Cleaning Windows (Number a Hundred & 36)

Random blog post number a hundred and thirty six.  We're taking our time.  We'll post a recap of the past week later today or tomorrow.  We've received some nasty emails asking us to hurry up already and post something, anything about Yellowstone and bison and bears and the Badlands and all the annoying billboards littering South Dakota.  We have this message for you via Van Morrison: "Baby don't let it slide, I'm a workin man in my prime...cleaning windows."

PS!!! WELCOME TO THE WORLD,

MILES AUGUST RUCINSKI!!!

National Park madness

Banff National Park was breathtaking. We spent three nights in the park - one at a very chilly campsite, the next warming up at a hostel in Lake Louise and the third in the epicenter - Banff town. The first night was so chilly, in fact, that it was necessary that we air our truck bed out and dry some bedding. We had accumulated quite a bit of condensation that had frozen on the roof of the truck and on our blankets. Since then we've been experimenting with ventilation. Perhaps we had our windows cracked too much? 

It was nice to spend the night in the hostel indoors with time to read and relax, do some laundry and even take a sauna! (It was mostly weak - we sure are missing our steambath buds!!)

It's kind of strange the way Jasper and Banff both have towns inside the borders of the park. Jasper was pretty quaint (pop. 4,000) in the off season, but Banff was entirely overwhelming - even in October. The city of Banff was super upscale and in my humble opinion, way too overdeveloped. Think Paris meets wilderness. Tourism gone wild; sort of like Disneyworld. Amid all the 5-star resorts, chatteaus and palaces, we still managed to find a camp spot at least. We even took advantage of the high culture and attended a fabulous piano and cello concerto. I've been entirely enamored with the cello for the past couple of years - particularly the fiddlin' cello and of course Andrew plays the piano.  With all of our recent healing work and practice at presence, it felt wonderful to open ourselves to all the sensations of the music. Thank you, Beethoven.

Upscale 1920s style- Banff Hot Springs

I told you I had a onesie comin'.

After a day hike at Boom Lake the next day, we hit the road headed south, again right into yet another bordering national park. Crazy, huh! Kootenay NP was another variation of majestic.

Boom Lake in Banff NP

Frozen moss bubbles at Boom Lake

We stopped at some hot springs for a delicious morning soak. On the drive out we saw two wolves cross the road in front of us. Andrew swears they were coyotes but I'm holding strong on this one. :-) A huge, badass bighorn sheep barely allowed us to pass as we drove south on interstate 93.

 Very badass bighorn daddy-o.

Within no time at all, we had crossed into the States again! Well, not without a friendly border search! And I do mean that sincerely. The two border guards were downright chatty. Though they confiscated two oranges and a tomato ("fighting crime one orange at a time"), they allowed us to keep our beaver pelt, jarred caribou, salmon and tundra berry jam and dozen bags of suspicious-looking dried kale. Truth be told, they didn't see the kale! So sneaky we are! (sorry no pictures)

Montana is downright fabulous as well.  We were struck by the beauty of the mountains mingling with the plains, and the fall colors still in full display. Woo hoo! Here are some photos of our next few days in Glacier National Park:

Now we're a few hours south in the western, college town of Missoula. We stopped by the Occupy Missoula protests (hmmm) and are staying for another night with a sweet couple and their two pitbull-mix dogs. (Just like Cooper and Spencer!) Hopefully we'll catch some good ol' bluegrass music tonight before heading south towards Yellowstone tomorrow. 

Today marks 3 weeks of road trip fun! I can't say that without acknowledging that it has been difficult at times, no doubt... But we sure are a lucky bunch.

Lots of love!

Kristy

Canadian Rockies R' Us - Part II

From Liard Hot Springs the road was paved.  Just kidding.  This blog thing is great because even if you aren't laughing, I am.  Anyway, the drive was pretty spectacular, and we were lucky enough to see bison, caribou and stone sheep.

Look, Ruby & Moxy- we saw caribou on the side of the road along our drive!

Things were going great until we hit Fort Nelson - borrring.  And smelly (natural gas development).  And sad (entire swaths of forests cleared and left in burn piles).  And flat (no more majestic mountains) as we headed further south towards Dawson Creek. 

This about says it all...

The one highlight of this portion of the trip was the world's biggest beaver, in Beaver Lodge, Alberta. Jen Peeks - this is for you:

 I was happy as a clam to cross into Alberta because it was the first legitimate chance I had to expose Kristy to Bob Dylan's classic "Alberta #4" - if you don't know this song, you should!  We headed into the mountains again, this time towards Jasper National Park. 

Jasper NP is definitely amazing.  The small town has a distinct European feel which we later found out is due to the Swiss-infused architecture.  We chatted with locals, slept on the streets (in our truck) without being bothered by the mounty (yes, the mounty) and went on a few spectacular day hikes.  Kristy and I were literally so astounded on the drive in we both agreed it might be the most beautiful place we'd ever seen.

We were actually delighted to see snow!

We felt guilty forsaking the beauty of Alaska so easily, but Jasper was indeed magical. We thought its beauty was unparalleled...until we began the drive south to bordering Banff National Park.

Kluane National Park

Sorry for the hiatus. We've been on the road camping and hiking with no internet this past week. So first, since our last post at Haines Junction, we stopped at a campground and day use recreational area called Kathleen Lake in Kluane National Park. Definitely a highlight, folks. These northern Canadian Rocky Mountains were quite a site. We were sure to carry our bear spray and holler for bears on this beautiful, 5-hour day hike. 

