[AAA] Here’s Ben.

19 Aug
Meet Ben.  He’s my younger brother.  In case you forget his name, it’s on his shirt.

 Ben moved to Alaska three months ago to take a job as an electrician at the community college in Valdez.  His job as an electrician with a company in Wisconsin had been slow in the recent year and he was perhaps up for a little adventure.  He packed up his camper and drove to Valdez in four days [yeah.  four days.  it took me seven.] with his kayak, three different bicycles, and mounted buck head.  Oh, and Jetta, the dog.
I think he kinda loves it here.   He likes his job and his coworkers think he’s the bee’s knees.  One of his coworkers, Chris, talked to me while we all hung out on Wednesday night.  So you think he’s going to stick around for awhile?  I think so, I said.  We don’t want him to go.  We love him here.  Ben’s been doing a lot of cleaning house at the college, cleaning up previous messes and tidying up cords with the electrical.  Apparently he got mad props during the inservice held for staff this past week because of the great work he’s been up to.  They love the work he’s doing and he loves it too.  He showed me the projector he just installed.  He said it was fun.  [silly boy.]

He rents a room in a cabin outside of town.  As he explained it to me, it’s like our family’s cabin in Black River Falls but with plumbing and electricity.  That it is.  He built in a bunk for his rented room.  There’s awesome wallpaper too.  I couldn’t live like this day in and day out but for him, it works.  He doesn’t need stuff to be happy.  [Maybe that’s why he only has one bath towel?  I know what I’ll be mailing him when I get home.]

When I graduated from seminary, Ben sent me a card.  It was signed “from Ben and Jetta” and it said “proud of you” in his boyish printing.  From Ben, that’s a lot.  I’m proud of him too.  It was quite a leap to pack up and move to Alaska but I think he’s found a place where his passions are put into practice each day.  His passions and his gifts are seen in each day he re-wires a classroom or kayaks into the sound or fishes for salmon.  He seems happy here and that, my friends, is a good thing.  I’m glad I was able to visit and see what he’s been up to.  [AAA] success.

[AAA] Rain, ice, and bergs.

19 Aug
When I left you last, I met up with Ben following his work at Prince William Sound Community College [he’s the electrician on staff and they love him] and we went over to his co-worker’s house.  They were having a bunch of people over for dinner and board games [my kind of people] and they were a ton of fun.  The staff at the college [or at least those there] are super young and funny and awesome and the salmon was delicious.  We journeyed ten miles out of town to Ben’s “house” [I use that term lightly.] and settled in for the night.  
The next day was wide open for me, as Ben headed off to work.  I met Kim, Ben’s girlfriend, for breakfast and then I wandered the town [there’s not a whole lot to it], thankful Ben had lent me a rain jacket.  [Kim: You didn’t bring any rain gear?  Me: I don’t own rain gear!]  I went to one of the local museums and there saw the one and only moose of the trip.  It was stuffed.  The museum is part of the college that Ben works for and he gave me a tour of the campus.  From there, I said screw it to all my hesitation about the rest of the day’s plans – I got on a boat.
A glacier cruise to be exact.  It wasn’t an entirely clear day out and the waters were a little choppy.  I’m not one for too much water adventure – I recall getting sick on a boat ferry when I was younger.  I couldn’t decide if it was worth the money to get on a boat and potentially get sick and be miserable for the six hour trip.  But I said screw it.  I’m in Alaska and I’m going to go.  And it was pretty worth it.

Let’s talk about how darn cute sea otters are!

Valdez is essentially surrounded by mountains.
holy bright blue.
We rounded the day out with Mexican food, a movie, and strawberry shortcake before calling it a night.  It’s been a ton of fun visiting Ben and seeing this place he now calls home.  More about that follow.

[AAA] Arrival.

