July 6^th  until  July 15^th 2017 – Alaska

Loud noise in Cabela’s store

Cabela’s parking lot in Anchorage filled up with RV’s yesterday, but when we wake up Thursday July 6^th the first RV’s left already. We are early too and after a nice breakfast we drive to a laundromat (its urgent to do laundry), search a post office to buy stamps (very old fashioned), find a hair salon to get a haircut (no success, far too short and very expensive) and the rest of the afternoon we look around in Anchorage and of course at Cabela’s, we find suitable pants for Dick. Cabela’s is a world in itself. The most beautiful outdoor and sports articles can be found here in addition to fantastic outdoor clothes, actually, there is something for every sport, a great place to stay for hours and hours! We are frightened, walking around the hunting gear and Camo clothing, when above us, a bear roars loudly. Fortunately it’s a mounted specimen, one of many here, I think you can find any game up here.

Ofcourse we are too early at Trailers Craft shop on Friday morning. Nobody knows anything about our appointment but at 8 am Talon arrives (we made the appointment with him) and our RV goes inside. There is an airbag in stock in Anchorage that fits our RV so we are relieved. Unfortunately when both airbags are fixed something is wrong, according to the mechanic. He thinks that the torsion bar is broken and parts to fix that are not available in the USA. They even don’t know this system. We have to order a new torsion bar from Europe, so they can mount it.

Calling HELP on Skype

When we leave Trailer Craft we drive to the library, but it’s closed for renovation. Next to it is a shop with coffee bar and good WiFi so that we can call the Dutch AAA and ask for help for our technical problem. It takes more than half an hour before we are connected but finally we can give them our assistance call. Now Dick can sent an email to our RV dealer and ask him also to take action as soon as possible. Now we have to wait what is going to happen, it is still night in the Netherlands so we will have to be patient. Saturday morning we drive back to Seward to our friends Dick and Kaye and leave there some stuff, we don’t need while driving around on the Kenai Peninsula. Meanwhile, there is a phone contact with our RV dealer in the Netherlands. Thinking about a new axle is not wise because that takes weeks to get one, but the torsion bar can be replaced and they will sent us a manual. Before sending new parts from the Netherlands, first we have to tell them the color code and length of the bar. To find that out, the bars of the torsion axl have to be disassembled. Dick and Dick, after studying the manual, think they are able to do that but that Dick like to know or the bars can be reinstalled, because without torsion bars driving is impossible.

One day’s catch hanging around

While we wait for a reply from the Netherlands Dick and Kaye take us Saturday in the afternoon on a sightseeing tour around Town. Despite the fact that we have seen a lot here we still see new places where we haven’t been yet, for instance the Jesse Lee House where a little boy, Bennie Benson designed the Alaska Flag. And what is more fun than visiting the port of Seward where fisherman show and clean their catch (some big Halibut and Salmon) and after that visiting a little restaurant where we enjoy an excellent, freshly prepared, Pizza together. The company of Dick and Kaye distract us from the problems with our RV. As Dick and Kaye take us again on Sunday, now to Cooper River, we completely forget why we came back to Seward.

Great views on Kenai Peninsula

At first we drive to the Princess Lodge, built for the passengers of the cruise ships arriving in Seward. The lodge is located high on the mountain and far away from everything, passengers are brought in here directly from their cruise ship. The place is ideally suited for the passengers to spend their money in the lodge instead of a nice town. As a reward from the terrace of the restaurant of the lodge there is a magnificent view over the Kenai river. After a delicious lunch at Cooper Landing we drive a gravel road that leads us along various remote lakes and campgrounds. It’s wild and abandoned here. Unfortunately, we do not spot bears or salmon. But we enjoy the beautiful nature and have an incredibly cozy day together. When we are back home I prepare dinner. I ‘m a bit nervous because a fantastic Cook as Dick is unequalled, but my macaroni dish from the oven is not bad.

Monday morning July 10^th , there is not really news from the Dutch AAA except that they ask us for a list of parts that need to be sent. But to know the necessary parts we first need to have the color code and length and so remove the torsion bars, but then we want to know or we can put those bars back again. It feels like we wait for each other. So again Dick send an email to our dealer and while waiting for an answer, we take our bikes to cycle around in Seward. It’s beautiful outside, around 60 degrees, the clouds are high up the mountains so the wildness and glaciers are well visible. It’s not really hot, no wonder if around us huge glaciers are visible.

