Jasper Nat’l Park to Grande Prairie, AB

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We thought we should be providing our travel miles and recently got a specific request to include it. I will catch it up and then will post it on future blog posts.

6/18 Home to Winnemucca, NV 275 miles @ 6 hours
6/19 Winnemucca, NV to La Grande, OR 370 miles @ 8 hours
6/24 La Grande, OR to Moses Lake, WA 215 miles @ 5 hours
6/26 Moses Lake, WA to Moyie Lake, BC 290 miles @ 7 hours
6/27 Moyie Lake, BC to Jasper, AB 325 miles @ 8 hours
6/30 Jasper, AB to Grande Prairie, AB 250 miles @ 6 hours

We have one more 250 mile day and then most will be less than 150 miles for awhile.

North of the town of Jasper

The great scenery just went on and on.

So did the wildlife

In addition to this caribou we saw several elk, whitetail deer, and a skinny fox.

The further north we traveled and closer to Grande Prairie we were it changed to high rolling hills covered with pines, spruce and aspen with occasionally some alder. We crossed several rivers and followed some for several miles. There weren’t many towns, in fact Grande Cache was the only one large enough to have a gas station.

The RV Park we are in is the Grande Prairie Rotary RV Campground, a non-profit and the proceeds are distributed back to the community by the Rotary Club. It is on the grounds or adjacent to the local college, lake, and park. It has water and electric hookup and a dump station which is fine as we will be here only two nights.

The Alberta Provincial Flower, the wild rose

We have seen the wild roses everywhere and some are different shades of pink and some have a lavender hue.







Our Campsite

Tomorrow is Canada Day and a Sunday so most stores will be closed. It will be our down day to do some laundry, go to church, and just read or nap. We may need the nap as it doesn’t get dark until 11pm and starts to get light about 3:30am or before. Tonight we will put in the black posterboard cutouts I made for the windows to block the light. The days only get longer from here north.

Jasper National Park, AB

This little guy/gal was really the highlight of our day. We were driving up to Maligne Lake and a few cars were stopped so of course we stopped as well. He was happily munching along the side of the road, nobody bothering him. I was a little concerned for the bicyclist who was stopped only about 10 feet from him though.

Maligne Lake

We took a narrated scenic cruise on Maligne Lake to Spirit Island. We felt fortunate the weather was cooperating today. We saw some beautiful sights.

Our stop near Spirit Island

Spirit Island

No one is 100% certain why the island got this name. There is some First Nation Folklore most likely attached to it though.



A view from the boat of one of the fantastic peaks of the Canadian Rockies

This is the smallest of the three but the one that is most visible.

Another vista at Maligne Lake with a view of one of the three glaciers surrounding the lake.







Maligne Canyon

After leaving the lake we stopped at Maligne Canyon. The Maligne River was about 75 feet below us and coursing through a steep gorge of limestone bedrock. It was an incredible sight. The self-guided steep trail down takes visitors over 6 different footbridges. We made 3 of them and then turned back as Sadie had been in the trailer since early morning. Plus, WE WERE POOPED!!!









Linda at Maligne Canyon

Glen at Maligne Canyon

Our campsite at Whistlers Campground

Daily entertainment here is provided by the ravens. Their babies have fledged and are constantly screaming for food. The parents “hang out” in the Lodgepole pines above us waiting for us to drop a morsel. This afternoon one tried to steal Sadie’s knee chew bone. I noticed it was moved about 10 feet from where she left it. The bone is now tucked away safely inside the trailer.
They have a full range of campsite services from tent sites to full hookup sites. Some are water and electric only and some are full hookups. Some of the full hookup sites have fire rings and some don’t. Ours doesn’t as I didn’t request that when we made the reservation. We will have plenty of opportunity to have campfires further along our way. There is a dump station that can accommodate 8 rigs at a time and has both potable as well as non-potable water that you can hook up to. It is the best setup I have seen.
Many come into the campground just for the night and are gone by the time we have breakfast.

Next is the scenery inside the shops of the town of Jasper and it looks like there are a lot of them!

Moses Lake, WA to Jasper Nat’l Park

Moses Lake to Moyie Lake


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We had a very short but sweet visit with the kids in WA. We celebrated Linda’s birthday a day early due to the fact that we would be traveling on her birthday.

Grandma, Grandpa and the cutest GRANDS ever.

Kristen cultivating the corn

Kristen has become a woman of many talents. Not only is she a super-mom, but she has taken up cultivating the corn as well. (sort of) YOU GO GIRL!!!!


On 6/26, we departed Kristen and Aaron’s and headed north. The weather was stormy the entire trip. We took a side trip to Cabela’s in Post Falls, Idaho and Glen purchased a lounge chair for me so if we ever stop long enough, I can chill in the chair with my knitting or a book. We also stopped at a quilt shop in Bonner’s Ferry where I picked up a few things. Well, it WAS my birthday, after all.

We had made reservations and spent the night at Moyie Lake Provincial Park just before Cranbrook, BC. It is a very well kept facility. The reservations weren’t necessary as it was almost empty. Although there were no hookups for the trailer of any kind, we enjoyed our short stay there. Everything was green and lush and there were wild roses in bloom everywhere. We enjoyed a nice walk to the lake in the evening. We turned in before 9pm and both slept like logs.

