It'll Burn Off........

This post was supposed to be done last night.....but the wi-fi in our hotel was awful and I couldn't get a good connection.

We awoke this morning at 7am and got up to start another day. Funny thing was that today it was still pitch black outside. In fact, it stayed dark until almost 9:30. We got off a little bit later than usual. Beau popped the hood of his car this morning to check things out like he does every morning, only this morning it was cold enough that when he pulled the cable to pop the hood, it froze! It took a little while for Beau, Grandad and John to get it to slide back, but they finally succeded. We went and ate a good breakfast because we had heard that the roads were going to be slow going this morning and we weren't sure when we would reach somewhere we could have lunch. All during breakfast, Beau kept saying (sarcastically) it'll burn off, but that wasn't looking very likely!

At dinner the night before, we had overheard another couple talking about them and some other vehicles that were in the process of traveling to Anchorage and Fairbanks. This morning after we had ordered breakfast, we saw about 5 vehicles, one a truck pulling a trailer, pull out of the parking lot. We recognized some of the people from the evening before and knew they were getting on the road to Anchorage. We took our time eating breakfast and started loading the kids in the car. One of the guys parked next to us, said that he was with the group that had left earlier, but he had 3 small kids and had told them he would catch up later. We wished him safe travels and took off to find a gas station to top our tanks off. After filling up and finding some sunflower seeds for Beau (he's addicted) we finally got on the road. It was definetly the latest start we've had and the roads were the worst we'd traveled on so far. It was also still snowing outside. It wasn't long before we caught up to the guy with the 3 small kids that we had spoke to earlier and 2 other vehicles that we noticed from the motel parking lot. Because of the road conditions, we were pretty much stuck behind them. We were going a lot slower than we had until this point, but these people were going really slow. The guy in the lead was from Virginia and I highly doubt that he had snow tires on, so they just weren't as prepared for these conditions. After about an hour, the snow had stopped and the road conditions were getting much better. I look up in shock to see the 1st caravan of cars, including the truck pulling the trailer, coming up in front of us. Now, they had left a good hour before us, so if we were now catching on them, then they were going REALLY slow!

As the roads clear up a bit, we realize that we need to get around this caravan for 2 reasons. First, they are going way too slow and secondily, chances are they will be stopping in the same town we are for the night because there are very few towns that are even open at this time of year, meaning that there very few rooms available for people to stay in and I'm going to make dang sure that we will be able to find a room where we plan to stop as opposed to having to drive another couple of hours to the next town that's open, and I don't really need a caravan of 8 or so cars in front of us! We do get in front of the caravan and feel that we make up some really good time and pull away from the pack. We get to the halfway point of the leg of the trip and there is literally only one store open, so we stop for bathroom breaks and to get some lunch.

It turns out to be a disastrous stop though as Jensen couldn't get his pants down quick enough with this big winter coat on and ended up peeing all over his undies and jeans, and Molly ended up having 2 poopie diapers with the second one escaping out and onto her jeans. Beau was lucky enough to discover the 2nd one! With both kiddos now in fresh clothes, you'd think that we'd be ready to enjoy a nice lunch, but no such luck. Pretty much all they had to offer were premade cold cut sandwiches sold by 2 of the grumpiest ladies in all of Canada! We eat quickly and just as we finish we are amazed to see the caravan pull in. We quickly pile into our cars and take off in order to keep our lead. All of a sudden, it's like we're in one of the Cannonball Run movies, only with snow. Just a half hour down the road, we hit a major milestone and cross the border into Alaska. We have arrived!!! We now just have to make our way to Anchorage, but we'll only have 2 days of really short travel left.

When we get to our stopping point of Tok, we stop at a hotel recommended by John's best friend Ben. Ben made this trek last year, and out of all of the places he stayed, this is the only motel that he said we must stop at. All I have to say is that Ben must have one twisted sense of humor as even though this is far from the worst place we've stayed, it definetly wouldn't top the list. Just think 70's flashback. Definetly going to have to have a word with that Benjamin! Not long after we get checked in we see the caravan pull into the parking lot. Good news is there is a plethora of rooms available for all.

It was a cold day. At noon the temperature was -21, but by the end of the day, a mini heat wave hit and the temp raised to -6! All I can say is it's pretty darn cold outside!!

Today, the temperature is at -24 with the low expected to hit -30 tonight. I have never felt cold like it before. We had a good breakfast this morning, and just a short 3 hour drive to the town of Glenallen. We've called it a night here because it's still 3 hours to Anchorage, and we don't want to be on the roads after dark. There's just way too much wildlife, and it's nearly impossible to see them at night. We saw some beautiful scenery again today. As the sun was trying to break through the clouds, it would make small rainbows in the sky that looked like prisms casting rainbows in a room. It was really awesome and beautiful! Tomorrow we will make it to Anchorage, and we are all looking forward to it. I'm going to get off of this computer now, and enjoy our early evening!