Today was spent in the beautiful city of Seattle, Washington. We met up with the Latham Family, who have been living in Seattle for 2 years. We visited them 2 summers ago on another one of our road trips and were able to enjoy the city again! Pike's Market is located in downtown Seattle and is a very vibrant and bustling indoor market. We enjoyed walking around the market and the surrounding shops, even stopping to get crumpets at a famous local crumpet shop. We ate lunch on the pier and walked over to the Seattle Great Wheel. The view was amazing! The Wheel was situated right on the end of the pier, so at some points we were over the water and had a great view of the city! We said our goodbyes and loaded back up in the RV to head home! It's hard to believe that Seattle is one of the last places that we are going to visit on this trip and it's sad to think that the trip is almost over. I've made some incredible memories with an incredible family and I can't believe how much we have done so far.
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We are headed home! We are stopping to see some friends in Seattle, Washington but after that we are making the long trek home. I won't have internet on the road, so I'll have to post when I get home. I'll fill you in on all the Seattle adventures and a wrap up of the trip! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog! It's been a great trip! We made it back into the continental United States today! The campground we stayed at was around 275 miles from the border, so we were eager to make it to the customs office. In contrast to the other international borders, we sat in traffic before finally making it into Washington. We drove until we reached Everett, WA, around 20 minutes north of Seattle. We settled into our campsite and went to Seattle to find something to eat! We have been driving for the past three days, so we were definitely ready for a good meal. We ate in the Seattle mall and enjoyed walking around the city for awhile.
The day was all but over by the time we got back to the campground, so we decided to head to bed early to get ready for an exciting day in Seattle tomorrow! We are getting closer to the United States! About half way through the day, we stopped at the Hell’s Gate Tram to take a break from driving. Hell’s Gate is the name given to the narrowest part of the Kaser River, which is vital to the spawning habits of the salmon in the area. During the construction of the Canadian Railway, rocks fell into the river making the water extremely treacherous and difficult for the salmon to travel upriver. In order to save the salmon population, which the economy is so reliant on, both the United States and Canadian governments arranged for concrete structures to be placed into the water with slots allowing passage for the salmon. We took the Hell’s Gate Tram across the river and enjoyed walking around the museum and across the suspension bridge, a filming location in one of the Rambo movies. Today was a driving day, but about halfway through the day, we stopped at Jade City, British Columbia. This city is responsible for 92% of the world's jade exports and is a city completely run by generators. All of the drilling and sanding equipment and all the electricity used in the jade mines is powered by generators. There was a little jade store with tons of raw jade out front. My parents built an Inukshuk, a man made stone landmark used by Native Americans near the Arctic circle used for navigation or a point of reference. We drove the rest of the day but this evening pulled into Meziadin Provincial Park (which is what they call State Parks in Canada) for the night. I went on a run around the campground just to get some fresh air. After I was done running, I met my brother and dad and the boat dock in the campground to jump in the water. The water was absolutely freezing, but it was a great way to end the day! We cooked dinner in the Dutch oven again tonight and then headed inside the RV. It’s amazing that it actually gets dark here! It’s nice to go to sleep when the sun is down, definitely something we have learned to appreciate on this trip. We are dry camping, which means no electricity, so we played the board game Taboo by flashlight tonight. It was so much fun to play with my family, and it really made me appreciate just simply being with my family. It was a much needed break from the road, and we are getting up early to do some more driving tomorrow!
My grandma flew out really early this morning to go to Kansas City for a work conference. The rest of us slept for a few more hours, but then we hit the road headed towards…. Home! We drove all day today, without stopping and we eventually pulled over on the side of the road for the night.
