We left Seward knowing we only had about a week left in Alaska. We had seen so many interesting things in Alaska and are so glad to have made the drive, but we were feeling eager to get to Montana and start scouting for jobs and a place to live.

Swinging through Anchorage again gave us a chance to stock up on groceries, visit some stores to see and touch a few baby-related items for our registry, get more dog food, visit Pita Pit again, and get acquainted with yet another motorcycle repair shop (should be set for a while now). Way more fun and life-giving than all those errands was a coffee date with some Alaskan friends we met at church back in Wisconsin. We had a lot to talk about with our travels and their recent relocations. We swapped wildlife stories over lattes, and as longtime Alaska residents, they answered our burning questions about what we had been observing in their home state. We have felt refueled each time we are blessed to get together with friends and family on this trip. We can only imagine how meaningful it will be to soon be able to spend a chunk of time with friends and family back in Wisconsin.

As we drove north toward Fairbanks, we were so focused on where to find free camping and how far we wanted to drive that evening that we were totally surprised when we started to see huge mountains appearing on the horizon. Clouds layered the higher parts of the mountains, but the massive lower slopes glimmered in the eternal dusk. And these mountains were big. I grabbed the road guide to try to find out what we were looking at, and sure enough, we had caught our first (and only) glimpse of Denali. We were headed to Denali National Park two days later, so we didn’t even stop to take a picture. We felt fortunate to see the Mountain (how Denali is referred to locally), since only 30% of visitors lay eyes on this continent’s highest peak. With several days of sunny weather forecast, we figured our chances would be good for seeing the Mountain up close a few days later.

Smoke at Denali

No views today…

As we neared Denali, we started smelling and seeing smoke. With itchy throats and eyes, we looked online to confirm that yes, there were some huge forest fires in several parts of Alaska. Unfortunately, the wind had blown some major smoke right into our path, obscuring most of the national park’s splendor. Bad timing, but when do weather conditions in Alaska ever cooperate well? We made the best of our two smoky, unusually warm days in Denali. The long road leading into the park is only partially open to passenger cars during the summer season. You must figure out the complicated variety of bus options to venture farther into the park. We rode our dirt bikes in as far as we could and embarked from there on a beautiful hike. We couldn’t see the hike’s promised views of the Mountain, but we enjoyed the experience even so. Nic had wanted an excuse to hike with his shotgun, and we figured grizzly territory was as good a place as any. It may come as a surprise to those less comfortable or familiar with firearms, but you can legally walk around Alaska carrying a big old shotgun. I know – I think it’s a little weird too.

Hiking with his shotgun

My favorite and very polite shirt

The next day, we took a shuttle bus fifty miles into the park. We weren’t particularly excited about spending most of the day on a bus with a bunch of other tourists, especially with the smoke, but we had reserved our tickets in advance and did hope to see more wildlife on the drive. We saw three grizzlies, a few caribou, mountain goats, and numerous ptarmigan. For seven hours of driving, we were not overly impressed with those sightings. On the positive side, our fellow tourists were surprisingly quiet and polite. When the bus stopped to view an animal, everyone was instructed to whisper as we lowered the windows. Perhaps more interesting than seeing the wildlife was watching a busload of adults whisper in awe as we heard the comical call of a mama ptarmigan. We felt a little jaded that day. The ranger who gave a brief inspirational talk on our bus waxed on about how she had been so amazed at the many miles of untouched wilderness the first time she rode the bus into Denali. We muttered that she obviously hadn’t driven through Canada. We know that Denali is one of the most striking places in the USA, so maybe we just caught her on a bad day.

Shuttle bus at Denali

Caribou!

