Our Grand Alasakan Adventure

[jmfreas5]

September 16, 2014 ? Day 119
Hard to believe we have been traveling almost 4 months and we are still speaking to each other.  We were lazy bums this morning not getting up till 8 AM. Both of us had trouble falling asleep last night.  Didn?t get out of Missoula till almost 10 AM but only drove 154 miles to Helena, MT.  Stopped at the Grant-Kohrs National Historic Site (another stamp) and this was not a sad one.  ?This is a working cattle ranch that preserves these symbols and commemorates the role of cattlemen in American history.? (NPS brochure)
Johnny Grant settled in the Deer Lodge Valley and builds ?the good house? and ranch here as the fur trading and mining interest dwindle and cattle ranching increased in 1862.  We were told that Grant had been married to several Indian women (maybe at the same time) which helped him move about and maintain good relations with all the native tribes in the area. In 1866 he sells this house and ranch to Conrad Kohrs for $19,200. 
Conrad Kohrs made his fortune by raising cattle in Idaho Territory in 1862, which later became Montana.  His cattle grazed on 10 million acres and 3 million was owned by Kohrs. Back then they had open range grazing where the cattle just roamed and were only restricted by rivers, waterless stretches and rough terrain.  Cattle from many owners roamed together.  ?Cowboys learned about herding, roping and other skills from the Spanish Vaquero.? (NPS brochure) One way Kohrs was able to increase his herds was trading with those coming across the Oregon Trail.  By the time those folks in the wagon train reach what is now the southwest corner of Montana, their cattle were beaten down.  So Kohrs would trade one good cow for their beaten down two. Set the two worn down cows out to graze freely, fatten them up and take them to market. 
We didn?t get a chance to tour the home but we did get to do a self-guided tour of the out buildings of which the ?Bunkhouse? was what interested me. The cowboy?s days were long and hard and maybe for $30-40 per month.  Up by dawn and worked till dark and when they weren?t on a cattle drive Kohr?s rules were a bath once a week whether you needed it or not. They got 3 meals a day and a place to sleep. Their boss may have owned the horse they rode but the saddle was their prized possession and they owned it themselves.
Once finished there we headed over McDonald Pass (6,000 feet) into Helena.  We are staying at Devil?s Elbow, BLM campground, about 12 miles northeast of town (with Jim?s Golden Age Pass it was only $7.50 for the night).  You may be wondering why we stopped here, well Jane Ryan, my niece, just moved here a couple of months ago to be closer to her fianc?. While she was finishing up with work for the day Jim and I did a walking tour of Helena?s Mansion District. There were 17 buildings in all.  They ranged from single family mansions, a house where the local music teacher lived, a boarding house, a church, a school and the City-County building. Most of the buildings have maintained their original state but a couple had been renovated extensively.  One house is reported to have friendly spirits residing in it. Homes were owned by doctors, lawyers, political figures.  Some still had the hitching post out front.  Most of the buildings were built from 1860?s to early 1900?s.  We walked up hills around blocks getting lost several times but I really enjoyed this, Jim was done after about 6 buildings.  This was basically a 10 by 10 block area.  There were 2 homes built around the corner from each other but they shared the carriage house.  That carriage house was bigger than my house. Janey told me about the App the town has so I downloaded it and away Jim and I went.
When Jane was done with work we headed to her house and hoped to get to see John again but he was out of town for work.  She showed us around the house (very cute) and we went out to eat at the Brewpub Bar and Grill.  It is a local hangout for students attending Carroll College a few blocks away.  We had a good meal and a wonderful time chatting.  I am so glad we came.  Drove back to WeBe in the dark with lightening in the distance maybe a storm is brewing.  Tomorrow will be a long day.
TTFN
pics are of the "bunkhouse"

 

[jmfreas5]

pics of the Helena Mansion district walking tour- the last one is of a boarding house

 

[jmfreas5]

