I think I will be more than making up for the lack of photos in the last post! 
First off, please excuse any spelling/grammatical or other such errors...it is nearly one in the morning as I type this. We finally got a good internet connection, so I am trying to make up for lost time...speed usually does not mean accuracy!! 
We have had a wonderful two days. We spent all of yesterday in Yellowstone National Park and explored as much of the 2.8 million acres as we could in that limited time. 
One thing was saw that was pretty special was the Old Faithful geyser. The rangers are able to predict fairly accurately what time the geyser will go off, so we only had to wait about thirty minutes and were able to be prepared to start clicking the camera's at the first sign of water bubbling. I must say I had expected it too be a bit higher, but it did go off a bit earlier than the predicted time, so perhaps it had not had time to fully get up to pressure. 
It was still wonderful to see! Since I am a voracious reader and I love history, I think the most special part of this trip has been getting to see all the different historical and geographical points of interest I have read so much about. Old Faithful was one of those moments. The top photo, as you may have already guessed, is of Old Faithful. 

One animal I had not been able to get very good photo's of along the Alaskan Highway was Elk. I dearly wanted a good photo...just one! But never could get a good shot. The Lord provided some spectacular Elk shots in the park! We actually stood about fifteen feet from a magnificent bull and he simply went about his business like thirty people weren't standing practically beside him. We also got to see two elk fawns in a river....very neat! 

We had seen quite a few Bison along the Alaskan Highway, but the Buffalo in Yellowstone were very impressive and I was able to get some more natural shots of them. There were hundreds and hundreds of these beautiful animals. I was thrilled to see some calves as we had only sighted bulls previously. 
These animals loved to stand on the road...often backing up quite a bit of traffic. It was almost like they did it on purpose. I saw one young bull who was standing in the left lane...when the car in the right lane tried to inch ahead, he promptly lumbered on in front of it, effectively blocking the car's path...I really think he did it on purpose :) It's just something a teenager would do. 

Some other animals we saw were Pronghorn and Bighorn Sheep. 
I was particularly excited about the Pronghorn. There were a bunch farther away, but we found two very close to the road. They are so pretty and extremely graceful when they run. 
The bighorn sheep were waaaaayyyyyy across a canyon, so it was difficult to see them, but their were several ewes and three babies, who all seemed to belong to one mother. Watching them leap around the cliffs is a thing of beauty!

We came up to a line of cars that were stopped and after searching around, figured out they were looking at a black bear cub in a tree. The light was fading and he was a distance off, so the picture isn't very clear. He/she was having so much fun playing in the tree sticking his head in a hole and tearing off the bark. Mama was a short distance away and seemed unperturbed by all the people. The second photo shows the crowd that gathered. When I watched videos of Yellowstone, I always thought the crowds and hoards of people they showed stopped for wildlife were the rariety...not so! 

I have been trying for a good sunset picture for quite some time and just never could get the perfect one. 
I believe I have at last succeeded. I. Love. This. Photo. I would be in love with it no matter the person who took it, but wow! I just love the brilliance of the sky and silhouetted trees. This one will probably end up hanging on my wall and I think I can safely say this may be my favorite photo of the trip. 

I can't look at this photo without shuddering slightly. We hiked so much distance looking at this waterfall, my feet hurt just looking at it. 
But it was worth it. 
I think. 
No really, it was great :)
This canyon was a really beautiful place with many colors painted in it's walls. We did hike around a lot, climbing the canyon rim and driving to many of the lookout points. We even climbed 600 feet down the canyon all on an extremely steep path to very top of the falls. That was pretty neat, but man was it hard to get back up! The view was stunning and the roar of the water crashing down was unbelievable. There was even some snow on the canyon wall next to the falls. Hard to believe as it was 90* out. 
Looking down into the canyon from the top was pretty impressive. The river looked small, though at times you could hear the water rushing. Not a place you wanted to trip or stumble. 

