Another Time on the ALCAN - 9. Taos, New Mexico

Sunday & Monday, October 11 & 12 - Drove 159 Miles Today. The morning dawned crisp and beautiful as we left the Riverside RV Park at 10AM. The Junction Family Restaurant, about a mile down the road, beckoned us to breakfast for the second day in a row. The restaurant is at the junction of U.S. highways 160 and 84. Our path followed the latter 60 miles southwest, through Chama, New Mexico to Tierra Amarilla where we switched to U.S. 64 and drove east toward Taos, New Mexico. That highway was the most direct to Taos, but we found ourselves climbing for many miles, to an elevation of over 10,000 feet, into stratified air, clear skies, and skimpy snow patches along the roadside. There were a few out-buildings and a number of cattle in the high country, but no houses or much of anything else. Moon demanded one of her many breaks about that time, so we stopped near the top, but found it too windy to stay long. This passage over the high country went through the Carson Nation Forest, and after a fifteen mile steady climb, began a descent of equal distance. The scenery switched from high alpine, to pine forest, and eventually leveled off as we passed through very flat desert country. The Rio Grande Gorge was next, and we stopped at the bridge to take some photos. A few more miles and we came into Taos and stopped for the night at the Taos Valley RV Park on the south end of town.
Taos is a charming town with its axis being the road that runs due south through it. The Plaza, the heart and center of town, lies a few steps west of that axis. We parked the trailer and drove back to walk the area. Kit Carson’s home and Museum is near there along with a number of art shops and restaurants. The RV attendant suggested we dine at Orlando’s New Mexican Restaurant on the north end of town. Orlando’s was really popular and really small - with the parking lot jammed and an outside patio filled with hungry people huddled around a fire pot waiting to be seated. It was worth the wait.
That night we ran out of propane. The temperature hovered just above freezing. Mary got up to turn the thermostat up, and it seemed, for a time, the furnace was out of order. I had thought of filling the tanks in Pagosa Springs, but the place was closed in the morning (Sunday) as we headed toward Taos - now we were out and had a cool night ahead of us. We survived with extra blankets on top of us, and I was at the office the next morning at 8AM to fill our two tanks. We toured the Taos Indian Pueblo later that morning. We hooked up with a guided tour in progress and heard interesting story of its history -it is the oldest, and longest, inhabited Pueblos in the country.

In the afternoon we drove twenty miles into the mountains to the Taos Sky Valley. It was still in off-season, no snow, and it dwarfs the Alyeska sky resort south of Anchorage. That evening we ate at the Ogelvie’s Bar & Grill overlooking the Plaza. Nice atmosphere and good food.

The San Francisco de Asis Church lies a few miles south of Taos. It is said to be the most photogtaphed adobe church in the country - so we felt compelled to add our tally to the number.

GO TO: Part 10 - Santa Fe, NM

Another Time on the ALCAN - 8. Durango & Pagosa Springs, Colorado

Wednesday, October 7 - Drove 150 Miles Today. Stopped for the night in Durango, Colorado. Durango was another of those places on our dream list of retirement meccas. Its listed in many “Places to Retire” magazines, as one of the prime choices of those who are in their “Golden” years. It is an attractive city in the Animus River Valley, but has gotten too popular - probably because of the retirement magazines. The place has grown beyond its stretch limits these last ten years - prices are high - both real estate and RV parks. We paid $43 for the night at the Union RV Park - an okay place, but overpriced. The mountains are close, which really bothers Mary, and traffic is heavy, so we marked Durango off our retirement list.
The Durango-Silverton Railroad passed right by the RV park in the morning and returned toward evening. It is a narrow gauge 19th Century steam engine that passed before we could get the camera - no photos. There was a neat bar in the downtown area, The Irish Embassy, where we enjoyed a pleasant afternoon.

Thursday, Friday & Saturday, October, 8,9 &10 - Drove only 60 Miles Today. We chose to stay at the Riverside RV Park, just east of Pagosa Springs, and selected an attractive site on the river - the last place on the row, so no one was beyond our door. Will, our 76 year old camp host, was a likeable fellow who bided his time between Pagosa Springs, Colorado and his Texas Ranch. He had been hosting at the park for eight years, and said this one had been harder - more troubled and pressed people than previous years.
That night the Pagosa Springs Resort cost us $17 each, plus and additional $5 to enter the special “adult area” - not worth it on Thursdays, but maybe on weekends. The Springs establishment is big with many pools and an adjacent hotel, and worth a visit.
We explored the area on Friday and Saturday. The old part of town is mainly one street wide, without much new having been added. The new part of town stretches four or five miles to the west. That is where most of the business and housing has been added over the last few years - lots of modern-like development, fast-foods and local restaurants.
There was not much more to see, but we stayed on for another day because the hot-air balloon festival still raged in Albuquerque, not ending till Sunday. It was so popular that there was little chance of finding a place within a hundred miles, so we built a fire and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows by the riverside that evening.

