NOW (finally) Prince Rupert

One of many waterfalls

a view from the road

I jumped the gun a bit with our arrival in Prince Rupert - I wanted to tell you about an awesome stretch of road just outside of the coastal town.  During my last post, I told you how the road followed the Canada National Railway route, along the Skeena River.  The river was the main route from the middle of the Canadian Rockies to the coast with lots of logging and mining materials being shipped along the waterway until the railroad was built.  What was interesting is that this last 30 miles or so of the road/train tracks seemed to be blasted out of hard, black volcanic rock.  If  you have been to the "big island" of Hawaii, you will know what it looks like.  The steep cliffs were towering over the road, and our car was sandwiched between these two impossible things - the fast-flowing river and the rock-hard cliffs.  However, the sharp edges of the cliffs were broken up impossibly by hundreds of waterfalls, tumbling down the cliff sides.  We had to actually drive under one, as it made it way across the road.  I truly could not get enough but it was really hard to get a photo.  As we drove into Prince Rupert, we realized that the "hard part" of our trip was over.  We were certainly looking forward to the ferry ride and our arrival in Juneau.  We did have a very nice room in Prince Rupert, one that overlooked the bay and even had binoculars in the big bay window in our room.  On Friday, we did a bit of sight-seeing - watching the float planes take off and land in the cove and I had the most famous of all Canadian food delights - the poutine - which is french fries covered in brown gravy and topped with cheddar cheese curds.  mmmmmmm  I believe they started selling it at Miller Park this summer.  Then it was off to the ferry - were we sat for FOUR HOURS in our car, waiting for the ferry gates to open and to go through US customs.  We were told to arrive between 3 - 4 hours before departure time (which was 9:15 p.m.) so we pulled up to the barrier at 4:50 p.m.  Then, we waited.  We read, we slept, we went inside the ferry terminal to warm up and use the facilities.  Since we knew the ferry was supposed to leave at 9:15 p.m., we were certainly concerned that the customs officers didn't start checking cars until 9:00 p.m.  While it went fast once we cleared customs (we had no problem), we realized that the ferry time was on Alaskan time, which is one hour behind Pacific time, which we were using.  So, instead of 9:00 p.m., it was only 8:00 p.m. and still "on time".  

Finally - Prince Rupert!

Turn your computer sideways to see (part of) the World's Largest Fly Fishing Rod

the "cairn" of King Arthur

Moricetown Falls

Can't really see the "falls", but you can get a sense of how high the bridge is

One-lane bridge over Murtle River Falls

The end of our road trip was Prince Rupert.  That is where we would catch the car ferry for a 38 hour (Friday night - Sunday morning) trip to Juneau.  For Bill it meant no more trying to use the cruise control on the tough mountain roads and I didn't have to rotate my Mile Post travel guide, the atlas and the map of British Columbia to make sure we were on the right route.  The ferry, when it arrives in Juneau, will let us off less than a mile from our condo.  What we didn't expect on this last day of driving was the exquisite views of this part of Canada.  In contrast to the mountainous province of Alberta, British Columbia is in the western Rockies and much more like Northern Wisconsin.  Lots of trees that were just finishing turning color along winding rivers with some serious rapids - in fact, there were a number of kayak entry areas along the route we took.  As we exited the mountains, we found ourselves in prime fly-fishing area (like "A River Runs Through It" - watch it just for Brad Pitt) although we didn't see anyone actually fishing, as we wound our way to the coast following the Canadian National Railway route.  We did stop at a rest area that advertised that a "cairn" (a stacked stone tower) that supposedly was part of Tintagel Castle, birthplace of King Arthur.  We also stopped in Houston at the "World's Largest Fly Fishing Rod" - a 60 foot rod with a 21" fly - which was planned and executed by volunteers.  This part of the trip was the most calming - the scenery seemed familiar, the roads following the train tracks and the rivers through canyons, rather than up-and-down.  We took a break at the small town of Moricetown, and saw the canyon and waterfall there.  Like I said, I can't pass up a good waterfall!  Now, instead of (non-existent) "moose crossing" signs, we saw lots of "danger - falling rocks" signs, but again, saw no falling rocks, but in this case it was a good thing!  The small villages that we drove through were mostly native indian reservations, with few services.  We had lunch in the car after an A&W drive-through (in Canada, A&W's are like Walgreens - on every corner!) and made one more stop at the Murtle River Falls, which flow over volcanic rock through a narrow gorge.  It is best seen by walking across a one-lane road and stopping in the middle, leaning over the waist-high barrier and taking a picture.  NOT IN MY LIFETIME.  I let Bill do it......