So I have some big news...I'm moving to Wyoming!!! 
I almost didn't keep typing...but it wouldn't be nice to leave you all hanging :)
I was very excited to see for myself what Wyoming actually looked like. We entered the state at night, but only when a few miles before stopping, the next morning, Dad hiked up the hill behind our RV site and this is what he found...my ranch! Isn't it beautiful? 
I've always wanted to live out west...so when we found this ranch, it was done deal. Wyoming here I come! Smoke will love this. 
Okay, so I am not moving to Wyoming. In my dreams, maybe, in reality, not yet. (You see I had to put not yet....no it too final, at least I've left the door a little bit open :)
But Dad did find this cute little ranch, so I can pin these up on my wall and pretend I'm in Wyoming :)
The country side out here is really beautiful and I love the mix of plains, pasture lands, hills and mountains. It has really good variety...something of everything. 
And you know you're in ranching country when there are cattle guards over the roads every few miles :) I particularly liked that touch. There were even cattle guards in the mountains. (Cattle guards are metal pipes that are placed over  a hole in the ground. Cars can go over them, but cattle and horses will not step on the pipes so it prevents them from wandering)
When we reached Cody, Wyoming, Dad was nice enough to stop and let me browse in the western stores. He had wanted to get to Mt. Rushmore this evening, but instead, he let me shop.
And guess what! I found some bargains! First I got a vanity plate for my car that says Cody, Wyoming with a bucking horse on it, then I found a woven tote bag that anywhere else would have cost 20-30 dollars and it was $8!! 
Then in another store there were some leather and fur vests. There was a coat that matched, but I didn't think it was really my style, but Mom convinced me to try it on. It fit like a glove and really was so me. The regular price is $113, but it was on sale for $55! So I decided to get it. When the cashier rang it up, we discovered there was another 25% off so I got it for $43! 
We plan on reaching Mt. Rushmore tomorrow, spending a few hours there then continuing on. We plan on being home by Saturday. I cannot wait to see my horses again! This is the longest I have ever been away. 

We have been so busy running around that I have not found a chance to post. We also had limited internet so I couldn't load pictures. 
So to make up for my silence, here is a long and detailed post!

We reached Skagway, Alaska last Sunday evening. We camped in an RV park and had some much needed quite time that evening. 
The next day, the real fun began. 
First, us girls went shopping. Now, I normally am not a shopping kind of girl unless there are bargains to be had. Being that Skagway is a tourist town, I expected to find everything to be expensive. But I knew this would be our last stop in Alaska and I had gifts and souvenirs I wanted to purchase so I tagged along. 
Much to my surprise, I found some really good deals! For a tourist town, they had very reasonable prices, so I actually enjoyed shopping. I was sooooo excited to get a pair of moccasins!! I have been looking for a pair for a long time, but couldn't find any I liked that had real leather soles, not the rubber ones. I found some in Skagway, so I have a pair of Alaskan moccasins! They are incredibly comfortable. 
At one o'clock, we boarded a train for a three hour ride into the mountains. We saw a glacier, many, many waterfalls, went through two tunnels (so neat! I loved that part!) and lots of other neat stuff. I spent the entire three hours standing on the train car platform. 

After the trail ride, we hiked a very steep, rocky, challenging trail up to Lower Dewey Lake. It was about a mile of incredibly steep paths. It was fun and even Mom made it all the way up! There was an upper lake that was quite a distance further up and according to a doctor we chatted with at the lower lake, it was a much more challenging hike. It was late in the day so we decided to head back down to the RV. Going down was fun because it was very little work, except for holding yourself back so you didn't topple head over heels. :)

