Journey to Alaska - Day Eight & Nine (Videos!)

And here's the last two to finish out the video diary of my trip!

Journey To Alaska - Day Five (Video!)

Here's the video for day five - finally!

Journey to Alaska - Day Seven (Video!!)

Better late than never!  Here's Day Seven!

Journey to Alaska - Day Nine

Day Nine was a much shorter day compared to the previous eight!  We had a few hundred miles to get to Karl's dad's house, and even the numerous construction stops didn't slow us down.  We stopped for lunch at the Eureka Lodge, which is really in the middle of nowhere at the top of a mountain pass.  We were sitting down for less than a minute when Karl's two cousins pulled in for lunch as well!  Karl was really happy to see family so soon into the trip and really exemplifies why he wanted to come back to Alaska.  Not many pictures from today - it was a short drive and it was pouring down rain the entire day so you could hardly seen the scenery.  Here's one photo from near the mountain pass - these poles are there to mark the road for snow removal crews because it gets so much snow here!

Journey to Alaska - Day Eight

On day eight, we made to to Alaska!!  We got up from our campsite and traveled to Tok, Alaska, which is about 90 miles from the border.  The Alaska Highway is an interesting stretch of road, and got progressively worse the closer you got to Alaska.  Lots of gravel patches and road construction, but we made really great time considering we had a LOT of distance to cover to make it over the border.  Here's some photos!

Outside Whitehorse, YT

The gravel parts of the road kicked up some serious dust - this isn't even too much compared to some.

The Alaska Highway 

This water was as blue as the Caribbean

Feel like you're on a beautiful island?

The pup

And we're in Alaska!!

Journey to Alaska - Day Seven

Giving up on videos for the time being... The internet at Karl's dad's reminds me of 1997 dial up...

Day Seven marked our journey from Smithers, BC to Mile Marker 638 in the Yukon on the Alaska Highway.  There is no town there, just the Rancheria Lodge.  It looked a bit shady from the road, but it was our last campground for many miles and we were exhausted.  Turned out to be one of the best campgrounds ever!  They had free hot showers, and our campsite was right next to the river.  The restaurant at the lodge served up delicious eggs and bacon for breakfast, and were actually reasonably priced for being in the middle of nowhere.

We drove the entire Cassiar Highway (450 miles) today and while it had some serious gravel stretches, the scenery was awesome!  I saw TEN black bears, including a momma bear and her babies!  They were all on the side of the road as we were traveling, so we were definitely safe.  I also saw a little fox that ran out in front of our car several times.  Willow went absolutely berserk over the fox - I guess because it looks like a little dog.

Here's the video and a few photos!

Moricetown, BC

Karl and Sarah

Woohoo!

The pup

Awesome gravel on the Cassiar - this went on for MILES

We passed a HUGE area that had been burned by a forest fire the previous summer.  It burned for several weeks and covered almost 50,000 acres.  It seemed like we were driving through this forver... So sad.

A fox!  Sorry it's blurry!

Black bears!

Karl and Willow at our awesome campsite.

Journey to Alaska - Day Six (Video!)

Sorry for the videos being out of order!  I wanted to get this one up for you guys because I might not have internet again until I get to Alaska (probably on Thursday).  Day Six covered our trip from Jasper, BC to Smithers, BC.  We finished up our tour of the Icefields Parkway, including a stop at Athabasca Falls, and continued on through British Columbia.  It rained off and on all day, so we decided to find a hotel for the night.  Smithers is the most precious little town and I could definitely be convinced to stay forever!  It has the cutest little craft shops and is in the shadows of gorgeous mountains all around.  I hope I can find a similar little town in Alaska to set up a homestead!

Icefields Parkway

Icefields Parkway

Rainbow over Athabasca Falls

Athabasca Falls

Karl and I - doesn't he look happy?

