Many of our Strategic Investing subscribers and friends have asked that we document our trip up north. Our initial schedule can be seen by clicking here.
We left Dallas about 11 a.m. on a lovely June day and after a great BBQ lunch with my two brothers at Rudy's BBQ in Frisco, TX, we were on our way up the Dallas Tollway, then US 380 to I35 and on to Oklahoma City. Not a cloud in the sky all the way to OKC. In the evening, we spoke to the IBD Meetup group in Oklahoma City at the Belle Isle Library. Only made 242 miles of the 13,888 miles the trip plan estimates.
Up at 5:30 a.m. and had breakfast at Cracker Barrel before filling up the GMC pickup for $2.48/galloon. Discovered that it will take 24.2 gallons of unleaded after the low fuel light comes on. Again the weather was great and we were able to change our schedule while traveling on I-35 through Wichita, Kansas where we took I-235 to Salina, KS and headed towards Colorado. We were fortunate to be on I-70 rather than I-80 as the first tornados of the year were keeping the Texas Tech tornado searchers running in Wyoming and western Nebraska all afternoon. We traveled 571 miles today.
With a cold front approaching and dropping rain just west of us on I-70 around Denver, we stopped for the night in Limon, Co. The countryside shows the benefit of all the rain and everything looks green. Did not see much field work being down along I-70 in Western Kansas. Tomorrow we will be breaking out the camera and taking pictures of the mountains headed towards Boise, Idaho.
Up at 4:15 MDT, packed and on the road by 4:45 from Limon with dawn just breaking headed toward Denver on I-70. After a great breakfast in Loveland, CO and viewing all the vintage cars parked there for a "GoodGuys" auto show, I took US-34 through Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park, CO and over the 12,183 foot high pass in Rocky Mountain National Park. A look at the whole trip shows that this is the highest elevation on the trip.
Lunch at the Mavericks Grill in Granby, then on to US-40 to Steamboat Springs, Craig and finally CO-318 toward Utah and Flaming Gorge at Dutch John. West of Craig, we saw several deer and other critters (mostly road kill) beside the road. CO-318 in Colorado is now all paved to the Utah Border. The Gates of Lodore and Browns Park are accessible from CO-318 so we had to navigate around slow-moving float expeditions and motor homes. However, the road into Utah as shown in the picture below is a primitive road for 22 of the 28 miles to US-191. On this stretch, we only saw 5 vehicles and mostly pipeline workers. Unlike an Idaho super-highway, the Utah extension of CO-318 does not get a road-grader over it at least once a year. At least, we discovered that the GMC pickup with the new shock absorbers will not jar everything loose and that dust was minimum in the covered pickup bed. The land around Dutch John shows the ravages of the forest fires north of Dutch John and pine beetle infestations on UT-44.
Then down US-191 to UT-44 to Manila (Utah not the Philippines). As always, we took the Sheep Creek loop which is one of the most interesting drives in the U.S. for its scenery. Then back on UT-44 to join UT-43 in Manila. Crossing into Wyoming, the road become WY-414 to McKinnon and Limon where we picked up I-80. Sweetwater and Uintah counties were the sites of some famous cattle/sheep wars in the 1800's. We stopped in Evanston, WY for dinner and the night after driving 591 miles. We will shortly enable the links so that you can click on any of the pictures and get a full-screen shot.
Left Evanston on WY-89 north up the Bear River Valley in moderate rain. This is mostly cattle country although we did see a few deer. So far on the trip, everything from Texas to Idaho is as green as any year that I have made this trip in June. However, north of Evanston, there appears to be a surplus of moisture as many of the fields have become ponds. We then turned west to Bear Lake which is one of the truly beautiful lakes in the West which is basically unknown by the public. However, we noted that a large number of the recently built homes had for sale signs. Now if they only had a hospital and grocery store, I might be tempted. Then with showers and down-pours keeping the windshield wipers busy, we took UT-30 to Paris, Idaho where one of Brigham Young son's had designed and built an impressive Mormon tabernacle. The top of the spire is 110 feet and the building will seat more than 3 times the town's population. It was built in 1889.
