Our Home Away from Home – Stephenfield Lake Resort

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 – Day 68

10100 Miles of driving and no accidents until I was parking the trailer at Stephenfield.  Janet had suggested that we move the privacy screen on our deck, but I insisted that it helped me line up the trailer to the edge of the deck.  Well guess who was right!!  Just to deny an almost perfect park job, I caught the front, right clearance light on the privacy screen and sheared off the light.  Janet is always right and Jerry always screws up.

Stephenfield is our seasonal campsite located about 110 Km, southwest of Winnipeg.  It has been a summer retreat for the last 5 years.  While it is not as wild as Denali, it is a bit of country for city folks like ourselves. Before I had retired we spent most summer weekends there.  Last year during the house renovation we escaped there when we could; after the contractors and trades people left, to get a dose of sanity.  (Now that would have been great fodder for a blog – a home renovation – it certainly is nothing like the Television shows Trading Spaces or Total Home Makeover, especially when you’re living in it.)

We will be staying here for a couple of days to clean up the flower beds and pull some of the weeds that always seem to have a healthy head start on us.  We will also clean the inside of the trailer and pack away anything that we won’t be needing.  The exterior wash and wax will have to wait for another time.  Our son David has been posted to Ashern, MB for a six month rotation with Manitoba Hydro and will be coming home for weekends, so we would like to spend some time with him.  We can also fully utilize our Home Long Distance plan to talk to Kevin in Kelowna…e-mail is OK, but it sometimes lacks the personal touch.

I have really enjoyed doing the blog and just hope that some people have been able to read it and get some enjoyment from it as well.  As a matter of fact, I’m getting some “separation anxiety” about giving it up by titling a post with “The End” of “Fini”.  Although, I am glad that I don’t have to do this for a living as some days it was so very difficult to find a lead or a catchy idea.  Other days the posts just seemed to write themselves.  Selecting pictures was quite time consuming as sometimes my photographer would go nuts and keep her finger pressed on the shutter for the whole day (or so it seemed.)  But in fairness a lot of credit has to go to Janet who would always have something for me to put into the posts to help illustrate something I was trying to describe.  Once we have got settled at 138, we will do a final post with some statistical info, some opinions and ideas about the trip.

Although not yet carved in stone we are thinking of heading east next year.  Neither of us have been past Montreal, so the Eastern Townships of Quebec, the Maritime Provinces and perhaps some of the upper New England states would be an educational trip.

We will continue to watch our email and check for comments on the blog and will try to respond in a timely manner.  Thanks for reading!

Riding Mountain National Park

Sunday, July 5, 2009 – Day 66 and Monday, July 6, 2009 Day 67

We had a real nice drive along Saskatchewan Hwy 10 and Manitoba Hwy 5, towards Riding Mountain.  Some beautiful scenery especially between Roblin and Grandview, Manitoba.  We turned south onto Highway 10 just before Dauphin and we soon passed by the site of Country Fest, an annual country music festival, one of the biggest in western Canada.  A few dozen miles past that and we were entering Riding Mountain National Park.

The last time that Janet and I had been here was when we were vacationing with our boys about 15 years ago.  Lots of changes, most of which I would guess are the result of budget reductions.  Less road maintenance; less mowing of the road right of ways; in general just less TLC.

We visited the Lake Audy Bison Enclosure, which kept us amused for a few hours.   

We took numerous pictures of the wild flowers. 

We took a picture of this guy patiently waiting for his master to return.            

Janet at the Lake Audy Dam.

Breezin’ Through Saskatchewan

Saturday, July 4, 2009 – Day 65 – American Independence Day

When we were in Whitehorse, we had met Bill and Carol from Battleford, Saskatchewan. They had told us about a number of things that we could do while in the Battleford area.  We turned off the the Yellowhead Highway into Battleford and drove to the area around the Fort which is now a National Historic Site.  It looked like a really interesting area that we would like to explore, but we just weren’t up geared-up for another museum.  At this stage of the trip we are looking forward to a little down time. This has been a long trip and we both agreed that we are “touristed-out.” 

