We told them so!

We're sitting in Tok, Alaska - back in the U S of A! (Tok is pronounced like 'poke'.) Where our coins fit the washing machines!!

And we did tell them so - everywhere we went, we were told by travelers leaving Alaska that it rained on them every single day of their trip. We told them we were bringing the sunshine with us and they laughed! The sun is shining!!! Actually it's not yet, this morning, because it's still only 6:30, but the skies are clear and it's gonna be shining in moments, again!!

We stayed here an extra day, for a couple reasons - the park here is fabulous, the nicest we've seen! and our hostess is a pistol - Rose reminds both of us of Betty White . . . she's got a great impish smile and a quick wit and an attitude about life that matches. Plus she spends her winters in Kona! The park is the Tok RV Village and we will recommend it to anyone who'll listen to us!

The second reason we chose to stay is the local RV mechanic (Tok RV Repair) who has come to my rescue! We had a "little" sewer problem which he was able to solve! Thank the heavens! Trotting over to the public washroom in the middle of the night is not my favorite thing to do!!! AND in solving the problem, he was appalled to find that I was right all along when I told good ol' La Mesa RV in Tucson that my kitchen and bathroom sinks drained into the black tank, not the gray tanks as they should! When back-flushing the sewer, both sinks backed up - which may be more than you wanted to know. But that proves beyond a doubt that the coach is plumbed wrong - it simply couldn't happen if the plumbing was correct. And apparently the only way to fix it is to pull the entire coach body off the frame! Which probably explains why La Mesa insisted I was blonde and didn't know what I was talking about!! La Mesa and Gulfstream are not going to be very happy to hear from me when I return to Arizona!

And, since we hadn't had that many things go wrong for a while, the heater in my bedroom quit working too. As you will notice from my little weather thingy on the side, it's a tad chilly here, so that had to be fixed too!

Other than the usual repair saga for this coach, the trip just continues to awe and inspire us! I'm way behind in my reporting and will try to catch up a little at a time, especially now that we might have internet access a bit more reliably for the days to come.

At last report, I think we had arrived in Williams Lake - the town of Williams Lake, not the actual lake! That was a particularly pricey day - we filled up with gas twice that day, and it was RUDE to our wallets! The average price of gas in Canada for us was about $1.25 per liter, and the Canadian dollar is almost equal to ours right now, of course! Meaning gas is about $4.50 US per gallon (I think - I did the math in my head and it's early in the day!)!! It was quite pleasant to cross back into the U.S. to see gas for about $2.89!!

Anyway that particular day, the early morning fill and the discounted fill that evening when we checked into the park (they had their own gas pumps and gave a discount if you stayed at the RV park) cost us about $430! Gets your attention, doesn't it!

Chief Will Yum's RV Park was quite nice (damn - this blog isn't letting me put pictures in today, again!). Especially with the discounted gas thing! We were amused that they played on the name of the area in naming the park, but it turns out, when reading one of our many, many tour books, that Williams Lake was named for the old indian chief back in the late 1800s, Chief Will Yum!

The entire day had been spectacular. We took several pictures in Hope as we left town, which I'll try gain to insert here, because Hope is the "chainsaw sculpting capital of Canada", so they say. And the parks in city center are filled with some fantastic carvings. Nope, no pictures - keep checking back, I'll keep trying.

We passed thru the little town of Boston Bar, where the steamer Skuzzy used to ply the Fraser River and deliver goods to the townsfolk. We tried to stop for a drink at the Pig's Ear Saloon, but it was too early in the day. Then came the Kanaka Bar, and for those who aren't familiar with Hawaiian, that's the place for us local Hawaiians to stop and drink. Actually it's an indian word in this part of the world, but we still chose to claim it as our own!!

We followed the Fraser River thru the spectacular Fraser River Canyon mountainous rock formations thru Cache Creek and on into Williams Lake for a magnificent day of beauty, and Bailey is now asking to go out, so I'll get up before he messes the bed! Talk at ya' later!

YUKON
meaning:  "Great River"
confederation: 1898
capitol: Whitehorse
population: 32,000
land area: 483,450 sq.km.
highest point: 5959 m  (19,551 feet)
bird:  common raven
flower:  fireweed
tree:  sub-Alpine fir
gemstone:  lazulite

ALASKA
meaning:  "Great Land"
statehood:  1959 (49th state)
capitol:  Juneau
population:  656,000
land area:  586,412 Sq.mi. - 2 times larger than Texas
highest point:  Mt. McKinley - 20,320 ft.
state animal:  moose
state bird:  willow ptarmigan
state fish:  king salmon
state flower:  forget-me-not
state sport:  dog mushing
state mineral:  gold
motto:  North to the Future

Tok RV Village Mile 1313.4 Alaska Hwy Tok, Alaska 99780 Smith's Green Acres RV Park and Campground Delta Junction, Alaska 99737