Tuesday, July 28, 2015

The grand finale

       We had a good time staying at Browns Bay resort.  Unfortunately, they had poor wifi so we didn't post much.  We hope that you took a look at the web cam and maybe saw us on the web ( Brown bay resort RV cam ).  I had hoped to take the Kayak out into the little bay in front of the RVs.  But the day after we got there high winds came up and gale force wind warnings went out for the channel. Here's a picture of the marina.  The cluster of  buildings in the left center is the marina, a restroom and a restaurant that serves all you can eat warm Dungeness crab on certain nights.

Browns Bay Marina.  Notice the floating seawall.
The current here is wicked.  The middle channel flows fast but creates huge eddies and causes white caps.  With the high winds, the currents were flowing strongly in the bay in front of the RVs.  We watched one evening, as a tug pulling a barge of lumber was forced to turn around as it fought the winds.  Also, cruise ships went by on a regular basis.  They looked really cool at night. 

We met some fellow RVers, Jeff and Lois from Canada.  Jeff recommended a water park and aviation museum on McMinnville, Oregon.  Lois also gave us a bunch of fresh veggies she had grown.

The first morning there, we say a humpback whale feeding in front of the rv.   Pictures didn't turn out well.  There were several eagles in the area and a group of seals that floated around the marina. 


The beach in front of our RV
We had dinner at the restaurant.  Devon, Alex and I all had the all you can eat crab.  It was great of course.  I planned on coming back and trying their Salmon burger which according to other RVers was supposed to be great.

Devon with one of the many carvings in the area
One night of especially high winds, a cruise ship came by around 3:30am.   The next day we found out the sea wall had broken.  They managed to tie one end off at the marina and the other end off against the rocks.  The next day, a tug boat was supposed to drag the ends out.  The tug captain, I was told, decided to pull from the middle of the marina line, so the end would get caught in the current and float out.  Unfortunately, he forgot to untie the end tied to the marina!  When he couldn't get the sea wall to float out, he went to full power.  He pulled the marina away from the bathroom which pulled away from the restaurant.  Water and propane lines broke and a pontoon gave in under the bathroom.  The workers managed to keep the bathroom from sinking.   But the marina and restaurant had to close.  

A few days later they tried again.  We watched them weld the sea wall back together.

Sea wall being welded back into place.

The Browns bay packing company is on the north side of the Marina.  They clean and package farm raised salmon and send it as far south as Sacramento, California. We heard they gave tours of the plant and walked over.  We met the owner of the company, Dave.  He told us we were supposed to schedule an appointment with the RV office.  Dave then gave us a tour himself!  It was a fun tour.  The kids got salmon blood on them as Dave explained and pointed out the various machines.  The fish were pulled from the boat, cleaned, weighed and put on ice in eight minutes or less.
Browns Bay Packing Company

No one seems happy with me taking their picture...except Devon!

Salmon Cleaning machine

That's Dave on the right!

The RV park also had a nice clubhouse with a pool table and a Foosball table. We played lots of Foosball.  Near our last day there we tripped the 30 amp fuse and lost our shore power.  We could not get it to work again. So  we had to run our generator a lot because in spite of the wind and being on the water, it was still warm. Between our generator and the kids we drove one of our neighbors a little batty.  He testily asked me when I was going to shut down the generator and that he had "not got any peace and quiet all day!"  I sympathized with him because with our kids, I did not have any peace or quiet all day!!

Anyway, we left the next day and went to Campbell to have the RV looked at.   The tech plugged in our shore power and of course it worked right off the bat. So we headed to the ferry to catch a ride to Vancouver.

Lucy thought since we drove the kids crazy with lakes and ocean and mountains we should try something more kid oriented.  We drove to Bothell, Washington and stayed at an RV park there.  Me, Alexander and Devon went to the space needle and the Sci-Fi museum in Seattle. 
The Shadow machine at the Sci-Fi museum made us into monsters!