Good introductory hike for our flatlander legs!

Andrew cooking dinner on the beach of Kathleen Lake post-hike.

We spent two nights at Kathleen Lake campground and were just so blown away by the whole park - simple, pristine, very well cared for. Is this what all of Canada is like? (An assumption on par with assuming the US is like Alaska, I imagine.)

From the lake, we followed the Alcan southeast to Whitehorse - the capital city of the Yukon Territory (and start of the Yukon Quest sled dog race). It was so nice to stay in a hostel for a night after several cold nights camping in the truck. We splurged on a sushi dinner and fresh baked bread from a local cafe. With a population around 25,000 Whitehorse seemed like a good size city with all the amenities we prefer - herbalist shop, natural foods store, numerous organic bakeries and cafes, used book store, delicious international cuisine.  And, of course, beautiful scenery and the isolation of the north! Plus we enjoyed a few short films as part of a french language film festival. Random.

Having showered up, we hit the road again the next day with one thing on our minds - Liard Hot Springs. We made it there in a couple of days and thoroughly enjoyed some long soaks in these natural springs. Unlike our previous camping experiences, this campground was inhabited with many people as this happened to be Canada's Thanksgiving weekend. Go figure. Ha! Just when I thought we would set up shop here for a week! Unfortunately, we didn't take any photos but suffice to say that if you ever make this drive, for goodness sake - STOP and take a dip! 

Oh and funny story, I melted my bathing suit in a silly attempt at drying it over our damp-wood fire. Turns out, the wood was dry enough to melt the old two piece. Maybe it's time for a onesie... but until then you can bet I'll be in my skivvies! 

British Columbia here we come! Onward.

We made it across the border!!

We are enjoying the comforts of the Haines Junction Public Library (super good book selection by the way). Looking forward to a long day-hike tomorrow and eventually on to Whitehorse by Thursday... unless we can't stop hiking.

Last night we camped in our 4-season Bibler tent to check it out before we backpack. Pretty darn chilly, in fact. The temp was down in the low 20s. Gorgeous camp spot though along a lake with the whole campground to ourselves! 

We were up for the sunrise and on the road by noon. Lovin' the Yukon Territory! The drive from the border to Haines Junction was amazing. 

Approaching Kluane Lake

Thanks for your emails. Miss you all!

How To Build A Bed Frame For Your Truck (in a Lowe’s parking lot)

We decided to build a bed frame in our truck’s bed.  It will save us money on lodging and it really helps us feel like we’re home wherever we are – kind of like a turtle, or a snail.  We bought some 2x6’s and two sheets of plywood at Lowe’s in Anchorage, thinking they could make the cuts for us.  Fortunately they cut the plywood.  We had to purchase a handsaw for 10 bucks and then cut the boards in the parking lot. 

All in all the thing is sturdy and pretty comfy with some memory foam, sleeping pads, blankets and a thick, warm down comforter to top it off.  It was 26 degrees when we went to bed in Wrangell-St. Elias Nat’l Park on our second night, and though it was pretty darn cold getting in, the down comforter really keeps us warm.  

As you can see in the pics, our truck is chock full!  We had to get rid of even more stuff in Anchorage because we couldn’t fit anything else in the truck, who, by the way, we have officially named Black Beauty.  The name came suddenly to Kristy and we both agreed our truck is black and beautiful. 

(Kristy: The name just came to me and seemed perfect as horse represents freedom, travel and independence. Not long after we settled on the name, we came upon a wild, black horse along the highway. Who knew there were wild horses in Alaska??)

We’re about 40 miles from Canada and plan to do some hiking and camping in Kluane National Park before we head to Whitehorse. 

We're on our way!

Turns out, it won't all fit. Oh well I guess. We sorted through our belongings again here in Anchorage over the course of the last few days. More giveaways. (Though we are planning to send a few things directly to Oregon- thanks Molly! What would Andrew do if he had to part with his dear chainsaw?)

Andrew & Kristy with Michele, Greg (Andrew's brother) and their 3 sweet children: Ruby, Moxy & 3-week old Eddy.

It was really hard leaving Bethel and saying goodbye. I've been in Bethel for 6 years- since coming up as a jesuit volunteer in 2005. Andrew came in 2008 to live with his brother, Greg and Michele and their beautiful family. It's been such an honor to grow close with them over the last 3 years in Bethel with Andrew. We'll miss you guys!  Lots of tears and more grieving to come I'm sure. Love you all!

Thank you Leah for all your support with packing and cleaning. We love you.

So we departed Bethel on the 26th and have stayed with friends (thanks Tiffany & Z!) in Anchorage since then. We spent the bulk of our time this week at the White Raven Center participating in holistic healing sessions. Their process of core emotional healing is incredibly powerful- we both had amazing sessions. I'm so glad we made time to take care of ourselves as we embark on this new journey. And really, this journey and the direction we're moving in our lives is definitely about honoring and taking care of ourselves.

Our goal was to get on the road by October 1st and here we are. The truck is packed up and we're about to head off in the next couple of hours. Over the next few days we'll head through Tok and then into Canada through Whitehorse. We decided the follow the Al-Can south eventually to Montana. But we'll be taking our time and doing some camping and backpacking along the way. By early-mid November we hope to be on the East Coast.

Thanks for all your support friends! We love you and miss you already!

We'll be posting some truck photos soon...