Day 2: O, Canada!

Today we entered Canada via Port Alcan. As most of you know, you are required to carry passports when traveling the highway between Alaska & Canada. I had a brief scare when Wade went to retrieve the passports & asked, “Did you already take them out?” Gulp… They were right where they were supposed to be, he’d just overlooked them. The border guard asked all of the pertinent questions: “How many on board, all you all family, how much alcohol/tobacco are you carrying (he asked this twice – did he forget, or was he trying to trip us up?) & of course – “Do you have any firearm on board?” When we answered “No”, he was surprised. BPA: “You aren’t carrying any of your guns with you?” Us: “We don’t own any guns.” BPA: “?!?”. Perhaps it’s a perception that all Americans are packing heat.

The road conditions on this section of highway are a bit dicey. Permafrost makes having a smooth, frost-heave free road bed quite the challenge. There are orange flags dotted along the highway to warn travelers of the bumps – it’s a great idea to pay attention to these warnings. Since we’re traveling with our bikes this year (primarily for added exercise & therapy for my knee), it’s imperative we not hit any bump too hard.

Wade does most of the driving since he has a propensity towards carsickness. I usually knit, read, do crosswords, consult the Milepost (a publication that’s a must for Alcan travelers), or documenting our journey for blog posting. Occasionally I give Wade a little break…

The boys spend a good part of their afternoon doing this:

Campground #2: “Pine Lake Government Campground” ~4 miles north of Haines Junction. We decided to stop early while the weather was nice & have a chance to relax with a campfire. We unloaded the bikes for a ride & rode
down to the lake. A regional biologist and camp ranger were present & gave a talk about bears. The talk went on for around an hour (too long!) – especially since we, as Alaskans, were pretty familiar with the topic. Canadian campgrounds are really nice – wooded site with firepit, picnic tables, pit toilets & access to firewood is included in the $12 fee. I think we all appreciated the shorter day & exercise.

Mileage End: 106, 711

Mileage Begin: 106, 471

Miles Day 2: 240 (short day)

Tunes du jour: Dave Matthews Band, RUSH

Knitting Project: More Kiama

Wildlife Count: No 4-legged creatures, numerous birds (swans & eagles)

Gas 10.720 litres (10.76 gal) (fill up Haines Junction)

Mpg: 27.11

Cost: $52.08 Canadian

Ciao & Happy Travels!

And We're Off!!

The Roach clan has left Alaska. We were able to leave on June 9th as planned, albeit a little later in the afternoon than anticipated. So far so good. We've followed our usual routine: drive to Palmer, fill up w/gas & get an iced coffee for the road. This is our 3rd trip along the Alcan & we've mapped out the Starbucks along the way. Too bad Kaladi Bros isn't international. My plan is to log our journey as we go & then post when I have access to the internet. I hope you enjoy our travels...



I love this sign. A reader of the blog in 2007 wondered if there is a similar sign w/in Canada that reads "US this way". This sign comes at the junction of the Glenn & Richardson highways in Glenallen. The highway was in rather nice shape & there was very little in the way of construction delays. The weather made for easy visibility with the exception of a significant downpour before reaching Glenallen.


When we travel we limit the amount of eating out we do. This is pretty easy since there aren't many commercial eating establishments along the way. We try to find a nice place to pull over when the weather is cooperating & it's near a mealtime. On day #1 we chose to make dinner (Hamburger Helper) at Mile 1 of the Tok cutoff. The Tok Cutoff takes you from the Richardson highway to Tok, AK. All vehicular traffic must pass through Tok when driving to & from Alaska. (Unless, I suppose you take the ferry across the Gulf of Alaska).

Camp #1: Lakeview Campground approximately 30 miles west of the Canadian Border, around 7 hours from Anchorage. We'd stayed here before during our 2007 trek. It's nice as it gets you close to the border & has NO FEE! The lots are secluded & the lake is beautiful & perfect for bird watching. Orion & I counted 2 Sand Hill cranes, 2 Loons, and 1 Swan. At night you can hear the birds calling which is a pretty neat way to drift off to sleep.

