I still check the "artic cam" in Fairbanks. Today the tempature was -55°... Wow!

One year ago

This will be the trip I will still be talking about in my old age. Yes it was worth it. Go if you can.

Back to Work and the After Glow

Back to work today. Thanks for the extended layoff, it made this trip possible, Becks Employer helped a LOT too. The trip and everything is what we are still talking about. Actually we are still just now getting somewhat back to normal. We had over 900 pictures! We had prints made of them all. WOW! I dont expect anybody to look at all of them, but it is nice to have them.
All the indecision I had, go or not go,... about teardrop vs. Truck Camper. We made the right decision. The "Little Guy" and Vibe worked out wonderful together. We were not campers, but what I would call travelers. If we had more time maybe the Truck Camper would have been better.
Would I do it again? Not like this. I am glad we did it this way, it was the way that was ment to be and it was Great! If again, it will be different.
I really enjoyed traveling the Alaska Highway, Top of the World Highway, all the wildlife, just along the roads. The glaziers, whales, boat tour. The people also made it great. Both the Canadian's, and Alaskan's.
Just the adventure made it good. I think the naysayers on the RV.net that said that we should not drive if we only have three weeks made for a personal challenge made it better. We would have done it anyway, but to have them say that made it sweeter.
Anyway, its off to work today. I am thankful to have a job. Lots of my brothers have lost theirs jobs thru this and I am very midfull for them. Keep them in our prayers that they make it thru this. ...................... Gary (Zig)

Total #'s

Some numbers:
Total miles driven 8905.2
Total cost for gas $1,289.33 (US and Canadian dollars)
Total 6 nights boondocking
Total 12 nights campgrounds
Food was kind of expensive in Canada and Alaska. We ate out most of the time, just not enough time to cook. When we stopped at local restaurants it cost near $40 to eat. Campground were mid $25 range, I did not feel too bad about. 8 hour boat tour was not to bad either,... $123.00 for the both of us. No flats tires, we did get a small chip in the windshield. We did pay for WiFi several nights. Campgrounds had codes for WiFi and codes to use bathrooms. We had only one pay shower. $2.25 for 6 mins. at Dawson City.
SantaLand Campground (North Pole) had a free city tour, free car/camper wash, free WiFi, Free showers, nice! Millers Landing Campground (Seward Alaska) we had to share our electricity, run a long extension cord, Campsite was dirt, (mud) bathrooms were the pits, had to pay $20.00 for WiFi.
We could have stayed a few more days in Alaska, but really felt we had seen the highlights and was ready to start back. Done Alaska highway, Dawson City, Top of the World highway, Chicken Alaska, Tok, Seward and a wildlife boat tour, Anchorage twice, Denali National Park as much as they will let you see, without riding their buses. Fairbanks, Fairbanks Arctic Cam, The North Pole, Alaska. Got to see a lot of the pipeline. Valdez, Bear, coyote, Moose, Whales, glaciers, snow caped mountains, some ruff roads, a lot of really nice people.
Gas stations are not what we normally think of them around here. 30, 40 year old pumps stuck in the middle of nowhere are still gas stations. You will have to use them because they are the only pumps around. Just a little different way of doing things I really wanted to pick up a case of Diet Mt. Dew, but seemed no one sold any. I had to start drinking coffee to get my Caffeine.
I think somebody needs to build a "Welcome to Alaska" place at the Alaska highway border. Something big,... nice,... flags waving,... all lite up. There really isn't much till Tok.
Lots of driving, but it was fun! Alaska highway was great! For all the people that said three weeks was not enough time, well..... We think it was. I say poo to you!
........................................................................................... Gary

Home Sweet Home

Yes, we are home, safe and sound. Pulled in about 6:00pm Wednesday July 8, 2009. What a trip! Zack, our Siamese cat was really glad to see us. Zuma, well she hissed at me once we found her. Should have named her Houdini. Last but certainly not least, Lucky, she was whining because there was nothing in the food bowl. The car is still needs unpacked and all that good stuff. Tomorrow is another day. We still need to get our dogs too.

When I was in school, my Dad always ask my brother and I at the dinner table - "So, did you learn anything today?" Are answers were always sketchy and generalized, but today I could answer - "Yes, Dad, I did learn something on this trip." What I learned: there are seagulls in Alaska, Alaska residents think Sara Palin is "Hot", Puffins and sea otters don't like their pictures taken, Gary gets agitated driving through Chicago, reindeer are part of the caribou family, a Canadian 1 dollar coin is called a 'Loonie' and a Canadian 2 dollar coin is called a 'Toonie', people were curious about the Little Guy, Canadian Wal-Marts are small, I like halibut, and their are 5 species of salmon:pink, silver, king, sock-eyed or red, and chum or dog.

Hope everyone had a great time visiting our website, reading the blogs, and viewing the picture (I have plenty more to show).

USA

Hey friends !! We are finally back in the good, old US of A. We are in Minot N. Dakota to be exact. Eating at an Applebees to recharge and refresh. Should be home in a day or two. We are heading back the way we came. We decided it would be better to just get home. The dogs are missing us! We did get delayed about 15 min at the border again. We were randomly selected for an agricultural survey/search. Had to declare our beef bologna/jerky we bought in Canada. Didn't find anything else out of order.

Indiana here we come!

Weyburn - July 6, 2009

Well, I got us to Weyburn in one piece. We are fighting with the internet right now. Took me about 1/2 hour (more or less) to get this point. Gary doesn't think the internet works in Canada.

The scenery today has been Kansas like - flat farmland - pretty boring. We have been seeing fields of a bean-like crop that is dark green and flowers yellow. Don't know what it is - any farmer friends have any ideas? See picture at right.

Tomorrow will will enter the USA - don't know where at though. Still up in the air about what route to take home. Internet access might be sketchy; however, will try my best to keep the blogs coming