Ft. St. John, BC

After seven hours and a mere 408 miles we have arrived at Ft. St. John, British Columbia.  It's a bit different here as the town did not go on Savings time.  So when we got here at 3:15 it was actually 2:15 just for this town.  Strange.
The weather has been good.  Sun shine once in a while and temps in the 60s.  A little wind, but not bad.
We did stop and take a quirky picture of a sculpture of a Beaver at Beaver Lodge, Alberta.  Then we were welcomed into British Columbia.  Next we joined the Alaska Highway.  Besides the sign for the highway, there was a sculpture of a man pointing the way in the middle of the round about.  Then I took a few pictures of the scenery.  It is prettier than the pictures, but you get an idea of what it's like.  We have been on some steep slopes - 6% and 10% grades.  A little scary coming down the 10% grade-for me any way.  Barry is cool as a cucumber!  I'm glad he was driving.  I drove earlier on flatter land.
We are making it an early night as we have a long day tomorrow.  Estimate of 10 hours.  That's due to the lack of towns.  We should enter the Yukon for the night.  Watson Lake to be specific.

Edmonton, Alberta

Made it to Edmonton, Alberta, by 6:00. Forgot to mention yesterday that we drove 447 miles.  Today we put in 496 miles.  Also, forgot yesterday to explain one of the pictures.  It's a photo of the marker identifying the geographical center on North America.

Today's photos start with a moose crossing sign.  We had seen several and just couldn't resist any longer.  Heather, does that qualify for the one quirky stop we were suppose to do?  

Then there's a couple of pictures welcoming us to Alberta the Wild Rose Country.  They have that on their license plates along with the picture of a red rose.  Then we were welcomed to Vermillion River Region.  Actually, every county in Alberta has a big "Welcome" sign.  We didn't stop to get them all.

Sorry we aren't doing anything too terribly exciting.  

We are seeing beautiful country.  We have gone from the wide open prairies to small hills and lots of trees.  Not quite as many yet as they had in the New England states, but much more than the prairies we crossed earlier.

We did face rain again today.  Started with rain, then had a brief stint with the sun!  The rain returned for another hour or so, then we finally seem to have left the rain behind for now.  It's windy and in the 60s, so need our jackets.  

I drove for a few hours, so didn't get any knitting projects done.  Still working on a hat.  Barry red a Hot Rod magazine and slept a little while I drove.  Like I said, not too much exciting happening with us.

Regina, SK

Pictured at the top is the "Welcome to North Dakota" from Yesterday.  

We started this morning with breakfast at I Hop with Jeanine.  I am really happier than I look :-)

It was a great time with Jeanine.

We got out of Grand Forks at 10:00 and it was sprinkling.  Then we ran into fog for about 10 miles.  It was pretty bad at times.  Then we had rain until about 30 from Regina.  Sometimes really hard rain, most the time just a real steady rain.  There are places where the water is about ready to go over the highway.  

The flags flew over the building where they checked our passports and we entered Canada.  Then the next two pictures are welcoming to Saskatchewan.  I thought the one about Medicare was interesting.  Here I thought it was an American idea, not Canadian.  Guess my understanding of the world is a bit limited.

I got more knitting done.  Finished a hat and will finish another one tonight.

Barry was hoping to see the NASCAR race, but Canada TV doesn't have TNT.  We are watching the Boston Red Sox play the Yankees.  

That's it for now.  Talk to you tomorrow.

Grand Forks, North Dakota

We arrived at Grand Forks at 4:45.  We drove in a lot of rain.  Omaha was busy traffic and lots of rain.  Then it let up a little, but still rain to South Sioux City.  Quit for a while.  Got to mile marker 214 and had a torrential rain for four miles.  Couldn't always see the truck ahead of us.  It was like a wall of gray.  Rain did then let up.  Got into Grand Forks and it started to rain again. 
After a little visit with Jeanine we all went to Applebees for a nice dinner.  Jeanine drove us around Grand Forks.  Went across the Red River into East Grand Forks, Minnesota.  Saw all the levees and walls they have put up since the flood in 1997.  They are very nice looking and very practical.  We are at the house now and settling in for the night. 
The ride up I29 showed South Dakota to look a lot like Nebraska country without the pivots.  Did get into an area that looked like the rolling dunes of the Sandhills, but covered with lots of green grass.  Could see bluffs in the distance at times. 
North Dakota was a lot flatter.  No rolling hills or bluffs.  Just flat land.  Both states are very green - many different shades of green with touches of gold.
We go across northern North Dakota tomorrow and will see if the land changes any. 
We drove app. 550 miles in 8 1/2 hours.  It's been a good day.  I got the scarf finished that I had started knitting a couple of weeks ago and about half done with a matching hat.  Barry did all the driving today.

Heading Out

Well, we've been up since 6 and just have to load food and make last check on the house.  Got dishes done from breakfast and house is reasonably clean for when we get back.  Barry has taken out the trash.  Now I need to shut down the home computer and get the food loaded.  Talk to you soon.

Setting Up

June 9, 2014
I'm setting up the blog for our 2014 Alaska Trip.  Next I need to set up a way for people to comment on the blogs I write.  Wish me luck!