Alaska, Fairbanks

Our first view of Alaska mountains from the plane was breathtaking.

Our friends Myra and Richard picked us up at the airport. We met them in Yuma a few years ago, but they have both lived in Alaska all their lives. When we told them we were coming to Fairbanks, they invited us to come a day early and stay with them at their beautiful home.

After dinner, they took us out on their boat on the Chena River which runs right past their home. We saw two eagles and a beaver home.

We stopped at a local establishment for a drink.

Myra let us try on some fur coats they own. Kevin is wearing wolf, and I am wearing a seal coat.

The next day we went golfing at Chena Bend Golf Course on Fort Wainwright. The weather in Fairbanks was in the 70s and sunny. Even though we were much further north than the rest of the trip, the weather was the nicest in Fairbanks. They have been as hot as 99 degrees in the summer, and minus 66 in the winter. That's quite a swing.

Myra and Richard treated us like royalty. We so appreciated their hospitality. Myra dropped us off at the hotel, and we began our official tour with Fox World Travel. The next day we began with a tour of the Historic Gold Dredge #8. Gold mining put Fairbanks on the map in the early 1900s. This massive dredge was used to mine gold.

Part of the tour was panning for gold. We ended up with $15 worth between the two of us. Not going to get rich that way!

We also saw some of the Alaskan pipeline which runs 800 miles through Alaska, and was completed in 1977 at a cost of $8 billion.

In the afternoon, we took a three hour ride on the Discovery Riverboat tour.

The boat docks right next door to Richard and Myra's house. They were out waving to us with their grandsons as we went by. As you can see, the river is really low right now.

While on the boat, we had a float plane demonstration.

We stopped to meet the dogsled teams of Susan Butcher. She won the Iditarod race four times before dying of cancer. Her husband and daughter continue her legacy.

We got off the boat at a reproduction of a Native Chena Village. We learned about how the native people survived and lived many years ago. This ceremonial robe was gorgeous.

Our first three days in Fairbanks were amazing. Our next stop will be Denali National Park for two nights. More Alaska adventures in the next post.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Three New RV States For Us

On Monday we drove from Provo to Meridian, Idaho; a suburb of Boise. Idaho was one of just a few states we haven't been to. We stayed at the Meridian KOA, a very nice, clean RV park in the middle of the city. The pleasant lady that checked us in said the city grew up around them.

Our main purpose for stopping here was to visit our wonderful friends, Everett and Nancy. We met them a few years ago in Yuma at the RV resort we now live at. They lead the hiking club, and have a park model two spaces over from ours. They have become good friends of ours.

They invited us over for a delicious dinner on Monday. Nancy is a great cook. They have a beautiful home on a golf course in Meridian. Everett is quite the hunter and showed us his sheep trophies in his office. I know one is from Alaska, another from the Yukon, and I don't remember the rest. The hide is from a goat.

It is high on my bucket list to see Big Horned Sheep in the wild. Over the years, we have hiked in several areas where they can be seen, but no luck. Maybe this is as close as I'll get.

On Tuesday we golfed with them at the course they live on, Lakeview Golf Club. We had a fun time, and really enjoyed the company and hospitality of such a great couple. In fact, we were having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures. That's a shame, as their house and yard are beautiful.

Wednesday morning before we left, we did a quick drive into Boise to visit the Idaho State Capitol building. We don't go out of our way to tour capitols, but if we're nearby, why not.

Although the Idaho Capitol is an impressive building, it was pretty much a ghost town. It was eerily quiet and empty. We found the visitor desk, but it was unmanned. There was a brochure that said a free tour booklet was available at the gift shop. The sign on the gift shop door said they open at 9:30 am. We were there ten minutes after, but it was closed up tight.

We wandered around on all four levels. The rotunda is impressive with a huge Idaho flag hanging from the top. No paintings or murals though. Most other rotundas we've seen are more decorated.

The walls, stairs, and floors are made of four types of marble. The 219 pillars look and feel like marble, but are artificial. Really pretty and impressive. I did a little research and discovered this building was completed in 1920 at a cost of $2 million. It was restored in the early 2000s. The bronze eagle on top is nearly six feet tall.

Wednesday was another new state for us. We have never been to Oregon. One thing I really noticed in both Idaho and Oregon were the many rose bushes. Absolutely beautiful!!

We drove to Farewell Bend State Park in Huntington, Oregon. Although we had a pull through site, it was tight getting out of it because the end of it was on a turn in the road. There are seven foot tall bushes all along the sides of the roads. This park is on the Snake River and was a wonderful setting. However, it was very much in the middle of nowhere. At our site we had no TV or cell signal. That rarely happens. No problem for one night. I was amazed at how mountainous Eastern Oregon is, part of the Cascade Range.

Thursday we arrived in Washington State. We spent a week in Seattle in April of 2010 with our boys on a family vacation, but this is the first time we'll be here with our RV.  More hills and mountains. We stayed at Yakima River RV park in Ellensburg, west of Yakima. The views of the Stuart Range were fantastic. This was a no frills, very clean, park; but perfect for an overnight.

