Motorhome Experiences of Judy and Lyle Dean Lebsack

Below:  We're starting to see more mountain views.  This is one of the best so far--driving between Watson Lake and Teslin, YK.

Construction delay on Alaska Highway (95 minutes)

Our destination tonight (6/10) is just on the other side of this steel bridge (longest on the Alaskan Highway)

6/4/2019

Up early to get underway from Edmonton to Dawson Creek, BC.  The motor homes were sent out in groups of four to travel mainly good roads.  A sunny, but very chilly and very windy day.  And long.  The trip took about 8 hours with stops for lunch and fuel.  Scenery is still mainly agricultural across this part of Alberta, but more hills in British Columbia.  Rain is expected tonight--much needed in this region.

6/5/2019

Got some nice photos today, but bandwidth is terrible here in Dawson Creek, so maybe our next stop--Fort Nelson, BC--will be better for posting photos.  Did group photos at Mile Marker 0 of the Alaskan Highway and visited the historic wood curved bridge of the old Alaska Highway (still in use),  Group potluck tonight with lots of tasty food.  

6/6/19

Our stop today is Fort Nelson, BC.  It was a 5 hour drive--our first on the Alaska Highway.  The road was better than most Interstates in the U.S.  We're prepared for that to change as we get farther north.  The motor homes in our group are caked with dust that was rained on.  Really dirty.  This is a one night stay, moving to Toad, BC tomorrow.  Never heard of it?  Neither had we.  Still having trouble uploading photos!!!  Also just told we will not have cell service (email, text or data either) for two or three days.  

6/7/2019
Arrived in Teslin, YK to some cell and data service so here is a catch up from the last three days.

Travel from Fort Nelson to Toad River was our first mountain experience on this trip.  And road construction!  British Columbia uses tar, topped with gravel for resurfacing.  It became apparent why there are so many glass repair shops in every town.  We already had a cracked windshield (which seems to be holding, so far), but at least four or five other motor homes in the group picked up one or more windshield chips.  Word is more construction up the road!  
Toad River is a beautiful wide spot in the road, but the RV park has adequate facilities, a restaurant with good food and nothing cheap!  Judy used the laundromat.  Eight dollars per load (wash and dry).  Lyle was shocked!  The washer on the coach died during our rough roads in Manitoba.  Probably a control board, which has already been replaced once.  Maybe time to switch from Whirlpool to something tougher.
A couple of night of low temperatures in the 30’s have caused us to use the propane furnace instead of the less efficient electric heat pumps.  The furnace is very efficient.
6/9/2019
Watson Lake, on the border between British Columbia and Yukon Territory is our goal today.  It rained overnight, so the dust has turned to mud.  The Alaska Highway is paved, but the construction areas are gravel.  Maybe fewer big trucks on the road since its Sunday?   
No construction zones!  The main excitement on the trip today was the circus at the fueling station in Watson Lake.  Very busy and very congested.  As with all fuel in British Columbia, not cheap either.  Judy calculated $5.35 per gallon (Canadian).   Please remember Lyle came from boating, where instead of taking on 50 gallons of fuel, the boat took hundreds of gallons—so he is not complaining about fueling the motor home.
The big event was posting our group’s sign at the Sign Post Forest, along with 90,000 others.  Who knew such a place could generate that much interest from visitors from all over the world?  Dinner tonight was spaghetti at the RV park’s Wolf It Down restaurant.  Very good.  The owner entertained us with stories of life in the Yukon.  
6/10/2019
Today a three-hour trip from Watson Lake to Teslin, YK.  A couple of scenic sights along the way, but apparently not much in Teslin.  We’ll report later.
Later:  We had not planned on a one and one-half hour delay for construction on the Alaska Highway in the Yukon.  It was one of a handful of construction zones today.   Had some beautiful scenery despite plenty of dust.  Tomorrow: Skagway.

On the way to see the historic curved all wooden bridge over the old Alaska Highway we saw this beaver dam--actually 4 of them.  Talk about busy beavers!

Right:  View from the wooden bridge

Wood Bison and Stone Sheep seemed oblivious to traffic along the Alaska Highway.  The bears were not as gregarious.