we have fast internet tonight (as opposed to earlier in the evening when I couldn't even get my home page to come up), I thought I'd update this blog while the going is good. Today (September 18), we drove about 300 or more miles again to get to this RV park where we had reservations. We will be spending the weekend here.

The drive to this place was absolutely beautiful. I shot 105 pictures from the RV while we were driving, but could only resurrect about 35 of them. The reason? BUGS, BUGS and more BUGS all over the windshield! We didn't have bugs in Alaska and hardly ever had to clean the windshield. Alaska also doesn't have any fleas or ticks (per a vet we talked to up there). So, back to my pictures, I had to discard all those that were spotted with too many bugs.

The pictures I took speak for themselves. Lots of mountains, trees, rivers and the leaves turning at this time of the year made for a very pleasant drive today.

Back to Jay Leno. We heard an ad on the radio that he was on a local station tonight. And, guess what? He is on! Got to go.

Enjoy your weekend.

Jerry and Mary

Prince Rupert, Burns Lake and McLeese Lake, British Columbia

Hi Everyone,

We are making tracks through British Columbia. The trip on the ferry to Prince Rupert was mainly in fog. But, at one point, we saw pods of whales breaching the water. We almost missed the ferry because Jerry thought it left at 7:30 a.m., but it was scheduled to leave at 7:00 a.m. (And here we were debating whether we should first run into town to get a mocha or some coffee before going to the ferry. Had we done that, we would have certainly missed it.)

After getting off of the ferry in Prince Rupert, we spent one night at an RV park in that town. The weather was misty and damp.

Then, on Wednesday (Sept. 16), we drove 300 miles to Burns Lake, BC, and spend one night in that town.


Today (Sept. 17), we drove another 300 miles to McLeese Lake, BC. We are at an RV park right on the lake. Jerry even bought wood and made a nice fire. We ate outside. It is almost a shock to our systems to be back in warmer temperatures again. It was 76 degrees when we got here. See pictures we took along the way and at the lake.
The one thing we were reminded of was that we cannot get Jay Leno in Canada. Even if we try to catch the past episodes on the internet, the computer knows that we are in Canada and the program is blocked. Go figure!

Still aren't using our cell phones, but we have had free wi-fi at each RV park so far.

Next stop will be three days at one of our Coast-to-Coast membership parks, still in British Columbia.

Until next time, have a great weekend, everyone.

Jerry and Mary

Tracking Our 2009 Trip

Here is a Map that tracks our 2009 trip North to Alaska. Since it is a Google Map, you are able to move it about with your mouse, click on the location spots for more information, or even zoom in and click on the satellite view. Or, you can click to view the larger map on the Google website. We will update the Map as we move from place to place. (If you are having trouble seeing the map, zoom out (the minus sign) a number of times until the picture comes into view.)

View North to Alaska RV Trip 2009 in a larger map

Ketchikan, Alaska

Good Bye Alaska (for now)!

We are spending our last stop in Alaska.

We took the ferry from Petersburg on Friday. The ferry was late arriving, late in getting to Wrangell (its one stop) and late in getting into Ketchikan. What was suppose to be an 9-hour trip turned into an 11-hour trip. Thus, it was dark getting into Ketchikan. Rather than drive 14 miles to the RV park in the dark on an island we knew nothing about, we decided to take advantage of Walmart's offer for us to spend the night in its parking lot (along with 3 other RVers who got off of the ferry).

But, let me tell a bit about this particular ferry trip. First of all, the weather was perfect (at least no rain). At the first part of the trip, the captain had to steer the ferry through the Wrangell Narrows, which at some places is only 300 feet across. There was a "spotter" at the bow of the ferry to watch for any unexpected obstacles.

The trip felt long, but the scenery was beautiful. The ferry made a brief stop at Wrangell before continuing on to Ketchikan. There were 174 people on the ferry. Here are some more of the pictures we took along the way, including one of the ferry coming into Wrangell and of the deep red sunset.

We arrived in Ketchikan at 8 p.m. and drove a couple of miles to Walmart. The next morning, we decided to drive into the town before going out to the RV park. We walked the streets, shopped, had mochas, saw the largest cruise ship we've seen so far (the "Island Princess") and bought something special for ourselves to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary this year.
We then drove to the Clover Pass Resort and Marina RV park. As we were in Homer, our coach faces directly into the marina. Right now it is Sunday (Sept. 13), and the skies are blue, the clouds are puffy and white, the water is deep blue, the trees across the water are thick and green, fisherman are coming and going, birds are sitting on the poles, there is a slight breeze, and the temperature is 60 degrees. An absolutely perfect way to spend our last days in Alaska.

