Karla's Kronicles #9

Home Karla's Kronicles Photo Albums Travel Schedule Contact Us


The Karla Kronicles - July 2007
Greetings Kronicle Readers!
Hey, We are "On the Road Again" - Sort Of - Our Canada and Anchorage Adventures.
(Note: Larger and More Detailed Photos are in the Photo Albums Located HERE.)
Three Rigs Starting on Alaska Adventure Oh Canada - This is the most time I've spent in our "Neighbors to the North" ...absolutely a Beautiful Country...We crossed the border on Saturday 6/16 and met up with our other two traveling teams, the Wades and Olsens, at the Abbotsford Costco.  Time to stock up as we didn't want to cross the border with too many goods.

After a speedy shopping run through the store, we traveled a while and then stopped for lunch at Hell's Gate where we rode the AirTram across the Fraser River.  Everyone got their pictures in the cardboard cut-out Tram. A quick lunch and then on the road again.  Hell's Gate is definitely a tourist trap spot but also has some neat history of the Fraser River Canyon and Valley and about the importance and development of Canada Railways.  It is well worth the stop.
 Train Traveling along Fraser River
Description of Hell's Gate Cartoon Car for Photo Ops
Background on Hell's Gate Airtram in Operation
Bijoux Falls in Spring Time Got some mileage under our belts from Cache Creek to Prince George.  The following day we all decided with the extended daylight hours to get up earlier and stop after an hour for Breakfast.  This seemed to work well for all 3 couples, so a 7 a.m. departure schedule was adopted.  On route from Prince George to Dawson Creek is the Bijoux Falls Provincial Park.  We pulled off briefly for photos (it was COLD out!) and then we continued to Dawson Creek. 
Our lunch  break later that day was in the town of Chetwynd.  Chetwynd is known for it's chain saw carvings, so much so that it has earned the title "Chain Saw Sculpture Capital of the World".  It's real claim to fame is probably the fact that it is the largest known deposit of COAL on earth.  Larry and I didn't get over to the Visitor's center, but found these cute creations on a walking path in town.
Chainsaw Carving of Bears in Chetwynd, BC Chainsaw Carving of FLoat Plane in Chetwynd, BC
 This is the location of Mile "0" for the Alaskan Hwy!!  Photo opportunities with a Canadian Mountie at the Visitor's Center and the Mile "0" marker.  The Mountie  gathered quite a crowd!  I overheard one lady ask him "Are you a REAL Mountie?"  Yes, he was very real, right down to his highly polished boots!  His description of his attire made me think of the Marines guarding the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" in Arlington.  If a Mountie's uniforms is not immaculate and boots not glossy enough, they have to go back to training.  He was quite serious about this - and his boots did shine!  No retraining for this young man! Start of the Alaska Highway