Trying to catch up...

Part of the glacier in the Columbia Icefields

See all the snow? See the sun?  How does that happen?

This is where it starts to get windy and snowy

Athabasca Falls

We were without phone service and wifi for a few days as we "ferried" to Juneau (arriving on Sunday morning at 4:00 a.m.) so my apologies for the lack of updates.  When last we talked, we were driving through the Columbia Icefields amid wind and snow.  It was so quiet - not many cars, no tourists - and the scenery was (again) incredible.  The icefields are covered with glaciers, many of them you can walk on if the weather cooperates (our weather did not) and as we left the Canadian Rockies we realized that we were in the heart of the mountains, as close to heaven as we could get here on earth.  We wanted to make good time to Prince George, our next stop, but I wanted to stop at one more waterfall, closer to Jasper, at Athabasca Falls.  A series of walkways took one across the canyon to the falls.  While not a high waterfall, the water rushes through a narrow gorge and makes a stupendous display of power.  I was glad we stopped.  The rest of our trip today would take us to Prince Edward, our stop for the night.  We were now winding our way out of the mountains (even though most of this part of Canada is mountainous) into a more "temperate rainforest" similar to Juneau.  Here there were many turn-offs for campgrounds and hiking trails, most closed for the season.  We did see Mount Terry Fox, which was a mountain named after the canadian who ran across (most of) Canada after loosing a leg to cancer.  If you haven't heard of his story, you should look him up.  It was a very inspirational young man.  We found ourselves in Prince Edward, a rather large town but we didn't have a room reservation for the night, thinking that it can't be busy in the middle of the week at the end of October.  Well, three hotels later, we were still looking.  The "full" hotels were helpful, giving us ideas on where to try.  Finally - success!  The Sandman would be our home away from home tonight even though we didn't need the full kitchen in our "suite".  This chain is somehow connected to Denny's restaurants, since there seems to be one at every Sandman we saw hereafter.  You know how you never see a red car until you buy a red car?  That is the way it was with the Sandman - we noticed them in each and every small town we drove through from here on out.  The next morning, since we had over 447 miles to drive to Prince Rupert, we left in the dark (6:45 a.m.) with a quick stop at the local Starbucks.  There breakfast sandwiches are surprisingly good!  On our way again - except this would be our last day of driving!

Columbia Icefields Fountain of Youth

Bill with the "fountain of youth"

We motored past the Columbia Ice Fields, which to me was one of the most impressive glacier fields I have ever seen. My mother-in-law had visited this spot in the spring and told us how she and her friend were encouraged by the guide to drink the glacier runoff. It was a local tale that you could gain an extra seven years of life by drinking it. Sadly, my mother-in-laws friend refused the offer and unfortunately passed away this summer. Not being one to resist the opportunity to provide my wife with an additional seven years of my presence, I found a spot where I could walk to the runoff and collect some water. Lacking the cup of a Carpenter I utilized my old coffee cup. Sharon and I toasted to an additional seven years of life. We have noticed many things on our trip, one has been the price of gas which while expensive provides additional mileage. Our car calculates mileage per tank, when we first began using the Canadian fuel, I noticed there was no "blend". Apparently the Canadians don't believe in putting that garbage ethanol in their tank. Like me they believe corn is for eating and subsidies do not good farm practices make. The gain in mileage per tank is almost 40 mpg. Yes the Candiens do a lot of things right.  Thanks for all your prayers - we are doing well!  Love to all, Bill