On Tuesday, we take our last ferry trip out of Alaska and into British Columbia. For the next week we will be in Canada where we will turn off our cell phones again. Unless we get to an RV park with wi-fi, you'll have to wait a week before we update this blog.

Wishing everyone a great week ahead, and keep living the life you love.

Jerry and Mary

Petersburg, Alaska

Hi Everyone,

Yes, we arrived in Petersburg on Tuesday (Sept. 8) by ferry from Juneau. Again, the weather was a bit rainy during the 4 ferry hour trip. But, as with most of Alaska, the scenery was magnificent -- glaciers, snow capped mountains, lush greenery. We even saw hump back whales breaching the water.
We passed a finger off of the main waterway called "Tracy Arm." We were told that it is a spot of absolute beauty and that people take day trips to see it. Here is what we saw at its entrance.

Petersburg is a fishing city of 3,000 people. One of our fellow travelers on the ferry told us that Petersburg has the highest per capita income in the US. Fishing is definitely big business here.

Petersburg is actually located on an island called Mitkof Island. It is only 23 miles long and 6.5 miles wide at the longest and widest points, and covers 211 square miles. There are three RV parks here, and we checked them all out before settling in on the Trees RV Park. When I say "settling in," that is what we have been doing since we arrived because it has rained heavily each day so far. Even if we wanted to explore this island, we were told that the road only goes 10 miles further. It's actually a good time to catch up on other things we need to do. Jerry has been working on his book and I'm doing some hand knitting.


While we were still in Juneau, Jerry passed a black bear while out on his run. He ran back to the RV to get his cameras (something all the instructions say not to do) to try to get a picture of the bear. We'll post the video later with all the other animals we've seen on this trip.

Tomorrow we leave early to catch the 8:30 a.m. ferry to Ketchikan. It will be an all day trip, 8-9 hours. Chanti (our dog) stays in the RV and handles it quite well. We are told that we will get to go to the RV at some point to take her for a walk.

Right now, we do not have any cell or TV coverage. But, we were able to hear President Obama's speech to the joint session of Congress on the radio yesterday.

Until next time, stay safe and healthy.

Jerry and Mary

Juneau, Alaska

Happy Labor Day Weekend!


We hope everyone is enjoying this long weekend. We are enjoying it in Juneau, Alaska. Arrived here on Thursday (Sept. 3) on the ferry from Haines. Juneau is the capitol of Alaska, and is accessible only by air or sea. About 32,000 people live here. Since it is located in a rain forest, it averages 220 days of rain per year.



On Friday, we took the local bus from the RV park to downtown Juneau, a distance of 14 miles, to explore the place. Lots of locals got on and off of the bus during our one-hour trip to downtown. Once we arrived, we saw that hundreds of tourists were exiting some of the largest cruise ships we've ever seen to also tour/shop downtown Juneau.



First, we ate at our favorite place (Subway), and then walked the downtown area. Two places we found especially interesting were right next to each other. The first one, called Glacier Smoothie (no, it is not a drink), is one I had previously read about. This family-owned business holds a patent on making soap using the super fine powder of mineral rich clay left behind as glaciers recede, mixed with glycerin. Pat, the owner, is a very friendly person.


The place next to it is called the Alaska Crepe Escape. The young woman who owns that place graduated from a culinary scho0l and now has had her little crepe and espresso business for two years. She made us an apple pie crepe, which was out of this world, and delicious mochas.


There was a light mist/rain as we walked around. But, the one thing we learned quickly is that no one carries an umbrella in Alaska (except for the tourists). Alaskans feel that "umbrellas are for wimps."


Then, on Saturday, we biked four miles to the Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Waterfalls. This Glacier is one of 38 large glaciers and more than 100 smaller ones in the Juneau Icefield. The weather was perfect, blue skies, with temperatures in the low 60s.



We've heard and read various explanations of why glaciers are blue. This one makes sense to us. Glacier ice has a unique crystalline structure that aborbs all colors but blue. That is why the most intense blue color occurs deep in the crevasses and fades as the ice is exposed to air and the crystalline structure breaks down. We saw some awesome blue in the Mendenhall Glacier.



There is a modern Visitors Center on the top of a hill near the Mendenhall Glacier. We watched a short video on the glacier in years past. The glacier recedes an average of 80 feet per year, but in 2008, it receded over 600 feet (global warming, anyone?).


We walked the 3/4 mile to the base of the waterfall. The energy and sound of the falls is all-encompassing. What an experience! See the video below.



On Tuesday, we board another ferry for Petersburg.


Have a great week, everyone. And, continue to enjoy the life you love,


Jerry and Mary

Haines, Alaska Hammer Museum

Hi everyone,
We had a great bike ride today and we stopped at the Hammer Museum. Take a look.