There is no other way to describe today’s drive other than, “picturesque and up-close and personal with the Rocky Mt. wildlife.” The only thing we didn’t get to see was a moose, but living in Alaska we are guaranteed to see plenty.
• Deer
• Caribou
• Stone Mountain Sheep
• Bison (lots and lots of Bison)
• Black bear
• Brown bear
In addition to seeing this amazing wildlife, we drove through some of the most beautiful Provincial parks that Canada has to offer.
Finally, we all spent as much time outside as possible given that we drove a 300+ mile day. For lunch, we ordered some sandwiches from the Northern Rockies Lodge and sat lakeside on the back tailgate of Daddy's truck so we could get some fresh air and run around a bit. For dinner, we walked down to the local grocery store and picked up some more freshly made deli sandwiches and walked down to the local town lake & park. Nothing beats being out of the car and hotel room and just being outside. It was a good way to end a long day.
Day 13 – 318 mile
Total trip –
Day 14 – Watson Lake, YT to Haines Junction, YT
I’m starting to feel like the Little Train that Could… I’m tired of traveling (and I’m sure the rest of my troops are starting to feel the same) but I know we can do it. We are almost there! Although I’m still excited about what we see each and every day, I just want to get there and get settled. I miss sleeping in the same bed, cooking in a kitchen (especially my hubby’s cooking), drinking my morning coffee out of a mug (with hazelnut creamer) instead of a travel cup (often times with powdered creamer). And I know for certain that Brian is sick of packing and unpacking the truck especially with the amount of stuff we have to bring in each night. If you are not familiar with traveling with 3 small children, they require a lot of stuff. Just off the top of my head, here is what gets pulled out/put back in the truck each stop:
• 1 large suitcase (Mommy & Daddy’s stuff)
• 1 small suitcase (the kids’ clothes all packed in zip lock bags)
• 1 duffel bag with all shower, bathroom, medicine stuff
• 1 Pack-n-Play for Marilyn to sleep
• 2 backpacks each with our computers (and other little things)
• 1 bag with breast pump
• 1 file accordion with all important travel documents
• 1 diaper bag
• 1 small cooler
• 1 “children’s bed divide” sheet
• 1 Spiderman pillow (Thomas)
• 1 Boppie pillow
• 1 toy bag
• 1 laundry bag
• 1 double stroller (from time to time when we walk places in the town we are staying)
I’m surprised at the number of bikers that we have passed in the last 2-3 days while we have been driving. I don’t mean motorcyclist… I mean a person riding a bicycle. Brian and I are now referring to these crazy, thrill-seeking, nature-loving cyclists as, “Extreme Bikers.” I’m sorry people but that is not on my bucket list at all. Nope. I have no desire to bike the stretches of the ALCAN Highway. To me, it is already long enough and isolated enough to do in a car… I don’t need a bicycle. When we stopped for lunch today at a tiny, tiny roadside café there was one of these bikers in there grabbing a bite to eat. Just making conversation, Brian asked him where he was headed and he replied “Alaska.” That in itself was a long bike ride from this point. Then Brian asked him where he was from and he answered, “Key West, Florida.” Holy Crap! Are you kidding me? People already look at us like we are crazy because we are driving from Florida (although it might have something to do with the 3 small kids that are with us) but this guy is doing it (and longer because he is from the southern-most tip of the state) by peddling. Do you see why we are just calling them the “Extreme Bikers?” Crazy with a capital “C.”
The mountains continue to be gorgeous, the weather has been tremendous; thank you God for no rain especially in the areas of the drive where there are signs that warn for “falling rocks” and “possible washout during wet conditions.” As I mentioned from yesterday’s blog post, the wildlife is amazing. 100x what any experience at a zoo could offer. I keep thinking about how this area (meaning all of Canada) must look in the winter months (which by the way is considered to be October through April). Frozen solid lakes and rivers, white-blanket covered mountains and hills, and ice covered branches on the gazillion of trees up here.
Something that I have always been horrible at with math is conversions. You know… converting measurements from one thing to another. Well thanks to us being in a foreign country, they don’t use the same measurements as the United States does. Every day I have to pull out my calculator and look at my little cheat sheet (or ask Brian for the millionth time) so that I can convert:
• What the temperature is (Celsius to Fahrenheit)
• How much gas we are buying (from liters to gallons)
• What distance and/or speed we are traveling (from kilometers/hour to miles/hour)
• How much something costs (Canadian dollars to U.S. dollars)
On a final note today, I’ll leave you with my realization that LIFE is LOUD when you have 3 kids. It’s my newly coined phrase that I use often now. At first I just used it when Brian was complaining one day that between Thomas’ constant talking, Abbigail’s whining and Marilyn’s crying – he was getting a headache and just wished that everyone could be quiet. I busted out with, “well sweetie, get over it, LIFE is LOUD!” Since then, he and I use that phrase whenever the other one complains about the noise and basically to put each other in check. It works and we usually laugh a little and realize that it will calm down soon enough.
A glimpse at the kids tonight as we strolled around Haines Junction, Yukon:
Day 14 = 367 miles
Total Trip = 4,099 miles
1 comment:
God Bless you guys and it looks absolutely gorgeous up there! Love you all!
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