Our last post was the last of installment of our three part cross continent, North America road trip. We’re gonna rewind a bit with this one and talk about the biggest question we’ve gotten since we even started telling people we were planning this trip! It was all surrounding how we were going to do this trip with our three kids and keep everyone sane. We knew we were asking a lot of our kids (and ourselves) when we committed to driving from Alaska to South Carolina. We were so excited to see some amazing things and make some amazing memories, but we also knew that we were going to need a lot of entertainment for those long stretches in the car. So I came up with a plan: I filled a tub with activities, games, and toys that were appropriate for car rides and hid it all from my kids until day one of our drive. Each day they could choose if they wanted a toy, an activity, or a game and I would start our drive off with a new “something” for each kid. It worked amazingly well and I had enough things to last our entire drive. Of course, by the end of the trip, the kids had had a pretty good view of the box, so the surprise factor did wear off a bit, but they were still excited for something new each day. So, without further ado, here’s a list of the things I filled up our storage tub with that made perfect road trip entertainment for our kids: 1-tying fleece blankets
2 - binoculars
3 - How-To-Draw Books
4 - make a face sticker sheets
5 - Water Wow Books
6 - Highlights hidden picture books
7 - Needoh
8 - Scratch Art
9 - Water doodle Boards
10 - Etch a Sketch
11 - Would You Rather book
12 - Mad Libs
13 - NotebookI also just got them some little notebooks to use however they wanted. They could draw pictures or use as a journal for our trip. They got them towards the beginning of our trip and, unprompted, starting writing out all the wildlife we saw, with our 9 year old writing down where we drove each day and our 6 year old just drawing pictures of elk or squirrels or bison, etc…whatever we saw that day. It was super cute and I really hope it helps them remember our trip. 14 - DVDsWe definitely bought some dvd players for the car and all the cables so they could be linked to each other and to the cars sound system so they could watch the same movie whenever one was playing. I bought 5 or 6 new DVDs for the trip so that was a fun surprise for the kids whenever we brought out a new movie. One tip I have is that DVDs can be purchased for super cheap on eBay! I feel like with Amazon, eBay gets overlooked a lot but DVDs can get expensive on Amazon, especially if you’re buying multiple. You can get DVDs on eBay for a couple bucks a piece. Just make sure your DVD player can play blu-ray or that you’re not buying blu-ray if it doesn’t play them haha. Learned that lesson the hard way ;) 15 - Make your own stuffed animals
16 - Cats Cradle
17 - Aqua Toss
18 - Tangrams
19 - Magnetic board games
20 - Stuffed animalBefore we started our trip, I knew we were going to spend a night in Banff National Park so I worked in one of the “surprises” to be a souvenir from the park. They each were drawn to a stuff animal in the souvenir shop and we snuck back to buy them and they were able to get them the next day as a surprise. What kid doesn’t love a new stuffy to cuddle in the car? 21 - Fun treatsWe also had lots of snacks and treats that we don’t normally have in our cupboards at home. For one of the little “toys”, each of the kids got a little pea dispenser. They were halloween themed because it was around that time so they enjoyed it. I also got a couple little bags of dum dum suckers and other hard candies, not just for entertainment, but sucking on hard candies can help with car sickness, too. Our kids were absolute rockstars on our crazy road trip! They did better than I did on some of those days, haha. They are pretty good little travelers no matter what but it was fun to reward them every day with something new to play with and I know it kept morale up! Have questions about our trip? We’re always happy to answer! Or is there anything you’d add to this list?? Make sure to pin so you can come back to this post! Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram or TikTok for some of our day-to-day adventures and until next time, get out and explore where you live!
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If you’re just catching up, we’re excited to meet you at part 3 of our road trip across North America! A few months ago, we embarked on an epic 31 day road trip from Alaska to relocated to South Carolina. We drove the intimidating Alaska Highway in part 1, crossed Banff and Jasper National Parks off our bucket list in part 2, and last we left off, we had stopped in Utah to take a break from driving for a bit and visit with family. We spent 10 restful days in Utah and had a great time! So although we left off on day 12 in the last post, we’re starting this post on day 22, when our driving picks up again! Day 22Our first day back on the road brought us to Glenwood Springs! I’m a little embarrassed to admit that it took me until this day to fully understand that pulling a trailer means slower going than the maps app predicts haha, but it was a beautiful drive. We saw lots of elk and antelope. We pulled into after dark, which made for a little rough going pulling into our reserved campsite at Glenwood Canyon Resort but it was fun to at least hear the Colorado River rushing by that night. Day 23In the morning we started out late because we had to take a dip in the Glenwood Hot Springs while we were there! The Glenwood Hot Springs Resort is the largest mineral hot springs pool in the world. Originally part of the summer hunting grounds of the Ute tribe, Glenwood Hot Springs have been a popular spot on the map since 1888. The Utes named the springs “Yampah” or Big Medicine and the name still stands. It didn’t take long for white settlers to turn the hot springs into a destination for the wealthy, attracting visitors from around the world. Even the (in)famous Doc Holliday, who had hoped the mineral springs would cure his tuberculosis. During WWII, it served as a military rehab center. Now it is a family friendly destination resort and it was a very welcomed stop on our cross continent roadtrip. (P.S. you can also visit Doc Holliday’s grave in Glenwood Springs at the Linwood Cemetery.) This day’s drive was our second most intimidating, with Colorado’s mountain passes but everything held up well. We pulled into Manitou Springs that evening. We had hoped to explore a little bit, but crawling through the mountain passes was time consuming and we also had come up on a bad wreck and Jon had to direct traffic while we waited for the paramedics to arrive. Day 24We woke up and checked the weather at our next destination. 30 mph crosswinds with a trailer didn’t sound fun so we opted to stay in Manitou Springs one more night. Jon got the opportunity to work on the trailer brakes that had been giving us issues and we got to explore the land of my ancestors ;) Just kidding, kind of. We started off our day of exploring with a free walking tour to taste the mineral water around Manitou Springs. We started off at the chamber of commerce to get a map and we actually did buy some souvenir cups for $2 a piece (though you can get free ones there at the chamber of commerce.) There are 8 different mineral springs, all with different concentrations of different minerals and all naturally carbonated. Fair warning, only because the people at the chamber of commerce warned us ;) - Most of them are pretty potent and were immediately spat on the ground when tasted by Jon and my daughter, haha! I didn’t have to spit any out but the best tasting one we saved for last - 7-minute spring - and it was quite tasty. When I said this was the land of my ancestors, I meant it haha. My grandma grew up in Colorado Springs, not too far and she shared with us that she would drive to Manitou Springs every Sunday with her dad to fill up on the mineral drinking water for the week. She said she wasn’t a big fan of the taste but they would mix it with koolaid to make it more palatable. The locals also like to mix it with lemonade and I can imagine that tastes pretty good, too. While on the walking tour, we happened upon the Manitou Penny Arcade! It was so fun to walk around all the old games and rides and the kids got to ride a few since it was only a couple quarters each! It’s right in the middle of downtown and was so fun. Next, we visited the Manitou cliff Dwellings. I must admit, this little adventure was not at all what I thought it was. While we were there, we learned that these “cliff dwellings” were actually built by white people, who had dismantled actual pueblos in the four corners area and shipped all the bricks to Manitou Springs to rebuild a tourist attraction in the name of preservation. That being said, my daughter later said it was her favorite adventure of the day, so do with that what you will. It was fun to be able to climb in and around the structures and the museum does contain actual artifacts, which we all enjoyed. Our next adventure of the day consisted of driving into Garden of the Gods and visiting Balanced Rock and the really cool visitors center. Lastly, we visited the pioneer cemetery