Medical Update

My Stress-Echo was completely normal and the doctor said that there was no sign of any blockage, so that is good news. I have no idea what may have caused the chest pain that I had.

Jan has been having frequent pains in her ankle so our Dr. referred her to a podiatrist & he took fome x-raysand found a lot of arthritis and bone fragments. He said that the pieces are too big for arthriscopic surgery, so he will have to make longer cuts to get all the pieces. He is also going to repair some tendon damage and possibly some ligament damage. Jan had an MRI done and has a follow-up appointment on Thursday. He probably will be scheduling surgery for her as soon as he can.

I have had a chance to visit with my dad while we are parked in the yard. He is feeling pretty tired and has not even felt up to tending his garden, so we've had a chance to play some cribbage, which he really enjoys. He has a hernia and goes to see a surgeon about that on Thursday.

Back In Wisconsin

I never did get in for a stress test in Canada. The Dr. at the ER told me to contact the Dr in Fort St. John on Thursday to confirm the test for Monday. The Dr's office said that I had to call Marilyn at the Hospital. I tried to contact the hospital, but Marilyn was off on Thursday and Friday and it seems that nobody else could even check to see what time I might be scheduled on Monday for the Stress test (Or if I was in fact scheduled) We discussed it and reluctantly decided that it was best to cancel the trip and go back home to Milwaukee. They were not going to do a nuclear stress test, just a regular one. If something showed up, I would have to home for any proceedure anyway and even if it was negative, I'm not sure that I would have felt comfortable being in the wilderness.

So I have an appointment with my cardiologist on Monday.

Dawson Creek

The four of us arrived in Dawson Creek, the start of the Alaska Highway, yesterday. Of course we had to get photos of the official Milepost "0".

Today, we took a side trip to the little town of Tumbler Ridge. It's about 54 miles (wait, I guess since we're dealing with Kilometers all the time here, it is 90 KM) from Dawson Creek. The town is famous for it's Dinosaur trails. In 2000, two young boys were rafting on the river and fell out of the raft. They walked to the bank and saw the tracks in some flat rocks. Some experts were brought in and confirmed that they were real dino tracks. Jan and & took a hike to see the trails. It was about 1 1/2 miles each way. Just as we got there, it started raining and of course, even though we brought our raincoats, we had left them in the car.


We had planned to go another 65 KM to see Kinuseo Falls, but I developed a little chest pain on the walk back to the car (in the rain). Jan & Nell insisted that I go to the community clinic in Tumbler Ridge. They did a couple of ECGs and drew blood twice for cardiac enzymes. I DID NOT HAVE A HEART ATTACK, but the Dr. recommended that I have a stress test before we continue our trip. So, being in Canada with their free health care, since I was from the US, the Dr was able to skip me WAY UP on the waiting list for the stress test (which is in a Hospital in Fort St. John) and I only have to wait until next Monday. So it looks like we'll be staying in Dawson Creek for a while longer than we expected. If the stress test is negative, we probably will continue. If not, we'll head back to Milwaukee. So, we never made it to the falls.

On the way back to Dawson Creek, we saw this Bull Moose standing next to the road. He was nice enough to pose for a bunch of pictures.

A little further down the road, we saw two Elk grazing if a field. They were quite a way from the road, but the new digital camera has an 18x optical and 4x digital zoom, so I was able to get some pics. Hopefully, we will get a chance to see more a lot closer to us.

I'll keep y'all updated on my health, but it seems that there is no immediate need for concern.

Prince George, BC & the Hart Highway to Dawson Creek

Sunday, Dave and I visited the Prince George Railroad Museum while Jan & Nell enjoyed themselves shopping. I can't imagine why they would want to shop intstead of looking at old train stuff. Well, us guys had a great time.


















Dave & I also tried our luck at the casino. Being the last of the big spenders, we spent our time on the penny slots. We discovered that our luck was bad.










