Freedom 55

Freedom 55

Freedom 55

Roger and Chris; Canadian, Retired, Intervac world travellers.



North America » Canada » British Columbia » Sun Peaks September 3rd 2018

DAY 32 – AUGUST 25 – WHITEHORSE, HI COUNTRY RV PARK There are 8 washing machines and dryers here so Chris was able to do all of our laundry from the past week last night. Today we drove into Whitehorse to get groceries and various trailer supplies. Finding a Jiffy Lube near the grocery store, I took the opportunity to get an overdue oil change and new air filter; my oil was black and the air filter nearly plugged. As I had been travelling with a spare filter, they installed that one for me. DAY 33 – 438 KM – WHITEHORSE TO BABY NUGGET RV PARK, WATSON LAKE After waking to a cold, 3c degree day, we were on the road early in anticipation of a long day. The skies have cleared a bit overnight so ... read more
Jade City
Smoky skies over Dease Lake
Camping at Meziadin Lake

North America » Canada August 24th 2018

DAY 23 (AUG. 16/2018) – DAY 25 – DAWSON CITY We returned to the NWT Dempster Hwy tourist info today to turn in our “passports”. We had stamps from all of the sites along the highway that offered them so we were now entered into a draw to win an ounce of gold and a few other things. Shopping around Dawson afterwards, we visited a few shops that had locally made moccasin slippers. Chris bought a pair of beautifully beaded Moose hide slippers with rabbit fur. The next morning was a beautiful dry, sunny day which got Gord and I in the fishing mood once again. We first stopped in at the Trading Post in Dawson to ask for advice on the best spots to go and which lures and flies to use. But despite our ... read more
View on Top of the World Highway
Chicken, Alaska
Baja 1 getting brake controller repaired

North America » Canada » Yukon » Dempster Highway August 15th 2018

DAY 11 – 360 KM – WHITEHORSE TO MOOSE CREEK CAMPGOUND, STEWART CROSSING We were all up early, hitched up and out of the park before 9:30AM. The day is a little cooler and cloudier than we’ve become used to but so far, the predicted rain has not begun. Today’s route took a right turn soon out of Whitehorse, north onto Highway 2, the North Klondike Highway . Our scenery throughout the day was along rivers and lakes surrounded by thick forests across rolling mountain tops, while we drove along a bit of a rollercoaster highway. Our first stop was at the information and viewing site for the Fox Lake wildfire site near Little Fox Lake. This huge fire in 1998 was started from a campfire that was not extinguished. It burned through the fa... read more
Five Fingers Rapids
Tintana Trench
View of Dawson City from top of The Dome

North America » Canada August 3rd 2018

The Baja 3 – Sun Peaks, BC to Tuktoyaktuk, NWT A PLAN EVOLVES We first met, at Gord and Ruth Wiebe's invitation, in the spring of 2017 at Wiebe’s home. Gord had this crazy idea that a small caravan of travel trailers could join them on an 8,000 km, 40-day round-trip journey from Sun Peaks, BC to the Beaufort Sea above the Arctic Circle in Tuktoyaktuk, NWT ; a location that has just had constructed for the first time in history, an actual road to drive there on, rather than across the ice in the winter months only. Wiebes had recently purchased a Jayco Jay Flight 195RB Baja Edition travel trailer, virtually identical to the one that Chris and Joan Wilson had bought the previous ... read more
Hazy wildfire smoke sunset over 10 Mile Lake
McLeod Lake at Whiskers Point Provincial Park
Camping in the Poplars at Charlie Lake

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík July 16th 2018

Most people visiting Iceland for only 1 to 3 days find that the most effective use of their time, to get a reasonably varied view of the different facets of this country, arrange to drive or take a day tour around the Golden Circle. Although we had just returned from 6 days exploring the entire circumference of Iceland, we wanted even more, so we set off in our car to see some highlights of the Golden Circle. Leaving Reykjavik travelling south on Hwy 1, you pass across an area with giant hot water pipes laying on the ground across the landscape. The Nesjavellir geothermal power station is visible, connected to the end of the pipes, and sends hundreds of gallons of hot water per second down the pipes to Reykjavik. Highway 1 drops down into a ... read more
Drekkingarhylur (“ Drowning Pool”)
Þingvellir’s great fissure
Geysir Geothermal Field

