Scootin' through Canada

Well, we left Alaska, and knew we were going to be camping on the road through Canada and the Northwest. We also knew it was probably going to be a bit chilly....it being the beginning of September. So, our first stop in Canada (and it ended up being our ONLY! :) was a campground called Beaver Point. 

Most campgrounds make you buy a small bundle of wood, but with this campground they let us use the wheelbarrow and get one load per night we were staying. Levi went over and loaded it super full and we all thought...."there's no way we're going to burn all that! we're only staying one night!" Well, by the time we went to bed, it was almost gone and we quick jumped in our sleeping bags and got settled in for a chilly night. By the way......these are NOT high tech sleeping bags!

It was the kind of night where you wake up every time you move because the rest of the seeping bag is freezing! There was even frost in the inside if the tent in the morning, so we decided to make a beeline for the states, and hopefully warmer climates the further we went south. 

In the end, it was a great spot and we had fun roasting marshmallows, and making memories!

See you in the US!

Back on the road!

We finished the fishing season, got the boat cleaned, and are back on our way through Canada and to the 'lower 48' Last night the low was 25 degrees, so, needless to say were not exactly camping.....We decided to drive through the night and cover some ground.

The YUKON! "only" 1800 miles to go!

Today we entered the northern province of Canada, the Yukon. 

It was absolutely stunning scenery and as a bonus......we saw tons of wildlife. 

In just a few miles, we saw moose, caribou, buffalo, mountain lion, and bear. It was unbelievable. It was like we were driving through a safari ride, so it made another long day in the car worth it. 

We got as far as a town called Whitehorse, got out and ate some dinner, as we decided where we were going to camp for the night. It was also a LOT colder the further we went north, so some time soon after the pizza, we decided to drive another over-nighter........let the kids sleep warm in the car, and log some miles.  

We made a pit stop for coffee, and off we went. We started doing the math and it looks like we're going to try and make it by Sunday night....although it depends on how many more pictures we need to stop and take. :)

Eight explorers

Canada & north

Hello again, 

We are up into Canada now.....and we used our 'rain plan' last night (driving all night) and made it up as far as a place called Liard Hot Springs in northern Alberta. It is an awesome campground and we got here in plenty of time to take a night long swim in the hot springs before dinner and bed! Although now it is so light so late, it's really strange going to bed when it's light.

The hot springs are just right, and if you want it hotter, you move toward one end of the pool, until you can't stand it. REALLY felt great after some long road hours. 

So, camping for tonight and onward tomorrow........

Hems

 

Canada!

We ended up crossing the border a few days ago and made it up as far as an hour outside of Calgary. It had been raining all day as we crossed the border and made our way north. We were puzzled how we were going to set up camp in the rain and deal with dinner, our back-up plan for rainy nights is to drive straight though and Rachel and I would take turns driving. Not a real clever plan, I'll admit, but that's as far as we usually plan.

Anyway, we thought we'd drive by the campground we were planning to stay and see what it looked like in the rain, and it turned out they had a great little cabin for rent which would fit us all! So, for WAY less money than a hotel room would have cost, we snuggled in there, cranked up the heater, and had a great nights' sleep after all :)

It was just as well, because we ended up driving the next night all the way through, up past Edmonton and into the sand-oil fields in north Alberta. The kids were great travellers, and we bribed them with a good dinner out and then they got comfortable and quickly fell asleep. It was actually easier covering a lot of ground with most of them asleep.

Another strange thing is, as we drive further north, the time the sun sets is getting later and later. I mean LATE! Last night, it finally got dark after 11PM and started getting light again at 4AM. By June, the hours of darkness is only 3 hours a night! It's hard to lay down and go to sleep when the sun is shining in the tent and it's after 10!