Talkeetna

A rainy day in Talkneetna, catching up emails, etc.   We are meeting the Beatty's for breakfast in the morning and them we will catch the Hurricane Train tomorrow.  It is one of the last flag stop trains in North America.  If you want to get on, flag it down.  If you want to get off anywhere the route just signal and it will stop.

along

Canada Day 1

May 21

Left Sumas WA mid-morning.  Uneventful border crossing, a few questions, checked our passports and said have a nice day, we didn’t leave the coach.  No forms. No duty, no search and a very pleasant young Canadian officer.  An interesting side note.  One of the questions was if we were traveling with anyone.  I said yes, the lady in the 5^th wheel in the next lane.  They wanted to know if we were friends or relatives, how long we had traveled together, etc.  They asked her the same questions and must have liked the answers as they waved us both through.  Another interesting little tidbit is that the Rand McNally Nav system automatically switched to metric as we crossed the border.  Great technology.

Drove up Canada Hwy 1 and 97 towards Prince George BC.  The drive is along the Fraser River and one of the most beautiful anywhere.  It is my favorite kind of road, scenic, wide, mostly 2 lane with well-spaced passing lanes and not much traffic.

Stayed the first night in Downing Provincial Park for a senior rate of $9.00.  It is a very small park (18 sites) with narrow roads and small sites.  We squeezed into the last 2 and settled in for the night.  No hookups, Cell service or Wi-Fi, but it is a nice, recently renovated facility.  We did not realize that in addition to being a Canadian Holiday weekend it is also the opening weekend for most parks and facilities so space is at a premium and we were fortunate indeed to find 2.

Wildlife score, 3 deer.

Redding CA

Next stop On the list was a visit with the Germones in Redding.  We decided to stay off the Interstate this time and drove back roads through towns and comunities that I had not seen in years, Lincoln, Wheatland, Yuba City, Marysville (my Dad;s hometown) and Red Bluff.  Stayed at the Elks Lodge in Redding where Larry and Judy are members as well.  As you can see we had some unvited guests when 4 Canadian Geese landed in the swimming pool and decided to stay for awhile.

A container train crossing the Sacramanto river on a high trestle near Redding.

The Sundial Bridge in downtown Redding is a pedestian bridge accross the Sacramento that connects trails from downtown all the way to Shasta Dam.

It was great to see a snow covered Mount Shasta and Lake Shasta full to the tree line for the first time in years.

North to Alaska

The first day of our trip north:  After a late start saying good byes to Julie, Andrew and Owen in Santa Rosa and picking up a part for the coach that we had ordered, we got to the Elk's lodge in Carmichael.  Had a great dinner with a small group of family and friends.  Colds and prior commitments kept the size of the group down.  It was a neat way to say good by to Sacramento for the year.  See you all in the spring.  Today's destination is the Elk's Lodge in Redding CA for a visit with the Germones.  Here is a map of our route from CA to Fairbanks AK.