Monday, November 21, 2022

Notes and Maps of Alaska Trip

 Maps, Notes, Friends  and Ancillary Thoughts about the
2022 Alaska Trip

Phil here! I met so many nice people in the 3 months we were traveling.  Most I'll probably never see again yet I don't want to forget them.  They were part of the trip, and now part of us. There thoughts, there jokes, there advice had a big influence on us. I kept a little journal of as many people as I could remember.
Three maps. Then a diary of some of the wonderful people we met along the way. Also  at the bottom is a list of all our campgrounds in chronological order..


Above, the first leg, from Walnut Creek all the way up through Canada into Alaska and our northern most point. We touch the arctic Circle at 66° 33',  27 days after we began, the first month.



From the Arctic Circle its all it's all downhill. We head south back to Fairbanks, then Anchorage on our way to the Kenai Peninsula, "Alaska's Playground". We spent the second month in Alaska, then headed back into  Canada. The third month was getting home.


On the way home We decided to head west from the Canadian mainland and take a ferry to Vancouver Island. We departed from Bella Coola on the mainland on a 14 hour cruse to Port Hardy.

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Friends I Met in Alaska
Phil’s thoughts on people along the way.

We met many people on our three month trip to Alaska and back. The trip was about the natural beauty.  But really, for me it was also the people. The people of Canada and Alaska were wonderful.  Here is a record of some of them. 

05-20-2022 Friday, leave Walnut Creek and make it to Ryepatch, NV, off I-80, at the reservoir. Then the next morning we went out to Breakfast in Winnemucca. The trip preparations were mostly done.  Time to just stop worrying and start to enjoy the open road.  Carol brought me breakfast!



05-21-2022 Givens Hot springs, ID, south of Boise. We met Steve.  A whole extended family lives and maintains the resort  & campground. Steve was the grandfather of “Little Guy” (a younger Steve). There are eight generations of “Guys” in the family. Milford and Martha Givens pulled in from Missouri in 1878 on the Oregon Trail. They were on their way to live with a family in Portland, but settled here and filed a homestead claim. Steve met his wife, Nadine, the grand mother of little Guy, when she was a Pan Am Stewardess in San Francisco. They lived in the Marina by Bay and Fillmore St.’s.  Nadine has just now finished publishing a book of her experiences about working for Pan Am. He was an engineer.  Steve has done a lot of construction, in San Francisco, and in Boise. Also his son in-law, John, the father of Guy, drove by, He is ¼ Indian. His wife is Christy Givens.  John told me , since I was a Cartographer I should go see Map Rock.  I had read about it recently but had not made the connection we’d be going by it. I did the next morning and it was amazing, and probably over 10,000 years old. It may be the oldest map in the world. See the Snake river running  left to right, with tributaries and some of the preferred hunting grounds.


Also met fellow campers  Rene and his wife Jen from Caldwell. They came down with their trailer from Caldwell, ID for the weekend with their two kids. Rene distills his own whiskey and works as a nurse administrator at a psych ward. Jen said we should stop at to Priest Lake north of Coeur d’ Alene, ID.  because it is so beautiful. It’s before the Canadian border. 

05-22-2022 Boise, Tim’s place, on 11th St. Tim  is my cousin, and he’s a friend. We stayed at his guest house in Boise for 3 nights while we had the RV worked on and saw the sights of Boise.  There was a lot to see and Tim showed us all around. A most gracious host.


05-24-2022  I met Kathy today. A tall slender agile older women as she was on her knees tending the Boise Rose Garden. This was one of the largest civic rose gardens of our whole trip. She was a volunteer and had moved to Boise 2 years ago after her husband had passed. She has lived all over the country, the Midwest the east coast, even Sacramento. 



05-25-2022 Walla Walla, WA.  Scott & Jolie. We met Jolie in college and she is one of our dearest and oldest friends. Her husband  Scott saved our trip. Because Boise RV was not able to fix our problem with the black waste tank, we were ready to abort the trip and drive home. Scot convinced us to rip out the old toilet and put in a different kind!  Trip to Alaska Saved!



