we are finally in Alaska

We are here in Alaska at last. We have decided to stay a month since Crystal is alone with Garrett on an assignment until the end of August. We found a great campground on a lake about 20 minutes north of Eagle River so we are going to get settled there tomorrow or Monday. The girls are going to a concert in Anchorage tonight so I will have time to get some laundry and organizing done before we move Beverly there. What a trip up here through the Yukon. Beverly was a trooper and pulled all of us with the car in tow through all of the bad roads and mountains to get here. She is like a tank LOL.

We stopped counting how many bear encounters we had. I am guessing about 15. Black bears in Canada are a common animal to see. They are amazing to watch. The little guy in the pics was watching us watch him(top pic little baby watching us) . He sure did not stray too far from Momma Bear. We stayed in the car so we could get the hell out of dodge if needed but were able to get about 15-20 feet from some of these guys.

I have hundreds of pics to go though and will see if I can get that snapfish thing working if not I will just post what I can on here.

The Elk are a little more common than the Black bears and some of the males are really big. They seemed to ignore us for the most part, I have been told in the fall is when all the girl elk are in season and that is when the males get aggressive. I still did not want to take chances in getting too close.

We did not plan the time in Canada at the Jasper park but we started to see a drip of coolant under the engine and it turned out that Beverly needed a new water pump so we stayed while they ordered the part. I am so thankful that we did because the time was just amazing. We saw so much wildlife and so many Glaciers. Time well spent and I cant wait to go back.

The lakes and rivers are all glacier run off so they are every shade of green and blue. I noticed that here in Alaska they are a grey or milky shade and that if from the Ash from Mount Redoubt I am going to save this and find some more pics to post

Jasper National Park Alberta Canada

Still very limited access so will post a few pics as I can. We are between the Yukon and BC and should be in Alaska in the next few days. LOTs of Bear pics and other amazing animals to show. The views in the Canadian Rockies are just unbelievable. You all know that I am NOT a religious person never have been and never will be. I have always heard people refer to churches as Gods house,,,,,,,,they are all wrong, where we have been in the past week, if there is a God is Gods house. Yellowstone and Glacier National parks cannot hold a candle to Jasper and Banff in Canada. WOW you all must go at some time in your life. I must say we were speechless at Emerald lakes and rivers from Glacier water and the many glaciers themselves and Mountains that take your breathe away. I will do what I can to post pics and am trying to upload a video of my 1st of about 15 bear encounters. but access SUCKS in the wilderness LOL.

no luck with videos and pics,,,, we are trying though a satellite

we are in Alberta Canada in Jasper National Park

We are fine, having a GREAT time will post more when we have internet access

more pics

we had 8 wonderful days in Yellowstone

We had such a great time in Yellowstone and have hundreds of pics to go through so I will only post a few tonight and more tomorrow. We are in Missoula Montana and will stay here for 2 nights or so before heading into Canada. I want to get the oil changed on Bev since we have put so many miles on the old girl.

If you have never been to Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons then I will say "it is a must" in your lifetime. Talk about beautiful WOW

We saw many rivers and lakes and lots and lots of wildlife. Bears, Elk, Bison, eagles, beavers, marmonts, fox, Cayote and others I dont know what they were....just got internet access so I will google them.

We couldnt get the dogs into a Kennel because they were all full so we didnt get to kayak but still had a great time.

We spent lots of time exploring and little hikes since we had the dogs. We saw some amazing waterfalls.

Top pic is mama bear and 3 yes 3 cubs. That was very exciting. We had to stay far away so pics are not up close.

Did I tell you all we say Bison? many many many of themLOL

I will post what I can as I since we are still in Montana and I dont think they have really heard of the internet here yet......we are living a LITTLE RUSTIC. I am just a bit exhausted so excuse the typos

will be back soon with more pics

I think I like it here

This is going to be a tough day.

We just finished a few travel days....I really dont like Nevada

After the Coast we sent back to Sacramento to get some personal business taken care of and to visit with a good friend that we have not seen in 10 years. Erin Green is a friend from our life with horses. She is from Canada and came to the states to look for a Young Rider horse and ended up staying on at the ranch we lived at and working and riding there for a number of years. We developed a good friendship during those years and I didnt realize how much I missed that friendship until we say her again. We spent hours chatting about old times and horses and the psyco world of Dressage competition that we lived in all those years. I think it is safe to say that we agreed that the show world of dressage brings out the worst in people.

We drove for what seems like forever in the desert to get across Nevada. It is ugly and hot and I really did not find anything about it that I liked.

Today we are in Hot Lava Srings Idahoe at a campground right on a river. I will take some pics tomorrow and post them. We will be in Yellowstone the day after tomorrow and will stay until the 8th. I am looking forward to seeing Yellowstone for the 1st time!!!!