Driving, driving and some more driving J On one hand it is nice and relaxing on the other it feels never ending. Solomon is such a trooper and we’ve started listening to his movies and shows instead of watching them, which us parents are happy about. He cycles through his toys from the toy box with an occasional book here and there while he sits and listens to his shows over the radio. I think he has them memorized because he acts out most of the scenes with his toys without seeing them on a screen. He talks so much now and enjoys singing and dancing so it’s definitely been a great time to watch him grow. We also think he’s about 2 inches taller than when we left the house :/
We drove from Watson Lake to Fort Nelson with a stop at Liard Hot Springs for Christopher to enjoy. That night in Fort Nelson we stayed at a nice campground with practically new bathhouses! The things you appreciate when on such a long road trip J This was the last time we’d see some wildlife and boy was it a good one! We saw 7 bear, 4 caribou, 2 mountain goats, 2 bison and 1 eagle. We then drove to Whitecourt with a stop in Dawson Creek for a picture at the official beginning of the Alaska Highway sign. Stayed at a nice wal-mart parking lot in Whitecourt and while walking around Solomon found the sunglasses of his dreams! Dory and Nemo are on them. They are also girl diva sunglasses but he was so excited to get them. He was walking through wal-mart wearing them even though they still had the cardboard frame on them and he couldn’t see a thing haha! After our night in Whitecourt we had our longest travel day yet 646miles to Helen, MT. We literally just drove that day. Stop here and there to walk, stretch or get food, if I didn’t want to make something while we drive, and just drive. It was kind of nice to see cities and towns as we drove the big highways south. The odd thing about our drive from Whitecourt to the states was google maps would take us the fastest route that was normally taking side roads through farmland. 20 minutes down this road then back on a main highway – then 20 minutes down this road then back on a main highway. But it was very pretty farmland so we didn’t mind. We decided to drive all the way to Helena that night and stayed at another wal-mart parking lot. This wal-mart was a little more colorful than we typically like to do but it was a place to park when all you’re doing is going to bed and getting up to drive.
We left the next morning for Jackson Hole, WY where we finished out our adventure. This was the chosen destination for many reasons, a few of which being the best weather, not to hot, and close to home for our final day of driving. It was so great to relax and be at the same campground for 4 nights in a row. We were at a campground for 5 nights in Alaska but had long day trips most days so we didn’t have a day to just sit there like we did in Jackson. We stayed at Gros Ventre Campground and really enjoyed it. The campgrounds were selling out each night we were there :/ Solomon loved playing in the dirt, playing in the water, getting his stuffed trout and riding in the horse carriage, the day we went to town, and we all loved the campfires in the evening. I actually had a few smores over the last 4 nights J
We spent one day in Yellowstone and enjoyed walking around Old Faithful area. There were so many people… it was crazy! And English was not the main language by any means so it was fascinating but it was still a great time. Solomon liked all of the bubbles in the water and wanted to see some fish. We would tell him there probably aren’t fish in those bubbles. We were able to watch Castle Geyser erupt for at least 15 minutes and it was still going when we left. Apparently it only erupts every 19hours but it’s also much harder to predict so it was pretty cool to get to watch it for so long. It had so much speed at times it would start to spiral straight up in the air.
We are thankful for our adventure over the last several weeks and we will be rolling in to Salt Lake city soon. Here’s a recap of our last 5 weeks.
35 nights - 36 days - 3 were hotel nights
Over 7,000 miles
23 total showers
Did laundry 3 times
Stopped for gas 20 times – sometimes only because the opportunities were slim
Average temps of 64 with lows in the 40’s
We saw grizzly bear, black bear, moose, elk, bison, antelope, otters, whales, eagles, mountain goats, lynx, caribou, fox, coyote, puffin birds, porpoises, halibut, salmon, dogfish, glaciers and so much more!
