caravan Trip To Alaska - Page 11 - Montana Owners Club

adelmoll · 07-23-2006, 04:20 AM

We are in the beautiful city of Haines. The road from Haines Junction was the best we have been on. A little construction but not bad. We drove from the Yukon, British Columbia and re-crossed the border about 40 miles before getting to Haines.

Today we are going on another cruise. We are taking the 12 hour scenic Fjord Express to Juneau and back. We will have about three hours in Juneau to play around.

Helen

virgil47 · 07-23-2006, 03:25 PM

David,
Man this rain is really gettin the best of me also. I'd be right behind you except that weather.com gives the same 10-day forcast for Talkeetna that it does for Seward and Homer....rain, rain, rain.

Sure enjoyed our time with you and Brenda. Bet we run into you again.

Helen,

Maybe your "hurry up" strategy was the right approach. Did you know it was going to rain this much?

krvk · 07-23-2006, 08:01 PM

Spent the night in Sterling last night and arrived in Kenai today (not raining), staying at the Beluga Lookout Lodge & RV Park till 27th, then on to Ninichik for (2) days and then Homer for a week.
When we were at the Portage Glacier, two gents had landed their float plane there on the lake due to bad weather (told this was a first for a plane to ever land on this lake) & parked it beside the boat terminal, a very small beach, as most of the shore is rocks( the water was very choppy), while we were out viewing the glacier they tried to take off and the engine quit (didn't crash) (had also damaged a float), they managed to get it started a couple of times and docked it again beside the Visitors Center, just at the mouth of the river and a bridge (bet they had to change their britches after that), it was still there by the time we left.

virgil47 · 07-25-2006, 03:46 PM

Kenny,
Several kinds restaurants around here in Soldotna. Tell me what you and Virginia want to eat and we'll try to pick a place and check it out tomorrow before y'all get here.

adelmoll · 07-26-2006, 03:59 AM

We're back in Whitehorse. NO RAIN. Bright sun. Shorts and sandels. What more can you ask for. We are on our way to toward Watson Lake to pick up the Cassier down to Hyder.

Stay Dry everyone.

Helen

virgil47 · 07-26-2006, 08:37 AM

Blue Skys and bright sunshine in Soldotna today also.

Bob and Jan Gay,

If you guys are still in Soldotna, Jo and I and Kenny and Virginia are going to meet for dinner tonight at 6:00pm at Poradisos Restaurant in Kenai. It is next to the visitors center. I don't have your phone number or I would have called you.

bobgay · 07-26-2006, 10:56 AM

Virgil,
Thanks for letting me know, but we are already back in Anchorage. We'll head north tomorrow. Maybe we'll cross paths down the road somewhere.

Have fun.
Bob

jrgwdenner · 07-26-2006, 01:29 PM

Hes.len and Bill, enjoy the bumps! Once you leave the Alcan and start south you'll be in the stretch of road where we drove 30 mph for five hours. Then we stopped at Kinaskan Prov Park where it was 32' during the night with the most beautiful view of the lake we saw on our entire trip.

adelmoll · 07-26-2006, 02:13 PM

Thanks Judy. We will be doing that in the morning. Can't be worse than some of the roads we have been on. Seriously, the ones that have done it this year are saying that it is not bad. We will stop overnight because I do not want to go 400 miles in one day. Funny, that used to be a short day B. W. R.

Helen

sgtpp214 · 07-27-2006, 02:07 AM

Enjoy your stay everyone. We got home Tuesday, 26th and it sure feels good just to sit back and do anything. Trip was way too short(5 wks) and I swear we will go back only this time at least 3 months. We covered North Pole and Skagway area. No blown tires and no windshield chips.

Safe travels all.

jrgwdenner · 07-27-2006, 03:11 AM

Dave and Carla, our trip from the border of Canada through Alaska and back to the border of the USA lasted eight weeks and we also know that we want the entire summer if or when we make the trip again. There is so much to see.

rvfirefighter · 07-27-2006, 02:15 PM

Hi Guys, we are in Fairbanks. Found some fish in Wasilla at Willow Creek. Had fun and caught some nice silver salmon, pinks and others. Toured Talkeetna, the Lodge is awesome. Spent a couple of days at Denali, saw wolves, bears, moose, and caribou. The McKinley was not to be seen, too overcast. We did see it in the distance going to Wasilla in the morning.
We are going on the Discover tour tomorrow along with the Goldmine. We will head toward Haines in a few days. Hope everyone is well and having fun.
We are in the Chena River State Park across from Safeway.

adelmoll · 07-27-2006, 03:14 PM

We drove 1/2 of the Cassiar Highway today. The weather was awful. Rained from the time we left Watson Lake and it got down to 41 degrees. It was still a very pretty drive. The gravel part is very washboardy(??) and you do have to slow down, but all in all, not that bad.

