My blog about knitting, teaching, and being a mother to two energetic young boys.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

On the Road...


Writing to you from Prince George, BC on Day 5 of our AK to CA road trip. If you're only iterested in knitting, scroll down - otherwise keep reading. Glad to report that our van "The Igloo" and the family are all doing well. We've covered lots of miles - check a map to see where we are in relation to Anchorage.
This will have to be a quick post as I'm using time at a coffee shop & the boys are running around outside getting their "ya-yas" out.

Day 1: Anchorage to 30 miles west of the Canadian border. Beautiful weather & road conditions were fine. We camped at a quaint little campground near a lake. Nice, clean, and FREE!! :-) No wildlife to report other than the kids in the back seat. Nah - they've been really great. Who knew the wonders of Gameboys when you're going to be on the road for 8 hours a day.



Day 2: Drove to Teslin Lake in the Yukon. Took a brief stop in Whitehorse to fill up with gas (at approx. $4.5 per gallon - it's sold by the litre here). The Provincial campground was great - $12 (CD) which included fire wood. Had a quick dinner & s'mores. We also saw a black bear on this leg of the trip. Total mileage today: I think 468.





Day 3: Teslin lake to Liard Hot Springs. A 'short' day as we stopped at 4:00 when we left around 10:00. By the way - have I mentioned that it rains in Canada? A LOT!! Lots of clouds... When we reached Watson Lake (near the Yukon/BC border) the skies opened up & dumped hail and rain. The storm was complete with thunder and lightenig. Holy smokes batman! We took a quick soak in the Hot Springs & decided to take a break when the thunder & lightening started again. Last time I checked, lightening & swimming do not mix. We waited out the storm in the Van while Wade played the guitar, the boys played their game boys & I finished my Embossed Leaves Sock #1 - I love it! What fun! I'm using Regia Silk Yarn & Size 2 Addi Turbo in the Magic Loop Method. Love the star toe as it means I do not have to use the Kitchner stitch. Cooked dinner over a campfire & then enjoyed another late night soak in the springs. The warm water takes care of the major grit, but not the yucky hair. The sulfur smell wouldn't be my perfume of choice either. oh well - the sacrifices we make when camping. Nice & relaxing - the boys drifted off to sleep very quickly. Wildlife on day 3: 1 Black Bear, 2 Brown Bears, 1 Buffalo (Bison??), 1 Deer, 1 Fox (with food in mouth).



Day 4: Liard Hot Springs to Heart Lake (140 miles west of Dawson Creek, BC). Dawson Creek is the official mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. We had a quick dinner & headed west on Highway 97 toward Prince George, BC. Stopped late to camp at a Forestry Campground (FREE!!). We covered over 500 miles on this day since it was raining all day (Have I mentioned yet that it rains here?). Wildlife for Day 4: 3 Caribou and LOTS of deer (Mule deer??)Knitting report: Started my Jaywalker socks in the Lorna's Laces Flamingo Stripe yarn. Fun! I've decided to go back to the Embossed Leaves when I finish this sock. It'll be interested to see how many socks I get through before we arrive in San Diego.

Day 5 thus far: We're in Prince George, BC. (401 km from Dawson Creek). Boys are out running around. Wildlife to report: Deer & a large Black bear. We saw the black bear this morning before we'd even left our campground! Cool!

Gotta run - we're headed to Jasper & Banff next. Will report again when I can.

Ciao

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just fund you via the Yarn Harlot--that's right, you're famous! It's good to see there are other people out there brave enough to road trip & camp with their boys. We tent camp, though the Westie is a dream of mine. Great opportunity for knitting! My boys aren't ready for Game Boys (I don't think, but may test that theory in July) so we employ a DVD player. Never thought I'd do that, but they're 3 and 5 and they hacve to sit in those darned seats the whole time. As a kid we used to be able to move about the car at will. Ah, the good old days!

Heather said...

I just found you via the Yarn Harlot too! The roadtrip sounds fun, and yes, BC has been getting crazy amounts of rain recently.
Hopefully when you're in Banff it'll be nice, it is nice in Calgary today! Banff is gorgeous, I lived there for a bit.

I love the "Canada - that way" sign. makes me giggle. I wonder if we have "USA - this way" signs?

I am jealous of your knitting-in-a-car ability. And your kids' gameboy ability. I'm in my 20s and I still get carsick if I don't look out the window the whole time.

Anonymous said...

Look at you girl - famous and all that! Looks like the road trip is going good thus far. You're missing crazy beautiful weather in Anchorage! It has been so sunny and HOT pretty much since last Wednesday/Thursday. Tonight we have a bunch of thunderheads that've formed and there is lightening and thunder in town this evening. Supposed to be another crazy sunny day again tomorrow! BTW - the blankets are done and have left on their way to Ireland! Yippee! I'm doing socks baby - socks, socks, and more socks!!