Day two, three, four and five

We are now in Spirit Lake, Idaho and are being treated royally buy our hosts Ralf and Trudy Shrigley. Trudy’s brother Jim and his wife Nancy from Ohio are also here and joining us on the voyage. Non stop laughs with great humor always. Ralph and Trudy have built a beautiful log home in the middle of their eleven acre lot. Moose cross the property from time to time we are told and we keep looking for one. But none so far. No less than 40 tons of logs went into building this fortress of a home. The main beams are as big around as an adult body and extend up two floors to the top of the vaulted second floor. Peach and quiet is very calming to be here. Also, we have very much enjoyed playing bridge with Ralph and Trudy in the past and hope to on this trip. [what lengths we go to for a good game of bridge]

We sailed on a Ralph’s son’s Corsair 27 trimeran sailboat on Lake Pen d’Oreille, some 40 miles long, pine trees several hundred feet up everywhere from water’s edge, water depth 30+ feet near shore and some 1,100 feet in the middle of the lake. This is very unusual for a lake to be this deep and the main reason the U.S. Navy has submarine sound testing equipment and identical submarine models a third the size of real subs here. The beauty of this lake is astounding.

Did anyone notice our Blog is titled from LA to AL, and wondered if we were driving to Alabama? Alaska is of course abbreviated AK not AL. Oh well. What do you think Jen?

Our whole trip here from L.A. was 1,246 miles. The trip to Anchorage from here is expected to be double that distance. When I woke up at 3:30 this morning it was already becoming daylight. We are now at almost 48 degrees North latitude, and just 90 miles or so from the Canadian boarder. The Arctic Circle will be as far as we go north and I suggest you Google Arctic Circle to learn why it is significant. It is over 60 degrees North latitude, a few thousand miles south of the North Pole. If living you life is ‘..to live cool, or die uncool’ then going to the Arctic Circle is cool…..or so I declare.

On Wednesday (Day Two) we started early and were amazed to find a Dutch bakery (Eric Schats Bakkery) in the town of Bishop, opened in 1939, with wooden shoes hanging from the ceiling, ornate Dutch tiles and gifts of all kinds, and hundreds of fine breads and rolls, larger than any bakery in our areas in L.A. The 631 miles we drove that day had us in four states, California, Nevada, Oregon and Idaho, and two time zones. Strangely southern Idaho is in Mountain time and northern Idaho is on Pacific time. Our ever reliable Garmin GPS has a female voice we call our Garmin Girl to tell us where to turn or turn around when we mess up. Marga wanted to take an alternate route in Idaho for a section of the trip to allow us to go very close to Boise and then north requiring that we go east for some twenty miles. There was a fabulous river gorge Marga wanted to see taking us alongside the Payette river for some 30 miles. Anyway, our faithful Garmin did not like this and insisted on adding miles to our destination, 421 miles up to 458, without a peep from our Garmin Girl. Yes she became very passive aggressive until we were well up into the gorge and we reset the damn thing before she started to speak to us again.

But it was all worth it as Marga was drooling for over 30 miles as the road took us 100% of the time next to white water and we were able to find a park campsite just 20 feet or so from the river. We could hear the river running all nigh long and river-loving Marga was in pure heaven. Meanwhile, I was paranoid about a couple of guys who parked their truck a short distance from us in the next camp site over, and led me to organize all of the RV’s defenses…..just in case. I guess I am a real city guy.

Most of our trip has been on two lane highways, no traffic problems, at elevations between 4,000 and 8,000 feet. Every inch has been scenic with lots of lakes and rivers and mountains. At one point on the road Marga noticed the entire road was moving. As we slowed down to inspect we saw every square inch was covered with locus all marching in the same direction we were going. The road had turned an icky brown/red color from cars having run over so many of them, which we did too to the sound of popping and crackling sounds as our tires added to the carnage.

The northern boarder of the U.S. is 49 degrees North. We are right now at 47 degrees 57.190 minutes North. It is now July 4th and tomorrow we cross over into Canada and begin what we understand will be a 12 trip to the area of Anchorage. The Alcan Highway begins in the area of Dawson, Alberta if you want to take a look at a map of Canada. I suspect we will be on that highway in the next week or more. Once we start on it we will be in wilderness with almost no signs of humanity, except for gas/RV parks, for over a long time. Most of this trip will be in Canada with just the last little bit actually going into Alaska. After entering into Alaska we are thinking of first going to the Arctic Circle via Fairbanks, then go to Denali Park, and then Anchorage. While on the Alcan Highway I am not sure how easy it will be to do Blog postings. Our reservation in Denali is for July 20th and 21st. We will likely arrive in Anchorage on July 22nd.

Ralph’s father is close to death in Ohio and Ralph will likely leave us to fly back for the funeral if this happens. Since their big RV will be towing a car he will use the car to drive to the nearest big city to catch a flight as we continue heading North. He will then catch up to us using the car. Just got word his dad passed away today.

We talk all of the time about all of you and L.A. and our business and all that is going on with the house….and most importantly about the expected arrival of our first grandchild Liam. We are really missing Jen and Jorge and Bobby and Alexandra and Tiffany and all of the rest of you. We have a bunch of pictures now we will try to upload too.