Alaskan Salmon and Corn diner

End of the afternoon we gather at the wood fire in the garden. Also Shelley, the daughter of Kaye and Dick arrives with Shaun, a friend. We chitchat with each other, hear their experiences of a very strenuous climb up to one of the peaks and enjoy the delicious salmon Dick prepares on the barbecue. As I have no good feelings about the removal of the torsion bars, we get up in the middle of the night and call our Dutch dealer. He tells us how to remove the torsion bars (you need some apparel) and indicates that it is almost impossible that there is a breakdown of torsion-bars. He never heard of it. Again we tell him how the shop in Anchorage found that.  After the call we go back to sleep, it’s 4 am.

I think about the comments of our dealer again and again and again, also Dick thinks about the call because when we have breakfast at 8 am and discuss the remarks with Dick and Kaye, we make a plan (A):

Search for a leveled spot on concrete, empty our airbags and measure or there’s any difference in high between the two wheels. Soon after breakfast all four of us drive to a nearby gas station, measure the distance and see practically no difference. After pressurizing the airbags the difference is still the same, of course higher up so that’s OK. When we are back home and Dick and Dick take the wheels off the RV, there is nothing visible or alarming, so we decide to leave tomorrow, looking around on the Kenai Peninsula and watch our RV.

How to solve this problem

The rest of the afternoon we cycle around near Seward, it is a nice place to look around. We meet again in the garden late afternoon. We have to visit neighbor Kevin who bought a boat with (broken) trailer. On a bargain because the boat and two engines are certainly more valuable than the $ 1000 he paid. To find out how to put trailer and boat on the property is another thing but “Alaskans” are used to solve problems and with ropes and technical insight the men get the trailer on the ground.

After these efforts the on the grill prepared burgers tasted more than good. We’re lucky the weather improves because even on Wednesday, July 12^th, there is abundance sunshine. After Dick and Dick order extra airbags online, at least we can go on when our air suspension should breakdown, and we have breakfast together, we try “baconjam”, an indefinable jam, but not distasteful, we say goodbye to Dick, Kaye and Carl and leave Seward. Not for long because if everything goes well, in about a week we hope to be back to pick up our stuff. As soon as we drive further inland all clouds disappear and the sun shines in the steel blue sky.

Arriving in Hope

The way we have to drive today is not so far so at the end of the morning we arrive in Hope, Alaska. Although we want to sleep at Resurrection Creek, where it’s allowed to pan for gold that route is not recommended. Our RV is not really suitable for that road so we drive to the end of the bay in Mainstreet and put our RV on the campground here. A place is available until Friday. After drinking some coffee, we take our bikes and go around. There are some caches hidden we like to find. It brings us deep in the forests along fast-flowing streams and end of the afternoon we return to the library nearby where Dick checks his mail. Meanwhile I am sitting in a barn and sniff around the big collection for sale books. Then we sit outside our motorhome, eat something and watch the hustle and bustle of upcoming campers and fishermen, trying to catch salmon in the creek.

At half past 11 pm, the Sun is still shining, we go to bed. During the evening the cold breeze lied down and its great outside. Thursday July 13^th we wake up at 8 am. We have breakfast but it’s boring, we miss the excellent Bacon and Eggs from Dick and Kaye and even more their company and the conversations with each other.

Searching for a geocache

At 9 am we grab our bikes and drive to the end of the Bay where, on Porcupine campground, a trail starts along the waters of the Turnagain Arm. At some places the trail is very narrow and we have to get off our bikes because of the large roots and tree stumps on the path. But mostly we continue cycling. Halfway the trail we find our cache, hidden deep in the forest. We are the first living things here in months considering the attaques of the many, many, many  mosquitos.

I have bearspray but no insect repellent!  So we are not prepared for the animals we encounter now in the woods. After finding and logging the cache we drive back and leave those horrible biters alone.

Old Gold miner at the museum

We cycle to the museum of Hope, small but interesting. The Gold-panning next door we forget. Depending on what you pay, you get a small plastic bowl or larger bucket filled with sand, earth and stones for panning. Yes, there is some gold dust in it but it is less adventurous than when you search for the dirt yourself, pan it in the water and search for gold on the bottom of your pan. The rest of the afternoon we sit outside, chatting with fellow travelers and Dick helps an American guy to get his towbar of his RV, level the RV and connect it to electricity. The last one he never did before and then it’s difficult to know the difference between 15, 30 and 50 ampere?????