It’s hard to believe we are already headed home, the trip isn’t anywhere near over though! The journey home is about 4,800 miles, which means that once we reach Seattle, we are only halfway home! I never imagined how long we have to travel through Canada to get to Alaska. By 4:30 this afternoon we were already out of Alaska and across the border, but we have a long few days ahead of us to drive through Canada! There are five different breeds of Salmon that live in Alaska, each with a different spawning season when they swim up river. We haven’t seen any salmon yet, but my dad had heard of a Salmon overlook near the train station. We went to the river, but there weren’t any salmon, but the river was still beautiful! Every Saturday and Sunday in downtown Anchorage, there is a farmer’s market, so we decided to check it out! It was a lot bigger than the market in Fairbanks and we enjoyed walking around for awhile. After the market, we walked to the Visitor’s Center- it wasn’t very eventful so we decided to grab a late lunch. After lunch, we walked around downtown for awhile. My dad scheduled a short flight going out of the sea plane airport just for the experience of taking off and landing on the water so my dad, my brother, my grandma, and I all went flying! I had never been in a small plane before, and taking off from the water was an awesome experience! We flew over the valley wetlands near Cooks Inlet looking for moose and bears- and we were able to see some more moose- and then headed out of the water. The pilot had just returned from a flight before we took off and he had seen a pod of beluga whales in the inlet, so he wanted to show them to us! I never thought that I would get the chance to see a pod of wild wales, but we found a pod of around 6 of them! In the pictures, all you can see are white disturbances in the water, but when the breach for air, all you can see are their white backs! We circled around the whales for awhile and then headed back to the airport. On the way back, we probably flew over at least a dozen moose, if not more. That’s it for today! It was a slower day, but we were able to enjoy downtown Anchorage and an awesome flight!
Everyone was exhausted after yesterday’s adventure, so we slept in a little later today. After everyone was awake, dressed, and fed, we headed out for the Chugach National Forest, which was only about 40 minutes south of Anchorage. Before the trip, I did some research on the wonderful site we all know as Pinterest to find some cool places that we could go on our trip. I stumbled across a picture of a hand tram that was a hand powered tram that hikers used to cross a river. I didn’t think we would be close enough to the trailhead to make a hike worthwhile, but luckily we were close! The trailhead was located at the Alyeska Resort, which is a very popular ski resort during the winter. The hike in was 2.5 miles before the trailhead, and the trail was beautiful! It was very well maintained and the trail was often a boardwalk through the wetlands. The trail followed along the Iditarod Dog Race Historical Trail. The trail we followed is not currently used during the races, but it was used at one point. The trails we walked on also double as cross country skiing trails during the winter. The hike in was quite steep at some points, but we all made it to the tram! In the picture I saw on Pinterest, it didn’t quite show how high the tram was above the river below, so it was definitely more exciting to see it in person! We all went across, two at a time, and it was quite the workout to get the tram all the way across the river. On the drive back to the campground, we pulled over at a pullout on the edge of the lake. Across the street, right in the face of the mountain was a pipe wil fresh, clear, glacier water pouring out of it. Locals lined up to fill their five- gallon cartons with the water and loaded it back up into their cars. Curious, we each filled up our water bottles and took it back to the RV. The water was refreshing and clean (and nobody got sick), so I can see why the locals use it! I feel like I have lapsed into summary during my past few blogs posts, so for this post, I though I would share a few things that I have learned on this trip so far: 1. my brother enjoys wandering off from the group into the woods, so he has assumed the title of “bear bait” 2. it’s hard getting used to sleeping in broad daylight, even if it is midnight
