Finding a Jewel

With the snow appearing it was time to go.  South we hoped, as we were heading to AZ for the winter. This time, south was where the snow was coming from, so first we headed west.

This was an awesome unplanned detour.  We find the most amazing sights when we open our eyes to the unexpected and this was one of those trips.

The beauty of the Grand Tetons as the seasons change is never captured except in your soul when you experience it first hand. 

When the weather got worse we changed directions, found a place we'd never been and stopped.

Fossil Butte National Monument, aka America's aquarium in Stone was an oasis in the scrub.  

But the snow came again and it was time to get to a campground and wait out the storm.  

Across another state line into Laketown, Utah and then a few miles north back into Idaho we found our safe harbor.  

 The blue-green water of Bear Lake is a jewel to behold.

Back to Texas... But Not For Long

New Mexico 

We crossed into New Mexico in the warmth of mid October, inching closer to our winter home, Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.  We watched the US Border Patrol float quietly above the warm desert and mountains - in an unmanned blimp drone.

We parked in the Deming, NM Walmart parking lot - one of three RVs seeking refuge on the asphalt campground that night.  Compared to other Walmart's we'd stayed at, it was relatively quiet but we still heard traffic noise all night long.  Walmart lots offer a free overnight stay option on those days that we just need to stop and sleep.  Otherwise, we prefer city, county or state parks as our stopping points.

The next day we decided it was still too early to arrive at the refuge, as we were not expected until October 26th.  Instead, we decided to go to El Paso, Texas.

Rio Grande River isn't very grand after use for irrigation

Haze and smog from the cities

Texas. Again.

Returning to Texas allowed us to do two things.  First, we'd be able to find someone to work on the Jeep, which needed the front end rebuilt to rid it of the "wobble of death" we'd been experiencing since buying it.  Second, Kathy had reconnected with her favorite high school band director, and mentor, on Facebook who now lived and taught in El Paso.  She hadn't seen him since 10th grade! He knew we were headed to town and arrangements were made to visit over dinner.

We decided to stay a few days and located Arvey Park,

Our ride for a few days

an Escapees park on the outskirts of town. Escapees is an RV club that offers many benefits, including discounted stays at affiliated parks.  We paid $15.00 a night which was a steal, even if the park  was run down and occupied by full timers, almost like a mobile home park.  This one was nothing fancy but very practical.  

After researching automotive repair reviews, we found Jerry's Automotive and spoke to Jerry, who actually understood what "death wobble" was.  He said they had just rebuilt his son's Jeep for the same problem and were very successful.  When we told him we lived in the RV and that the Jeep was our only mode of transportation while in town, he offered to lend us a car, for free, while we waited for the Jeep to be repaired.

After completing the paperwork, Jerry walked us out of the shop and towards our ride for the next few days - a vintage 1988-ish 4-door sedan that reminded us both of our high school days.  The car was relatively clean and ran like a charm.  We drove it up to Fort Bliss and through Franklin Pass towards the Franklin Mountain State Park.  The park sits above the city and has great hiking trails if you are well prepared for the desert heat, even in the late fall.  The view of the city as well as Ciudad Juarez is spectacular from the mountain.  

While at the park, Jerry called with an estimate and we were approved for a 1 year interest free credit card to allow us to pay for the repairs.  Things continued to go well for us and we were grateful.  We returned to the RV to walk the dogs and then headed north again through rush hour traffic.  Traffic patterns of those going home after work have a certain rhythm. Revving engines and tired frustrated drivers are typically not a good mix. It was some of the worst traffic we'd driven in since hitting the road.  We refused to participate in the surrounding insanity and simply let the mania around us occur as we drifted with the flow.    

We met Mr. Quintanilla, Kathy's high school band teacher, for Mexican food.  Mr. Q had quite a story about his life after leaving Killeen High School.  We found out he had applied and was accepted into a PhD program at the University of North Texas.  At the time, his only mode of transportation was a motorcycle.  He left early in the morning on his way to the final interview, hit a deer and sustained substantial injuries.  After months of recovery, he never reconnected with the university and the opportunity was gone.  In response, he recommitted himself to high school music programs - eventually making his way to El Paso.  Our dinner meeting was too short and ended with an invitation to watch Mr. Q's current marching band practice the next morning.  Sadly, we declined as we were heading back out on the road the next day.