Then on up to Montpelier, Idaho and out to I-15 to Pocatello on US-30. After lunch, we headed down I-86 to join I-84. Just before Burley, Idaho, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Then on to Boise, Idaho after doing some walking around Twin Falls to exercise the body after 2-1/2 days of driving. Filled up in Boise for 23.8 gallons at $2.48/gallon. Today's mileage was 430.
After a breakfast meeting at Elmer's Restaurant in Boise, headed towards Portland on I-84.
Drove through Payette, Idaho where we obtained stamps and mailed postcards and material at the post office. Just before the Idaho border, the lush green hills began turning to sage-brush and high plains desert. After a early lunch in Ontario, Oregon, we got back on I-84 and ended up the evening in Hood River, Oregon where my Dad's uncle had owned a car dealership for over 50 years. Spent the evening after driving 460 miles updating the presentation to be given on June 9th to the AAII Portland chapter the next day.
Drove 68 miles to Portland to give the AAII Chapter presentation on the Economic Indicators and Market Overview to a group of about 60 attendees.
Visited with my 91 year old Uncle John for a few hours before heading north towards Seattle.
Spent the night in Kelso, Washington where we updated the Musings and the presentation for Seattle. Drove 68 miles.
We spent the three days in Redmond with family and had the GMC pickup serviced. Repacked for trip north and wrote Thursday and Friday Market Musings. Went shopping for food items which might be difficult to find in Canada and Alaska at QFC in Redmond and a couple of sporting goods stores. The traffic mess in Redmond keeps growing and it takes longer to drive a few miles each time I visit.
After church and lunch at Spud's in Kirkland, we headed north on I-405 to I-5 towards Canada. In Bellingham, we turned off I-5 to clear Canadian Customs at Sumas with only a 15 minute wait. It was then up to the Trans-Canada Highway #1 to Hope, B.C. where we spent the night. In talking with the proprietor of the Park Motel, we discovered that business had slowed down as tourism was way off. Drove 167 miles from Redmond to Hope.
A little over two years ago, I ate breakfast at Rolly's in Hope and then discovered that my phone had been turned off and found several messages from my wife and others. As a result, my trip north was abandoned. After spending the night at the Park Motel, I again had raspberry syrup on my pancakes at Rolly's in Hope. It seemed like my trip north was about to start. Of course, we had already put 2700 miles on the vehicle since leaving Dallas.
Many years ago when I was just 14, my father put all of the family in the car and we headed to Alaska from Payette, Idaho. However, by the time we arrived at Jasper, Alberta, Dad had suffered two flat tires and a hole in the gas tank and decided that it might be better to turn south towards Lake Louise, Banff and Waterton Park and back to Idaho than continuing to Alaska. Since then, I have always wanted to drive the Alcan Highway and it looks as if this is the year.
After filling up with gas at Chevron, we headed north towards Cache Creek. The weather was windy but clear with only high clouds during most of the day. During the drive up the Fraser River and through the Fraser Canyon north to Prince George, we were surprised to see a large number of For Sale signs and closed businesses along the highway.
Road construction also played a part in our slow progress today. We were halted before getting to Cache Creek for over 45 minutes at one location along Fraser Canyon ... could not beat the scenery and many people were interested in the pickup with Texas plates. It seemed like every 20 miles or thereabouts, we were passing another construction project. Spent about an hour in the afternoon at the 108 mile historical site which is a collection of old buildings with people to explain various aspects of life in the 1800's.
We eventually spent the night in Quesnel, BC at the Talisman Inn as it began raining hard during a thunderstorm just before we arrived in Quesnel.
Drove 319 miles today as we took a few pictures and just moseyed along stopping at interesting sights along the way.
The day started out with mist and fog and then more rain as we headed north towards Prince George arriving there about 9 a.m. just in time for a traffic slowdown.
Got off the Yellowhead Highway and found a Wal-Mart where we spent a few minutes walking the store for exercise and waiting for the traffic to clear out.
