WE made it!!! The wonderful family we are renting from invited us for dinner for our first night into Alaska. They also invited us to stay either at their abode or our new house for the evening. They didn't even know us and they were willing to open their home for us to stay. I can't tell you how welcomed to this (very far away from home) state we felt. They then filled a bag full of goodies for us since the "fridge was empty" and welcomed us again!! They said that someone had done that for them when they first came here and they were so thankful. They just asked us to pass it on. What an amazing welcome so far from home!!!! Thank you God for such a wonderful beginning!! :)
We pulled into our new abode at about 915 pm and Mike (a friend that we had known from the 280th :)) Pulled up to welcome us and help us unload our trailer!! Since it was light out, we unloaded that and the jeep in almost no time. I think it was about midnight when the sun was about to go down..and we realized what time it was.
The house is beautiful!! We feel like we are in a cabin somewhere on vacation. The rustic wood house is pretty ah-mazing!! Pictures are on their way...but we just wanted to say thank you very, very much to everyone for all their support through this transition. We are so thankful for EVERYONE who helped us and are forever grateful for your love and friendship!!!! We can't wait for you to visit!!! I will update on the days following soon!!! :)
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Days running into Alaska.
Day 8ish - 11ish And I say that because the days are actually running together!
We stayed at a place called the Woodland in a town that had the biggest gas refinery in North America. The town was full of hard working, people. Women were there holding signs to redirect traffic. The men were blackened with hard work and sweat from the days activities. Some of these people were very young but you could see they had had a life filled with hard labor. It was very humbling to see as we were checking into the hotel with our suitcase and clean shoes and not removing our soiled boots at the front door. Reminded me of some of those fun days in the Air Force out in the field. There were stacks of soiled boots on rubber mats near the front door of the hotel. Not something you run into everyday. This particular hotel had cinderblock walls and outside industrial decor. Internet did not work through these thick walls. Breakfast was from 5-7am and you could order a sacked lunch for the factory for about $13.50. On this day we opted to sleep in a bit and went to the restaurant inside the hotel to order two egg sandwiches to go for breakfast. Hint…if you are in the middle of nowhere Canada…bring mostly all you need to eat or be very prepared to spend ,well,a traded kidney. Two egg sandwiches-one kidney, and we were on our way.
I had failed to mention there is a magazine we purchased before our trip. It is called the Milepost. It is an Alaskan travel planner. It suggests stops and places of interest and this day we were going to stop at a couple of places it suggested. One place hailed of really good cinnamon rolls and they were GREAT!! The gift store had contained contained hats and mounted moose trophies on the wall. On the outside there what I thought was sheep shearings but instead found they were from a tree that was outside of the little cabin. Huge cotton puffs flew through the air and landed on us. It was surreal in the morning light with the smell of cinnamon rolls. We talked with some other people traveling and asked about their trips. There are tour busses that go the through all of Canada and stop along the way to places of interest. Everyone seemed to say go to the hot springs. So we looked at our Milepost book and saw where we could go and see these Hotsprings. We weren't all that far and it would be a great place to stretch our legs. So on we went. Looking for the hotsprings not realizing that we would run into something even better than that.
We started reading where the road would be pretty steep and winding and took precautions to be very careful around these curves with the trailer. There was no warning for this though. We came around a curve and there it was. BEAUTIFULNESS. I've seen pictures but thought that someone must have messed with the hue, now I know I just had never seen anything like it. At the base of these mountains was a beautiful lake biue/green like the water in Destin. It was called Muncho Lake. They had plane tours through the water and Dave said "we are coming back here and flying over this lake" YAY! You have too book in advance so we couldn't go that day but that is something to look forward to. We walked around it and felt just how cold the crisp clear water was. If anyone has any doubt about how good our God is they have never been here. So thankful for all that He made for us to show us how much he loves us.
Eventually we did come apon the Hot Springs. We walked down a long boardwalk to the hot springs and noticed all the people wading in them. We touched the water. It was much warmer than we had expected. There was steam rising from it and it was 75 degrees out. Should have seen that one coming! It was like jacuzzi water! Wow! What the first people who came apon this must have thought!! There were wild strawberries all over as well and I have to say that they were the best tasting strawberries we have ever had!! They were small but they were just so much more than that little berry let on.SWEET! Hot stprings and snack stop Rocked!
What we didn't count on were all the wildlife. You see wildlife warnings all the time on the highway but to see all the sheep and bison and actually have to stop for good long time periods not to run over things is another story. Sheep would just be in the middle of the road, hanging out. They looked more like mountain goats, but there they were just chillin no intention of moving anytime soon. The bison traveled in herds. They had their little ones and were adorable! We have had a run in with everything except a moose.
One thing we would never expect out here are the bicyclists. We are literally an hour between stops driving. Their bicycles are loaded down with sleeping gear and they are out here for the long haul. Most surprising thing is that they are mostly all about 50 or 60. That is IMPRESSIVE. I hope one day that we can do something like that so I'd like to start training now. I have feeling that we are going to be enjoying lots of different activities that we have never even thought of before.
Our gas cans came in handy today. A really nice German lady was on the side of the road that ran out of gas. She was driving a car for someone else to another town. She told us that the town was coming up was pretty neat! We decided to check it out. There was something called the sign post forrest. Signs from all over the globe were there. Familys vacations documented on wood, metal, special signs, and stolen street signs.It was amazing!!!! Dave ran off back to the jeep all of a sudden…I thought….hmmm…maybe bathroom break? He comes running back with the COON INSTRUCTOR sign, a hammer, and nails. YUP we have a sign up there at the sign post forrest in Watson Lake, Yukon!!! :)
We drove on to a place right outside where there were cute little cabins. We chatted with some motorcycle folks that were prior military and were about 7,000-8,000 miles down on their trips. And I thought we had gone a distance!!! That evening we split a bison steak. We found out that the owner usually hunted them herself.
