Scenes from the Road

We have arrived at our new home in Alaska and we have internets! When I last posted, I was writing in the midst of chaotic packing and preparing to hit the road to drive almost 3500 miles. The night before the movers were to arrive, M. and I went to bed a little bit worried that we hadn’t packed enough or cleaned enough, but we were too exhausted to do any more. The next morning we woke up even more anxious as a thunderstorm crashed over our house. We were concerned that the movers might postpone or cancel due to liability issues. When we hadn’t heard anything to indicate they weren’t coming by 7:45, I went ahead and took Bailey to daycare so that she would be out from underfoot and picked up a coffee at Starbucks. By the time I got back, the movers were there and presumably expertly packing our fragile items into boxes.* They were efficient and capable. At around 11:00 am, I looked around our half-empty townhouse and told M. that if we could finish cleaning and be on the road by 3pm that we should make for Fargo. By 12:30 pm all of our things were loaded on the truck. M. made a massive recycling run, and I finished vacuuming and cleaning the fridge. At 2:30 we picked up Bailey from her daycare (although they did try to tell us they couldn’t find her since they were sad to see her go), and we began our epic 6.5 day journey. 

We drove through prairies and forests; we drove over twisty (and somewhat scary) mountain passes and by sparkling lakes; we narrowly missed colliding with a bear and running over a beaver. We saw and applauded a number of bad-ass cyclists hauling it up mountains. The scenery was spectacular, especially once we got into British Columbia and further west. Here are some views we had from the road (there are some more on my 365 blog as well):

Before we set out we had printed out maps and itineraries from Google, which suggested that most of our days on the road would be in the 11-14 hour range without stops. Fortunately, we made somewhat better time than that, and our longest day on the road was only about eleven hours. However, 8-10 hours in the car for five consecutive days was long enough, and I ended most of the days feeling cramped and stiff and sore. Even so, I definitely felt like we got lucky. I was able to find decent coffee on all but one of the mornings. Bailey got sick relatively few times – and only once in the car. We made it in one piece without getting lost or without breaking down in a barren stretch of the Yukon Territory where we had no cell phone service. I got in one short, easy run and two short little yoga practices. By the end of the trip, M. and I were still getting along quite well. It was no vacation, but we don’t regret the decision that we made to drive – though I freely admit that we never would have chosen to do it this way if we weren’t afraid that the airline would deny our dog passage due to her debilitating separation anxiety.

What's the longest stretch of consecutive days you have spent driving?

*Until our stuff gets put into a container and arrives here intact, I cannot certify the actual level of expertise involved. It seemed legit, but the jury is still out.