Tourist Mile Post 0 of Alska Highway The Real Mile Post 0 of the Alaska Highway
Sign says all Upon leaving Dawson Creek the next morning, we took the "old Alaska Hwy" side loop to see the Kiskatinaw River Bridge; the only original timber bridge that is still in use today.  Of course you must go off the new Hwy to get to it and it's quite an old road...but another great photo Opportunity...it's quite a unique structure!  Now we have 3 rigs weighing in at about 12 tons each.  Note the sign.  We only let one rig across at a time and lined up for our photos!
Our Rig on the Kiskatinaw Curved Bridge Curved Board Surface of the Kiskatinaw Curved Bridge
Stone Sheep on the Alaska Highway Here, I must make mention of Warning Signs...you know the yellow signs that show a picture of a Deer or Elk or some other critter that may cross your driving path. well, when traveling in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory, believe the signs.  On our travels thus far, we have encountered Black Bear, Buffalo, Caribou, Elk, Moose, Stone Sheep and Rabbits.  The Stone Sheep walk the sides of the Hwy. licking the rocks which contain some sort of mineral they crave in their diet.  We had to wait on a couple of groups of Sheep to move along to continue our driving; so we've seen quite a few critters already up close and personal.  One Buffalo let the Wades and Olsens pass, then decided to walk right in front of us; I probably could have scratched his ears, but didn't care for the look of those horns; he sort of lumbered along towards us and then veered off right next to my window.  I'm glad we were in our large truck.  Can't imagine this encounter in a smaller vehicle or a motorcycle! Too scary!
Stone Sheep along the Alaska Highway Buffalo along the Alaska Highway
The Resort we were planning to stay at near Muncho Lake (but were never able to reach by email or phone) was all boarded up and closed down, so we backtracked to McDonald's Provincial Park on Muncho Lake.  Muncho Lake is 7 miles long and 1 mile wide and is very beautiful; complete with loons!  Beautiful primitive campsites and we stayed for 2 nights.  Rained off and on, but we got out for several walks in the area.  A very restful 2 days as it was our first opportunity to stay in one place more than one night.  It was nice to have some lay-back time, as it was about this time that I really started to be concerned about some blurred vision in my left eye.  This began on our 2nd day out and it did not appear to be contact lens related.  New lens, old lens, glasses...still blurry vision in the left eye.  Allergies?  Scratched Cornea?? Taking my lens' in and out when my eyes were tired and dry?  What was going on...I didn't know it then but I had a serious problem.
 We Camped here at Muncho Lake, BC
Refreshing Dip in Liard Hotsprings On route to Watson Lake is the Liard River Hotsprings Provincial Park; so it was on with the swimsuits and jump into the springs!  There are 2 "pools" at Liard ranging from 108 to 126 degrees.  We splashed around for about an hour, meeting other travelers and exchanging stories.  The springs did have that lovely, typical "sulfur" smell, but not as odiferous as the Yellowstone geysers and springs.  The mosquitoes were in full swing, so you didn't want to be out of the water long!  Still it was an adventure to check out the pools before we continued on. Larry's Mom remembers going into Liard Hot Springs on their trip so we just had to do it, too!!!
Looking Down on the Main Liard Hot Spring Our Group at the Upper Liard Hot Spring
Entering the Yukon Territory By the time we got to Watson Lake late on Friday 6/22, I was detecting less and less vision in my left eye.   Time to figure out what was going on here. There was a "Hospital" symbol coming into Watson Lake, so I asked the Campground Manager where it was; he recommended going just 2 blocks away to a Neighborhood Clinic.  Well, I definitely had a medical emergency situation they could not handle in Watson Lake!  I was diagnosed with a possible 'Retinal Detachment' and the doctor said to get to Whitehorse ER immediately.

