Travels in 2002

My traveling since I retired in 2000 has been sort of random, just going where the mood struck me. This year was a bit different as I had a destination and a schedule. I got a summer job as the Campground Host working at Cooper Creek Campground in the Chugach National Forest on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. The campground is located 50.5 miles north & west of Seward, AK and 103.5 miles south of Anchorage, AK.

My travel this year differed in that it was not solo, a friend of mine, Elaine Brown, agreed to travel with me part of the way to Alaska and all of the way back from Alaska to Florida. One of my goals for the trip was to travel through Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma & Canada's Northwest Territory. I accomplished that goal and the map on the back of my camper is now complete (except for Newfoundland & Hawaii). 

On April 9th I left Avon Park, Elaine drove from West Palm Beach and met me in Winter Haven and we started north on US-27. The first night we stopped in Orlando visiting with a cousin of mine, Bob Gruber & his wife Genie. From there we went to Whigham, GA visiting with Mark & Margaret Starling, friends of Elaine. We then continued west to Dothan, AL on US-84, then north to Montgomery on US-231. From there we went west again on US-80 into Mississippi. On the west side of the state is the Vicksburg National Military Park. We visited the Visitor's Center and then took a CD guided tour of the Park that was very interesting. 1 All of the states that had men who fought in the battles around Vicksburg erected monuments where the battles occurred. I would recommend this tour to anyone interested in Civil War history.

From Vicksburg we headed west into Louisiana on I-20 then took US-65 north stopping overnight in Lake Providence. The weather has been warm and we have been dressing appropriately. The next day we continued north to Little Rock, AR. We continued on US-65 into Missouri stopping at Branson for a couple of days taking in the Shoji Tabuchi Show and sightseeing. We then continued north finally leaving Missouri on US-63. As we drove north into Iowa the weather change from warm to very chilly. We stopped in Pella, IA and did some sightseeing visiting the Pella Historical Village Museum. We then headed west on I-80 then cut north taking a side road until we picked up US-30 continuing west into Nebraska. We stopped in Blair at a very nice city RV Park, it only had one drawback, the park was 100 feet from the main line of the local east-west railroad track. We then continued west to US-81 where we headed north to South Dakota. 

 

Once into South Dakota we headed west on I-90 stopping for a couple of days in Mitchell. We needed a break from the road and did some sightseeing and shopping. Continuing west we visited the Badlands National Park, then stopped in Wall, SD to visit Wall Drug a great tourist stop to pick up any souvenirs that you need from all over the United States. At Rapid City we got off I-90 and drove through Black Hills National Park touring Mount Rushmore National Park and Custer State Park. We drove north on US-385 visiting the local history museum in Lead, SD, then continued on to I-90 where we headed into Wyoming. We got off the interstate again and visited Devil's Tower National Monument.

 

We continued west on I-90 until we got to US-14 then on to Cody, WY where we stopped for the evening. US-14 goes through the Big Horn National Forest and over Granite Pass, elevation 8,950 feet, a very scenic route to be taken rather slowly. In Cody we visited The Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Presently the center includes: The Plains Indian Museum, The Buffalo Bill Museum, The McCracken Research Library, The Whitney Art Gallery of Western Art and The Cody Firearms Museum. Admission was $10.00 per person, the best return for the money on any museum that I have seen in my entire trip. A natural history museum is scheduled to open later on this year.

When we continued west on US-14 we discovered that the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park would not be open for road traffic until after May 3rd or 4th because of snow on the road. We then headed north from Cody on US-310 to I-90 and continued west. Elaine decided that the chance to go to Yellowstone would not come again for a while, so she would get a rental care in Bozeman, MT and go in the north entrance of the Park.

We parted in Bozeman on April 29th, and I continued west on I-90 to I-15 and headed north. I crossed into Canada at Sweet Grass, MT then drove north through Calgary and then to Edmonton, AB. I was between snow storms as I continued to Dawson Creek where my gray water tank froze. Cold weather and light snow stayed with me for the next 1000 miles. It warmed up a bit as I got further north and I was finally able to dump my gray & black sewage tanks in Haines Junction, YT.

 

I got to Wasilla, AK on May 7th and spent the next couple of days working on the truck, camper & trailer and associated equipment. I flew down to Ketchikan to take care of some business on the 13th and returned to Anchorage on the 16th. I also visited with friends and enjoyed myself.

