Southeastern Travels - August through October

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We have had many exciting adventures since we have returned to the south. Most are visiting family and friends. We visited in New Orleans twice and we wish to thank Katie, Stephen, Grady, Bob, Maggie, Kevin, Kerry and Danny for always making us feel welcome. We always have a great time visiting with you.

Grady scooting down the hall
Grady has grown so much over the summer. On our first visit we got to see him scoot across the floor, sit up and practice the new skill - pulling up to stand. On the second visit only three weeks later, standing was second nature and he had learned to crawl. Now he's really mobile! It's hard to hold him now unless he's eating or tired - he's really eager to be about his business of learning about the world. I love the scientific method according to babies: look, grab, taste! Everything goes straight into his mouth.

Grady eating supper (and wearing it!)

We spent a few days in the Anniston area visiting family and friends. T D and Melanie; Wayne, Becky and Colton; and Mark, and family. It is always good to see you. Especially in the Fall with football in full gear and the end of the baseball season.

Tom and Mark on the porch - catching up on the stock market, I guess
After Labor Day, we parked the motor home in Eufaula and then headed down to Florida to see Whit, Karl and Anne. It is very special to visit family.

We made the most of a very short trip to Atlanta. Ate dinner in Duluth Friday night with Kelli. We went to the Duluth Fall Festival Parade and Sally spent the afternoon with Sandi (while Tom watched Alabama win). Then made our way over to Seth's on Saturday where he and Tom jammed with another friend. Tom even go to try his hand at an electric guitar. Finally on Sunday, our friend Chuck came home from Costa Rica. He and Tom watched the Falcons with Don while Sally took the opportunity to spend an afternoon at IKEA (which Tom would HATE!) We missed the family there, and only got to see a few friends, but we will get everyone else in soon.

Tom, Seth and Alan jamming in ATL
Our main weekday activities have been at the Eufaula NWR. They have a new manager, John Earle and a relatively new office person, Lorri Johnson. We have now put the waterfowl hunt draw to bed for this season. This is a large process with a lot of effort, so we are glad to get finished with it. Wish all the staff there the best as they actually conduct the hunts!

Rustic Sands Campground in Mexico Beach
We also rewarded ourselves with a trip to Mexico Beach near Panama City, Florida. We met up with some of Tom's friends from college. Terry and Kim came up from Orlando with their travel trailer and we camped in our pick-up. We chose Mexico Beach to go to another friends restaurant. Michael, Kim and Kevin at Killer Seafood put on a great spread. Michael and company were really busy, so we hope to visit them again in the future. Terry and Kim are a lot of fun to hang out with. Thanks for a good time folks.

Tom, Michael and Terry at Killer Seafood

Sally, Tom, Terry and Kim at breakfast

Tom in classic form - it really was cold and windy (note the long sleeves)

After another quick trip to New Orleans for a weekend, Tom went up to Anniston and Jacksonville for JSU Homecoming. Lots of time to spend catching up with old buddies. He had a good time watching football and sweating out the end of the Alabama-Tennessee game.

Sally rented a car and drove down to Florida to visit her dad and attend a cousin's wedding (first cousin once removed). She got to drive a new Prius - quite enjoyable and frugal at 53 mpg. We should have taken a picture of the car, but we weren't thinking... The wedding was fun. There is never enough time for visiting at an event like that, so we'll have to get together with the cousins sometime this winter.

Mission Hills (Howey-in-the-Hills)

Lovely setting for a wedding

Ashley and Jay's First Dance

We left Eufaula on the 28th of October heading to the Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR in Gautier MS (near Biloxi). We plan to post more often and fill you in on our activities this fall and winter. Stay tuned!

The Trip Back to the South

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What a summer. We did enjoy ourselves in Alaska once again. Thanks Ken for being such a good manager. Thanks to our co-workers,CJ and Monie and Bob and Carole. Thanks also to the crew at Denali Park Motel for our two pot lucks. Thanks to the crowds who recieved us so well on our open mic nights. Thanks to mother nature for giving us so many looks at Denali and the wild life surrounding it. But now we take to the highway.
Fairbanks is is a close 120 miles. We stopped there to stock up on provisions. No alcohol, we learned our lesson the first time into Canada this year.