GO TO: Part 9

Another Time on the ALCAN - 7. Moab, UT & The Arches

Monday & Tuesday , October 5 & 6 - Drove 198 Miles Today, arriving in Moab, UT. Who ever heard of Moab? We left Provo early, at 10AM, taking I-15 a few miles south and then connecting with Highway US 6 that took us through the Wasach Mountains. The terrain leveled off after we passed through Price, UT. We left Hwy 6 at Green River, picking up I-70 and heading east to US 191, fifty miles south and we were in Moab. Who ever hear of Moab?

We had never heard of Moab, or The Arches National Park or The CanyonLands National Park. Yes, we had seen photos of the Arches, and there are more that 2000 of them in the Park, but we never knew where the photos originated. Moab is a neat little tourist town in the center of it all. After settling on an RV park, we decided to take an extra day and look at the Arches - a high point of our travel. Moonshine was not allowed on the trails, so she had to be happy with numerous short walks in the parking lots - besides, she cann't walk to far anymore, and a couple of the shorter trails tested the two of us.

GO TO: Part 8

Another Time on the ALCAN - 6. Pocatello, ID & Provo, UT

Friday, October 2 - 257 Miles Today. We left the KOA at 11AM. The western approach to Yellowstone National Park was near, and we had planned to drive through it, but the bad weather that trailed us out of Alaska threatened to blanket the area with snow so it seemed prudent to head south. The town of West Yellowstone lay only a few miles from our camp. We connected with US 20 there, and headed southwest to hook up with I-15 at Idaho Falls. The road followed the Snake River and we passed a number of nice “summer homes” situated along it banks.

Mary thought Idaho Falls might be interesting, but traffic was heavy again (5PM) and it did not seem as enticing as we had imagined. The RV park we wanted to look at lay on the east side of town, but we weren’t certain of its location. I thought it would be on the lead-in to town and was scanning the roadside the last five miles, but found it sandwiched between I-15 and traffic lights on the town-side, - a busy, congested area. I missed the turn, was highly flustered, and so turned onto the Interstate heading south. We drove on another 50 miles to Pocatello, Idaho. Looked over a KOA camp, but settled on the Cowboy RV Park. We unhitched and drove into town on 5th Street which merged with Yellowstone Avenue, the main drag. Every thing was located along Yellowstone, and the restaurant that caught our attention was called “Wingers” - a place specializing in chicken wings. It was a good choice.

Saturday, October 3 - 227 Miles Today. We left Pocatello fifteen minutes before checkout time and headed south on I-15. Salt Lake City was jammed with traffic - six lanes wide and moving fast. I try to flow with the traffic and thus found myself speeding along at 65MPH - a higher velocity than I normally chose. The heavy traffic was a bit of a surprise but the Mormon’s were having a major conference.

We stopped in Provo for the night leaving I-15 at Exit 265. Unfortunately I veered left, passed over one bridge, under another, and soon found myself going in the wrong direction. Things seemed bad for a while as I didn’t know where we were going or when I’d get a chance to come back. I turned into a gas station and noticed we were on Center Street, the one I wanted. I got on it in the reverse direction and went under one bridge and over another and was soon back on track. Two miles further and we came onto the Lake Side RV Park. Sunday, October 4 - It seemed like it was time to take a break as we had been staying at a different place every night since leaving Alaska, and so we remained at Lake Side RV for a second day. The people at the park told us that Provo Canyon was the place to see, the fall colors were brilliant, and the Sundance Resort was located high up in the canyon, We drove up there, took a photo of Bridal Veil Falls, and then visited the resort home of the famous Film Festival. Luckily we did all those things on Saturday afternoon and evening because it rained on Sunday. We had planned to ride our bikes around Utah State Park which was adjacent to the RV park, but contented ourselves with taking Moonshine for a swim, doing laundry, surfing the Internet, perusing an old Ford tractor out of my youth, and attempting to fix a leaky kitchen sink.

GO TO: Part 7

Another Time on the ALCAN - 5. Shelby, MT & West Yellowstone

Wednesday, September 30 - 430 Miles Today. We had planned to stay in Edmonton for a second night, but The Glowing Embers was not that appealing, and one day at the Mall was enough. We were on the road before 10AM and drove duel-lane highways most of the day, passing through Calgary about 2PM - moderate traffic and good signage made for a fast and easy transit. We thought of camping near Fort Macleod but found the country to be flat prairie. There was not much to attract us and as it was only 4PM we decided to move on to Lethbridge or even forge on to the border. Lethbridge proved to be problematic: 5PM traffic…missed a turn…got into a tight spot in a parking lot while turning around …finally got straight and kept going toward the border. Stopped for propane and gas a few miles before the border then stopped again at a Duty Free shop at the border. The Canadian money left in Mary’s pocket was burning a hole, so we loaded up with a variety of sundry articles (bottle of gin, beef jerky, nuts, a big Cadbury chocolate bar, etc) and then went through customs. That was the high-lite of our day.

