Oregon

We were up early for a nice walk through the park. Were thinking of staying an extra day until we heard the weather, the Seattle area is getting lots of rain today. So we moved on, headed south on I-5. Nice drive, beautiful scenery. Before it got dark we pulled into a Pilot fuel station and filled up the RV with diesel and then parked between two truckers for a night of rest. Tomorrow we plan to see the Klamath Falls and the next day go to Crater Lake.

Mount Rainier

We went to Pike Place Market and were entertained with the fish throwing performances. Had a great lunch and picked up some fresh fruit at the market. Then drove to Mount Rainier National Park and hiked a few trails.

Holiday Park FamCamp

We love this RV park, just look at these trees! It smells like a big Christmas tree farm. Today we hung out here at the park, met some of our neighbors and fired-up the bar-b-que. Cooked steaks and some of the halibut I caught in Alaska. We ended the day with an outside movie night watching The Last Samurai with our new friends.

British Columbia

We saw some spectacular views on the Alaskan Highway.  We spent both Sunday and Monday nights at highway rest stops.  We had no problem finding fuel stations that sell diesel or rest areas to boondock for a night. At Dawson Creek, BC we turned west on Highway 97 and took the West Access Route to Seattle. Having just left the land of Denali with Mt. McKinley prominently in the landscape, it was nice to see Mt Rainier welcoming us to the Seattle area. We are staying at Holiday Park FamCamp at Joint Base Lewis McChord, a beautiful RV park with tall, thick pine trees.

Buffalo Along the Alaskan Highway

When we entered Canada on Friday the boarder patrol asked the usual questions and we answered them and then he asked to see our alcohol. He came into the RV, we showed him our two bottles of liquor and one bottle of wine and he sent us on our way. That was the first time anyone came in to check.

We took Highway 8 (nice road) at the Carcross cutoff, which connected us to the Alaskan Highway. We made a fuel stop at Contact Creek, the owner came out and pumped the diesel into the RV. It's been many years since I've seen such service at a gas station. It turns out the owner is from Central Florida too. John was happy to see he had a book exchange and exchanged two books. A good stop.

We've seen eagles, fox, caribou and lots of buffalo. We spent Friday and Saturday nights at rest stops along the ALCAN. 

Leaving Skagway

We were up early to enjoy a less crowded town, took a walk to the town center, taking in our last views of Skagway before packing up the RV and rolling out. 

As we were leaving the valley, driving up the mountain, it started to snow. Looks like we are leaving Alaska just shy of winter taking an early hold.

Skagway, Alaska

Skagway is a cruise port town nestled deep in a valley, surrounded by pristine snow-capped mountains. There were two ships in port today and the restaurants on the main street were pretty crowded so we went off the beaten path by a block and found a gem in the Station Restaurant and Bar. I had a chef salad with a tasty tomato blue cheese dressing, John enjoyed their cheeseburger and fries.

We saw the live theater show of Jefferson "Soapy" Smith, very good show. The can-can dance girls pulled me on stage to participate in the dance-line, it was lots of fun even though I'm far from being ready to join the Rockettes. 

We drove back up Klondike Highway to hike though the beautiful terrain we saw yesterday; then drove out to Carcross Desert and visited the village close by.  When we first arrived in Alaska about 7 weeks ago, we could play in the wilderness late into the night. The sun didn't go down until 11:30 PM. Now you can tell fall is approaching, tonight it started getting darker by 8 o'clock.