Don Roese’s fourth adventure to Alaska with wife Mary Ann looks like another rootin’, tootin’ time by the retired BJ photographer. It’s sort of a late 54th wedding anniversary present: That was May 6. Don was slow getting around to the gift. On one of his trips, Don bankrupted the insurance company that had to fix all the dents in his camper or RV or whatever he calls it. On July 10 Don reported:
“John, been to Chicken twice and may go again on our return leg. Not that we want to see Chicken again but because we don't want to drive the Alaska Highway between Burwash Landing and the US border again. Believe me, once is enough. We have driven this highway four times now and that stretch has been terrible each time.” Paula and I have been there. “The Chicken Mall,” or so the sign says, is one tent. On July 10, Don posted: “In Chicken now... heading for Whitehorse in the morning. Top of the word highway still a great drive, even with the smoke from fires in both Alaska and Canada.” North to Alaska is a piece of cake for Don, after surviving the Korean conflict aboard the

USS Oriskany, CVA34.

Don and Mary Ann returned to the Salty Dawg on the Homer Spit after a 13-year absence. Quips Don: “I could not find the dollar I had pinned on the wall among the thousands of others pinned there. Had a beer and bought a hat.” It isn’t clear whether the beer caused the hat purchase.

Don remembers hunting for bear in Alaska. Says Don: “Seeing the size of these animals is one of the reasons I quit.”

Don is using a Chevy 1500 pick-up truck to pull a 21-foot camper with queen bed, bath, large fridgerator, oven, double sink, slide-out and 30- gallon holding tanks.

“It may take the rest of the summer to get it clean,” Don writes. “The Yukon Territory shows no mercy.”

Don and Mary Ann are working their way back to Ohio. At last report they were sighted in Grand Coulee Dam in Washington on July 20.