2010 alaska
The day started warmly with a dip in the Radium Hot Springs. Brooke was so excited to go swimming she stripped right in the parking lot much to the dismay of her parents. Cody loves splashing around and occasionally tries to drink the whole pool. We stayed around for almost two hours. If we weren’t tight on time I could have soaked all day.
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2010 alaska
We visited four Canadian National Parks in one day: Jasper, Banff, Kootenay, and Yoho.
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2010 alaska
When we stopped to make dinner last night we met an incredible couple, Mary and Gordon, who were on their way back home to Edmonton after having their four grand kids and their friends for three weeks in their truck trailer. Mary was so friendly that Brooke was sad when they started to go, and whispered in my ear. They wanted to know what she said. She said she wanted Mary to play on the playground with her. Mary, who had grandma shining from every bit of light around her, didn’t seem so confident about climbing the equipment or sliding down the slides, but she did it for a three year old she had only just met. Brooke and I were very grateful for the ten minutes Mary spent playing “princess castle” with Brooke while Scott was busy making dinner and I was busy feeding Cody.
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2010 alaska
They say necessity is the mother of invention and in Brooke’s case that has been proving true. She decided yesterday that she would like to make a travel car seat that has a hidden potty below so we wouldn’t have to stop the car for her to go potty. Then this morning, as with every meal, Cody was still munching away when we were ready to go. Brooke started giggling and asked Cody if he would like her to put his food into a bag and attach it to a vacuum and shoot it into his mouth to make things go faster. We coined it the food shooter.
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2010 alaska
Last night we camped on a ledge overlooking Salmon Glacier. The glacier was technically in British Columbia. The road we were on wound from Alaska to B.C. We had hopes of waking up to some amazing views of the glacier. This was our view. We discovered why this area is called Misty Fjords. There was a nice and refreshing mist showering us. We decided to travel down forty minutes back to Stewart, British Columbia to eat breakfast.
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2010 alaska
We camped down a little grassy turnout which turns out to be the mosquito headquarters for the northern hemisphere. :-) Scott donned the ever so handsome mosquito net helmet again while quickly shuttling us and everything from the van to the tent and back again this morning. We decided against eating breakfast there. We came across a dot on the map called Jade City. They were very hospitable. We were able to fill our water there and eat breakfast at their picnic tables. Brooke spotted the pay phone and we briefly called Meme. Since we are back in Canada we are unable to use our cell phones again. We spoke to some people who paid extra to have their cell phones work up here, but the problem is that if there isn’t a single cell tower for any network then the extra money doesn’t help. The call to Meme was brief because the phone service there was via satellite and the skies were full of patchy clouds resulting in a patchy phone call.
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2010 alaska
The world’s largest weather-vane, a Douglas DC-3
2010 alaska
Brooke often asks us to find something fun for her to do, especially on days when we try to get in some miles. Today Brooke enjoyed:
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2010 alaska
It would have been hard leaving Alaska with the incredible eighty degree day and bluer than blue skies yesterday. This morning was much more fitting of most of the weather we have had and of the thought of leaving Alaska. What makes it easier is thinking that the first frost up here is less than a month away, and when it gets dark in Chicago at five o’clock in the middle of winter Alaska will have sunlight from about ten to three. I have a hard enough time with the limited sun in Chicago. I frequently request to move near the equator mid winter and Scott requests Alaska. If the lack of sunlight and the negative forty degree days haven’t deterred him from living here full time then the average cost to heat your home has. Obviously it depends on where you live, but in Fairbanks they are currently fighting to get natural gas to heat their homes. They are using heating oil right now, and it is pricey. One gentleman we spoke to said he spends about $4,000 to heat his very modest home each year. We decided Alaska is best enjoyed for us as snow birds. That is of course if we had endless resources to constantly travel. We can all dream…
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2010 alaska
We drove about two and a half hours yesterday into Tok and out again. We stopped driving a little after noon and just enjoyed the rare sunny day and our last full day in Alaska.
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