Last night we were staying in an area where there was no internet (for realz).  So I am a little behind on my posts and will catch up as much as I can.

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We stayed in the town of Hinton (pop. 9,769) after our snowy crossing of the Icefields Parkway.  Hinton is about an hour east of the town of Jasper, which is where the Icefields Parkway ends.  We left Hinton a little later than planned due to some needed “errands” we had to do.  The warrior (our car as the huzband would like to refer to it) was coming up on an oil change and being there was a place two doors down from the hotel, that was first on the agenda.  As we were pulling out to start our day’s journey, we noticed a sporting good store near by and decided to stop.  Now this isn’t your typical Dicks’s Sporting Goods.  This was the real deal, heads of animals lining every wall, hunter’s paradise.

We stopped in to look at their binoculars.  The huzband and I had discussed previously how we wished we had a pair with us to scope out wild animals.  Though it was a neat shop, cha-ching was the price tag.  We loaded up once again and set on our way…for two whole blocks.  We spotted a Walmart and pulled in.  Not only did we think they would be more affordable but it was time to fill up our snack bag for the remainder of the trip.  (No Trader Joe’s in this part of the woods!)  FInally, with our to do list checked off, we loaded up in the car one last time and headed out on the long road ahead of us…for about 5 minutes.  Then we saw the sign stating, “no gas for 150 km” (remember it’s Canada and they use kilometer, not miles).  So one last time back into town to fill up the tank.  NOW we are on our way.

After our detour on the Icefields Parkway, we took the Bighorn Highway (Route 40) to Grande Prairie, British Columbia to rejoin the East Access Route towards Alaska.  It wasn’t an overly exciting day, just a driving from point a to point b kind of day.  The good thing about this day was our destination: Dawson Creek (pop. 11,800).  (Did you ever follow the saga of Dawson, Joey and Pacey?  We would have a girls night in college where we would all gather around the tv to watch!)  Dawson Creek (the town, not the tv show) is the beginning of the 1,390 mile Alaskan Highway.  This is the road that will take us to our new home of Alaska!  Though we have over a thousand miles to go, it is the home stretch.  The last of it all…it will just happen to take us a few days to get there.  (all iPhone photos)

the warrior was in desperate need of a baththe transformation has already begun, from city girl to wild child!

hello Mr. Beaver

quick stop to see the world’s largest beaver…well, I don’t know if that’s true but it seems like it!

We had been in the car for several hours and I think all four of us were in great need of some outdoor, leg stretching time.  We were driving over the Kakwa River when the huzband spotted a turnoff and trail to walk down to the river.  It was one of those spur of the moment decisions that turned out to be a fantastic idea.  Every one got to get their legs moving, burn energy and explore before piling back into the car.

feeling alive once again

we have arrived to Dawson Creek

somebody patiently (that’s questionable) waiting to go to the pool

self entertainment before going to the pool (I don’t know if the staff planned it, but our room was literally next door to the pool)

getting out all those hours worth of stored up energy

ending the day with some well needed daddy time