A week gone by already?

Good morning!

It has been a fast and furious week... We got settled in and have been working on the inside and outside of the coach. I did get started last Tuesday cleaning cabinets out and wiping them out. They weren't as dirty as I thought they would be but some were dirtier than others. Guess the dirt and dust doesn't decided which to go to for the best "hiding space".

Wednesday of last week, I finished cleaning all the cabinets and sorting through the closets of the "Alaska cool clothes" for the end of summer ones. It took almost all day doing that. We then went out to eat chicken with Megan at the Topeka Steak House. Yummy to say the least!

Thursday morning, Jackie came over and we decided to go to run a few errands and of course visit the quilt shop here. We called the guys and they met us for lunch then we finished our shopping. After I got home Bill and I had to run to the store and get a few things.

Friday was our "big" day! Erin had to be at the hospital at 7 so we kept the boys Thursday night. We got to the hospital around 9:30 and finally got to see her. She wasn't dialated too much but later in the morning things went fast. She had dialated from a 4 to having the baby in about 10 minutes. Lauren Kay Elizabeth was born at 12:04 PM . She weighed 6lbs. 11 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. She had a full head of hair just like her mom! She is so cute!!! She is doing good and likes to be held ALOT!!! :) Brayden wanted to hold her "16 hours" he said. :) Bryson wasn't sure what was going on but he liked having a baby sister.

Saturday we went to the farmers market here and then onto Salina to see Bill's sister who had back surgery on Thursday. She was moving slow but relieved it was over. Hopefully now she will have some relief. We stopped by the hospital on our way to Salina.

Sunday, we went to church and then went to Megan's for lunch. We had to go through some things at the shed and bring them back to Topeka to go through. We will have to do that again as we sort through things to take and store for the winter.

Monday, I went over to Erin's to do some much needed laundry and spend some time with Erin and the baby. They came home Saturday. I took a roast over and we put it in the crockpot and so we had supper over there Monday eve.

Tuesday, I finished cleaning here and Bill waxed the outside of the coach. Megan came by for lunch. It has been great having them in and out for a little bit at least. The rest of the afternoon I spent doing some sewing the Lauren. We had supper and then went with Bob and Jackie to get a Dairy Queen.

This morning has been just catching up with things inside here and Bill and Bob have made a trip over to an RV place that is closing out. Our big overhead light above the table burned out so he got some more bulbs to replace them. He is now outside on the roof walking around and waxing it. I will be glad when it is all done! It sounds like a giant walking around up there! :)

So that about catches us up for another week here. We will stay here in this spot until Monday and then we are moving to another area of the park for our State Newmar Rally. Looking forward to seeing our friends again and going to a rally this year!

Until next time!
BJ

WE ARE BACK IN KANSAS, DOROTHY!

We left Sunday morning around 8 after saying goodbye to our friends, Linda/Larry and Gary and Angela.We had such a good time in Rapid City with the 6 of our friends. We really enjoyed being with you all!Thanks so much!

It was a gorgeous day to travel with no wind and the sun shining brightly but not too hot! We drove to Henderson, Nebraska which is about 7 miles west of York. We spent the night in a small campground there.

Monday morning, we drove into York and had breakfast...our last one on the road for this trip. So getting started around 9 we drove south back to Kansas! We crossed into Belleville around 10ish... then found Hiway 36 over to Hiawatha.

We got to Topeka around 1:30 yesterday afternoon. Our friends, Bob and Jackie, were here to greet us at Lake Shawnee...it was great to see them and set "our camp" up again! We got set up and visited for most of the afternoon catching up on this and that. Around 4 Megan came over to see us. She didn't stay too long as she needed to get home to let their dogs out. About 45 minutes later Ryan, Erin and the boys came over for supper. It was so good to see them all and have time with them. We have really missed them all. The little boys have really grown over the summer. Brayden wanted to spend the night last night but they will this weekend.

So we spent the rest of the evening after they left just relaxing. This morning we haven't accomplished as much as we had planned but I guess the day isn't over with yet.

After traveling 10,148 miles I guess we deserve a break! We feel so blessed that we were able to travel and go when and where we can. We saw some gorgeous scenery and realize there is so much of the US that we want to see and experience. We have only touched the surface so far. We were also very happy to be back in the "lower 48" ... just something about being closer to home and in the states made us appreciate what we have that much more.

