Anchorage Pictures

This is what anchorage looks like these Pictures where taken about 3:30 this afternoon.

Anchorage!!!

Here are some more pics from yesterdays cold out house.

We are now in Anchorage!

We are going to take a few days and figure out what we are going to do. Dad needs to go to the union hall and see where they need us to be.

When we know more I'll update again hopefully in a few days! I'll put more pictures up on Wednesday. Until then know that we are safe and warm.

Tok, Alaska!

ALASKA!!!

Blogger is haveing trouble up loading pictures again so look on the side for more mounians! ->

Alaska Ho!! We are in Tok!
We did another cold out house! This one was 8 below I don't care if its a dry -8 it still cold! We stopped to get gas and have a bathroom break, but the 'washrooms' (thats what their called up here) were out of order. In other words they where frozen! So the lady sent us “Up the road about ¼ kilometer is an outie that you can use.” BRR! If her bathrooms are frozen what did she think the out house is?!?!?!? The wind really doesn't blow so it doesn't feel so cold.
The border went smoothly nobody had to get out of the car. It feels good to be in the U.S. again!
The road goes in patches, it'll be clean and then covered in ice. There are frost heaves every where on the road. Giving you the feeling of riding a bucking horse, not only do we have to bump over in the Sub but then the trailer goes over and we bump again.
Enjoy the Pictures this is what I've got to look at for the past three days.-> -> ->
This morning we were driving past a lake surrounded by mountains. We where listing to Selah sing How Great Thou Art and the song took on a whole new meaning for me. The writer had to have been looking at a scene like that in order to have written that powerful song.

Whitehorse, Yukon

Here we are in Whitehorse, a long drive but not as nerve racking as yesterday. We actually saw pavement and yellow lines for the last hour. Not that the roads where any better. Thank God for four wheel drive otherwise we still might be in Dawson creek.

Not as much wild life today, we saw a few Caribou and a red fox.

I'm ready to be in Alaska and be settled in, eight days is a lllooonnnggg drive. I have to say though it has gone by really quickly. We were doing The Book Audrey gave us and I had to double check and make sure that we had been on the road for eight days.

Most of the hotels have been very nice and clean. The one that we are in now has a restaurant in it! The only place to get the Internet is in the lobby that also serves as an entrance to the restaurant, and I can smell food. I just ate a wonderful supper and I'm hungry!

The dogs have settled into the cramped courters. In the morning when all of our bags are packed and the Cat goes in her crate, the dogs start to whine and talk. Then when we get back to the car they jump in almost before we are ready for them to. Mac's tail has been shut in the door so many times that the fur is falling off and he looks really funny! He seems to know it though and the once curly tail is now hidden under the hotel desk or between his legs. Aleika got loose today and decided to explore the parking lot while playing a game of chace with all the kids! She came to me though when I called her and now is intrusted to no one but Dad.

Father has been doing all of the driving thus far, and he has been doing a masterful job at it! I think that I speek for all of us when I say, we feel perfectly safe in the "mini blizzards."

All of the semis up here pull two trailers behind them and drive about 100 MPH. I think that they are all Americans and forget that the 100 on the speed limit sign is not miles per hour but kilometers per hour.

We should be in Alaska by tomorrow.

Hello from the Yukon

This outhouse was COLD!^^^^^^ It was -4 oF and everyone had to pee (thus the line). They had these little outhouses beside the road. The gas station bathrooms (if they where open)looked pretty good compared to this! ^_^

Lots of wild life today I saw a silver fox and Moriah saw two red fox. We saw Elk and Caribou, the Buffalo where grazing right beside the road and some where on the road. Two of them where so close we could have touched them! Although I didn't have the nerve, those things are HUGE!!! We all saw two Moose (Dad still saw them first^~^). Only one allowed its picture to be taken.

The scenery is amazing! The road goes close to some really steep drop offs, I don't like that. John on the other hand Loves this! He is always looking out the front window and gasping at each new scene.

I have read The Oath by Frank Pretti. The book takes place in a mountain valley. I keep wondering when we will get to "Hyde Vally" and "Saddlehorse mountain." Note to all who want to read this book: Do Not read in the dark or in a mountain setting, this is not good for your nerves.

The Alaskan Highway is covered in packed snow and ice. Last night it snowed a light powdery snow. So now all the crazy log truck drivers who drive 80 mph create a mini blizzard that results in a short term white out.

When we left at 8:30 am it was still dark and by 4:00 pm it was starting to get dark again. We reached the Yukon today, and hope to be in Alaska by Sunday! Daddy has don all of the driving so far and he has done a marvelous job!

