Day 18

We stopped and rested at a Rest Area on our way to Nanaimo and caught the 10:15 a.m. boat across to Horseshoe Bay. Glad to have successfully completed such an ambitious trip and made it home safely.

Day 17

We were at the Prince Rupert ferry terminal at 5:30 a.m. and had a great trip to Port Hardy including a stop at Bella Bella. It was a marvelous day! We landed at Port Hardy near midnight.

 



Day 16

On our second day in Prince Rupert we went over to Fred and Christine Beil's, but they looked as though they were gone for the long weekend. We left a note.

We went to visit Raymond and Ethel Deschamps' and found them home. We had a good visit, some coffee and Adriana's home-made cookies. Sturgis behaved like an animal.

Jane went for a nice brunch with Louise and Jeannette.

Later we went out to Louise and Ed's place in Port Ed for supper. It was great! Nathan and Jasmine were there with Nova and Jeannette came out too.

Jane got Nova some outdoor bubbles, but they were enjoyed by her grandmother as well.

Ed showed us the rental suite he is finishing upstairs. What a view!

 

Day 15

We are staying in Prince Rupert at the Parkside Resort Motel and spent the day doing our laundry and cleaning up our stuff. We are getting ready to board the ferry to Port Hardy on Monday morning. We went for a walk through town and I ran into my old buddy Bernie Danes.

We also took a drive around looking at the changes that have taken place. We caught the Patriquins out in their yard and when we stopped to say "Hi" we learned our friend Louise was there as well.

Ed and Louise came and picked us up and took us to dinner at the Stardust. Thanks guys. After dinner we got a tour of the waterfront including the Super Port. Ed explained the operations taking place.

Day 14

Our plan starting out this day was to get most of the Stewart-Cassiar under our belts.

The first rest stop was at Jade City. Of course we had to go in and buy some Jade.
 

 
We started looking in earnest for a campsite at Meziadin, but found nothing until we were at Kitwanga. We checked out the Cassiar RV camp at Kitwanga, but the site we liked had red ants. The people at the gas station told us to drive the hour to Terrace. The view of the Seven Sisters near Kitwanga is excellent.

The trip to Terrace was a huge mistake because there was no room at Terrace or Kitimat due to Riverboat Days. We carried on to Prince Rupert. We even found the campsite at Exchamsiks closed permanently.

Day 13

Today we stopped in Whitehorse for a coffee at Tim Horton’s, a look around and to have lunch at Quiznos.

We had to go to Watson Lake to return the TV remote that we packed by accident on our way up to Alaska.

When we made the turn from the Alaska Highway to the Stewart-Cassiar we ran into snow.
 

We stopped at the first campsite on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway which is at Boya Lake and we had a lovely T-bone meal before retiring.
 

Day 12

We started the day with a goal of getting back to the Yukon. Yesterday we saw some incredible wildlife, so I want to put together some wildlife photos we took for you now.

By the end of the day we were in the Yukon at the Kluane campsite.

Day 11

I got up early and went for a hike back to look at the Portage Glacier. The Big Bear campsite is tied to a trail system with bridges and walkways.

We had to get to Whittier for a 12:30 sailing to see the 26 Glaciers. To get there you have to be lined up on the half hour. We  went into the portal at 9:30 and drove along the railway tracks through the 2 ½ mile tunnel to Whittier.

 

We had time for breakfast and opted for the world famous salmon bagel.

The boat ride was 5 hours long. Sturgis was in the care of the parking lot attendant. One of the first things we saw were porpoises.

 

Then we saw the Steller's Sea Lions.

And the seals.

Then we learned there are 7000 sea otters in Prince William Sound even though they were once nearly extinct from hunting. The Exon Valdez oil spill reduced the number by 2500, but the numbers are back to approximately 7000.

 Later in the tour we got a close up look at the glaciers along with some calving action.

There’s that other boat again!

After returning through the tunnel we went to get a room in Anchorage. We were horrified by the condition of the rooms at the Mush Inn near the Anchorage airport, so we drove 100 miles to the Dry Creek Campsite.