Banks couple travels 7,000 miles in RV

Our friends, David and Margaret Ledford, have traveled all the states except Hawaii and Alaska. They started planning over a year ago to go to Alaska and asked Ralph and me to go. May 31, we embarked on this much anticipated journey!!

Their 11 year-old grandson, Caleb, went with us as far as Idaho, where he would spend a month with his other grandparents. We drove through Tennessee, St. Louis, and saw where tornados had touched down in Iowa. We began to see some really pretty landscapes. We could not take our eyes off the road or we would miss something! Lots of antelopes and elk. We all sung, “Oh give me a home where the antelopes roam.”

As we approached Jackson Hole, Wyoming, we began to see snowcapped mountains. We went over the steep Teton Pass; it seemed our RV was working overtime to reach the top. What an awesome sight! We threw a few snowballs! It was scary going down the pass as our brakes started smelling hot. I told David, “If you’re worried don’t tell me until we reach the bottom!”

When we reached Caleb’s grandparents, Cutter and Kara Lee, we camped out in their yard two days. They showed us some beautiful country. Fields and fields of rich dirt where they had already started planting truck loads of potatoes. We saw waterfalls, bear gulches, lakes and a river that came out of the side of a mountain. They told us that we just had to visit their small town drugstore in Rexburg to get the best blueberry milkshakes in the world. We got so much more! A lady from Georgia made our milkshakes and the hometown feeling we received was so warm. We were laughing and having fun and the customers that came in gave us advice about our Alaska trip. Be sure to take lots of bug spray and film. That was one of the best stops and fun experiences of our trip.

We left Caleb behind and continued on our journey. He’d be missed because he was lots of fun! We were in a rest area in Idaho when a man approached us talking about our giant banner “North to Alaska” in our RV window. He and his wife were going there also so we chatted a while. They were Lowell and Joyce Walker from Utah, and are key players in our Alaska adventure. We exchanged phone numbers and traveled miles up the road together. We all stopped to make sandwiches. Joyce is originally from Holland and she has a proper accent. She yelled out the door of the RV, “Y’all, the food is ready.” Then turned to us and said “I’m trying to talk like y’all and they won’t pay me any attention.” We all broke into an uncontrollable laugh. Her proper accent trying to sound southern like us. We knew right away we liked these people!

Our next stop was Great Falls, Montana! We stopped to visit some friends of mine, Elam and Lydia Fisher from Pennsylvania. They were up there helping their son and asked us to stop by. Our new friends stopped with us and we all stayed in the same RV park. The Fishers’ took us on some adventures the next day. We visited some dams and stopped at a museum to hear a lecture about Lewis and Clark. This was embarrassing because the man was so boring. I looked around and everybody in our party was sound asleep. I have to admit I really had to try hard to keep my eyes open and I did not learn one thing about Lewis and Clark. We had paid five dollars to watch a film but we all decided we couldn’t stand anymore so we called it our five-dollar laugh, but we held it until we got into the car. We then went to Ryan’s Island where we had to cross a long swinging bridge. As we stepped from it onto the Island, we were met with a sign that said, “When you hear eight short blasts, evacuate the Island.” What a welcome!

Elam asked if we’d ever heard of the Hutterites. These are people that are completely self-sufficient and they all live in houses exactly alike. The women dress in long dark skirts and long sleeves and they wear polka-dotted scarves on their head. They farm 8,00 acres of land. We drove miles and miles on Montana back roads to find them. I felt we were approaching a compound. I was nervous but Elam was driving and we forged ahead. They have the best and most updated farm equipment. They have their own laundry mat, tool shop, cement mixer, greenhouse, egg processing place and they make their own shoes and bind their own books. Some man came out and asked what our business was. Elam told him we were looking to buy some homemade bread and he directed us to a building in the middle of the place. We went into this huge commercial type kitchen. I had something to talk to them about since I work in the school kitchen. I recognized a lot of their huge mixers and ovens. This place was absolutely spotless! A young girl kinda took up with me since I was interested in their equipment.