We needed gasoline and were lucky to find an Esso station where we filled up. Got over 402 miles on the tank of gas from Hope. We were surprised to find that the gauges indicated that we now had a range of 503 miles for the new tank. At Fraser Lake, we endured an hour delay due to road construction. Guess that driving under 60 and sometimes 50 increases the miles per gallon. Had lunch at the A&W restaurant in Houston, BD along with about 50 motorcycle riders who were on a tour to Alaska from the Midwest U.S.
We drove 433 miles today as we ended up in Terrace, BC at the Sandman Inn with Denny's next door. After dinner while talking to some Brink's armored truck drivers and listening to their comments about the local economy, we drove around Terrace and found it a most interesting place.
Up early for breakfast at Denny's ... the Senior Slam and then headed down the Misty River otherwise known as the Skeena River towards Prince Rupert, BC.
The original plan was to take the ferry up the Inside Passage to Haines, Alaska. However, the ferry schedule did not cooperate with my schedule. The weather was raining and/or we enjoyed a heavy mist all the way to Prince Rupert. The scenery made the drive memorable.
Spent a few hours wandering around the town and visited with the owners of this unit from Livingston, TX. We photographed our first deer since leaving Idaho in a residential area of Prince Rupert.
Discovered that the motel rates in PR were much higher than in Terrace so decided to drive back. Took a side road to Port Edward and found the little town more interesting than Prince Rupert with its heavy emphasis on tourists. The sun decided to play peek-a-boo with the river on the way back and it was a delightful drive along the river taking our time and taking many pictures.
Upon arrival back at the Sandman updated the Market Musings and uploaded all the pictures to the computer. Total mileage today was only 198 miles.
Another Senior Slam at Denny's and then we headed back 60 miles to Kitwanga, BC and the start of the Cassiar Highway for 774 KM to the Alaskan Highway in the Yukon Territory.
Just before Kitwanga, we ran into another half-hour delay due to road construction.
We decided to take the side road to Stewart, BC and over to Hyder, Alaska. On the way we took a few pictures including Bear Glacier. We were struck by how the towns of Stewart and Hyder looked like ghost villages. It is obvious that logging and mining in the region are in trouble.
On the way back to the Cassiar Highway, I stopped at Bear Glacier again and after several minutes finally figured out how to make the camera delay work so I took a picture of myself.
Getting back on the Cassiar after lunch, we headed north again. Stopped for a rest at lovely Mehan Lake. So far the Cassiar has been paved and well-maintained although I am told it might change after Dease Lake where I stopped for the night and stayed at the Northway Inn.
Drove 439 miles from Terrace to Dease Lake in about 12 hours elapsed time.
After a tasty breakfast at Mama's Diner, we drove around Dease Lake and discovered a seaplane base nestled in the trees on the lake. Around Dease Lake, the flowers along the roadside were simply fantastic.
We then headed north on the Cassiar towards Hope Lake. At the Dease River campground about 9:15, we ran into our first gravel road.
We arrived at Good Hope Lake at 10:45. We also began getting bugs on the windshield for the first time. Welcome to Canada!
At 11:30 we finally arrived at the Alaskan Highway and headed east towards Watson Lake for gas. We visited the Visitor center in Watson Lake and found a payphone to call home as the cell phone service stopped when we hit the Cassiar Highway in Kitwanga.
Was amazed at the extent of the signpost forest at Watson Lake. After stopping for lunch at Nugget City, we began to see motorcycles, and bicycles on the road towards Alaska. Also, Bentley auto's both new and old on the highway as we headed back west on the Alaskan Highway at 1:30 p.m. towards Whitehorse, Yukon Territory for the night.
We finally found lodging at the Westmark Klondike Inn as a large music event was in town. All told, we drove 434 miles.
Whitehorse does not open until 8 a.m. and so I had to wait for breakfast. In driving around we saw the Klondike paddlewheel steamer which traveled the Yukon river for decades.