September 17, 2014 ? Day 120
Up early and on the road before 9 AM and I didn?t even set an alarm, I just had another night of little sleep.  Today we are aiming for Hardin, MT about 240 miles away.  We wanted to get there early enough to drive to the Little Bighorn Battlefield.  This is also known as Custer?s Last Stand.  Another piece of American history I hope we learned from.  In 1868 the US and tribes of the Great Plains sign a treaty giving the Indians basically the eastern part of Wyoming as a permanent Indian Reservation. But in 1874 gold was discovered in the Black Hills and gold seekers swarmed the area.  The government tried to keep the gold seekers out but finally gave up.  The US tried to buy the Black Hills from the Indians but was unsuccessful.  In frustration a couple of tribes left the reservation and began raids on settlement and people traveling on the fringes of the Reservation.  The tribes were told to return to the Reservation and if not the US government would treat them as hostile and would use the army to enforce the order.  This all came to a head on two days in June of 1876 when the Tribes and the US Army clashed in the valley of Little Bighorn.  The Indians were led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, the Army was led by Custer, Benteen and Reno.  After the battle over the two days the Indians had won that battle but eventually lost the war.  This is where Custer made his last stand, he died in the battle and his regiment.  We watched the movie, attended a ranger talk and drove through the battlefield.  There is a monument for the Army and for the Indians.  Also there are markers where Army and Indians died on the battlefield.  Because of the terrain, hills, valleys and some bluffs, I would have thought it would have been difficult to battle.  Jim and I agreed we were done with death, battles and each side thinking only their views are correct. 
Back to WeBe and ended up stopping at Pizza Hut for dinner. 
TTFN

 

[jmfreas5]

September 18, 2014 ? Day 121
Got up and going today for we knew we had a long drive.  It didn?t turn out to be that long only 228 miles.  We drove east on I-90 till we turned south onto I-25.  We are getting closer to home.  We knew we were in Wyoming from the wind trying to blow you off the road.  Also we realized that Wyoming doesn?t have much in the way of ?rest areas?.  Also it was the second time in a week that we have called 911.  As we crested a hill there were 2 SUV?s on their sides not far apart and a couple of cars on the shoulder.  Also there were a couple of people trying to get the doors open on the SUV?s.  911 had just received a call and help was on the way.  Our gas mileage today was awful due to the crosswinds but the gas was $3.20 a gallon, the best so far. Hot, dry day so once we arrived in Casper we took a power nap in air conditioning.  I think I have given you a little background on the satellite, after 4 months of it not working Jim said he was going to try one more time.  I thought he was nuts but watched him try.  We came in WeBe once he had connected everything outside and went to the set up program and something was happening, we weren?t sure what it was but it was making numbers appear when they hadn?t before.  So we got out of the set up and tried a channel and guess what, yes, it worked we had TV.  Can you believe it, on the last night of the trip it works? 
Home tomorrow but it will be a long day?s drive and through Denver?s Friday afternoon traffic jams.  It will be good to be home.
TTFN

 

[Wavery]

e came in WeBe once he had connected everything outside and went to the set up program and something was happening, we weren?t sure what it was but it was making numbers appear when they hadn?t before.  So we got out of the set up and tried a channel and guess what, yes, it worked we had TV.  Can you believe it, on the last night of the trip it works? 
Home tomorrow but it will be a long day?s drive and through Denver?s Friday afternoon traffic jams.  It will be good to be home.
TTFN

You may find that there is a "Location" requirement in your set-up menu. If you have your location set wrong, it may never find a satellite. It may say "Time Zone" or "State" or "Zip code" or something else that signifies your current location so that the dish knows what part of the sky to search.

 

[bhamlyn]

I am sad your and our adventure is coming to an end.  I will really miss your daily updates.  Thanks for including us!!!!  I think we all had fun and learned a lot

 

[jmfreas5]

September 19, 2014 ? Day 122
Well we?ve made the big turn south to go on I-25 into Denver and then Centennial.  This is bitter sweet. 
The drive today was 319 miles, it was sunny with a light breeze but had a few strong gust and I was glad Jim was driving with both hands on the wheel. Lots and lots of traffic so we cut off and took E-470 around the east side of the metro area.  Here in Denver the Friday afternoon rush hour starts at 10 AM.
If you were to ask me if I?d do the trip again, my answer would be yes but not as long.  Jim would restock WeBe turn it around and go right back up.  It is hard to believe that a dream we have had for 30 years is over.  Not sure what our next dream will be, we don?t have another planned.  We?ll work on that.  It will take a few days for us to get back to what was normal before the big adventure.
I thought I would give you a few of the stats we have collected:
  Miles put on WeBe- 9,400  About 1,250 gallons of gas and averaged 7.5 miles per gallon
Miles on Blazer- 7,160  About 360 gallons of gas
Most expensive gas - $7.50 gallon by Muncho Lake
Least expensive gas- $3.19 gallon in Bar Nunn, WY
Average cost of gas - $4.50 per gallon
Number of ferry trips ? 7
Number of campgrounds ? 54  Average cost of campgrounds, hotels and B& B?s $47.25
Number of hotels ? 1 (Kodiak)    Number of B & B?s -2 (Fairbanks and Dawson city)
Number of US state license plates we saw- 47 the ones we missed were Kentucky, Rhode Island and Alabama
Different types of animals- 45 including 2 camels, 1 zebra, 8 Kodiak bears, 25 Grizzly?s, 37 Moose (only 2 were bucks)
The one animal we wished we seen- wolf
A couple of roads we thought had funny names: Senior Citizen Way, Poor Farm and Never Give Up
My favorite day of the whole trip was the Columbia Glacier Day.
Jim?s favorite day was the day we saw Mount McKinley from the State Park.
And to finish up the best saying we saw or hear:
                                                              Keep Exploring!!!!!!!