17 Aug
I drive all the way to Alaska and don’t see one moose.  [“I have your car towed all the way to your house and all you have for me is light beer?”  Name that movie and ten fictitious points could be yours.]  My wildlife viewing [other than the typical cattle, horses, etc.] ended with one bear, a few mountain goats and a couple deer.  Moose mourning aside, I arrived!  I’m in the Valdez public library, waiting for Ben to get done with work for the day.  [We’re three hours behind you folks in the central time zone.]  It’s rainy and I figure I have all day tomorrow to explore the town; right now I’m thrilled to simply not be in the car.
I drove to Alaska.  It’s nearly exhilarating and bit unbelievable to think – I drove to Alaska.  I can do anything!  [That’s how the saying goes, right?  If you can drive to Alaska, you can do anything?]  That’s how I feel anyways.  It was a smooth trip, I did it by myself, and I feel proud that I pushed fear aside and tackled this adventure.  I never considered myself one for adventure but this – this was good.  Very good for me.  [And I’m beginning to think I’m more adventurous than I ever thought I was …]
I slept in this morning and got ready in the room I rented that was originally designed with hobbits in mind.  Loaded up Betty and then we set off.  I stopped a few times – for fuel, to snap photos, to make a pb&j, and to wait for the pilot car.  Lots of construction slowed me down today.  So much that in the line of people waiting for the pilot car to guide us, engines were turned off and people milled about, knowing it would be a bit of a wait.  Gravel roads and lots of rollercoaster-like dips in the roads from frost heaving was all a part of today’s journey.

It’s an icky picture, but I promise its the Worthington glacier. 
 As I neared Prince William Sound and Valdez, there was also a glacier.  and a canyon.  and mountains.  and lots of fog.  and rivers.  and waterfalls from the rocks.  Highway Four is not a road I would want to drive in the winter.  Like the descriptions of my other days of driving, it was just crazy.  I’d take a corner in the road and then find myself with some new natural wonder in front of me.  I literally said to myself, “You’re kidding me!” more than once as these awesome things appeared.  I’d seen mountains and glaciers in my drive previously but what I hadn’t yet seen – nor did I expect – was a winding road cut through a canyon with water falling from the rocks high above the highway.  Crazy.  Simply crazy.

I’m happy to not have a full day of driving ahead of me tomorrow.  I, in fact, am not sure at all what I will do tomorrow and the next day.  I’ll see what Ben and his girlfriend, Kim, [who is also living in Valdez right now] have to suggest.  I’d like to think I’d be perfectly content just hanging out with Jetta at Ben’s cabin too, relaxing and doing those things I brought that I still haven’t touched [and totally didn’t touch last night either, after I said I would].  Two days in Valdez, a ride to Anchorage [with Ben and Kim who are running a marathon there on Sunday], and a red-eye flight out of Alaska on Friday night/Saturday morning.  That’s what’s left of the August Alaskan Adventure.  Stay tuned.

[AAA] Almost and a surprise.

17 Aug
I just checked into a hotel in Beaver Creek in the Yukon Territory.  Beaver Creek is a few miles short of the Alaska border which means only six and a half hours of driving tomorrow.  I felt up to putting in a few extra hours on the road tonight [I’ll explain below.] before I checked into a hotel.  Before I checked into my closet.  Seriously.  It’s the tiniest room you could ever fit two twin beds into – smaller than a dorm room.  There is a bathroom for tiny people – everything seems to be in miniature.  The hotel, in general, makes me feel far more comfortable than the sketchy dive I stayed in last night despite that it was built for leprechauns.  Much more comfortable.
I set off extra early this morning [wanting to leave the sketchiness behind me] and did more mountain driving.  It was rainy and cloudy and lent more fog to the mountains and lakes as I drove on.  In my current tired state and the 55 hours of driving behind me, the rest of the day is running together.  I can’t remember if I drove through any cute towns or saw anything out of the ordinary.  [If I can’t remember, I’m guess not.  Still no moose!]  I do recall pulling into a rest area and refusing to go to the bathroom in the pit toilets that make the outhouse at our cabin seem like a throne.  It was mostly overcast through the morning and early afternoon, leading me to yawn and grow sick of driving.
This was the first time in the last week that I’ve really felt tired of driving.  In the days prior, the scenery was new and different and kept my attention.  Today, the scenery seemed old hat.  I’ll give this the fictional diagnosis of safari syndrome.  I remember while on safari in Tanzania a few years ago we grew so excited at the sight of new animals from our land rover.  But then, even though we were a part of this incredible experience in Africa, elephants almost grew to be … eh.  No big deal.  Elephants were everywhere.  It was the new animals – the lions, the cheetahs, and the ostriches that we then got excited about.  Elephants?  Eh.  Been there, done that.
That happened to me today.  The same mountain range?  Eh.  Awesome dense forests?  No big deal.  Winding roads through incredible landscape?  Been there.  I got the safari syndrome and just grew tired. Until these babies came out of nowhere –
It seemed I suddenly turned a corner and there were these huge, snow-capped mountains looming in front of me.  I found energy, excitement, and wanted to drive closer to find a better angle for a picture.  I found my new animal.  I was going to stop in Haines Junction for the night, which rests at the feet of these mountains [the icerange – the highest mountains in canada] but found no vacancies.  Driving along the mountains gave me the extra energy to travel another three hours [making it a 14.5 hour drive today] to Beaver Creek.  
But then there weren’t only these mountains but then this lake which the road wound around.  Too much beauty.  Too many perfect pictures I couldn’t take for lack of a road shoulder.  Too much.
There will be more photos, stories, and other surprises to come, my blog friends.  But now I must make myself a pb&j for a very late dinner and settle into my closet.  [I’m in the lobby right now to use the internet; once I go to my closet, I’m in the interweb darkness.  Time to read, craft, or write – the other projects I brought along with me but haven’t touched.]  I may find myself with more time in the next few days to update and educate you to the journeys and thoughts of this gnomepreacher.  More time when I arrive at my brother’s and can see my Jetta [the dog] and not drive for half a day.  Joy.

