NORTH TO ALASKA 2025 - BUDGET RECAP - FINAL 30 DAYS - TOTAL FINANCIAL REVIEW OF ENTIRE TRIP TO ALASKA AND BACK

Now that we are home, it's time to do a final budget and expenses report. Also, we would like to do a recap of our trip with "Top Five Favorites" in various categories....

So far, we have done a budget blog post on the first 30 days:

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/06/north-to-alaska-2025-31-days-one-month.html

and the second 30 days:

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/07/north-to-alaska-2025-budget-recap-for.html

Now it's time for the third 30 days and a wrap up of our total costs for the trip!

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FUEL, which is the one everybody asks about the most, came in well under budget. 

For the last 30 days we spent $1,201 US currency. That is after the Canadian exchange rate has been applied through our credit card. We also spent $23 on a container of DEF fluid which is necessary for our Mercedes-Benz diesel engine. 

Total fuel costs were $2,696. Our budget was $3,200. So we did really quite well. That is over a span of 9,500 miles.  We averaged about 14.5 miles per gallon.

Most expensive was $6.07 a gallon in Jasper / Banff

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CAMPGROUNDS: For camping the last 30 days we spent $535. Monthly budget was $750 so we were below budget in our camping. We did have five nights of zero cost camping either at free campgrounds and at one Walmart this month. 

Total cost for camping was $1,730. This included 18 free nights. Our budget for camping was $2,275 so we came in under budget.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FOOD:  Our grocery items only came to $443 this month. The budget is $500 per month. And we definitely came home with groceries that got brought back into the house. 

Our complete cost of groceries was $1,156. That was well under our $1,500 budget for the entire trip. Granted, we left with some groceries from home. But just as well we are coming home with groceries to put back into the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PROPANE: Our propane costs, which weren't really budgeted, were only $38 for this month. Of course we ran the furnace less often and really only used propane as needed for the stove, refrigerator, water heater, and sometimes to run our propane generator.

Our total propane costs were $285 for the 90 days. 

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LAUNDRY: came in at $31 this month. Our budget was actually $120 per month. So we were well below on that. 

Total laundry cost for $98 for the entire trip. We had budgeted $360 so we were well below on that. 

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DUMP STATION: Dump station fees and water fill fees for this month were only $5. And that was after we got home at our own little city dump station a mile from our house. 

The total we paid on the entire trip was $47 for dump station costs.

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RESTAURANTS:. I know this is a high item for many people but that's not the way we travel. We prefer to cook our own food. This month we only spent $26 at a restaurant. That was for my beloved Godfather's Pizza the day before we came home. The entire trip was only $147 for restaurants. That was including two Godfather's pizzas, one on the way out and one on the way back, and the rest was cinnamon rolls at various places that Steve wanted to try out. That was it for restaurant eating. 

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GIFTS & SOUVENIRS: This month we spent $195 on gifts and souvenirs for ourselves and for family members. We needed to pick up a few things to say thank you for some people that made our trip easier, and some special things for the grandkids. In total we spent $460 in souvenirs. Part of that though was my beautiful Alaskan jacket and my rabbit fur mukluks.

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TOLLS / FERRIES: We had zero expense of those this month, and over the entire 90 days we spent $260. Our budget was $500. This included the ferry we took from Skagway to Haines, the toll for the Whittier tunnel, and the shuttles that we used going from McCarthy out to the Kennicott mine and back. 

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MISCELLANEOUS: items little odds and ends we picked up. $27 this month and a total of $96 over the entire 90 days. These items range from repair clips for our recliner chairs to some bungee cords to some extra tape etc 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our total financial expenditure for 90 days was $7,028. 

That comes out to $2,342 per month 

which averages out to $77.23 per day 

We traveled a total of 9,500 to miles

 and we had budgeted for 9,000 miles

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Now that we are home there are some minor repairs that we are taking care of ---

Our doorstep became erratic in operation. We had of course lubed it with dry silicone and did the good old hammer on the side of it to make it work again. It worked from time to time. But we knew on the inside the gear was stripping out. We've done this before on our last motorhome. We ordered a new one for $34 to replace. Easy peasy.

THERE WILL BE A YOUTUBE VIDEO COMING UP DETAILING THIS REPAIR/REPLACEMENT

Our water pump for the Coach water system had vibrated so much that the screws stripped out of the four holes that hold the impeller against the drive shaft. We did a temporary fix while on the road. We ordered a new one for $74 to replace it now that we are home. 

