ONE MORE DAY ON THE ROAD!

We are in Kearney, NE. tonight. Our last night on the road! The good Lord willing - and the creeks don't rise - we'll arrive in OKC tomorrow afternoon. Just 445 miles to go! In our travels, that's a piece of cake!

Maybe we'll get back to this area for some fishing in the near future. The terrain between Great Falls south to Livingston was a pleasure to drive through. The road followed the twists and turns of the Belt River.



Working Our Way Back to OK!

We crossed the frontier today: Back into the USA! Our last night in Canada was spent in Red Deer, AB. Red Deer is a pretty big town and yet we had never heard of it. It made us realize how little we know about our neighbors to the north. We passed around Edmondton to get there. It's the capitol of Alberta (we knew that!)!

Today we passed through Calgary on our way south. Now that's a really big town, eh! A few hours later we crossed the border into Montana, and then to Great Falls. We're staying the night in a KOA kabin. One of the nicest KOA campgrounds we have ever stayed in.



We took a nature walk overlooking the expanse southeast
of Great Falls.

 Tomorrow we continue heading for OKC.

We met up with a few horses along the walk. They were mighty friendly, too.

From Denali

Our travels have taken us to Denali Park in Alaska; from there to Fairbanks, and then down the entire length of the Alaska Highway (AlCan), to Dawson Creek, BC, where we are ensconsed tonight. That's 1488 miles! We can only imagine the hardships experienced by the Army Corps of Engineers and the workers  who carved out the highway in 1942 - 1943. Many improvements have been made since then. But there are many segments that remain just as they were origninally made.

Denali Park was impressive. Even in the rain! Actually, the most memorable part involved the drive on the Denali National Highway going to the park. The highway was 123 miles of pot-holed dirt and gravel. But fortunately, the car withstood some bodacious chuckholes along the way, and we came out dirty but unscathed. The good part? Very few others chose that route so we felt we "owned" the road!

The night before we went to the park, we stayed in a quaint little cabin about 15 miles south of the entrance. We spent a half day and went to the sled dog training area for a demonstration. Then took a bus ride a short way into the park. Saw a moose cow and her calf cross the road, and later a bullmoose sauntering along in the brush. Earlier we saw a caribou dash across the road.

Later, we decided to start the journey back to the lower 48. And that's a whole 'nuther story!!




For "Flatlanders", especially in August, this kind

of scenery never gets tiresome.




Brown bears hunting for their supper.

  The best time to spot wildlife is early evening or early morning. We spotted these critters at twilight. They ignored us!



Our cabin at Creekside where we stayed the night
before we headed for Denali Park.



The car got a generous coating of Denali highway dirt.




See those "pointy" trees? Those are Black Spruce,
and they dominate the landscsape in the Northwest.



Some Pictures



Somewhere in Colorado.



Hot Sulphur Springs

 

A DAY IN GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK



7210 feet above Jenny Lake. I felt like I had scaled
Mt. Everest!

 We're staying at a motel in Jackson, WY for a couple of nights so we can take advantage of the myriad wonders of Jackson Hole. We spent ALL DAY driving out of Jackson, north into Teton National Park. The folks at the Visitors Center outlined a trip we could take via car and foot. Although we didn't encounter any unique wildlife (afterall, we have herds of bison at the Witchita Wilderness in Oklahoma), the Teton mountains were spectacular! One of the highlights of our day: a climb up to Inspiration Point at an altitude of 7200+ feet. For us flat-landers it seemed a heck of lot higher.

Joan opted out just short of the summit. But I forged ahead to the top. I have to admit I am no longer the mountain goat I thought I was back in the carefree summer days in Idaho while working for the Forest Service (1955 & 1956) when my brother, Mike, and good friend, Joe Ulliman, thought nothing of hiking up-country and surprising the folks in fire towers atop the many mountains in the Sawtoooth Range of the Rocky Mountains.

Anyway, I was determined to make it to the top! (I overlooked the fact that some of the people passing by me were toting their young'uns on their backs!) Well, I finally reached the top. Thank goodness for light-weight walking sticks!

We made a final stop at the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve. But we were too pooped to take another 2 hour trek. Had to get back and do laundry!

COLORADO - UTAH - WYOMING

Another day of spectacular scenery! Driving in a NW direction, we started out today from Rifle, CO. Spent the night there, enjoying the creature comforts of a first class motel, and a prime-rib dinner! Not to mention, a delicious dark beer at a local brew pub!



Just one of many show stoppers as we drove through
the area.