We woke and started on the road again and then we came apron this place called lake Kluane Lake. It was spectacular. Seemingly untouched mountains and lake with fireweed all around. Its beautiful. And there was a camp that we could stay. That's exactly what we did. Our tent right on the beach. And sunset happened at 1220 am. (See the moon picture and more pictures to go with this post on my facebook page)..Sun rose before we woke again at 430am. Mountains were magnificent. Water was magnificent. God creates magnificent things. Thank you for showing your love of us all around us!!
And we've hit it!! We are in ALASKA! Reception is still sketchy. We ARE SO SO SORRY FOR ALL THE CALLS WE HAVE MISSED. We LOVE YOU ALL! Thank you for calling and checking in on us. Our voicemails were totally full with love. Thank you :).
Brief next day.....we drove and stopped at a hotel who is doing Christmas in July..We had a great dinner that we met a great couple from Wisconsin that had been married 42 years. They just came from Anchorage and had been there for about a month. They gave us all their information on day trips and places to stay and what we could not miss!! They were such a sweet couple! They told us about their children and we exchanged information. It was such a great evening! It got even better, since they are celebrating Christmas in July...carolers came and sang into the evening, with bells on! That was really nifty! The best part of our evening is that we got to talk to our sweet little ones and Michelle their cousin! They were playing and having a blast!!
That brings us to the last of it..Today is the last day of driving! We should be in Eagle River tonight!!! And that brings us to another journey..thank you for coming along on this one!
We stayed at a place called the Woodland in a town that had the biggest gas refinery in North America. The town was full of hard working, people. Women were there holding signs to redirect traffic. The men were blackened with hard work and sweat from the days activities. Some of these people were very young but you could see they had had a life filled with hard labor. It was very humbling to see as we were checking into the hotel with our suitcase and clean shoes and not removing our soiled boots at the front door. Reminded me of some of those fun days in the Air Force out in the field. There were stacks of soiled boots on rubber mats near the front door of the hotel. Not something you run into everyday. This particular hotel had cinderblock walls and outside industrial decor. Internet did not work through these thick walls. Breakfast was from 5-7am and you could order a sacked lunch for the factory for about $13.50. On this day we opted to sleep in a bit and went to the restaurant inside the hotel to order two egg sandwiches to go for breakfast. Hint…if you are in the middle of nowhere Canada…bring mostly all you need to eat or be very prepared to spend ,well,a traded kidney. Two egg sandwiches-one kidney, and we were on our way.
I had failed to mention there is a magazine we purchased before our trip. It is called the Milepost. It is an Alaskan travel planner. It suggests stops and places of interest and this day we were going to stop at a couple of places it suggested. One place hailed of really good cinnamon rolls and they were GREAT!! The gift store had contained contained hats and mounted moose trophies on the wall. On the outside there what I thought was sheep shearings but instead found they were from a tree that was outside of the little cabin. Huge cotton puffs flew through the air and landed on us. It was surreal in the morning light with the smell of cinnamon rolls. We talked with some other people traveling and asked about their trips. There are tour busses that go the through all of Canada and stop along the way to places of interest. Everyone seemed to say go to the hot springs. So we looked at our Milepost book and saw where we could go and see these Hotsprings. We weren't all that far and it would be a great place to stretch our legs. So on we went. Looking for the hotsprings not realizing that we would run into something even better than that.
We started reading where the road would be pretty steep and winding and took precautions to be very careful around these curves with the trailer. There was no warning for this though. We came around a curve and there it was. BEAUTIFULNESS. I've seen pictures but thought that someone must have messed with the hue, now I know I just had never seen anything like it. At the base of these mountains was a beautiful lake biue/green like the water in Destin. It was called Muncho Lake. They had plane tours through the water and Dave said "we are coming back here and flying over this lake" YAY! You have too book in advance so we couldn't go that day but that is something to look forward to. We walked around it and felt just how cold the crisp clear water was. If anyone has any doubt about how good our God is they have never been here. So thankful for all that He made for us to show us how much he loves us.
Eventually we did come apon the Hot Springs. We walked down a long boardwalk to the hot springs and noticed all the people wading in them. We touched the water. It was much warmer than we had expected. There was steam rising from it and it was 75 degrees out. Should have seen that one coming! It was like jacuzzi water! Wow! What the first people who came apon this must have thought!! There were wild strawberries all over as well and I have to say that they were the best tasting strawberries we have ever had!! They were small but they were just so much more than that little berry let on.SWEET! Hot stprings and snack stop Rocked!
What we didn't count on were all the wildlife. You see wildlife warnings all the time on the highway but to see all the sheep and bison and actually have to stop for good long time periods not to run over things is another story. Sheep would just be in the middle of the road, hanging out. They looked more like mountain goats, but there they were just chillin no intention of moving anytime soon. The bison traveled in herds. They had their little ones and were adorable! We have had a run in with everything except a moose.
One thing we would never expect out here are the bicyclists. We are literally an hour between stops driving. Their bicycles are loaded down with sleeping gear and they are out here for the long haul. Most surprising thing is that they are mostly all about 50 or 60. That is IMPRESSIVE. I hope one day that we can do something like that so I'd like to start training now. I have feeling that we are going to be enjoying lots of different activities that we have never even thought of before.