So now I need to get busy today and begin some deep cleaning.... I can tell the cabinets still have the fine Alaska dirt waiting for me to find it! :)

Now our life will be back to the "normal daily stuff"..... but stay tuned.... when we would talk to some of you, you shared you had read the blog... we appreciate that and it encouraged me to write when I didn't have much to write! Please keep in touch!

Until next time!
BJ

A Beautiful Saturday in the Black Hills

The past few days we have been in and out and doing some sightseeing.
Thursday we washed the outside of the RV...it sure needed it. We finally got the "Alaska dirt" off of the outside. It looks much better and we will do a better job when we get to Topeka. After lunch we drove to Hot Springs and then to the Mammoth Sight. It was so neat! They have built a building around the archeological sight of Mammoth bones. They are still digging and have found about 50 mammoths so far. Just amazing!

After that we drove through Custer State Park and saw some buffaloes,deer and antelope. It was a nice ride for sure!

Friday morning, Angela and I went quilt shop "hopping". The quilt stores were great and it was hard to decide what was coming home with me! I got some fabric to make a Christmas wreath... I plan to get it done so I can put it in the picture window.
We didn't do much yesterday afternoon but laundry here. For supper, we went with our friends and her brother and their friends to a chuckwagon supper and show at the "Dances with Wolves" set. It has really changed since we were there before. They have added a chuckwagon and more gift shops. The show was good and the food was good too! We enjoyed the evening.

Today, Bill and I ran into Rapid City to the store and stopped by the Black Hills Gold store only to come home empty handed......
We had everyone over for supper tonite and we fixed halibut and Larry grilled steak. Each couple brought something so we had quite a feast! It was fun visiting with everyone and the weather has been just gorgeous today. Only got to about 80 or so.

We are leaving in the morning for Ks.... planning to get to York, Nebraska at least.
Stay tuned...we are almost home!

So until next time!
BJ

Wednesday evening

We had a great day traveling and didn't leave until around 8:30 this am. Our next door neighbors in Buffalo were just beginning their new adventure of full timing. They had only been fulltimers for 12 days. They were from Oregon and wanting some info. about workkamping also. We can relate to all they are experiencing!

We got to Hart Ranch around 1 today and have had a busy and wonderful day seeing our friends again. It was great to visit with them and see how things were and are going with them. We are visiting with our friends from Stockton who have been fulltiming for over 7 years and are also part of our Newmar group. They also happen to have a Torrey Pine almost like ours! The outsides are the same but their floor plan is like our Kountry Star with the kitchen on the opposite side as ours. Also here are 2 couples who we worked with last summer at Elk Meadow in Estes Park. It was great to see them all and we grilled hamburgers and ate together, before the storm came!

Hart Ranch is a membership RV park with concrete drives and patios. The park from what we have seen of it so far is just beautiful! Can't wait to explore some more of it! It seems to be around 5-6 miles south of Rapid City.

Well, that is about it for today. Tomorrow we are going to the Hot springs and Mammouth fossils. Not sure what else is on the agenda!

Until next time!
BJ

Tuesday evening

We stayed an extra day in Bozeman, Montana yesterday because the motor for the slide out took lots longer than anticipated. They worked from 9AM -3:30PM yesterday and finally got the "shaft" part loosened enough to be able to get the new motor on. They found a screw that was screwed to the gear box from the outside and shorting the motor out. That had to have been done at the factory. So since it was so late we decided to stay another night. We left around 8 this am for Buffalo, Wyoming.

We got here around 1:30 today. It was a gorgeous day with very little wind and no clouds ! We went into town and washed the truck finally! We still have "Alaska dirt" on the coach but it will have to be there until we get back to Topeka. The coach is going to get a thorough cleaning next week for sure! We have had so many twists and turns that things are not setting straight in the closets.

We will leave in the morning for Rapid City,South Dakota to spend a few days with our friends at Hart Ranch. We are looking forward to visiting with them and catching up!

So until next time!
BJ

We are back in the States!!!!

