Sorry Steve and I haven't been "posting," but we haven't had our laptop. Just want to let you all know that the welders did a great job on the axle. We are home safe and sound. The camper didn't fall apart and neither did we. (At our age, that is a good thing in itself!)
The trip was grand, but it is just wonderful to be home again. You remember what Dorothy said about home? She was right.
Thanks for being interested in our journey. It was fun having emails from family and friends saying they enjoyed the pictures. Wish you all could have been with us...
Friday, September 4, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Flashback to Lake Louise and Banff
These photos are from our time in Lake Louise and Banff. Since we aren't going to have any new pictures today, we figured we could send some pictures from Lake Louise and Banff. We are being like "Lost" with our playing around with flashbacks! We had breakfast at the Lodge of Ten Peaks before we took the Lake Louise chairlift for a 14 minute ride up to an elevation of 6,850 ft. The inside of the lodge is just as beautiful as the outside. We especially enjoyed their fireplace. ( Well, Steve probably enjoyed his breakfast the best!)
We "climbed" Whitehorn Mountain and looked over Victoria Glacier and Lake Louise and the mountains of the Continental Divide. We could have taken a gondola, but we thought the view might be even better from the chairlift. I think we were right.
While we were up there, we saw a grizzly bear!
The picture with few trees shows the part of the mountain above our chairlift. In the winter the gondola goes up there for the craziest skiers. We met a really nice young woman who is in charge of looking out for the bears. She keeps them safe by closing trails to protect them from people as she put it. She skis here. I was interested that she says they offer many blue and green trails so even novice or intermediate skiers can ski here.
Bow Falls is between the cliffs and is just a half mile from downtown Banff. At the bottom of these falls, we saw rafts, but we aren't sure if they raft over these falls or just start here.
The town is beautiful. Many of the homes are logsided or are "real " log homes. Flowers cascade from every window boxand at every intersection -- everwhere! This is the perfect town nestled in the Bow Valley protected by the forrest and the Fairholme Mountin range. It isn't authentic the way Bridgton is; this town has serious zoning and is themed, but, boy is it beautiful. ( Istill love the way Bridgton is!)
8/31/09 - Steve's Perspective :)
Hi!
Yesterday (Monday) we spoke with Burpey Pond on the phone as we ate lunch in Mitchell, SD. Two hours later we were turning onto I-90 at a very low rate of speed - fortunately! Apparently the bracket holding the left rear axle on our trailer had broken a while ago, as the broken ends were all rusty, but - fortunately - it chose this time to let go. The left rear tire swung under the rear of the camper taking out the plumbing on our kitchen sink, the electric brakes locked, and we sat blocking the intersection. Everyone was wonderful. Folks stopped, but the job was too big for us "non-wrecker" folks, so the police called the wrecker company. He lifted the camper enough for us to pull the left rear wheel back into the right place and we took my towing chain and chained the axle in place - or sort of the right place!! We were then able to drive - slowly - to Jack's Campers, only three miles away. He sold us all of the parts we needed, but didn't have a welder capable of repairing a bracket on the axle hanger. Luckily there is a welding fabricator about three miles from there, with a campground in between, so we made an 8:00 appointment this morning and they are working on us as we type.
WHEW!
We can only imagine what would have happened if the bracket had let go two minutes later, as we would have been cruising down the interstate at 65 MPH. Or back on the Alaska Highway or other roads where we went for miles and saw no one........
Everyone has been super, no one was hurt and we hope to be back on our way home in a few hours.
Hope JR and Boody save some onion rings for me!
Love you all!
Steve
P.S, Bonnie is typing feverishly on another computer here in the Mitchell Public Library, and she may be writing the same things that I am, but that wouldn't surprise any of us now, would it!!!
