Day 5

We're almost there!! We made it to Fort Nelson tonight, and the scenery is starting to change! We're in the Mountain Time Zone now, so we're 3 hours behind. Rudy has snapped out of his coma, but I think he's still a little mad at us.

Giving us the cold shoulder.

We're finally on the Alaska Highway!!

Pub opens at 9:30am? Nothing wrong with that.

All the pick-ups have gas tanks in the bed, how crazy is that??

I saw Rudy running in this cloud. Cory saw a bearskin rug. Thoughts?? (This is what we had to resort to with no radio stations and NO CD PLAYER. A sick joke by U-Haul.)

The pictures really don't do it justice. It's so pretty!

Cory lovesss his juiceboxes.

Ranger School Graduation

Here are some pictures from Ranger School Graduation a couple of weeks ago...better late than never!

So proud!!!!

Day 4

We're halfway there! We're staying in Edmonton, right across from Rexall Place where the Oilers play. Not much to report today, as we saw NOTHING yet again. Just to give you a sense of how much nothing we've been driving through, yesterday I hit the "Seek" button on the radio and it went all the way through the frequencies and right back to where it started. There was only one radio station!!!!!!! And it wasn't even a good one. Then today it went through the frequencies twice to find a station! At least Edmonton is kind of a real city. It's weird though, it goes from farms, to a random city, right back to farms again. We had to stop here today after only 8 hours of driving because if we did the usual 12-13 we would end up in the middle of nowhere with no place to stay. So we're relaxing and enjoying the night off :)

'

The view from our hotel room

Taking Rudy for a walk in Edmonton!

Rudy owns property in Canada now too.

Day 3

We're in Canada now, and I don't even know what time zone anymore. Today we went from Minnesota through North Dakota and into Canada through Manitoba, ending the day in the city of Regina, Saskatchewan province.

This is my first encounter with Canada, and I'm sorry to say that from what I have seen, I am not the biggest fan. All I saw was nothing, except a bunch of hitchhikers (one equipped with a cardboard sign with the name of the city he was going to scribbled on it, and one that actually got picked up right in front of us). I also saw an invitation to a bridal shower tacked up on the corkboard at the gas station. Different.

And of course we have to stay in Regina the same night that Bon Jovi is playing, bringing 35,000 unexpected visitors to the "city," making finding a hotel a bit of challenge. But hey, who doesn't love a challenge?

Oh and just a word of warning, if you order pepperoni pizza in Ohio or Canada (and probably everywhere in between), don't get mad when you don't see the pepperoni - it's under the cheese?!

Public humiliation always seems to do the trick...he changed his clothes today! :D

The Budweiser Factory in North Dakota. I knew that state was there for a reason.

Apparently there was a "Historical Site" there. However, all we saw was this -

I'm so happy we caught that historical moment.

Crossing the border!

And we're there. Woo.

I'll let you guess what all those little black dots are.

A close-up in case you couldn't tell. By the way, that was when we stopped at the McDonald's where Cory ate a BigMac, bacon cheeseburger, and crispy chicken sandwich by the time I was exactly half-way done with my 1/4 pounder. As if the above pictures weren't gross enough. He really finds new ways to amaze me every day.

I have no idea what that means.

Pro.

Day 2

We're back in the Days Inn, except this time in Alexandria, Minnesota...we just can't seem to stay away from this place! We are now at mile 1,480 and in the Central time zone - only a few more time zones to go.

Today we went through the rest of Ohio, then Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and now we're in Minnesota.

I have to say the Swedish Fish truck was a pretty big highlight for me today. I want one.

Chicago! It was so weird/nice to be around civilization again.

All the essentials to keep us awake and entertained for 5,000 miles!

I DROVE THE BEAST!! And I did a great job too, I might add. I might even send in my application for Ice Road Truckers once we get to AK.

The giant mouse & cheese was another highlight obviously.

Moose's butt - this one's for you, Uncle Paul.

He was cranky pants because I parked The Beast in the middle of the gas station and refused to pull it in to the spot.

But he got over it. By the way Ann it was a failed attempt trying to get your son to change his disgusting clothes! Or shave. More importantly however, change!

Heating up dinner in the late afternoon sun ;)

We saw an Alaska license plate with an Army sticker in Wisconsin!!

EW look at all the dead bugs on the windshield!

We drove under a little bridge before and apparently there were some kids up there and they poured a bucket of water on our windshield as we drove under. I had no clue they were up there and FREAKED out when the water hit our car (I was having a PTSD moment flashing back to the ceiling incident). Cory obviously found it amusing, and I have to give the kids credit, it was a great shot and it's not like they have anything better to do in Minnesota!

There was a storm right before sunset and I got some pretty cool shots but they're on my other camera and I'm having some technical difficulties with that right now, so maybe I can get them up tomorrow night! I also have some funny videos on that camera :)

Tomorrow - Canada!

Day 1

Well, 1 day, 6 states, and 700 miles down! We are staying at the luxurious Days Inn in scenic Toledo, Ohio and hope to make it to Alexandria, MN tomorrow. As of now the plan is Alexandria, Regina (Canada), Edmonton, Fort Nelson, Whitehorse, then finally Anchorage!

Rudy did really well in the car - surprisingly! We didn't even have to give him Benadryl, he knocked himself out....

Yes, he actually fell asleep sitting up.

And then after a long day of driving, he needed an entire bed to unwind...

Today was pretty uneventful, although I did see my first real-live hitchhiker complete with long, scraggly hair and his thumb in the air! Other than that it was just a lot of farms, but it was a beautiful drive for the most part.

And I'll leave you with this piece of advice from the road:

"Buckle Up Next Million Miles" - Only slightly dramatic.