So the Watson Lake Physician called ahead to Whitehorse, YT ER; about 300 miles to get ready for us. Larry and I informed our traveling group; unhooked most of the RV and rested a few hours, leaving Watson Lake at 4:00 a.m. Saturday (But not before jumping out of the truck and getting a picture of Signpost Forest! - After all, this is vacation and I still have one good eye!!!) 
Signpost Forest - Started by Carl K. Lindley (1919-2002, rest his soul) was a U.S. Army soldier from Danville, IL.  He was working on the Alaska Hwy in 1942 and started up this Signpost Forest.  Travelers are still encouraged to add signs to the collection which numbers more than 50,000 signs - and here we are and DIDN'T bring a SIGN...guess we'll need to come back!.  Signpost Forest was barely around the corner from the RV Park; we could have walked there the night before...Oh, right..I was getting ready for an early departure to Whitehorse and the Signpost Forest was the last thing we were thinking of.  However, as we left the RV Park and it was right there a block away, we just had to dig out the camera and snap a quick pic.  Wish we could have wandered through and read some of the signs.  It would have been very interesting!!!!  Oh well...next trip, hah!  Sign Post Forrest at 4:00AM
We arrived at Whitehorse before noon.  Whitehorse ER got me right in and the Whitehorse Doctor agreed with the retinal detachment diagnosis, but there are no Ophthalmologists in Whitehorse and Dr. MacDonald didn’t have the equipment to be absolutely sure either, so she called an Optometrist who met us in his office at 3:30 p.m.; After Dr. Guy Gorrell ran his tests, he agreed and called ahead to Anchorage Alaska ER and said "I'm sending you a 52 year old woman from Florida with a Detached Retina".  By 5:00 p.m. we were driving to Anchorage (728 miles away on very slow roads, pulling our home on wheels).  Our other option was to med-evac just me but by the time I could arrange flights and then not have Larry with me, it wasn't all that appealing.  Dr. "Guy" thought driving was our best choice.  He said "Just lay back in your seat so it doesn’t tear more and get driving!"  So we did, stopped mid-way in Tok, AK for a 2 hour nap, then got to Anchorage at noon time (20 hours later, we picked up an hour’s time at the border crossing); that ER was also standing by from Dr. Guy’s call, the surgeon was there already, so I got prepped (General Anesthesia for this fix!) and Dr. Swanson performed what is called a Scleral Buckle on Sunday 6/24. It is a silicone band that will hold my retina in place and will remain in my eye permanently.  From WebMD, we learned that re-attachment should occur 24-72 hours after the incident, and it was going on 6 days, so...yeah, I'm very lucky.
I am not restricted from any activities except heavy lifting.  Larry's been a wonderful caretaker, helping me walk, hand holding on stairs and walking in town, in and out of the truck, tying my shoes...and I still can't believe he did all that driving.  Friday to Sunday we covered 1180 miles.  It's not so much the quantity of miles, but the miles themselves.  It was a rough, rough road.  I couldn't have rested if I needed to.  They marked the "bad" areas with orange flags.  Believe me there were hundreds of orange flags!   I told Larry that must be some huge truckload of flags to get all these spots marked! I had asked if I should patch or not use my eye and was told "no" so I read excerpts from the "Milepost" which describes every little burg and pullover on the drive through Canada/Alaska.  It's a must for travelers.  It kept us entertained.  Some of the write ups are pretty funny.  That and the critters running around and rough roads to navigate kept us both wide awake!  We arrived in Anchorage and the Hospital Security got Larry set up for the night right there in the parking lot.  Everything worked out just fine.  By the time Larry got the RV moved, set up and had some soup, recovery called him to come get me!  He got in a 15 minute nap!  Whoo Hoo!!!
We are trying not to let this slow us down too much.  We are going to forfeit seeing Skagway, Copper Center, and Valdez, rather than re-travel those roads again.  We will rejoin our group in Palmer AK on 7/8; then continue with our group's agenda for a while.  We do think we will break off from our group at some point and travel on our own again.  The Surgeon asked what our plans were and when I mentioned traveling up to Prudhoe Bay, he said "I wouldn't recommend it"; pretty bad roads (unpaved) for about 830 miles round trip.  Almost everyone we've talked to said it's not worth the trip to go all the way up, so our furthest point North may be Fairbanks.  Looks like we will also avoid Top of the World Hwy near Chicken AK.  Even with schedule changes, we still don't plan to be back in the lower 48 until 8/15 as we will take a bit more time traveling and not so many one-nighters on the way back.  We are going to stay a bit more flexible as you never know what will happen to change best laid plans! Hah!

The silver lining: now is we have extra time in Anchorage for some exploring.  We've had to move a few times as campsites are at a premium.  Two campgrounds closed recently leaving a deficit of 300 sites a day in Anchorage. So finding accommodations short of parking in Sam's Club Lot has been a challenge. 
Just 2 days after my surgery, while at the Ship Creek RV Park, We took a walk that took us out the back of the RV Park and within minutes we were at the ULU Factory. An ULU is a knife (pronounced ooloo).  it is claimed to be "the most renowned knife in Alaska". The Native people of northern Alaska invented the ULU and it's been around for centuries. It can be used for hunting, fishing, skinning, filleting and every other imaginable domestic cutting need by the Inuit (Eskimo) people. You can see some different styles of ULU's and some accessories at this website link: The UluFactory . Larry's folks brought us an ULU when they were in Alaska in 1988; we still have ours here in the RV, it's a very sharp rocking and chopping tool, and I need to use it more than I do!  It was neat to see how they were made.  One window viewing in the Factory was the blade making; another window viewing had the handle making and some of the accessories which creates more sawdust and we are sure that's why the two areas are kept separate. After leaving the ULU Factory we climbed 2 long outside covered stairways that led into downtown Anchorage and the Visitor's Center.  I was starting to get tired by then so we headed back (good thing it was all downhill!)  If I get the OK from Dr. Swanson, we may go on some of the bike routes around the area.  Anchorage is very biker-friendly.  One of the bike trails is a 12-mile route along Cook Inlet that if I can't ride on it, we can certainly walk some of it.  I want to see a WHALE!
We want to hear from you too!  Let us know what you've been up to.  More later...Karla and Larry
Back to Top of the Page
 
Comments to Webmaster

See the USA the Internet Way!