Going Home - Day 10

Tuesday July 8^th 2014

Glendive, MT – Saint Cloud, MN

556 miles, 7 hours, 52 minutes

625 miles, 7:11 am – 8:26 pm

Breakfast, gasoline, and I-94 East interstate. Sunny, almost no clouds, somewhat hazy. A bit less then an hour of boring drive to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. http://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm Small town of Medora. Visitor center of the National Park. Nice exhibits. Paved loop through the park, we were warned about the construction. We still decided to try to see at least the part of the park. Few miles and stopped by the construction. Two stops for the construction – waiting for the pilot car, mess, waiting … it sucked … The loop – nicely paved – on the beginning we saw town of Prairie Dogs. It was awesome, so many small critters. Just jackassing there. We were less then 65 miles away from our starting point. Time was flying. The landscape was awesome. Hilly, green, rocky, and it was incredibly beautiful. The whole loop was about 35 miles long. We were looking for bison but we did not see any. Blue sky, sun, and great country. It was really surprising how North Dakota was pretty, at least in this park. Bunch of wild horses crossing the road. Another great picture. And more waiting for the construction. It was past ten o'clock. It was really annoying organization of the construction site. While driving through the work site we saw lonely bison next to the road. The day was complete. We had to speed up as this was our longest day (540 miles planned, that did not included the site trips). Quick stop at another site of the National Park – Painted Canyon. Another great view. 55 more miles and we made about 30 miles detour to see three scrap metal sculptures. It was really pretty – the drive was long and through the farm country. The return to the interstate. It was 1:25 pm. The time changed, apparently North Dakota has two time zones. We still had about 450 miles to go. It was horrible image. There was quite a lot of construction along the way. Few stops. Driving. Driving. Driving. I-94 East. Really nothing special. Minnesota. Another 171 miles. We arrived at our hotel at 8:26 – sick and tired of being in the car. Finally, the day was over, it felt good. Almost home ….

Going Home - Day 9

Monday July 7^th 2014

Cut Bank, MT – Glendive, MT

430 miles, 7 hours, 10 minutes

434 miles, 7:45 am – 5:49 pm

Well, the best is behind us. The picture above basically summarizes our day. Driving, driving, and driving. There was not much to see or do. We left at a normal time (I had to register for the fall classes at 5:00 am Montana time). Some clouds but mostly sunny. We got few very short showers during the day. Bunch of small towns – few houses and huge grain storage tanks next to the railroad. Mostly run down and sad looking. One has the feeling that the time stopped here thirty years ago or so. Strange. Town of Havre – nothing there. Few rivers and creeks. Farms and farm land. Train track with many cargo trains. Flat. Flat. Endless. Town of Malta – some dinosaur museums (looked very small) that we did not visited. Bear Paw Battleground museum. No idea what that was about - learning something new. http://www.nps.gov/nepe/planyourvisit/bear-paw-battlefield.htm It was quite large museum with “early years trinkets”, some photographs, and documents. There was quite interesting and well done movie about the Bear Paw Mountains battle. More sad stories about the history of this country. They closed for lunch. A bit later we stopped at some small town and had our picnic lunch in the park. Again the feeling that time stopped here in 1960s. The rest of the day we basically just drove. Few stops but nothing special or spectacular. Some initial phone calls as we have to settle back home and want to do some house work. Normal life, again. Long and tedious day.

Going Home - Day 8

Sunday July 6^th 2014

Radium Hot Springs, BC – Cut Bank, MT

342 miles, 7 hours 3 minutes

347 miles, 6:56 am – 5:47 pm

Cloudy and rainy morning. Early start – we wanted to have as much time to see the Glacier National Park. Almost three hours to the border crossing. Rain on and off. Still very nice landscape, mountains in the back, valleys, rivers, and farms. Our last border crossing – same silly questions and answers and “welcome to the USA”. It would be quite painful to have the car checked. Another hour and half to get to the park entrance. Quite similar landscape. A lot of bugs on our windshield. Town of Whitefish – looked nice but we did not stop. It was close to the midday when we entered the park – about 10 cars three lanes into the booths. Warm and sunny. Visitor center – smaller but very crowded. Not very pleasant start. The landscape was very pretty though.

