AK to OK Day 6

Day 6
June 28, 2011

Tacoma, Washington to Red Bluff, California


We started the morning early.  We were on the road by 6:30 am.  We drove south on the I-5.  We made good time to Oregon and drove through Portland.  We then continued south on the I-5.  My mom reminded me of an ice cream place that we use to stop at when my Grandparent’s lived in Roseburg, Oregon.  So Ryan and I decided that we would stop once we got to Rice Hill.  Just after Eugene, OR I got a phone call from what I thought was my brother.  It was actually my dad calling from my brother’s phone to tell me that Steven had been in an accident at work.  He had been burned by a propane flash and had burns on this arms and face.  I talked to my dad briefly due to both of us being emotional and I was able to talk to Steven for a moment.  We continued driving and found Rice Hill.  We stopped to get the ice cream and while we were eating my dad called again to give us an update.  Steven was being transferred to AK Regional Hospital and he was doing better than the doctors expected. His burns were 2nd degree and he would not be going to Seattle.  When Steven first arrived at Providence they thought he may have to go to Harbor View Medical Center in Seattle.  If his airway had been burned they would have to manage the swelling and breathing down there.  Once we got to Grants Pass, OR we got off the I-5 and got on the 199 to Highway 101. We got to dive through the Redwood Forest and got to see Crescent City, California.  The trees are amazing!!  I have never seen trees that big!!  After driving on the 101 for awhile we realized that we had lost time, so we decided to get on the 299 and that would take us back to the I-5.  Highway 299 was very foggy, rainy, narrow and windy.  We could only go 25-40 mph and a two hour trip ended up taking four hours.  We ended the day in Red Bluff, CA at a Comfort Inn.

AK to OK Day 5

Day 5
June 27, 2011

Federal Way and Tacoma, Washington
Rest Day

Today is Monday and we arrived at our hotel in Federal Way, WA at 3:00 am.  We slept for about 6 hours and then called my friend, Chelsea Miles, who lives in Tacoma.  I grew up with Chelsea and we have been friends since we were 12.  After Ryan and I had gotten ready for the day Chelsea and her kids came to the hotel.  We went to lunch at Panera Bread.  Great food!!  We then went back to the hotel and sat by the pool.  The kids swam and the adults relaxed.  It was nice to not be riding in the truck.  After swimming Chelsea took us to run some errands.  We went to Best Buy and Target looking for a new spare battery and charger for my Canon Camera.  After only being able to find a spare battery Chelsea took us back to the hotel.  Ryan and I decided to relax and watch some TV.  Later Ryan and I went to Fred Meyer and found the charger that I needed.  We then went to The Rock for dinner.  We had yummy pizza, salad and breadsticks.  We then walked to a frozen yogurt bar!  This is a new concept to me!!  It is all self serve.  You choose your yogurt and toppings.  You then pay by the weight.  It was yummy!! 

AK to OK Day 4

AK to OK Day 4
June 26, 2011

Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada to Tacoma, Washington, USA

We got to eat a nice breakfast at the Comfort Inn!! We have not really eaten breakfast on this trip.  We leave in the morning and munch on things while driving. We headed for Grand Prairie in Alberta.  We took a break and let the dogs run a bit.  We fueled up and checked to see if Best Buy was open.  It was not open until 11:00 am so we were not able to purchase what we needed.  I realized that I left my spare battery and charger for my camera at the Liard Hot Springs Lodge, so I am in need of a new one!  After Grand Prairie we headed to Hinton and then from there we entered Jasper National Park.  This is a truly beautiful place.  We saw mountain goats and babies, deer, and mountain sheep.  The area of the Jasper National Park is glacier carved so the mountains are beautiful to look at!  We decided while driving through Jasper that we wanted to push through to Tacoma, Washington.  We arrived in Kamloops and took a small break.  This was about 8:00pm.  We then pushed on to Merritt, as small town south of Merritt.  We took a break for about an hour.  We got some food, walked the dogs and let them run and then I started driving for Tacoma.  Google maps told us that from Kamloops to Tacoma as about 5 1/2 hours.  We drove straight and got to the border in Abbottsford, we had no trouble crossing the border.  The officer did not even want to see the information on the dogs.  We continued on to Bellingham and then south on I-5 to Tacoma.  Ryan and I traded driving again about 2 hours outside of Tacoma.  We finally arrived at our hotel in Federal Way about 3:00 am.  We went right to sleep and are taking a rest day on Monday, June 27! 

