Day #8: North to Alaska (in a few days, that is) Plus Yellowstone Photos

States Traveled: MT, Alberta, BC

Weather: High temp: 61       Low temp: 31
Flurries, Snow storm, rain, sun, more rain

Today was our second-longest day mileage-wise, but by far our longest day spent in the car.  We left Yellowstone at 7am and ran into trouble right away when the GPS gave us a route to Calgary that was 150 miles and 3 hours longer than the route we had pre-printed from Google Maps.  We should have known something was amiss then, but wanting to take the fastest route, we followed our Google directions until the GPS caught up.  We soon discovered why Mandy (the GPS- called so because that is the Tom-tom name of her pre-programmed voice) insisted on us taking the long route.  About 75 miles into our day, we were on a 2-lane winding road through the Montana prairie.  Then it started raining, and the winding road was now slick, causing us to slow down.  Soon after, the rain turned to big, wet snowflakes.  Then we started picking up elevation and realized we were climbing into the mountains.  The snow started to stick to the trees, and minutes later the road was starting to get coated, too.  At the top of the mountain, which ended up being the Showdown Ski Area, the snow was coming down so fast that there were actually plows clearing the roads.  In June.  Ugg.  While it was beautiful to see the pines coated in fresh snow, the drive was harrowing.  The Nana was at the wheel, and being a Floridian, she had never driven in a snow storm before.  She did a great job!  Thankfully, we began our descent shortly after and the snow turned back to rain.  Maybe next time we will listen when Mandy tells us to "turn around when possible."

It actually rained on us most of the day.  We crossed into British Columbia around 2pm and ran into another snag in Lethbridge after stopping for gas.  We sat in a stationary line of traffic on a 2-lane city road for over a half hour for what turned out to be a huge line at a gas station.  They must have been doing some sort of free/cheap gas promotion.  We were in the car for 11 hours by the time we finally made it to Calgary.  Thank goodness tomorrow is a play day for us.  We will be headed to the Icefields Parkway, which we have only driven through without time for stopping in the past.  We are spending 2 nights at Jasper National Park and plan to explore the glaciers, waterfalls, hot springs, and maybe even take a rafting trip while we're there.

As promised, here are a few of my best shots from Yellowstone:

Picnic spot by the river that we found before going into the park

View of Mammoth Hot Springs terraces right from our cabin porch

We had a squirrel cabin...love the 1950s touches!

Bull snake...you know I had a zoom lens to get this shot!  No way would I get this close!

Terraces at Mammoth

Lower Falls as seen from Artist Point. This is with my telephoto lens, zoomed in as far as it goes.  The falls are HUGE!

We loved the textures and colors of the thermal pools

Old Faithful, which was much more impressive this time than it was back in 2005.

Day #6: Yellowstone!

States traveled: WY, MT, WY
Weather: high temp 76     low temp 50,  sunny enough that I managed to get a sun burn!

I will do short post now from my phone and one with our photos when we get to Calgary as we have wifi but it is too slow to load images from my camera.

Today we had to take the long route to the north entrance of Yellowstone as the closer one is closed due to unstable snow. We found a beautiful picnic spot for lunch outside of the park on the Yellowstone River, and spent the afternoon exploring the terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs. Tomorrow we are going to wander the rest of the park. The weather is expected to be much cooler and rainy with the possibility of a little snow. The park is strangely empty for the beginning of summer because of the unusually wet weather they have been having. All the better for us!

We have already seen lots of wildlife: vision, antelope, sheep, a bull snake, and tons of elk.  We even witnessed an angry mama elk trying to protect a baby that she had hidden away. The park rangers shut off the parking area at the hour springs and took the time to explain the habits of elk cows to us.  The kids learned how the mama always protects her young, and also to not feed wild animals (which apparently is what started the incident).

More later! Off to enjoy the mountain sunset from the porch of our cabin.