We made it to Bozeman, Montana today after driving from Fort Macleod, Alberta. We left around 7:30 this am after telling our friends goodbye. The drive today was so pretty and it was a GREAT feeling to be back in the US!!!! When the border patrol guard told us "Welcome home"....it was a great feeling!!!!

The drive south today from Great Falls was so pretty. It had a few canyons that wound around the Missouri River and down the mountain range. After we got to Helena we took a "side" highway 287.... it was a great FLAT road! It was a divided highway for most of the way and just great! We found our campground just as it began to rain big time this afternoon. So we just waited in the truck for it to stop in about 10 minutes! It has been cool this evening. The campground is called Bear Canyon Campground and it about 6 miles east of Bozeman but it is really nice. We have full hookups and a great view of the valley below us. We ate out this evening at Applebee's for supper. Haven't been to Applebee's all summer!

We will call in the morning to make an appt. for the camper to get the slide out motor fixed and then hopefully we will be on our way. If it is almost noon or so we may just stay here another day. We are not sure how far we will get tomorrow.

We have seen some gorgeous scenery of Upper North America but this is just so pretty with the trees and valley and fields below. We made a trip to Walmart today and we were just in heaven!!!! The prices were so low! hahaha!!!! After paying $6.49 for a chunk of cheese we got some today for $2.82!!!! Amazing!!!! Bananas were only 58 cents a lb!!!!! not 79 or 99 cents a pound!!! We are really going to appreciate the "lower prices" we haven't had for a couple of months! The wifi here is probably not the best but we are also using our Alltel internet now and we are zipping on this laptop! Are we back in "civilization"???? :) You really do take things for granted and appreciate the things you have!

It was wonderful talking to our kids today and catching up with them after a week of not talking to them. We should be back in Topeka by early next week.

So until next time!
BJ

Jasper National Park drive

Our last night in Canada

I wrote a long post last night and the internet at Hinton KOA was soooo sporadic and varied it didn't post! So frustrated.... I turned off the computer! So I need to catch up from last Monday...sorry it has taken so long to write but the service we have we had has been very very slow.

We left Dawson Creek on Wednesday. We decided to stay in Dawson another day after getting the hitch welded since it was mid morning anyway.... I think we all needed another day to rest up. So bright and early Wednesday morning we left Dawson Creek and drove to Hinton KOA just north of Jasper National Park. We learned that Jasper National Park and Banff National Park are almost connected via the "Icefield Parkway". We called right away to try to get into an RV park in Canmore but no space for us. So we decided to stay an extra couple of days at Hinton and drive back and forth. The KOA was a beautiful park and very nice .... the only downfall was the internet. They received their satellite service from Georgia!!!! SO it was SLOW!!!The road from Dawson Creek was a good road and from Grand Prairie it was very mountainous and the driving was long and hilly.

Thursday morning we drove down to Jasper and after lunch we reserved a van to take us to the Columbia Icefields. It was quite an experience! We drove to the Icefield Center and then got on a bus/coach to take us to the "Ice Explorer" which drives on the glacier. The Ice Explorer is a huge "bus" that has 5' tall tires on it..... It only goes 12 mph and it drove us to the glacier. We were able to get out onto the ice and explore for about 15 minutes. The ice on the glacier is about 1000 feet thick and it is melting. The water was perfectly clear and very cold. The ice was blue and felt just like walking on our backyard during the winter! haha!!!

Friday morning we went back down to Jasper and decided to go on the tram up above the town of Jasper. Our friends went but Bill and I ... ok....I decided I couldn't go up that thing..... I just couldn't see myself going up that high in that box..... so Bill and I waited and people watched while they did. They said the views were spectacular. We came back home and fixed fresh halibut for supper. It was wonderful!

This morning we got around early and left by 7 to drive down the Icefield parkway from Hinton to MacLeod, Alberta. It was about 375 miles today. We are out of the mountains and we should have divided highways the rest of our trip. I feel like I am back in some civiliation! haha!!! The drive today was very pretty but pretty much the same thing we have seen the past week. Can you tell we are getting tired of the mountains? They are just gorgeous but I guess we are tired of driving and traveling so long each day.

