MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS. . . .
A little early for Christmas but on December 7 snow and ice moved into the area. We still had ice in the yard 10 days later.
This will be a seasonal house. We will continue to travel and hope to see you along the road. If you are in the area call and if we are here come for a visit. Best wishes for 2014.
Our plans were to go to Maumelle Corps of Engrs. Park in Little Rock (while we visited Francis’ doctors) but when the Federal Government shut down I decided to call to be sure the park was open. After two days of no answer finally called the park direct and was told they were closed and did not know when they would be able to open.
Thankfully when I called Baker RV in Southside just out of Batesville (we had reservations there beginning Oct.17), Chris said to come on she would have a place for us. We were glad to be off the road and able to visit with the children and grandkids. One evening when leaving Jana’s there was a beautiful sunset.
While we were staying at Baker our friends Jim and Mary Ann stopped by on their way to Texas. Decided to drive over to Heber Springs taking a back route to show them our cabin. This was not a good idea since the road was washed out
but we were able to drive through the creek to continue.
Big Creek was a favorite swimming hole when the girls were growing up. It is still a beautiful area even with the road out.
Never made it to our old cabin but did see lots of beautiful colors and enjoyed yet another outing with friends.
We have decided that it is time to downsize and start part-time travel. We have always planned to be close to our girls when that time arrived.
While we were at McHugh (outside of Anchorage) this summer Francis had downloaded a CAD program that we used to work on some house plans to build on our land at Pleasant Plains. After many changes, moving walls, etc. we felt we had a pretty good idea of what would best fill our needs.
When we arrived in Batesville we took the plans to a contractor that we really like. He advised us that with the number of houses on the market we could probably buy something for what the building material would cost him for a cabin of approx. 1200 sq. ft. He estimated that to build on our land would cost roughly $175,000.00.
So we decided to start looking. The result is on Nov. 4 we purchased this house in Desha just out of Batesville.
Francis has already put in electricity for two RV sites and our motorhome is on one site. We look forward to friends stopping by to use the other site.
For Thanksgiving the family met at Joy’s home in the Ozark National Forest. It is approx. 130 miles but it took 4 hours
Just like traveling in Alaska . . . not many roads in the area and the ones traveled are very crooked.
Driving along between Piney Creek and the rocks on a one lane road. If you meet traffic someone has to find a place to pull off.
Icicles along the rock bluffs.
White tail deer in field next to Joy’s house.
Fearing more snow our trip through Canada was quick. However leaving on Sept. 29, we had not encounter any additional snow on the road.
RV friends, Charlotte and Roger, were working in North Dakota so we decided to stop over for a visit at the Viking RV Park in Ft. Ransom, ND
During a drive around the area we saw many interesting old buildings.
The Slattum Cabin built in 1879 housed the Norwegian family including 9 children.
The Preston Church
And lots of wild turkeys. . .
Leaving Tok, AK there was approx. 2 inches of new snow resulting in the roads being slushy. Decided that after our experience last April we would each drive a vehicle until the roads cleared. Crossing into Canada we encounter road construction through the 20 miles (no man’s land) between the two borders and roads continued icy. The quickest Canadian border crossing in history for us. . . . approx. 3 min. from the time Francis drove up in the motorhome until I departed following him in the car.
Just before we arrived in Whitehorse, YT, Canada we were detoured onto the old Alaska highway.
The road was narrow with no shoulders . . . sure glad for all the improvements over the years. We were beginning to see more changing colors (back on the Alaska Highway).
But so far no snow since the area entering Canada.
While we have not seen a lot of wildlife on this trip we have seen a number of bison herds.
In fact, there were lots of bison
Today (September 25) there was termination dust (snow) on the mountains
More snow and lots of low clouds.
Following along Mucho Lake
and driving between lake edge and mountain
As we entered the Toad River area we decided to spend the night,
woke to a beautiful sunrise,
and then drove on to Toad Lodge where we spent several days on our trip North waiting out a snow storm.
