Friday, June 25, 2010

drive to Anchorage: 6\25 (10 photos), by Jennifer Bowne


I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
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Drive to Anchorage, Alaska: June 25

"On the road again. Just can't wait to get on the road again..." - This song does NOT apply to us! However, even though today was one of our really long driving days it seemed to go by pretty quickly. We logged close to 700 miles, hitting the road this morning at 5am. We gained an hour crossing back into the US (easy, once again), but even so we didn't arrive in Anchorage until after 7pm. Along the way we stopped at Matanuska Glacier, which is the most easily accessible glacier in Alaska. We were able to reach the terminus by driving off the main road for a few miles and then hiking 15 minutes to the where the ice began. At one point we took a wrong turn and ended up walking on sinking mud/ice that had been under the glacier not too long ago. Once we realized that we were not on the path anymore, we met up again with the trail and finally reached the glacier. About 30 miles before Anchorage we stopped in a cute town called Palmer. For those of you who have never heard of Palmer, it's world renowned (except most people in the world haven't heard of it!) for its 1000+ pound pumpkins, 67-pound celery, and 100-pound cabbages which are products of very fertile soil and 20+ hours of sunlight during the growing season. Tonight there was a small craft fair happening just as we drove through, so we had an opportunity to see the creations of several local artists.

drive to Haines Junction: 6\24 (8 photos), by Jennifer Bowne


I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Meals

Many of you have wondered what we eat every day. Usually, we begin with a yogurt, some fruit (bananas, apples, or grapes), and a granola bar. For lunch we usually made sandwiches of soy meat and cheese or peanut butter and honey. We've been able to find pretty good fruits and vegetables at local grocery stores. Then we either force down another sandwich for dinner or have a quick meal at a local, cheap eatery. This is one way we've found to keep our expenses WAY down on this trip, along with camping. Pictured above is one of our more gourmet meals...last night we had a kitchen in the cabin so we made delicious spaghetti and washed it down with an ice-cold root beer. This was a real treat, as you can see from the photo above!

Haines, AK to Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada: June 24

As usual, today we had absolutely no trouble as we passed through the Canadian border. We've heard many horror stories, especially pertaining to transporting bear spray, but we've just told the customs agent and they haven't given us any problems. Within minutes of crossing into Canada, we spotted a black bear having breakfast of fresh berries, twigs and roots by the side of the road. As we snapped several photos, he didn't seem to mind. Eventually we had to continue our drive, but we could have watched him all day. In Haines Junction we stayed in a cute cabin where we were actually HOT - that's a first in Alaska!