The Alaska Highway

Yesterday we took to the road for some long, but scenic, driving days along the Alaska Highway, which runs from Fairbanks, AK to Dawson Creek, BC. We don't have any activities planned, except wildlife viewing from the van, and the road itself, which can be a bit like a roller coaster at times. We don't exactly know where we will end up each day and have made no reservations anywhere, though the choices are fairly limited in this vast wilderness. We crossed into Canada yesterday afternoon and ended up at an RV park in Beaver Creek, just across the border. Before leaving Alaska, we saw our first animal: a moose, munching on the grass beside the road. Today, we saw a grizzly bear, two black bears, a couple of deer, and countless prairie dogs and jackrabbits, all right beside the highway. We have stopped for the night in Whitehorse, where we celebrated Max's half-birthday a few days early, because he wanted to go to a conveyor belt sushi place, and they happen to have one here. We also took some time to stretch our legs at the lovely little park in town next to the Yukon River.

Munching moose

Piggy back rides

Hello, Mr. Grizzly!

Breathtaking views. All. Day. Long.

Curious black bear

Half-birthday party

The Yukon River

Hot and Cold

We spent the morning hiking the Angel Rocks Trail with our new friends we met on the cruise. It was a beautiful hike, and we had so much fun hanging out with another family we seem to have a lot in common with! I have been very surprised at how warm it is in Alaska, and we did work up a sweat. I always just have Alaska pictured as frozen tundra, but in truth, it has been one of the warmest places we've visited this summer.

Ruth and the "bear" rock

On top of the world

Max the mountain man

Little man on a big rock

After the hike, we headed over to Chena Hot Springs Resort. We grabbed some lunch in the restaurant, took a tour of the greenhouses, animal pens, and geothermal power plant of the self-sustaining property, and then visited the Aurora Ice Museum, where we definitely had a chance to cool off. The building is kept at 25° F all year long and is a fascinating ice wonderland. We loved seeing all the ice sculptures and watching the sculptor work. Today, he was turning out ice martini glasses, which the ice bar serves Appletini's in. The whole experience was so delightful!

Donkey love

The resort is trying to build its reindeer herd,
so they can start serving the meat in the restaurant.

The lettuce room

Aurora Ice Museum

Jousting knights ice sculpture

A full size igloo

Weston jamming on the ice xylophone

My little Eskimos

Polar bear bed

Aurora Ice Bar

Cheers!

Just chillin'

Mesmerized by the sculptor at work

Denali and The Midnight Sun

We paid a visit to Denali National Park this morning, with hopes of seeing the tallest mountain in North America. However, since only about 30% of park visitors do see it, we weren't too surprised to find it shrouded in heavy cloud cover. Still, the park was beautiful and we enjoyed the little mountain scavenger hunt (asking over and over rather foolishly, "Do you think that could be it?") and the sled dog kennel. When we finally found the sign explaining where the mountain should be and took our token selfie, we moved on down the road with no regrets. We've learned that we can control a lot of things when we travel, but the weather isn't one of them.

Fun at the Denali Visitor Center

Making friends with Resting Grizzly

Following the tracks

Loving on one of the sled dogs

The hunt for Denali

Not Denali

Not Denali

Not Denali

Where Denali should be

Our next stop was Fairbanks, Land of the Midnight Sun. Really, it should be Land of the All Night Sun, as the sunrise for tomorrow is predicted to be at 3:25 am and the sunset at 12:27 am. It is a crazy thing and seriously messes with your mind. We find we've lost our cues on when to eat and when to sleep and when to play at the playground, which is why my kids are careening down slides, waiting to actually see the midnight sun, as I type this at 11:15.

Playing at the Chena River
near our campground

Lucky Ducks in Fairbanks

Playground fun in the 11 o'clock hour

The Midnight Sun

Fourth Fun

We have had so much fun celebrating the birth of our nation in Talkeetna, Alaska. We attended the small-town parade and then grabbed some grub at Twister Creek Restaurant/Denali Brewing Company. After lunch, we walked the few blocks through town to the Susitna River, and the boys jumped into a soccer game with some other kiddos. Then we walked back to our RV park on the other end of town and spent the rest of the afternoon reading, napping, and playing at the playground. Later, we grilled salmon and did poppers and small fireworks while it was still bright daylight outside (at 10 pm), because the sun doesn't set here at this time of year until around midnight. The boys were in favor of waiting until 2:00 am for a little more darkness, but since we need to leave early tomorrow morning, we vetoed that idea.

Go Kiss a Moose

Cute little sled dog team

Waiting for the parade to begin

Flags and Antlers

Patriotic Boys

A sight we've never seen in a 4th of July parade

Balloons and buggies

My favorite parade sign

"Moose on Parade"
Mooski Brewski was our favorite!

Susitna River

Horsing around

Salmon dinner

Poppers at 10 pm