Mosquitoes really do suck. I wish there was a good way to keep the bloodsuckers away. They have plagued us yesterday while we stayed in Stewart, BC. This area is usually visited by most travelers at the end of July and in August as that is when the salmon in this area runs and the bears arrive. We visited just so we could see the area and visit Hyder, AK which has a population of 89. Both areas are very small but all the business owners are very friendly.
June 28 – We experienced the mosquitoes while setting up our campsite at Bear River RV Park. We had asked for a pull through location, but upon arrival discovered that someone else was in our spot. They moved us to 6A which technically wasn’t a pull through but you can see where people have driven through the spots to enable it to be a pull through. We had to disconnect the jeep in as I had to do some maneuvering to get the Phaeton into the site. It was a level spot with gravel. I did have to go over a bit of grass/mud to “pull through” but it wasn’t a problem. The site is lush and green and I should have taken that as a hint. We were swarmed by mosquitoes while we set up. Not only were we swarmed, we became infested by them in the RV.
Bear in Stewart, BC
We abandoned the rv and went for a drive into Stewart looking for an early dinner. When I didn’t spot anything I felt the kids would eat, we drove into Hyder, AK. We were glad we did when we spotted another bear. We also discovered some great fudge at Caroline’s Boundary Gallery. She also screen print’s t-shirts that she sells in her store. The most amusing thing of the day is when we crossed into AK with no one at the border and then had to show our passports crossing back into BC. Beyond the mosquitoes (which are beyond their control) our main issue is the wifi. You are to only do email and browse the web. There were 5 different routers to log onto (3 of which were near us) and we would get bogged down by others not obeying the rules. Ok – I did upload one picture and sent it to my husbands phone, but I am not counting that.
June 29 – We slept in due to the mosquitoes waking us up occasionally during the night. Once we dragged ourselves out of bed we braved the mosquitoes and went into Stewart to fuel up. Diesel is in an above ground tank to the left of the station. It is full service so they pump the fuel for you. You will have to wash your own window though. I also purchased a 2.5 gallon container of DEF. This station has a ton of auto parts in addition to a few sodas and candy bars.
Mountain Shadow
After fueling up, we headed to Mountain Shadow RV Park in Iskut, BC. I couldn’t locate it on the Phaeton’s GPS so I was very thankful that I always check out the route online and on maps the night before. The park is located after you see signs for Iskut and it has a very steep downhill drive. If your looking for a new business the owners have put it up for sale. They want to move closer to their grandkids. It is a beautiful site. My only issue with them (again other than mosquitoes) is that the only have electric and water at the sites. They do have a dump station which is nearby but I won’t be able to get to it without disconnecting the Jeep so we will have to carry a full load of gray water when we travel to Watson Lake tomorrow. One of the greatest things about this campground (besides the level gravel sites) is that there are 2 bald eagles here. I love my camera but I couldn’t zoom in and get a clear picture of them. Of course they only allow emails and web browsing over their wifi. I didn’t realize how often that would happen on this trip.*edited to add: Ok, found a second thing to bug me. We had to turn off our a/c by 9pm. I wish I had known about it before 8:45 pm. I would have run the a/c earlier. it was 85 in the RV. UGH!
I almost forgot the two best things that happened today. We saw 6 bears, 3 of which were a mama and her cubs, and our neighbor at Mountain Shadow is also a member of RV.net. They have their roll call 2014 sign on the back of their toad. I completely forgot to make one. I will have to see what I can rig up for the rest of the trip.
One day I will be able to upload photos (probably once I get to Tok, AK). Until then….
Later Y’all