An hour later this is where we were…
We both remarked that the farther north we went the more “Alaskan” it felt; the road north into the mountains validated this point. Well the “Alaskan” didn’t last that long as we crossed over the Canadian border about 40 miles out of Haines… but you get the point.
We had been in Haines AK, where we spent a great 3 days relaxing and going for small hikes. “Small,” because if we don’t time our hikes right (around Ella’s nap) we are unable to go for long hikes. Ella, I love her to death, is paying my karmic tab by having tons of energy and a strong distain for being strapped in a stroller (or walking in a straight line, or staying away from edges). Unfortunately this means short hikes, and more time to eat… Weight Watchers here we come!
In Haines I did get a half day of fishing and caught a handful of nice sized salmon. Also, at one point, I looked up on the bank by the cars and there were about 5 sightseers looking out at the river… which wasn’t that odd… but what WAS odd was that all the other fishermen and women were standing there too… and what continued to be odd was that I was the only person IN the river. This was the part where I started to get the point and there about 50 yards in front of me, chasing salmon, was a brown bear. Now I know I can be a knucklehead, but can you believe that not one of the other fisherpeople warned me? I was a bit surprised by that one… maybe they wanted to give the German tourists a REAL look at Alaska… a good ol’ mauling.
Here's the bear...
From Haines we went into BC Canada and then into the Yukon, which has some of the most desolate and beautiful scenery I have EVER seen. The pics cannot do it justice, but here are a couple.
Last night we ended up at a roadside cabin that had $12 camping spots… which after a slew of $150/night rooms, we decided to go against Anna’s “I don’t camp for accommodation anymore,” and camped… we should ALWAYS listen to Anna. The guy who showed us around was a nice Yukonian (I made that up) who showed us the best places to camp. However, he also forgot to tell us (until after all 50 tent stakes were in the ground) that he needed to turn the generator on until “about 10:00 PM.” Now this wasn’t a brand new Honda generator that purrs. It was a massive, straight out of World War II, clunker of a generator. This sucker roared like a sick Harley-Davidson, and was essentially 50 yards from our “best camping spot.” Thankfully he turned the sucker off around 9:00, at which point Ella fell asleep. (But wait… it gets better). The quiet was absolutely unbelievable. We were far away from anything that would make the slightest noise, and there was no wind, which meant it was dead quiet… until
(Here’s how this played out:)
Absolute quiet, asleep in the tent…
(Here’s how this played out:)
Absolute quiet, asleep in the tent…
door slam, and I'm slightly awoken… quiet…
rumble rumble rumble ROOOOOOOOOOOOAR! SICK HARLEY-DAVIDSON….
“shit” now i'm fully awake… waiting… waiting… “shit, now I need to pee…” sneak out of bed, don’t wake Anna (as if she wasn’t already awake)… do my business…
Return to tent to Anna sneezing, and blowing her nose, which happens like clockwork whenever she wakes up in the AM… (very annoying for all involved)…“WTF!? Why did he put that generator on? What friggan time is it?”
Me “Oh it’s probably close to 6:00 AM… let me check my watch…” find watch… 3:50… “It’s 3:50”….
Anna “WHAT! OH MY WTF!!!!!!!! Okay, at least Ella's asleep DON'T wake her up.”
Me “okay,” at which point I shift Ella's sleeping bag and promptly wake her up... and she starts coughing and coughing and coughing… and pauses, looks at Anna and I with a very confused look on her face and promptly throws up smack dab in the middle of our sleeping area.”
Anna- “Let’s get out of here.”
So at 4:15 on a freezing (37 degrees) morning I break down our tent and pack the car while Anna tries to change Ella and entertain her in the front seat of the car. It was a miserable AM.
Currently we are in Tok (pronounced “Toke”… like on a pipe) where we’ve spent a leisurely day after a 300+ mile trip. The good news about leaving at 5:00 in the AM is that you get to your destination early… unless your destination is Tok, at which point you spend the day wishing you had drove on. Also, Anna and I managed to find the health food store (probably the only health food store within a 500 mile radius) and promptly ordered a death by chocolate milk shake. Remember the Weight Watchers comment?
Tomorrow we head to Lake Louise (thanks Darren for the suggestion… we better like it!). The next day (Saturday) we’ll roll into Anchorage and start looking for a house to rent. We have an appointment to see a great place on Monday, so hopefully we’ll have secured a house by early next week. We then plan on heading down the Kenai Peninsula for another week of antics and then back to Anchorage the last week of August. Anna starts August 31st.
Hope all is well with you...
Matt and Anna and Ella
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