The real experience begins

Before we even started out the most common phrase we heard was "what an experience". It has been a journey to the experience until now. I dare say that neither of us really knew what we were getting into. I dare say I would have sold or shipped everything and hopped a plane. The journey to Alaska has been emotional, but fairly easy, until today.

We left Dawson Creek, British Columbia at 9:15 a.m. just before sunrise. We had a nice, semi-leisurely morning. At breakfast Brent was chatting with a local on his way to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory who was putting chains on his truck. Brent decided that we didn't need to put ours on yet, but would if, or when, we needed them.

Two miles out of Dawson Creek we saw our first moose of the day. I, however, had not had enough caffeine yet, so I missed a great photo op despite the fact that my camera was literally in my hand. Grrrr.

Shortly before entering Fort St. John we crossed the bridge in the above photo. I normally am a good sport about heights, I don't like them, but if I feel safe I can handle it. I didn't feel safe. It could have something to do with the fact that the bridge seemed like it was 10 miles long, although in actuality it was only 1/2 mile long, I literally got nauseated. The picture does nothing to show the depth of the drop. Nothing.

Long gone are the nice flat roads that I was claiming to be "boring" just a couple days ago. The roads turned to true mountain roads as we entered the Northern Rockies of Canada early on in the day. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking and beautiful. But the roads are good in some spots, not so good in other spots. Slow going and smart driving was the name of today's game.



We stopped to give Ches a potty break at mile marker 148 on the Alaska Highway. As you can see it was named Suicide Hill at the time the road was put in. It received its name for being the most treacherous hill on the road. I'm really happy that they waited to tell us until we reached the top! In early days travelers received the warning "Prepare to meet they maker" before they headed to the top. Happily we made it up, and down, the hill without incident.

Later in the day as I took over driving the last 60 miles of the day we saw a HUGE moose. S/He lumbered across the road in front of us before trudging through the ditch, as s/he came to tree line s/he became panicked and started to trot before barging through the trees. It was a great sight and I hope we can share it with you all soon.

All in all it was pretty stressful day. Due to the altitude we traveled in and out of snow. A lot of powdery white stuff causing white out conditions for portions of the trip. Other parts we had sun, and we entered the ditch at one point. Luckily Brent was quick thinking and managed to get us out of the snow and out of the middle of the road just as a semi came barreling over the hills. It was scary enough to make me cry for a just a second.

Tonight we are relaxing in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. We checked in early and have been trying to relax despite a water issue. That seems to be corrected now so I'm hoping for a hot bath and a warm bed before we hit the real mountains tomorrow.

On a fun note we ran into a couple from Denver on their way to Anchorage. They're moving as well, and are driving because of their dog. I thought it was neat coincidence, and it's nice to know that there are fellow crazy people out there.

So, if you're the praying kind...please pray for continued safe travels for us. God is good.

More pictures

This is the view of the road outside of Saskatoon by about 2.5 hours. Not quite to Edmonton. It's was blustery but clear roads. And that's all that I can ask for.

I know, I know...you're sick of signs. But it's exciting. I think we're heading the right way...I hope...

This is the road we have traveled the most until this point. That will change now that we're on the Alaska Hwy. But all in all a nice road, except for the 20 miles that we bump, bumped along...Oy.

This is the sign at the edge of Grande Prairie. I wish I could have seen a chuckwagon race... Seriously, Grande Prairie is a very nice town, I wish we could have spent some time here.

Pictures as promised

For those of you worried about Ches, here she is. We didn't dump her off anywhere. She travels like a wunderkind and is happy to just be along. She usually curls up with her pillow and her baby in the backseat, but when she is feeling like she's not getting enough love she pops through and sleeps on the armrest between us.

This is the very unique, but pretty egg at the park in Vegreville. I didn't notice it until we were pulling out of the park. I'm glad we didn't miss it!

For all you hockey fans...Wayne Gretzky Drive in Edmonton. Enjoy!

We've seen a lot of big trucks with window stickers. This one gave me a giggle so I thought I'd share it with you. I think it's a great life lesson, if all else fails. Show some skin! lol.

These are those tall spindly evergreens I was talking about. It's fun to see the various shapes and curves. I'm used to seeing thicker, fatter evergreens. But these take little turns and bends as they grow tall.

Moose Row

Sorry Folks. No pictures tonight. I took a lot, but I can't get them to load. The wireless connection here in British Columbia is sketchy. So, I'll post for now, and update the photos later.

We left Saskatoon at 6:20 a.m. in the dark. Our goal for the day was Dawson Creek, British Columbia for a total miles of 687. The roads continued to be good today, and we even saw the sun for a great period of time. Sunrise was at 9:30 a.m.

The highlight of the morning was seeing a coyote outside of Edmonton. Edmonton, on the other hand, was a disappointment. The portion of the town we saw was dirty and old, and not well taken care of. A lot of industrial, just not at all what I was expecting. But it was good to see a larger town.

In Vegreville we stopped a wayside rest to give Ches a chance to take a potty break. There wasn't much there, but it was nice, and the giant egg was a bonus! Ches loved it, and we let her explore a little while Brent checked over the trailer and tires.

The afternoon brought us the Alaska Highway in Alberta. Moose Row is where the trip really got interesting. The sign of the day- which I didn't manage to get a photo of the sign- said "Preserve our wildlife and your life- please drive carefully".