Our gas cans came in handy today. A really nice German lady was on the side of the road that ran out of gas. She was driving a car for someone else to another town. She told us that the town was coming up was pretty neat! We decided to check it out. There was something called the sign post forrest. Signs from all over the globe were there. Familys vacations documented on wood, metal, special signs, and stolen street signs.It was amazing!!!! Dave ran off back to the jeep all of a sudden…I thought….hmmm…maybe bathroom break? He comes running back with the COON INSTRUCTOR sign, a hammer, and nails. YUP we have a sign up there at the sign post forrest in Watson Lake, Yukon!!! :)
We drove on to a place right outside where there were cute little cabins. We chatted with some motorcycle folks that were prior military and were about 7,000-8,000 miles down on their trips. And I thought we had gone a distance!!! That evening we split a bison steak. We found out that the owner usually hunted them herself.
We woke and started on the road again and then we came apron this place called lake Kluane Lake. It was spectacular. Seemingly untouched mountains and lake with fireweed all around. Its beautiful. And there was a camp that we could stay. That's exactly what we did. Our tent right on the beach. And sunset happened at 1220 am. (See the moon picture and more pictures to go with this post on my facebook page)..Sun rose before we woke again at 430am. Mountains were magnificent. Water was magnificent. God creates magnificent things. Thank you for showing your love of us all around us!!
And we've hit it!! We are in ALASKA! Reception is still sketchy. We ARE SO SO SORRY FOR ALL THE CALLS WE HAVE MISSED. We LOVE YOU ALL! Thank you for calling and checking in on us. Our voicemails were totally full with love. Thank you :).
Brief next day.....we drove and stopped at a hotel who is doing Christmas in July..We had a great dinner that we met a great couple from Wisconsin that had been married 42 years. They just came from Anchorage and had been there for about a month. They gave us all their information on day trips and places to stay and what we could not miss!! They were such a sweet couple! They told us about their children and we exchanged information. It was such a great evening! It got even better, since they are celebrating Christmas in July...carolers came and sang into the evening, with bells on! That was really nifty! The best part of our evening is that we got to talk to our sweet little ones and Michelle their cousin! They were playing and having a blast!!
That brings us to the last of it..Today is the last day of driving! We should be in Eagle River tonight!!! And that brings us to another journey..thank you for coming along on this one!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Butterflies!
Have a question for you..Who wins when dragonflies and butterflies battle? Our JEEPS grill. That's who. Butterflies and dragonflies! Everywhere. We feel pretty bad about it...didn't even realize it was happening until we got out of the car and looked at the front of the vehicle. :(. Poor guys!
We are going to smoosh the last two days together because honestly, they were pretty much running into each other. It was still light out at 1115 pm last night and we can't tell you when it was fully light again because we slept a bit before we got up and it was light again. For my photographer friends it was like having the evening "golden hour" for about 5 hours. It was AMAZING!!!
We did a little car maintenence today. We got an oil change and tires rotated as well as went to aa place called Tim Hortons. We had not a clue what this place was and the locals looked at us like we had 40 eyes when we asked what it was.. Well its like an American Dunkin Donunts. YAY!!! Really and we were just now stopping? Our home in Evans was determined by that Dunkin Donuts location...no really..Dave said we have to live within a 5 mile radius. The mechanic who gave us the oil change in Dawsons Creek(the town we were in Mile 0 on the Alaskian Highway) said that they probably are putting nicotine in the coffee and donuts because everyone always has a Tim Hortons cup in their hand and its so true. The people in Canada are so pleasant. Everyone we have talked to treats you like family. We feel like we are in our own small hometown. Its really comforting being this far away from home.
The road has been long..and then rocky, steep, potholish. We've been driving and laughing because it really is crazy that we are on this road in the middle of nowhere, so far from civilization. It has been pretty hairy, but exciting all at the same time. George the monkey likes it, but then again he is pretty curious!
We recently listened to a book on tape called "Into the wild" about a boy who took off after college to Alaska and wanted to live off the land. It goes into how he went into the Alaska wild and lived off of berries and what he found and hunted. I won't tell you how the story ends but I will tell you that it is a dramatic story. We say this as we are about to embark on one of the longest legs of this journey without gas stations close together. Today there is a chance that we might have to take the scoot out drive for gas and bring it back to the car. We are excited to see what will happen. We just made it into town last night. It was really amazing! Hills pushed us up and down so we didn't have to use as much as normal. Praise God and all his provisions!
On that note, the last 3 nights we have received the very LAST room available everywhere we stay. The first of these nights we procured a spiderman room that had been cancelled. The second night the front desk clerk just received a cancellation call as we walked up. The third night we called in just in time. Last room. All sold out. The hotels here in Canada mostly, from what we have seen, have this fascination with water parks inside them. It is quite nifty. I honestly could see us vacationing here.
We are now on California time and last night were able to skype with our kiddos! Just happened that Grandma and I were both checking our Gmail and that was a good thing because we have no phone signal out this way. We apologize if anyone has been calling or texting. We will be out of cell phone range for at least the next 4 days :( or so we have been told.
We have been reading a devotional called Jesus lives seeing his love in your life by Sarah Young that a wonderful friend gifted to me before we left. I have to say that it is a great devotional if you are looking for one.
This trip has been very blessed and we are excited to see what else is to come! Have a fantastic day everyone and we will update as soon as we can! :) Love and miss you all!
Dave and Lana
We are going to smoosh the last two days together because honestly, they were pretty much running into each other. It was still light out at 1115 pm last night and we can't tell you when it was fully light again because we slept a bit before we got up and it was light again. For my photographer friends it was like having the evening "golden hour" for about 5 hours. It was AMAZING!!!