where my 3rd great grandpa is buried, which was pretty cool. We even found a picture of him with his family posed in front of Balanced Rock! Which was pretty amazing. There is so much more to do in this little area that we didn’t get to but even little things, like driving the windy, steep streets where my great grandpa delivered milk in a horse and wagon was fascinating to us. It was very fun to take a day to hang out and explore. Day 25The weather on this day was significantly better than predicted the day before so we were glad to have stayed an extra day in Colorado. But the show must go on! Made it to Kansas, not too far outside of Wichita for the night though we did stop a little earlier than planned because we kept forgetting to calculate time zone changes. To get to our campsite we had to turn left onto Wizard of Oz Lane and right on Yellow Brick Road, so that was fun ;) Day 26This day started out with a couple hours in Wichita at the Exploration Place. It was the coolest science museum and I kid you not, my 3 year old said he wants to go back just the other day haha. We ended our drive in Alma, Arkansas to spend the next few nights with family. Day 29After three days in Arkansas, we started our trek back up and drove to Tennessee! We stopped for the night just outside of Nashville. Day 30On this day, we stopped in Sevierville, Tennessee. I was so tempted to get out and do some exploring but we were also exhausted and just ready to be done. But I made mental (and physical) notes of all the things we want to do when we go back so you’ll have to watch for a future blog post whenever that happens. Sevierville is so close to Pigeon Forge, home of the famous Dollywood! And so many more adventures! I really can’t wait to explore more of this area. Day 31This day started out with a fun stop at Bush’s Baked Beans visitors center/museum/cafe in Dandridge, Tennessee. The museum is located just across the highway from the factory and is such a fun roadside attraction! We kinda just came up on it and decided we couldn’t pass it up. The museum is actually the original store front from the early days of Bush’s Baked Beans. It’s completely free and the guides inside were the CUTEST southern ladies I’ve ever dreamed of. They were so cute with the kids and we all had such a good time learning about beans! Haha, who knew that could be so fun? On our way out, we decided we couldn’t pass up the cafe and we had a great little southern lunch. You know how some restaurants will bring out chips and salsa or bread for a little appetizer? Well the Bush’s Baked Beans Cafe brings out…you guessed it, baked beans! It sounded like each day is a little different depending on the beans of the day. That evening, we completed our cross country roadtrip! 5160 miles, 31 days, 17 campsites, 2 countries, 14 states (and provinces). It including a beautiful drive through the Smokey Mountains and crossing the last two states off our map (North Carolina and South Carolina). We were all kinds of shocked as we took in our new home, and to be honest, it still feels unreal sometimes that we did that drive. `I told multiple people over the past few months that my future ends here, meaning I could only mentally prepare and mentally handle the timeline up to this point. Now that we had crossed that bridge, we were relieved, overwhelmed, excited, nervous…all the emotions and we’re still so ready to set out on some new adventures! Have questions about our route or other parts of our trip? We’re always happy to answer! Or if you’ve done this route, is there anything you would add that we might’ve missed?? Make sure to pin so you can come back to this post! Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram or TikTok for some of our day-to-day adventures and until next time, get out and explore where you live! North America Cross-Continent Road Trip, Part 2: Jasper, Banff, and Glacier National Parks1/21/2024 Quick recap in case you missed it: we moved! A few months ago, we bought a travel trailer, packed up our stuff, sold our house, and started off on an epic 31 day road trip across North America. Yes, we *drove* from Alaska all the way to our new home in South Carolina. The first leg of our trip was the most intimidating. We drove the entirety of the Alaska Highway on the brink of winter and it was not for the faint of heart! And after 1500 miles, we were about 1/3 of the way done with our trip and not even through Canada yet! You can read all about part 1 in the last post, but this part picks up where we left off in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Day 6Our night in Grande Prairie was pretty eventful. We stayed at Country Roads RV Park, which was a super fun place to stay, especially in the fall. If we had more time, we would’ve loved to explore their corn maze and other activities! We were excited that their laundry accepted quarters since we kept forgetting to exchange money and when we did need money, the front desk was usually happy to exchange. But this was the first time we needed to do laundry on our trip and we started after the desk had closed for the night. Since we had the laundry room to ourselves, we took the opportunity to run 3 loads at once but when it came to drying, unfortunately, the slot for quarters on the dryer was too small!! And while it is comical now, at the time, it was pretty frustrating since we had to find ways to hang 3 loads of laundry around our trailer to dry (insert facepalm emoji). We had no one to blame but ourselves since we were in a foreign country and hadn’t taken the time to exchange money…so travelers be warned: Even if a place says they take quarters, it’s worth it to exchange ;) Our drive was pretty short on this day since we were camping in Jasper National Park! We were so looking forward to exploring but our dog had other plans. While loading up the truck, he decided to slip away and take himself on a grand tour of Grande Prairie! I’m not convinced he got far away from the campground but we couldn’t find him for a few hours and the staff were so helpful for keeping an eye out for him. Day 6 did not get off on the right foot, however, once we finally got to Jasper National Park, we were blown away! We had reservations to camp at Whistlers Campground and as we pulled in at dusk, the entire place was crawling with herds of elk! It was absolutely incredible. We set up camp and enjoyed listening to them bugle all around our trailer all night. When I say all night, we could still see them right outside when we got up in the morning. It was unbelievable. Our family definitely made a core memory that night. Day 7This part of our drive was one of the most highly anticipated days. At least it was for me! On Day 7, we drove the Icefields Parkway! We started off with a visit to Pyramid Lake. It was a beautiful day and a great little walk around the island for the kids. Next stop was Maligne Canyon, which was stunning! We then went back into downtown Jasper and grabbed some lunch for the road. HIGHLY recommend Patricia Street Deli! It’s a build-your-own sandwich place and I was so grateful for their recommendations. I was informed that the cran-mayo and cranberry chutney were local favorites so we went all out and, man! It was amazing. Also we took the opportunity to taste some of Canada’s chip flavors: Ketchup, pickle, sweet chili and sour cream. Are these a thing in the US? Cuz we’ve never seen them, but they are everywhere in Canada! Once on the Icefields Parkway, we stopped at Athabasca Falls, Sunwapta Falls, Tangle Creek Falls….okay…all the falls…and took in the stunning views of the glacier from the road. We pulled into Downtown Banff close to dusk and parked in the free trailer parking just outside of town. We packed up little bags and walked 6 minutes to our hotel for the next two nights! Day 8Pure adventure on Day 8 with the only drive being up to the shuttle for Moraine Lake and Lake Louise. The only problem was that we hit a pot hole the day before and bent the jack on our trailer :( so we had to tow it with us back up the canyon because we had no way to unhitch. And before you ask, we tried to find RV services in the area but, low and behold, we found ourselves celebrating yet another Canadian holiday (Thanksgiving) so the stores were closed. Which also explained why everywhere felt so crowded haha. We kinda thought we were hitting the beginning of shoulder season and that we were really just not used to being around people but it made sense after learning it was a major holiday weekend. With beautiful weather, at that! Despite having to navigate parking lots full of tourists with a trailer for the second day in a row, we had a great time exploring. Full disclosure though, I know Lake Louise is a major bucket list destination (at least it was for me!) but it was not worth the crowds! We kinda wished we had spent more time at Moraine instead. We also explored a little of Johnston Canyon, which was a major highlight! Even with all the people, the views were stunning and my kids loved going into the cave to see the lower waterfall. You really can’t go wrong with any kind of visit to Banff <3 I have wanted to visit here for a very long time (and one of the reasons we even decided to drive instead of fly) and it did not