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Steve and Ann Ray's RV Adventures |
| The two RV Gypsies received e-mail from
Steve and Ann Ray, two other full-time RVers. They gave permission for
their travels to be added to the two RV Gypsies' website, in hopes of helping other RVers plan
their trips.
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April 5, 2011 Dear Karen
& Lee - the two RV Gypsies: We are going to Canada and Alaska this summer. We go to Cultus Lake on April 14, for 2 weeks and then want to go on through British Columbia to Alaska. We want to stay at Portage Valley when we take our Glacier Cruise from Whittier in July. Also we planned to take the Cultus Highway up and then return going through Dawson Creek, fort Nelson, etc.
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| April 6, 2011 We plan to cross
at Sumas and go to Cultus Lake or maybe from Birch Bay. We are headed to
Thunderbird, TTN Park in Monroe, WA on Thursday and the next week on to
Cultus Lake. Right now we are in Seaside, OR. TTN/LT Park and it rains everyday
and the high is about 50 or less. With the rains it seems colder to me.
Actually Cultus is warmer than here. We are concerned about leaving the
end of April but plan to watch the weather and take our time. This is the
coldest Spring here in Oregon in recorded history so if that is the case
in Canada we will definitely not go too far north until it is at least above
freezing. Steve is a fisherman and has fished the Columbia River here ever
since we retired. We came early this time just because of our plans to see
Canada and Alaska so his fishing has to wait until we get to Alaska. We
do plan to take the air trip at Talkeetna, Alaska and already have reservations
for that and the RV Park as some friends told us it was crowded there. We
are also going to stay several weeks in Soldotna, Alaska for the fishing
and then to Homer, Alaska for Halibut. I don't want to stay at the $84 a
night place but we just might have to as I am a baby about wanting full
hook-ups. We had already planned to stay at Portage when we go to Whittier
for a Glacier tour so I really enjoyed seeing those pictures on your web
site. We waited to make this trip after we finished the other states because
of the stories we heard about the rough roads and tearing up your rig. We
have a truck and 5th wheel and our truck is ready to be traded so we just
hope we don't ruin what little trade-in value we have left in it. Our Newmar,
Kountry Star is just 5 years old and with the satellite on the back measures
38 feet so we know we have to take it slow. When we bought the 5th wheel
we hoped it would be the last one so we will be careful driving. We have
good insurance and new tires on the trailer. As you might know, diesel prices
just shot up this year. I think it was because we planned this trip. We
have allowed $5 a gallon for fuel while traveling and figured we would get
10 miles to the gallon. We are not sure about exchanging our money. We thought we would get some Canadian money as we don't like to charge our fuel and then put our RV Parking on the credit card. We completed our 14th year of Rving in February and still love this lifestyle. When we retired we thought maybe we would do this for 10 years or less, now we think we will never stop until we truly to reach the end of the road. Just can't imagine living any other way now. It is the most fun and least expensive way to enjoy retirement and we have met some of the greatest people on earth. There is truly something special about RVers. Your web site is so appealing to me as I can see you rolling on down the road, talking about what you are seeing, where you will go next and when to stop for a bite to eat. I know you have spent lots of time putting it together and it is so well designed and easy to use. Glad I found you and happy trails to you both. Ann |
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| April 15, 2011 Good
morning! We are in Cultus Lake RV Park (Thousand Trails) and realize that
we began this trip a bit early as the RV parks from Prince George to Cassier
Highway are mostly closed until May 15 and nearly all that have large enough
space for us open May 15. We were thinking about going from here to Kamloops,
Revelstoke, and Radium Hot Springs and then to Jasper and Prince George
but that would be driving through the rocky mountains from Revelstoke to
Radium Hot Springs and wonder if you went that way. The roads are iced over
for now. The Cassier Highway seems to have frost heaves all the way to the
Yukon now so that would mean we would have rough roads from Kitwanga to