She began to show us around and before long we had 10 girls following us around and giggling at my questions. I asked if I could join their colony and they said “Yes” but I would have to ask for permission to ever leave. She told us 200 Hutterites lived there. Most colonies are crop producers and raise large amounts of livestock. Every person is assigned a job. They have no TV and visit other colonies to meet other young people. When a young couple gets married, they are provided a completely furnished house. We got to look at a house they were getting ready for a soon-to-be married couple. It had no kitchen, a finished basement and several bedrooms. Their shelving and cabinets were made in the woodwork shop. All the houses looked like a row of apartments, exactly alike. everyone eats in the main kitchen. The men sit on one side of the room according to age, the women on the other side and young people in the middle. The very young eat at home attended by the teens. They do not talk and they have 15 minutes to eat. They invited us to eat with them but we declined. We didn’t want to wear out our welcome. You can learn more about them from the Internet. What an awesome adventure!

We really hated to leave the Fishers behind but we headed for the border the next morning. We spent three hours held up there because we had a gun. Margaret had gotten all the necessary papers from the Internet but had forgotten some small detail that had to be straightened out. This was spooky to us. Some girl was crying her heart out. They asked us all kinds of questions. We were in another country and felt like aliens. The Canada road signs were all different. We had to figure out what speed we were going and the gas was advertised as liters not gallons and of course their money was different. We soon forgot the border ordeal when we drove up the beautiful Icefield Parkway with the crystal clear Lake Louise, stunning views and snow capped mountains. We saw huge elk, a black wolf and two black bears. We ran into a small hail storm, some snow and it reached 29 degrees. We went into Brittish Columbia and the temperature climbed 60 degrees. We saw three more black bears.

We lost the Walkers at the border. They’d taken a wrong turn and called to tell us they would meet us in Prince George. They are 77 and 74 years old and will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in October. They’d been in every state except Alaska and he wanted to bring her to the last state. Fifty years, fifty states. He told us this would most likely be their last long trip.

Hooray, the next day we all headed to Dawson Creek, the beginning of the Alaska Highway. We had our pictures made at the 0 mile marker. My heart was beating so hard, I was so excited. Over 1,400 miles before we reach Alaska. Canada was very expensive. Bread was over three dollars a loaf, four Nutty Buddies were seven dollars (we left them) and even the cheap cookies were over four dollars. The Walkers told us to go ahead because they could not travel as far as we could.

We reluctantly left them behind planning on keeping in touch and meeting up later. We reached Watson Lake Sign Forest where we placed our signs we’d had made with our names on them. Over 70,000 signs hang there from people all over the world. I had a sign made with the names of the people I work with. I felt like I was taking them along on my great adventure. Their names now hang alongside the Alaskan Highway. Watson Lake Sign Forest can be found on the Internet. While there, we saw some names from Carnesville. I came home, looked them up in the phone book and gave them a call. We talked over an hour and plan to have them visit soon.

Pictures can not capture the beauty we saw along the way. More snow capped mountains that were closer now, lakes for miles and miles that ran right along the roadside. There were also a lot of construction and animals that would run right out in front of you. We stayed in White Horse a couple of days and restocked our food supply. One store charged a dollar to use their grocery cart and you had to bag your own groceries. We went to a play in town. It was very funny and gave us a break from the road. We got acquainted with another couple from Texas, Judy and J.C. Chansley. We all left the park together and traveled toward Alaska keeping in touch with walkie talkies. Diesel was expensive even more than at home. We had to pay $6.90 a gallon at one place. We just could not risk hunting a cheaper place and running out. They were far and few between.

The milepost is a must for this trip telling us what to expect around every bend. From Haines Junction to Alaska, the roads got rougher. There were lots more road construction and dip after dip. It was like riding a roller coaster. If you hit a dip fast and hard, you would be out of your seat. These were due to all the freezes in the winter. We saw lots of buffalo and sheep on this part of the trip. We finally reached the border to enter Alaska. It went smoother this time for us but they were tearing somebody’s truck apart. It was hallelujah great to see, “Welcome to Alaska,” and to see our United States flag flying high filled our hearts with pride.