Yesterday (Monday) we spoke with Burpey Pond on the phone as we ate lunch in Mitchell, SD. Two hours later we were turning onto I-90 at a very low rate of speed - fortunately! Apparently the bracket holding the left rear axle on our trailer had broken a while ago, as the broken ends were all rusty, but - fortunately - it chose this time to let go. The left rear tire swung under the rear of the camper taking out the plumbing on our kitchen sink, the electric brakes locked, and we sat blocking the intersection. Everyone was wonderful. Folks stopped, but the job was too big for us "non-wrecker" folks, so the police called the wrecker company. He lifted the camper enough for us to pull the left rear wheel back into the right place and we took my towing chain and chained the axle in place - or sort of the right place!! We were then able to drive - slowly - to Jack's Campers, only three miles away. He sold us all of the parts we needed, but didn't have a welder capable of repairing a bracket on the axle hanger. Luckily there is a welding fabricator about three miles from there, with a campground in between, so we made an 8:00 appointment this morning and they are working on us as we type.
WHEW!
We can only imagine what would have happened if the bracket had let go two minutes later, as we would have been cruising down the interstate at 65 MPH. Or back on the Alaska Highway or other roads where we went for miles and saw no one........
Everyone has been super, no one was hurt and we hope to be back on our way home in a few hours.
Hope JR and Boody save some onion rings for me!
Love you all!
Steve
P.S, Bonnie is typing feverishly on another computer here in the Mitchell Public Library, and she may be writing the same things that I am, but that wouldn't surprise any of us now, would it!!!
Mitchell, SD
We are so lucky. Yesterday the bracket that holds the axle in the camper broke. We are fortunate that this didn't happen back when we were traveling to the Artic Circle or in the Yukon on those days that we were miles from any service stations. We're fortunate that is didn't occur when we were climbing those monster mountains in Bristish Columbia. It happened right after we left the Corn Palace and the library here in Mitchell just as were just about to get on I 90. We were at an intersection which wasn't the perfect place to have a camper or vehicle problems, but we were close to services. That was good. Steve did a great job of staying cool and calm, too!
People are so good, too. We were sitting there calling AAA for tow advice and then the police to let them know that we were screwing up their intersection when two young guys in a pickup truck jumped right out to help. Turns out that we didn't take them up on their kind offer, but is certainly was terrific of them to offer help. When the officer came, he suggested that we just wait for the tow truck. We did. Turns out we didn't need the tow, but that tow truck guy helped us out and led us to a camper sales business where they diagnosed the problem, sold us the parts to fix it, and called a guy who own a weilding business.
This morning it is getting fixed. A really nice older man who seems to know his stuff is doing the weilding. It's like when you get on a plane. It's good to know that the pilot is an older guy who know what he is doing. This man is in his 60s. My bet is he will do a great job and then we will be on our way.
Of course, this throws our schedule off a bit, but to quote the Bard, "All's well that ends well." We are fine. We may not make it for the Lobster Pound's last weekend, but we will do our best!
More good news -- since we are sort of stranded here in Mitchell, I have time to tell to tell a bit about our recent sights. ( Yesterday we were trying to hurry to get along on our way. Obviously, today I can take the full thirty minutes here in the Mitchell Library.)
First, Crazy Horse Monument, the world's largest mointain carving..Mount Rushmore would fit in just Crzy Horse's head! The scuptor, Korezak Ziolkowski, had ten children; seven of them are continuing the work he started. His widow also continues with the work he started. ( She was ten years younger than he.)
In 1948, Ziolkowski blasted 10 tons of rock. That started the process. Now sixty-one years later, Crazy Horse's head is complete and tons of rock have been removed from where Crazy Horse's horse eventually will be. A painted outline shows where the 45 ft. horse's ear, the 16 ft -wide ear and the 16 ft -wide eye will be. When complete, the sculpture will depict Crazy Horse's head, body, and his arm pointing to his lands. And, of course, his horse will be part of the monument. Probably the scupture will take another 100 years to complete. When he was alive, the scuptor turned down governmental assistnace in funding. No doubt he wanted complete artistic control. Also, he was a believer of the free enterprise system. Most of all, he believed in trying to right some of the injustices the Lakotas suffered. He made and his family is making a good stab at that. We were happy to come to see the progress. It is fun to return to an area to see what has happened in the years you've been away.
