TravelStream™ news feed for member vwinans on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/vwinans en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:13:02 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vwinans/1/1253671010/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vwinans/1/1253671010/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vwinans/1/1253671010/tpod.html Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:13:02 -0400 Back to Alaska with the Backseat Beagle

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East Grand Forks, Minnesota, United States

Havre, Montana to East Grand Forks, Minnesota - are you kidding me? It was a very stressful day for yours truly. Someone let a fly into the truck, and I sat on it or something and it buzzed just terrible and scared me half to death. I thought it was a bee! I tried to get into the front seat and into Val's lap but no go. Dave wouldn't let me ride on the console so I was forced into the backseat with the beast. I refused to ride in my bed (where the original attack occured) so I went as far as I could go to the other side of the seat and watched for the beast to attack again. Everyone knows that those things are just full of germs! We stopped at a rest area, and I ran around in the grass for awhile. But when I got back in the truck it was still there - waiting for me. I was so nervous I hardly got any sleep at all.

The plan was to stop for the night at Minot, North Dakota but true to practice this group decides to go on just a little further. Then we could not find a campground so we end up going all the way to East Grand Forks, Minnesota. We had our hopes up at every little town we went through that we would find a place, but we found nothing until we got here at 7:30 at night.

As we were driving across North Dakota we saw UPS - nothing for miles either way and then UPS. We figure that's where they assign troublesome employees. Lisa, if UPS offers you a promotion to North Dakota don't take it!

We could possibly be home tomorrow. It would be quite a long drive so maybe we will stay somewhere in the UP and then scoot home Thursday morning.

Your fly sensitive friend,
Remington Beagle
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Havre, Montana, United States

Havre is pronouned have - er for those of you who may not be familiar with Montana city names. It's a pretty cool place with good places to eat and a casino in every building - well nearly every building. Dave had prime rib and Val had a steak for less than they paid in Denali Park for hot dogs. They saved so much on dinner that they blew it in the casino, but it was fun.

There was extra security at the border, at least more than we have seen in the past. One border patrol guard took the paperwork while a second one was opening trunks and checking the undersides of vehicles with a mirror on a stick. We didn't have a trunk so she poked around the bed of the truck. There was a tense moment when she came up with one of our diamond willow sticks, but the guard behind the glass recognized it as diamond willow and said, "It's ok." Whew. No threatened arrests, no bribes were necessary, and we were soon rollin' down highway 15 in Montana.

In between cities there's not much to see in Montana. Huge fields of grain that go for miles, occasional groups of antelope too far away for a picture, and once in a great while you might see a tree or a barn - those are rare.

Once again the plan was to stay in Shelby, Montana, but it was only 2:30 by the time we arrived there so we moved on to Havre. Tomorrow we plan to get to Minot, N.D. but who knows...

Willie and I are...On the road again,

Remington Beagle
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Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada

September 17 :

We understood that we would be able to complete our check-out process on Wednesday in order to leave bright and early on the 17th. That was not the case. We reported to Human Resources on Wednesday afternoon, and Sara Lynn said that we could not check out if we were working that day. So we carried the box of shirts, vest and jackets, the first aid kit, and the campground host file box back to the truck and drove over to the WAC (Wilderness Access Center) and turned all the stuff in to Jason. Jason says that we have to come back in the morning when we are no longer working and sign some stuff, but that the building will be open at 5:30 a.m. As it turned out we overslept and didn't get into the WAC until 8:30. After the obligatory signing we are finally on the road.

We saw some moose driving out of the park, and some more on the way to Fairbanks. After a quick stop to "grocery up" at the Safeway in North Pole we are headed south on the Richardson Highway. Soon we will be on the Alaska Highway, formerly known as the Alcan. Before we get there we have a close call with a moose in the road, and then looking in the side view mirrors we see three more come out on the road making 8 the count on moose for the day.

The travel plan is to make it as far as a campground called Border City. The man at the counter puts us out in a muddy field, but just like Brer Rabbit we are happy in the briar patch because I got to run my legs off. I can’t tell you how good that felt after riding all day. The campground is quite close to the American customs, but about 20 miles from the Canadian customs. We wonder why the two customs offices are so far apart.

September 18:

The lady at the Canadian customs is in a rare mood when we get there the next morning. She announces that she has not had her coffee yet, and is not happy that the paperwork for Dave’s rifle has to be re-done. Once inside he softens her up with a Michigan State Police patch, coin and key chain. She makes quick work of the gun paperwork, never asks him any other questions, and promises to send him some stuff. Val and I could not believe how quickly Dave was done and we were back on the road.