05-27-2022 Rathdrum, ID at Anne & Bob's (by Coeur d’ Alene) I first met Anne in 1992(?) when we worked a Chevron. I later helped her get a job with the Park District.  She and Bob sold their home in Dublin, CA and then built a new house near Rathdrum



05-29-2022 CANADA!  At last.  We camped in Cranbrook, British Columbia, at a great KOA. I met some cool folks from Washington State there.

05-30-2022 Banff, Alberta, State Campground.  A cold place. So many people, but I met none, all being processed to a campsite,  but the campground was nice.

05-31-2022 Lake Louise, Alberta, state campground
Grace and Alex are retired school teachers from Niagara, Ontario.  They had a nice new light blue ”Retro” style trailer and they have just started traveling with it. This is their longest trip so far. They will be staying here 6 days. They invited us to stay with them in Niagara!  I shared a bottle of wine while Deborah taught (zoom) piano in the RV.  Alex Lmre & Grace. 
They built a new home together after both being married before.  They were very much in love. I hope I see them again.


06-01-2022 Wapiti state campground, Alberta66, just south Jasper. (We saw Elk in campground, not so friendly). Later I went and had a talk with one, from a respectful distance.  I asked his name.  I couldn’t understand his answer.  It sounded like a snort.


06-02-2022 Dawson Creek . This is the start of the AlCan or Alaska Highway.  In Dawson Creek we met a lot of people, especially in the Dawson Creek “Mile Zero RV Park”. Many were preparing for the journey up to Alaska.
We met Helen and Val  there. She has family in Seattle. They are just in a Chevy van and it’s packed. They must unpack it at each campsite. He is tall, and they sleep sideways. They sold their home and travel. They’re looking for a place to live. Deborah texted them a lot during the rest of the trip to compare notes, campgrounds, roads, destinations, etc.
We also met Vance and Elsia. They live in Dawson Creek, but were just walking through the campground meeting people. She is a banker with a large bank, and he has a Pizzeria in town. They were of Indian or Pakistani  decent.
Also met John and Carla, fellow Alcan travelers.

We were in the supermarket in Dawson Creek and a clerk, Sarah talked to us. She was a native of the town but she had lived in other places in BC. Still she loved Dawson Creek and thought it was the nicest place in Canada.


That day we stopped in Fort Nelson and went to the Heritage Museum.  It was full of old restored cars, farm equipment, bulldozers used to build the Alcan as well as restored buildings.  I met Arron who worked at the museum.  He had grown up in Fort Nelson and he loved his town.  He didn’t even mind the heavy snows in the winter.



Also while there we went to a small farmers market.  I met,  Greg  who made Birch beer and Fireweed wine.  He was great to talk with and we bought both.  They were very interesting.




06-03-2022 Sikanni River Campground, by Sikanni Chief River, Met “Bob” Jensen in a big RV. He was a great talker and this was his second time driving to Alaska. He has been a mining engineer and worked with Utah Mining. They sent him to Australia.  He lives most time in Plano Texas. He told me that our coach battery reading should be between 132v to 108v with only a 10% fluctuation at most. Our meter should read no lower than 12.1. That’s 50%, and it should not go below that. I should find and add a  device on to my coach negative battery post that reads and sends the status using to a phone app.



06-04-2022  Muncho Lake, BC, McDonald campground.  It was so beautiful.   I met Tyler, a young ranger at Muncho Lake. I saw another park district person in him. He was very environmentally conscious and a fun to talked to. He was 22 and shared that after a bad skateboarding accident to his knee, he would soak in Liard Hot Springs and it healed him.

We had seen Mark & Elizabeth from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina first at Mile Zero Campground in Dawson Creek. But really met them at Muncho Lake.  We saw them again at Liard Hot springs Campground. They are Boondockers Welcome hosts and host a place in the Outer Banks.  They said we should call them when we travel  there. (Ignore the “blocked out” times on their Boon Dockers calendar.  They will find room for us. It’s called “2 miles to beach” on their Boondockers listing. They were driving to a wedding on the Kenia peninsula. Elizabeth will then fly home while Mark will continue with the trailer.  Afterward he went up the Dempster Highway in the Yukon to the Arctic Ocean, with the trailer alone!


06-05-2022  Liard Hot springs, State campground.  This was one of our top 10 favorite spots on the whole trip. While in the pools, we talked to a young woman who was moving back to Georgia.  She had been in Alaska for many years, and on her way  south she was taking one last dip at Liard.  She suggested her top list of things to do and see in Alaska.  One was an airplane ride around Denali which we later did.



