It’s been a while now, but I have an excuse. We have seriously been further from any kind of phone or internet signal than I have ever thought to be!
We’ve seen at least a thousand miles of spectacular mountains, many glaciers, hundreds of pristine ice-cold lakes surrounded by thick forests and exciting wildlife. But in all that time we haven’t seen a single cell tower. It’s awesome! When we do get some small amount of Wi-Fi in a campsite, I use it to upload the best of the many pictures we’ve taken to the 2oldchicksrv Instagram account. I hope you’ve seen them there. They don’t begin to really show the amazing scenery properly, so just multiply everything by at least 50 and you might be closer to the real thing. We’ve been joking that every day on this trip we just say “Oh, look at that!’ over and over.
So, a quick recap. We joined our caravan in Hazelton, British Columbia at a lovely site run by the local First People and directly adjacent to their historical village, ‘Ksan. We had the opportunity to eat some lovely food, and experience the traditional songs and dances still used at clan meetings. We learned about the local totem poles and the whole process of requesting a totem be made by a neighboring clan and the steps taken all the way up to the huge potlatch used to celebrate the delivery and ‘pay’ the clan of the totem artists for their work.
We also started getting to know the other members of our traveling group. There are about 25 RVs plus the support staff vehicles, and they come from all over the US and parts of Canada. Most of the people on our caravan are traveling with at least one dog, most have two. One NY RV is traveling with 3 cats. So with our cat and dog, we blend right in. At first, the dogs fussed at one another. But with every rest stop and overnight stay they’ve become socialized and now seek each other out. And it is a sight to see – 28 RVs, 19 of them towing cars and at least one towing another camper all pulling into a roadside rest stop like a giant motorized ballet (carefully coordinated by radios). And then, as the dust settles, 50-odd people in orange yellow vests leading a wave of dogs to the grass. More than one other traveler has been seen taking photos of the event. One guy even climbed to the top of his RV to photograph the spectacle! The dogs now eagerly go to check in with one another as soon as their business is completed. Some will drag their owners to visit their favorite ‘pet-er’ and happily accept attention from every other dog walker in the group.
The first stop after ‘Ksan is Hyder, Alaska. We loved Hyder so much, it’s gonna need it’s own post. So I’ll say goodnight. Every day is filled with action and adventure, and every night we sleep like really tired rocks!
PS: Happy Birthday to my brother Bud and daughter Erica. We’re sorry to not be with you on your birthdays, but we think of you often. In between the ‘Oh my God, Look at THAT!’ statements, of course.
2 Old Chicks RV 