NORTH TO ALASKA - DAY 7 - TO EDMONTON AND THEN FOX CREEK

We got up from our nice little quiet place at the Walmart in Vegreville. We called ahead to some longtime friends that we had met through some camping groups way back on Yahoo groups. We have been in contact all these years, probably around 20 years or so. Although we never met face-to-face, we You know a lot of the same people that we have met over the years. We also had a lot of like interests such as RVing, dogs, and quilting. 

We drove on into Edmonton and made our way through the crazy city traffic. We really aren't much for driving in the city, that's for sure. We easily found their apartment with the GPS.

Ida and Jacque no longer RV, but they enjoy watching our adventures on our blog and now on our YouTube's. 

We set up a little picnic lunch out on the table underneath the big trees of their apartment complex. 

We had a nice lunch, and Ida fed a bit of her sandwich to the sassy little magpie that hangs out by her window. 

We kept hearing the warning alarm going off on Jack's mobility scooter parked nearby. We knew the wind was blowing but we didn't think it was that strong to set off the alarm? Guess what? Ida discovered that it was the magpies mimicking the sounds of the alarm! That's what was making that sound!

We enjoyed spending some time with Ida's little dog Pepper, and also Angel and Betty, two doggies that she babysits for during the day while their owners are at work.  

We talked about this and that, RV people we know who have come and gone, our dogs, and quilting of course. 

Ida send me on my way with some bundles of beautiful fabric squares, some sewing notions, and some cones of thread. Who knows what I will make with it? Stashed it away in the motorhome until we get back home 4 months later.

Upon looking at the map, we are now about halfway to Alaska! 

Kind of halfway to the middle of Alaska like Anchorage area. It's really exciting to know that we've come this far in just 7 days. 

Once we get past some of this flat land into where things are a little more scenic, we will slow down and maybe take a couple days in each area to explore. Right now we'd like to just get some miles past and reach Dawson Creek. That is milepost zero of the Alcan highway.

While we were enjoying the drive further Northeast, we were talking about our expectations and considerations while traveling. We will take our time and enjoy ourselves --- because this may be the one and only time we are in Alaska? 

We fueled up right before pulling into the campground at Fox Creek. We are getting better mileage now 13.5 even though it was still quite windy. We're still only paying $1.39 a liter which comes out to about $3.84 US gallon.

This was the most interesting way to pay for a campground?!?!  The lady down at the Fox Creek municipal building has to text you this photo below. Then you fill in the photo with your graphic program whatever you have on your phone and type in the right words. Then you text it back to her along with a photo of your license plate. She will then call you on the phone and take your credit card number to pay for the campsite!!!

After we were all checked in, we decided to make up some supper. I did a cute step-by-step on my YouTube video that goes along with this blog. The link will be at the end. 

Spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread sticks. Plus a glass of wine. Even if you're traveling, you can have good home-cooked meals. We don't rely on fast food. And we don't want just burgers and hot dogs either.

After dinner, we took Little Nickydoodle for a walk around the campground. We found a gateway leading down to a small brook and a foot bridge. We didn't have our bear spray with us, so we didn't want to go much further.

It was really pretty and we like seeing the new green stuff budding out on all of the branches of the shrubs around the little creek. 

The trees are all still pretty tall in this part of British Columbia. I know once we get north, they will get shorter and shorter.

I don't know what these are, they look like great big green fuzzy pussy willows? But they really weren't.

We stood for a while on the footbridge and listened to the little babbling brook. It was very pleasant to just relax in the woods for a little bit, after so many days of travel.

As the sun was going down, we curled up back into our nice cozy camper. The Starlink was working just fine up in the skylight, even though we were in a wooded area. It must find just enough of the right sky up above to zoom in on the satellites. We watched some YouTube shows and then put on our jammies and went to bed.

Here is the YouTube 

 that goes along 

with today's blog: 

225 miles today 

1,781 miles total

North To Alaska -Day 6 - Vegreville Alberta

This is going to be a rather short blog today. Not a lot happened today, except we left the nice town of Saskatoon and headed further northwest on our journey. 

