Miles across Canada

After leaving Valdez, it was 5 days of driving...2300 miles later, I crossed the border into Montana, and as they say in Alaska, into the lower 48.  I didn't spend any time in Canada, only a lot of money.  As much as $5+ per gallon for gas.
As I traveled, I saw fewer animals on the road than on other trips.  Maybe it's due to this trip being later in the year this time and the animals aware that hunting season had started.  One animal I did see  that I thought was was very interesting.  Check out the passenger in this photo

Below are three pictures that are indicators as to when to leave Alaska.  When any of these three things happen, it's a sure bet that the snow is not far away.

Aspens are turning yellow

Shortage of this

The freezer is full

.
I'm currently in Great Falls MT taking a break from driving and waiting on Tricia to get here.  We will be heading across Montana, South Dakota, Iowa and to Kevin and Kelly's in Springfield MO.  Lots of pictures to follow, so stay tuned...

Adios Valdez AK

I'll be leaving Valdez tomorrow headed south.  Well actually, I have to go about 300 miles to the north before I can turn south.  It'll take me 6 days to get from Valdez to the US border in Montana.  Lots of miles of miles and miles.

This is downtown Valdez on one of their rare non-rain days.

Valdez Fish

Got lots of Silver Salmon, but not as many as I did in the past.  The weather has been cold and wet for the three weeks I have been here.  It'll be good to see some of the heat you guys have been experiencing.  As an example, it rained for more than 24 hours and the temperature went from a low of 51 to a high of 52.

Soooo, ;the Blue Goose will be flying south for the winter beginning tomorrow.  The goose has a new refirgerator, new front brakes, and new alternator, all of which would have been needed if I was in Florida or Alaska.   Alaska Highway, here we come  Stay Tuned...

Valdez Alaska

After I left Anchorage, I motored 300+ miles to Valdez, a town of about 4000 people that is known for the terminal of the and FISHING.  My friends from Soldotha, Dwight and Linda came in the next day.  There are 4 other couples due in here on Monday.  We will be staying thru Labor Day fishing for Silver Salmon.
The drive into Valdez is beautiful.  Multiple glaziers and waterfalls. 

Worthington Glazier at Thompson Pass on the Richardson Highway

Bridal Veil Falls  in Keystone Canyon  just outside Valdez

I'll be here about 3 weeks so, stay tuned...

Back in the Anchor City

I left Soldotna and the Kenai Peninsula yesterday, beginning my slow journey back to St Petersburg.  I' m currently in Anchorage, headed to Valdez in search for Silver Salmon and Halibut.  There hould be plenty of both.
It's 7:00 am here and for the first time in several days, I can see the sun.  I believe this has been the coldest summer I have spent here...usually in the mid 40s in the am, then warming up to the mid to high 50s.  Eat your heart out.  I'm at Ship Creek parking lot, for those of you familiar with Anchorage, just next to the train station.  The creek has Pink and Silver Salmon running in it and it seems a little weird  to be fishing in the  downtown area.  Wish me luck and stay tuned...

Sockeye Salmon on the loose

The run of Sockeye Salmon started  about two weeks ago up the Kenai river.  To date the limit has been 3 per day, but with the number of fish coming up the river, that will change.  The conservation people don't want too many fish coming into the river as it will create too many fish in future.  Here are a couple of photos.

You gotta love these fish.  Still have about a third of the freezer to fill. so, Stay tuned...

Back in Soldotna

I spent 2 days getting back here from St Petersburg.  No pictures, no fish, no rain and no refrigerator.  Some good news...There will be pictures soon, the fish are coming, and so is the rain (it always rains), and my refrig will be fixed this week.  So as usual...stay tuned.

