New home

Here are some pictures of the new place.

Megan's bday

Megan spent her birthday with us this year.  A totally new experience for her (all of us actually).  It was about -40 degrees in Fairbanks.  Spent the morning on the road from Tok to Fairbanks.  Took her out to Thai for dinner, well take out that is.  Got the food to go and hung out in the hotel room.  Maybe not the most exciting but still a totally new and different experience for her.  Here is a picture of the Thai food after the first round for us.  Only a tiny bit of it made it to leftovers.

Pictures-Tok to Fairbanks

Some pictures on the drive from Tok to Fairbanks.

Fairbanks or bust

 Megan and Tara were here!

House hunting

We are still house hunting today.  We are getting really close to making a decision.  I just want to get my car unpacked.  And to stop living out of a suitcase.  Meeting someone at 10:30 this morning and our plan is to make a choice between yesterday's apartment or today's dry cabin.  Either way we need to find a   place to do laundry today or tomorrow.  Oh and if we get someplace today, Megan and I get to go shopping! Another great thing, the lady that manages the apartment and cabin we are looking at was very excited to hear that I sold Mary Kay, we are already talking about scheduling a party!!!  Guess that's about it for today.  Dustin takes his truck in tomorrow to get it looked at for the oil leak.  Then my car will go in next to finish getting winterized.

Fairbanks!

Well, we made it safely to Fairbanks yesterday afternoon.  Looked at one house so far and have another one set to see in a couple hours.  Hopefully, we can find something good soon.  I'd like to unpack my car and start to get settled in our new home.

Day 7

Started off the morning finding out that our cold water knob didn’t work for the shower, so no showers for us this morning.  By the time we could get into a room to shower we just needed to get on the road.  So, all of us can’t wait to shower.  Well, except Dustin, he doesn’t care if he showers, but we all want him too.  Got an early start on the day tho.  Good thing too.  Dustin’s truck sprung an oil leak half way, so for the last half of our journey we were going about 40 miles per hour and stopping about every 40 miles so it took forever to get to Tok, AK.  Megan and I were able to turn our phones on for the first time in 7 days and are catching up on our phone calls and text messages.  Today we saw a fox, a pack of wolves, some more caribou, and a moose.  At one point we were surrounded completely by mountains, it was amazing!  I know these are kind of sporadic with information but it’s hard to remember by the end of the day what all happened.

Day 6

I'm starting to loose track of what day it is.  Made it to Whitehorse, YT.  Got to go to the Yukon Brewery, the only brewery in the Yukon.  Good beer.  Started the day driving in some fresh snow so it was a slow start to the day.  But by the end of our drive the roads were clear.  We should be in Fairbanks (as long as there are no weather issues) by late Sat or early Sun!  I finally feel like we are starting to make some progress in our drive, even if the side of the road usually looks all the same: white.

Day 5

Got to see a lot of buffalo on the side of the road today.  We are all feeling more comfortable driving on the snow covered road.  We are staying in a little town called Watson Lake and finally made it to the Yukon.  Seems like we have been on the road for a long time and we still have a little less than half way to go.  Got out of the car at the sign post park here in Watson Lake, it’s pretty cool.  We would have looked at more of the signs but it was really cold outside.  We have a room with a kitchen again so Megan and I made spaghetti for dinner.  Yummy!!!  Now we are just kicking it in the room watching TV.  It’s only 4pm but we are already ready to go to bed soon.  Kinda crazy how driving can be so tiring.  I hope to get some pictures posted soon.

Day 4

(not internet on day 4 so this is posted on Day 5)  Today was a good day!!!  Started with a nice drive.  Had some snow on the drive but nothing too bad.  Had to drive slow but no chains.  We saw a moose, a lot of caribou, a coyote, elk and horses.  Megan got to a good part in her book while I was driving.  The Liard HotSrpings resort is a lot smaller than expected but still super cool.  They have a moose and elk on the wall right out of our room.  Tomorrow we hope to see buffalo! But the best part of the day, hot springs!!!!  Spent a few hours in those after walking to them while freezing.  We all ended up skinny dipping by the end of the night.  No one else was there at that point and it was so dark we couldn’t see anything anyway.  Once we got out we had to change in freezing weather and walk back to the resort.  Our hair was frozen by the time we got back to our room.  Overall, best day so far. 

Day 3

Made it to Fort Nelson, BC about 4pm.  We ended up in a room with a kitchen so Megan and I went to the local IGA to get some food.  Made grilled cheese and soup.  Yummy!!!  And only cost us $12.  Started the drive this morning with snow on the ground and still coming down.  Still wasn't too bad.  Saw our first moose yesterday and deer and coyotes today.  Tomorrow we are going to make it to Liard Hot Springs and spend a lot of time in the hot springs.  It is amazing how we didn't do anything except drive today and yet it's only 6pm and I'm ready for bed.  Maybe we will start a game of Apples to Apples soon and that will wake me back up.

Day 2

Made it to Chetwynd, BC.  Went through a tiny bit of snow but that's about as exciting as the day was.  Hanging out in the hotel and watching a movie.

First day on the road trip

We made it to our first stop safe and sound.  The day started a little later than planned but it was a great morning.  I got to meet Dustin's great great aunt and him and his dad, Chris, got to spend a little more time with her.  Border crossing went smooth, although they don't have much of a sense of humor.  Then, once we were in Canada, I had a semi truck riding my rear end at about 55 mph.  When he passed us he almost ran Dustin off the road.  We hit a little bit of snow on the last leg of our drive.  Now, time for bed, we are all tired.

We leave tomorrow!

Hello all!  We are just about ready to start packing the cars with all of our stuff.  After stopping for breakfast and to visit Dustin's great great aunt, we will be on our way.  We will be in Canada our first night so I won't have a cell phone.  You can try to text, that might work.  If not, I'll do my best to keep this updated as much as possible.  Thank you to everyone here in WA, you have made the last 18 years in Kitsap County wonderful!  I'm so glad I was able to see so many of you before I left.
Tara