I started work at Cooper Creek Campground on May 17th and closed the campground on September 3rd. During the summer I saw grizzly bear and moose in the campground, (I didn't get any pictures of the bear). I fished for red salmon on the Russian & Kenai Rivers, took salmon & halibut charters but didn't get in as much fishing as I really wanted. My trophy for the year was a 19 1½ 1 lb silver (Coho) salmon, the largest of that species that I have ever caught, a really beautiful fish. I spent the summer taking care of the campground and smoking & canning fish. I made a deal with some of the campers, I would smoke and can fish for half of the resulting cans of smoked fish. I have enough fish to last me for a while.

During the summer some of my friends came by to visit and I traveled to Anchorage and visited others there. Most of the summer we had good weather, we also had lots of bugs. I met a lot of very nice people and enjoyed working with my fellow camp hosts. I was a witness at a wedding ceremony which took place on the banks of the Kenai River next to site #28. It was a fun summer. 

 

I left Cooper Creek Campground on September 3rd, visited friends in Anchorage, then stopped for a couple of days in Wasilla visiting with Rick & Paulette Hunter and getting the unit ready for the trip back to Florida. I picked up Elaine on September 7th at the Elderhostel Lodge (Mile Post 231 - Parks Highway) and drove to Fairbanks. We did some sightseeing and then headed down the Alaska Highway arriving in Dawson Creek, BC on September 12th. We made a slight detour on the way and drove up to Fort Liard, Northwest Territory just because it was there. 

 

 

From Dawson Creek we headed south into Alberta and at Grand Prairie we took AB-40 cutting our trip to Jasper & Banff National Parks by 6-8 hours of driving time. The drive on the Icefields Parkway is spectacular as is the entire trip through the Canadian Rockies. We stopped at a number of places, hiked up to a glacier and generally took in the wonderful scenery. We camped overnight at Lake Louise and in the morning took pictures at the lake and then took a tram up the mountain to get a view of the whole area. We then continued south crossing back into the United States September 16th at Port of Roosville, MT. 

 

 

From the Border we traveled south on US-83 through some very spectacular country in Montana west of Glacier National Park. I chose this route because I wanted to see Craters of the Moon National Monument. This area had a lot of volcanoes in the past, lots of lava beds and is very desolate. Elaine and I climbed up an extinct volcano, from there you can see other old volcanoes in the distance. It is a very impressive area and well worth the stop. We continued south on and passed through Twin Falls, ID and then into Nevada. 

 

At Wells, NV we headed east on I-80 into Utah and then across the Great Salt Lake Desert. At Salt Lake City we took I-15 south until Spanish Fork where we took US-6 east to I-70. We took a side trip to Arches National Park on US-191 and then took UT-128 back to I-70 along the Colorado River. I recommend this route if you are looking for scenery. Just before Grand Junction, CO we exited to US-50 for our travel through Colorado and into Kansas. We did make a side trip to Colorado Springs. If you are looking for scenery and don't mind mountains and a slower pace, take US-50. The road to and from Monarch Pass was breathtaking. 

 

We continued on US-50 into Kansas then switched to US-54. Just outside the small town of Mullinville, there is a collection of sculptures of political satire. I just couldn't resist taking the following picture. It is a fitting remembrance of Bill Clinton's Presidency and how he dragged the office into the dirt. 

We continued on US-54 to Wichita, KS until we reached I-235 and went around the city and got on I-35 south into Oklahoma. We continued on that to I-44 and then to I-235 where we got off the interstate and visited The Oklahoma City National Memorial built on the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, destroyed on April 19, 1995. We walked around the reflecting pool and then took the tour of the museum. It was very moving. Each of the chairs represents a person killed, the reflecting pool is in the background. 

We continued south on I-35 into Texas and skirted Dallas on I-635 east to I-20 into Louisiana. There was a hurricane approaching New Orleans so we weren't sure if we should head south or east. We decided to take a chance and took I-49 from Shreveport, LA southeast. At Opelousas we took US-190 to where it joined I-10 then took I-12 around New Orleans because of the flooding caused by the hurricane. We tried to visit a number of State Parks in Louisiana but they were temporarily closed. We dropped down to US-90 and went along the coast through most of Mississippi, then caught I-10 through Alabama.

We stopped overnight near Pensacola then took US-98 along the coast until Panama City then took US-231 north to I-10 and east again until I-75 and south again to US-27, then to Avon Park, arriving on September 29th. I put 18,379 miles on the truck for the trip up and back. It was a very good trip and having Elaine with me made the journey much more interesting and enjoyable.

Last Updated:  12/17/2006