Old Hope school – now library

I cycle back to the Library and again have a look at the books for sale. It’s a pleasure to scavenge around books, you never get bored. Despite the fact that I still have some unread books in our RV, I buy some books. Although we like to eat out tonight the menu in Hope is not really alluring, so we have our 39^th anniversary celebrated next to our RV with on the grill prepared sausages and fried potatoes as well as a glass of wine. Until late in the evening we can sit outside, the temperature (68 degrees) is agreeable.

Turnagain Arm view

Friday July 14^th it is very cloudy but except from some rain in the night it’s dry and not really cold (59 degrees). We drive along the Turnagain Arm and at different places along this sea-arm we have a beautiful view. A lot of these spots are used for staying overnight. In Alaska it is allowed unless there is a “no overnight parking” sign. Around noon we arrive in Soldotna where we decide to stay on the parking lot of Fred Meijer, a huge shop, and it’s crowded here because everybody wants to stay here. The salmon has arrived on the Kenai Peninsula and everywhere are cars and RV’s with dip-nets, fishing rods and huge coolers.

The waders are on sale and people buy them with armloads. The “call of the salmon” and the “salmon fever” has struck in Alaska. Rivers are full of fishermen and campgrounds are full or tripled in price and if you can stay for free at a parking lot instead of paying a $95,- for a campground (at Fred Meyer there is even water available and a dump station) you understand that many choose to stay on the parking lot of Fred Meijer or Walmart. Of course we do some shopping and walk around in the area.

Flower to close to the mosquitos

Again I forget my bear spray and insect repellent. That first one is not that bad because there is no bear to see, but forgetting our insect repellent is bad because when we walk around through the woods looking for geocaches, hundreds of starving mosquitoes dive upon us and within the shortest time we are under the blood stains of beaten to death mosquitos. Clearly those biters got us first. I assure you we quickly find our way out of the woods. Nevertheless, I cannot resist to make pictures of the beautiful flowers. End of the afternoon it’s starting raining so we return to our RV, have something to drink and to eat and read our books.

June 25^th  until July 6^th  2017 – Alaska : Valdez and Seward

On the road to Valdez

When we leave Tok in the morning it’s dry  and while driving further South the sun shines. Kinda nice because as we get closer to the coast, the mountains are more and more ferocious. Although driving only at 2049 feet, here are high alpine conditions, snow fields and glaciers surround us. At 3 pm we arrive at Blueberry lake where we stay overnight. A cold breeze is blowing but the sun is shining and the mountains around us are beautiful, it is awesome outside! Unfortunately, after two hours, clouds come in and it is more pleasant to sit inside. Our camper is 25 feet long – 2,5 feet shorter than our old RV, so there is less seating space but with 4 people we are doing well and the table is big enough to work at with both our laptops.

Ofcourse there is a restroom in our RV. To use the showers we have to stowaway our toilet. That seems a bit cumbersome but you get used to it very quickly and the advantage is that we have a large place to shower. Ofcourse I brought too much stuff with me, so all available space is packed. This to Dick’s grief, he would prefer to see most of our closets empty. In October, when we fly home I will take back some. When we wake up Monday June 26^th  every mountain is disappeared, we are covered by clouds and soon it starts to drizzle so we decide to search for a campsite in the town of Valdez. With rain it is more pleasant to be in the center of town.

Grizzley’s playing

Before we arrive in Valdez we see our first grizzly bears. Two youngsters hunt each other and play alongside the road so we can make the necessary pictures, it is a pity that after a while they disappear in the high grass. It’s still drizzling and only 50 degrees when we arrive in Valdez where we find a beautiful and affordable place in Bayside RV park.

Fortunately, the rain stops and we can walk through the town and search for some geocaches. Some of the clouds disappear during the day and the majestic mountain world with glaciers are visible. Hopefully it stays like that tomorrow, then we will join on a boat trip to the glacier. Unfortunately on Tuesday the weather isn’t so good that it’s worth to go sailing but nevertheless we decide to stay another day. Now we can do some laundry and drive to the fish hatchery on the other side of the bay to find out or the salmon arrived.

Blad Eagle

No luck for us today, the Salmons did not arrive yet so we don’t see bears, only some Bald Eagles.  After driving almost 8200 miles on sometimes very bad roads our front tyres are worn out so Dick changes the front- and rear tyres. Later on in Anchorage we will replace two of our tyres. The Wi-Fi at our camp site is not really strong so we walk to the library where we find shelter for some hours, we publish and check our mail and I work on my English translation. On Wednesday clouds are on the mountains so we skip the boat trip we already did twice and leave Valdez.