We have noticed a change in the terrain with more hills. We are enjoying some of the greenery as the leaves are opening up. We're getting that fresh green color of spring.

We decided to try a back roads route out of Saskatoon. There was a nice straight stretch on the map that looked like it might have been a good road traveling directly west. Well, it quickly turned to gravel!!

It was in pretty nice shape, only a little bit of spots with washboard. We decided to keep going rather than turn around. It was only a 12 mile stretch. Then we were able to swing north and get back up onto pavement again.

It has been really pleasant watching the landscape roll on by. I know snapping pictures of scenery isn't exciting for the rest of you, I guess. But to me it's kind of a trip diary that we are making here. We can look back on this in our old age. Especially when we are unable to travel anymore. We can look back at these pictures and these blogs and these videos and recall this wonderful trip. 

We did stop to fuel up in a little town called Maidstone. We've been fighting quite the headwind. We were a little disappointed to see our fuel mileage was only at 11.5 miles per gallon! Converting the liter price over to US (considering the exchange rate) we were paying $3.81 a gallon. That's not too bad.

There wasn't a lot for Nick to see. I think he was hoping for another dog park at that stop. Instead we made lunch and relaxed a little bit.

We crossed into the next province of Alberta in the afternoon about 4:30 p.m. We were cruising right along and this was more miles than we normally travel in one day. But we figured we might as well get this behind us, so we can spend more time further in the north enjoying other scenery.

We decided to hole up in a small Walmart in Vegreville, Alberta. We had a nice little spot in the corner of the lot. We picked up a few things inside. I was hoping to get a different set of wireless microphones for my GoPro. They didn't have any. This set isn't functioning correctly anymore. They used to. 

I did try them on my cell phone and they work fine. So it has something to do with the little transmitter isn't "playing well" with my GoPros? 

I do have a hardwired Purple Panda microphone that doubles as a backup. I will use that till I figure out what else I can do.

(The quilted travel journal is from my friend Judy, back in Wisconsin)

Otherwise, all you hear is road noise when we try to film anything from within the vehicle. So a microphone is of the utmost importance!

Here's the link to today's video on YouTube that goes along with this blog: 

Travel 279 miles today 

1,556 miles in total

North to Alaska - Day 5 - Reaching Saskatoon

My last blog left off with leaving Yorkton City campground in Saskatchewan. We got on the highway and headed west. It was a pretty windy day. We were getting some side winds but we decided to keep on going as it wasn't dangerous enough to be pulled over yet. 

We had a beautiful blue sky, and we were becoming accustomed to the flat landscape with it's own natural beauty. Every now and then the hilliness of the terrain would have trapped little ponds and lakes alongside of the road. It really added to the landscape interest. For a wildlife sighting, we saw a coyote standing right alongside of the railroad tracks that ran parallel with the road! He was standing there watching traffic go by. I didn't have a chance to grab the camera and snap a pic of him. But he definitely was a coyote.

We pulled over for gasoline in a small town called Colonsay. We paid $1.41 a liter which is $3.59 a gallon US. Some lower mileage because of the winds we were down to 13.5 miles per gallon. But that's still not too bad.

In the next block over from the fuel station, there was a beautiful fenced-in dog park!  The winds were pretty strong, but it was warming up and getting into the high 70s already.

They had a large dog section and a small dog section. We let Nick free in the large dog section because there was nobody else in that section. He played around a little bit but he was more interested through the fence of the little doggy in the small dog section. We spoke with the very pleasant owners who were local residents. They let Nick play with their elderly female Echo. 

She did a lot more sniffing than playing because she was already done with her morning romp. Nick was sad to see them leave....

Then he got in a few more gallops around the play area before we headed back over to our waiting motorhome. It was a good way to stretch his legs and get us out and about a little bit too.