Going to the sun road – the gem of the park. Drive along the lake McDonald. Exceptional scenery. River. Old lodge – lake, sun, boats, something really great. 50 miles of the road going to the sun. Old red buses – tour buses running through the park. http://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm Several miles of flat road along the lake, within really nice forest. High mountains. Some snow. Road along the mountains. Waterfalls. Drive along the cliff – it was somewhat uncomfortable to be so high and have deep gorge next to the car. According to J. there were incredibly amazing views of the valley and surrounding mountains. A lot of cars. Later we read some information boards and watch a movie about the creation of the park and the relationship between native people and the government. The road, amazing and incredible, cuts through the heart of the park=mountains that were sacred to the native people. It is hard to say how much time we spent driving the road. J. was more than excited about the views and experience. I did not really enjoy the drive and the engine was running warmer then I wanted to see (luckily it did not overheat). It is hard to describe it with words. Logan Pass – Continental divide. Bunch of snow. Bunch of people. Mountain goats or sheep. Parked and walked around the area. Going down on the other side was different – the road was under the construction = dirt road. Some pull offs and other places were closed. Some other were full of cars. Nice views. Lake Mary. Few stops. Saint Mary visitor center – emptier, peaceful. Movie and voices of native people. We were quite tired (about 4:17 pm). There was a though of visiting another park's area but we decided against it. Drive to Cut Bank (an hour and half). The road with so many turns and twist. Back and forth. It got flatter. Boring. At one point we almost hit cows crossing the road (no warning). It would be crazy – all the way to Alaska and back without any collision with wildlife and now we almost hit the cows. Cut Bank: sad town. Groceries. Quick car wash. Sad looking motel. We were done with the good part of the trip. There was drive home part left.

Going Home - Day 7

Saturday July 5^th 2014

Valemount, BC – Radium Hot Springs, BC

299 miles, 6 hours 30 minutes

305 miles, 8:11 am – 6:32 pm

We were up before seven o'clock. Slower morning, the table ready for a breakfast (we were in bed and breakfast). Coffee from really tiny cups. Some waiting. Older couple from north Alberta. Younger couple from Georgia. Some talking. Younger couple (he was from Florida, she was from Ontario) was on the “ultimate” road trip from Georgia, via Jasper in Alberta, to Seattle, San Francisco and New Orleans, home to Georgia. Interesting talk. Really good (English style, I suppose) breakfast. It was 8:11 when we left the house. About 55 miles to Jasper in Alberta. We gained an hour. It was very scenic drive. We saw a bear with two cubs, it was great. River. Construction and bunch of waiting. Town of Jasper. It looked a bit like Flagstaff. Nice and small town. So crowded. Visitor center in an old building. Again very crowded. Almost no maps or information. We had to wait in line to ask the ranger for a map. Not very helpful. We left the town at 10:45 am. ICEFIELDS PARKWAY. That was the name of our road going through the Jasper National Park. http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/index.aspx Within few minutes (after passing some lodges and campgrounds) we entered magical land that was offering amazing scenery. Nice road. Mountains, river, and deep green woods. Our first stop: Athabasca Falls. Crowded (it will be recurring theme). Very short walk to the river where we found incredible waterfall running through beautiful gorge. Nice network of viewing platforms and short walkways. It was amazing even though there were so many people. There were bunch of people driving in really stupid way (speeding, passing). The magical views continued. We were in the valley, next to the river and surrounded by mountains. Incredible landscape. Another group of cars on the road (clear sign of wildlife). Another bear and few people standing outside their cars taking pictures (how stupid can people get??? - there was real bear). This bear was enjoying life and rolling in the bushes (he was probably itchy). Sunwapta Falls – another amazing site which we left at 12:23 pm. Time was flying.

BEARMAGEDON: Brown bear, Black bear, Brown bear with two cubs, Brown bear, Two black bears = on both side of the road = bear sandwich, Black bear with cub.

 

Icefields Center – big building in the middle of the valley (the glacier vacated this area). There was still glacier near by and the area looked like moonscape. Full parking lot (oh so many people). Lucky with the spot. Into the building – cafeteria, big lines for tickets (glacier skywalk, tours, etc). Gift shop. It was horrible. There was a small desk with a park ranger – information. It did not look like anybody cared about it. It was quite sad. Other than that it was a great site. Continued along the road. Another cluster of cars, there were two bears on the side. We watched one of them get to the road, play with the rock, and then cross the road in front of our car. Amazing. BEARMAGEDON. At that point there was a bear on both sides of the road = bear sandwich. Glaciers. Mountains. River. Blue/green lakes. Forest. It looked like one of the most scenic roads we ever took. Possibly the most scenic road, so far. Steep decline into the valley = amazing views and our brakes suffering. The road was not very long but we did not fill up in Jasper (lines in both gas stations) so we were running a bit low on gas. Gas station in the middle of the park. Normal price (for liter) in Canada: 1.39. Price in the park: 1.95. It was outrageous. Such a price gouging. Lake Louise: visitor center, gas (for normal price), overcrowded, short drive to the lake (half of it lined up with parked cars). So much (full) parking at the lake. Big building – hotel and resort. We tried to find parking, got lucky and parked. It was very close to the lake. Short walk, people, and amazing view of the lake, mountains, and glacier. Magical, indeed. More driving – time was just flying. Continental divide – border of British Columbia and Alberta. Nice freeway. Fenced forest and bridges for animals. A lot of dead forest – eaten by beetles. Radium Hot Springs – steep decline, small and cute town. Motel – nice and inviting. Dinner in the pub. Done. So far the best day on our trip.