06-06-2022  Continental Divide Campground on the Alcan, west of Rancheria, west of Fort Nelson.  There I met a young Italian family. They had a flat tire and I lent them our tire pump that worked off the cigarette lighter. The daughter spoke very good English, the father did pretty well.

06-07-2022 Carmacks, Yukon, At private RV park in town. Continuing on the Klondike Hwy  to Dawson City we were stopped for over an hour. I met and spoke with Michelle, a highway flag person. Deborah says she is the exact image of Melissa McCarthy.  She was a hoot.


06-08-2022 Dawson City, YK, across the river we camped.  I met many wonderful people in Dawson City. One of them was The Captain. I had a drink with him. A “Sour Toe Cocktail.  He was great, and explained the history behind the Sour Toe tradition.  It was flavored with Southern Comfort and tasted delicious.  I tasted the toe in my glass. I spit it back into the glass. It pretty much tasted of Southern Comfort fortunately.  


 While waiting for him we chatted with a lot of people.


One guy, I’m not sure of his name, was a gold miner, doing all sorts of the company's jobs.  He drives into the mountains rain or shine, snow etc. He's done the Toe so many times. He has so many certificates.  His job is rough, tough I think. He was having a beer with a friend.  A bus load of tourists came in afterward all wanting a sour toe cocktail. They inundated the small bar and had to be limited at the door.  I also met Jimmy in the bar. He was drunk, and trying to help the waitresses and bar tender.  He was a local for sure. They all called him "Ambassador."

06-08-2022 Dawson City, YK, across the river we camped.  After leaving Dawson City we backtracked east on the Klondike Highway(#2), then turned north on  the Dempster Highway(#5) to Tombstone Territorial Park and it’s  visitor center.  We did this because the day before as we were leaving Dawson City and heading across the Yukon River to a close-by campground, and met one of the Yukon Ferry attendants,  Maurine.   She had all sorts of things to tell us to do, and one was driving back, then up to Tombstone. It is a stunning place to see.  Maurine also said to stop at Wolf Creek.  The old Indian couple that lived there before, had lived to over a hundred years . Maureen said it was the water at wolf creek. So we tasted the water when we drove by it.

Continuing north into Tombstone that day we pulled over for lunch and met Jeremy. He had bicycled up from Vancouver where he lives! He was on his way up to Inuvik, and then hopefully Tukoyaktuk on the Beaufort See and the Arctic Ocean. That is over 2,300 miles. Several times he had to pull over and bivouac in his tent for a few days because of fierce rain storms.



06-09-2022 south of Chicken, AK, West Fork Campground   After driving the Top of the World Hwy from Dawson City to Chicken We ran into Mark and Elizabeth!  It was nice being in the States again, even if the roads were worse.

06-14-2022 Tue.  Chena Hot Springs. I met people who also love Hot Springs.

06-16-2022 Arctic  Circle campground,  BLM.  Min and Judy were from Tucson AZ and traveled in a Toyota Sienna like we used to have.  They lived in House Representative Gabby Gifford’s district when she was shot. A plane will pick them up farther up the road and take them on a tour of Prudhoe Bay, AK.

06-17-2022 Nenana RV Park, south of Fairbanks. I met Mike at 49th State Brewery. He was an ex-49er fan. We went there twice. The second time we had to drive back while camped in Denali’s Riley Creek.  The 49th State Brewery is a great restaurant and brew pub. They were having a band that night and celebrating the Summer Solstice.  We hung around a bit.  It was a big party. 

But the most amazing thing was the bus used in the movie “Into The Wild”.


This powerful movie, a true story is about a young man growing up and dealing with his values.  He moved from his home and university on the east coast to an Ivy league school, then quit and drove out west to find himself. He died tragically just 20 miles west of the brewery. 



I never met him, but I know him personally as his story has affected me greatly. His questions and thoughts about our society, our world are universal.  You should read the book or see the movie.