Journey to Alaska - Day Five

We made it to Canada on Day Five!  Karl's dad was really concerned about them letting him cross the border (I guess he got into with a border control guy last time he went to Canada), so I was stressed that Karl and I would have to go the next couple thousand miles alone!  Luckily, all went well and we went from Great Falls, MT to Jasper, BC.  Youtube is having some issues with the video, and I'm we'll be leaving the hotel here soon, so here's some photos!

Icefields Parkway

Icefields Parkway

Icefields Parkway

Athabasca Glacier

Willow goes camping

Journey to Alaska - Day Four (Video!)

Sorry this post is coming a few days late!!  We haven't had access to internet in the last couple of days, so this is my first opportunity to post my videos.  Day Four was a relatively easy day for us - We had such problems the previous night that we wanted a bit of an opportunity to rest.  We woke up in Hardin, MT, had a delicious breakfast of eggs and bacon, then headed to Great Falls, MT.  This was only about five hours of driving so we still made it there by dinner time despite leaving at noon.  We then spent a bit of time at a local casino where Karl quickly lost $20 on video poker!  Wrapped it up as a early night and planned to head to the border the next day!

Montana

Willow and I in the car

Journey to Alaska - Day Four

Sorry, no video again tonight! We're staying in a very ''quaint'' motel tonight in Great Falls, Montana so internet access! We are heading for the Canadian border first thing tomorrow morning, so we will see what cell phone coverage is like. We will hopefully hit Alaska in four days (Wednesday). If you don't hear too much from me in the next couple days, don't fret! Lots of videos and photos are sure to come as soon as I am able. Wish us luck on a easy border crossing an a safe journey through the mountains of Canada!

Journey to Alaska - Day Three (Video!)

Tonight, we're spending the evening in Hardin, Montana.  It has been a really LONG day.  Karl and I tried to stop at a hotel in Belle Fourge, SD around 7:00pm, but Karl's dad didn't like the hotel and suggested we drive another hour.  We both TRIED to tell him that it would be a really long trip to the next town, but he didn't seem to believe us.  After several hundred miles driving through a Native reservation, we finally found a hotel in Hardin.  At 1am.  The only benefit is we will have an extremely short day tomorrow, as we still plan to stay this side of the US-Canadian border.

Here's my video of the trip, a few of my favorite photos of the day.  South Dakota was pretty awesome once you hit the Badlands and the Black Hills, and I think I saw 200 baby cows, which frankly never gets old.

Overlook of the Missouri River

Mt. Rushmore

Lake in the Black Hills

The clouds look like someone wiped paint across them, don't they?

Sometimes the best photos are the ones that turn out a little blurry!

Journey to Alaska - Day Two (Video!!)

Here's our video from yesterday (sorry it's a day late!) - This covers our drive from Urbana, Illinois to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  We drove about 625 miles on day two!

Journey to Alaska - Day Two

Karl, Willow, and I have stopped for the night in Sioux Falls SD. Our free wifi access is one examPle of you get what you pay for - it completely sucks and I couldn't get
my video uploaded! I promise it will be coming! We covered about 600 miles today and are officially over a quarter of the way there. We will be hitting Mt. Rushmore tomorrow and I am very excited! I think we will be crossing the border Saturday morning - then four days til Alaska!!

A Journey to Alaska - Day One (Video!)

Karl, Willow, and I are sitting here in a Super 8 in Illinois which amazingly has free internet access, so I am able to update you all on our progress (and with a video nonetheless)!

We covered 475 miles today, even though we got a late start around 1pm.  We are definitely on track to hit Alaska by next Wednesday.  Stopping at gas stations has been pretty depressing - my car with the trailer is only getting around 17 mpg.  My calculations suggest it will cost over $1000 just to get my car to Alaska!  Luckily, Karl's car is super efficient and is hovering right around 37 mpg.  Hopefully the two will balance each other out!

Check back tomorrow for another video - so long as I have internet access they'll be coming daily!