Author: Steve

Internet.  Before we left the states, we called Verizon and they put all our devices on the International Plan.  For $5 a day per device we can use everything at normal U.S. rates instead of international rates.  The international rates are freaky; about a dollar a minute!  Our first experience with internet in Canada is that there isn’t any Verizon coverage where we are, south of Calgary, but our jetpack will roam and pick up Bell coverage, but that isn’t very good either.  We purchased a week of Tengo Internet which has worked sporadically.

Here is an RV style we haven’t seen before.

A Canadian conversion?

Here is another RV we saw along the way.

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The remarkable thing about this one is that it has a sticker proudly proclaiming it declaring “I survived the Alaska Highway”.  Just barely, I’d say.  Of course, there is the danger that that’s how our rig will look after we’ve done the Alaska Highway too!

Found more trails to walk…

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…and more ducklets to photograph; this time goldeneyes.

We’ve had a nice yard in this campground.

…and the park really cleared out as the weekend ended.

Tomorrow, we’re moving on.

We’re in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, just south of Calgary.  No hurries; we’re going to layover for a few days and savor full hookups.

The Great 2019 Alaska Trip map

No trouble at the border; only five cars ahead of us, and the border agent only asked us about five questions.  We drove through cold, wind, and rain to get here but no troubles.  It’s still cold and rainy tonight, the temperature will drop into the thirties, but we expect warmer weather tomorrow.

Sunset tonight 9:45.  Last light 10:30.

3,232 kilometers to Fairbanks.  (That translates to 2,006 miles.)

If I sound a little different tonight, it’s because I’m thinking and speaking in kilometers and liters.

They’ve got big long roads up here too!  And they have all been good to us.  Nice ride.

The windshield view.

A small-town seed company.

We filled in a few more shapes on the Montana map.

My cellphone croaked, so we stopped at a Verizon store in Great Falls and got it replaced by an awesome guy named Kyle.  Good to go, we got back on the road and landed in Shelby, Montana.

…at Lake Sheloole Campground.

The Great 2019 Alaska Trip map

Sunset tonight 9:25.  Last light 10:02.

2,209 miles to Fairbanks.  We’re almost half-way!  2,209 miles to Fairbanks and 2,014 miles to Sandpipers Resort.  This driving to Alaska thing is easy!

North and west.  We filled in a few more squares on the Wyoming map.

The windshield view in Montana.  Rolling grassland at the Wyoming border.

Giving way to the Crazy Mountain Range in the background.

Some old rusty stuff along the way; a horse-drawn road grader.

We’re at Chief Joseph Park in Harlowton, Montana.

The Great 2019 Alaska Trip map

Sunset tonight 9:08.  Last light 9:40.  2,423 miles to Fairbanks.

Now we’re traveling in earnest.  They’ve got big long roads in Wyoming too.  Overall, the highway in Wyoming has been good.  We even noticed some old busted concrete freeway being replaced with nice smooth asphalt.  Driving Texas highways, we see the signs about hurricane evacuation routes.  Driving Wyoming, we see signs about “road closed when flashing” to turn traffic around during blizzards.

It has been a good pronghorn day.  All day long we could pick them out on the hillsides.

More Eastern Wyoming windshield view.

We’re celebrating an anniversary of sorts.  One year-ago today, I was wheeled-in pre-dawn for open heart surgery.  Today, we’re frolicking down the highway on our way to Alaska!  How amazing is that?  We are very thankful that this could be.

Now we’re at Mikesell-Potts Recreation Area County Park at Lake DeSmet.  Dry camping; no hookups. src=157616970409.17356.10535000612059502165@Feluria.aswdev.localF2C00” style=”width:5.775in;height:3.8416in” width=”554″/>

I think we did okay finding our spot.

The Great Alaska Trip map

Sunset tonight 8:47.  Last light 9:22.  2,671 miles to Fairbanks.