[AAA] Unexpected.

15 Aug
I’m not sure entirely what I expected.  As I read through today’s route in the Milepost, it didn’t say anything about more mountains and crazy corners.  I really feel like I read something about it being an easy highway to travel [Hwy 37 north to the Alaska Hwy] with stretches of straight road.  I was a silly midwestern girl to think it would be flat and easy.
More mountains, steep climbs and descents, close corners, and bridges over rivers and creeks named “Devil” and “Old Man.”  [Metal grated and wooden bridges to top it off.]  Around hour ten, the roads deemed center and side lines unnecessary, along with guardrails at many places.  At hour eleven and a half, throw in some gravel stretches and consistent warning signs about livestock and wildlife.  Livestock?  I was in the middle of mountain and forests.  As for wildlife, I saw giant piles of – what should I say? – poo on the road but no large animals to go with it.  The elusive moose still escapes my sight!
I did see a bear!  A fuzzy wuzzy black bear crossed my path right before I turned onto Hwy 37 [so during the easy part of the drive].  I slowed down and watched it walk slowly in front of me.  It was only one, and once off the road, the bear creeped down into the bushes and trees and out of my sight.  I stole no picture – it all happened too fast.  The bear was the reason I only captured crappy photos for the rest of the day – I wasn’t about to get out of my car to snap the perfect shot when I knew there were bears wandering around!  [Paranoid?  Yes.  But reasons for not stopping were also related to drive time and simply that there often were no good places to stop.  Not much of a shoulder to pull onto up in the mountains.]
It was another one of those drives where I simply have no words.  No photo could capture it, though I tried to take mental pictures to save for later.  [Alec Baldwin’s character in Friends also did that.  *click*]  It was [cliche alert!  cliche alert!] breathtaking.  The trees stand so tall on either side of the road; these mountains are different than the rocky [Canadian Rockies] from yesterday.  These mountains are forests – intense, deep forests. It was overcast and rainy nearly all afternoon, casting fog and an eerie cover in front of the mountains.  Photos can’t do it justice.
So I took a video.  [which I’m sure doesn’t do it complete justice either]  No worries about me driving while doing this.  I literally held my phone on top of the steering wheel and kept it there.  [I feel like I need to make sure you understand I was safe about it.  I didn’t watch it; just held it there while also holding the steering wheel.]  By watching a bit or all of the video, perhaps you can pretend like you were my passenger and listening to Mat Kearney with me.  And singing songs about mountain goats and wishing the logging trucks would not drive so fast.  
… but now I can’t get the video to upload right now.  I blame the – um – quaint hotel I’m in at Dease Lake.  [I’ll just say that my room is a “kitchenette” in a hotel geared obviously towards people working temporarily in the area.  I rolled out my sleeping bag on the bed and brought in my own pillow.  The truck outside my window keeps honking, and I have a key key to open my room.] But now I’m tired.  Tired, tired.  Two more twelve hour days of driving and I will arrive in Valdez – I’m stoked.  For now, this picture will have to do.  Goodnight, friends.
  

[AAA] BC.

