Canadia trip

Whew, this has been quite a trip! We are in Watson Lake right now in the Yukon. This is what the days have been up to this point:


Days 1-2: We spent a few days in Fairbanks buying all the supplies we needed, including the car; we got a 2001 Lincoln Navigator, and thankfully it has held up to this point...although it was hit in the bumper the FIRST DAY we had it! We were in Petco spending money on the dog and came out and the interior lights wouldn't turn off. Had to pull the relay on the lights to save my battery; Christina noticed the huge crack in the bumper a little later that certainly wasn't there before..

Packing the Navigator was like a huge annoying game of jam pack jam, and I spent to about 3 am trying to work it out and I was sure it all wouldn't fit; of course, Christina had a lot better ideas in the morning, and we eventually got all our supplies squeezed in, along with the dog and the three kids, but we had to mail a couple boxes of random things back home to get it out of the car...



Day 3: Actual driving! Up and down through the mountains between Fairbanks and Denali; pretty drive, but not much happened. The campground was nice enough, even though we had to spend about 30 minutes trying to figure out setting up the tent for the first time. Didn't see any wildlife until we were leaving the parking lot and I realized that I hadn't even bothered to check and see if the lights were working (nice, Joe) so I jump out to see and, holy geez, there was a huge cow moose 30 yards from me! We took pictures like crazy as it just mosied around the parking lot for about ten minutes before it left.



Day 4: Now came the long, long drive to southeast Alaska; it was getting late when we got into Anchorage (saw a cow and a calf on the side of the road!), so we decided to press on to Whittier to a nice 70-site campground there. The "whale watching" road between Anchorage and Seward was pretty intense, a tall mountain on one side and deep water on the other side; couldn't really see any whales as we drove, though, and too late to stop and watch from a viewing point. Finally got to our campsite (late!) and it was a total bust; the ground was soaked from the spray off the bay and there was animal crap (we thought it was bear, of course, but it turns out to be just moose) all over the trails; the worst part was the sites were TINY (we have a 10'x16' tent) and no way could we set it up. Ok, back to Anchorage...first campsite was full up, finally got a "nice" one right next to the freeway, but it was well after 10pm, so we had the bright idea of sleeping in the car...freezing!!! Our own personal icebox, besides being UBER uncomfortable...



Day 5: woke up at 6 am and went to Fred Meyer to supply up for the border and Wells Fargo to stock up on money then hit the road! The "road" between Anchorage and Tok was INTENSE through some mountains; sheer drops of about 200 feet, no guard rails over much of the road, RVs pissed that I was doing 45-50 and flying by me (go for out, guys, I'm in no hurry...); I passed a cloud at one point (no guard rail) and crested another hill with no way of being able to see which way the road turned after the hill; but the scenery was amazing! We stopped at one lookout right past the glacier we drove by and had lunch on a picnic table staring at the snow-covered mountains. Pretty awesome. Made it to Sourdough RV campground and had much-needed showers and washed clothes (much-needed as well). Went out to eat and misread the menu and accidentally "stole" 3 kids salad bars (oops, thought it came with the food), but we have, after all, been out of "civilization" for 10 months (still adjusting).



Day 6-7: Crossed the canadian border! No real problems, although I found it odd that the customs office was 27 km beyond the border (US customs right at the border); the road SUCKED! Potholes, bumps, gravel, I was averaging 45 mph; we made so bad time, that, again, we were in a situation where setting up a tent would have been almost pointless, but then we were in no mood to sleep in the car...me being me, I said we just press on through the night since it stayed light all the time (sun almost set from 12am-3pm); we ended up driving for about 18 hours and only getting about 700 miles; made it to Watson Lake and got a pet-friendly hotel and crashed, which is were we are right now! Just relaxing at the hotel and recouping from the long drive, letting the soreness in my ass go away (seriously); tomorrow, we're taking a SHORT drive (180 miles) to Liard Hot Springs to set up camp!



Oh, did I mention that the road (beside sucking) has the most amazing scenery EVER??? Every turn is like a postcard, it has made the drive so worth it. And we have seen 6 moose, a bunch of elk, caribou, a fox, and, oh yes, 4 black bear (Christina saw 5); the first two were pretty big, the one Christina saw was bigger, and the last two looked like two orphan cubs wandering on the road. Our camera has been snapping like crazy...



Canada is way expensive, too! Gas by the liter is about 40% more than USA, and none of the merchants are doing an exchange rate (don't know what it is), so I'm using $1 US for $1 Canada, which SUCKS! Trying not to use the credit card, but probably going that way when I run out of Canadian money...I will say that the restaurants and hotels look like crap on the outside and turn out pretty ok on the inside; we hit a seafood/steak restaurant that was attached to a motel that turned out pretty awesome; I'm really getting into eating fish and chips, crabs, and shrimp up here, not sure if I can keep it up with the "old" fish in Tennessee...