AK to OK Day 3

Day 3
June 25, 2011

Liard Hot Springs, British Columbia, Canada to
Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada

Ryan let me sleep in today.  We left the hot springs a little after 8:00 am.  I started the day driving.  We had good road, but it was narrow and in a very mountainous area. We stopped at a lodge to fuel up and then headed to Fort Nelson.  We went to the visitors center and learned that rains and flooding had washed out a bridge and part of the road on the route that we where planning on taking to Prince George.  We then had to change our plans.  We decided to head for Fort St. John.  We stopped in Fort St. John and got more information about the flooding.  We made a hotel reservation in Dawson Creek and headed for the Comfort Inn in Dawson Creek.  We arrive about 6:00 pm in Dawson Creek.  The hotel let the dogs come in the room, so they where able to stay with us.  We relaxed and got to sleep in a nice comfortable bed!!

Animals seen today:  Sheep, Buffalo, Deer

AK to OK Day 2

Day 2
June 24, 2011

Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory, Canada to Liard Hot Springs, British Columbia, Canada

We woke up at 6:30 am and showered.  We left about 7:50 am.  The road was in much better condition and we could go faster.  Our first stop was Whitehorse.  We fueled and then headed to a rest stop to let the dogs run.  We had cell service in Whitehorse so the texted our parents and let them know that all was well.  We then headed to Watson Lake.  We saw a lot of bears and buffalo on the way to Watson Lake.  Once we arrived in Watson Lake we walked the dogs, fueled up and went to the sign post forrest and visitors center.  After leaving Watson Lake we headed for the hot springs.  We arrived about 8:10 pm.  We got a room at the Hot Springs Lodge.  This place was nicer then the night before.  We were not allowed to bring the dogs into the room so we walked them and then headed for a dip in the hot springs. We spent about 30 minutes in the nice hot water.  The walk from the lodge to the actual pool was about 15 minutes.  After our nice dip we walked back and took the dogs out again.  They had to sleep in their kennels for the night so we wanted to make sure they had stretched their legs, ate and drank some water.   

Day 1 of AK to OK

Day 1
June 23, 2011

Anchorage to Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory, Canada

Ryan woke up at 3:00 am as promised.  I woke up soon after.  We had stayed the night at my parents house so after getting all our belongings together we said goodbye to my parents and took off.  We fueled up at Fred Meyer and then headed to the Glenn Highway.  We made our first stop in Palmer to put the tarp on my car.  We also bought rope and bungee cords.  We let the dogs out to run and use the bathroom. Our next stop was Glenallen.  We fueled up and took the dogs for a walk.  We then headed to Tok.  On the way to Tok it began to rain.  Once in Tok we ate a late lunch, walked the dogs, fueled up and headed toward the border.  We ran into a lot of road construction on the highway between Tok and the border.  We had to stop several times and wait for pilot cars.  This road construction set us back about two hours.  We finally made the border.  We showed our passports, dog health certificate and answered some questions.  It was a very easy crossing, no search or seizure!  We then had to decide where we were heading to stay the night.  We now knew that Whitehorse was out of the question due to the road construction delay.  The road from the border to Destruction Bay was bad!  We could only go about 30 mph in many parts.  We decided to stop at 9:30 pm at the Talbot Arms Motel in Destruction Bay.  This motel is a dump, but it was a place to sleep and they let the dogs come in the room.

Moving Day is Here!!

The movers arrived right on time at 8:00 am this morning.  There are two gentlemen and they went right to work.  They are very fast and efficient.  I have some pictures of their work and I will post some more later today and tomorrow.  The one things that is crappy about all this is Ryan is on a fishing charter with his dad, brother, uncle, cousin and nephew and gets to miss this fist day of having the movers here!!  

Moving in 10 Days...

The date of June 23 is coming quickly.  The moving company came and looked at our house and all our goods.  They determined that we have 7,800 pounds of stuff.  We are allowed 18,000 pounds so we are well under the allowed amount.  The movers are coming on June 20 and 21.  They will pack our stuff the first day and then load the truck the next day.  I have to video and take pictures of everything before that.  Ryan and I also have to get all of the items that we do not want packed and put them in one of our bathrooms.  Ryan is working on our truck to get it ready and still working this whole week.  His last day here in Anchorage is this Thursday.  We have so much to do!!  I need to make a list!!

The Movers are Coming...

The movers are scheduled to come on June 20 and 21.  They will pack our things on day one and then load the van on day 2.  I am keeping busy with getting ready for a three day moving sale this weekend.  I am trying to get rid of things that we will not need in OK or things that we just do not use anymore.  I am getting very excited for all of this to be happening.  The next thing that needs to happen is the sale of our house.  The house has been on the market for three weeks as of today, we have had five showings.  I am also working on getting my OK teaching certification.  I am waiting on one set of transcripts to come and then I can get it sent off!