May 2024 - Lower 48 and Canada travels

bear crossed the road on Cassiar

31 May 2024 Friday - Juneau Alaska
Early morning walkabout at the glacier before the tour buses arrive, so sad how small it has gotten. For the third time in less than one year I have error on my car for emissions system problem so went to O'Reillys to determine code which is the same so to Honda dealer to make appointment...in three weeks!

30 May 2024 Thursday - Juneau Alaska
Tour of the new exhibits at the city museum.

29 May 2024 Wednesday - Juneau Alaska
Lunch with friends at el Sombrero mexican restaurant. We have been meeting here for many years when I arrive back in Juneau...although price on the same meal has about tripled and no garnish of lettice and orange slice!

26 May 2024 Sunday - Juneau Alaska
A drier day to unload the contents of my car into my storage unit. I stopped downtown at the kiosk where I volunteer for tourism and chatted with the folks 'on duty' today! Visit to Jerry's Seafood for fresh king salmon to cook for lunch.

25 May 2024 Saturday - Juneau Alaska
A very rainy day to explore the old haunts of Juneau, chat with friends, wash clothes and shop for groceries. Found that the ferry LeConte which I was on yesterday is not running for the next few days, good thing I got here when I did.

24 May 2024 Friday - Skagway to Juneau Alaska
Alaska Marine Highway ferry LeConte to Juneau, departure 145pm with stop in Haines, arrive Juneau late at 9pm (scheduled for 8pm). There was a car fire on the highway north of Skagway which closed the road. Almost three months on the road from Florida via sixteen states and four Canadian provinces, almost 7000 miles!

23 May 2024 Thursday - Skagway Alaska
Internet in Skagway is horrible so will update in Juneau...walked to library which was not much better but then my email password was rejected....found that the 'one' key did not work.
Rainy day for drive out to Dyea for visit to Chilkoot Trail trailhead, Slide Cemetery, and the Dyea townsite.

22 May 2024 Wednesday - Skagway Alaska
Spent most of day walking, first to the Gold Rush Cemetery and Reid Falls, four miles return. Fresh halibut and salad for lunch at the Skagway Fish Company. Another 12000 folks visiting today off the cruise ships, but not as sunny as yesterday, overcast with wind.

21 May 2024 Tuesday - Whitehorse Yukon via BC to Skagway Alaska (115 miles)
A very sunny day for drive south on the Klondike Highway from the Yukon via British Columbia to Alaska with stops at Kookatsoon Lake, historical remains of Robinson Roadhouse, Carcross, and several lakes with snow capped mountains everywhere! Reminisced at Log Cabin where we had exited the Chilkoot Trail in the 1990s to catch the train back to Skagway. Several cruise ships are in port with about 12000 visitors in a town with a population of about 1000! Lunch of fresh salmon at the Salty Siren with walkabout of the town. The hotel does not have wifi in the room, only in the lobby which is not great reception, bummer...and no fridge nor microwave in room.

20 May 2024 Monday - Whitehorse Yukon
Victoria Day today to honor Queen Victoria birthday, many places are closed for the holiday. Morning walk to Lumel Studios to watch glass blowing by the woman whom I met yesterday and the owner of the studio Lu. Found that Lu had done an overland through Africa in 1981 with the same company as I had done in 1999, great fun to share stories. There are no automatic car wash facilities here but one does charge more and will wash your car for $31 but then gave me the 25% senior discount. I met a couple at lunch today who are driving a Winnebago RV from Forest City Iowa to Anchorage in a rental from Great Alaskan Holidays. They offer a special Spring Adventure Package every May for (it appears) over 100 RVs for an 11 day rate (or more if you want). Weather today a mix of snow and sleet and rain and cloud!

19 May 2024 Sunday - Whitehorse Yukon
Morning drive to Takhini Hot Springs, now known as Eclipse Resort. When I last camped here, it was just a simple hot springs, with no rules, now you must be over 19 years of age. In the past few years, it has been rebuilt as a fancy resort with prices now $50 per visit rather than $5, with plans to expand to include hotel and cabin lodging. There were very few people when I arrived at opening time of 9 but by midday, there were too many folks for me. I met an Aussie woman who now lives in Calgary. She is doing a glass blowing workshop here in Whitehorse. Great coffee at the Bear North Cafe.