Glen and Sadie at Moyie Lake campsite.

I knew there were many campgrounds along our route as well as RV Parks but I was concerned about them being full. They weren’t and there were lots of nice places to stop along the way.

Moyie Lake to Jasper


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Wildlife Overpass

We drove through 3 or 4 of these short tunnels to learn later that they are wildlife overpasses covered with trees along the Trans-Canada Highway. They are for wildlife only, built to allow bears, cougars, wolves, elk, deer, moose, and other wildlife park residents to safely cross the highway. Between the overpasses are 8 to 10 foot fences along the highway to keep the wildlife from crossing and forces them to use the overpasses.

Bow Lake along the Icefields Parkway

This is just one of the beautiful vistas we were treated to on the drive to Jasper.
The highway after Columbia Ice Fields was a preview of what we may experience further north. It was rough with dips and humps and we were afraid to look in the trailer after we stopped expecting the floor to be covered with the cupboard and refrigerator contents. Up until this point the roads have been in excellent shape. Phew! Nothing to speak of on the floor other than a few furballs.

Another incredible sight. You can really see how a glacier carved the U-shaped valley.

We are now at Whistler’s Campground in Jasper National Park with full hookups and expect to be here for 3 nights. We have lots of sights to see in the area for the next few days.

Campground greeting.

After extensive warnings about leaving anything out in our campsite when checking in, this is what greeted us just past the entrance to the campground.


Until next time………………

Last Day at NROA Rally

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Making simple greeting cards


















I finished making two placemats!


While Glen ran some errands in town this morning I wandered over to the “clubhouse” and was able to learn how to make greeting cards from cocktail napkins. We all enjoyed learning something new. Then a few of us worked on our unfinished quilting projects.


Line-up for the BBQ


At 1pm the Northwood Manufacturing hosted a first class barbeque. The food, which there was way too much of, was excellent. It included garlic chicken, barbecued beef brisket, potato and macaroni salad, and baked beans.



Lining up for desserts


After the BBQ we returned to our site and I baked my Hot Fudge Chocolate Cake for the Dessert Bake-Off Competition to be held at 6pm. The winning dessert was a rhubarb pie which turned out to be very popular. We certainly did not go hungry this week and it will take many walks to burn off all that we consumed.

Tomorrow we are heading for the Moses Lake, Washington area for a visit with our daughter, son-in-law, and four very special grandchildren!


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La Grande (Continued)

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We have had a packed week. Glen has attended some seminars in connection with Arctic Fox trailers that have been helpful and I spent the day Wednesday quilting with new friends. I will quilt again tomorrow and take some pictures for the next posting. We both took the Northwood Manufacturing factory tour and if we weren’t convinced before, we are now that our purchase of an Arctic Fox was a good one. We were impressed with what we learned and saw there. We attended an ice cream social on Wednesday mid-afternoon that pretty much killed any appetite for dinner. But YUM!!!!!! Glen played 18 holes of golf Thursday at Buffalo Peak in Union,OR and had a wonderful time. He said he finally had a decent drive on the 18th hole! For us, golf is for the fun of being outdoors and being with friends, not for competition. The highlight for me this week was the walking tour of the Ladd Marsh Wildlife Preserve. The pictures below are all from that walk. Maybe next time we’ll include some people pictures???

Tree Swallow nesting at the entrance to the marsh.



She had a nest full of young ones. She let me get about 8 feet from her to take this picture. As soon as she flew off Papa arrived to feed the babies.





Looking from the marsh area back to our RV Park.















Yellow-headed blackbird at the marsh



This area is a birder’s paradise. We saw so many but most were too distant for my little Nikon. I did the best I could. Other than the Yellow-headed Blackbird we saw some common and uncommon birds. They included Mergansers, Ruddy Ducks, a Double Crested Cormorant and a flock of American White Pelicans. We scared up several American Bitterns….some, our guide said were just fledglings. She could identify them by the way they flew. They are an uncommon sighting. We saw Great Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets. Most exciting was a male Swainson’s Hawk in flight being pestered by blackbirds. Finally there were Sandhill Cranes, recognizable by their call. The Yellow-headed Blackbird was the only one in the marsh itself I got a picture of.

A view of the marsh.



We were walking along the dike that surrounds the marsh. The walk was about 2 miles total. Weather was warm, about 88 degrees but there was a nice breeze. What a great day and good exercise!
We hope you are enjoying your summer activities as much as we are ours.



………until next time.

La Grande, OR

Departure Day June 18th


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We’re all set! If we forgot something we’ll just have to buy it along the way somewhere. Even Sadie was over-the-moon about going with us…especially when offered a treat to pose for the camera. We actually departed at 8:07am and were honored to note some neighbors outside waving and wishing us well on our adventure. Our plan was to drive only as far as Winnemucca this day. It was a good thing. Along the way we encountered 40 mph winds and dust with gusts to 60 mph. It was a rough ride and very tiring for Glen keeping the rig under control.