disappoint! Day 9Back in the USA! On day 9, we stopped in Calgary to get a new jack for our trailer. Jon took the opportunity to get an electric one ;) We did a little bit of a family history tour through Cardston, where my great-grandparents were married! And then we crossed the border into Montana in Carway. What took 45 minutes to an hour when going into Canada took 5-10 minutes leaving ;) Then we found ourselves in Glacier National Park! This place was also a big bucket list item for me but we quickly realized this might not have been the right time of year for a visit. Even though it was early October and beautiful, sunny, 70*, services were closed for the winter season. During this time, you can camp with discounted prices, but be aware that restrooms and hookups are closed. We camped at Saint Mary Campground and had beautiful views. The sky was so clear and perfect for star gazing. In the morning, the lake was stunning and smooth as glass but was closed to all watercraft for the season, which was highly disappointing! We didn’t spend much time in the park and maybe we need to give it another try under different circumstances. Day 10This was the first day that we didn’t get as far on our drive as we had planned. We didn’t realize we would be driving on such rural roads so we couldn’t drive as fast as we had been driving the last few days. But we did stop at the KOA in Butte, Montana for the night and we thought it was such a pretty little town. Had we looked into the route of our drive a little more, we probably would’ve made a few short pit stops as there were a lot of dinosaur spots to explore! They have found a lot of fossils in the areas we drove through. Montana is actually where they found the first dinosaur fossils in North America in the mid-1800s. Our route took us right through Choteau, near Egg Mountain, where they have found baby dinosaur fossils in 76 million year old nests! On Day 11 we made it to our friend’s house in Idaho Falls, Idaho and had a great time catching up and on Day 12, we made it to Utah to stay with family for a little over a week. It was a fun and restful break for our cross continent road trip. That was the second leg of our trip! Don't miss part 3! We still have a long ways to go! Have questions about our route or other parts of our trip? We’re always happy to answer! Or if you’ve done this route, is there anything you would add that we might’ve missed?? Make sure to pin so you can come back to this post! Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram or TikTok for some of our day-to-day adventures and until next time, get out and explore where you live! If you’re not following us on Instagram, you might’ve missed the news that we’ve moved! We received a new assignment with the military and had to say a bitter sweet goodbye to the Alaska life we have come to know and love. We’ve been trying to get our bearings in our new home in South Carolina for exactly 2 months now! We finally moved into our house a few weeks ago and felt like it was time to start writing about our cross country continent road trip! That’s right. On September 30, we packed up our truck and our travel trailer and set off on a grand road trip adventure (and lived to tell about it :) We took 31 days of slow traveling and saw some amazing things and made incredible memories. We’ve even had a few people asking about our trip in our instagram messages who are setting off to do the same thing very soon! So I hope this proves helpful! The first leg of our trip was the most intimidating, by far. We were driving the ~1500 miles of the Alaska Highway through the Yukon, on the cusp of winter no less. This meant that the already limited services and population was even more so. We had extra gas cans and extra tires. Winter regulations in Canada were in affect, which meant it was the law to have chains. Spoiler alert: we were incredibly lucky to have the experience we did because it is not for the faint of heart and for every good experience you hear, there are multiple bad ones. Fun facts: The Alaska Highway is incredibly historical. It was built during WWII to connect Alaska to the rest of the contiguous United States. Originally, it was built by American troops, which is why it has “mile” markers, as well as kilometers. Because it was a military road, it wasn’t open to civilians for some time after it was built. Now, it is a regularly used route that is maintained by Canada. Day 1Due to some military rules, we weren’t allowed to cross the border into Canada until Oct 1 so our drive on Sept 30 started in North Pole, Alaska and ended in Tok, Alaska. Starting off with a short 3 hour drive and putting us about 90 miles from the Canadian Border. Tok (pronounced like toke) has a population of 1214 and was put on the map during the construction of the Alaska Highway in the early 1940s. Historically (and today) it has been a trade center for the Athabaskan villages of Northway, Tetlin, Tanacross, Mestasta, Eagle, and Dot Lake. It’s a great jumping off point for many backcountry Alaskan adventures since it’s the gateway to Alaska for those driving (and for bush pilots). For one of our favorite adventures near Tok, check out our post about our trip to Chicken! This trip was obviously just for a stop over - it was also outside of tourist season so much was closed down - so we didn’t do any sight seeing. We stayed at Tundra RV Park, which was very pretty and well maintained. Again, since we were visiting in what is considered the winter season, some amenities weren’t available, namely water hookups had been shut off due to below freezing temperatures creeping in at night. We were prepared though, with our trailer fully stocked. We had a beautiful drive, temperatures in the 40s and bluebird skies. We did see some snow on the ground outside of Delta Junction, which we were happy to wave goodbye too :D. Day 2Our second day was another pleasant drive, though I do want to put in a little disclaimer here: when we bought our trailer, we bought it from a couple that had done this drive a few times. He recommended to take off the plastic fender wells off the trailer due to the rough roads. While the road is technically maintained, it’s not easy driving - though not much different than other roads we were used to driving in Alaska ;) This is because of the frost heaves. Because of the extreme temperatures, the ground freezes and thaws throughout the year causing the roads to sink and rise frequently in many places. All that to say, what google said was a 6 hour drive to our next stop in Haines Junction, ended up being 8. It was fun to spot all the trumpeter swans and we also saw a grizzly bear on the side of the road! A couple roadside attractions during the drive included stopping for a few pictures at the Canadian Border. If you notice, in the picture behind my girls, you can see a wide clearing of trees - this is the maintained border that Canada and the US keeps clear. Pretty crazy to see such a distinct line in what is otherwise regarded as untouched wilderness. Another quick stop was Burwash Landing to see the world’s largest gold pan. Burwash Landing is a small community on the shore of Kluane Lake. It is one of the oldest settlements in Yukon, established in 1904 as a supply center for local miners. The Kluane Museum of Natural History is here, though it was closed for the season in October. There’s also Our Lady of the the Holy Rosary Mission, built in 1944, the first church on the Alcan Highway. We stayed the night at the campground behind Kluane Park Inn in Haines Junction. They were very nice and accommodating though we did kind of regret not listening to others advice to hold out until Whitehorse and just camp there haha. Haines Junction itself might be a little run down but I will say, it has some gorgeous views being just outside of Kluane National Park. Again we had no water hookups at the campground due to the season. One thing of note: we asked at the border if we could exchange US money to Canadian and they told us the closest place to exchange money was in Whitehorse. The showers at the campground in Haines Junction only took “loonies” but they were happy to exchange quarters for us at the front desk. day 3Our first highlight of day 3 was a big bull moose crossing the road right in front of us just outside of Haines Junction. You may think we would get used to seeing moose after living in Alaska for 4 years, but it never gets old seeing these majestic creatures. Also, in the 4 years of living in Alaska, this was really my only good view of a big bull moose! So that was exciting to finally see. We also stopped at this little picturesque spot at the historic Canyon Creek Bridge. In 1904, a year after the Kluane gold strike, a log bridge was built across the Aishihik River, or Canyon Creek. It became a very important link on the wagon road connecting Whitehorse to Silver City. It survived heavy traffic and high spring floods until the 1920s when the government contracted it to be rebuilt. Then, again, during the construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942, the bridge was dismantled and a new one was hand-built in 18 days and then abandoned when the road was rerouted the next year. The old pioneer bridge was left in place and reconstructed