14 Aug
I stay the night in Prince George, a town in the province of British Columbia.
British Columbia: the best place on earth.
That’s what the sign said when I drove out of Alberta and into the new province.  The best place on earth.  
So, while in the best place on earth, I sit in my slightly-sketchy hotel room [the hallways remind me of the hotel in The Shining], blog [at least I have internet], and watch Bridget Jones’ Diary.  The Starbucks at the hotel I initially stopped at [the rooms were too expensive but with a cute and very helpful desk clerk] was closed [by 7pm] and whenever the people above me turn on their water, it makes a high-pitched noise from the ceiling of my bathroom.  I made phone calls to my credit card companies because my recent charges in Canada were deemed “fraudulent.” I just ate a pb&j [the same thing I had for lunch] with a fruit cup and trail mix.  I think I might stay awake for another half hour reading about tomorrow’s drive and then go to bed.  best. place. on. earth.
[I mean, really, British Columbia?  How can you even say that?  You’re pretty.  For sure.  But best place on earth?  That’s just setting people up for disappointment.  We’ll see how the British Columbia of tomorrow suits me.]  
This is in Alberta.  [Another Lake Louise photo because it’s just too darn pretty.]
[I’m not really in a bad mood or mad at BC.  The trip is still going well and I’m beginning to get excited to arrive in Alaska.  I’m just saying that having a slogan which tells people your place is the best in the world is a bit extreme and subjective.]

[AAA] Wildlife.

14 Aug
Lots of cattle and horses.  Those are a given.  [And a bit boring for what I’d like in the Canadian outback.]  Oh, and giant black ravens.  Those are gross and make me think of the Edgar Allen Poe short story in a much different [gross] way.
Unfortunately, the only moose I’ve seen so far have been the pictures on the yellow signs warning me that they may cross the road in the next five kilometers.  [Or, my favorite, in the next 88 km.]  No moose.  No elk.  No caribou.  [I’m not sure I even know the difference.]
There was a coyote [I’m guessing here] on the side of the road – like sandwiched between the lane and the guardrail.  A few deer to the side early in the drive today.  I swear I saw a bear in the woods to the side of the road but there is no way of verifying that as fact.
I can, however, verify that I saw mountain goats.  [I think that’s what we’ll call them.]  I saw brake lights ahead of me and slowed down to find the goats thinking they owned the road.  I stopped as these three started walking right at the hood of Betty. I swear I made eye contact with the front goat, and we had a tiny stare-down about whether or not he was going to come to the window to visit or not.  [He decided on not.  Next time.]

[AAA] With a Friends reference.

14 Aug
There is a later episode of Friends in which Phoebe dates a man played by Alec Baldwin.  This character oozes compliments, optimism, and adjectives for “beautiful.”  He calls a traffic jam on the highway magnificent and can’t get over how wonderful the lights in the hallways are.  That’s how I felt today as I drove through the Canadian Rockies via Banff and Jasper National Parks.  [Phoebe dumps the Alec character and all the other friends hate him.  The comparison ends there.]
I can’t anything but use those cliche words like wonderful and beautiful and magnificent.  If photos are worth a thousand words, it’s still not enough.  I tried to capture the mountains, the water, and the forests on camera but it isn’t the full effect.  Words can’t describe.
I checked out of my snazzy hotel by 7am and stopped at the Starbucks across the street before getting on the Trans-Canadian Highway towards Banff.  The mountains loomed in the distance, growing closer as I listened to Harry Potter on cd.  [Or, as the narrator in Hermoine’s voice would say, “‘arr-eeeee.”  It annoying; when I start to go stir-crazy – about eight hours into the drive of the day – I just start saying it aloud over and over.  ‘arr-eeeee.  ‘arr-eeeee.]  I pulled off in Banff – a small town I initially looked at staying in – only to drive the main street and quickly get back on the highway to avoid the tourists.  The same was for Jasper later in the drive.  Touristy places.  Terribly.  But beautifully all the same. 
I did utilize a national park pass at Lake Louise, a stop I had been looking forward to making since I began the trip.  Lake Louise is one of the most photographed lakes and rightfully so.  The water is a crazy opaque teal/turquoise [Water in Canada is all sorts of different colors.] and the mountains and snow in the background complete the picture.  There is a hotel right on the lake [behind where the photo was taken] and it’s uber swanky and expensive.  [And kinda ruins the whole lake effect, says the girl who could never afford to actually stay there.]