We did a little car maintenence today. We got an oil change and tires rotated as well as went to aa place called Tim Hortons. We had not a clue what this place was and the locals looked at us like we had 40 eyes when we asked what it was.. Well its like an American Dunkin Donunts. YAY!!! Really and we were just now stopping? Our home in Evans was determined by that Dunkin Donuts location...no really..Dave said we have to live within a 5 mile radius. The mechanic who gave us the oil change in Dawsons Creek(the town we were in Mile 0 on the Alaskian Highway) said that they probably are putting nicotine in the coffee and donuts because everyone always has a Tim Hortons cup in their hand and its so true. The people in Canada are so pleasant. Everyone we have talked to treats you like family. We feel like we are in our own small hometown. Its really comforting being this far away from home.
The road has been long..and then rocky, steep, potholish. We've been driving and laughing because it really is crazy that we are on this road in the middle of nowhere, so far from civilization. It has been pretty hairy, but exciting all at the same time. George the monkey likes it, but then again he is pretty curious!
We recently listened to a book on tape called "Into the wild" about a boy who took off after college to Alaska and wanted to live off the land. It goes into how he went into the Alaska wild and lived off of berries and what he found and hunted. I won't tell you how the story ends but I will tell you that it is a dramatic story. We say this as we are about to embark on one of the longest legs of this journey without gas stations close together. Today there is a chance that we might have to take the scoot out drive for gas and bring it back to the car. We are excited to see what will happen. We just made it into town last night. It was really amazing! Hills pushed us up and down so we didn't have to use as much as normal. Praise God and all his provisions!
On that note, the last 3 nights we have received the very LAST room available everywhere we stay. The first of these nights we procured a spiderman room that had been cancelled. The second night the front desk clerk just received a cancellation call as we walked up. The third night we called in just in time. Last room. All sold out. The hotels here in Canada mostly, from what we have seen, have this fascination with water parks inside them. It is quite nifty. I honestly could see us vacationing here.
We are now on California time and last night were able to skype with our kiddos! Just happened that Grandma and I were both checking our Gmail and that was a good thing because we have no phone signal out this way. We apologize if anyone has been calling or texting. We will be out of cell phone range for at least the next 4 days :( or so we have been told.
We have been reading a devotional called Jesus lives seeing his love in your life by Sarah Young that a wonderful friend gifted to me before we left. I have to say that it is a great devotional if you are looking for one.
This trip has been very blessed and we are excited to see what else is to come! Have a fantastic day everyone and we will update as soon as we can! :) Love and miss you all!
Dave and Lana
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Alaska Day 7
Day 7 of our Alaska trip.
Day 6 Trip to Alaska
Day 6...
We hopped in the jeep and on our way to the Canadian Border. To our surprise it wasn't what we thought that it would be. We wore jeans anticipating packing up and unloading and loading our inspected trailer up again. It was like bringing an umbrella and because we did it didn't rain. Dave really thought they were going to make us take everything out and we were prepared for it. We even had a packing list so they could see. The border guards, whom I had no experience with, were very stern but kind. They asked us questions like if we had over 10,000 dollars in cash and I answered." No but that would be really cool!" Dave said we were lucky not to be inspected. And we drove into Canada.
Canada has been beautiful and I will be adding pictures soon to this post but probably when we get settled. Yellow flowers dotted the the fields everywhere....beautiful vivid birds flew along side of our jeep and more than once almost beckoning us westward.
It is getting sparse as far as what we are running into. The stops are getting less frequent because there really is not very many places to stop. So here we are WI-FI in the hotel tonight but that may be it for a couple of days.. We will see.
Moose crossing signs are becoming more frequent and have all our food supplies packed and ready to camp in the back of the jeep. Have a super day everyone!! We love and miss you!!
We hopped in the jeep and on our way to the Canadian Border. To our surprise it wasn't what we thought that it would be. We wore jeans anticipating packing up and unloading and loading our inspected trailer up again. It was like bringing an umbrella and because we did it didn't rain. Dave really thought they were going to make us take everything out and we were prepared for it. We even had a packing list so they could see. The border guards, whom I had no experience with, were very stern but kind. They asked us questions like if we had over 10,000 dollars in cash and I answered." No but that would be really cool!" Dave said we were lucky not to be inspected. And we drove into Canada.
Canada has been beautiful and I will be adding pictures soon to this post but probably when we get settled. Yellow flowers dotted the the fields everywhere....beautiful vivid birds flew along side of our jeep and more than once almost beckoning us westward.
It is getting sparse as far as what we are running into. The stops are getting less frequent because there really is not very many places to stop. So here we are WI-FI in the hotel tonight but that may be it for a couple of days.. We will see.
Moose crossing signs are becoming more frequent and have all our food supplies packed and ready to camp in the back of the jeep. Have a super day everyone!! We love and miss you!!
Friday, July 15, 2011
The Great Alaskian Adventure
We are on our way......We just came from Stevens Creek Grovetown. Giving hugs to a bunch of awesome people we were now on our way. We hadn't said goodbye to everyone we wanted to but, goodbyes are so final..I prefer see you laters. We are really going on this crazy journey. Cross country with gas cans and tires attached to our jeep. David had (with some of our amazing friends help) packed meticulously according to weight things into our trailer so we we could lessen the chance of any kind of blowout. Starting out on the right foot we took exit 101 for a minute, then its back on the road. We get back on the highway and..yup you guessed it. Back to AUGUSTA! Thinking at this point we really don't think we actually have to leave.
First stop........blimpies with big painted condiments on the wall ....wow...first landmark stop on our ALASKA trip. Before we get really into it, Here's a little background. Before, we did this trek, we shipped off our poor, sweet kids to Grandpa and Grandma in California where we know they are just extremely sad (can you detect the sarcasm even in the type?) They didn't look back. Now a month into it, our phone calls and skype sessions have become more frequent and sweet. We'll take them anyway we can get them.....We are missing them insanely and can't wait to settle in.