• Mileage Begin: 106,100
• Mileage End: 106,471
• Miles Day 1: 371
• Tunes Du Jour: Glee Soundtrack Shuffle
  
• Knitting Project "Kiama" - working on the final 7 or so inches.
• Gas Total: 19.625 gallons
• Gas Cost: $70.46
• mpg: 18.904 (although Wade & I debate on the correct way to calculate this....)

Ciao & Happy Travels!

Road Trip 2010: Coast to Coast

We're hitting the road again for the summer of 2010. Hubby and I figured we bought our 2003 Eurovan for the specific purpose of being able to travel the wide open road to our hearts content. You'll remember in 2007 we embarked on our first journey to the west coast & several National Parks. Then in 2008 we launched a more ambitious trip traveling to Wisconsin and covering almost 14,000 miles.

This year we're trying to outdo ourselves by driving all of the way to Washington D.C. Should prove to have loads of fun along the way. Anticipated highlights of our journey:

1) Camping throughout Canada with stops at Liard Hot Springs, Banff, and Jasper

2) Wisconsin to visit Orion's godparents & our dear friends Jen & Steve plus their two young daughters.

3) Washington D.C. My sister and her family live about 30 miles south of D.C., so we'll use that as a home base for the time we're visiting D.C.

4) A drive north to visit my fabulous aunt in New Jersey

5) A quick stop in PA to see a friend

6) Return to Wisconsin so Wade can attend RUSH concert #1 (of 3!!) on July 3rd.

7) Drive west to California w/unplanned stops along the way

8) Trip to Toronto July 15 - 19th to celebrate my 40th & for Wade to attend RUSH concert #2 with his brother. (fly in and out of SFO)

9) Return trip home with stops in Oregon and Washington.

10) Listening to the 2010 World Cup when we can't watch the matches using Sirius Satellite radio.

Of course - I'll share our journey along the way. I'm looking for some sort of off-line blogging software (suggestions?) so I can easily keep updated with our adventures & then post when we have internet access.

Because...

Who Doesn't need a pair of 100% wool mittens when it's 86°F outside?

Details:

Pattern: Wood Hollow Mittens (rav link) by Kirsten Kapur of Through The Loops

Yarn: Cascade 220 Tweed - leftovers from my Tangled Yoke Not-Cardigan. The irony? I still had leftovers, cast on for a matching hat & will need to buy more of this yarn if I want to finish the hat (I'm 2/3 of the way done, so ripping out in favor of a different project isn't an option). I see a very unfriendly loop of sorts in my future - buy new skein, finish hat, have leftovers still, cast on different project, need more yarn, buy more yarn, etc. Arghhhh - 2010 is supposed to be about stash reduction!

Needles: KPO US5. Should have used a US6, but since the US5 tips were already on the cable from the TYNC, I just sallied forth...

Time Frame: Not exactly sure, but I think it probably took me around a week of on & off knitting.

Overall a fun knit & great addition to the knit gift basket.

Ciao!

Science Lessons For the Day

Since our family is set to embark on a major road trip in the next several days (I still need to blog about the details, huh?) & hubby is out of town attending a friend's wedding, we decided to stick around town this long weekend. The boys and I had yet to check out the new Imaginarium at the Anchorage museum. Saturday afternoon seemed a great time to utilize our membership & stimulate the minds beyond DS and Wii video games.

The photo to the left is called "String Theory". A nifty exhibit using light & motion. Many of the exhibits in the imaginarium focus on physics & boy did it remind me of how much I've forgotten since college.



O was very proud of his use of the Bernoulli Effect (Cool YouTube Video by Science Theatre here) and ability to get two balls to hover over a fast moving stream of air. You can easily accomplish this scientific feat at home with a blow dryer & ping pong balls. Kids love it (we do this as part of my science club's Elementary Science Day program) & you can use it to discuss the ideas of lift.

A favorite exhibit was the IR sensor. The kids sat in front of an InfraRed sensor & had their thermal images projected on a screen. IJ has always run at a higher temp than others - if I'm ever chilly, I just snuggle up to him & warm up almost instantly. It was pretty obvious that his temp is naturally higher. This was a lot of fun.