THERE WILL BE A YOUTUBE VIDEO COMING UP DETAILING THIS REPAIR/REPLACEMENT

The d-ring cable pulls on our recliner loveseat had broken during the trip. We did a temporary fix, but we ordered the identical replacement pulls once we got home for $13 each. We also ordered an extra set to keep on hand in case these ever break. 

THERE WILL BE A YOUTUBE VIDEO COMING UP DETAILING THIS REPAIR/REPLACEMENT

The propane valve with electronic solenoid was acting up during our trip. We did a somewhat temporary fix to make it operational. We ordered a new one for $200 to do a replacement in the future so it operates correctly every time and we are confident in it's performance. 

THERE WILL BE A YOUTUBE VIDEO COMING UP DETAILING THIS REPAIR/REPLACEMENT

The door strut for our side entry door had weakened and was not adequately holding the door in an open position. For a mere $9 and free shipping we ordered a new one. It's just an easy "snap in place" procedure. 

THERE WILL BE A YOUTUBE VIDEO COMING UP DETAILING THIS REPAIR/REPLACEMENT

We got a second rock chip on the way home, and opted to wait for Safelite to repair it until we got completely home, as it was not too big. They came right to our house and the cost is free with our American Family automobile policy. We gave the gentleman a $20 tip. 

THERE WILL BE A YOUTUBE VIDEO COMING UP DETAILING THIS REPAIR/REPLACEMENT

Steve performed maintenance after we got home which included a complete oil change. The cost is $250 for the Mercedes Benz specific oil, and filter. He also replaced the fuel filter and the air filter and the cab filter as well. $42

He topped off the DEF with what we had on hand. 

He replaced wiper blades to the cost of $13 

This one is a biggie, we decided that we had quite a bit of wear on our tires, and we are not sure exactly when they had been put on by the previous owner. Before our next trip, we decided it was best to invest in all new tires all around. We purchased Michelin Agilis Crossroad 2, to the cost of $1,700. 

THERE WILL BE A YOUTUBE VIDEO COMING UP DETAILING THIS REPAIR/REPLACEMENT

We decided to do a few upgrades, at this time, before our next big trip. 

First and foremost, I invested in new wireless microphones! My original ones went haywire during the trip, and I was unable to find microphones that were compatible with my GoPro 8 and the specific media mod device.

At a cost of $119, it is going to make my future videos much more enjoyable, less road noise, and hopefully more professional looking and sounding. 

The original mattress on the queen bed in our motorhome is a specific two-piece mattress that folds and unfolds when the slide pulls in or pulls out. It is now 10 years old. We decided to upgrade from Wilderness RV with a custom-made 10-in memory foam mattress. Cost of $788 + free shipping 

THERE WILL BE A YOUTUBE VIDEO COMING UP DETAILING THIS REPAIR/REPLACEMENT

The seat covers on our driver and passenger seats are of an imitation vinyl that has started to flake and peel. After 91 days of use, they are looking worse for the wear. We ordered a custom set of new seat covers that will be in shortly. We will install them ourselves. Cost $343 

THERE WILL BE A YOUTUBE VIDEO COMING UP DETAILING THIS REPAIR/REPLACEMENT

During our 91 day trip, we had our 28th wedding anniversary. We decided to splurge ourselves with a gift of new cooking pots and pans. We wanted the Carote brand, with removable handles that stack conveniently for RV use. We ordered them on a special prime sale from $300 down to $139. This is our anniversary gift to ourselves. 

THERE WILL BE A YOUTUBE VIDEO COMING UP DETAILING THIS REPAIR/REPLACEMENT

Although our Blue Eddie (Bluetti AC200L) power station performed flawlessly as a supplemental source of power, we are considering upgrading the two wet cell Trojans over to LiFePo batteries in the future. Stay tuned for upcoming plans on that. I'm sure I will make a video of it.

