Summer 2011 Travel Alaskan Adventures

Dear friends and blog followers,

update for the week of 6/05/2011

Click here for link to pictures with descriptive captions

It's been a while since I have put up a update as to our travel plans and other activites. This summer of 2011 found us making plans to return to Alaska and western Canada. In February 2009 we traveled to the "Last Frontier" and enjoyed it so much that we decided to return. This time we would travel with our good friends from Santa Fe, Brad and Beverly Cottingham. Plans were made to do this in 2009, but at that time, due to unexpected events they could not travel with us.

In early 2011 we made plans early, worked hard getting ready, and marked the calendar for a June 5th leave date. This turned out to be a great time to flee the extreme heat and drought conditions in the Texas Panhandle area. In addition, our friends Lowell and Vickie from McAllen, Texas were planing travel to Washington, Oregon, and the north west US as part of their summer escape from the hot south Texas heat. They would travel through Lubbock and stay at out house and then we would caravan to Palo Duro State Park where we would attend the presentation of the Pioneer outdoor amphitheater musical drama "Texas" . They would accompany us as far as Billings, Mt. At time we would go north into Canada at the Sweetgrass port of entry and they would continue to the west into Glacier National Park.

We left Lubbock with Lowell and Vickie following behind. Because The Silent Wings Museum on the north side of Lubbock had a special events day, we stopped there on the way north and enjoyed several hours looking at all of the exhibits. Then the drive to Palo Duro where we enjoyed the evening and the next day at the Panhandle Plains Historic Museum in nearby Canyon, TX. Also enjoyed the wildlife and spent time exploring the area. We spent two nights at Palo Duro.

We joined up Brad and Beverly at Trinidad, CO on I25, the afternoon of the 7th where we would spend the night. We were early enough to enjoy the free welcome to Trinidad and ride the historical tour bus around town. The driver is a history buff and does a good job explaing the early days of colorful Trinidad. Trinidad is a early railroad town with a interesting past. Very informative tour about town.

6/8/2011
Left Trinidad, Co and drove to Wheatland, Wy where we spent the night in the city park in the RV area. It was part of a large sports complex and was very nice. We were glad to find it as the weather had turned bad and the storm clouds were growing. Just got rain but no other problems. On our way up I25, we stopped at a Camping World near Thorton Co, for Brad to get a recall done on his refrigerator.

6/9/2011
Travel day north on I25 along the Bighorn National Forest. Beautiful drive in the very green rocky mountains. They have had a lot of rain and everything is greed. Lots of wind generators and livestock grazing. On into Sheridan for fuel and then I90 to Billings, Montana.
This is where we say goodbye to Lowell and Vicki as they go west and we go east. We will meet up with them next year at the annual Blue Bonnet rally in Bandera. We spent the night in the Cracker Barrel parking lot.

6/10/2011
Another travel day toward the US Canada border
Lot of rain has fallen and we had to detour because of a washed out highway (US87) just to the north of Billings near Lavina on 87. Not a big problem as the detour took us through some nice country roads. Lots of water but we continue to Great Falls, do some sight seeing and shopping. On toward the boarder to a pull out to spend the night, just a few miles south of the port of entry at Sweetgrass, Mt/Coutts, AB, Canada.

6/11/2011
Another travel day north into AB Canada
Entered the port of entry with no problem and continued the short drive to Calgary where we spent the night at the Flying J. We wanted to get a early start to Edmonton, AB and to the big mall there.

Just a little review...
We don't plan on more than 2 to 3 hundred miles per day. This keeps us busy and active with sight seeing and visits to area attractions. We drive slow so we don't miss anything. We try to use the internet to check out the "must see" attractions along the way. We limit our expenses by using free or low cost overnight spots. No reason to purchase expensive camp grounds just for a few hours of rest time. Much of our saving goes in the fuel tank as fuel is expensive and will get more expensive as we go into Canada.

Stay tuned for more updates