It took God 7 days to create the world and it took us 8 days to drive across it. Well, at least a big portion of it. What an adventure we had! Here's the break down...
Day One - Utah, Idaho, and Montana. We knocked out three states right at the start. David's parents and brother Korey caravaned with us which was so wonderful of them. Not only did it give us more space in our car, but the kids got to take turns having alone time with Grandma and Grandpa. We drove through Idaho where David's mom grew up so we were able to get the tour first hand! That night we found a wonderful hotel with a pool and three hot tubs! We got connecting rooms and our keys and were all set to go until the hotel employee happened to glance outside and saw our sweet little dog. No dogs allowed. David's parents enjoyed the nice hotel while we headed over to dog friendly Motel 6. Grrr...
Day Two - If there is ever a chance in your life to go to Glacier National Park, GO. Utterly spectacular. And to get through you drive on "Going to the Sun" road, one of the most scenic roads in the world. It was just amazing.
Day Three - Banff, Cananda. Yes, we made it to Canada. Another wowsers!! Are there no law firms for David to
work at in this part of the world??? We were a bit worried that David's parents and brothers weren't going to be able to come with us across the border since they didn't have passports and couldn't find their birth certificates. But Canada didn't care and let them right in. Korey was so excited to be in another country! (Don't you think Canada could sport for a tiny bit classier sign?!)
We were trying to make it to Jasper that night when traffic came to a halt. There was a 5 hour delay due to a head-on collision. We had to head back and get a room (which everyone else had the same brilliant idea as us), found nothing and ended up paying more than we've ever paid for a room in our entire lives. (One bed (luckily it was a king!), no TV, no phone, and yet it was beautiful...) But this is where we had to say good-bye to Grandma and Grandpa. It was very sad. It was so much fun traveling with them!
Day Four - With Hymas' gone, we felt a little lonely (and a bit more crowded), but the fun didn't stop. We decided to take a small detour (what's a hundred miles when you've got thousands to drive, right?!) and go see one of David's favorite Canadian mountains, Mt. Robson. I plugged it into the GPS and we drove and drove until Karen (GPS Australian voice) told us we'd arrived. We were expecting this big beautiful mountain and it was pretty, but nothing outstanding so we kept driving thinking Karen was mistaken. I then glanced in the rearview mirror...
Hello big beautiful mountain!
- The start of the famous Alaska Highway.
Somewhere around here David purchased two Michael Jackson CD's, so let that be the background music for the rest of these days descriptions. 
Day Six - Hello beautiful amazing hot springs in the middle of nowhere! (Liard Hot Springs)
This is Signpost forest in Watson Lake. It all started when a lonely soldier back in WWII was working on the road, felt homesick, and put up a sign for his hometown. And if you happen to by chance drive past here someday, look for the Hymas sign! We proudly added our contribution to the forest.
Day Seven -
Hello Alaska! We've been waiting for this moment. You can see the international boundary line between the trees. We're so happy to be on American soil again where mailing a post card only costs $.27 (instead of $1.80), gas is cheaper, and we're not tempted by Dairy Queens which happen to be in almost every single Canadian city / town you will go through.
David and Karsten in different countries while Sierra is in two countries at once! Day Eight - This is another part of the trip that is usually just breaktakingly beautiful. But the mountains were covered in smoke due to forest fires. We couldn't see a thing. Our transmission light came on and we BARELY made it into Anchorage before it gave out completely. Aspen, our girl dog, started that girl time of the month that even dogs have. Karsten wanted to watch the same video he'd watched every single day and it was a Scooby Doo cartoon. Rut Roe. Let's just say the end couldn't have come any sooner. Thank you to that nice man who followed us the entire way from Tok to Anchorage (6 hours) to make sure we didn't break down on the way.
My amazing friend Debbie let us crash in their basement apartment for two weeks while we tried to figure out what the heck we were doing. Dinnertime was a riot and so much fun! It was a perfect transition place for us and we're so grateful for their hospitality and most delicious cooked salmon ever. :)
We made it!
of the Food Network. That might explain the wait...
