Headed North

Monday morning came and it was time to set off on our long road trip to Alaska.  My mom and dad were waiting for us when we were up at 6 in the morning.  My dad said a prayer and we said all our goodbyes with a lot of tears and hugs.  So sad to leave my parents, they really are some our best friends.  We are so lucky to have parents that are so fun not only to hang out with during the week but on all the river trips, four wheeling rides and adventures we have gone on together.  I am really sad we won't have as many of those anymore.  We are looking forward to a lot of great memories when they do come visit though!  

We stopped and stayed with Ben and Michelle in Walla Walla on the way up, it was a little out of the way but well worth it.  We toured downtown and I fell in love with their community and surrounding views of farm fields.  We then headed towards Canada the next day and stayed at a great place called Invenmere.   I wish I could live here some day.  Just being able to have a lake this large out your back door, lucky kids that live here!

 The next day we made it through Banff and Jasper national park, this is the second time we have driven through and hopefully won't be the last.  The views are incredible and we saw some great wildlife and I lost count of the waterfalls.

 I am not going to lie, I forced myself to put this one in, no pretty pictures when you've been on the road for ten hours a day.

 There were a lot of waterfalls, but this was one of the best by far, park the car and take a picture, put it on the blog worthy.

 This picture makes me laugh, it looks like the elk is smiling for the camera.  He was a great non-typical right on the side of the road, tolerating everyone staring at him.

 Caleb would love this picture, the other day he said Chelle, "The boogey man and ghosts aren't real are they Chelle?   But bigfoot, he's real, I know he is."  I didn't argue with him, apparently the people of this town believe in him too enoug to name their town Sasquatch (spelling?).

 Right after we headed up the Alcan highway all the wildlife popped out.  We pulled over and these two bear cubs did what they were told and scampered up a nearby tree while mama stood guard at the bottom.  We definitely kept out distance.

 It was amazing how much forest had to be cut down to put the boundary line in, as far as the eye could see on both sides of the road.

 These flowers are a little blurry, but I had to post so you could see how crooked all the telephone poles are on the other side of the road.  With all the permafrost issues they get after it starts to thaw in the spring, these things looked like they would fall flat with the slightest wind.  They were almost ready to touch the ground, but you could still hear the hum of electricity going through them.

 Found in the North Pole.  I'd like to know the story behind this space ship, it looked like it still works and could be used in a Christmas time parade. 

 It's lagoon in Utah and here Mukluk Land.  Good for enjoying miniature golf and other fun games, I'm not quite sure of. 

 In Fairbanks we checked out the Alaska pipeline, one of the view places you can drive to and see it in person.   This winter we hope to come back for the ice festival and Chena hot springs.

Found just north of the Matsu valley.  I think they were hoping to make it into a hotel one day, but lost their vision or something.  Now it is a great place for graffiti, beautiful setting in the background with the mountains. 

It was totally relaxing being able to drive up and enjoy the views and experiences of being able to meet new people along the way and visit with each more than we have total for the last month.  Everything was so busy and stressful getting the house sold and all packed that before we knew it we were headed out on the road looking at each other a little shell shocked, thinking now what.

I was excited to finally get to the Mat-Su Valley but at the same time the closer we got the more I just wanted to keep on riding in the truck and not face the reality of having to unpack everything and get organized, start new jobs, learning how to find our way around and just getting accustomed to our new surroundings.  

The first week we camped out on the carpet and did a little road trip up to the Matanuska glacier, the second week our stuff all showed up and the next week before Dave took off for the slope was spent unpacking and trying to figure out where to put everything.