Colorfull mountains

As soon as we reach Thompson pass the clouds disappear, there is blue sky and we have a magnificent view of the wild and colorfull mountain world around us. The coastal mountains clearly loves the clouds so they stay there. Our road rises and falls and rises and falls and regularly we see white glaciers shine.

King Mountain campground

At King Mountain State Park we stop. We decided to stay overnight here. It’s beautiful weather, there is a pleasant spot and a tiny post office with yummy ice cream. We walk around because swimming the fast-flowing river is not a good idea, this water, directly from the glacier Is ice- and ice cold. Next morning we drive to Anchorage. Dick and Kaye, our friends from Seward, gave us an address where to buy new tyres. After shopping at Fred Meyer (a wonderful shop), we drive to Muffler City and yes, the tires that our friend Dick selected are excellent for our camper.

Broken airbag

It has become clear that our air suspension suffered from the bad roads, one airbag is teared apart, so the shop also takes off this air suspension bag and look or there will be replacement parts. That means we stay until 5 pm. We have to leave Anchorage because nowhere you are allowed to stay overnight, so we drive to Eagle River campground where it’s crowded, but still place available. Unfortunately, the drizzle continues, so making fire and sitting outside is not enjoyable. When we get up on Friday June 30^th it’s still raining and clouds stay low. We leave town and drive along the beautiful Turnagain bay towards Seward. It’s low tide and part of the bay is dry. Around noon we arrive in Seward and are warmly greeted by Dick and Kaye. Both of them worked very hard to recover the effects of Kaye’s stroke 18 months ago. Fortunately she is doing well, thanks to the hand of God, but it was a long way to get here.

With Dick and Kaye looking for Salmon

After our RV is next to the shop where an Model A Ford stands, the four of us take a ride through Seward, look at the Salmon, some of them jump up the waterfall and explore the port they are building for the ships from “Deadliest Catch”. It saves a lot if these ships can stay here during the winter months instead of sailing all the way to Seattle. As drizzle continues we don’t sit outside but have a delicious dinner inside. Our friend Dick is a great cook.

American BBQ

We are not the only guests, next to housefriend Carl, Sandra and Dan from Anchorage, AK and John and Jane from Houston, TX arrive. For Dick it doesn’t matter that each morning and evening we are with eight people and more. Every time he manages to surprise us with delicious meals that would not look out of place in a 5-star restaurant. But even more important is the great time we have together, chitchatting and talking serious about all kind of things.

Eating outside is normal in Alaska

The weather is improving so we have dinner in the garden next to the wood fire and enjoy the company of good friends. During the day, each goes his way. Twice we use the Subaru of Dick and Kaye to look around. Some spots, like Exit Glacier, are too far away to go by bike. Even though I already forgotten, I remember Exit Glacier (6 years ago) when we walk up again.

View on Exit Glacier

This glacier melted a lot. We could almost touch him 6 years ago but now it’s really hundreds of yards away. Because we also want to spot a bear, one of this days we drive to the prison where bears have been seen. Much to the chagrin of the prison staff this was told by the Visitor Center with result that tourists came massively to the prison site to spot bears. Not really pleasant for security personnel if countless cars stay next to a high security prison.

Black Bear close to the Seward prison

We see a Black Bear, right next to our car so we can study him well. After some minutes this one is chased away by a loud siren. It cannot be otherwise than coming from the prison grounds. Furthermore there are no bears to be seen.

Seward is a lovely town at the foot of the great Harding Icefield and is famous for the 4th of July Race on Mount Marathon. Around 1500 people run this 3022 ft high mountain up and down. It takes the fastest runners about 45 minutes to complete this neck-breaking run.

Mist on Mount Marathon

Twice before (6 and 3 years ago) I’d like to climb this mountain but I never did. Now the day before the race takes part I see my opportunity and instead of riding around town with our bikes I take my backpack and walk to the start of the race, not far from where Kaye and Dick live. At first I only want to climb the cliffs but soon I find myself on the slippery slope going up. Not quite in the right outfit, I had to put on shorts instead of my jeans but it’s not going bad. After a last glance at Seward, way below me at the halfway point, clouds are coming down so I am transferred into a small world with a visibility of only a few yards. Except for a single runner climbing up, I am alone. On the last steep part to the top, with loose rocks, I can get up with another runner. She is faster so when I arrive at the top of the mountain I am all alone again, walking around in the clouds for a while, looking down at the precipitous cliffs and snowfields below me and making  some pictures before descending, it’s now 4 pm.

