HOME SWEET HOME...

After our long trek through Canada we arrived at our new home in Anchorage, Alaska. The house is a lot better than we expected it to be and we really like it! The past couple of days we have been unpacking and trying to get settled.

This is the front of our house. His 2 buddies live upstairs and we live downstairs.

This is the front yard.


This is the back yard.

You enter our place from the backyard.

This is the entry way and the two bedrooms.

This is the bathroom...the only thing strange is there are hands everywhere!

This is the kitchen. The chairs are around a table that comes out from the bar.

You walk into the living room from the kitchen. The living room drops down about 2 feet (which is nice because it gives us a higher ceiling.

last leg of the trip...Canada

Wow! The last part of the trip was definitely the hardest. We left Washington around 4 in the afternoon on Sunday and drove straight through Canada to Anchorage. The first night in Canada we watched the sunset at midnight. It was crazy! The only time we stopped was to get gas or to cook meals. The scenery was beautiful and we were able to see a couple of waterfalls and some wildlife as well.

from Oregon to Washington

We woke up early Saturday morning and headed to Everrett, Washington to see one of Lyn's friends, Brian. We spent the day wondering the Pike's Place Fish Market and downtown Seattle. We had a great time looking around and watching the workers throw the fish and crabs! After we went to the casino...that was not a good idea. We did not have nearly as much luck as we did in Vegas! For dinner, Lyn cooked us BBQ chicken and it was yummy! We spent the night drinking and hanging out with Brian. It's been a while since we have seen him and it was good to catch up!

Today we are just going to hang out with Brian and are going to head to Canada shortly. Most likely we wont be able to post anything on the blog until we get to Alaska. I will post pictures from Canada once I get a chance!

I cannot believe this road trip is almost over. We have a couple days in Canada and 10 hours to my new home in Alaska! It is amazing how time has flown by...

at least they followed for a little while...

When we woke up at Greta's on Wednesday morning Lyn and I started thinking that we wanted to start heading north instead of spending another night at Greta's. After a little bit of convincing...Greta, Alejandro and Fredo decided that they were going to join us in the Redwoods for the night! I was sooo excited that we were going to be able to camp and spend the day in the Redwoods with all of them!

Lyn and I left a little earlier and stopped by the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lyn and I got to the campsite about an hour before the rest of the gang. We started setting up camp and cooking burgers. When Greta, Alejandro and Fredo arrived we sat around the fire, ate dinner and talked.

The next day we woke up and cooked breakfast. We drove the scenic route to the Redwoods. I cannot believe the size of the trees! We hiked around Big Tree State Park and saw some of the most amazing things. We all felt like we were in Honey I Shrunk the Kids!

We even drove through a living tree. How crazy is that?!?

Greta, Alejandro and Fredo left us about 2 in the afternoon. As they headed south we started heading north into Oregon. The Oregon coast was beautiful. Lyn and I ate lunch on the beach and spent about an hour walking up the beach.

We found a campsite by the ocean in Dune City, Oregon. We had pasta for dinner and just relaxed for the night. Today we woke up and started heading to Columbia River Gorge to see the waterfalls. It started raining when we got to Portland, but we decided we weren't going to let the weather bother us. I am so glad that we still went because the waterfalls were amazing! Everything just keeps getting better and better...

and we finally have the internet!

Zion National Park, Utah
On Friday we woke up and started heading to the Grand Canyon. On the way we stopped at Zion National Park. It was really pretty and fun to see where my parents used to camp when they were my age.

Colorado River, Arizona
While driving to the Grand Canyon we stopped and took some pictures of the Colorado River from the bridge.

Grand Canyon, Arizona
We got to the Grand Canyon on Friday afternoon and were able to get a campsite for the night. We set up camp and then drove around the canyon. If you have never been to the Grand Canyon…the pictures do not do it justice. It was one of the most amazing things I have seen by far. That night Lyn and I walked out on the rocks and watched the sunset. It was beautiful! After we watched the sunset we went back to the campsite and Lyn cooked us steak for dinner. We woke up early the next morning and headed towards Sin City.

Hoover Dam
On the way to Vegas we drove by the Hoover Dam.

Vegas, Nevada
We made it to Vegas around 4 in the afternoon and decided to rest up for the night festivities. We went to Margaritaville for dinner and headed to O’Sheas for some gambling. The poker table and craps table did not treat either one of us well…but we were able to win back what we lost the next morning at the craps table. When we were heading to the car to leave I realized that I did not have my keys. I had locked them in the car! Luckily Lyn checked the back door and I had to wedge myself through the boxes to get to the keys. That could have been a disaster!

Apple Valley, California
After Vegas we headed towards my aunt, Marjatta’s house. We stopped and rode the roller coaster at Wild Bill’s. It was a lot of fun! We got to my aunts around 7 and had an amazing dinner. We spent the night visiting with each other and having a blast.

Van Nuys, California
The next morning we woke up and drove to Van Nuys to see my grandpa. We spent the day talking and drinking beer. We had the pleasure of going to Martha and Lisa’s house as well. It was good to see that my grandpa has great neighbors to keep him in line! After we visited with the neighbors we went back to grandpa’s house and he cooked us a wonderful steak dinner. It was really nice to see him and I think Lyn had a great time meeting him too!

Big Sur, California
Yesterday we left my grandpa’s house early and headed towards San Francisco. We took the coast and went through Big Sur. The scenery up the coast was beautiful!

San Francisco, California

We got to Greta and Ale’s house in San Francisco around 5 in the evening. We decided to have a bonfire of the beach with Greta, Ale and their roommates and friends from Venezuela. We had a great time visiting, playing games and standing around the fire with the ocean in the background.

Today we are heading to the Redwoods and Greta, Ale and Alfredo decided to come along! I am so excited they are joining us for another night of our adventure to Alaska!

elk and pronghorn and buffalo oh my!

After we left Black Hills we drove through the Big Horn Mountains to get to Yellowstone. The scenery was wonderful until we were so high that we were in a cloud and could not see anything!

That evening we arrived in Yellowstone National Park. We were greeted by a huge buffalo at the entrance! I could not believe the size of it. On Tuesday night we stayed at a campsite in Yellowstone. On Wednesday morning we woke up at around 6 with about an inch of snow on our tent! That morning we went to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and saw one of the most amazing waterfalls. We spent the day driving around Yellowstone and looking at all of the waterfalls and wildlife. We also stopped a couple of times so Lyn could fish. Before we left Yellowstone we went to see Old Faithful. It was really neat to see the water come out of the ground and go 60 feet up in the air!

Today we spent the day driving to Utah. We were supposed to make it to Bryce and camp there, but it took us a little longer than expected! So, we got a hotel near Zion National Park.