After picking up the Jeep the next morning and returning our hoochy ride, we we headed north back into New Mexico on the eastern side of the Franklin Mountains through Fort Bliss.  The area is very active with war games and we watched them along the highway for miles as we traveled to our winter home.

Oregon Coastline

Oregon's rocky coastline is protected by eleven historic lighthouses.  Kathy loves lighthouses, their unique construction at visually stunning locations while helping save lives draws her attention.  I love spiral staircases: construction feats of wrought iron. Once we visited the lighthouse in Port Isabel, TX.  and took pictures and created an art piece by combining photos. With both of us liking these wonders, our guest bedroom in Austin was decorated for Kathy's mom.  We made it Evelyn's coastal oasis with lighthouse pictures, a seascape, and a lighthouse throw which is still traveling with us. Lighthouses are a way for each of us to get a fix, we looked forward to Oregon's coast.

As we cut towards the coast  we drove into Newport.   We decided to camp at South Beach State Park, the largest state park we had ever stayed in.  The first row of RVs were all camp hosts.    

Some hosts worked with RVers, some with cabin rentals and some with the Yurt rentals.  This might be a possible work camp position after our first journey is complete.


That night Frances, our little poodle, got sick. She threw up all over her bed then had diarrhea on the throw rug.  Poor Sick puppy we were terribly worried about her.  She seemed to be running a fever and definitely wasn't feeling well.  Laundry, thanks to Frances, was the priority in the morning; we headed to town.  Clothes in the washer, we drove a few blocks and found our first Oregon coast lighthouse. 

We took pictures from the beach and returned to the Laundromat.  

After laundry we visited another lighthouse and went downtown to watch the sea lions play.  

Once on the road again, we enjoyed the coast so thoroughly that at one point Kathy noticed we'd only driven 53 miles in 3 hours. As we continued our Lighthouse search, a tropical storm came in.  We made our way into Port Orford. A blinking light warned severe winds were making the road impassable for large vehicles, including us.  

We found a grocery store and Joy went in and asked the manager if we could dry camp overnight.  They said absolutely, we always say yes to anyone who asks. We were trapped at Ray’s grocery and eating ice cream as solace.  I'd bet the manager would be happy our parking along the edge of the parking lot caused a couple making out in the back seat of a car to stop and leave. 

We had a quick dinner, walked the dogs in the pouring rain and were off to bed early. We were up and on road by 7:00 am.  It was still raining but the wind had greatly diminished. This was the worse storm of the summer during our travels.

Beautiful coastal views now dark and ominous. Waves cashing on the rocks caused us to stop and sing the Hawaii Five-O theme song.   

Cape Blanco lighthouse was like a painting with sound and texture.  Our final lighthouse stop was one that had been moved inland after being destroyed by the waters it shines upon.  The coast guard who operates this lighthouse stills uses its unique red and white lens.  

As the rain lifted the road began to meander through the dunes which we just had to stop and climb.  The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area was an aerobic blast. Even Keila climbed to the top of the dune to see the Pacific Ocean on the other side.  What a great way to say goodbye to the Oregon coast.

Finishing the AlCan

From British Columbia to Alaska, the Alaskan Highway aka the AlCan, was the answer to the Japanese threat during World War II.  Completed in 1942, it ensured the United States and Canada could defend their northern borders as well as provide support to their Russian allies.  Our journey to the end of the AlCan ended in Fairbanks.

On Tuesday we headed into Tok as soon as we closed up the Visitors Center.  We stayed at the Tetlin NWR Headquarters, which allowed us to easily dump our black an gray water tanks, fill our fresh water tank, do our laundry and reconnect briefly with the world.

We were on the road the next morning by 10:00 am and spotted two moose before we even got to Delta Junction.  The first was a cow with twin calves who ran along the highway while considering crossing until she saw us.  The cow turned and gently nudged one of the calves toward the woods and away from the road.  It was an obvious gesture that mommy knew best as she taught her young ones road safety.  They disappeared safely into the woods and we drove on.

The views of the Alaskan Range were wonderful and we began to talk about our future trip to Denali. We still needed to make reservations and see if we could get more consecutive days off to make the trip.

Just south of town is the Delta Junction Meat Market.  A clean  processing plant that packages local domestic protein including reindeer, pork, elk, yak, and beef.  We sampled and then stocked our freezer.