Roasted Marshmallows and Tom's guitar playing at Tok

We drove to Tok our first day. We stayed at a park that sold chili made with reindeer sausage. It was good chili, but not worth the price. We had purchased reindeer sausage earlier in the summer (and again as we passed Delta Junction on the way out.) Maybe next time well try breakfast. The campground normally has entertainment, but the singers did not show due to illness. Tom played a little guitar around the campfire. We did not do so well in the pancake toss. You throw day old pancakes at a bucket to win a free breakfast. Good fun and a chance to meet the other campground residents.

Back into Canada

We had everything in order as we crossed the border into Canada on day two. They asked us for our passports and sent us on our way. It is a little surprising after being searched on our way up to Alaska, but it helped us to make good time. We stayed in the Walmart parking lot (with about 25 other RV's) in Whitehorse. We bought a couple of items there (a new electric kettle, for example). Sally saw a car with a Calhoun County (AL) license plate - didn't meet the owners, though.

Sure sign of fall - the fireweed's gone to seed!

Kluane Lake on a gorgeous day!

Decorated canoes at the Tlingkit Heritage Center

The third day we stayed at the only "required" stop on our journey, Liard Hot Springs. We soaked both evening and morning. We like LHS (a lot). Before we arrived at the hot springs, we stopped by to visit one of our two signs at Watson Lake. We were only 2740 miles from grandson Grady.

On the way to Grady's house

Stone sheep on the roadside

We had a very long day for the fourth of our trip. Dawson creek is the start of the Al-Can Highway (or the finish if you are headed home.) We purchased a map of Alberta and Manatoba. We decided to stray from the known and go in search of new adventure. The mountains faded and we drove east along the great prairie of Canada. We stopped for our fifth night at Slave Lake (the lesser). The Great Slave Lake is one of the routes for the Ice Road Truckers on TV. This is not that lake. Tom went into the lake and reported it as cold. Sally took a ranger lead trip about the lake (not around it, it is over 100 kilometers long).

Tom (the little black dot) in the middle of the Lesser Slave Lake

We stopped for our sixth night in Edmonton, AB. Sally had done some work there several years ago. It is a nice town. We went to a sports bar to watch the NASCAR race. We learned that Brett Farve had signed with the Vikings after he said he was not going to come back this year. Say one thing, do another. Oh, well.

Gas is expensive in Canada

Our next day was spent traveling to Lloydminister. On the way we took a detour to Mundare to take pictures of the large sausage statue (and buy some sausage). It is an area settle by Ukrainians. The sausage factory started in the 1920's as a store that just grew into a sausage capital of Canada. We did sample the wares, and they are delicious.

Saskatchewan icon - each town had a grain elevator

We drove on through the day past Saskatoon and stopped at a little town called Davidson. It, like most small towns in Saskatchewan, has a city run RV Park. As we drove in, we saw a stage set up for a concert right next to the exit. We sort of reached our limit and went to the motor home to sleep. Seven days and halfway home.

Mundare Sausage

The "planned day off" saw us drive only 200 miles. We stopped in the resort town of Moose Jaw, SK. It is rumored (touted) as the escape site ofr Al Capone when things got too hot in Chicago. We took two tours, one was on Capone and the other on how the Chinese were treated in Canada.Both we enjoyable. We also took in an afternoon of relaxation at the mineral pools. We travled around Regina. The city was hosting an AC/DC concert. It was a large event for the town. Even the country music station was talking about the show. We stopped in a small town called Grenfell for a the evening.

Temple Garden mineral springs spa in Moose Jaw

... and the Moose himself

Winnipeg is a bustling city. We stopped there for the next night. It is a town on two rivers. It has a lot of history that we have not studied up on We took a boat tour of the city highlights. We are sure we need to visit this city again. Night 9 was our last day in Canada.

Acres of sunflowers in Manitoba

Winnipeg downtown skyline

The 10th day was spent crossing the border into the US. We had a small agriculture inspection. We were carrying sausages (reindeer and other) so it had to be checked for lamb/mutton casings. Lamb and sheep products are not allowed to be brought by individuals. I guess we should have read up on this before coming across. Luckily none of our meat was a problem.

