North to Alaska

Taber, Alberta to Oldman River Dam Area

We made it to Taber, where we met up with John and Fran at the local Walmart. Not fond of staying in Walmart parking lots, but this one had electric hook-ups for RV'ers which made it kind of nice. And besides, it is only for one night - eh? That is like saying huh? in the states. You can always tell a Canadian by that.

We went to dinner with John, Fran, and their two friends, Ray and Betty and spent a pleasant evening. The restaurant was a Chinese/Western American Buffet and it was quite shocking to see more American food - roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted vegetables - at a Chinese buffet. They had only two choices of Chinese entrees, both chicken based, beef vegetable soup, lettuce salads, and pies. Not at all what we were expecting. But the company was good - and we spent a quiet night in the parking lot.

Morning - and off we go to the Head Smashed in Buffalo Jumping Off National Park. The countryside as we are traveling across the Canadian Plains, makes you think of what it used to be like when you could look at the buttes and see Indian Scouts looking over the valley to spot the buffalo - and of course the dreaded white man. Awesome. We found the campground we would be staying at - on the edge of the resevoir for Oldman Dam Recreation Area - and believe it or not - we were the only two rigs there. After all, it is in the middle of absolutely nowhere! After getting to the campground, Ken and I hopped in John and Fran's truck and we headed for the Head Smashed in Buffalo Jumping Off place. This is a very well done exhibit and well worth the two hours - and the long climb up the hill from the parking lot - we spent there.

First of all, the Indians used to plan their buffalo hunts for many days. They needed several men and women to make it successful as they had to make the buffalo think they were actually a part of the herd. One of the key parts was the "lost calf". This was obtained by a young warrior who wore a calfskin to make himself look and smell like "one of the herd". Then there were the wolves - men who wore wolfskins to again, make them look and smell like the "hunter". They stayed along the driving line to keep the herd inside the cairns the women and children erected as a "path". These were pile of stones with trees and pieces of shrubs held upright to be a hindrance to a clear way. The last unit were the "stampeders" whose job was to make noise to rile the herd and start them to panic. When this was accomplished, the "lost calf" got towards the front of the herd to lead them to the cliffs' edge. When the herd got to the edge, he would either jump over the edge to a ledge or run rapidly to get out of their way. This succeeded in having the entire herd run over the cliff and land on the bottom. There were more men waiting below - this was called the "kill" area. They took their clubs and hit the buffalo that weren't dead on their foreheads thereby finishing them off. We watched the movie that depicted this and it wasn't an easy movie to watch. I realize that this was a necessary way of life for the Indians, but still, you had to have sympathy for the animals. Now I bet you are thinking the name of this place is because the buffaloes had their heads smashed in, right? Nope - the story goes like this as narrated by one young native on the grounds; there was a young boy that was interested in viewing this hunt from underneath the cliff. While he was watching - out of the way so he wouldn't get hurt - he went nearer to examine one of the herd that appeared dead. When he got close, the buffalo kicked him into the direct path of the herd coming over the cliff and he was buried underneath. When the other natives got to the bottom of the heap during their processing of the herd for meat and anything else they could use from the animal, they discovered this young lad on the bottom with his "head smashed in" - ergo - the name!

Here are a couple of pictures while we were at the center, including this one of a Marmot. He had climbed up on one of the supporting walls and had taken a nice little nap. He woke up just as I took his picture. Sure is a cute little guy!






Some buffalo "poised" to go off the cliff.

The Oldman Dam - pretty impressive!

Some Mule Deer we saw near the dam.

Tomorrow we will travel on the "Cowboy Trail" to Canmore, Alberta which is just east of Banff.

North to Alaska 2010

North Dakota - Montana

We thought we would be stopping at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park for the day and spending the night in the National Campground but because of the tire problem, we opted to keep going and save this national park for another trip. We did, however stop at the Painted Canyon which is at the very eastern side of the park. Words do not describe the sheer beauty and magnitude of this area. Pictures do not do it justice either.

The red color you see on top of the "hills" is caused from lignite coal burning below ground. You can't actually see anything burning - smoke or flames - but it is there. It is easy to imagine how hard it would be to find your way out of this area. The Painted Canyon is also known as the Badlands of North Dakota.