in 1986 with 10% of the original bridge and 85% of the cribbing. We stopped in Whitehorse for a few hours, which is the capital of Yukon. Whitehorse is a beautiful city on the banks of the Yukon River. It’s a very historical city as it was a major stop for prospectors in the Yukon Gold Rush. Fun fact: Right outside of town were some pretty heavy rapids that were so dangerous, the mounties made it illegal for women to stay in the boat for the ride. Men would build a raft and attempt the rapids with all their supplies while the women would have to get out and walk around - though there are a few women of note who braved the rapids at risk of life/a hefty fine. The rapids are now covered by a power plant but there are many historical sites around town, though a lot, again, were closed for the season which was disappointing because I am super into history! It was fun to walk along the river though, and try to imagine what it might’ve looked like 100 years ago. We stayed in Whitehorse a little longer than we planned because we had discovered an issue with the electric brakes on the trailer. It was a holiday in Canada though, so all the RV service centers were closed. We ended up having to move on and hope to get it fixed later. We didn’t have cell service once we made it to our stop for the night in Watson Lake though we did have water hookups! We stayed the night at Nugget City RV Park, which was technically closed for the winter but they did have a few spots to hook up next to the store/cafe. They prefer to take cash and they did take US dollars - since we forgot to exchange while we were in Whitehorse :/ We had been enjoying the increasingly warmer fall weather especially after seeing that we missed the first snow storm to hit North Pole. After 3 days, we officially hit the halfway point of the Alaska Highway! day 4Day 4 was a bit of a doozy of a drive since we were dealing with brake issues, but we also had a few fun pit stops! We started off wandering the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake. The Sign Post Forest is one of the top attractions along the Alaska Highway. It began in 1942 when a soldier was asked to repair some directional signposts, and while he did, he decided to add a sign for the direction and mileage to his hometown in Illinois. Others followed suit and the rest is history! Today, there are over 77,000 signs and growing. The town of Watson Lake continuously adds more sign posts as they fill up. We didn’t bring a sign to add to the forest but we did a little scavenger hunt to find licenses plates from all 50 states and all Canadian Provinces. We would’ve been successful except that we were missing one state!! And of course the only state we couldn’t find was South Carolina - the place we were moving too :D Our next stop was a quick dip in the Liard Hot Springs. At mile marker 475 - almost 100 miles from the closest amenities, travelers will find the beautiful Liard River Hot Springs. Originally used as a traditional cleansing spot by the Athapaskan and Kaska people as early as 10,000 years ago, these hot springs are the second largest in Canada and are ranked among the top 5 hot springs in the country. We entered the park and paid for parking, walked through the electric fenced - gated off for bears that like to frequent the area - and walked the scenic boardwalk all the way to the springs. It is a beautifully maintained area equipped with dressing rooms. Definitely a required stop along the Alaska Highway. That night, we stopped in Fort Nelson, BC. You can tell when you pass into British Columbia because you immediately start seeing bison on the side of the road! We counted 26 bison on our drive, as well as 2 black bears and 1 elk! Which was fun because it’s too cold for elk in Fairbanks/North Pole. We stayed at Triple G Hideaway Campground, which was an amazing campground and quite honestly, the nicest campground bathrooms I have EVER seen, haha. The kids enjoyed the little swings while we set up and took down camp. day 5We completed the Alaska Highway portion of our drive!! We definitely had to stop and hang out in Dawson Creek to mark the momentous occasion! Right at the sign, there’s a cool little train/history museum that we walked through just before closing time. We also stopped for some burgers and poutine at Post & Row for dinner. Poutine is a classic Canadian comfort food dish made of French fries covered in brown gravy and cheese. It is very delicious! That night, we stopped in Grande Prairie, AB. On our drive we noted the extremely improved driving conditions compared to the last few days and made good time. We also noticed that towns and cities are getting bigger and closer together - we were a little blown away to pull into Grande Prairie and see all the city lights :D Almost 1500 miles under our belt marks about 1/3 of our whole trip and we’re not even through Canada yet. I was very intimidated planning this portion of our trip. How was I going to entertain my 3 young kids and keep everyone happy during a long, boring trip through Yukon backcountry? But I purchased the Milepost 2023 and immediately was so excited. It was actually a very interesting read and was fun to follow along as we drove. It lists each mile post, each stop for services, it even list all the pull outs, which is very helpful when you don’t have cell service. It has a little write up about the historical spots and little maps of each town you pass through. It was incredibly helpful and interesting and I highly recommend it. Though, side note: if you are using it to get from Alaska to the lower 48, you do have to read it backwards, which makes things a little more interesting, haha. That concludes the first leg of our trip! You can read part 2 here. Our visit to Grande Prairie was not uneventful in the least (insert sly face emoji). Have questions about driving the Alaska Highway? We’re always happy to answer! Or if you’ve done this route, is there anything you would add that we might’ve missed?? If you’re interested in a one-on-one chat to help plan a custom trip to (or from) Alaska, check out our options here! Make sure to pin so you can come back to this post! Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram or TikTok for some of our day-to-day adventures and until next time, get out and explore where you live!
We were one week into our Adventure Road Trip and had made it from Fairbanks to Seward. Make sure to check out part 1 and part 2 of our trip! Our visitors still had a few days to spend in Alaska and we were headed back up towards Anchorage. This bonus entry starts with us leaving Seward and catching a few more activities we had passed on the way down.
Activity #20: Bear Creek Weir
Bear Creek Weir is just on the outskirts of Seward. Being that our trip was at the end of May, the salmon run was just starting so we thought we’d go check it out and spot some salmon!
The weir is an important element in maintaining salmon levels in Resurrection Bay, specifically sockeye and coho salmon. Salmon are released at various locations along the Cook Inlet and when they return to spawn, they are stopped with weirs like this to encourage population growth in the specific area rather than traveling further upstream. Annual returns are estimated to be around 400,000. This weir is easy to get to, as it’s just on the side of the road when driving to Bear Lake. There is no fishing allowed, unless you’re a bear…We didn’t happen on bears this visit but it’s always important to be bear aware! Activity #21: Portage Glacier Tour
After continuing on our drive back north, we stopped to take a glacier tour of Portage Glacier. If you read about the beginning and middle of our trip, you’ll remember that we lucked out on some great weather previously, but this day was rainy, wet, and cold! The boat we were on had giant windows and it was warm for those of us that opted to view from indoors, but there was also an option to go out to view the glacier and scenery from outside as well. The scenery was spectacular with waterfalls and steep mountain peaks! This is a popular glacier for viewing glacier calving, though we didn’t get to experience that this time. Though privately run, the tour was narrated by a state park ranger who gave fascinating information on the formation and history of glaciers. We highly recommend this tour!
Activity #22: Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
No, we didn’t see any bears in the wild during this trip - much to the disappointment of our visitors…so we got our wildlife fix in at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.
The AWCC is dedicated to preserving Alaska’s wildlife through conservation, education, research, and quality animal care. The center takes in injured or orphaned animals - most of whom become permanent residents - and provides them a safe home with quality care. You can tour the 1.5 mile loop by car or on foot and learn about Alaska’s wildlife in over 200 acres of enclosures. Activity #23: Knik Glacier Helicopter Tour
Our next stop was to check into our next lodging facility at Knik River Lodge. After a scenic drive past Anchorage and into Palmer, We rented a few of their lovely cabins for a few nights. It was from the lodge that we caught our glacier helicopter tour!