06-18-2022 Denali, Riley Creek Campground, AK  As Leonard was walking with his family, right after we pulled into our spot at Riley Creek by Denali  I jumped out and asked him about a citronella candle that had been left at our new site picnic table.  I wondered if they were on all the tables but he thought just ours as the previous campers had left it. As we talked more I asked him if there was any place I could get Moose meat. Latter he brought me some Moose salami with cheddar an jalapeños in it.  I asked him about hunting the moose and he showed me pictures on his phone of the kill and field butchering it. He and his family live on the Kenia Peninsula in Soldatna. He was born in Alaska.  The moose came from the west side of the Cook Inlet.  He and a group of buddies had a boat drop them off for a week while they hunted. He said if I ever wanted any halibut or salmon he would freeze it and send me some. He also recommended restaurants; The Kenai River Brewing Co. in Soldatna.  He may work there as a chef.  Also he recommended the Mermaid Brewery in Homer, and the Seward Brewery in Seaward.



06-19-2022 Denali, Riley Creek campground, AK.  I met Aaron at the  hardware store and Market in Healy as we were both  looking for propane. He recommended Rosie’s Café for a Father’s day breakfast. It was great the next day which was Fathers Day! He was with a bunch of families camped near Denali. He is from Fairbanks.

06-20-2022 Denali, Riley Creek campground, AK
Jamie and Kyle were camped across from our spot. They gave us their unused firewood

06-21-2022 North Denali View campground ,AK  This place was like a rest stop but there were big long slots for big RVs.  We met Dennis & Kathy from Minnesota,   just retired and his sister, Chuck & Bonnie. Both in trailers.

Also we met Jonathan in a supped up truck. He drove to Arctic Circle then further up to Coldfoot but got turned around because of  fire two days after we were there!

06-22-2022 Talkeetna, a small RV campground. We met Amanda & Jarred from Alabama.  On our air tour  Around Denali, Phil was our pilot. He comes out in the summers to fly tours of Denali.


06-23-2022 Anchorage, AK, Stayed with Jerry & Laura who we have known in Walnut Creek for many years. We stayed 4 nights with them and they showed us everything!  It was a great.  They were the most wonderful of hosts.



06-29-2022 Seward, City campground.  Before we arrived in Seward we stopped at Exit glacier. There after hiking up to the glacier viewing stand we met a young couple from San Francisco.  Gordon & Rita a very warm and sharing couple who live by Twin Peaks in San Francisco. They recommended “Beyond Café”  at 1010 Bryant St, SF.  He said to write him and ask for other restaurants. I hope we see them again.

07-01-2022  Ninilchik, Deep Creek Campground, (on the beach with the Eagles)  We met Ginger and Karl from Florida. They travel in their RV 10 months a year. Then go home to family on the east coast for Christmas.  Also at Deep Creek I met Captain Kelley of Kona. He has a world record for the Biggest Marlin. He lost a leg when he was 18. He was a professional fisherman and a police captain. I should look up his record size fish on the web.

In Old Ninilchik I met Daniel. He was working at a little, old gift shop. I bought earrings there for Deborah.

07-02-2022  Ninilchik, Deep Creek Campground, We met a lot of people at the rodeo. On leaving there we hiked the Russian River Falls also per Ginger & Karl.




07-03-2022 Bertha Creek, AK,(near tunnel to Whittier & ferry) We crashed the campsite of 2 bicyclers, of Erlich & Martina From Belgium.  They did not need the big flat spot for a vehicle, and the campground was full. They were great people and we talked late into the night. They have  three grown kids, and  2 grandkids. Now on their way back to Anchorage to fly home on the 7th of July.  They were wonderful people, very inspiring.


Then on to Whittier to catch the ferry,  I met Officer Taga. He was working the 4th of July Parade and other activities but lives in Anchorage.   I asked him why I saw so many Samoans,  he said they came to work the canneries and other factories.  



A whole group of them came down from anchorage that day to be in the parade.  They seemed part of a car club and they had nice fixed up fancy hotrods. The club planned a picnic and were barbecuing. They were very friendly and shared some great barbeque chicken with me>


On the ferry from Whittier to Valdez  we met Kathleen.  She is a single parent of 2 kids she is putting through college.  She teaches high school math in the day then tutor’s in the afternoon. She is a solo motor cyclist, and went to Prudhoe Bay and swam in that there! In black leather chaps & jacket she is a short women on a big red Harley she has done book signings. We met on the ferry to Valdez.  

