Leaving Alaska and on to Jasper
Sunday, August 17th, 2008
Leaving Alaska was a bit emotional for me even though I was headed to Jasper and Banff, I felt as if I was headed home. Home is a lot less defined these days but for certain, it’s somewhere within a 10 mile radius of St Petersburg where the people I call friends and acquaintances are. Although going home means seeing friends again and slowing down a bit, it also means a temporary end to this wonderful journey. I guess having Marilyn(my sister) with me for the last 3 weeks reminds me of friends and family even though I feel just fine travelling alone. As you’ve read, on our way out we went to Valdez and now must backtrack out about 120 miles then travel the same roads for about 1000 miles, that I took to get to Alaska. You might think that going over the same road for a 1000 miles or so, would be boring. To the contrary, the views, panorama, and diversity make it look like a different place coming from a different direction. Having no Cell phone coverage, no Satellite radio and no AM or FM gives your Cd’s a real workout The gas in the Yukon approached $7/gal but started coming down as we went south. The roads are generally OK but one must remember that the State only has a couple of months each year to repair the damage from a whole winter. No small task. So occasionally you run into a 5-10km stretch being leveled and soothed withe gravel.
We stopped at a couple of RV Parks and then about 200 miles North of Jasper Park in Alberta we began an incredible spell of seeing animals so close we could reach out and touch them. Bears, Mountain Sheep, Elk, Deer, Buffalo, Brown Bear, and Moose. It was one sighting after another. Ironically we hadn’t seen an animal in the wild till we began to leave Alaska. Several years ago when Brian was still single I played golf with him and a friend of his and buddies from Jasper. Course at the time I couldn’t spell Jasper but a fellow named Paul said ..”if you ever get up my way…”. I guess we make that statement without thinking because several times in my life I have found myself wishing I hadn’t said that and hoping the person wouldn’t take me up on it. However, having told Brian I was heading up that way I wouldn’t want to explain why I didn’t visit. All of this was garbage of course, and while Paul was not there his son was quite cordial and spent time chatting with us. He also allowed me to park the Coach in the lot and jump on the wireless System which needed a security code. Marilyn and I were in the mood for a nice meal so we dined at his restaurant. Excellent food and service; higher priced than I would have liked. Next evening when we arrived in Jasper. We had reservations at a RV Park who had a dial up Internet system routed to a wireless rig. The speed was so slow I didn’t know at times if my PC was working or not. I needed Broadband Internet that night and the people at the park said there wasn’t any till Calgary, 1000km south.Marilyn called the Motel 8 down the street and asked if we could use their lobby and Internet. We’d be willing to pay something reasonable.The gal told her to pull the Coach in the parking lot about 1/2 way in and we could stay overnight and use the Internet. It was great…and free.Tomorrow morning we head into Jasper Park itself, then on to Lake Louise and Banff. Enjoy the http://proirb.com/For_Dick/2008_08_04_AnimalsToJasper.exe
http://proirb.com/For_Dick/2008_08_06_JustBeforeJasperPark.exe
