I took the cushions off the bench on drivers side and put these Sterilite storage drawers there instead. I don’t need more than one place to sit, so the other side is fine and this is useful needed storage. Someday I’d like to get birch wood drawers made to match the birch cabinetry, but for now this will do.
For a few years, I have been dreaming of traveling after retirement. In April 2016, my home sold. I was planning to buy a camping trailer and would need a new vehicle suitable for towing one. So within a matter of 2 weeks, I found a 2012 Toyota RAV4 V6 to buy. Then I bought a 2016 T@b Max S.
Here it is:
I had a while ago decided that a motorhome would not be good for what I wanted to do, since I would not want to have to tow a car also. I wanted something small enough that I could handle. I wanted an inside bathroom. I couldn’t imagine tromping to a campground bathhouse in the middle of the night!! So I looked online at Scamps, Casitas, A-liners, lilsnoozy and others. The year before, I had stopped to look at T@b teardrop trailers at a dealer and was really impressed with the quality.
So I was real happy to find my T@b at a discounted price no less. I quickly found that because of it’s small size, it was light enough to move around by the handles on the front edges. I learned to hitch up and unhitch and to hook up the electricity, water and sewer. Backing up into sites took a bit longer, and once I got on the road, I found some spots were more challenging. At first I would request pull-through sites where no backing up was necessary. But some more remote places had no pull-throughs, and some spots were wierd shapes or didn’t have much maneuvering space on the road to even back up good. So I quickly had to learn to do what was needed.
Weather channel alert for tonight: Frost expected tonight. Lows in the 30s. Frost possible the next two nights also, but day time highs should be in the 50s.
Some pictures of the Chena River:
Tomorrow should be a more interesting blog as I am going on a riverboat cruise up the Chena River to the Tanana River. Will see a dog sled training place, a native Alaskan replica village, etc.
Denali National Park has a huge kennel of dogs. They specifically raise and train them to WORK. In the winter time when no vehicles can travel the roads, there are still people out in the “boonies” studying the wildlife and terrain, artists-in-residence, hikers snowshoeing, etc. They have to have some way to deliver supplies and do maintenance. So they use dogs pulling sleds.
Want more information about the dogs at Denali https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/kennels.htm
or to watch the puppy cam? https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/photosmultimedia/webcams-pups.htm
In May, they had a new bunch of sled puppies born, so now 4 months later, they were still rolly polly little balls of energy. The rangers gave a demonstration of the adults pulling a sled and the training they give them.
The friend I am visiting is a childhood friend from when I grew up in Peru, South America. She actually was in my older sisters class. I haven’t seen her in over 40+ years! But there is a bond between all us “Yarina-ites” and we had gotten re-acquainted on Facebook a few years back and she invited me to stop by and see her and stay overnight with them. So yesterday I got to her house in the afternoon and met her grandson that they are raising, and her husband and we went out for supper downtown. It was so nice to park my vehicle and T@b and sleep inside!
In the morning, just Naomi and I drove off to see Snoqualmie Falls and have breakfast at the lodge there.
I was planning to leave right after that, but when we got back to her house, my vehicle would not start!!! Uh-oh. What to do? Her hubby did not have jumper cables. So I called my insurance, Geico. They got the car started and then recommended that I get the battery checked.
So I said my goodbyes and made my way to the center of town, where I found a place to have the battery looked at. They checked both it and the alternator and found they were fine. They made sure the battery was fully charged and I was on my way again. [P.S. I had it checked again when I got home again and there’s nothing wrong with it. It did not get damaged by being drained.]
Today I was going to Cour d’Alene, Idaho to visit my cousins daughter Robyn and family. I’ve never met them before; only chatted on Facebook. I haven’t even see my cousin since 1977. So this was going to be momentous.
The trip today took me about 5 hours east ( 312 miles) on I-90.
Today I had a very short journey as I was only going as far as Seattle to visit a childhood friend. The journey took approximately 3 hours and was 264 kilometers=164 miles.
I took my time getting up in the morning, knowing I didn’t have to be in a hurry with a short journey ahead. I also knew I would be closer to “civilization” haha than I had been in a weeks, so I was planning to stop and have a leisurely lunch somewhere and find a Walmart or Target to do some shopping.
