Alaska with the Stocks 2009

[Jeff]

We too loved the Frantic Follies - definitely a "must see".

It sure is!

[Dean & Linda Stock]

We are looking forward to Fairbanks, and I have 20 things I want to do and see while we're here. 

Oops!  I knew where I was, but I was planning for the future in Fairbanks, and my mind fast-forwarded.  We are in Whitehorse, and 3 days of sight-seeing is about right.  We've done a lot of "juiciest" activities, and we'll do more when we come back through.  When we get to Fairbanks, we are planning to spend about a week. 

[Bonnie Lawrie]

Hi Linda & Dean,
     I am thoroughly enjoying your trip reports!! WRITE ON!!!!
                            All the best,
                                   Bonnie

[Wendy]

I love reading these Alaska blogs since we may never get there.

Wendy

[Jeff]

I love reading these Alaska blogs since we may never get there.

Wendy

Wendy:

Isn't there any Mystery Shopping that needs to be done up there?

[Wendy]

Isn't there any Mystery Shopping that needs to be done up there?

Tons, but not nearly enough to pay the gas to get all the way up there. It's a long way to Alaska, don't you remember??

Wendy

[ArdraF]

Linda, so glad you got to visit the Beringia museum and enjoyed it as much as we did!  When we were there they had a cafe where we ate lunch and had fireweed jelly which was really good.  But then, you're too early for fireweed and probably haven't seen it yet.  Stay long enough and you can't miss it! 

You know that HUGE airplane weathervane?  Here's something for you to do on the way back through.  Drive your motorhome there and park under it.  Jerry got a cute photo of our previous Lazy Daze under the airplane and it looks like the airplane is perched on top of the motorhome.

Enjoying traveling along with you....

ArdraF

[Dean & Linda Stock]

June 1, 2009   DAY 10   Whitehorse, YT

   Dean was at the Jeep Dealer at 8 when it opened.  They couldn't find anything to cause the bad smell, said the oil in the transfer case was burned, and they changed it.  RV mechanics here charge $100/hr. so $200 later, Dean left.  RV Roamer suggested it could be the mud burning off under the car, and Dean thinks that is likely. I wished I'd checked for messages earlier! For future trekkers, the Pioneer Park has an under the car wash for $10, $190 cheaper.  We are poorer, but wiser.
   Dean came home to work on the coach's inverter.  It turned out that our inverter needs a new card, which is being sent to us in the speediest manner possible.  Dean says installation will be a pain because it's in a hard-to-access place-isn't that always the case?
   We did a little shopping downtown and enjoyed Murdoch's Gem Shop, a nice souvenir shop.  The Canadians are so accommodating, and the clerk really knew how to make me happy-she was so thoughtful and creative.  I'd say more, but it's a gift for someone who may read this.
   Dean needed a special battery for his blood sugar meter, so we went from one end of the town to another, eventually finding it in a store that is on the outskirts of the city and is a subsidiary of Circuit City.
    Then on to a much needed barber.  It was a shop used by the locals, and there were 3 Mexican women barbers.  It cost $19 CN ($1 CN = $0.95 US).
   We drove to G & P, a restaurant recommended by the Brewers.  We would never have stopped to eat there (they had forewarned us); it looks old and dilapidated from the outside.  But, inside....very nice ambience, nice music, great waitress, awesome crisp Caesar salad with a delicious dressing-best I've ever had, tasty salmon special & lasagna, good-sized portions, but at $70, without wine and before tax, expensive.  After a "wasted day" as far as sight-seeing, we enjoyed treating ourselves to a very pleasant dinner.
   When we arrived, the Yukon River was 95% frozen with cracks showing that the ice was well over 6" thick.  Now, it's almost half-thawed.  I bet that all the ice will be gone in 4-5 days.

Wildlife Count:  0
Weather:  Warm enough to use the AC-maybe low 80's, but it feels warmer here.
Overnighted at:  Pioneer Park

[rhmahoney]

Are the eagles nesting at the city welcoming sign pullout near the 2nd photo ( of the paddlewheeler)?

