Meeting, Kispiox Totems and K'san Historical Village

Thursday night we had our first meeting. Here is Wayne on the left listening to Spike talk to us about caravaning and about bear safety, etc.

Friday I did laundry and it rained most of the day. That night we had another meeting and learned more about how we will be doing things.

Saturday morning we practiced caravaning and using our radios as we went up to Kispiox to the Totem Park. This is the clan house at the entrance to town.


Spike walking to the center of the totems to tell us about them. He really should be lecturing at some college. There is a wealth of information stored in his head.

We are fondly referred to as the yellow jackets and we came from both directions to listen to Spike.

Spike told us some general information about totems and specific information about certain poles. Some poles give a family lineage while others tell stories. It is very interesting.

Some of the figures represent supernatural beings while others represent real life figures.

Here is Spike in front of the crying woman.

Here is another totem. I can't remember what all of the figures represent. I should have taken notes.

We came back to the campground and had lunch then we met and walked the path down to where the two rivers converge.

This is also the site of an ancient fishing camp.

The wildflowers are blooming everywhere. They are just beautiful.

Our walk took us to the K'san Historical Village where we visited three long houses. The Frog House had a variety of artifacts and we listened to an audio of a native telling about the people of this area. The second house was the Wolf House where we learned about the government of the natives. This picture is of the Wolf House. Notice how small the doorway is. That is to keep invaders from coming in a group.

The last house was where all of the ceremonial robes and headdresses were kept that are used by their performance group. Unfortunately they don't perform until July. While we were waiting to go in this house, Spike told us about the three buildings that were in the field. The house on the left is a Spirit House and is built over a grave, the middle house is a Cache House and is usually about 12 feet high. This is where food is stored to keep it away from bears. The house on the right is a smoke house.

This totem was build when the village was reconstructed in the 1970's and represents a dignitary from the Canadian government.

Tonight we had a potluck dinner and Spike grilled fresh salmon and every one brought a side dish. Then we had our final meeting before taking off for Hyde, AK tomorrow. Well it's off to bed early so we can be ready tomorrow. It's still daylight outside and Spike told us we will gain about 45 minutes of daylight for each day that we travel from now on. Thank goodness for solid blinds.

We were almost to Hazelton when we crossed this river. It was a long way down!

Here is a picture of our coach at Ksan Campground. The view is incredible.

Here is another view of the mountains. There is a river about 100 yards in front of us.

This is the entrance way to the reservation. There are three carved wooden figures that I hope to get better pictures of.

We went into New Hazelton for groceries and to look for a beauty shop and laundromat for me. We found the laundromat and shopped for groceries.

These are some of the old structures on the road between New Hazelton and Old Hazelton.

I'm not quite sure what this sign represents but there are two of them on this road.

I love this building. The eyes are windows that give it a very eerie feeling.

After we grocery shopped we drove through Old Town before returning home. This is the sign welcoming you to the original Hazelton that is now referred to as Old Town.

Almost all of the buildings in Old Town are Old. While in town I found a complete beauty salon where I went back later to have my hair cut. Now I can make it to Anchorage where Sandra can cut it again. She did it the last time while she was in Corpus Christi.

This one has been turned into a restaurant.

This building looks like an old ferry and sits on the riverbank.

This old shack looks like its about to fall down.

This is the entrance to the campground and to the historical village and museum that we will visit later in the week.

Here is Wayne watching the UT vs LSU collage world series game that unfortunately LSU won.

This is an European tour bus that pulled into the campground. The people sit in the bus seats while touring and sleep in what our tail gunner called coffins at night. I'm sure it is similar to the Pullman beds that they had on trains.

The sides open on one side to become a galley for fixing food and on the other side is where the food is served and where the people eat. I imagined that the bus would be full of young people but boy was I surprised. Most of the people were senior citizens.

I like the way we travel better. Today has been a dreary day so we haven't done much. Our wagon master, Spike arrived and the staff has taken our money and given us our vests so I guess we are official now. The weather forecast for the next few days is pretty dreary. Oh well, we will make the best of it.

We left Cliffside about 7:30 Friday morning, stopped by Camping World for a new sewer hose, gassed up and hit the road. The crossing was painless. They asked if we had anything that we planned to leave in Canada and we said “No.” He ran our passports and registration through the system and sent us on our way with no other questions. I had programmed the GPS to take us to Hazelton, BC. Well there are obviously two places named Hazelton. One is somewhere near the Skagit Valley Provincial Park 30+ km up a gravel road with nowhere to turn around. Then it tried to take us up Hwy 3 instead of Hwy 1.

We finally got on Hwy 1 and headed north. This is certainly a land of lakes.

There were lots of RVs headed north. Amazingly there were also a lot of RVs headed south.
We stopped just north of Hope, BC and ate a late lunch/early dinner and watched part of the UT baseball game. While we were there someone told us we had a flat on the Jeep and offered to change it for us. We let him.

We drove to Boston Bar and stopped at Canyon Alpine RV Park for the night. It is a very well laid out park with large sites and full hookups. The only thing that would make it better would have been 50 amp service.

One town we went through boasted of the largest rod and reel in the world.

This is the Chamber of Commerce office in Houston--Alaska that is.

Saturday night we stayed in Quesnel, BC at the Airport Inn Motel and RV Park. It wasn't much to look at but the sites were long enough to accommodate us. Quesnel is just west of Bakersville - an historic town that we didn't have time to visit. Quesnel itself does have some interesting old buildings.

We stopped at a rest stop where I got this picture of a log jam at a bridge.

Hwy 1 follows a series of rivers as you go north.

There are scattered towns with old buildings. Hwy 1 is also called the Gold Rush Trail.

This was an interesting bridge over one of the rivers we followed.

There were many old pieces of machinery displayed around some of the towns we went through.

Tomorrow we travel to Hazelton, BC where we will meet our tour.

Last couple of days in Washington State

This is one of the planes that flies here at NAS Whidbey Island. We were told it is a jammer. It jams radar and communications. They fly from 8am to 11pm everyday with a few breaks for crew changes.
We finally have a clear day. You can see the Pacific Ocean in the background right beyond our motorhome.

I took a walk down to the picnic area and walking path. This sheltered picnic area has art made from things picked up off the beach.

It is clear enough today to really see the San Juan Islands.

This is a view of part of the RV park from the walking path.

I kept going until I found an access to the beach. It looked more like a river bottom than a beach. I picked up lots of pretty rocks.

On Wednesday, Karin and Zeke came out to see the camper. Then we went to a casino for lunch and a nice visit. Zeke and Karin were friends of ours that used to live in Corpus Christi.

Karin took me to the bank to exchange money while Wayne went and had the oil in the car changed. We came back in the early afternoon and have been getting the motorhome ready to move to Canada tomorrow. Wish us a smooth crossing through customs.