Continuing our Journey up into Canada

Here is the continuation of our trip up to today… I left off telling you about the things we saw while staying at Emory, BC, Canada. We also went to a place called Hell’s Gate. What an experience it was… My friend Chris, who is so afraid of heights and water that we just knew she wasn’t going to go. But guess what she did and what fun we had there….

North of Hope, just before Boston Bar on the Trans Canada Highway 1/ Hwy 97, is one of the most spectacular sights in British Columbia. Hell's Gate, a narrowing of the Fraser River where the water churns through the famous gorge in a tremendous force. It's an awesome sight to see, and certainly a "hellish" experience for the more than 2 million spawning salmon that must pass through this part of the Fraser River every year. For a closer look at the fury of Hell's Gate you halve to ride the Hell's Gate Airtram across to the other side of the river. There is a restaurant, gift shop, candy shop and an interpretive center when you reach the other side. We enjoyed the area even though it was raining on & off.

Off we went down the road where we went through several tunnels, More beautiful Mountains and the Fraser River always within our sight.

Our next stop was Cashe Creek where we stayed at a nice little RV park called Brookside RV Resort. We went to Herbies where they boasted you could get the Worlds Famous Monster Double Cheeseburger… It was pretty big and very tasty … We only stayed for the night and moved on the next morning. We headed for William’s Lake where we planned on boondocking at the casino there. When we arrived at the casino had plenty of room but was very unlevel so right next to it was the Visitor Center. Our friend went down to check if we could boondock there for the night and they said YES! What a treat it was too… Plenty of room, nice paved level parking and the visitor center was the most gorgeous one I think I have ever seen.

The Tourism Discovery Center is, in total, 14,596 square feet. The log and timber frame was built by local renowned log homebuilders and contractors. Within the Center is a vertical log with its' flared root in tact that is approximately 10 feet across and rises over 52 feet. It was sensitively harvested from Bella Coola and estimated to be 745 years old. Natural forked posts, nature's oddities become beauties in this structure demonstrating Pioneers' Artisans ability to let the natural logs and their uniqueness determine the final design and true elements in the structure. The very impressive interior exhibits feature interactive displays that demonstrate all of the activities that one can do in the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Region. The Big Picture display has three 12 foot tall images with props and storyboards in front of them. You are able to hop on the bike and take a picture as shown below. The So Much To Do display is a real car, loaded to the rafters with all sorts of gear from a canoe to ice skates. A great place to visit!

Massive tree inside building and a car packed for travel... what a hoot!

We stopped off in Prince George to restock our supplies and just rest a day or so… We stayed at Sintich RV Park just south of town and it was a very nice campground… While there they had a family of Black Bears that was getting into bird feeders and all. We never did see them. Guess it's good not to see them up close & personal. After we left there we went west on Yellowhead Highway also know as Hwy 16 for about 250 miles heading towards Smithers.

One of my Bloggin Buddies Kim & Don of D & K in the RV informed us that they lived in Smithers and would like to meet us while we were there. Of course I love being able to meet my blogging friends (they are the best people in the world) so I of course said yes… I asked her about the campgrounds in the area and she had told me they checked out the Riverside Golf & RV Park already for us and thought we would love it. How sweet was that???

View across from Tassie at RV Park

Now I know I am going to like them a lot and getting anxious for our arrival so we can meet. After we arrived (and it was a GREAT park) I called Kim & Don right away. They came by that evening and had brought us so many things and as a special gift she had made both Chris & I a great quilted mat for our kitchens to put hot plates and pots on. It was spectacular with a totally Canadian theme… moose and all. LOVED IT!!! Thanks a ton Kim. They even brought information to us on places we would be visiting in the Yukon Territory.

They asked us over to their lovely home for a Canadian BBQ the next day and she had prepared a wonderful meal of Buffalo Burgers, Chicken Wings with yummy blue cheese dip, Artichoke dip with crackers and not one but two wonderful salads… It was so much fun and we really enjoyed their gracious hospitality. Their friend Loren had come to join in on the fun afternoon and what a great guy he was… Hopefully someday we’ll all get together again… Perhaps I can host them in my RV Park back home in Florida one day.