Knik Glacier averages 25 miles long and 5 miles across, and 200 feet thick(!) making it one of the largest glaciers in south central Alaska. Our tour through Alaskan Helicopter Tours included three landings. Our first stop was at Lake George, a glacially fed alpine lake with massive icebergs. Our second stop was at the peak of the mountain overlooking the spectacular view of the Knik and Colony Glaciers. Our last stop was truly the most incredible, when we landed on Knik Glacier. We were given cramp-ons to fit over our shoes to prevent sliding as we explored the hundreds year old ice and even drank from the blue glacier pool we landed next too. With no better way of putting it, the entire experience gave us a high that will stay with us in our memories forever. We only wish we had remembered our water bottles to bring back some delicious Glacier water to those in our group who hadn’t joined us. If you ever get the chance to get up close and personal with a glacier, do it!! Safely, of course.
Activity #24: Reindeer Farm
After our tour, we drove over to one of our favorite places, the Williams Reindeer Farm. You might’ve thought we had our fill of reindeer in the first part of our trip but if you did, you highly underestimated our love for these beautiful and interesting animals. This was our 4th time here and touring this petting zoo-on-steroids never gets old and the staff that run this family-owned farm are just the friendliest people. We love getting up close and personal with baby reindeer - and even older - to feed them by hand. And don’t forget Rocky, the kissing moose! We also fed alpaca, pet a yak, and got up close to elk and other resident wildlife. In the summer, they also have a great snack shack to grab a good lunch-maybe try a reindeer dog if you’re feeling adventurous! Always a good time at the reindeer farm!
Our last night ended with an extra adventure not on our list…a 6.1 earthquake with an epicenter not too far from where we were - complete with a few aftershocks! This was a first for me and Jon and had our hearts racing for a bit but it’s just Alaska doing Alaska things! And we couldn’t have planned a better farewell for our visitors ;)
We had pulled off 24 pure Alaskan activities in 9 full days and each one earned its place in a truly epic ‘Adventure’ road trip. Another facet of our trip that we enjoyed was experiencing a few different stays as well. We enjoyed staying in cabins set in the wilderness, a resort in a scenic ski town, and even an Airbnb set in downtown Seward! Don’t be afraid to mix things up and experience things in an out-of-the-box sort of way! As always, we’d love to answer your comments or questions! If you're interested in a one-on-one chat to help to plan a trip to Alaska you can view our profile on PlanwithTravl.com and check out our options! Make sure to pin this post so you can come back to it later and we'd love to have you join us on Instagram to come with us on our day-to-day adventures! Until next time, make sure to get out and enjoy where YOU live! ![]() We were on Day 3 of our Fairbanks to Seward Road Trip adventure and so far we had 9 activities under our belt. If you missed part 1 you can find it here but this installment starts us off in Girdwood, where we stayed at Alyeska Resort. If we go back to Girdwood, which I imagine we will, we will most likely find other accommodations BUT the resort property is an incredible place to explore! I also want to mention, that from this point on, during our trip, our group included ages ranging from 4 months - 80 years Activity #10 - Winner Creek TrailAfter grabbing breakfast at The Pond (the omelets and fruit plate were great!), our first activity in Girdwood was walking Winner's Creek Trail. This trail was beautiful! And easy for our whole group. We didn't do the whole trail but would definitely go back to spend more time! We just needed to make it back for our next scheduled activity, which was... Activity #11 - Alyeska Aerial TramwayFrom the Alyeska resort, the Alyeska Tram takes passengers to an elevation of 2300 feet at the top of Mt. Alyeska. Continuing with our amazing weather, we had an incredible view of glaciers and peaks above as well as the interesting shape of the glacially carved valley below. The tram runs year-round, allowing winter skiers access to Alaska’s largest ski area and summer visitors a more scenic experience. Activity #12 - Whittier TunnelAfter riding to the top of the Chugach Mountains and down, we continued our journey down the Kenai Peninsula making a tiny detour to drive through the longest highway tunnel in North America-the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel-aka the Whittier tunnel. This 2.5 mile tunnel holds the only road leading into Whittier, Alaska. It is one-lane and services both cars and trains, so keeping a schedule is incredibly important. Before the 1940s, the only way to access Whittier was by sea (or an ambitious hike) but once the army took up post here during WWII, they needed a better way to get supplies, especially supplies that could be protected from Japanese submarines keeping watch on the harbor, so this tunnel was born. We knew we had to jump at the opportunity to drive it, especially to check out what has been voted "weirdest place in America" on the other side. Activity #13 - Whittier HarborIf you’ve been with us for long, you know our love for the unique and quirky. Whittier is a beautiful, tiny town nestled on the edge of Prince William Sound. The harbor is surrounded by stunning waterfalls and gorgeous mountains. While there is only a one-way road to get in and out, this isn’t what makes Whittier the ‘weirdest place in America’. Are you ready for this? This tiny town is home to about 200 year round residents - the majority of which live under the same roof! The 14-story high Begich Towers - originally built as army barracks - now houses most of Whittier’s residents as well as the police station, post office, church, and other community amenities. We can’t wait to get back to Whittier and spend some more time exploring this beautiful, historic, quirky little town. Activity #14 - Downtown SewardAt the end of Day 5 of our Adventure road trip we checked into our Airbnb in Seward and headed downtown for some dinner. We settled on The Lone Chicharron for some tacos. We came here last time we were in Seward and, while I’m a fan, I will admit, not everyone in our group agreed. Everyone thought the food was good! But maybe not good enough for the price. That being said, I think the price is pretty average for what you’ll find in the area. So if you find yourself trying out this place, please let us know what you think! Downtown Seward is such a fun little place to do some shopping and grab a meal. It's a short walk from the oceanfront where you may be able to spot some wildlife. There was a humpback whale feeding out in the harbor the entire time we stayed in Seward so it was fun to watch whenever we could get a view! Activity #15 - Wildlife CruiseWith food prices being what they are, and with our family-style of traveling, we made a stop at the local Safeway grocery store for a few breakfast essentials which made mornings super easy. Especially with our full kitchen in our Airbnb. After breakfast, we made our way to check-in for our wildlife cruise with Kenai Fjords Tours. This tour was really what our entire trip was planned around. The migrating orca pods are in the area as the salmon run starts to arrive in May and we wanted to see orcas! We had unusually calm waters this day so our captain was able to take us deeper into open water than normal. As soon as we got a bit further out, we found ourselves suddenly surrounded by multiple pods of orcas. It was breathtaking! The entire boat seemed to just sit in silence for about a half hour as we all just watched these beautiful creatures in their natural habitat. To be honest, we didn’t see much other wildlife on our ‘wildlife cruise’ but we didn’t mind since we felt it was the show of a lifetime. Our cruise included a lunch at beautiful, private Fox Island and scenic views around Kenai Fjords National Park. There are multiple cruise companies out of Seward but we highly recommend Kenai Fjords! Activity #16 - Seward HarborAfter our cruise, we roamed the harbor to check out the catch of the day. Halibut, rock fish, and salmon fishing charters are also very common out of Seward and it always fun to watch them come in and put their catch on display. Walking around the harbor, we also saw salmon jumping out of the water and other sea creatures like jelly fish, near the shore. And of course, our friend, it was always exciting watching the humpback whale from the shore. Activity #17 - Tide PoolsThe next morning was when our amazing weather took a turn. In typical Alaska fashion, we were hit with lots and lots of rain. This is why we always recommend waterproof layers! But a little (or a lot) of rain wasn’t going to stop us from our next activity. We headed to Lowell Point to check out the tide pools. We looked up the low tide times and it was a perfect late morning activity in an incredibly beautiful setting looking out at the bay. We saw hermit crabs, eels, and tons and tons of different types of sea stars. We all had a blast turning over rocks and hunting for these fun creatures, even if we did get a little soaked. Something to keep in mind if you’d like to visit this area, it costs $5 to park in the little lot at the head of the short trail to the point so be prepared. Activity #18 - Alaska SeaLife CenterAfter exploring Lowell Point, we headed back to town and grabbed lunch at Zudy’s Cafe. This is a wonderful brunch place right downtown with delicious sandwiches (and desserts!) Afterwards, we headed next door to the Alaska SeaLife Center. We also visited this place last time we were in Seward. It’s a really great place with an incredible mission and it was fun to take visitors there to learn more about Alaska - and maybe see some wildlife we missed on the cruise ;) Activity #19 - Two Lakes Trail![]() It stopped raining later in the day and our last activity in Seward was a short, easy hike on Two Lakes Trail. This trail head was a short drive from our Airbnb and an easy trail for everyone in our group. It includes a pretty waterfall and, obviously, loops around two small lakes. It was the perfect ending to our short stay in Seward. A short note on our Airbnb, it was such a great place to stay! From the fully stocked kitchen and the washer and dryer, to the location of being so close to downtown, we made ourselves quite at home and felt so comfortable. We also enjoyed the incredibly easy check-in and check-out and parking off the street as well. We would highly recommend John and Heather's place! Believe it or not, our adventure road trip was far from over. Our visitors had to travel back up to the Anchorage area to fly home and we still had a 9 hour drive back to Fairbanks! So we took the opportunity to squeeze some more activities in on the way up and over the next few days. You can find this bonus installment here! Let us know if you find this helpful or if we can answer any questions! If you're interested in a one-on-one chat to help to plan a trip to Alaska you can view our options here! Make sure to pin this post so you can come back to it later and we'd love to have you join us on Instagram to come with us on our day-to-day adventures! Until next time, make sure to get out and enjoy where YOU live!