Tuesday morning, we headed out of Skagway. There is only one road in and out of the town and the border is just a few miles out of town. We passed through customs with no issues (much to Lydia's relief). We headed to Whitehorse where we planned on turning off to Watson Lake to join up with the Cassiar Highway. 
So when we were packing for this trip, even though we had ruled out spending time at a ranch out west this trip, I packed my riding skirt...just in case :)
Well, as we were traveling to Whitehorse, we found an ad for horseback riding...two different places in fact. 
I can now say I rode a horse in Canada! We actually went about 40 km out of our way, but it was worth it. The ride we took was in thick, dense woods. We crossed three streams, waded half a mile through lake, climbed a ridge, road on the edge of steep hills, slogged through mud up to the horses bellies and jumped a crick. We had two lovely guides, Anna  and Lena. They said they take people who have never ridden before on this same ride...wow! They certainly wouldn't ever forget it! I was riding a mare named Lisa, Lydia was on Clover and Mom was on Barney, who looked and acted very much like Bannie :)
The internet here is still really slow, so to see pictures of the ride, follow this link: https://plus.google.com/+LaurenKLotter/posts/6NsFtB7vFZQ

On Wednesday we went canoeing! We had been trying to find a good place to canoe but finally, as we were driving down the Cassier Highway, we found a place that was cheaper than anywhere else we had looked, not to mention the gorgeous view! 
This was probably the most nerve wracking part of the whole trip for me, but I actually really enjoyed it once we got on the water. I do NOT like water, especially deep dark water that I can't see into, but the lake we found was beautifully clear. It was mostly shallow, about fifteen feet maybe, and you could see all the way to the bottom! There were very few fish in it. There were a few parts that were deep enough you couldn't see the bottom, but it didn't bother me and overall I really enjoyed it. Feeling the canoe skimming along the water was great! It was a huge lake with tons of islands and little channels. We explored a lot of it and the whole time we saw not one other person. A truly wonderful experience.  
Follow this link to see pictures of the canoeing: https://plus.google.com/+LaurenKLotter/posts/KSRqk2KfpAf

Yesterday evening we crossed the border for the last time. We made it to Spokan, Washington late last night and today we crossed the pan handle of Idaho and Montana. We are currently at the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park. We plan on traveling through the park tomorrow, sight seeing along the way, hopefully seeing Old Faithful. 
We also plan on seeing Mt. Rushmore as we continue our journey home. 
So our Alaskan adventure has come to an end, though the journey is not over yet! I have really enjoyed the trip, though I am looking forward to living in a house that does not move! 
Until the next post!

A week or so ago, this is what my photography wishlist looked like:

Caribou 
Dall's Sheep
Sea Lions
Otters
Bald Eagle
Grizzly Bear
Mustangs


By the time we had gone on the Denali bus tour and the Kenai Fjord boat outing, all of them had been crossed off except for the mustangs. 

I really didn't expect to see any. I thought I might have a very slim chance of seeing some when we pass through the western states on the way home, but I wasn't getting my hopes up. I figured that even if I did see some, more than likely they would be miles away on a hillside. 

Well, once again, God was full of surprises. 

We were driving along the Alaskan highway, late in the evening, traveling toward White Horse. Mom saw a horse crossing sign, but I didn't think much of it. We had seen them on our to Alaska and never spotted any horses. 

I was riding up on top of the cab, drowsily watching the scenery flash by. I began to see road apples alongside the road. I thought perhaps they were from trail riders, but there were so many....

About a minute later, I spotted a herd of horses grazing alongside the road!!!!

I shouted and jumped down from on top of the cab and almost wiping out. Dad pulled up on the shoulder. 

And there they were. I stuck my head out the window and their scent struck me. I hadn't realized how much I missed my horses until then. Some may not think horses smell good, but if I could buy a perfume that smelled like horse sweat, I'd probably wear it. 

Okay, maybe not. But it was wonderful to be that close. They were very calm. The mare and foal were about fifteen feet from the road, the others were a little farther back. The foal is very young. It still has part of the umbilical cord attached. 

There were two family bands. One consisted of a stallion, the mare with the foal, a mare that looked to be about a year old and an older bachlor. I'm not sure why the bachlor was still with the band, he looked mature, but for some reason the stallion was letting him stay. 

A short distance away was a young stallion with one mare. 

There were several ranches in the area and one of the mares looked like a standard bred, so these probably weren't true mustangs, but they were wild horses just the same. They are probably domestic horses that either escaped or were turned loose for some reason. I was very thrilled to get some good shots. 