We found a very nice RV park in Tok, very wooded and pretty. We looked to see what damage we incurred on the road thus far. Let’s see! A cracked windshield on the RV, a small bing on the jeep windshield, and the hood of David’s new jeep was beat up and lots of achy bones. We were concerned about our friends we’d left at Watson Lake. We had planned to keep in touch but we had no phone service for five days! We knew we had lost them forever! We went to a nice resaurantto eat with our Texas friends and we were still whining about losing our Utah friends, Lowell and Joyce, when behold guess who walked in? Lowell!! What a reunion! We had been so worried about them and they reached Alaska before us and had been in the RV park one day before us. He told us he’d thought we ditched them and they had driven 10 hours a day to catch up.

We finally got TV service and found out Tim Russert had died. Ralph and I loved to watch “Meet the Press” and will miss him. It was Margaret’s birthday and we tried to make it special. Our new Texas friends started the day by bringing over some juice and cinnamon rolls. I cooked bacon and eggs for everyone and we all put our steaks and potatoes together and cooked for her birthday. We gave her an Alaska album from us all. We had so much fun.

People walked by and ask “are you the ones having so much fun over here.” We invited everyone to come on in and chat a while. I get up very early so I’d walk and have to wear sunglasses before seven o’clock, the sun was so bright. It never got dark! It felt strange going to bed when it was so light outside. After two days in Tok, we headed to North Pole, Alaska. I mailed lots of cards there so they’d have the North Pole stamp on them for those that don’t believe in Santa Claus. The street posts were candy canes. We ate at Wendy’s and they had Christmas trees and all the trimmings up. Sounds like a place I need to live. We traveled on to Fairbanks with our caravan of new friends. We stayed by the river three days here and met a couple from Germany and one Georgia couple that took the wrong road and ended up in the RV park and on the way out he saw our Georgia tags and stopped to chat and ended up staying two hours. It was here Joyce began to tell us about her childhood in Germany and how their house would be searched for Jewish people. They hid three but were never caught. She told us stories about the concentration camps and lots of things she saw and had to endure. We formed such a strong bond with her. We left our Texas and Utah friends behind and headed toward Denali. We’d meet up with them later!

My doctor in Gainesville suggested a movie to watch before I left for Alaska. “Into the Wild” was a sad but true story about a young man who starved to death in an old abandoned bus he found in the wild of Alaska. While I was at the RV park near Denali, I happened to pick up a paper and read about this very story and found out it took place only 10 miles from where we were at. I just had to go. It was a little town called Healy. We found and went down Stampede Road where the tragedy had taken place. We met a local photographer down there who was taking pictures of a group of people on horseback. He told us the bus had been there his whole life and the saddest part of the story was the guy didn’t know he was very close to a ranger camp the whole time. He said his uncle was the one that found him.

He directed us on down to an eight mile lake where the boy had hiked from to the bus. The road was very rough from there and he said a lot of tourists were trying to find it and would get lost. It was a strenuous 22-mile hike and he advised anyone not to go. Such a sad ending for such a young life to be lost. We took a bus tour into Denali Park. It was awesome! We saw two grizzly bears and a moose. The truth was we saw more animals on the Alaskan Highway.

When we left Denali, I asked David if I could drive the RV just enough to say I’d driven in Alaska. I drove a good 40 miles when we ran upon a road construction sign. David asked if I wanted to switch back and I told him it probably wasn’t much of anything. The traffic started moving and as we rounded the bend it was too late to switch back now. Straight ahead was a bridge that was barricaded off in the middle with cement walls. Now this was a 38-foot long motor home pulling a jeep. It looked to me like we were going through the eye of a needle. (Just because I was inexperienced).

David said, “Phyllis you’re getting pretty close over here.” I said “you ought to see my side over here.” I was next to the water. I had a sense of calmness I couldn’t understand, probably because I didn’t have time to be scared. I can promise you one thing David, Margaret and Ralph were wide awake and putting on their brakes. Ha! How much more adventure could we stand!