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Now for the recap: 

HIGHLIGHTS

I tried to pick out the top five highlights of our trip. That was pretty hard. So we picked out our top five, and a secondary top five, to give it a total of 10:

1. McCarthy & the Kennicott mine, so special I did 3 blog posts:

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/06/north-to-alaska-2025-day-34-driving-to.html

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/06/north-to-alaska-2025-day-35-touring.html

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/06/north-to-alaska-2025-day-36-touring.html

2. Seeing Denali 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/06/north-to-alaska-2025-day-44-we-finally.html

3. The White Pass to Skagway 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/05/north-to-alaska-2025-days-15-16-alaska.html

4. Hyder AK and Stewart BC

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/08/north-to-alaska-2025-day-79-back-to.html

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/08/north-to-alaska-2025-day-80-stewart-bc.html

5. Liard River Hot springs

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/05/north-to-alaska-2025-day-12-wildlife.html

6. Whittier tunnel 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/06/north-to-alaska-2025-day-49-taking.html

7. Skagway to Haines Ferry 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/05/north-to-alaska-2025-day-19-dyea-and.html

8. Homer Spit 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/07/north-to-alaska-2025-day-58-homer-spit.html

9. Sign Post Forest at Watson Lake 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/05/north-to-alaska-day-14-sign-post-forest.html

10. Keystone Canyon to Valdez although Bear Canyon to Stewart was just as beautiful! 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/06/north-to-alaska-2025-day-29-thompson.html

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/06/north-to-alaska-2025-day-32-fish.html

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/08/north-to-alaska-2025-day-79-back-to.html

MOST BEAUTIFUL CAMPSITES:

1. Morley Lake 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/08/north-to-alaska-2025-day-74-morely-lake.html

2. Skilak Lake

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/07/north-to-alaska-2025-days-59-62-skilak.html

3. Quartz Creek 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/06/north-to-alaska-2025-days-54-56-quartz.html

4. Meziaden Lake 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/08/north-to-alaska-2025-day-78-cassiar.html

5. Toad River Lodge

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/05/north-to-alaska-days-10-11-wildlife.html

WORST ROADS: 

1. Tok / Glenallen

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/06/north-to-alaska-2025-day-29-thompson.html

2. Destruction Bay 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/05/north-to-alaska-2025-day-23-destruction.html

3. McCarthy 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/06/north-to-alaska-2025-day-34-driving-to.html

4. Top of the World/Taylor 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/07/north-to-alaksa-2025-day-67-taylor.html

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/07/north-to-alaska-2025-day-68-top-of.html

5. And the longest stretch of construction was south of Dawson City to south of Whitehorse. 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/07/north-to-alaksa-2025-day-73-picking-up.html

AMAZING ANIMAL SIGHTINGS: 

1. Grizzly in the tree at Carcross

2. Baby Moose at Willow River 

3. Mama with two baby black bears 

4. Orca whale at Hyder

5. Bison itching his back on a road sign

FIVE TOP EVENTS: 

1. Picking up the Yoopers on the side of the road and giving them a ride to Whitehorse

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/07/north-to-alaksa-2025-day-73-picking-up.html

2. Both of our ferry rides, Skagway / Haines and Dawson City 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/05/north-to-alaska-2025-day-19-dyea-and.html

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/07/north-to-alaska-2025-days-68-69-ferry.html

3. Steve cinnamon rolls testing at various stops, Tetsa River Lodge was the best 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/05/north-to-alaska-days-10-11-wildlife.html

4. Parked out at the harbor of Portage Canal by Hyder Alaska 

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/08/north-to-alaska-2025-day-79-back-to.html

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/08/north-to-alaska-2025-day-80-stewart-bc.html

5. Walking around Dawson City early on a Sunday morning

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2025/07/north-to-alaska-2025-days-68-69-ferry.html

MOST IRRITATING: 

For me: my microphones not working!!!  Now I have a new set, I hope future videos will be better.

For Steve: having to think ahead and plan out fuel stops in the remote Alaskan wilderness. Usually you just look at your gauge and decide to stop in the next town.  Can't do that on the Alcan or the Cassier Highways. I was having to plan ahead and figure out necessary fuel-ups when available.

Would we do it again?  Hmmmmmm --- maybe in a few years to get to the places that we missed this time around???

9,502 total miles traveled

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THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME! 

Here is the you tube video that goes with today's blog: 

NORTH TO ALASKA 2025 - DAYS 90 & 91 - PATTERSON LAKE ND - TO WISCONSIN - HOME!!!

As I mentioned in my last blog, leading up to this one, we were really tired after driving all the way to Teddy Roosevelt National Park. We had made some reservations at Patterson Lake campground in Dickinson, North Dakota. This is the second time we have ever made reservations on this entire trip.

