H & P Alaska 2024

 Our campsite at Smithers Riverside Municipal Campground. The weather here has been a mixed bag, warm, rain, cool and windy. We did get to sit outside in the sun a couple of times. Every day a bunch of tenters show up, hope they enjoy the 3deg nights. Spring has just started here, the trees are all in blossom. Nice to get two spring flowerings. Photos from the campground. We are now off to Meziaden PP, then Dease Lk, Boya PP. and Watson Lk.  We will have no cell service till Watson LK. It will be a week to a week and a half. I might be able to find service at Dease Lk.

 Just down the beach is a boat launch and a pier, so we took a walk that way. Here are a few photos of the pier and the campground. Our campsite. I did some research on the Swan's and found that they stop here on their way south. I could not find anything on the net as to whether they stop on their way North but a local said they did. On the way South they stop in Oct. and Nov. On the way North, early May, only for a week or so. On to Smithers.

 Change of plans, we were originally going North on the Alcan but that would take us through Ft. Nelson. With the fires up there, we thought it would be wiser to stay away and go up the Stewart Cassiar Hwy. That meant we had to make our way from Trochu to Prince George . Good choice, it is a very scenic drive, with nice campgrounds. Talking of campgrounds, we like Provincial Parks, lots of room and until June 15th half price. The down side is no cell service, hence no updates till now. Our first stop was Thompson Creek PP, just before Saskatchewan River Crossing. It is a pull through site, very nice. A few Photos from the campsite. I was being supervised as I looked up. Next was Mt Robson PP. Jack liked it there. And Purden Lk. Purden Lk. PP is 45 minuets from Prince George. On the 23rd. we went to town for more propane and fuel, Costco had both at a good price. The weather has improved but so far we have gone through 3 30lb tanks. Got to keep the old people warm, lol.  Since ...

The first part of the drive was nice, then we got to go around Calgary. Our GPS told us to exit, then it showed no roads at all. Time to turn around and find the right road, which we did with no problems. Got on Hwy 2 towards Red Deer when the weather turned nasty. High winds and pouring rain. Made it as far as Carstairs and decided to stop for lunch and let the weather settle. It did, so we made our way to Dave and Sheila's in Trochu. After getting setup in their back yard, we had a great time catching up with them. Friday we all went to Red Deer, it's about an hour away, to shop at Costco, we did need propane. Next stop, lunch, then back to their place to just hang out.  No matter what the date says, it is still winter there. Cold at night, 0 or so, 10 to 12 max during the day but very windy. We were sick of the wind after a couple of days. Pat got her winter coat out.  Sunday we went to Olds to resupply and check out the town. There is most everything you could want there. ...

 A couple of photos from our drive to Golden. Above, our campsite from the dike. Photos from the dike of the Kicking Horse River. You have to like trains, they are right across the river. Not too many at night, they did not bother us. Kind of like them, we don't have any on the coast. Today we drove to the south end of Kinbasket Lk. Not sure what the water level is supposed to look like but it sure seems low. At the boat ramp, Yes, the little black dot at the end of the boat ramp is a truck. There was a fox hunting for lunch, he was not concerned about us at all. A small tug boat rusting away. All in all, a nice way to spend the day. About fifty kilometres of gravel road, the road was good for the most part. It is very expensive around here. $50 for the campsite, power only. The grocery store is ridiculous and it's the most we have paid for fuel. Alberta should be a lot better. On our way there tomorrow. The weather was nice when we arrived but rained last night and has been cl...

We decided to stick around Blanket Creek for another day. I still wasn't feeling great, so some more R & R was needed. It rained most of the day but we managed to take a hike to the old homestead, it is not far. It only rained halfway through our hike. Pictures of what is left of the homestead. Tuesday we headed to Golden, an uneventful trip. We are at the municipal campground, nice but expensive for what you get. I will send photos after out trip to Kinbasket Lk today.

  Regrettably, I did not take these pictures, Vikki did from home and sent them to me. I did get up and look but found nothing at the campsite. Would have been nice to see with my own eyes. Maybe we will see some as we make our way north. I just sat around a read for the last two days, trying to get over this cold. We are in Revelstoke to do laundry and do this blog. The weather continues to be good, cool at night and mid twenties in the day.  This is our next trip, I want to take a day trip to Kinbasket  Lk. We will be staying at a private campground for a couple of nights.  As a side note, Herald and Fintry were full for mothers day weekend, not many at Blanket Creek. We will be staying with Dave and Sheila for the long weekend, so we don't have to worry about finding a site. Off to get milk and fuel, then back to the campsite.

  Our campsite at Fintry.  The weather did improve, the wind died, the clouds went away and the sun came out. We had a great visit with Patti and family. They decided to head for Harmond Rec. site, near Merritt, on Thursday. So we took a day trip to Salmon Arm to visit with my sisters. It was great to catch up with them. Holly and Brian cooked us a great lunch, no supper for us - well we did have ice cream. Doug and Ellie built a new house three years ago and we had not seen it, so we went over for the tour. Very nice. A little shopping then back to the campground. Somehow I came down with a cold Thursday night. Friday we left for our next stop Blanket Creak PP.

Yes, that's snow on the top of the connector, not a dirty windshield. The temp outside was 0 deg but it wasn't sticking, thankfully. Five hour drive from Cloverdale to Fintry. Not bad considering that I don't go over 105k while towing. Tightening and repacking the bearing seems to have fixed that problem. As usual, I will keep my eye on all of them. It's nice to catch up with Patty and Bruce, two of her sisters are here as well as Bruce's son Shane. There is no one else in this part of the campground except a couple from Alta. Lots of sites open, so they parked in the middle of everyone. Maybe they felt there is safety in numbers, after all, a big doe just walk through our campsite. I only got a butt picture of her, so I am not going to post it. Most girls don't really like that pose. The weather has been so so, no rain but a bit windy and cloudy. Same so far today, it is supposed to get sunny and hot for the weekend.  Still not a hundred percent sure of our pla...

 The propane tanks on our trailer were outdated on April 4th 2024, meaning, we needed to update them or get new ones. As they were still full, we decided to use up the gas at home for the BBQ, etc. With that in mind, I ordered new ones from Costco. On the day they were supposed to arrive I got an email that there was a problem with delivery and they did not have a new date. We cancelled the order. So now we had to decide whether to buy local or take a chance that we could find them in store at Costco. Looking online, that did not look too promising. I decided to buy them at Rona but fill them at Costco. We get to Costco and there is a guy having a new tank filled that he bought in the store. ugh  New tank at Rona $120, at Costco $80, fill at Rona $47 at Costco $25. At least we saved the fill price and are ready to go for another ten years, lol. After I travel a distance, I like to check the temp of the wheel bearings. To my dismay, the left rear was hot, not blistering but hot...