Ft Myers Beach Week

Well, It’s been a week of this as pictured and I will be flying back to Alaska on Monday.  A full week in Ft Myers on Estero Island and I’m ready to get back.  I took a perfect week off as there was no run of Sockeye salmon as yet.  My friend Don Causseaux once told me several years ago, “You’re the only person I know who takes a vacation from his vacation”.  Hey Don…I’m still doing it.  It was fun to see my girls and their girls as well as many friends I have met over the 31 years I’ve been going to this timeshare.  Sally, Scott and Ally had a good time…Kelly and her two dingdongs caught up on missed sleep…Frank Bryant didn’t bring his golf clubs for the third year in a row.  Julie Gingras brought her three kids while Jason is in India(Hurry back Jayson, and come to see me in Alaska)…Laura Gagne was here while Gerry stayed home to work (see ya next year Gerry).  Laura’s brother Perry was here for one day with his 4 boys, and Grandpa Ferrell watched the Casey trial all week.  Joe Pruitt bought a 2002 Corvette.  Matt Bryant, we miss you (hope to see you soon).

Gotta get some more beach time, so…stay tuned.

Daytime Beach Shot

Sunset Beach Shot

Rainy day in Alaska

Still waiting for the first run of Sockeye salmon up the Kenai River.  No one is currently catching any fish, so we sit around the fire in the evening telling fish stories.  If they get any better, we’ll all be thinking we are really catching, 

Today is a stay inside day…light rain and 48 degrees at 10:00 am.  It usually warms up to around 60 in the afternoon.  We’re getting about 20 – 24 hours of daylight each day.  You can’t wait till dark to do anything, otherwise, it won’t get done.

Here's a picture I took yesterday...

Camp Howard

And here's one that Sally got from someone.  I wish I could find it here in Soldotna.

The Blue Goose got a well deserved  bath yesterday.  It had collected over 5k miles of dirt and dust.  The Goose'll also be getting a new refrigerator soon.  The current one is not working but is serving as an ice box until the new one arrives.

I'm going to give fishing one shot today even if it is in the rain, so ... stay tuned.

Soldotna, AK - 0n the Kenai River

I arrived here a few days ago and after a couple of rainy days, began setting up my campsite.  Bad luck…my refrigerator in the RV went out and I have to replace it.  It will take about 10 days to get one in from Washington, so in the meantime, I’m using the lower part of the refrig as a cooler by freezing gallons of water in my large fish freezer and placing the ice in the vegetable bins to keep the compartment cold.

Saw a couple of Moose a two nights ago walking thru the campground as if they were looking for a campsite.  Yesterday, this young eagle was out in front of my campsite.  That’s the view I have out of the RV.  Those eagles sure are ugly when they are young.

The temperature starts out in the mid-40s and gets up to the low 60s. The Kenai River is low and continues to rise as the days warm up and the ice melts.  It should crest at about3- 4 feet higher.

No red Salmon as yet, but it won’t be too long maybe today… If I’m not fishing, I’m not catching so I’m headed back to the river to try again…stay tuned.

Seward Alaska

Good fishing yesterday and great weather.  I caught my limit of 2 Halibut as did everyone on the boat.  Weighed in at 45 lbs and dressed out to 30 nice-sized servings.  The fog set in today, and the mountains I could see across Resurrection Bay yesterday (about 4 miles) aren’t visible today.  The temperature is about 50 degrees and looks to stay that way most of the day. 

Before

I’m headed to Soldotna today where I will set up camp in Centennial Park on the Kenai River for most of the summer.  Looking forward to seeing people who were there my last two trips, so as usual…Stay tuned.

After

Hope Alaska

This is one of the masterpieces of Alaska,  I have never failed to make a top in Hope, and if you are ever this way, I recommend it. Hope is unique to any other place I have ever been.  The main street has two buildings…a café and a bar named ”Café” and “Bar”, and a 15-site campground which was about half-full last night.  At the end of the street, just past the campground is Resurrection Creek where there will be a pretty good pink Salmon run in about a month.   With a population of 150, you’d think business would be poor in Hope.  Not so.  The bar was busy, and I noticed the deck between the bar and café was new construction, so I asked Annie the bartender what’s with that.  She said the deck had some rotten places and needed replacing, so last fall, they burned it down.  Now consider that it was attached to both buildings, sounds a little risky to me.  Annie also said that this past weekend, Memorial Day, she ran out of beer at the bar…guess they had a crowd.

