ON THE ROAD AGAIN FOR 2011, ALASKA HO

Greetings! We have resurrected our blog because of the many requests that we have had. Ken and I have started our summer travels for 2011 at bit early. We left Florida on March 12th and will be on the road until mid-October. Our travels will take us from Perry, GA where we did sales for Adventure Caravans at an FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) rally thru Texas to California and up to Alaska. After leaving Perry we stopped in Vicksburg, MS for two days to visit the National Park and Civil War battlefield. It is also the home of the USSCairo - an ironclad boat that saw battle on the Mississippi during the Civil War. It was buried in the mud for 100 years so there wasn't much left of the original structure. I had forgotten my history but re-learned that Vicksburg was captured by the Union in 1863 and was an occupied city for the remainder of the war and afterwards. Vicksburg is also home to several casinos along the Mississippi so we visited one of them too. The RV park we stayed at is at one of the casinos and has a shuttle bus that runs from the park to the casino 24/7. The building with the "Biedenharn" name is where Coca-Cola was first bottled in the US. by Joseph Biedenharn. Before 1894 you could only get Coke at a soda fountain. Kristine (our youngest) is a Keller-Williams real estate agent who works for a descendant of the family.

WINNIPEG THE LAST STOP

Our visit to Winnipeg marked the end of the trip. It is the capital and largest city in Manitoba and, like almost everything else in the province, started out as a trading post for the fur trade with the indians. The pictures below give an overview. We said our farewells to new and old friends and crossed the border back in to the States on Saturday 10/17. It was a "once in a lifetime" trip that we are glad we made but now we are looking forward to getting home to some warmth.


FAREWELL DINNER

ON THE ROAD TO WINNIPEG

THIS WAS THE RESIDENCE OF THE FIRST GOVERNOR

The Legislative Building in Winnipeg

THE BUILDING WAS DESIGNED BY AN ARCHITECT WHO WAS A FREE MASON IF YOU LOOK CLOSE YOU CAN SEE THE INFLUENCE IN THE STRUCTURE.

At the Canadian Mint - the Moose RCMP guarding the gold.

That is a real gold bar that our friends are holding with the real guard looking on.



The original oil painting of Winnie the Pooh. Did you know that Winnie was named for Winnipeg?


This statue at the zoo in Assiniboine Park is dedicated to the real Winnie. He was an orphan cub adopted as a mascot for this soldier's regiment in WWI. The bear was donated to the London zoo after the war and was visited by the author's son and so the story began.



St. Boniface cathedral. The facade at the front was from the old catahedral which burned down in the late 1960's. The current catahedral is behind that wall.

Our guide, Albert, at the sculpture garden. The sash that he is wearing identifies him as a French Canadian

.

CHURCHILL POLAR BEARS PAGE 3

Churchill, Manitoba is a small town as well as a seaport. The reason that the Polar bears come to Churchill is that the water in that part of the Hudson Bay is the first to freeze in the fall. We were told that the water never gets above 40 degrees. It is fresh water and fairly shallow in that area of the bay so the bear come there to await the formation of the ice floes so they can go out in the bay to feed for the winter. Their main source of food is Ring seal. Polar bear go about 4 months without eating anything substantial and do not hibernate. When they appear in the fall they are really hungry. The female give birth in the dens around December and can go up to 8 months without eating while giving birth and nursing the cubs.

I WISH WE REALLY SAW THIS BUT WE DIDN'T. ALSO ON THE RIGHT IS THE ESKIMO

MUSEUM

CHURCHILL IS A SEAPORT AND EXPORTS GRAIN BROUGHT BY RAIL. APPROXIMATELY 25 SHIPS A YEAR WHEN THE PORT IS NOT FROZEN IN. THE STONE FORMATION IS CALLED AN INUKSHUK. IT WAS ORIGINALLY USED BY THE INUIT PEOPLE TO MARK THE PATH THAT CARIBOU TOOK BUT HAS BECOME A GOOD LUCK SYMBOL.

OUR GUIDE BILL, HE ALSO HAS A BED & BREAKFAST IN THE BUSH

ANGLICAN CHURCH, OLDEST BUILDING IN CHURCHILL. IT ORIGINALLY WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CHURCHILL RIVER AND MOVED THREE TIMES TO THE PRESENT LOCATION. IT IS WELL OVER 100 YEARS OLD.

COMPOUND NO, IT REALLY IS POLAR BEAR JAIL, SENTENCE IS 30 DAYS IN SOLITARY. IF THEY COME TO TOWN THEY ARE TRANQUILIZED PUT IN JAIL AND RELEASED IN THE WILD IN 30 DAYS. THERE WERE 14 BEARS IN JAIL WHEN WE WERE THEIR.

THIS IS THE TUNDRA LODGE. YOU CAN STAY OUT ON THE TUNDRA FOR SEVERAL DAYS INSTEAD OF IN THE HOTEL IN TOWN.

TYPICAL TUNDRA TERRAIN


ALTHOUGH THIS BEAR IS ON ABOUT A 10" PEDESTAL IT IS STILL PRETTY BIG

ALTHOUGH THIS IS NOT AN ACTUAL BEAR BIRTHING DEN THE PARK SERVICE INDICATES IT IS A PRETTY GOOD DEPICTION OF HOW THEY APPEAR. OBVIOUSLY WE COULD NOT CHECK OUT THE REAL THING.

OH WHAT A ROUGH DAY I THINK I'LL TAKE A NAP