Drove another forty miles before stopping at the Lewis & Clark RV Campground outside Shelby, Montana. An older, grouchy guy checked us in. Lots of rules in this campground and the Internet was accessed by a specific code that allowed a specific amount of time - and only one of us could get on. Night had fallen by then so the old man showed me the site, but it was still hard to get into it - parking a trailer in the dark is a lot more difficult. Couldn’t get cable TV and discovered the next morning that I’d attached the cable to the wrong outlet. The lesson here is to stop before nightfall - makes life easier.


Thursday, October 1 - 287 Miles Today. Left Shelby before 10PM. Drove I-15 through Great Falls and stopped at a truck stop for gas and ate at a buffet - nothing special, and we noticed they had no meat dishes other than tasteless deep-fried fish - not even chicken.

We took a shortcut, Hwy 69, at Boulder where I-15 veers to the west. Came to I-90, and headed east to Bozeman, then south to the Bozeman KOA Park - very nice. There was a hot-spring next door of which the fee was $7.50. The place had seven pools. We went in about 7PM and there were only a few kids there but a number of college students started coming in shortly thereafter. When we left I noticed the bigger outside pool was circled by students sitting around the edge with their feet dipping into the water, and wondered if that was a regular happening?

GO TO: Part 6

Another Time on the ALCAN - 4. Whitecourt & Edmonton

Monday, September 28 - 289 Miles Today. The checkout time at most RV parks is usually 11AM - more rarely at noon. We usually get our money’s worth by leaving at near the posted limit, but made an exception by leaving just after 10AM from the Mile “0” RV Park in Dawson Creek.

I can’t help but think of Dawson Creek as being the start of the civilized grid. The signs begin here. We headed toward Edmonton passing fenced fields, tracing power lines pole to pole, and feeling the sensation of being reconnected. The town of Grande Prairie is the largest. It has an attractive college with beautifully designed campus buildings (smooth curves, no sharp corners), a Costco, etc - all the attributes of a modern town. It is unrecognizable from forty years ago. We left Grande Prairie on a dual highway with traffic getting ever heavier the further south we went.

The radio predicted winds of up to 50 MPH so we decided to stop in Whitecourt instead of driving onto Edmonton. Stayed at Sagitawh RV Park on the outskirts. Made a fire, roasted hotdogs and checked the email. Moonshine made friends with the donkey resident of the Park. There were also two pigs, a goat, a couple sheep, a llama, chickens and geese - all living peacefully in the same area.
Tuesday, September 29 - 104 Miles Today. Dual highway till just outside of Edmonton. We stopped at the Glowing Embers RV Park at the very western edge Edmonton as it was only a few miles from the West Edmonton Mall. We had been stopping there since 1987, right after it opened as the largest in the world. Mary thought she might want to go shopping, and we have always gone to the Water Park. It has a pool that generates waves and numerous waterslides. Mary had a lot of fun in the wave pool the last time we went, but could not get inspired this time. She slid down one of the more gentle slides, I did a couple of the extremes. We decided the Mall no longer has the magnetic attraction for us that it once possessed.