Unfortunately the majority of the moose we saw were lying dead along the road. We did see one guy peaking out of the woods about 100 miles South of Grande Prairie, Alberta. It was beautiful day and we enjoyed the rolling hills and the spirally, skinny pine trees. We even reached a temp of 31 degrees ABOVE zero.

Just South of Dawson Creek, British Columbia we lost our light. The sun seems to set faster here. So the last 100 miles were driven in darkness. The roads got slippery as the temps plummeted to -4 degrees F. But all in all, it was a good day.

We're bedded down for the night at Dawson Creek, and plan to leave sometime tomorrow a.m. We probably won't leave at 6:30 a.m. again, but we'll head out before sunrise. The sunrise here is 10:30 a.m. with sunset hitting at about 5:45 p.m.

Gas continues to remain reasonable at approximately $3.00-3.25/gallon. Tomorrow our goal is to reach Fort Nelson, British Columbia. Hopefully the weather will hold off. The trip is only about 300 miles so it should be a much shorter day.

Happy Day!

Hello from Saskatchewan! We're spending the night in Saskatoon after traveling about 750 miles. We left Grygla at 6:20 a.m. and the roads were less than desirable. The temperature was a balmy -14F. We just drove slowly and carefully and made our way. By the time we reached Lancaster the temp had fallen to -19F.

Next came the border which I was terrified about. No worries. We pulled in and the guard checked our ID's and travel purposes. He had us park and bring in our paperwork for the guns. We did so, along with Ches' paperwork and our passports. He didn't even look at the passports OR Ches' paperwork. I figure "safe than sorry" is good. 10 minutes later after we stopped we were on our way. Woohoo.

From there we just relaxed and went with the flow. The roads improved about 10 miles into Canada, as you can see in pics below.

This is what most of the in-town roads look like. The above photo was taken in Winnipeg, but most of the towns are a little slick. Luckily all drivers slow down, so we haven't had any incidents. All in all, travel is going well.
This is a photo of what the roads look like on the highway. In the ditches we've seen signs of lots of deer, but only saw 5 fat ones along the roadside around dusk. Most of the roads are clean and open.

A cute little town in Manitoba. And I liked the name. It's interesting to read the names and sometimes I manage to catch a sign.

This is a photo of sunset in Saskatchewan. We're settled in with Ches and she's traveling like the champ we know she is. Though she's stressed out and shedding like a madwoman. She might want to keep some of that hair, it's -36F without the windchill tonight.

We did manage to take some video as well, but I'm having issues loading the video, so I'll have to come back with that at another time. Tomorrow will be another long day. We're hoping to cover about 800 miles and end up in Dawson Creek, BC. We'll post if we have time and energy.

'Til Later,

B&K

And we're off...

We officially have 300+ miles behind us. But we've made that trek dozens of times before. Tomorrow the real adventure begins. I'm excited and NERVOUS. The past few days have been so busy that I've had nary a minute to have the reality of the situation set in. Until last night. Now I'm a constant mess. Not overly emotional, or anything semi-psychotic like that. But I'm always thinking about what could be, and I'm nervous which tends to make me bitchy. Yep, I said it. (Kyle- no comments.)

The unknown is very scary for me. Very. I'm a planner. Things in life work best for me when I can put them in perspective and make them make sense. That situation has rarely worked for me, but it's how I function best. The morning is likely to be tension filled. Because I get cranky. But I'm hoping that we pass through the border without incident. This is what I'm most nervous about. I mean really, it could take us hours to get across the border. Hours. Then what? That will screw up the whole plan. Ha! I've learned long ago to go with the flow, what else can we do?

So hopefully I'll be updating you from somewhere in Lloydminster tomorrow night. We'll see how far we get, what the weather holds for us, and if we make it the first leg of the journey without incident. Holy buckets. Could someone out there say a prayer? I'm thinking we could use one or two. WHAT WAS I THINKING? Ha!

"Til Tomorrow Sometime...

Stress, heartache and snow

They all have a little do to with the other. It really is crazy. We are really stressed these past few days. Between knowing that a daunting drive is ahead of us, or that everything we've known is behind us. It's stressful. On top of that Northern MN (where we're hiding for now) is slated to be hit with snow in rather large proportions. Great. Just great. But I'm sure this is not the worst that we will see, so we'll trudge forward, hoping for good roads and some peace.

It's been a fun, crazy, sad last few days. We rang in 2009 with two of my oldest friends. We had so much fun that I had a hard time recovering on Thursday. But the laughter and memories of old, and some new, will carry us along our journey. It's always nice to just be. A couple cocktails, some good and not-s0-good music, and a lot of road ahead. It was great.

Thursday brought more goodbyes. My older brother and his wife took their day off to come and say good bye. It was so nice of them to brave the snowy roads and winter weather. It was short, but sweet, and we're hoping they plan a trip to see us in Alaska.

Today was filled with more visitors. My younger brother, his girlfriend, and Hondo (his dog) came by to say Hi. Again another long drive on wintery roads, but I guess we should all be used to that by now. I managed to get out with Ches some and play in the snow. It was fun to just watch her run. I kept instructing her to "hunt 'em up" and hunt she did. I think the best thing she may have found was her ball, but she was happy.

And now, the anticipation, nervousness, excitement are all starting to set in. It's nearly 1 a.m. and I'm having a hard time finding sleep. It's quiet, so I decided to write and get it off my chest.

I will miss everyone. But I'm really going to miss my dad. We talked nearly every day, and while his advice is sometimes annoying, I will miss it, and him. I know with distance, long distance and the time change we won't talk as much. That's going to be tough.