From Rifle, we drove up to Dinosaur National Park, and spent the afternoon touring around the area. Absolutely incredible geologic formations: truncated anticlines and synclines, peppered with dinosaur fossils.

We ended our day at a KOA in Lyman, Wyoming. Grilled a couple of steaks, had a tossed salad and a few glasses of wine. Oh Yeah!



Split Mountain in Monument
Park.



Tomorrow we plan to head north to Jackson Hole and the Tetons.  I can't recall how many times we've said we're glad we're not pulling a trailer as we have 5 hairpin turns in a row!  Sophie is enjoying being with the Madison's and we are having a great unencumbered trip. 



Lyman, WY. Steaks on the grill!



A FRIDAY DRIVE THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS



Blogging from our mountain-top

campsite.

 Last night was spent in a KOA campground in Durango, CO.
We started our drive north and went through the most mountainous terrain we have ever experienced! Beautiful!



Mountains as seen from Molas Pass between Durango and

Silverton.





Durango CO,



Our KOA Kabin in Amarillo. Neat little place.



We drove through some interesting country today on Rt.550 in NM.  Instead of flat scrub land we saw mountains and mesas.Once again Ed did all the driving.  The BMW is very comfortable, and I do plan to get behind the wheel on the open road--perhaps tomorrow.  We are 7000 feet up and it is in the 70ies which is a welcome change.  We went to the fanciest Wal-Mart I've ever been in in Durango.  We got fruit, vegetables, and steaks for dinner this evening.  We think we'll just drive on north tomorrow.  We want to visit Jackson Hole and Yellowstone.









ON THE ROAD AGAIN . . .

Willy got it right! We're back on the road again! This time it's just Joan and me sans Sophie; sans trailer. (We do miss Sophie.) We're headed West. Spending the night in a small KOA cabin in Amarillo, TX. I-40 pretty much parallels old Rte 66. But a heck of a lot smoother going than what the depression-era Okies had to contend with. The terrain might be the same. But everything else is up-to-date and convenient for traveling west.


Heading out from OKC!

 Tomorrow we're headed for Gallup, NM.

PLAN B

We have now implemented "Plan B"! 

Due to a few unexpected glitches at the beginning of our trek, we experienced the following: 

Nothing like a couple of steaks,  pork chops
and a refreshing G&T while planning the
next segment of our trip.

1. The trailer stand grounded out - i.e. dragged - when turning into a service area, camp ground, etc., 2. A warning light came on in NW Kansas, and we were directed to a BMW service center in either Denver or Colorado Springs, (we  opted for Colorado Springs.) Turns out it was nothing serious; a malfunctioning fuel pressure gizmo. But it still had to be corrected. We decided to get the trailer hitch flip-flopped to raise it up a few inches just enough to eliminate the dragging. I spent way too much time on my back underneath the car, and that was not good!  3. Finally, our dog, Sophie, was  having a stressful time. 

Bottom line: It was time to regroup and rethink our plans. We returned to OKC and parked the trailer. We plan to sell it when we return.  We made arrangements with our good friends, John and Sue Madison, to let Sophie join their household while we hit the road again. We don't know if we'll make it to Alaska this time or not. But . . . who knows?

Day Three - Colorado Springs



Lunch Break.



Not that we're trying to make time on our way to Alaska. But we had to spend the night in a KOA south of Colorado Springs due to an unknown glitch in the engine. Joan and Sophie are waiting for me at the campground while I anxiously await the verdict at a BMW service center here in town. Keeping our fingers crossed.



Joan checks our route while Sophie helps!



August 7, 2111

We are in the final stages of packing and plan to be on the road tomorrow.  Last night we attended the wedding of Abby and John Pettifer and talked to several well-traveled people about our trip.  We learned there is a Grand Canyon in Yellowstone that should not be missed, nor should the Grand Tetons.  But now we are in the throes of what to take.  My feeling is there are WalMarts everywhere (probably not in in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone), so we will be able to purchase those important forgotten items.  Joan

Two Kids Waiting For Christmas Morning!

We're just like two kids anticipating Christmas morning!  The trailer hitch and wiring will be installed on Friday.  We can't wait to get away from this infernal hot weather.  It's 113 dgF in the shade at 6:30 PM!

The Countdown Phase

The hitch will be installed this week! Just waiting for the car paperwork to arrive. We should be on our way soon!

Alaska! Now or Never!: In the Countdown Phase!

Alaska! Now or Never!


"We're in the process of accumulating things we'll need during the trip. Still waiting on the title and licensing paperwork for the car. The hitch will be installed this week. As soon as we get our title, licensing, etc., we'll be on our way!