I was also excited to see a war bonnet horse in person. The mother of the foal is wearing a bonnet of brown over her ears. War bonnet horses were highly sought after by the Native Americans. I've read about them, but never see one in person. 

My internet is very slow so I'm not able to load as many pictures as I would like, but here are a few :) I really love the one of the stallion (third photo)

We are in Skagway, Alaska right now. Tomorrow we are planning on taking a train ride (excited about that) and possibly going canoeing on Tuesday...uh, not so sure about that one! I know I'll enjoy it, but that won't keep me from being white knuckled at first. I'm not terribly fond of deep water and small boats :) The big boat on the fjord did't bother me though, so maybe I'm getting over it!

We had quite the eventful day on Thursday. We left Denali Park Wednesday morning and traveled through Anchorage, past the forest fire, down to Seward. We spent Wednesday night close to the water and Thursday morning, boarded The Star of the Northwest for a five hour tour of the Kenai Fjord. 

The rocky cliffs were shrouded in clouds and mist. It was very beautiful and the park ranger who was on board said we were very fortunate to have the visibility we did. 

Right from the start, before we even boarded the boat actually, we saw plenty of Bald Eagles. They were everywhere! We even saw a juvenile terrorizing the sea gulls. 

We saw lots and lots of waterfowl including many different kinds of ducks, loons, sea gulls and two different kinds of puffins. 

We saw two sea otters. I was only able to get a picture of one of them...boy was he/she cute! The park ranger (Deanna) said they can get up to five feet long. That's as tall as me! 

Seeing the sea lions gathered on the rocky shore was pretty special too. We saw a few in the water, but most of them were sunning themselves, though I'm not sure how that is possible since the sun was behind clouds :) There were quite a few of them and some were very vocal.

We also got to see a Glacier. I believe this one is called Bear Glacier. I was surprised at how cold it was near the glacier, but then, it is made of ice!

All of the above was amazing to see, but the highlight of the tour, even for the ship's crew, was the sighting of NINE humpback whales! The park ranger on board said that you might get one whale sighting per tour and then you will probably only see it's back. The captain received a report about where some humpback whales were feeding, so he took the ship out of the usual course to go see them.
All in all, we counted nine large spectacular whales. And even more exciting, they were bubble net feeding. Up to six of them would rise up out of the water at the same time! The ranger said that it is extremely rare to see this. She hasn't seen in it two years and she said it can be up to twenty years between sightings. God has been so good this trip, allowing us to see incredible things that according to others around us, are not usually seen with the clarity we have seen them. Some of the whales surfaced fifty feet from the boat.

Before all of this exciting stuff happened, on our way out of Denali Park, we spotted a mother moose and her twin calves alongside the road. They were eating in the ditch, just fifteen-twenty feet away. The calves hid in the woods at first, but soon joined their mama. I was able to get some adorable pictures of the babies.

So that's a little of what we've been doing the last few days. Yesterday was spent in Anchorage at the Bass Pro Shop and Cabela's. Then we backtracked to Tok, where we spent the night. Not sure where we are headed from here, but I'll post again in the next few days :)

As I said in my post yesterday, we reached Denali National Park and spent the night there, after spending an hour or so watching the antics of the mother moose :)
This morning we got up at 5 am to head out on an 11 hour bus tour of the park. Our destination was Wonder Lake, which we reached around noon. We saw lots of neat things, so grab a cup off coffee and prepare to join the trip. I daresay wherever you are reclining as you read this is a bit more comfortable than the bus seats...11 hours is a bit long to ride a bus, but we made it :)

One of the highlights of this bus tour is Mt. McKinley. Surrounded by clouds most of the time, the following picture is the most many people will ever see of the mountain. This was how our view started out in the morning.

About two-three hours into the tour, this is what our view changed too...a practically cloudless sky and a perfect view of the mountain!!

This is the view we ended up with. Simply stunning. The park ranger we met at one of the rest stops along the way said it was the best viewing day for the mountain since the start of the season. God gave us beautiful weather and a once in a lifetime chance to see this magnificent mountain.

We took the family photo for another family on the same bus as us and they then took our family photo with the mountain in the background.

