Flooding, fascists, Fargo

OK, U.S. Customs aren't really fascists, but I needed another word that started with f to keep up the alliteration.

The GPS decided to take us a different and supposedly faster way out of the country, so we drove the (more) back roads of Saskatchewan to the border. Now, if you haven't heard, the southern part of Canada and the north-central part (west of WI) is flooded. Really, really flooded. We drove over part of the Missouri and it looked like a small inland sea instead of a large river (I could not see the other side at one point). There was water over the road in Macoun, SC... we got some interesting video (when I was actually pointing the camera at the road, which at one point I forgot to do because I was terrified). There were also temporary levies holding back the water from the road at several points, including on US 94.

Now, we crossed the border yesterday, and contrary to what Taco Bell would have you believe, crossing the border is not fun and easy. We crossed at North Portal, and they must be pretty bored there (or we look like nefarious criminals), because they decided we needed the 5th degree. We were pulled over and brought into the office; each of us was interrogated separately. Of course we told the truth about everything (yes, we've got half a head of cabbage, some onions, and a bag of jerky), and we had the same answers about everything. It was very much being treated like a criminal when you haven't actually done anything except want to get back into your country. I know we need to keep the "bad guys" out, but this was over the top. (I want to add that I don't blame the customs agents themselves for this, they seemed like ok guys) They also searched the car after the interrogation; they were pretty astounded by how full we made it. Guess they've never been camping north of the arctic circle. After all was said and done (and more than an hour had passed) they let us go, without confiscating anything. Yeesh.

The only exciting wildlife we saw yesterday were some white pelicans in ND, but after the flooding we were ok with not much excitement. (I did just identify a critter we saw at the side of the road up in BC - it was a marmot!)

We ended at the Settle Inn & Suites (thank you hotwire for making hotels affordable in the US!) in Fargo. Really nice, comfy, quiet hotel. Good free breakfast too.

Today, HOME!!

British Columbia, Alberta (again)

We made it to the Battlefords, Saskatchewan (which is what I meant yesterday - not Manitoba) last night, just after midnight local (which made the Super 8 we stayed in cheaper). Had a good night of sleep, planning to get to Fargo today - hooray for being back in the US and being able to use Hotwire!

The sun actually set and it got dark last night; first time in more than a week since that's happened. It didn't stay down long, but its a good sign we'll be getting home soon!

Not too much to report interesting wise from yesterday. Tim Hortons, a Canadian doughnut chain that's everywhere up here (second only to A&W - there's an A&W in every single town), is really, really good. We've pigged out on their Timbits (like doughnut holes only more varied), and their regular food is wonderful too. Cream of mushroom soup! NOM!

We saw more buffalo in Elk Island park outside of Edmonton yesterday; lots more babies. We also saw another coyote between Dawson Creek and Edmonton. The most exciting animal sighting was on the highway. There was a very large deer roadkill in the middle of the lanes (its actually surprising how little roadkill there is here), and it was moving. Of course, we were worried that somehow it was still alive, when suddenly a very large red fox jumped out of the carcass (away from our car) carrying the entire leg of the deer with it. The leg was almost as big as it was!

Other than that its been rather unexciting. We've been listening to CBC Canada when we can pick it up (rather like NPR), and we've got 10GB of video and about 600 photos to wade through.

A big thank you to everyone who donated to our honeymoon; you made this all possible! Tonight, Fargo, tomorrow, home!


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Klondike Hwy, Alaska Hwy

We're in lovely Ft. Nelson this morning, enjoying the free wi-fi at our camp spot before moving on. Hopefully we make it to Manitoba today!

After the Dempster, all paved highways seem very nice. We thought that the Klondike Highway was sort of cruddy on our way up, but on the way back down it seemed fine. The Dempster really made us appreciate real paved roads, and it also spoiled us for scenery. The Alaska highway has some very nice spots tho too. (Some nice winding twisty roads with no guardrails, but at this point I think guardrails would somewhat surprise us...)

And we finally saw our Grizzly bear! He decided to cross the road right in front of the car, so we got video and some pics of him. They are big.

Yesterday we saw lots of babies. Baby moose, baby stone sheep. Also saw more buffalo (two more herds) and more black bears. One was eating off the road and when we slowed down Joshua said "Hey buddy!" to it... and it promptly sat down and smiled. Like a dog. (Don't worry, we didn't get out and pet it or anything). We got video of that too.

We ended up staying most of Sunday in Whitehorse; no oil change places were open on a Sunday, and as we'd gone 3700 miles at that point it was time. We ended up at possibly the coolest tent camp we'd ever seen; it had everything you want in a camp, and no mosquitoes. There was a library of books to read, couches (outdoors under an awning), lots of trees, quick access to an island park, tons of red squirells. It was a GREAT night. And after the rainshower the night at the end of the Dempster... its actually been sunny!!!!

