A Great Town

We are really impressed with Prescott, Arizona, and have had a great time since we arrived on Friday. Point of Rocks Campground is on the edge of the Granite Dells. We had never even heard of the Dells before, but we sure are enjoying them. Saturday morning we took the trail out of the campground to Watson Lake, one of two man-made lakes now owned by the City of Prescott. The views of the lake were spectacular.



Today, we walked on another trail out of the campground and were able to view the lake and also explore the mounds of granite in the dells.



There are lots lizards about. This one let me take its picture this morning.



Earlier this morning we rode out bikes on a trail near Willow Lake.



Although a sign said we were near a great blue heron rookery, I really think the birds I saw on and near the nests were double crested cormorants. Anybody have a better suggestion?



In addition to hiking and biking, there are a lot of other things to do and see in Prescott. This was the first capitol of Arizona when it became a territory. The courthouse square is full of art shops and refurbished saloons from Whiskey Row where the early bars and bordellos were located. Some have colorful signs.



We saw a neat hat shop.



The Yavapai County Courthouse is very attractive.



And we saw two great bronze statues outside. The first honors Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders and the local volunteers who fought with him. The second is called "Cowboy at Rest."



Prescott reminds us a little to Durango, Colorado, or Sheridan, Wyoming. It is a mile high, the same elevation as Denver. We really like it here.

Alaska–Day 91

Yukon Territory is huge. On a provincial park sign we saw the slogan, “Yukon, Larger than Life.”  We spent seven days in Yukon on our way to Alaska and we will drive through the province for three days on our way to Haines.  There is a vast expanse of wilderness, covered with forest and lakes.  We tried very hard to take it all in today.  After our drive tomorrow, we may never come through here again. 

This is a long and daunting journey with a 36-foot 5th wheel trailer, especially at our age.  I don’t know that I would want to go through it again.  In addition, we both feel we have seen and experienced everything we ever wanted to see here.  It has been wonderful.  But we are full, and tired, and ready for the familiar and for staying in one place for weeks at a time.

What did we relish during our trip today?  There were numerous ponds and small lakes.  This country, which often sits on permafrost, has innumerable such ponds.  Often they are smooth and reflect the surroundings. This first picture shows a trumpeter swan floating on the lake, though I don’t know if you can make it out.  A little later, we saw two of these swans flying overhead.  How cool is that?  Where else could we see that?

The road today was rugged most of the way, with frost heave and pot holes.  But the ride was worth it.  We saw the beautiful St. Elias Mountains.  We had seen the other side of this range three days ago, driving north from Glennallen to Tok.  These mountains are part of the Wrangell and St. Elias National Park in Alaska and Kluane National Park in Canada.

We saw colorful mountains that make us wonder what the early settlers could mine there.

And our eyes feasted on Kluane Lake with its miles of shoreline and many acres of deep blue water.

We have seen 30 bear during this trip, 14 in Canada on our way to Alaska, 16 in Alaska.  We hoped to see more today.  We did.  Number 31.  As we drove along Kluane Lake, we saw this fat grizzly bear crossing the road.  I took several pictures, including this one as he walked down to the lake’s shore.  It was icing on the cake as we savored our last days in Canada.

This photograph shows you what I mean when I talk about a vast wilderness.  It seems to go on and on, almost forever.

Finally, the valley spread out to include these open fields with pretty yellow flowers and rail fences.  We wondered where the cattle or wheat fields were.  Do they have them here?

We have been so blessed to have the time, the finances, the proper transportation and the good health to make this trip.  We have seen such beauty.  And I have over 5,000 pictures on my computer to help us remember it in the years to come.

What a Road!

Yesterday, I said he should have turned around when we saw this sign. Why? It's not because it is not paved, not because it has steep hills up and down, not because there are lots of curves. Though, all of those things are true.









If you look at this picture, you can see the pot holes, the washboard surface.



Lots of passenger cars passed us at a much higher speed than we drove. It took us an hour and a half to drive those 22 miles because our 4 x 4 heavy duty truck has tight suspension and fully inflated tires. The first few miles of the dirt road were good. Then, we passed a road grading crew, pulled off to the side to eat lunch. From there on, the road became rough. John had to hold on to the key chain attached to the ignition key to keep it quiet.

Hoping we had about reached the end of the road, we were dismayed when we saw this sign.




We did enjoy the scenery, however. There were lots of saguaros.







The surrounding mountains and rock formations are great.





We enjoyed driving along Apache Lake.




Why on earth would someone pitch their tent right next to the road?



Were we ever glad when we reached Roosevelt Dam. We knew that Roosevelt Lake, on the other side, was at the end of Hwy 88.



This bridge is on the other side of Roosevelt Lake (or crosses it).



From Roosevelt Lake, we drove toward the town of Globe and US Hwy 60, then on 60 to our RV park. We had great views there, as well.







I guess I need to do a little more research when we plan a trip on a scenic highway. We had no idea what we were getting into. After last spring, you would think we would have learned our lesson.

July 4 and Beyond

We did stay up late enough on Sunday to watch the fireworks. Actually, we could clearly see displays that were sent up from the south end of Mackinac Bridge and on Mackinac Island. We also had glimpses of those from the town of St. Ignace and some other place on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

This is a small part of the crowd sitting along the shoreline in our campground.



This little fellow had his baseball mitt full of popcorn. At least half of it ended up on the ground before he got settled on those rocks to watch the show.



Could you ask for a cuter (is that a word) front row?



Some of the campers shot off their own fireworks before the professional show began.



The "real" show was a little more impressive.



We left the next morning and drove north over the Mackinac Bridge to the Upper Peninsula. It was a foggy morning, so the view was very limited.



This was all we saw of Lake Huron. The fog continued as we drove along Lake Superior. We are glad we had seen that lake years ago when we lived in Wisconsin.



As we drove west, a black bear ran across the road. How exciting. The fog finally cleared and we did get to see this pretty scene as we headed west.



It was a long drive to Wakefield, MI, where we spent one night in a public park on pretty Sunday Lake.



Now we are spending three nights at the Gull Lake Corps of Engineers campground outside of Brainerd, MN. We are feeding our souls with the quiet and the wooded campsite. Isn't this a pretty entrance for a public facility?



This morning, while John took his three-mile run, I walked over to the lake to take some pictures. How's this for a gaggle of geese (and one duck)?



I walked the nearby nature trail. It is unusual to find a grassy trail.



I caught a glimpse of this White-Tailed deer before it bounded away.



The forest floor has lots of ferns.



Our campground has a vintage trailer and an unusual one.



We saw these different kind of trailers in a sales lot in town yesterday. I think they would be very hard to level. Once you take them off the truck, the wheels and hitch are raised, lowering the trailer to the ground.