Can we just be able to hook up and go without running into some sort of delay? This morning Mike discovered water in the basement well where we store our Legos (leveling blocks) and wheel chocks. The well has a plastic tub liner and everything stored there is plastic or rubber so there was no danger of anything being damaged. He mopped up the water and traced the water and drain lines to find the source. Once he had an idea of where the water was coming from he formulated a plan for when we got set at our next destination. Originally, we were supposed to drive to Cantwell today which is about 25 minutes beyond Denali National Park. The plan was to drive back to Fairbanks to do the activity we had planned there: golf. ... read more

I like this staying in one place more than one night. It means I can stay in bed until 8:00 or as was the case today, 9:00. Charlie joined me after he'd had his breakfast and curled up in my armpit. He's a weird dog. We headed into town around 1:00 and signed up for the guided walking tour of the city. Our tour wouldn't start until 3:00 so we wandered around town. Down the main road a few blocks there was a small fair taking place. There was music playing and several pop-up canopies sheltering hand-made goods, freebies for the kids from the local library, and raffle tickets to support the local First Nations. Upon our arrival we learned the festival was celebrating the 25th anniversary of Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in self government. The Canadian government signed ... read more

Only fifteen minutes late on our 9:30 departure time this morning. Not horrible. And it wasn't me who caused it this time. According to Weatherman Mike and his weather app there's still a smoke advisory for the area, but the skies are clear and the sun is shining. It's a great day to be driving (I can say that because all I do is sit in the passenger seat and take pictures). We have bright blue skies with puffy, white clouds; happy little clouds. A favorite pastime of people who drive this stretch of the Alaska Highway seems to be writing your name on the hillside using some of the many rocks made available to you by the annual snowmelt. Some have taken the time to paint their chosen rocks to make them stand out against ... read more

Today was the first opportunity to actually sleep in. We didn't have to get up and get on the road to the next destination, we were already there. It was pretty nice. When Mike returned from taking Charlie on his morning walk he told me the sun was actually normal looking. It wasn't a fuzzy orange orb in the sky. The smoke had cleared somewhat and you could almost see a few patches of blue if you squinted hard enough and used a little imagination. By the time I dragged myself out of bed, everything was as it was the last time I'd looked up. Mike and Dave went to the park's restaurant for breakfast. Teri and I were invited, but turned it down and opted for a more gradual start to the day. According to ... read more

Sleep was much more comfortable last night. I remembered to turn the electric mattress pad on and it didn't get as cold overnight as it did the night before. We were up and on the road by 8:30. On our way through downtown Chetwynd we passed the many chainsaw carvings Dave had added to the list of possible things to see and do nearly a year ago when we began our planning meetings. As we drove by them I wished we had made an attempt to drive in to look at them properly. They're very impressive. But when you're up early and traveling 350 - 400 miles a day you don't really have the energy to do much more than set up camp, eat dinner and relax before going to bed and doing it all over ... read more