June 5, 2010

We drove on the Icefields Parkway towards Jasper, one of the most beautiful drives in the world. The weather started out cloudy but improved throughout the day. We stopped at Crofoot Glacier, Bow Lake, Bow Glaacier, Waterfowl Lake, Bridal Veil Falls, Tangle Creek Falls, Stubblefield Glacier, Sunwapta Falls, Goat Lookout, and Athabasca Falls. Midway we stopped at the Icefields Information Centre and took an excursion up onto the Athabasca Glacier on a bus built for driving on ice. We got out and walked around on the glacier taking pictures. We camped at Whistler Campground just outside Jasper. The campground has 781 sites, but only non-hookup sites were available.

June 6, 2010

We are still at Whistlers Campground for one more day. We all went to Jasper to do laundry, $5.00 per load. While there we paid for internet at $4.00 per hour and updated the blog through yesterday. We all then met at Jasper Brewing and had lunch. Jim and I had a sampler of their beers. We then took a drive to Maligne Lake and on the way we saw a black bear and a group of Big Horn Sheep. Mom is in the Liberty Hospital with a urinary tract infection.

June 7, 2010

We left Whistlers Campground and drove all day until we got to Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada and made camp for the night at Saskatoon Island Campground where we did have electricity. We shopped at Costco and Walmart. We had a fire at night. Mom is still in the hospital.

June 8, 2010

We left Saskatoon Campground and drove to Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada. This is mile -0- of the Alaskan Highway. We took some pictures of the mile -0- marker (thanks to Vickie for her tripod picture) and then stayed the night in the Walmart parking lot with a lot of other trailers. While there we ran into a couple of former Casita owners that we knew from the Bandera rally. Mom now has pneumonia and is being transferred to Methodist Hospital in the Medical Center in Houston.

June 9, 2010

We left Dawson Creek drove to Tetsa River Regional Park just past Ft. Nelson, Brittish Columbia. A bear ran across the road in front of Beverlee and Duke -- looked like a Grizzly. Jim saw it also, but Marv, Vickie and I didn't. Later we saw Elk and a Black Bear. There was a Scamp trailer in camp from South Dakota. Still keeping up with mother by calling card since our cell phones don't work since Jasper. They have been fighting to get her heart rate down and they have her on a forced oxygen mask. This is causing me to have bad pains in my stomach. Trying to get to Anchorage to see if I have to fly home. We are in the middle of nowhere and I don't want to be here and can't get home.

June 10, 2010

We left Tetsa River Campground and drove to Watson Lake, Yukon, Canada. Stopped for cinnamon buns for breakfast. Saw stone sheep (kin to Big Horn Sheep), Buffalo and a grizzly bear eating the grass on the side of the road. Stopped by Toad River Lodge and gassed up. They have over 7,700 hats hanging from the ceiling. Gas cost $1.399 per liter. Down the road at Muncho Lake it was $1.799 per liter (about $6.80 per gallon.) At the Watson Lake Visitors Center they have poles with signs left by visitors from all over the world (over 70,000). Duke nailed up one of his purple heart license plates. Got to talk to mother today, they have her on a nose line for oxygen now, but are monitoring her levels. Her heart rate is still giving them problems. She says she is very tired and just wants this to get better. I am trying to keep her going and so is Elton. I will call tomorrow and check a couple of times again. We should be in Alaska in 2 days.

June 11, 2010

I called my brother Elton this morning. He had called the hospital earlier and they told him mom was sitting up in the bed with the TV on and had eaten a little breakfast. My son Allen went to the hospital today to give Elton a break and I got to talk to mom on his cell phone. She still has a hard time breathing and you can tell it when she talks. She is still in the ICU because of the pneumonia, but her heart rate and blood pressure are better today.

We drove all day to Whitehorse, Yukon. On the way we saw hundreds of rock messages on the side of the road. Jim and I saw a ferret-like animal run across the road. Jim thinks it was a mink. We took a 5 minute walk to Rancheria Falls and stopped at the Continental Divide. After we checked into Hi Country RV Park we drove to town. Beverlee, Duke, Vickie and Marv went to eat but Jim and I weren't hungry. We had a local beer at a bar in an old hotel. Then we walked around town and saw a log church and a log "skyscraper". We went to Wal Mart to get another calling card to use since our cell phones won't connect to any service. Then we looked around in Canadian Tire Company and went to the grocery store. On the way back to camp we stopped to see the world's largest weather vane at the airport. It is a DC-3 airplane perfectly balanced on a pivot and it only takes 8 mile an hour winds to rotate it.