After leaving Valdez we passed this water fall.  I beleive that there is one special water fall for every person in Alaska or Canada.  This water fall was one of Patsy's favorite. 

River boats abounded in Alaska and the Yukon Territory back then.  I think I read where there was six hundred of them of all sizes.  This one could float in as little of thiry inches of water.  There are no true steam driven river boats left now.  What paddle wheelers there are all diesel driven.  The Klondike shown here ran from the sea to here at Whitehorse some I think fifteen hundred miles. 

This is the obervation deck and in back of me is the dinning room.  I would  liked to go back in time and have the experience of traveling on this ship. 

Grampa and Grandma out standing in their field.  What more can we say.

P<>S.  These sunflowers remind us of the smiley faces of our Grand Children

We stopped at a large park in Edmonton and they had some large gardens of flowers and trees.  Some we didn't get to go through because of a wedding.  Mom said it made her trip.  There were flowers we had never heard of or seen, but they were all beautifu beyond description.  

We visited a replica of a Hudson Bay Fort.  The buildings and everything in them are all made the same way they were made in eighteen sixty four.  All the buildings were completly furnished,  It was amazing the detail and accuracy of every item.  They had a steam train and an electric trolley that ran around town you could ride.  They had three authentic streets.  One was eighteen sixties, one eighteen ninties and another around the nineteen twenties. 

We also went to the Edmonton mall.  The largest in North America.  It's much larger than the Mall Of America in Minnesota.  We spent two days exploring Edmonton.  We looked hard for a street that was straight for more than two blocks.  We did spend two nights at the Hilton which we enjoyed. 

After Edmonton we saw a few Russian Orthodox Churches along the way.  This one had a next grave yard next to it with words we couldn't understand, the dates were ok but thats all.  From Grand Paririe all the way to Minneapolis Minnesota the land is flat.  You can see for a hundren miles in any dirrection.  It is beautiful as it is green.  They have had so much rain this summer that they can't get their hay up and the grain is still green unable to be harvested.  From Edmonton north and through Alaska for four weeks we saw only three police cars.  I don't know how long it would have taken for one to come if you had an accident.  There are very few cars on the roads to begin with, and after about four or five in the evening you may not meet a car for ten or twenty miles and the later it gets even less cars that that.  You are pertty much on your own. 

The pictures and the words that are on our blog does not in any way tell a small part of the experience we have had in making this trip.  On ever turn there were new scenes to look at and wonder.  The vastness and scope of it all can't be comprehended until you can feel and experience it yourself. We would say that the people of Canada and Alaska Welcomed us and made us feel as if we were home.  We felt at Fairbanks a sense of belonging, but not sure what winter would bring.  As we waited for a train to take me to a minning camp to pan for gold some one asked the conductor how they could stand the long dark winter nights.  He replied, easy, we work hard the three short summer months and when you all go home we play.  There is no traffic so snow mobiles ATV's and dog sleds can go anywhere and travel for miles and days without  interference form anything.  We live it up he said. 

We left Chicken and traveled over the Top Of The World Highway to Dawson in the Yukon.  I was like a hundred and forty miles of dirt road.  It was about nine thirty when we come down off the tops of the mountains and we came around a curve to the Yukon river and the road with no signs or warnings ended at the river bank. If you were not watching you could have drove into the river.  The ferry soon pulled up and took us across the river to Dawson.  As you can see the ferry needs no landing or dock.  It's ran by the Government  It held eight cars or semi's with cars or what ever they can put on.  It's free.  The next day we walked the water front and rode over and back on the ferry. 

This is Dawson from Dome Mountain.  The muddy river is the Yukon and I can't remember the other.  The clear water river was where gold was discovered and the canyons and rivers has all been dredged with several dredges like the one up at Sumpter.  One of them is the biggest in North America.

Halfway up to Dome Mt. was the city cemetery.  There must be several thousand or more people buried
there.  About a third of it was organized and the rest like this just spread out over the hills.  Very interesting to walk through and see the names and dates.  They had a small section for the Canadian Mounted Police. 

This is Dawson, dirt streets, board sidewalks, old buildings, old house, all painted.  New buildings that look old.  A lot of the stores look on the inside much the way they might have a hundred years ago.  Sometimes you walk in and the floor slopes so much you have to step up or down just to walk across the floor.  We saw no police anywhere in Dawson.  Out side and across the street at an old turn of the century saloon people was sharing drugs with no fear.  Even with that you were very safe as the people are the nicest. 

We stopped to watch this goat.  It was walking across a vertical hillside.  Makes you wonder how they hang on.  The baby goat had no problems at all.  This day we had two different black bears walk across in front of us out in the middle of nowhere but by the time I stopped to keep from hitting them and getting the camera I only got one butt shot off.  Its just so neat to see the in the wild with just you there and no one else and so close to them.  They will pass with in  feet of you but they will not stop.  Maybe a good thing they don't.   

Mom literally could have leaned out the window and touched this young moose.  In another picture it stuck its tongue out at us.  We saw so many animal this day it was like a zoo with no other people around. 