Thanks to everyone who made comments and helpful suggestion. I will truly miss this.
TTFN
Jim and Michelle Freas
Centennial, Colorado

 

[Gord N.]

Congratulations on getting home safely. 
You provided a wonderful account and I found myself reading every word of your adventure.
I started following you when you first entered Canada and had the tire problem then the Lake Louise night with no water and electric.
It appears that you enjoyed most of your time in Canada and for that alone I am proud.  (There will always be the negatives we can all encounter...in both our Countries.)

Anyway, thanks again.

(Oh, and by the way, a male moose is a "bull"  8)

 

[ArdraF]

Michelle, thanks for sharing your adventures with us.  It brought back a lot of good memories.

Miles put on WeBe- 9,400  About 1,250 gallons of gas and averaged 7.5 miles per gallon
Miles on Blazer- 7,160  About 360 gallons of gas

This statistic is perfect for those who wonder whether they should have a car in addition to the motorhome.  Most of us usually say yes because we drive the car a lot when sightseeing.  We always put as much or more mileage on the car.

ArdraF

 

[indiana journey]

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us. The many memories of Alaska were refreshed by your tales. We are hoping for one more trip to the great northwest before we hang up our keys.
Thanks,
Indiana Journey

 

[AirDragon]

My hats off to you guys for such a brave trip that had to be some very detailed planning.....

I've done the Alcan a few times and enjoyed your trip story. I forgot about the DC-3 wind vane at Whitehorse, but what I did notice, is the section of highway between Whitehorse and Tok hasn't changed since my last trip in a Class B around 1992.

I've had three flat tires on those trips and everyone of them were at Tok, Alaska.....

Unless I missed it, I'm surprised you all didn't swing-off the Seward Hwy at Girdwood, east of Anchorage at Mt. Alyeska. We owned a 3 star restaurant at mm 1.4 called 'Suiko's Country Roads' around 1989/90 and ended up getting re-based to Miami for the airline I was flying for. Closed the restaurant and sold all contents to my friend Phil at 'Chair Five Bar & Grill' in the middle of Girdwood. I think the closest RV Park is at Birdsong on Seward Hwy.

Anyway...sounds like Alaska has become very busy and commercial, but if gas stays low for another couple years (as they predict), maybe I will move back up there, but to Fairbanks where I lived in 1999/2000 flying for Frontier Air (BE1900). The only problem, I'd have to park or sell my RV and give-up my full time paradigm for something made of sticks and bricks. That would be hard to do...

Ohhh and you mentioned Barrow...oh wow, I remember flying into Barrow from Wainwright in the dead of a dark winter, at about 300 feet off the ocean, along the coast, using GPS and radar to make it to the airport where the winds were gusting to about 50 kts. Yukko....for sure. Got out of there with a few passengers and landed back in Fairbanks. Most of the trips on the North Slope were during the very short daylight hours and not so bad, but easily minus 20 degrees on a sunny day.

Anyway...very nice reporting and thanks for the stats. And YES....the Chinese Restaurant at the North Pole (was) the best around back then. And NO...Santa Clause is NEVER around when you need him for a picture. My daughter (yesterday) made mention of that, reference a picture of me sitting in his chair....and at least the reindeer out back are real.

Good luck with your next adventure....maybe a drive to Costa Rica? Second thought...don't ! A civil war is about to break-out in Nicaragua over a Panama style canal being dug and the people are ticked. Maybe a drive to Merida and Cancun is easier and safer.

Stay warm up there in Colorado....

 

[Kevin Means]

I really enjoyed following along on your travels vicariously. I'd sure like to make that trip myself someday. Glad you made it home safe and sound.

Kev

 

[cadee2c]

This trip is on my bucket list and you posting the details you have is a big help in planning something like this. Thanks very much. I'm glad you had a good trip. Have you got your next grand adventure planned yet?

Caryl