We will tell you it's been a little insane. We can't say that its all been easy, but because of our absolutely wonderful friends, and you know who you are, we can't say thank you enough. This last 5.5 years in Augusta have been nothing short of extraordinary. Nothing like we expected but in all things, God knew what he was doing. Then again is anything like we expect? We try and predict what things are going to be like, (usually trying to control them) but we have the safety in knowing that God has a plan for our lives and it's not going to be what WE expect and want. What's comfortable for you? You know we were comfortable here, but that can be a problem sometimes when God had bigger plans. But I digress...
Day 1...
We stayed with wonderful friends of ours and in typical Lana fashion I misplaced my glasses....again....and yes we could have afforded laser surgery with how many types we have replaced my glasses. Our friends came out saying that miraculously had located those wonderful spectacles! I jumped! I was so excited I just couldn't hide it! People look at me often and I've become increasingly okay with it.
We realized quickly that the trailer looked like it was sagging and it was making us more and more apprehensive about driving all the way to alaska with that happening the first leg of the trip.
Our leg ended up being more like,well, a pinky toe. Atlanta was where we were going to settle for the night. Really? Atlanta? Why? Well, the jeep and trailer was looking more like a matchstick ready to break, than a vehicle ready to make a hearty cross country journey. We found the coolest guy who owned something called the Hitch House. Emailed him and now its Day 2.
Day 2
Hitch House in Atlanta called at 7am and said they would take us before they opened as soon as we could get down there! REALLY? Who does that? Those guys! They were amazing! They changed the hitch and had us out the door by 8:45. It was a extraordinarily impressive display of teamwork and work ethic that we had much admiration for. It was downright impressive. Eager to get back on the road, we were told that the traffic would be a nightmare if we attempted it and to go across the street to Ogas restaurant and have breakfast. That is exactly what we did. The quaint place you could tell that had been there for years had made its impact on the local businesses in the area. The inside was all updated circa 1970 and you could tell that that is the way it had stayed until present day. Service was quick and kind and the food was good but the company was better :). We looked out the window and realized soon that we would be on the road to a northern location with no need for air conditioning.
Speaking of air conditioning, did I mention that we didn't have any in the jeep? Well,we won't need any! The houses do not have air-conditioning in Alaska mainly because they don't need it in the northern parts of the country. Funny thing though we were still in the south and it had been a little warm. About a heat index of 119 degrees. That qualifies as a little warm to me. Made me fully realize how air conditioning has conditioned us to not be able to tolerate the heat as much. So when we were done with breakfast we loaded up and started toward Nashville.
The heat advisory warnings were blasting all over the airwaves and it was just plain sticky. If we ran into you this day or the next…I want to apologize profusely…we were offending without saying a word. Yup. Sorry to anyone who was in the vicinity.
You'd think there wouldn't be anyone around our vicinity, if we were in a jeep right? Wrong. Its been one of the things on my bucket list to go to Mammoth Cave someday.When we moved to GA, I was so excited because we could go one day on a long weekend with the kiddos to Tennessee or KY and here we were driving right past it unseen by the Coon family. You bet we stopped. As we walked down to the entrance of the cave it was instantly air conditioned, naturally!! Thank you God! I didn't expect that and yet there it was. A refreshing cool that we would have never got otherwise until we got further north. It was beautiful!!! I can just imagine being the first one to come across this so long ago. How cool would that have been? God makes such beautiful things and they are right in front of us…if we just took the time to see what them, we all might find peace in our busy, crazy lives. We could have kept going, pushing harder, moving faster. Let me tell you there will always be the destination but the trip is what is making this a blast!!!
Next up our first run in with the trailer and other large vehicles on the road. Mountains in Tenneseee can be kinda crazy. We were surrounded on all sides by very large, very fast MACK trucks going down a mountain. As we were going down the trucks started accelerating quickly and we couldn't figure out how we could change lanes. These trucks weren't slowing down. It looked like we were going to be the cream in an oreo for a minute there. I don't think I have ever heard Dave say with all sincerity that that was really close. Makes you think about if you have your life insurance up to date. And for the record we do…but don't get any ideas okay? Praise God for close calls..some people think of them as a negative thing…but I can't seem to get past that it shows that He loves us and is not done with us YET and that is always a reason to rejoice.
Day 3
Off to Indiana, a place I had never seen only heard about. Kentucky was fantastically beautiful too. Lots of bridges and lots of corn, and corn, and corn and it stretched into Indiana as far as the eye could see.
It was so peaceful in Indiana. Wildflowers bloomed all over, we commented that if you could drive into heaven this is what it must be like. We were going to visit a part of Davids family I had never met before. It took me back to when I met Dave's mom and dad, george, jackie, and sisters for the first time, THE WEEKEND of our Wedding. and realized how truly blessed that I was going to soon be part of this sweet family. Only now its been 10 years.
Before we arrived we stopped at a Dairy Queen rest stop. If you grew up with me you might know that I have a weakness for butterscotch candy shell dipped soft serve cones. We used to go to Cape Cod when I was little and get these cones of sweet deliciousness, eat them, and go jump at the trampoline park. By the time we were done, we wanted nothing more than to go back to my Aunts house and fall asleep. I know the adults loved that :) I have been on the hunt since they discontinued the butterscotch shell flavor and from what I thought never to return…. Until this fantastic day. Have you ever seen a little kid jump up and down with excitement? We'll lets just say I got a couple of stares. Not only for the cone but for the monkey.
