Start: Dawson City, Yukon
Finish: Whitehorse, Yukon
Miles today: 327
Miles total: 4212

big game: zero, big goose egg, zip, zippo, no hay nada más

Growing up there were certain thing about my Dad that we all held as undeniable truths. My mother told us these “facts” and maintains their truthfulness to this day. After 15 days and 14 nights with my Dad I’m here to set the record straight.

The Internet is amazing. I am getting WiFi everywhere. On the other hand the AT&T cell coverage is non-existent out here. And out here is basically all of Canada. I was about to get a Skype account for calling land lines… but I guess we could use a pay phone… I think they still have those around. Don’t they?

Today was an easy day. The first day in a long time that we were on asphalt! And surprisingly very little traffic. Seems like after school is back in the only traffic are locals and the Holland America tour buses. The colors are amazing. Yellow, gold, pale and deep greens along with carpets of red. I have to remember this is not the Dempster so I can’t use both halves of the road… they have lines on these roads and they get upset if you go outside of those lines. But with very little traffic no one seems to mind. That was the Klondike. Tomorrow we start our trip south on the ALCAN.

The rains came in today and it helped clean the bugs off the windshield. Hopefully, mother nature will clean off the sides so the Last Great Road Trip sticker is visible again. I may have to break down and clean it up again.

We are in Whitehorse, Yukon. The population is 13,000. Wow that seems like a lot after staying in so many cities and towns where the population could be counted without having to take off your shoes. Whitehorse has parking meters for downtown. In places like Deadhorse you just pull off the road and call it a good. The choices we had in Whitehorse for hotels almost froze us in our tracks. Luckily, Dad was able to put that 30 years of IBM systems engineering to work, build a decision tree and picked a hotel. It was the first one that said Internet on the sign.

Tomorrow is going to be a hard day’s night. We’re looking at about 500 miles. And it looks like it will be in the rain…

I know the pictures are thin… but do you really want a picture of Dad and I eating sandwiches in the rig at a rest-stop call the roadhouse? Or Images of us filling up the gas tank again with 39 liters of premium gas?

There are long times when neither of us say much…. but when the silence is broken by calling out a mile (kilometer) marker or other mundane road sign, we both know it is just our way of saying glad you’re here with me on this adventure.

WOW: Six, Seven, Eight new comments. Thank you! Do you know why 6 was afraid of 7? Because 7,ate 9! these math jokes crack me up.

Jim: You crack me up… But seriously, use the back alley for your next expedition to Home Depot and than you can tell everyone how you had to go off road to get to the mall. Start thinking Antigua 2008.

Shelia: We are on our way back but an exact arrival ETA is tough since it depends on how many miles we feel like driving. My guess 4 more days.

Mary: it is 46 years. And Dad knew the important dates… they are engraved in his wedding band.

John: Ok if you want to live this… I’m trying to write this post while Dad sucks the paint off the walls with his snoring… I’m sure though when he is up at five and I’m dead asleep, he thinks… Great Paul is snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Yeah… It is worth it.

Barbie: thanks for the note and checking in on the family while Dad and I are on this expedition. Top of the world this time… Next adventure Antigua.

Carla / Ray: Thank you for the words of encouragement. Have a safe trip to Michigan. Say hi to Maura’s brothers. Several of them will be there rooting on the Ducks with you.

Joyce: You show people this… If I knew anyone would see and read this I would have never started the blog. Thanks for keeping us alive and well at work.

Start: Inuvik, North West Territory
Finish: Dawson City, Yukon
Miles today: 450
Miles total: 3872

Caribou: 8
Wild mustangs: 7
Porcupine: 1

I have finally achieved the Zen road trip adventure state I’ve been after. When the adventure started I was jumping up at 5:00 a.m. just like it was work. Now… 8:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m. Dad wakes me… I’m in a relaxed state of mind. I find myself logging on the Internet when ever I can to check if any new comments have been left for us. Every time I see a new comment my spirits get a nice lift. Thanks for letting us know you guys are following along.

After a day of rest, laundry, and talking with local folks we left Inuvik and are heading south for the rest of the adventure… We did stop at the North Mart to buy some food for the road so we could avoid those $10 cardboard sandwiches at Eagle Pass.

