Laird Hot Springs!

                                           Enjoying the hot springs!

                                           Our campfire at night....?


May 25-May 27, 2011

      We continued north and stayed overnight in a pull out on the Alaska Highway....snow covered mountains all around us!  We saw many wildlife during our travels to Laird River Hot Springs....bear, moose and buffalo!  We all enjoyed ourselves soaking in the hot springs and enjoying a campfire at night...even though it is daylight outside almost until 11:00 P.M.!

Onward to the Alaska Highway!

          

Official Mile Marker of the Alaska Highway

Here we go!!!

May 23, 2011- May 24, 2011

        We continued driving and spent the night in the parking lot of Wal Mart in Grande Prairie!  We shopped for a few supplies and in the morning continued onward to Dawson Creek...the beginning of the Alaska Highway!  We took pictures at the zero mile marker...strolled around town...had ice cream at the Dairy Queen and doughnuts at the bakery!  We spotted a bear along the way!  The scenery is becoming mountainous and beautiful!  We spent the night at the Buckinghorse River British Columbia Park. 

Moving Across Canada!

 

                                          Dinner Time!

                                           Rigs at the Moose Lodge in Edmonton, Canada!

                                           Rene and his buddy Cliff!

                                          Rene with his turn with the Goofy hat!

                                           Bob picking up after Emily!!!!

May 21 - May 23, 2011

         We left the Casino around 9:15 AM and began our 350 mile journey to Edmonton, Alberta.  The landscape is becoming hilly but very few towns along the way.  We enjoyed our ride and we found the Moose Lodge after a false reading on the GPS!  We set up camp in the parking lot and enjoyed a turkey dinner at our place.

         We spent the day exploring the largest mall in North America.  Oh how I wish we had a mall like this....hugh indoor water park, amusement park, hotels and over 800 shops!  No question you could shop to you drop!  We had lunch in the mall and came back to the Moose Lodge and the girls played some pickle ball!  We are leaving in the morning and heading for the Alaska Highway!

Hello Canada!

                                          Bob & Vicki being checked at customs!

                                           Dakota Dunes Casino....Canada

May 20, 2011
           
              We finally arrived in Canada!  We crossed the border in North Dakota and entered Canada in Porta, Saskatchewan.  Our experiences crossing were quite exciting!  Rich and Dee were held up with customs for two and a half hours!  Vicki and Bob's coach was also checked inside...but Rene, Mira, Dean and I crossed without any problems!
       
              The land was flat and you could see for miles and miles.  We spent the night at the Dakota Dunes Casino in Saskatoon.  They even supplied electric for all the coaches!  We all joined the Dakota Dunes
Casino Players Club where we received $10.00 each to play and $5.00 off our food!  We all played...no big winners!  Oh well....goodnight!
 
             My apologies...I will not have access to the Internet in Canada!  If we are not in a spot that has wi fi ...forget it!

May 16, 2011 - May 20, 2011

                         Goodbye to Wisconsin... Hello Iowa, Minnesota & North Dakota! 

     May 16-   We left the Moose Hall and began our journey northwest to Minnesota!  We arrived at the Hidden Bluffs Campground in Spring Grove, Minnesota.  We enjoyed cocktails and a game of domino's on the picnic table outside.
 
     May 17-   We left the campground and drove around 400 miles in Minnesota and spent the night in a WalMart !  We did some last minute shopping and left in the morning around 9:00 a.m.
 
     May 18-   We drove approximately 240 miles and arrived in Minot, North Dakota.  We are staying at the Rough Rider Campground until Friday.   This area had over 100 inches of snow and lots of rain!  The campground is only half opened due to flooding from the river.  The following two days we will be doing all of our last minute details before entering Canada!

Monroe, Wisconsin May 13- May 16

          May 13 -     Vicki, Bob, Rich, Dee, Dean and I left the State of Indiana early morning and arrived at the Moose Lodge in Monroe, Wisconsin for a few days.  We parked our RV's in the parking lot of the Monroe Moose Club and enjoyed a fish dinner and a game of domino's in the lodge!  Tomorrow our president and his wife will arrive after their unfortunate accident.  We will all be together again and ready to go north!


         May 14-     We spent a fun day in in the historic city of Monroe...enjoyed goodies from the local farmers market in town, visited a cheese factory ...bought lots of cheese for Alaska ...and toured the second oldest beer brewery in US!  We had a superb reunion with Mira & Rene.....a wine and cheese lunch....a steak dinner in the Moose Lodge and played dominos' in the evening!

        May 15-     Breakfast was served at the Moose Lodge and then we headed to New Glarus...a Swiss town Est. in 1893...America's "Little Switzerland" an original Swiss settlement!  We walked around the town....strolled in the shops...and visited Puempel's Olde Tavern where we threw dollar bills up on the ceiling and sipped a cold beer!  We enjoyed dinner at Baumgartner Cheese Store in Monroe.  We will be leaving in the morning for Minnesota ! 

 

Fun in Tennessee!

   Pickle ball games!!

April 26- May 1, 2011 Tennesse to Indiana

   We arrived at the  Horseshoe Lake Thousand Trails around noon!  We followed the GPS....mistake!! She took us down some back road with the Wabash River overflowing!  All the rivers and lakes in this area are completely overflowing due to the large amounts of rain!
   We went to Fazzoli's Italian Restaurant for dinner....reminded us of Kentucky when we visited our daughter Sherri at Asbury College!  We visited Clinton a small little town near here and visited the covered bridges in the area! They have many covered bridges, however we only visited  6 because of the flooding and distance between them!
   We enjoyed a great dinner at the Beef House on Rt 63 & Rt.74 in Indiana near the Illinois border.
  

     We talked to Rene and Mira....she went to the hospital because of severe pains everywhere!  They took x-rays and gave her pain and muscle relaxers.  I'm sure she will be feeling a lot better!  Our prayers are with her.

      The pickle ball net was put up but we have not played due to RAIN!  Rich and Dee should be here tomorrow.