If you've been around for awhile, you know that we've already written about take a roadtrip from Fairbanks to Seward and back. But last Spring, we visited Seward again and this time, we did it a little more....epic.
The back story to this trip was that we told my parents we were planning to go to Seward to see the orcas and they decided they wanted to meet us there! In between us leaving Fairbanks and meeting up with that side of the family, Jon's sister and her family also wanted to visit but they wanted to see the most of Alaska they could in one trip. They knew we were planning a drive down south and decided they would join us for that part of our trip. And, if you know us, you know we're more than happy to be tour guides...and after a year of dealing with a pandemic, we were ready to pull out all the stops! Activity #1 - Reindeer Yoga
The day after Jon's sister's family arrived, I had booked an activity for just her and I - reindeer yoga! It's no secret that reindeer are one of my favorite animals. I mean, if you live in North Pole and don't love reindeer you're probably put on the naughty list for life, right? And when in North Pole, reindeer yoga is a must! I'm not entirely sure if there's any other place in the world that offers reindeer yoga, but if there is, I'm sure it doesn't beat this location!
Running Reindeer Ranch offers a few different activities at their reindeer ranch just outside of Fairbanks but our favorite is their summer Reindeer Yoga classes! Bring a mat and find a spot right in the middle of the pen of reindeer and be instructed by a certified yoga teacher while reindeer walk in between and sometimes paw at mats. My sister-in-law even had a reindeer lay inches from her face as we did our last pose! Going in May meant we were there just after calving season. The little baby reindeer were so cute and fun to watch! **disclaimer, more reindeer watching than yoga may have taken place (wink face) Activity #2 - Alaska Raw Fur Co
Activity #3 - Gold Panning
Fairbanks was put on the map in the early 1900s gold rush. There are still active gold mines in the area as well as a few areas you can pan without a claim. While we highly recommend a visit to the Gold Daughters for a lesson on panning before setting out on your own, we took our visitors to Pedro's Creek and found some small flakes!
Activity #4 - UAF Museum of the North
Activity #5 - Santa Clause House
We told you our first visitors wanted the whole Alaska experience and no visit to Fairbanks is complete without a visit to North Pole, where you can put in a good word with the big guy himself! At his own house, no less! You can visit Santa (and sometimes Mrs. Claus) throughout the year Wednesdays-Sundays, tell him your Christmas wish, get a picture and a candy cane, and wander his shop for a great Alaskan souvenir.
Activity #6 - Midnight Fishing
Can you fish at midnight where you live? Let me rephrase that. Can you fish at midnight where you live and have it still be light outside? We obviously had to give our nephew the complete "midnight sun" experience and Jon took him fishing at midnight in the light of the sun. Even though we live here, we never get used to so much daylight at all hours of the "night".
Activity #7 - Denali National Park
After spending a few days in Fairbanks, we took off for our trip to Seward. With our visitors in tow, our first stop was Denali National Park. Denali National Park is home to the highest peak in North America, Denali herself, and at a little more than a 2 hour drive from Fairbanks, we recommend taking the trip!
Because of the weather system in the area, the peaks are clouded most of the time which means only 30% of visitors actually get to see Denali! We lucked out on our time spent here this trip with the clearest skies! One bush pilot we talked to said it was in the top 5 viewing days he'd seen in the last 10 years! Normally, visitors can only drive their personal vehicles to Mile 15 but we were able to snag a few passes to drive to Mile 30 and, as always, it was a beautiful drive. We recommend binoculars for spotting wildlife that isn't near the road. Activity #8 - Ziplining
After a quick drive through the park, a few of us broke off from the group and drove back out to catch a zipline tour! Denali Park Zipline Tours was such a great experience! We met up with our group at their offices right outside the park. They shuttled us out to the course, first in a van and then we climbed into some ATVs, which was an adventure of it's own. Once at the course, we received a quick safety brief and we were on our way.
The course features 7 ziplines, 6 sky bridges, a short tundra hike, and ladder climb, and a dual racer finale! No matter what my nephew says, I beat him and have video proof ;) Highly recommend this tour if you have a little adventure junkie in you and some time to spend around the park!
While we were checking into our tour, the rest of our party was checking into our lodging accommodations. Whenever we stay at Denali, we stay at Mckinley Creekside Cabins. The prettiest property in the most gorgeous setting right outside the park, and their Cafe is amazing! They have a variety of rooms fit for any sized party and they are all very nice. We are also obsessed with their build-your-own breakfast skillets and their specialty Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake. And make sure to grab yourself an "Alaska-sized" cinnamon roll for good measure, perfectly placed next to their puny counterparts, the "Texas-sized" rolls.
If you're looking for dinner, located next door is Panorama Pizza Pub. Great pizza, fun atmosphere, and some amazing beer cheese macaroni and cheese (chef's kiss). Activity #9 - Beluga Point
It has a gorgeous lookout of the bay where we have spotted large pods of Beluga Whales before! We weren't so lucky with this visit but the views are still worth the stop. We recommend binoculars here too, especially when you start to see those white humps swimming down the bay.
After a little exploring, we drove to our lodging for the night which was in Girdwood. Our adventures were only getting started! You can find part 2 here! Let us know if you find this helpful or if we can answer any questions! If you're interested in a one-on-one chat to help to plan a trip to Alaska, we'd love to help! Make sure to pin this post so you can come back to it later and join us on Instagram or tik tok to come with us on our day-to-day adventures! Until next time, make sure to get out and enjoy where YOU live!
