Fairbanks Alaska

Sorry this post is late. We got into Fairbanks early Friday, but stopped in at North Pole Alaska to see Santa and his reindeer. Cool place, but no room for Christmas stuff. 

We walked around Fairbanks until we found a restaurant looking over the river. Nice place. 

TYFN,

Stew

Into Alaska!

We headed out of Whitehorse this morning with grey skies, but no signs of rain. About an hour in the rain came again. Oh well, we are getting pretty good at putting on our rain gear. 

There was about 50 km of construction on muddy roads with big pot holes. Our bikes desperately need baths to get all the mud off. 

The scenery once we got through the construction was really cool, but the clouds covering the mountains really don't make the pictures turn out right. Doesn't Brandon look cool in his bright orange rain gear?

We stopped at the border to Alaska to take some pictures. The border is in the middle of miles and miles of swamp. It kind of looks like the fens that Frodo goes through to get to Mordor. Really creepy. 

We are in Tok Alaska for the night. Nice rustic place, but such crappy service at the restaurant. After supper, we bought some American beer and played some family cards. Brandon was in a really giddy mood. Lots of laughs all around😆. 

Let's hope for no rain tomorrow!

Stew. 

First time in the Yukon.

We started in the rain again, but after 1/2 hour it let up and the rest of the day was great. The road was nice and the scenery was awesome!  There was a herd of woodland bison that walked by our hotel.  By the time I got ready for a picture, just one was left though. 

We stopped for lunch at Teslin for some really crappy food and really crappy service. The view coming into Teslin was beautiful though. 

Then back on the road and really enjoying it, until my stomach started acting up. About 75 km from Whitehorse, I had to pull over and head for the bush for a toilet break. I am sure the Ham in my salad was bad and was the cause of the violent diarrhea. This has happened to Karen a few times in the past, but I usually have a cast iron stomach. The whole family laughed and laughed. It is always funnier when it happens to dad😖. 

We finally got into Whitehorse and found a nice hotel for the night. After a quick clean up, we walked a few blocks to a highly recommended restaurant called Yukon Salmon and Ribs. We had to wait about 30 minutes to get in. 

Jada had Elk Stroganoff and Brandon had Reindeer Stew. I stuck with Salmon and Ribs and Karen had Pasta. The food was pretty good but took forever. The waitress was nice and gave us free desert though. 

We are heading further North this morning to try to get through some construction that is supposed to take 3 hours to get through. We want to get through without rain and today looks like the day to do it. 

Fingers crossed!

Stew. 

Another wet day

So, it was raining lightly this morning, so we waited, hoping it would get better. At 12:00 noon we went for lunch and it was raining harder than ever. We decided that we couldn't wait any further and headed out. 

The first hour was hard rain and crappy roads (muddy construction). After a while we got out of the rain and seemed to keep ahead of it. We were all cold and wet, so we pulled into Liard River for the night at the Liard Hotsprings Lodge. 

After a hot supper, the kids and I walked down to the hot springs. What a great area!  The pools had nice big stairs to get in and some change rooms that were nice. The bottom is river rock and the sides are river banks. It is the most natural hot pools I've ever seen. Just beautiful!  There is even a tiny creek you can walk down where the trees/bushes grow right over your heads. Worth the trip!

Off to bed early, so we can get a good jump on the road tomorrow. 

Have a great evening.

Stew. 

Taking a break near Mucho Lake. 

New gloves leak ink. 

A wet day

We left Dawson Creek in grey skies. Cool but dry to start. 

We pulled into Wonowon (at mile 101) for gas. It is just as small as I remembered (I worked in the bush about 80 clicks West of Wonowon around 1990).  

The skies looked pretty dark ahead, so we put on our rain gear. Good choice since it rained non-stop for the next 4 hours. We were pretty cold when we pulled into Fort Nelson. Thank you Super 8 hot tub!

We will check the weather and decide how far to go tomorrow. Maybe just to Liard hot springs or maybe Watson Lake. 

Fingers crossed!

Stew. 

Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway

Pulled into Dawson Creek BC this afternoon and grabbed some exotic local food called KFC. Tasted like chicken. We also grabbed some beer and relaxed at our high scale motel. 

Nothing much to look at, but the rooms are good and clean. Although, Karen did make me do a bed bug check just in case. 

We had to stop at Beaver Lodge for a selfie. We need to practice selfies. 

Oh well, we got to mile 0, so the real adventure starts tomorrow. 

The weather forecast calls for wet Adams' tomorrow. Let's hope they got it wrong. Another warm clear day like today would be nice. Although we only saw one deer today. More wildlife would be good. 

The kids are doing really well so far. And both are enjoying the ride. 

Have a good evening everyone!

Stew

On the way to Alaska!!!

We left this morning from Calgary on our trip to Alaska!  The weather was pretty good today and once we got off highway 1 it was not too busy.   

We are in Hinton tonight enjoying a couple hamburgers and drinks at Rob and Kayla's with aunt Annette. They have such a beautiful house. 

So we are heading North to get back to nature. So far on day 1 we saw 8 mountain goats, 2 deer, 8 elk and one black bear. Not too shabby!

Here are some pictures from today.