We got to Grande Prairie about six and we found a place and ate and then we played golf, score thirty eight to thirty five.  Mom won.  Ya. Then we went and got ice cream.  Hows that for ending a day.  We left Dawson and made it to Whitehorse where we slept in the tent.  Mom's shower even have live flowers growing everywhere in the showers.  Cool.  We drove for five hours and ran into smoke from a fire so we stopped at a RV place.  The had water tanks like kids swim pools but much bigger with pumps and hoses that went to all the roofs with sprinklers on them.  Some of the road was shut down.  We slept in the car that night and the next night.  We got a room at the Holiday Inn at Grande Prairie and went to Church there today.  Were now is Edmonton at a Hilton Hotel for two nights.  Lots to do and see here.  They have the largest mall in North America and many other things to do and see. I must mention that people in Canada and especially Alaska and the Yukon  are so friendly.  They talk to you like they have known you all their lives.  At one RV place we sat around a fire and talked for hours.  Really cool how open people are.  Every church we've been to is the same.  Today an old man came an took me to Priesthood with him.  We went more than a week with out phone service but everywhere you camp there is WIFI, even out in your tents.  A lot of the places don't have electricity so they have to generate there own.  The town of Chicken out in the middle of now where had a WIFI for the whole town so the children could have their school which was over the net.  You can always find a satellite dish.  This has been a great experience which is far from being over since we still have to cross Canada to Minnesota before coming home.  We may do a side trip around Manitoba lake before coming back to the States. 

We got to Fairbanks and checked in at the Bear Lodge.  We got a suite for a good price and kept it for a few days.  Patsy was in seventh heaven.  We went on this river boat cruise.  They put on quite a show for us.  It was  family owned and they cared about everyone on the boat having a good time.  First off a friend with a float plane took off and landed right beside us several times while talking with us.  They told us about all the history of the river.   A famous dog sled trainer lived on the river so he gave demostrations with his dog teams.  Ten dogs hooked on to a four wheeler made it move like it was nothing.  They could pull it with its brakes on.  We stopped at an Indian village and took a tour.  That's where this picture was taken.  The boat could stop anywhere it wanted.  It only needed three feet of water and carried nine hundrend passengers.  The tour is rated the best in North America.

Yes we did go to the North Pole.  We saw Santa and a few of his Raindeer.

And now were are officially Eskimos.

 The rivers here are huge, miles across and running fast.  This is a glacier flow.  Small in the summer, but large in the spring run off or after heavy rains.  It has been raining in this area so there's lots of water. 

 This is the Alaskan Pipeline crossing a large river.  Amazing sight.

 This is Mom guarding the pipe line. Half of it is under ground and half above.  We got to follow the pipe line for over four hundred miles.  Quite a sight a times. 

 I dont think Mom realized when I left her that I wasn't just going to touch the glacier but climb on it too. I crawed in where the water comes out from under the glacier and in some different places.  There was a couple of other people on the glacier and one took my picture.

We back tracked and went back down to Valdez to see the Salmon run.  Were glad we did.  The seagulls take the Salmon out of the water and eat their gills and leave the rest.  What a waste.  We watched the bear eat some of them.  He or She perferred fresh caught Salmon.  I walked down the ramps to the fishing boats and walked among them.  It gave me a different feeling about fishermen and how they work. 

Were in the town of Chicken.  Population, six in winter, around forty in summer, with just a many tourist, us being a part of that group.  It is seventy miles for nowhere.  Party dirt roads. Infact the next forty miles to the Yukon border is dirt.  There is less than a half a dozen buildings here. Our is on the right, two twin beds.  No covers or sheets, bring your own. Out house, no charge.  River in back. Gas four fifty three a gallon.   Its just a mining stop.  I paned for gold.  I got about ten dollars worth.  I'm paying to go to a gold  mine tomorrow to pan, we'll see how that turns out. 

 

 Forgot about this.  We went to an Ice Sculptors place north of Fairbanks way out in the sticks.  The highway ended at this place.  There was a hot springs there.  They had a big pool out side lined with big rocks and this foutain spraying up in the middle.  We probably should have went in.  There's a hot spring just inside Canada that were going to stop at. Its a little bit of a walk in but worth the time.  This is Mom wishing she was in the igloo, might be warmer. 

Two Knights in mortal combat.  Wow, its amazing how detailed these carvings are and how beautiful they are.  well worth the trip to see them.

 

We stayed at the Sourdough RV Park in Tok Alaska friday night.  We got there just in time for the pancake toss.  You had two tries to put one pancake in a bucket.  If you did you got a free sourdough pancake breakfast in the morning.  I failed but Patsy came through.  My breakfast cost me twelve dollars, but it was all you could eat.  They had Raindeer sausage that was very good.  A lot of the women won. 

I'm sitting here on the porch of our cabin here at Chicken and the sun just went down.  It is now nine forty but it will still be light at eleven thirty.  Its been near eighty the last couple of days.  For some reason it seems hot and your seeking the shade.  Our room was to hot to go to sleep last night.  Today we just read and played on the computer and went for walks.  Been a great restful day.  We have been without phone since we left Tok and we won't have it again till Dawson.  Everywhere up here has the internet.  WiFi.  Even in the remote campgrounds in the middle of no where has it.  Most places like where were at run off generators that run all night.  We know because you can here them all night.  The kids here stay at home and get their school off the net.  The signal is strong and is called the Town of Chicken so I think it serves the whole place.