This was my view from the RV this morning. Cook’s inlet and the Chugach Mountains across the way.

Headed to Seward today, about 50 miles south of here, and possibly some Halibut fishing, so…Stay Tuned

Alaska at Last

I made it into Alaska night before last and stopped in a rest area just outside the town of Tok.  The roads in the upper Yukon were horrible and seem to get worse every year.  The last 100 miles are done at about 35 mph due to potholes, swells in the road and gravel roads.  However, the scenery in northern Yukon makes up for the roads. There are as many rivers and lakes as you can imagine and the Wrangell-St. Elias mountains are unbelievable. These mountains separate Alaska from Canada, and the only way into Alaska is to  go around them to the north.   The Wrangell-St. Elias National park is little known and is the largest of all US parks.  It's 6 times the size of Yellowstone and is mostly non-accessible except from a distance.

Yesterday made it on into Anchorage and parked in the City lot next to the train station for the night.  I can get Internet here so it gives me a chance to check on the online classes I'm teaching  I was also able to visit one of my favorite places in Alaska...The Great Alaskan Ale House...aka Humpy's.
The weather is great...high 40s at night low 60s in the daytime.  The sun rises around 4:30 am and is setting around 11:00 pm, but that will change in June as the days will get even longer.

Grizzly

  My plan for today is to drive on down to the Kenai Peninsula to Soldotna where I will  stay for most of the summer.So...Stay Tuned 

Change in plans...I have to wait until tomorrow to have someone look at the breaks on "The Goose".

Dawson Creek BC to Whitehorse YT

I left Dawson Creek Yesterday (Thu) morning headed up the Highway.  Thursday was not very eventful.  I covered 475 miles landing at Liard Hot Springs in northern British Colombia.  Lots of miles, but not much excitement.  Not the story today.  I left Liard around 5:15 am headed to Whitehorse, the capital city of the Yukon Territory.  As I left Liard. I drove 85 miles with only one truck, one RV and one car to pass me going the opposite direction.  If there is a song of  "The Lonesome Highway", it was written about this stretch of road.  However, I have never seen this much wildlife as I did today.  three bears, lots of Buffalo, Elk, Moose, and a heard of wild mules herded by a dog.

Alaska Highway Dawson Creek BC to Delta Junction Alaska 1422 MILES

Just pulled into the Alaska Mile “0” Campground in Dawson Creek BC.  I’m actually at mile marker 1.5, so that only leaves 1188.5 miles to the Alaska border…I can’t wait.  I will probably stay here for two nights and then it’s a 3-day scramble to the 50^th state.  

 You may notice different miles in the sign to Delta Junction.  The reason is the mile markers are set to the original mileage while the sign above is the actual miles today which is shorter due to a lot of road straightening over the years.  At any rate, it's a long way.  So Stay tuned.

This is a mural in one of the alleys in downtown Dawson Creek.  It almost looks real.

Alberta

Aaaaaah Canada.  I can’t get across it fast enough.  I’m currently in Whitecourt Alberta, and just crossed the halfway to Anchorage point yesterday.  Total  miles to date 3531.  I’ve been in Canada since night before last and probably have 2-3 more days before getting to the Alaska border and back in the US.  Gas already $5 per gal, and will go up in Ft Nelson and Watson Lake, then back down as I get into Alaska.

Watched the Lightening play last night in the Crown & Anchor Pub here  in Whitecourt.  Met a couple of guys who were actually pulling for the bolts.  It’s pretty easy to find the hockey games here in Canada, as there is no other sport. 

Need an oil change today, even though it’s only been a couple of months, but 5k miles, so I’ll be getting that done next.  Gotta take care of the Blue Goose.