This is the peak to the right of Mt. McKinley when you are viewing it from the park road. Our bus driver said that it is even rarer to see this mountain. It is usually completely hidden by clouds.

We saw a plethora of wildlife. First up, my personal favorite, the grizzlies! Grizzlies were high on my photography wish list and I can finally mark them off! We saw four adults and one of the adults had three cubs. She and her babies were waaaaayyyy off down a riverbed so it was difficult to get a shot. I got a few...but they are so far away it is hard to see them. If you can see my logo, look directly beneath it and you will see her and the cubs.

Another thing that was really neat to see was the Caribou. This was another animal on my list and we found one very close to the road. This is a beautiful bull with the velvet on his antlers.

Though we have coyotes where we live in Michigan, I have never been able to get a picture of one. This coyote was running down the road before dashing into the brush. So I had to come all the way to Alaska to get a picture of a nuisance coyote :)

Doll Sheep were on my list as well. We spotted some early on in the day, but they were very far up and difficult to see. This big boy was right near the road as we were on our way back. Just look at those horns! There were also two ewes with their babies up on a cliff. The picture is far back, but hopefully you'll be able to see them.

The prairie dogs are cute little critters and really not that shy. Mom and I had one walk right up to our feet! It was actually kind of aggressive! It was fun to see them pop in and out of their holes and one was being a little pig!

We saw one snowshoe hare right next to the road. Our bus driver said that their numbers are down this year, but sometimes they can see up to 150 in one day. This year they are lucky to see two-three a week.
What he said is that their numbers will skyrocket for several years until there are so many of them they are overrunning the tundra. When the plants they are eating are getting eaten back too far, they create a secretion that when the hares eat the plants, it causes them to not be able to digest any food. So they basically starve to death. While not a pleasant thought, it is necessary to allow the tundra to recuperate before the numbers go back up.

We were almost back to the park entrance and we still had not seen a single moose. Lydia happened to be the one to spot our only moose of the trip! This cow was off the road about fifty feet munching on the bushes.

Our destination was Wonder Lake, which we reached around noon as I said before. It was a beautiful spot, with Mt. McKinley to our backs, though by that time it was once again cloud covered.

At the lake we saw this gray jays (That's what Lydia said they were...I didn't look them up)
They came right up to the picnic tables looking for scraps :) It's kind of hard to see, but in the first picture, the bird has both it's feet off the bench in mid hop!

I just had to include this picture....the colors are just so neat! It reminds me of a model train display.

So that sums up our eventful day!

Tomorrow we are heading to Anchorage. We have been hearing about a raging wildfire over there and the road is even closed in some places so we'll see what it all looks like when we get there.

Thanks again for all your comments!

As I said in my last post, we reached the Alaska border late Friday evening. We reached Tok that same evening and reached Fairbanks Saturday evening. On Saturday, we also went to Delta Junction, which is the end of the Alaskan Highway. We got a family photo by the ending mile post.

Once in Alaska, we saw a beautiful bull moose (I had been hoping for a better shot than my first one and I got it!), but other than that we have not seen much wild life yet. We plan on heading to Denali Park and taking an 8 hour bus tour into the park on Tuesday….so excited for that! We’ve spoken to several people who have taken it and they saw lots of wild life…including grizzlies!!

We also stopped at a beautiful lake in which grow stunning yellow water lilies. I have never gotten a picture of a water lily before, so I was very pleased to get some good shots. I was particularly pleased with this one.

There was a cute old cabin set in some trees. I was able to get some good pictures of it, one of which I think might work for the cover of Be Still My Soul…we’ll see if it does or not! I also got a new author pic taken there for the back cover of BSMS. All my other author pics have horses in them J and I thought it appropriate to have this one taken at a cabin since that is the main setting for the story.

We saw some gorgeous snow covered mountains. This particular picture with the clouds and snow is destined to be one of my favorites. The setting was so perfect.

