Glacier to McMinnville, Oregon

Just when you think that you are done with Tales from the Highway....

IT"S BACK!

Our last post was almost 6 weeks ago and since then we have traveled from

West Glacier, Montana to Coeur D'Alene Idaho,

to Seattle, and then south to McMinnville, Oregon where we have been

for the last 4 weeks.

First we said goodbye to West Glacier

Mt 28 from Flathead Lake heading west.

I90 crossing Lookout Pass -  the border between Mt and Idaho.

We stayed for 4 days at Blackwell Island RV Park in Coeur d'Alene Idaho.

While there we toured the local countryside again, and I climbed up onto

the roof and replaced my automatic satellite dish which had failed on us in the Yukon.

Leaving Coeur d'Alene we stopped at Speedco in Spokane, Wa for

oil and filter changes for the bus and the generator.

We are now set for the winter.

We stopped for one night at the KOA in Ellensburg, Wa so that we could pick our

time thru the Seattle Traffic to our next destination.

Enroute to Ellensburg, I-90 descends into the Columbia River Valley and then

crosses the Mighty Columbia River.

The next day we enjoyed great weather and crossed thru the Cascade Mtns over 

Snoqualmie Pass on I-90.    The fall colors at the pass were beautiful!

In Seattle (Bothell, Wa) we stayed at Lake Pleasant RV Park.

It is a very nice wooded park and super convenient to downtown.

While there we hung out with our friends Jim & Kristi and on Saturday we

made the obligatory pilgrimage to the Pikes Market in downtown along the waterfront.

The view of the waterfront from the market.

Many of the cruise ships  that we saw passing thru Seward this summer, began their

cruises here in Seattle.

There are lots of places to eat in the market as well as:

Flowers...

Seafood...

Fruits & Veggies...

Did I mention Fruits & Veggies?

High-rise  buildings tower over the market.

Of course...the Space Needle is here too. 

Leaving Seattle, we stopped at Tough Top Awnings in

Brush Prairie, Wa to have new toppers installed over the slides.

They do top notch work and we were in and out in 90 minutes.

Our home for the next 5 weeks has been the Old Stone Village RV Park in

McMinnville, Oregon.

Its a nice park with large grassy sites and lots of room to park the toad.

We've enjoyed mostly great weather and have been watching the slow progression

of the trees from early fall to full color.

There is a nice walking path from the park to the Evergreen Air & Space Museum which

is conveniently located next door.

The Evergreen Air & Space Museum is one of the nicest privately owned

Air Museums in the US

Since this is Oregon Wine Country, the

Museum is surrounded by.....

Grape Vines!

The Museum is home to a lot of great aircraft and the flagship of the Museum

is Howard Hughes Spruce Goose.

Photo by Gregg M. Erickson

It  400' wingspan with 8 engines towers over the other aircraft!

Looking at the Spruce Goose from outside the building that houses it.

With us for the day was Kates cousin Kate and her friend Greg.

So...  our group consisted of:

Greg & Kate

&

Greg & Kate

L-R Greg, Kate, Kate, Greg 

A German V-2 rocket from WW2

Gemini Space Capsule

We spent hours and barely scratched the surface of what is there.

We did not have time to even see a couple of the buildings...

We had wine tasting to do downtown!

And that brings us sort of up to date.

I did not mention our trip to Silver Falls State Park,

Ferry rides across the Willamette River,

A leaking windshield that fried my engine computer

(the glass company in Phoenix paid the full bill - almost $,000)

and much much more...

Oh... and I replaced our black stove top and Convection Microwave with

updated Stainless Steel appliances.

I think they look a whole bunch better!

Kate has ditched us for a week and flew out this am to NYC for a week with

her Bro.   Its just me and the Doodles for a week.

So...  Tonights menu is Pizza & Wings.

the Delivery Man Cometh.

Stone Mtn BC to West Glacier Mt

Since our last post we've put some additional miles under the bus and its time

to play catch up with the blog.