Still having bad weather…rain all day yesterday.  That makes 5 out of the last 6 days of awful weather.  The trip would be a lot nicer with clear sailing, but I need to concentrate too much on the road when it rains, so I only see the car or truck in front of me.  And that makes a very boring day.  Maybe a better day today.  And maybe I’ll get some pix when the weather clears.  But in the meantime…Stay tuned.

The Cowboy State

I got into
Wyoming yesterday morning and "Surprise, Surprise".  About 50 miles north of
Cheyenne, all of this funny white stuff came falling out of the sky.  I'm not sure what it was, but it stacked up about 4 inches deep and caused me to have to pull into a rest stop for about an hour.  I thought it was almost summer???

Fun Driving

Not sure what this is

This is what northern WY looked like this morning...from one extreme to this.

 I'm heading for Bozeman MT today, hopefully with no more snow, however, I checked the weather out in front of me and it looks like rain and 50 degree highs for the next 5 days, so ...stay tuned.

Kansas and Nebraska

I left Kevin's in south east MO yesterday morning headed north and west.  Currently about 50 miles north of Salina KS headed to North Platte NE or Cheynne WY.  Depends on the weather.  Pictures tomorrow.  Stay tuned...

Leaving Florida

I stayed a couple of extra days to wait until Allyson (granddaughter) got out of the hospital.  Turns out she had a stomach virus and is fine now.  I left Niceville this morning and drove thru Montgomery, Birmingham and Jasper on my way to Tupelo Mississippi for the night.  After that, I'm hopeful that I can get thru Memphis.  Saw some devastated neighborhoods from the tornadoes  on the way. Looks as Tunica is out of the question due to the fact that the casinos are under water. No pictures yet, but, stay tuned...

I made it to Springfield with no problem crossing the Mississippi.  Everyone is well here and Kevin and I went to a Springfield Cardinal AA baseball game Saturday night (he is the stadium announcer for the games).  This morning, we all went to a legendary breakfast place  in Springfield.  IF you are ever here, check out Aunt Martha's Pancake House.  Also if in Springfield, tune into Kevin's morning radio show on KTOZ 95.5.

Kevin doing his thing

Kelly Sam and Lily

The Journey Begins

Mother's Day Brunch

I left St Petersburg at 8:30 Friday and made it up the road to Chiefland.  The next morning I was up and drove on to Sally's house...Emptied and dropped off the trailer, then set up the RV in Stony Point State Park, a very nice campground on the intercoastal waterway.  Sally, Scott and Allyson have a great house in the Bluewater Bay area.  This community has it's own marina, tennis club and golf courses.  We had a great brunch at the Marina on Mother's day. Sunday afternoon, Ally and I went fishing...no luck. Sunday night Ally got sick and the doctor said she has a stomach virus.  Hope she gets over it soon.

D-Day

The Blue Goose on the launching pad

This is my final day of preparation.  I moved into the RV Tuesday night to ensure I had packed everything I needed.  The first night, I realized I didn't have my check book, so the effort was worth it.  I will be loading a small trailer to haul to Sally in Ft Walton Beach area in the panhandle.  As of now, I'm not sure when I will leave there due to the flooding on the Mississippi.  I planned to go thru Memphis, but that may be out.  I'll make my next post "On the Road"...

Chapter Four (2009)

Chapter 4 – 2009

This trip started out again in early May…May 8^th to be exact.  I made it out of town and all the way to Alachua, about 130 miles to an old friend and roommate, Joe (Cracker) McLeod’s house where I spent a couple of days with him, his wife, Dee and one of his sons, Luke.  It had been many years since we had seen each other and we spent time remembering times about 45 years earlier. 