After we crossed the border, we updated our air card so we could get back on the internet on our on. We stayed the 11th night in the parking lot of a casino at exit 1 in North Dakota. (No, we did not go in a place any bets, we just bought soft drinks. We feel you need to invest a little in places that provide something for you.)

Salvaged cargo from sunken riverboat (over 100 years old!)

We drove into Iowa and stopped at the visitor center. It is a paddle wheel boat decomissioned from the Corps of Engineers. It has a nice museum with displays showing how the river and area has changed over the years. We drove into Nebraska and visited a national wildlife refuge. It is a quiet part of the year for them, but they have a great musuem.

The Missouri River (border between MO and NB)

Oval office reproduction in the Truman Library

We stayed night 12 at a rest area near Rockport MO. Rockport is not far from Kansas City and Independence. We stopped to tour the Truman Library. We tell you now, do not think you can see it all in two hours. We will have to return.

The famous sign from Truman's desk

After the tour, we headed to Springfield MO to spend the night. It is not far from Branson. We did not go to Branson, we were tired. It was nice to go to bed early. The next day we made a stop at the the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, where she wrote her famous "Little House" books. It was interesting to see how she lived, and a good complement to our stop at her homes in South Dakota a couple years ago.

Laura Ingalls Wilder home

We drove hard again and got through Memphis that afternoon. We stayed in a rest area north of Jackson for night 13. The next day we drove into New Orleans. 14 days and 4501 miles later we are back in the south again.

We are finding it difficult to adjust to the time change (3 times zones) and the fact we worked late while we were in AK. We are enjoying seeing the Miles and Murphy families, but that is for another time. Keep tuning in for the next segment.

The end of our 2009 Alaska adventure

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We have to start by apologizing for not posting the last few weeks. We kept saying we would post on our last three weeks in Alaska, and we didn't get it done before heading down the road. At that point, we were in Canada and never got reliable WIFI to be able to post. We know, just excuses..So here's a catchup post on our last few weeks in Alaska and then we'll post another one later this week about the trip home.

This July was the hottest on record for interior Alaska and very dry. And that results in fires. Great big ones!. The Railbelt Complex of fires in Alaska was the biggest in the country in July - over 600,000 acres. One of the fires was about 30 miles away. While most were caused by lightening, the Rex Creek fire was actually a coal seam fire. These smolder for a long time (even many years) and then break out when conditions are right. Rex Creek grew from 2500 acres to over 25, 000 acres in one day! Fortunately, the fires were not in populated areas, for the most part. One family evacuated to the RV park and siad the fire was within 250 yards of their cabin.


Orange sun on a smoky evening

Warning sign on the Parks Highway

Fire burning across the Nenana River

The week after the Red Green Regatta trip to Fairbanks we took in a great bluegrass festival. Anderson is a little town off the Parks Highway, right near the Nenana River. They have held a bluegrass festival for about 20 years. Friday was quite cool - lots of blankets and jackets in use (in JULY!) It was also pretty windy. Fortunately, most of the time the wind was blowing the smoke away from the festival area. We arrived in time to see the first performer Friday night and stayed till regular performances ended at about 10 or so. They were getting ready to start up the dance band and keep going till 2 am, but Saturday was a work day and we couldn't camp out and stay over.


Dancing in front of the stage - it was a good time!

And in front of the beer stand

We love fairs! This one in Fairbanks was small but enjoyable. We almost didn't come because the smoke has been so bad up this way. Fortunately, the rains started and knocked some of the worst of the fires down a bit. It rained a bit on our fair outing, but not enough to dampen our fun too much.Tom started out by giving blood - he got a t-shirt from the northern most blood bank in the US. This was the first day of the fair, so many of the contests had not yet been judged. Lots of kids were grooming their 4H project animals - sheep, calfs, bunnies, chickens, you name it..
We did get to see the quilt show (Sally took this one in) and we saw the winner of the lego contest. Good music, lots of fun exhibits.

Notice the kimchee for $3 - Korean at the fair in Fairbanks

A "postage stamp" quilt - over 1000 tiny squares...

Lego contest winner - celebrating 50 years of statehood

Getting her sheep ready for showing

Of course we took one last trip into Denali. And were we ever lucky. Tom had been waiting to see a wolf all summer. On this trip we saw two (or maybe one wolf twice). The second time, the wolf walked right across the road behind the bus... We sampled all kinds of berries at Wonder Lake - the blueberries are best. Soapberries taste just like ... soap?

