P*A*T (Photography*Art*Travel): A Journey of 8000 miles Begins with a Single Step Up!

A Journey of 8000 mi Begins with a Single Step Up!

Photography*Art*Travel Blog from Canada-Alaska Journey

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanks for joining us on our long-awaited RV expedition through the US Rocky Mountains to Alberta, Canada, the Yukon, and then along the AL-Can Highway to Fairbanks.

Southbound, we’ll then return through Denali National Park, Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, Haines and Skagway, then through British Columbia, and on to Spokane, Salt Lake City and home to Albuquerque.

The driving tour is expected to take about 7 weeks.

Our missives with camera phone photos will be intermittent and irregular due to dependence on adequate internet access in the hinterlands of Canada and Alaska.

Part 1 - The Journey of 8000 miles Begins with a Single Step Up!

Albuquerque to the Canadian Border

We departed home promptly at 8 a.m., on July 27th.

Departing home in “Julie” our 2005 Newmar RV.

The weather was beautiful and the northern NM grasslands were quite green. Just past Las Vegas, New Mexico, the right hand exterior convex side mirror suddenly abandoned ship onto the roadway. That made judging distance in passing a vehicle on the left more challenging, and we spent the next 3 days on the cell phone trying to locate a replacement.

Saying "So Long" to NM Skies, looking south at the mountains over Raton, NM

After dropping my sister, Marcie, off in Morrison (west of Denver), we headed a bit further north. Stopping for our first tank of diesel fuel at $2.12 per gallon, totaled $140, for a splendidly thrifty 8 miles/gallon!

We overnighted at Boyd Lake State Park near Loveland, Colorado. It is an urban lake, but quite pretty with very nice campsites and lots of boating, water skiing, and tubing activity. There were also a number of bicyclists and joggers around the lake on a paved trail.

The next AM we headed for WY and Casper, Wyoming, home of the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, established to commemorate the roughly 400,000 emigrants who passed westward through the Casper area between 1850 and 1868, following the California, Oregon, and Mormon Trails.

The Pony Express also operated during this time, but only for about 19 months; moving mail between St. Joseph, MO and Sacramento, CA at a speed of about 180 miles per day , with riders exchanging for a fresh horse every 10 to 12 miles. Those Glory Days came to an end with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. Since the Express required 25 Riders , 150 horses and 10 days to send a letter, prices started at $5 per half ounce of mail. In contrast, a 10 word telegram cost $7. No wonder we blather so much in bits, bytes and print!

Sculpture of a Pony Express Rider at the National Historic Trails Ctr.

On to Billings, MT for the night. According to TripAdvisor, the most popular thing to do in Billings is to visit "The Rimrocks". It is a lengthy 400ft. high sandstone escarpment on the north side of Billings where visitors can mountain bikes, hike, bird watch and enjoy and expenses you of Billings and the surrounding countryside.

The Rimrocks Park overlooking the city of Billings, MT

Passing through Great Falls on our way to the Canadian Border, it's easy to understand why they call this "Big Sky" country On the advice of a friend, we stopped in Great Falls at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. It is situated beside the Missouri River and displays fascinating items and depictions (including a short Ken Burns documentary) of their westward journey & return in 1804-5. Commissioned by Pres. Jefferson to find the NW Passage, they set out from the hamlet of St Louis, to sail, pole, and pull their boats UPstream on the Missouri. At the "Great Falls", the expected half- day portage turned into a full month of toil to carry all of their supplies and boats 18 miles cross country around a series of 5 waterfalls. That setback nearly ended the exploration, as well as their lives, due to the early onset of winter in the Bitterroot range of Idaho. As history notes, the Lewis & Clark party survived their arduous 4000 mile, 18 month journey, failed to find a NW Passage, but explored and mapped vast regions of the continent that had not been visited by Europeans.