Leaving Alaska/Visiting Family and Friends

Sorry All, we are are still well and still on the road.

 We completed our trip to Alaska July 27^th. Traveled from the Kenai Peninsula East on the Glen Hwy; north on the Tok Cutoff; East on the Alaskan Hwy and South on the South Klondike Hwy. On route we saw more amazing mountains, this time it was the Wrangell-Elias Ranger with the Matanuska glacier. The ferry we rode north and back south through the Inside Passage was named for this glacier.

We arranged to board the ferry in Skagway to get a chance to visit that town. So glad we did. The drive through the White Pass exposed us to territory unlike any we had see yet on our trip. Amazing rock formations, pictures could not capture it. We stopped for pictures here at Emerald Lake, so pretty!

 We stayed in Skagway 3 days and it was quite entertaining. We got a campsite facing the harbor to get a beautiful view of the water, mountains and cruise ships! A stream just behind us had King and Pink salmon running, a train offers rides up the pass, and the town had interesting museums and loads of stores, thanks to the cruise ships. Skagway has a very interesting and colorful history. One evening we attended a play with some “gambling” before the show. Les turned his “$1,000” into $10,800! Maybe we ought to stop in Vegas on the way home?

July 25^th we boarded the Matanuska ferry to travel south through the Inside Passage. The trip was 1 day and 17 hours this time as there were longer layovers and an extra stop. We were able to get off the ferry twice and walk into Wrangell and Ketchikan. Both of these communities boast having a large number of totem poles. We were able to walk to a number of them. They are amazing.

July 27^th at 3:15AM we arrived in Prince Rupert, BC. Having gotten some sleep in our vibrating cabin, we felt ready to drive and drive we did! 14 hours! We stopped south of Prince George. So tired that we put our payment with information in a baggy taped to our door and after supper went to bed. We slept for 13 hours! On the drive the next day south to toward the US on Rt 97 then to Rt 1 the environment made a drastic change, it became very arid. We even had Big Horn Sheep cross the road.

July 29^th we crossed the border into the US for the last time on this trip. Drove south to Deception Pass SP to meet up with Chris and Lori for a nice day of camping. Then to Seattle for a few days. While we were there, we toured the Boeing Assembly Plant. That was very interesting. They took us to see the 747, 777, and 787 Dream Liner lines. A very large scale assembly line.

 Aug. 1^st we stopped in Tacoma to visit our friends, Ron and MaryAnn. They took us to a beautiful park with an amazing flower garden. We had a great visit with them and hope to see them in Florida this winter.

Our plan was to travel south down the Oregon coast to California. Oh my, we learned a very important lesson: Don't travel Rt 101 in tourist season! Especially without reservations. We were able to find a county park with ONE campsite for ONE night (did I mention we were there over a weekend no less?). The next day, Saturday, the traffic grew to bumper to bumper. We turned off Rt 101 and headed east to I5. Good bye coast and crowds. Maybe not crowds as the campground for this night had only primitive sites available, which was fine for us. The next day we took Rt199 south back to the coast and California, stopping at Oregon Caves Nat'l Monument. An interesting stop and great campground on a stream and few people.

August 5^th we arrived at the Redwood Nat'l Park. Our plan was to camp there, but our lesson continued, don't travel in peak season here without reservations. Again, God rescued us with the last site in a county park just north of Trinidad. The next day we drove to the Avenue of the Giants was started seeing the “Campground Full” signs, Oh my. At the Visitor Center there was a park with a few sites available! We were able to camp there 2 nights, but we had to move from site to site. That works fine with our RV. We had a lovely time hiking and relaxing in this amazing forest of giants!

 We arrived Aug 8^th in Petaluma where Aaron has relocated. In fact, we arrived just in time to take him to an appointment to sign a lease for his apartment. Jane, Aaron's dog, and Aaron stayed with us in the Navion to get some good visiting time and because his apartment is totally empty! ;-) Saturday, Aaron and I took a tour offered from this campground to San Francisco. It was a wonderful tour made better because the guide was born and raised in SF so he took us to a lot of out of the way places.

We plan to leave Tues, 13^th, and begin to work our way east to PA. Should arrive at the cabin around the 20^th. It has been a super trip with lots of memories.