 Since we knew we didn't have to rush now to find a campsite, we took our time enjoying the rest of Teddy Roosevelt Park while we were in the comfort of the air conditioning in the motorhome.  We did a lot of driving through the park, and only stepped out a few times in the high heat and humidity. It was wilting us!! 

The campground at Patterson lake was just a bit out of Dickinson on the southwest side of town. I looked ahead on Google Maps and searched for Godfather's Pizza! If you are a long-time blog reader from the beginning of our trip, you will remember that I found a Godfather's Pizza in Minnesota, just before we crossed the border to Canada on our second day.

 Now we were lucky enough to find one more in North Dakota before heading back to Wisconsin. There aren't any Godfathers in Wisconsin anymore. Sigh.

We ordered a Classic Combo in deep dish before going to the campground. We picked it up, and Steve actually grabbed the video camera and filmed a cute little bit of me bringing the pizza back to the motorhome. It is on the YouTube link at the end of this blog.

Can you almost smell it?

We each ate two pieces, and packaged up the remaining slices and put them into the freezer. They will make two more good lunches after we get home. We learned that putting leftover pizza in the air fryer at home really makes it taste great!

When we got settled into our campsite #2, (the same one we had last year), we turned up the air conditioning on full blast. It had been up to 93° today, and extremely humid. We definitely needed to run the air conditioning the moment we pulled in.

Each site has electric and water. There is also a dump station, dumpsters, and a nice swimming beach and picnic area. We didn't check out the bathrooms or the showers. But knowing this is such a nice park, I'm sure they are fine.

https://dickinsonparks.org/patterson-lake-recreation-area/

Something sweet that I noticed at this campground is that each site is separated by a row of thick lush lilac bushes. There's also some other plant mixed in with it that has little berries that attract the birds. Each clump of bushes is just twittering and warbling with bird songs. It's absolutely delightful, and what a great way to separate the sites from each other?

There are large cottonwood trees down the middle of the row of campsites that provide beautiful shade on a hot day.

Right now, the cottonwoods are releasing their little bits of fluff and seeds into the air.  It's almost like little bits of snow along the edges of the drive, catching in the gravel.  It reminds me of our large cottonwood in the backyard at home. I wonder if it is also releasing its fluffy seeds right now?

The only downfall to the campground is the railroad track that runs along the back side of the property.  Where I am pointing with my finger down below. We only heard one train go through during the night. Either that, or we were sleeping so deeply we never heard any more?

It really never cooled down that much overnight, because the humidity was so high. We got up early and took our showers to cool off and have fresh dry skin for more comfort during the next leg of our journey.

The wildfire smoke from the North was increasing. We made our way quietly out of the campsite by 8:00 a.m. We didn't want to disturb anyone else. Although it looked somewhat clear to the East, we could see the haze in the North.  

To keep out the smoke smell, we have to use the dash air conditioning on "inside circulation". It tends to freeze up after 15 to 20 minutes of operation. We have to turn it off to let it "thaw ". Literally, chunks of ice come spitting out of the vents at us as it thaws!!!  Then we can start it up again and it works well for another 15 to 20 minutes.  Repeat.  We had recently had the control panel replaced to try to correct that very problem.  There is a known service bulletin on it and I think it needs to be recalibrated by Mercedes-Benz when we get back home.

So in the meantime, we fired up the onboard propane generator. This allows us to also operate the rooftop air conditioner in the ceiling of the motorhome. This gives us more cool air throughout the coach, and helps with the lag times that we have the dash air thawing.

It also keeps the living room portion of the motorhome nice and cool for Nicholas. He looks pretty comfortable, doesn't he?

Yes, we are driving on the Interstate... as much as we don't want to. We do want to get some miles underneath these tires to get beyond the high heat, humidity and wildfire smoke. 

We neared the community of New Salem. We could tell it was coming up in the distance because we could see Salem Sue!

Yep, that is exactly what you think it is. A big huge cow--- her name is Salem Sue.  We had stopped to see her close up last time, so we really didn't need to do it again this time. But she is something that you should stop to see at least once in your life. 

(Note the size of people in front of her)

The smoke was increasing as we entered into Minnesota. It was getting worse and worse as we were heading East. It was blowing down from the North and there really wasn't any way to escape it.

So we just kept on driving. And driving. And driving. There wasn't much else of anything we could do, other than find a campground and plug in and close all the windows and hide for the afternoon. And for sure, the next few days were all forecast to be just as bad, if not worse.