Devon got into an argument with Daffy!
Alexander and Devon weren't that impressed with the Space Needle.  I could have spent much more time but they got bored pretty quickly.
Going up!

Spiders on the roof below

Free photo!
After the Space Needle, we caught the monorail and went to the fish market.  We had a nice dinner and headed back.

After Seattle, we drove to Gaston, Oregon to zip line at Tree to Tree adventure park.  Lucy kept her feet on the ground but the rest of us had a great time in the trees.




After that, we drove to McMinnville, Oregon to the Evergreen Aviation Museum and the Wings and Waves waterpark. They actually flew a 747 to McMinnville and used a crane to put it on the roof.  Now, waterslides come out of the sides.  The kids spent all day there until it closed.  I went to the museum which has the Spruce Goose, a SR-71 black bird and a full size ICBM missile, all inside.  

We drove south and did one more zip line tour at Rogue Valley Zipline tour.  The longest zipline was 1/4 mile long.  Devon wore the Go-pro.  We haven't looked at the video yet.

Finally, we made it home.  We put around 7500 miles on the RV.  We had some electrical problems but we never broke down. One time in Fairbanks, Lucy counted and found that 3 out of 4 cars had cracked windshields.  I fully expected to get a cracked windshield on the road but Gulliver never took a bad hit to the windshield.  

It is nice to be home again and sleeping in our beds.  We had a great trip.  We hope you have enjoyed our blog.  We will start up again on our next big trip!

Good Travels all, 
Gordon.










Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Tofino sunshine

Hi all,

After 3 days of rain, we finally got some beautiful sunshine. Yesterday, the kids spent all day on the beach and then we caught the shuttle to Tofino.
View from the beach as the fog cleared

Of course, there was a lot of playing in the sand. And the obligatory being buried.

Lucy and Leia rescuing Nancy

Today, we are off to the east side of the island where we will have an RV spot on the coast.  We will watch the cruise ships go by on the Inside Passage. 

Good travels,

Gordon

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Matanuska mishaps

Hi all,

We are on Vancouver Island now but we had an interesting time getting here.  We took the Tok cut off north from anchorage.  We stopped at Matanuska and walked on the glacier which is even more fun than it sounds! However, on the way to the glacier  we hit a pothole that really shook us up.

On the road afterwards we stopped and watched a moose feeding in a pond.  Then we hit some unmarked frost heaves that sent us flying! We later stopped to eat and found the generator would not start.  Eventually, we found the battery terminal connector had snapped at the generator post.   A short time later, we found the coach 12 volt system had gone out which also included the fridge and freezer!

We drove into Tok around 9 PM and learned the mechanic wouldo be in around 0830.  We drove to the shop, thinking we would boondocked in the lot.  We met another couple already there in their 2005 ford Winnie.   They had blown their transmission and the new one was still two days out. We saw a nice RV park just down the road and went there.  We were happy to find out that our shore power still worked.  I checked all the 12 out fuses and pulled and replaced the coach fuse.  In the morning, the 12 volt system came right on when we disconnected from the shore power.

We still went to the mechanic to see if the could fix the generator and give us some advice on the 12 volt system. However, they were replacing an RV radiator and working on another diesel pusher that lost power to all of it's dashboard gages.   We realized it was going to be a while so we were on our way. I eventually was able to put a new connector on the cable and the generator works again.

We drove for five days, 6 to 8 hours per day. We stopped at on park that had a swimming pool, what a treat!

Now we are in Tofino,  Vancouver Island. It has not rained here since March and fire restrictions and water rationing are in effect. So, of course, it rains the first day we get here and is supposed to rain for the next 3 days!

Still, it is beautiful  here with rain forest and ocean all around.  Will up-load some pictures soon...wifi is iffy.

Good travels all,

Gordon

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Kenai Lake

Hi all,

Well, we spent a week at Kenai lake. The lower kenai night has rainbow trout hitting. Unfortunately, Kenai lake doesn't.  But the scenery here is beautiful.  We have mountains all around us.  We have watched bears walking on the mountain (with binoculars).


