Unpacking and Cleaning

56 days and nearly 8000 miles and we are back in Danbury WI.  The last couple of days were spent unpacking the Winnie and trying to get it clean after collecting all the dirt and grime those 56 days on the road dished out.  Dave got out the pressure washer and I got on the ladder.  Lots of scrubbing and scouring and the Winnebago Adventurer is looking pretty good again.  All the rocking and rolling shook loose a couple of brackets for the grill and we aren't sure how to reattach but other than that none the worse for wear.  We will spend a few days here and then move south to Lake Elmo to stay until Labor Day.

Bold Move, Grand Results

We decided to go for a real big day and make the final drive to Danbury shorter.  We left Moosomin SK at a little before 8:00 am and headed for Winnipeg.  We thought about having lunch there but couldn't find an appropriate place to stop so we had lunch at a truckstop in Pembina ND.  Our luck started to turn as we stopped for a break just west of Crookston MN and the information booth had a list of campgrounds on Highway 2.  We chose to try a city park in Bagley MN.  We called and even though it was Saturday they said there were a couple of openings and if we got there before they were gone we could have one.  Our day was getting good.  When we arrived, not only did they have a spot but it was one that we could drive through and not unhook, it was about 60 feet from the showers and it had 50 amp electric.  But the best was yet to come.  We noticed a lot of cars parked on the street but didn’t know why.  When I registered, the manager said we were in luck.  The Clearwater County fair was going on this weekend and we were parked right across the street!  We had a county fair dinner of turkey legs cooked up by the local scout troop, funnel cakes, cheese curds, mini donuts, foot long corn dog, roast buttered corn on the cob, and topped it all off with homemade cinnamon rolls.  Good thing there was four of us or that would have been a lot to eat for one person.  What a day!  We covered a lot of miles and still had time to take in the fair.

West Edmonton Mall

Our extra day in Edmonton was spent at the world’s largest indoor mall.  It doesn’t have nearly as many stores as MOA but is definitely larger.  The mall is more of a tourist attraction than a retail venue.  It has an indoor water park with a wave pool and some of the largest water slides I have ever seen.  The indoor amusement park is as large as the water park.  In the center of it all is a Marine Center with pirate ship, sea lion show and an underground aquarium.  It was a busy day so we finished it off with a couple of drinks at a pub in the bourbon street section of the mall.  It is quite the place.

Homeward bound

The blog is going to get more compressed as we head on home.  The last three nights we had very spotty internet and thus no blog.  We are travelling more and stopping less.  I think we are all anxious to get back to familiar surroundings.  After staying the night in Teslin, we went on to Watson Lake to see the Sign Forest and the Northern Lights Museum.

On our way to Muncho Lake we encountered three black bears, a grizzly, and two herds of bison (more than 150) and spent the night there (no internet). Leaving Muncho Lake we saw two fox, one Dall Sheep, five Caribou, and thirteen stone sheep.

We stopped for a short stay at Ft. Nelson to take in the Museum there and spent the night in Ft. St. John (again no internet).  We then travelled to Dawson Creek (Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway) and found a RV park in Whitecourt but it was late so again no blog.  Today we made it to Edmonton and I finally have internet and am catching up for the days missed.

On The Road South

For two days we traveled further south.  Our first stop was at Carmacks where we repaired the vent on the ceiling fan and then on to Teslin via Whitehorse.  There were lots of beautiful views when it wasn't raining.  Unfortunately it did rain a lot.  The rain let up when we stopped at Whitehorse.  We visited the Transportation Museum with the world’s largest weather vane, a DC 3 that points into the wind at all times.  We also drove over to the world’s longest fish ladder.  The ladder was built to allow spawning salmon to get around a hydroelectric dam on the Yukon River.  Too bad we are about two weeks early before the salmon get to this point in their migration.  We will still get to see the salmon as the ladder has a webcam that we can log into when we get back.

Dawson City

Yesterday was for catching some extra sleep after the long night at Diamond Tooth Gerties.  After a leisurely breakfast we went out to see the sights.  We drove the Dodge up to the top of Midnight Dome.  From there we had a spectacular view of Dawson City and the Yukon River valley.

Huge landslide just outside of Dawson City

Yukon River

Dawson City from above

Any place a Porsche Cayenne S can go so can the Dodge 

Back on down the mountain to lunch at Klondike Kate’s.  I felt like I was almost home.  I had a pulled chicken sandwich and they loaded it with slaw on top.  A little more shopping and it was back to the RV for some of our Halibut and grilled tuna (from OBX).