To summarize, we are stressed, tired, and enjoying the adventure the road brings, and both of us are very anxious to get back to Tennessee! Ok, we will check back in when we can!

NEW VEHICLE!

Part 1:
Yes! We did it! We bought the ticket home... not actual ticket of course but a vehicle! After many many prayers we ended up with a 2001 Lincoln Navigator with all the bells and whistles. Now this is not what we went out in search for at all but it is what we got and I KNOW God is looking out for us so I am extremely excited about finally owning a vehicle... renting sucks. Taxis suck too. (Joe is on his way home with it now so later this evening I will snap some pictures so everyone can see.) We will have to get a car top carrier to accommodate all our things for this trip because the dog is going to take up much space. I think she will be fine up on top though. She likes to be outside! HAHAHA OK NO NO I AM KIDDING! We will put the kids on top! Hehe I am cracking myself up here! Anyway... We leave tomorrow in the early afternoon for Denali and we will travel around Alaska for the next couple of days seeing bears, moose, whales, and all kinds of scenery! At least that's what I am hoping for. What I don't want to see is snow. I have had enough snow for a life time.

Part 2:
Yesterday Gavin got his hair cut! OMG there was a kid under there. He looks completely different... it's amazing. His hair grows fast and when you don't cut it for 10 months it adds up to a lot of inches. (think cousin it hair to the middle of the neck) Haha! He loves his new do! We will get pictures of that after naptime. Oh and I got my eyebrows waxed! Finally I can see my face... this darn Italian blood! And today I am going to go try a spray tan. I have green akin and am hoping that even if my "tan" does turn orange that it will look better than green! Besides I got 2ish weeks before anyone sees me... it will wear off before then. :)

YAY! Our trip is really starting! We will be home in no time now! Watch out! The Waarvik's are on their way!

The countdown begins

If we count today we have 4 more days in Venetie, Alaska! We leave here on Sunday for Fairbanks and we will spend a few days in Fairbanks before starting the long trip back to Tennessee! It is going to be sad leaving the friends we do have here and the students... not to mention the fresh air and scenery! Seeing our families again will make it all worth while!
(the pictures are of us leaving Nashville for Alaska, the family at Big Lake, and the family with mom and eric before they left Venetie... I hope to take a picture of our family before we leave Alaska to compare)

Keep checking in for travel updates!
Tennessee family and friends (or out of towners in town!) ask me about the June 6th party!

Our second Visitors in Venetie!

Right after Spring carnival we had company! YAY! Jackie and Joel (and Dexter) came to visit with us. We met them in Fairbanks where they got a taste of what it's like for us to run around and try to get months worth of shopping and Doctors appointments squeezed into a few days. Then we took the hopper plane to Venetie. Dexter loved flying! After arriving here Joe took them for a walk to Big Lake in the snow that was starting to melt. It was a slushy wonderland. (There is still snow in the shady areas.) Joe also made them Caribou for dinner. And on the last day Aunt Jackie made all the kids playdough! It was so wonderful to see them again. I can't wait until we see you all again!
(The last picture is of their hopper plane leaving Venetie... the arrow is pointing to the plane)

More Spring Festival

These are more pictures of spring festival.
Gavin running a one dog team! LOL! It was sooo cute!
Gavin Skiing and falling
Macy wanted to try skiing so we strapped them on her. She loved it as long as she wasn't moving!!!
There is also a picture of a runaway dog! That dog just did not want to run straight... you can see what is about to happen. Yes. He takes that kid out and I got it on video LOL!!!

Happy Easter!

Playing catch up here!

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter! We had a fantastic time!
The kids woke up and right away started to look for the baskets we hid. They each got a kick ball, chalk for the chalk board I painted in their room, and a few pieces of candy. Then Joe made pancakes YUUUM! After breakfast we headed to church and we would have enjoyed ourselves but someone thought it a good idea to give every kid a musical instrument! HOLY COW! It was a mad house. There were kids everywhere!! Then it was time to hunt eggs... Gav got lost and hardly got any eggs but he did find a prize egg and won a big basket! The girls did NOT like having to reach into the snow to get their eggs and it had started to melt so it was really hard to walk in. (BUT we did find enough hard boiled eggs to make egg sandwiches for lunch.) After the egg hunt we went straight the the community hall for cake and ice-cream. When we walked into the room the first thing we saw was a giant Caribou laid out on the table! YUCK! There were buckets for the blood and buckets for "other" things like legs and crap. I could not believe it! I am pregnant and easily disgusted but I was determined to eat some ice-cream! It's not every day you get ice-cream out here!!! So I ate my cone with my back to the table the whole time. I think I was the only person in the entire center who was disturbed by this. You can see it in the background of the picture where Gav is eating his cone.
That was the basics of our Easter... because then it went from Easter to spring festival.