Our next leg of 249 miles took us from Needles (elevation 495′) on a slow climb across west central Arizona to Flagstaff (elevation 6,909′) and onto the Colorado Plateau. We stopped at the Meteor Crater RV Park about 20 miles west of Winslow and 5 miles north of the Meteor Crater Natural Landmark. We had…
Few things scream coastal California better than a classic woody station wagon. We had lots of friends to visit in the Los Angeles area before heading east to winter in Carrollton, TX; so we again stayed for a week at the Walnut RV Park in Northridge, CA. From experience, I chose a better-located spot within…
NOTE: All historical facts recounted here were taken (but reworded by this author) from the “William Randolph Hearst” and “Hearst Castle” articles at en.m.wikipedia.org. The feature aerial photo was downloaded from the internet as it was uncopyrighted. William Randolph Hearst Sr. (1863-1951) was born into a wealthy family in San Francisco. George Hearst, his father,…
The drive to Napa, CA (population 77,492), traversed the fertile Sacramento Valley. The flat farmland and grass-covered rolling hills couldn’t compete with the majestic scenery we’d seen all summer; however, it did have a certain attraction and clearly made a significant contribution to our country’s food production. Our campground was east of downtown among the…
We planned on wintering again in Carrollton, TX starting on November 1st. This gave us about seven weeks to get there, so we needed a plan for where and when we’d be stopping. I still didn’t like making campground reservations too far in advance, because it reduced our flexibility. Instead, I planned our tentative route…
We caught our first glimpse of MV Kennicott at 4:30 pm as she sailed up Chilkoot Inlet. We had to admit seeing her was an exciting moment, marking the end of our Alaska and Northwest Canada adventure and the start to saving MFI three weeks of driving. In front of the terminal, there were seven…
The Tlingit First People called Haines Deishu, which appropriately translated to “end of the trail.” The city was a quaint tourist and fishing village sitting on the Chilkoot Inlet amidst an area, which had a lot to offer visitors. The day we arrived, the weather was wet and cloudy; but over the following days, the…
The original plan at this point was to work our way south to Skagway, AK, be there in time to board our AMHS (Alaska Marine Highway System) ship, and sail back to the lower 48. We had purchased our tickets several months earlier on our way north with a departure date of 16 September. But…
NOTE: Before reading this blog, I highly recommend you first read The Dempster Highway Experience by MFI published September 1, 2024. Her blog helps put this one in proper perspective. Our plan, and only option, was to drive the Dempster Highway south, stop at the same campgrounds we’d done on the way up, and hang…
Seeing the Aurora Borealis, also called the Northern Lights, was on our bucket list. While we were camped in Fairbanks, MFI downloaded the My Aurora Forecast app to help us know when and where to look during our remaining 2 and 1/2 months in Alaska and northwestern Canada. It was not something we checked on…