We decided to keep on going right across Minnesota. By 5:00 p.m. we were nearing Minneapolis and St Paul. 

Oh goodness, RUSH HOUR! There were barrels on our side of the road but they were pushed aside and no construction was really taking place. Google Maps said entire huge sections were under construction, but they were wrong. 

We flew through with only two small slowdowns, no stopping. We were on the 694 bypass around the North side of town. Mostly 65 mph all the way. 

The oncoming traffic heading westbound at times were slowed down to a dead stop. Sometimes for miles and miles they were backed up. We are so thankful that was not our case in the Eastbound direction.

Before we knew it, we were out of the city and crossing the St Croix River. I cannot imagine all of those people out there in their sailboats enjoying the day with that heavy smoke in the air? We could barely see across the river to the shore on the other side. And it's not that big of a river...

There it was, that large brown familiar sign that is at all the major entrances to the state of Wisconsin!!!

We have pictures of ourselves as children lined up by those huge wooden signs every time we would go up to Michigan to visit family. On the way back, we would stop and get our picture taken as we headed back home to Wisconsin. Very fond memories of traveling and seeing that sign as we came "home". 

We drove along to the first large town by the name of Hudson. We decided after 600 miles of crazy driving today that we would overnight it at the Walmart.

Nooooo no overnight parking allowed at the Hudson Walmart. Dangnabbit. We cooked up a little bit of supper, and debated about overnighting at a truck stop or trying the Home Depot which had a very small lot. Steve made the decision that we should just drive on towards Eau Claire. That town has a Walmart that overnight parking was allowed. It was 60 miles further, which meant another hour of driving. But it also meant we were another hour closer to home for the next day! 

We made it to the Eau Claire Walmart and found a level spot to park. It was still very hot in the 80s. We did not want to run the generator all night. So we opened up the windows at bedtime and dealt with the humid and smokey air. It wasn't very comfortable and we didn't sleep very well. About 2:00 a.m. a crazy Zamboni-type street sweeper came along to sweep the parking lot! Then about 4:00 a.m. big tanker truck came to the gas station next door to fill their underground tanks. I could smell the heavy fuel odor wafting in through the open windows. By 5:00 a.m. we got up and took showers. It felt strange showering in a Walmart lot. Lol. 

By 6:00 a.m. we decided to hit the road and head towards home!!! 

It was only 200 miles further to get across the state to where we live along the Eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

As we got close, we had to be careful to not say the words "home" or "house" in front of Nicholas.  It sends him crazy because he knows what those words mean. 

We got to Oconto, and pulled first over to the dump station at our little Holtwood City Campground. We paid our $5 fee and dumped our tanks so everything was empty at the end of the trip. Steve gave things a good rinse so it took a little bit longer. Of course, we were anxious to get home and in the house and get comfortable and rest a bit. 

Our central air conditioning is controlled through Wi-Fi, so we were able to have the house nice and cool as we rolled into the yard.

Little guy Nick was just beside himself to be back home. I quick turned off the alarms and the cameras so it didn't set things off coming through the door. He was rushing around and checking his toys and wanting to go out in his potty yard and just make sure everything was exactly the way he remembered it!

"C'mon, let's go potty in my OWN fenced in yard and not have to be on a leash!"

We put fresh water in his dish... and it was right where he expected it to be. 

I kind of did the same thing too. I wandered around my She-Shed, touched my looms and my quilting machine, stroked my sewing machines and thought about the next quilt I'm going to work on. 

After a rest, we called up the kids and grandkids and set up times to get together and hug and give them their souvenirs from Alaska. 

After 9,502 fun and adventure-filled miles, it was great to be 

HOME!!!

We will do a wrap up and budget of the entire 90 days in the next blog and on YouTube. 

Here's the video that goes along with today's blog: 

653 miles travel from Dickinson ND to Eau Claire, Wisconsin

then

205 miles traveled from Eau Claire Wisconsin to home!

9,502 miles traveled in total!!!

NORTH TO ALASKA 2025 - DAY 85 - THRU JASPER, BANFF & THOMPSON CREEK

Yessssss --- after 2 days of rain at Mount Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia, it was time to hit the road. Look at the gorgeous day we were going to have! The skies were clearing up and the sun was shining.

Directly ahead, in perfect view from our campsite, is Mount Robson. This is the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.