You have to run down because it’s too steep to walk but the path leads you over a thick layer of tiny rocks, resembling sandgrains. What an experience ! It takes forever to run down. When I arrive at a creek it’s more exciting, here I have to climb down over boulders and through the waters of the creek, there-after some steep climbs down and then, 2.5  hours later, I am safe off the mountain. What a thrill! I made it, I raced Mount Marathon. Unbelievable how someone can do this in just 45 minutes. Dick and Dan are waiting for me, he expected me to be back around this time. After a nice shower and changing clothes I can tell what it is to run Mount Marathon. In anyway it cost a lot of energy because I eat 3 Halibut tacos for dinner. Of course it also can caused by the delicious, by Carl freshly caught, Halibut that our friend Dick prepares in an exceptional way.

On the driveway looking for the runners

And then it is Tuesday, July 4^th, Independence Day. Already at 8 am we put chairs and tables on the driveway so we are on the first row to see the runners going up and down Mount Marathon. From all over Alaska, but also the “Lower 48” (the states south of Canada), people gather around to take part in the race or to watch and encourage.  It’s a spectacle to see the athletes, often half naked, passing by.

Runners going uphill

The day flies, after the juniors, the women and men are racing. I am glad I explored this run the day before. Now I know what they have to go through. Because the weather is improving more and more, even the sun is shining later on we stay outside until late in the evening (the sun still shines at half past 10). We have a great time together and enjoy the company of our friends. As our propane regulator part arrived yesterday, early morning Dick assembled everything and successfully because our propane works again without stopping and without flashing lights, indicating that there is a “propane-failure”. Wednesday morning, July 5^th , the sky is blue and the sun shines and we are cosy together in the garden, talking about the passed days, but at the end of the morning it’s time to leave. Our friend Dick made some phone calls. Muffler City could not find the appropriate part for our air suspension but TrailerCraft thinks they can do something to solve our problem. Although we can drive with our RV we have to be very careful because the back of our camper is low to the ground. Actually we don’t want to drive long distances.

Animals inside Cabela’s

In Anchorage we quickly find the shop from TrailerCraft. After a short inspection we are scheduled for Friday at 8 am. Not far from this service station is a huge Cabela’s (outdoor sports store) where we may spend the night (we had to know this earlier) and the rest of the afternoon we walk around in the area, check our mail at Target next door and sit outside. The sky is steel blue and the temperature increased to 77 degrees.

June 16 – June 25, 2017 –  British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska (1)

Male Mountain Sheep

When we get up on Friday it’s dry and only 41 degrees but the mountains are visible, very pleasant in this beautiful place. The moment we enter the road a herd of Bighorn Sheep make their entrance. Not only female and baby sheep but also a male with his impressive horns. They study us and finally jump into the valley below us. After leaving this magnificent Stone Mountain Provincial Park it starts to drizzle, strengthening into rain that shrouded the mountains and trees. Although we drive along the beautiful Muncho Lake, we cannot see anything around us. Luckily we spot a Moose along an airstrip.

Big Moose

He is very shy and avoids my camera but still I manage to capture him before he disappears in the woods. After driven on gravel for quite a time, making the RV even filthier than it is already, we arrive at Liard River Provincial Park. An obligatory stop along the Alaska Highway because of the Hot Springs. End of the morning there is still enough place at the campground so after finding a nice spot and drinking some coffee, we walk to the Hot Springs to take a bath.

Liard Hot Springs

It’s great to be in this warm water after the cold temperatures in the morning.  We have a bath for an hour and chat with other guests, then we walk back to our RV. We smell like rotten eggs but it turns out to be effective against the many mosquitoes here. Camphosts are cutting down trees on the campground (tree falling in progress). When I ask them or I can take some branches I am told I also can grab the blocks. It’s not said to deaf ears and soon I feel like the squirrels running around with acorns, only I loaded my arms with wood blocks. After making lots of pictures of the wild Buffalo grazing in front of our campground, we make a fire. Walking back and forth with wood pays off because it is not only very dry wood and sets in fire very quickly, we also have so much wood that we can heat our fire for hours and hours and of course preparing our meat on it. Around 9 am, I’m taking a bath again in the springs while Dick is looking for pictures for our website. Saturday June-17 we leave early. As we heading far more north we have time errors because the sun shines much longer. It is not bad on this part of the Alaska Highway because early in the morning you can spot more wild life.