The morning started out the same as always… Dad gets in an early nap. I plug in the iPod and listen to some Jimmy Buffet. It is nice being able to plug in the iPod to the car stereo since there is nothing coming in over the airwaves.

Coming back down the Dempster means 449 miles, two ferries and at least one gas stop. On the way north we had some traffic. On the way south, we drove 53 miles before we saw any other car on the road. Part of that is the ferry which does not begin service until 9:30 a.m. As we pulled up to the first ferry it was clear we were the first to be heading south. This ferry runs on a wire and is pulled across the river giving the boat staff time between docking.  The crew checked us out and thought our rig was cool… they asked if they could look inside and asked us about it on the short boat rid across the river. We asked, how do you make a dock out of dirt that does not wash away…  “You don’t.  You just keep remaking it.”

The Dempster is better than the Haul Road with less truck traffic and getting by an oncoming rig is not such a tight squeeze. However with the clear dry weather the gravel and dirt road is a bit dusty and trucks kick up dust. A lot of dust. There is no question when a truck is coming, you see the dust cloud coming from a mile away. This truck made the passing easy he slowed and moved to the side. The trucks on Haul Road did not slow down and did not give up any of the road. It was up to us to get small and move to the edge of the road and then not get sworn at to much.

We hit a major milestone. We crossed the Arctic Circle’s line of demarcation for the last time. To commemorate the fourth and final crossing, Dad and I pulled out our sandwiches from North Mart and enjoyed a little picnic. Ok, not a champagne and caviar, and the entertainment was an iPod, but the sun was out and the company was good, making this the best celebration so far.

On the way back we crossed a two mountain ranges. Mountain ranges tend to hold clouds up. At this pass we had just come through a hail storm and a brief down pour. You can see the clouds hanging over us. Even with the clouds you can see the veins of gold running down the mountain. I stuck the rig in there so you would have a little perspective on how vast the land here is.

Did I mention the road was dusty! 900 mile of the Dempster.

We ended the day where we started it two days ago, at Klondike Kate’s. It was 8:00 p.m. and sunny when we rolled in to the restaurant. They were packed for dinner. It is a great feeling when you sit down and from the back comes Josee (Owner and big Toyota fan) to welcome us. While we’re not rock stars, it is nice to feel special so far from home. We’ll see Josee one more time for breakfast before we leave for Whitehorse.

John: You have to be one of our biggest supporters. Thanks! No terry cloth robs, no room service and no day spa activities. Unfortunately I am not loosing weight we are just paying too much to continue to eat more than I should.

Joyce: I know you felt all cloths were created equal and deserving of equal respect. Filling up the gas tank today $86. Unfortunately the Canadian Paso is up against the dollar. One Canadian dollar equals 95 cents US.

Randy: Glad to hear from you and I’m all for hooking into a few Sea Runs when I get back.

Mary: Thank you for keeping up with us and publicizing the trip so much.

Start: Inuvik, North West Territory
Finish: Inuvik, NWT
Miles today: 0
Miles total: 3422

We came in late last night and decided we could use a day of rest. The day of rest felt good but it also gave us an opportunity to miss everyone not on the trip (home sick). All y’all’s notes help and we appreciate the thoughts and comments.

We did make a run to the gas station to fill up the rig. The price is $1.79 per liter. For the math challenged folks their are 3.79 liters in a gallon which means we paid $6.78 a gallon. Yesterday on the way in to Inuvik we stopped at Eagle Creek the half way point to fill up and buy two sandwiches along with two sodas. I know they were sandwiches because they had two pieces of bread, a sliver of ham, one piece of lettuce and a dab of mayonnaise. This stop $106.44! I can’t figure out weather a $7 gas price or $9 day-old sandwich wrapped in Saran Wrap is worse. The law of supply and demand is definitely at work in this part of the world.

I walked through town… yes walked… down to the Inuvik cultural and visitor center. The woman running the center is Naudia Lennie. She has lived in this area all her life. Naudia and I talked about growing up in the area, the bush, and how energy companies have changed the culture. While Naudia and I talked I heard a theme in her stories of tribal elders and her youth. Her theme is that we continue to have to learn the lessons of respect for all over and over.