[Dean & Linda Stock]

June 2, 2009   DAY 11   Whitehorse, YT

   We took care of business today—laundry, bills, housekeeping, etc.  No package of RV parts had arrived by 2:30, so we went to the MacBride Museum and were so impressed that we stayed until it closed at 5:30.  The historical narratives they wrote were rich in content.  I especially enjoyed learning about the “Northwest Yukon Mounted Police”, who were actually in the army and were sent here for a two-year stint.  They did everything from birthing children (with a miniscule amount of medical training), collecting taxes on the gold the miners had dug, putting out fires, building places to stay, chopping down trees, to helping organize the community.  Their pay was $1 per day; miners made $17-20 per day.  After serving their two-year contract, most left the forerunner of the Mounted Police and became miners.  The museum had many exhibits and personalized them with biographies and true stories.  I’d recommend everyone go see it.
   After we closed down the museum, we went across the street to a wonderful gift shop named the North something. It is not like the touristy places we saw on Main Street; it has real class.  Everything was high quality.  There were exquisite wood carvings, mammoth ivory that had been intricately carved into earrings, pendants, and display pieces in the forms of moose, caribou, inukshuk, geese, and whales.  They had wonderful glass, great art, and nice gold pieces.  Everything is made in Canada, most in the Yukon.  And they give the true exchange rate on your money.
   All the ice in the Yukon River has melted.  There still is ice on the land masses in the river still, but I’ll bet it’s totally gone in a couple of days.  Everyone who lives here is wearing shorts and tank tops and celebrating the beautiful weather.  Maybe we’ll get our RV parts tomorrow, so we can continue our adventure.

Wildlife Count:0
Weather:  Low 80’s
Overnighted at:  Pioneer Park

[Dawn]

You are making my evening.  I love catching up on your adventures.  Keep them coming!  When people ask about what you're up to, they laugh when I start my reply with "Uuummmmm, last I heard they were ........."

P.S.  How did Sherlock like the Pet wash? 

[Tim Lassen]

Looks to me like you need to find some animals <g>...tim

[Dean & Linda Stock]

Looks to me like you need to find some animals <g>...tim

You are so right!  We are ready to get going.  We would like to go to the Wildlife Preserve, but their only time to go now is 3:00, and that's when the FedEx is supposed to arrive.  We want to be here to get it installed so we can move on out.

[Dean & Linda Stock]

P.S.  How did Sherlock like the Pet wash? 

He is in charge of washing himself, just like us.  He likes...chasing the windshield wipers, the big dogs that were next door last night, chasing mosquitoes.  The closest he's come to the pet wash is exploring the shower.

[Dean & Linda Stock]

You know that HUGE airplane weathervane?  Here's something for you to do on the way back through.  Drive your motorhome there and park under it.  Jerry got a cute photo of our previous Lazy Daze under the airplane and it looks like the airplane is perched on top of the motorhome.

ArdraF

Thanks for the suggestion.  It sounds like a great photo op, and we'll definitely do it if we can get out of here before the rain comes on Saturday.

[Dean & Linda Stock]

Are the eagles nesting at the city welcoming sign pullout near the 2nd photo ( of the paddlewheeler)?

We went down and looked today, and we couldn't find anything tall that they would be nesting on.  All we saw were sea gulls.  The river has been so frozen that i wonder if they've come in yet.  Can you send us your photo or a description so we know where to look?  We have lots of time in the mornings.  We appreciate your suggestions.

[Dean & Linda Stock]

June 3   DAY 12   Still at Whitehorse, YT

   We started off our day looking for any eagles or nests near the SS Klondike, but we couldn’t find them.  It’s amazing how fast the Yukon River is melting, and the water is starting to move a lot. 
   We wanted to go to the last museum, The Old Log Church, which told the story of the early bishops of the Anglican Church and the tremendous amount of effort they put into bringing their beliefs to the miners and the First Nations Peoples.  Just one bishop would minister throughout the entire Yukon Territory and half of the Northwest Territory. Two of the bishops spent their lives learning the G’winch language and translating the Bible in their “spare time”.  One young minister died of starvation and exhaustion after only 6 years here just because life was so rigorous.  Another bishop got lost in the snow while doing his traveling ministry, had to backtrack, used up all his provisions, and ended up eating his boots!  Another one was driven insane by the miners’ tricks and rowdiness after just 3 years.
   We stopped by the grocery and met a couple whose job it is to evaluate all the parks in the Yukon and Alaska for “Trailer Life.”  They do this annually.
   Our RV part hasn’t come yet, so we’ll explore more tomorrow.

Wildlife Count:  0
Weather:  Mid 80’s
Overnighted at:  Pioneer RV Park

[Terry A. Brewer]

Linda

Good luck on getting your part...It took 14 days to get our mail in the Maritimes.  Over a week to get an EXPENSIVE OVERNIGHT  UPS delivery in Denali, they said they couldn't find us even though there is only one main Hwy & we were on it watching the UPS & Fedex trucks drive by. They finally had to use a contract company to "FIND US".

If you need anything delivered it's best to have it sent to Anchorage or Fairbanks....DHL did manage to find Russ in Valdez.

[Dean & Linda Stock]

Good luck on getting your part...It took 14 days to get our mail in the Maritimes.  Over a week to get an EXPENSIVE OVERNIGHT  UPS delivery in Denali, they said they couldn't find us even though there is only one main Hwy & we were on it watching the UPS & Fedex trucks drive by. They finally had to use a contract company to "FIND US".