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík July 13th 2018

Before leaving Akureyri, we walked around the town a bit, stopping at a stand selling locally hand-made Icelandic wool products. Chris bought a toque and Adrienne bought a pair of specially designed Beer Mittens. One cruise ship was docked in Akureyri’s pretty harbour and that became apparent as a lot of other tourists walked along with us up about 150 steps to Akureyarkirkja, or The Church of Akureyri. Built in 1040, it towers over the city up on a high hill. We continued further uphill through a beautiful neighbourhood of 1926 homes and on to the most northern botanical garden in the world. Completed in 1957, it is very popular with locals and tourists. We left Akureyri, driving up Eyjafjörður fjord, the longest fjord in Iceland. The views are spectacular and it was only a short ... read more
The Beer Spa, near Dalvik
Dalvik
Seaside thermal pools at Hofsos

Europe » Iceland » North » Akureyri July 11th 2018

After a good night sleep at the Hotel Jokull we enjoyed a good selection for our free breakfast before hitting the road again towards Egilsstaðir. Our first stop was after just a few kilometres in the town of Höfn. While Chris and Adrienne picked up a few supplies in the Bonus grocery store, I walked by the shore for some photography. Back on the road we continued to follow Hwy 1 along the tops of the cliffs by the ocean. We dropped down to the beach after a while and walked around on the volcanic black rocks, pebbles and sand. Nearest the parking lot, the stones were 2 to 4 inches across, smooth and flat with rounded edges; much like the ones used for hot stone massages. As we walked towards the water the stones became ... read more
Fossardalur Blue Waterfall
Icelandic horse
Hengifoss waterfall

Europe » Iceland » South » Höfn July 9th 2018

We started our day with some take out coffee from the hotel restaurant and a hike up behind Klausterhof Guest House to view the beautiful waterful coming down the mountainside behind it. Then a short 11 km drive brought us to Fjaoargljufur Canyon. It’s a moderately easy hike up the canyon to see some dramatic views and unusual land formations. Leaving the canyon we had to drive back past our guest house and another 48km to Vatnajukull National Park to view glaciers and iceberg lakes. The landscape was as usual, various types of lava fields surrounded by mountains, waterfalls, and now glaciers too. We stopped several times along the road to take photos of waterfalls and the various glaciers all around us. We passed by the remains of an old bridge from when a volacano... read more
Fjaorargljufur canyon
Icelandic horses
Icelandic sheep

Europe » Iceland » South » Höfn July 8th 2018

We left Reykjavik in our Toyota Rav IV after filling up with Diesel at the nearby N1 gas station. Navigating the numerous roundabouts to leave the city wasn’t too difficult and we were soon on the open highway on a cool, windy and drizzly day. We chose to circle the country heading east first, along the south side of the island with the coast more or less on our right. In this direction, we found ourselves spotting waterfalls regularly, crashing down off of the hills and cliffs that were constantly along our left side. Our first stop after 90 minutes or so was Seljandfoss waterfall. Clearly visible from the highway, this group of 3 waterfalls was quite impressive. All of the tourist sites or points of interest are signed, but only small signs located at the ... read more
Skogafoss
Chris and Adrienne soaking in Seljavallalaug
Puffin on the cliffs at Dyrholaey

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík July 7th 2018

Although our Air Canada arrival into Iceland was a few hours late, due mainly to severe thunderstorms in Toronto, our Premium Economy seats and service made for a comfortable trip. We flew along with our friend Adrienne on our Aeroplan points for a 2-week Intervac home exchange stay in Reykjavik, the capitol city of Iceland. As all the booze is apparently quite expensive in Iceland, we took advantage of our Toronto flight delay and dropped by the Duty Free shop at Pearson airport to pick up some of our favourite items. If you don’t have a similar opportunity, I’m told that the Duty Free shop in the Iceland Keflavic airport also has more affordable prices, so some shopping on arrival is on many itineraries. We had pre-purchased airport to Reykjavik transportation online from Flybus Airport Transfer ... read more
Harpa concert hall
Perlan
View of Reykjavik from Perlan




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