Jeff's Journey: August, 2001
``````````````````````````````````````````````````` AUGUST
8/1 Cayoosh Creek, Shannon Falls, Lilloet, Clinton - BC, Canada
Today was one of the best! We got up early, and got ready for our 8-hour journey. We piled into the car, and sped away, stopping in Cayoosh Creek, Shannon Falls (lunch), Lilloet, and finally, Clinton. In Lilloet, we went to the library, while Daddy looked for a hotel on the Internet. We stopped in at the Caribou Lodge Lodge. We ate at a Chinese restaurant for dinner.
8/2 Prince George, BC
Today I started off with an amazing taste bud-thrashing, tongue twisting omlette! Mr. Spud was cut up and stuck in the oven, and “toast,” was given a new meaning! It traveled into my stomach, and heard a booming “mmm’m’m’m!” In simpler words, it was good. We traveled for quite a while and stopped in Prince George for the night. We went to the library and read some books before going swimming.
8/3 Hazelton, BC
We drove for 601 km, and saw some really neat things! First we saw a black bear just walking down the side of the road like nothing was wrong at all! We also saw several Canada geese, one group was flying in a V! We stopped in Hazelton, and went to a Chinese restaurant.
8/4 ALCAN Hwy, Yukon Territory
Today was truly awesome. We again traveled for most of the day and these were the rewards: We saw another bear, and this one was a little more active! I also spotted two foxes, just sitting on the side of the road, in a flower patch! We also saw beautiful lakes, flowers, and lots of dirt roads!
8/5 Yukon, Canada
Nice day, ice, anyone? We left the King Oscar Hotel, swimming first, and took the long journey across to another hotel. We went to a bookstore, and I read several books. It got very hot in the middle of the day. We went to Fort Borst Park, and played soccer and hide and go seek among the big trees. The fort was built in the late 1850s.
8/6 - 8/7 ALCAN Hwy
The past three days were not special at all. We traveled all day, and the next, and the next! I picked raspberrieds at the campground. The carnival music from a fairground was booming! We went to a dog sledding place called Burnt Paw dogsledding. We went on dirty, bumpy roads, and even saw an R.V. tipped over on the side of the road! Then I saw a rainbow that became a double rainbow! The mosquitoes are terrible! We saw animals made out of diamond willow. At that stop, we got ice cream, and I got chocolate!
8/8 Fairbanks, AK
Today I unwillingly crawled out of my sleeping bag, and ate breakfast. We wrote postcards and journals before hopping into the car and driving for the day’s adventures. We went to Alaskaland, and played on a really neat playground! We also went on a big paddleboat and train car, too. We went to a neat Aurora show, too.
8/9 Fairbanks, AK - Denali
We are a few miles away from Denali (Mt McKinley) National Park. Yesterday, we saw a moose standing on the side of the road! We also took a 1.5 mile nature hike with a park ranger, and played a food web game, and I was a lynx! I even got to hold a 6-week-old, cute Alaskan sled dog puppy! A park ranger rode a wheeled sled around a track pulled by five dogs! Did you know that each dog could carry up to 100 lbs.? It sure is cold up here in the winter!
8/10 Carlo Creek, AK
After a really cool night at Carlo Creek, playing with “camp kitty,” (a tabby that looked like a twin of Squeaky Pete), we saw a red squirrel that was carrying a stick in his mouth that was as big as he was! After we ate breakfast the next morning, we glanced at the picnic table, and beheld avery bold gray jay, digging into our tub of butter! Then, this gray jay was joined by another; this one was stuffing herself on our bowls of grits that were lined up to be washed! We left the campsite behind, and on the way out we took showers. This camp’s facilities were really neat! They were accented by burled wood, and everything was rustic.
We stopped at Wasilla Creek dog kennels, but didn’t ride. We also went to the Iditarod Trail Headquarters! After watching a detailed presentation on the history of the trail, we rode in a wheeled sled that the dogs pulled! They went so fast that tdust flew into our eyes! I have ridden in about every means of transportation – only camels and a few others remain! We camped at Lake Lucille in Eagle Creek Campground. We lit a fire, and roasted marshmallows after spending time at the library.
8/11 AK - Beaver Creek, Canada
We got to visit one of the three muskox farms in the world! They were very smelly, shaggy, and strong! They used a 400 lb. solid rubber ball as their playtoy! We crossed the border into Canada, and stopped in Beaver Creek.
8/12 Beaver Creek - Matanuska, Yukon Territory
We’re staying in a lodge in a remote town in the middle of nowhere. Surprisingly, this Beaver Creek room is one of the nicest we’ve ever been to! It has a gigantic bison head, and a moose rack being tugged down by a giant hornet nest! It also has two king-sized beds,aand a twin, that Amanda slept on. As a bonus, it has two couches, and a full-sized kitchen! . . . Earlier in the day, we saw Matanuska Glacier, the first glacier I’ve ever seen! It was a light blue color, and the closer you got, the bluer it became. We were supposed to find out how big it was from glimpses between goodly-sized trees! I was surprised to find that part of it was brown.