Lake Louise and vicinity

a view made famous by a Canadian Railway photographer

Lake Louise

another view of Lake Louise

Our picnic

me in the view from our picnic site

After our relaxing visit at the hot springs in Banff, we wanted to drive to Lake Louise, which is a fairytale-esque area of the Canadian Rockies.  Our route took us about 35 miles outside of Banff.  We noticed some overpasses that looked unique - in Canada (at least in this portion), they build overpasses not for cars but for the abundant wildlife.  The 23 overpasses in the Canadian Rockies are covered in grasses, trees and sod, and make a natural habitat through which they can cross the busy highway.  In Alaska, there are under passes through which the animals go to get to the other side (insert chicken joke here).  I noticed on our map of the area that there was a parallel road that was a two-laner drive through mountains rather than our four-lane freeway and we took the turn-off in honor of Robert Frost,  (the "one less traveled by") and it certainly did make a difference!  It was gorgeous at every turn (ho hum - everything here is beautiful!) and we stopped often since we had the time.  We arrived at Lake Louise just as the sun was starting to appear and walked the icy path to the viewing area.  Lake Louise is a small lake surrounded by mountains which are reflected in the still, icy-cold water.  The Fairmont Chateau is the famous resort on the lake - way to pricey for us, but looked interesting.  We took a few snapshots in the cold air (it was probably less than 32 degrees F) and decided to head back along the same route (Highway 1A) and stop for an impromptu picnic - our favorite thing to do!  I had crackers, two kinds of cheese, a hunk of fresh baked bread from the Banff bakery, a chunk of German salami, some Linder chocolate truffles and a bottle of red wine (Shiraz, I believe).  In anticipation of this, I had packed in our fully-loaded car a small folding table and our two camping stools.  We stopped at a famous "photo op" which was a railroad bridge with the mountains and a mountain stream in the distance and had a wonderful picnic (the sun was out by now and was much warmer).  We finished our drive back in Banff, where we decided to have a really nice dinner at a Tyrolien Swiss Chalet restaurant - I had duck with calvados and apple sauce and Bill had Elk short ribs with homemade spaetzle.  We started dinner with a Swiss cheese and fruit tray (three kinds of cheeses, homemade date/nut bread, grapes and melon and toasted whole walnuts) and finished by sharing a creme caramel with sugar dome.  Fancy!   Then, back to our condo for a fire and to finish our bottle of Shiraz.  Bill fell asleep.  Everything is as it should be. 

A moose conspiracy

We are driving through some seriously remote roadways - some of which have no fences to keep wildlife off the road.  In fact, we have seen many, many signs with a picture of a moose or deer indicating that they may be "crossing" for the next few kilometers (those crazy canadiens - they have to make everything difficult - distance, money, gas prices).  Anyway, at first we took the signs seriously and scanned the roadsides for signs of these elusive animals.  I mean even the large semi trucks had "cow catchers" on the fronts  so there must be something to these moose sightings.  Every time we drove through a rather marshy area, or where there was a small lake with a clearing, we looked.  And we looked.  Another "crossing" sign - still no moose.  In fact, the whole way on our trip we expected to see buffalo (none, except on a buffalo farm near Head-bashed-in (see previous post)), deer, elk (yes they have signs with BIG horns on a deer-type body) and of course moose.  Nothing.  The moose obviously can't read.  If they did, they would know where to cross to make the most impact on tourists.  I now believe that it is a conspiracy formed by the tourism board - make everybody drive through Canada thinking they are going to see moose running wild which will be a big boost for tourism (hotels, restaurants).  There really AREN'T moose in Canada except on the shot glass I bought that says "Canadian Rockies".  In ending, let me say that the one sign they didn't have was "bear crossing", and, of course, what did we see?  Yes, a bear.