Leaving Stone Mtn Provincial Park and our wonderful Northern Lights behind, 

we have traveled south back into the US via the following:

1 Dawson Creek, BC  

2  Hinton, Alberta       

3 Banff, National Park

4 West Glacier, Mont  

The map below shows the route and stops.

(Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge them)

Leaving Mirror Lake at the crest of the BC Rockies, we descend slowly out of the Rockies

as we travel westward towards Fort Nelson, BC.

Along the way we again stop for Cinnamon Buns at Testa River.

After Fort Nelson, the Alaska Highway turns southward and slowly we leave the

Boreal Forest behind.

The colors of early fall still peek at us.

Alaska Highway N of Sikani Chief, BC

A 300+ mile day put us in Dawson Creek where we spent the night at the 

Northern Lights RV Park.  

We've stayed here a couple of times before.

Nothing fancy but it works for the night.

The next day we are back on the road southbound to Hinton, Ab

Since we were unable to find a single open campsite for a few nights at Jasper National Park,

we stayed at the Hinton-Jasper KOA about 40mi east of Jasper.

Our route from Dawson Creek to Hinton, took us south from Grand Prairie, on AB 40

AKA the Bighorn Highway.   A scenic and fairly remote route.

North of Grand Cache, the highway travels thru some hilly country and passes

many natural gas processing centers.

The road is quite dirty from the trucks that constantly enter from the dirt roads to the side. 

In dry weather its no big deal, but when it rains - as it did today - the vehicles get

filthy and covered with mud.

AB 40 - Bighorn Highway North of Grand Cache, Ab

South of Grande Cache the road flattens out and you leave the mud and dirt behind.

AB 40 Bighorn HIghway - S of Grande Cache, Ab

We arrived at the Hinton/Jasper KOA covered with mud. 

This KOA has alot of pipeline workers in residence and about 5-6am you would hear all of them

headed to work - most driving diesel pickups.

Since I'm already up working its not a problem.

We made it all thru the Yukon & Alaskan construction zones without a chip in the windshield.

We were not so lucky on the Bighorn Highway however.

A passing truck chucked up a rock and we got a bullseye about the size of a dime.

I repaired the bullseye chip in the windshield the next morning before it had a chance to spread.

Since it cures by UV light,  I needed to shade it from the sunlight 

during the process till it was ready to cure.

Some cardboard and paper bags did the trick.

Chip repair to the windshield

Our last trip to Alaska had me repairing 5 hits along the way so I consider just one to be a bonus.

I found one of the best self serve RV washes ever in Hinton.

The picture below is just one of the 3 bays.

The other two bays also had catwalks on each side, from where you could clean the roof. 

The bays were over 100' long!

Each bay had several power washers and foaming brushes on

both sides so Kate and I were able to each take a side of the bus and get the deed done

in about 20 minutes.

Hinton RV & Truck Wash

Mud removed...   we headed west back into the Rockies heading towards our next destination...

Banff National Park. 

TC 16 Yellowhead Highway headed westbound towards Jasper, Ab

Our route took us south on the Icefield Parkway.

We've done this drive a couple of times northbound and this was our first heading south. 

As we climbed to the Columbia Icefields the environment changed to Alpine

and the colors of the Alpine Fall increased.

Icefield Parkway approaching the Columbia Icefields

Icefield Parkway just South of Columbia Icefield Center

South of the Icefields we again descend to lower altitude into the forest.

Soon a construction stop has us parked for 20 minutes and I got out to stretch

my legs and take a photo of our newly cleaned bus.

Below was our view while waiting for our turn thru the construction.

N Saskatchewan River Headwaters

 Even on a cloudy or rainy day - the view along the Icefield Parkway is magnificent.

Icefield Parkway approaching Waterfowl Lakes area

Icefield Parkway - Waterfowl Lake

 Further south on the IP we approach the headwaters of the Bow River.