The Corn Palace also has an interesting story.The murals both inside and outside are made entirely of native grains and corn that is grown in this area. They use thousands of bushels of corn, grasses, and straw. These murals are made each year and have been since the 1800s. Well, during WW l, WW l l and the Depression they took a hiatus from their work, but for the rest of the years, it was business as usual. That is quite a commitment and history.
One of the murals shows a launch of a shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center. One portrays Mount Ruchmore; another, the Crazy Horse Mounument. The artists we know would be amazed at this work. And it is all corn!
The building is used for the town's events all year: Proms, college and high chool basketball games, concerts, dances, a rodeo, and conventions. With the town having a populations of 14,000, they use the building monthly. Fun and very different from anythins we see in New England.
You can tell we have been in Mitchell for a while. I have read every travel brochure we have. This morning at breakfast, Steve started asked me something about the town and kidded me about knowing so much about the place. Well, what else do you do when your camper is being fixed? You read.
People are so good, too. We were sitting there calling AAA for tow advice and then the police to let them know that we were screwing up their intersection when two young guys in a pickup truck jumped right out to help. Turns out that we didn't take them up on their kind offer, but is certainly was terrific of them to offer help. When the officer came, he suggested that we just wait for the tow truck. We did. Turns out we didn't need the tow, but that tow truck guy helped us out and led us to a camper sales business where they diagnosed the problem, sold us the parts to fix it, and called a guy who own a weilding business.
This morning it is getting fixed. A really nice older man who seems to know his stuff is doing the weilding. It's like when you get on a plane. It's good to know that the pilot is an older guy who know what he is doing. This man is in his 60s. My bet is he will do a great job and then we will be on our way.
Of course, this throws our schedule off a bit, but to quote the Bard, "All's well that ends well." We are fine. We may not make it for the Lobster Pound's last weekend, but we will do our best!
More good news -- since we are sort of stranded here in Mitchell, I have time to tell to tell a bit about our recent sights. ( Yesterday we were trying to hurry to get along on our way. Obviously, today I can take the full thirty minutes here in the Mitchell Library.)
First, Crazy Horse Monument, the world's largest mointain carving..Mount Rushmore would fit in just Crzy Horse's head! The scuptor, Korezak Ziolkowski, had ten children; seven of them are continuing the work he started. His widow also continues with the work he started. ( She was ten years younger than he.)
In 1948, Ziolkowski blasted 10 tons of rock. That started the process. Now sixty-one years later, Crazy Horse's head is complete and tons of rock have been removed from where Crazy Horse's horse eventually will be. A painted outline shows where the 45 ft. horse's ear, the 16 ft -wide ear and the 16 ft -wide eye will be. When complete, the sculpture will depict Crazy Horse's head, body, and his arm pointing to his lands. And, of course, his horse will be part of the monument. Probably the scupture will take another 100 years to complete. When he was alive, the scuptor turned down governmental assistnace in funding. No doubt he wanted complete artistic control. Also, he was a believer of the free enterprise system. Most of all, he believed in trying to right some of the injustices the Lakotas suffered. He made and his family is making a good stab at that. We were happy to come to see the progress. It is fun to return to an area to see what has happened in the years you've been away.
The Corn Palace also has an interesting story.The murals both inside and outside are made entirely of native grains and corn that is grown in this area. They use thousands of bushels of corn, grasses, and straw. These murals are made each year and have been since the 1800s. Well, during WW l, WW l l and the Depression they took a hiatus from their work, but for the rest of the years, it was business as usual. That is quite a commitment and history.
One of the murals shows a launch of a shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center. One portrays Mount Ruchmore; another, the Crazy Horse Mounument. The artists we know would be amazed at this work. And it is all corn!
The building is used for the town's events all year: Proms, college and high chool basketball games, concerts, dances, a rodeo, and conventions. With the town having a populations of 14,000, they use the building monthly. Fun and very different from anythins we see in New England.
You can tell we have been in Mitchell for a while. I have read every travel brochure we have. This morning at breakfast, Steve started asked me something about the town and kidded me about knowing so much about the place. Well, what else do you do when your camper is being fixed? You read.
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