RV ALASKA - Shari's Café & Pies: A Tribute to Jen

Today’s post is less about the trip and more about the connections we make along the road.  Our travels are not just about a check in the box next to a bucket list item, although making that little check mark (either literally or figuratively) always provides a sense of accomplishment.  No, our travels include the joy of planning, the excitement of arriving at a new-to-us destination – or an old favorite, the flavor of fresh, local foods, the incredibly scenic vistas we’ve discovered in every single state we’ve traveled to – and the often transient connections we make with people along the way.

RV ALASKA - From One Site #8 to Another

Months ago, Alan and I had agreed to book reservations on this extended expedition for those dates and places we thought we might potentially run into trouble – like Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada and Independence Day and Labor Day weekends.  I covered the Fourth of July holiday weekend with reservations at Denali State Park and Denali National Park.  Y’all know how that turned out for us.  For Labor Day weekend, I had booked reservations at Hood Park – an Army Corps of Engineers (COE) campground in Burbank, Washington.  That was the first COE campground we had ever stayed that I crossed off our “Return To” list.

RV ALASKA - Adventures in Anacortes

On our trek west across the country a few months back, Alan and I were focused on getting work done on our travel trailer and moving up into Canada as soon as possible thereafter.  I didn’t factor in any real vacation-type breaks or visits with friends.  We knew we’d have time for that later.  Even though five months was feeling like too long a trip for us, Alan and I were happily anticipating the remaining stops on this lengthy expedition.  Why?  Because “later” was now, and we knew we’d be laying over at a couple of our favorite campgrounds, checking off a bucket list item that had been in the bucket for way too long, and making several stops along the way to hang out with some very special friends.

RV ALASKA - "Welcome Home!"

We found a place to call home!  As Alan drove on through winds and rain that Friday evening, I continued searching for a campground that would hold us over until our reservations in Anacortes, Washington, kicked in on Monday.  Although we were still annoyed at the woman’s behavior in the gas station in Hope, British Columbia, we were thankful to be out of the Thompson River Canyon and past the danger of severe rockslides.  Before we hit the border, I had found an unlikely base camp for the weekend – and it reminded us an awful lot of Alaska.

RV ALASKA - "Bad Day at Black Rock"

When I was young, whenever our family ran into a difficult situation, I remember my dad saying, “It’s a bad day at Black Rock.”  It wasn’t until well after he had passed that I wondered where that expression came from and did a little research.  As it turns out, “Bad Day at Black Rock” was a 1955 film that was nominated for three Academy Awards – Best Actor in a Leading Role (Spencer Tracy), Best Directing (John Sturges) and Best Writing (Millard Kaufman).  “Bad Day at Black Rock” has remained in my repertoire of often used expressions even though my dad passed almost 40 years ago.  As we headed into our final days in Canada, I had no idea it was, indeed, about to become a Bad Day at Black Rock.

RV ALASKA - Off the Cassiar, Onto the Yellowhead

When Alan and I left Meziadin Lake Provincial Park on the morning of August 19^th, we were flying by the seat of our pants.  Until our reservations in Washington State kicked in at the end of August, we had no place to be and all the time in the world to get there.  Our plan was to just keep working our way south through western Canada, stopping to enjoy any parks or attractions that caught our attention along the way.  While I agreed that this plan made perfect sense, having to make reservations along the way continued to stress me out.  That day, we’d be coming to the end of the Cassiar Highway near Kitwanga, British Columbia, and picking up the Yellowhead Highway east toward the city of Prince George.  After guesstimating our approximate end-of-day location, I decided upon yet another provincial park.  This one was a real gem, too!