It's been a while...

It's been a while since I posted.  I think I'll add some fibery goodness to this blog. 

I am gearing up for the Fiber Festival next weekend (April 20 & 21) in Ninilchik. I will be demonstrating weaving and selling a few things.

Duct tape dress form.

 I was looking for a dress form upon which to display my scarves. Even on sale, the ones at Joann's were pretty expensive.  So, I borrowed Nykkole's and made one. It/she still needs some newspaper stuffing to fill her out, but other than that, she's quite satisfactory.

Cool scarf woven on my rigid heddle loom

This scarf was woven with acrylic knitting yarn and fun fur.  It will be for sale at the Fiber festival.  It was woven on the rigid heddle loom.

Another cool rigid heddle scarf.

This scarf is woven from Red Heart Soft variegated.  It's soft and cozy and not the least bit itchy.  Also for sale at the Fiber Festival next weekend.

Almost Home

Actually, I am home. This is the last post I wrote while traveling.  I'll update and add pictures tomorrow.
 

Haines Junction, July 23, Monday

Yukon Territory campgrounds are the BEST.  They are clean, quiet, easy to find, and they provide free firewood. For $12.00 that’s a bargain.  Tonight we are camped right before Haines Junction.  I would take a trip back to Whitehorse any time.  I didn’t stop and see much.  It surprised me how much I chose not to do because I wanted to be considerate of the poodz.  They didn’t have a choice about coming.

I finally got to wash my hair.  It’s amazing how good that feels.  When we were camped at Fort Nelson, we were under a birch tree that was sapping all over everything, including my head.  I wondered why my hair felt crispy.  There was sap on everything – the truck, the trailer, the chair, me.  Sappy, sappy, sappy. 

Today was the first time I’ve hit the wall while driving.  I had to stop and take a nap.  After the nap, it was back to normal.

As we near Alaska, the days are longer and cooler.  I’m grateful for both!  A campfire feels just right tonight. 

Yesterday I was looking for the old road – not much looking required today. There’s even a short bit you can drive on ( I did not).  In some places, it’s pretty obvious why it was moved, but other places made me wonder.  The new road is smooth except for ^^^^^^ those bits, and it avoids the steep ups and downs, but the creeks and rivers are so far down you really can’t see them.  I either saw or dreamed or remembered dreaming about a clear, clear stream running over black-flecked white granite rocks.  The water was clear enough to be almost invisible.  I’ve seen some clear water, but nothing like that.  Here, the water is tea-colored like it is in Anchor Point.

Mosquitoes.  Deet.  Benedryl.  That’s all you need to know about that.

Duct tape has been my friend on this trip. From taping up the front of the trailer to keep out the rain to keeping the vent and cupboard door from flapping open to keeping the Kleenex box where I want it on the counter – I can rely on good ol’ duct tape to do its job.

It dawned on me today that my finances are going to be a HUGE mess when I get home, and I won’t be there to sort it out for a while.  Ah well.  The bank will have tons of fun sending me emails I won’t get and phone calls I can’t answer.  I thought I’d organized that part pretty well, but having my credit card jacked sort of threw me.  If I ever do this again, I’ll be more prepared for those kinds of surprises.

I’m glad I took as many books as I did.  I’ve read 6 so far and quite a ways into The Beautiful and the Damned by Fitzgerald. Because the internet is so scarce, I’m totally out of touch with the news.  I did hear about the shooting in the theater.  It makes me wonder if things are worse than they ever were or if they just seem worse because we have news 24/7 from everywhere on the globe.

I’m excited to be almost home, but already feeling kind of sad about letting go of this experience.  Tomorrow is Tok, then Anchorage, then home. 

Where Is That Campground?

Sunday, July 22, 2012

It’s easy to lose track of time out here. 

Today was a good driving day.  Dusty but good. First there was about 15 miles of gravel outside of Fort Nelson then the trip to the campground was gravel.  The dang vent vibrates loose on the top of the trailer, so it was full of dust when we stopped for the evening. 

On the way here, we drove past the entrance to this campground because it was a long way to the campground, but I didn’t want to stay in a commercial campground tonight no matter how smelly and sweaty I am! This is not the Watson Lake campground Jesse and I stayed at 22 years ago, but it is quite nice. 

All day today, I kept looking for vestiges of the old road and the old, old road.  There are places where the road has to be where it’s always been, like along Muncho Lake.  But in some places, the older road slides in and out under the new one.  I think of my folks driving all the way from Montana to Alaska with all six of us and a dog—no GPS, few amenities, and scarce gas stations.  It must have been a fingernail-chewing experience at times.

Canada is still hot.  And still mosquito-ey.  I should buy stock in the OFF company as I us so much of it. Eau de OFF. 