Fort Nelson

This isn't Iowa any more! We are on Mile 300 of the Alaskan Highway in a little town called Fort Nelson. We are in the mountains and the roads are very icy! instead of sand and salt they put rocks on the roads. Its kind of a joke your not truly Alaskan until your windshield has a chip or two. We got our first chip today! I'm not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing.
Dad saw the first moose today, but no one else saw it. See Dad said that who ever saw the first moose would get ten dollars , so I think that he made the moose up. He did that in Montana too. he said whoever saw the first bear got five dollars, guess who saw the first bear? So I'm thinking that his moose sighting should be ruled out, just my opinion.
Now that Sarah has seen the mountains her 'are we there yet's are now aimed at Alaska.
We now have to time our days as the towns are scattered and the gas stations are few and far between. Half of the gas stations are closed for the winter season anyway.
I think that the car gets smaller every time I get in and squeeze Aleika at my feet. We get into the hotel and everyone sighs and spreads out.
Before we left people asked what we where going to do living in a smaller house. Even a two bedroom apartment will be bigger than the suburban. We'll make it work! But until then we'll keep our chins up!

Fort St. John, British Colombia

Hello from Fort. St. John, British Colombia and the Alaska Highway!

Today was an okay day. It got off to a great start (if not an early one). After about two hours on the road traffic came to a stop. We waited for about thirty minutes and then Dad got out and talked to a friendly trucker. He said that there had been a fatal accident and the police said that it would be a few hours until they got everything cleaned up. Dad asked what a few hours was and the Trucker said until four pm. We sat there for about two hours before they finally started to let traffic through. This was about 12:30. The car was hopelessly crushed and spread out, it was awful.
We drove for about another three hours and decided to make this a short day. So here we are! The dogs are sacked out, freshly exercised. Mom and Dad are going to the store to get food for tomorrow. I'm waiting for Mom and Dad to get back so I can go for a run.
We haven't seen as much wildlife as I thought we would, but we have seen a white snowshoe hare, a few buffalo, and deer. There are plenty of moose crossing signs, but no moose yet.
Mom has nominated herself for the crabbiest traveler award today, but it's Dads fault. He forgot about the time change and got her up at 5 this morning instead of 6, but she seems to be happier now.
OOH! the hotel has a free Latte machine! I'm so excited!!!
And by the way, this morning was our first below zero day but it warmed up to 34 degrees!
Sorry about no pictures. Blogger won't let me upload any tonight:( I'll put pictures on tomorrow from the Alaskan Highway!

Aleika catching a snooze while the seat is empty.

Mac Wondering what I'm doing!

John and Aleika just hanging out

Hello Iowa!

Everyone hanging in the car! You know how on those reality TV shows the camera becomes entertainment That has happened to us. My camera has been used to take all kinds of pics that are no good for anything but deleting I wonder if my card can get warn out?!?!?!

We are in Vallyview, Alberta. We where blown in with a snowstorm that lasted thirty minuets and then after we got to our motel then it quit, but it didn't help the roads any.

Our good friend Audrey gave us a book before we left full of goodies for us to do each day we are on our trip. One day had a CD to listen to and today we had a scavenger hunt that we still need to finish (see later comment). Thank you Audrey for the Boredom Book, but really 27 American flags for a scavenger hunt???? WE ARE IN CANADA!!!! OH the Tickle Tickle song!!! when Sara isn't singing it I have it stuck in my head, my ipod has no affect over it's dark magic. Your Boredom Busters are a blast and have given us many hours of FUN and we appreciate all the time and consideration that you and Julia put into it.THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!! I have many reminders to "Do the Book in the morning." Everyone can't wait to do the book. We even had Dad dancing in the drivers seat on one of your songs!

We should see some mountains tomorrow. Sarah is excited because she has never seen a mountain before, and see keeps asking if every large hill we climb or pass is a mountain, or she's asking "Are we there yet?" Today she brought up an interesting point. If we walked to Alaska it would take more than a hundred days. I'm not sure how long it would take to walk but I know that Driving takes long enough. (And I wanted to fly...)

The dogs are taking this better than I thought that they would! Aleika takes out her energy on her KONG, and Mac... I'm not sure if Mac has any energy. Those of you who know our pet rug know what I'm talking about.

Pics from the road!

We made it to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. We have decided that 8 hour days work pretty well for us in the car. Everyone starts to get cranky and we all just want to move. We left the Super 8 this morning at about 8:00am. The days seem to be going by pretty fast for me. I have been reading Frank Pretti's 'The Oath', and every afternoon we watch a movie.

After we got to the hotel this evening Mom decided that it would be nice to have some fruit and milk with supper. So Dad, Sarah, Natty and I walked to the 'Husky' a convenience/gas station that might have some Pineapple. They didn't. So we went back to the hotel room and told Mom. She said we past a Cosco (Kinda like Sam's) on the way in. So Dad and I bundled up, its about

20(o) out, and we walked into a head wind about 6 blocks to the Cosco. Half way there Dad says something about hoping they would have food. (We didn't know what it was yet.) We get in and they have the super heated entryway. Most of the time I find these annoying but tonight it felt good. So Dad and I are thawing out and we see everyone else showing a card to a "Guard" at the door. Dad asks the nice lady if we need a card to shop. He explains that we are just traveling and need a few groceries. She sent us to the customer service desk. When it was our turn Dad asked if we could have a day pass. The lady there told us that she could give us a "Look pass" but if we wanted to buy anything we needed a membership. Dad asked how much that would be and she said "$55.00" I think that Dad and I both just about swallowed our toungue.

