We hope this update finds you doing well! We are currently in Dawson City in the Yukon. We are drying out from a monsoon type rain storm that completely drenched us yesterday. Bad for off-road riding; good for catching up on blogs. Just a heads up, if you had not noticed already, we have very little connectivity (no cell service, no WiFi), so, if you write us something it might take a week or even two for us to respond. It also means we only update our blog about the same, or even less. We hope you understand and can be patient with us.
So our first main stop on entering Alaska from Canada was Fairbanks. We actually spent over a week here in order to attend the World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO) and the annual Golden Days celebration.
To anyone who is not familiar with the Eskimo Olympics (probably just about everybody) I invite you to stop reading right now and Google, “Eskimo Olympics, two foot high kick” and watch a video – it is AMAZING! The amount of strength, speed, agility, and just overall physical skill that we witnessed was unbelievable. Each event relates in some way to a survival skill that was needed in times past and these practices were used to keep those abilities honed during the long winter months. Many of the events require very little space since they would have traditionally been performed indoors and floor space was limited. We loved being introduced to so many cultural traditions and practices outside of our own experience! Our absolute favorite thing was the camaraderie shown between the athletes. Whenever an athlete was struggling the competing athletes would come along side and encourage and advise them on how to do better.
The other highlight of our time in Fairbanks was being hosted by two couchsurfers – Jenn and Clarke. They were so generous with their hospitality and treated us just like family! They also helped educate us about Alaska, its people, its wonders, its challenges and so much more. We are so grateful for the time they spent with us and the homes they shared with us. We also had the opportunity to attend Jenn’s church which was a great treat and helped us to known her even better.
Another thing we have been looking forward to for some time is visiting Chena Hot Springs outside of Fairbanks. Well, as luck would have it, the weather was fantastically sunny and the temperatures were in the upper 80s! Which is great when we are driving around but it doesn’t make you want to jump in hot water :)! Fortunately, haha, it rained the last day and so it was cold enough to get in the hot springs.
And last, but certainly not least, Denali National Park. We loved it! We camped at Wonder Lake for a week which is the most remote campground in the park. We knew it was going to be a special place when we were able to view a mama grizzly bear and her two cubs (see pictures) from the bus less than fifty feet away! The scope and immensity of the park and Mt. Denali simply can’t be captured. Not even with panoramics – believe me I tried! The weather for the first four days was sunny and clear (which is very rare for Mt. Denali)! We were able to see: Grizzly bears, brown bears, moose, caribou (a first for us), wolves (and pups), and a porcupine who liked to eat the plywood at our bus stop. We also met many people from all over the world at our campground. It was great to share experiences and life stories on the days we weren’t out hiking. Our experience in Denali was absolutely amazing! Except for one little thing it was perfect…the bus drivers. Of the six bus drivers we had, one was fabulous (Thank you Mona!), one was indifferent, and the others need to retire or take some time off because their condescending attitude towards their passengers was appalling. We still had a great time, but it was sad to see these unhappy bus drivers strive to spread their unhappiness. It was also a reminder of how important it is to do something that you love and that you believe in and the positive impact such a combination will have on others!
Thank you for sharing our adventure with us (the good and the bad)!
Chris & Sharon
p.s. – The map of our route for this section is below for those interested.
Instead of pictures, I keep getting the route map, as the “next picture” have fun!
Working to fix it now, thanks for letting me know.
Where are the pictures?!?!? When I click through, it just shows the map at the bottom over and over again.
good question! I don’t know…or rather I do know why it isn’t working, but the fix is depressing…working on it now 🙁 Thanks for letting me know
Sounds like fun. Waiting for pics.
Dave D.
We are defintely having fun! And the pics are up now!
Sounds like the trip is everything you wanted it to be. Hope the DRs are serving you well and the tires are staying inflated. Your writing skills paint a colorful picture. ………I’m leaving for B.C. in a couple of weeks and then a 55th H.S. reunion near Seattle on Sept 23rd. In the words of Roy and Dale, “Happy Trails”.
Zero issues with the DRs so far (7,000 miles in). Have a great trip to BC – we loved it!
P.S. If your chains look like the picture of this page….oil them.
hahaha, they don’t. We have been very good about oiling the chains regularly (sometimes daily – depending on conditions)
Cool, love ya guys
Hey Scott! We love and miss you too! See you in November!
Can totally see all the pictures! Thanks all! So jealous of all the fun critters you have been seeing!! ❤ from Santa Cruz!
Hi Meggan! Thanks for the SC love! We miss you and the rest of the SC gang!!! Hope this finds you doing well.
Pictures are awesome ! So beautiful! Tell Sharon Dr D is back and doing good. Ricks still doing well except for some side effects from the meds. She should chime in and add at least a sentence to your awesome blog.
This is Sharon! Chiming in. So wonderful to hear from you! I sure miss our ‘dates’ at the clinic. So glad to hear that Rick is doing well. I hope he is not working too hard. Is the house finally all back together? In our next update, I wrote a section 🙂 Hope you like it.
Love, Sharon (with Chris)
Look’s like quite a beautiful adventure!
Thank you! We are having an amazing time and are so glad to be able to share it with others.
Love the pictures that are showing up!
I’m trying to see if this post works but I seriously doubt it will.
Just have faith, because here it is! 🙂 Sorry about the lag time between comment and reply – that is a user error – not a site problem 🙂 Be well Kevin!
The pictures are just amazing. Especially the pictures of the little ones, they were just precious. It’s a good thing that the bear knows the correct way to walk down the road, I’ve seen some people that don’t. I like the bear, the moose, the ram, the goat, the bison, the mother deer with fawn, and all wildlife in general for that matter. It looks and sounds like you guys are having loads of fun. Keep it up and stay dry. Love, Kevin
It was SO amazing! That mama bear with her cubs is still one of the biggest highlights of our trip so far! Thank you! We are so happy to be able to share the joy it brings us with you. You are most faithful follower. Love, Sharon (with Chris)
Wow, amazing and beautiful pictures! you must be having a blast. It seems like you are getting
your destinations quickly.
Hi Melissa! Glad you like the pictures, we sure enjoy taking them! We are definitely having a blast (most of the time:). It may ‘seem’ like we are getting to our destinations quickly reading them on the blog, but it sure doesn’t feel that way on a day to day basis, hahaha. But no matter how long it takes, they have all been well worth it!
Love all the pictures. I agree with you on some of the bus drivers and their attitudes. God’s people come in all types. Keep safe and enjoy the adventure. Love Aunt Marian
Thank you Aunt Marian! So glad you are ‘following’ along with us on this adventure :). Look forward to seeing you in December! Chris & Sharon
Have fun! I wish I could take off a year for a vacation to travel 🙂 maybe when I retire in 40 years
Thanks for the advice – we are definitely having fun! Taking such a large amount of time off is certainly a challenge (even without kids), but if it is what you REALLY want to do (and your wife approves) the sacrifices are worth it. Might even happen before 40 years passes… Or maybe your kids will finance it instead of you, stranger things have happened! 🙂