We continued through Saskatoon where we had originally decided to stop but changed our plans and went on to Yorkton, SK.  Once again we pulled in late and we were lucky to get the last electrical and water serviced site. We spoke with the owners of the City Campground for some time.  Cody and Brenda Denton, had purchased the campground a couple of years after Cody retired, so that it would give him something to do.  He is quite an ingenious guy.  Since none of the sites were originally built with sewer service he wanted a better way for the seasonal campers to get rid of their waste.  Under normal circumstances the RV’er would have to dump their holding tanks into a portable, wheeled tote and then wheel the tote to the dump station and empty the tote.  Then repeat this until the holding tanks have been emptied.  Cody’s invention comes to the campsite via an ATV, pumps out the holding tanks and then disappears.  Cody’s problem after that!  For casual weekend campers or travellers like ourselves, he’s developed an idiot proof dump station…no more pulling the wrong valve; no misses and no messes.   We were actually the first people to give it the real world test.  We didn’t clog it and it was finished in minutes!!  Really good ideas.

After dinner we went to fuel the truck, and as we were leaving we saw the couple next door, taking their tent down and getting ready to setup a tent trailer.  We’d thought it strange, that they had not used the tent trailer immediately.  We drove around Yorkton for a little while and then returned to the campsite to find the same couple working on their tent trailer. We found out that they were from Humboldt, SK and they had just purchased the pre-owned, tent trailer  from a lady in Prince Albert, SK.  Seems like the lady was no lady at all; but more like a shady lady. The trailer had been set up when he arrived to buy it and he checked it for leaks, the stove, wheels, etc.  She then showed him how to collapse it.  Unfortunately; she didn’t show him how to get it up, probably because it wouldn’t go up.  This was their dilemma.  We tried helping them but it appeared as if the cable that raises the tent trailer roof had broken in an inaccessible place and the whole rear of the trailer would have to be dismantled.  Not a job to be started at 08:30 PM. As we disappeared into our trailer they were getting ready to setup their tent once again.  This was a classic case of Buyer Beware.

Tomorrow we are headed for Riding Mountain National Park for a couple of nights before we make the final push for Stephenfield.

Fallen Four Memorial - also A Big Beaver and a Big Egg

Friday, July 3, 2009 – Day 64 – Nine Weeks on the Road

Left Dawson Creek, BC at 07:50 AM, a little cooler this morning we had to put the furnace on just to take the chill out of the air.  As we travelled south and east along the Yellowhead Highway we notice that the countryside is now very gently rolling; we’re out of the mountains and now on the high prairies of northern Alberta. I couldn’t resist stopping at Beaverlodge, Alberta.  This town boasts the biggest beaver in the world.  It seems that many of the little towns have a statue or object that is “The Biggest _________ in the World” -  it is sometimes the only hook they have of getting the highway traffic to stop in their town.  I did however stop in Valleyview, AB to take another look at the brake controller.  It still seems to be acting-up.  I checked the visible wiring and checked the brake magnets on the trailer to see if there was any worn area, but nothing showed up. We were soon back on the road.

As we travelled along the Yellowhead we saw mileage signs to Mayerthorpe and Edmonton.  The name of Mayerthorpe Alberta, immediately brought back memories of the four RCMP Officers who were killed there a few years ago.  There was no debate whether or not we would stop there. 

After I fuelled the truck I asked the gas station attendant the directions to the memorial to the RCMP Officers.  He told me to just continue down the street in the same direction I was pointed and watch for the log building. Hmmm? We saw a log building with a green metal roof about 3 blocks away with playground equipment beside the parking lot.  I had expected something a little grander and a little more dignified.  AND IT WAS!  The actual memorial is on the far side of the building, hidden and unseen by someone from the street.  The log building is what it is all about.  Each officer is honoured with a brief description of their life and why they joined the force.  Invariably they wanted to help other people.  They also were very young when they died. As I stood there reading their stories, I couldn’t help but think that our boys and their friends are the same ages.  I just can’t fathom the deep pain their parents must feel.   – Memorial to Fallen Four – The memorial outside has statues of the four officers in different poses facing the four cardinal directions. In the centre is a large pillar with doves at the top.  If you are ever travelling on the Yellowhead Hwy, past Mayerthorpe, Alberta; stop for a few minutes at the memorial.  It was a reality check for me.  The same kind I get when I visit a veterans’ cemetery.

We hit Edmonton at rush hour looking for a nice campground. By the time we realized that there wasn’t anything on the east side of Edmonton we were already well past it and checking the accommodation guides for the next town.  We decided to head for Vegreville, Alberta approximately 60 miles east.