The quick running Fox

We are not disappointed because in addition to some grazing Buffalo’s there are also larger groups with little ones (in total we see 52 Buffalo’s), a Fox with a rabbit just caught, runs along the highway, a Porcupine walks around and Mule Deer jumps near our RV. Unfortunately the weather is not still good, rain, hail and also sun alternate. In Watson Lake we stay at the RV campground. Dick wants to publish and needs Wifi, while I do the laundry and after our work have been completed we walk in the sun to the Signpost Forest to see if our sign “De Reiskranen, Holland” is still  there.

Reiskranen Sign in Watson Lake

Despite the fact that I forgot to bring the right coördinates we directly find our sign, make some pictures and walk to the Visitor Center to look at the movie about the construction of the Alaska Highway, then we walk back to our RV. On Sunday June-18 the weather cannot be a bigger contrast, the sky is steel blue, the sun shines and its 60 degrees. Good weather to go on, we head to Whitehorse, a 272 mile drive. The road is not boring and although there are many trees, regularly snow-covered peaks are beside and in front of us. We enjoy this up and down winding part of the Alaska highway. At two o’clock we arrive in Whitehorse, the Visitor Center has Wifi, so Dick is going to publish the English version of our website and of course we check our mail and send messages.

We stay there quite a long time and arrive at Walmart the end of the afternoon. I don’t have to ask whether we are allowed to stay overnight because there are already 40 other RV’s and there is a picture that shows you where you can and cannot stay overnight. After searching some geocaches and doing some shopping we stay the rest of the evening in our RV. It is 80 degrees but with all our windows open it is agreeable. Early Monday warning lights are flashing inside our RV, we have a “propane failure”. What is going on and how to fix it, we do not know but it is annoying because our propane stops.

RV Cleaning

We will see if this remains so after getting food we drive to Twin Lakes. Here we stayed previous years because it is such a beautiful Lake. Despite the fact that there are some RV’s, our regular spot is still available. Next to the shore it gives us the ability to wash our RV with water from the Lake. It is really necessary to clean the RV because he is filthy nasty. Regularly we have a chat with other RV-ers entering the campground, so it takes up to 4 hours before we had cleaned the RV and make us a wood fire.

Storm and Wind at Twin Lakes

Unfortunately, the wind starts blowing hard and the temperature drops from 80 to 58 degrees. Despite the fact that we have a woodfire it’s chilly outside. Luckily, after one hour, the storm turns down and the lake changes again from a ferocious sea into calm water, now we can enjoy our fire, the shining sun and of course our delicious roasted meat. At 11 pm, it’s still daylight, our battery goes down and the lights of propane failure flash again. Despite the late hour, Dick starts our generator and we use the outside connection for our American propane cylinder. At 1 am, finally, we have battery power again and the outside connected propane cylinder delivers propane so we can go to bed. Dick thinks the device that regulates our propane is broken. After a short night’s sleep, we get up at 6 am, have breakfast and drive to Dawson.

Fireweed along the road

The road suffered from the permafrost, everywhere are holes and hives and it feels like a washboard. The roadside is colorful, everywhere you see Fireweed. Unfortunately the campsite in Dawson is full but just outside there is place. As the campground  wifi does not work we take our bikes and ride to the Visitor Center to send an email to our dealer in Holland and also to Dick and Kaye in Alaska. We hope to hear soon because a propane failure is very annoying. The rest of the afternoon we bike around in Dawson and have dinner at Sourdough Joe.

On our way back its cooler, the temperature dropped to 68 degrees. Wednesday June 21 our alarm clock wakes us up at 6 am. There is still no wifi on the campground so Dick calls our dealer in the Netherlands with his mobile phone. He did not read our email but it could be possible a device is broken.  We will mail them where they can sent a new device. We are lucky that we may use Dick and Kaye’s mailbox. Let’s hope our part will arrive soon. After breakfast we do some laundry and then ride to Dawson to send our mail. We are not in a hurry. At this moment, there is a 9 hour time difference, so nobody works in the Netherlands. After sending our mail we cycle back to the campground, leave our laptop and cycle back again to Dawson. The distance is only 2,2 mile, so it’s not a problem.

