I flew back to Minnesota in early November and spent 18 days there visiting family and friends. My brother, his wife and their new baby, Lucas came down for a week and we traveled around together visiting family. They flew back to Alaska but not before buying a mini-van for their growing family; 4 kids now. I agreed to drive the car back to Fairbanks. I left Nov. 25th and arrived in Fairbanks 6 days later. It was my first time driving up in the winter. The roads were excellent and the weather mild, in the 30s during the day. The only bad weather was from the boarder to Delta Junction with blowing snow.
With it being winter and the car full of old furniture from my Mom, I had to find a cheap way to spend my nites. I signed up onto the website: www.couchsurfing.com. It is a free service where you search for people's places to stay, in cities around the world. I found a place to stay 3 out of my 5 nites. It was a great experience and way to meet locals/new people. My couch/spare bed is listed on the website now. So come surf my couch!!
With it being winter and the car full of old furniture from my Mom, I had to find a cheap way to spend my nites. I signed up onto the website: www.couchsurfing.com. It is a free service where you search for people's places to stay, in cities around the world. I found a place to stay 3 out of my 5 nites. It was a great experience and way to meet locals/new people. My couch/spare bed is listed on the website now. So come surf my couch!!
The beautiful Mississippi River Valley just above the little town of Alma, Wisconsin and the Alma locks/dam. This was not part of my driving trip back to AK but on one of the trips to visit family while in Minnesota/Wisconsin.
Flat, flat, flat North Dakota and a wind power farm near Langdon. There had to be over 50. Pretty cool.
A turtle made of wheel rims. In Dunseith, North Dakota, just south of the border with Canada. Nearby is Turtle Mountain which I imagine was the inspiration for this piece of art.
I had no idea this park existed and came upon it totally by chance. I chose this route thru North Dakota just to by-pass the busier boarder crossing south of Winnipeg.Pretty neat park. Check it out: http://www.peacegarden.com/
And here is a link to the history of the park: http://www.peacegarden.com/allpdf/Peace%20Garden%20History-%20Web%5B1%5D.pdf
In the park, looking along the boarder.
In the park.
My first nite was in Brandon, Manitoba. I surfed on a mattress of a nice college student there. Jessica, her sister and friends were hashing out ideas for their new 'zine.
That nite, while driving to find the place, I heard on the radio that the International Space Station was about to travel overhead, looking like a moving satellite but much brighter. I pulled over and looked up. Sure enough, there it was. Really cool to think that that moving thing in the sky had 10 people in it.
The next morning was cold and foggy making for a beautiful drive. The ground/trees were covered in frost.
I was in the land of wheat and giant grain silos!
The North Saskatchewan River valley.
Driving across Saskatchewan was so beautiful. Wide open space.
I love these old graineries.
Nearing the end of my second day. I spent the nite in Lyodminister, a city that stratles the border of Saskatchewan and Alberta, just east of Edmonton. I spent the nite with a young fellow that works as an environmental technician for Husky Oil.
The scenary between Edmonton and Fort Saint John, my third day, is not very pretty. Just rolling hills of forested land. Lots of oil and gas developement going on. The highway was chocked full of trucks servicing the oil and gas fields. The air around Edmonton was very polluted and the roads were crazy busy. Alberta is booming with all the oil/gas money.
North of Fort Saint John you begin going thru the mountains. Here I began to see alot of wildlife, like these Caribou. Elk, Bison and a Lynx too.
Entering Stone Mountain Provincial Park, British Columbia.
Bison along the road just north of Liard Hot Springs. There were about 60 spread over 3 groups. Very cool. The ditches alongside the road here are very wide. Grass grows there and it makes for good grazing for the Bison.
I spent the nite at a lodge, after my fourth day, across the road from the Hot Springs. On that fourth day I became very sick with the flu. I slept 16 hours that nite. My fifth day was not fun. I was still very sick. I spent my 5th nite in Whitehorse with an old college-mate, Forest and his wife Georgianna and their son Finn.
The mountains around Kluane Lake. And that is it. An exhausting trip but glad to have experienced the Alaska Highway in the winter.
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