Let's talk about George for a second. We saw and bought a stuffed monkey. We wanted to take pictures of something everywhere we go but hand't found the right subject. In Kentucky we found that sweet monkey and named him George. Original…(not so much) but he sure is cute and we really didn't fancy gnomes a whole lot. They kinda creep me out a little…
In short we had a blast!!! Indiana folks are super sweet! Thank you guys for an amazing visit!! Nothing is better than food, family, and new memories!! ;) Went to Lake Michigan, which looked nothing like a lake but more like the ocean. Not at all like we would have imagined. Dave's cousin asked him to climb a "DUNE" and let me tell you…..it didn't look difficult but my calves were on fire once we got to the top..I'm not going to lie. We could see Chicago from up there across the lake! It ROCKED! Dave said that he had never been there and was so happy he got the opportunity to go this time! We got down by leaping top speed in the sand until we were at the bottom of the hill. Dave carried George, and I'm thinking George had quite a ride ;)
We skyped with our little wonderful, smart, intelligent, amazing (I could go on here but I'm sure you know it won't end anytime soon) children. They talked to everyone in Indiana via Skype and were introduced to all her cousins from the little phone Skype camera. Then Taylor said….."um How many cousins do we have!!??!? Everyone laughed…it was a cute snippet of what I love about that girl!! Oh how we miss them both! .
Day 4
We woke and Dave went running while I packed up to hit the road. He came back excited about all the beautiful trails he found. We had planned on eating with some of Dave's family at a place called the Viking Chilli Bowl Restaurant that is only open for breakfast and lunch. I thought this kinda funny…and despite the unconventional name it was Great!! The outside landscaping was surprisingly familiar. It was a neatly arranged garden, cauliflower, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, chillis. and marigolds. It was so nifty! I think that these kind of gardens would be such a change from flowers and grass that had no other effect than to be pretty for a season. Off we went in the corvette back to David's cousins house. THAT was AWESOME!! Thank you for the ride guys!
Upon leaving, our goal for the day Eau Claire, Wisconsin. WOW! Never heard of the place. Let me tell you…in the middle of nowhere there was this place called the Metropolis http://www.metropolisresort.com based on a movie, David told me, that I had never seen.
As we were driving we took our once every 100 mile break and took a little hike at a rest stop. We ran into a bus of what we believe to be Amish families who were, very colorful in their clothing like they were on their way to somewhere pretty important. They looked like they were anyway. They were very sweet and spoke Dutch. We smiled and hoped they were having good travels. By this time the temperature was not what it was before but much much cooler. I prayed that the people on the bus were not going to be going South with their long sleeves and pants and head gear. There was a cleared path that went to a little bit higher elevation so people could look down and see the beautiful hills and flowers all around. We were fortunate enough to stop when the sun was about to set and just gaze at the fantastically, gorgeous hills, wildflowers all in bloom and the peaceful silence that had come apon that hill. We were smiling inside.
Our first Bear sighting...in Wisconsin? That's right. Traveling down the highway and who would have thought that the bear would look both ways across the street and then just dart out in the middle of the road without stopping....right in front of us. We almost had bear roadkill folks and we hadn't made it into Canada yet. I thought Wisconsin had cheese! What is up with that? On we went to a place to stay, Dave found the previous night while mapping out the route.
The rooms were meticuliously decorated and inside there was bowling, a waterpark, an arcade, a restaurant, an orange julius, an indoor electric go cart track (yes we did this at around 10pm at night and we giggled the entire time), as well as an excersise room, a shoppe, and a great breakfast buffet. YUM!! And we totally feel like we need to take this trip again with the kiddos. And if you are ever in this area and are traveling with kids....don't miss the opportunity. We got to feel like kids all over again!
Day 5
I woke up wanting to run. Two miles later...we both just wanted breakfast and to get on the road. We were a little behind but only because the trailer and jeep, petal to the floor, went 65 max. We have averaging a speed of about 50 miles an hour. This trip is going to be upwards of 4500 miles with detours. Minot, ND is still very flooded. Please take time in your day to pray for people in this area. They have suffered major devastation and loss. So unexpectedly thier lives were changed in an instant, as any of ours could be.
We have been listening to books on tape and that is really been making the time go fast...along with laughing and talking and observing different parts of the country. Its really nifty to see different people and hear their stories and what they like to do. We drove today stopped and had the most interesting pizza of the peach and shrimp kind. It was a cool 67 degrees in Minnesota. LOVE!! LOVE LOVE!! So happy!!
While we were at the pizza place, we called about our roaming in Canada. So we have to update everyone that it will not be frequent blog updates like I would have liked but we will keep everyone updated as much as we can.
We decided to stay in Grand Forks, ND tonight and hit customs through Canada tomorrow. We were told that if they inspect.....they aren't going to help to repack...and that's going to be fun. We would have hit the border in the dark tonight, while it was drizzling, if we went. Did not want to do that in the dark.
We decided to stay at a place called Canada Inn. We thought that the last place we stayed at was great. We pulled up amazed by how large this "inn" was. It was a city! Go check it out and please stay here if you are ever in the area. We were upgraded to a room with a jacuzzi and that ROCKED! .
We settled into our room and went downstairs where one of the restaurants in the "city" had live jazz music. What a pleasant evening. Wow and I was under the impression we were going to be camping out of the back of our jeep. This is a far cry from that. We are totally spoiled. Then again I am saying this with only about 1/3 of the trip under our belts, but even still if we had to sleep in the car the entire way up there from this point on, we would still be spoiled. It is now morning of day 6.