The plan for day two is to make it to Teslin in the Yukon. There is no traffic, I mean NO traffic, and we scoot right along so when we get to Teslin it is only 3:00. We fuel up, check out the gift shop, and decide that we can make it as far as Watson Lake without any trouble. Well there was trouble – we had a blowout on one of the trailer tires at kilometer 1160 on the Alaska Highway. We were about 40 miles from Teslin, and 100 miles to go to get to Watson Lake. It only took Val about half an hour to change the tire…did I say Val? Excuse me, Dave and I got the tire changed while Val watched for traffic. No worries, we could have blocked the road completely. Only two motor homes and one pickup truck passed us in that amount of time. By the time we get to Watson Lake it is too late to get a new tire. We set up camp at the parking lot campground. I get some cold kibble while Dave and Val walk across to the hotel for dinner.

September 19:

We are packed up and ready to go early in the morning so we will have time to find someplace in Watson Lake that sells tires and resume our travels before too much of the day has gone by. As luck would have it we find the most unique place! It is difficult to find a place that sells tires and breakfast, but we found one! Bee Jay’s has a café on one end, and tires on the other. Everything goes through one cash register so you pay for your scrambled eggs and Goodyear’s all on one bill. There prices are a little high, but I’m always willing to pay a little extra for ambiance – what about you?

Secure in the knowledge that we have a spare tire again, we leave Watson Lake for our destination at Liard Hot Springs, but when we get to Liard it is raining and we decide not to stop. We move on toward our destination for the day of Fort Nelson, B.C., but when we get to Fort Nelson it is only 3:00 p.m. (Do you see a theme developing here?) “Let’s go as far as say Prophet River, or may Sikanni Chief.” Sure. The problem is that Prophet River looks abandoned, and there is road and bridge construction right in front of the Sikanni campground so we pass those by. Pink Mountain will be open. We stop for fuel at Pink Mountain, and Val says she does not like the looks of the campground so we move on to the next one up the road. It’s closed, and the next one, and the next one. So here we are at Charlie Lake which is about 50 miles from Dawson Creek. Yikes!

The Charlie Lake campground is very nice with a nice big grassy area for dogs. The more urgent problems taken care of we start thinking about supper – we’re starved. Problem is that we only have 30 amp power at this camp site, and the microwave will only run on half power. So it’s Dinty Moore Beef Stew for supper, and you’d be surprised how delicious it is.

We did pass through some unbelievably beautiful country today. We saw 8 woodland bison, and 8 or so caribou, and one dead moose by the side of the road.

September 20:

We have had uneventful day of travel going south through the beautiful province of Alberta. We saw some Elk (on an Elk farm), some buffalo (on a buffalo ranch), some Alpaca’s in a field, and a dead deer by the side of the road. Our plan is to travel as far as Leduc, AB and stay at the Leduc Lions Campground. Well you know about the best plans of mice and men…and beagle plans aren’t much better - the campground is full up tonight so we continue south on 2A and end up at Wetaskiwin Lions RV Campground. It’s an ok place. We aren’t near railroad tracks or an airport, and the campground has a fish pond. Catch and release only, but that’s ok because we are having TV dinners tonight minus the TV.

Hang on to your hat it’s windy, but we keep making southward progress and plan to be in the good ole’ USA tomorrow. That is if they let us back in. The plan is to stay in or near Shelby, Montana, USA.

See you soon,

Remington Beagle
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Healy, Alaska, United States

09-09-09

Val had a good day on her birthday. She met with Jane Lakeman, and chose some items from the park archives she wished to have. Jane scanned them and then copied them to disc for Val. She got some pretty cool stuff.

Her day actually started out well before she met with Jane. On the way to park headquarters she got in a moose jam and ended up with some pretty cool moose pictures. "Not another moose picture!" you say. Yes, but very nice ones.

Val met another lady at the archives who wants to introduce her to Jack Coghill. Mr. Coghill was one of the signers of the original Alaska state constitution, a state senator, and there is a bridge named for him – the Jack Coghill Bridge to the Interior! In addition to all of that his father was a contractor for entertainment at Savage Camp in the 30's. Val is excited and hopes very much that this meeting pans out.

We are back to work on 09-10 for our last seven days as campground hosts. We are both happy and sad. I’m sad because I’m not looking forward to 8 or 9 days on the road when we leave. I hope Val and Dave don’t stop at any of those parking lot campgrounds on the way home. I have bathroom issues…

Your sensitive friend,

Remington Beagle
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Healy, Alaska, United States

Last trip out into the park…

Val has wanted to go to Wonder Lake for two summers, and Dave does not want to ride the bus. As the season comes to a close, Val has decided to take the bus to Wonder Lake by herself. It turns out to be a good choice. Val says there is not a lot of narrative to go with the story of her day; the pictures tell the story.