After arriving in Valdez we met  Patricio from Cancun. He, his wife & 2, twins have been traveling for a year, and have another year to go. They had a great rig he had had built. It was fully solar. They had traveled all around the western US on their way to Alaska.  See at  patoandlola on Facebook 



07-05-2022 Valdez RV Park
Ken & Cindy were from NH and  now heading back home. But first to Seattle to drop off a sister-in -law.

07-07-2022 Chitna, Wrangell/St. Elias, by Copper River. Vicky  the ranger in Chitina was very helpful., and very conservative.  Maybe 52 years old, single, heavy, she wants to go back and live in Brookings, OR. She was very anti Californian.  We met Sue who had flown out from Michigan and rented a car. Her teenage son had decided to stay home over the summer, surely a disappointment for her. We camped by her in a dispersed campsite by the Copper River

07-08-2022 Rufus Creek, wayside, a few miles from Slana, AK, met Tom & Lea from (East)Germany. They were the most delightful people from (East) Germany. They were in their early twenties and had landed in Vancouver and bought a used van.  Doing a big loop in BC they slowly went up Vancouver Island then slowly up the coast.  We got some great ideas about where to go. We went to many. I asked about life in the Soviet block, but they were born after the Iron Curtain fell.  They shared they frustrations of unification and social achievements. A dear relative was helping with travel expenses.  They were not married, but much in love.  Very adventurous, going to all sorts of places, especially roads we didn’t want to take ‘Lexy’ on. They later took the Sixty mile road to McCarthy, famous for the Kennecott Mine. 


07-10 to 11 2022 Deadman’s Lake, AK, on Alcan. Tom and Lea told us about this lake.  Deadman's lake was wonderful. We stayed an extra day. It also was run by the National Wildlife Refuge agency.  They had free canoes, and very few people on the water, or around. 



After leaving we stopped at the visitor center and met Kala, an intern from Missouri. She has 2 kids she left back there.   She agreed to mail my post card, as it had a US stamp on it and we were about to cross back into Canada. She lived in Anchorage when she was young before moving to Missouri.  

While at the visitor center I also met a older women working there. She was a native and she was doing beading. Her name was Cora Demi and she also worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. She has worked there for 31 years. Before that she was a teacher. Before that she was a tribe counselor for 11 years. It was an honor the meet her.

07-12-2022 Walmart, Whitehorse, YK.  In Whitehorse we stayed a few days and there was this Wood Street Ramen Noodle Shop.  We even went twice. I met a waiter, Lucas. We talked of skateboarding and the SF Bay area.


07-16-2022 Stewart, BC, Municipal Campground.
Rob & Mary were the managers at this great Rainey Creek Campground, a civic campground at 100 8th Ave, Stewart BC.  Stewart was a nice and small town. Rob had been all around, but found a home in Stewart. See raineycreekcampground.com  Stewart would be a lovely place to get lost in.

At the campground I met John  Moreland. He was biking from Las Vegas up to Alaska. He flew in to Prince Rupert from Vancouver with his friend. They had started together but when they got to Stewart the friend had had enough and left for home. John was in Stewart waiting for the fog to lift so he could  take the weekly mail plane up to Juneau. He then went on to work up on Herbert Glacier.  John graduated college where he received his degree in permaculture and sustainable agriculture. He sent me an invite to his travel blog at Find Penguins. He reminded us of Adam my son.  He was 22 and said he would return to the SF area and get a job. I told him to stop by.  Stewart is across the U.S. Boarder in B.C.  just  south of the Pan Handel of Alaska



Also in Hyder next to Stewart but in Alaska I met Diane.  She had been working her fish market for many years. Stewart and Hyder are up at the far eastern end of the Portland Canal, a 70 some mile narrow fiord that snakes it's way up through Canada from the Pacific Ocean. It is stunningly beautiful. Diane would buy fresh fish from the local fishermen.  Much she would smoke, especially Salmon and Halibut which we got some from her. She shared a lot of fishing stories and recipes with me.



07-23-2022 Atnarko Campground off Chilcotin-Bella Coola Hwy ,before Bella Coola, BC to very  NICE!  One half of the town was exclusively First Nation people. Across the street were Anglo Canadians.  We met a group of Romanians, who were on motorcycles.  They were waiting for the ferry also.