A few weeks ago, a girl emailed me saying she had read a post about our upcoming Alaska trip. She said she and her family, the Millers, were missionaries to Alaska and if we were going to be in Fairbanks, they wanted to meet us! We emailed a few times and I got the address of their church. We weren’t sure if we would hit Fairbanks on a Sunday, but we did! So this morning we attended their church and then went over to their house for lunch. They live waaaaayyyyy back in the woods, off grid, with a beautiful view of the mountains. Mr. Miller gave us a tour of the house and it was very interesting to see how they lived and the different things they have done to make their off grid life easier. Mrs. Miller and her daughters prepared a delicious meal for us and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Baby Timothy kept us entertained with his giggles and Mr. Miller and the three girls played their instruments for us. You can check out their family website: http://millersinalaska.org/

Just a few miles from the Miller’s house, there is a turnoff where you can walk right up to the Alaskan Pipeline. We stopped there on our way back to the RV park and got some pictures. It was neat to see it up close! Seth was being silly as we walked back to the RV and I snapped this picture of him jumping off the rail…it’s so perfect!

We plan on doing a few things in Fairbanks tomorrow, including a historical village, kind of like Green Field Village for those of you who are familiar with that. Then we will be headed to Denali, as I mentioned earlier.

It was very nice to stay in one place for a day. We are on day ten of the trip and so much moving around can get slightly tiresome. I was glad for a day away from my camera. I love taking pictures, but it is exhausting work!!

Getting used to all the daylight has been a challenge. As I type this, it is nearly ten thirty in the evening and it is as bright out as it was at five pm. I have woken at two am and found it still dusky. We also had to get used to the time change, as Alaska is four hours behind Michigan. I think I could easily get used to more daylight…more time to go riding!!! The downfall to that is that at one point in the winter, they only get three and a half hours of sunlight. I’ve always been a dark loving person, so I don’t think that would bother me too much, nor would the snow as I love winter and the cold. I imagine in would get tiresome toward the end of winter…even in Michigan I am ready for warmth by the time spring rolls around.

I think our schedule is going to pick up a bit one we reach Denali. We intended to hit Anchorage and Seward…other than that, I do not know much of the plan.

Until the next post...

She looks perfectly docile, right? Far from it. 
We reached Denali Park this afternoon and settled in for the night. We were not able to hook up to water in this RV park, so we had to use the campground showers. 
We had been hearing warnings about an aggressive mother moose that had twins. She liked to hang around near people, but she had already sent two people to the hospital, so we had to be cautious as we walked the trails. 

As Lydia and I were walking out from our showers, we saw the mother and her babies standing just off the trail, about forty feet from the building's deck. I didn't have my camera so we dashed back to the RV and ran back. By that time the babies were lying down and she was settling in as well. 

She was lying down as I was snapping pictures. We saw her head turn and she stared intently at something. I looked up and saw a man walking through the woods about fifty feet from her. He had no idea she was there. She jumped up and dashed full speed through the woods. Dad shouted a warning and the man jumped out of the way just in time. It was a close miss. Several other people got a good scare too. 

We will be going on an 11 hour bus tour into Denali Park tomorrow. I am looking forward to that! Expect lots of pictures!

We are on top of the world!! Thursday evening we reached Dawson City, the center of the Yukon Gold Rush. We walked the town for about an hour that night (It stays light literally all night) and had some interesting experiences with other tourists and locals...no comment :) 
We spent half of Friday seeing Dawson City's shops and museum, then we went to Bonanza Creek and panned for gold! Dad bought a panning pan in a shop and we found two shiny flecks that possibly could be gold. That was fun :) We also saw a gold panning demonstration at the museum and there were industrial mining operations along the road to Bonanza Creek. 

When we left Dawson City Friday afternoon, we had to take a ferry across the Yukon River. That was pretty neat! After getting off the ferry, which was a short eight minute journey, we were on the Top of the World Highway. That was really neat! The views were spectacular and often we were driving on a ridge that just the width of the road with dropoffs on either side. The temperature fell steadily as we continued driving and there were big drifts of snow still lingering along the road. There was even some snow in the valleys, that tells you how high up we were. This is where our family picture was taken. 