Tok. Sure hope that improves but as I understand it does not. Sunshine today here and no rain so far. Still cold, 41, so we are hoping the next 2 weeks warm things up a bit. We have been talking to a few Canadians here at the park and they do go the way we are thinking about and many do not travel to Alaska or the Yukon at all. Not sure why they RV but most seem to prefer just going to the US in winter and coming home in the summer. They have a lot of storage here so guess they just store their rigs here until winter again. We do have lots of options and if you have any suggestions we would appreciate it. Ann |
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| May 2, 2011 Many of the RV Parks were closed until May 15 on the Cassiar so we went to Prince George and then to Dawson Creek. It was so overcast we could not get any pictures of the mountains but we did enjoy the drive. Still lots of snow. Rains all the time. Things are so expensive here we are hoping for better prices in Alaska. I got a 4 liter box of merlot and it was $46. I usually get 5 liters at Walmart in the US for $12 to $15. We always keep several gallons of water with us and it was $1.87 here and is $.78 in U.S. so the money is worth less and everything costs more. We spent $120 to fill up that was driving 250 miles. Still glad we are doing this and this time of year there is hardly any traffic and the roads are still frozen and not bumpy. Have to look at the positives. Maybe I will have pictures soon. Oh, no wildlife so far. Ann | |
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| May 3, 2011 We made it to Fort Nelson today to the Triple G campground on the far end of town. The water is frozen here and it was frozen in Dawson Creek, also. We may have to fill up our fresh water if we don't get full-hook-ups soon. We did see deer on the side of the road today and almost hit a red tailed hawk. I think he is still sitting in a tree shaking over the close call. I think we saw an eagle but it was quick so I'm not sure. We have sunshine today and it is much warmer. Steve is trying to get our satellite dish set up. It was so overcast at Dawson Creek we could not get it. We think we are going from here to Muncho Lake for a few days. . It really looks pretty and they have an RV Park that is open year round with full hook-ups but they may not have water. We paid over $6 a gallon for fuel at the Pink Mountain today. It was about 140 miles from Fort Nelson. We will fill up again here and just hope we can find it cheaper. I did buy a sweat shirt as it was cheaper than the fuel. That is the most we have ever paid for diesel. We are also going to the Liard Hot Springs after we leave here. Our 5th wheel is filthy and so is our truck. The roads are not bad and still not much traffic. Climbing is probably the hardest for us as we are at the max for weight but so far no problems there either. Just need water and we would be in great shape. Have a good one. Ann | |
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May 11, 2011 The deer sausage tasted like pork sausage to me. The sour dough pancakes were so-so but having it delivered to our rig was priceless. Ann |
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| May 15, 2011
- We are now in Soldotna, Alaska to get our mail and Tuesday we are headed
to Homer, Alaska for a week on the spit. No water or sewer there just electric
but we will be on the spit so who cares. Soldotna is OK but I was surprised
at how the Kenai River looked. I expected a large, clear running body of
water and it is a muddy thing and since nothing has greened up around here,
it is not too pretty. Guess I got used to those mountains and frozen lakes.
Nothing much going on here. We are at Diamond M. Ranch and it is not really
open yet so kind of drab. Very nice neighbors though and the host couple
are friendly and glad to have folks beginning to show up. Ann
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| May 19, 2011 We are on the Homer Spit at the Homer Spit Campground. (See photos below) Beautiful spot overlooking the ocean or Cook Inlet as they call it. Looks like an ocean to me. Still cold here. They brag that they have no mosquitoes here so guess that makes up for the cold. Yesterday Steve got his two halibut (daily limit) so we are having halibut steak for lunch and we have about 8 small bags in our freezer. He is going out again next week for halibut and salmon and I am going to see about getting some smoked. We only have electric here so I got a $1 shower seemed cheap until I got there. Pretty crud place and I had trouble getting the water adjusted. Either scalded myself or froze but it is worth it for the view here. You have to leave the showers and go to the ladies room to do your hair. No mirrors or anything in the showers. We will be here until the end of the month so maybe we will see interesting critters. Ann | |
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The two RV Gypsies have not heard from Ann & Ray so unless they do, this page can not be updated. The two RV Gypsies would love to hear from them. |
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