A short walk down the entrance road is the Yakima River.

Yesterday we arrived at Pleasant Lake RV Park in Bothell, Washington where our fifth wheel will be until July 8th. This afternoon we put it in storage here at the park, and begin our Alaska adventure. This park caters to RVers travelling to Alaska, allowing you to park in the storage area and keep your refrigerator plugged in for $10 per night. We return from Alaska on June 23rd, and then plan to explore northwestern Washington State for 2 weeks.

I must say that the scenery all the way from Yuma to Bothell has been amazing. So many beautiful sites all the way, with hills, mountains, lakes, rivers, open range and forests.

We are very excited for our Alaska trip!! I will probably do some Facebook posts on the trip, but no blogging until we return.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah

We arrived at Lakeside RV Campground in Provo on Friday afternoon. It's an okay place for a few days to explore the area. Our site is a FHU pull-thru, but the neighbors slide is about a foot from ours.

On Saturday we drove about 45 minutes to Salt Lake City. We started our day with a 1.5 hour tour on the Salt Lake Trolley. The conductor and two tour guides were quite entertaining with songs and stories to enhance the experience. I felt it was definitely worth the $29 fare. This was not a hop on, hop off trolley, although that option is also available in the city. Ours did make a few stops where we could get off and take pictures, and we were allowed to go into the state capitol and The Cathedral of the Madeleine to take pictures. The tour offered a very good overview of the city and its history.

The guide claimed that the Union Pacific Railway station was the inspiration for the station at Disneyland.

Near the railroad station is the Devereaux House. This was the home of William Jennings, Utah's first millionaire. He was mayor and owned part of the railroad.

The City Hall was built in 1894. It was designed to rival the Salt Lake Temple as the city's architectural centerpiece. Pride Fest is taking place this weekend, so there were lots of booths for that event set up in front.

Utah's state bird is the seagull. There are statues of the birds on top of a bus stop. It's not a very good picture, but I had to include it for our son Eric who has to fight off seagulls in Milwaukee, Wisconsin when he is working on rooftops. The seagulls saved the first Mormons who came to Utah. Locusts were eating their crops, but seagulls came from the Great Salt Lake and ate the bugs and saved the crops.

We stopped at the Cathedral of the Madeleine built in 1909. What a beautiful building, inside and out.

Salt Lake City is Utah's state capitol. The Capitol building, begun in 1912, is beautiful. It looks very much like many other capitol buildings we've seen.

Due to lack of funds, the rotunda wasn't painted for 20 years. The Depression Era Public Works of Arts Project funded the cyclorama depicting scenes from 19th century Utah life. The chandelier dates back to 1915.

After the trolley tour, we drove downtown to tour Temple Square. The temple was built by the original Mormons who arrived in the valley in 1847, led by Brigham Young. He had a vision to build the temple on this spot, which took 40 years to complete. It is located in the very center of the city.  Most parking lots downtown are underground, which is not good for our truck. We finally managed to find a street parking spot. The good news is there is 2 hours free parking on Saturdays.

We walked to Temple Square and entered the South Visitor Center. There are many displays about the history of the buildings and the Mormons. The Temple is considered sacred, and visitors are not allowed to enter. There were several wedding parties having pictures taken on the grounds, so it was quite crowded. Over three million people visit here each year.

I wanted to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform. The public is invited to their practices on Thursday evenings, but we weren't here for that. We could have gone to the Tabernacle next to the Temple on Sunday morning, but we would need to be seated by 9 am. I didn't want to fight for a parking spot again and drive the 45 minutes from Provo to get there, so I took it off my list. We could have heard an organ recital on Saturday afternoon, but the grounds were so huge, and it was confusing where to go, so I gave up on that, too.

At the entrance to the square, there is a statue honoring Brigham Young and the pioneers who founded the city. He arrived with 147 people. Forty years later over 60,000 Mormons had joined them. It is truly an interesting part of our country's history.

About a block from the Temple is The Beehive House, Brigham Young's home and office. He was the president of the LDS church as well as Utah's territorial governor. We took an interesting free tour of the house. It has been beautifully preserved.

Next door is The Lion House where most of his family lived. He had 56 wives and 57 children, so needed lots of space for them all. The table in the Lion House is said to have seated 70 people. It is now a restaurant.

We left downtown and drove to the The Great Salt Lake, the largest salt lake in the Western Hemisphere. It is saltier than the ocean. It has no outlet, so tributary rivers bring in salt which is left behind when the water evaporates. I dipped my fingers into it, and it tasted very salty!

Driving back towards the city, we had a good view of downtown. You can even see the Capitol on the left.

Utah Lake is walking distance from the campground. It is the 3rd largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi.

On Sunday we tried to do a scenic drive up to Mt. Nebo. About 8 miles up the Nebo Loop Road, it was closed. There was much evidence of the fire that swept through this area in October of 2018, so we're guessing maybe the road is closed due to fire damage.