The next town we stayed in was Talkeena, my favorite thus far. A town full of individual little cabins that housed different shops and businesses. The train stopped right at the edge of the RV park where we stayed. We could take a round trip through the area. Anyone wanting to be picked up just holds up a white flag anywhere along the way and the train would stop, or you could ride to a certain place and float down the river. We took a small plane flight and landed on a glacier a fourth of the way up on Mt. McKinley. This was the most awesome thing any of us had ever done in our entire lives! We flew between two mountain peaks and we let out some muffled sounds but our pilot assured us a 747 could fly through there. I’m telling you, I’d never seen anything more beautiful.

While I was there, I tossed out a small stone from each of the graves of two friends that had died the past year. I wanted to honor the special memory I had of them in this amazing place. They are Kathy Cash that taught at the school where I work and Blair Ferguson from Charlotte, North Carolina. We saw an avalanche as we stood there in awe! Our pilot had us make quick loud noises so we could hear them echo three different times. It was so breathtaking. I could not hold back tears, I was so overwhelmed! As I write about it now the tears fall again! Talkeena Air Flights rock!

We drove up Glen Highway to Chickaloon to visit some friends of David and Margaret. Henry and Ann Tipton live in Georgia six months and Alaska six months. We parked in Grand View RV Park and it certainly lives up to its name. Snow capped mountains all around us and the Lions Head featured on front of an Alaska magazine was right outside our window. The Tiptons have a mountain top log cabin with the same views and mountains right up to their back yard. They can see big horn sheep from their window and have moose with their babies come in their yard. Once a lynx took up there.

Ann has the inside decorated so pretty and cozy. The first thing you see when you walk in her kitchen is a sign that says Martha Stewart doesn’t live here. It makes you feel at home right away. They had a tasty supper of baked turkey, spinach casserole, mashed potatoes and rubarb pie with ice cream. We had so many sandwiches coming to Alaska we kind of forgot our manners and ate seconds. The next day, we took the jeep and drove down to Valdez and took a six-hour boat trip to see some glaciers. Along the way, we saw sea lions, otters, eagles and whales. There were icebergs everywhere! I felt like I was on the Titanic dodging all of them. We were served clam chowder or vegetable soup. We enjoyed our day very much.

We saw the pipeline while we were at Valdez and as we went over Jackson Pass we saw banked snow or glaciers three times our height. We saw more waterfalls than we’d ever seen in our lives. Lowell called to let us know they were in Sterling at Moose River RV Park. We were heading that way and had missed seeing them for a few days. The owners of the park, Dennis and Anita Merck, have such an adventurous family. They have a café at the park office and cook breakfast for all the locals. It was so much fun being around all of them we wound up staying seven days.
We were close to the Kenai River and the sock eye salmon were running. We hiked a total of four and one half miles to Russian River Falls to watch the salmon jump back up the falls. We were hoping to see a bear after the salmon as we have seen on TV so many times. We did not but it was so worth the hike to see such beauty. Many pink, white, and yellow blue blooms.

After we got back from the falls, we decided to walk back through the campground to where there was a lot of fishing going on. Ralph and I sat down a minute to rest and David and Margaret went ahead of us. On the path right in front of them was a black bear. Margaret froze in her tracks and David kept pulling on her shirt. She started taking pictures as if she were in a safety zone of a zoo or something. As Ralph and I approached, all they could do was whisper “bear, bear” and point. I am talking just yards away! Everyone told us if we saw a bear not to run. Well I did not run but let me tell you I walked pretty fast. When we were walking to the falls, we had a plan. Let’s all stick together and yell loudly if we see a bear. I don’t know what happened to that plan but everybody scattered. I went up on a short fishing pier to the river. The bear went under the pier to the river to get a salmon. He sat there eating his salmon and we got some good pictures. He started walking again and we started toward the steps. I looked down at him and a man said to me, “The bear does not like you looking at him.” About that time the bear made a growling noise and threw up his paw at us. We got the message and got back to the jeep. David later asked me, “ Phyllis what would you have done if the bear had went on the pier after you? The only place you could have gone is in the river.” I should not tell you what I was thinking but I will. I was really thinking maybe if I go out where some men are fishing the bear would eat them instead of me. Now I said it. I have it off my conscience. Ha! Ha.