They saw everything on the park road except...A BEAGLE!

Your rare breed,

Remington Beagle

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Fairbanks, Alaska, United States

What a day we had in Fairbanks today! We started the day with a visit from Candy Waugaman. Val talked to her on the phone, and she said it was difficult to find her house she would just come to the hotel and get us. She arrived about 10 minutes later, and we followed her back to her house. What a house, and what collections she has. The first thing that caught Val's eye upon entering the kitchen was a collection of spoons. Candy tells us that they are all Alaskan, and she only has part of them displayed. She has over 500. They are all unique and beautiful.

The next remarkable sight was in the next room. Candy explains that her deceased husband was a hunter, and displayed on the wall are the heads of all of the known species of sheep in the world. He was one of 12 people in the world to have successfully hunted all of the species. Val wishes that she had taken a picture. It is very impressive.

We moved from collection to collection through Candy’s house. Dave spied the milk bottles and tins in one case. We looked at posters, and paintings, and who else do you know who collects burnt moose hides? The place is like a museum. It is absolutely amazing. One wall of a room holds her postcard collection in notebooks. Candy pulls out 4 notebooks with postcards of McKinley Park for our perusal.

Candy has just purchased two scrapbooks that belonged to D. T. (Dan) Kennedy. Dan was the first concessioner at Mt. McKinley Park and Preserve (now Denali Park and Preserve). This collection includes letters and pictures. Val feels as though she has hit the jackpot. What makes this discovery even more unbelievable is that Candy allows us to take this collection, that she just paid $7,000.00 for, and copy whatever we want. Val offered to leave Dave as collateral, but Candy is a pretty smart lady and she said, "No thanks." So off we go with thousands of dollars worth of her pictures, and Candy has met us for the first time today.

We got our copies made at the place Candy suggested, and our next stop was at Frances Erickson’s house. Frances is the daughter of Bobbie Sheldon who managed the concession in the park for 17 years. Frances lived in the park every summer from the age of 3 to the age of 13. Wow! She knew the Karstens family, she knew everyone who worked at Savage Camp. Frances is just a treasure. She is delightful, and confirms that Savage Camp was a fun place to live and work. Her father loved it there. Her mother did too, but not as much as her father did. Frances gave us lots of information on the record, and even some off of the record. Val is very excited.

Val and Dave want to do something for Candy because she has been so helpful, so they call and invite her to dinner. She agrees to meet them at the Salmon Bake. The plan was to take Candy to dinner, but she beat Dave to the punch and ends up buying our dinner. Wait a minute. This is not right. Candy has already done so much. Val and Dave have a great time at dinner with Candy, and then it’s hugs and goodbye for now. Candy says that when we come back to Alaska we need to stay with her. What a gal!

We got to Fairbanks on Thursday afternoon, and Val started her research at the university right away. On Friday Val completed her research at the college by 3:00 p.m. Saturday morning we spent with Candy, and Saturday afternoon with Frances. Sunday we will return to Savage Campground much richer in knowledge of our park’s past. We have gathered so much it is almost overwhelming.

Learning and loving it,

Val, Dave and Remington
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Fairbanks, Alaska, United States

You all know how much we love Alaska. It is a magical place. Just when you are gaping around at the beautiful mountains, rivers and valleys, and your adrenaline starts your heart a pumping because there is a grizzly bear standing right behind you – just when your guard is down, essence of Alaska seeps into your skin and you are hooked. We love Alaska, but we are particularly partial to Savage Campground and Savage River. So when Val looked for a book on Savage Camp and found nothing but a paragraph here and a paragraph there in other books she was surprised. As she learned more and more about the area Val would relate the stories to campers who also seemed interested in knowing more. So she decided to write a book about Savage Camp, Savage Campground, and the Savage River area. To make a long story short that is how we ended up back in Fairbanks for a few days. Val is doing research at the archives of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She has also made some exciting connections, and will be doing some interviews while we are here. One is with a lady who lived at Savage Camp. Her father was an owner/operator for Mt. McKinley Tourist and Transportation Co. She is in her 90's and loves to talk about her days at Savage Camp. The second interview is with a lady historian who has an extensive collection of photographs of the early days. How cool is that!

We are staying at a very nice place in Fairbanks called Pike’s Landing which I’m sure we would not be able to afford during the regular season. They accommodate gentlemen beagles, and I am enjoying it here. We are right on the Chena River. We have our own little deck, and I like to watch the boats go by on the river from there. We have a big screen TV which we have on a lot because we have not seen TV all summer and it is a novelty for us again. So all in all we are having a very good time.