We pulled into the Elks Club campground, just on the east side of town near the hospital.  This campground is operated on a strictly first come, first served basis.  A guy came out to greet us and told us that there were only two campsites left and one of them was way to small for us to fit into.  While I circled around the bay to get parked, Janet was going to the office to pay. Her final order to me as she hopped out of the truck was to fill up the fresh water tank as there was no hose connection at the campsite.  Yes, Ma’am!  When I got part way around the end of the bay I realized I’m hooped.  There were cars parked along the inside of the bay (illegally, I might add), and I didn’t have more than a few inches to make the corner.  One of the bright lights got off his butt to ask if he should move his car…I told him only if you don’t want it damaged!  While this guy moved his car I could see that a small Class C motorhome that had been following me to this point, decided to turn around and go back the other way.  (The bastard was going after my spot!!!)  Meanwhile the joker finally got his car out of the way and I was able to nose my truck into the campsite just as the motorhome arrived there.  I wasn’t going to move so he finally relented and took the smaller campsite.  Now for the real fun…backing a 33 foot trailer into a 40 foot lot.  Sounds easy – not so much.  Anyway I got it in with just a couple of moves.  Not bad considering Janet wasn’t directing me.  Just then she arrived on the scene and asked if I’d already taken on water. I went on to explain about the guy in the Class C motorhome and the hassle with the parked cars. (I also mentioned that the bright light with the parked car was also parked in front of the water spigot!)  I further explained to her that this was a near perfect park job and I wasn’t going to move AND I would figure out some way to get the water tank filled.  Big mistake…details to follow. 

We started to unhitch the trailer, by lowering the landing gear.  The landing gear motor was humming away but the legs weren’t coming down.  We tried the manual crank and still nothing happened. After some investigation we found that the bolt that connects the landing gear to the motor had sheared off.  I have lots of spare parts but not that particular bolt.  I was just about ready to force a large screw into the part when a neighbour suggested a metal tent peg.  BINGO…I got an old tent peg and slid it through and bent it back. A cable tie completed the job and it worked flawlessly.  We were now back in business and able to complete our setup.  By now it was almost 7:30 PM, and time for a late supper.  After supper we fuelled the truck and drove around the town of Vegreville, AB. It is a nice little town and seems to be fairly well kept although by 8:30 everything was pretty much closed up. We also discovered why the campground was so full. There is a big Ukrainian Festival going on.  Vegreville is a predominantly Ukrainian community.  As a matter of fact Vegreville boasts the “Worlds Largest Pysanka” (a pysanka is a Ukrainian decorated easter egg!)  And our trailer was parked only about 100 yards away from it across the railway track!  Oh yes; as I had mentioned several times before, RV Parks and campgrounds are typically located on marginal land – ideally very near a railway track.  I suppose we were lucky though; the back of our trailer was a good 20 feet away from the track AND only one train came through in the middle of the night blasting it’s whistle.  And Janet says I can’t hear anything.  The Big Egg is located in a nice little park behind the campground, so we took some pictures and went back to the trailer.  By this time it was about 9:45 PM and we are no longer in the land of the midnight sun!  I sure could have used some light as Janet had reminded me that we had no water in our fresh water tank.  Now for some real fun.

Our water hoses combined are only about 75 feet total length.  The only water spigot was about 250 feet away.  Looks like I’m going to be like my Zodiac sign, the Water Boy – Aquarius.  The spigot is a free standing pipe approximately 3 feet above the ground.  It is very difficult to hold a 2 1/2 gallon water jug steady under a running tap without getting wet.  By the time I had filled the first two jugs, I realized I wouldn’t need to shower that night.  Hump them back to the trailer.  Second problem – how do I get the water from the jug into the fresh water tank??  Now if you aren’t familiar with how RV water systems are made you can’t really appreciate how difficult this was going to be.  The fill tube for the water system on an RV is located close to eye level and flush to the side of the RV.  So you can’t just pour the water in…you need to stick a short fill hose into it and then hook this up to a water source…in this case a water jug.  And to make things even more complicated the water jug has a straight spigot with nothing to screw the hose onto.  So I have to try to hold the water jug up and hold the hose in place under the spigot and try to turn it on. (Gravity is a great invention…it keeps us firmly stuck to the ground and it lets water flow downhill. In this case mostly over myself.)  Definitely will not need a shower tonight!  Another brainiac idea…a siphon would work great.  I carry a length of clear vinyl tubing so I got it out and in no time I had water flowing into the tank with hardly any spillage.  Of course I had to inhale a breath of water getting the suction going and my coughing only got a few neighbours aroused.