If you need anything delivered it's best to have it sent to Anchorage or Fairbanks....DHL did manage to find Russ in Valdez.

Dean wanted to get the control board in the inverter installed before we left Whitehorse because we live by electricity.  He told the company to ship it overnight.  They sent it UPS standard.  The company is in Everett, WA.  The package went to Seattle, then Ontario, CA (We assume they got confused and used CA for Canada instead of CN), then to Lexington, KY, then Sioux Falls, SD, and was scanned this a.m. in Calgary, Alberta.  When we first started this process on Monday morning, my comment was, "At least we won't have to wait a weekend because we are in the beginning of the workweek.  I hope we don't beat your record. 

We had read your warning not to have mail delivered in Canada, so we avoided that.  But, we were not prepared to sit on our thumbs here.  If it doesn't get here today, and I don't expect it to, we'll get to see another movie, "Up" or "Night at the Museum 3"--something funny.  One upside...our coach is the most organized it's ever been, and will soon be the cleanest it's been since we bought it new.

[rhmahoney]

The eagle nest is at the welcome sign pullout alongside the river about a mile or two from the Klondike. As you face the sign, you can see the boat off to the right. turn around 180° (facing upstream) and look steeply up.

[Dean & Linda Stock]

The eagle nest is at the welcome sign pullout alongside the river about a mile or two from the Klondike. As you face the sign, you can see the boat off to the right. turn around 180° (facing upstream) and look steeply up.

We found the nest and an eagle!  We were previously looking too close to the Klondike.  Then we came home and saw your message and awesome picture.  We may be stuck here for a while, so trying to get a picture like yours will be a fun project.

[Dean & Linda Stock]

June 4, 2009   DAY 13   Still at Whitehorse, YT

   We tracked our RV part and found that it is now in Canada, having gone from Washington to California to Kentucky to South Dakota, and this morning it was in Customs in Alberta. It wasn’t shipped with any priority because they can’t, so still we wait.  We have the best organized coach in Whitehorse, and it will soon also be the cleanest.
   We went for a drive to Marsh Lake to charge the RV’s batteries.  We didn’t see any significant wildlife.
   We went to the second movie theatre in town to see the new “Night at the Museum—Battle of the Smithsonian”.  Admission was $9.  The theatre is very old, but the seats were OK, and the film screened well.
   On the way back, we decided to stop by the Rest Area and try again to find the eagle’s nest Russ told us about.  It was the only area near the SS Klondike with large trees.  We found it!  Unfortunately, it was not occupied, as far as we could see.  When we came out, we weren’t allowed to turn left, so we turned right and went around the round-about.  As we neared the rest area again, I spotted a bald eagle sitting on a light pole.  (S)he was just supervising the flow of traffic on the Alaskan Highway!  I hope it’s a female and there are babies up there.  Of course, we hadn’t taken the camera with us to the movies, and Dean thought that he’d be gone by the time we could return with it about 20 minutes later.  We’ll try tomorrow.

Wildlife Count:  Many mosquitoes, one spectacular bald eagle
Weather:  Low 80’s
Overnighted at:  Pioneer RV Park

[Dean & Linda Stock]

June 5, 2009   DAY 14   STILL at Whitehorse, YT

   The saga of the RV part delivery continues.  If we had known more, we might have been able to get our package today.  At about 10:00 this morning, there was a knock at the door.  The RV park hostess brought us a note to call UPS, which we quickly did.  It seems that when a package comes into Canadian Customs and it is addressed to a business (such as an RV park), in order to get Customs clearance, the delivery company needs to talk with you to find out what was inside, and Customs doesn’t release it until you talk with them.  Had we known this, we could have talked with them yesterday or much earlier today (they are at least one hour ahead of us), and we’ll never know if it would have expedited our package.  When UPS crosses into Canada, it transfers packages over to Puralator.  We talked with them, but all they know is that it’s “in transit”.  We went to their local office this evening after their last incoming delivery, hoping we could pick it up today instead of having it delivered, but it’s not here yet.  There are no deliveries on the weekend.  Locals have told us that when you are expecting something, you get better service if you track things from Day 2 in person, not on the computer, and establish a personal relationship.  Best estimate is that it will be delivered Tuesday, but we will be in contact a lot on Monday, hoping to be able to continue our adventure quicker.
   We went to the movies and saw “Up”, at the same theatre as last night.  Tonight when I told them I needed 2 senior tickets, the price was only $5.  Apparently, last night’s cashier either didn’t hear me or was new, and their prices are not posted anywhere.  We really enjoyed it.
   Our bald eagle was hanging out at the same light pole tonight on our way home, and Dean promises we’ll get a picture of it before we leave.
   Our “to do when it’s convenient” list is shrinking, so we are making good use of our time during this delay, but we are frustrated.  We see a lot of mosquitoes, and they join us in the coach.  We’ve been taking two garlic pills daily, and I think they really do work.  Usually I get twenty times as many bites as Dean.  I only have one bite, and Dean has none.