After leaving Crackers, I made it to somewhere near Panama City to stay over with a friend, Bill Booker, whom I had met thru Open Road Singles (ORS), an RV group of people who travel alone.  The reason I say somewhere near Panama City is the only way to get to the Booker palatial estate is via GPS.  Bill and I traded some discussion of past meetings and I was off again.  Prior to starting this trip, I had agreed to meet with two other members of the ORS group in northwest Montana and caravan from there to Alaska.  My ETA Lake St Mary MT was May 28 which allowed me time for a couple of stops along the way. 

The first was Cullman Al where I met up with and had dinner with my cousins Jackie and Ray and Ray’s wife BJ.  We had a long awaited meeting since we hadn’t seen each other in maybe 30 – 40 years.  Then it was over to the Allegro Plant in Red Bay AL where the Blue Goose was born in the late 90’s.  The next day, I was back toward Cullman to get the voltage regulator replaced in my RV’s generator. 

After that, on to Tunica and the Mississippi casinos just south of Memphis before taking off to Springfield Mo where my son Kevin and his crew Kelly, Sam and Lily, live.  I parked the  “Goose” in Kevin & Kelly’s front yard for most of a week, Playing with Sam and Lily, visiting some of the local establishments, a trip to Branson and Silver Dollar City for a couple of days, where Kevin had a live remote for his morning show.  Which by the way, if you are in the Springfield MO area, tune Kevin in at FM 95.5 KTOZ from 5:00 am – 10:00 am on the Kevin and Liz Show. You can also catch him on his sports show on the local ESPN station AM 1414 from 11:00am – 12:00am.  And if that’s not enough, go to Hammons Field and take in a minor league Springfield Cardinals game.  Kevin is the stadium announcer.  Keeps him out of Kelly’s hair.

After Springfield, it was north thru Missouri and Iowa.  I spent a couple of days in Sioux Falls SD, and took in some of the history provided by Lewis and Clark back in the 1800’s as they searched for a northwest passage.  I left for Sturgis South Dakota the last Friday in May and headed thru the northeast corner of Wyoming and into Montana.  As I was driving up US Highway 212 listening to Sirius radio, there was an announcement to visit a national cemetery over Memorial Day weekend.  What a neat idea…then out of nowhere about an hour later, there it was, right in front of me.  The Little Big Horn National Cemetery.  I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around, picturing what it must have been like on that knoll in late June 1878, facing several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne Indians.  Late in the afternoon, I headed north toward Billings Mt.  From Billings, it was on to Bozeman and Great Falls.  I stopped in Great Falls, about 100 miles south of Lake St Mary where I was to meet up with the rest of my caravan.  I went to my favorite campground (Wal-Mart) and stayed for a couple of days.  Great Falls has a lot of history, primarily related to Lewis and Clark.  While there, Beth Carol and Liz contacted me and said they just got to Great Falls, so I stayed another day.  We left Great falls to Lake St Mary where we finally caught up with Ron, the final member, or so we thought, of our group.  

We stayed at the beautiful Glacier National Park – Babb Campground and the next morning headed north across the Canadian Border.  We stayed west of Calgary, in a direction of Banff National park in Alberta stopping along the way to view the fantastic Canadian scenery.  On the second day, we had stopped for lunch in an overlook in the Canadian Rockies when a large familiar-looking motor home pulled into the parking area.  I had seen this coach before, but it took me a while to figure out.  When I was in Great Falls (Wall Mart, of course), this coach was also there both days that I was.  It was this chance meeting that I was introduced to Tommy and Olga Wood from Conroe Texas.  As it turned out, they traveled on to Alaska with us.  Next stop – Banff National Park, Lake Louise Which was completely frozen over when Tricia and I were there two years earlier), and the Colombia Ice Fields, a mile thick Glacier just west of Lake Louise.  Since I had visited the Ice Fields in 2006 with Tricia, and the fact that we were approaching Alaska too slow for me, I said goodbye to my fellow travelers and struck out on my own for Dawson Creek BC and Mile 0 of the 1422 mile Alaska Highway.

