Our last week—or a little over a week— of our 60-day Premier Alaska Caravan with Fantasy RV Tours began with four travel days in a row.

Days 50-52 – Heading South

Day 50 – Whitehorse, Yukon Territory (YT) – We left Haines, Alaska, and drove 248 miles back to Whitehorse. We saw more amazing scenery along the drive. Since we’d already explored Whitehorse on our journey north on the Alaska Highway, we took the time to resupply before continuing the next day.

Day 51 – Nugget City, YT – We drove 252 miles from Whitehorse to Nugget City and Baby Nugget RV Park. This family run campground served us a delicious spaghetti dinner, and we even purchased a freshly baked cinnnamon roll to have for breakfast the next day.

Day 51 – Dease Lake, British Columbia (BC) – We drove 147 miles to Brown Bird RV Park in Dease Lake, BC. Along the way we managed to capture this bear crossing our path on the dashcam!

Day 53-54 – Stewart, BC/Hyder, AK

Day 53 – We drove 243 miles to Bear River RV Park in Stewart, BC, where we spent two days. Along the way we saw another bear on the side of the road, but couldn’t get a good picture. Also, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and views of more glaciers.

That evening we went across the border to Hyder, Alaska, where the main attraction is waiting for the bears to arrive to feast on the salmon that are swimming upriver to spawn at the Tongass National Forest Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site. We saw lots of salmon in the river, but unfortunately no bears.

Our friends, Tom and Jill, went back the next night and caught this amazing footage!

Day 54 – We decided to explore downtown Stewart and the Stewart Historical Museum. We were pleasantly surprised at the amount of historical artifacts and displays in this small museum.

We learned that until 1972 the only way to get to Stewart was by boat. Also, they get an average of 30 feet of snow a year, with up to 60 feet up in the mountains! This place even has an Avalanche office.

There are many mines in the surrounding mountains, which is how Stewart and Hyder came to be. Everyone wanted to get the gold, silver, and copper. Some are still working mines.

This was a great little stop.

Day 55-57 – More travel days

Day 55 – Fort Telkwa, BC – We drove 212 miles to Fort Telkwa, BC for another overnight stop at Harmony Ridge RV Park. Along the way we stopped to see these Totem Poles in a small village. We camped along the river, did some laundry, and got ready for our next travel day.

Day 56 – Prince George, BC – We drove 223 miles to Prince George, BC, for another overnight stop. Along the way we found the claim to fame in Houston, BC — the world’s largest fly-fishing rod! And after breakfast at Tim Horton’s across the street, we continued on. This was the last of the wildlife to be spotted on this trip!

Day 57 – Cache Creek, British Columbia – We drove 260 miles to Historic Hat Creek Ranch for the night. Along the way we saw how the terrain changed to a more desert climate along the Fraser River. We learned this was one of the rivers the Paddlewheelers took heading north to gold country.

The campground happened to be having a Pow Wow that weekend, so we all camped in the open field.

Day 58-60 Our last days of the tour

I don’t think any of us wanted to get to the last driving day in our tour book which gave us driving directions, because then we knew the tour was coming to an end. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end.

Day 58 – We drove 206 miles from Cache Creek to Blaine, Washington. As with most of our drive days, the scenery did not disappoint here either! Pictures did not do it justice, but here are a few.

We got set up at Sun Retreat in Blaine, Washington, and went to dinner with Tom and Jill for our 40th wedding anniversary, which was the day before. The harbor town of Blaine is just across the border from Canada, and reminded us of beach towns along the eastern seaboard.

Day 60 – Our last tour day – We spent the day getting ready to leave early the following morning. That evening we all got dressed up for our Farewell Dinner in Blaine.

Conclusion

When we booked this trip in May 2023 we planned for it to be our 40th wedding anniversary celebration trip of a lifetime. A week later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My 2-year cancerversary came during the trip which made it even more special.

There was so much about this trip we didn’t expect. We didn’t expect to learn so much about the Yukon and Alaska, and especially the history of the First Nation people. We didn’t expect to be traveling around/near wildfires and have them dictate parts of the schedule. We didn’t expect the Arctic Circle to be warm! Seriously, it was 75 degrees when we landed above the Arctic Circle.

For both of us, though, was this. To be on a tour with 45 other people for 60 days and come away at the end with 45 friends that we would love to see again. We kept saying that everything that happened, both good and not so good, was all part of the experience. And it’s true. We RV because we love all the experiences we get to have and the friends we meet along the way.

We hope you enjoyed our Canada/Alaska Series. If you missed the first 7 weeks, here are the links:

• https://theramblingquilter.com/canada-alaska-days-1-7/
• https://theramblingquilter.com/canada-alaska-day-8-14/
• https://theramblingquilter.com/canada-alaska-day-15-21/
• https://theramblingquilter.com/canada-alaska-day-22-28/
• https://theramblingquilter.com/canada-alaska-day-29-36/
• https://theramblingquilter.com/canada-alaska-day-37-44/
• https://theramblingquilter.com/canada-alaska-day-45-49/

We’re Mike & Jennifer Skinnell, and together we are The Rambling Quilter. We travel the country full-time in our 41ft. fifth-wheel pulled by our F-350 – affectionately named Beauty & The Beast. Jennifer writes our blog, travel articles, contemporary romance, cozy mysteries, and “Don’t Wait – Our Full-Time Journey Through Breast Cancer”. Our blog is purely for information and entertainment purposes. However, if you’d like to support Jennifer’s writing career, her author link to her books is below.