Day 6
We wanted to let everyone know we love them and while in Canada we will not be able be in contact unless there is a wifi available. Our phone service is very limited because of the route we are taking. We love you all and will be in contact in a couple of days! We love you and we will talk to you soon! :) And hopefully we will be getting more photos up. :)
Dave and Lana
First stop........blimpies with big painted condiments on the wall ....wow...first landmark stop on our ALASKA trip. Before we get really into it, Here's a little background. Before, we did this trek, we shipped off our poor, sweet kids to Grandpa and Grandma in California where we know they are just extremely sad (can you detect the sarcasm even in the type?) They didn't look back. Now a month into it, our phone calls and skype sessions have become more frequent and sweet. We'll take them anyway we can get them.....We are missing them insanely and can't wait to settle in.
We will tell you it's been a little insane. We can't say that its all been easy, but because of our absolutely wonderful friends, and you know who you are, we can't say thank you enough. This last 5.5 years in Augusta have been nothing short of extraordinary. Nothing like we expected but in all things, God knew what he was doing. Then again is anything like we expect? We try and predict what things are going to be like, (usually trying to control them) but we have the safety in knowing that God has a plan for our lives and it's not going to be what WE expect and want. What's comfortable for you? You know we were comfortable here, but that can be a problem sometimes when God had bigger plans. But I digress...
Day 1...
We stayed with wonderful friends of ours and in typical Lana fashion I misplaced my glasses....again....and yes we could have afforded laser surgery with how many types we have replaced my glasses. Our friends came out saying that miraculously had located those wonderful spectacles! I jumped! I was so excited I just couldn't hide it! People look at me often and I've become increasingly okay with it.
We realized quickly that the trailer looked like it was sagging and it was making us more and more apprehensive about driving all the way to alaska with that happening the first leg of the trip.
Our leg ended up being more like,well, a pinky toe. Atlanta was where we were going to settle for the night. Really? Atlanta? Why? Well, the jeep and trailer was looking more like a matchstick ready to break, than a vehicle ready to make a hearty cross country journey. We found the coolest guy who owned something called the Hitch House. Emailed him and now its Day 2.
Day 2
Hitch House in Atlanta called at 7am and said they would take us before they opened as soon as we could get down there! REALLY? Who does that? Those guys! They were amazing! They changed the hitch and had us out the door by 8:45. It was a extraordinarily impressive display of teamwork and work ethic that we had much admiration for. It was downright impressive. Eager to get back on the road, we were told that the traffic would be a nightmare if we attempted it and to go across the street to Ogas restaurant and have breakfast. That is exactly what we did. The quaint place you could tell that had been there for years had made its impact on the local businesses in the area. The inside was all updated circa 1970 and you could tell that that is the way it had stayed until present day. Service was quick and kind and the food was good but the company was better :). We looked out the window and realized soon that we would be on the road to a northern location with no need for air conditioning.
Speaking of air conditioning, did I mention that we didn't have any in the jeep? Well,we won't need any! The houses do not have air-conditioning in Alaska mainly because they don't need it in the northern parts of the country. Funny thing though we were still in the south and it had been a little warm. About a heat index of 119 degrees. That qualifies as a little warm to me. Made me fully realize how air conditioning has conditioned us to not be able to tolerate the heat as much. So when we were done with breakfast we loaded up and started toward Nashville.
The heat advisory warnings were blasting all over the airwaves and it was just plain sticky. If we ran into you this day or the next…I want to apologize profusely…we were offending without saying a word. Yup. Sorry to anyone who was in the vicinity.
You'd think there wouldn't be anyone around our vicinity, if we were in a jeep right? Wrong. Its been one of the things on my bucket list to go to Mammoth Cave someday.When we moved to GA, I was so excited because we could go one day on a long weekend with the kiddos to Tennessee or KY and here we were driving right past it unseen by the Coon family. You bet we stopped. As we walked down to the entrance of the cave it was instantly air conditioned, naturally!! Thank you God! I didn't expect that and yet there it was. A refreshing cool that we would have never got otherwise until we got further north. It was beautiful!!! I can just imagine being the first one to come across this so long ago. How cool would that have been? God makes such beautiful things and they are right in front of us…if we just took the time to see what them, we all might find peace in our busy, crazy lives. We could have kept going, pushing harder, moving faster. Let me tell you there will always be the destination but the trip is what is making this a blast!!!
Next up our first run in with the trailer and other large vehicles on the road. Mountains in Tenneseee can be kinda crazy. We were surrounded on all sides by very large, very fast MACK trucks going down a mountain. As we were going down the trucks started accelerating quickly and we couldn't figure out how we could change lanes. These trucks weren't slowing down. It looked like we were going to be the cream in an oreo for a minute there. I don't think I have ever heard Dave say with all sincerity that that was really close. Makes you think about if you have your life insurance up to date. And for the record we do…but don't get any ideas okay? Praise God for close calls..some people think of them as a negative thing…but I can't seem to get past that it shows that He loves us and is not done with us YET and that is always a reason to rejoice.
Day 3
Off to Indiana, a place I had never seen only heard about. Kentucky was fantastically beautiful too. Lots of bridges and lots of corn, and corn, and corn and it stretched into Indiana as far as the eye could see.
Before we arrived we stopped at a Dairy Queen rest stop. If you grew up with me you might know that I have a weakness for butterscotch candy shell dipped soft serve cones. We used to go to Cape Cod when I was little and get these cones of sweet deliciousness, eat them, and go jump at the trampoline park. By the time we were done, we wanted nothing more than to go back to my Aunts house and fall asleep. I know the adults loved that :) I have been on the hunt since they discontinued the butterscotch shell flavor and from what I thought never to return…. Until this fantastic day. Have you ever seen a little kid jump up and down with excitement? We'll lets just say I got a couple of stares. Not only for the cone but for the monkey.