We stopped at the Five Fingers Rapids and hiked 2 kilometers round trip to a lookout deck above the rapids. First you had to go down 200 stairs, then hike a steep, narrow trail. It was quite the experience :)

As of yesterday evening, we are now in Alaska! Lydia was still a bit nervous about the policemen, but they were very nice and even though they were wearing guns(as she quickly pointed out!) I think it left her slightly less traumatized :)
Since we had those first few days with tons of wildlife sightings we really haven't seen that many animals. We were pretty high up in the mountians, so I'm hoping there will be more once we come down a bit. At one point, our elevation was 4200 feet above sea level. Our ears were popping!
I was happy to get a good shot of a cow moose. I also got a magpie, some weird water bird I don't know what it is and a beautiful yellow butterfly. 

We will probably reach Fairbanks this afternoon. Beyond that, I do not know the plan, but I can guarantee more pictures and stories in a few days :) I love reading all your comments, I'm glad I am able to share a bit of the fun things we are experiencing with you. 

We even got to see a porcupine!! I got within about four feet of him....so amazing!

The desire to stay grows stronger with each passing mile. I could live here for years and never get tired of it :)

We have only been on the road six days and already we have seen enough to last a life time!

The scenery is so amazing there is no way to describe it's beauty and pictures do not do it justice.  To really appreciate the incredibleness (Is that a word?) you definitely have to see it in person. 

What really captures me is the wildness all around. It really is an untamed land. You can drive for miles and not see even a house. Not even a log cabin in the woods. It is literally uninhabited. 

An overview of the large mammals we have seen:

4 moose-three bulls and one cow
13 black/brown bears
9 stone sheep-three rams, four ewes and two babies
5 elk-all females
6 bison-all bulls
1 porcupine    
1 fox

My photography wish list:
Caribou
Doll Sheep
Sea Lions
Otters
Bald Eagle
Grizzly Bear
Mustangs

We'll see how many I get to mark off! Hopefully quite a few!

On Tuesday, we passed a couple on two motorcycles. They were parked alongside the road flagging people down. Dad turned around to see if they needed help. Turns out they were out of gas! We were 50 miles from the next gas station. Another couple in an RV stopped and together the three guys tried to siphon gas from our RV and the other couple's car, but they couldn't get it too work. We offered to give the couple a ride to town to get gas, but they decided to stay and keep flagging people down until they found someone with gas. They were from Georgia, U.S.

We continued on and camped beside a lake that night. The next morning, as we passed a gas station that was just about 2 kilometers from where we had camped and we saw the same couple filling up! We turned around and asked them what happened. They said a lady stopped and she happened to have one gallon of gas. She said she wasn't going to pack it...but it just happened to get packed anyway! That was quite the adventure! 

Here are a few other misc. pictures....click play to start the slideshow or use the arrows. 

We have reached Dawson Creek—the start of the Alaskan Highway!

We are sitting in a Dawson Creek campground as I type this. The last three days we have been driving a lot, stopping only to sleep pretty much.

Now that we are in Dawson Creek the real adventure begins!

It is amazing how fast the terrain changes here in Canada. One minute its rocks and trees with lots of hills and the next its flat farm fields!!

There was a section in Manitoba that looked like Colorado…there were ranches and cattle everywhere! There were some fun looking hills and gullies that would have been so great to ride in.

Even though we didn't have time to stop for pictures, I was still really pleased with the pictures I was able to get while we were moving. I took over four hundred yesterday and quite a few today. There are several I think will look great in a frame.

Once we get on the Alaskan Highway, I'm  not sure if I will be able to get intenet, so this may be my last post until Alaska, but I will have lots of pictures to share when we get back online!

Now for the pictures…

This picture is my favorite. There were lots of cattle grazing right up by the highway. I was just clicking away as fast as I could as we drove by and just happened to get this shot. I just love it!

I really like this picture too. Again, just snapped as we drove by. A truck put out to pasture in Manitoba.

I've gotten around 50 pictures so far that I think will be printable. Not bad for four days into the trip!