OH, CANADA!!

Entering another country always seems so stressful, even when you are law abiding rule following individuals. This time Canada was no exception to the rule. After months of research, we attempted entry and yes our premonitions were right. We did have trouble at the border! Without going into detail, sometimes it doesn't matter what you do, it all depends on the border agent you are met by and their mood for the day 😡. Seems like the rules should be the same for everyone, but I guess that's not life. Anyway, enough soap box comments for now. We took care of business and attempted entry again. All went well initially and then I (Sybil) was selected for random Covid testing, which has to be done within 24 hours online in front of a testing agent. We sat in a Walmart parking lot for over 2 hours waiting for my appointment and trying to keep the wifi going in the motorhome. When I finally connected with the testing agent, we lost wifi 2 times. The agent then called me back and allowed me to complete the test over the phone. Thank You Sir!! Six hours from leaving our RV site that morning, we were finally on our way through Canada!

It was a long stressful day and needless to say we decided it was going to be Martini night when we arrived at our first stop. We do have to say, however, other than the first border agent we encountered, everyone we have met in British Columbia and the Yukon have been very friendly and extremely helpful. Our day ended nicely, as we found a "gem" of a campground at Goldpan Provincial Park. We enjoyed a few days relaxing by the river, hiking the shore and listening to trains go by above and below our site. In addition, they were not charging any fees, as they had no water and luckily we didn't need any!!

As we drove deeper into Canada, we encountered many terrain and weather changes, right up until we found WINTER again in MAY! Frozen roads, lakes, rivers and even campgrounds. You name it, we saw it frozen. 🥶

Most towns we came across have some kind of statue or monument roadside which represents their area. There were cross country skis, a log man and a giant gold pan to name a few. One town, Chetwynd, has hundreds of chainsaw carvings as their town hosts an annual International Chainsaw Carving Championship.

Wildlife is abundant throughout Canada. We began to notice scat, actually a lot of scat, and discussed how we thought they must have a lot of bears in this area. Then we came across the culprits...BISON! Can't even tell you how many we have seen. You can tell where the herd is going, or where they have been, for miles along the highway. One thing we learned about them is that the males stay away from the herd, unless it's breeding time, and then all bets are off.

Other than bison, we have enjoyed seeing so many other animals in the wild. Bear (Black and Grizzly), ducks, Magpies, Stone sheep, Caribou, many varieties of deer, moose, Dali sheep, swans and the regal bald eagles!

We finally arrived in Dawson Creek, which is the beginning of the Alcan Highway. Only 1350 more miles until we reach the border of Alaska! We took the obligatory pics in front of the famous sign and left our mark (i.e., Southern Tides sticker) on the back of another.

Onwards to the North! The snowfall increases and all lakes are still ice and snow covered. There were even ice fisherman on Muncho Lake. So much for seeing the jade green color of this one 😳

One thing that this part of Canada seems to be famous for is cinnamon rolls, and we found the bounty along this highway.

The hot soothing water of Liard Hot Springs was calling our names. This is a beautiful area of natural hot springs and we indulged everyday. They say the water is 106 degrees coming out of the spring head. Scott was hopeful that it would snow while we were there, but after 4 days no such luck.

Voila, on our day of departure we woke to a snowstorm and extended our stay one more day. What a difference a day makes!

We entered the Yukon (left another mark on a sign) and headed for another must stop on our itinerary, The Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake. The Sign Forest has more than 80,000 signs tacked onto posts, or anything else someone can find. This was started by an American soldier in 1942 while working on the Alcan highway, and visitors to the region add their own signs to the growing area. Scott found a piece of driftwood in California and made a sign to represent us (Southern Tides 2022, Scott & Sybil). We found an awesome place to hang it and then as I edited pictures, I realized Scott's birthplace is very close to our sign (Victorville Ca).

The roads began to deteriorate and guess what? WINTER Again! We decided to drop down south of Whitehorse and enter the Inside Passage area of Alaska to visit Skagway. This was a beautiful day and the drive is breathtaking.

The only point of the following picture is the height of the snow marker on the side of the road!

Skagway is a very small port town visited by cruise ships daily. We enjoyed walking around and visiting the local breweries. We found the largest snow removal machine we have ever seen and learned our first Alaskan word, "Cheechako", (someone who has never spent a winter in Alaska). We will be known as this, forever!!!

In the next few days, we drove through a blizzard to another Inside Passage town, Haines Ak. We stayed at an RV park right on the water and had spectacular views.

Haines is known for it's Bald Eagle population, especially in the fall (Over 3000). This time of year did not disappoint, however. We also learned that young bald eagles are brown and do not get their full white head and tail until 5-6 years of age.

We followed the road back into Canada (By the way, we are getting better at border crossings, even if they did take our frozen chicken in Haines. Scott thinks the agents needed dinner that night. 😋)

Spent the last night in Canada boondocking beside Kluane Lake, a gorgeous lake still frozen and snow covered.

One final thought, as we have made a very interesting discovery on this trip. It is amazing how different communities in our travels understand the principle of "Social Distancing". We are hoping we see more, but for now we hope you enjoy these as much as we have. 😂😂😂

So long for now.....

NEXT UP: ALASKA, WE ARRIVE!!