Funky in Fairbanks,

Remington Beagle
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Healy, Alaska, United States

Fireweed

The state flower of Alaska is the Forget-me-not. I have been in Alaska for two summers now, and I have traveled from Barrow to Homer without seeing any Forget-me-nots. Fireweed on the other hand is prolific everywhere. Well, not in Barrow…but pretty much everywhere else around the state. So I think that Fireweed should be the state flower – or perhaps the state weed. The Fireweed was especially pretty this year. We saw huge patches of it along the roadside and on the sides of mountains.

In the spring of the year you might wonder why this plant is called Fireweed. Both varieties, the Tall Fireweed and the Dwarf Fireweed (also called River Beauty), have beautiful pink blossoms that look nothing like fire. However, when the colors turn in the fall the leaves of the plant turn bright red, and the leaves pointed upward in abundance from the base of the plant look very much like tongues of fire.

When the plants go to seed the long narrow capsule which formerly produced a flower at the end opens and releases a fine fluffy substance with tiny seeds inside. This fluff is carried by the wind thus abundant fireweed for future generations.

Last year we collected blossoms and made jelly. It's pretty good, but questionable if it is worth the work. You need something like 200 blossoms. You can also make Fireweed honey. (Haven’t tried that.) My wildflower book also says that in the spring the new spring shoots are edible. (Haven’t tried that either.)

Your horticultural beagle,

Remington
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Healy, Alaska, United States

September 1, 2009

Even though we have had many days of rain, the fall colors are still beautiful here in Denali Park. We are being teased today with some blue patches of sky, and occasional glimpses of sun. This morning we could even see part of the mountain. This all means that our days here are getting short. We are anxious to get home and see all of our family and friends, but we will miss this place.

Just after supper last night, Dave tapped on the window and pointed out a coyote in the road right in front of the trailer. Val rushed out to get a picture. She did get one but he had traveled up the road a ways by the time she snapped him. When Natalie was here she found a sizeable hunk of fur laying on a bush down by the old runway. It is definitely not snowshoe hare fur, it looks like wolf or coyote fur. Although Dave and Val have not seen any wolves this year, Natalie is pretty sure she saw one in a walk down by Jenny creek, and when Kym was here she photographed a wolf print down in the same area. So it could likely be coyote fur, the coyote being killed by a wolf. Or maybe it's wolf fur, killed by another wolf. Or maybe…it was the intrepid beagle. He saw the wolf, he grabbed it by the throat, and with his powerful jaws tore its throat out and spit down its neck! Let that be a lesson to you – you nasty wolf. I’m leaving your throat hair here just as a reminder not to mess with the beagle.

Yours for control of the wolf population,

Remington Beagle
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Healy, Alaska, United States

August 27, 2009

The next big adventure for the group was a rafting trip down the Nenana River. Wow. What a spectacular view of the canyon. Val did not have a waterproof camera, but Natalie took some great pictures that will have to be shared at a later date. Val did take a picture of the picture purchased at the end of the trip from a vendor. It was a wonderful, fun trip from the McKinley Chalet in glitter gulch to the bridge next to the power plant in Healy. The guide was as cute as a button. Her name is Lisa and she is an equal opportunity raft guide, and gives "glacial facials" to everyone on the raft. It's a good thing that they suit you up from head to toe because water comes at you from all directions, and it is cold. Lisa says that the river has mostly category 2 and 3 rapids right now as the water is low. When the water is high the rapids are primarily 3 and 4. She did point out some spots that were classified as 5’s, but we avoided going through those sides of the river. Thank you Lisa!

Since rafting the Nenana was not enough excitement for one day, Natalie, Dan and Val decide to try climbing Mt. Healy. There is a trail that takes you to the top of one of the ridges. Up and up they go, pausing along the way to catch their breath. The higher they get the more dynamic the views. They watched the train pull out of McKinley Station and visually followed it along the winding tracks like a snake with a bright yellow and blue head. About halfway up the mountain they met a group coming down who had an encounter with a grizzly bear. Two young women were ahead of their group when they came upon a bear. They did the worst thing possible and ran from the bear. The bear chased them, but they were able to connect with their larger group before the bear caught up with them. The bigger group evidently discouraged the bear, and it did not molest the group. The girls were sufficiently shook up, and their group was heading down the mountain as quickly as they could go. Being fearless, our group continued on up the mountain. When they got about three quarters of the way up they met up with another group of people heading down. This group had also seen the bear. They were part of a larger group who had reached the top of the ridge. The bear was between them and the group at the top. The group at the top was staying at the top because they could not get around the bear. The lower group thought that if they came down the mountain they would give the bear room to wander away, and the group at the top could come down. Well our group may be fearless, but they are not stupid – so down the mountain they went with these folks. We never did hear if those people at the top got down ok, maybe they’re still up there…

Reporting from Denali,

Remington Beagle
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