Bishops Adventures

August 7th, 2024 THE DETAILS:  clear, dry, hot day. Temps in the 80s Drove 225 miles & 7 hours  Currently at 3 Gs Hideaway Campground in Fort Nelson BC The sun began to brighten my window this morning around 5:30 so I thought I’d get up to grab some pictures of the sun rising over the valley. Of course I looked outside first to check my surroundings…  What a view!!! As I poured my coffee I watched two young bison run right by my kitchen window in a full gallop! I sat, drinking my coffee, watching the sun rise, the fog in the valley lift and the bison herd move right around us.  We drove through some of the most spectacular territory British Columbia has to offer. Mountains, rivers and winding roads. But no wildlife! On our way to Fort Nelson we came to a large pull off where many cars and trucks were pulled over. We could tell from the plumes of smoke that someone had a problem. We pulled over to find a man with two batteries on the front of his trailer actively ...

 August 6th, 2024 We decided to have a slow morning before hitting the road with no particular destination in mind. Gary said, he’ll stop when he gets tired. We drove 275 miles and 8 hours before that happened. We set up for dry camping.  I know, I know. Something is missing… where are the snow capped mountains? We have moved south enough into British Columbia that the mountains are more like hills to us now and the daytime temperatures are climbing. It was in the 80’s today.  So what does one do with 8 hours in the car? I read the Milepost magazine that gives me detailed information of what is ahead. I can tell Gary where the gas station is, the next pull off and what species of fish are in the rivers we cross over! And we snack and watch the scenery go by.  It’s kind of like being at the movies when scenes like this pop up!! Gary desperately wanted a “room with a view” on this dry camping site so when he reached the top of a mountain overlooking a valley he stopped...

 August 5th, 2024 We drove just 175 miles today, about 3 hours on MUCH better roads.  We are in Whitehorse Yukon settled in at the Caribou Campground. The only wildlife we saw today was a grouse that almost didn’t make it across the road. But no road kill to speak of. But the BIG news is… the fish stayed frozen for 28 hours without electricity. That puts our mind at ease for doing more dry camping! All along the sides of the road there were blankets of white that almost looked like snow! I’m not sure what they are but it might be the purple flowers we saw on our way up that have gone to seed. Another indication of the season.  We’ve had a couple of nice days to travel. Temps are 75 and cool at night and it’s dry and sunny all day.  But just before I go…. You never know when the last one might be the last one!! Road Kill… only another boat trailer left on the side of the road due to damage to the axel. 

  August 4th, 2024 The time has come to leave Alaska in the rear view mirror once again. Neither of us are committing to returning but we’re also not saying we won’t (like last time!). We’ll see what the future holds.  When do you know when it’s time to leave Alaska?? The first indication is that the fireweed is only blooming at the top.  And a sure sign Fall is coming. You may say, “seen one glacier, seen them all”. But I say, I’ve seen one, now I want to see them ALL! As we drove back across the US/Canadian border we entered into the worst road of all the Alaskan highway. I think heading south is even worse than going north. We actually saw a boat and trailer left on the side of the road due to the axel breaking. It was tense driving and again took us longer than it should have just due to the road conditions. Once we opened the door to the trailer I’ve never seen such a mess! It looked like someone had picked up our trailer and shook it like a Christmas snow globe. We ...

 August 3rd, 2024 The letter “F” on the map above is Tok Alaska. It is the gateway town to those driving to Alaska. The map shows the full circle we’ve made from entering Tok, heading north to Fairbanks(A),  down the west side pass Denali (C) down the Kenai Peninsula (E & D) and then today’s drive to close the loop back to Tok. As you can see on the map, we drove by some pretty impressive mountain ranges and glaciers today and yes, I couldn’t stop taking pictures! Unfortunately, once again, it was cloudy but no rain and the clouds were high. Here’s just a sampling but truly pictures do not capture this vast, wild wilderness.  It was 300 miles of driving which should take around 6 hours. Today’s drive took 7 just due to the condition of the roads. It was like driving a roller coaster road. Not only was Gary trying to take in all the scenery but he had to keep a close eye on which way the road was going to dip so he could cut across it instead of straight ahead. It was ...

 August 2nd, 2024 Weather: cloudy but no rain. Highs in the 60s Distance: 150 miles/3 hours  Location: Golden Nugget Campground, Anchorage AK And so it begins….  Our day started early at 5 am so we could be first in line at the fish processing center. Once they opened everything went like clockwork! They had 2 boxes packed and ready to ship and the excess put aside for us. What took Kim and I over a hour to do for her 30 pounds of fish this took 30 minutes for 180 lbs!! We were very pleased to have the extra time to get back to the trailer and find room for 30 more pounds in our already 90% full chest freezer. Well, it didn’t all fit  but between the chest freezer and our camper freezer we managed to make it work!  We had a 3 hour trip back up Turnagain Arm crossing the Kenai River for the final time and viewing glaciers which still cause us to oooh and aaah over. We made it to the airport just in time to hand off Gerry and Gayle’s 3 boxes of fish, gave them a f...