07-25-2022  Port Hardy RV park, Vancouver Island.
Jeff was camped next to use. He is from Williams Lake and we ended up talking a lot. He comes to this campground yearly to fish. He’s a packer and goes on hunting trips in the north Yukon yearly. His friend(who we did not meet is Evan Howard, an expert in pack trains and leading trips. Jeff told me to watch Buck Brannigan’s Netflix’s  movie.  Maybe it is called “How to ask a horse” to do anything. The difference between a reward verse punishment, when riding a horse. He was Camping with his sister Jessica, and friends Tom  and Ray. He had worked the last 40 years with John Deere. They laid him off and now hire him 
back as a contractor because of his expertise in repairing BIG engines. As I was leaving he said ”Wait a minute” and went into his camper and came out with a  whole Salmon to give me!  I really had one of those “I’m asleep and dreaming this!” it can’t be happening. 



07-26-2022  Also in Port Hardy RV park, Vancouver Island I met Wayne Archer, on the shoreline walk at 
Port Hardy, a vet survivor, traveler and now just settled in this sleepy town for good.  He had a warm heart, but just had so very much to tell us about his life, about ours and how connected we all are, how rotten his father was and how he misled his brother into depression and suicide, and how politics are ruining society and how society is ruining the environment, and yet how happy he was to meet "a brother" today on the street. I think Port Hardy is a magnet for Wayne and maybe others that think the same.  It is kind on the soul.




Also on the docks at Port hardy we met, Kerri.  She had gotten a job as the cook aboard a tall mast sailing ship called the Pacific Grace that came up from Victoria.  People paid to learn how to crew an operate a ship like this.  She had never been a cook before!  Kerri told us of a great Brew pub down in Port McNeil  when we happened to run into her there. We stopped by the Devils Bath brewery and did a tasting, then had lunch.  The bartender and proprietor’s name was Manuel.  He was very proud of what he and the two brothers that had started the brewery had done.   The name comes from a hot springs that is only accessible by charter boat about 20 miles further up the coast


07-28-2022  Green Pt. Campground, in Pacific Rim Nat’l. Pk by Tofino on Vancouver Island.  The east part of Vancouver where the main road north to south is, was very warm so we drove west to the Pacific Ocean side to try and cool down.  We met Ted and Liane who were tent camping.  They pulled in late next to our site and we hung out for several days together.  As Canadians from Quebec their opinions and attitudes were illuminating and insightful.  I look forward to visiting Quebec.  Ted helped us procure 2 more nights at Green Point!  We used this time to explore the area around this beautiful part of Vancouver Island.

The western side of the island is a conifer rain forest, very lush and magical. We drove up to Tofino and had a wonderful afternoon walking around this small town. Deborah and I sat and had coffee for a whole afternoon. The view from our table was magical as we watched the fog come into the Tofino Bay.

Our Barista was Suzie, and she lived full time in Tofino.  A crow came to us and introduced itself.


08-01 to the 3rd, 2022  Vancouver, BC  We checked into a Marriott’s for our 35th wedding anniversary.  It was a wonderful beautiful city, but I did not meet any memorable people!


08-04-2022  Lynden, WA, Harvest Host raspberry farm   COVID-19 caught Deb !!!!   Back in the US of A.
Our host at the Oostema Farmstead was Lisa. She and her husband grew all sorts of wonderful things.  They used to do dairy farming in a farm they owned nearby, but gave up those high maintenance cows for this slightly smaller farm. Now they rented out part of the 
land to another farmer who grew raspberries.  They were just coming into season and Lisa told me to pick as many as I wanted.  


They raised Wagyu premium beef, as well as vegetables and flowers, plus I met their goats and pig. We talked for a while.  It would be a nice place to stay.  they have several AirBnB type cottages out back.  See oostemafarmstead.com


08-05-2022  Lynden, WA, Harvest host raspberry farm.  Jess and Cooper her dog  were campers also at the farm. She had a nice Class B van, total solar, and worked from it, doing computer work of some kind while her boyfriend had taken a temp job somewhere.



08-06-2022  Grayland, WA Cranberry museum, harvest host. We met  Steve, at the CranZberry, Cranberry Museum. He is a volunteer and lives in his big 5th wheel. Steve is from Bend, OR.   It got too cold there, so he sold his house.  He was like the camp host.  Maybe I should do this?