Throughout this area the hills are starting to show conical mounds and buttes. The ranches are vast - with about 30 miles between them. After the National Grasslands, the hills flatten out from high rollers to long grades - still very pretty.

We have seen a herd of Mule deer and several Pronghorn Antelopes as we travel through this area and the further west we go, the more stark and desolate it becomes.

Tomorrow we will enter into Alberta, Canada - a new province for us.

North to Alaska 2010

Minnesota and North Dakota

Leaving Michigan, we have traveled through Wisconsin, Minnesota - Bemidji - birthplace of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox

and now into North Dakota - a new state for us. We stopped at Rugby, ND - the Geographical Center of North America.

We spent last night in Saginaw, Minnesota and tonight we are staying in Michigan City, ND. The weather has been great, the land is getting more interesting and we are enjoying ourselves and each other as we travel west.

We stopped at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center to see the Hiditsu Indian Villages. This is

where Sakajawea came from. However, in going through the center we learned that her name is actually pronounced - Sa-KA-ka-WE-a. The Hiditsu tribe do not have a gee or ja sound in their language. Interesting how the white man has twisted things through non-understanding.

The villages are no longer, but the circles are there where the mounds were. This is one of the tribes that did not live in tipi's. They built these huge earthen structures - wood frame on the inside with 12" of dirt and sod on the outside - that housed up to 30 tribe members. In the winter they moved down towards the Missouri riverbanks and built smaller lodges because that location was more protected in the winter weather. These lodges were usually torn down or destroyed afterwards when they moved back up on the higher level and the next winter season, they built new, smaller lodges.

There were three locations where the villages were built - one was smaller with only about 20 lodges, the other two had many more.

The lands of North Dakota are extremely interesting. When I thought of the state before, I pictured farm lands and not much of anything else. Not so! North Dakota has abundant wetlands due to Devil Lake. The water was drained to make more farmland and rerouted and what actually happened is it made more wetlands. Farmers are losing up to 1/3 of their acreage and have been trying to get the Canadian government to allow them to drain the excess water into the river. The Canadian government is totally opposed to this so guess North Dakota is stuck with the problem.

We have seen many waterfowl as we passed through - to name a few; Common Merganser, Mallard, Black Scoter, Canvasback, Northern Shoveler - all ducks - Canada Geese, Red Winged Blackbirds, 3 Pheasants, Cormorants, Blue Heron, Snow Geese, Hawks, 2 Eagles, 6 Deer and 1 fawn.

Oh yes - one other thing happened - as we were getting set up at the Corps of Engineer Campground, Ken noticed one of the trailer tires had a big bulge in it - so off to Bismarck, ND in the morning to buy a tire. Then from there we head to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the National Grasslands.

North to Alaska - 2010

Michigan

We have finally started our trip to Alaska. We left Midland, Michigan, Sunday May 9th, and proceeded north to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There really weren't any outstanding things that happened although to me, crossing the Straits of Mackinac - pronounced Mackinaw - is always eventful for me as I have a problem on the bridge. It is 5 miles long - from entrance to exit - and at it's highest most peak 552 feet with the water below it at 295 feet deep. although the view is outstanding and the colors of the water spectacular, all deep blue and greens, it scares the heck out of me every time I go over the darn thing. I kept myself busy by taking pictures and that helped a bit.

On the bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The ferry to Mackinac Island

The Grand Hotel - Mackinac Island

And this one is my favorite - isn't it beautiful??

We stayed the night at the Little Brevart Lake North campground. We wanted to stay at the South campground but missed the entrance so continued a little farther. It is a small campground, only 20 sites with no hook-ups. The Little Brevart Lake is a very small lake, but very picturesque. The only banks on the lake are where the campgrounds are. Other than that it is lined with trees.

As I stood on the bank and looked across, I saw what appeared to be an "alligator" swimming. Now wait a minute - they don't come this far north, so I looked again and I am pretty darn sure it was a snake. Whatever it was it stayed like this until I got a picture of it and then disappeared from view. H-m-m-m interesting!

Traveling through the upper peninsula of Michigan is interesting from the viewpoint that it is mostly wilderness with a few small towns to pass through and of course, the glimpses one gets of the land-locked Great Lakes. Lake Michigan is on the south and the coastline is spectacular. What grabbed my attention the most was the color of the water. You would think this far north, the water would be dark and forbidding but it is the opposite. It reminds me of "blue water" that you see in Florida - green in the shallow parts, darker bluish-green as it gets deeper and above all else, so clear you can see the rocks on the bottom.