We made up a little lunch, and Nick was totally exhausted and crashed on the love seat. He had a very busy morning.

We drove on as far as Saskatoon. Our friend Seann suggested Gordon Howe campground right within the city of Saskatoon. The gals behind the counter were so absolutely pleasant. We were on site 15 which backs upright to the golf course! The price is $47 and a Canadian which comes out to $34 and a night US.  Electric and water hookups, beautiful shower building and very nicely landscaped grounds.

Between each site are rows of lilac trees that are just starting to bud out with leaves. I bet in a few weeks it will be absolutely amazing! We sure enjoyed the lovely park like setting, especially after the campground the night before.

As I said, the back of our site was up against the municipal golf course. They do have mesh as well as fencing to help protect the RVs from any stray golf balls.

We set up our chairs in the little campsite and took some time relaxing and just taking it easy after a windy day on the roads. Nick decided he needed to take it easy too after his busy day at the dog park.

It was nice to sit back and go over our maps and kind of look at where we're going to go and double checking against some of the wildfire maps. We do see there are a few wildfires up in the area around mile zero of the Alcan. Most of them are under control and by the time we get up that way, hopefully they will be all over with.

Steve recently bought this little small Coleman travel grill. This is a smaller lightweight version for outdoor cooking. Normally he takes his big Weber Baby Q and his Blackstone griddle. But because we are trying to save on weight and space, he compromised and now he is just going to cook during this Summer on a small tabletop Coleman.  It's kind of nice with a extra burner on the side. We can cook items in pots and pans outdoors if it's too hot inside.

Many years ago we've become friends with Seann from Saskatoon. We have met up with him over that time while camping around California and Arizona and New Mexico. He is the one who suggested we come to this city campground. He came over to join us for dinner along with his best little buddy, Wally. 

Nick and Wally got along great. They both made sure that they got their equal share of treats that kept appearing out of Seann's pocket.

Wally made sure that he was the prime number one dog on his dad's lap.... Take that, Nicholas!

It was great to sit around and catch up with Seann. We reminisced over all of the people that we used to camp with at The Slabs in California, and other places where we've spent time together. It's a shame to know so many of them are gone now. But we really enjoyed going over old stories and laughing about things in the past. Seann has done a great job maintaining his pickup truck and his RV that he has used all of this while since we first met him. He generally spends the winters down in the United States in the Southwest. He is a very practical boondocking RVer and he also hosts during the summertime in various provincial parks around Canada.

Too soon it was time to say goodbye. It was getting chilly out and Seann and Wally were on their way back home.

A few minutes later he texted me to look out to the west! Sure enough, we were treated with an amazing beautiful sunset.

What a perfect way 

to end a perfect day

If you would like to see the video from today, here is the link to my YouTube channel:

208 miles travel today 

1,277 total miles so far

North To Alaska - Day 4 - Yorkton City Park, Saskatchewan

We are driving along today from Manitoba and crossing into Saskatchewan. The scenery is beautiful and very similar to North Dakota going into Montana in the United States. We are just above that area on the map. 

Although it is flat, the terrain has it's own special beauty. We were driving along and saw what we thought were funny looking white caps on this pond. But they were black and white? We got a little closer...

Yep, the whole thing was dotted with Canadian geese! They were all bobbing along in the water. It was quite a windy day so they were all hunkered down and hanging out in the safe spot on the pond. They are on their route north for the summer season.

They all look kind of funny spaced out and evenly proportioned I think looking for stuff to eat in the pond below. I have a feeling there's not a lot left behind other than goose poop?

It was getting close to lunch time, So we scouted out a little park down in a gully off the main route. It was called Portage Spillway Park. It was nestled down in among the trees where a river was cutting through the land. There was a dam and rushing water below the dam.

The little parking lot was perfect for us to settle in and make some lunch. We did see three young men and a woman come to do a little fishing. They only stayed a little while and left again. No fish?

We walked over by the river and it was quite rapidly churning and dashing past us. I think with the rains the last few days it really increased the flow.