We left there and were on a back road headed back to the park and spotted four more bears. One had two baby cubs. We stayed in the jeep and watched them as they climbed a tree and walked around as though we weren’t there. The next morning the paper told about two bear attacks in this area. That is when we really got scared. A woman was attacked while picking mushrooms from the back and she just played dead and lived. A fourteen-year-old girl was attacked while on her bike. The paper said it was the worst attack they’d seen in years. We were feeling pretty lucky. Now Lowell was so disappointed he had not seen a bear so we went down the same road three times where we had seen four and did not see any more.

We took a day trip to Homer Spit which is a narrow strip of land that stretches five miles out into Kachemak Bay with a horizon of snow capped mountains. It is a very peaceful fishing village known for Halibut fishing. Homer Spit is also the home of The Eagle Lady Jean Keene. She has fed bald eagles in the winter for 20 years. She started with two and now over 300 bald eagles ascend on her backyard as she feeds them fish scraps from a nearby seafood plant. There is a book about her and Margaret and I wanted one. Well leave it to our friend Lowell. He goes up and knocks on her door. A neighbor comes out to see what he needs. He tells her he wants some books. She tells him some sad news. The eagle lady is in the hospital and may not recover. She is 80 years old. The neighbor goes in her house and brings him out the last two books Jean had signed. What a treasure we’ll always keep.

The next day, we stay close to the river watching men fish. They call it combat fishing during the salmon run. They stand shoulder to shoulder to cast and get their lines all tangled up. It is something to watch. I could sit and watch them all day long. I got to know a lot of people in the mornings at the café. Two men went home and brought me two salmon they’d caught and one they had smoked. I told them the only salmon I’d ever eaten was out of a can. We cooked it on the grill and had fried potatoes and slaw. Lowell had an awful day trying to catch a fish. I shared one with him. No bear, no fish.

One lady I met at the café was Cynthia from Tennessee. She heard me say yard sale and the next thing I know me, her and Margaret are going. One sale we were at we saw moose and two babies. When we left and was at the end of the driveway, Margaret was talking to somebody and the moose came close to our car. We were yelling, “watch the moose,” and she thought we were yelling come on and she comes walking within feet of the moose. We were told if a moose had babies she would stomp you to death if she felt her babies were threatened. If Margaret gets out of Alaska in one piece, it would surprise me.

Lots of people at the café talked about how they lived in Alaska during the summer and had another home somewhere else, and all the other places they’d go. I told them I had to figure out how they do all of that because I had to eat a lot of baloney to save money to just come and visit.

Ralph and I celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary while at Moose River Park. Anita, who owns the park, made dinner for us and invited all of our new friends. What a celebration! Dennis cooked steaks on the grill and we had baked potatoes, salad and can you believe king crab legs? She also made homemade cherry pie, blackberry pie and my favorite pecan pie. On top of all that, Joyce and Lowell bought chocolate cake. That is the best anniversary I can ever remember having! Being on my dream vacation and sharing such a special day with such special people. We will not forget Moose River Park in Sterling.

The next day was very sad. Ralph and I were flying home leaving behind our friends we came with and Lowell and Joyce who we’d been with since Idaho. All the bear hunts, hikes, touring, dinners together and just plain fun. All of the local people told me to eat lots more baloney to save money so I could start saving money to come back. They thought I was kidding but I wasn’t. I’ll let them think what they want. As we pulled out heading toward Anchorage, Joyce and Lowell were waving a white handkerchief yelling bye and I was crying my heart out. Alaska was not what I thought it would be, it was more than I could ever dream it could be! Thanks David and Margaret Ledford for having Ralph and me along on the journey of a lifetime.