Today, we continued north on the Hart Highway to Dawson Creek. We stopped at Bijoux Falls for lunch and to see the falls.


























Next on the list of things to see was the town of Chetwynd, BC. They have an annual chain saw carving competition with carvers from all over the world competing. This year it is being held June 12-15. We won't be around the area that long, but the 2007 sculptures are displayed at the Visitor's Center on the Highway. Here are a few of the sculptures.

Quesnell, BC

Friday, we only drove 70 miles to Quesnell (that's pronounced "Kwe-nell"). They have "The World's Largest Gold Pan." We had lots of time for sightseeing, but again, rain put somewhat of a damper on that.

We did take a 60 mile drive to the old mining towns of Wells and Barkerville. Wells was build around the turn of the century and has a population of around 200. The buildings have been restored by the current or previous owners and it is a quaint little village with a few shops etc.

Barkerville is a village with restorred and replicated buildings from the gold rush era of 1860's - 1900. There is a charge for admission of $13.50. We drove the 5 miles from Wells to Barkerville & when we got there it was about 3:30 and the rain had just recently stopped. We were admitted without having to pay the admission, as the shops inside were closing at 4:00. We did take a stroll around the town. It would be worthwhile to spend the entire day, or a big part of it anyway. They have tours throughout the day with guides explaining the history of the town and gold rush in general. There is also a large "Chinatown" area. As in the US, Chinese played a large part in the building of the Canadian Railways and working in the gold mines. There was another guide for that part. We arrived too late to get in on either tour. I got the impression that they didn't conduct the tours that day anyway due to the weather. Jan was dissapointed that the streets weren't really "paved with gold" but were paved with mud instead.

Today, Nell & Dave continued on to Prince George, 80 miles further N. Jan and I stayed in the area to take a drive to Pinnacles Provincial Park to see some "Hoodoos."

Then we took a drive to a ghost town, Stanley, that we had missed yesterday. Jan also wanted to try her hand at panning for gold in a stream in the area. She didn't have any success finding gold, but had a great time trying. I tried a little, but my enthusiasm is not at the same level as Jan's.

We did see two Moose next to the highway. A bull on the way in, which we were too slow on the camera to get a picture of, and this cow, which we saw on our way back to Quesnell. We caught up with Nell & Dave this afternoon

Chilliwack, BC

It's been a while, but I finally have internet access. We crossed the border into Canada on June 1. Drove all the way to Chilliwack, BC (about 40 miles into Canada) to visit with Doug & Ginger Jones. They are friends who we met in Kino Bay and when they heard that we were going to Alaska this summer, they said that we had to stop in and see them. They live about 1/2 mile off Hwy 1, which we were taking. So we, along with Nell & Dave set up in their driveway for 4 nights. Doug & Ginger were terrific hosts and guides and took us exploring as much as we could in the weather. At Harrison Hot Springs, they are in the middle of a sand sculpture competition. There are about 30 sculptures on the shore of Harrison Lake. The weather was pretty rainy, so we didn't get a lot of pics. While we were in Chilliwack, we were all invited to Gerry & Jeanne Day's condo for dinner. They are another couple from Kino Bay. They live about 4 miles from Doug & Ginger, but they had never met until this past winter at Kino.



We left Chilliwack on June 5 and headed north along the Frazier River. Another rainy day, but there were some great views along the way. The river was very swollen due to all the rain & the melting snow in the surrounding mountains.



Hell's Gate is a narrow part of the river, where part of the mountain fell. They have constructed an "air tram" to take tourists to the bottom. We decided not to go to the bottom. Jan & Nell's "isues with heights" may have been a factor in that decision. Also the continuing rain was a factor.


We drove 265 miles on the 5th to Williams Lake, BC, where we stayed in the parking lot of the Signal Point Casino. We decided that was way too far to drive in one day and decided that we would only drive 150 miles or so. There is no rush, as we don't have to be in Skagway, AK until June 21. That leaves pleanty of time to take a mure leisurely trip.