We all took a six hour cruise out of Seward.  We saw humpback whales, lots of birds, porpoises,and a Calving glacier.

Becky and Wayne met us after the cruise and treated us to pizza!  The next day, Lucy and I went on a four hour kayaking trip without the kids! It was great. Becky  and Wayne took the kids to the wild life center.

Tomorrow, begin our one week trip,  heading to Vancouver Island.  We to drive 2310 miles in 6 days.







Good travels all,
Gordon

Monday, June 29, 2015

Halibut & Mac n Cheese

Hi all,

We have been having a relaxing couple of days. With few things thrown in. Alex decided to make himself some mac and cheese in the microwave. Unfortunately, he forgot to add water. Burned macaroni smells really bad. The whole rv filled with smoke and we had to open the windows for quite a while.

On the other hand, the beach has been beautiful we have seen up to five bald eagles on the beach at one time. also we done some fishing for king salmon but have been unsuccessful.

Today, Alex and I went halibut fishing. the limit is 2, however, only one can be over 29 inches. Alex caught his first over fairly quickly. I caught my over at 43 inches. A short time later, I hooked a really large halibut that was over 50 pounds. however we did not bring him on the boat as it was too big. I caught my under a short time later and then Alex caught a large halibut that he had to release since he had his over also. Also caught several cod on the light tackle which the boat crew was happy to keep for bait.

In the end, after the three fish were cleaned we had 27 pounds of halibut meat.

Today, we will be heading to Lake Kenai  for some camping and trout fishing.

breakfast  at boardwalk bakery

looking back at Homer...there was supposed  to be storm, so we only went out 9 miles


Alex catching cod 2 at a time

The final count


Today, we are raiding Safeway in Homer and Lucy has a hair appointment.   Then it is off to Kenai  lake.

Good travels, 
Gordon










Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Homer,Alaska

Hi all,

Yesterday we drove to Portage Lake and after a brief hike we drove down to Homer. We are currently staying on the Homer Spit at the Heritage RV park. It is very beautiful here. Bald eagles have been landing on the beach in front of us. Leia chased a few eagles and seagulls.  We have seen sea otters and seals and people catching salmon. We are looking forward to having a great stay here.

View from Gulliver
Good travels,
Gordon

Alyeska ski resort

Hi all,



A few days ago, we drove with Beth and Mike to Alyeska resort.  It was a beautiful drive getting there.  The resort is about 45 minutes south of Anchorage.  Everyone but Lucy took the tram to the top. Lucy decided to walk with Leia to the top.

The view from the top was awesome. We hiked to a small glacier and the kids played in the snow.  Then we went down and had dinner at Chair 5.  That was great also.

Lucy and Leia had their own adventure, running into a couple of black bears!  They did not make it to the top of the mountain but she saw bears sitting on top of cars

Good travels,
Gordon


Friday, June 19, 2015

Gulliver spa day

Hi all,

We spent today relaxing.  We  washed Gulliver (thanks to Mike and his power washer) and I lubed her slide outs.  Jeremiah came by and said hello.

Tomorrow we are going to Alyeska resort and riding the tram to the top...At least that's plan a.

Good travels,

Gordon



Jeremiah and Lucy

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Hatcher’s pass

Hi all,

Today, Beth, Jennifer and the family all hopped in Gulliver and we drove to Hatchers pass. It was a beautiful drive into the mountains with a mountain stream flowing just next to the highway.  At the end of the road was the independence mine. It was a gold mine and ran until 1951. It was shut down after that it was let go to ruin.  now there is a nice park there was some great hiking trails.
 At the end of the road is the Independence  Mine


Lucy, Beth and Jennifer in Gulliver

tomorrow, we are going to sit around all day and do nothing. it will be nice just to have a nice relaxing day without driving somewhere.

