Catching Up

Ok, I don't even know what week it is, but it has been almost two months since we left Lubbock. We have done some amazing things, so I will just highlight a few. * We drove the 415 mile Dalton Highway (also know as the haul road) up to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay. It was AMAZING! It follows the Trans-Alaska pipeline. It has been called the "most unusual highway in the United States." To quote The Milepost: "It is one of Alaska's most remote, dangerous and challenging roads. It is approximately 1,000 miles of driving round trip between Fairbanks and Deadhorse, and since the Dalton is 75 percent gravel, most miles are gravel." I'm not going to lie - I was a bit nervous about it as all the blogs and everything we read made it sound scary --- they tell you to have two spare tires, a CB radio, etc etc. We did not have any trouble - other than some swarms of mosquitoes - we learned to walk the boyz where there was a breeze! We saw some amazing wildlife. When we were almost to Deadhorse we came upon a HUGE herd of Caribou. Chuck pulled over and I got out to take pictures. I had no idea how fast they were moving - they just kept coming and split to go around us. It was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. We drove on to Deadhorse and looked around - it is NOT pretty, but very interesting. We had lunch and headed back the other way. We saw a few more Caribou and a Swan. We saw a moose that hangs out in one of the lakes - they call her Betty! The scenery is indescribable - no words or even pictures could do it justice. When we were almost back we saw a momma black bear with two cubs - so cute!!! * While in Fairbanks we did a lot of site seeing - museums, parks, eating!!! * We had our first agility trial in Fairbanks a couple of weeks ago --- Jack and Katie did well - Cecil not so much! :P We left Fairbanks and went to Denali Park. We were able to get a decent view of Mt McKinley. We saw a couple of Moose and of course LOTS of site seeing and some hiking. We have been in Wasilla for about a week and head to Anchorage tomorrow (only about 30 miles from here). While here we have been to the Iditarod Headquarters and gone on a ride with the dogs, been to the Musk Ox Farm where we got to feed and pet some yearlings. We also went to the Reindeer Farm - which was awesome --- we got to walk among them and feed them. They also have a 4 year old Moose there that was abandoned when he was a week old - his name is Denali and he is SO sweet. We got to pet and feed him. Yesterday we went to the Matanuska Glacier - awe inspiring! How many people get to walk on a glacier?!! Today we went to Hatcher Pass and did a little hiking. We went a few days ago when it was very overcast and you really couldn't see very far -- today it is very clear. It was neat to see the differences. So tomorrow we go on to Anchorage. We have an agility trial there this weekend and will be there for a week. I realize I need to post more often because I forget a lot in between!! Until next time .....