Adventure Begins...Sailing S/V ORCA From California to Alaska.....

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As previously mentioned, Kalevala, Johann and I are on board S/V ORCA. Alida will be here on the 12th. We have been very busy getting ORCA ready to sail. We work from the time we get up, untill about 10 pm. Then we make dinner, eat and collapse till the next day.

ORCA was closed-up for a year. We are giving her a good clean up. I'm scrubbing her from top to bottom, killing and removing mold and mildew. Also started polishing and oiling all the beautiful mahoganny interior.

Kalevala and Johann have cleaned and scrubbed the bilge. They also checked and repaired all the sails which are hanked and ready to go.

We cleaned and changed the fuel filters and replaced the zink anode in the engine and cleaned the sea strainer.

We run salt water over the deck and the freeboard to swell the wood. (the sun is brutal here and it had dried up and shrunk everything above waterline.)

We got the dinghy in the water and the offshore life raft attached to it's place.

We started tuning the rigging yesterday and will continue doing so today.

The captain and crew had a shot of rum after the first mate came back from shopping with more food and supplies than we had immediate room for. I had everything put away into scrubbed cubbyholes within two days.

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Will continue posting about my drive down from Alaska as soon as I get time to go to the caffee with Internet.

 

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Had a fill-up at the last gas station in White Horse. This young man smilingly checked the truck over....even volunteered to check tire pressure....

The road called again. Pretty nice and wide at this point...

Up and down like a roller-coaster....lol....

Spring is in this area. Notice the Dandelions blooming on the side of the road...

 

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Something temporarily left on the highway...The downside for these beautiful remote areas is that help is far apart...

Kluane lake....

 

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Raining yonder....

Now, that's a looong bridge...

...over the river...

Did you notice, someone was fishing on the shore...

 

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Blue sky, sunshine and rain for a moment...

No sheep hunting...

A bicyclist....What endurance....(said admirably)

Did you notice the eagle flying....

NO springtime here yet...

 

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N ear this area is a little motel,-gas station-cafe, where we have stopped many times. I was looking forward to being able to stop there and rest for the night...

The lake is absolutely beautiful, but also VERY cold....brr.....

When I pulled to the gas station-motel, it was all booked up, so I continued....

I pulled over and watched the powerboats coming in...

They were fast....

 

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Looking back...

Beautiful low clouds...

Dead forest...

More of the endless road....

 

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Finally the Continental Divide.

Time for a little treat...lol....

 

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Another bicyclist....

Landscape changes again....

Moon is rising....

These written things were all over the Alaska side and now they were springing up like mushrooms in here too...eek....

 

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Getting into Watson Lake, the home of the sign post forest...

Here is some info about it: "The World Famous Sign Post Forest is Watson Lake’s best known attraction. So famous, it is known - and mimicked - around the world.

The forest was started in 1942 by a homesick U.S. Army G.I., Carl K. Lindley of Danville, Il., Company D, 341st Engineers. While working on the Alaska Highway, he erected a sign here pointing the way and stating the mileage to his hometown. Others followed his lead and are still doing so to this day. On July 20, 1990, Olen and Anita Walker of Bryan, Ohio placed the 10,000th sign. Carl K. Lindley and his wife visited the site in 1992, 50 years after his first post was erected.

Today, the Town of Watson Lake maintains the site, erecting more posts as they are needed through the Adopt-A-Post Program. Located near the forest is the Alaska Highway Interpretive Centre. This is often the first Yukon stop for northbound travellers. Besides providing information on the territory, the centre interprets the remarkable history of the highway through photo murals, realistic displays and dioramas, a three projector audio-visual presentation and a unique winter night scene illuminated by northern lights."

Some old, historic equipment from building the highway in 1942...

 

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One more of the sign post forest...the Slave Lake....

Interesting history for you to check out ....

http://www.greatcanadianlakes.com/northwest/slave/history-home.html


Few pix from Watson Lake...

Motorcycle friendly...

A church...

 

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Finally, wildlife...aaahhh....

These pictures are in the order they were taken....

Looks like a little black teddy bear....

 

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Just after the black bear another buffalo....

Then another roadside stop that is closed....eek....

Then, right around another turn...a brown bear....

..a close-up....How beautiful s/he is....

 

[LMT66]

Love the sign forest and old machinery. I'll leave a sign there one day.

Looking forward to your next pictures.

 

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A little grizzly, s/he looks like the winter was hard on her....

S/he walked constantly with her head down, unlike the other bears I had seen so far...

 

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By now, I had became quite good at spotting bears from far away...lol....

So peaceful appearing....

Checking me out...?

Hears something from behind ....

 

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Back to eating....

Time to leave....

By now the sightings were so frequent I started taking pictures of time to see how often I saw them...

Little bit further up the road....

Then black bear TWINS....

 

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a close-up...

He didn't go far....

You can see how close to the truck they were...

Totally undisturbed by the presence of the truck.......