We drove out of the park, and avoided the congestion over at the visitor center. We were going to dump our holding tanks there but decided to pass. The parking lot was completely full and to get over to the dump area it was not going to be very convenient for us. Instead, we hit the road and started heading east towards Jasper National Park, crossing from British Columbia into Alberta on the way.

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, the sun was flickering in and out of the heavy dark clouds. A few times we had sprinkles. But then other times it opened up to beautiful sunshine. With all of the high mountains, I think it's kind of hard to predict what kind of weather would be coming each time you went another 10 miles, it would change.

We stopped a few times to enjoy the scenery and to take a break. It was just breathtaking as we wound our way through this section of the Canadian Rockies.

Again, I took 16 bajillion pictures and had a hard time choosing which ones to post on here. The sweeping valleys and the high ridges, combined with the tall pine trees was just so awe-inspiring.

These lakes were absolutely vivid turquoise blue. It's not reflecting the sky up above, as you can tell it's cloudy. This blue water is just so amazingly bright to the eyes and it has to do with the reflection off the silt and the minerals. These are glacial fed lakes and rivers that have this color. I know it looks fake, but this is exactly snapped out of the window with no photoshopping. You can even see the reflection of myself in the glass as we zoomed on past.

The clouds were building up a bit as we got closer to Jasper. We had originally thought about stopping in the town of Jasper but so much of it has been burned and not rebuilt yet. Many of the businesses are still temporarily closed. This is the area that had a huge fire in July of 2024. The park is not charging any entrance fee at this time. They are also giving a discount for camping. 

It was so so sad to turn the corner and enter the park and see the devastation and the destruction of the wildfire of last year. This went on for miles and miles and miles and miles.

We rolled down the window to speak with the attendant at the entrance point. I could smell a funny smell even then. Everything smelled like old burned-up campfire, decay, and acrid stinky ashes. 

It reminded me, as a child, of the ash pile we had out in our back garden from emptying our wood burning stove. In the spring, Dad would spread it with a shovel over the whole garden before he would roto-till it into the dirt. It was that same smell. 

There are strict limitations on what you can do in the park right now. Because of all the burned trees that are now falling over, even in the slightest breeze. You are not allowed on any of the hiking trails. You can be in the parking areas or sections of the parks that have been already cleared of standing dead trees.

Also, they have sections along the road marked with cones to not enter the woods in that area at all. It's called a rehabilitation zone. It's for the wildlife that have congregated there to be safe and to have parts of the park grow enough foliage for protection and food for the animals.

The campgrounds have been cleared of any dangerous rotten burnt standing timber. So now they are just flat open fields of parking spots among the fallen trees and remaining stumps.  We can see some people taking them up on their discounted camping rates.  But we drove on through the park, as we had another portion in mind for camping in the un-burnt areas.  

The sun was peeking out and we were having more blue sky. We wished it had been a better scenery or terrain to look at. It just reminds us of how fragile is the balance between vibrant blooming nature and total destruction. 

I know it will green up and it will take time to recover. New little bits of grass were here and there poking through. But the devastation is so strong, and everything looks sad and desolate.

We decided to try and hit one or two of the highlights of the park. One of the things that we wanted to see Athabasca Falls.   We made our way to the falls, located about in the middle of the park. Ohhhhh myyyyy everyone else must have had the same idea! It was soooo crowded!!!  Traffic jammed up just on the road leading INTO the parking area.  Cars were parked 10 deep on the road, just waiting to turn into the parkinglot.  There wasn't a spot to be had to park a car, much less a 25 ft motorhome. 

We drove on past down the road a ways and turned around to make our way back out to the highway. Steve slowed down over the bridge, and I was able to lean out the window and snap a few pictures of the waterfalls from the bridge. There is no way we could get into the parking lot or through those crowds of people.

It appeared to be a beautiful waterfall, and we would have enjoyed going to stand on the deck nearby to watch it. But there is just no way we could make it through all those people even if we did find a spot to park. It was very crowded.

We did drive further down into the park.

It was getting crazier and crazier with vehicles all over and a lot of inexperienced drivers in rental RVs. People were backing up without looking, walking in front of you while looking at their cell phone, and sometimes it was five or six vehicles driving in the middle of parking areas with no set direction indicated. So it was basically "survival of the fittest" who could get to the entry or the exit of the lot without smashing into anybody else. It was really like a demolition derby where we were trying to avoid each other. It definitely was not comfortable! 

This guy here pulled right out in front of us without looking... as we were traveling at the speed limit on the main highway through the park. We slammed on the brakes, as he thoughtlessly rolled along at a snail's pace. 