Let's talk about George for a second. We saw and bought a stuffed monkey. We wanted to take pictures of something everywhere we go but hand't found the right subject. In Kentucky we found that sweet monkey and named him George. Original…(not so much) but he sure is cute and we really didn't fancy gnomes a whole lot. They kinda creep me out a little…
In short we had a blast!!! Indiana folks are super sweet! Thank you guys for an amazing visit!! Nothing is better than food, family, and new memories!! ;) Went to Lake Michigan, which looked nothing like a lake but more like the ocean. Not at all like we would have imagined. Dave's cousin asked him to climb a "DUNE" and let me tell you…..it didn't look difficult but my calves were on fire once we got to the top..I'm not going to lie. We could see Chicago from up there across the lake! It ROCKED! Dave said that he had never been there and was so happy he got the opportunity to go this time! We got down by leaping top speed in the sand until we were at the bottom of the hill. Dave carried George, and I'm thinking George had quite a ride ;)
We skyped with our little wonderful, smart, intelligent, amazing (I could go on here but I'm sure you know it won't end anytime soon) children. They talked to everyone in Indiana via Skype and were introduced to all her cousins from the little phone Skype camera. Then Taylor said….."um How many cousins do we have!!??!? Everyone laughed…it was a cute snippet of what I love about that girl!! Oh how we miss them both! .
Day 4
We woke and Dave went running while I packed up to hit the road. He came back excited about all the beautiful trails he found. We had planned on eating with some of Dave's family at a place called the Viking Chilli Bowl Restaurant that is only open for breakfast and lunch. I thought this kinda funny…and despite the unconventional name it was Great!! The outside landscaping was surprisingly familiar. It was a neatly arranged garden, cauliflower, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, chillis. and marigolds. It was so nifty! I think that these kind of gardens would be such a change from flowers and grass that had no other effect than to be pretty for a season. Off we went in the corvette back to David's cousins house. THAT was AWESOME!! Thank you for the ride guys!
Upon leaving, our goal for the day Eau Claire, Wisconsin. WOW! Never heard of the place. Let me tell you…in the middle of nowhere there was this place called the Metropolis http://www.metropolisresort.com based on a movie, David told me, that I had never seen.
As we were driving we took our once every 100 mile break and took a little hike at a rest stop. We ran into a bus of what we believe to be Amish families who were, very colorful in their clothing like they were on their way to somewhere pretty important. They looked like they were anyway. They were very sweet and spoke Dutch. We smiled and hoped they were having good travels. By this time the temperature was not what it was before but much much cooler. I prayed that the people on the bus were not going to be going South with their long sleeves and pants and head gear. There was a cleared path that went to a little bit higher elevation so people could look down and see the beautiful hills and flowers all around. We were fortunate enough to stop when the sun was about to set and just gaze at the fantastically, gorgeous hills, wildflowers all in bloom and the peaceful silence that had come apon that hill. We were smiling inside.
Our first Bear sighting...in Wisconsin? That's right. Traveling down the highway and who would have thought that the bear would look both ways across the street and then just dart out in the middle of the road without stopping....right in front of us. We almost had bear roadkill folks and we hadn't made it into Canada yet. I thought Wisconsin had cheese! What is up with that? On we went to a place to stay, Dave found the previous night while mapping out the route.
The rooms were meticuliously decorated and inside there was bowling, a waterpark, an arcade, a restaurant, an orange julius, an indoor electric go cart track (yes we did this at around 10pm at night and we giggled the entire time), as well as an excersise room, a shoppe, and a great breakfast buffet. YUM!! And we totally feel like we need to take this trip again with the kiddos. And if you are ever in this area and are traveling with kids....don't miss the opportunity. We got to feel like kids all over again!
Day 5
I woke up wanting to run. Two miles later...we both just wanted breakfast and to get on the road. We were a little behind but only because the trailer and jeep, petal to the floor, went 65 max. We have averaging a speed of about 50 miles an hour. This trip is going to be upwards of 4500 miles with detours. Minot, ND is still very flooded. Please take time in your day to pray for people in this area. They have suffered major devastation and loss. So unexpectedly thier lives were changed in an instant, as any of ours could be.
We have been listening to books on tape and that is really been making the time go fast...along with laughing and talking and observing different parts of the country. Its really nifty to see different people and hear their stories and what they like to do. We drove today stopped and had the most interesting pizza of the peach and shrimp kind. It was a cool 67 degrees in Minnesota. LOVE!! LOVE LOVE!! So happy!!
While we were at the pizza place, we called about our roaming in Canada. So we have to update everyone that it will not be frequent blog updates like I would have liked but we will keep everyone updated as much as we can.
We decided to stay in Grand Forks, ND tonight and hit customs through Canada tomorrow. We were told that if they inspect.....they aren't going to help to repack...and that's going to be fun. We would have hit the border in the dark tonight, while it was drizzling, if we went. Did not want to do that in the dark.
We decided to stay at a place called Canada Inn. We thought that the last place we stayed at was great. We pulled up amazed by how large this "inn" was. It was a city! Go check it out and please stay here if you are ever in the area. We were upgraded to a room with a jacuzzi and that ROCKED! .
We settled into our room and went downstairs where one of the restaurants in the "city" had live jazz music. What a pleasant evening. Wow and I was under the impression we were going to be camping out of the back of our jeep. This is a far cry from that. We are totally spoiled. Then again I am saying this with only about 1/3 of the trip under our belts, but even still if we had to sleep in the car the entire way up there from this point on, we would still be spoiled. It is now morning of day 6.
Day 6
We wanted to let everyone know we love them and while in Canada we will not be able be in contact unless there is a wifi available. Our phone service is very limited because of the route we are taking. We love you all and will be in contact in a couple of days! We love you and we will talk to you soon! :) And hopefully we will be getting more photos up. :)
Dave and Lana
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