Next we drove through Provo to the Alpine Scenic Loop Road to visit Bridal Veil Falls.
The falls are beautiful and the surrounding mountains are also gorgeous. You can't see it in the picture, but people were actually scrambling up those rocks to the falls. It looked extremely dangerous.

We really enjoyed our first visit to this area. We found both Salt Lake City and Provo to be clean, pretty and interesting cities. The mountains surrounding the area are amazing.

It reminded me a lot of the Denver/Boulder areas, only on the western side of the Rockies. Every afternoon we were here, clouds would build up over the mountains, and we would hear thunder and have some rain showers. I don't know if that is typical.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Lake Havasu, Arizona

On the first leg of our journey, we spent two nights at Lake Havasu State Park. This is a new area to us, and it definitely was a place I would come back to. We were in site 37 at the state park, which I think may have been the best site there. We had a view out the front of the lake, with no sites in front of us, just a beach area. Beautiful views and sunsets. This area is definitely about water activities including boating, fishing and other water sports.

Here's the view sitting under our awning.

And here is the sunset on our first night. Both nights, clouds popped up late afternoon over the hills.

The lake was formed when the Parker Dam was built over the Colorado River in the late 1930s. Lake Havasu City began in the early 1960s when entrepreneur Robert McCulloch purchased 26 square miles and along with C.V. Wood, the master planner of Disneyland, enticed prospective land buyers to the area. There are now over 50,000 residents, and nearly a million tourists each year.

In 1967 the city of London put the London Bridge up for sale. McCulloch purchased it for $2.46 million. Each block was numbered and the entire bridge was disassembled and shipped to Lake Havasu. Total cost was over $5 million. There it was rebuilt on land, and then a channel from the Colorado River was dug under it. A quaint English village tourist area was built next to the bridge.

The gate to the village was purchased from Witley Court in Worcester, England, a palace that was in decline and being sold.

Lake Havasu is a beautiful portion of Arizona, and having a lake in the desert is a great find.

Today we drove to Mesquite, Nevada. Our route took us around Las Vegas. The traffic at midday was a big dicey, but Kevin handled it so well, as he always does. I get so nervous when we are towing in heavy traffic. It's a good thing I'm not the driver.

We are staying one night at Sun Resorts RV Park in Mesquite. It's a small, but very nice park. Sites are very spacious and beautifully maintained. There are not many amenities, other than s small clubhouse and a putting green, but a great place for a short stay.

I maintain a campground review page as part of this blog. You can visit that page by clicking on the link under the header picture at the top. I have reviewed every campground we have stayed at since beginning our full time RV journey in 2010.

Tomorrow we  head to Provo, where we will stay 3 nights while we explore the Salt Lake City area. This is another new area for us to visit.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Packing Up

We are leaving Yuma tomorrow morning, heading to Seattle where we will begin our Alaska adventure. Our trek will be at a leisurely pace, with ten nights total to get there. Our first stop will be Lake Havasu State Park. This is a place we've not been to yet. One of their claims to fame is The London Bridge. We will also be spending a few nights in Provo, Utah to explore another new place to us, the Salt Lake City area. We have lots of adventures planned for the next few months, so stay tuned.

Since the resort is practically a ghost town, we have brought the fifth wheel down to our park model, and parked it in the road in front of our place. You are actually allowed to do this for up to three days when loading or unloading. Since our fifth wheel is so large, we would not do it if our neighbors were here. All of those around us have left, so we can take up all the room we need.

We turn off the power and water while we are gone. So, all food has to be moved over. Also, since it gets so hot here in the summer, we are moving most of our clothes as well. It's kind of like moving, without having to move any of the furniture. In two days, we got everything packed, and the park model summerized.

Here are our two homes parked next to each other. They both are actually about the same size. The park model is somewhat bigger because it has the added on Arizona room. We're very happy with both of our homes!

 Brad came over and put the finishing touches on the kitchen cabinets. He added crown molding at the top, and decorative pieces of wood to give them a Southwest look. We also added the knobs. I am so happy with how they turned out. Brad is a master at his craft, and we will never be able to thank him enough for his gift of time and talent on this project. We paid for the materials, and I made a quilt, bed runner and pillows in exchange for his labor. It just doesn't seem enough. He told me he loves doing it, and misses it when he doesn't have a project to work on. That's how I feel about quilting, so I get it. Here is a sample of what they look like finished.

We've been out golfing several times in the last few weeks with Brad and Martha, and friends that are still here at the resort. One morning, the sprinklers came on just as we were getting to the ninth green. Kevin was already on the green, so he dodged them to finish putting. The rest of us were not on yet. We waited until one of the groundskeepers came and turned them off. They use reclaimed water from the treatment plant, and we didn't want to get wet with that water. Too funny!

I'll try to blog more often in the coming weeks. We're very excited about the upcoming adventures. I'm also very much looking forward to seeing the kids again. It will be about 8 months since we saw them, and that's just too long!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!