Don, Kim & Ralph (first Picture) Ralph, Norm, Chris, Kim, Don & Me (second picture)

Morris the Moose from my other great Canadian Bloggin’ Buddies Sue & Doug of BigDawg & Freeway is still enjoying his front row seat heading down the highway, Thanks so much to all my Canadian followers… you have been so wonderful!!
O’ Canada I love you & my friends so...

So the next day we headed out for Prince Rupert and that is to come… So keep an eye out for the next segment of Our Great Canada/Alaskan Journey.

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

Off to Benson, Az, a Visit to Tombstone & we met Bloggin Buddies

We left Alamogordo,NM for Benson, AZ. early in the morning and the weather was a little cloudy... By the time we hit the mountains it was a good old storm. It seems now we are in country that has a lot of mountains and Tassie is chugging up and down them with no trouble. As a matter of fact she kind of likes it! We decided to boondock in a Wal-Mart Supercenter about half way which took us to Deming, NM. We pulled in and couldn't believe how many 18 wheelers were in the parking lot... Shortly after we parked a security guard came over and asked us to park on the other side because one side was for semi's and the other side for motorhomes... There were about 15+ coaches and other campers there for the evening.

We met some really nice people that night.

We passed White Sands Missile Range & headed towards a High Mountain

Before we entered Arizona we had to go through a Border Patrol check

Finally we are in Arizona and headed towards BAD weather and the peak of that mountain

Finally we peak on the mountain and see San Simon

We arrived in Benson the next day fairly early... after setting up we decided to take a ride to Tombstone which is about 30 miles south of Benson and check it out. It pretty much is a tourist spot but we took some pictures of a few things and then left. Tombstone was founded in 1879 in what was then the Arizona Territory of the USA. It soon became a boomtown of silver mines, high-paying jobs, also of lawlessness, violence and vigilante justice, a city lager than San Francisco for a short time. But it has become most famous for 1881 O.K. Corral gunfight portrayed in many Western movies and not to mention Wyatt Earp!

Here is Big Nose Kate's Saloon & A Stagecoach ride you can take

Boot Hill

Streets in the Tombstone tourist area

Wyatt Earp's house and a BIG Saguaro Cactus

Benson is also the winter home of our good bloggin' buddies Jerry & Suzy @ Life on Wheels. (Click highlighted area to go visit their blog). I have been following their blog for sometime and Jerry reminded me that they were here and we should get together. So we made plans to meet at a little restaurant called Palatiano’s for dinner. What great food we had there and we also got to meet our friends too... It is so nice to be able to meet the ones we blog with all the time! After dinner they invited us to their home where we had coffee and a YUMMO dessert.

It was nice to get to know each other a little better.

Until Later... Have FUN, Travel Safe & Enjoy Everyday!

♥♥♥ I am back home in Tassie ♥♥♥

Hello everyone!!! I am hoping you all had a safe and wonderful beginning to the new year. As you know I started the new year with knee surgery and everything went very well. It was a little bit more of a repair then they thought but I am recovering fast and soon hopefully will be released and on our way to new adventures this year. I spent the first 2 weeks at my daughter's house where they all kept an eagle eye on me to make sure I did absolutely nothing... except for the leg & knee exercises that rehab is giving me to do... Ralph stayed with Tassie to make sure she was doing good in this freezing weather... It is the first time we have been in such freezing temperatures (single digits) and we are having a hard time with condensation and the walls freezing up... I think we'll be staying home in Florida for the winter from now on...

Anyways I wanted to give you all an update to let you know I am doing great and recovering just as fast as I can... I have a doctors appointment on the 28th and if he releases me then we'll be back on the road by the first of February which is our 41st anniversary... YEAH!!!! I can't wait to get rid of these crutches... It is hard for me to sit here for long periods of time but I am hoping to get back to my regular blogging and visiting my friends♥♥♥

Until Later... Have FUN, Travel Safe & Enjoy Everyday!!!!