On the north side of the peninsula is Lake Superior which is a different color from Lake Michigan. Again the shoreline is spectacular and the color of the lake is a light blue going into the deeper shades of blue as the water deepens. Again, this lake is also very clear. Off in the distance you can see the Keewenaw Peninsula. On this peninsula is Michigan Technical University in Houghton, 2 copper mines and one or two ore mines.

As we head west we have seen 2 swans, 2 turtles and three deer. The cemetaries all have one thing in common - aside from the headstones - they are blanketed with flox - pinks and purples. It looks like someone covered the plots with a carpet of color. The white birch and aspen trees are just starting to leaf out and we have spotted daffodils in bloom - spring has finally arrived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We are traveling through the Gogobic Iron Range into Wisconsin. See you there next time.

March 24, 2010

We have now visited the Blue Springs State Park. The campground is very nice and we had an excellent spot. The highlight of the park though, is the 1/2 mile boardwalk that follows the spring waters and joins with the St. John's River. This is a big winter spot for Manatees when the ocean waters and the fresh water rivers get too cold. At one point, the park personnel counted more than 300 manatees in the springs during the coldest months of January and February. We visited the park last year and were so impressed that we wanted to revisit it this year. The water is extremely clear, the temperature stays at a constant 72 degrees and swimming is allowed most of the year.

As we walked along the boardwalk, we were able to see several fish - Blue Tilapia, Bass, Long Nose Gar, Cat Fish, Carp and small minnows. The Blue Tilapia is not a native fish, they have been introduced to this area from Africa. They have taken over the waters and Fish and Game personnel are concerned they are driving other species of fish out. They dig their nest in the river/spring bottom - an area about 2 feet in diameter - lay their eggs and then hover over the area until the eggs hatch. All quite interesting. Last week they were laying eggs, this week when we were there they were hovering.

Along the boardwalk from the viewing areas, we saw several manatees. They were still there but starting to move out into the river to eat. They are vegetarians and love the sea grass that grows on the river bottoms. At night when the waters cool, they will swim back into the spring waters until the next morning.

Also on our walk, we spotted several turtles and alligators sunning themselves on tree limbs/roots and along the bank. Of course, in Florida, any body of water is suspect for alligators!

Next stop, Monticello, where my cousin's son and family live. We will do a couple of day trips from there, possibly down to the Gulf of Mexico - about 45 or 50 miles.

March 20, 2010

We have left the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park and have taken many wonderful memories with us. We had a chance to spend time with our friend Debbie Tuel who is the Director of the Agape Home for Women in Moore Haven, and take a few days to heal from the KOA experience. Unfortunately, both of us acquired a nasty cold and we were laid low for a couple of days. On Sunday, while Ken wasn't feeling the best and I was feeling about 2 days better than him, we went on a Swamp Buggy Tour of the Prairie. This swamp buggy has only room for 9 people which includes the driver. The buggy was built on a Ford F150 chassis - the truck bit the dust - and has two transmissions. One for the vehicle itself and the other to put it in 4-WD which we experienced only one time. The tour guide - Tom - was extraordinary. He volunteers January, February and March at the Prairie and the rest of the year he volunteers at the Walusa Springs State Park in the Florida panhandle and at the Fish and Wildlife Center in Monroe, Louisiana. Anyway, he was funny, very knowledgeable about the Prairie and very informative. Here are some of the facts about the Prairie. They have scheduled burns throughout the year and depending on the time of year they burn determines the vegetation of the area. The Loblolly Pine and the Wire Grass need the heat of the fire to burst the seed pods and germinate. If the burn is during the time that doesn't affect these plants, the vegetation turns to Sawtooth Palm plants and greener grassier plants. The most interesting plant we saw was the Oak Tree. This tree is on a horizontal level with the trunk buried in the ground and only about 1 foot of the leaves and branches showing above the ground. You can tell them from other vegetation because the leaves form a big circle in the ground. In this picture, Tom is standing above the trunk with the tree top behind him. Notice the shape. Just one of those weird and wonderful things on this earth.

Next up was having to put the buggy in 4-wd because of the rain. Usually during the winter the roads are extremely dry. Not this year. This was the week of the monsoon rains that everyone in Florida got to experience. As you can see in this picture, the road became a stream and this was the norm for at least 50% of the tour.