Due to the the short construction season along the Alaska Highway there are many delays and convoys to follow
In some areas these construction zones are much better driving than the frost heaves and potholes encountered along the highway.
North of Fort St. John while Jo Ann was driving the smoke alarm went off in the bedroom. Pulling onto the shoulder we could not find anything and it had stopped. However, when it went off the third time we were able to pull into a safe area. Francis noticed that the tail pipe extension was missing and further investigation showed that we did indeed have a fire in the rear end from the exhaust heat.
A fellow traveler had a piece of metal about the size of a license plate and we were able to form a makeshift extension. This allowed us to continue. We stopped at the Fort St. John Water Treatment plant to fill up and dump. This is such a convenient location just as you enter the city from the south (easy in and out).
With careful planning we were able to drive across British Columbia without stopping for diesel (the price was about 65 cents per gallon higher than Alberta). When we stopped for fuel at the first station in Alberta, had a good laugh with the guy working the pumps. He said “do you know what BC (British Columbia) stands for . . . bring CASH.”
As we were coming into Edmonton, Alberta we saw a huge, old wood trestle that is still in use.
Decided to stop here for a brief visit to the big mall. At the ice rink there were a number of classes in progress.
We walked through part of the mall and had lunch.
Driving through Alberta there are lots of large farms
Also saw an interesting old concrete bridge (no longer in use).
On a final walk around the Chena River State Park I found some mushrooms growing (we have had some light rains while here)
On one of our visits to the Visitor’s Center we learned about a group here (Cold Climate House Research Center) that held seminars once a month on Thurs. Since it was being held this week we decided to attend. The leader shared some very interesting studies (facts) about building in remote areas of AK where all building material and labor had to be flown in. Also the way they insulated both with foam and natural (earth) to cut heating material and cost. As we walked through the exhibits we came across items that had been removed from a north slope homestead including tools, a homemade sled and canoe.
Driving out the Richardson Highway we stopped along the Tanana Valley.
There was a roadhouse located here at the site of the Silver Fox Farm.
The birch and alders added a lot of gold color for the fall
and the road followed the Tanana River.
Arrived at Quartz Lake State Park in the late afternoon. The clouds reflect the setting sun.
The next morning we headed out for a road trip including a stop at Rika’s Roadhouse after crossing the Tanana River
We were disappointed to learn that while the State Park was open Rika’s was closed (in fact we were told at the visitor’s center at Delta Junction that the restaurant and gift shop may be closed permanently due to loss of tour bus business).
Rika’s Roadhouse
Prior to the upgrading of the Richardson/Valdez trail and the building of the bridge there was a ferry crossing the Tanana River.
The ferry manager’s house was built in 1923.
When the Alaska Hwy. was built during WWII it stopped at Delta Junction where it connected with the Richardson
Even though Fairbanks still claims the Alaska Hwy. ends there.
Also in this area is the Sullivan Roadhouse which was moved from the bombing practice field by the military. This was the second move for this structure since the Sullivan’s moved it the first time when the Tok Cutoff was rerouted about 4.5 miles from the roadhouse to eliminate some of the steep grades on the highway.
The kitchen and dining area were located in the roadhouse.
However the sleeping quarters one room for men and one for women separated by curtains was in a building in back.
After we returned we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.
We have not seen a lot of large animals but did enjoy the swans at Quartz Lake.
The 800 miles of pipeline cover lots of different terrain. It crosses many rivers the Yukon being the largest (1900 ft) but here it crosses the Tanana
It travels above and below ground.
The pipeline is designed to withstand maximum 8.5 Richter scale earthquake. It has withstood a magnitude 7.9 earthquake centered in the Denali Fault in Interior Alaska.
On the morning of Sept. 18 we woke to snow
Upon arrival we learned that the Visitor’s center closed last Sunday but decided to visit one of the few “gift shops” we like in the area. There are a number of interesting exhibits in the shop like the mountain sheep and wolves
Some of the interesting decorations are the post with burls
Moose antler chandler
They have all size burl bowls for sale
Of course the prices are also large.