 I also pulled off the highway to visit Bow Summit in order to view Peyto Lake and the glacier that borders it.  Seriously gorgeous.  No further words.  [No Aperature used to edit the photo and add color.  This is it, folks.]
From there, I had to put the stops to a minimum if I was going to make it to Prince George for the night.  The highway continued to ascend and descend, up down and around mountains, surrounded on both sides by immense forests.  [I feel no way around it so here I make a Twilight reference.  The landscape reminded me a lot of the Forks used in the movies.  It also rained today on and off so vampires could very well survive in the climate.]  My hands only got clammy at one point [the point where I looked up the mountain, was astonished to see cars there and then realized that’s where the road I was on was going], there was only one bridge I felt fairly uncomfortable driving over, and I didn’t feel queasy throughout the day.  [Victory.]
In conclusion, go to Canada.  It was another 12 hour day in the car for me [I started making up songs about sunshine and mountain goats around hour ten.] and I enjoyed all of it.  It was too much to see and explore in just a day’s drive.  Must go back.  Maybe you’ll come with me?

[AAA] What’s next.

13 Aug
I’m staying in a swanky hotel in Calgary tonight [applause welcome as I conquered the Calgary highways to find the place where I had made a reservation – it’s right across the road from IKEA] and this is the last planned place I have to sleep.
This is pretty much the only photo I have of Canada so far.  It’s at a rest stop just past the border.  Impressions of the neighbors to the north so far?  It looks a lot like Montana.  That will change with tomorrow’s drive.
I have no more reservations because I just don’t know how long roads will take me to drive or how long I’ll be able to drive.  This is exhilarating and a bit overwhelming.  If I feel 10.5 hours of driving is in me tomorrow, I can make it to Prince George, a decent size town northwest of here.  But we’ll see.
Because tomorrow begins the mountain travel.  The gawking and the [likely] constant stopping to soak it in and take photos.  How long it will take to travel in this style I just don’t know.  We’re playing it by ear and hoping I don’t get car sick in the mountains.  [I’ve always been subject to queasiness while riding on buses or as the passenger in a car.  This is often while I prefer to drive on long trips.  After yesterday, however, through the ups and downs of Montana, I wonder if I can still get queasy while driving.  I felt a bit car sick yesterday and cross my fingers that tomorrow won’t be any worse.]  I also hope I don’t get super sweaty hands while in the mountains – I don’t do so well with driving on scary roads.  [Thank you for your prayers!]
That being said – not knowing where I will land tomorrow night – no worries or surprises if I don’t appear on the blog tomorrow.  [It actually might be the case for the next three nights.  But I would hope I could at least find a McDonalds for a quick update at some point.] There may be no blogging tomorrow because the hotel I find doesn’t have wi-fi or it might be because I’m sleeping in my car at a campsite next to tents and campers.  We’ll see – it’s all part of the adventure!
[I’ll end the night of blogging with this, post number four.  But remind me to tell you later about my new distaste for Nicholas Sparks, the raccoon I almost killed, “I want my scrambled eggs!,” and my love of grain elevators.]

The Pioneer Woman.

13 Aug
I’m on a blogging roll.  Something about spending so much time in the car by myself thinking.  Read them all, skim them a bit, or throw your hands up and yell, “It’s too much, Lindsay! I give up!”  Whatever your reaction to the overabundance of posts tonight, I understand.  [Have I told you lately I love you?  I do.]
Seeing the cattle alongside the road, the endless sky of Montana, and the fields that go on forever make me think about someone I’ve been meaning to write to you about for the last couple months –
The Pioneer Woman.
She’s a real person.  Really.  Ree Drummond is her name and I think I idolize her.  I want her life.
The Pioneer Woman is a blogger extraordinaire.  She’s terribly witty.  She has published cookbooks [Her recipes always include loads of butter.] and has a kick-butt iced coffee recipe [Okay. That doesn’t include butter.].  She’s an awesome photographer, home schools her four children, and married the Marlboro Man.
That’s not his real name either and he doesn’t smoke.  But she’s a city girl who was swept off her feet by a country man.  She moved to the ranch and makes her living there, battling between the suburban roots and her current love of the country.  You can read about her life here in her own playful words.
Driving through Montana makes me want her life even more.  I could marry a cattle-rancher-truck-driver and live here.  It honestly wouldn’t take much pull on my end.  I want to buy a fancy camera and blog ridiculous stories about horses and how I try to love them.  [That’s the one piece that needs convincing on my end; horses are not my favorite.  Well, and are there snakes in MT?  I don’t do well with snakes.]
Maybe southeastern Minnesota will become like a Montana for me but at this point, I need convincing.  Something like this would convince me.  Seriously.  
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