If you have never seen a musk ox up close here is an opportunity. These things are just a decade north of prehistoric and they don’t move unless they want too. This one doesn’t move at all since he is stuffed and standing in the visitor center.

While I walked around town Dad was able to catch up on a proper nap. That nap really paid off since after he awoke, he threw together a load of our laundry so we are bright, clean and neat again. And yes one load with all the cloths thrown together. While Mom and Hula Betty are cringing… We have clean cloths even if we mixed whites, colors and darks all together in one load…. Remember we are celebrating diversity.

We are staying at the Eskimo Inn. The hotel is popular with the contractors working on the gas and oil rigs out in the ocean. Nothing exciting but the rooms are clean and warm. Dad gets the double bed, I get the single bed in the corner. Did I mention Dad did the laundry… I’ll take the single bed every time.

Permafrost is ground that remains frozen for two or more years. Up here we are on the permafrost so the buildings need to adapt to that. If you set a building on the ground, the heat will eventually melt the earth below and the house will sink. To get around this, everything is set off the ground a couple of feet. Houses, sheds as well as water and sewer pipes.

Did i mention we drove 449 miles of gravel road yesterday… not to be a baby but that was a lot and we lost two hours… I know you’re asking your self how did they loose two hours? Well we crossed into the North West Territories and they are in a different time zone. And they don’t use daylight savings… when the day lasts six months the idea of daylight savings doesn’t make much sense.

Barbie: Thank you for the b-day thoughts and the Labour Day info. Dad says hi back.

John: This was no road… its half run off creek, half horse trail, half two track… a lot of halves make a hole. And yes it was about two miles when we reached the top of a mountain and decided to turn around. The trail continued and we were told that the trails around there lead to old mining claims.

Please keep those cards and letters coming, we really appreciate the thoughts and questions.

Start: Dawson City, Yukon Canada
Finish: Inuvik, Northwest Territory Canada
Miles today: 449
Miles total: 3422

Bobcat: 1
Ptarmigan: 5
Weasel: 1
Windshield rock chip: 1

It appears most fans are reading about us at work… Y’all have lots of post to catch up on from the long weekend. Don’t let the boss catch you.

There are approximately seven billion souls in the world, 33,009,102 people living in Canada and two cool Internet domains “lastgreatroadtrip.com” (thats us) and “thelastgreatroadtrip.com” (an annual publication dedicated to traveling Alaska and British Columbia). Guess who we ran into today? And check out Greg’s Toyota… Right hand drive.

Dawson City is still thriving on its mining and gold rush heritage. Many of the businesses have a history dating back to 1900s and ties to the historic figures of the town. For example Klondike Kate’s is a tribute to Kate Rockwell known as: “The Queen of the Klondike”, “flower of the North” and the “Darling of Dawson” by the miners of the time.

Today Josee Savard is the proprietress of Klondike Kate’s and as she jumped up on the bull bar I swear I heard, Silly boy, 4×4 rigs are for girls! Turns out Josee loves the FJ Cruiser and is planning to get one soon. She is hoping Toyota will see that she is the self-appointed number 1 Toyota fan and reward her with a discount on her FJC. As you might have guessed Kondike Kate’s has t-shirts, and Josee was eager to make a trade. Hopefully we’ll get a picture of Joesee and her FJC as soon as she picks it up.

When this adventure was first conceived, traveling the Haul Road was the major goal. As we moved closer to our adventure’s start date, we expanded the off-asphalt portion to include Inuvik at the top of the Dempster Highway. The Dempster Highway is 457 miles from its start out side of Dawson City to its finish in Inuvik. We decided to do this all in one day… Today! We started up the highway around 11:00 a.m. we finished around midnight. And we listened to Jimmy Buffet all the way.

The tundra is different here on the Dempster. We are in the hills with the scrubby spruce trees everywhere. The views are limited when we are on the road but on the hill tops you can see forever.