We are in the Mountain Shadow RV Park near the 400km road marker. Make a note of it because it is the nicest park we have seen for ages and ages. Water and electric only and no TV, but the setting more than makes up for it.

Searchers · 07-27-2006, 03:40 PM

So, are we going to eventually see a photo of that nice rig before it gets cleaned up?

Seriously, we've really enjoyed following along on your trip. It sure brings back memories of ours in 1998 and we hope to do it again.

jrgwdenner · 07-27-2006, 04:37 PM

Helen, are you still getting on the forum via your aircard? If so, I'm very impressed and wish I had mine last year.

rvfirefighter · 07-27-2006, 07:54 PM

Bill and Helen, what was the name of your campground in Haines? The picture is awesome, look deserted, where was everyone else?

adelmoll · 07-28-2006, 03:54 AM

Searchers, we will not clean until we get to Hyder. We will not really get clean until we are back in Minnesota for a few weeks and can go over everything. I will say that the Montana is pretty tight though. We are not getting the dirt and dust inside as much as some of our friends are up here. Maybe having it rain is better than the dry dust.??

Judy, I used the verizon card all through Alaska and it was wonderful. Now that I'm back in Canada, I put it away because of the roaming charges. $.69 per min. is too much. I get on from the campgrounds signal or not at all. It is a lot slower than Verizon and pictures take forever. I hope I can get Verizon in Hyder. Don't know if they have it there or not. It is such a small town but I was told that as long as I am in Alaska, there will not be roaming charges even if the signal comes from Stewart. We'll see. Yes, I really like the Verizon card for internet.

rvfirefighter, I think the one we stayed at in Haines was called the Hitch up. Not sure though, it's been three days and that was ages ago.
You can't miss it. It is the first one you come to on the right. It is the only one you will want to stay at with the Montana. It was a nice place and very clean. Be sure to remember the Mountain Shadow though if you come down Hwy 37. This one is beautiful. I will take some pictures before we leave. The setting is just beautiful.
Helen

jrgwdenner · 07-28-2006, 04:01 AM

When we were in Hyder, it was very wet and rainy. The roads are unpaved so I'd wait until later to wash your rig. We stayed past the small downtown on the road to the bear lookout. Bill and Helen, you may be there early enough to see the bears. By the time we arrived, the bears' bellies were dragging on the ground, they were so full from all the salmon, so we didn't see any. They have a great lookout station for the bears, complete with tourists and professional photographers with the most massive photography equipment I've ever seen.

Camp Run-a-muk is the name of the park. It has pull throughs.

adelmoll · 07-29-2006, 12:23 PM

That's where we are Judy. What a wonderful place. The bears put on such a nice show for us last night. The eagles did this morning and the 20 mile drive up to the top of the mountain to look down on Salmon Glacier was AWESOME. I can't wait to be able to put the pictures on. It may be a couple of days though but be sure to read my blog.

To the rest of you in Alaska.....Don't miss it. The best is yet to come

Helen

virgil47 · 07-31-2006, 03:57 PM

Most of you are ahead of us now. We're leaving Homer/Ninilchik area Tuesday am and going back over to Seward for a day and then on up to Anchorage for an endodontist appointment. Homer and the entire western Kenai Peninsula was just what you all said it would be, absolutly spectacular. If we ever come back here we will come to spend time on the Kenai Peninsula, western side. Kenai, Soldotna and Homer are definitely in my Top 10 prettiest places. This is 4X4, F350 Super Duty diesel country with very few BMW's here and I like it.

I have really enjoyed meeting some of you and conversing with the rest. What a great way to spend the summer!
God's Speed.

Virgil & Jo Allmond
1997 F250HD 4X4 Crewcab Shortbox 7.3 PSD, 214,000+miles
Manual, Superchip, K&N aircharger, Pyrometer,
5" Exhaust,SuperGlide 16K,Honda EU2000i,

STICK HOUSE IS IN Suches, GA

TODAY WE ARE IN A 3555RL IN Ninilchik, Alaska

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