The Bow River flows thru Banff National Park and into Calgary, Ab.

Icefield Parkway approaching Bow River Headwaters

Bow Lake and Glacier - Icefield Parkway

 We now spent a week in Banff National Park in an Electric only site.

They have full hook up sites but none were available for a whole week.

It seems all of Canada was taking advantage of the last of summer.

While there -snow started to coat the peaks not far above us.

We even had snow flurries in our campground.

Early Season Snow in Banff National Park

 One of the great things about this RV Lifestyle is the friends that we meet along the way.

When we decided to change plans and head to Banff, I texted our RV Buddies

Rob and Pat who live in BC to see if they could meet us.

Sure enough...  they made the 6 hr drive to Banff and we spent 4 days together.

Having spent a month or so boon-docking on Lake Roosevelt Az a couple of winters ago,

they fell in love with Gracie & Lucy and decided to get an Australian Labradoodle of their own.

So (L-R)  Lucy, Gracie, and Ophelia.

The 3 Doodles get along great!   

You don't even know that three dogs are in the bus!

One neat feature in Canadian National Parks are the Red Chairs.

Strategically placed with a great view...   just find a red chair and enjoy.

Red Chairs Banff National Park

 Kate and I have been making a collection of us sitting in Red Chair Photos 

and now have them from the Maritimes to the Rockies.

Red Chairs Banff National Park

We spent a nice Sunday afternoon visiting the Banff Springs Hotel.

One of the Great Railway Hotels built in the early 1900's by the Canadian Pacific Railway 

along its routes to stimulate passenger traffic.

Banff Springs Hotel

Banff Springs Hotel Reception Lobby

Banff Springs Hotel Restuarant

 The views from all the rooms and terraces in any direction are stunning!

Banff Springs Hotel Terrace View

 Soon our week in Banff was over and it was time to put a bookend on our Alaskan Summer.

Rob & Pat headed to Kimberly and we headed back to the US.

Leaving Banff I took a picture of Rob leading the way out of the campground.

Banff Tunnel Mountain Road

 We first headed north on TC 1 to Castle Junction, where we would catch

Route 93 west, then south.

Trans-Canada Highway 1 Approaching Castle Junction Ab

 The drive thru Kootenay National Park which adjoins Banff NP is beautiful.

This whole immense area of the Canadian Rockies is just stunning!

There are 6 National Parks in about a 40 mile radius in this area.

AB 93 in Kootenay National Park

 Soon Rob and Pat cut off to Kimberly and we continued south on BC93.

We stopped at a Cardlock in Cranbrook, BC to refuel, and 

then pushed the rest of the way south.

BC 93 just south of Canmore, BC

 Crossing the border into Montana, BC 93 becomes US 93 and travels thru

thick pine forests south to Whitefish, Mt.

US 93 North of Whitefish, Mt

 Our destination for the next 4 nights is the KOA in West Glacier.

It is beautifully redone.  They were rebuilding these sites 3 years ago when we were here.

Its amazing how much the trees have grown since them.

W Glacier KOA site # 33

This section of the park is like a garden.

Quite pretty.   We have the place almost to ourselves.

W Glacier KOA site # 33

This is the third time we've been here and third time Going to the Sun Road is closed.

The other two times it was that the snow had not yet been cleared.

This time Going to the Sun Road is closed due to wildfires.

If we drive 90 miles around to East Glacier we can drive the road 20 miles in from that side

up to Logan Pass.  We might try that drive tomorrow however today part of the

open part has now been closed due to early snow....

We just can't win!

Perhaps one of these days we'll make it.

W Glacier KOA site # 33

Snow dusted the mountains above us here in W. Glacier too.

Winter seems to be following us as we drive south.

Next is Coeur d'Alene Id for a few nights,

Then over to Seattle for a bit,  then down to

McMinnville, Oregon where we will park for 5 weeks at the Old Stone Village.