By the way the Dempster highway took out of The Yukon and put us deep into the Northwest Territory with 1,171,918 square kilometers and one city. We lost… or gained an hour… it is one hour later than where we were… This bit of information would have help us to know… things close early and if you think it is seven p.m. and it is really nine p.m. you have a problem. You’ll find out more about that later. Here is a map that will give you some perspective on the vastness of Canada’s Northwest Territories:  It’s big…  Really BIG! with very few roads northwest territories highways map

In order for everyone to experience the road, we have a couple of pictures to let you know exactly what Dad and I are experiencing.

There is the view we have out the front window.

And then there is the view out of the back… we don’t look backwards much…  ok any, it’s not like we have traffic following us.

And finally there is the view we had on the Dempster as the sun went down.

We are finding out that the impulsive portion of our adventure comes with some challenges. First, we drove into Fort McPherson, about 3/4 up the Dempster planning to fill up the rig. According to the “Mile Post” there are two gas stations to serve travelers. The first one was closed for Labor Day… since when is Labor Day a holiday in Canada? The second was closed just because it was 9:00 p.m. Remember this is a town with less than 1,000 people and very few visitors this or any time of year. So we left Fort McPherson, with a half a tank of gas, a full set of tunes and a mission from god hoping to make Inuvik, the next fuel stop 186 km north…  hoping our km to mpg conversion is correct.

Second, we had a ferry to catch… they don’t run around the clock… all we knew was they run  about 14 hours a day… but not when they start or when they stop… it was now 9:30 p.m…. drive… DRIVE like HELL and hope it is still running… or… we sleep in the car and catch the first ferry in the morning.

The final challenge came when we finally coasted into Inuvik on fumes after catching our ferry (yes we caught the last sailing) and found the hotel we had been referred too. Banging on a locked hotel door should have indicated a problem. When a face finally came to the window, she told us they were closed for the season.  For the season??!!  This is no way to run a business. Well Dad pulled out the guide books and found the Eskimo Inn. Why the Eskimo Inn… It has the most rooms in town. And we got the last one!

Joyce: You were right on the direction… But we turn back north and will be here for another day… than you’re right… it is all south and homeward bound. But we plan to have a few more adventures on the way as we connect with the ALCAN.

Shelia: Good eyes… but I shaved most of it off this morning… now I’m sporting a goat. That will last until I return home. Your sister hates me with a goat.

Two generations has referred to Dad and I. When we awoke this morning we found two generations of Toyota.

Back tracking from Fairbanks to Tok was uneventful… and when I say uneventful I mean Dad napped most of the time for the first 150 miles. Dad claimed to be resting his eyes and throwing out a couple of snores now and than to keep me attentive to the road. This simply meant there was a lot of me time to enjoy the road. Today there was significantly less traffic then a few days back making the me time absolutely just myself.

After Tok we headed to Chicken. And as the 1/2 day post said there is no electricity, no water and no indoor plumbing. There are generators, water tankers, solar collectors and free WiFi Internet. The road to Chicken falls into the category of washboard gravel with patch of asphalt. The road makes Chicken a welcome stop for lunch and world famous pie… Really the pie is world famous and very very very good. Dad had apple while I enjoyed the blueberry pie. Surprisingly there are multiple Chicken want-a-bees. There is the historic Chicken, there is the “Town of Chicken” there is even a “Chicken Creek”. Anything for a buck, buck. Since they are all within a block of each other, we saw them all just to make sure we had the whole chicken experience.

After you leave Chicken you head to the Canadian boarder. The road winds through long time mining activities. These guys take mining seriously since many make a living on their claims. As we climbed out of the valley and approached the boarder we took the turnout only 1000 meters from the crossing to take a last look at Alaska. It is so cool having a car that draws people in. We are in the middle of no where looking over the mountains and a couple pulls in so they can get a look at the rig (ok maybe the breathtaking scenic view). Mike and Martha are from Germany on a drive through the Northwest. They rented a truck and have driven south east Alaska, Denali park and are now, like us, heading to the Dempster Highway. Mike was great, he is thinking about getting an FJ so he was full of questions about how it rides and handles. He also let us know about the roads he’d traveled in Australia. With any luck we’ll see them again on the Dempster.