Going Home - Day 6

Friday July 4^th 2014

Burns Lake, BC – Valemount, BC

323 miles, 6 hours 43 minutes

347 miles, 9:33 am – 5:54 pm

After few days of “suffering” in the car and on the floor of the ferry, this was our heavenly night in the bed. J. went to bed really early in the evening and slept till almost nine o'clock (like a bear). It was quite nice to get a good sleep. We had breakfast in the motel. Partly cloudy sky with some sunshine (another great day). We left quite late and stopped at the visitor center. Two very helpful people and nice talk. And … surprisingly … more driving. The landscape of (at least this part) British Columbia is amazing. It is so beautiful. The road was mildly painted in this incredible country. There was an historical site but it was unfortunately almost two hours out of our way and we did not have so much time. We made few scenic stops along the way but otherwise we mostly drove. About three hours to Prince George. This was the only place in British Columbia that we drove through on the way to Alaska. Big town for the area, otherwise relatively small. We stopped at the visitor center to verify some information for the second part of the drive (to our destination for the day). We talked to the lady in the visitor center and she remembered us from the stop in March when we were driving to Alaska. More driving in very similar landscape – forest, lakes, and mountains. Ancient forest – apparently the only rain forest locked so far inland. Nice loop trail – we started walking and even though we put bug repellent on we were eaten by mosquitoes. It was really annoying. The forest was really pretty and interesting but those mosquitoes. J. gave up after a small loop and went back to the car. I walked the whole loop, detoured to the waterfall and had some amazing views of trees and mountains. Also, I got eaten alive by those damn mosquitoes. There was another site to see – canyon – but we did not find it. Gasoline in the town of McBride. To Valemount. Small town. Our B&B. The room, some documents for J.'s next job (online) and homework for me. Another nice day.

Going Home - Day 5

Thursday July 3^rd 2014

Prince Rupert, BC – Burns Lake, BC

305 miles, 6 hours 36 minutes

336 miles, 5:50 am – 6:17 pm

In Canada, again. We were on the beginning of the line for the customs. Some questions (where from, fire arms) and apparently I looked nervous and J. was asked about being refused an entry to Canada before, or working there – strange. The car in front of us got searched some (couple of minutes). We entered Canada. Small town of Prince Rupert at 4:21 am – quiet, empty, and sleepy. We parked by some small city park and took a nap (sort of). It was too early so we just kind of waited and waited (and possibly fell asleep for a minute or two). Around six o'clock we drove to the gas station and got coffee. It was time to drive east – home. Partly cloudy. The road was following river, the landscape was getting better and better: river, forest, and mountains with snowy peaks. It was quite remarkable. Few stops along the way but nothing special, rest stops, few houses, or some industrial stuff (railroad). Town of Terrace. Not much really – we found Tim Horton's and got breakfast and more coffee. We were still quite tired and ready for a real bed. Quick drive through the town. Back on the road. Hazeltown – settlement along the main road (the top speed limit was 60 miles per hour, mostly 55 miles). Detour north to the Ksan museum and village (recreated village of First nation) – totem poles and some closed buildings.

Great weather and very interesting display. Apparently when the totem poles is taken down, it cannot be raised again because its spirit is gone. Further north was a normal village with about 15 totem poles – some were quite simple. The site looked more “real”. Drive back to main road. Stop along the way to eat. Great view of the canyon, river, and mountains around. So beautiful. It was interesting to see how time was flying – it was supposed to be a short day (300 miles or so), but it was past midday and we were more than 140 miles away from our destination (what was going on???). Morrice town with a beautiful canyon – fishing spot for native people, later an example of government and “new people” changing the country. It is still very beautiful place. Town of Smithers – the brochures promised cobble stone streets – the closest we could find were sidewalks with paving stones. Nice town but nothing special. Nearby was a park with twin falls – uphill drive, short walk, and two waterfalls leaking from the glacier. Nice site. J. was getting more and more tired. Town of Houston – she got her pressed penny at the visitor center, we saw the biggest fly fishing pole there (big statue in the town), and we had an hour left to Burns Lake. Drive and drive. Amazing landscape. J. was really happy to see a bed. 