18 May 2024 Saturday - Whitehorse Yukon
Taking a break from my marathon driving and exploring Whitehorse. I have spent time here in previous years camping in my van. I miss the free breakfasts of the hotels, have not had one for the past week. Enjoyed a 'not for free' eggs benedict (called 'bennies' here) with smoked salmon and spinach at local cafe, eating out is expensive. Walkabout at Miles Canyon along cliffs of the Yukon River and over the suspension bridge. This was the destination of the Klondike gold rush prospectors from Skagway during the late 1800's.

17 May 2024 Friday - Teslin to Whitehorse Yukon (124 miles)
Leisurely drive west with several viewpoint stops and saw more fox and a caribou today. This area is known for swans in April but I did not see any. Walkabout of Whitehorse along the Yukon River trail (adjacent to  abandoned rail tracks) with visits to visitor center, railway station, library, cultural center and a few shops. The train no longer runs from Whitehorse to Skagway due to building of road. I had taken the train in the autumn of 1982 (gorgeous colors) just before it was shutdown. There is now a tourist train out of Skagway that only goes to Lake Bennett. I had hiked the Chilkoot Trail (33 miles with overnight camping) in the 1990's from Skagway to Lake Bennett then taken the train back to Skagway. I found today that the US portion of the trail has been closed since 2022 due to flooding and bridge damage so you can only hike four miles up then return on the US side.

16 May 2024 Thursday - Watson Lake to Teslin Yukon (165 miles)
Morning walk through the sign post forest of Watson Lake with over 100,000 signs on display, many more than on my last visit. Sunny gorgeous drive west with cotton candy clouds and views of snow capped mountains and saw more bear and walked a few trails, one to Rancheria Falls. They are building a new bridge at Nisutlin Bay which has made the village a construction site and much of the accommodation has been taken over by the workers.

15 May 2024 Wednesday - Bell II BC to Watson Lake Yukon (313 miles)
A rainy drive with snow at the higher elevation (over 4000 feet)! Saw a fox feeding on roadkill, a few bear (one crossed the road in front of me), deer and a porcupine. The road is full of potholes and frost heaves and a bit of gravel road near the Stikine River, and so many more trucks, diverted from the Alcan. There is no reception for either radio or sirius, so missing the CD/cassette player of my old van. The area north of French Creek, where I had camped in the past, was totally devastated by a previous fire, the hills were bare. I went to a tire place in Watson Lake to fill the tires and the guy ended up releasing air because it appeared his machine did not work...so 'limped' to another tire place where they were able to fill the tires!

14 May 2024 Tuesday - Smithers to Bell II British Columbia (230 miles)
West on the Yellowhead 16 then north on the Stewart Cassiar 37, reminiscing of the many times that I have travelled and camped along this highway, with some visits to the campgrounds! Started out overcast then rain and colder, it may even snow. Petrol is $1.96 per liter, over $7 per gallon!

13 May 2024 Monday - Prince George to Smithers British Columbia (229 miles)
Gorgeous drive on the Yellowhead Highway, sun and clouds and a few sprinkles, but I do miss my original plan to be soaking in the hot springs today! Enjoying the view of Hudson Bay Mountain, this is a ski town.

12 May 2024 Sunday - Fort St John to Prince George British Columbia (276 miles)
I changed my route to drive the Cassiar instead of the Alcan due to fires and road closure....about 600 miles longer...there are only two roads north to Alaska in BC...and a bit of a backtrack!
Drove route 97 south following the Pine River and VIA Rail tracks, the train I rode across Canada from Prince Rupert to Halifax in 2003 (actually four different trains). It was so refreshing to be out of the smoke just thirty miles south and to see blue sky. Stopped at Bijoux Falls and a few rest areas with views of the snowcapped mountains. The news is not good regarding the fires in Fort Nelson and will get worse if the predicted wind happens.

11 May 2024 Saturday - stuck in Fort St John BC
Awoke early due to time change and looked out window for northern lights caused by solar storm but all I could see was fog, then realized it was smoke, the odor is very strong! I have been following the BC wildfire situation for the past week but then found that overnight a tree had fallen on a power line (we had a lot of wind yesterday over 20 mph) causing a huge fire very near Fort Nelson (population about 3500), my next destination, and the town had been evacuated and the road closed! So lucky to be able to stay here another night as the hotels in this town had filled overnight with folks from Fort Nelson...but may have to alter my route to a longer one.....which I spent all afternoon doing!

10 May 2024 Friday - Grande Prairie Alberta to Fort St John British Columbia (132 miles)
Overcast then sun for another very windy day. Route 43 west then crossed the border to Route 2 then to route 97 at Dawson Creek, mile zero of the Alaska Highway. Gained one hour with the time change. Overnight at the last Hilton on my journey, no more going north on this highway!