When you cross the boarder the highway becomes the “Top of the World” highway. You drive the gravel along the mountain ridge tops giving you views for miles in all directions with very few other vehicles anywhere on the road. There are no guard rails so you don’t want to enjoy the view too much.

If you’re going to get a 4×4 rig, give it an injection of testosterone with butch mods, you really need to take it further off road than the mall. All along the Top of the World highway were these two tracks heading up to the top of the next peak. Dad and I decided to take a random turn and follow one of the two tracks. What started out pretty tame turned into a fun little trail run to the top of a bluff a couple of miles in. We know others have been here before us, but we can’t help but consider how lucky we are to be in a place and looking out over what most others never will.

Dad and I used to hike… This is much easier… Grasping a moment for a little trail run is what makes this a great adventure instead of a forced march.

Dawson City is our goal for the night. The last 1/4 of a mile require a ferry. This is not like the Seattle ferry… This ferry runs 7×24 on a demand basis. When the ferry is ready to leave, it hurls itself into the current of the Yukon River and the captain guns the engine to start heading across. You quickly notice you are being pulled down stream as the massive engines burp smoke and churn the water to gain a foothold against the current. This is the same way they have been crossing the river for centuries so who are we to go against tradition.

We did not have a reservation in Dawson City and it turns out today was the annual outhouse races. That means all the hotels in town were booked up. We did manage to find a room just out of town…

… it even has indoor plumbing (have to be specific out here), HBO and free WiFi. We wandered back to town and had dinner at the oldest working casino in North America, Diamond Tooth Gerties. What happens at Diamond Tooth Gerties…  Stays at Diamond Tooth Gerties.

Mary: Dad is sleeping in a warm cozy bed every night… I get the futon, roll-away or what ever is left over.

Rather than detail the journey from Fairbanks to Tok, I’ll refer you to day 4 Arctic Circle adventure and suggest you read from the bottom up.

The cool thing is that this post is being published from Chicken, Alaska. Go follow the link and see what is what in Chicken, I’ll be back with more later or you can see what I posted about small towns in Alaska before the trip…

The town’s fore fathers wanted to name the town after the Alaska state bird but they couldn’t agree on how to spell Ptarmigan.  Welcome to Chicken, Alaska.

This place is everything we had hoped for… and less. But know this… in Chicken there is no electricity, no phone or cell service, no running water, no indoor plumbing but there is free WiFi access from a solar powered satellite up-link. How else did you think I got this up to the website??!! Technology triumphs again.

And yes… I’m having pie!

Two posts and we are all caught up. With all the work I’m putting in you better go back and read them… I’ll try not to fall behind again.

Day 9 of the Arctic Circle Adventure

Day 10 of the Arctic Circle Adventure

Thanks for all the comments and encouragement they mean a lot to us on the road.

Start: Wiseman, Alaska
Finish: Fairbanks, Alaska
Miles today: 217
Total Miles: 2584

Big Game Count:0

First lets get the important things out of the way: Oklahoma 79 the other guys 10. Go Big Red! College football started today. It is a great day!

When there is no electricity and it is raining you go to bed early and get up early. I awoke to a thud and found Dad and his mattress on the floor. That is how our day started out in the cabin. You knew it just had to get better from there.

Coldfoot camp is open 24 hours a day. That is good since we headed right over to there when we left Wiseman at zero dark thirty. A good breakfast and a full tank of gas are a great way to brighten an overcast rainy morning.

Driving back through the Alaskan bush this time we took advantage of the sites we picked out on the way up. For example, Grayling lake is a beautiful spot and famed for its fishing. We had scouted it on the way up and I wanted to wet a line on the way south. I am not a lake fishing guy and with the lake surrounded by trees up to the shoreline, casting was not easy. Fish 1, Me 0.

I get rivers. When we pulled up to Jim River 3, yes there is a Jim River 2 and 1, I knew this had potential. With the third cast I was into a very nice Arctic Grayling and before long I had him landed and released back into the water. The Arctic Grayling has always been one of the fish on my list to cast too but until now I’ve never been near water that held them. This morning was continuing to improve.