8/13 ALCAN Hwy - Kluane Lake - Teslin, Canada
We sadly left the large, luxurious room, to start our 640 km, 10.5 hr. drive! We passed the capital of Whitehorse. We traveled until we reached the Kluane Museum, home of the biggest gold-panning dish in the world. We entered, and looked at several exhibits, including one that had a canoe made out of two moose hides. We also watched a very descriptivemovie on muskox, that showed the average year of a muskox. One of the day’s highlights was seeing a mirror-like view of Kluane Lake! If you stood upside down, you wouldn’t be able to tell which was which! We stopped at a hotel just outside of Teslin, and got a cabin.
8/14 ALCAN Hwy
Memories, memories! Once again, we traveled over 600 km, but I got to enjoy it, as we all got our work done in record time . . . when you’re moving on a very bumpy, dirt road, you must excuse the writing! Since we got our work done, Mama dna Daddy treated us to ice cream at the “Wolf It Down Café!” I got orange sherbret. Then I washed the car windows while Daddy pumped the gas. I fell asleep while we drove on and finally got off of the ALCAN highway! Mama and Daddy said they saw a bald eagle!
8/15 Stewart, AK
A little red van, towing a trailer, sped down the scenic 31A! This morning we walked over to the Stewart Museum. As we wandered around this museum, we found a room full of movie tapes and pelts, including a 7.5 ft grizzly. We took silly pictures, including Daddy saving Mama from the bear by stabbing his mini-pocket knife into the bear, as an eagle pulled out his hair! We also read old LIFE Magazines. We then drove up to a lookout over Salmon Glacier, and it was worth it! On the way up, we stopped at a snow patch, and we tumbled out to play. We “skied” and threw snowballs at the car. We stopped there on the way back and I soaked my hair in two waterfalls, too! We also saw a grizzly bear by Fish Creek!
8/16 BC, Canada
Once upon a dusty road, a little van with trailer rode! With road construction making it muddy, dusty, and adding to the already outrageous waits, we crawled along the Cassiar Highway. So you wouldn’t believe how fast we got out of that car at the break for lunch – maybe a trillionth of a second before everybody was seated – perhaps a world record! We also set a record for the most distractions that were aimed at not getting back into the car! . . . to forget the boringness of sitting in a car in a mile-long line, we liked looking at waterfalls and a glacieer, that fe a giant lakebed (Bear Glacier)! We also went to Fish Creek and saw one grizzly and five black bears! Megand and I split a salmon stead, and boy it was tender! We finished the day witha curious horse that slobbered all over Mama’s window!
8/19 - 8/20 BC
Once upon a dusty road, a fire raging just south, I started writing this . . .we passed our familiar 48 Inn, and decided to bypass the Morricetown, our “salmon rapids.” We got a hotel in Fraser. We didn’t return to the Cariboo Lodge, and I miss that omlette! We drove to the Mile-0 Hotel.
8/21 Whistler, BC
We drove for most of the day. We went to a three room suite in Whistler’s resort area. It’s really nice! We stayed in another one, the Bear Lodge Condo, too. We looked around for ski package prices and someoen directed us to the Club Intrawest Headquarters. We eventually became temporary members, and we get to stay at 4 and 5-star haotels for $35! Nice! We stayed in the kids’ center, watched several movies, played in the free arcade and colored while people presented Mama and Daddy with grat deals. We didn’t get to Vancouver, but stayed in a 5-star resort called The Legends.
8/23 - 8/26 Vancouver, Canada - Seattle, WA
We left Vancouver, and finally crossed back into the United States of America! After the Peace Arch park, we went to the Fisherman’s Wharf, and got ice cream there. We also took oour shoes off in a Bhudist Temple! We crossed over Similk Bay on the Mukilteo Ferry! We went to a mall, and later, we journeyed to Seattle to stay for several days.
8/27 Seattle, WA
Today was as clear as glass! We went downtown and battled to find a parking spot that wasn’t $20/hr or 30 minute limit. We finally settled in, and walked there. We stopped by Parrot Market, but it was only a bird store. We got disappointment from Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe, as it was a little crowded and boring. At the docks, we sampled steamed clams. I didn’t bring myself to trying one. Everybody finished in about 10 seconds! At the real public market, people were throwing fish, and yelling orders! I sampled hazelnuts and almonds, and I didn’t like the hazelnut! We sampled other goodies, got t-shirts, and Megan got a Chinese flute.
8/28 Seattle, WA
We waited till 11:30 to get out of the room, and by then, somebody had broken into our trailer. Notheing was stolen. We went up the Space Needle free, and looked around. It was neat, and we got candy. We rode the metrotrain, and sat in front! We went shopping as the metro went back and forth.
8/29 Seattle, WA
We caught up on more lessons and shopping . . .back to the hotel to swim in the chilly pool with ballloons. We ate at La Azteca for dinner, and I ate a whole chimichanga!
8/30 Olympic NP, WA
We drove through what seemed like a prehistoric era, with all of the mosses and ferns making it complete. We camped in Elwah Campground at Olympic National Park. It was a magical experience, being enclosed by mossy trees, expecting a dinosaur to come crashing out from the bushes!
8/31 Olympic NP, WA
We drove to Forks, and camped at nearby Mora Campground in Olympic N.P. We went to a nighttime Park Ranger talk about the park habitat and wildlife.
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