We had to be on alert every minute. 

Steve did find a little pull off parking lot that was actually a staging area we think was for the tubing companies for the rafters buses. We pulled in there and there was nobody else around! We had time to cook up a nice lunch and relax and look around a little bit. Yes, things were still burned and charred, but at least we had a spot to stop and make some lunch. 

I tried to find some beauty in the damaged landscape. It's good to see some of the green popping up around the edges. 

As we worked our way further south, there were less and less burned patches. But there were also more and more people.

The natural landscape was stunning. The clouds were rolling up and away to reveal the tops of the mountains as we descended deeper down into the park.

Jasper Park is over a hundred miles long. Each mile was more beautiful than the last.

Some areas we traveled were flat in the valleys, and other ones were winding along through the mountains. 

We could see some people who were leaving their vehicles at designated spots and taking tour buses throughout the park. I really feel sorry for those tour bus drivers! We were finding navigating in the congested areas nerve-racking and tense. 

But then things would open up and we would see this beautiful scenery. The clouds were splattering a few raindrops here and there. 

This is called the Ice Fields Parkway. Sometimes in the winter it gets closed down, but they try to keep it open year-round.

We came through one area that was just astounding with scenery. I had clicked and taken this photo of a glacier in between the two dark mountains. The clouds above it were just parting, allowing the sun to illuminate the glacier.

To me, this next picture is just amazing how the icy glacier caught the light from above through the clouds.  And that is exactly what it looked like as we were going through that particular valley.

As we drove further south, winding our way along through the hundred mile stretch of Jasper Park, things were getting a little brighter and lighter in the sky.  We were seeing a lot more greenery and it felt a little bit better than the utter desolation and sadness of the sections to the north.

We were coming around one curve of the road that was right alongside of the water. I saw this little outcropping and it looked so pretty sticking out in the water. The wind had kicked up and there were waves on the surface. It looked so picturesque and rugged and rocky and wild.

Now we came to a highly congested tourist area again. This is the popular Glacier Skywalk. And boy were people ever maneuvering and cutting across traffic and trying to get into the parking lot. We had to hit the brakes twice for RVs cutting right in front of us trying to make the entrance because they weren't paying attention. Both of them happened to be rental RVs. You can tell by all the crazy banners and lettering stuck on the outside.

Steve maneuvered our way around and I snapped one photo from this direction of the people out on the skywalk.

Then before we almost collided with three or four other cars, we got to the other end of the tourist area and I was able to snap this photo from my side window.

We looked it up, it is $35 a person to go and walk on this thing. I definitely do not like heights, so I wouldn't want to go on it anyhow. But we saved $70 by driving past. The scenery we were seeing was absolutely beautiful and we didn't need to spend $70 to see a little bit more.

This photo is from their website:

No thank you.

We did drive along into other sections of the mountains, following the main route through the park. Most of the parking lots were packed solid or had people waiting to turn in or pull out.  It was a very tense situation trying to maneuver every time around entrances or exits. I think people would lose patience and just pull out and figure you weren't going to hit them??

In other areas, the traffic stretched out where it wasn't quite as busy and we could relax and enjoy the scenery.

The one campground in Jasper Park that we were hoping to get a "first come first serve" site was fully occupied. There was really nowhere else to go other than south further through the park--- or backtrack a hundred miles to the campgrounds at the beginning in Jasper. 

By this time, we had reached the southern area of Jasper Park. Believe me, a hundred miles worth of "Tourist Infested Park Driving" was enough.  Instead of continuing on another 145 miles through Banff Park, We decided to take a left on Route 11 called the David Thompson Highway and get out of the park completely. We needed to find a quiet peaceful campground someplace out of the park boundaries.

But first...

We were low on fuel. So that meant we need to fuel up before we went traveling off into parts unknown. Right within Jasper Park at the Saskatchewan River Crossing, is where we needed to turn. They also had a place called The Crossing Station and a hotel. So we thought we would get fuel there. Sounds good right? 

Well.... It was so intense I didn't even have a chance to pick up my camera and take a picture. 

First, we had to maneuver our way in amongst people walking around right in the parking lot in front of the fuel pumps. People were just walking all over willy-nilly, staring at their phones and walking right in front of oncoming vehicles. 