When you go north up into the Arctic Circle, you have to come back out the same way. This was our second crossing of the famed latitude. This time there were no fly or mosquito swarms about so we lingered a little, read the plaques and checked out some of the rustic camp sites.

Why are there Economists? To make weathermen appear more accurate. When you’re on the road weather matters, and it doesn’t. You would like it to be sunny and blue sky but the rain can be refreshing as well. So how do the weathermen get their data to make their predictions? Well on the Dalton Highway it stations like this that relay information back. Ok this is a little geeky but since Dad and I went exploring the different two tracks off the highway we have found all sorts of cool stuff like this.

The last fuel stop coming south, or the first going north is Yukon Crossing, on what else but the Yukon river. This place is part of the life line of Haul Road. You can fuel up, get a bite to eat and pick up a t-shirt. And that is exactly what we did. But you guessed it, Mike and I did a little horse trading and I ended up with a cool Yukon River Camp t-shirt.

A few days back when we first stopped at the Arctic Circle marker we met to friends Jason and Vadimira. They were heading up into the Brooks Range for some camping. Vadimira is from Slovakia working in Anchorage as an Au Pair for the summer. With a week off she and Jason decided to do a little camping and see how far north they could go. They also brought the dog… big and lovable.

We’d seen their truck a number of times and finally caught back up with them at Yukon Crossing and than again at a scenic look out. With all this crisscrossing of paths we decided we needed a picture of them and they could use a Last Great Road Trip shirt.

Well we left the Haul Road and are back on the main highway again. We rolled into Fairbanks found a hotel and a car wash. The rig was wearing a thick layer of the Dalton Highway. The road contains a chemical to stabilize the gravel, mud and rubber mix that is a bit corrosive so getting it off is important. Washing off the Haul Road took $28 in quarters. Now to go and put so new dirt on the rig.

We want to thank Mary of Working Web Solutions (WWS), Web Design Portland, Oregon who has been reviewing and correcting the grammatical errors on these posts… but as so many pointed out…  maybe we could use a new editor. WWS also performed a little search engine optimization so we should be easier for you to find.

Mike: Wow we have not been gone from your place for more than an hour and you already found us on-line. Thank you so much for the t-shirt trade and travel wishes. Have a great weekend.

John: Thanks for the sooner update. I know you have my back.

Kara: Thanks for the birthday wishes. Hope you guys are having fun on your trip in CA.

Joyce: You remembered my b-day, I’m touched. With all your friends and you still remember my birthday… Thank you, your still our number one fan.

Start: Deadhorse, Alaska
Finish: Wiseman, Alaska
Miles today: 220
Total Miles: 2313

Dall Sheep 40
Musk Ox: 18
Caribou: 16
Ground Squirrel: lots (they’re not big game but so darn cute)
Window chips: 1

We woke up in Deadhorse at the Prudhoe Bay Hotel. The view is nothing to write home about but the room, meals and location make up for the view. It was 34 degrees this morning and technically still summer.

You cannot get to the Arctic Ocean from Deadhorse unless you are in the know and possess $30. We happened to have both. In order to reach the Arctic Ocean you need to go through the North Slope oil fields and the drilling operations run by BP, Exxon, Shell and a few others. Since 911 the area has been off limits to the public. The way around this little road block is to join an organized tour group which takes folks by bus, explaining the oil field operations and showing the sites, including the Arctic Ocean.

The tour is run out of the Caribou Inn, the only other hotel in Deadhorse, and is associated with the Princess Cruise Line. About 50 folks cruised their way up to Anchorage and then bussed up through Denali National Park, to Fairbanks and finally Deadhorse. The great thing about taking this tour was the ability to be one of the youngest one in the room again. Even our Security Escort was retiring this year after 23 years on the oil fields.

The tour starts with a video (read commercial) on the history and safety record of the pipeline. The oil field is a 365, 24×7 operation with the guys working 12 hour shifts, two weeks on followed by two weeks off. Unless the planes are grounded or can’t land due to fog, Ice, or extreme cold. When we finished watching the commercial (oops I mean historically rich video) and our security escort returned, he had some bad news. There are three polar bears in the region and currently one is loitering by the location where we would normally get out an see the Arctic Ocean. Their security had been maintaining a watch on the bear for a few hours. Because the polar bear was in the area we would not be allowed off the buses.

