We spent our first night in the new house! We drove around town last night, got some dinner, and went to the grocery store called Fred Meyer. It is so cool! It has everything from clothes to furniture, groceries, hardware, and bedding. Kind of like a walmart, but way nicer. The view coming home from the store was amazing. You are surrounded by the mountains on all sides! We have a view of the mountains from our bedroom window as well.

We haven't brought much in from the trailer yet, just the basics for the night. The house is still empty, but here are some pics.

We had another day full of amazingly beautiful views.  The highlight of the day was the Klune mountain range and the Klune lake.The road skirted right around the lake at the base of the mountains. There were a few times that the road looked as though it disappeared into the mountains or the lake.  Parts if the lake were colored teal with strips of purple mixed in.  The mountains were giant snowy peaks. 

We started early, so Milo decided to push through and drive all the way to Beaver Creek, right on the border of Canada and Alaska. The last 100 miles were extremely rough.  There were potholes, gravel, and huge bumps in the road called "frost-heaved roads" that made is feel like we were riding on one of those little springy animals at the playground that flings you back and forth. The view was still beautiful though. We stopped at a rest stop and fed some ducks and saw a few swans on the lake at the foot of the mountains. 

We made it into Beaver Creek around 8:30.  We are staying at a cute little lodge called the Westmark Inn. We don't have wifi in the rooms, just in the lobby area so I won't be able to get the rest if the photos up until tomorrow.

We got a good start this morning. The temperature was in the low 50's most of the day, but dropped down as low as 47 up in the mountains.  Unfortunately there was a light rain and thick fog so we couldn't see the mountains or the scenic overlooks. We did, however have a small bear cross the road right in front of us. He was very cute! We went through some more construction and unpaved gravel and dirt sections of road. Those were a little unnerving, but as the Canadians say "No worries, Eh!"

We stopped for gas at the Tetsa River campground and got some of their delicious cinnamon buns! 

Around noon, the fog lifted and we could see the stunning views of the mountains and rivers. We even saw a group of stone sheep and an elk or caribou on the roadside!  

We ran through some rain in the afternoon, se we decided not to stop at the hot springs. After the rain let up we passed a herd of Buffalo grazing by the side of the road, and saw several more lone buffalo throughout the day. It was like driving through a National Park all day. I had my camera ready to snap at any moment! Most of the photos are through the front window, so you can only imagine how beautiful it was for real. 
 We crossed into the Yukon Territory this evening just before we stopped for the night in Watson Lake at the Big Horn Hotel. We spotted a few more bear along the road just outside of town! We are getting close to the end of our journey. This last leg is so beautiful though that we are enjoying it. We are definalty ready to be there and get settled. The girls keep asking why we just drive and stay in a hotel and drive and stay in a hotel... and why don't we live at a house anymore?

We spent our first day driving along the Alaska highway today. We drove about 280 miles to Fort Nelson, British Columbia. They are doing a bit of construction, but it wasn't to bad. The temperature stayed in the 60's most of the day. There were some great views along the way. We pulled off to the side to let everyone stretch there legs and take some pics of the view.

And Ryleigh found a "wish flower" (that's what she calls them)!

Our hotel tonight has a pool with a slide and a spa, so the kids are happy. Plus, there is a Boston Pizza restaraunts out front. We had never been to one, but it was really good. It has a little bit of everything.

Tomorrow we are heading to Watson Lake. I have heard there are some really neat hot springs on the way. Maybe we will stop to check them out.