Dinner was Pancakes and Sausage and bananas. It was just as good without pineapple.

So far we haven't had any emergencies but we are all still awake. ^_^

I'm not sure of our destination for tomarow but I'll let you know when we get there.

Oh Canada, Nov-16

My Blog is now international!!!! We crossed the border without hardly a break! There was always a fear that they would make us unpack everything, but thankfully they didn't. There was a small question about one of the guns but it was quickly, and painlessly handled. (Yes Ben we still have the gun^-^). The day went without incident (i.e. Mac puking in a bag), and life was good if a bit cramped.
I am making fast friends with a desk clerk here. I have made three trips to the front desk in the last three hours, little catastrophes but they where still embarrassing. A wet bed, a broken fuse resulting in Mom and Dads room loosing all power and an overflowing toilet. BUT DINNER WAS AWESOME!!!!! Mom made green beans and beef stroganoff, yummy, the dogs got the leftovers! These dogs are getting a royal feast, we couldn't take meat over the border so two minuets before we got there they got what we didn't eat. They got cat food for dinner last night (No American dog food allowed), what dog wouldn't dream of this life? So when we bought Canadian dog food for them and fed them this evening Aleika looked at me like "Are you kidding?"
We had the first "are we there yet?" today, but I think that Sarah was referring to the hotel not Alaska (I hope)! No one has gotten car sick yet (not even Mom).
It started snowing and the road got slick, the trailer started to slide at one point, but Dad got it back under control and nothing else happened. We've made it to the snowy north!

Fargo North Dakota Nov-15

"Grandpa I've been everywhere but Fargo North Dakota..." This song is the one that I have had stuck in my head ALL DAY and my brain refuses to move on to a different line!!!!! So I have been listening to Andrew Peterson on my Ipod.
We made it to St. Cloud MN at about 2:30 this afternoon and decided to come here to Fargo. We are staying at a motel 6 and Rose wont come out from under the bed and all I can see of Moriah is her legs. She is trying to sooth this cat into coming into a room full of 8 people and 2 dogs, yes the hotel room in bigger than the Sub but I think I want to join the cat!
The Car was crowded all day and if Rose wasn't yowling then Mac was puking or Aleika was whining. At one point Dad said our next stop was the humane society. Rose got let out of her kennel and Aleika got a bone and Mac had nothing left in his stomach to... the rest of our trip was very animal quiet.
This morning we woke to icy roads and 1in of snow on the ground. The cooler that we have plugs into the car to keep cool with out ice. We forgot to unplug it, the battery was dead. The jumper cables where in the trailer under 7 bags of cloths. Jake got his from the barn and jumped the sub for us. Thank God for big brothers! Lets hope that tomorrow starts better.
Pray for us dear friends, pray hard!

Homeless vagrants:-)

This is my home no more.

Kind of a sad thought, huh? This is one of the more beautiful sides of Iowa, and probably the sight I will miss the most.

We emptied the house and had to be out by 10:00am this morning. Our wonderful friends and neighbors had us over for breakfast and Mark and Minda and I wanted to take a hot meal over to Mom and Dad, who were still filling the trailer (for the third or fourth time {why do we have so much Junk that we need?}). We pulled in the driveway and the Suburban was gone, Mom and Dad had gone into town to get a car top carrier and not told us that they had left. I went into the house and no one was in there. It was kinda spooky/eerie/ weird, anyway I got shivers. I got back to where Mark was waiting he asked if Mom and Dad left with out us. I have to say that my heart skipped before I realized the ridiculousness of his question.

So here we go... our last night in Iowa. We are staying at my brothers house in Garrison for the night and Gabe, Brooke and Aaron came over and we all had chicken and pizza. We hope to get to St. Cloud MN tomorrow. I'll let you know if we get there!

Here we go...

Are we crazy??? Is a Chevy sub to small to hold eight people, a Samoyed, a Siberian husky and a sciatic cat, on a ten day trip to the already frozen north country of Alaska? Can we with stand the temptation to... listen to me I haven't even been in the car yet and already getting dramatic (LOL). Life is an adventure and its not worth it living the same day twice. I'm very excited to be going -if a little nervous about the actual trip- I know that as a family we will pull threw this and survive no matter what.
Today I said goodbye to one of my best friends. You don't realize how much you love someone until you have to let them go without knowing the next time you will see them. I don't care how much easier it is to communicate no than it was one hundred years ago it still hurts just as bad to say farewell to loved ones. Tomorrow holds even more goodbyes, but a very good friend told me on the phone today that "the last few days are full of heart breaks and sadness but the adventure of the road is like a healing salve to sooth them." I hope she's right.
We have tomorrow to finish everything! The new owners of the house take over on Friday at 9:30am then - as Dad likes to put it - WE ARE HOMELESS!!!!
As for now I have a sleeping bag that is calling my name, until next time.