3. no matter how many pictures we have of bears- no amount is too many 4. long car rides are better spent trying to get people to wave back at you 5. …. Not many people wave back 6. despite popular belief, I have not seen one totem pole in Alaska 7. my mom loves taking group selfies… during any occasion possible 8. singing loudly and out of tune proves to be good bear repellant... who needs bear spray? 9. we are currently 4,800 miles from home and loving every minute of it Today was quite the adventurous day!! We boarded the Alaska Railway at 5:30 this morning and took the train going to Seward. I slept most of the train ride, but the last 45 minutes of the 4 hour ride were beautiful! The railroad follows the coastline, and occasionally goes inland to wind between mountains. It was a rainy day, so the views were not quire clear, but it was still amazing! Everyone was off of the train by 10:15, and we took a bus to the harbor. My mom scheduled a boat tour of Resurrection Bay, which is part of the Kenai Fjords National Park. A Fjord, which I believe is a Norwegian term, is a deep valley between mountains that is filled with water. Resurrection Bay, named after a fisherman seeking shelter during a storm found refuge in the bay, woke up the next morning and realizing how rich the waters were with fish, named the Bay. Unfortunately, it was pouring the rain, but that didn’t stop us for having fun on our adventure. Our seats were on the upper level of the boat, so we had a great view of the water. When the sun is out, the water has a gorgeous blue tint due to the glacier run-off of the surrounding mountains, but we were still able to see a little bit of the blue color. Within five minutes of our departure, we came across a couple of sea otters floating in the middle of the bay. Luckily, the boat trip was a wildlife tour, so the captain of the ship didn’t mind slowing down to let everyone get pictures of the otters. We followed along the east bank of the bay, and eventually came across a big group of sea lions laying out on some rocks near the edge of the water. There were also some puffins in the mix! The marine tour was around Resurrection Bay, so we eventually had to cross into the Alaskan Gulf to come back on the West side of the bay. Let’s just say the water was quite rough and there were many people aboard the ship that didn’t handle the high seas very well. Because of the rain, the water was even more choppy than usual, so the level of seasick people was also higher than usual. The ship crew were walking around handing out anti-nausea medication all over the boat, and there were a lot of people laying on the ground. As we were crossing the bay, a pod of Dall’s porpoise were enjoying playing in the wake of the boat, and playing near the front. They followed us for awhile, but they moved on when we got to the other side of the bay. We enjoyed the last bit of the boat tour, and then boarded the train back to Anchorage! The crazy thing is that we left when it was daylight at 5:15, and we back home at 10:30 when it was still daylight! It was an awesome day, and I have to say: train travel is the way to go. There were very few people on the train back, so everyone was able to spread out and everyone got a window seat! The scenery in Alaska is just incredible and even in the pouring rain, the fog around the mountains is just breathtaking. It was a great day!
Today was an errands day. My grandpa needed some glasses, so that was the first errand we set out to accomplish. After placing the order for glasses, the boys headed off to the aviation museum, and the girls headed off for more errands. Our first stop was the grocery store, then a quick run to Costco, and then we headed to the University of Alaska at Anchorage campus. Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely no interest in attending UAA, but the campus was five minutes from the campground so we decided to check it out. It was a pretty quick stop, but it was cool to say we have been there!
The whole group met back up at lunch for pizza at Moose’s Tooth Pizzeria, and it was absolutely delicious! After lunch, we made a stop at REI (yes, again) to make sure everyone had warm enough clothes for tomorrow’s adventures! I can’t wait to tell you all about them tomorrow! It was pouring the rain by the time we got back to the campground, so we enjoyed a movie-night in the RV before heading to bed. We left Denali this morning and headed towards Anchorage! The drive was beautiful, and we stopped at a bunch of different overlooks as we drove away from the park. The Denali area has a National Park, but also a State Park just south of the National Park. We were not able to see Mt. McKinley because of cloud cover, but residents of the area say that only about 25-30% of visitors ever get to see the mountain clearly. At one of the overlooks, we had a beautiful view of the mountain range in front of McKinley and the Ruth Glacier. The Ruth Glacier is one of Denali’s most interesting features, besides the massive Mt. McKinley, and it moves at an impressive rate of 3.3 feet per day. The campground that we are staying in is very close to downtown Anchorage, so it is very convenient. We got settled in the campsite- which is unlike the other campgrounds we have been staying in because there is actually grass between our RV and the one beside us- and headed into town! My mom had read about a delicious pizza restaurant so we decided to try it out; however, the wait was extremely long so we decided to try again tomorrow. We ate at a local Mexican restaurant, and went to find the Ulu Factory. Ulu knives have been used in Alaska since native Athabaskans inhabited the land, and the style of the knives proves to be very unique and useful in kitchens today. The factory is right here in Anchorage, so my mom and grandma wanted to bring some home!