430 miles today.  Not bad considering we lost an hour as we crossed the BC / Alberta border.  Janet remarked to me that it is funny how we take the prairies for granted…we have fields of golden yellow canola contrasted against a big, beautiful, blue sky. We also have dark nights in the summer so we can sleep – that’s one thing Alaska doesn’t have.

At Peace

Thursday, July 2, 2009 – Day 63

There was a steady rain as we hitched-up the trailer in Fort Nelson.  The temperature was a cool 10C.  We had some issues with the trailer brakes, but it seemed to clear up once we started moving or so I thought.  The rain continued off and on till we got to Fort St. John.

This town apparently has a population of about 18,000 people, but it seems so long.  We read in the Milepost that it is the localized centre for oil and gas exploration in Northern BC and is also dependent on the lumber business.  The town is situated just above the Peace River Valley.  This is beautiful rolling country with large ranching and grain operations lining the valley.  There are enough steep grades and winding roads to keep your attention focused on the road.

My attention was also focused on the brake controller, which I had thought had been resolved earlier.  Periodically it would report trailer brake problems or no power.  We stopped several times, trying different things each time to fix the problem but it continued to Dawson Creek.  With thunder and lightning just in the distance and the sky getting darker and darker.  I took apart the junction box to find that the ground wire had come out of the set screw.  I reattached the ground wire and hopefully that should resolve the problem once and for all.  It is a real tribute to the Silverado’s ability to maintain a steady controlled speed going down an extended 8% grade while holding back a 12,000 lb trailer with only the truck service brakes and the Duramax/Allison combo.  Love this truck!

As I was completing the repairs the heavens just opened up and we got a real light show.  The rain came down in buckets and we had a couple of brownouts, but no real power failure.  However, it did affect the campground router in that it knocked it out of service.  Soooo, when we finally get a good Wi-Fi signal the phone line is zapped.  I am already two days behind in my blog posts.

We have finally made it to Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway, which officially starts in Dawson Creek, BC.  We have driven the whole 1422 miles of the highway although not contiguously; maybe we’ll try that next time!

Wildlife count today – 1  Owl, 1 Elk and 1 BIG Bull Moose – too bashful for the Spot the Moose feature, though.

What Scat is That? OR Janet, knows her shit! OR Wild Life in Northern BC.

Monday, July 1, 2009 – Day 62 – Two Months on the Road – Happy Canada Day!

We left Watson Lake this morning at 08:10 AM, one of our earliest starts yet.  The Caravan that had almost taken over the campground last night had mostly left; just a few RV’s and the rear guard.  The temperature was 10C and it was very foggy, reducing visibility to a few hundred meters.  The fog stayed with us for about 60 km, sometimes thinner, sometimes thicker.  We really had a mixed bag of weather during the day, bright sunny skies with temperatures in the 20’s followed by a thunderstorm with pea-size hail.  According to one highway flag woman, we just missed snow in Summit Lake by one day…although we did have lots of mud on that section of road.  I had to use 4 wheel drive and I was still sliding.

As we drove along, we saw all kinds of scat (the gentler name for animal poop) beside the highway.  Janet has become quite adept at identifying scat.  She told me that the piles we were seeing were likely from Bison.  I didn’t think that they had Bison this far north, until we saw them grazing at the side of the road.  As we headed south east we saw several more groups of bison.  And when we saw bison we usually saw a black bear just before or just after.  It seems that they co-exist in the grassy margins beside the roadway.  We saw 13 black bears today plus 2 cubs.  We also saw two kits (baby foxes).  They were pushing each other out of a small culvert right beside the road.  That was another missed shot as we were travelling too fast with the loaded trailer in tow, to make a safe stop. During the rest of the day we saw 1 deer, 2 caribou and very near the end of the day we got some footage for our “Spot the Moose” feature. 