Second, all types of vehicles were pulling in and jockeying for positions either to get fuel, or to get into the store, or loop around the building to get to the hotel. It was like nobody knew where the other person was going and people were criss-crossing in front of each other with their vehicles. Plus the added pedestrians in between. It was NUTS!!!!

Third, we pulled up to where the waiting attendants jump up out of their line of chairs and will pump your fuel as you line up at various pumps. You do not get out of your vehicle. He was very nice and friendly. We gave him a little tip. Then you pull your vehicle forward with a little number and you drive up to a center single kiosk where you pay for your fuel. I guess it moves people through faster and eliminates the problem of people leaving their vehicles at the pump to go inside and shop in the convenience store and the gift shop.

After we converted the Canadian rate over to US, this was the most expensive fuel we filled up on our entire trip!! It was $6.07 a US gallon after the conversions and the exchange rate. Wow.

Finally forth, now we had to try to get out of this place. It's like they on purpose face you to the back after you get your fuel, so now you are forced to drive past the gift shops and through the parking areas for the hotel. The only way to get back out to the highway is to wind your way through all of these walking pedestrians. Plus add in all of the other vehicles trying to figure out their way to get back out to the highway after getting their fuel. There are no defined routes or lanes and no lines so you're just kind of driving across open parking lot with no lines. But there are people coming from all directions and trying to go cross cross in all directions. It was really crazy!!

I had to carefully watch for things from every angle on my side while Steve was watching from every angle on his side... Driving slowly thru people and vehicles and rental RVs that were everywhere!

I am relieved to say we made it out unscathed. We did not get bumped or hit and we didn't run over anyone!

But that was enough for us, we needed to get out of the park and find a peaceful place to rest for the night...

We turned east on Route 11 on the David Thompson Highway and managed to get our way out of the park. We had found two campgrounds on the map that were beyond the park boundaries as well as a lot of boondocking spots along the shores of Abraham Lake. So we knew we would get a spot somewhere to sleep for the night. But it was getting dark. Ugh.

A mere 6 miles out of the park, we found this beautiful campground.  Their first two loops were reservable, about 40 sites, and their large back loop of 20 sites were all "first come first serve" sites! There were only five or six other people in there and we had our choice of many of the sites.

It was called Thompson Creek Campground. 

 

https://www.albertaparks.ca/parks/central/thompson-creek-pra/

I took this photo the next day in better light, but this was the bridge we had to cross over the creek to get to the "first come first serve" sites. How cute is that?

We got nestled into our campsite and cuddled up and relaxed. It had been quite a day.

Although we had only traveled 159 miles, it felt like a lot, lot more. I think it was the rainy weather on and off, combined with all the crazy traffic that made it difficult. Also, driving through all that devastation of the wildfires was very disheartening and sobering. 

After a late meal, we did get out and take a walk around. The temps were dropping and I was able to put on my new jacket that I bought in Alaska. 

It was good to relax and walk amongst the tall trees. Things were peaceful and quiet. We were doing our "honeymoon thing" while Nick looked off in the opposite direction, embarrassed by our public display of affection.

We strolled along, taking in the beauty of the woods. We were smelling the fresh wildflowers as we walked along, appreciating their natural beauty.

I think these are the rose hips from the wild roses we had enjoyed over the last 2 months. I think some people use them to make tea. I am not sure. But we continued our walk along through the woods and down towards the creek.

This was such a beautiful location! This low flowing creek over the gravely rocks was just perfect place for a family to take their children. They could wade and splash around among the rocks, without danger of toddling off into deeper water. 

We could see where some enterprising children were trying to build little dams by rearranging larger rocks into sections to change the flow of the river. Or maybe to trap some crayfish or minnows. After all of that rain, I was surprised that it's nice and low.  What a great place to cool off on a hot day. 

Each side of the high banks were spaced with picnic tables and comfortable areas to relax and watch the water trickle on over the rocks. 

If you looked up at the end of the river there was a huge mountain on one side, and if you looked up at the beginning of the river on the other side of the bridge there was a huge mountain there too. So we may not have been camping on a mountainside lake, but we were camping near a two mountainside river! 

This was exactly what we needed, what a place to relax and recoup and plan our next section of our travels. We are now in Alberta, Canada, and heading towards Calgary and south down towards Montana. We have decided to not continue down through Banff, nor go the route over to Washington State. We will save that for another trip.

Here's the video that goes along with today's blog: 

159 VERY LONG miles traveled today 

7,588 miles traveled so far