Wildlife Count:  One bald eagle
Weather:  Low 80’s
Overnighted at:  Pioneer RV Park

[Marsha/CA]

Linda,

I love reading your adventures.  Tim and I are in Canada and have begun a "wildlife" count.    We are at 2 deer, a couple of pheasant and a 1 chicken hawk.

I understand your frustration with the package delivery.  In 2007 when we were crossing Canada from east to west, just outside of Edmonton a chicken hawk flew into and shattered the driver's side front windshield.  Splintered glass was everywhere and we crept into Edmonton with me on the phone the entire way.  We called the insurance company, Edmonton campgrounds and local glass shops.  It took close to 14 days to get the replacement windshield.  We learned that it sat in customs for several days waiting to be delivered.  Like you we were so frustrated with how slow the delivery process was. 

Before we crossed into Canada on this trip, we sent our Pressure Pro Monitor back so they could see what is wrong with it.  I'm dreading how long it will take to get it delivered.  I don't know which way is the best to have it shipped, Fed Express or UPS.  Or sent to a Buffalo, NY general delivery post office and we'll cross the border to pick it up. 

BTW, we cringed when we saw the Chicken hawk flying over and watched it's every move!

Remember, this is an adventure.  Now you have a story to add to your collection.

Marsha~

[Bonnie Lawrie]

Hi Linda,
     Sorry to hear about your travel delay. Sounds as if you are making good use of your time while waiting for the RV part. Did you know that the mosquito is the State Bird of Alaska??   Ha, ha!!!!!   Love your trip reports!               
                                                 Bonnie

[Jim Godward]

Dean & Linda,

I missed the nature of the problem with the inverter.  Is it a Xantrex 2000 or 2500 watt one, modified sine wave??  Is the bad board the AC board?  IF so there may be an easy fix if you have the board and are capable of inspecting it for bad solder joints.  There is a relay on that board that tends to overheat and the solder connecting it to the board melts and is blown out.  Resolder and it will be OK to use. 

What happens is the relay is marginal for its application and stuff happens because it is not heatsinked properly.  The relay is fine, it is just the solder joint in most cases.  Xantrex refuses to alter the design even though the relay manufacturer has told them to do so.  The relay is rated for the load if it is mounted properly.   :-((

How do I know, been there, done that and have a spare board with an improved relay to prove it. 

[aka Porky]

It's a little late now for me to be jumping in with advice, but a similar thing happened to me on my trip to Alaska in '06.
My inverter self destructed in Lusk, Wyoming. 

I visited and auto parts store (several before finding what I needed) and bought a small 400 watt inverter to use for the remainder of the trip.  I had the original inverter replaced under warranty when I returned home.

[Jim Godward]

Lou,

If I read the information down in the messages, they drove the RV to charge the batteries.  If the relay I mentioned is bad, the charger function of the inverter does not work so no charge capability except the engine one.  Not good as you can wind up overstressing the alternator if the coach batteries are way down and the alternator is a small to medium sized truck one, <150 amp or so capability.

[aka Porky]

Jim, as you can see, I didn't have all the detail.  I was only addressing the point that, in my case, I had an alternative to sitting and waiting for a replacement part.  I circumvented the problem even though it was with reduced capability.

Sure hate to see folks travel plans interrupted with these sorts of delays and stress points.

[Dean & Linda Stock]

Linda,

I love reading your adventures. 

Before we crossed into Canada on this trip, we sent our Pressure Pro Monitor back so they could see what is wrong with it.  I'm dreading how long it will take to get it delivered.  I don't know which way is the best to have it shipped, Fed Express or UPS.  Or sent to a Buffalo, NY general delivery post office and we'll cross the border to pick it up. 

Remember, this is an adventure.  Now you have a story to add to your collection.

Marsha~

Thanks, Marsha.  I usually enjoy writing about our adventures, but I'd much rather write about wildlife adventures (but we'll pass on chicken hawks!).

I don't know how long it is to get to Buffalo, but if it's less than 16 hours away, I'd go directly to USA (Buffalo) to avoid the entire Canadian Customs hassle and delay, so that I could "Pass Go" and keep the $200 in my wallet to spend on adventures instead of staying put in a park.  These pretty summer days will pass all too quickly, and there are places to go and critters to see.

You are right--it is an adventure, or at least it will be.  This is one story I'd like to write "THE END" on and move to writing an exciting story.  Your mishap did remind us that things could be a LOT worse.  Thanks for your good thoughts.

Linda