IJ couldn't wait to get to the bubble center. He was a bit disappointed that the large bubble wand (the one attached to ropes that you pull & envelope yourself within a bubble) didn't work very well. He was placated by the smaller versions & spent a significant amount of time creating large, long bubbles. Using the bubble wall, I demonstrated the idea of "Like dissolves Like" by soaping up my hands & placing them through the bubble film without breaking the bubble. He and other kids thought that was pretty cool. As long as your hands/fingers are soapy - the bubble will not pop. As soon as skin not coated in bubble juice touches the bubble, it will pop. Here's another fun YouTube video discussing hydrogen bonding, surface tension, and cohesion using a bubble wall like the one found in the Imaginarium. I think that's one of the cool things about being a science teacher - being able to invoke such awestruck moments in kids.

Science rules! Ciao~

Not Knitting

I did promise to post about some crafty endeavors soon, I just didn't promise that craftiness would involve knitting. I am knitting - finishing a neck cowl, using up yarn from the TYC on a pair of mittens, and even working on a summer shrug. However, my latest endeavor involved this:
A Quilt!! I've dabbled a bit into sewing and have made a couple of hand tied quilts many, many years ago. It just so happens that my favorite LYS is within a quilt shop. So I'm constantly bombarded by beautiful quilts every time I go to look/fondle yarn or take a knitting class. I have a colleague who has shown me a couple of quilts she's made, so I guess the quilting bug is contagious.

I have a friend who will be celebrating a milestone birthday very soon. I thought she might like a little something to wrap up in on a chilly evening. I also thought a quilt would be something I could finish relatively quickly. Well - perhaps not so much. I started this quilt top several weeks ago & only finished the borders yesterday. I still have to piece together the back & then send it off to someone for the actual quilting. My machine is pretty old & simple & I've never done machine quilting before. So - I figure if I want this to look nice & get done before my friend celebrates another milestone, I should pay someone who knows what they're doing to quilt it.

While the quilt is far from perfect (I have a lot to learn & practice in regards to measuring & squaring up a quilt, I just love how the colors blend together. I used a set of batik fabric strips known as "Bali Pops". These strips help alleviate much of the cutting that's done during quilting. Now if I can just find something magical to help me with measuring accurately. The colorway of this set of strips is called "Green Tea" - a perfect color combo for my friend.

I've enjoyed this quilting process & love the colors. However, I can't foresee it becoming a passion or accumulating a stash of fabric any where near the likes of my stash of yarn. Quilting ties me to a machine which makes it very not portable. If the quilt is done before we head out on our next road trip adventure (post about that coming soon), I'll be sure to share.

Back to enjoy the afternoon sun & knitting.... Ciao!

8 is Great!!

My youngest just celebrated his 8th birthday & has proclaimed it to be "the best birthday ever!". I can see why - the end of school year, a birthday celebration with school buddies, another birthday BBQ with neighbors & family friends; what's not to like?

I can't believe my youngest is 8. Wow. I remember when my oldest son turned 8. I remember witnessing the transformation from little kid into big kid. The sassiness, appreciation of potty humor, demand for more independence. I truly believe these changes occurred at 4:56am - the moment of his birth. I'm hoping my youngest takes a little time before the transformation takes hold. So far, so good.... he still likes to cuddle, sleeps with his lovies "Hippo & Puddles", and can charm the pants of Attila the Hun. Granted - he's only been 8 since 6:19am.

To celebrate, all he wanted to do was to invite a few of his school buddies to see the latest Shrek movie (it's cute!) & have a sleepover. Pretty simple. We were fortunate that the weather was spectacular. It helped me feel less guilty about having 5 8-year olds inside for 2 hours knowing that they could all run around outside until late into the evening. Alaska summers are great like that.


Like the goggles? We're all about safety here at Chez Arctic Knitter. During the ultimate Nerf Gun wars between adults, older siblings, neighbors & the gaggle of 8-year olds safety goggles are a must. While I'm sort of sad that my youngest is getting older and marching toward independence, I do appreciate that at this age I don't need to constantly entertain. The extent of birthday party planning involves making sure there's enough food (pizza!) and candles for the cake. 8-year old boys can entertain themselves for hours with Nerf guns, Wii, Nintendo DS, a trip to the park, and numerous outdoor toys.

We capped off the birthday weekend this afternoon with a BBQ for our close friends & neighbors. Certainly I'd have to agree with little IJ, this was the "best birthday ever!"

More craftiness soon..... Ciao~