The sea-plane port in Anchorage is one of the largest in the United States, so my dad definitely wanted to visit it. As we were entering the airport, we actually had to drive over the aircraft taxiway and runway to get to the hangers- only in Alaska! A plane was actually landing on the water as we pulled up, so we were able to get some great pictures! We watched planes for awhile, and then headed back to the RV! We got up early this morning and went into Denali to catch the sled dog demonstration. The sled dog kennels are only a few miles away from the visitors center, so the park takes a bus up three times a day to show visitors around. Denali has around 30 dogs that they keep in the park year round and although winter is their working season, they are still trained and kept in the park for visitors. We were able to pet the dogs and walk around the kennels. At one point the kennel staff gathered everyone together and demonstrated how they hook the dogs up to the sleds. As soon as they brought the sled out, the dogs immediately knew what was happening, and they began jumping around and barking because they were so excited. The Alaskan huskies are built for hauling large loads, and each dog is able to pull 100 lbs. – which is actually a little bit more than some of them weigh. The dogs used in the park are around half of the size of the dogs in the annual Iditarod race. They are used in the park during the winter to create trails for cross country skiers and snowshoers because there are no motorized vehicles used in the park during the winter. All of the hauling is done by the dogs and rangers use sleds for transportation during the winter months. During the presentation, I looked down the row of people and I actually saw one of my teachers! Ms. Pala teaches computer science classes at GPS and is also the head of the yearbook committee, so I work with her a lot during the school year! She was visiting with her fiancé and her sister, who lives in Kenai, AK. Of all the places to see someone I know! It had been a running joke between my family that we would be surprised if we made it through this whole trip without running into someone from GPS or McCallie. After visiting with my teacher, we headed back to the RV to meet up with my grandparents. We ate lunch in the RV, but then we were off on another adventure. This time, it was white water rafting! If I were to be totally honest, I was quite terrified of falling out of the raft. Not because I was afraid of the water, but rather the temperature of the water, which was a lovely 36 degrees. Luckily, the rafting company makes everyone wear dry suits when rafting so the trip was really enjoyable! The guide told us that the water we were rafting on was melted glacier water, and that it had been frozen only 12 hours before. Everyone had a blast on the trip and the rapids were so much fun! The river is called the Nenana River, named by the Athabaskan natives because nenana means “no river river”. The river does not contain any fish, so the natives did not consider it an actual body of water. The trip was a total of 11 miles downriver from where we are staying and it was the most fun thing we have done on the trip so far! We cooked stewpacks in the dutch oven tonight and yet again, there wasn’t much left over! My dad has been wanting to do a hike in Denali while we are here, so we loaded back up in the Cranberry to go find a trail. Since my grandma joined us, we now have 6 people, so Zach crammed himself in the trunk of the Cranbery- and it’s a tight squeeze for a 6 ft tall boy! We drove in the first 15 miles into the park, until the gate was closed to public traffic. The view was absolutely incredible. It always amazes me how lush and green the landscape is, but just behind the mountains in the forefront are jagged, snow capped mountains. The hike was a short loop that followed along a creek. At the far end of the loop, Zach and I climbed up onto a hill to get a better view. There were rolling hills, so the landscape didn’t drop off how I thought it would, but the view was still awesome. Denali is beautiful, and I am so glad we got to spend a few days here!
We got all packed up this morning to head to Denali National Park! My grandpa flew to Anchorage this morning to meet my grandma at the airport because she is now joining us on the Jan Fam Road Trip! They are going to drive from Anchorage and meet us in Denali tomorrow, but we dropped him off at the airport on our way out of town. The drive to Denali was only about 2.5 hours, but it was one of the most beautiful drives we have been on this trip. The road wound through different canyons and valleys, all with overwhelmingly beautiful snow-capped peaks off into the distance. The side of the road would drop off into gorgeous canyons, and often followed along side the railroad tracks leading into the park. Right before the small town of Denali begins, we crossed a gorgeous trestle bridge, that happens to be the second highest bridge in the state of Alaska. The town shares uncanny similarities with Gatlinburg, but the Alaskan cruise ship “on land adventures” begin right across the street. Our campground happens to be directly behind the little row of shops, and is a very tightly packed RV parking lot. However, when all we do is sleep in the RV, that’s really all we need. We walked around the shops for awhile, but we were very eager to go inside the park. In my opinion, Denali is by far the most beautiful place we have been to so far. Apparently it rained the whole month of June, so the trees and plants are the most beautiful, vivid shades of green and the mountains are breathtaking. Denali National Park was originally created as a wildlife refuge for the native Dall Sheep, but due to an extensive expansion of the park in 1980, it is now the third largest National Park in the United States. The park also includes Mt. McKinley, which is the highest peak on the North American Continent at an elevation of around 20,000 feet.