9 May 2024 Thursday - Grande Prairie Alberta
Warm sunny and very windy! When I arrived yesterday, my car had alert for emissions system problem, same thing I had in Juneau last September, so drove the few miles to local Honda dealer and they had morning appointment available today. Found the same diagnostic code as last September and cleaned things out, so now good to go for the last thousand miles of my journey, I hope! Afternoon walk to Costco for free tastings, quite a spread!

8 May 2024 Wednesday - Edmonton to Grande Prairie Alberta (293 miles)
So nice to see sunshine and winding roads and hills and forests of trees, what a change from the flat plains and straight roads! Alberta has many more rest areas (even though they are long drops) than Saskatchewan. I stopped to visit the campground in Valleyview where I had stayed on previous drives through this area.

7 May 2024 Tuesday - Lloydminster to Edmonton Alberta (165 miles)
Heavy rain and wind for drive west. Passed by the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village telling the story of the Ukrainian settlement here in the late 1800's. Gave the Edmonton Mall a miss!

6 May 2024 Monday - Saskatoon Saskatchewan to Lloydminster Alberta (174 miles)
Overcast day for driving the Yellowhead Highway 16 then pouring down rain when I arrived at my destination, crossed into Alberta (license plate 'Wild Rose Country'). Lloydminster straddles both provinces and is named for Reverend Lloyd, a leader of the colonists, and the minster means 'mother church'! The provinces were created in 1905 on the Fourth Meridian which the townfolk did not like and petitioned for the new border be revised so that the town be in Saskatchewan but without success.

5 May 2024 Sunday - Regina to Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada (172 miles)
Finally a day of driving not in the rain! Happy Cinco de Mayo! Followed the Louis Riel Trail highway 11, in honor of Louis Riel who led the 1885 Northwest Resistance and was executed in Regina for his participation in the uprising. There are several outdoor sculptures along the route. At one of the few stops on the highway (which are all very muddy parking lots), enjoyed a sour cream glazed old fashion donut at Tim Horton's! Today's petrol fill was a bit different than yesterday, a full service, they fill then you pay inside! Visit to weekend farmers market then salmon at Dennys.

4 May 2024 Saturday - Regina Saskatchewan Canada
Gorgeous day for walk to the local outdoor mall...which like new malls today, most folks drive from store to store! I have travelled all over the world in the past several years but have not been out of the US for the past four years so a bit of adjustment to different currency and converting kilometers to miles and liters to gallons! And so many languages and nationalities, French and Middle Eastern and Asian.

3 May 2024 Friday - Minot North Dakota to Regina SK (258 miles)
Another rainy day for driving but not as heavy. An uneventful crossing of the border into Canada at Northgate, all he did was ask if I was carrying goods to sell and if I had a firearms. Gained an hour today because Saskatchewan (license plate 'Land of Living Skies') is on central standard time, not daylight savings. There were miles of nothing but endless plains driving across the Dakotas but at least there were a few towns with amenities. In Canada however, you still have the miles of nothing but plains but fewer towns and most with no store or petrol station (and at one stop he charged me one dollar to pee)...and then out of nowhere, there appears the big town of Regina. I recall all this from my driving across Canada in 2009. Stocked up at the Real Canadian Superstore then filled up with petrol at almost six dollars per gallon, where you must first be authorized for fixed amount on your credit card even though in the end they only charge for correct amount, difficult to determine how much I will need to pay in advance! (routes 2/52/8/9/18/13/47/33)

2 May 2024 Thursday - Grand Forks to Minot North Dakota (217 miles)
Another drive day in the rain and fog then the sun came out in Minot! Tuna melt at the local Charlie's Main Street Cafe then a walkabout of downtown. I visited the Geographic Center of North America monument in Rugby. Minot is known as the Magic City because when it came into existence in 1886 due to the Great Northern Railway, it sprang up overnight as if by magic.

1 May 2024 Wednesday - Grand Forks North Dakota
Happy May Day! And the sun has finally returned after several days of wind and rain and fog. Spent time at the Chester Fritz Library Elwyn B Robinson collection room on the U of ND campus doing more genealogy research. Enjoyed perusing the yearbooks of the 1930's and 1940's. Then to the public library genealogy room to meet with Leif who was quite familiar with ND history and gave me more hints for ND online research. Reviewed the city directories of years past for the family on which I am doing research.