Road Trip'n

Round two of our move started on Monday, May 16th.  Just about as quickly as we touched down in Alaska, every single day blended themselves together...had we not made daily notes, we wouldn't have known exactly what we did or when!

We had left Texas on Saturday, May 14th on a one way flight to Fairbanks out of Austin.  On Monday,Yeti did his final out-processing from Eielson AFB, we packed Remy up and started the drive down to Texas at around noon.

How our Ford stacked up against the other trucks on the road

After seeing everything from the air, seeing it on the ground isn't as cool.  HOWEVER, the route that we decided to drive, the Alaska-Canada highway aka ALCAN, is famous for the critters that hang out along the side of the road.  So, we decided that we would focus on our critter count and see just how many of what we could see. 

Here's the critter count:
Day 1: 1-black bear, 1-bald eagle, 1-porcupine, 2-moose, 1-rabbit, 1-Remy

Moose outside Eielson AFB gate

Black Bear

Day 2: 3-brown bears, 4-dall sheep, 1-muskrat, 1-parka squirrel, 1-donkey, 1-horse, 30-bison, 1-black bear, 1-bald eagle, 2-trumpeter swans, 1-moose, 1-Remy

Brown Bears...the one in the front is digging up roots to eat.  There was a third bear behind the trees.

Black Bear

This is about how Remy looked most of the trip.  He was snoring and dreaming...super funny!

Day 3: 1-rabbit, 2-porcupines, 2-deer, 5-carabou, 2-falcons, 1-crane, 2-elk, 1-white tail deer, 1-Remy

Deer

Carabou in the road

Pretty much after Day 3, all we saw was the standard deer, dog, skunk or antelope.  Nothing out of the ordinary or worth listing. 

We spent a total of three nights in Canada.  It was amazing how many hotels actually do have pet friendly rooms.  The nicest place we stayed at in Canada was the Northern Rockies Lodge.  Not only were they pet friendly, but they had delicious German food for us to enjoy!  It was nice to have a night of junk-food free dinner. 

Remy on his evening walk behind the lodge.  Photo by Yeti

Right when we were confident that Canada was behind us, we had a blow out on the trailer!  That set us back about four hours.  We wound up replacing all four tires...not something we were happy about.


Once we were in the U.S. again, a sense of accomplishment hovered over us.  Getting through Canada was the most challenging piece for us - both for time and financial reasons.  Gas was an estimated $6.50/gallon!  The truck wasn't getting the best gas mileage, thanks to the trailer we were pulling. 

Sunset from the rear view mirror

We made a pit-stop to Rapid City, South Dakota, to hang out with Scrap/y's friend Beaver and meet his family - Amy and Clayton.  It was nice to get a little break and hang out with great people.  Remy even made another friend.  He played almost non-stop with their Wiemer, Tige.  They are BFFs!  He was so pooped, which was perfect for us, because it made him sleep all that much harder on the road. 

Taking a break from driving and ready to get to Texas!

Our last day of driving was Monday, May 23rd.  The early start we got from Guthrie, Oklahoma, was actually an unexpected advantage to us because we dodged a horrible storm system that was going through Ft. Worth and Dallas. 

Seeing the news today, we were definately counting our blessings because the weather is not being friendly up North. 

So, after flying 3,184.1 miles and driving 4,463 miles, we are finally in San Antonio, Texas, where we will be until mid/late September.  After that, we have one more set of traveling to do...finalize the move by getting down to Del Rio.  In comparison to how much moving we have already done, that is a hop, skip and a jump.

What now?  Well, Yeti started his Pilot Instructor Training Course at Randolph Air Force Base today, and Scrap/y starts working with the Texas Guard at Kelly Field, Lackland Air Force Base next week for the summer.  We are highly looking forward to the three day weekend coming up.  Guaranteed at least one of those three days will be spent in a vegitative state! 

This has definately been the most complicated move we have had to do, but man, what an adventure!

Move to Texas - Asphalt Edition - The whole trip