Well, it was a trip that we will always remember. We spent 5 weeks in Alaska and would love to go back someday.   There were some bad moments but mostly good moments.  The roads at times were terrible and again there were times that the roads were great.  On the bad roads, we hit potholes and heaves in the road that were caused by the terrible winters they have in Alaska.  You can kind of tell when a really bad spot is coming because the road crews have put orange flags along the road where each interruption in the pavement occurs.  Sometimes you would see 6 to 10 flags placed about 12 inches apart.  Many times it seemed that we went airborne when we hit some of those heaves.  You could see them ahead and no matter how you tried to avoid them they hit you with all the gusto of a good shot of whiskey!!  Wham we hit it, wham we went up and ouch we came down.   We saw other motorhomes as they hit the heaves and knew just how we most have looked.  The bike rack broke a couple times and the second time we had to take it off the car because the car luggage carrier was also broken.  Now there was no way for us to carry the bikes so we donated them to charity in Whitehorse, Yukon where we spent the night at the local Wal-Mart.  While taking down the bike rack Skip found rocks on top of the car.  The windshield had a couple chips before we left the lower 48 but now has four large cracks and a dozen more chips.   Luckily, we didn’t have any tire problems and the RV windshield did not have any rocks thrown into it.  We did have one rock that was thrown up by a truck that hit one of the RV compartment doors but did not dent it.  Nothing major so we feel lucky.  Of course, while coming back the bedroom slide wouldn’t come in and that took some jiggling and pushing to get it in.  We spent 3 nights without the slide going out.  When the slide is in there is no way to get to any clean clothes.  Finally, we stopped at a RV park and took our chances and put it out.  We really needed clean clothes and showers!!!  We had difficulty putting it back in but we rocked it back and forth and then Skip pushed really hard.  We did take several changes of clothes out of the drawers this time.  This means a trip to the factory to have it fixed. The satellite box burned up when we turned on the electricity at the RV park so we'll have to replace that later.

 

The other thing that happened outside of Whitehorse was that a bolt on the tow bar broke and came out.  The car was swaying back and forth.  Skip got out the hammer and a bolt and fixed it…in the rain of course.   The bar bent and we had to replace that when we returned to the lower 48.  Mosquitoes weren’t too bad in Alaska but terrible in Canada.  One night, we were stopped at a beautiful rest area for the night.  It was right on Hodder Lake and the view was spectacular but the mosquitoes were terrible.  We had the windows open and could hear this humming which we thought was the sound of traffic.  Since it was still light out at 11 pm, I looked at the screen and saw hundreds of mosquitoes covering the screens.  We sprayed Off and killed them all.

 

At one time, we thought there was something wrong with the car because there was a terrible noise coming from the front wheel.  We disconnected it from the RV and drove forward and backwards.  There was noise going forward but not backwards.  We drove about 20 miles and Skip checked the brake for heat but it was fine.  It must have been a rock (imagine that) stuck in the wheel that worked itself out because another 20 miles and the noise was gone.

 

The scenery was spectacular and the sightings of wildlife along the road were exciting.  Hearing glaciers calving was absolutely awesome.  We met some wonderful people along the way who shared their experiences with us.  Having Chuck spend 2 weeks with us while we traveled around the state was great.  He took some awesome pictures that Sue plans on stealing for her scrapbook! 

 

We ate a second anniversary dinner in Whitehorse, Yukon after we had an awful day.  It was the best Halibut dinner we had had on our trip.  The restaurant was quaint and casual. 

 

Taking the second trip to Hyder was fun even though we didn’t get to see the salmon or the bears.  Maybe next time.  The second trip to Seward was awesome with the perfect weather and seas.  It is something we will always remember.   Haines was a very peaceful town that I would love to go back to someday.  The ferry ride from Skagway to Haines was an adventure.  Actually seeing Moose along the road was quite a sight and even more so when you saw a Cow with her calf. 

 

We did see several bear along the road on our trip back to the lower 48.  One bear ran off into the bushes and then stood up as to say "lady take the picture already".  That was a wonderful end to our spotting wildlife along the road.

 

We stopped to see Trudie and Ray when we came back to Washington/Oregon.  We saw Ken and Bibianne in Oregon.  Next we headed to Harrisburg, OR to the RV factory to get that slide fixed.  We spent 16 days there and they finally got the right part after 3 tries and we were off.  It was a gear that had 6 teeth worn off. 

 

The final thing I need to mention is that just outside of Tok, Alaska we decided to take adavantage of their "free RV wash".  This in Alaska language means they supply a hose attached to a water faucet and you do the work.  I thought if I helped Skip it would go faster.  Of course, he really didn't want me to help because there was a certain way to rinse and I wasn't following his directions to the letter.  Finally he let me help.  Things were going okay and we just had to rinse off the car.  At this time, I slippped on the mud and fell into a mud puddle.  Luckily for me there wasn't a camera around!  I picked myself up and finished my assigned task before going inside to change clothes.  It sure was funny!!

 

Now we are heading to CA, NV and then onto North Carolina.  We so enjoyed our trip to Alaska that we hope to return there again some day.  It was well worth the $$$$.