Taking a break from the road - in Banff, Alberta, Canada

Bow Falls

The mountain outside our condo in Banff

The patio area at the hot springs

 We tried to plan our drive so that we had a day in the middle just to relax - we made it to Banff, Alberta, Canada by Monday night, right on schedule!  That way, we could stay for a full day and still make it to Prince Rupert by Friday.  Banff is a bit like the ski towns in Colorado (Breckenridge or Vail) with lots of lodging choices, a busy downtown and lots of places to eat.  Oh yeah - and gorgeous views!  We arrived late in the day on Monday, after driving for 8 hours, and it was already dark.  I had looked online on Sunday night when we were in Great Falls for a nice room and found the Rocky Mountain Lodge.  We got a great deal on a one bedroom condo with full kitchen and wood-burning fireplace.  The view was incredible!  The next day, we had a full day planned - the hot springs, then a drive to Lake Louise.  First, though, I had to find my waterfall.  I always look for waterfalls and I found one in downtown Banff.  I like the sound of the rushing water and this one didn't disappoint.  Then, it was on our way to the hot springs just outside of town.  After a series of switchbacks, we were on top of the mountain at the Hot Springs Resort.  The "springs" flow from the mountain at a changing temperature - today, it was a toasty 39 degrees celsius (you do the math - I don't know what that is in farenheit).  Bill was paying (about $7 each) and didn't give up the $20 so easily and I made some remark to the man at the counter that Bill was always a bit 'tight' - the man looked at Bill and said "make sure to give your daughter a dollar for a locker".  Made my day - not so sure about Bill.  There was only one other couple and a single man in the water (I know that I had a swim suit on, pretty sure Bill did - not sure about the rest!), the pool was very, very clean and really warm, but not hot like some hot tubs.  The sulphur smell was non-existent (unlike the water at the "source" which you can smell as you walk by the patio area) and so comfortable.  There were small jets around the pool, and the water depth was about 5 feet, with ledges the full circumference to sit against.  The view of the mountains, the slightly cool air on your head, and the relaxing warm water was just what we needed after three full days of driving!  So our trip has been going as planned, but we still have three days of driving to go - I'll update shortly.  I have so many photos to share, and I will put more on Facebook as I can.  I can't tell you how incredibly beautiful the scenery has been.  God certainly didn't "make no junk" when it came to this part of the world.

An interesting side trip!

the cliffs of of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Yes, there really is a place called "Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump". It is located in Fort McLeod, Alberta, Canada. If you were going to lure me to a place off of my chosen route, naming it this would do it. The history of the site involves cliffs utilized by the Indians to lure buffalo to jump over them to their death.

These buffalo weren't jumping!

They(the Indians) would then harvest them for meat and such for their survival. The Canadians have built an absolutely amazing center on the site which chronicles the activity. Apparently a young Indian brave

We weren't lying - see the sign

perished while observing this event from the bottom of the cliff. His skull was apparently smashed by a falling buffalo hence the name head-smashed-in Buffalo Jump. Sharon and I purchased a few souvenirs to chronicle our visit to this site. We have thoroughly enjoyed our trip in Alberta. We have seen deer and buffalo and scenery beyond imagination. Today we drove through Calgary past the site of the Winter Olympics. It was a cool experience since all the ski jumping venues are still intact and can be seen (they are huge!) from the road. We are now in Banff resting for the evening in front of a warm fire with Canadian Club in hand.  

The mt outside of our hotel in Banff

Packer game in Great Falls MT

Sunday morning found us sleeping in a bit, and hitting the local diner for a egg & pancake breakfast (not something we usually do when we travel!).  We left the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and started a straight drive across Montana.  Thinking that we would fly through, due to the high MPH on the freeway, we set our sights on watching the Packer/Viking game in Great Falls, our stop for the 2nd night of our trip.  If you haven't driven through Montana, you are truly missing something.  The great plains were surprisingly interesting - you could literally see for miles in each direction, with cows dotting the landscape.  Then, when you least expected, rocky formations stuck out and the road swerved around them.  It looked like a moonscape.  Then the rocks disappeared and the plains reappeared.  It was totally crazy!  I tried to get photos, but it just looks like half the shot was golden (the fields) and the other half was blue (the sky).  The three-dimension was lost in the picture-taking and did not do the scenery justice.  As it got later in the afternoon, we tried to pull in any sports radio channel to listen to the Packer game, but no luck.  Our son Brian was home in Milwaukee, calling us with radio station numbers hoping we could find something that would at least give us the score.  By 2:20 p.m. (remember that Mountain time is one hour ahead so the game started in our car at 2:15 P.M.) we realize that we would not be able to hear the game, so we stopped looking at beautiful scenery and started concentrating on getting to Great Falls by half-time.  We then called our other son Josh in Louisville, and asked him to text us updates.  One was "Woodson pick - the crowd starts cheering Go Pack Go".  As we neared Great Falls, we used Bill's phone to find a sports bar.  We found one - TJ's - and I gave turn-by-turn directions to find it - it was CLOSED!  We kept driving - Josh kept giving us updates and asked us to call him when we were actually watching the game.  Finally, we saw a Holiday Inn sign that advertised "NFL Ticket", drove in the lot and practically ran to the bar and found a seat in time for last few minutes of the 3rd quarter.  Luckily for us, we sat next to a full table of Viking fans - yeah, we cheered and clapped!  Game over, day saved!  Decided to stay for the night at the Holiday Inn (they gave us an upgrade - a "senior" discount!).  Great scenery aside, a Packer win (7-0!) against the Vikings was a great way to end the day (the Alaskan Amber beer wasn't bad either, after the 7 hour drive!).  Updates coming soon...   Sharon

Our car loaded and ready to go!

