Day 18

We are in Fairbank in the rain.  We hope to travel to Coldfoot tomorrow but the rain--we will see.  Spent most of the day looking for thing we could not find!!  It rained ALL day.  As I write Terry is making sandwiches for tomorrow.  At this point, Alaska has been interesting!!!!!!  More perhaps in another day.

July 31, Thursday, day 17

We arrived in Alaska yesterday and spent the time in Tok.  Filled with gas and then took advantage of their free car wash.  We encountered much rain and mud the last day so everything was caked with mud.  We enjoyed sunshine yesterday day and a dry night for the first time in several days.  The evening of July 29 was wet, wet wet. 
Will drive to Fairbanks today and spend some time there.  We are wondering if we want to drive to the the most northern part which is 225 miles north of Coldfoot.  We are reading and hearing that it is a difficult drive.  One article suggested we have TWO full size spare tires on rims!! We will see.  Also a person can not access the Arctic Ocean except through a $59 tour by the oil field people!!!
Will try to download some more pictures.
We are experiencing a bit of the Alaska chill as I drank my FP with gloves on this morning.  
Happy birthday to Elspeth, one today!!

we have arrived

a bison on the way to a party all dolled up!!!!

Terry with our sign which is maybe # 80,000+ in Watson Lake

sighting of our first moose

the flowers are beautiful

Day 15

I will write a bit and then try to download some pictures.  I have 30 minutes of Internet here and it is slow!!  We are in Whitehorse Yukon which is about 300 miles from Alaska and maybe 2900 from St. Paul.  All has gone well.  We have seen much wildlife along the road and have met many people. One couple we met are biking with their 17 month old baby.  They are on a 3 YEAR ride from Alaska to South America!!  Anyone want a challenge?
My FP is extra good this morning as I have espresso ground beans.  Here may be some pictures.

stone sheep by the road

a young caribou racing us

fancy out house for sure

our sign that we posted along with 80,000+ others!

Beginning of day 12

the first hotel at Lake Louise--two rooms??

the current hotel--550 room and they fill most summer days at $300-$600!

elk as we entered Jasper

a glacier near the road in Baniff Park

if I had not slowed down we might have hit this bear

As I sit in the campsite this morning it is the first time I have seen the sun in the morning for at least 4 days and it is great.  We plan to drive about 300 miles today and camp some place near Fort Nelson.  People say that once one get beyond Fort Nelson the drive is beautiful. 
Terry made ham sandwiches last night so we should be good for the day.  We are finding that most things are expensive here, at least in our way of thinking.  A burger that would be $10 in the states would be about $15 here.  Our friend Larry, who goes on fishing trips in Canada said that pretty much what ever one buys it is a $20 bill! 
We had a bite to eat in Baniff at a brew pub and purchased a growler and of course it was full!  The cost was about 40% more than any other place but we (I) did want a growler from Alberta and now the hunt will be on for one in BC.  Alaska, well they have more micro-breweries per person than any other state so that should be no problem.
We are camping very near a highway and it is noisy.  No problem, I just left the fan on in the camper all night--I know this modern camping is difficult!!!
Each morning before we pull out of our camp site we pray for protection against accident, illness and injury.  We are hoping to sail through these next 6 weeks with great weather, exciting times and wonderful experiences.  So far we have had fantastic roads, will see if that continues as we head farther north.  The Mile Post book says the highway is paved all the way but there will be stretches of gravel as they work on the road.  Our camper and car are so dirty now but maybe we can find a place to wash them some time.

John and Mary's Elspeth turns 1 July 31 and we say happy birthday today as we may not have any service in 5 days.  This picture was taken a few months ago and she is at least as cute today as then!
Enough for now.  Even tho I took my double walled stainless steel FP pot with us it still does not stay  hot too long.  By the way it was sure nice to turn the hot water pot on today rather than heat water on the stove, like I said this modern camping is difficult.

end of day 11

us with Larry as we left Havre MT

sitting by Lake Louise near Baniff

near Lake Louise

We are camping just outside St. John, BC which means we have been on the Alaska Hwy for about 50 miles.  We are now 3900 miles from Naples FL, 2050 miles from St. Paul and have another 1200 miles before we get to Alaska.  We stopped a bit early today, 3:00 PM, as we have had rain the last 2 nights and much of the last two days.  We are enjoying dry weather now so needed to stop, dry things out and get some work done--yes one must work some on trips too!
So far along the road we have seen deer, elk and a black bear.  I have a feeling that is just the beginning. 
For those of us who feel gas is expensive at home here it is sold by the liter and 3.8 liters = a gallon.  As we drove through St. John's the price was $1.39 per liter which comes out to $5.32 a gallon.  I am thankful we are pulling a small camper which allows us, to this point, to get a bit over 19 MPG.
Our car is dirty, our camper is dirty and perhaps us too but we are at a camp grounds with electric power, hot water and tomorrow it will be shave and shower before we hit the road.  In Dawson Creek today we watched a movie at the visitor center on the building of the Alaska Highway and I am thankful we are traveling in today's world.
Enough for now with pictures to come later.

Day 8

We are in a great campsite in Claresholm AB.  We took all of 3 or 4 minutes to get through customs yesterday, that was great.  Drove through a very very bad rain/hail storm but have not seen any damage on the camper or car.  Terry found this campsite, which is city run, and it is $15 for the night.  Plan to get to Banff before noon and spend the day there. 
We are excited to see what new things day 8 brings!
FP is good as always this morning.

Day 7

We will try to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow starting today

It will be on the road again today.  I feel like our Alaska trip really starts today.  We plan to travel about 250 miles today and find a camp site about 100 miles into Canada. 
The picture was taken last night after a short light rain.  I could not get the entire bow across the sky in one picture but it was brilliant and stayed for about 10 minutes.  It seems each day is another of God's artistic master pieces!
I think both Terry and I are excited but yet there is a bit of, not concern, but rather "what are we really doing going on a 12,000 mile trip into an area so remote, so rugged, so unknown in some ways?" I sometimes say that life is really not worth living unless one kind of lives on the edge and allows God to be present on a daily bases.  We expect, pray for and hope for a trip of excitement, safety and free of difficulties so we head north, northwest with much anticipation.
O my, the FP is ready and so am I.