Well, the tribe has spoken! We’ve posted a few pictures from our trip down to Seward on Instagram and when we asked if our followers would like a blog post on where we stayed and what we did, we got a unanimous YES! So here it is...
Jon’s dad came to visit us for about a week and wanted the ‘full Alaska experience’. We’ve learned that most ‘outsiders’ don’t really understand the full picture of Alaska and just how far away Fairbanks is from the rest of the touristy places people like to visit. We can tell people all day just how big Alaska is and how remote we are, but it’s not really fathomable until you see it in person. That being said, it’s a 9 hour drive from Fairbanks to Seward. Could we have made it all in one day? Maybe...if we weren’t bringing along the kids ;) So we split the drive up and stayed over night on our way down and back. If you decide to do the drive all at once, we certainly wouldn’t blame you! But our stops are still places worth checking out, if you have the time.
Our first stop was in McKinley Park, mile 224 on the Denali Highway, the Panorama Pizza Pub, for lunch! The location is beautiful, the pizza is delicious, but we highly recommend the ‘beer cheese and shells’ which is a twist on the classic Mac & Cheese using a creamy beer cheese. It was so good we dove into it before we remembered to take a ‘influencer’ picture ;)
Our resting place for the night was a bed & breakfast in Palmer. Fishhook Sunrise B&B is a beautiful house on a gorgeous property hosted by the most wonderful family. The rooms are spacious and modern and each room has a private bathroom. After settling in for the night, we woke up to a delicious Sunday breakfast with homemade pancakes, homemade syrup, even homemade whipped cream! And fresh raspberries picked that morning on the property with a fresh raspberry lemonade to boot. I’m not sure how many pancakes our little family put down but the girls were definitely in heaven! We loved eating breakfast with the Willardson’s and when it came time to leave, we felt like we were saying ‘see ya later’ to some old friends.
Before heading out of Palmer, we HAD to make a stop at our favorite place, the Reindeer Farm! They’ve had a few additions since we last visited, like Lucy, for example, an orphaned moose found this year that was only about 3-4 months old! The girls had the best time feeding her some fireweed in between her bottle feedings.
Hayden wasn’t quite brave enough to feed the reindeer, but surprised us all with her desire to feed Rocky, the kissing moose ;)
Of course, the big highlight for Jon and I is always hanging out with the reindeer.
Can’t forget petting a yak, feeding a baby llama, or petting bunnies and chickens! Though, if you ask Colbie, her favorite animal was Cali the cat (go figure haha)
We also grabbed some reindeer dogs, pulled pork sandwiches, and some chili and hot chocolate for lunch right there at the farm. Always a good time at the reindeer farm!!
Later in the day, we continued on the road towards our final destination. It was a very pretty drive around Turnagain Arm including views of the ocean and glaciers galore. We tried to stop in Girdwood for dinner, but not many places were open due to Covid, or the ones that were weren't super kid friendly, though it was a gorgeous little town from what we saw in our short visit! We ended up grabbing a little sandwich and pizza-by-the-slice at Coast Pizzeria and Alpine Cafe & Bakery at a stop right off Seward Highway. It was...good enough for our needs ha.
The next two nights, we actually stayed outside of Seward in Cooper Landing. We stayed at the Lodge at Grizzly Ridge, which was right on the Kenai River and it was beautiful! Our room had a full fridge and kitchenette but Jon’s dad’s room had a full kitchen. They offer a variety of sized rooms at the lodge but also have cabins you can rent, which would be fun to check out sometime!
They were large, comfortable rooms, very affordable, with insanely gorgeous surroundings.
The next day, Jon took his dad early in the morning into Seward to catch his fishing charter. By the time he came back, napped, and the rest of us got ready for the day, it was late morning when we took the 45 minute drive down to Seward. And boy, was it the prettiest 45 minutes I’ve ever experienced...
We pulled into town and grabbed some lunch at The Lone Chicharron. Thumbs up from us! We then visited theAlaska SeaLife Center. The Alaska SeaLife Center is a non-profit aquarium dedicated to marine research and education. It is the only marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation facility in Alaska.
We got to the sea lion exhibit right at feeding time, which was super cool! It’s not very often you get to see a 2000 lb sea lion up close and personal.
Due to the effects of COVID, current projections show the center will be forced to permanently close its doors at the end of this summer season, relocating all the animals and laying off all employees. Visit the link in their website to see how you can help!!
After the aquarium, we drove out to Lowell Point. It was a fun little beach where the girls found seashells and we watched people try to snag salmon from the beach. We also saw a huge sea lion in its natural habitat which was super cool! It was also a great view of the whole bay and we had fun guessing which fishing boat Grandpa was on.
We made our way back to Seward and drove around a little bit. We walked along the little boardwalk near a fishing pond. We saw salmon and sea otters and dreamt about having views like this in our backyard.
We made our way over to the port to pick up Grandpa, and while we were waiting, we watched salmon jumping like crazy while people fished from the shore. We also saw jelly fish, which I thought was pretty cool!
We really wanted to check out The Cookery for dinner! But unfortunately, they’re closed on Mondays! Which was the day we were there. We ended up loading up on some groceries and Grandpa cooked up some of the fish he caught when we got back to Cooper Landing.
The next day, we checked out and and started our drive back up north. We stopped for lunch in Anchorage but the place of note was picking up a box of malasadas from Wiki Wiki Donuts for breakfast the next day!
I have to say, none of the flavors we got were bad, but my favorite were the Key Lime and the girls...I thought they’d love the fruity strawberry and cream or even the guava, but the plain chocolate was a hit for them! Let’s just say, I’m glad we don’t live close to a wiki wiki because...they would have all my money ;)
Our stop for the night was in the sleepy little town of Talkeetna. We stayed at the ‘Talkeetna Villas’ as part of the Talkeetna Villas and Tours. While we weren’t staying for any tours, we did meet the owners, as the rooms are right on their property, and they were super friendly and very knowledgeable on the area.
The rooms were spacious, clean, modern, and very comfortable. We enjoyed having a little kitchenette and the girls really appreciated the card and board games after being in the car for a minute. Each room is also a mini art gallery featuring art, pictures, and even furniture from local artists, all for sale!
The property is 3 blocks from Main Street, where you will find all the restaurants and entertainment. Some of us grabbed dinner at the Denali Brewpub and some of us grabbed pizza from Mountain High Pizza Pie. (Can you tell how much some little girls love their pizza??) I actually got the ravioli dinner at Mountain High and it was pretty good! The next morning, we grabbed a small breakfast at Conscious Coffee and were back on the road. The real reason we stayed in Talkeetna is because we heard it's the best place to see Denali on a clear day! Only 30% of visitors get lucky to have clear enough weather to see the tallest mountain in North America so we were crossing our fingers to get a good view with Jon's dad.
Here you can see a crappy picture of a rare view of Denali reaching above the clouds ;) Haha, we were just so excited that we could see her peaks, even though it wasn't super clear. And the clouds rolled in over top of her only minutes later.
