Saturday, November 10, 2012

North to Alaska

Thursday morning, Zac and I woke up to an alarm for the first time in ages, grabbed our trusty backpacks, and headed north.



We had been on the road for only four hours when we ran into this:






The ice was piling up on every surface and vehicles were flying off the road everywhere we looked. We ended up bedding down in Shelby, Montana that night, far short of our original goal.




We crossed into Canada on Friday and drove through more of the same -- snow, ice, temperatures we haven't seen since the last time we made this drive, and no sun to speak of.


But finally today, the sky cleared and we went from snowstorm to winter wonderland!




And this afternoon, we drove into Dawson Creek, British Colombia, and started down the World Famous Alaska Highway.  



We're halfway done and just begun. Here's to clear skies and safe travels! 


Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Back to the Real World

At 5am tomorrow morning, Zac and I are hitching up the horse-trailer and pulling it back up to the Great White North! The last few days have been a whirlwind of getting ready and saying our goodbyes.

We started out with a morning visit to Haden, Ashley, Brackyn, and Gracy. Brackyn decided to take me on a farewell tour of all the animals that live on his ranch.










The next day, after we stopped in for a chat with Grandma and Ed, the family came over to share Zac's favorite dinner one more time. We ooh'ed and ahh'ed over little Mollie, blew bubbles with Gracy, and mostly watched as the other three kids ran circles around and around.












And today, we said goodbye to the last member of our family when we dropped off El Gorpo to get shipped. We'll be reunited with him in Anchorage, and with the rest of you soon!


Friday, November 2, 2012

Happy Halloween!

Here are a few of the photos I took of the kids at the family Halloween chili-and-costume party. We had lots of fun and Zac and I had our first homemade bread making adventure. It was a little nerve-racking; Jann sets the bar high!

Brackyn the Musketeer

Harper the bunny, Mirabel the monkey (with a Mollie banana), and Brackyn

Auntie Cashelyn with baby Gracy

Mollie-the-banana did a quick change to become Harper's carrot