My thirty third (33) writing to my grandchildren = Moj trideset treći (33) opis mojim unucima

                              My thirty third (33) writing to my grandchildren.
Question is:
“What is the farthest you have ever traveled?”

My favorite trip was in 2006.

It all started in 2004. when my sister in law Nicole and her husband Michel came to see us from France. As we were having breakfast and playing Scrabble, the question came to “Where are we going on our next visit?” The answer came “Alaska the last Frontier”. I really thought that was just an idea and that was the end of it.

But, in January 2006 my wife and I were in Atascadero, California where I was doing a remodeling job for a friend of ours, Starr. My sister in law knew that we were in California. She called me on my cell phone and without any introduction said: We are ready to come to the USA and go to Alaska. I had almost forgotten the conversation 2 years before. We told Nicloe that we are going to be back in Texas beginning in May. Naturally my wife Annie and her sister Nicole talked by telephone to make all the plans. At that time we were living in the CROATIA RANCH, approximately 120 miles north of Dallas.

My sister in law Nicole and my brother in law Michel came on Friday may 19th 2006. We were well organized and left Croatia Ranch early in the morning on Sunday may 21th. Our first stop was New Mexico where we met some fishermen who gave us the 7 trouts they had just caught. We barbecued those fish in Colorado in a park called “Garden of the Gods”.

North through Wyoming and east to Yellowstone where we saw geysers and boiling water holes – Saw some moose and a grizzly far away and bison. Through Montana until we get to Alberta, Canada and Banff National Park. The Rocky Mountains are too beautiful to describe.

That night, we met people from Quebec, the day of our son Mile birthday, May 28th, we crossed into British Columbia and got to the Alaska Highway around 10:00 AM. The lakes are still frozen but we saw some stone sheeps, bison, rabbits and deer. We stayed in Watson lake where people from around the world nail their license plates on trees. At the last count, there were 53.000 of those all kinds of plates. I am putting a picture of my sister in law Nicole and of my brother in law Michel that you can see between them with the name BOBAN, which was the plate from the State of Texas.

We saw a black bear crossing the road in front of us and a fox jumping after his dinner. We stopped in Skagway where cruise ships take over during the summer then a ferry to Haines. We saw 2 bald eagles on the beach.

On the way to Anchorage, we met a french couple who own some cabins and camping sites for tourists. They live there from April to October and go back to Lyon, France for the rest of the year.

The next day the mileage on our Suburban reached 200.000 miles. We took a River Cruise to see some glaciers and had lunch, halibut on the boat. We met a family in Homer who was fishing for salmon. They got 4 small halibut in their net and gave those to us. We had those halibuts the next day at Denali park where we met members of a wine club (in Alaska). They invited us and had a game of petanque until 1:30 AM.

On the road we almost got hit by a moose, but he crossed the road behind us and hit a pick up truck going the other way. Then we went to an Eskimo village for smoked salmon. When we got to Fairbanks  we decided to go to the Arctic Circle. We went all the way to Atigun Pass. We did not reach Dead Horse. Almost we got eaten alive by a grizzly on the way back to Fairbanks. I am putting a picture of two brothers in law Mile and Michel, and of two sisters Annie and Nicole in the front of the sign “Arctic Circle”

We stayed in Fairbanks for 5 days. We met a guy who was on a bicycle trip to the tip of Argentina. he was 71 years old. Top of the world Highway from Tok to Dawson City, stopping at Chicken Village (Alaska). We got to Dawson City 5 days before June 21st, when the sun did not set for 24 hours.

From Dawson City we traveled to Whitehorse, from there to Vancouver, British Columbia where we stopped to see a Croatian friend that I have known for years. When we got there, in his house he was watching a World Cup Soccer game between Croatia and Australia. That was in 2006.

Next day we went back to the USA and to Portland, Oregon to see a friend that I knew from Paris 1960, 1961, and 1962 he left for the USA. We stayed there for 4 days, fishing salmon with him, eating, drinking ect…

We left Portland to San Francisco, San Francisco to Atascadero, Atascadero to Los Angeles, Los Angeles back to Croatia Ranch in Texas..

My lovely grandchildren that was for me, your grandfather “Babu” Milan and your grandmother “Mamie” the most beautiful, unforgettable farthest ever long trip.

Your eternal grandfather “Babu” Milan.

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                                                       Hrvatski

                           Moj trideset treći (33) opis svojim unucima.
Pitanje je:
“Koje je vaše najdalje putovanje ikada bilo?”

Moje najdulje putovanje bilo je 2006.

Sve je počelo 2004. godine kada su iz Francuske došli k nama moja šogorica Nicole i njen suprug Michel. Dok smo doručkovali i igrali Scrabble, došlo je pitanje “Gdje ćemo putovati sljedeći put?” Odgovor je bio “Aljaska posljednja granica”. Stvarno sam mislio da je to bila samo ideja i da je to kraj te ideje.