GO TO: Part 5

Another Time on the ALCAN - 3. Ft. Nelson & Dawson Creek

Saturday, September 26 - 204 Miles Today. We are very conscious that many Road Houses are closed, some not to open again, so I am reluctant to let the gas tank go much below the half way mark. We stopped at the Northern Rockies Lodge to gas. The place is a high-end hunting and fishing lodge on the shores of Muncho Lake. Well healed tourists are flown in by small float-planes for a week or two, and then carried out the same way - no dusty long road for them. There is a large lodge made of logs and a sprinkling of picturesque chalets along the shore. Gas cost $6 a gallon, the most expensive along the highway, but we had stopped at a couple other places only to discover they had no gasoline, so I wasn’t about to pass the opportunity.
We rolled into Fort Nelson at four in the afternoon looking for a place to stay. We had camped on the west end of town in 2006, but didn’t care much for it, so we thought to try one described in the Milepost that lay five miles on the other side. It was closed, maybe for a year or two, so we turned back to town. Found an RV Park in town hidden behind the Blueberry Motel. It was a fenced, open, graveled lot that we had failed to notice on earlier trips, but it had good Wi-Fi, so we were happy.
Once we unhitched and set up the trailer it was time for dinner. On other trips we had dined at Dixie lee’s, a small, popular place with the locals, so it seemed a logical choice. Dixie Lee’s specialized in deep fried chicken and fish. We noticed there were no customers when we went in, and it was dinner time. Only one other couple came in while we were there - weary travelers from Oklahoma on their way to Alaska . I ordered three pieces of chicken woth fires. I got a small leg, a small wing, and a small thigh - over cooked and dry. The place had probably been sold - new owners, new personnel. Don’t need to go there any more.
Sunday, September 27 - 283 Miles Today. We left Fort Nelson just after 11PM, and arrived in Dawson Creek about 5PM. I spent another paranoid day of driving while watching the gas gauge go toward the half way mark. We stopped at three places in the Pink Mountain area even though I probably had enough gas to get to Fort. St Johns - I wanted insurance. The Buckinghorse River Roadhouse had a sign on the pump, “Sorry no Gas”, so we went across the road to what looked like a large road crew camp. There was a restaurant with gas pumps out front and an RV sitting at them - nobody around. We waited several minutes and then went on into the Provincial Campground for a break. The campground has a large parking area with camp sites along its river side. We have camped there several times and always enjoy stopping. The RV was still there as we left the campground so we drove on again. The gas gauge was slipping under the quarter-tank mark when we were finally able to get gas. GO TO: Part 4

Another Time on the ALCAN - 2, Whitehorse & Liard Hot Springs

Thursday, September 24 - 218 Miles Today. The highway was nice and smooth between Haines Junction and Whitehorse - sped along at a constant 55MPH - no bumps. We arrived in Whitehorse about 3:00pm today, our third on the road. The town lies on the Yukon River, well below the passing highway to the south. There are gas stations, garages, restaurants, hotels, and RV parks scattered along the ALCAN as it parallels the river and city. We descended into town on the main exit, planning to exchange some currency, hoping to grab a bite to eat and checking our email at the Visitor‘s Center - no luck on that one. Stayed at the Caribou RV Resort a few miles south of town. Wi-Fi at the Caribou gave out a weak signal and was slow, but we eventally prevailed.

Friday, September 25 - 394 Miles Today - our maximum mileage considering Moonshine gets cranky and commences a constant flow of whinny barking after the onset of early evening. Watson Lake was to be our destination, but the "SignPost Village" was having a tough time economically. We have noticed this trend all along the Alcan. Many roadhouses and gas stations are closed, either early in the season or permanently. The financial mess going on in the world has reached the Far North. Even the restaurant we planned to dine at was closed - so we moved on to Laird Hot Springs, another ninety miles. The land is undergoing the fall color change and yellows dominate - sometimes providing a green and yellow checkerboard design. We passed a herd of Buffalo that grazes along the highway between Watson Lake and Laird. They are dispersed in groups of 20 to 30 along the highway. We passed three or four groups and a couple of lone bulls. Moonshine sat quietly during this passage as she studied the strange, large headed beasts.
Mary is like a cat that cannot find a corner in a round barn in which to pee, so we circled the campground at Laird two times before picking the most perfect site. The campground had more campers than we had expected, but there were plenty of sites available near the end of the loop. It seems that most campers take the first available, so the sites fill in that order.
We parked and walked Moonshine over to the boardwalk, a half mile total, and were returning to get our bathing gear when we met Armand, the camp host. He was a jovial guy, in his sixties, friendly and talkative. It was close to the end of the season so he was giving everyone a deal, half price - $10 for the night. He said he didn’t like to go to Watson Lake any more, area is too depressed, and when he did, he got his supplies and booze and took off back to Laird without lingering.
Moonshine stayed n the trailer while Mary and I walked out the boardwalk to the spring. By then it was very dark so each of us carried a flashlight. Mary had been looking forward to the springs, but she found them too hot to get into, and the sulfur smell was stronger than we remembered, so she stayed on the boardwalk while I took a fifteen minute dip. We had left our cloths at the far end of the facility. No one was near, and the night was pitch black, so I decided I would quickly slip off my wet swimsuit, dry off quickly, and then, quickly, put on the dry sweat pants I had brought. I was no sooner nude when a trail of flashlights appeared from the boardwalk at the other end. I was dancing around trying to get my shorts on. Mary was trying to hide my naked body from the sight of the eight or ten new arrivals, mostly children, while I, with a foot stuck in the wrong leg, was dancing a jig on the other. I finally managed to slip the shorts on backward and hurriedly don the sweatpants.

To complete the comedy, Mary tripped and fell in the boardwalk. She was carrying the big lantern, but not paying attention to where she was aiming it, so the beam would flash up to the tree tops and then slice downward across our path lighting the vegetation at the side, but never lighting the boardwalk - so Mary didn't see the raised board she tripped over.
GO TO: Part 3