Day 5: Unexpected Surprises

States Traveled: South Dakota and Wyoming

Weather: High Temp: 65        Low Temp: 55        Sunny and windy.  So windy in fact that because we were driving straight into the wind most of the day we got absolutely terrible gas mileage.

We feel like we have gotten the hang of packing up and heading out each morning.  Most of today was spent in South Dakota, with nothing specific on the agenda other than to get to our destination in Wyoming with enough time to let the kids expend some of their extra energy.  Last night we discovered that the famed Wall Drug was on our way and at a perfect distance from the start of our day to stop for a lunch break.

About 30 miles before Wall, SD, we saw a sign for the Badlands Scenic Loop road that conveniently ended at Wall.  We made a quick decision that we had plenty of time for a detour thanks to gaining an hour to our day by passing into Mountain Time.  That means we are now 2 hours behind the east coast (please keep that in mind when calling us!).  What a fantastic decision that was!  We entered Badlands National Park and made a couple of quick photo stops while driving the loop.  The beauty of the Badlands can't be put into words, so I will just show you these photos instead.  If we are friends on Facebook, you can find even more photos there, including family photos, in my CT to AK trip album.

Afterward, we all had lunch at Wall Drug (buffalo burgers, of course!) and then wandered the store.  It held quite an eclectic combination of attractions, from a roaring animatronic T-rex to jumping fountains and the usual cowboy
 lore.

Tomorrow we are headed to Yellowstone!  We found out that the entrance we had planned to go through is currently closed during the day because they got over 2 feet of new snow last week, causing an avalance danger when the sun warms it up.  We have to re-route and go up through Montana and back down into the North Entrance of the park, which conveniently puts us at the entrance closest to the place we will be staying.  Unfortunately, it also means that the half-day we planned to spend in the park while driving through it to get to our cabin won't be happening.  Semper Paratus!  We will not have wifi in the park for the next 2 days, so I will blog from my phone if I can and then add more once we have internet access again.

The Incredible Journey

Incredible? Absolutely. But when you see it all outlined in front of you, the first word that may come to mind is "long"...or maybe even "crazy." We have spent many hours during the past few weeks planning out our 5000+ miles of quality family time in the car. After determining how many days it is going to take us (FIFTEEN), we set about planning the route based on places that we really want to visit along the way. Then came researching hotels that will fit all of us comfortably and allow Midas (the wonder dog) to accompany us. So here's an outline of what we came up with. And even more impressively, all of the hotels are already booked. That may sound like overkill in the pre-planning department, but when you are traveling the Alaskan Highway in the summer without pre-arranged hotel reservations, you very well could find yourself camping at the first available roadside turn-out.

Day 1: CT to Youngstown, OH (547 miles)- no significance to this location, just a good place to stop for the night.

Day 2: Chicago (403 miles)- We have never been here and it's the only major city on the route. I foresee pizza for dinner this night!

Day 3: Sioux Falls, SD (573 miles)

Day 4: Gillette, WY (486 miles)

Day 5: Yellowstone National Park (355 miles)- we have been here before and can't wait to return!

Day 6: Extra day in Yellowstone

Day 7: Calgary (595 miles)- This is our longest day of driving

Day 8: Jasper National Park (267 miles)- This will include driving from Banff to Jasper on the Icefields Parkway, a place that we discovered by accident on our last drive out of Alaska and want to return to explore.

Day 9: Extra day in Jasper

Day 10: Dawson Creek, BC (328 miles)- Dawson Creek is the start of the Alaska Highway!

Day 11: Muncho Lake, BC (431 miles)- One of the most beautiful spots to stop. We have visited here before.

Day 12: Whitehorse, YT (422 miles)- I hear there is a good brewery here...

Day 13: Tok, AK (387 miles)- Finally in Alaska!

Day 14: Anchorage, AK (318 miles)

Day 15: Homer, AK (222 miles)- Finally!

We welcome input on any of these places, or points of interest along the way! Just remember that we will have the dog with us, so we can't do a whole lot of indoor activities.