Back on the road, we followed the Alaskan pipeline across the bridge honoring the black army brigade that helped construct the highway.  It's amazing bridges stand for so many years.  What beautiful works of architectural art they are!  The pipeline follows many miles of the Richardson Highway and became our shadow between Delta Junction and Fairbanks as it ran beside the highway, through the woods and along mountain ledges.

We arrived in Delta Junction and located the original mile post signaling the end of the Alaskan Highway. There is also a final milepost in Fairbanks which we address below.  One of the intentions of the highway was to join up with the north to south running Richardson Highway.  We took our photo with the milepost and Joy got silly with the worlds largest mosquito.

Nearing Fairbanks, we noted two significant military bases.  Eielson Airforce base and Ft. Wainwright Army base.  As we drove past Eielson, we warned by signs to not stop, stand or photograph, as the highway paralleled the airport where we saw C-130's and F-16's parked.  Joy, of course, ignored the signs and got a great shot of an airwacs doing touch and go's.

After driving on the first divided "highway" we'd seen in months, we saw signs for the North Pole. Driving right past Santa's house, we decided to save our visit for the trip home.

We drove to the county park that we had intended to stay at but all sites with electricity were full.  The air was also full - of mosquitoes - so we drove down the road to Rivers Edge RV park.  Clean and busy, the park was clean although a little cramped.  At least they had cable and yes, we watched TV!

After getting hooked up and taking care of the pups, we went out looking for Mexican food (the last time we've done so in Alaska.)  We found a promising restaurant and even had a Hispanic waiter; but alas, the food was gringo style.  Sweetened tomato sauce instead of enchilada sauce and microwave quality food.  The chips and salsa were actually good so we ate our fill.

The next day we went to the visitors center and cultural center.  We watched a movie about the aurora borealis, walked the river path to other attractions, and actually ran into some tourists from Germany we'd met at the Visitor Center back in Tetlin.  Eventually, we found the final AlCan milepost signifying when the the AlCan was rebuilt to make the road available to car travel and Fairbanks became the final milepost. It was the first city in Alaska available for tourism via automobile.

With our sightseeing done, we headed out to conduct business.  Keila and Frances conducted theirs at PetCo.  Keila got her nails trimmed, Frances found an antler and both got their next month's supply of dog food. After Petco, we all headed to the dog park as it had been quite a while since the pups were allowed to run off leash.  At the park, we met a nice young woman and her typical Alaskan street dog, long legged with long pointy ears, playful and energetic.

After dropping the pups back at the RV, we headed to Fred Meyers, a cross between Wal-Mart and Costco.  The store was enormous, clean, well stocked, and provided  great customer service.  We bumped into some more people we'd met at the Visitor Center - this time a graduate student who was studying the aurora borealis and her older sister.  We laughed as this was the third time we'd run into visitors we'd met at the refuge in other parts of the state.

The next morning, on our way out of town, we conducted our last piece of business - getting the tires rotated on the Jeep and having someone look at a faulty valve extension on the RV. We found a tire shop large enough to work on the RV.  They were friendly and helpful and let the dogs hang out with us in the shop as they worked on the vehicles.  It was cold and rainy so we enjoyed all being together.

Within an hour, we back on the road and headed to the North Pole!  Growing up, Joy's neighbor, Pinky, and her family were from Alaska.  They moved to Minnesota after working on the pipeline.  Pinky often told Joy about meeting Santa Claus in North Pole but Joy never believed her - until now.  North Pole, Alaska is home to Santa's shop and post office where it is Christmas every day of the year.  The shop is full of not just decorations, but clothing, gifts, and fudge.  Joy lined up to sit on Santa's lap just like all the children - thankfully, she wasn't arrested.

We purchased our few items, including fudge, and got back on the road.  The stretch between Delta Junction and Tok provided several more moose to view and we now tell our visitors to look for them when we find out they're traveling that same stretch of road.

On our way home, about 10 miles from the visitor's center, we rounded a corner and found this juvenile black bear sitting smack dab in the middle of the road.  We came to a stop as he stood up, glared at us, and walked away.

We would hear several visitors report to us about seeing him as the summer went on but luckily, we don't think he got any closer to our campsite.  Juvenile black bears are unpredictable and certainly not the animal you want to confront.