I crossed from Canada back into the US at the Sumas – Huntingdon crossing south of Abbottsford. I drove to Seattle area, where I got off an exit of Highway I-5 South to have lunch and do some shopping. After being on the remote roads of Canada and Alaska, the traffic around Seattle was intimidating!
By the way, what do I do with my dog and cat while I am eating and shopping?? Well, I could never leave them in either a car or the T@b in hot weather, but it was pleasantly cool, so I put them both in the parked camper, opened the fan cover on the top for some circulation inside and they were comfy and happy while I was gone for an hour or so.
The next day will be visiting with a childhood friend!!!
Today was a relatively short day. I traveled only 6 hours, 510 kilometers=317 miles.
For the first time in almost 2 months, the daytime temperature reached 77. My journey today took me through what is called the Cariboo District.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cariboo
I don’t know what this was, but it was everywhere, and for some reason looked fascinating to me!
These white “pillows” are hay bales covered with plastic. I called them “BC Marshmellows”!
These gold and white weeds were all over the sides of the highway. They looked like broccoli and cauliflower!
I stayed overnight at the Hope Valley Campground.
http://hopevalleyrv.ca/index.html
Remember that the heat had quit working in the T@b? It wasn’t as cold tonight, so I and Burrito and Oreo felt just fine without it. The camp site was a beautiful wooded one. I warmed up some chili for supper.
Today I traveled about 6 1/2 hours, 562 kilometers = 349 miles.
You might notice that I did not mention visiting the big cities of Haines, Whitehorse, Ft. Nelson, Dawson Creek, Prince George etc. I am NOT a fan of cities, even relatively smaller ones and would much rather spend my time basking in the scenery and wildlife of the more remote areas. So I just sailed right past those cities and made stops for scenery at the many pull-outs, rest stops, etc. You know, time to stop and smell the roses! Or the frozen fireweed, I should say!
Slightly over an hour after leaving Charlie Lake this morning, I finally reached Mile 0 on the Alaska Highway, which is at Dawson Creek.
http://www.hellobc.com/dawson-creek.aspx
I then turned southwest on highway 97, aiming for Prince George. [On my journey up to Alaska in August going the other way, I had turned west at Prince George towards Kitwanga and the Cassiar Highway.] So going this way on the return journey gave me a different route and enabled me to complete the Alaska Highway journey in reverse. The Cassiar Highway is also much more remote and less traveled at this time of year, which was a consideration for me.
About an hour southwest of Dawson Creek on Hwy 97 is Chetwynd. It is a must-stop. At least drive around and look. It is known for the many carved statues that are EVERYWHERE around the town.
http://www.discoverthepeacecountry.com/htmlpages/chetwynd.html
Lunch time was in Prince George, then on down the road. No cities for me!
When I arrived this evening in Quesnel, I experienced the second (or maybe it was third, I’ve lost track) hiccup of the trip. It was very cold and I could not get the heat to work in my T@b. After walking to a place to eat, coming back and still not able to make it work and being very cold, I decided to pull up and go to a hotel for the night. There was one nearby that allowed pets too, so we pulled into the parking lot, went inside and got a room. What a change to sleep in a regular bed, take a bath in a bathtub and do some laundry down the hallway! Burrito and Oreo seemed to enjoy having more room to roam in the room and we all enjoyed a different kind of night. I could worry about getting the heat fixed later. [When I got home, I took my T@b trailer in to Holiday World of Dallas for service. They diagnosed the problem with the heat as a blown fuse. Now I know. I had spare fuses for the inverter box, but not for that, and wouldn’t have even known where to check that particular fuse as it is underneath the bench where the Alde heater is.]
Today I traveled a little over 6 hours, 556 kms or 345 miles.
A beautiful sunrise, then I crossed Summit Pass and the Tetsa River and Steamboat Mountain.
I saw 2 elk and lots of sheep and horse farms after Ft. Nelson. This area is big for natural gas exploration, so truck traffic was heavy and many natural gas pipelines and stacks with flares can be seen from Sikanni to Pink Mountain.
I don’t know what this was,
but the horizontal cylinder had some wicked glowing fire in it.
This is an internet steal photo,
since I couldn’t get close to take a picture of a gas well.