Sadie the Pit Bull


A “funny”…..As we were pulling into the High Desert RV Campground in Winnemucca the first night, a young man approached us and what Glen heard him say was, “Is that a Pit Bull?” (referring to Sadie who had her head out the window) Glen’s response was, “No, she’s a Border Collie!” Actually what the young man had said was, “Is that fifth wheel with you?” (Referring to a rig behind us, not the dog).

Sadie is 10 years old and I’m happy to say that she is finally getting the hang of being a “real” Border Collie. She has learned to inch her head out the window. I expect by the time we return to CA she will want to ride the pickup bed.

From California to Oregon, Idaho, and back to Oregon….


We left Winnemucca around 7:30am and within a few hours crossed the border into Oregon, then for another or hour or so into Idaho and then back into Oregon. Pretty scenery, crossing the Snake River twice…..




Eagles Hot Lake RV Park, La Grande, Oregon


This is our site at Eagles Hot Lake RV Park. The weather is very mild, the folks are friendly and Sadie has lots of new friends to meet. There are about 54 rigs….mostly Arctic Fox, some Desert Fox and a few Nash, all manufactured by Northwood Manufacturing right here in La Grande. There are many fun things planned for the week. We are excited to be here and look forward to making new acquaintances.

View from the back of our trailer


I am looking forward to sitting some morning with my cup of cocoa by this pond and see what I can see. There are owl boxes nearby and a huge nest on top of a perch that looks like it could belong to a hawk or falcon. The lily pads are gorgeous and in full bloom.

Stay tuned to further adventures during the week which will include golf for Glen, quilting for Linda, a nature walk, pot-luck dinner, a dessert competition, and a tour of the Northwood Mfg. plant, and a local history tour among other things.

June 11th

Only one week to go before departure.

We found out today that the Alaska Highway is closed between Watson Lake, YT and Whitehorse, YT and again between Haines Junction, YT and Burwash Landing, YT due to washouts and mud slides.  Also the Klondike Highway from Skagway to the Yukon border was closed due to an avalanche.  Apparently they had a gully washer, warm weather, and lots of snow melt that combined to wreak havoc.  Travelers are stuck in a number of small towns and hope to get moving on Monday or Tuesday via temporary detours which I am sure will be rough.  Thankfully we have about three weeks before we expect to arrive in Watson Lake so they may have had time to smooth out the gravel detours by then.  I expect those sections to be slow travel at best.

Our truck needed the recall fix and was in the shop Tuesday until Thursday for them to get the parts and install the fix.  Again, very glad we got the notice before we left as I doubt it would have made it the 8-9000 miles without the fix.

We are almost finished packing with only perishables and some clothes to put in the trailer.  All the meat and then some did fit in the freezer so we are good to go for at least 30-45 days depending on how many times we eat out.  By that time we hope to be restocking the freezer with some Kenai River King Salmon and picking up other things at a Safeway or Costco in Anchorage or the surrounding area.

Linda’s traveling sewing machine, along with quilting, stitching and knitting projects are loaded so she is all set.  Of course we will be stopping at every quilt shop along the way, “to check them out”.  This could add another week to our trip.  We may look like the Clampetts with all her “check them outs” strapped on the back of the truck on our way home.

June 4th

There are just two weeks to go before our departure. 

We received a recall notice from GM:

We have learned that your 2011 model year GMC Sierra HD, equipped with a 10.5 inch rear axle, may have a condition in which the rear axle right-hand side bearing adjuster clip and bolt may come loose within the rear axle.  If this occurs, a grinding noise and a vehicle vibration would be noticeable when the vehicle is in motion.  If the adjuster or bolt punctures the differential cover pan, a fluid leak could develop.  If enough fluid were to leak out, you may hear increasing noise, additional vehicle vibration, and smell of burnt axle lubricant.  If these warnings are ignored and the vehicle continues to be driven, a slow loss of vehicle motion would occur.

The good news is that we got the notice before we left on our trip and we have an appointment with our dealer to service the truck for our trip and inspect the rear end to see if repairs are required.  They indicated that only two vehicles out of eleven inspected so far needed the repairs.  Also good news but we asked them to have any parts needed on hand so the repairs can be made quickly if needed.  Hopefully they will.  We are concerned about them doing repair work on the truck and not having much time to make sure everything is OK.

This week we will be arranging to have our mail held and possibly forwarded to some spots along the way, have telephone, TV, internet, and garbage services suspended or reduced while we are gone.  Our dog Sadie (a border collie) will go in to get a bath and a summer cut for the trip and just before we leave she will get a final health check and certificate of health for the Canadian border crossings.  May no longer be needed but it is another, just in case.  She recently got the rabies vaccination and certificate that is required to enter Canada.

We have the meats frozen that we want to take but will it all fit into the freezer?  It will be close and we may have to leave an item or two or may still have some room.  We won’t know until the freezer is loaded, but will continue to evaluate everything for necessity right up to final packing.   It’s a good thing one of us isn’t quite so particular or we’d be packing for the next year.  You will just have to figure out which one of us that is.