Cars are only allowed to drive into the first 15 miles of the park, and after that everyone has to take a bus further into the park. McKinley is at the south end of the park, and it is a full day trip to the visitors center with a clear view of the mountain from where we are staying. The visitors center in the North area of the park is a few miles past the entrance, and although we did not venture far into the park this evening, the beauty just in the first few miles of the park is unmistakable. The road cuts through the Denali wilderness around lakes, rivers, and the beautiful scenery we have the privilege of enjoying. After a short stop at the visitors center to get our National Park Cancellation Stamps, we headed out of the park to find the bus that was used in the film Into the Wild. The movie, based on the book written by Jon Krakauer, tells the story of Chris McCandless, who set out on the Savage Trail after graduating college and giving all of his money to charity. He hitchhiked from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia to Alaska and set out on the trail with a sack lunch and boots (given to him by the truck driver he hitched a ride with), a backpack with a few supplies, a small weapon, and a road map of Alaska. He set out in winter and eventually found a bus that was left behind by coal miners in the area after the axle broke, and he lived in the bus for 4 months. Sadly, Chris eventually died of starvation after he ate poisonous fungus growing on the potatoes in the area that left him too lethargic to find other food. The bus that Chris actually lived in is located 20 miles into the Savage Trail, but they placed the bus from the movie at a local restaurant because people were injuring themselves trying to get to the actual bus.
The ATV trails were located on public land, and were actually the old roads used for the coal mine. One of the stops we took was actually on top of the coal mine, and we could see small bits of coal mixed in with the gravel. The interesting thing about the tour was that it started at 9 pm, but there was still plenty of daylight left!
We took advantage of an easy morning at the campground. We did some much needed laundry (I have gotten quite handy in a Laundromat) and after everyone was up and dressed, we headed out to enjoy Fairbanks! Our first stop was the Museum of the North on the University of Alaska, Fairbanks campus. The museum was quite informative, and offered information on the Athabaskan native culture of Alaska and the wildlife of the area. The museum also housed beautiful modern art depicting and highlighting different aspects of Alaskan culture.
On the way back from the museum, the front left tire of the Cranberry began making the most awful noise. To avoid damaging the car further, we headed back to the campground to try to fix the problem. My dad thought that washing out the under carriage of the car would possibly dislodge the sediment built up in the car that was causing the brakes to squeal. It seemed to work at first, but we figured out very quickly that we were going to have to take a better look. The men on the trip quickly identified that there must be a rock stuck in the brake shields of the tire, so the tire would have to come off. My dad wanted me to learn how to change a tire, so we worked together to remove the Cranberry’s tire. My dad was able to quickly dislodge the rock, and we were back on the road! Next, we headed back to REI to look around some more. There is not an REI in Chattanooga, so we wanted to take advantage of it while we could! After a quick stop at REI, we decided to visit the Silver Gulch Brewery- but only because it is the northernmost brewery in the United States. We just took a picture outside of it and then headed back into town! We came across a farmer’s market right outside of downtown Fairbanks and decided to stop by! Although most of the market was plants and home-made soaps, Zach and I found some delicious grilled corn and fireweed honey. We enjoyed the farmer’s market for awhile, took a short trip into WalMart to pick up some cooking supplies, and then headed to the Cookie Jar Restaurant. The Cookie Jar was featured on Guy Fieri’s Food Network Show “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” and was given very positive reviews. Local Fairbanks residents always bring guests here and now we know why! The food is all homemade- everything from the bread to the salad dressing, and everything is delicious! We enjoyed a wonderful dinner, and were ready to go back to the campground.
Zach and I watched a movie before going to bed and cleaned up a bit, but after that everyone was asleep. Luckily, everyone is getting a little bit more used to the whole sleeping-in-broad-daylight nightly adventure. Happy 4th of July! It felt good to spend Independence Day back on American soil! We left Tok this morning and headed for Delta Junction- the end of the Alaska-Canada Highway! We made it all the way to the end!
Luckily it was only a few short hours away in comparison to the driving we have been doing in the past few days. We parked the RV in the campground and went to do some exploring. Fairbanks is a fairly large town and has recently become more developed. We stopped at an REI to look around, and then headed to some friends house that live up here. The Walters, who my parents have known from Greeneville, TN (where my mom grew up) and from college, have lived in Fairbanks for the past 12 years and have recently adopted a little Ethiopian girl named Noelle. We enjoyed dinner at their house, sitting on the back deck, ,playing with Noelle, and even roasting marshmallows over a fire! They had some great stories to tell about their time in Alaska and it was a great evening!
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