~Ashley~

I don't even remember writing that last post, I was so tired. We slept until about 11:30 this morning, got a late check out at noon, and had some lunch before heading out of Whitecourt. We drove to Dawson Creek, which is in British Columbia. It was a nice drive, pleasantly uneventful. When we pulled into our hotel in Dawson Creek around 5:00 Milo got out to check the tires on the trailer (he checks them every time we stop). It seems that they had been kindly waiting for us to stop before the back tire decided to go completely flat! We are not sure exactly what happened, but we did go over some pretty rough roads. The city of Edmonton was not kind to us last night either. The roads were very tight and just plain bad. The Lord was watching out for us again though and we didn't have to deal with any flat tires on the side of the road. Luckily, there is a Walmart in front of our hotel and a tire store behind. One way or another we will replace the tire (and probably the rest as well just to be safe), before heading out. We may decide to stay for another night here in Dawson Creek if the tire business takes to long. It is a cute little town anyway, so I'd like to stay and check it out. The town of Dawson Creek is the beginning of the Alaska highway, which we will be traveling along for the next 5 days or so. I'd like to go around and take some photos of the historic markers and see some of the sites. 

We ate dinner a local restaurant right across from the hotel called Fixx Urban Grill. It was delicious! One thing we have been missing though is sweet tea, even McDonalds doesn't have it up here! We have gotten the strangest looks from people when we ask for it too. That, and honey mustard, apparently that is foreign to them as well, they serve everything with sweet and sour sauce. It's pretty good though, so I can make do I suppose. ;-)
Thank goodness for wifi at these hotels. It helps us keep in contact as we travel through Canada. Hopefully we will continue to have it in the hotels, but we may have to go a few nights without. 

~Ashley~

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Sunday, August 25th

We decided to stay for the day in Dawson Creek. It is a beautiful day, mid 60's with a cool breeze!  We drove around and saw the historic mile marker, the begining of the Alaska highway, and a cute little pioneer village, then got some lunch and donuts and Tim Hortons- yum yum!! We discovered last night that we are now in the Pacific time zone. I'm not sure when we entered, our clock in the car didn't change on it's own and it usually does. 

We drove up to Shelby, Montana today. We got into our hotel around 4:00 and decided to drive out to Glacier national park. I am so glad we did! As soon as we could see the mountains on the horizon we knew it was going to be awesome. The mountains are gigantic, with little patches of snow. We drove in on the road called Going-To-The-Sun Road. We were literally driving toward the sun just about an hour before sunset. The drive along St. Mary Lake was breathtaking (how many words can I use for beautiful? I'm running out of adjectives). We only were able to drive about half way in and stopped at Logan's pass. There was a ranger station there and a huge scenic overlook.

We knew it would be dark by the time we made it out of the park, so we headed back. There was so much more to see though. We stopped at a waterfall that came down to a little creek. Ryleigh was trying to cross and fell in. She wasn't hurt and thought it was fun, but she was soaked in some very cold water! I will get some more photos up soon. I have a lot from the last few days. I have take about 1,500 photos since leaving Florida!

Tomorrow we cross the border into Canada. We will need to turn off our cell service, but hopefully we will get some wifi at the hotels at least. We have about a week left of our journey. This next part through Canada is the part we have been most worried about. Please keep us in your prayers!

~Ashley~

We had an amazing day in Yellowstone today! We came in the north entrance through the Roosevelt Arch and drove the big loop around the whole park. God's creation is truly awe inspiring. It is amazing to me how the terrain and landscape can change so drastically from one mile to the next. Huge mountains to flat prairies, lakes and ponds to waterfalls and geysers! We would be driving through a forest one minute and then there would just be a wide open plain with steam rising out of the ground. At one point we were driving around curves up high in the mountains and it looked as though we would just fall off the edge of a giant cliff. The Mammoth hot springs were really cool and of course Old Faithful was a highlight. The kids got a little bored during the 50 minute wait, but it was definitely worth it! The Yellowstone lake was gorgeous, and all the waterfalls were beautiful. The standout the day for me was when we walked out to Inspiration Point overlooking  the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. That was a breathtaking view!  Also the bison and the elk crossing the road was cool, I especially like the elk. Bison are not the most beautiful of creatures! I also spotted a few moose and a chipmunk.

I will be putting up a slideshow soon with lots of photos. But here is the view from Inspiration Point.