It is with an extremely heavy heart and deep sorrow that I inform you that my father, Lester Albertsen, passed away today quietly and peacefully at 12:30 p.m., Sunday, September 1.
Although in the depths of grief Peggy and I know that his spirit now resides with the angels, and that he is reunited with the first love of his life- his wife, and our mother, Dehlia.
I don't know the appropriateness of posting his death on a blog, but I know that many of you who are close to Peggy and I have been following us. His funeral arrangements in Brookings, SD, are pending.
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Given the circumstances of the day, my dad would want things to carry on. And, this will be somewhat therapeutic for me to have this small involvement. So, here are a few brief comments on our day traveling back home. We will again adjust our route once we get to Edmonton, AB, to provide the quickest way back to Omaha.
We left our campground at Toad River Lodge and RV Park just before 7:00 a.m. PST. Almost immediately we saw elk in the ditch in the distance. However, it was too dark and they moved to quickly into the trees for a good photo of them.
Then, a few miles more and we found a moose cow and calf in the ditch. The calf ran but I got a photo of it and its mom before it sped away. Mom stuck around for a good pose.
About 20 or so miles as we ascended the climb to The Summit on the Alaska Highway we came upon some stone sheep. Two miles later there was a small herd of caribou lazily grazing along the road's shoulder. Photo opportunities!
From that point on we had generally very good road all the way into Dawson Creek, BC, where we stayed for the night. There was just a couple of mile long stretches of road construction where we waited for the pilot car to escort us.
When we were filling up the pickup in Fort Nelson, BC, a motorhome pulled up in the aisle next to us. They were from North Carolina and were also heading back home. Somehow we got on the subject of the Cassiar Highway. They had taken it on the way up, and his comment was an adament "never again". He said the route was incredibly rough, and that he had a fuel pump go out on his RV. According to him it took 6 days to get a replacement shipped in. I relate the story to Peggy, and we agree that we made a good decision to not take that highway.
When we were filling up the pickup in Fort Nelson, BC, a motorhome pulled up in the aisle next to us. They were from North Carolina and were also heading back home. Somehow we got on the subject of the Cassiar Highway. They had taken it on the way up, and his comment was an adament "never again". He said the route was incredibly rough, and that he had a fuel pump go out on his RV. According to him it took 6 days to get a replacement shipped in. I relate the story to Peggy, and we agree that we made a good decision to not take that highway.
Just north of Fort St John, BC, we got a phone message from my brother in Phoenix, AZ. He had the unfortunate task of telling us of my dad's passing. We pulled into the Shepard's Inn parking lot as it had cell service to call both Dean, my brother, and Eileen, my sister who lives in Davenport, IA. I also talked to the funeral home director in Brookings to start the planning process for dad's funeral. My dad, always wanting to unburden others, has his funeral pretty much planned out. The funeral director will email me an attachment of those plans.
(Picasa will allow only 999 photos in an album, so this link goes to the new album of our Alaskan Trip Photos)
This link takes you to the first Alaska 2013 Album
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