AH YES…The Alaska Highway aka the Alcan Highway.  Tons of history in this 2-lane ribbon that runs from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks.  You just sit back and observe…the snow-covered Rockies to the left, rivers and frozen lakes to the right, and too many small villages and towns to mention.  You travel thru the upper portion of British Colombia thru Ft. Nelson, Watson Lake and then cross the border and arrive in Whitehorse, the capital city of the Yukon Territory.  I usually spend a couple of days in Whitehorse, which is about 2/3 the way up the Alaska Highway.  Time to stock up and gas up (on those $5 per gallon Canadian prices.  Next stop will be back in the US at the Alaska border.

I have to tell my Watson Lake story.  When I left Grand Prairie in central BC, the news on Sirius Radio was a huge forest fire in the Yukon Terratory, so when I got to Watson Lake, around 4:00 pm,  I stopped by the Chamber of Commerce to get the latest information.  I was told the road was open and closed about 60 miles west at the discretion of the forest rangers.  And the best time would be early morning.  So, I set up in their parking lot for the night (WIFI available and a grocery store across the street).  I pulled out around 5:00am heading toward Whitehorse.  And sure enough there was a roadblock about 60 miles up the road.  I was told that the smoke was too thick to continue, but the rangers were allowing traffic thru with an escort, and the escort vehicle had just left.  I was the first in line, or the first one to miss the last escort run, so I knew I’d be there for a while.  As it turned out, it was only about an hour.  I was sitting in the driver’s seat listening to the radio when someone knocked on my door.  I opened the window and asked if I could help.  The man stood there looking at me as if I was crazy…I couldn’t figure it out, then he said “you don’t recognize me do you?”, to which I replied “no”…Then he said, ”Well you should, we spent every afternoon two years ago having cocktails together, and you  can’t remember”.  Then I got the picture.  It was Carroll Frecking, from Minnesota, one of my fishing partners on the Kenai River from 2007.  So much for short term memory.  And so much for how small the world is.  Me from St Petersburg, he and his wife Carolyn along with two of their grandsons Ben and Dalton stopped behind each other in a forest fire road block in the Yukon Terratory.  It must have been the smoke in my eyes.

As I crossed into Alaska at the northern most point of the Canadian Rockies, I was  on the only road into Alaska…there is no other way to drive it.  Still about 800 miles from Anchorage, I usually feel differently driving in the US.  I’m not sure what causes that, I just feel more comfortable back in my own country.  This part of the trip from Whitehorse to Anchorage took me 3 days.

The Blue Goose in Alaska

  I have taken the Valdez cutoff and spent a couple of  days in this unique fishing village, but knowing I will get there on my way out of Alaska, so,I passed. 

Once in Anchorage, I parked at a City lot on the banks of Ship Creek and headed out to my favorite eating spot, Humpy’s.  A couple of days in Anchorage, and then it was south to the Kenai Peninsula, and Soldotna.  I stopped at one of my most remembered towns, Hope, for an overnight stay in the local campground and trout fishing in the  creek at the end of the only street in downtown Hope. Always fresh fish for dinner in Hope.

Once I left Hope I hopped on down the Seward Highway to its namesake town. And started out my fishing trip with a full-day Halibut trip.  The limit is 2 fish per day and you always get your limit.  The problem with trip was the fish were small…about 20 lbs.  So, if it’s early in the day you throw them back and go for a larger one.  After hauling up about a dozen fish, I quit with 2 fish (the 2 to the left of my hand).

Then it was back up the road about 90 miles to Soldotna and Centennial Park where I would call home until August.  When I arrived, I was met by several people I had met two years earlier, and some I met on the Alaska Highway in a smoke screen.  I set up about 75 feet from the Kenai River where I would walk down the nice aluminum stairs and stand in the river until I caught my limit of 3 or 6 fish depending on whether or not the Alaska game and Fish Commission increased the limit due to more fish coming up the river.  After a couple of weeks in Soldotna, I headed back to Anchorage and took a flight back to Tampa to spend a week on the beach in Ft Myers…a vacation from my vacation.