It is Saturday, October 22 and we are in the Rough Rider Hotel just west of Bismarck, North Dakota, in the "heart" of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  The start of our "excellent adventure"  was at 6 a.m. this morning, with a good breakfast at Allene's Cafe in Eau Claire WI (actually, it was in my mom's kitchen - pancakes, eggs and sausage!).  With everything that we need (everything we own!) in our car, we started our trek to Juneau, Alaska,with a high state of anticipation and excitement.  I must admit that the last few days were quite emotional as we prepared to leave our home, but the decision we made was faith-based and we know it was the right decision for us.  With our apologies to those who must live in Minnesota and North Dakota, we took full advantage of the increased freeway speeds and made excellent time through those barren lands (really).  However, the photos I'm sharing here are from the last 20 minutes of our 10 hour drive and were the most incredible scenery I've seen in a long time!

Painted Canyon

The prairies of the upper mid-west were vast - you could literally see for 50 miles - and dotted with large farms and the familiar round, rolled hay bales. As we drove west out of Bismarck, the scenery changed into "buttes" and we stopped at the scenic view of Painted Canyon, the northern edge of the Badlands.  It was awe-inspiring!  Aside from the views, our travel has been uneventful - (we stopped at Fargo and took our picture with the famous wood-chipper from the movie - how boring is that?)-  and we appreciate your prayers and good thoughts for that safe travel.  Tomorrow, we drive through Montana and the start of the portion of the Alaskan Highway that we will take, starting in Great Falls.  Enjoy the photos!  Love, Bill & Sharon

It's all over but the crying!

Rummage sale - check.  Mailing many boxes to Juneau - check. Give notice of retirement - check. Closing on sale of Meier compound - check.  So much has happened since mid-August.  Just when I thought this move would never happen, things around here did a complete "180" and we are suddenly planning our departure from Wisconsin.  In August, Bill came home on a one-way ticket from Juneau, Alaska, with the blessing of Siemens International, thinking that we would both leave together later in fall.  Just before Labor Day, we had an offer on one of the properties and, while this wasn't the best situation, we felt we had to grab it.  A quick plan was made for a rummage sale (THANK YOU friends and family!) to clear out the remaining doodads and thingamabobs just as we got word that the offer had fallen through.  Then, on Labor Day Monday, our realtor said he had a legit offer - for BOTH properties.  With cash.  Wanting to close by the end of September.  Decision day had arrived and Bill and I looked at a calendar to see how this was going to work.  Adding to the mix was another week of training in Chicago as well as a family wedding in Green Bay, both in October.  We had to consider travel plans; specifically, how long it would take to drive to Juneau.  We started counting forward on the calendar, and realized that we could leave on October 21, arriving in Juneau on October 30.  I wanted to give enough notice at work to ease the transition for our incredibly busy office, so my last day will be October 13.  A few days will be needed to pack the car, and then we will spend the weekend in Green Bay at the wedding and taking in the Packer game.  (I will stop to interject this thought - the 12 noon NFL games broadcast in Wisconsin (CST) are at 9:00 a.m. in Juneau; plus, Green Bay is obviously not the regional game so we have to find a neighborhood watering hole that has the "NFL Ticket" if we want to see the Packer games!).  After Bill spends a week training in Chicago and I spend the week trying to hide stuff in the car so he won't see what I'm taking (how many pairs of shoes can I actually fit?), we will travel north to Eau Claire to see family, before heading off across Minnesota, North Dakota and beyond.  We will catch the "poor people's cruise" car ferry in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, on Friday, October 28, with our arrival in Juneau scheduled for 4:15 A.M. on October 30.  (Thanks to the NFL for giving the Packers an open date that day!)  So, it's done.  After years of talking, months of praying and a few weeks of planning, we will be off to sunny Juneau.  At least, it will feel like heaven to me!!