 

Going Home - Day 4

Tuesday July 1^st 2014

Wednesday July 2^nd 2014

Juneau, AK – Prince Rupert, BC (Alaska ferry)

5:45 pm – 3:30 am (Thursday)

Again, long wait to board the ferry. J. called her family. We were both exhausted. We did not want to do anything. Finally on the ferry. We found the place in one of the seating areas where we could sleep. Reading. Some food. Walking around the boat. Showers – felt good. J. stayed up till 9 o'clock. I went to sleep shortly after that. We were really tired. The day was over. ### The sleep on the floor was not the greatest but it was still better than car. The ferry stopped at Kake, it was at 1:00 am. Unfortunately there were two announcements about the stop. I woke up. J. apparently also woke up to some baby noises. Other than that it was fine night (as good as it get on the floor). The whole trip is a bit over 33 hours on the boat called M/V Taku. The ferry stopped along the way: Kake, Petersberg, Wrangel, Ketchikan. And our stop: Prince Rupert, British Columbia. I was up around six o'clock and saw the ferry dock in Petersberg. Small fishing town. Small fish jumping all over the place. Bald eagles flying all over the place as well. Again, ever changing weather. Very narrow part of the passage – one could almost touch the land. Also, many lonely houses in strangest places. One area of few houses was basically surrounded by flying bald eagles, there were two small white dogs running along the walkway and barking. Apparently eagles were not hungry or they do not like small dogs. We had enough food to sustain us on the boat. Watching the scenery. Reading. Napping. J. did some studying. I wrote this and tried to write some stuff for the school. So far so good (on the way to Ketchikan, 2:34 pm). Mixed weather. Sailing and sailing. 5:15 at Ketchikan. We had more than 2 and ½ hours so we left the ferry. There was a van offering a ride to downtown for ten dollars a person. Talking driver – buildings, some history, and places to eat. Town. Small. Two cruise ships in the harbor (directly in downtown). Ketchikan, town of 13000 people, is visited by about 1000000 tourists from cruise ships. Strange. We walked around a bit. Somewhat strange place, stores closing, few people, ships leaving. Creek, hills, and fog. Really beautiful landscape. Rain. We got french fries and it was time to drive back to the ferry. Interesting. There was some work done on the boat so we there was about 45 minutes delay. We were both tired and had enough so we went to sleep. At 2:30 am there was an announcement that the ferry is approaching Prince Rupert. It was about 4:00 am (time changed) when we drove off the ferry.

Going Home - Day 3

Tuesday July 1^st 2014

Juneau, AK

Arrived (mostly dark) at about 1:30 am in Juneau (capital of Alaska). Our plan was to drive to Mendanhal glacier trail haed and take a nap in the car. Few miles of driving in the dark (always fun in new and strange place). We found it and there was no sign for “no overnight parking or camping” - for some reason they like to put those sign up. We “slept” till 5:00 am. It was (obviously) uncomfortable and overall terrible (we may be getting old for such adventures). We woke up, got it together a bit, and started our walk (hike) to Mendanhal glacier. Really beautiful forest. Many streams and waterfalls. Lake with pieces of ice and covered by fog. Really amazing views. About 1.5 on really wide and nice trail. About two miles of unmaintained trail to the side of the glacier. Rocks. Up and downs. Creeks. Views. It was really incredible and very hard to walk. A lot of climbing over rocks, holes, and other obstacles. Close to the glaciers. TOUCH THE GLACIER. STAND ON THE GLACIER. It was really incredible image. Bunch of pictures. Something to admire. Well worth it. The trail was amazing and offered so many different things. Lake. Long way back. No people on the glacier part of the trail. The other part of the trail (easy one) leading also to some mountain gave us so many people – many of them were guided hikes. It felt good to be getting back at this time (9:30 back in the car). Tired. Short drive to the glacier visitor center. Small area by the lake with many trails and few buildings. Overcrowded. It looked like they put cruise people on the buses and drive them to the visitor center. And back to the ship. It was horrible. It may have been one of our worst experiences. The visitor center had great views of the lake, glacier, and waterfall but the amount of people was insane. The price of civilization, I guess. Ten miles or so to drive to downtown Juneau. Parked. Three giant cruise ships (horrible image). Small downtown. Bunch of tourists. Few stores, J.'s favorite artist's store. Lunch at Grumpy's (good one). Shorter drive to find two places to produce pressed pennies (J.'s new thing). Nowhere to park, too many people, and good view at giant cruise ships. Too bad. We also had directions to few waterfalls but we were unable to find them. Quick stop by the store (few things and gasoline for reasonable prices). The shrine of Saint Therese (about 7 miles beyond the ferry terminal) – very interesting and peaceful (short of summer camp kids) place. Jumping fishes – that was pretty funny and entertaining. Almost next to this was Arboretum – unfortunately closed. We parked by the road and sorted our things and got ready for our ferry ride. It was pretty good and interesting experience to see Alaska's capital. By the way, we also drove by the capitol building – it is there.