Looks like we'll be home late Wednesday or early Thursday; gives us lots of time to sleep in our own beds, recuperate, and edit photos and video. Hope everyone is doing well, special thanks to Josh's mom for all she's done with the kids (and everyone else who's helped out), and thanks to my parents for looking after the house and animals. Love you!

Back down the Dempster

Well, we made it back down the whole Dempster. No more holes in the windshield, no other problems... except the moment we got down it began raining. So, now we're camping in the rain at Mile 0. Hopefully the last two nights of sleeping in a bed in a room will have helped this stupid cold enough.

The drive back was beautiful; sunny the whole way. We saw more wild life; an arctic fox, two ptarmigan, more rabbits, ground squirrels, a bear, and a running moose. We only were able to get pictures of the bear and moose, but seeing the fox especially was amazing. Joshua let (was probably relieved) that I drove a small amount of the way – from the Arctic Circle to Eagle Plains.

Nothing else to report, except the car is dirty, and we're tired. We're trying to decide how the weather is to see how and when we'll get home. I'm very, very tired of camping in crappy weather while sick.

Inuvik

We spent all of yesterday in Inuvik. Well, we spent the first half of the day doing laundry and wandering the grounds of the Arctic Chalet, then we did laundry. They've got some really beautiful pure white huskies here that they use for sled dog tours in winter – they're really nice dogs to boot. They're currently giving away 6 of their older dogs – wish we could bring one home but there's just no room in the car (and we're not sure Bogie would be too pleased!)

While the wash was going we took a little hike down the nature trail that they have here. It ends at a lake, and it was a little buggy (not as bad as mom & dad's house tho), but it was pretty cool. It really amazes us how we're in the arctic but so many of the plants (and quite a few of the animals) are the same as at home. Ruffed grouse, red squirrel, warblers, mallards...

We wandered around Inuvik for a few hours and picked up quite a few souvenirs for the family. We would have loved to get more local art, but the prices were a little too steep (understandably – it takes a lot of money just to buy food up here!) We did get a couple of cool things, and some dry reindeer meat, so that'll make for some interesting eating when we get home!

The town is pretty cool – its a huge blend of cultures. There are three indigenous peoples in Inuvik – the Inuvialuit, the Gwich'in, and the Metis (the Metis are descendants of English, Scottish, and French trappers who took native wives, and speak a mixture of French nouns with Cree verbs and grammar with Ojibwa and English mixed in a little too). There's also more recent settlers mixed in from many different cultures (there's a Catholic church in town as well as a mosque). There's tons of people walking around the town – its smaller than Merrill but feels much more like a thriving community. It probably helps that the commerce in the town is fairly centralized.

We ended the day trying a couple of Canadian beers (one of which – Lead Dog Ale - was crazy tasty) and a Canadian wine with dinner – a couple of really tasty, really rare steaks (I ordered mine blue and it was GREAT). Then we came back to the cabin to chill out one more day before departing (and camping) once again. Today – back on the Dempster!

The Dempster, The Arctic Circle, Inuvik

Greetings from north of the Arctic Circle, where its sunny and 80 degrees!

No, I'm not kidding.

We're checked into our cabin in Inuvik, and looking forward to a couple of days without driving. The cabin is really nice, with a full kitchen and even a grill – and it was one of the cheapest places to stay in Inuvik. Win! (A special shout out to my parents who are helping out with the budget. Thank you guys!)

When you first start on the Dempster, there's a very large sign that says “NO EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES FOR THE NEXT 460 KM.” Just so you know that you're getting into something serious. (When the Dempster crosses the Yukon/NWT border you get emergency services again.

The Dempster turned out to be much less scary than I was concerned about. We got a couple of nice dings in the windshield from semis driving past us too fast, and the car is really dirty, but otherwise it escaped any severe damage. There are parts of the road that are so smooth and great that you wouldn't think it was gravel; there are other parts where you're going 30kph (yes, we've switched over completely to metric while in Canada – that's about 17mph). We drove about 7 hours on the first day and about 5 hours today.

The Dempster is mind-blowing. There is SO MUCH LAND up here, and so few people... its absolutely crazy. We've seen lots of different birds (which I will figure out the names of when I've got faster internet), many ground squirrels, an arctic hare in its summer phase, innumerable mosquitoes, and what looked like the torn remnants of a caribou. Sadly we haven't seen any real live musk ox, caribou, or grizzly bears. Well, maybe we're not so torn up about the last... The views have been so wonderful tho. There were places where you could see for hundreds of miles. And we've had the best weather... no more rain!