Although it doesn’t seem to have the “official designation” of a Scenic Highway.  This portion of the Alaska Highway (BC 97) is probably one of the prettiest, most scenic highways that we’ve driven on this trip.  Mountains shrouded in fog, gently rolling valleys, roaring rivers and emerald green lakes.  We really were happy that we saw this section of the Alaska Highway, while it was in full leaf to get the full benefit of it.  However, everything wasn’t perfect…while we were in Alaska we had read on the internet news about the forest fires that were blazing through the Liard River, Coal River and Fireside areas of BC.  The fires threatened several indian reservations and caused a number of evacuations.  They also destroyed thousands of acres of beautiful forest.  The fire was brought under control with the help of Mother Nature’s rains in the last week and the highway was fully open.  We could see smouldering areas they were still watching and the air was still acrid with the smell of the burnt forest.  In our travels we had seen one particular forest fire that occurred in 1959; 50 years ago and it is just now starting to look fully recovered.  I won’t live long enough to see this forest recover. 

We arrived in Dawson Creek, BC at about 16:30.  We are staying at the West End Campground.  I won’t complain about the Wi-Fi signal in this post.  It was free or Zero Dollars and that is just about what it’s worth. 

One other thing…they don’t celebrate Canada Day with fireworks here…it doesn’t get dark enough.  Funny.  They do have fireworks for Halloween.

Whitehorse to Watson Lake Yukon

Monday, June 29, 2009 – Day 60 

A really laid back day for our last day in Whitehorse.  We had an appointment for an oil change this afternoon at Klondike Motors, a GM dealership a few miles toward Whitehorse from the Hi Country RV Park and Campground.  I waited for the truck to be finished with the hopes that I could catch the Yukon Brewing Company’s, 2:00 PM plant tour and testing.  I arrived approx. 15 minutes late to a parking lot that was overflowing.  When I found a parking spot and finally got into the building the sales room was packed.  Seems that these Yukoners are a thirsty bunch as they were all crowded around the tasting table throwing back the amber offerings.  I found one of the few remaining sampler packs and after paying was off to get some liquid elixir for the truck.  I arrived back at the trailer to find that Janet had made some fresh banana raisin muffins for the final days of our journey.

While we were having our dinner a couple came into the “back-in” spot next to us.  The woman was out guiding the guy who had the trailer manoeuvred around a couple of cars and expertly parked, despite all of her hand signals.  When we were talking them later we found out that Bill and Carol were from Battleford, SK, and Bill had learned his parking skills on the family farm where he used to park farm carts.  Carol actually, gave good signals, only problem was she was behind the trailer and Bill couldn’t see them! Bill is a history buff and gave us detailed notes on what to see and do when we pass through Battleford on our way back home.  They were on a tour of the Yukon and eastern Alaska.  We were gas bagging and comparing travel notes until late but had to cut things short as we wanted to get an early start (for a change) on Tuesday morning.  We left them with the promise that we would try to be quiet when we hitched up and left.  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

I think that I have disparaged the DSP hitch in a previous post, so I will not do that again; even though it is only useful as a boat anchor.  I had to give it a couple whacks with the mallet to get it to lock into place, but other than that we didn’t make too much noise.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 – Day 61

After we were hitched up we pulled out of the campground a little after 08:30 AM, headed for Watson Lake, YT.  Although we had travelled this way when we came through in May…it looked totally different.  Ice has disappeared from the lakes, the poplars and willows are now in full leaf and the wildflowers are blosoming along the roadsides.  The scenery is just as breathtaking as when we first came up here.  We parked once again in the Downtown RV Park basically because it’s the only game in town.  Should I disparage their pitiful excuse for a Wi-Fi signal, again??  I’ll let that be.  They have a caravan of motor homes in the park and all the old farts were gathered around the laundry area trying to catch a decent signal.  I will go up there later and post this blog and check my mail when all the old people have gone to bed.  Then I will join them!

We stayed in Watson Lake to catch the show at the Northern Lights Centre.  They feature a great surround video of the northern lights and the astronaut program.  They also have a featured exhibit of all the Canadian astronauts.  I didn’t know this till today but apparently each astronaut has their own personal, symbolic “patch” that they make up, in addition to the mission patch that the crew wears. The patch is made up of things that are important to that astronaut.  All in all it was very well done.

I almost forgot to mention – Hi Country RV Park and Campground is one of the nicest privately owned parks that we stayed in.  They have tried to maintain a nice woodland setting while giving travellers excellent services at a fair price.  Their Wi-Fi signal is excellent everywhere in the park.   Klondike Motors is a great place to have your oil changed while you are travelling through Whitehorse.  They seem to cater to travellers who are passing through Whitehorse.  Labour rate for lube, oil and filter and 14 point check $14.99, a really good price. AND, they gave me the remaining oil in the original container – that has never happened in Winnipeg.