This is where we split in the morning from our friends from Stockton who have been with us since May 26. We have had a good time together and have planned this trip for so long and now its time to go our seperate ways.Time has gone by fast. They are going to Glacier National Park and Yellowstone and then down to see their new grandson in Colorado. We are leaving here in the morning to drive to Bozeman,Montana so we can be at a dealership on Monday to get our slide out motor replaced. Then we will drive onto Buffalo, Wyoming or part way on Monday depending on what time they are done with the motor repair.

In another post I will include pictures we have taken this past week. We have seen several bear, caribou, deer, elk, mountain goats and sheep this week.

So that catches us up on this past week.... hopefully now we will have better internet as we will be again able to use our cell phone service when we get back to the states. Yea!!!!

So until next time!
BJ

Monday evening I think????

I really had to look at the calendar today when we got Dawson Creek to see what day it was! We have traveled for 4 days at an average of about 400 miles per day... too damn many if you ask me,..... but I'm not driving! I think we are on the downhill slide now if nothing else happens..... now let me back up...

We drove from Whitehorse, Yukon Sunday to Liard Hot Springs, BC yesterday going ONLY 468 miles! It was a long long day! Lots of twists and turns and many many hills and mountains in the meantime. The roads have improved greatly since we came this same route in May and early June. We got to see a black bear, a huge Grizzly bear by the side of the road, caribou and and deer. The weather has been great and that helps things along tremendously. When we got to Liard Hot Springs which is a provincial park we had only elec. and water. Bill noticed when he let the big slide out it wasn't doing a normal sound....and then it quit. So we got the big slide out back in and locked it.... we will have to have Newmar find a dealer when we get to the states and get it fixed somehow.

We left around 7:30 this am and drove 388 miles today to Dawson Creek, BC. We are almost on the line of Alberta... we saw many deer in the road and also caribou out this am. We had some long pulls today and high hills. Thankfully the roads have improved since June so that helped. When got to the Mile O campground Bill noticed the top part of the hitch had a crack in it. Now in the morning we will have to call a place here in Dawson Creek to have them come weld it...hopefully we will be on the road tomorrow and not have to wait around till much later for them to come weld it. With all the bumps, permafrosts heaves, its a wonder and we are thankful that we found it now and not on the road when it fell off!

We will be going to Jasper, Alberta tomorrow and then onto Banff on Wed. if everything falls the right way. I just looked outside and 9:45PM and its dark out! We haven't had that since we left Ks in May!!!! Holy Cow! :)
It's nice and cool here which is great as we aren't ready to go back to the KS heat!!!! We haven't even had the AC turned on this new unit.... keep your fingers crossed!

Well, its time to close for now.....
Until next time!
BJ

Saturday evening in Whitehorse

We finally made it to Whitehorse, Yukon around 7:00 this evening. It has been along day. We left around 8:30 this am after eating breakfast at the Sourdough campground "cafe"... very good sourdough pancakes and biscuits and gravy. We ran into construction about 10 miles outside of Tok. It was mostly pavement breaks until we got into the "major" construction. That only lasted about 4 miles and we had to take it very very slow. Then the rest of the way was lots and lots of permafrost "rising's" out of the asphalt. Some were horrible but we could dodge them as there wasn't that much traffic on the road.

Once we got into Canada there was only 2 construction places and the biggest one was around the Kluane Lake where they are putting in a new bridge. Then it was pretty smooth sailing the rest of the way....chipped and sealed and a nice road. We traveled almost 400 miles today..... we just got home from eating supper and now its time for bed!

We are planning on leaving here at 8 in the morning then going to either Liard Hot Springs or farther depending on how tired we are..... we gained an hour today too so that made the day cut short! The temp's are rising also...we saw 73 for the first time this summer! :)

We also saw a small bear cub on the side of the road and a huge moose, and a silver fox..... yesterday we didn't see any animals.

So that's about it for now...I will get some pictures downloaded and share with you.

Until next time!
BJ

Tok

Just a quick note this evening....we are all very very tired and glad to be in Tok...it was a long day of driving and bumpy bumpy roads..... they wwere paved but just bumpy from permafrost....

We saw some gorgeous scenery today ...... saw a HUGE glacier.... will post pictures when we have better wifi and we are not outside dodging bugs!

Plan to go to Whitehorse tomorrow...only 300 miles instead of the 500 we did today!

Until next time

BJ