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| BEAR GLACIER |
After passing the
main First Nation village of Kitwanga, we turned off on one of the village roads
to see St. Paul’s Anglican Church built in 1893 and still standing. We talked with an 82-yr. old native who has
lived there for the past 50 years who told us that the roof on the steeple is
still the original roof and wood shingles.
He reminded us that the church was built before they had electricity and
all the boards, beams and shingles were hand-cut. The wooden structure to the right was built
about 30 years ago according to him, by volunteers to house the original bell
which still rings. Weddings and other
special events are still held at the church, but it is kept locked otherwise to
prevent men in the village from going into it to drink. Those responsible for the church fear it
could be carelessly (accidentally) set on fire by them.
SEPTEMBER 7, 2012
Today is our last travel day of the caravan. I can't believe our trip to Alaska is just about over. We will drive 168 miles today to the town of Vanderhoof, BC. It was a beautiful day. Blue skies in the 70's.
Our first stop was in Houston. Their "Claim to Fame" is the World Largest Fly
Fishing Rod.
World's largest fishing rod
.
Arriving in Vanderhoof, BC
At 5:00 we all left for our farewell dinner together. We had a great meal and
everyone shared what they liked best for the last 60 days. Now this was
something that took a long time for everyone to share. There were so many
things that everyone talked about like: Seeing the Northern Lights, the
Bubble Net Whale Feeding, seeing bears fishing, the trip thru Denali, seeing Mt. McKinley, the beauty at Homer & Kenai Peninsula, going fishing, Calgary
Stampede, Liard Hot Springs, Banff, drinking glacier water at the Ice Fields,
driving the Top of the World Highway, being part of the Frantic Follies and
Diamond Tooth Gerties shows, the many boat rides, riding the White Pass &
Yukon train, Palmer, many many socials and how blessed they were to have seen
so much with great weather and great fellow RVers.
Our wagonmasters and tailgunners presented us all with a gift bag. Each couple received a beautiful framed picture of all of us at Milepost 0 at the beginning of the Alaskan Highway.
At the beginning of our caravan the wagonmasters brought out a stuffed bear called Buddy Bear. He was a cute little bear who was to go to a person or couple who had done something especially nice.
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BUDDY BEAR
We got Buddy first because Jesse spent quite some time helping a fellow caravaner to fix his door which would not stay closed. Buddy rode with us for one day and then we got to pass him on to someone else who had done something especially nice. Well Buddy went from rig to rig during our 60 days. It was now time for him to go back home to Madi & Spence (our wagonmasters). We were all sad to see him go back.......but wait,,,,what is this???? In our gift bag is a mini Buddy Bear. We were all thrilled to take mini Buddy home with us to remind us of all our good times.
SEPTEMBER 8, 2012-----END OF CARAVAN
This morning we were treated to coffee and donuts. It was time to say goodbye. It is a sad day as we have to leave all of our new friends. Hugs were given and tears were shed as we all headed to our rigs to head out alone again.
When we booked the caravan we were a little hesitant about spending 60 days with people we'd never met. We were concerned about travelling on a schedule for so long too. We have to say it has been a wonderful experience. We have met people from all of the United States and 3 couples from Canada and everyone got along. It was wonderful being bussed places and dropped off and picked up at the door. I think we have gotten very spoiled with all the attention.
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