Found a Wal-Mart and then across the road had breakfast at Ricky's Diner. Then at 9:30, after filling the gas tank, we were headed south on the Klondike Highway to spend the day in Skagway, Alaska.
We arrived at Carcross, British Columbia about 10:30 after seeing the world's smallest desert. At Carcross, we took in the Visitor's Center.
We managed to take a wrong turn in the little town and found ourselves looking at another lake. Carcross sits between two large lakes. Finally, made it back to the highway to Skagway after asking directions at the little post office where I mailed some postcards.
Leaving Carcross, we came to Bove Island on Tutshi Lake where the Gold Rush seekers built boats to head down the Yukon River.
Then at 11:45, we were at the Yukon Suspension Bridge where we were the only visitor and the guides were really helpful in explaining all the engineering and construction problems which were encountered over the river. Just below the suspension bridge is a Class 5 rapids and we observed several kayaks that tipped over trying to run the nozzle as the guide called it.
Then it was on to Skagway arriving after clearing customer at 3 p.m. and finally getting cellphone coverage. I was disappointed in Skagway as it is really just a tourist trap.
We spent four hours in Skagway watching tourists and having an over-priced lunch/dinner. Then it was time to head back to Whitehorse as the hotels were much higher than in Whitehorse. With it not getting dark at all, it was just a matter of continuing to drive back and staying awake watching out for elk, moose and bear. The clouds had lifted while we were in Skagway and the scenery was much different on the way back. The black bear was just headed to water as we were driving back along Tutshi Lake.
Arrived back in Whitehorse at 9 p.m. and stayed at the Gold Rush Best Western. It was a great day although we only drove 223 miles.
After a Vancouver Benny breakfast at Ricky's Diner in Whitehorse and filling up with gas, we found the McBride Museum of Yukon History and did the tourist bit. Then it was back on the road headed to Haines, Alaska on an absolutely clear and cool day.
Just before Haynes Junction, we saw the young Grizzly bear eating beside the road. Then we turned down the road to Haynes arriving at the Port Seward former military post about 5:00 to have dinner and stay at the Hotel Haslingland which I can highly recommend for its service, food and view. Now the shower is another thing.
We drove 241 miles today.
Checked out at 6:30 a.m. and drove to the ferry terminal at Haynes. Of course, the four mile road was under construction and one way traffic made it a 30 minute trip to and from the ferry.
Then ate a great breakfast at the Chilcut Bakery where the homemade cooking and bread was delicious. Then we were on our way at 8:25 back to the Alaskan Highway and on to Kluane Lake and Alaska. We had lunch at noon in Haynes Junction and then turned west on the Alaskan Highway towards Tok, Alaska.
The tour guide showed many resorts and places to stay on Kluane Lake but as we drove up, we found about 2/3rd's were out of business or not yet open. Destruction Bay, Beaver Creek and then U.S. Customs at 4:45. The roads were under construction and the gravel roads were the roughest we had seen so far on the trip. A motorcycle was pulling a small trailer and failed to slow down and the two vehicles parted company. No one was hurt but the trailer was toast.
We arrived in Tok, Alaska at 6 p.m., had dinner at Fast Eddy's after checking in at the Main Street Motel which offered free high-speed internet access and was fairly new. It turned out to be a great choice ... quiet and excellent quarters. A total of 451 miles today in about 11 hours of actual driving time.
Today was a leisurely drive down to Glenallen on the Tok Cutoff. After breakfast at Grumpy Grizzly's and a visit to the Tok Visitor Centor we were off about 10:30 towards Glenallen where we spent the night at the Caribou Motel. Took a picture of a posing fox just south of Tok. Only made a total of 139 miles today.
Leaving Glenallen, we were now approaching the famous Copper River fishing holes.
With the Red's running, we decided to follow the fish towards Chitna.
Then we were back on the road headed towards Valdez for the next two days before taking a ferry to Whittier on Friday.
Arrived in Valdez at 6 p.m. and checked in at the TotemInn. Today's mileage was 196.