Road Trip North

The day after Easter Laura, Nelson and I headed north to Alaska.  The first day we drove just north of Fort Saint John B.C.  We had nice weather and good roads.

Stone Sheep near Toad River

 We also saw some elk and bighorn sheep in Jasper National Park, and quite a few deer everywhere else along the road.  The second day we drove to just past Whitehorse, YT.   This day we saw moose, caribou, stone sheep, and of course deer.

Caribou near Muncho Lake

 We woke up on the third day to a very frosty morning, about 19 degrees.  We were in Fairbanks, AK by 2 pm on the third day.

 

Laura and Nelson "enjoying" the drive.

 All in all the trip went well with no problems or bad weather and went by fairly fast.  The only complaint was the price of gas, close to $6.00 a gallon in Canada.

Road Trip

 Laura and I recently got back from a road trip to Indiana and Minnesota.  We went to Indiana to see my grandparents and to Minnesota to see Laura's parents.

Needles Highway in the Black Hills

We always seem to take the scenic route, we could probably get places a lot faster if we went direct but that's not any fun.  Everytime we have headed East we try and take a new route we haven't been on yet. This time we went through central Montana and into South Dakota to the Black Hills.  I think we spent over half a day driving around there.  We took the Needles highway which was very scenic for South Dakota, lots of exposed rock.  After exiting the Black Hills we went south into Nebraska, which was nice for about and hour, I think it took us about 8 to get across it.  Then it was on to Iowa and Illinois and well, there's  not much to see there unless you are into corn fields.  

The  eye of the "Needle"

Buffalo in the Black Hills

Once in Indiana we had a good time with Grandma and Grandpa.  they took us to a couple of state parks and showed us around .  We also tried helped them out around the house as much as they would let us.  We also got to experience some really warm weather.  I think it hit 83 one day while we were there, which seemed almost too warm for me.  Especially in April.  After visiting Grandma and Grandpa we headed to Minnesota to visit Laura's family.  

Ryan at Turkey Run state park in Indiana

  

On our way to Hutchinson MN we stopped in Montgomery MN to see Laura's friend Shannon.  While in Minnesota we got two nice days and then it turned cooler and windy.  It didn't help that I caught a cold somewhere along the way and didn't feel very well most of the time we were there.   The day we left Minnesota there was a dusting of snow on the ground and we drove through snow all the way to Bismarck ND. 

Spring in Montana

After Bismarck we drove out of the snow until about Havre MT, where we got to drive over snowy and slick roads.  In fact the snow got worse and worse until we came out of the mountains at Columbia Falls.   Marias Pass was terrible, it was about 20 degrees and the snow was deep on the road and visibility was minimal.  Beautiful spring weather in Montana.  

Altogether we drove over 5000 miles.  We will be back in Idaho about a week and then it will be time to head to Alaska.  Just enough time to do laundry and repack.