On the way to Grayland we stopped in Aberdeen WA and visited the Kurt Cobain Memorial Park.


I didn’t know Kurt, but walked  beyond the statue of his guitar and under the bridge. It was said he hung out there.  I met a young teenage boy with his Mom and other  young siblings.  He pointed to a cheep white plastic chair sitting half in the reeds and said “That’s the heroin chair, where he did all his heroin.”


8-08-2022  Alder Dunes, U.S.N.F campground, Florence, OR. Robert our campground host at Alder Dune campground, Sunisaw Nat’l. Forest, North of Florence OR came from Reno.  He did construction. He just bought a Dodge Ram truck, with 90,000miles on it, to pull their big trailer. He does campground hosting all over.

Alejandro pulled into Alder Dune late. He had no cash to pay for his spot so asked me if I did. He sent me $40 on Venmo for $32 cash. I felt bad. Later that night we heard a women’s voice singing from their site adjacent to us, around their campfire.  She sounded good and accompanied with a guitar.  At first Deborah thought the singer was drunk. Who knows, but it was nice to hear someone just belting it out, for the love of song. It was very dark. A small US Forestry Campground we were glad to find it to. Having Covid we avoided interaction. Too bad. They left before we got up.

08-10-2022 Floras Lake, Boise-Cope Pk, OR   Megan, was our camp host at Boice Cope park, on Flora Lake.  This was one of the nicest county campgrounds we visited.  It was right next to a beautiful lake and just beyond was the dunes and beach.  


Megan worked hard to keep it nice.

When we left Boice we drove by our best friends Mark & Jennifer's house in Brookings, OR to say a quick Hi, from the sidewalk.
08-11-2022  Redwood State Park, Del Norte Coast, CA (The Ranger there was named Adam!)  

08-12-2022  Walnut Creek, CA.   We stopped at Rumiano Cheese factory in Crescent City, CA as Jennifer says it's the best cheese, and has steep discounts.  We bought 5 different cheeses and met 2 new people, a customer and the clerk.  Were back in California.  Ahhhh. Home! 


There is no place like home.

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ALASKA TRIP-MAY-AUG  2022  CAMPSPOTS   
Deb & Phil’s amazing Adventure

05-20-2022 Friday, eave Walnut Creek, Ryepatch, NV, off I-80, at reservoir

05-21-2022 Givens Hot springs, ID, south of Boise

05-22-2022 Boise, Tim’s place, 1713 No. 11th St

05-23-2022 Boise, Tim’s place, 1713 No. 11th St

05-24-2022 Boise, Tim’s place, 1713 No. 11th St

05-25-2022 Walla Walla, WA,  Scott & Jolie

05-26-2022 Walla Walla, WA,  Scott & Jolie

05-27-2022 Rathdrum, ID Anne & Bob (by Coeur d’ Alene)

05-28-2022 Rathdrum, ID Anne & Bob (by Coeur d’ Alene)

05-29-2022 CANADA!  By Cranbrook, British Columbia, great KOA

05-30-2022 Banff, Alberta, state cmpgrd

05-31-2022 Lake Louise, Alberta, state cmpgrd

06-01-2022 Wapiti state cmpgrd, AB, just south Jasper. (saw Elk in cmpgrd)

06-02-2022Dawson Creek, In town RV Park. START OF ALCAN HWY.

06-03-2022 Sikanni River Cmpg, by Sikanni Chief River, Met “Bob” in big RV.

06-04-2022  Muncho Lake, BC, McDonald Cmpg,

06-05-2022  Liard Hot springs, State cmpg.

06-06-2022  Continental Divide Cmpg(?) on Alcan, west of Rancheria, west of Fort Nelson

06-07-2022 Carmacks, Yukon, private RV park in town

06-08-2022 Dawson City, YK, across the river

06-09-2022 south of Chicken, AK, West Fork Cmpg  

06-10-2022  Delta Junction, AK, Delta State Rec. site

06-11-2022 Fairbanks RV  Park

06-12-2022 Fairbanks RV  Park

06-13-2022 Fairbanks RV  Park

06-14-2022 Tue.  Chena Hot Springs

06-15-2022 Upper Chatanika  cmpg (? on road toward Circle Hot Springs)