Tom also got to see a lynx - a very rare sighting. Sally was sitting on the other side of the bus and the driver's seat blocked her view until it was too late. But still a very successful summer.

Our last pictures of Denali. Spectacular.

Also spectacular - a close up of a wolf.

The last couple of weeks found Tom playing one last time at Panorama Pizza and one last set at the Bake. Turns out Tom's last night was "Girl's Night Out" at the Bake. That's Jake's sister playing with Andy who hosts open mic night each week. And no, Tom was not a GNO participant. He did sing Sweet Home Alabama in honor of our long trip home!

Girls Night Out at the Bake

Tom's last appearance at Panorama Pizza

We've had a great time in Alaska - and a lot of it was working with some nice folks at Denali RV Park and Motel. CJ and Monie we hope to see in New Orleans this winter. Bob and Carol maybe next spring in Oregon. And Ken - hopefully we'll be back in Healy in a year or two!

Ken and the office crew.

Roman had already gone back to work cleaning.

A final pot luck over at Denali Park Hotel

Pioneer Days and the Red Green River Regatta

Most everyone knows that Tom participates in "Open Mic Nights". One of the showcases up here is held in an education center. Sally participated in her first OMN playing the hammer dulcimer, and did a very good job. We forgot to take pictures while we were playing, but they said another one is coming, so we will photogragh Sally on-stage.

After the OMN at teh Sheldon Center

We also took a trip into Denali National Park. I know you are getting tired of hearing us say it, but it is a grand adventure each time. The Mountain showed for us again and the animal spotting was exciting.

So lucky - another lovely view of Denali

The ptarmigan have fledged and coveys are everywhere!

as are the golden eagles

Fantastic caribou sighting

Sometime in the year 1900, a prospector and a trader chanced to meet at a spot on the Chena River. The spot was as far up the river as a boat could navigate. The prospector saw the smoke from a fire the trader had started and followed the smoke to the trader. They both thought this was a good spot to establish a trading outpost. The spot soon started providing services for the prospectors and trappers in the area. This is now the town center of Fairbanks. Each year during the last weekend of July, the town of Fairbanks hosts a festival called Pioneer Days. Many of the locals participate in storytelling, music and other general mayhem. This year the governor, Sarah Palin, chose to have a picnic and resign from her post and turn over the power to the Lt. Governor Sean Parnell at Pioneer Park during the festival weekend. We avoided that part (there were a lot of people attending and a lot of traffic), but we did enjoy some of the festivities.

We attended a race event at the Mitchell Raceway on Saturday night. The track is a 3/8 mile dirt track. It is quite small, with seating for about 300-400. The main event was for Outlaw cars. They are small Indy looking vehicles with a large spoiler on the top. The spoiler is used to keep the cars from rolling as they turn sideways making the turns in the track. They throw a lot of dust in the air (even with constant watering down of the track). The action is somewhat like Bristol, for the fans that know NASCAR, very little passing, but it is very exciting when someone tries to pass. We got very dirty, but we had a great time.

LIttle outlaw cars on the track - notice the guy in the turn sliding sideways

He's not out of control - that's how they get around the turns

Lots of dirt - Tom collected a little!

The big event for us, though, was the Red Green River Regatta. Red Green is a northern favorite TV show. It was produced out of Canada. It is sort of a variety show with the main characters being rather Rube Goldberg-ish about repairing things or making simple tasks even "simpler". They had a big sponsor out of 3M, so Duct Tape was used as the "Handyman's Secret Weapon". The river regatta required that boats follow the Red Green theme for creativity and heavy use of Duct Tape. Enjoy the pictures of some of these ... eh, water-craft.

Oops - they did make it

This one was so top-heavy it almost didn't launch

Our choice for best depiction of the Red Green theme

Celebrating 50 years of statehood

Red Green does hang out at Possum Lodge

Speaks for itself...

Another one of our favorites- notice they are in a goldpan..

Political commentary - someone else had a sign that read "Not a"

The guy in the back said they boat WAS made of cardboard

Wonder if they made it

Are they all named Patty?

It's a good thing they are headed downstream