As we piled on to the buses for the tour we were joined by Greg, the owner of the Caribou Inn who runs the local tours of the oil field. Once under way Greg explained how the different fields are self-contained with staff and dorm rooms. He pointed out that they have their own fire department and private security. He showed us where the oil executives stay when they fly up for their annual meeting. Greg also explained how they inspect every inch of pipe in a giant warehouse prior to it being approved for use and how they are able to explore for new oil with a minimal impact to the environment by performing this work only in winter.

And with that we circled a lot of rusting equipment and found the Arctic Ocean in front of us. Greg and the Security Escorts conferred. There was some chin rubbing, and some chatter on the walkie-talkies. More chin rubbing and after a little more conferring, we were told we could go out to the water in small groups while the additional security who had met us there posted watch. Turns out the polar bear had last been seen by security swimming out to sea only 30 minutes earlier. The bears can swim for miles and are almost impossible to spot since most of their mass in underwater.

When our turn came, we got off the bus and headed for the ocean only 30 yards away. Prepared for this opportunity, I had thrown on shorts and Keens. While others removed their shoes and socks, rolled up there paint legs and tip-toed into the water as it lightly lapped at the shore, I walked in up to my knees and stood in the 38 degree ocean water waiting for Dad to take a picture. This water is cold, and when Dad finally snapped a few pictures, I quickly ran back to shore to see the results. At that point I adjusted the camera, handed it back to Dad and proceeded back into the 38 degree ocean.

Dad’s turn was next and I readied the camera. Dad explained to me it is not the amount of water you experience but the intensity with which you experience the water. So as Dad stuck his finger into the 38 degree water he said “Rubin & the crew at the Ocean Shores McDonald’s; Joan and Harold I hope you are enjoying the pictures and adventure stories.” And with that Dad completed his swim in the Arctic Ocean and headed back to the bus.

We headed out of Deadhorse in a drizzle. While coming north the weather was sunshine and blue skies, today reflected to true charter of region. Heading south we slipped back into our seats, smiled and started to peer out the windows for large game animals to add to our count. Today was a banner day for Musk Oxen and Dall Sheep. There are 27,000 caribou in the Prudhoe Bay heard. We saw 16. They must count the same caribou more than once.

On the way south as we retraced our previous steps, we descended into the Brooks Mountain Range. One knoll in particular seemed to call out my name. Well being charitable and cautious I approached it. In fact I made a quick walk up to the top of the knoll to take in one final drink of the surrounding beauty. And while the clouds seem to be following us down the mountains, the view remains incredible as I looked for miles in both directions.

We’ve stayed in Wiseman before. S we know what to expect living off the grid. We did not know to expect this time. When the two B&B’s in Wiseman are full, June rents out her guest cabin. And by cabin I mean it has four walls and a roof. No power, no water, not heat. The outhouse is 20 feet away. You do receive a pitcher of drinking water, a wash towel and basin along with four, one gallon jugs of water to wash up with. With no lights, no plumbing and no Internet this post will definitely be delayed.

Dave: Glad you’re tracking us and I would recommend a trip with their dad to anyone. The t-shirts are a good ice breaker and thanks to Taylor Made T-shirts for getting them to us.

Mary: just because I don’t doesn’t mean I can’t. Glad the story touched you guys but I don’t know about the cruise maybe a 14 day mother daughter bike tour.

Jim: Thanks for the condolences on Hula Betty. She will be missed. The weather is here, wish you were beautiful and thanks for sticking around and reading our posts. Knowing you guys are there rooting for us is very encouraging.

Joyce: Homicide, have you been watching Law and Order again?

Keep Calm and Read On

I just posted Day 7 & Day 8 stories on the website so catch up on our adventure.

I know we didn’t have to tell you that…  but six years from now when we look back…  and we will look back… we’ll want to know what happened.  It may be the only record that I worked my ass off for all y’all to get back in your good graces by posting the stories of this crazy arctic adventure.