06-16-2022 Arctic  Circle Cmpg, BLM

06-17-2022 Nenana RV Park, south of Fairbanks

06-18-2022 Denali, Riley Creek Cmpg, AK

06-19-2022 Denali, Riley Creek Cmpg, AK

06-20-2022 Denali, Riley Creek Cmpg, AK

06-21-2022 North Denali View Cmpg (rest stop), AK

06-22-2022 Talkeetna, a small RV cmpg

06-23-2022 Anchorage, AK, Stay with Jerry & Laura

06-24-2022 Anchorage, AK, Stay with Jerry & Laura

06-25-2022 Anchorage, AK, Stay with Jerry & Laura

06-26-2022 Anchorage, AK, Stay with Jerry & Laura

06-27-2022 Anchorage, AK, Stay with Jerry & Laura

06-28-2022 Bertha Creek, AK,(Kenai  Peninsula)

06-29-2022 Seward, City Cmpg

06-30-2022 Homer, on the spit

07-01-2022  Ninilchik, Deep Creek Cmpg, (on the beach w/ the Eagles)

07-02-2022  Ninilchik, Deep Creek Cmpg, (rodeo)

07-03-2022 Bertha Creek, AK,(near tunnel to Whittier & ferry)

07-04-2022 Valdiz, KOA

07-05-2022 Valdiz RV Park

07-06-2022 Valdiz RV Park

07-07-2022 Chitna, Wrangell/St. Elias, by copper river

07-08-2022 Rufus Creek, wayside, a few miles from Slana,AK, met Tom & Lea from (East)Germany

07-09-2022 Deadmans’s Lake, AK, on Alcan, before Yukon,  free, w/ canoes.

07-10-2022 Deadmans’s Lake, AK, on Alcan,

07-11-2022 Lake Creek ?? Yukon

07-12-2022 Walmart, Whitehorse, YK

07-13-2022 Whitehorse, Pioneer RV Camp

07-14-2022 Big Creek Cmpg, Yk, East of Watson Lake

07-15-2022 Read Goat RV Iskut, at Nuttlude Lake, on Cassiar Hwy #37

07-16-2022 Stewart, BC, municipal Cmpg

07-17-2022 Stewart, BC, municipal Cmpg

07-18-2022 Prince Rupert, BC, RV park

07-19-2022 Tuesday, Kleanza Creek Cmpg.  Nice!

07-20-2022 Frazer Lake, BC

07-21-2022 Frazer Lake, BC

07-22-2022 Lake Williams, BC, at the Stampede Rodeo Arena RV Park

07-23-2022Atnarko Cmpg off Chilcotin-Bella Coola Hwy ,before Bella Coola, BC to verify  NICE!

07-24-2022 Bella Coola, on street, by ferry check in, BC

07-25-2022  Port Hardy RV park, Vancouver Island

07-26-2022  Port Hardy RV park, Vancouver Island

07-27-2022 Campbell Lake, Loveland Bay cmpg, Vancouver Island Nice

07-28-2022  Green Pt. cmpg Provincial Park cmpg, Pacific Rim Nat. Pk by Tofino, Vancouver Island

07-29-2022  Green Pt. cmpg Provincial Park cmpg, by Tofino

07-30-2022  Green Pt. cmpg Provincial Park cmpg,

07-31-2022  Burnaby, Vancouver, BC RV Park

08-01-2022  West Vancouver, BC RV Park

08-02-2022  Marriott’s  Metropolitan, Vancouver, BC

08-03-2022  Marriott’s  Metropolitan, Vancouver, BC

08-04-2022  Lynden, WA, Harvest host raspberry farm ?  COVID-19 Deb

08-05-2022  Lynden, WA, Harvest host raspberry farm ? COVID-19 Deb

08-06-2022  Grayland, WA Cranberry museum, harvest host

08-07-2022  Nehalem St. Park cmpg, OR

08-08-2022  Alder Dunes, U.S.N.F cmpg, Florence, OR

08-09-2022  Alder Dunes, U.S.N.F cmpg, Florence, OR

08-10-2022 Floras Lake, Boise-Cope Pk

08-11-2022  Redwood State Park, Del Norte Coast, CA(Via Crescent City/M & J)

08-12-2022  Home! Walnut Creek, CA






 

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