In case you wondered where Sasquatch is, he is alive and well, or should I say statuesque and wooden at Pink Mountain, British Colombia, Mile 147 of the Alaska Highway!
http://www.campgroundsalaska.com/alaskahighway/sasquatch-crossing-alaska-highway.php
I stayed overnight in Charlie Lake at the Ross H Maclean Rotary RV Park. It was going to close at the end of the month, so it was almost empty. The sites have no trees, but it is all fenced in next to a nature preserve and park. It has very clean laundry facilities etc. The sunset here was gorgeous.
Note: the website link that comes up when you google this park does not work. The park is only about 10 miles west of Ft. St. John, so very convenient to get gas, groceries etc.
Today I traveled for 9 hours, 585 kilometers = 363 miles. It sounds like a very long day, but since I started at sunrise in the morning, I made good time, had lots of neat wildlife and scenery stops in between, and still got to my destination before sunset.
Today was a bonanza for wildlife. I saw a jackalope, rabbit, squirrels, about 75 bison, and 3 black bears!
I ate lunch at a restaurant Wolf It Down http://nuggetcity.com/wolf-it-down-restaurant/
next to the Baby Nugget RV Park http://nuggetcity.com/baby-nugget-rv-park/
near Watson Lake where I had stayed overnight on the journey west to Alaska in August.
I gassed up in Watson Lake, glanced at the Signpost Forest 
http://www.yukoninfo.com/watson-lake-signpost-forest/
and then continued on. [You might remember that on my journey in August, I came up the Cassiar and joined the Alaska Highway at Watson Lake. This time I am not going to go back on the Cassiar; instead continuing east on the Alaska Highway towards Dawson Creek to go a different, not so remote route.]
Immediately after leaving Watson Lake, there were signs on the highway reminding travelers of two things: 1. Check your gas; a long ways to next fill up and 2. Expect to see bison ahead on the road. Both were very important!
Within a half hour out of Watson Lake, we began to see bison. Bison by themselves, at the side of the road and walking across the road. Bison in pairs and bison in huge herds!
I parked at the shoulder of the road and one bison decided to saunter right past my vehicle and trailer, seemingly oblivious to me or the dog and cat inside the car. I have a video of it, but this site will not allow me to upload it due to size, so until I learn how to shrink it, you’ll just have to take my word for it!
Then a few miles later I saw 3 black bears on the north side of the road. I pulled over to the shoulder and watched them through the window of the car. I thought they might be a momma, daddy and young’n bear. They were munching on stuff in the greenery at first. 
then they began to explore the culvert. First “momma” bear tried to climb inside the culvert and back out, then “baby” bear did the same. Then they started towards the edge of the road behind my T@b. uh-oh! They must’ve realized something different was there, because they all 3 ambled around to the back of the T@b and “Poppa” bear stood up on the back of the T@b!! uh-oh! Now I was concerned that they might scratch the outside of the T@b. So I gently released the Park and rolled forwards a few feet. That got their attention!! The Poppa bear got down on all fours again and then all three turned and trotted across to the other side of the road, where they began eating again. I had been watching them for about 15 minutes, so had my fill and proceeded on down the road.
Notice I mentioned back at Watson Lake the signs reminding to fill up with gas, which I had. Mid-afternoon I had passed several closed gas stations and was approaching a quarter of a tank. My policy had been to not let it get below half a tank, but I had not seen any place to fill up. Looking ahead on the Milepost, I was getting worried. Finally, I saw a gas station, but alas, they were out of gas, but a tanker had just pulled in. They said it would take an hour to fill the huge gas tanks. I decided to wait rather than risk driving on further. The lodge there was beautiful, but only open for gas, not lodging.
After waiting for over an hour for the gas tanker, I was finally able to gas up and continue on down the road. There were a good few hours of daylight left and I didn’t want to waste the time.
The road east of Liard Springs winds around Muncho Lake.
At dusk I arrived at Toad River Lodge/Campground, where I pulled in and got a site for the night. They also had a nice restaurant, where I had supper. The lake is Reflection Lake.
There was truck parking there also, so quite busy with truck noise in and out, but I was tired and the RV site was away from there close to the lake, so I had no trouble sleeping.