On our way back to Fairbanks, we stopped back in McKinley Park at mile 224, but this time at McKinley Creekside Cabins and Cafe. Here we picked up a little treat for some friends who were watching our dog for us, but sidenote: We have stayed here a few times and while the first stay was for the views and location, the second stay was for the breakfast!! Holy cow, so good! And the service was just amazing. If you have a chance to get an "Alaska-sized" cinnamon roll, or their specialty of rhubarb and strawberry coffee cake, DO IT! The breakfast skillets were another favorite as well. We then took a little drive into Denali National Park and Preserve. We could drive our POV as far as mile 15 and we were able to see a couple moose this time. After leaving the park, we made the 2 hour drive back to Fairbanks. It was a pretty quick trip but we had a good time exploring a little bit of Alaska. Have you been to any of these places, or. are you putting any of them on your bucket list? Anything we should check out for next time? Let us know in the comments! If you're interested in a one-on-one chat to help to plan your trip check out our options! Comments or questions? We'd love to hear them! Make sure to pin so you can come back to this post! Don't forget to follow us on Instagram for some of our day-to-day adventures and until next time, get out and explore where you live! ** Update: We went to Seward again! You can get more ideas for a road trip on our blog post series starting here
In continuing with our road trip up the west coast, the last few legs in Oregon included some of our favorite stops! We left Eureka and grabbed some breakfast at the Samoa Cookhouse. The historic cookhouse has been serving meals lumber-camp style since 1893. It’s the last remaining cookhouse in the west and a section of it has been turned into a logging museum! With a set rotating menu, it’s basically an all you can eat ‘home cooked’ meal! The day we went we enjoyed a breakfast of hash browns, eggs, sausages, and toast with biscuits and gravy. It was a pretty cool experience that set us back in time to the old logging days.
After breakfast, we headed straight for Redwood National Park.
We were in awe driving through these giant forests. These trees are considered mature at 500-1000 years old and can live to be 2000 years old! Man, the world is such an amazing place!
After a little exploring, we stopped at Humbug Mountain State Park. We parked in the campground and walked over to the black sand beach. Such a cool little hike and now we know why they filmed some of Jurassic Park in Northern California/Southern Oregon.
Humbug Mountain is one of the highest mountains in Oregon and it rises straight from the ocean. It’s a gorgeous sight and we had fun playing at the beach for a little bit.
Our next stop was a quick walk down to Thor’s Well, just outside of Yachats, Oregon. In Yachats (pronounced YAH-hots), we checked into one of our favorite hotels our entire trip, Deane’s Oceanfront Lodge.
This cozy family-owned motel was such a nice place to stop for the night. Each room had it’s own back porch access and was right on the beach!
After checking in, we backtracked a little to grab some dinner. We decided on The Drift Inn restaurant and I gotta tell ya, the pot pie was good but their COBBLER! I could go for that alone!
We made it back to watch the sunset from a few steps away from our room. The next morning was our latest check-out yet! We just couldn’t seem to leave. Walking the beaches and finding sand dollars was so relaxing and an amazing start to our day..
After we did finally get packed up, we drove to Newport, OR and stopped at Yaquina National Park.
We opted not to take the tour of the lighthouse but instead hiked down to the tide pools and the pebble beach.
After a good stretch of our legs, we drove on. We couldn’t drive through without a stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory!
Before stopping at our next hotel, we walked around Cannon Beach and listed off all our favorite Goonies quotes :D
That night, we stayed at The Tradewinds Condos and Hotel in Seaside. Super affordable, complete with a kitchen and view of the ocean. We were pretty pleased with this stay as well!
The next morning we got bagel sandwiches and smoothies from Bagels by the Sea. We went through the drive through on our way out but it was a fast, hot breakfast and we were definitely more than satisfied! Our next stop was Astoria! The actual home of the Goonies :) but also home of the Astoria Column!
The column is 125 ft high with 164 steps up to the observation deck. It was built in 1926 to celebrate the discovery, exploration, and settlement of the west. These days, you can purchase little airplanes from the gift stop and launch them from the top to see how far they go! You know we had to get in on this action.
We then drove across the above pictured bridge into Washington! The Astoria-Megler Bridge stretches 4.1 miles and is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. We definitely tested Jon’s fear of heights a few times that day ;)
We stopped for the night in Seattle and after a morning of laundry and car cleaning, crammed as much tourist activities in as we could. We started with the market and roamed the aisles of fresh flowers and fresh fish! Always have to watch the men toss fish through the air! Then we wandered through the back and found the fun pig to draw with chalk on. We found the gum wall and then took a ride on the Great Wheel. There was a lot of construction, but it was fun to explore this little area downtown until it was time to head back to the hotel and rest up for the next leg of our trip.
Seattle was fun to explore but I think we got pretty used to those small coastal towns in Oregon that the sudden traffic and crowds was a little jarring for us haha. Maybe we’re turning into rural folks.
The next morning we left for Bellingham and boarded the ferry to Alaska! Which was a whole adventure all on it’s own. You can read about that here! This leg completed our time in the "lower 48" and we were definitely looking forward to getting closer and closer to our new home. Make sure to pin for future reference! And catch us on Instagram to see more of our day-to-day adventures! Make sure you get out and enjoy where YOU live!
We had a good time exploring San Francisco which you can read all about in our last post, but this next part of our trip was going to be mostly off the beaten track, which we were pretty excited about. We were also about halfway to our final destination which was a pretty big deal!
We left San Francisco in the morning and about 3 hours later pulled into Ukiah, CA for our first pit stop of this leg. We grabbed some lunch and some gas but not before checking out the World’s Largest Redwood Tree Service Station/Museum!....
...which was closed (sad face). But it was still really cool to see and walk around and it piqued our interest in the area we were entering: Redwood country.
After getting back on the road, we ventured a little bit out of the way and got off highway 101 and onto the 1 and detoured over to Fort Bragg. This coastal town is rich in history and would be a really cool place to take some time to explore, but we really narrowed it down to one stop - Glass Beach.
Glass Beach is a true trash to treasure story. These beaches were actually used as city dump sites from 1906-1967. Cars, batteries, bottles, etc. were dumped over and the cliffs and into the ocean. Now what remains is smooth colored sea-glass mixed into the natural rocks and sand that make up the beaches.
We spent way too long - with no regrets - sorting through and finding pieces of amber, green, blue, and clear sea glass. We also had fun exploring the tide pools and jumping off the big rocks ;)
Reluctantly, we hiked back to the car to continue on our adventure.
Our next stop was drive-thru tree park in Leggett, CA. This was a fun place to stretch our legs and get acquainted with those amazing redwoods we were driving by.
Our only disappointment was that our van wouldn’t fit through the tree because of the rack we had on top. Would’ve been cool to say we drove through a tree haha, but walking through was still pretty cool!
Nothing to make you feel small like sitting in a giant tree trunk! This little park was really fun to walk around and find all the wood carvings. A very good stop to get out and stretch for a little bit.
Our next stop was actually a few minutes down the highway, called One-Log House.
This 2000+ year old Redwood one log house was really only created for a tourist attraction, but it is one of the coolest ‘tourist traps’ we’ve ever seen! I mean, really, I wouldn’t mind having one of my own if I ever happen upon a fallen Redwood ;)
We pulled into our Airbnb in Eureka not too far from here. This was our first and only stay in an Airbnb this trip and our digs were very comfortable and quaint! 10/10 recommended. We checked in for the night to rest up for our next leg of driving, which would end in Yachats, OR!
Comments or questions? We'd love to hear them! Make sure to pin so you can come back to this post! Don't forget to follow us on Instagram for some of our day-to-day adventures and until next time, get out and explore where you live! |
AuthorWe're just a military family enjoying where we live, one PCS at a time. Follow us as we explore our current home, South Carolina, and beyond. The world is our backyard. Archives
June 2024
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