Rain and hail in Dawson City

As we approach town, the sky gets dark and it starts raining. We get shelter at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and that’s good, once we put our bikes on the porch it starts to rain, hail and a thunderstorm comes in. It’s severe weather and we are pleased that we hide here. Within minutes pools of water grow into lakes and there is an inch of hail on the ground. It last an hour but we stay dry and warm in the office and chat with the police officer and his female colleague. Then the thunderstorm is over and we grab our bikes, cycle to the city center and look at the shops. In the Gold shop I buy myself golden earrings and then we ride back to the campground, clean up, take a coat (the temperature dropped to 58 degrees) and cycle to Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall to enjoy the show that brings you back to the years of the Gold rush.

Diamond Tooth Gertie

It’s already busy when we arrive but we find a nice spot in the front and until the show begins we socialize with other guests. There are three shows, the dancers are good and Gertie, the singer, is great. Many people leave after the first or second show, sad because the last show is awesome. People from Dawson come in and they have a loud way to show their appreciation. Undoubtedly this happened also in the time of the Goldrush. Around half past 12 am the show ends, the sun is still shining. On this longest day of the year, there is no darkness. It’s strange to ride in the midnight sun. Just the fact that there are no cars driving or parked makes that you know it’s after midnight. At half past one we are back at the campground.

The Dredge #4

The next morning we find out that we haven’t had enough sleep but we want to be in time at the Dredge, a giant machine, used to find gold in the Klondike. Ofcourse we are too early and have to wait for an hour before the tour starts. The group is very large and the Guide uninspiring so we are pleased to leave and drive back to the campground, now we have a camp place in Dawson. After a coffee, it’s time to walk to the Cabin of Robert Service. This famous writer arrived in Dawson after the Gold Rush and got inspiration to write about it after the stories he heard. For those who do not know Robert Service , here is a part of “The Spell of the Yukon”:

The Spell of the Yukon

Poems at Robert Service cabine

One after another poem is read to us.  We hear and love it. 6 Years ago we bought a book of Robert Service, so we can read all the poems, but sitting outside, in the background the Cabin of Robert Service and listening to the poems, leave a deep impression. In the warm sunshine, it’s now 86 degrees, we walk back to the Yukon. Before our guided walk through Dawson starts there is some time to enjoy a milkshake. Of course, you can see the old buildings on your own but the time of the Gold rush comes to life if you are also told the stories of the Goldrush. And guides from Parks Canada (often dressed in clothes from that time) are very good. They really take us back to 1896 and later and we find out how life took place in this town. 2 Hours later we are back in our century. After a drink in the warm sun, we dress up and walk to Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall. The food is good here and again we enjoy three fantastic shows with singing and dancing. The next morning we wake up at 8 am and after having breakfast we drive to the ferry.

Slowly on the Yukon River Ferry

Unfortunately there is a long line so we have to wait for more than an hour before we can board the ferry and continue our travels at the other side of the Yukon over the Top of the World.  The road takes us over the rim so we have great views. The sun is shining but dark clouds are coming and at the border it starts to rain. We don’t know or the rain speeds up the access procedure or the fact that we have no weapons and only some alcohol but after three minutes our passports are stamped and we may enter Alaska.

At three o’clock pm we arrive in Chicken and the Sun breaks through. The road is clearly improved compared to three years ago and only a small stretch of road is really bad and gives the feeling that from head to toe you are shaken, no screw in the RV will stay in place.

Panning for Fortune

Every time we came to Chicken, I’d like to pan gold and now this is my chance. We buy a pan and a permit and not much later we are trying to find gold. With the help of experienced gold miners that give instructions how to move the pan to get rid of the stones and retain the black sand and what to look for, we find tiny, tiny gold chips and Dick even finds a “picker” in his gold pan, a small piece of gold. We have a lot of fun, gold prospecting is addictive despite the fact that we only find a very, very small amount of gold. After 4 hours our claim ends and we have to stop panning. It is already 9 pm. Unfortunately the next morning it rains and it does not look getting better today.

The “Picker”

A pity because today we wanted to search for gold again. That will wait until another time. In rainy wetter we drive, on mostly dirt roads, to Tok.  Once there, our RV is again incredibly nasty. We need to rinse the dirt off, so Dick take a water hose and start cleaning. In the meantime I’ll use the laundromat to wash our clothes. Because in the afternoon it starts raining again we will not walk through Tok and spend the rest of the afternoon with reading and administration.