Fort Nelson Redux

Saturday in Fort Nelson

Some days are driving days, some are not. Today was NOT a driving day. I must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed – which meant I smacked into the cabinets or rolled over into the knitting basket.  Something.  The plan was to drive, drive, drive to Laird Hot Springs and camp there.  As you can tell, that didn’t happen.

I was crabby, out of sorts, hungry, low blood sugar, achy back.  Oh, and wind. You name it, I have an excuse for being here.  Mrs. Tom Tom lost her electronic mind and sent me back to Chetwynd.  Swearing and flipping her off didn’t even faze her, and it didn’t make me feel much better either.  When I finally got headed in the right direction I was all befuddled, and it went downhill (not literally – the rest of this trip will be uphill) from there.

So, we got from Chetwynd to Dawson Creek, back towards Chetwynd, and finally headed in the right direction. The road was OK, but the big trucks here are driven by the same kinds of people who drive big trucks everywhere – no matter how fast I’m going, they want to be in FRONT of me.  From my perspective, it looks like they are going to devour the T@B, their giant grills looming in my rear view mirror.  Scary.  Yet another reason to want to get off the road.

The uphills and downhills are ferocious on this part of the road.  Third gear ferocious going up and 4^th going down.  I have six gears to choose from, so it’s all good.

We drove through a spectacular thunderstorm.  The black sky, the lightning, and rain so hard the fast wipers couldn’t keep up with it.  Then we came out the other side!  By then I had decided I was tired of driving for the day, so Fort Nelson became the destination. I thought there was a Provincial campground here.  Nope.

This will do. I like the electricity because I can run the fan.  I hear it’s raining in Anchor Point – I’ll definitely enjoy that for a while. 

OK.  I’m all done being crabby. It’s cooling off. The margarita-in-a-pouch is having a mellowing effect.

Headed to Summit Lake and Beyond

From Fort Nelson to Summit Lake is uphill all the way.  200 miles of uphillness.
 

Saturday, July 21, 2012

We spent last night in Chetwynd.  It is nothing like I remember it from when Jesse and I stopped here with a flat tire.  Then again, I don’t remember much of anything, or things have changed so much that they are unrememberable.

There was a wonderful thunderstorm last night.  First the thunderheads built up over the hills, then they moved over the campground and turned pink, orange, purple and glowing.  Finally, there was lightning – the kind that fills the whole sky. 

The towns are getting farther apart now, and the population is sparser.  Along the way we passed lots of abandoned log buildings:  houses, barns, sheds, outbuildings.  It makes me wonder what happened to the people who used to live in them. Did they move into town? Did everyone in the family die and no one wanted the property?  This road is full of untold or forgotten stories.

So far, no wildlife, even though the signs promised big-horn sheep.

The plan for today was to make it to Liard Hot Springs, but that’s 400+ miles, so we may settle for Summit Lake and explore the hot springs Sunday if the weather’s not too hot to leave the dogs in the truck.  In a stunning reversal of karma, what I can do is determined by the dogs and their comfort.  Not so stunning, really, and I appreciate their company so much that I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them safe and comfortable.

One more cup of coffee, then time to pack the trailer, load the dogs, head to Dawson Creek, buy gas before I need it, buy ice because I need it and see what this day brings.

Random Travel Thoughts from Chetwynd

Random Travel Thoughts

It’s hot.  I hate hot.  I was practicing being hot, but it hasn’t paid off. 

Tepid water tastes as good as cold water when you’re thirsty.

I don’t remember much of anything from either of my two trips over this highway.  Twenty and thirty + years make a lot of difference.

The trip down was all about the trip.  The trip home is all about getting home.  The miles matter!

Thank goodness for campgrounds with electricity and showers.  My hot practice is not working and I’m sticky.

The pod was a good idea.

I love the Canadian no-name grocery store. The generic food comes in yellow packages and tastes as good as name-brand food, but it’s a lot cheaper.

69315 Chris Court, Anchor Point, AK is the best place on the planet.

Canadians have large RVs.  Canadians also seem to have less need for guard rails than Americans.  There were some pretty steep drop offs.

The view of Hell’s Gate on the Fraser River is no longer accessible unless you buy a $20 ticket and ride the tram.  Bummer.

Always buy gas before you need it.

The poodz are such good company and so patient.

Why do I travel in July? It’s hot in July.

Some Photos

Some river in south eastern Oregon.  It was beautiful.

Our campsite: a turnaround.  It was peaceful, and I wish I cold have bottled the smell.

Employees of Stitchin' Post quilts.

Brookie and fam.  From left to right:  Zorro, Brookie, Sarah, Uzzi, Mark, Wes, Bethany

Silver Falls State Park, Oregon

The tram across the Fraser River at Hell's Gate.  $20 will get you a ride.