Ali, u siječnju 2006. moja supruga i ja bili smo u Atascadero, u Kaliforniji, gdje sam obavljao građevinski posao, preuređivanje kuhinje za našeg prijatelja Starra. Moja šogorica je znala da smo mi u Kaliforniji. Nazvala me na mobitel i bez ikakvog uvoda  mi je rekla: Mi smo spremni doći u SAD i s vama ići u Aljasku. Ja sam potpuno bio zaboravio naš  razgovor od prije 2 godine. Mi smo rekli Nicole da ćemo se vratiti u Teksas početkom svibnja. Naravno, moja žena Annie i njena sestra Nicole razgovarale su preko telefona i napravile sve planove za put. Mi smo u to vrijeme živjeli na CROATIA RANCH-u, otprilike 120 milja sjeverno od Dallas-a.

Moja šogorica Nicole i moj šogor Michel došli su u petak 19. svibnja 2006. Bili smo dobro organizirani i napustili smo Croatia Ranch rano ujutro u nedjelju 21. svibnja. Naša prva postaja bio je New Mexico gdje smo sreli neke ribare koji su nam dali 7 pastrva koje su upravo ulovili. Tu ribu smo ispekli na roštilju u Coloradu u parku koji se zove “Vrh bogova”.

Sjeverno kroz Wyoming i istočno do Yellowstonea gdje smo vidjeli gejzire i rupe s kipućom vodom – Vidjeli smo losa i grizlija daleko i bizone. Kroz Montanu sve dok ne stignemo do Alberte, Kanada, i Banoff Nacionalni Parka Rocky Mountains, sve prelijepo za opisati.

Tu noć smo sreli ljude iz Quebeca, na dan rođendana našeg sina Mile 28 svibnja, prešli smo u Britansku Kolumbiju i stigli na Alaska Hwy (Autoput) oko 10:00 sati. Jezera su još uvijek bila zaleđena, ali vidjeli smo nekoliko kamenih ovaca, bizona, zečeva i jelena. Stali smo tu kod jezera Watson gdje ljudi iz cijelog svijeta dolaze stavljaju svoje registarske tablice na drveće. Po zadnjem prebrojavanju bilo je tu 53.000 svih vrsta tablica. Stavit ću sliku moje šogorice Nicole i mojeg šogora Michel gdje između njih možete vidjeti ime BOBAN, što je registrirana tabla države Texas.

Vidjeli smo crnog medvjeda kako prelazi cestu ispred nas i lisicu koja skače nakon svoje večere. Zaustavili smo se u Skagwayu gdje brodovi za krstarenje dolaze tijekom ljeta, zatim trajektom za Haines. Vidjeli smo 2 orla krstaša na plaži.

Na putu do Anchorage-a sreli smo francuski par koji posjeduje nekoliko koliba i kamp za turiste. Tamo žive od travnja do listopada, a ostatak godine se vraćaju u Lyon u Francuskoj.

Sljedeći dan kilometraža na našem Suburbanu dosegla je 200.000 milja. Išli smo na riječno krstarenje da vidimo neke ledenjake (glečer) i tu smo ručali, iverak na brodu. U Homeru smo sreli obitelj koja je lovila losose. Dali su nam 4 mala iverka (vrsta ribe) koju su ulovili u svoju mrežu i dali ih nama. Jeli smo te halibute (ribe) sljedeći dan u  Denali Parku gdje smo sreli članove Vinskog Kluba (u Aljasci) koji su tu predstavljali proizvodnju svojih vina. Pozvali su nas na piće i tu smo s njima igrali petanque sve do 1:30 ujutro.

Na cesti nas je zamalo udario los (divlja životinja), ali on je prešao cestu iza nas i udario u kamionet koji je išao s druge strane. Onda smo otišli u eskimsko selo na probanje tog suhog lososa mesa. Kada smo se vratili u Fairbanks, odlučili smo otići u Arctic Circle. Išli smo sve do Atigun prolaza. Nismo stigli do Mrtvog konja. Zamalo nas je žive pojeo grizli na povratku u Fairbanks. Prilažem sliku dvaju šogora Mile i Michel, i dviju sestara Annie i Nikole ispred znaka “Arctic Circle”.

U Fairbanksu smo ostali 5 dana. Upoznali smo čovjeka koji je bio na putovanju biciklom sve do Argentine. Imao je 71 godinu. Vrh svjetske autoceste od Toka do Dawson Cityja, zaustavili smo se u Chicken Village (Aljaska). Stigli smo u Dawson City 5 dana prije 21. lipnja, kada sunce ne zalazi za 24 sata.

Iz Dawson Cityja smo putovali u Whitehorse, odatle u Vancouver, British Columbia gdje smo stali vidjeti prijatelja Hrvata kojeg poznajem godinama. Kad smo stigli kod njega, u svojoj je kući gledao nogometnu utakmicu Svjetskog prvenstva između Hrvatske i Australije. To je bilo u lipnju 2006.

Sljedeći dan se vraćamo u SAD i u Portland, Oregon da vidimo prijatelja kojeg sam poznavao još iz Pariza 1960., 1961. i 1962. on je otišao u SAD. Ostali smo kod njega 4 dana, lovili losose (vrsta ribe) s njim, jeli, pili i uživali, itd…

Otišli smo iz Portlanda u San Francisco, iz San Francisca u Atascadero, iz Atascadera u Los Angeles, iz Los Angelesa nazad na Croatia Ranch u Teksas.

Dragi moji unuci, to je za mene, vašeg djeda “Babu” Milana i vašu baku “Mamie” bilo najljepše, nezaboravno, najdalje i najduže putovanje.

Vaš vječni djed “Babu” Milan.