We had originally planned to drive back through Canada in a little less than two weeks after leaving Denali. Nic went on and on about how “highly motivated” he was to make it to Montana in good time, so we let the inertia of several long driving days carry us through Canada. We left Denali on a Friday morning, looped up through Fairbanks, and made it nearly to the border that evening. We had our fastest border crossing the next morning. According to Nic, it was “faster than the drive through at McDonald’s,” once again proving that we are rather boring. The miles flew by faster than expected as we crossed the frost heave-riddled tundra and made our way back to Whitehorse. We traveled south on a different route than our northbound journey, and we were happy to see some new scenery. On the day we wound through the northern reaches of the Canadian Rockies, we kept our eyes peeled for wildlife and were rewarded with sightings of seven bears, 100+ bison, 2 foxes, and 1 huge golden eagle – all in one day of driving! We were relieved to roll into Dawson Creek and reach mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. We had driven the whole dang thing on our drive south, and we were ready to be done with its frost heaves, gravel breaks, and construction delays. Wanting one last scenic drive through the mountains of Jasper and Banff, we cut south from Grande Prairie. We spent our loudest night of the whole trip camping next to a bridge over a creek. Logging and gas trucks roared up and down the hill all night, seemingly right outside our thin windows. We woke the next morning eager to be nearing the US border. Just outside of Jasper, we hit thick smoke again from fires burning all over British Columbia. We were so happy to have seen these mountains before, because we couldn’t see a thing this time. The smoke was thick enough to give us headaches and coughs, so we hurried through the area as fast as we could. We felt bad for the tourists who had spent so much money to see this place in such poor conditions. On the way through Kootenay National Park, we visited our favorite hot springs of the trip: Radium Hot Springs. The only thing between us and Montana at that point was another night spent in the parking lot of Home Hardware Building Centre in Cranbrook, BC. Thank God it was a quiet and dark night. During our drive south, we happily observed the shrinking hours of daylight that helped us sleep so much better.

Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway – at last!

One of our favorite quick dinners

Free camping in Canada

Luna finally made her way into our bed!!!

Bison lining the Alaska Highway

I wasn’t quick enough to catch this guy mama and two siblings who ran across the road before him.

More smoke in Jasper

And now we are in the Flathead Valley at last. After a stretch of long driving days, it felt strange to not be moving. Our major task over the next two weeks is to see if we can find a place to live and a job for Nic. Affordable rentals are tough to find, and it seems like demand outpaces supply considerably. We have been spoiled by owning a big home for a number of years, so bending to the rules of renting feels restrictive. Finding a job is never fun either, but Nic has applied for a number of positions and is making some progress there. We would love your prayers for God’s guidance in these areas. We started talking about moving to this area three whole years ago, and we feel like God has lined so many things up for us to make that dream come true. Now that we’re almost here, though, we really want to see some of these important things come together. It makes us anxious to know that we plan on driving a moving truck out here in less than two months without even knowing where all our stuff will land. And where will Nic find suitable work? And of course our growing baby will make his/her appearance just a few short months after our arrival here, so how will that work?

Forest road running partner

Sunset from Blacktail Mountain

In the meantime, we’re exploring Kalispell and its surroundings. We have camped the last few nights off random forest roads where we can find cell service and enough shade to keep us cool on these hot, dry summer days. It’s easy to remember why we want to live here when we again experience the infinite number of forest roads, trails, and lakes. We could spend the rest of our lives exploring this area, one backcountry spot at a time.

Speaking of backcountry experiences, we met some local color this evening. We have been minding our own business and exploring the top of Blacktail Mountain today. Skiing area by winter, local off-roading and hiking destination by summer, we expected to see more activity when we arrived last night. The very top of the mountain appears to be a high school hangout for who knows what kind of mischief, but we couldn’t hear any noise from our spot just a little downhill. We’ve seen typical OHV activity in the area today, but we parked far enough away from the road to avoid constantly eating dust from their crazy driving. While I was putting the finishing touches on dinner, a few guys parked their truck close to us and started walking over to talk to Nic while he loaded up our dirt bikes. They wanted to give us a friendly warning that they were about to blow up $200 of tannerite not too far away from where we were parked. Apparently, target practice at a load of tannerite is all the rage. You shoot the target, and you get a much more satisfying noise than broken glass. Perhaps you’ll even get hit with the blast wave. Things [male] hicks do. Anyway, they invited us out to watch the shenanigans. Out of the three recent high school graduates, only perhaps one was dependably sober. They proceeded to take turns shooting at the target with an old WWII semi-automatic rifle. While Nic engaged in the appropriate man talk and took videos with his phone, I stood back and covered my ears. These guys weren’t at all fazed by the occasional car that drove by us as they aimed their rifle over the cab of the truck. Fortunately, they guys handled their weapon safely, and we felt that the situation was much more amusing than dangerous. I lost interest after no one could hit the target at such long range, so I went back to the RV and waited for the big bang. I found poor Homer shaking pathetically; he does not enjoy the sound of gunfire and wanted to fit himself into the RV’s tightest corners for the rest of the evening. Luna didn’t seem perturbed at all, but she has been exposed to gunfire a bit. Open cans of beer on the hood of their truck, the guys let Nic try for the target with their gun and then with his shotgun. Finally, the ringleader got closer to the target and hit the explosives. The bang was indeed big enough to feel from quite a distance, but I know it wasn’t worth $200. After enjoying a bit of tequila, the guys did a few donuts and headed back down the mountain in a cloud of dust. Oh my. So this is who our kids will be attending high school with…