We got to the the Arctic Circle near the end of the day yesterday. It is a little surreal being where the sun literally never sets. Our camp last night was in a very nice but crazy buggy campground called Rock River. The site was right next to the river – I touched the water, and it was beautifully clear, and COLD.

So the next two days we're just going to be tramping around Inuvik, checking out the local scene, maybe doing some hiking, hopefully not getting eaten by polar bears.

Days 2-4

Day two was very much like day 1; we got thru Saskatchewan and most of Alberta. It was mostly flat farmland, and most of it looked like Wisconsin. (Visit Canada, the bigger, sometimes bumpier Wisconsin!) I came down with a cold during day two, and by the end of the day was feeling pretty rough. This meant we stayed in a hotel in a little town called Sexsmith. Of course, hotels aren't in our budget, so we're scrambling to figure out money, but what are you going to do?

Day three was prettier, and had a ton of wildlife! Most of day three was spent in British Columbia, and it was beautiful. Hopefully we'll get to a faster internet connection sometime soon so I can upload pictures. Lots of animals - black bears, elk, moose, and an entire herd of buffalo. One of the cutest moments was a momma bear and her two cubs (they looked like yearlings? Maybe?) Momma and one cub got across the road, the other was too scared, but eventually listened to mom and got across as well. Oh, and moose really aren't scared of you. They'll stand next to the road and look you straight in the eye... and not care at all. The mountains were amazing and beautiful. We camped that night at Watson Lake campground - I was feeling pretty ill but got some sleep thanks to my eyemask.

Day four got interesting. When we got up to break camp we discovered that when we had driven thru some "gravel on tar" the day before, our front tires got coated in tar. It was still dripping off the tires onto the ground. The car was driving fine tho, so we kept going. The tar picked up lots of stones from the gravel camp road, and suddenly there was a horrible squealing from the area of the right front tire. It stopped soon after, but kept going on and off, and then it happened to the left front tire as well. The left front stopped very quickly, but the right got worse, so we pulled off to the side and took the tire off. A couple of little stones had wedged between (and I don't know the real names here so bear with me) the guard behind the brake plates. We jogged them loose and put the tire back on, and no more squealing! YAY!

After that little adventure the day was uneventful; we continued on into the Yukon, thru Whitehorse, and up the Klondike highway to the foot of the Dempster. I was feeling pretty awful again, so we stayed in the hotel. Now I'm trying not to panic about money and the Dempster. I'm sure we'll be fine, and it'll be fine, but I'm a worrywart. Wish us luck, we're off!

Day one!

I'm writing from Battlefords (isn't that an awesome name), SK, CA. Our first day took us to Whitewood, at a small campground with no one else staying (it was a city run campground). Now, Canada is VERY friendly for camping; every little town that goes by has a list of its services available; and when I say services, it means campgrounds, picnic tables, parks, etc. Its made cooking (because we don't have a whole ton of money to spend on... well, anything) much easier.

This part of Canada is basically like the southern midwest stretched out over a much larger area. All we've seen in the past 1,187 miles is farmland. Mostly flat and cow filled. Sort of like a giant southern WI. Most of the pictures we've taken so far are of man-made attractions, and the flatness. I'm craving mountains.

Big ups to Josh, he put in about 16 hours yesterday driving. He's doing amazing! So happy to be on this trip with him!

Hopefull update tomorrow with something more exciting than farmland.

We are here:

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Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Wind Cave

Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Wind Cave, a set on Flickr.

Here's the pics from the trip!

The first day: travel, the corn palace, arrival at the badlands

Our first day took us from Minneapolis to the Badlands, with numerous potty breaks and a stop over at the Corn Palace in Mitchell. The kids did very well, with Preston occasionally breaking in with a "We're going camping at the BADLANDS! YAY!"

Our first big stop was at the Corn Palace. I had come here once as a kid and thought it was really neat. Its still sort of a time capsule - there's something very early 20th century about it. The kids seemed to enjoy it.

You forget how big the country is until you drive across it. Its sort of crazy how much the land changes at the Missouri. Before the Missouri the land is semi-flat, with farmland interrupted by trees - much like southern Wisconsin. After the Missouri, the trees disappear, and there are some hills, that soon turn into the real prairie - trees are relegated to an occasional appearance. Its not nearly as green as Wisconsin (tho greener than it will be later in the year). The sky is so much bigger, and the horizons are so much farther away than they are in WI, that your brain has difficulty judging the distance to objects.

We finally got to the Badlands around 7 pm, and I was thrilled because they were just as amazing as I remember. We got out of the car to take a little look around, then went to the campsite. The White River KOA is about a 5 minute drive from the park entrance, and it was a wonderful campground - with NO bugs. It got dark quickly and we prepared hot dogs and bratwurst over the fire (the KOA is the only campground in the area where fires are allowed.) The stars came out and were beyond beautiful. It all made for a wonderful first day.