We walked further downstream, but I backtracked to get my good camera. It was easier to take long distance photos than with the little GoPro.

A little ways downstream there was a cluster of pelicans cuddled on this island. We think they were nabbing up all the fish that were spawning in the river?

A few of them were braving the wind and the rushing water to float out in the middle of the river.

If you are wondering what that lump is on the beak.... Google says:

"If you're an American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), it's obvious, grow a large bump on your bright orange-yellow beak. The bony protrusion (also called a caruncle) grows on both male and female pelicans and is believed be an ornament to attract an ideal breeding partner."

Nicholas enjoyed a little bit of beach time and resting in the sand. It was nice to take a little bit of a break from the winds. We were having some pretty hefty gusts up on the flatlands of the highway. 

We walked back up along the shore towards the dam. It was a nice break in the afternoon to get out and stretch our legs. While traveling, we've got to remember to do this more often.

As we got settled back into the motorhome, we started making a video while sitting at the seats in the cockpit. It seems that my wireless mics are not connecting properly to the transmitter.  So we decided to just record a segment while sitting at the dash without anything running. Here's the video if you want to see what we discovered next: 

Steve was looking out at the picnic area and saw a little critter digging a hole right by the fire pit. Sure enough, it was our first prairie dog! He or she was so cute.  So that's another one to add to our wildlife list...

We got back up on the highway and saw two bison alongside of the road. We're pretty sure they might have been part of a game farm, because there was a fence nearby. I don't think we were seeing wild ones. At least not yet. I think we have to get further north.

It was pretty windy, so we checked ahead to the next town to see if there were any campgrounds available. There was a Walmart, but we were kind of thinking it'd be nice to get away from a parking lot and stay at a campsite. We found a city campground in Yorkton. The price wasn't too bad at $40 Canadian if you use credit card $37 cash. After the exchange rate it was only $28.93 for us. Not too bad for a site with electric and water.

The temperature had gone up to about 84° while we were on the highway. The motorhome was pretty hot when we got there, so we plugged in and turned on the air conditioning. Steve set out the lawn chairs for the evening and we relaxed. The campground wasn't really all that nice. The bathroom and shower buildings were cement block and pretty moldy and gross. Steve went into the men's side he said it was not acceptable even for him. So we opted to just take our own showers in our own rig with our own water. That's okay, that's what we have an RV for.

We heated up the rest of our wonderful Godfather's pizza for supper. It tastes just as good being reheated in the oven on the second day. The winds have died down a little bit and it was a nice breezy evening to sit outside and relax.

We did notice that a lot of the other campers were some kind of construction working crew. They all came back at the same time and they all hit the showers. They all seem to know each other and gather together for a Saturday night unwinding and letting off a little steam. They weren't too loud. But we could tell that they were all together and they were there probably on a monthly basis. 

In another part of the campground there were about 40 tents with boy scouts. They must have been out on day trips or hikes or activities when we first got there. They came back in the evening and they weren't too rowdy either. 

We decided to just curl up inside and watch some YouTube's and go to sleep. 

The dense morning, as we were getting ready to exit the park, we pulled up to the dump station. 

Ummmmmm

Imagine our surprise when the camp host came over and told us what to do to dump our tanks... We were a little shocked to say the least.

Right next to his host campsite, there was a large opening and he told us don't even use your hose. Just pull the lever and let it fly!!!! 

Steve asked him if he was sure? Isn't that going to stink? But the host said go right ahead and do it. That's how they do it there. I can't imagine camping right next to that? And right across from it is the office... And all the boy scouts who were packing up at the end of their weekend. Did they have to smell that too? We have no idea.

It's on the YouTube video link above if you wanted to watch it yourself. I didn't actually film the contents of our black tank going down, but you get the idea.

We hit the highway and headed west. We don't think we are going to recommend Yorkton City campground to anyone. 

Stay tuned as we head to Saskatoon!! 

336 mi today 

1,069 mi total