Good travels all,

Gordon

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Fires and pictures

Hi all,
Writing a blog on a phone is proving to be challenging. So I will keep this short. We spent two days at byers lake. We kayaked and fished.  No fish but we had fun. We spent one night as an RV park at Montana creek. There was a big fire in Willow which closed the Parks highway. The family running the RV park had to leave when they learned of a fire near their house. I later heardthat a helicopter and plane dropped water and put the small fire out. Unfortunately, Willows was declared a disaster area.

The highway reopened andwe  were able to drive to Wasilla to Beth and Mikes house and have dinner. Becky and Wayne came over to say hello as well.
So that is a quick synopsis of what's going on.  Below are some pictures from the trip.





Monday, June 15, 2015

Fishing and relaxing

hi all,

we made it to byers Lake, in Denali State Park yesterday. Must have put in the GPS coordinates wrong because we overshot by 20 miles and had to turn back. still that is not much of a setback.

took the time to figure out how to access the blog from my phone so will try to upload a couple of pictures.

below, is a picture of Alex and Evan at the ice Museum in Fairbanks.

Fairbanks had one of the best visitor centers I have ever seen. You have a nice museum with some great exhibits and the inside Plus the Park Service is located inside so you could ask questions. Below is a picture of Devon and Alex in front of the visitor center.



we are going to spend another two days here at Byers Lake. My sister Beth in Wasilla informed me that there is a 40 mile stretch of freeway closed between our location in Wasilla due to a wildfire.

since there is no other way around to Wasilla, we will have to wait for the road to open before we can get there. Darn another few days of having to fish and kayak in the lake. Pictures to follow.

Good travels,
Gordon

Friday, June 12, 2015

No pictures this time

Hi all,

We made it to Liard hot springs. this is a provincial park it is very nice we had a private campsite. The hot springs for awesome. The kids spent  all day playing in them. Lucy will post the pictures when she can. We are having trouble uploading pictures do to slow wifi at r_v parks.

we spent last night at the discovery yukon r_v park on the White River. it was army base number 3 when army was building the alcan during world war 2. It has some old world war 2 vehicles and a landing strip which is still used.

Crossed into Alaska this morning, June 12th. we had no problems but we did have to show leias rabies certificate. we drove to fairbanks. We will be spending two nights here.  We have around 2600 road miles on Gulliver. And are getting just over 6 mpg.gas prices in the yukon were very high. 1 dollar 29 and more per liter at some gas stations. For those interested, there are 3.79 liters per u.s. gallon.

Day after tomorrow, we will head to Denali  state park and stay for two days.

take care all, good travel,

Gordon




Sunday, June 7, 2015

In the middle of.....

Hi all,

Well the crossing at Sumas was easy.  It must have been our honest faces! We drove to Hells gate. But the tram was $22 to ride per person. Being that it was only a 500 foot ride down we decided to skip it and save our Canadian money.

So we have been doing a lot driving. Last night we boondocked at a rest stop near Quesenol, called Hush Lake. Then we drove to Prince George to fuel up at Costco. IMPORTANT point here!  Canadian Costco's don't accept  American Express or Visa. Then we drove to Dawson Creek and are spending the night here tonight.  Tomorrow, drive 9 hours

Selfie

A picture of Lucy... or at least her hand!






Some confusion,  posted this under an old blog name.  Hopefully, it's gone now...but I thought it was gone before.

Good travels all
Gordon

RV Tour



Smokey Rest Stop Washington

June 6th, 2015 we started out again.  Just before leaving Gordon surprised me with a basket of Godiva chocolates to celebrate our 17 year anniversary (Gordon got his anniversary gift before we left)!

We filled our gas tank at Marysville Washington.

We stopped at Bellingham Washington where we exchanged US currency for Canadian currency.



Anniversary gift from Gordon at the Smokey Rest Stop Washington.  Look how big, green and clean the rest stop is.  Happy Anniversary!