The tour was 12 miles long, lasted 3 hours, including the Prairie information and a Pig Dog Rescue. This dog was obviously lost and wanting to be found. She was just standing in the road and followed the buggy to an area that the guide could get over and stop. With some help of some of the passengers they were able to retain the dog - Tom used his belt as a leash - and hold her until the ranger could come get her and return her to her owner - "Spook". Spook hunts the wild boars on the preserve and last year took over 300 boars off and they expect him to do as many this year. They are being hunted and removed because of the damage they are doing to the land by rooting up the ground looking for grubs and tender roots. This is what a small part of what they can do. And a look at the Pig Dog. She is about 16 inches high at the shoulders - not a big dog at all. She was young and Tom thought she probably stopped to get a drink and couldn't catch up with the group.

We saw several birds - Split-Tailed Flycatcher, Black and Turkey Vultures, Eastern Meadowlark, Northern Mockingbird, Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, Red Shouldered Hawk, Crested Cara Cara, Sharp Shinned Hawk, Great Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Wild Turkey, and several Alligators. Florida isn't complete without Alligators - here are my favorites.

One last picture of the Prairie. Next stop - Blue Springs State Park - Manatee Country.

March 10, 2010

A short lesson about alligators. First of all, they grow about 1 foot a year until they reach 6 feet. So a 4 foot alligator would be around 4 years old. Second - they prefer to be above ground but near water. They use the water as their cooling system as they don't have the thermometer that we mammals do. Third, they don't eat much. An 8 foot alligator is happy with a 5 or 6 pound chicken or the equivalent once a week. As they don't metabolize as other animals do, they really don't need much food. And this is an important one - 4th, they only eat when they are hungry, unlike crocodiles that eat just because they can.

We are still at the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, going to visit with our friend Debbie tomorrow and unless something exciting happens, you won't hear from us until next week.

Have a good week.

March 8, 2010

Today we decided to go exploring. One of the campers in the Preserve told Ken that an alligator was just around the corner so off we went - me armed with my camera and Ken armed with his walking stick to fend off the alligator if he got excited. Of course, a lot of good that little walking stick would be against this 8 foot alligator. We walked around the corner and kept checking out the water and the bank and finally, Ken spotted the "giant" alligator. The "giant" was only about 3 to 4 feet long - still a youngster. We laughed about the size as we were really expecting something a little more impressive. As we turned back to walk back to our campsite, we decided we should go down to the area where there were 2 Crested Caracara's. So, into the truck we go and as we round the corner where we spotted the alligator - there he was and starting to move towards us when he disappeared into a hole that goes under the road. As we look up across the water - about 8 feet further out, here is this huge alligator, half submerged. Now this is what we were looking for -- big. Off we go to find the birds - get there, sit there for awhile and nothing. Ok - so we will check it out when we get back from the grocery store. First lunch at McDonald's and then to find a good place to sit out of the sun to make necessary phone calls, get online and make some more reservations at a couple more state parks and then we are heading back to the Prairie Preserve - about 3 hours later!!

Back in the Preserve we are determined to see the Caracara's. I spotted one on the phone pole before we got back to the park. They have a flat head with a beak like an eagle and are pretty big birds. We stopped again in the area the pair was supposed to be but again nothing so we moved on. When we rounded a bend in the road, Ken spotted some deer grazing up ahead so we stopped and got the binoculars out - 2 does. About a mile down the road, we spotted 4 more does in the field and as we got into the camping area, next to the office in the field was a button buck - all alone. Oh yes, we spotted another alligator near where the first deer were and he was just a little one, about 3 feet long. And as far as the other alligators we had seen on the way out, they were still there but it was getting cooler so they would be moving soon into deepr water for the night.

I forgot to tell you about the darkness here. Last night we opened our door on the rv to look outside and it was DARK! There are not any lights in the park so there isn't any interference with star watching -- awesome.

As far as pictures go - I have to reacquaint myself to the camera and how to download pictures so they will follow later.

Tomorrow we are staying put - maybe look for the Caracaras again and of course, the alligators - they are always interesting, even if they don't do much. Guess when you are looking at them, it is a good thing that they aren't doing much.

More later.