On my way back to Anchorage, I got a call in Atlanta that my RV had been broken into.  When I got back, I found a mess and a lot of things missing.  The people at the Cummins Diesel place, and in particular, Bubba Tillery, worked with me and reimbursed me for my loss.  It was just the mess that I wasn’t happy with.

Back in Soldotna it was snagging Sockeye Salmon on a daily basis.  I got to know carol and Carolyn’s 9-year old grandson, Dalton real well while here.  He was a real trip.  He was required to wear one of the complementary life jackets.

Then as July turned  to August, the Red Salmon run began to slow down, so, several of us packed up and drove on to Valdez, about 80 miles as the crow flys, but around 300 by road. The objective to finish off the season and fill the freezer with Silver Salmon. With the freezer loaded with about 400 lbs of fish, I headed back down the Alaska Hwy to the lower 48 driving in the direction of Albuquerque to meet Tricia for the Balloon Fiesta.

I took a couple of weeks thru Canada, Montana, Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona and finally New Mexico.  Tricia flew in to Albuquerque and we stayed in Santa Fe and took day trips to Taos and the surrounding area.   Tricia spent a day at the Ojo Caliente Spa, a mineral springs spa just outside Taos.  I wasn’t interested as I had done my spaing a couple of weeks earlier in the Liard Hot Springs in northern British Colombia. Tricia took a ride in one of the balloons while I kept my two feet planted on the ground.

 My visit to all the western states, other than Montana, was my first other than flying in on various trips. I found the west to be quite a pleasant change from what I have come accustomed to in Florida.  For instance, I left a Bryce Canyon UT campground one morning with the temperature right around 36 degrees, and stopped in Mesquite NV when the mercury was hovering around 110 at 9:00 pm.  Not only that, my Generator had gone on the fritz and I had no AC.  That caused me to spend several hours in a local casino.

                   Bryce Canyon                                               Grand Canyon

campground one morning with the temperature right around 36 degrees, and stopped in Mesquite NV when the mercury was hovering around 110 at 9:00 pm.  Not only that, my Generator had gone on the fritz and I had no AC.  That caused me to spend several hours in a local casino.

Tricia and I spent 3 days in Albuquerque watching hundreds of hot air balloons fly each day.  We had a parking site on the front row of the landing field which always offered balloon activity.  We had a chance to take a cable car ride to the highest bar in the world.  What a view…Then after about 9 days in the area, Tricia flew back to Tampa, and I headed east for Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri  visiting my cousin Earl Tillery and his wife, Jo, in Tulsa, and winding up in Springfield MO back at my son Kevin’s house for a few days with Kevin, Kelly, Sam and Lily. 

When I left  Kevin’s I traveled south to Petit Jean State park in Arkansas to catch up with my friend Fred Atterbury and his wife Maryann. .  This park is a plateau that I would guess to be about 1500 feet high, about 4 miles wide and 20 miles long.  It Was perfectly flat on top and covered with huge pine trees.  We stayed in the park for a couple of days, then they heeded and I headed east.   I drove on thru Mississippi, Alabama and ended up in Ellijay which is in north Georgia, and a reunion of my high school class..

Then it was on to Atlanta to visit with Janna and Joe Fackler for a couple of days.  It was Halloween which made a good conclusion to my trip.  All the ghosts and goblins reminded me of all the shadows and images I had seen over the past 14,000 + miles I had traveled.   I got back into St Petersburg on November 2nd, one week shy of 6 months…and immediately began planning my 2011 trip back to the Kenai…Stay Tuned!!!


On July 29, I got word that my friend Will Causseaux had passed away.  A pain in the ass, a lot of fun, and a good friend.   Will and I made the 2007 trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks, then to Vladez, Edmonton, Great Falls, Sturges, Souix Falls, Springfield, and New Orleans Will, you are missed...and I have a seat saved for you when I travel.