March 6, 2009

Well . . . the good news is that we are officially "retired". The bad news is how it happened. It definitely wasn't pretty - we were fired on Thursday and thrown out of the Daytona Beach KOA. It was a shock to both of us but as they say - all things happen for a reason and we are waiting for the answer to this one.

We traveled south from Port Orange and spent thursday night in a Flying J truck stop just outside of Fort Pierce as campsites were not to be found - anywhere. On Friday we went to the Kissimmee Prairie Preservse State Park but no sites there until Sunday so we kept on traveling until we got to Okeechobee and found a campground, actually a county park and marina, we are now staying until Sunday. Tomorrow we will head back to the Prairie Preserve and stay there for a number of days. With us being Florida residents the fees for state parks are half price for residents so it will cost us $8.00 plus tax a night. Can't beat that! Plus the benefit besides the price will be the wildlife that is abundant in the park.

So for a brief synopsis of the bad news - 1. got thrown out of the park 2. No room at any of the inns 3. pulled out of the Flying J and clipped the motor home's mirror, took it off and broke our dining room window 4. Got another phone call from the owner of the Daytona Beach KOA with several more untrue accusations and told no pay check 5. And lastly, when we got to the marina and park and had a few moments to chill out - decided to take a ride and had a dead battery. Decided that was enough of the bad stuff and made the decision that we will go forward and grow from our experiences. Watch for updates on these situation.

The best thing about today is we were able to have time with our friend that lives in Moore Haven and is the director for the Agape Home, a home for wounded women - drugs, jail, alcohol and the like. These women coming out of there after a year are blessed to say the least and I believe the success rate is in the 90% and up bracket.

I will be posting periodically on this blogspot until we get back to Pennsylvania and finally in May leave for Alaska. Til then - have a wonderful day or day's until then.

Sunday, April 5, 2009. We have been camped on the banks of Tampa Bay at the entrance to the Skyway Bridge Fishing Pier. Last year we were able to camp on the pier itself, but due to weight restrictions and some problems with safety, they have eliminated all camping on the pier. One can still drive out there to fish, the the entire east side of the pier is closed and we hear they are going to tear that side down in the future.

So, here we are, amidst the "no RV parking or overnight camping" signs and enjoying ourselves. Since we met John and Fran here on Wednesday, the guys have gone out everyday and picked up trash. So far, they have filled 10 bags. Today the Florida State Trooper who is the one that gets to tell everyone they have to leave, stopped and talked to Ken this morning. He first told him that we were reported as having been here more than 3 nights and that overnight stays weren't allowed. When Ken told him about picking up the trash and asked where we should put it, he relented and said we are doing something constructive to help the community and said we could do what we wanted to and that we didn't have to leave. I suppose though to be fair to others we will leave by the middle of the week and move on in a northerly direction. We came here to fish, but the winds have been very strong and the water has been breaking on the sea wall and getting the entire side of our trailer wet. Yesterday it wasn't too bad, but this morning the winds picked up again. According to our weather radio, there is a cold front moving in with the chance of severe thunderstorms this evening and overnight. This area does need the rain, but the rain since we got here has moved them out of the drought condition - which is good for Florida - not so good for us campers. We have seen some freighter traffic and today saw our third cruise ship come through the bridge. Boy they are big - floating cities - and beautiful as they sail into the sunset!! Maybe tomorrow we can fish! If not we will enjoy the sunshine.

Recap: With the exception of about 2 days, the weather was far from desirable. It wasn’t cold, but it certainly was windy. With us being parked broadside to the winds, the RV’s rocked and rolled for the better part of the week we were there. One night, I almost passed out three times sitting in the rig watching the waves. They were incredible – undulating like a snake, horizontal to the sea wall. They looked liked one huge wave that just kept coming and coming. After watching for a while, I stood up and oops – really dizzy to the point I saw stars and the blackness coming. Well, that happened two more times and I thought it was heart related but everything checked out ok. The next day, we went to the grocery store and as I was going around the corner and looking up at a shelf, I had the same problem and realized that I had a bad case of vertigo. When we got back to the truck I dug out the anti-motion bracelets we carry and put them on and voila! The problem disappeared. What a horrible experience – being sea-sick on dry land. During the week we stayed there John, Fran and Ken cleaned up the litter around the area. They filled 15 large trash bags and about 4 smaller ones.